One of the risks of being in the Fourth Estate, is that we can lose some friends.
But in our 54-year of service, to the community, there are no sacred cows. Maybe noisy bulls. We have long accepted these facts.

The Chronicle/DYRD group pulled no punches when we tangled with former city mayor Joe Torralba over issues of corruption at City Hall. We had differences over the fact that Governor Rico Aumentado was pushing for the release of BHIP-2 Bayongan Dam funds -on the legal front - when NEDA had condemned the project from the economic and moral standpoint. Governor Rico spent 15 years of his life as part of the editorial team of this paper.

We were appalled by the lack of budget for even gas for a motorboat to patrol the Panglao seas and the double-standard stance on issues on the environment (like oil exploration) vis-a-vis protecting the biodiversity of Panglao.The snipings were directed at Congressman Edgar Chatto of the First District and chair of the Tourism Commitee of the Lower House.

We tried to document the alleged fraudulent election returns favoring incumbent Congressman Adam Jala over former Governor Rene Relampagos during the 2007 elections.

Mayor Dan Lim of this city (in his Mayor's Report over our Station DYRD yesterday) even singled out former governors Constancio Torralba and Rene Relampagos as not having been spared the "merciless whip" of Media, particularly the Chronicle /DYRD Group until the end of their terms. Nonoy and Rene were close friends to us as can be- and remain so today.

In other words, we have a record of upholding public interest on issues involving the community no matter if friends are on the receiving end. And of course, we are not apologizing to anyone.

We discuss public issues and never on personalities. If ever there are personalities involved in the discussion, its simply because they are the very people who might be remissed in their trumpeted slogans as "public servants" which they claim during campaign and elections.

The Chronicle praised the feisty City Mayor for his cheap medicine, health insurance and the way he mercilessly scared the drug business out of the city streets on Day One of his office. We condemned the peace and order when crime went out of hand and praised the city when calm returned.

We front-paged the Mayor's city when voted as one of the best habitable cities among small ones according to the AIM (Asian Institute of Management) classification. And the iron-fist he showed against the squatters at sitio Ubos. And the fact that he reaches out to people through his radio program (only three times he was absent off the air over DYRD).

But the City Mayor has shortcomings -and he has to accept that. The public took him to task on the illegal connection to the city's drainage system and the waste water treatment facility.

Our concern for the drainage system has been evident since the time when the drainage outfall issue came out. The Editorial last Sunday was simply because that's how running issues and concerns are being handled in the media. If the Mayor's office questioned why the drainage problem has sustained exposure, it's because the discussion in solving it continues to evolve while the public still awaits its final solution.

But most of all, the drainage captured last Sunday's editorial of this paper because finally, the City Mayor took the cudgels to initiate the cutting of the illegal connectors.

He stated this during the coordination meeting presided over by the Gov. Erico Aumentado and again stated it during his Sept. 27 edition of Mayor's Report. (Now for another reason, the Mayor reportedly wrote the governor not to cut yet the illegal connectors until such time the project be turned over by the contractor to the city government - see news story this issue).

That major statement of the Mayor (after months of stonewalling the issue) and the Department of Environment & Natural Resources' directive were newsworthy and comment-worthy as well. We do not overstate things just to rehash an old issue. We simply keep a close watch on vital issues such as one that involves environment.

It is a common, deplorable mistake of politicians to attack the bearers of news rather than tackle the issue at hand. The Chronicle/RD merely relayed the message of the public clamor to cut the illegal connectors. No big deal, really. If only City Hall took it objectively. But that nothing has been done for two years now, its again - a fact and not fiction.

There is nothing personal when we discuss public issues and concern. This paper, after all. was not born out of a politicians' budget thus we can talk things with our heads straight up. If other papers are owned or supported by politicians, then the public can stand by the fact that we owe no politician - especially not Mayor Dan Lim -anything.

Public interest, to us, is above than any other interest.

If the voice of the people seems to contradict with the mind and belief of some politicians, then we can not force them to listen to the people. If they are hearing "other voices" from somewhere, that is their lookout. We deal with issues, not personalities. If the people involved in the issues are onion-skinned - that is mostly their problem , not ours.

We informed the Mayor much earlier that there are talks on misused of intelligence fund, illegal disbursements of funds, gambling or betting within city hall. But, this did not merit a space in the paper as we found no basis of them - unless an insider at City Hall- would leak us a validated information regarding these matters.

