Under President Rodrigo Duterte’s leadership I trust the draft charter crafted by a Constitutional Commission (Con-Com) envisioned by House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, composed of appointed morally upright and competent legal experts will strongly guide Congress, constituted as a Constituent Assembly that will revise our 1987 Constitution.
Alvarez’s choice of former Supreme Court Chief Justice Raynato Puno as ConCom chair further bolsters my faith. Since our student days to date, Puno has demonstrated uprightness and excellence in the service of Filipinos and our country. I’m confident Congress, as a Constituent Assembly, would not find difficulties in adopting the model charter the Con-Com will draft.
Among those considered for the ConCom are former Senate President Aquilino Pimentel Jr., lawyer Reuben Canoy, San Beda Law School Dean Fr. Ranhilio Aquino, Fr. Joaquin Bernas, Prof. Jack Jimenez, and representatives from non-government organizations, academe and other sectors nationwide.
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Media practitioners should properly contextualize President Duterte’s pronouncements given his colorful language, which are often misinterpreted.
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Manila Archbishop Luis Anhotnio Cardinal Tagle has named D. Edgard Cabangon, the enterprising and charismatic son of the late Ambassador Antonio Cabangon Chua, patriarch of the ALC Group of Companies which include media institutions, as Catholic Mass Media Awards (CMMA) Foundation chair to replace his late father. His appointment was attested to by Fr. Reginald Malicdem.
In 1999, Amba Tony as he was affectionately called, was appointed by His Eminence Jaime Cardinal Sin as CMMA Board of Trustees chairman and president, with this writer as Board secretary. Edgard, 50, is seen as following his father’s “saga of success.”
Other CMMA trustees and officers appointed by Cardinal Tagle are: Antonio Henson, vice chair; Philip Juico, treasurer; myself, board secretary; Ms. Rosie Lovely Romulo, Atty. Patricia Bunte, Ms. Ma. Evelina Atienza, Engr. Feorelio Bote, Antonio Cabangon, Jr., trustees; and Fr. Rufino Sescon, jr., executive director; Fr. Joselito Buenafe, over-all chairman of CMMA production; Benjamin Ramos, assistant to the chairman; and Fr. Hans Maguruland, judges’ coordinator.
Cardinal Tagle said the “Archdiocese of Manila recognizes the importance of mass media in the Church and society, and to further encourage media practitioners to promote the gospel and genuine human values, the CMMA was established.”
The 38th CMMA Night will be held Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2016 at the Star City Theatre, CCP Complex, Pasay City. CMMA secretariat 892-4779/867-4026. (Johnny Dayang)