As I have nothing to do this Saturday I decided to go to the Philippine Science High School after half-finishing a project. I read this blog entry in Pinoyblogosphere posted by misteryosa, which was organized by Martin Perez, a teacher in Social Science at PSHS and nephew of Ronie Oblipias from Asian Development Bank, inviting bloggers to a seminar entitled Blogging Beyond Basics. Among the guests were: Victor ”bikoy” Villanueva, (I wonder from where his roots are, as my grandmother in the father side are Villanuevas from Bais, Negros Oriental); Abe Olandres ( a fellow Ilonggo, although he is from Iloilo) of yugatech and Manuel L. Quezon III, he is a familiar figure from ANC, also a blogger.
One of the hot issue raised by a participant during the seminar concerns his hesitancy to express his opinion through blogging. He is afraid of being branded or misinterpreted by the authorities as leftist or whatever. A good point was raised by Abe saying that we are still lucky because we enjoy more freedom, unlike in other countries where ISPs are controlled by the government. While MLQ III opined that a blogger may express his views anonymously, which I disagree (with due respect). Both, however, agreed that a blogger must, to a certain extent exercise certain restraint so as not to be accused of libel or a criminal suit.
It is in this regard that I would like to call your attention to post I published in Pinoyblogosphere where I discussed the matter lengthily in my article entitled: ”The Right to Blog”.
“Freedom of expression” is one of the most sacred rights of every citizen guaranteed by the Constitution. We Pilipinos are freedom lovers and peace loving people. I adhere to MLQ III’s statement that so long as we honestly believe on what we are saying . . . so be it. Honesty and organization of thought shall compensate grammatical lapses, as he said. Let us not curtail these young people’s idealism. Let us not restraint their freedom to express, their desire for better future . . . their desire to participate and be heard thru the use of this modern technology. It is then the responsibility of people like us to guide them . . . to lead them . . . to nurture them – in a way our Grandparents and parent thought us. In a way we carry on the torch of freedom since our forefathers' time. Let the flame glow the world over. We already gained headway in digital film making, in tele-marketing . . . and now, in the new trend of media . . . influencing public opinion through responsible blogging!
Those who organized said forum - free from commercialism and exploitation, deserves everybody’s admiration.