UN: Bigger Urban Population in '08

Manila Standard / Michael Caber / p. A7

More than half of the world's population, or about 3.3 billion people, will be living in urban areas by 2008, according to the State of World Population Report released by the United Nations Population Fund.

"The population of towns and cities in developing countries is set to double in the space of a generation. Poor people will make up a large part of future urban growth," the agency said in a preview of the report which also noted that by 2030, urban population is expected to reach almost five billion.

As most cities struggle to meet current needs, city planners and local government officials also have to deal with the enormous scale and impact of future growth.

The report, entitled Unleashing the Potential of Urban Growth, calls for proactive actino to prepare for inevitable urbanization which can also be positive because no country in the industrial age has ever achieved significant economic growth without urbanization.

The report said cities concentrate poverty, but they also represent poor people's best hope of escaping it. Cities create environmental problems, but they can also create solutions. Concentrating population in cities can contribute to long-term sustainability.

"The bigger threat may be disordered sprawl. The potential benefits of urbanization far outweigh the disadvantages. The challenge is learning how to exploit its possibilities", the UN agency said.

For the second consecutive year, the agency also released a youth supplement, Growing Up Urban, a companion to the State of World Population 2007, which features the stories of young women and men growing up in cities of the developing world.

The report will be launched across the globe on June 27 in London and will also be launched locally on June 29 at the SGV Hall of the AIM Conference Center in Makati City.

Media Partners in Tawi-Tawi ambushed

Last June 25, 2007, media partners from Tawi-Tawi were ambushed. One of them, Vicente Sumalpong, otherwise known as "Enteng" among his peers, was killed while Maria Vema G. Antham was wounded and currently in the hospital.

To Enteng's family, our deepest condolences.

Below is an article culled from inquirer.net, where Cecil Abuy, area media coordinator for the media team in Tawi-Tawi, was quoted.

Gov’t radio broadcaster slain in Tawi-Tawi

June 25th, 2007

By Nonoy Espina, Thea Alberto

JOLO, Philippines — A broadcaster for state-run radio was killed Monday in an attack in the southern Philippines that also left one wounded, according to reports culled by INQUIRER.net.

Vicente Sumalpong, a senior reporter of the government-owned Radyo ng Bayan (People’s Radio) in Tawi-Tawi, was attacked at about 8 a.m. by an unidentified number of gunmen in the provincial capital Bongao, according to reports.

In a telephone interview, Tawi-Tawi police said a lone gunman had carried out the attack while Vema Antham, a co-worker, who was with Sumalpong when he was killed, claimed that there was more than one.

Sumalpong was declared dead on arrival at the Datu Halun Memorial Hospital, said Antham, whom the broadcaster and his nephew, Totong Borja, had picked up at her residence where he was shot.

Interviewed by the Philippine Daily Inquirer by phone, Antham said she was unharmed because Sumalpong covered her with his body.

But Borja was injured on the left leg, said Antham.

“We are not hard-hitting journalists … we have no known enemies,” said Antham.

“He used to pick me every morning,” Antham said, adding that she could identify the gunmen if she saw them again.

“The shooting was so quick, I think it was over in less than 30 seconds. They quickly fled as we lay on the ground,” Antham said.

Chief Superintendent Joel Goltiao, Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao, police director, said in a phone interview that Sumalpong was apparently the target.

Goltiao confirmed that Sumalpong was not a hard-hitting journalist and the reason for his killing might not be work-related.

Goltiao said police were eyeing two other motives but refused to elaborate, pending further investigation.

Cecil Abuy, a reporter of RPN-9 in Zamboanga City, said the ambush was “an attack against freedom of expression.”

“These two guys are not hard-hitting journalists, they are dedicated peace advocates and have never been involved in any controversy,” Abuy told the Inquirer, parent company of the INQUIRER.net.

Abuy said the two have no known enemies, either personal or work-related.

John Manalili, deputy director of the Bureau of Broadcast Services, a government agency that runs the radio, urged police and the military to promptly investigate the killing.

