After three conferences conducted by the Evelio B. Javier Foundation, Inc. and the Friedrich Naumann Stiftung focusing on the media in the provinces and the roles they play in the process of decentralization, one revealing fact has emerged. There are in the localities an increasing realization that approaches to development and political maturity can best be achieved through sectoral interaction. And one sector that bridges all the others in terms of reach and credibility is the media sector.

Often taken for granted “because it is always there,” media as a sector is now slowly being reappraised as a critical player in the local development and governance scenario. No longer merely viewed as purveyors and reporters of the news, journalists, especially those working in the communities outside of Metro Manila are today being regarded as cause advocates and defenders of people’s rights. Remember journalist Ferdie Reyes of Dipolog City who was murdered for writing the truth?

There are several reasons put forward for the transformation of the media. One is that the public is slowly losing faith in the traditional dispensers of redress like the police and the judicial system. The same public has turned to media not only to deliver the stories to their doorsteps or living rooms but also to help them cope with the realities of everyday life.

Therefore it was not surprising that the witnesses to the Kuratong Baleleng killings went to the media and not to the police. It was not to government that complainants to the building of the Casecnan Dam in northern Luzon went. They talked to journalists first. These are but some of the more publicized cases. Surely, all of you have had, at one time or another, a similar experience and had faced the dilemma of stepping beyond the boundaries of journalism as we know and practice it.

This is one of the reasons why we are having this seminar workshop today. We hope to answer and clarify some questions regarding the role of media in the process of decentralization, local autonomy and governance. We hope to further the initiatives already made regarding the emerging interaction between media and the other sectors not only in gathering and writing stories but in forging a common agenda for the good of the community.

You are in a very unique situation wherein Caraga is in the process of transformation, trying to find its rightful place in the sun as a unified region with a common vision. This is apparently the trend today, integrating resources, talents and ideals to formulate a definitive development strategy. This is where you as journalists play a critical role in helping move information and at the same time bring a sense of logic and reason, not to mention transparency, in adding sinew and soul to your region.

The passage of the Local Government Code, also known as Republic Act 7160, largely contributed to bringing a new realization among the localities that their own destinies lie in their very hands. And by this same token, the media in these very same communities have begun to take a closer look at their own roles and determinations. Unlike members of media in Metro Manila who consider the newsrooms and radio-TV stations as workplaces and their subjects impersonal objects of their stories, journalists like you have to live with the stories you write and broadcast. If you anger someone, you can run but you can’t hide. Such is the personal character of the journalistic craft in the communities as you very well know.

Now we will ask you to make your lives a little more complicated than they already are. Over the next two days, hopefully over good food and a view of the rooftops all over Butuan City, we will all discuss how we can help Caraga move forward more effectively and efficiently by working within the processes of dynamic change at the local level.

We hope that after two days, when we go back to our respective salt mines, the spirit of decentralization and democratization will prod us to look at Caraga a bit more closely and deeply.

Thank you and good afternoon to all.

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Opening remarks delivered at the Media Interfacing on Decentralization and Democratization held May 2-3, 1996 at Royal Plaza Hotel, Butuan City