UPLB DevCom Student Council to Imee: Dev't comm relevant because of Marcoses
Senator Imee Marcos' description of development communication as "largely debunked and old-fashioned" did not sit well with the University of the Philippines-Los Banos College of Development Communication Student Council.
"We would like to remind the Senator that DevCom is a recognized field of study and practice that shapes agents of change who can help optimize the potentials of communication media, models, and strategies to raise social awareness and consciousness on issues that affect them," the UPLB-CDCSC said in a statement on Tuesday night.
"It is politicians like Imee Marcos and her family, especially her corrupt parents, who have made DevCom relevant then and now," it added.
The DevCom discipline values communication as a strong social and cultural force that can help catalyze and facilitate change, according to the student council.
The UPLB-CDCSC also brought to the fore the alleged atrocities committed during the Martial Law regime of the late president Ferdinand Marcos, the father of the senator.
"Marcos’s Martial Law even deprived people of their right to organize, leaving progressive and proactive Filipinos to go underground to campaign for the peoples’ liberation from tyranny and fight for democracy," it said.
"We also find it fitting that Senator Marcos be reminded of her role as the director of the Kabataang Barangay (National Youth Council) in the death of Archimedes Trajano—that Trajano’s critical question addressed to her in an open forum got him thrown out the forum, beaten by guards, and reportedly cost his life," it added.
The student council underscored that the impunity allegedly being enjoyed by the Marcoses and the culture of muting legitimate dissent should serve as reminders of the relevance of development communication in the country.
"As a nation heavily beset with poverty, social inequality, inadequate social services, and corrupt political dynasties, the call for the strengthening of DevCom as a field of study and practice must be amplified. DevCom has never been more relevant, especially now that our nation suffers from a health crisis," it said.
It further pointed out that it was actually development communication scholars who crafted the first distance learning models in the country.
The senator's supposed "detachment from the social realities" of the country made her ignorant of the crucial contributions of development communication discipline, the student council said.
On Tuesday, during a budget hearing, Marcos questioned the Philippine Information Agency's proposed development communication program.
"DevCom, even as a subject taught in universities, has been largely debunked. Hindi na siya uso eh. Wala na ngang course 'yan sa iba't ibang eskwelahan. Bakit papasok tayo sa DevCom unless we have a really revolutionary idea na bagong bago na involves all kinds of feedback mechanisms, transparency efforts and interactive play?" she asked.
PIA Director-General Ramon Cualoping III asserted that development communication is crucial in the agency's mandate to connect with the grassroots.
"From our point of view, development communication is very relevant especially in this time and age where communication has been democratized because of the internet where everyone has the power to create his or her own content," he said.
Based on the National Expenditure Program, P231.9 million will be spent by the PIA for its development communication program out of its total proposed P317.6 million budget for 2021.
Marcos requested the agency to submit to the Senate panel the components of this program.
GMA News Online reached out to Marcos' office to get her response to the UPLB-CDCSC's statement but has yet to receive a response as of posting time.—AOL, GMA News