“We hope they can set the record straight lest some sectors link this to extrajudicial killings,” he said.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s administration has been criticized at home and abroad for a rising number of unsolved killings of left-wing activists, government critics, and journalists.

Arroyo, in a recent dialogue with media groups, ordered the designation of a special prosecution team to handle the media killings. She also has promised to eradicate what she called a generations-long cycle of political murders.

The ambush against Sumalpong would make him the fourth journalist killed this year, the 53rd since President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo came to power in 2001, and the 90th since the restoration of most democratic institutions in 1986, National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) chairman Jose Torres Jr. said.

At least two journalists were killed earlier this year and 12 murdered in the course of their work last year, the NUJP said.

The human rights group Karapatan has reported more than 800 activists killed and another 200 abducted by suspected security forces. Most of the victims are from left-wing groups branded by the military as fronts for a 39-year communist insurgency.

Torres condemned the killing of Sumalpong and demanded immediate government action on the case.

The killing of journalists “has gone on for too long,” said Torres.

“This issue goes beyond the safety and lives of media practitioners.The greater issue here is whether this government is truly committed to democracy and freedom,” Torres said.

“Unless we see concrete action against journalists’ killers and unlessPresident Arroyo issues the unequivocal order to stop the deliberate targeting of the press, which we have long demanded from her, that commitment will ever be in doubt,” he added.

International media watchdog organizations such as Reporters Without Borders and the International Press Institute have labeled the Philippines as the most dangerous place for news professionals next to Iraq.

Are there 88 Million Filipinos?

National Census will confirm soon

From the Business Mirror/June 22

THE much-delayed Census of Population is ready for implementation in August and would confirm earlier estimates that Filipinos now number about 88 million, the National Statistics Office (NSO) said on Thursday.

The P1.3-billion survey should also help the government determine how fast or how slow the Philippine population is growing, and from there formulate possible population-related policies, NSO Administrator Carmelita N. Ericta noted in an agency statement. Its scheduled conduct last year was shelved after NSO failed to obtain the financial cover for it.

NSO’s population census in 2000 put the country’s population at 76.5 million, and this year’s edition aims to confirm if the government’s assumption of a 1.95-percent population growth within 2005 to 2010 has been achieved. Also included in the Popcen questionnaire are questions on the occupation, economic activities, disability and ethnic grouping of the respondents.

Up to 50,000 census takers and NSO field staff will visit homes to solicit specific information on the household number, and the ages, sex, marital status, education, among others, of the members. Each interview takes about 15 to 30 minutes to finish.

Ericta further explained that new information gathered from the survey was important since this gives a more concrete reference for social and economic development plans and program.

Earlier government numbers indicated a 2.36-percent population growth during the years 1995 to 2000, which slowed down to 2.05 percent during the period 2000 to 2005. A 2.36-percent growth result for the August survey means the Philippine population will double in 29 years while a 1.95-percent growth means it would take 35 years.

Among its other uses, the NSO chief noted, includes being the basis for internal revenue allotment for local government units, the determination of congressional seats, the creation of new municipalities or provinces or their upgrades into higher levels.

“Businesses and industries [also] use the statistical information from the census in determining sites for establishing businesses, consumer demands for various goods and services and supply of labor for the production of goods and services,” Ericta noted in the statement.

Independence Day

Today is supposed to be a holiday but in order for families to have an extended weekend, PGMA declared June 11 as the holiday and today, June 12 is also the opening of classes in various private schools . So, expect the traffic to be more stressful. =)

Anyways, coinciding with this siginificant day, The Philippines' Independence Day, a new blog was launched by Inquirer.net - Being Filipino.

INQUIRER.net is encouraging Filipinos in different countries to e-mail photos and videos of Independence Day celebrations in their corner of the world. The videos will be posted in the iVDO online video service that INQUIRER.net has launched in partnership with Yahoo! apart from being embedded on the Being Filipino blog. This is part of INQUIRER.net's thrust of helping Filipino communities reach out to a global audience.

