Empower people, Coloma tells journ graduates

MASS media practitioners have a major role in elevating public discourse and empowering the people, Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. told graduating students of the Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication in San Juan City on Monday.

“In the context of the present day Philippine realities what are your responsibilities as citizens and scholars? I want to suggest that to be truly relevant citizens, scholars must work purposively to become instruments for liberating our fellow Filipinos from the shackles of poverty and ignorance,” Coloma said in his commencement message.

To achieve this goal, Coloma cited three imperatives – that the graduates serve as channel for the propagation of communication for development or C4D; that they should work together to elevate the quality of public discourse; and that the students, being masters of their craft, serve as teachers, mentors and artists of encouragement.

Explaining the C4D as a dialogue or a social process, Coloma said this is where communities express their aspirations and concerns and community members participate in decisions that relate to their environment.

The role of media practitioners is to empower people in their communities to engage them in shaping their own destiny, Coloma said.

Report from Philippine News Agency