[New-imc] Results of the imc-pilipinas open public meeting

[Anthony Ian M. Cruz]

Results of the Open Public Meeting
Indymedia-Pilipinas 

Date and Time: August 13, 2003; 5:40 pm 

Venue: Vinzon's Hall Lobby, University of the
Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City

Attendance: Alex, Aubrey, Tonyo, Hetty, Dennis
(observer)

The meeting began with Tonyo moderating.

*** First order of business: Principles of Unity
(please see Annex A) ***

After a brief discussion, Tonyo asked if there
are objections to the Principles of Unity. There
being none, the said draft was adopted as the
Principles of Unity of Indymedia-Pilipinas.

*** Second order of business: Editorial Policy
***

Alex was asked to write a draft with Aug. 15 as
the deadline. Alex accepts.

*** Third order of business: Collectives ***

It was proposed that the working team of editors,
writers and techies of Indymedia Pilipinas be
named the "Plaridel Collective" in honor of
Marcelo H. del Pilar, the finest propagandist in
the first national-democratic revolution.

It was agreed that there will be two smaller
collectives: Editorial and Tech.

Volunteers for the Editorial Team were Alex,
Tonyo and Hetty.

Volunteering for the Tech Team was Aubrey. It was
also noted that we need to follow up on the two
other tech volunteers (Kalovski, Ederic and
Emil).

*** Fourth order of business: Projects ***

1. Cancun protests. It was agreed that
Indymedia-Pilipinas will give extensive coverage
to: a) local protests on Sept. 11-13; and 2)
participation of delegates of Philippine mass
organizations in the protests in Cancun

It was also agreed that we will invite one of the
Philippine delegates to be the official
correspondent of Indymedia Pilipinas. He/she will
be expected to send by email or fax stories from
Cancun.

2. Indymedia Pilipinas will invite interested
volunteers to become correspondents from Baguio
City, Cebu City and Davao City to give the
website a national geographic content and
coverage.

Specifically, Indymedia Pilipinas will write Bonn
Aure to be the correspondent for Cebu City and
the Visayas.

3. Indymedia Pilipinas will also start to provide
preparatory coverage to the state visit to the
Philippines by US Pres. George W. Bush scheduled
for October.

4. Indymedia Pilipinas will also cover the
following International Days of Protests: Sept.
13 (regarding the Cancun Ministerial); Sept. 27
(international protest against intrusions of US
empire in North Korea, the Philippines and Cuba,
sponsored by ANSWER).

*** Fifth order of business: Indymedia-Manila and
Indymedia Pilipinas. ***

Participants to the meeting agreed that we
formally propose to Jong's group that we AGREE TO
DISAGREE and thereby form two separate
Indymedia's in the Philippines. 

*** End of meeting. ***

At the close of the meeting, two individuals
approached us and inquired if we were with the
Indymedia-Pilipinas meeting. We said yes. They
introduced themselves as Jong and Randy. The
others (Tonyo, Alex, Aubrey, Hetty and Dennis)
likewise introduced themselves. 

Tonyo suggested that we just have an informal
discussion. Jong agreed.

Tonyo told Jong and Randy about the
Indymedia-Pilipinas proposal to AGREE TO
DISAGREE, considering that changes in the basic
positions of both groups regarding the Principles
of Unity.

Jong said that his group stands by the IMC-Manila
Principles of Unity. Tonyo said that his group
also stands by the Indymedia-Pilipinas Principles
of Unity.

Jong said that the formation of two Indymedia's
in the Philippines was also put on the agenda in
a meeting of his group the night before. Jong
said that he finds no problem with having two
separate Indymedia's in the Philippines, like
IMC-Manila and Indymedia-Pilipinas.

Tonyo said that having two Indymedia's will allow
the two groups to work on their own, separate
pace and principles. 

Jong said that the two Indymedia's should focus
on how to coordinate two local Indymedia's just
like what's happening in France. Tonyo replied
that there are existing Indymedia
policies/processes on cooperation and
coordination that IMC-Manila and
Indymedia-Pilipinas could use. Tonyo and Jong
agreed that both groups will adopt the said
Indymedia policies/processes.

Jong said that Indymedia-Pilipinas should become
some sort of a portal for various
Philippines-based IMCs (apart from IMC-Manila)
that may be set up in the future.  Tonyo replied
that his group has the support of volunteers from
Visayas and Mindanao, making it worthy of being
called Indymedia-Pilipinas. 

Both Jong and Tonyo agreed that IMC-Manila and
Indymedia-Pilipinas will encourage the formation
of local IMCs. 

The informal meeting ended at around 6:30 pm. ###


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