TV monitors
The missing links
SENTRO REPORTED the allegations of poll fraud by opposition senatorial candidates Panfilo Lacson and Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III last May 29 but did not press the accusers to substantiate their claims.
Lacson claimed someone offered him the 14th slot in the Maguindanao senatorial race for P4 million. He said there were candidates who paid to get higher slots.
Pimentel, on the other hand, alleged that provincial board canvassers in Cotabato added between 75,000 and 125,000 votes for administration bet Juan Miguel Zubiri. Dismissing “honest mistake” and “clerical error” as lame excuses, Pimentel asked why the discrepancies in the count favored a “candidate who’s interested in winning,” referring to Zubiri.
Zubiri and Pimentel were in a tight race for the last senatorial spot.
Just like Lacson who did not name the person who supposedly asked him for grease money or the candidates who coughed up the money, Pimentel did not name the canvassers who padded the votes for Zubiri either.
The provincial board of canvassers was not interviewed for comment. Sentro did not look further into the claims of Lacson and Pimentel.
No answers for Nikki
BANDILA’S MAY 28, 29, and 30 reports aired the accusations of Sonia Roco and Anna Dominique “Nikki” Coseteng of alleged cheating by fellow Genuine Opposition (GO) senatorial aspirants Francis Escudero and Loren Legarda.
While TV Patrol World managed to broadcast the defense of both Escudero and Legarda on May 28, Bandila did not do so. Bandila merely cited Coseteng’s calculations that there were more votes than there were registered voters. There was no attempt to seek a possible explanation for the discrepancy by interviewing Escudero’s or Legarda’s lawyers, the GO spokesperson, or even the Commission on Elections.
Where fame isn’t everything
WITH CELEBRITIES failing in their bids to win public office in this year’s elections, Bandila sought to answer the big question: Why?
In its May 31 newscast, Bandila pointed out that while half of the celebrities who ran in the elections of 2004 ended up winning, only about 30 percent had emerged victorious this year. This despite the fact that more celebrities ran this year.
Gladstone Cuarteras of the Institute of Popular Democracy (IPD) further cited the case of boxer Manny Pacquiao whose close affiliation with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo apparently proved disadvantageous to him.
Sociologist Jerry Apolonio said that in 1998, voters elected media and show business personalities because they felt that they knew these people on a personal level through their media exposure.
The recent lifting of the ban on political ads and the increase in the number of homes with television sets, however, have enabled new candidates to introduce themselves to the public.
Moreover, the IPD said that this year, election results showed it was not enough for a candidate to be famous. Celebrities must show that they have rendered public service, like former broadcasters Noli de Castro and Loren Legarda.
Taking a shortcut was also not an effective strategy for actors Cesar Montano and Richard Gomez, since even celebrities like Lito Lapid had to corner local positions first before aiming for the Senate.
Still, the report predicted that celebrities will continue with their forays into public office in 2010 because the country’s political party system is weak and unable to attract new players.
Remember Ninoy?
TV PATROL World gave a rather inaccurate description of senator-elect Antonio Trillanes IV in its June 14 broadcast. The statement, “Sa edad na 35 anyos, uupong pinakabatang senador si Trillanes (At the age of 35, Trillanes is the youngest senator)” is vague at best. Trillanes may be the youngest in this year’s batch of elected senators, but Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. was elected at 34 years old in 1967, making him the youngest senator to be elected in Philippine history.
The 1935 and 1987 Constitutions require that a Filipino be at least 35 years old on election day. Saying that Aquino was 13 days short of 35 years when voted as senator, the Marcos administration tried to have him unseated. The effort, however, failed.
Not just the cons of Congress
GOING BEYOND the usual events-focused reporting, Sentro did a special feature on the accomplishments and failings of Congress as it celebrated its centenary on June 7.
Sentro interviewed former Pangasinan Rep. Oscar Orbos, who said the country’s legislative body had no achievements to boast of so far.
“If we celebrate at all, it is actually to look for reasons to improve ourselves,” Orbos said. The report also noted that most of the laws passed by the House of Representatives concerned trivial matters such as changing the names of schools and roads.
Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte, a former congressman and House speaker, explained that compromises are a reality in legislative processes but said the line should be drawn where bribery is concerned.
The report also took up the historical debate on the date when the first Congress was established: whether this was when the First Philippine Assembly was formed in 1907, or when the Malolos Congress of the First Philippine Republic was convened in September 1898.
A history of election fraud
THE ELECTIONS in Mindanao have often been associated with cheating and violence. On May 29, a report in Sentro made viewers understand why and how poll fraud happens.
Prof. Julkipli Wadi of the University of the Philippines Institute for Islamic Studies analyzed the problematic situation in Lanao del Sur. Wadi blamed slow economic progress and lack of concern by the Christian-dominated government for recurrent poll fraud. The people in Lanao, Wadi added, do not respect political authorities because they do not feel the government serves them.
These circumstances have also led to the dominance of warlords who are elected to the highest positions in the province because they provide for the needs of the impoverished people. People are then expected to return the favor by keeping the warlords in power.
There was, however, one instance where Sentro gave in to stereotyping. Referring to the Maranaos who run tiangge (bazaar) businesses in Greenhills, the report said: “Negosyante ang mga Maranao, at produktong maibebenta ang tingin nila sa bawat boto—puwedeng pagkakitaan, lalo na kung gutom ang alternatibo (The Maranaos are business-minded people and they consider every vote as something that can be sold, especially if hunger is the only alternative).”
Unfilled blanks
ON MAY 22, i-Watch News reported the possible release of more than 500 overstaying inmates from the Manila City Jail as part of the prison decongestion program of the Department of Justice.
The report said the passage of the Dangerous Drugs Act in 2002 triggered the surge in the number of prisoners in the Manila City Jail. It said the congestion in the jail had a number of ill effects, one of which was the spread of communicable diseases.
i-Watch News left viewers guessing why, in the first place, inmates stayed longer than they had to in jail.
What they did in their summer vacation
WHAT WAS so important about the excursion of government-owned NBN-4 staff and crew that it had to be part of the day’s news?
In its May 22 telecast, Teledyaryo celebrated the network’s “pinakamata-gumpay at pinakamalaking (most successful and biggest) summer outing” at Jed’s Island Resort in Bulacan. It showed NBN-4 employees having fun at the resort with the reporter saying, “Mukhang nakuha na nga ng Bulacan mula sa Laguna ang pagiging summer getaway (It seems Bulacan has stripped Laguna of its title as the summer getaway).”
Was the “report” actually a paid advertisement? Teledyaryo had featured the resort a few times in the past. Its reports cited the awards won by the resort, its amenities, activities, and range of fees, among other things. Teledyaryo even named the resort as one of the best summer getaways in the province.
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