DON'T TURN A BLIND EYE
by Gregorio V. Bituin Jr.
published as editorial of the Fourth Estate, May-June 1998, p. 4
There goes a saying, "Whenever you find hundreds of thousands of sane people trying to get out of a place and a little bunch of madmen trying to get in, you know the latter are newspapermen." That' what journalist are made up of. They are there, everywhere, to be the first to get the news. Exciting as it is, this profession is one of the most dangerous. No wonder only the braves are fit to be in this job. Nowadays that rampant crimes, corruption and grave insult on human dignity exist everywhere; media should be vigilant in addressing these problems as there were many victims of human rights violations and abuses worldwide. Most of these violations were locked away in the dark, as the public doesn't know and care about it.
Fellow writer Mr. Joe Lad Santos clearly understands this point when he wrote in his book "Komedya ng mga Langaw" this poem: "Humihikbi ang mga kalansay sa Sudan. Buti pa sa Sarajevo at Mogadishu, bago mamatay ang mga tao, natetelebisyon muna at nalilitrato, saka ipinapakita sa buong mundo. Pero sa Sudan, hinihintay ay pagdamay. Ang nauunang dumating ay karit ni Kamatayan."
There is a relationship between human rights advocates and the media. Human rights advocates rely mostly on media to focus world attention on abuses and potential remedies. Using the media effectively is a critical skill in the struggle for human rights. The media, most especially those journalists operating in oppressive regimes, such as multi-awarded Associated Press correspondent Peter Arnett, should get the news and get it out. Mostly they are in the battlefront of the people's struggle for human dignity and compassion.
Most of these violations were committed by oppressive regimes such as in Indonesia, South and North Korea, East Timor, to mention a few. In the Philippines, most were committed through militarization. In Middle East countries such as Iraq, the United States have their share of human rights violations. Putting an embargo itself to retain your powerful country in the limelight is a human rights violation.
Human rights advocates and activists, on the other hand, should be accurate and reliable in presenting information that even the smaller amount of report that they can provide is a great help to counter disinformation and lies by those who do not want that their abuses be revealed and publicized. They must take advantage of new information and communication technologies, such as fax machine and internet, to send their messages to world attention.
In countries where people suffer from their oppressive governments, journalists should help report all kinds of human rights abuses, and not to be puppies of oppressive regimes. But in some countries, most of these abuses were not reported. That's why most people who duffer cannot be given enough attention.
Journalists should dig deeper on pressing issues of the times, and the public should help hand-in-hand against human rights abuses and violations. The public itself should not turn a blind eye on reports about these violations, because it is the people's dignity we should care about. We believe that being deaf, mute and blind on what is happening to our society is an attitude of slaves and cowards.
by Gregorio V. Bituin Jr.
published as editorial of the Fourth Estate, May-June 1998, p. 4
There goes a saying, "Whenever you find hundreds of thousands of sane people trying to get out of a place and a little bunch of madmen trying to get in, you know the latter are newspapermen." That' what journalist are made up of. They are there, everywhere, to be the first to get the news. Exciting as it is, this profession is one of the most dangerous. No wonder only the braves are fit to be in this job. Nowadays that rampant crimes, corruption and grave insult on human dignity exist everywhere; media should be vigilant in addressing these problems as there were many victims of human rights violations and abuses worldwide. Most of these violations were locked away in the dark, as the public doesn't know and care about it.
Fellow writer Mr. Joe Lad Santos clearly understands this point when he wrote in his book "Komedya ng mga Langaw" this poem: "Humihikbi ang mga kalansay sa Sudan. Buti pa sa Sarajevo at Mogadishu, bago mamatay ang mga tao, natetelebisyon muna at nalilitrato, saka ipinapakita sa buong mundo. Pero sa Sudan, hinihintay ay pagdamay. Ang nauunang dumating ay karit ni Kamatayan."
There is a relationship between human rights advocates and the media. Human rights advocates rely mostly on media to focus world attention on abuses and potential remedies. Using the media effectively is a critical skill in the struggle for human rights. The media, most especially those journalists operating in oppressive regimes, such as multi-awarded Associated Press correspondent Peter Arnett, should get the news and get it out. Mostly they are in the battlefront of the people's struggle for human dignity and compassion.
Most of these violations were committed by oppressive regimes such as in Indonesia, South and North Korea, East Timor, to mention a few. In the Philippines, most were committed through militarization. In Middle East countries such as Iraq, the United States have their share of human rights violations. Putting an embargo itself to retain your powerful country in the limelight is a human rights violation.
Human rights advocates and activists, on the other hand, should be accurate and reliable in presenting information that even the smaller amount of report that they can provide is a great help to counter disinformation and lies by those who do not want that their abuses be revealed and publicized. They must take advantage of new information and communication technologies, such as fax machine and internet, to send their messages to world attention.
In countries where people suffer from their oppressive governments, journalists should help report all kinds of human rights abuses, and not to be puppies of oppressive regimes. But in some countries, most of these abuses were not reported. That's why most people who duffer cannot be given enough attention.
Journalists should dig deeper on pressing issues of the times, and the public should help hand-in-hand against human rights abuses and violations. The public itself should not turn a blind eye on reports about these violations, because it is the people's dignity we should care about. We believe that being deaf, mute and blind on what is happening to our society is an attitude of slaves and cowards.
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