Day 59: Community Quarantine

     ABS- CBN- I heard that 13 senators filed a bill giving the network a temporary provisionary franchise until June 30, 2022.

   What is this? I am not pro ABS nor am I anti ABS, I am pro sanity. This provisional franchise is insane. If congress and the Senate are against the shutdown as ordered by the NTC, and are for the continued operation of the network, then approve the franchise bill. That's it. Fine. Done.

    Why prolong the drama?  Why the two years? A period to think about it? Isn't six years enough? 

     If they are for closing down the network for whatever reasons, then do it. Close it down. Fine. Done.

    The Lopez subsidiary has been lobbying both chambers for six years to get their license granted yet nothing happened. The bills are shelved for reasons that are not really reasonable. The franchise expired and NTC released a ceases and desist order, no franchise no broadcast.

    The network, maybe tired of being passed around played like a ball, has finally filed a case before the supreme court.

   Out of respect for the legal process, it's time for the legislators to keep quiet and let the interpreter of the law decide.

     I think many politicians are taking their time, enjoying the networks predicament. They are secretly revelling at it. It's the revenge they longed for, but at the same time they also know that it is short lived. They can not legally deny the franchise because there never were reasons to. 

   It's a game. Everyone in government is in on it. The network knows that they are being power tripped on by the people that they have offended in the past.

    The network is not immaculate. I think it's also time for ABS-CBN to avoid dipping its hands into politics especially elections. Media are reporters, not king makers.

   As for me, with or without. I have Netflix.

   WEBINAR- Yesterday was the first day of our webinar on Open Educational Resources (OER).  The first topic was an instructional class on Kotobee Author, an E- Book app.

   It's not that difficult to learn because the menu icons are similar with those from Windows office apps and the lay out of the controls are not that far off either. Maybe the designers of these apps have some sort of architecture that they follow, like in how the hardwares are laid out. 

   It may take time to get the hang of it,  but it is intuitive and there are condensed instructional videos available on Youtube for reference. 

   It's just a software. It is garbage in, garbage out. The teachers' training and skills in writing and contextualizing learning materials is still what counts.

    CLASSROOM- Given the choice between teaching in the physical classroom and the on-line classroom, I am inclined to opt for the former. Of course the chances of catching the virus is high but I am more concerned that the clearly defined demarcation between work and home will disappear with online teaching.

   The home is the inner sanctum and should not be violated.

   Of course, I can say this because my work is about ten minutes away ride from home, but if I were working in Makati or Manila, I would definitely be saying the opposite.

   GET ME OUT OF THIS TRAFFIC, I WANT TO WORK AT HOME!

What the "F" is that all about?: My take on ABS closure

     I saw Kim Chiu expressing how she felt about the closure of ABS-CBN. She was very emotional and like anyone else whose emotions is on high gear, critical thinking takes a back seat. The intellect is overwhelmed and drowned by the fire and the smoke of the passion, overpowered, waiting for heat to die down, before standing up to clear up the head and extinguish the flash of insanity, and start the engine of thought running.

   The next day, Kim apologized for her poor analogy.

   I understand the anger, threatened with the loss of  income, I would rant too. But at the end of the day, nothing is accomplished. What has been set by the gods cannot be changed. 

    But what is the issue all about? To Kim and her peers in the industry, it's a personal and economic issue. To the believers of Quiboloy, it is the wrath of their appointed God brought upon the blasphemous Vice Ganda and the network.

   This cease and desist order have divided the Filipinos into different camps political, network loyalties, pro-poor anti rich, human rights, etc. as if their existence and subistence are umbilically connected to the network.

   I am no lawyer but my understanding of the law is simplistic and may even be naive to the more knowledgable in it's intricacies. But the law is blind (lady justice winked at me). The law is to be obeyed. It is written in letters, in black and white, becuase the letters do not have empathy, do not exhibit sympathy. The "spirit of the law" , in reality, is invented to break a law a little at a time to favor the favored.

   The issue here is how the law has been emasculated by wrong practice. The law is clear, no franchise, no boradcast. The defense made by the network and it's supporter is that in the past, other networks have benefitted from grace periods given by the NTC.

   The question then is, is the practice of giving grace period legal? Did it override the law? Former Chief Justice made it clear: tradition or practice is not law. It cannot supercede a law.  

   What happened to the network epitomizes what is wrong with our legal and justice system, inconsistent and discriminatory.