LOCAL offices of the Philippine National Police are regularly equipped with police blotters. Maintaining such type of record is a must for it chronicles the hourly details on incidents that occur in every locality.
As such, are entries recorded in the police blotters in all the local government units in the country not public record?
And if truly considered public record, are items written therein can not be subjected to scrutiny by ordinary citizens?
Short Cuts is of the honest belief that entries in a police blotter are public record. Hence, everyone has the right to look into the details written therein.
Especially so, if the scrutinizer is a news reporter!
This issue came into light when the Chief of Police of Iriga City in Luzon locked into prison a news reporter.
Reason for such an action of the police officer?
The news reporter looked into and scrutinized the Police Blotter of the same locality!
And kindly take note, that was the only ‘infraction’ commited by the news reporter!
As a consequence, the same Chief of Police was ‘sinibak’ from his position.
Pure and simple, it was ignorance of the law. To Short Cuts, he has no business staying longer in his office for any other seconds or minutes.
***
Effective this school year 2023 – 2024, Good Manners and Right Conduct (GMRC) is now made a mandatory subject in the public schools.
This was announced by DepEd only last week.
To Short Cuts, this is a welcome development. But to him, this action by the Department of Education has long been overdue. This could have been made two or three decades ago.
As observed, the attitude, behavior, and actuations exhibited by majority of our youth today who were then grade school pupils some twenty or thirty years ago clearly manifest the utter lack of good behavior.
And, this is supposed to have been learned during their grade school days!
This behavior and actuations are not only shown to their respective parents and relatives but also to anyone.
Before, it was customary and ordinary for a child to address “Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening” to someone he meets on a street. But these days seldom can you ever hear these words again.
Not even from matured individuals!
It seems that respect to one another had already lost its value.
But, with the mandatory offering of Good Manners and Right Conduct in the grade schools, is change in behavior and attitude among our youth in the offing?
