Odds and Ends 9/14/10

Media people can also be held accountable for bungled hostage rescue

Media admit lapses in Manila hostage coverage (breaking news)

MANILA, Philippines. After four hours of hearing, executives of media organizations finally admitted committing "major, major" lapses in their coverage of the August 23 hostage-taking that left eight Hong Kong tourists and the hostage-taker, a dismissed police officer, dead.
... In the end, Soho and Ressa insisted on self-regulation instead of a law that would regulate the media.

Just as I thought (as did most people).

The tough question to answer is -- how long does one realize and admit what was right and what was wrong? 22 days? More likely 22 days and 4 hours of congressional hearing. At least the media committed to self-regulation. Just imagine if self-regulation was the norm in this world. We would then have minimal need for police regulation and it would be a harmonious, peaceful world. On the other hand, imagine taking away self-regulation, and combine it with police that does not regulate for whatever reason. Uhm...no need to imagine.
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Arroyo bill seeks to get tough on drunk driving

MANILA, Philippines. Former president Gloria Macagapagal-Arroyo now wants her successor to get tough at drunk drivers.

Arroyo, representative of the second district of Pampanga, has refiled a bill early seeking stricter penalties on DUI and/or DWI offenders, which stand for driving under the influence of alcohol and driving while intoxicated, respectively.

Another instance in a country where the common phrase "mahigpit na ipinapagbabawal" so sticks out as an ironic oddity. I am certainly strongly against DUI/DWI, but isn't drunken driving already covered by existing laws? Just how would the police catch these drunken drivers? By observing motorist behavior on the road and accosting those who appear to drive like drunks?. If that is the case, then I think the majority of the jeepney, taxi drivers (and those arrogant SUV and BUS drivers) I meet on the road are dizzy-drunk. Those guys routinely drive like lunatics and cause severe accidents, even without a drop of alcohol in their bloodstream. A 2008 DOH report mentioned road accidents as the fourth leading cause of death in the Philippines, but attributed those to many factors while DUI/DWI was never even mentioned even as a minor causal. I have no issue with the noble intention of Congresswoman Arroyo, but there is also the additional issue of the authorities having enough breathalyzers (and common sense) to reasonably implement this or any type of proactive road safety program. For one thing, we need to buy enough breathalyzers if we are really serious about this. Hmm, I hope some people are not bound to make a killing.
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