Trivializing death

JEERS TO a report that trivializes the death of a broadcaster who was shot dead in Quezon City on October 31.

On November 2, ABS-CBN 2’s Umagang Kay Ganda (UKG) aired a report on slain broadcaster Jose Bernardo’s soul supposedly being captured in a photo of the crime scene. The photo—which went viral and is now making the rounds of social media—includes the image a man said to be Bernardo standing between two barangay tanod looking at his lifeless body on the pavement.

“Kasabay ng Araw ng mga Kaluluwa, nag-viral sa social media ang umano’y kaluluwa ng napatay na mamamahayag na nagpakita umano sa mismong crime scene sa Quezon City,” the video’s accompanying text began.

It went on to say that a netizen believes the image is nothing less than the soul of Bernardo, and featured quotes from interviews. Ruel Varona, one of the tanod who responded to the shooting, was interviewed. He requested that the public respect the dead and not to trivialize the incident. Meanwhile, another tanod, Adring Bautista, said the photo must have been manipulated. (“VIRAL: Multo ng pinaslang na broadcaster sa litrato?“, Umagang Kay Ganda, Nov. 2, 2015)

The report’s treatment of the incident sensationalized and trivialized a serious event, as evident in how the accompanying text used the occasion—All Souls’ Day—to play up the story. To be fair, the report’s intention might have been to remind the public not to trivialize the killing, as seen in the report’s use of the Varona interview, but the manner in which UKG tried to convey the message defeated that purpose. The report could have simply focused on the killing of Bernardo, which if work related, would be the 150th since 1986 and the 29th during President Benigno Aquino III’s administration.