Print Monitor

Who’s afraid of Amalia Fuentes?
THE PHILIPPINE Star yielded front-page space to a showbiz news story that stood out for its lack of balance and crassness.
Last July 20, the Star reported that retired movie actress Amalia Fuentes had decided to divorce her allegedly philandering husband, Joseph Stevens. A cartoon went with the story showing a person, obviously Stevens, turning into a pile of scum and complaining that someone was badmouthing him.
The article was based solely on the statements of Fuentes who had called her husband a Marcos crony and a male chauvinist pig who needed a brain transplant.
Fuentes told the Star that she wanted to shame her husband. The Star readily granted her wish.

Explaining the writ of amparo
THE PHILIPPINE Daily Inquirer shed light on a court order that could help address the public’s concern over the country’s anti-terrorism law.
In an opinion piece last July 17 (“Writ of amparo protects citizens against abuses”), former Supreme Court (SC) spokesman Ismael Khan explained what the “writ of amparo” was all about and how it can be used to protect citizens against human rights violations in the light of the implementation of Republic Act No. 9372 or the Human Security Act of 2007.
Quoting Justice Adolfo Azcuna, Khan said the writ of amparo is “a special constitutional writ to protect or enforce a constitutional right (other than physical liberty which is already covered by the writ of habeas corpus), in consonance with the power of the SC to adopt rules to protect or enforce constitutional rights.” The word amparo comes from the Spanish verb amparar meaning “to protect.”
Khan’s commentary was supple-mented by a sidebar from the Inquirer’s research department, “In the Know,” which gave additional details as to how the writ of amparo could compel government agents to look for victims of forced disappearances.
The writ of amparo, said the sidebar, has not yet been enforced in the country. Quoting former Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban, the commentary said the writ was “authorized by the 1987 Constitution when it allowed the SC to promulgate rules to protect constitutional rights.”

Rumor of a conviction
MALAYA HAS an unusual way of reporting the news. In one story, it got all the sides except those crucial to it.
The paper reported that El Shaddai leader Mike Velarde and Ricardo Cardinal Vidal had informed former President Joseph Estrada that the Sandiganbayan would declare him guilty of plunder. It was supposedly President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo who disclosed the information to both Velarde and Vidal.
Neither the Cardinal nor the El Shaddai leader was interviewed to confirm or deny if the President had really told them about Estrada’s conviction and if they had relayed the information to Estrada himself.
Malaya only said that both Velarde and Vidal are Estrada’s spiritual advisers and that the Cardinal was a recent visitor of the detained president.
For the report, Malaya interviewed Estrada’s son, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, and Estrada spokeperson Rufus Rodriguez, presidential legal adviser Sergio Apostol, political adviser Gabriel Claudio, and press secretary Ignacio Bunye. Estrada and Rodriguez condemned the supposed ruling while administration allies denied that Malacañang was working for the former president’s conviction.

Truth and consequences
MEDIA MISSED out on an important question in relation to the controversial nomination to the Supreme Court of Sandiganbayan Justice Gregory Ong.
Kilosbayan and Bantay Katarungan Foundation said the appointment of Ong to the Supreme Court would be in violation of the constitutional requirement that members of the high court and other lower collegiate courts should be natural-born Filipinos. Ong is reportedly a naturalized Filipino of Chinese descent.
Reports have only focused on Ong’s denied appointment to the Supreme Court. It was not clear if he would also be removed from the Sandiganbayan.

Rooting for Loren
SEN. LOREN Legarda has yet to warm her seat in the Senate, but The Manila Times appeared ready to lead the presidential campaign of the former broadcast journalist in 2010.
The Times came out with a three-part series on Legarda that seemed like a masterpiece of press agentry despite an apparent attempt to sound hard-hitting, courtesy of a playful title, “Hardworking Loren says, ‘I’m thick-faced’ (June 27).”
The lead of the first part read: “She has not dated a man for the longest time, but Senator-elect Loren Legarda is waiting to keep her date with 18.2 million Filipinos who voted for her in the last May 14 election when the Fourteenth Congress opens next month.”
The article continued with details of the senator’s love life and segued to a long history of her career in media. Part two of the series featured the changes and achievements of Legarda in broadcasting as well as her entry into politics.
The final installment, “Loren: I’m not a party person, I like being alone (June 29),” dealt with the senator’s lifestyle—fashion, diet, and reading list; the person she admires most (Hillary Clinton); and the possibility of becoming president in 2010.
The article went full circle in the conclusion and referred to Legarda’s love life again—but with a twist: “But even for the presidency, Legarda would not marry again. ‘Di maganda, walang First Gentleman (Well then, that would be nice; there’d be no First Gentleman),’ she said.”