It is good to know that initiatives such as this are actually undertaken by media outfits in order to reach out to as many Filipinos it possibly could. By maximizing all medium there is, Filipinos from all over the country and across the world reconnect with each other through blogging. This helps foster love of country and rekindles a sense of nationalism to every Filipino. I do believe that most of our kababayans out there, no matter how successful they have become, would always have a special place in their hearts for this country. After all, there's no place like home.

Read the rest of the article here.

Guidelines on the use of Terminologies from UNAIDS

Media Partners, please find below the proper terms to be used on reporting/discussing AIDS. As you discuss these on-air or write your articles and stories about the subject, please be guided re: the following:


Old Use=================== Preferred terminology

HIV and AIDS ============== AIDS unless specifically referring to HIV
HIV/AIDS epidemic ========== AIDS epidemic
HIV/AIDS prevalence ========= HIV prevalence
HIV/AIDS prevention ========= HIV prevention
HIV/AIDS testing ============ HIV testing
People living with HIV/AIDS ==== People living with HIV

we deserve a break!!!

Hey guys, the elections and all the news related to it has been very stressful. So, relax muna and give yourselves a break. Read this and I guarantee, it will make you laugh! Laughter is the best medicine, you know... =)

BRAIN CRAMPS

(On September 17, 1994, Alabama's Heather Whitestone was selected as Miss America 1994.)

Question: If you could live forever, would you and Why? Answer: "I would not live forever, because we should not live forever, because if we were supposed to live forever, then we would live forever, but we cannot live forever, which is why I would not live forever,"
-- Miss Alabama in the 1994 Miss USA contest .

"Whenever I watch TV and see those poor starving kids all over the world, I can't help but cry. I mean I'd love to be skinny like that, but not with all those flies and death and stuff."
-- Mariah Carey

"Smoking kills. If you're killed, you've lost a very important part of your life"
-- Brooke Shields during an interview to become Spokesperson for federal anti-smoking campaign .

"I've never had major knee surgery on any other partof my body,"
-- Winston Bennett, University of Kentucky basketball forward .

"Outside of the killings, Washington has one of the lowest crime rates in the country,"
--Mayor Marion Barry, Washington , DC .

"I'm not going to have some reporters pawing through our papers. We are the president."
-- Hillary Clinton commenting on the release of subpoenaed documents.

"That lowdown scoundrel deserves to be kicked to death by a jackass, and I'm just the one to do it," --A congressional candidate in Texas .

"Half this game is ninety percent mental."
--Philadelphia Phillies Manager, Danny Ozark

"It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it."

"We are ready for an unforeseen event that may or may not occur." --Al Gore, Vice President

"I love California . I practically grew up in Phoenix ." --Dan Quayle

"We've got to pause and ask ourselves: How much clean air do we need?" --Lee Iacocca

"The word "genius" isn't applicable in football. A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein."
--Joe Theisman, NFL football quarterback & sports analyst.

"We don't necessarily discriminate. We simply exclude certain types of people."
-- Colonel Gerald Wellman, ROTC Instructor .

"If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure." --Bill Clinton, former US President

"Traditionally, most of Australia 's imports come from overseas." --Keppel Enderbery

"Your food stamps will be stopped effective March 1992 because we received notice that you passed away. May God bless you. You may reapply if there is a change in your circumstances." --Department of Social Services, Greenville , South Carolina

"If somebody has a bad heart, they can plug this jack in at night as they go to bed and it will monitor their heart throughout the night. And the next morning, when they wake up dead, there'll be a record." --Mark S. Fowler, FCC Chairman

Host : If you had a foreigner friend, where will you bring him to showcase the beauty of the Philippines ?
Girl Contestant : Bocaue.
Host : Bocaue. Why Bocaue? There are so many places in the Philippines ? Why Bocaue?
Girl : Because it's a magnificent place.
Host : Which part of Bocaue?
Girl : The Bocaue Rice Terraces.

