Changing the country’s name? Seriously?

On the day we celebrated the 119th year of our independence, Magdalo Rep. Gary Alejano filed a resolution calling for the changing of the official name of the Republic of the Philippines. This is to, according to him, demonstrate our independence from colonial powers. 

Yet, not everyone is receptive with this idea, considering the potential costs, practicality, and the person filing the said resolution.

The person has tried to file an impeachment complaint against President Rodrigo Duterte barely a year within his 6-year term, and when that was junked by the House Justice Committee, turned to the International Criminal Court along with his colleague and nagger-in-chief Senator, or should I say, President Antonio Trillanes IV. [sarcasm] (according to critics of the said resolution, how will you demonstrate the country’s full independence from colonial powers when you are employing the aid of international institutions to unseat a sitting president when you have exhausted all the legal possible means permitted by our laws i.e. impeachment, unless of course you want to pull off something similar to Oakwood or Manila Pen which seemingly is your only tangible achievement so far and seem to be proud of.)

As for the name change, in case this pushes through, how can you come up of a name acceptable to everybody from the Tagalogs, Ilokanos, Cebuanos, Aetas, Cordillerans, Taugugs, Ivatans, and others, as there was no common identity yet among the peoples of this archipelago, unless of course you want to trigger centuries-old animosity among the different ethnic groups in this country.

And there are more pressing matters to attend to, like infrastructure development, poverty reduction, among others, and for Magdalo, focusing on soldiers’ welfare and strengthening our maritime defences considering your military backgrounds. 

So stop pretending to be principled crusaders of good governance (with your failed coup attempts and nonsense Congressional and Senate hearings) when in fact you’re also a part of the much disguised political elite. 

The name change resolution is just an attempt of yours to remain relevant when in fact you’re not. (The political system in this country in general is a joke. The Magdalo is only a visible part of it. Face it, Trillanes, you’ll never be president.)

The name Philippines has become a very huge and integral part of who we are as a country and embrace it, cherish it for the years to come. 

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Some TV Patrol regional editions are still not conforming to the updated graphics

We would like to call the attention of ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs and ABS-CBN Regional, as some of the TV Patrol regional editions are still not yet updating their graphics package similar to the mother newscast, as most of the regional editions have already followed suit.

These are:

• TV Patrol Cagayan Valley (produced from Santiago)
• TV Patrol Northern Luzon (produced from Baguio)
• TV Patrol North Central Luzon (produced from Dagupan)
• TV Patrol Pampanga
• TV Patrol Tacloban
• TV Patrol Caraga (produced from Butuan)
• TV Patrol Northern Mindanao (produced from Cagayan de Oro)

Most of the regional editions have already followed suit since the mother newscast relaunched its graphics package on July 4, 2016, among the first to comply were TV Patrol Socskargen (from General Santos), TV Patrol Central Mindanao (from Cotabato), TV Patrol Chavacano (from Zamboanga), and TV Patrol Central Visayas (from Cebu). They were followed by the rest which slowly but progressively updated their respective graphics package albeit in differing scales (some maintaining the old headline graphics like Bicol and Negros, maintaining the old OBBs, etc.).  Now that 11 months have lapsed since the initial graphics change maybe those above mentioned should start catching up.

Maybe this could be perhaps a wakeup call to the ABS-CBN management that they should also be focusing on maintaining and updating the regional broadcast facilities instead of relying mostly on high-budget teleseryes as the regional networks serve as theri backbone in serving the rest of the country with such diversity in culture and language. 

Debunking hoaxes

As we monitor Facebook pages and groups dedicated to Philippine television and radio, it is unavoidable that we will encounter hoaxes, such as this one: 

(name of the person withheld as to protect his identity)

First of all, there is no truth to these and will largely be impossible in the real world setting. 

• Viva is mostly unlikely to return to free TV as it has a strong partnership with the established major networks
• Any attempt by Sony or Fox International Channels will likely violate existing laws and regulations regarding media ownership unless partnering with a local content provider (which is still highly improbable)

We have refuted this, yet there are still people who are bound to believe this, and posts like these are being shared, sadly, by those kids with special needs with a keen interest in media.

In light of these, there has to be a mutual effort to avoid the spread of hoaxes like these by:

• Parental guidance: the parents must control those kids’ access to the internet or computers and reminding them of consequences of their actions
• Vetting of posts for moderators of threads and pages
• For those on the verge of believing the hoax, remind them these are not true
• Ask them to stop without resorting to bullying

These are among the solutions we can think of, but this will be a long term effort, an exercise of responsibility in a world cluttered by fake news, toxic debates, among others.