This Week in Media (April 18 to 22, 2022)

More political heat as election nears; Disasters, government inefficiency torment ordinary folk

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THE FIRST tropical storm of the year made landfall in Eastern Samar on April 10, moving toward Leyte where it caused widespread flooding and landslides. Media tracked the tropical storm before the Holy Week break. But when coverage resumed on Easter Sunday, media had little to say about the disaster except for the usual reports on search operations and casualty counts. 

On Saturday, April 16, several news platforms announced a press conference to be hosted the following day, April 17, by five presidential contenders: Ernesto Abella, Norberto Gonzales, Panfilo Lacson, Isko Moreno and Manny Pacquiao. Only Gonzales, Lacson and Moreno showed up at the Manila Peninsula Hotel for the event, together with vice presidential candidates Willie Ong and Vicente Sotto III. 

All five said that none of them were withdrawing from the race. The discussion quickly became a freewheeling exchange about issues as each candidate took his turn. Lacson and Moreno claimed that they were asked to withdraw by Leni Robredo’s camp. The two, along with Gonzales, added that they did not believe in the validity of surveys which showed their low rankings. 

The two-hour forum was spent on a lot of venting from the three presidential candidates, who asked the voting public to dismiss their supposed view of the elections as only a two-way contest between the first and second preferred candidates in the surveys. Moreno then asked Leni Robredo to withdraw from the race. 

There was little logic in anything that was said. 

Some media people present asked: Who specifically was asking them to withdraw? Why are they ganging up on the sole female candidate? Why hold a press conference in a high-end hotel considering the situation in Agaton-ravaged areas? The answers were hardly worth recording. Most of the news accounts focused mainly on the call for Robredo’s withdrawal. 

The backlash on social media on Easter Sunday pointed to things that media accounts did not include in their report. No account referred to the recent defection to Robredo of the party-mates and supporters of Lacson and Moreno; or to the fact that Moreno had suddenly shifted his focus from the Marcos family’s unpaid estate taxes to Robredo’s alleged political schemes. Most netizens expressed disgust and anger at the conduct of the contenders. 

In the week that followed, news media described the attempt of Gonzales to distance himself from the embarrassing disaster of which he had been a part. Pacquiao’s camp openly expressed relief that their candidate was not part of the show. But Moreno repeated his tirades against Robredo, and journalists covering his campaign readily indulged him. 

Media reports did not describe the press conference as an exercise by four contenders of ganging on the strongest challenger to Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s early lead. Robredo’s numbers are rising in recent polls and her rallies are consistently well-attended. No journalist called out the press conference of the principals as either a show of bruised male egos, or as a concerted but failed effort to benefit themselves and Marcos Jr. 

Reports instead relied on political analysts for the observation that the press conference “backfired” and did not benefit the candidates. Opinion pieces in the Philippine Daily Inquirer and The Philippine Star provided more critical notes, calling out the “unusual logic” of the candidates whose message turned off rather than gained them public favor. 

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Other election issues

Media picked up anomalies in overseas voting before the Holy Week break, allegedly pre-shaded ballots in Singapore and the United Arab Emirates. Delays in the process were similarly reported. There were not enough machines for the number of voters. Some ballots were delivered late. InterAksyon compiled complaints posted on social media by Filipinos voting overseas. But during the first few days of polling, Philippine embassies abroad and the Commission on Elections (Comelec) dismissed reported complaints as “fake news.” 

This week, Commissioner Marlon Casquejo told media that overseas voting will not be extended. Media missed getting the election watchdog groups to comment. 

Meanwhile, the media should check thoroughly on the delivery of official ballots across the country, which began on April 19 and is expected to end by May 5.

On another front, presidential candidate Leody de Guzman and his senatorial candidates were almost hit by gunfire when they joined the protest of a Manobo-Pulangiyon group against ancestral land grabbing in Bukidnon on April 20. The injured included farmers and indigenous leaders. Media accounts said De Guzman plans to sue the attackers whom he suspected were allied with the town mayor. But the police said it was “premature” to say the attack was election-related and instead blamed De Guzman’s team for not coordinating with local authorities. Media accounts did not ask local authorities about the ongoing gun ban and whether it could work to prevent such attacks. 

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Policies to observe during Alert Level 1 

Alert Level 1 may involve opening up offices for jobs best done in the workplace. But the policy should recognize where and how this policy is best applied. 

Media reported teachers’ complaints about their mandatory physical presence in schools imposed by the Department of Education for areas under Alert Level 1. Without students in physical attendance, teachers are still doing online teaching, for which they said they should be able to stay home where they can access the Internet more easily. So far, DepEd has not reconsidered its policy. 

Commuters who use provincial public buses are meanwhile being inconvenienced by a new policy in the NCR which prescribes hours of limited bus operations from 10 pm to 5 am. Bus operators and passengers complained that the hours are unreasonable and unrealistic. Philstar.com correctly observed that two agencies, the MMDA and LTFRB, were “pointing fingers at each other” when asked by the media about who came up with the policy. 

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Another COVID surge? 

The Health department called out the non-observance of health and safety protocols during the Holy Week break, particularly in Boracay Island which admitted more tourists than the mandated numbers. The DOH warned of another increase in cases, advising those who went on vacation to monitor themselves. But media have not asked DOH what policies and interventions are in place to prevent a possible surge in the country.

Filipinos in Shanghai were featured in the news this week due to the ongoing surge and the high fatality rate caused by COVID. Some of them complained to the media that the strict quarantine measures are straining their access to basic needs. The Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration assured swift action. The media need to establish ways of measuring such “swift action.”