To Russia and Norway

Finally I got my visa. I'm going to Russia and Norway in the coming days.

Thanks for all the support to:

The Embassy of the Russian Federation in Manila
The Royal Norwegian Embassy in Manila
The International Federation of Journalists (particularly Christiane Dennis)
The Section for Human Rights and Democracy, The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (particularly Elisabeth Salvesen)
The Russian Union of Journalists
The directorate of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines
My bosses and colleagues at GMANews.TV
Benny Antiporda of AFIMA
Carol of CMFR

Without your support and follow-up I would have given up this trip.

I will be speaking at the opening of the World Congress of the International Federation of Journalists in Moscow on Monday. The meeting will gather hundreds of journalists from all over the world in the Russian capital to share experiences and update each other on the media situation in their respective countries. Former USSR Prime Minister Michael Gorbachev is the keynote speaker.

A week later, I will be in Oslo to attend the Second Global Inter-Media Dialogue, which is sponsored by the Norwegian Foreign Ministry.

I'll try to keep this blog updated on the activities of both meetings.

I still have to prepare for a 21-hour flight.