Secondly, we are non-politicians, thus, we will not bring out an issue just because we wish to discredit a public official nor, we are not here to be used by any politician. We know also that there are sectors displeased with this paper as we abhor prostitution of media. We assure every reader that the stories in this paper are borne out of the passion to serve the greater interest of the public and not of any politician.

Now Mayor Lim says his side has not been heard - yet he was issuing his bitter tirades against the management and staff of the Chronicle-DYRD- using the very radio facilities (Station DYRD, yesterday) he was cursing. Now, if that is not democratic space , we do not know what that is. In this Media institution, unlike in some City Halls, we not only preserve democracy, we also practice it.

So, to those onion-skinned public officials who do not like what they hear over Station DYRD or read in the Bohol Chronicle - by all means they can turn-off their radio or don't buy the newspaper, for goodness sake.

Our only beef is that they do not bribe or intimidate people from doing so because that is the old Dictator Marcos being localized - the unlamented fascist who bought or threatened those who stood on the way of his official arrogance and pride.

Are there sacred cows? In our avowed mission of serving public interest, we can't find that in our vocabulary.

THE ART OF INTIMIDATION

In his Mayor's Report aired over our Station DYRD yesterday, Mayor Dan Lim minced no words in his acerbic diatribes apparently against the Editor(s) of the Chronicle.

We can take as much as we can dish, but allow us some clarificatory points.

The Editor, especially on the local issues, writes an editorial pooled from the minds of management, staff, reporters and actual telephone calls to residents in the city from out of Manila. Besides, as the Mayor was in our inaugural broadcast, we can monitor in Manila the radio broadcasts over Station DYRD-AM (even live, if we wish) through the magic of our personal computers. Besides we have the Internet and the cellular telephones to communicate. So the world has shrank.

In short, the Editor-in-Chief, though based in Manila, can be as updated as any Boholano citiizen in the city or anywhere in the world through the magic of technology in communication. To deny this is to say that a TV editorial of the BBC in England on the Washington bail-out of US$ 700-Billion has no merit because the Editor is not in America. That's technological naivete.

The City Mayor Dan Lim calls it "parachute" journalism. Our foot.

Further, the Mayor refers to the Editor(s) as "self-righteous" because of our stand on the drainage and water treatment issue. The public had long agitated for disconnection of the 38 and the fast tracking of the water treatment facility for two years. The DENR and the DPWH had duet that they be cut-and the City Hall can do that with the DENR's help.

Governor Rico and Congress Chatto will carry the funding needs to Congress because they saw the need for these twin programs. The Mayor last week agreed to disconnect and even mentioned the applicable penalty and fees for disconnection.

The Mayor agrees with these agencies because they were "right." When the Chronicle editorializes -calling for the same cutting of the 38 - he brands it "self-righteous."?

The City Mayor chanced upon the Editor on a flight back to Manila last Saturday and were engaged then on a one hour chat. Mayor Lim talked in syrupy language and with back-patting about certain close people, his achievements, his plans and views and some heartaches. All we took in stride.

Mistaking our good nature and friendliness (during the chat) as agreement to all his theses and theories, the Mayor thought it "hypocritical" that the Chronicle still continued its pointed guarding on the developments regarding the burning issue of the drainage and water treatment facility during its Editorial the day after - last Sunday.

Allow us to tell the Mayor that even if the Emperor of the world were to talk to us for a week but we remain unconvinced about his position, we will still not praise his clothes in our Editorial if clearly he has no clothes.

Lastly, he let loose veiled threats about private "skeletons" in the closets about certain people and hinted about waging war against certain media personalities and institutions. To us private sins and failures, we owe that discussion to God and our loved ones - but public sins of omission, commission and arrogance, public officials must account to the public.

So are we afraid of these forms of intimidation -said in a form that is both without art and decency over the airwaves?

Yes, in fact were pissing in our jogging pants and our legs shaking underneath our tennis shoes when we heard the Mayor's Report over the radio. We turned pale that perhaps some goons might one day attack us while in the streets of Tagbilaran. We were frightened that our private sins might be known to be bigger than those of ordinary mortals. If you can catch the full import of our irony and sarcasm.

Our message is: let's bring it on.

For Comments: email to bingo_dejaresco@boholchronicle.com Or editor@boholchronicle.com