PIA Dispatch - Saturday, July 31, 2010

P-Noy says he is open to media criticisms

President Benigno S. Aquino III last night said he is open to criticisms from media “because it is media’s right and obligation to encourage public discourse.”

“But I hope it is the type of discourse that leads to consensus and ultimately action,” the President said in a speech during the 60th anniversary of GMA7 Friday night at the Shangrila Hotel in Makati. 

The President said he was counting on media “to be part of this difficult but worthwhile journey of turning our country around.” He also gave assurance that media can count on his support.

The GMA affair was attended by past and present executives of the broadcast network, as well as captains of industry and government officials. 

President Aquino hailed the GMA Network as he recalled that during the martial law era, it persisted in keeping the public informed despite the risks of censorship and even to the safety of its reporters.

“Working under the yoke of a dictatorship, GMA 7 kept the flickering light of truth alive during that difficult and dangerous time,” he noted.

According to the Chief Executive, GMA7 touched his life in a very personal way, being among the TV stations that prominently covered the assassination of his father, Sen. Benigno S. Aquino Jr., as well as the subsequent wake and funeral.

“It was also the TV station where my mom, former President Corazon C. Aquino, made her television debut on Aug. 21, 1983. You were also present in her historic wake and funeral which we will be commemorating in two days,” the President said.

He expressed gratitude to the network “for your courage in delivering the news to our people. I am extremely grateful.”

“You certainly made a positive impact on the lives of so many Filipinos through stories that are not only worth telling but are also worth remembering,” he said.

“’The Untouchables’ impressed upon my impressionable mind the long arm of the law and the certainty of judgment. This ideal is of course something we are trying to turn into a reality,” the President said in reference to a long-running GMA7 program.

He pointed out, however, that he is not just a viewer but media’s partner. “This administration will defend your right to free expression.”

“By working together, we can enhance democracy and make it real, not just for those who have more in life, but more so for those who have less,” he said.

President Aquino also said he was pleased with the publication of a coffee table book chronicling the 60 years of GMA7, an autographed copy of which was given to him by GMA7 chair and CEO Felipe Gozon and Gilberto Duavit Jr, executive vice president and chief operating officer.

Apart from Gozon and Duavit, other GMA officials who were present were former Rep. Gilberto Duavit Sr.; former CEO Menardo Jimenez; and GMA directors former Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban and former Secretary of Finance Jaime Laya.

The President even cited Duavit Sr. as his mentor during his first term at the House of Representatives.


Nothing final in proposed MRT, LRT fare hike

Malacañang today said the proposed increase in fares of Metro Manila’s two commuter rail services is under study by the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC), after which the proposal will go through a process of public consultations where all sectors can air their views.

Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said in an interview today with government-owned Radyo ng Bayan that nothing is final in the fare issue. 

Earlier DOTC officials, taking cue from what President Benigno S. Aquino III had said in his first State of the Nation Address, indicated that fare increases are inevitable for the two-financially distressed commuter services, the Light Rail Transit (LRT) and Metro Rail Transit (MRT).

But DOTC Secretary Jose de Jesus has assured the public that affordability will be the paramount consideration in the ongoing deliberations on the fare issue.

Lacierda said it is essential that a thorough study and public consultations be held on the issue so that commuters and the riding public can air their objections. Lacierda then enjoined everybody them to show up and make known their stand on the proposed fare hike which 

He said the government is going to ask the MRT management to open its books to determine where it is losing and how it can offset losses.

“The study will also look into revenues from advertising spaces being leased out in the MRT terminals,” Lacierda said.

Lacierda said the government is looking at the “right balance” between the need to balance removing subsidies and ensuring that the operations become viable.”


P-Noy rallies Filipinos as nation observes Cory’s 1st death anniversary

President Benigno S. Aquino III today called on the Filipino people anew to unite behind his program of government in the same way that they rallied behind her mother, former President Corazon Aquino, when she died exactly a year ago.

The President issued the call in a speech at the unveiling of a 250 ft. by 200 ft. photo mosaic consisting more than 3,200 images of his mother, created by veteran photojournalist Revoli Cortez.

Cortez covered the Malacanang beat for several years, including the six-year term of President Cory Aquino from l986 to l992.

“I hope and pray that you will also be by my side so that the change that we have committed to work together will soon be a reality,” the President said.

President Aquino said his mother was a great influence in his decision to run for the presidency, adding now that he is the president, the “burden she once carried is now upon me.” 

He particularly cited a meaningful quotation imparted to him by his late mother; “I could not live with myself knowing that I could have done something and I chose not to”.

The President pointed out that his mother was able to overcome the problems and burden of the presidency with the full support of the Filipino people.

He described the photo mosaic, printed on a tarpaulin, as a “symbol of the hope” that was felt during the death of President Cory on August 1 last year.

Cory Aquino was widely known as “icon” of Philippine democracy.

“Beyond expressing sympathy, it was a resurgence of hope and a realization that each of us has a role in alleviating our common burden. This mosaic of photographs is a symbol of that hope. The real challenge however is in making Cory Aquino’s example and legacy part of our daily lives,” the President stressed. 

Meanwhile, Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda said that Cory Aquino’s death meant so much for her only son. 

Lacierda said that when then Senator Aquino won the presidency last May, his main goal was to unite the Filipino people and renew their faith in government, which was the message shown during her mother’s death and burial.

This, more than his commitment to stop corruption, was his overriding objective even before he decided to run in the May 10 elections which he won, Lacierda said in an interview today with government radio.

“When President Corazon Aquino died, it brought back memories of EDSA 1. It brought back memories of the time of our struggle against the dictatorship and it told us that we can fight for what is right,” Lacierda said. 

Along with this “renewed hope”, came optimism that the Filipinos could have another administration that would tread on a straight path, he said.

“At doon nakita na anak lang ni President Cory Aquino ang makikipagbigay sa atin ng ganoong matuwid na daan. And that snowballed,” Lacierda said. 

Lacierda recalled that President Aquino did not want to return to government again. “He prayed hard for discernment and when his partner, vice presidential candidate Mar Roxas gave way, he prayed even harder.”

With the pivotal role former President Cory Aquino played in restoring Philippine democracy, Lacierda said the country already owes her a great deal. 

“And, in death, she became, all the more, an icon of good governance and democracy,” he said. 

Cory Aquino died from colon cancer at 76 in August 1 last year and the death anniversary will be observed Sunday.