Quezon City, Malabon unveil media initiatives

MANILA, Philippines —  Media and information literacy (MIL) roadmaps have been unveiled by Quezon City and Malabon officials.

At Tuesday’s Philippine Media and Information Literacy Conference, Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte and Malabon Mayor Jeannie Sandoval presented their initiatives to foster critical thinking in schools and promote responsible communication.

In Quezon City, debate competitions in public schools will be launched in cooperation with The New York Times Company.

“When I was talking to schools division superintendents, we found out that there were no debates in public schools. They are not trained in the mechanics of debating,” Belmonte told The STAR.

“It’s a waste if that doesn’t exist. You’re just building a generation of zombies,” she added. “We want to build debate teams in all public schools in Quezon City.”

Belmonte vowed to establish one public library in every barangay, noting that only 34 of 142 villages in the city have a library.

In Malabon, Sandoval plans to open an MIL corner in all 21 barangays in the city.

Quezon City and Malabon have been named pilot MIL cities by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

As part of UNESCO’s MIL Cities Network in the Asia-Pacific region, Quezon City and Malabon will engage with other cities to ensure that MIL is integrated into their communities.