Host : What is your best feature?
Contestant : My graduation feature.

Host : What is you favorite motto?
Contestant : If others can't why, why can't I!

Host : What would you like to say to foreigners?
Contestant : Please come back.

Host : What is your typical day?
Contestant : I think Saturday po!

Host : If you were to describe the color blue to a blind person, how would you do it?" Contestant : That's a very good question. Keep it up.

Host : What is your edge over the other contestants?
Girl Contestant : My edge? .... 23 years old.

Host : What, in your opinion, is the ideal age for marriage?
Girl : Between 24 and 25!

Host : How do you see yourself 10 years from now?
Girl : I'll be 28.

Host : What is the biggest problem facing the youth today?
Girl : Drugs.

Host : Why?
Girl : Mahal po kasi eh.

Host : What is the essence of being gay?
Contestant : I'm proud to be gay because what is naked is essential to the eye!

Host : What makes you blush?
Girl : Blush on!

Host : What is the essence of a man?
Gay Contestant : Testicles!

Host : Hey, I heard you almost didn't make it, how did you get here? Did you ride or did you walk?
Contestant : Of course, did you ride. What do you think of me, did you walk???

sshhhh, it happens you know... hehehe...

Mindanao poll fraud detailed

Poll watchers report to Comelec

By Cathy C. Yamsuan, Jolene Bulambot, Charlie Señase, Nash Maulana, Edwin Fernandez - Mindanao Bureau, Inquirer, Visayas Bureau

Front Page in today's issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer are the massive cheating and irregularities in the ARMM.... These things have been happening before, especially in the 2004 elections. Thanks to a more vigilant media, we get to know all of it now...

MANILA, Philippines -- Poll watchdogs Wednesday gave detailed accounts of massive vote-buying, flagrant cheating and intimidation -- including death threats to a foreign observer -- in Mindanao during the May 14 elections.

The price of a vote ranged from P1,000 to P7,000 in some areas in Lanao del Sur province, according to the watchdogs’ accounts.

“Not even the Manila city jail can accommodate all the corrupt people in our area,” lawyer Nasser A. Marohomsalic, a member of the executive committee of the legal group Lente, told reporters. Ranking officers of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel), Legal Network for Truthful Elections (Lente) and Citizens’ Action for Responsible Elections (C-CARE) took turns detailing how rampant cheating took place in Lanao del Sur. The officers submitted their report to the Commission on Elections (Comelec). The Comelec has ordered special elections in at least 13 towns in the province, where voting could not be held because of the presence of armed goons. Marohomsalic said one supporter of a candidate in Ramain-Ditsaan town even had the audacity to offer P300 to a foreign observer, an Indonesian female he identified only as Marini.

Marohomsalic surmised that the person mistook Marini for a Filipino given her Malay features. “Most buyers were inside the polling precincts coaching voters. Witnesses included local and foreign observers,” the watchdogs said in a statement.

250 votes each; only 169 voters

Marohomsalic said a Pakistani observer asked another person offering bribe money in exchange for votes in Bacolod-Kalawi town if what he was doing wasn’t illegal. “The person only answered, ‘Do you want me to kill you’? (Gusto mo patayin kita?)’,” Marohomsalic said in a press conference.

Read the rest of the article here.

Eleksyon 2007: The aftermath

Excuse the not-so-prompt blog about the elections... =)

Ok, let's see. Our baguio-based media coordinators Frank Cimatu and EV Espiritu of PDI-North Luzon were assigned to cover the area of ABRA, an election hotspot in the North, meaning a-not-so-safe place to be... Hey guys, hope you came back to Baguio unscathed...

On the other hand, it feels a bit weird that the areas of our birthday celebrants happen to be in the limelight. Eastern Samar and Maguindanao and Lanao...

