My Blog

it is damned right that we should not be held hostage by new technology. but reality tells us that we actually are. cellphones almost rule our world. even in the middle of our comfort room rituals or lovemaking fancies, a familiar tone would disturb our privacy. nobody is unreacheable as long as his cp is alive and there is signal in his place.

i could only recall when having a landline is a status symbol. requesting for one took even the most influential local businessman or politician months to have a line. then cellphones, from analog to 3g, almost reduced pldt from a blue chip to a struggling has been. good for them, smart and tnt are their subsidiaries.

i am not really in the mood to write further about this techno blah blah,  but i was moved to after being asked by a complete stranger begged me for pasaload in the mall yesterday saying she had to reply to an urgent text and she’ll to late if she would wait for her turn in long line in the loading station. i was shaking my head as the good samaritan in me forwarded a few to the lady. later, i had to fall in line in the loading station, too.

cellphones are manufactured for users’ convenience as in multi-functional like the once popular swiss knife. but who’s the slave or the master? most of us can’t live without a cp. i tried turning off mine for 24 hours a few months back and i almost lost my job. i nearly crashed recently after i took an important call while driving a motorcycle on a rush hour.

my cellphone used to be a cool gadget, exactly three years ago. now it’s jurassic! it’s features are inferior even compared with the ones 1/3 its original price. i would not complain had i could call or text as i wish. but alas, at least 3 keys are not working well. one is dead!

i’m thinking if i would buy a new one or spend a few hundreds to get this old stuff in good working condition again. but the real problem i’m damned broke today, hehehe. maybe before my next blog, i would know what to do…

i’m now walking over the edge of a cliff. an acrophobic enjoying the view from above while holding my shaking knees in place. well, i used to tell my lady friends that falling down (syempre, di naman pwedeng up di ba?!) from a cliff is not so much an accident, especially if you have a choice not to be there. but as an enchanted moth would take a kamikaze dive into the flame everytime he sees one glowing in the dark, we often choose to walk through a path of danger.

somebody would always say, that is life. or more accurately, that’s human nature. come to think it, the philosophers of the past haven’t heard anything about journalism, or maybe they were to bright for that matter, but should they read a few books, they could not have wasted much words in theories and parables in sending us the message that the battle really in this sailing called life is within ourselves. and if we master how to fight and win in battling with ourselves, everything outside is just a piece of cake.

i recently bumped into an old pal and a comrade in pen in the mall. he hit the headlines a few weeks back, not as the scoop reporter, but as a news subject. he survived an ambush and is still recuperating physically and emotionally. much has been talked about the incident, mainly because election season was at peak then and even what the captured fly told to the hungry spider almost has something to do with politics, but im glad the big guy seemed well and could be bolder when he’s got in his feet 100%.

but more recently, i had a text message saying a beer buddy and fellow ink-dependent got mauled while doing his ware. up to now, i have not heard his piece of mind, but i know the guy is more than upset, to say the very least.

i’m not really privy to the whole story but i’m really worried with those developments. whether the line of responsibility was crossed or not, media people must not be dealt with force. there are venues for that. holding the pen or the microphone is never an easy task. " … in great power comes great responsibility," said Ben Parker. They are the guys who braved everything, including everyday harassment, character assassination and minimal paycheck, just to inform and be the mouthpiece of the masses in relevant issues they could only take the sores after smoke has cleared. i don’t think any media practitioner deserves to be treated this way.

in this curruption-infested bureaucracy where conspiracy is an everyday fancy, the media tips the balance. i think we should be proud that despite being "honored" as the rival of iraq as the country most dangerous to practice journalism at, these endanged species with nothing but guts and press ids still stand firm in our unsafe grounds.

i’m calling on to all brothers and sisters in pen, to condemn by heart and soul all kinds of abuse against the media. more than the constitutional rights of the people to free expression and information, it is our damned right to work and live which are on the line here. if we don’t care enough for our brethren, who would ever dare? the crooked guys in power we all vow to destroy? oh, come on, charity begins at home.

it’s monday, let us all start the week right. padayon!