Left unasked
The Philippine Daily Inquirer went along with the anti-leftist spin of National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales last July 3.
In its front-page report, “Gonzales says leftist propaganda successful,” the Inquirer accommodated the national security adviser’s criticisms of leftist groups without giving the unidentified accused a chance to react.
According to Gonzales, “the enemies of our people, the enemies of the State have been very successful in showing as if we are the ones doing wrong when we’re offering our lives in the defense of what we know to be the best for our people, our freedom, our democracy.”
The leftist groups referred to were not identified by Gonzales or the Inquirer. The official merely stressed that the groups’ “propaganda campaign” should not be allowed to continue.
Aside from Gonzales, Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. was quoted by the Inquirer as well, supporting the national security adviser’s position.
Toward the end of the story, the cases of Leopoldo Ancheta and Vicente Ladlad were briefly discussed. Ancheta, whose disappearance in June last year has been blamed on the military, is a member of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines peace panel. Ladlad, on the other hand, is a Bayan Muna leader and co-accused of Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo and several others. They have been charged with rebellion and multiple murder in connection with the discovery of alleged mass graves of supposed leftists in Leyte.

Wrong comrade
THE PHILIPPINE Star got its facts on the leadership of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) all mixed up.
In its report last July 17, the Star identified Communist Party of the Philippines founder Jose Maria Sison as chair of the NDFP. Luis Jalandoni chairs the NDFP. Sison serves as NDFP chief political consultant.

A viewstory
IT HAS become a habit for The Daily Tribune to mix opinion, analysis, and the news—just like in its July 19 story, “RP Marines beheaders may be charged under anti-terror law.”
The paper said “Malacañang is way on the road to misusing and abusing the anti-terror law” after it announced that the Moro Islamic Liberation Front members responsible for the death of the 14 Marines in Basilan could be punished under the Human Security Act.

Lost in numbers
BOX SCORES and official standings provide support and background information for sports stories. Any deviation or inconsistency in the statistics confuses readers. This was the case in the Daily Tribune story, “Sour ending for RP-SMC in Jones Cup,” last July 11.
According to the report, Japan and Kazakhstan had the same standing with two wins and nine losses at the end of the tournament. But the standings showed that Japan had two wins and seven losses while Kazakhstan had a 1-7 win-loss record.
To check the real standing of the teams, PJR Reports checked the Asia-Basketball website’s section on William Jones Cup. It said that at the end of the Jones Cup both teams were indeed tied with two wins and seven losses each.

Carbon copy
WHO COPIED from whom?
Last July 5, The Daily Tribune and BusinessMirror published identical stories about the second loss of the RP-SMC team in the William Jones Cup tournament. The first 15 paragraphs of the Tribune report, “On Endgame Collapse: RP-SMC suffers another heartbreak,” written by Aldrin Cardona, and BusinessMirror’s “Coach Chot owns up to National Five’s second straight loss: College boys from Japan stun Pinoy pros,” which did not have a byline, were the same, word for word. The only difference in the Tribune report was the phrase “played to execute (what should have been their final play)” instead of “failed to execute” in the discussion how Japan beat the RP-SMC team.
The same thing happened next day in the Tribune and Mirror reports about the Jones Cup.

No more rights for the accused?
THE MANILA Standard Today blatantly disregarded a news subject’s right to privacy in its story about a policewoman who faced the prospect of dismissal for grave misconduct (“‘Friendster’ picture puts female cop in hot water,” July 14). The officer posted her photo—which showed her upper body wearing only a brassiere—on Friendster, a social networking website. The report disclosed details from the woman’s Friendster profile such as her age, location, and the school where she graduated.
Beside the front-page story was a huge photo of the subject’s Friendster profile, including the controversial photograph of the policewoman. This was done by Standard Today despite a request from Eduardo Castro, director of the National Police Commission, for journalists to respect her privacy while the investigation was going on.

