Binay’s ho-hum “counter-SONA”

A WEEK AFTER President Benigno Simeon Aquino III appeared before a joint session of the Congress and spoke to his “bosses” for his last State of the Nation Address (SONA), Vice President Jejomar Binay delivered his own version which he described as the “True” SONA (and which the media labeled “TSONA”) on August 3, 2014 at the Cavite State University (CSU) Gymanasium in Indang, Cavite. As expected, the media covered the event live as Binay “exposed” the supposed shortcomings of the administration of which he was a part for nearly five years.

In June this year Binay, the standard bearer of the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA), resigned from the Aquino cabinet as  Presidential Adviser on Overseas Filipino Workers and as Chair of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinarting Council. His camp said that Binay resigned because he was being “left out.” A few days after his resignation from the two posts, Binay began criticizing the Aquino administration for its alleged incompetence and insensitivity.

The Center for Media Freedom & Responsibility monitored three television news programs (TV Patrol, 24 Oras and Aksyon) and three national dailies (the Philippine Daily Inquirer, The Philippine Star and the Manila Bulletin) from August 3 to 7 for their coverage of Binay’s  counter-SONA. The speech was in the news for days but the media failed to provide context and analysis and to ask those questions that could have helped the viewers and readers understand the issues raised not only in Binay’s speech but also in President  Aquino’s last SONA.

The television news programs dedicated only  small percentages of their airtime to Binay’s speech, although they did provide live coverage. ABS-CBN 2’s TV Patrol allotted 10.06 percent of its total airtime for the coverage of the speech; GMA-7’s 24 Oras  10.56 percent of its total airtime; and TV 5’s Aksyon  18 percent.

For their part, the three Manila newspapers monitored published the usual reports on Binay’s speech on their front pages on August 4 (Binay hits ‘daang matuwid,’ Inquirer; More Pinoys poor, hungry, jobless – VP, Star; Binay presents proof of ‘inept, calous’ gov’t, Bulletin). The Star and the Inquirer published it as their banner stories on the same date.

The Bulletin story included the administration’s reaction to the “TSONA.”  The Inquirer and the Star had separate stories on the  administration’s response,  which also appeared on the front pages of the said newspapers. Six more stories about the “TSONA” appeared on the front pages of the three newspapers during the period monitored.

The vice president pointed to past incidents that according to him reflected the callousness of the present administration: the 2010 Manila hostage crisis, the 2013 Zamboanga siege, the 2013 typhoon Yolanda and the recent Mamasapano tragedy.  Binay also mentioned the state of the Metro Rail Transport system and the problems hounding the Bangsamoro Basic Law as  indicators of  administration incompetence. Binay also claimed that a large number of Filipinos are still poor, hungry and jobless, and that the economic elite has benefited most from the gains President Aquino mentioned in his SONA. But the media did not attempt to verify the truth of these accusations by presenting  data either pro or con.

The media did not have to state the obvious, however.  The relative lack of media interest on his “TSONA” was based on their sense that the public was only mildly interested and was even indifferent, the assumption being that Binay was delivering a critical speech because of his Presidential ambitions.  Binay had declared  as early as 2014 that he would run for president in 2016. Binay had since been consistently number one in presidential polls followed by Senator Grace Poe and Department of Interior and Local Goverment Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II, although on June 18, 2015 Senator Poe led Binay in the polls.

As a result, what was given airtime and space was the exchange of accusations between Binay’s camp and the administration, in an obvious attempt by the media to provoke more public interest.

The media reported that Edwin Lacierda had said  after the “TSONA,”  that “for 5 years you (Binay) applauded what you now consider inept.” A few hours after Binay delivered his own SONA, the administration also called on the CSU to explain why the school administration required students to attend Binay’s presentation, but given public indifference to that speech, need not have bothered. Nevertheless., Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda shared in Twitter a photo of a notice requiring third year and fourth year students of the CSU to attend the TSONA. The photo became viral in social media sites a few minutes after it was shared, fueling rage among many of the netizens.

The administration also asked the Commission on Higher Education to investigate the legality of requiring students to attend the program in which the vice president delivered his speech. Binay’s camp said that what the government did was a violation of freedom of speech and expression.

The coverage of the word war between the contending parties continued throughout the week. On August 5, the Inquirer published “Lacierda calls Binay’s counter-SONA ‘charot’. Charot is  Filipino slang  meaning a joke, or something that should not be taken seriously.

The next day, the Bulletin published “Binay camp answers ‘charot’ remark on TSONA.”

Overall, the coverage of “TSONA” was limited to what was said in the speech and the reactions of the people involved, indicating low media and  public  interest in Binay’s speech.