Cebu media told: Freedom is being able to choose what is good

Members of Cebu media are called to use the freedom of the press to help the people decide on what is good as the community. Today marks the formal start of the 28th Press Freedom Week.

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu media community is reminded of the “absolute” meaning of freedom which is one’s ability to chose what is good, as it marks this Sunday, September 20, 2020, the opening of the 28th Cebu Press Freedom Week celebration.

Fr. Jonathan Rubin, who celebrated the opening Mass for the week-long celebration at the Sto. Niño Parish in Medellin town, said the essence of the media industry and its freedom is not only the ability to write or broadcast anything for or against a person but to air what would guide the public to do what is good.

“Press freedom is not just about saying anything against the person or for the person. Press freedom, especially in this context nowadays, for you, our friends in the media, is to let our people, to let our brothers and sisters decide on things that are pleasing to God,” Fr. Rubin said.

Fr. Jonathan Rubin, who officiated the opening Mass for Cebu Press Freedom Week celebration, said that the “absolute” meaning of freedom is one’s ability to choose what is good. | Screenshot from the stream of the ppening Mass via Sto. Niño Parish Church in Medellin

Quoting Pope Francis, Fr. Rubin added that freedom, “after all, is to do good, to be good, and to be for God.”

“If we do what is pleasing to God, everything will fall in its right place because our life has been pleasing to Him,” he added.

The entire Cebu media industry celebrates Press Freedom Week every third week of September, which also commemorates the declaration of Martial Law on September 21, 1972.

Amid the pandemic, this year’s celebration of the Press Freedom Week will be fully virtual.

Following the opening Mass that was streamed on Facebook at 9 a.m. on Sunday will be a series of webinars or online fora tackling “Community Media in the time of the Pandemic and After” with veteran journalist Melinda Quintos-de Jesus who sits as the Executive Director of the Centre for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR); “How Journalists Can Maximize the Use of Digital Platforms” with Cathy Yap-Yang, the First Vice President and Corporate Communications  Group Head of PLDT-Smart; and “Gender Responsive Reporting” with Atty. Kristine Yuzon-Chaves, executive director of the Philippine Commission on Women, and Dr. Ming Kuok Lim, advisor for Communication and Information of Unesco-Jakarta.

The Press Freedom Week celebration will also be the time for the election of new officers of the Cebu Federation of Beat Journalists (CFBJ), the organization of reporters in Cebu. / dcb