SO THE shooters of beachgoers in Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, a month back were really here in Mindanao!
That is what police intelligence has monitored through some of the mobile phone calls by the suspects, while they were here, which were traced to Cotabato City.
Now, why were some of our public officials so strong in their denial that the suspects had stayed for some days in Davao City?
Instead of reacting adversely, the officials concerned could just have given the public – and even the international community – the benefit of doubt. After all, nobody knew them personally until talks of their Davao sojourn came out of the blue.
And if indeed the report was true, easily our public officials could have used the incident as a source of ideas on how to obviate the possibility of other terrorists coming to Davao City, or Mindanao for that matter.
By insisting that the suspected Bondi attackers had not set foot in Davao, the officials concerned only perpetuated the idea to the gullible public that there really are training facilities for terrorists in Mindanao and that the Bondi attackers’ stay in Davao City or elsewhere in this Southern island was for honing their skills as members of the terrorist groups.
Again, if in the future suspected terrorist group members are reported to have stayed in Davao City and other areas in Mindanao for training purposes, then that should be enough input for the law enforcement units to devise a scheme to locate the training ground and adopt measures to dismantle the same.
If our officials – civil, police, and military – ignore such an opportunity to deter terroristic activities and instead busy themselves denying to the public that no such alleged terrorist ever made a rest in the city, then they appear more as an inspiration for the terrorist organizations to make Davao and other Mindanao provinces and cities the R&R and training ground for their members.
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What is this report of an eroding trust of the public in news outlets? Do these outlets refer only to those in the mainstream media?
What about social media with its various platforms? Are these platforms used by people in muddying issues that pertain to governance and society in general?
It is our view that the use of social media platforms as vehicles for information dissemination without appropriate regulations is creating a chaotic Philippine society and further fueling hatred and disagreements among those with diverse positions on certain issues.
In fact, social media has been used by politicians and other interest groups as the most convenient venue for destroying the person or organization anyone of them is at odds with. It is in social media posts where certain things – strongly adverse or very much in favor of one – are insinuated, but one ends up not finding any specifics.
And it is also from some of those who posted certain incidents that have happened involving this and that personality that we read such questions as: “Why is this or that incident not carried or reported by the mainstream media?”
Now, which media group is causing the misinformation, disinformation, and the deliberate concealment of legitimate information and substituting the same with reports either supportive or destructive to a specific interest?
Indeed, with so much freedom of expression and availability of “willing” information outlets, what else can be expected but the deterioration of the integrity of news carriers?
And the Pahayag Year-end Survey result says so.
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In a list of Top 10 Party-list groups “loaded” heavily with so much budget for medical and related assistance to marginalized patients in the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA), the ones leading the pack are TINGOG, represented by Yedda Romualdez, wife of former Speaker Martin Romualdez; and ACT-CIS with then-congressman and now Senator Erwin Tulfo. When Erwin won as senator, the wife of Sen. Raffy Tulfo replaced him as the Party-list’s representative.
When the list was posted on Facebook, we were suddenly enlightened on why most, if not all, financially disadvantaged patients whose families sought assistance from the many charitable organizations tied to the names of certain politicians always have high praises and give profuse thanks to both TINGOG and ACT-CIS for the large amount of monetary aid given.
Yes, the two Party-list groups were – and possibly still are – the most blessed in the government’s national budget.
