‘Ako Media’ Formally Registers at Comelec Manila

Cebu-based party-list group “Ako Media” formally filed its registration at the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) office in Manila last week. The group, with media personalities from the Visayas, Mindanao and Luzon, hopes to have a seat in congress in the coming 2016 elections.

Paulus Marae Cañete, owner and proprietor of Mandaue City College, last week revealed this matter as he guested in the Tapok-Tapok of Cebu Media at the Cebu Business Hotel.

Cañete said the registration was made last week following his submission of all documents.

“The next thing I’ll do is to convene all media men and women in Cebu, Davao and Metro Manila to select the best possible representatives from the tri-media such as radio, print and television to represent Ako Media Party-list in Congress, once it wins,” Cañete said.

Cañete did not set the date yet of the said convention.

But he added that during the gathering, he will get the pulse of the majority of whom they think will be the best media member who can be reliable and trustworthy when it comes to proposing bills beneficial to all media members in the country.

Earlier, Cañete showed his discouragement over of death media members without gaining any help from the government due to lack of representations in congress.

“There were no specific laws crafted to uplift their basic salary and benefits standard which are supposedly exclusive to all media members alone,” Cañete said.

“The works of media is difficult which requires them to pass training and seminars, and even qualifying tests before they are hired”, Cañete pointed out.

He even said that media people, who are responsible in any forms of information they imparted, should be recognized by the government as they are basically the transmission point of all information needed both by the public and the government.

“But due to lack of proper laws and policies in favor of media people, there is no transparent and apparent policies to augment their basic way of life, so that they die as nothing,” Cañete said.

Cañete said he felt sad about the welfare of media people especially when they retire from the job with nothing beneficial to get from their service.

He said this is the reason why he voluntarily moved to create Ako Media party-list, hoping that through this, all media people would have one voice.

Cañete himself has voluntarily shouldered all finances needed in the registration process of Ako Media party-list at the Comelec.

“So during the 2016 elections Ako Media party-list should be known to all voters in the Visayas, Mindanao and Luzon by means of media members who go on air their news regarding Ako Media, every now and then,” Cañete said.