Members of the community media of the Publishers Association of the Philippines, Inc. (PAPI) honored Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo during the association’s 14th mid-year media conference and executive session of publishers and editors held at the Ayala and Dasmariñas Halls of the Makati Sports Club in Makati City on June 23─24.
According to PAPI Prexy Juan P. Dayang, the former chief executive’s special tribute is “in recognition of her consistent support for the community media which she formally institutionalized by issuing Presidential Proclamation No. 1187 in 2007”.
The proclamation declares December every year as the “National Press Congress Month and the Month of the Community Press in the Service of the Nation”. It also designates PAPI as the lead agency for the nationwide annual media event observance.
At the Parangal at Pasasalamat to Arroyo, Dayang acknowledged the former president’s “exemplary performance and accomplishments in related fields of public governance, particularly in infrastructure development and growing economy, among others”.
Aside from Arroyo, the association honored two other outstanding women: Presidential Adviser on Culture and Arts and National Artist Cecile Guidote-Alvarez and Coney Helgen, president of the Red Coconut Beach Resort in Boracay.
Dayang said that the association’s recognition for Alvarez “is also meant to highlight PAPI’s role in promoting public awareness, through the community media, on the Filipino cultural heritage and the arts” while that for Helgen “aims to stress on the grassroot media’s contribution to tourism promotion”.
Publishers, editors, writers, and broadcasters from all over the country including PCARRD, a new member of PAPI, participated in the said event themed “Media, new governance, new challenges”. Representing the Council were staff members of its Applied Communication Division.
Incidentally, PCARRD’s membership in PAPI is part of its media advocacy for science and technology on agriculture, forestry, and natural resources sectors in the countryside.
PAPI is one of the oldest and biggest media associations in the country today. Its membership has expanded to include not only newspaper publishers, but also editors, reporters, broadcasters, corporate public affairs executives, and government information officers.
PAPI has a regular membership of about 1,200 publishers with some members having two or more publications with separate areas of coverage and circulation in the countryside. In addition, it has about 1,700 associate members.