This Week in Media (June 13 to 17, 2022)
No end in sight for economic woes
THE CEREMONIES involved in the transition to a new administration are the least of ordinary Filipinos’ concerns. The struggle to make ends meet becomes more and more taxing week by week, as fuel prices continue to soar amid global supply chain issues.
Media reported that this week, gasoline and diesel have reached 95 to 100 pesos per liter in some parts of the country, which means higher costs in the transportation and distribution of goods. Some trucker groups are reportedly planning truck holidays to reduce their expenses on fuel.
As jeepney drivers plead for higher subsidies, others from the transport sector are requesting fare hikes, such as taxi drivers, provincial bus operators and tricycle drivers. Commuters are just as burdened; their long queues for public transport and their need to catch multiple rides for work were the stuff of news.
Government officials are insistent that excise taxes on fuel cannot be suspended, as the funds from them are already allocated for certain projects. So far, the media have not called the public’s attention to what can be done immediately to cushion the impact of rising costs. Neither is the non-suspension of excise taxes questioned, and the projects or programs these supposedly fund unscrutinized.
Worse, news programs are also featuring farmers throwing away their crops when they fail to sell them. The concerned agencies speaking to the media almost always assure swift action, but there is really no comprehensive plan for the agricultural sector to assure the Philippines’ self-sufficiency and food security. A GMA-7 report correctly observed that the president-elect has not yet selected an Agriculture secretary— a crucial position given the looming food crisis.
The Inquirer’s editorial pointed to the urgency of a “credible fiscal consolidation program” for the incoming Marcos Jr. administration. “Merely hoping that the economy would grow fast enough for the government to “outgrow” its debt is like rolling the dice that is heavily loaded against us,” the Inquirer argued.
COVID-19 updates
News accounts are reporting slight upticks in COVID-19 cases particularly in Metro Manila. The Health department attributes the increase in the number of new cases to increased public mobility, the emergence of Omicron subvariants and the waning potency of the first booster shots. However, the DOH said there is no need yet to raise the Alert Level from 1 to 2 as hospitalization rates and critical cases remain low. But Dr. Jose Rene de Grano, president of the Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines, Inc., still raised concerns that should hospitals get overwhelmed again, their response would be strained due to their lack of enough nurses.
Meanwhile, the Vaccine Expert Panel (VEP) and the DOH are in apparent disagreement over the administration of second booster shots to cover more of the population, as news reports noted. Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire emphasized that there are no sufficient studies yet for the DOH to recommend a second booster for the general population, as it is now limited only to healthcare workers, senior citizens and immunocompromised persons. But Dr. Rontgene Solante of the VEP recommended covering more individuals, particularly those with comorbidities such as heart ailments and diabetes, due to the new subvariants.
Media also followed the exchange between IATF member agencies and Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia over the latter’s policy lifting mask-wearing outdoors and in open-air places. The Department of Interior and Local Government and the Department of Justice insist that the national policy supersedes local ones, but Garcia said the transition was necessary for a “new normal.” Coverage largely followed statements from either side, without emphasizing the possible risks to health as a result of the dispute.
Red-tagging
Another exchange that the media followed this week was between Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra and Lorraine Badoy, spokesperson for the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC). In a Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum on June 15, Guevarra said the position of the DOJ has always been to file cases against individuals who commit unlawful acts. Red-tagging or labeling individuals as communist without proof only endangers them. Badoy responded in a statement that it was “unfortunate” that the Justice Secretary himself was not aware that in the Zarate v. Aquino case, the Supreme Court ruled there was “no danger to life, liberty and security” when one is identified as a member of the CPP-NPA-NDF. Media did not check the accuracy of this claim, but some reports did recall the names of some activists who were killed in recent years following their red-tagging by the NTF-ELCAC.
More appointees to be
President-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced on June 17 that he has chosen Secretary Guevarra as his Solicitor General, and Jose Faustino Jr., Retired General and former chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, as the next Defense secretary. But his choice of former Juan Ponce Enrile as Presidential Legal Counsel was the primary focus of reports, which recalled Enrile’s role during Marcos Sr.’s regime, specifically his being the architect of Martial Law. Reports also recalled that the 98-year-old Enrile was a longtime defense minister, eventually leading a group of military officers who withdrew their support for, and helped overthrew Marcos Sr. in 1986.
Days prior to his being so named, Enrile had been claiming that he has “credible information” that groups in and out of the country are “planning trouble” for Marcos, Jr., without showing any proof. His upcoming appointment and subsequent actions and pronouncements apparently need close media and public attention.
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