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Twin stories
One report with exactly the same content, written by two different writers, for two rival papers. Was it just coincidence?
On March 3, The Philippine Star published a story about a girl who was scheduled to swim across the Mactan Strait on Puerto Princesa’s founding anniversary the next day. A five-year-old boy who was able to do it in 2006 reportedly inspired the girl.
The front-page report on Star had the byline of a certain Claudio Daquer Jr. The following day, the same story appeared in the Philippine Daily Inquirer. This time, the tagline was that of Geraldford Ticke.
Save for some minor changes and the length of the stories, the two reports were identical. The Star report was longer by a few paragraphs.
Either the two writers, by a twist of fate, thought and wrote exactly the same thing almost word for word, or the report was a press release which the two reporters did not bother to rewrite. They just took credit for the story.

Why they want the job
The Philippine Star gave readers an insight as to why senatorial candidates are willing to spend at least P150 million in the campaign for a job that pays only P30,000 a month.
The Star’s Feb. 12 report, “Why they all want to be senators,” detailed the financial benefits senators expect to harvest besides the power and prestige that go with the position.
Aside from monthly salaries, senators also receive maintenance and operating expenses, which amounted to P526 million last year. These included travel, communication, transportation and delivery, rent of satellite offices, utilities, training and scholarship, confidential and intelligence purposes, and extraordinary and miscellaneous expenses. Holding a committee chairmanship also entitles a senator to a separate pay plus the budget of the committee.
And that’s not all. Senators also get P200 million in priority development and assistance fund—pork barrel, in other words.

More pro-gov’t than gov’t media
The Manila Standard Today has been giving government media a run for their money. Last Feb. 19, it swallowed without question the views of administration members that the opposition’s campaign was in “disarray” (“Opposition spreading lies”).
Gabriel Claudio, presidential adviser on political affairs, claimed “the opposition is in disarray, but it is trying to hide this problem by spreading the ‘fiction’ that the administration’s senatorial team is disunited.” He said  the opposition was “panicking” because the “unity of the administration’s candidates would carry them to victory.”
Davao del Sur Rep. Douglas Cagas said the same thing: that the opposition “will fail in the elections because they have no clear agenda and their candidates (cannot win). By (sic) contrast, Team Unity is on track to (sic) with its constructive agenda and platform.”
No one from the opposition was given the chance to air his or her side. Neither did the report  mention what the “constructive agenda and platform” of the administration was all about.

Once again playing the role of cheerleader for the administration ticket,  Manila Standard Today in its Feb. 19 issue said “more and more business leaders are inclined to support the administration’s Team Unity to preserve the country’s economic gains.”
The article had one glaring shortcoming: It did not quote even one business leader to support its claim. Instead, it relied heavily on the  say-so of administration candidates Ralph Recto and Prospero Pichay Jr.
“I think our business leaders know that if they want the strong economic indicators to continue, they would have to choose candidates who will support President Arroyo’s economic agenda,” said Recto.
Pichay added, “Those candidates are in Team Unity.” He also criticized the opposition for “playing the underdog by claiming that campaign contributions have been coming in trickles.”
Almost predictably, the report did not have the side of the opposition.

Strong accusations, weak stories
The Feb. 18 issue of The Philippine Chronicle published unsubstantiated allegations of extrajudicial killings by leftist guerrillas years ago.
The report’s lead said: “A relative of one of the murdered victims of the extrajudicial killings undertaken by leftist guerrillas several years ago yesterday charged that four party-list representatives were involved in a series of killings and extortion activities of the New People’s Army (NPA).”
No evidence was cited to back up the claim. The story merely quoted the statements of a certain Julie Flores Sinohin who claimed that Bayan Muna (Nation First) representatives Satur Ocampo and Teodoro Casiño, Gabriela Rep. Liza Maza, and Anakpawis (Toiling Masses) Rep. Rafael Mariano were “among those who planned the killing of Akbayan members Danilo Felipe, Jimmy Peralta and Carlito Bayudang… (who were) separately killed from 2001 to 2004.” The report said there were two other witnesses who claimed that the four were also involved in the “imposition of permit to campaign fees (on) all national and local election candidates.”
No one among the four party-list personalities was given a chance to air his or her side of the story, despite the gravity of the accusation.
The report had another error. While its title said “3 party list solons linked to NPA extortion, killings,”  the story mentioned four party-list representatives who were supposedly involved in the case.

