Susan’s Notes
By Susan Palmes-Dennis
ROCKINGHAM, North Carolina—For democracy to work in government—any government in the world unless it’s a dictatorship or a monarchy—a credible and consistent watchdog must be in place.
This watchdog thing is not new since as early as 1863 in the US there were watchdog groups set up to combat rampant defense contract fraud. These watchdog groups like the National Consumers League (1899) are driven by their own advocacies and they became part and parcel of US governance.
Watchdog groups or people are needed now more than ever especially in the age of social media where fake news spread fast and wide. By watchdog groups I mean those not only coming from the media sector, academe and Church. The more the merrier I say and their existence will most likely pressure government officials into being honest and working more for the welfare of their constituents.
In Cagayan de Oro City, there is this group called Lihok Kagay-an that I have been following and I want to know the local news as well as the take of opinion makers through their comments on posts made by Lihok Kagayan in their Facebook page. And some of the comments can get really nasty considering the penchant of Pinoys to freely ventilate their sentiments from the safety and comfort of their homes.
Through Lihok Kagay-an’s Facebook page I got to know about the progress of some projects of the city, province and the nation—though most of the time it is always about the city which is understandable because of its name. And it is doing its job I guess based on the feedback from City Hall’s information office which responds point by point to complaints it raised ranging from unfinished projects to unpaid job order employees.
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Probably the only thing I think that’s keeping more Kagay-anons from reading and following Lihok Kagay-anon’s posts is due to the unverified accusations leveled by the local administration that the group is associated with the previous mayor Oscar Moreno. True that Lihok Kagay-an originated during (?) or before the 2025 elections and most of their stinging criticisms were targeted at Mayor Rolando ‘Klarex’ Uy’s administration.
But anyway, the point I’m raising is that even if Lihok Kagay-an is proven to be run by Moreno’s camp or some other group critical of the current City Hall leadership, the public should welcome it as it is through this entity that transparency, accountability and public service is delivered. Right now, I’m sorry to say this but based on what I’ve followed so far the majority of the local media is neutered when it comes to covering the Klarex administration.
As to why this is so, I have to credit Mayor Klarex’s in house media handlers for this since a lot of them previously worked in the local media industry. They did their homework well, but every now and then there are exceptions such as Radio Mindanao Network (RMN) where I used to work as news director (ahem). Then there are the vloggers who function more like PR practitioners but that’s another story.
Incumbent local officials should welcome its existence if they are sincerely committed to their mandate of serving the people. And to be fair Lihok Kagay-an’s criticisms are not based solely on testimonials from disgruntled former and current employees but also on verified sources such as local media on the status of the Carmen barangay health center—a project that was supposed to be completed in 2024 or 2025 but remains a skeletal absurdity to this day.
What makes watchdog groups like Lihok Kagay-an important to the public, specifically the Kagay-anons is that they provide balance and insight in an otherwise sanitized, curated and echo chambered coverage of developments in City Hall. I say let the Kagay-anons decide on their merits and not just because it is being accused of being run by the Moreno camp.
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The British government’s decision to ban social media use for minors came before the events of the tragic Tacloban school shooting that left three dead—all students—and several injured. The perpetrators were one 14 year old and one 15 year who somehow managed to secure pistols and without provocation, began shooting randomly at school. There were speculations that they were bullied but it has not been verified.
What was reported however was that they were fond of gun violence and the online game GoreBox that depicted graphic gun violence and dismemberment. Not being a gamer myself, I looked online and found similar first person shooter games like Half Life and Counter Strike that looked realistic but not as graphic and they have their rabid fans, mostly teenagers and even adults who know better.
I would have to write more about this incident since it spawned debates on the lowering of the age for minor offenders to 10 years old as proposed by Senator Robinhood Padilla. The PNP leadership is amenable to lowering the age to 12 years of age while President Bonbong Marcos Jr. is open to lowering the age of accountability but is leaving that debate to Congress for deliberation and to fine tune in into a proposed amendment.
What I am concerned about is whether lowering the age of accountability will make a difference in prosecuting and cracking down on violence perpetrated by underage offenders. There will be pros and cons in this argument and I’ll try to sift through the arguments and counter-arguments in this proposal. We have to admit though that the Tacloban school shooting is quite the exception, albeit a very tragic one at that.
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