Pampanga press displays optimism, hope in photos
The Pampanga Press Club photos aim to uplift the spirit of optimism and hope, highlighting the resilience of the province in coping up against the global pandemic. (Jag Lyra Costamero/PIA 3)
By Jag Lyra D. Costamero
CLARK FREEPORT ZONE, Pampanga, June 2 (PIA) — Pampanga Press Club (PPC) is staging a photo exhibit geared in upholding optimism and hope.
Dubbed as “Pampanga in COVID-19 Pandemic”, the display highlights the stories of the province on 60 photos taken by PPC members during their coverage since the pandemic.
PPC Executive Vice President Noel Tulabut underscored that the photos zoom in the resilience of the nation in conquering struggles, and its ability to cope up against a global crisis.
“We, not only as Kampampangans, but also having one nation and one race, could survive. We could fight a pandemic such as this. We have proven this from the past disasters we stood upon. We had faced the Pinatubo crisis, the earthquakes, and the strong typhoons, but we persisted,” he pressed.
Tulabut stated that the exhibit is the PPC’s contribution to uplift spirits, and promote unity across all sectors in fighting and managing the pandemic.
It is free of admission and is ongoing at the SM City Clark from May 29 until June 4; at the SM City Pampanga from June 12-18; and at the SM City Telabastagan from June 26-July 2.
As the project manager, Tulabut emphasized that the exhibit is also an honor to journalism and media which are among the hard-hit industries in the current crisis.
“We have seen how tough it is for journalists to work in the midst of a global pandemic. Despite the personal effects on us, we realized that we are not the only ones. Others are also devastated, of course as what we’ve seen in the news, many have lost their jobs, or lost hope, lost their lives, or their loved one’s lives, and others even lost their sanity because of this crisis,” he said.
Relative to this, the press club has assisted its member and non-member journalists whose jobs were affected by the pandemic by soliciting aid from various agencies and companies.
On the other hand, PPC is rallying on the vital role of media in providing accurate, relevant, and meaningful reports as the pandemic is fueling “fake news”, which is one of the biggest foes of journalism.
“Information plays a vital role in disasters like this pandemic. This also means that we should not believe in ‘fake news’. How do we do that? The PPC, since the very beginning, advocates to the public to listen, watch, and read only from legitimate media outlets,” Tulabut said.
The vice president also advised to follow newspaper outlets and websites, broadsheets and tabloids, television stations, and radio and broadcast stations for fact-checking as social media evolves to be pervasive.
With this, Tulabut mentioned that the PPC is eyeing to revive its training program for broadcasting, journalism, and communication and information practice.
“As an industry, we want to impart our knowledge to budding journalists, and student journalists. We would also involve those in the information practice such as the information officers of the government, and the corporate sector, as our practices are one family,” he detailed.
The press club targets to provide training and webinars through video teleconferencing for this endeavor. (CLJD/JLDC-PIA 3)
