Media fellowship held with the Military

Media fellowship held with the Military

By Phil Paalan, Publisher, The Mindanao Gazette

LABANGAN, Zamboanga del Sur, January 24, 2015 – A general assembly/fellowship night was conducted by the Tabak Division Press Corps through the Ist Division Public Affairs Office of the Ist Infantry (Tabak) Division, Philippine Army as one of the thrusts of G7, Philippine Army to channel the Bayanihan and the ATR advocates directly to the public.  It was  held  at the Commander General’s Quarters at Kuta Maj Cesar L. Sang-an, Pulacan, Labangan, Zamboanga del Sur on January 24, 2015.  The general assembly/fellowship night of the  Tabak Division Press Corps  aims  not only to institutionalize  the event  as a traditional annual activity to assess the contribution of the Tabak Division Press Corps in the prior year to the Public Affairs and media relations efforts of the Command but also to strengthen the good working relationship between the Command and the media practitioners.

In a brief program, Col. Mancao welcomed the officers and members of media organizations coming from the Lanao, Misamis and Zamboanga areas, as he expressed gratitude to the media practitioners for joining  the general assembly and for helping promote a positive image of the Philippine Army through the information and communication support of the Command’s  plans, programs and activities.  He said the role of media is crucial.   He said the media had been of great help in the accomplishments of the mandates of the  Command particularly in its security program. He said, “Whether you are kapuso or kapamilya, we are one family and must work together in the attainment of peace and development in our community. “He added,  “In war it has been said that whoever wins the hearts of the people, wins the war.”

On the other hand, Ms. Ellen Ajijul, President of the Tabak Division Press Corps reported the significant accomplishments of the TDPC in the  prior years.  She said that the TDPC members have covered the turn over ceremonies of the Command, the founding anniversary and  the sports activities, conducted interviews with the Command’s military top brass on important events,  as well as  strengthened the relationship between the Tabak Division and the TDPC members.

Captain Suelto, a former Division Information Officer of the 5^th Infantry Division gave an impression on military and media relations.  He said in his three (3) years of experience as Division Information Officer, he had varied experiences with the media as he stressed that he maintains good relations with media practitioners as they have critical role in the development process.  He said that the military implements the so-called punishment and reward system to encourage good deeds and discourage  bad ones.   

Col Aminkadra S. Undog, assistant Division Commander, who represented Brigadier General  Gerardo F. Barrientos, Jr.,  division commander, Ist  Infantry Division, said that the Command is providing all out support to the Tabak Division Press Corps.  He said the AFP recognizes the role of the media in providing fair and impartial reports of events and developments.  He said the media is the partner of the Command in advocating developments in the communities. But sometimes media practitioners commit lapses in reporting because of their desire to make a scoop of a breaking news or meet the deadline for reporting.  He said sometimes media men make their reports without validating, verifying and double checking their sources to determine the veracity and accuracy of the reports they received on the ground.  He said that this leads to irresponsible and premature reporting and tends to cause irreparable damages to the life, reputation and  career of individuals.  He told a story about a farmer who had a child and a dog, as well as   stories about a wife of a slain military husband, and a senior military officer who became victim of black propaganda. 

Col Undog said that a farmer had a child and a dog named whitey.  He added that the farmer goes to the farm every morning and stays at the farm up to sunset, but he makes it a point to take a midday break to check the condition of the child at home who is left alone with only the dog looking after the child in the cradle as well as serving as take taker and watcher.  He said the same routine happens every day until one day, while the farmer was going home to check the condition of the child, he was met by the dog barking and with blood stains in the dog’s mouth.  He said the farmer was extremely shocked and thought that the blood in the mouth of the dog was the blood of his child that the dog had bitten as he was murmuring that even how much you care and feed the dog, the dog remains an animal. He said due to an intense fury and the notion that the dog had bitten his child, the farmer hit the dog with his farm implement, and hurriedly ran to the house to see the condition of the child. He said upon reaching the house, the farmer immediately went to the place where the child was sleeping and saw blood stains in the diaper of the child.  He said the farmer examined the body of the child and found no injury or wound in the child.  He said in fact the child was fast asleep when he arrived. He said the farmer then looked at the ceiling from where the blood was falling and saw a python snake hanging dead.  He said it was then that the farmer realized that the blood in the dog’s  mouth  was not the blood of the child but of the  snake whom  the dog had killed to protect the child from harm.  He said the farmer hurriedly went back to the place where he left the dog while carrying the child  only to find out that the dog was already dead.  He said had the farmer checked the condition of the child  first , the death of the dog could have been avoided.

The program opened with an invocation led by Captain Alfredo G. Era (CHS), PA, Assistant Division chaplain. The Fellowship followed the program where media practitioners from Lanao del Norte,  Misamis Occidental, Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, and Zamboanga Sibugay participated and enjoyed the fellowship opportunity to be together in eating, singing, dancing, chatting and exchanging jokes.