"Freedom and its ultimate price"

The recent events that have occurred in Maguindanao has prompted me to dig up old issues of The Scholastican and look for the issue where I wrote about the journalist killings back then.

Without further ado, I share with you my article on journalist killings I wrote back in 2005.

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Figuratively, a journalist can be "killed" by means of a starvation wage and overwork. Morally "killing" a journalist would mean the influence of the material world, more often equated to money -- bribery. On the literal side, unhappy politicians could hire people to assassinate journalists.

Starvation wages can kill the spirit of journalists and make them an easy prey to all sorts of temptations. On another point, bribery can make them forget the mission and ethics of their profession. But killing is the ultimate solution to the problem of personalities or groups with journalists who reveal anomalies that would inflict a damaging reputation to them.

We like to pride ourselves as "the freest press in Asia." However, the number of journalists killed since the time of Marcos makes this statement an ultimate lie. We call our society democratic and yet we allow journalists to get killed. How can we claim the existence of press freedom when journalists are being murdered again and again?

A study shows that since 1986, a total of 69 journalists were killed. Of the told, 39 were categorized as job-related; 22 had unknown causes or motives; and the rest were non-work related. Of the 39 journalists killed in line of duty, many were actively involved in crusades against corruption and related issues or were assigned to conflict areas.

Majority of the victims, a vast 51 per cent of them, were reporters, correspondents or broadcasters. The remaining 49 per cent is distributed to editors, publishers, commentators and photojournalists.

So why are the killings of Filipino journalists relentlessly thrive in our society? Powerful people are killing journalists and they are doing it with impunity. Only five of the 69 cases have been solved, and only three cases have ended in the conviction of the killers. 93 per cent of the cases, still quite a big number, have remained unsolved.

A new analysis by the Committee to Protect Journalists has found that Iraq, Columbia, Bangladesh and Russia are among the murderous countries for journalists. The Philippines is said to be the most dangerous place in the world to practice journalism.

The killing of journalists is the ultimate expression of the censorship of the freedom of the press. Victimized news subjects can file complaints against the editors of newspapers. They can also file libel cases. Regrettably, many prefer to use the ultimate weapon of silencing journlists: ASSASSINATION. Such a method should not dwell in a free and democratic society where justice is of paramount importance.

"Distress over OJTs and Grad School is for Serious People"

Back when I was in my junior year of college, when I was then the associate editor of our school paper, The Scholastican, I had a column I called "Paper Trails" (which I eventually made into a now-defunct blog). And I started to miss writing an ed-op. So here I am now, posting in this blog something that was printed three years ago. I hope you will appreciate it as much as I do.

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The beginning of another school year.

The halfway point of my college career.

The beginning of the end.

Ouch! It even hurts to put that last one in writing. As my junior year begins, I can't say I'm pleased with the pace at which my college experience is flying by. When did this transition from young naive freshwoman to accustomed upperclassman occur? Why wasn't I aware of it?

It seems as though once junior year starts, everyone seems to get bitten by the whole planning-for-the-future bug that I so sneakily avoided. I mean, we just got back from whatever place we had our summer, and now people are making plans for next year's on-the-job trainings and internships. Am I missing something?! Suddenly, all talk has shifted from amazing summer vacations to grad school and getting an "in" at the right company so as to ensure a lucrative future.

While I sit at the Social Hall with my MP3 player and a couple of books and handouts, I see students with highlighters and test-prep books. I wonder if its wrong to study for the subjects at hand rather than the ones I'll be taking a few years from now. Is it wrong if I worry about my schedule for this week than for the next 20 years? Sure, it's great to have an idea as to the path we all wish to take after St. Scholastica's COllege, but isn't there something to be said for taking life one day at a time and seeing where it leads us on its own?

Now everyone thinks getting an MBA is a sure-way ticket to everything noble in this world and admission to medical school is on a continuous upsurge. Many leaders in the world today are self-made and, for the most part, self-taught. Sure, they received some form of undergraduate education, but many of them worked their way up the ladder by moving from job to job and learning new life skills and lessons each step of the way.

I am sure each and every member of SSC is shaking her head in disagreement right now, for they foster this new found idea of perpetual planning and constant worry. I'm sure that this opinion makes me appear like the most unmotivated student here, yet anyone can surely attest to the contrary. I work hard in what I do now; I apply myself in everything I choose to undertake and enjoy every second that passes. I'm not going to say that, at times, I don't feel overwhelmed by the thought of entering the "real world" in a few short years and by the crazy panic that has stricken the vast majority of everyone around me -- because I do.

My point is that we need to focus on making the most of the short amount of time in college, and, while still preparing for our future, leave it at that -- the future. I guarantee you -- we will still be okay.