VP de Castro to address 2009 Media Press Summit

Vice President Noli “Kabayan” De Castro will address the 2009 Midyear Media Conference and 13th Executive Session on June 24 at the Makati Sports Club in Makati City.
A member of the Fourth Estate and a multi-awarded TV broadcaster before making his foray in public service, De Castro will speak before members of the community press attending the annual media summit hosted by the Publishers Association of the Philippines, Inc. (PAPI), which has “Media and the 2010 Elections: Challenges and Opportunities” for this year’s theme.
Participating members of the media includes publishers, broadcasters, editors, press club officers, including school campus journalists, public and corporate affairs executives, said PAPI President Juan P. Dayang.
Dayang said that as part of PAPI’s continuing advocacy, a community press leadership forum for candidates for president of the 2010 elections will be held as the main feature of the 2009 Midyear Media and Executive Sessions on June 24 at the Makati Sports Club with De Castro as among the guests together with other “presidentiables” for the May 2010 elections.
The forum will joined by prominent journalists from regions of Mindanao, the Visayas, and Luzon as panelists.
“Our country is at the crossroads of change and electing a new president is historic and of utmost importance. In more ways than one, the press in the provinces articulates the voice of the people in the countryside,” Dayang said as he stressed that the forum can effectively serve as a vital link in bridging the people’s expectations and the candidates’ intended program of government.
De Castro, in a statement said: “One again, the PAPI has responded well to the call of its time-honored role in democracy.”
He said it is significant that both elements are among the primary advocacies of PAPI thus reaffirming the organization’s role as a vanguard of press freedom in our country.
“As you hold your annual Executive Session and Midyear Conference, I take this opportunity to thank the leadership and members of PAPI for your continuing commitment to this role. Your presence is the guarantee that the rights and freedoms of every Filipino are upheld and viewed with the highest regard. I salute you,” De Castro stressed.
Meanwhile, Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno said the public deserves to know the issues and information about the candidates in the 2010 national election.
“It is only with sufficient information about the candidates can we say that the people are truly free to vote,” the Supreme Court chief magistrate said, adding, the dialogue with those seeking the presidency would benefit the people.
Through its press summit this year, Mr. Chief Justice Puno stated: “PAPI has once again accentuated its dynamism and idealism as a potent and unifying forces in helping strengthen the bonds of unity, progress and prosperity. The media plays a very important role in the lives of Filipinos across the nation--with this conference, the Filipino people is sure to benefit.”
Chief Justice Puno, who was guest of honor and inducting officer of PAPI at the Manila Hotel convention, pointed out that: “PAPI no doubt added more dept, meaning, and substance to a responsible exercise of freedom of the press as a keystone of our time-honored democratic values.”