Media Law: Yolanda death toll: NDRRMC bureaucratic requirement for the dead to be counted as fatality
Some students (from previous semesters) suggest that essay questions be added to the “objective” questions of exams.
“Essay” questions however are not any easier: examinees who fail to provide any legal basis to the answers beyond saying, generically, “human rights are being violated!!” get zero points.
Here is the BONUS QUESTION FOR THE DEC. 11 EXAM; the examinee has 24 hours from the Nov.- 27-discussion on right of access (we will discuss right of access, so you have 24 hours from then), or up to Nov. 28 at 7pm to post your answer.
The examinee may post the answer in his/her own platform (FB, Tumblr, Blogspot, WordPress) and paste the hyperlink in the comments section here; or may type up the answer in the comments section of this space; or may email it to R addressed to me. You may use either your real name/ student number or pseudonym – in the case of the latter, inform R of your real name.
For five points to be credited as bonus of the Dec. 11 exam (therefore, on Dec. 11, instead of 15 points as bonus, only 10 points max will be provided in the bonus section), you may type in your answer to the following “essay” question (please provide the arguments for the three parties, as stated below):
The NDRRMC, after imposing a gag order on government employees involved in NDRRMC operations, announced last Nov. 22 that the death toll from Typhoon Yolanda would be based on the combined certification of the mayor and the municipal health officer, and not on actual bodies retrieved, and therefore tolled the death toll at 4,198 Nov. 22. This Saturday, the death toll of 5,235 has remained unchanged despite bodies being unearthed everyday.
“(When) Asked why the recorded number of fatalities remained the same despite reports of bodies being retrieved in Tacloban City and other areas, he (the NDRRMC spokesperson) said Interior Secretary Mar Roxas had directed local chief executives to submit official reports duly signed by the mayors or governors to the NDRRMC.
“ “The reports are coming in trickles. Although there are reports that more bodies are being recovered, so far we have yet to receive [official] reports from local chief executives,” he said. “ (inquirer.net)
A netizen took to task the government officials (members of the Liberal Party) who imposed a gag order and are enforcing an “only- certifiably-dead” death-toll-policy, and said it was a violation of the right of access. A follower of the Liberal Party answered that the right of access applies only to records.
For the examinees:
1.Argue for the netizen and provide the legal basis.
2.Argue for the NDRRMC and the Liberal Party in enforcing the policy and provide the legal basis.
3.Argue for the apocalyptic believer that the retrieved bodies cannot be counted as dead because under the “28 days dead gestation” principle, the bodies are still within the zombie zone.
Discover more from marichulambino.com
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
http://comm120answer.tumblr.com/post/68354747639/answers
2012-60269
LikeLike
2010-34870
http://twitlonger.com/show/n_1rsfab0
LikeLike
http://c120wed.tumblr.com/post/68355145217/to-prof-marichu-lambino-c120-bonus-question-1
LikeLike
Comm 120
Aquino, Rica Angela (201179130)
The right of access allows every individual, a citizen of a country, the right to view public records. However, the right of access does not give freedom to anybody to give information without authority because while the law recognizes the right to access, it also has the obligation to give true and correct information. The netizen
The NDRRMC and the liberal party, being both the governing group and the most credible organization trusted to give out public information. If other groups will also be giving numbers regarding the death toll, there will be a source of conflict to the public. There will be miscommunication between the trusted governing body composed of the mayors or governors, whom are entrusted by DILG secretary Mar Roxas should only be the source of the death toll.
The apocalypse belief that the body isnt considered dead until after 28days and today, the Yolanda typhoon is still in its 3rd week and so the apocalyptic believer who believes that these bodies are still in the zombie zone until after 28 days and still cannot be counted. Thus, the believers do not rely on the body count death toll given by the NDRRMC.
LikeLike
Comm 120 Bonus Question: http://tessalonicag.tumblr.com/post/68355326922/comm-120
LikeLike
2011-00873
1.Argue for the netizen and provide the legal basis.
-The right of access allows citizens the access to official public records which are defined to be documents in the custody of the government. Technically speaking, in this case, the those dead bodies which were not recorded are not part of that law and so, the netizen can’t really claim their right to access the information. Also it is said that for documents to be released, the matter should be of public interest, since those that were not part of the body count were unidentifiable, the purpose of releasing it for the public was defeated sine even if they relese the number, the people looking for their relatives still won’t be able to identify their family members.But if the number of those unidentified bodies was recorded, even if they were not classified under the “dead” category, the netizen had the right to access it.
2.Argue for the NDRRMC and the Liberal Party in enforcing the policy and provide the legal basis.
-The NDRRMC and the Liberal Party was correct in saying that the right of access only applied to official records. And since the number of unidentified bodies was not included in their official record, then they had the right to deny access to it. Also, they have to make sure that the documents that they release are 100% accurate since if they don’t, they might misinform the citizens and cause more damage.
3.Argue for the apocalyptic believer that the retrieved bodies cannot be counted as dead because under the “28-days-dead” principle, the bodies are still within the zombie zone.
-If the person has this notion, then its alright since these people have the right to believe what they want to believe. But even so, the government still have to follow the standard procedure of how to count a person as dead. But if the person really truly believes in the 28 days dead principle, then he/she can just ignore the report for now and consider the number given by the NDRRMC as true after 28 days.
LikeLike
Yolanda death toll: how official is the official count?
1. Netizen
The people has right of access to (1) any information of public concern, so long as (2) there is no law declaring the information as confidential.
Should any of us demand to know the real number of dead bodies retrieved in Tacloban, then the government should not deny knowledge that is in their hands.
The “rules” that they use in the inclusion or exclusion of a dead body in the count are not statutes. They cannot use these rules as an excuse to cover up what the devastation that came to this country.
In the first place, why do they need to qualify the “dead” as dead, as if their remains are not enough to qualify another precious life that’s been claimed.
In the first place, why are they establishing these rules? I don’t see the point unless they are trying to make the impression that the death toll is lower. And for what reason? So that the government preserve its image in terms of readiness?
We cannot take away right of people to know. Furthermore, the right of the press to report what they know. Under the SHIELD LAW, it is stated that a reporter is free to disclose any information at hand unless security of the state is concerned. In this case, there is no threat to security. In fact, revealing real death toll may direct attention of other countries and our country itself towards the gravity of the situation and how much the survivors need help in coping up.
One cannot say that this will invade right of privacy because identity of the people killed because of Yolanda were not necessarily revealed. Cheating the numbers is like bypassing that these people once lived, is like bypassing the devastation brought about by the typhoon Yolanda.
What for is news if it is lying to us?
2. NDRRMC and the Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is in the position to enforce these policies as a way of ensuring accuracy of records. The documents of the NDRRMC will be tagged as “official” count and therefore it is only proper to keep it official by following through proper procedure.
There is no statute preventing them from doing this.
Yolanda death toll is not included in the list of public records under right of access. If people want to have information on the real count, then it is at their own expense. The Liberal Party is not preventing them from releasing their own numbers.
3. Retrieved bodies cannot be counted as dead because under the “28 days dead gestation” principle, the bodies are still within the zombie zone.
The laws of the zombies are different from humans. The NDRRMC and the Liberal Party along with the netizen is missing on this very crucial fact.
They have failed to acknowledge that zombies have their own government too. Before counting the bodies as dead, they must consult with the leader of the zombies whether they are violating any zombie right including the right to be.
Counts will improve dramatically if they separate dead bodies from zombies.
LikeLike