When we decided to join Dennis R. Racho Jr, now based in the US, as part of the skeletal staff of then Usec. Constancio C. Torralba of the transportation and communications ministry here in Bohol, we joined forces with Joseph G. Sevilla, now a retired general and the late Atty. Juanito Cambangay. While we were still connected as the news hunter of Station DYRD and the Bohol Chronicle, we joined Racho, Sevilla and Cambangay in strengthening the pro-Yes campaign during the plebiscite in 1987. After the 1987 Constitution was ratified in February of that year, Torralba was later on appointed as OIC governor of Bohol vice Victor de la Serna, then nemesis of Station DYRD and the Bohol Chronicle. Then and there, we joined Torralba's staff at the provincial capitol.

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We were appointed by Torralba as his confidential executive assistant at the Office of the Governor and at the same time, as supervisor of the Bohol Law Enforcement Communication System (BLECS). But we also anchored the radio program, Tagbilaran By Nite, of Station DYRD during night time. Officially, we were a government employee and at the same time a media man. In the local elections of 1988, a colleague in Station DYRD FM, Nelson Jabonite, known as “Sonny J” and now also based in the US, also joined me in being a media man and a government employee at the same time. When Torralba was defeated by David B. Tirol in the 1992 local elections, we still stayed at the Capitol as chief of staff of then City Councilor George Lao, the first president of the Philippine Councilor's League (PCL) and continued our media work.

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When David B. Tirol was governor of Bohol, one of his most trusted lieutenants was Lito Responte, who served as a reporter and anchorman over Station DYRD. There were many other media men who undertook the same route, being a media man and a government employee at the same time. When we became a city councilor in 2001, not only one but a dozen of politicians already have their mouthpieces over the print and broadcast media. The politicians bought bloc times in the radio and have their media staff connected with local newspapers. Prior to 2007 local elections, we already learned of paid hacks in the local print media and attack dogs, “tigpaghot”, known as bloc time commentators in the radio stations here, already paid by politicians who do not appear as government employees.

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When we were a government employee and a media man at the same time, we tried to maintain a balance in our broadcasts and “praise releases” but of course, these are all slanted in favor of our political patrons. Today, the situation is already muddled. Almost all media men both in print and broadcast media, represents to be independent but they received, in one way or another, favors from politicians including “envelopmentalism”aside from the fact that some of them are “dual citizens”, meaning a government employee and a media man at the same time. Worse, they are not officially listed in government payrolls but they dominate the “payolas” by local politicians.

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While there is no more argument against the fact that the local media nowadays is highly divided, nobody however will openly admit in their radio broadcasts or in news articles carrying their by lines in newspapers that they are working under a local politician. The problem is that they also receive the blessings of their station managers and their editors. In other words, almost all media practitioners here works under the baton of local politicians and their minions as long as they give more business to their media outlets. There is now a demarcation line whether you are a pro-Capitol or a pro-City Hall media practitioner or not. And the persecution starts from there.

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POSTSCRIPT: We used to transcribe the newscast of the late Harry Gasser over RPN's Channel 9, a government station. He then transferred to ABS-CBN in Cebu City. He died at the age of 76 last week….The poll body disclosed that new voters, 18 years old and above, have until May 6 to register including those registered voters without biometrics, and everyone wanting to update their voter records in preparation for the 2016 elections. As of today, there are around 8 million voters who do not have biometrics. Without it, these registered voters cannot cast their votes in the next political exercise. They are advised to go to the nearest COMELEC office in their locality…There's more when we come back.