I have long wanted to visit European countries. I am just envious how they have a culture of intellectual exchanges, how their streets are cleaner than the streets of Davao or Manila, how they have a justice system that is more humane, how they are better compared to my home country. I am always amazed with the fact that a number of Euro countries are welfare states. This amazement is besides my appreciation of how they value history and culture, nature and the sciences. And these made them move forward, these made them developed and capable of extending aids to poor and exploited countries like the Philippines.
My chance to visit Europe was made possible without necessarily leaving Philippines. Last October 27-28 this year, I was one of the delegates to the Campus Journalism Seminar-Workshop held at the University of the Philippines-Diliman and hosted by the European Union Delegation to the Philippines.
One could not get rid of question like: why did the EU tap campus journalists? Why did the EU teach us about foreign affairs reporting? What does the EU want from us?
The answers were explicitly given during the workshop. Officers from the EU said that they are poorly covered by the Philippine media, whose lenses are more zoomed in on the United State’s affairs with the country. In short, EU wanted to invite journalists to tell them “hey, there’s EU who also does a lot of help for your country.” And they wanted to start with us, campus journalists.
Most of the participants of the seminar-workshop were kindred from the 80-year old, progressive and patriotic College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP). As the guild’s vice president for Mindanao, I nodded with affirmation to my colleagues who raised questions on the real score behind the initiatives of the EU in the Philippines and the EU’s trade agenda with our country, especially that DTI Director Perlada presented to us the projected increase in the export of services (labor export) in the next couple of trading years with the EU.
However, I did the same nodding, too, when Ms. Thelma Gecolea, the Public Information Officer of the EU Delegation to the Philippines, answered the questions raised. She said in Filipino, “Nalulungkot ako na marinig na may ilan sa inyo na nag-iisip na kaya kayo inimbita ay para magpopularize ng EU. Hindi naman po iyon ang nais ng EU. Nasa sa inyo na yan kung gusto ninyo kaming isulat o i-feature. Ang sa amin lang ay ipinapaalam namin sa inyo na may European Union at kung ano ang European Union.”
Ms. Thelma was right! It is up to us if we write about EU or not. After all, it is the CEGP’s motto that says “To write is already to choose.”
But, I believe we should write about EU. Not in the sense of popularizing EU, of course. As student journalists and as Filipinos, we should write about the basic truths why EU and all other first-world aid providers are here in our country, in the first place. These foreign aid providers say they long to help our country. We should say, we will help our own country more!
Yes, the EU has very poor media coverage here in our country. If the mainstream media cannot give a focus on EU, the campus press will! We will keep on zooming in on EU until the picture becomes larger and clearer, until the picture is no longer EU but a very rich Philippines, with a very poor distribution of wealth.
I am thankful to the EU for saying, “Hey, we are here! We exist!” I could say, “Yes, many thanks! You’re greatest aid to us is giving us this giant mirror showing the reflections of our worsening social order as a nation, showing how you have filled in what should have been filled by our own state government.”
I hope that mirror would serve us for good. I hope that mirror would move our leaders to action. And if our leaders would choose to remain idle, we, the student journalists, would choose to write and choose to lead.
“To write is already to choose.”
Ngayon ko lang nagawang basahin. Pasensya.