“Life is unfair” – a frequently used phrase whenever we encountered hardships, failures, and rejections in our lives. We believed that it is to blame for our sufferings, our barrier from achieving our dreams and goals. Hence, it became our scapegoat and means of dealing with our unfortunate lives. Alas, as a youth of today, I am guilty of the offense because of certain instances that forced me to blame life for putting me in difficult situations, one of which is studying Development Communication as my course in college.

Never in my entire existence imagined myself as someone who speaks, who writes, for the welfare of our people. I am too shy and timid to utter even a word in front of a small group of people much less in front of thousands or millions of people. Unfortunately, life is complicated, which pushes us to make choices that involve sacrifice and willingness. That is when I started fearing for myself and my future. However, my perspective changed the moment I realized that what I am doing is wrong. I did not give DevCom a chance to prove itself to me and others as well. So, when I heard the stories of CDCAA outstanding alumni awardees, some of which have the same predicament as mine, I began appreciating DevCom as if it is a decision made with much thought and consideration.

Luckily, I still have a long way to go and a long time to explore other things of greater interest to me. Therefore, I still have time to discover my passion and career, including the path that I must take as I carry on with my journey on Earth. As such, I do not have to be afraid of trying new things because you will never know the promises that await your arrival. As Nicki Minaj said, “The night is still young and so are we,” hence, we should be brave to take a leap and face our fears because only then you will know your strength, capability, and your worth. We have plenty of time, so it is best to spend it by doing meaningful activities that might help change the world for the better.

Communication is our greatest tool in shaping development, understanding, and unity among people of diverse cultures. It is what led us to achieve our goals of providing service to our people and spreading awareness about issues that demand our immediate response. However, it became subject to actions that violate its purpose of serving and empowering the people. For this reason, communication rights have become a privilege attained only by those people who are rich and powerful. Thus, exploiting the rights of the people living in marginalized areas. To speak, there is individual progress, but no national progress, as Jose Rizal describes it.

Since communication is an important step in achieving development in our country, several solutions were laid out, and some of those are community broadcasting and digital or modern broadcasting. However, it is apparent today that digital broadcasting is the dominant medium for communicating and providing information to its audience. Hence, those people who do not have access to such tools are often left out about the recent and relevant issues concerning their livelihood and our country as well. Therefore, it prevents them from participating in national or community-based movements or activities that will help them improve their lifestyle. As Mr. Raymund Villanueva, Deputy Secretary-General, National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), and Director for Radio, Kodao Productions, stated during the forum, we have ‘narrow’ broadcasting in the Philippines that restricts the community in remote or marginalized sectors from accessing information.

That is why, as a development communicator-in-training, I wanted to maximize my resources in providing service to my fellowmen. Just like what Ms. Nathalie David-Dejero did, a radio host of DWWW 774kHz, who used community broadcasting as a tool to communicate her experiences and learnings as a nurse to attend to the needs of the people in marginalized areas. Therefore, I will be able to practice my right to communication and instill the mantra, “serve the people.”

I am afraid of what the future holds for me. I fear that I will become a failure. I fear the judgments or criticisms that people will throw at me. So when fate decided to put me here in Development Communication, I thought that life gave up on me. Because I never see myself as someone who can write and speak to influence and serve my people. All I know is that I am uncertain of my future career, and I believe that it is not the one for me. So, I felt like I am forced to take responsibility for something that I have no choice and control over.

But then, I started to realize the significance of DevCom, especially in furthering development across all boundaries. Then, I began to recognize that you do not have to be a great writer or speaker. What matters is you can serve your people with the best of your abilities not because you want to earn money but because you want to empower your people. To help them to stand after a fall and to help them understand and make a move in solving problems in our country. Hence, participation is important as Mr. Remsce Pasahol said, “collective effort” is needed to achieve development.

Furthermore, Ms. Toni Leyble mentioned that you do not have to stress yourself over your college life. She said that there is no wrong in failing, retaking a subject, or being delayed, as long as you learned something from it because these mistakes do not define or shape your success. Moreover, Prof. Trina Leah Mendoza showed how she was able to help a lot of people as a development communicator by teaching at the University of the Philippines, Los Banos, especially in the marginalized sectors of the country. Hence, this proves that DevCom goes beyond the horizons and discovers endless possibilities. Thus, I do not have to be afraid of accepting it as my course because maybe it is for me.

I am afraid of what the future holds for me. I fear that I will become a failure. I fear the judgments or criticisms that people will throw at me. So when fate decided to put me here in Development Communication, I thought that life gave up on me. Because I never see myself as someone who can write and speak to influence and serve my people. All I know is that I am uncertain of my future career, and I believe that it is not the one for me. So, I felt like I am forced to take responsibility for something that I have no choice and control over.

But then, I started to realize the significance of DevCom, especially in furthering development across all boundaries. Then, I began to recognize that you do not have to be a great writer or speaker. What matters is you can serve your people with the best of your abilities not because you want to earn money but because you want to empower your people. To help them to stand after a fall and to help them understand and make a move in solving problems in our country. Hence, participation is important as Mr. Remsce Pasahol said, “collective effort” is needed to achieve development.

Furthermore, Ms. Toni Leyble mentioned that you do not have to stress yourself over your college life. She said that there is no wrong in failing, retaking a subject, or being delayed, as long as you learned something from it because these mistakes do not define or shape your success. Moreover, Prof. Trina Leah Mendoza showed how she was able to help a lot of people as a development communicator by teaching at the University of the Philippines, Los Banos, especially in the marginalized sectors of the country. Hence, this proves that DevCom goes beyond the horizons and discovers endless possibilities. Thus, I do not have to be afraid of accepting it as my course because maybe it is for me.

With that, I told myself to keep going and be strong for my future myself and my future country. For me to help myself discover that missing piece that will enable me to live without regrets and with new beginnings.

The Philippines is known as one of the countries that have an abundant source of natural resources. For this reason, farming and fishing became our main source of income and food. Unfortunately, our farming industry, particularly rice farming, is dying due to the implementation of Rice Tarrification Law. As stated by Ca Eddie, a farmer in the region of Timog Katagalugan, the price per kilo of ‘palay’ has severely decreased due to the import of foreign rice. Hence, the rice farmers’ livelihood is significantly affected that they are willing to choose death over bullet than death over hunger because of the repressive government in our country. Furthermore, he stated that there will be no progress if Rice Tarrification Law continues.

Attorney Neri Javier Colmenares, a human rights lawyer, and activist, even stated that the promise of President Duterte to give free land for farmers did not materialize. Adding that the passing of Rice Tarrification Law is never the solution to the country’s agricultural problem in his speech, “Lulumpuhin ng foreign rice ang ating sector ng magsasaka.” Furthermore, he believed that students who are protesting for the rights and welfare of the farmers should not be construed as persons whose intentions are to overthrow the government. For him, those people have a basis for their protest, and the real problem is the intolerance of President Duterte. Particularly, in the state-sponsored killings and repressing of people in his term.

In the end, it is not only the farmers who suffer but everybody else living in this country. If our farmers are gone, we will no longer have food security. Thus, foreign countries will rule over us, for they can dictate the price as high as they want. Hence, we will never be on par with developed countries. We will always be below them. Always helpless, in jeopardy, because of the wrong decisions that we make.