The bias of The Daily Tribune against the administration has surfaced again this campaign season. The paper reported that the administration was responsible for the failure of the Genuine Opposition (GO) senatorial candidates to campaign at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) campus in Sta. Mesa (“Gloria plays dirty, bars GO bets’ entry to PUP forum,” Feb. 20).
The article did not bother to get an explanation from the PUP for denying GO candidates entry into the school. It just focused on the explanation of Sen. Panfilo Lacson, who said that they were told to secure a permit from the Department of Education or Commission on Higher Education to gain entry.
The article concluded that the incident was the handiwork of the administration. It noted that re-electionist Sen. Manuel Villar and his wife, Las Piñas Rep. Cynthia Villar, were not allowed either to visit former president Joseph Estrada’s house in Tanay, Rizal, on Feb. 10 after the Estrada custodial team limited visitors to just the lawyer and members of Estrada’s family.
“After barring Senate President Manuel Villar from visiting detained former president Joseph Estrada in his rest house in Tanay, Rizal, senatorial bets aligned with the Estrada ticket were target this time of the palace,” the Tribune reported.
Lacson asked, “How come those in the other party (the administration) can hold dialog(ue)s with students left and right in various places and yet, they’re not being asked to come up with such permits before they can engage in any (campaign) activity?”
The administration was not asked for its reaction. Neither did the Tribune try to find out if Lacson’s allegation was true, which would have made the story stronger.
The article also quoted GO campaign manager and San Juan Mayor Joseph Victor Ejercito, who said that the GO’s platform would be “simple” and based on “honesty, transparency and good governance.” There was no elaboration insofar as Ejercito’s statement was concerned. Instead, it gave Ejercito the space to lash out at the administration party, which he said must be called “GMA’s TUTA” (Team Unity, Team Administration). This was his response to the opposition slate being called Team GAGO (Grand Alliance of Genuine Opposition).

Local and international organizations have long scored the present administration for its inability to stem the tide of extrajudicial killings in the country. The situation is  so serious that the United Nations sent last Feb. 12 to 21 Philip Alston, its special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings to investigate the killings. Under this situation, one would certainly not expect peace and order to be on the administration’s list of achievements, but the Manila Standard Today had a different assessment.
Reporting on the administration’s goal for the May senatorial election, Standard Today reported on Jan. 20  that, “Given the administration’s gains in stabilizing the economy and the peace and order situation, Malacañang is targeting to capture at least eight of the 12 senatorial seats at stake in the May election.”
While the report failed to explain the supposed gains of the administration, it found the space to accommodate Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita’s statement that the administration team would win the election “by a landslide” and that their rivals had nothing but “saliva.”

Spinning the news
The Philippine Daily Inquirer adopted the line of the military and Malacañang when it reported that Jose Maria Sison, founder of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), had finally admitted that “some party-list groups in the House of Representatives are legal fronts for the underground movement.” The front-page report identified the groups “connected” with the CPP-National Democratic Front as Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan/New Patriotic Alliance), Gabriela, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP/Peasant Movement of the Philippines), Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU/May First Labor Movement), League of Filipino Students, Alliance of Concerned Teachers, among other organizations (“Malacañang releases 20-year-old Joma video,” Feb. 23).
Bayan Muna/Nation First, Anakpawis/Toiling Masses (for KMP and KMU), and Gabriela currently hold seats in the House of Representatives.
The report was based on a 1987 video showing Sison speaking in a lecture. The Inquirer got a copy of the video from a Palace source a day before AFP Chief Hermogenes Esperon Jr. publicly released the video.
The Inquirer corrected the report the next day and said it “mistakenly implied that party-list Bayan Muna was mentioned in a 1987 video by Jose Ma. Sison.” It quoted Bayan spokesperson Renato Reyes Jr. as saying that the group mentioned in the video, the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan or Bayan, was different from Bayan Muna which, at the time the video was shot, had not yet been formed.
While getting Bayan Muna off the hook, the newspaper did not say anything more about the other organizations implicated by the military. Incidentally, the Sison video did not say those organizations were CPP “fronts”—merely that there were a number of legal organizations fighting for “national democracy.”

