Cong Corrales ON Saturday, I attended a meeting called by my daughter’s school paper adviser. It had something to do with the upcoming Divisions Schools Press Conference. The adviser, Mrs. Josephine Labares, briefed the parents regarding the schedule of their trainings among other things discussed. My “Bangs La Rue” is among the 22 students of the Misamis Oriental General Comprehensive High School chosen to represent the school in the division level journalism competition which will be at the Alubijid Comprehensive High School on July 22. While waiting for the other parents to arrive, the adviser gave a copy of their paper, “Misorien Torch,” to read. At first, I was a bit uncomfortable with the name of the school’s publication. It sounds awfully like “misorient.” It’s like the paper needs proper “orientation.” Why not just call it “The Torch”? But I digress. The name of their paper is not this column’s subject matter. The adviser goes on to tell us that among the 10,000 students in the school, our children were chosen to represent it. Whoa. I didn’t realized they were that many--10,000 students crammed into their teeny campus. Sorry, I digress again. Another thing which caught my attention (I promise this is the subject of this column and not another digression) was the editorial cartoons taped on a whiteboard of their newsroom. It’s a dozen or so drawings about the recent spate of killings, the talks for reviving the death penalty, and the President’s brand of justice and due process, or the lack of it. One drawing featured a caricature of the President as the angel of death with “death penalty” printed on the back of his cloak. A couple of drawings of “criminals” being punished, nay executed, with blindfolds and the word “innocent” on the blindfolds. One particular drawing that really caught my attention was a hand squeezing the neck of man who was “innocent.” Obviously, the cartoonist or cartoonists feel that these killings should not be a shortcut in achieving justice. I for one am really a sparkling rainbows optimist kind but these drawings, no matter how macabre, gave me tinge hope for the future. Scanning most of the newsfeeds on Facebook, well my account anyway, can get pretty depressing. You see people riding the President’s bandwagon that due process just gets in the way of delivering justice. Ironic, isn’t it? There’s even one girl who, in the span of just two months, turned from advocating for due process in the case of jailed OFW Mary Jane Veloso to saying due process is a waste of time since those who are being killed are drug lords and criminals anyway. Looking at the editorial cartoons gave me hope that these campus journalists will carry on the “Torch” of advocating for due process and the rule of law. It gave me hope so much so that I promised the adviser I’d offer whatever help I can, additional coaching and what-not, to the student journalists. Postscript: their adviser, by the way, is confident that they’ll win the division level. She’s so confident it’s infectious. I told her there’s nothing wrong with that since her confidence could boost the students’ morale. I look forward to doing my part as a parent and as a practicing journalist to help their school win the title.