This Week in Media (April 4 to 8, 2022)
COVID, other challenges surface ahead of Holy Week; Candidates, Comelec gear up for last month before polls
THE GOVERNMENT should have learned by now that gains in the fight against COVID-19 are easily reversed. The pandemic might not have been a priority issue in media last week with several economic concerns getting more coverage. But the pandemic is still with us, despite the determined thrust of the travel and economic sectors at “normalizing” their activities. Government should do what it can to remind the public about taking the usual precautions, prevent the entry of new variants, and boost its efforts at getting the public immunized.
Media carried news from airports, seaports and such tourist destinations as Boracay which are getting more crowded by the day, as more visitors are expected during the Holy Week break and the start of Ramadan. Tourism and transport officials interviewed by the media all assured the public that they are on top of the situation. For its part, the Health Department maintained that health checks and other safety protocols are still being implemented at points of entry. The DOH added that it is monitoring the Omicron XE variant, which has already been detected in Thailand.
With so much movement and public activity being reported, IATF officials called attention to the waning immunity provided by the primary series of vaccines, pointing out that only 12 million Filipinos so far have availed of booster shots. Some citizens that media interviewed said they did not get the boosters since these were not required. Joey Concepcion, Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship, told the media that 27 million vaccine doses will expire in July. But Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, in an April 5 Cabinet briefing with President Duterte, said the vaccines are still good to date, and that the problem can be remedied by requesting shelf life extension from the Food and Drug Administration. This process checks whether the doses are stable, and maintained under ideal conditions to guarantee their potency.
In the same briefing, Duque said “vaccine wastage” was only at 1.54 percent, or 3.7 million doses of the total number of doses delivered to the country. He clarified that vaccine wastage occurs at the supply chain level, or when doses are incorrectly administered. Those lost in calamities or accidents are also counted as wasted.
Media reported how government has responded this week to such challenges as intensified house-to-house inoculation, the possible imposition of mobility restrictions on those without booster shots, setting an expiration date for primary vaccination cards, changing the meaning of “fully-vaccinated” to include having booster shots, and donating expiring doses to Myanmar and Papua New Guinea to avoid wasting them.
Journalists picked up these suggestions without reference to the usual problems of pandemic management. Government agencies have always been slow to act, lacking foresight and coordination, and blaming ordinary citizens and punishing them for non-compliance.
Election updates
On the last whole month of the campaign, national candidates were everywhere in the country.
But shifting political loyalties also suggest changes that can take place before elections. Media reported that the Ikaw Muna movement in the Visayas, a key volunteer contingent which initially encouraged Manila Mayor Isko Moreno to run for president, is now backing the candidacy of Vice President Leni Robredo. The group said that Moreno’s numbers have been consistently low in the polls, and that Robredo is the best bet to prevent a Marcos presidency. Being the third most-preferred candidate, Moreno told the media that he still believes in a three-way race on May 9.
Pulse Asia’s recent survey released this week showed that Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. remains the frontrunner, but that Robredo is gaining ground and closing the gap between them. News reports pointed to this observation, noting as well that Marcos Jr. has dropped in his ranking in some socioeconomic classes.
Other presidential candidates like Ping Lacson and Manny Pacquiao told the media that they are not bothered by their low rankings.
Media reported that some Novaliches residents have filed vote-buying complaints against Rose Nono Lin, who is is running for Congress in Quezon City. Reports duly recalled that Lin is an executive of Pharmally Pharmaceuticals, the same company involved in the controversial procurement of overpriced pandemic supplies.
Meanwhile, the Commission on Elections announced that it has created a task force to combat misinformation and disinformation about the electoral process, clarifying that the effort would not cover “fake news” involving candidates. Commissioner George Garcia said he and his colleagues are already drafting the guidelines. Media should keep an eye on this effort, which could lead to possible violations of freedom of expression.
Stories that need follow-up
The following issues need follow up from media:
- Facebook’s takedown of 400 accounts engaging in “malicious activities” ahead of the Philippine elections. FB has not released the complete list at press time, but initial reports listed the New People’s Army page as among those that were taken down. Facebook said pages that rebranded themselves as related to elections to gain more following were similarly disabled.
- Duterte’s Cabinet trumpeted the administration’s socieoeconomic achievements in the Philippine Economic Briefing held last April 5. Media have not scrutinized actual performance in the areas hyped, such as post-pandemic recovery.
- The China-funded Binondo-Intramuros bridge was inaugurated on April 6. Reports treated the event as a ceremonial launch; with reports failing to note heritage and preservation issues that had been brought up by advocates.
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