Journalism Review

Duterte’s “solution”: Wait for a vaccine

“WE ARE awaiting for God’s blessing na magkaroon tayo ng vaccine either from sino diyan na bright boy: China, Russia, America. I’m sure na kung meron na sila, they will share it with the rest of the world.” First said on April 1, two weeks after he ordered the...

New PhilHealth Chief another link in the chain of crony appointees

IN THE midst of the worst health crisis to hit the country and a corruption scandal hounding the PhilHealth medical insurance system, President Rodrigo Duterte appointed someone without any background in public health to head the agency. As the public gained more information about the corruption and fraud in...

Re Duque and PhilHealth: How strong a “whiff of corruption” will move Duterte?

THEN CANDIDATE DUTERTE’s 2016 campaign made much of his supposed intolerance of corruption. This self-proclaimed virtue has not quite lost its magic with his supporters. But the more skeptical of Duterte’s boasts are counting the cases when his erring appointees were let off lightly, and allowed to resign without...

With few exceptions, media barely note VP message

AHEAD OF the schedule briefing of the president on that day Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo aired a 20-minute video message on Facebook last August 24. She said she had been in consultation with economists and other experts who were concerned about the impact of the COVID-19 on...

Duterte’s health, again: Few reports show improvement

SPECULATIONS ABOUT the president’s health won’t be quelled so easily, especially when Duterte himself is suddenly and unwontedly fueling them. Following the rumors last week that he had flown to Singapore on a med-evac plane for treatment, media broke the news on their social media accounts on Tuesday night,...

Media’s critical lens spotlights call for “revolutionary government”

THE POINT of a “revolutionary government” seemed lost on a group of Duterte supporters who trooped to Clark Freeport in Pampanga on August 22 to support the People’s National Coalition for Revolutionary Government and Charter Change. Historically, revolutionary government involves the insurgent or seditious takeover of state power from...

Media an echo chamber for official chorus on Duterte’s health

IT WAS netizens rather than the media who pieced together seemingly unrelated events that led to rumors about President Rodrigo Duterte’s whereabouts and his health. Online speculation was triggered by a Facebook post from user Josef Leroi Garcia on Sunday morning, August 16, about a medical plane from Singapore...

Call for timeout: What was accomplished?

THE MEDICAL community’s distress call to the government last August 1 was clear in its purpose: representatives of medical associations asked for a two-week timeout to allow them to review, refresh and renew their capacity to attend to the increasing demands of the COVID-19 crisis. The members of the...

Media follow government lead in reporting historic economic recession

THE GOVERNMENT announced the country’s first recession in three decades on August 6. At a press conference, the administration’s economic managers reported that in the second quarter of 2020, the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) plunged by a record 16.5 percent. In a separate press briefing, Undersecretary Claire Dennis...

Media fail to challenge government spin as PH tops Southeast Asia in COVID cases

SINGAPORE-BASED Straits Times reported on August 5 that the Philippines was likely to be Asia’s COVID-19 hotspot as it recorded 6,532 new infections, the highest in a single day. Government officials quickly reacted in an attempt to control the narrative. On August 6, NTF’s Vince Dizon, president of Bases...

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