News reports or PR pieces?

JEERS TO several media organizations for publishing and airing stories that are PR pieces on the possible presidential candidates in the 2016 elections.

Vice President Jejomar Binay and Senator Grace Poe. CMFR FILE PHOTO.

The Philippine Star published the banner story “There’s no stopping Binay in 2016 ‘Next leader needs executive experience’ ” on May 25. The story said that Binay is adamant in his plan to run in the 2016 elections despite the corruption allegations against him and his family.

Binay is the presumed standard bearer of the United National Alliance (UNA).

The vice president spoke in New Lucena, Iloilo province. The report did not say why the vice president was in Iloilo aside from mentioning that he distributed wheel chairs and medical equipment. The story had no other source. Using single-sourced stories is contrary to the journalistic duty of verification, and raises questions about the credibility of that source.

The Star published “Mar tops P-Noy list of ‘presidentiables’” on May 26. The report was based on a chance interview with President Benigno Aquino III in Marikina Elementary School. The president had joined the annual Oplan Balik Eskwela and Brigada Eskwela of the Department of Education.

The President, said the report, declared that Interior and Local Government Secretary Manuel ‘Mar’ Roxas remains “on top” of his list to succeed him. Roxas and Aquino are both from the Liberal Party (LP). But the Star practically said that he was Mr. Aquino’s final choice.

The report also quoted Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone, also from the LP, that with Aquino’s statements, Roxas should announce his intention to run for president in the 2016 elections.

For its part, ABS-CBN 2’s TV Patrol aired a three-part special report on Senator Grace Poe on June 2, 3 and 4 (Part 1: “A foundling named Grace“; Part 2: “The curious case of Grace Poe“; Part 3: “Kampo ng pinagbubulungang ama ni Poe, payag sa DNA test“). The report chronicled the life of Poe as a foundling, or an abandoned child of unknown parentage. The report also said that this “issue” has been raised against Senator Poe who is likely to run for president in the 2016 elections. GMA 7’s 24 Oras aired a similar report on June 3.

Poe, UNA brouhaha

On June 3, Poe faced the media after UNA interim president Tobias Tiangco said in a press conference that Poe is not qualified to run for president because she does not meet residency requirements.  Tiangco presented Poe’s Certificate of Candidacy when she ran for Senator in 2013. The document showed that Poe had resided in the country for only 6 years and 6 months from the day she filed her candidacy.

According to the Article VII Section 2 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution:

“No person may be elected President unless he is a natural-born citizen of the Philippines, a registered voter, able to read and write, at least forty years of age on the day of the election, and a resident of the Philippines for at least ten years immediately preceding such election.”

Poe answered questions regarding her citizenship, her residency in the country and her identity. She also issued strong statements against “some politicians” who want to run president but have been tainted by corruption allegations.

The media dedicated excessive amounts of time and space to Poe’s statements.

TV Patrol dedicated 21:19 minutes or 40.32 percent of its airtime to Poe. 24 Oras had 18:57 minutes or 36.72 percent; and TV5’s Aksyon 11:03 minutes, or 24.51 percent of its total news hole. These reports included several on Poe’s residency and citizenship, the experts’ views, and UNA’s response, among others.

Only CNN Philippines Network News dedicated only 6:20 minutes or 12.61 percent of its news hole to Poe.

On June 4, reports on Poe also appeared as banner stories in the Star (“Grace: I’m qualified to run for president Poe hits back UNA over residency claims”), the Philippine Daily Inquirer (“Grace: I’m qualified Senator says she has been in PH since 2005”) and the Manila Bulletin (“Grace in a bind, Legal experts, politicians divided on Poe’s qualifications to run in 2016“).

The media started the Binay versus Poe spin after Binay’s statements on May 17 that it would be risky to entrust the country to a leader “without experience and competence.” Poe replied on May 18, “Hindi sa haba ng serbisyo ang kailangang batayan kundi ang kalidad ng serbisyo at katapatan (The standard should not be how long you have been in service but the quality of service and honesty).”

Poe has yet to announce her plans for 2016.