Safety in the time of press freedom
I never got the chance to talk to her, all I knew was that she was the reigning Miss KBP – a pageant tailored for all the broadcasters as a jump-off to another pageant in time for the Press Freedom Week. She was more than just a pretty face, she had wit and charisma. Her personality summed up a bubbly disk jockey, which was her job on the side. I knew her as Maxi Bolongaita.
Last Thursday, her name rang a bell when the police received a report of a dead person in her apartment. I thought to myself that it can't be her. However, Maxi became a victim of a possible robbery-slay inside her own home in Barangay Busay. The suspect was apprehended by the authorities. He had wounds all over his body; a sign that struggle ensued inside the home he forcefully entered. However, that wasn't enough to bring justice to a life that he just took away.
How safe is Cebu for journalists? What transpired is very timely that we are in the middle of celebrating Press Freedom Week, a week intended to be thankful for the freedom that the media is enjoying after the dictatorship of Marcos. We remember the time when those who came before us were persecuted and other establishments closed because of Martial law. Now, the next generation of journalists are reaping the freedom that their forefathers worked hard to attain.
Maxi was one of us in this small industry and did not deserve her death in any way. She was an innocent person, who had a future ahead of her. Many of us feel that Cebu is no longer safe not just for those in the media industry, but for everyone else. How can an alleged deranged person who is said to be high on drugs be on the loose and on a motorcycle? For some reason he chose to get inside Maxi's house, an apartment with only a single person living in it.
I'm now in fear for my own safety as I ply the streets of Metro Cebu in my tinted car. How many more deranged people are out to extort us, or other people? Many innocent lives have been taken away because of the use of the illegal substances. For some reason, it is right to support the government's campaign to curb illegal drugs so people like the suspect in Maxi's killing will be put aside. They are also just victims of the vicious effects of shabu.
Maxi will never be forgotten – her smile, her face and the way she strutted in that long gown. Her size didn't affect her at all. She was a person who exuded both beauty and intellect. Maybe her case will be an eye-opener, not just to the media, but to people in authority as well that there is a need to go after this kind of people double time to avoid crimes like these. Maxi, may you rest in peace.
- Latest
