Reporting Aquino’s fifth SONA

THE PRESIDENT of the Philippines appears before a joint session of Congress and speaks to the public every year to report on the state of the nation. By tradition, news organizations and journalists report what he says as well as the people’s reaction.

President Benigno S. Aquino III delivered his fifth State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 28.

But as in past SONAs, the press fell short of providing the context and analysis that could have helped Filipino citizens make sense of what he said and the issues involved.

The Center for Media Freedom & Responsibility (CMFR) monitored the coverage of selected newspapers (Manila Bulletin, Philippine Daily Inquirer,and The Philippine Star), news programs (ABS-CBN 2’s TV Patrol, GMA-7’s 24 Oras, Solar TV’s Solar Network News, and TV5’s Aksyon) and news websites from July 21 to 31.

Feelings over fact

The broadcast media aired the speech live, while the news websites published the entire transcript of President Aquino’s address. Television interviews at the Batasan Pambansa and panelists later provided reports on the initial reactions of the members of Congress and ordinary citizens. But immediate fact checking of the contents of the speech and analyses based on concrete studies were notable for their absence.

The President delivered this SONA at a time when his satisfaction, performance and trust ratings were at their lowest. The media highlighted these figures along with news reports and commentaries discussing the current controversies: the pork barrel scandal and the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP), to name two.

Reports on the approval and other ratings of the President were expected, but the media could have pushed the discussion further if they had explained the meaning and consequences of these numbers, especially since only two years are left of the Aquino administration.

The Inquirer noted the President’s achievements such as the expanded conditional cash transfer worth Php 12.3 and the 223,615 scholars of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA). TESDA scholars benefited from the additional Php1.6 billion from DAP funds according to the SONA Technical Report. But missing was why despite these numbers, his approval and trust ratings were still going down.

When the President became emotional towards the end of his speech, the media, as expected, played it up. The top stories on the SONA included the Aquino sisters’ reaction, particularly that of showbiz personality Kris Aquino.

The Star and the Inquirer used the word “tears” and “teary-eyed” in their July 29 banner stories.

A 24 Oras anchor also highlighted the President’s waxing   sentimental in his speech. The anchor even told the reporter, “…bandang huli na yata no, na may napansin ng marami na naging madamdamin at mistulang maluluha na si Presidente Aquino dun sa kaniyang SONA (Towards the end, many noticed that President Aquino became sentimental and seemed teary-eyed),” and “sa kabilang punto nabangit niya ang mga magulang niya at sinabi niyang hanggang dito na lang ako’t mistulang namamaalam na eh (He mentioned his parents and he said that he was practically bidding goodbye)…”

The media reported Aquino’s tirade against the critics of his government, and his claim that they are against change and against the Filipino people.

The broadcast programs interviewed satirist Mae Paner, popularly known as “Juana Change” and an Aquino supporter turned critic, who expressed her feelings about that part of the speech saying she became teary-eyed hearing it. Paner is one of the petitioners who have filed an impeachment complaint against the President.

Assessing Aquino’s administration

The press assessed the performance of Aquino and his administration for the past four years, but reports which provided in-depth research were few and far between.

The reports which reviewed the content of the SONA were based on the reactions of Aquino’s allies and critics. The Inquirer’s story “The verdict: President both winner and sinner” discussed the views of people in politics and business who graded the President’s speech. (July 29) 24 Oras and TV Patrol interviewed personalities from both the opposition and the administration. (July 28) Thus, the “he-said-she-said” type of coverage dominated the news. The news reports noted what Aquino said in his SONA but did not provide hard data and statistics to enrich public understanding.

The news reports in fact failed to elicit the reactions of those whose opinions mattered most, the citizens.

TV Patrol reported that the highlight of the president’s speech was that part in which he asked the people to continue trusting him. But the six minute report merely summarized what the president had said. TV Patrol had no follow-up report on the issues raised in the speech and the impact of Aquino’s policies on the lives of the people.  But it did conduct “man-on-the-street” interviews.

