Mixed blessing, or mixed curse?“Blocktiming” in Bacolod City

Blocktimers are first of all required to be licensed by the KBP, which issues licenses only after a practitioner has passed its exam. In the absence of a KBP license, station managers are authorized to issue temporary licenses although this would make him or her legally liable should there be a case filed against a blocktimer, Ferrer said.

What should be done is for stations to have opening and closing billboards—announcements that will be played before and after the program—that will identify the name of the funder and the program host, he added.

This is no guarantee, however, that people will know who really spends for the programs because anyone can be plucked to represent a particular politician in signing the contract with a radio station, the KBP head said.

Even Paglomutan sees no need for such a disclosure.

“The people know already that this is a program for Grupo Progreso,” he said.

Paglomutan, who describes himself as a “true-blooded broadcaster,” believes he is still practicing good journalism. “Public perception does not anymore care about who funds the program; it is the public at the end of the day that will determine what kind of programming the one handling the program is doing. But in my case, I really tried to have this kind of a balanced programming every day because Grupo Progreso is not in any way trying to spoonfeed me in the kind of programming that I want. It is only me who is deciding especially the topics that I want to handle every day.”

Sandy Villano, former news director of dyHB RMN-Bacolod and RGMA Super Radyo, said he feels more comfortable handling a blocktime than working fulltime for a radio station.

“Before, I had to work more than eight hours a day but the compensation was not enough; now I only have to work an hour a day and I receive a considerable talent fee,” he said.

Villano added he does not feel any pressure even though Grupo Progreso is partly funding his program. In fact, there would still be pressure even if a journalist is working for a radio station like what happened to him when he was still with RMN in 2001.

He was informed by RMN’s Manila office that a complaint was filed against him by Puentevella, “a complaint I have never seen until now,” over his commentaries critical of the then Bacolod congressman.

“I was pressured to take it easy on Puentevella and was eventually forced to resign,” Villano recalled.

He filed a labor case against RMN and won but he does not blame the network for not standing by him.

“RMN was about to renew its Congressional franchises for 42 of its radio stations in the country and I understood why they were pressured to do that to me,” he said.

Paglomutan argued that even though Grupo Progreso is funding him, he is still free to criticize Leonardia and other members of the party.

“In short, I will be discussing about trends, about how the blueprint of social governance of Grupo Progreso is being interpreted, translated into reality but there’s no way that this program will be used solely to attack  opponents; no way,” was how he summed up his mission as a broadcaster.

He did mention, however, that things would become different when the 45-day campaign period starts. There would be a “shift” in the programming because this would now highlight the “achievements of Grupo Progreso but based on facts.”

Asked if he would give political opponents of Grupo Progreso a chance to answer over his program, Paglomutan said: “that is something that is considered to be a big no-no during the actual political battle; I don’t think there is anyone in this country that is generous enough. Imagine during election time, a 30-minute blocktime would cost you more than a million pesos just to advance the political information of your group. To cater to the interest of the opposing party is next to hypocrisy.”

Asked if this means a loss of balance, Paglomutan answered, “Yes.”

Indeed, it is no easy task in handling blocktimers, Tano said, since complainants go directly to him and sometimes, even Bacolod Bishop Vicente Navarra or Fr. Tomas Rito, the station manager, would talk to the blocktimers “just to remind them that they are working for a Catholic radio station.”

Money in, journalistic standards out

There is no denying that blocktimers are “beholden to who finances them,” dyAF’s Tano said. “It’s sad but it’s true that they can truly be called partisans.”

Brillantes complained that some blocktimers are “uncontrollable” and certainly go outside the bounds of ethical broadcasting in the form of commentaries that are below-the-belt and using words that are derisive or playing music that intends to humiliate their patron’s opponent.

“They are beholden to their master, that is why there is no chance for the other side to reply; it is not only the station that is affected but the dignity of the profession itself, it affects the entire industry,” she said.

Ferrer, Tano, and Brillantes agree that while money comes in for the station, editorial control flies out of the window as adherence to journalistic standards of balance, fairness and accuracy are totally forgotten.

“Which is why I decided not to accept blocktimers and concentrate instead on letting them buy political ads,” Aksyon Radyo-Bacolod station manager JJ Deocampo said although he admitted that offers made to him in the past for blocktime programs were “very tempting.”

“Better to have less headaches than more money,” he said.

In fact, Brillantes and Tano have observed that stations that have blocktime programs get a lesser share of the political ads since these are deemed unnecessary by their clients.

Add to that the fact that blocktimers are not helping them gain an audience at all, Tano said.

The surveys conducted by the Radio Research Council for the KBP in November 2005, October 2010 and July 2011 showed Aksyon, RMN, and Bombo at the top of the heap.

Complaints have also been filed against some blocktimers either with the courts or the KBP.

Tano said two of his blocktimers — Larry Concepcion and Chito Berjit — have been sued for libel.

Paglomutan, on the other hand, could not recall if any complaint was filed against him and said that the libel case filed against him in 2004 by former Cong. John Orola had already been settled.

Orola, however, said there is no settlement yet of the case because Paglomutan still has to pay the remaining half a million pesos of the P800,000  he owes the former solon.

Paglomutan was also compelled to issue a public apology over his statements on radio against Orola. Among these was his description of the complainant as “palakaon bitsukoy” (always eating bitsukoy).

Bitsukoy is a long but narrow home-made sweet bread.  Orola interpreted the sneer as meant to question his manhood.

While ethical concerns are being raised against blocktimers, the local Commission on Elections said there is “nothing illegal” about blocktime programs.

Laywer Mavil Majarucon said that the politicians who finance blocktimers can only be charged for violating their quota allocations for political ads during the campaign period if it can be proven that they, indeed, spend for a blocktime program.

“They know what to do and proving that they are the ones spending for blocktime programs is a very difficult thing to do,” she said.

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