Davao del Norte – Media practitioners were requested not to overuse their freedom of expression to avoid causing divide among the Filipino people.
During the Online Media Forum celebrating 12th Press Freedom Month with the theme ‘Media Practitioners, Upholding Right Information amidst COVID-19’, Davao del Norte Provincial Information Officer, Mervin Jay Z. Suaybaguio, appealed the media practitioners to be cautious when exercising their freedom of expression.
“…And we should not overuse our freedom of expression because as you can observe, especially in social media, when we exploit freedom of expression, we create a divide instead of uniting the people,” Suaybaguio said.
Representing Davao del Norte Governor Edwin I. Jubahib, Provincial Administrator Josie Jean Rabanoz, echoed this sentiment by encouraging the release of information that are beneficial for the people as a community.
“Ang gina wish lang ni Kuya Gov is that… kung unsay makatabang, kung unsay maka-ayo sa atoang probinsya, sa atoang community, mao na atoang ipang shared” Rabanoz said referring to Davao del Norte Provincial Governor Edwin I. Jubahib.
In line with this, Suaybaguio and Rabanoz stressed the importance of using freedom of expression in tandem with correct information to prevent putting people in danger amidst the current COVID19 pandemic.
“As communicators, our job is tantamount to that of a soldier’s job, which means, we cannot afford to commit a mistake or else we are putting the lives of our people in danger. Our best defense in these trying times is the right information so that we will be saved from the wrath of our invisible enemy,” Suaybaguio said referring to COVID-19.
“Unta kung naa man lang gani tay mga ipang hatag na mga news, it should be supported with facts… tanan ta be truthful sa atong pagpamalita… labi na karong panahona nga tanan ta medyo gipang kulbaan sa panahon kay wala ta kabalo kung asa na ron nag gikan ang kaning virus sa COVID19. So very crucial ang information” Rabanoz said.
The Online Media Forum celebrating Press Freedom Month with the theme ‘Media Practitioners, Upholding Right Information amidst COVID-19’ was organized by Davao del Norte’s Provincial Information, Communication, and Knowledge Management Office (PICKMO) along with the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) Davao del Norte.
It was attended online by government and private media practitioners, and featured Director General of PIA, Usec. Ramon Cualoping III; Provincial Administrator Josie Jean Rabanoz who represented Gov. Edwin I. Jubahib; Board Member Chairperson SP Committee on Media Affairs and Information, Hon. Roger Laguna; PIA Davao Regional Director Frances Mae Macapagat, and Dr. Alfredo Lacerona, incident commander of the Incident Management Team of Davao del Norte, as guest speakers.
(Jan Vincent Leuterio, PIA-XI/jmda | OIC Michael Manguhig, RPN DXKT Davao)