Unanswered questions
THE MANILA Bulletin allowed what could have been a good investigative story to slip away.
On July 11, the paper reported the complaint of Bacoor Mayor Strike Revilla that the funds of the municipal government had been depleted by his predecessor, Jessie Castillo (“Bacoor town gov’t practically bankrupt, Mayor Revilla says”).
According to Revilla, only P2,500 of the P11.94-million budget for peace and order was left in the municipal coffers when he took over. Former mayor Castillo had stopped paying the salaries of street sweepers, traffic aides, and peace and order coordinators in the town.
The Bulletin report was contented with Revilla’s revelation and did not check the veracity of the claims. Neither did it look further into the allegations. Readers were left wondering why the Bacoor government went bankrupt and where the funds went.

Adding fuel to the fire

The MANILA Standard Today used a misleading headline for its banner story last July 12. The headline, “Moro rebels behead 10 soldiers in Basilan,” implied that the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) was responsible for beheading 10 of the 14 Marines killed in a clash in Tipo-tipo, Basilan, last July 10.
The MILF never claimed respon-sibility for the beheading. It also denied reported links with the Abu Sayyaf, the terrorist group known for mutilating their victims’ bodies.
The Standard Today story was based on the military’s claim that the MILF and the Abu Sayyaf ambushed the Marines who were in the area searching for abducted Italian priest Giancarlo Bossi.

Against delicadeza—and the law
The MANILA Standard Today played out a single-source story on the speakership battle in the House of Representatives (“De Venecia urged to withdraw speakership bid,” July 12).
The report was based solely on the allegations of Cebu Rep. Pablo Garcia, a contender in the speakership race, that his rival Jose de Venecia Jr. violated Republic Act (RA) 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
Garcia alleged that De Venecia’s son, Jose III, had been using his father’s influence to snare a multimillion-dollar project that the government had already awarded to a Chinese firm. He claimed that the younger De Venecia had been criticizing the business deal and at the same time pushing the project proposal of the company he co-founded.
Garcia also claimed that RA 3019, might have been violated. That law prohibits any relative “by consanguinity or affinity within the third civil degree” of the president, vice president, Senate president, or House speaker from intervening in any business transaction involving the government.
Criticizing the supposed moves of his rival’s son and invoking delicadeza, Garcia asked De Venecia to withdraw from the speakership race.
The report used a string of quotes from Garcia but the De Venecias were not asked to comment on the allegations.

What’s a czar, anyway?
IN REPORTING the “temporary” transfer of socioeconomic planning secretary Romulo Neri to the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) last July 29, a Philippine Daily Inquirer story showed a bias for the administration.
The report’s lead said the temporary transfer of Neri “reflects her (President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s) resolve to address the ills plaguing the education sector.”
The paper interviewed officials who justified the move which had caught some sectors by surprise. Neri explained the problems confronting the education sector and its effects on the economy. Outgoing CHEd chair Carlito Puno was asked for his reaction.
Cerge Remonde, chief of the Presidential Management Staff, defended the transfer as part of a “continuing, not a one-time, wholesale revamp” of the Cabinet. “You can’t rule out (a Cabinet revamp). That’s part of dynamic leadership and dynamic governance. You really have to make continuous adjustments in the bureaucracy to make (it) more responsive to the challenges and needs of the times,” Remonde told the Inquirer.
Despite the justification, the story was confusing.
The headline of the report was, “Neri is education czar: GMA gives chief economist ‘special assignment’ in ailing sector.” There was nothing in the story that said Neri is now the government’s “education czar.” In fact, the report contradicted the headline.
The Inquirer report said President Arroyo issued Executive Order (EO) 632 last July 10 which designated a de facto education czar to “assess, plan and monitor the entire educational system.” The EO, according to the report, abolished the National Coordinating Council for Education, replacing it with “a presidential assistant to exercise its functions.”
Neri was asked if he was the presidential assistant referred to in the EO. “I don’t know, not me. I’m not familiar with the presidential assistant. All I know is I am the chairman of CHEd,” he told the Inquirer.
Why did the Inquirer refer to Neri as the government’s new education czar when he himself denied it? Neri has the rank of Cabinet secretary. Making him presidential assistant would be a demotion.

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