Roderic “Ricky” Rama Poca, 58, Cebu Daily News columnist and host of the weekly 888 News Forum at the Marco Polo Plaza Cebu, died of cardiac arrest today, Dec. 26, 2017. On dialysis for years, he had been due for a kidney transplant.
Roderic “Ricky” Rama Poca was a journalist and educator.
Poca followed in the footsteps of two journalists in his clan—the late senator Vicente Rama, who founded Ang Bag-ong Kusog, and Napoleon Rama, former publisher of the Manila Bulletin.
A law graduate of the Ateneo de Manila, Ricky juggled a media career with life in the academe. He was a former chairman of the political science department of the University of San Carlos.
In 1995, Poca hosted the radio program “Pagpakabana” in dyLA and later, “Ang Isyu Karon” in dyRF. He also co-anchored “Hello Cebu: Maayong Buntag, Pinoy,” a public affairs program on CCTN Channel 47.
Veteran journalist Juan Mercado has finally received his silver plaque as 2014 AMIC Asia Communication Awardee three years after having been recognized by the group for excellence in journalism.
Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC) secretary general Ramon Tuazon personally handed him the Selangor Plaque at Mercado’s home in Cebu City last Dec. 6.
Libel now carries a higher penalty of fine, from the old rate of P200 to P6,000 to the new rate of P40,000 to P1.2 million.
That is the change that stands out under Republic Act 10951, which adjusted among others the fines imposed under the Revised Penal Code. The Senate bill authored by Sen. Franklin Drilon was signed into law by President Duterte last Aug. 29.
The Cebu Citizens-Press Council (CCPC) is soliciting donations for a section on journalism that was recently set up at the Cebu City Public Library (CCPL), which occupies the ground floor of the Rizal Memorial Library and Museum located along Osmeña Blvd.
News stories and other materials from the Presidential Communication Office (PCO) will be e-mailed to addressees of major Cebu media outlets at about the same time they are released to the Malacañang Press Corps. The gap will be a matter of minutes.
