Mei Magsino’s Voice of Truth

From Mei Magsino fb page: https://www.facebook.com/mei.magsino?fref=nf

Written by

Jude Bautista

Seeing the headline on PDI woke me up in a terrible way, the broadsheet was one of the first things I saw seconds after getting up from bed. Former PDI correspondent Mei Magsino was shot dead less than 50 meters away from her apartment Monday noon April 13, 2015 in Bauan, Batangas. The photo with it was a lovely face of a woman who still had a lot to do and express taken from her family and loved ones way too soon at the age of 40.

From TAGA BAUAN BATANGAS KA KUNG…
https://www.facebook.com/groups/547223052056448/

The story noted that she had several investigative stories one of which was critical of Governor Sanchez in 2005. The Governor later on died of a heart attack in 2010. No one can really confirm who the perpetrators are as she had created a lot of enemies from her stories that often revealed the corruption and misdeeds of the powerful. The list is long of those who had motive and opportunity to have Magsino killed.

From BARAKO BATANGAS
https://www.facebook.com/groups/barakobatangas/

The article also mentioned she had moved on from being a journalist to a private herbal, health and wellness business with her partner. Although the writer in her, the crusader in her to fight for her beloved town of Bauan was a fire that could not be extinguished.

From TAGA BAUAN BATANGAS KA KUNG…
https://www.facebook.com/groups/547223052056448/

This is where social media gives someone like Mei even more power. Even though she’s not necessarily Kim Kardashian or Kanye or Bieber she had something to say and she said it well. Her commentary, sometimes just a few lines long would resonate with her town mates who saw and experienced the same things she wrote about. Her words resonated with people for the simple reason they were true.

From Mei Magsino fb page: https://www.facebook.com/mei.magsino?fref=nf

As a writer she also saw the importance of giving others of like mind the chance to express themselves as well. That’s why instead of creating just her own personal facebook or twitter account she opted to create a public group. This allows more users to air out their grievances in a free and open manner. If her concern was to write propaganda or disparage personalities then she could have had her own personal fb fan page where only she has control.

From TAGA BAUAN BATANGAS KA KUNG…
https://www.facebook.com/groups/547223052056448/

And so the facebook public groups she created: Barako Batangas and Taga Bauan Ka Kung… have earned thousands of likes and views. More importantly ordinary citizens and townsfolk started to write and post their own articulate and valid thoughts on these pages. The most significant posts are from Igme Hernandez and Chito Mandanas who writes in a very eloquent form of Tagalog that is indicative of their Batangas heritage. There’s no wonder that the page has become synonymous with the voice of Bauan residents. Different media are also shared by users such as music videos: ELEKSYON NA NAMAN by Freddie Aguilar. There’s also Pinoy rap video BAYANG DI MAGILIW by Hambog ng Sagpro which spoke about the same anger and frustration the residents of Bauan feel about their leaders: “PROUD AKONG PINOY pero kinahihiya ko Gobyerno ko”

A very cursory perusal of these pages and a ‘rival’ fb page will give anyone especially police authorities a good idea of who may have motive to assassinate Mei. A rival page called Keep Calm and Love Bauan was created after the success of the two pages above as a ‘response’. But because their concept of writing or communication is confined to poorly spelled, text shorthand, so the page hardly has any following or ‘likes’. The posts can hardly be considered as legitimate commentary but sound more like rants of an illiterate bent on maligning Mei Magsino personally. The rival page itself is also a very strong clue as to the kind of people that were offended with Mei’s two successful fb public groups.

From Mei Magsino fb page: https://www.facebook.com/mei.magsino?fref=nf

While none of us could really confirm who her killers are as of yet, what we can do as netizens, especially as Filipinos is to keep her causes alive. We should support people who want to find the truth in allegations of corruption against mayor Ryanh Dolor In Bauan. We should continue to ask the same questions that Mei Magsino was asking and shedding light on.

From Mei Magsino fb page: Sana joke din lang ang pagtakbo nya bilang presidente sa 2016! https://www.facebook.com/mei.magsino?fref=nf

By killing Mei the murderers did not silence her, they shone a light of national attention on what was supposed to be a local problem actually on everything she wrote about.

From TAGA BAUAN BATANGAS KA KUNG…
https://www.facebook.com/groups/547223052056448/

The causes she fought for in Bauan is a very clear reflection of what’s going on in the whole country: the over pricing of Makati City Hall hospitals and public schools, the acres of accumulated land and mansion of the Binays in Sta Rosa. If we don’t hold all of our leaders accountable NOW what’s going to happen to our country?

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2015/04/14/1443616/ca-justices-got-p25-m-each-junjun-tro

This is what she wanted of us all. Don’t just like her pages or comments join the discussion, ask questions. Make your own research, seek justice, think and write truthfully. She had the courage to do so.

From TAGA BAUAN BATANGAS KA KUNG…
https://www.facebook.com/groups/547223052056448/

Let’s not make Mei Magsino just another statistic in the long line of journalists killed. Let’s hold PNoy accountable not just for THIS killing but also for all murders of journalists during his administration. It’s been 6 long years since the worst massacre of media people in one place: The Maguindanao Massacre. We should ask why this has not been a priority for his administration just like his failure to bring true and real governmental assistance to Yolanda victims in Tacloban.

From TAGA BAUAN BATANGAS KA KUNG…
https://www.facebook.com/groups/547223052056448/

These are all questions we should think about and ask questions to even after we’ve tried to act and help in our private capacity. This was how Mei Magsino lived her life and this is the best way to honor her.