While most of the news agencies were content with printing and airing the usual SONA stories, Aksyon examined the Movement for Good Governance’s (MGG) 6.11 (out of 10) grade for the Aquino administration for 2013. The news program interviewed MGG member Dr. Milwida Guevarra who said that the grade was given without bias and was based on the number of targets that had been achieved among those set by the Aquino administration for the year.

The interview included the evaluation of the TESDA program, economic growth, agriculture, employment as well as matters that the President did not mention in his speech like health.

Other news reports included the walk out of several representatives before the President started his speech, the clash between the police and rallyists, and even what the politicians who attended the SONA were wearing, in a kind of imitation of the “red carpet” reports in Western media during such events as the Oscars, thus trivializing what was an otherwise serious event.

The TV news programs included reports on the ternos, barongs and the designers in their entertainment segments, but these types of reports landed on the front pages of the Inquirer and the Star. The Bulletin dedicated a full-page on what the members of Congress and their wives were wearing, “The Colors of SONA”, complete with 20 photos and the names of their wardrobe designers.

The Star reported, “Peach for impeach, was how militant lawmakers dressed in peach-colored Filipiniana explained their attire. . .Aquino supporters. . .attended the SONA in their signature yellow. Sen. Cynthia Villar was in her political party’s campaign orange.”

Interactive reporting

To their credit, the online news media provided people interactive pages for this year’s SONA. Online news portals ABS-CBNNews.com had polls, videos and infographics to engage and give people a walk through the important matters that happened to the country for the past four years of the Aquino administration.

GMA News online uploaded videos before the SONA assessing the state of the country for the past year. ABS-CBNNews.com’s Aquino Promises page recalled  Aquino’s promises and the progress the administration has achieve in the  economy, education, government ethics, health and environment, tourism, government and justice, the urban poor, Mindanao, foreign affairs and national security. The page also contained a review of the past SONAs of the President.

SONA fact-check

Rappler.com published a series to review and evaluate the administration’s policies as these were explained during the SONA.

Rappler’s “SONA Fact Check: Half Truths about Yolanda” questioned what was cited on the speech about government efforts after Yolanda hit several provinces in the country. The story said that Aquino trumpeted that he has approved plans for the rehabilitation of the Yolanda-hit provinces, but did not say that “he approved these plans only on Friday, July 25, or three days before his annual speech on Monday.”

The report also noted that despite the government’s effort to generate at least 221,897 jobs, 14,500 are Yolanda refugees are still living in tents.

Rappler discussed other issues raised in the SONA including the Zamboanga siege evacuees, dam and dike projects and rice hoarding.

Pre-SONA special reports

TV Patrol and 24 Oras aired a series of special reports on poverty, disasters, the economy, unemployment, corruption and peace that aired from July 21 up to the day of the SONA.

One of the most notable was TV Patrol’s report on poverty and unemployment aired July 22. The news special reported that 25 million of the 98.9 million people in the country are poor, three million are unemployed, and 18.2 percent underemployed.

The report explained the cycle of poverty and unemployment resulting in, among other social consequences, urban congestion. Not only did it provide statistics, it also interviewed experts from the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). What was equally noteworthy was that it documented the lives of ordinary Filipino citizens struggling with poverty and unemployment.

On July 28, the Inquirer recalled Aquino’s promises in his last SONA and what has happened since then. The report was very detailed in itemizing what had been done in different fields including power, metro Manila flooding, disaster preparedness and the Social Security System (SSS) pension scheme.  But some of the points raised in this year’s SONA were not included in the reports, among them the TESDA scholarships and rice importation.

All three print publications published special pages on the SONA which reported the progress in the economy and governance. The print media reviewed the state of the Philippines in the last four years of the Aquino administration.

Some of the reports were on trivial matters.   For example, the Inquirer published “Tales from the President’s many loves”, which was on the women who have been linked to the “first bachelor to reside in the Palace as President of the Republic.”

The verdict:  except for a few exceptions, the news media were not very helpful in providing the citizenry with either the information or the analysis that could have helped it check the veracity of the SONA’s claims, or even to provide a sense of what life is like for ordinary folk, in whose name, after all, the President was speaking.