In Eastern Samar where Roy Calvo of dyES-Radyo ng Bayan is the area media coordinator, news reports say that a vigil vs fraud in Eastern Samar has taken place last May 18 due to reports that alleged irregularities in the canvassing of votes were taking place. "For the first time in the history of elections in this province, the people showed how they value their votes." Click the link shown above for further details.

In Maguindanao [Edwin Fernandez of dxMS and dxOL - area of responsibility, so to speak =) ], earlier reports said that a surprising 12-0 votes in favor of Team Unity senatorial candidates took place. This prompted a lot of speculations, the most serious of which was that NO ELECTIONS actually took place in the area and that the results have long been "manipulated" even prior the election proper last May 14. A more elaborate report/article on election irregularities was published in PDI last May 18 by Donna Pazibugan and Norman Bordadora, with the "No Voting in Maguindanao" as the "banner report". Click the link to read the story.

Said article stated:

"According to the alleged plot as detailed by Bantay Boto, massive cheating will be committed in the provinces of Ilocos Sur, Pampanga, Camarines Norte, Cebu, Bohol, Leyte, Eastern Samar, Lanao del Norte, Davao del Sur, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao and Shariff Kabunsuan.

The regions supposedly identified for fraud operations were Central Visayas, Davao, Caraga and Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

The identified areas, according to the plan, have more than 14.7
million registered voters."

I find this quite uncanny since most of the areas identified for commission of "election fraud" were pilot areas under the UNFPA 6th Country Programme in the Philipppines. In case you forgot, these areas were said to be among the poorest provinces in the country, where maternal mortality is high and where the PGR (Population Growth Rate) is high, like in Bohol wherein theirs is higher than that of the national PGR.

The selection of the areas on the basis of the high number of registered voters validates the presumption that in highly populated areas (with a correspondingly high number of registered voters), most people live below the poverty line. And instead of interventions to address reproductive health issues and population concerns, these areas are targetted for the commission of election fraud. To put into "power" those who will further bury this country to the ground. Talk about adding insult to injury!

It is obvious and anyone who fails to see that are just plain insane. Most of those areas are poor, and isn't it almost a cliche' that ARMM is the place where all those massive cheating took place in 2004 elections? And yup yup yup, ARMM is also the place where the poorest areas are. Indeed, these areas are the most vulnerable... You do the math.

In areas where fraud, deception, and lies are most likely taking place, the room for growth and development from their local government is an unlikely possibility. At any rate, there are signs of hope like that reported in Eastern Samar where the locals have the "spirit of EDSA" in them... and the partial tally of votes where Senators from the GO (Genuine Opposition) are leading. Or that of the priest winning as Governor in Pampanga against two (2) strong contenders - Pinedas and the Lapids (I just wonder if he implements the RH Code already passed in that city... abangan!)... the loss of Ali Atienza in Manila, where the basic violations of women's right and RH concerns have taken place during the reign of his father Mayor Lito Atienza. And of course, the loss of Manny Pacquiao, our nation's boxing hero, to incumbent Darlene Custodio, an outspoken oppositor of the administration, in the congressional race for South Cotabato and the poor performance of actors Richard Gomez and Cesar Montano in the senatorial race. These results show that we do have a "discerning public" who vote not based on popularity but based on performance, capability and integrity.

We have to keep the faith... we have to keep believing that there is hope for our country.

Greetings Greetings...

Edwin Fernandez - May 16

Roy Calvo - May 13

Bruce Zabala and Allan Freno - April Celebrants

Hey Guys, our birthday greetings may be a bit too late, but rest assured we do remember...

Cheers to you all!!! Miss you guys!!!

More Birthdays...

Two (2) of our media advocates recently celebrated their birthdays.

Allan Freno of Sultan Kudarat - April 27
Bruce Zabala of Bohol - April 28

Guys, Happy Happy Birthday! Sorry for not being able to post about your special days here with your pix as I have been busy and currently in Jakarta, Indonesia.

At any rate, we wish you Allan and Bruce all the best!

More HAPPY BIRTHDAYS to COME!!!