It was a Friday and I was supposed to attend a follow-up meeting with the planning committee on the coming ICT Summit at the DTI office. Unfortunately the meeting was postponed until next week and I had nothing to do for that time allotted, so the next best thing was to attend another meeting. This time it was a presscon for the launching of OUR SPACE, an advocacy campaign focused on developing communities through raising awareness of how our public spaces influence our quality of life.

Hah! Thought you were gonna read a space program or something, didn’t you? Hehehe…

I initially thought this was some informal affair. Just a meeting of the minds sort where people sharing the same interests and working towards the same goals would come together and contribute ideas and perhaps create plans to achieve those goals. I even expected I’d see some prominent Ilonggo Bloggers there. But except for me and Nereo who was there as part of the UPP Philippines, no other blogger was present.

The participants with the larger number and the greater focus are the student journalists from different schools. I was surprised UP’s reps weren’t there. I thought since Prof. Padohinog was there, UPinians would also grace the occasion. After all they owe it to their community to give back and participate in advocacy campaigns such as this.

Before I arrived at Escas Restaurant, which was located at Doña Aurora Subdivision at the opposite direction from Barrio Inasal, I checked out the websites of UPP Philippines and its blog, Ideas For The City. From what I could glean in the 10 minutes I spent scanning the text on those pages, I understood that UPP Phils is a do-gooder organization, meaning they implement programs that will make our lives better or something on that line of thought.

I do not abhor such endeavors. In fact, I heartily support such organizations. We needed more of these men and women who believe in effecting positive change in our communities. Making the world a better and safer place shouldn’t be scoffed upon as worthless and ineffectual, which is essentially what one of the participants of the said forum did.

She initially questioned the “sustainability of local writers” which are her own words. What sustainability, you say? She was referring to the level of income of local journalists as compared to Canadian journalists and bloggers who were included in a sample case study presented by Ian Malczewski, the Knowledge Management Specialist from the Canadian Urban Institute who served as Guest Speaker for the event.

When Ian told her that the bloggers who responded to a public forum initiated by the public transport agency in Toronto were actually unpaid and participated solely out of their desire to improve one of their city’s services, the embittered and utterly pathetic naysayer responded with “but not every home has a computer or a laptop, or even a cellphone”. That to me sounded like she was grasping at straws.

To say that without facts to back you up seems irresponsible coming from someone who held a post as a president of an organization. Which makes you wonder why she’s not a president anymore.

Anyways, following the lead of that old woman, the student journalists voiced out their concerns regarding censorship and their personal security if ever they do publish articles on the “public realm”. What personal security??? All they needed to do is write something about their community, e.g. the history of their place, the present state of the garbage problem in the city, the perpetual flooding in some areas, etc. Who is going to gun you down because of that??? Sheesh! Mga praning! (They’re paranoid!)

But God bless Prof. Padohinog for being there! She suggested that the organizers should secure the approval of the deans of colleges or the presidents of the universities first for the participation of the campus papers in the Our Space program. This way the student journalists are assured that they are following their school’s policies and guidelines, and that the academic institutions are supporting them all the way and also share the vision of the Our Space program by the Urban Partnerships Program Philippines and the local government.

But the issues did not end there. A lot more came the way of the local media. Representatives from The Guardian, a local newspaper, and Bombo Radyo Iloilo, a local branch of a popular national broadcasting network, were also there. This time the question of advertisers reacting negatively to articles on the public realm were discussed.

As pointed out, opinions whether negative or positive can never be censored or else democratic freedom of speech is not being applied. Any column in a local newspaper or a short program on radio where opinions are discussed shouldn’t be gagged by any advertiser just because there’s a mention of their company’s name or their product’s brand name is inserted into a scathing article submitted to The Guardian. Companies have their own PR departments that handle reputation management issues plus we all know the public has a right to protest any and all practices they deem detrimental to the progress of their city and a threat to the health and safety of their citizens.

Overall I had the impression the essence of the press conference was lost on many of the participants. The Our Space program tries to not only encourage civic engagement among the local media, the youth and the local government. Beyond mainstream media like local newspapers, local broadcast stations, campus publications and community gatherings, Our Space also aims to make use one of today’s powerful media for publishing and communications – blogging.

Nereo Lujan, one of the Iloilo Bloggers who writes for IloiloRiver.com, is also a UPP Philippines Project Officer. Near the end of the event, he introduced the city government’s website for its rehab program in response to Typhoon Frank’s aftermath. The site is called Bangon Iloilo and it is being managed by the Metro Iloilo-Guimaras Economic Development Council (MIGEDC) and the Canadian Urban Institute (CUI) under its Urban Partnership Program funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

Rearview mirror man is Ian Malczewski.