by Red
Batario
There is no denying that when Leonilo "Toots" Escalada, a
radio station manager in General Santos City in Mindanao,
talks about the reshaping of local communities he sounds more
like a development worker, or a politician, rather than a
journalist.
And he does not confine himself to the booth when airing
his daily program, Barangay Agong, which takes its name after
the station. He brings his program to where the action is
— the barangays (villages) of General Santos where Escalada
actually facilitates discussions of current issues.
"It's both encouraging and fulfilling when I see and hear
ordinary people becoming part of the process of shaping the
news of the day — especially in remote barangays where access
to information and grievance is not readily available and
where people cannot relate with government," says Escalada.
"It means they are thinking more critically and slowly looking
within themselves for solutions to some of the issues or problems
facing their community," he adds.
By all indications, the disconnection between citizens and
democratic structures noted by Escalada in the barangays of
General Santos is seeping into the socio-political fabric
of other local communities in the country. Journalists in
the provinces like Escalada are realizing that people are
not taking advantage of the opportunities for popular participation
offered by the Local Government Code as a decentralizing and
democratizing mode.
One probable reason is that critical information does not
get to the communities or is to some extent flawed, resulting
in a skewed understanding of local governance and the decentralization
environment.
Many journalists admit to being partly responsible for such
a situation because of their own limitations and constraints
such as their incomplete understanding of local governance
and autonomy issues which are at the heart of decentralization
and the empowerment of citizens.
Argues one print journalist based in Cebu: "What we're seeing
are communities and people somewhat disdaining public life;
they are not actively participating in democratic processes
like volunteering and voting. Or when they participate in
the latter, it is with the prodding of some materialistic
stirrings. We've often asked ourselves why."
This question was also raised by both non-government organizations
and the media in Kalibo, Aklan a few years back when the influx
of tourists grew tremendously. While there was increasing
concern about incidents of pedophilia and child sexual abuse,
nobody seems to know, or want to do, anything about it.
It took the Uswag Development Foundation of Aklan to convene
other civil society groups and entice the media and the provincial
local government unit to join a series of roundtable discussions
about this concern. This led to the formation of the Citizens
Council on Social Concerns, a multi-sectoral action group
wherein the media played a very critical role in dispersing
correct and accurate information.
Says Didi Quimpo, Uswag executive director: "It was difficult
at first to engage the media because of their perception of
what they ought to be. But eventually they felt that if they
don't participate in the project and look at events only from
the periphery, they won't have the same kind of impact on
the communities."
"We were actually looking for a reconnection with out communities.
Our feeling was that merely reporting the news was not enough.
We needed to know more, we needed to understand the issues
better not only to make us better journalists but also in
some ways help communities look at their own problems and
begin solving them," explains Jay Tejada, program manager
of GMA Super Radyo in Aklan.
Today, members of the Citizens Council on Social Concerns
believe that they would not have been able to successfully
implement their campaign against child sexual abuse without
the media which catalyzed a number of citizen actions and
facilitated dialogues between authorities and communities.
The Council has since expanded its thrust to cover other
equally pressing concerns in the province. With the governor
as chair, the Council is also working on it being institutionalized
through local legislation.
Provincial journalists also feel that the disconnection
with the communities affects media in many ways. When citizens
disdain public life, they will have less use for the news
media. But being able to see the broad picture from the
outside has also given journalists a vantage point from
which to reexamine their own roles and shortcomings as against
those of the community's.
As the socio-political landscape changed, and quite rapidly
at that, journalists found themselves at the cusp of transformation.
It also posed a dilemma for many practitioners of the craft:
to sit back, observe, and report or to actively participate
and provide the mechanisms for the articulation of community
concerns.