Transparency, please
The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported on Feb. 14 the new Pasig River ferry service that would immensely cut travel time and cost of fare for commuters.
According to project chair Agustin Bengzon, the feasibility of replicating the Pasig River ferry service in other major river systems in the country like the Dagupan and Cagayan Rivers should be studied. “This project may well serve as a template for riverine transport, as in days of yore,” he said.
The news deserved the space it got in the Inquirer but the paper committed a lapse: it did not disclose the fact that the contributor who wrote the report, Joan Orendain, is a public relations practitioner and not a member of its staff. Did she write about the ferry service as a PR agent or as an advocate of cheaper and faster transport along Pasig River? This detail would have made a lot of difference to readers (“Pasig River ferry sails again thru RP’s 1st highway,” p. A1).

Warming up to environment stories
Global warming, which has alarmed even those outside the scientific community, has been getting scant attention from the Philippine media. Notable, however, are the efforts of the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Manila Bulletin to explain the global phenomenon to readers.
The Inquirer devoted its “Talk of the Town” section to a thorough discussion of the causes of global warming and its effects not just on a global scale but also on the Philippines (“Coping with global warming,” Feb. 4). Citing a report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released in Paris, the Inquirer article linked global warming to the spate of typhoons that devastated certain areas in the Philippines.  The article also pointed out the sectors severely affected by global warming such as agriculture and public health.
An infographic helped readers understand the role greenhouse gases play in global warming and how human activities like industrialization and deforestation worsen and speed up the process. The paper also placed a brief item suggesting what people could do about it.
Manila Bulletin devoted a  whole page to a comprehensive article on global warming (“Global warming here and now,” March 4). As in the Inquirer, the Bulletin article took off from the IPCC report. From interviews with officials of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomic Services Administration, readers were informed of the signs of global warming in the country.

(Too much) Applause for Erap
When San Juan Mayor JV Ejercito gave up his senatorial slot in the Genuine Opposition to make way for Sonia Roco, Malaya played up his “heroism.”  The report was a virtual press release with only one source: former president Joseph Estrada.
The story pointed out Estrada’s struggle as father and member of the opposition. It was an obvious attempt to appeal to the readers’ emotions. The report said, “After many sleepless nights… his ‘desire to ensure the formation of a broad, strong, and united coalition of anti-GMA (Gloria Macapagal Arroyo) forces’ prevailed over his paternal feelings.”
The latter part of the story played up Estrada’s tirade against President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.  He said the coming elections should be seen as a slugfest between him and the incumbent president  (“JV drops Senate bid: Seen making way in opposition slate for Roco widow,” Feb. 9).

A crime and its context
On Feb. 18, The Manila Times began a series of special reports on journalist killings, its entire front page devoted to analyses and features about the issue.
The article,  “Grateful fans, unforgiving enemies: Feudal lords view the media as the enemy” (Feb. 18),  said the weak rule of law, especially in the provinces, the prevalence of a feudal mentality, the political strength of local powers that be, and the “robust commentaries” of broadcasters are a lethal mix that all too often results in violence, such as the killing of journalists.
The second installment, “Victims vulnerable on slow road to justice: Ombudsman files raps vs. soldier in foiled murder of broadcaster” (Feb. 19), featured Alberto Martinez, a former broadcaster in North Cotabato who survived two gunshot wounds but was paralyzed from the waist down because of the slay attempt. The story gave the details of the incident as well as Martinez’s legal battles.
“Slow road to justice: Threats hound witnesses to slays” (Feb. 20) continued with details about Martinez’s shooting and segued to other cases, particularly the Edgar Damalerio case.  The story explained the power play that influenced the release and eventual voluntary surrender of the prime suspect, the murder of a witness, the shortcomings of the government’s Witness Protection Program, as well as the vigilance of the media community.
It also mentioned the creation of special courts for the murders of activists and journalists as well as the need for the trials to be transferred to other provinces over safety concerns caused by the alleged collusion between government officials or the police and the killers.  Cases in point were that of Roger Mariano of Ilocos Norte and Marlene Esperat of Sultan Kudarat.

The story, “Killings grow more brazen” (Feb. 18, The Manila Times), detailed the process in  which journalists are killed. Most victims receive death threats first. They are often killed by motorcycle-riding assassins, who “would pull up, unleash a volley of shots and speed off.”  Reporters are also murdered in the vicinity of their own homes.
The story’s second part, “Media killings subvert Philippine democracy” (Feb. 19), corroborated reports from Task Force Usig and the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, which blamed the murder of reporters on several suspects with links to the government.  Explaining why the murders are a matter of national concern rather than just a media issue, the report noted that the victims usually were engaged in investigative journalism.

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