“He said, she said” reporting

There was no letup in the political squabble between the administration and those calling for the ouster of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and media have not been very helpful in making the public understand the issues.

On September 25, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported that the government’s policy of “maximum tolerance” toward protesters has given way to “calibrated preemptive response” because of the administration’s desire to instill fear among the populace. The information was attributed to resigned social welfare secretary Dinky Soliman, who quoted President Arroyo in their July 5 Cabinet meeting as saying, “Let’s bring in the muscle. Let’s bring in the fear.” (“Dinky’s flashback: ‘Bring in the muscle, let’s bring in the fear’”).

Why and what made Soliman talk about the “fear factor” in the President’s new style of governance more than two months after leaving the Cabinet, the report did not explain.

The Philippine Star’s handling of an exclusive story was no different. On September 30, the paper outscooped the competition with the apparent cooperation of presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye. The Star got a copy of Bunye’s sworn statement which said that the June 27 “I-am-sorry” spiel of President Arroyo was set up by Senate President Franklin Drilon. Bunye supposedly broke his silence because the series of Senate investigations on alleged anomalies involving President Arroyo were actually impeachment proceedings in disguise (“Drilon set up GMA – Bunye”). In follow-up reports, Drilon called Bunye’s revelations a “hatchet job” that went hand in hand with “political intrigues.”

There was no attempt to explain why Bunye, who first revealed the existence of the Garci tapes in a press conference in Malacañang, kept these details to himself — even after the Senate president had already called for the chief executive’s resignation last July. What was the purpose of the press secretary’s affidavit? If it was meant to destroy Drilon, it also tarnished the image of the President. What kind of chief executive would allow herself to be setup by allies? Bunye’s last bold accusation about an alleged opposition ploy to discredit the President saw the press secretary flip-flopping about certain specific details in the Garci tapes.

There are so many questions the press could have and should have raised and tried to answer to avoid muddling the issues further. Except for a few articles and opinion-editorial pieces, many reports just focused on accusations and counter-accusations of personalities. The “he said, she said” type of reporting has left the public wondering who and what to believe.

To his credit, Star publisher Max V. Soliven, in his column “By The Way” last October 3, made up for what his paper lacked in the front-page story. He wrote: “Why did not Arroyo and Bunye accuse Drilon of setting the president up earlier?” [let’s check the quotes—just to be sure] According to Soliven, as early as July 9, the President told him that Drilon was among those who prodded her to make an apology. “Did GMA hope to ‘reconcile’ with Drilon? That would have been the height of political naiveté,” the Star publisher said. “Bunye’s ‘exposure’ of Frank’s ‘perfidy’ lost much of its impact by being triggered almost three months after the Senate President’s treacherous volte-face. Why the delay?”

In another alleged political maneuver, print and broadcast media reported last October 5 a justice department order for the arrest of Jesus is Lord leader Bro. Eddie Villanueva. The order signed by Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez last September 27 was in connection with the estafa charges filed by businessman Benito Araneta against the charismatic leader and defeated presidential candidate. Villanueva and Araneta, a cousin of First Gentleman Mike Arroyo, have been at odds for years over the management and operations of Channel 11. The media correctly pointed out that the arrest warrant was issued by the lower court last April 5 and merely reiterated by Gonzalez more than five months later. Thus, the lingering suspicions about the timing of Gonzalez’s arrest order against a high profile personality in the oust-Arroyo movement.

Villanueva took up the challenge and, through the media, declared that he would not post bail to avoid arrest. He warned of “more damaging revelations” against the government. What these revelations are, media reports did not mention. There was no follow up about the alleged “damaging revelations.” Was the press not interested? Why didn’t Villanueva spill the beans during the campaign or at least at the height of the impeachment proceedings against the President? What and when will Villanueva use the aces up his sleeve? The JIL founder is not talking and remains scot-free as of press time.

The ante insofar as intrigue-laden stories are concerned was upped by Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago. The feisty and confrontational senator revealed an alleged assassination plot against President Arroyo by no less than prayerful former president Corazon Aquino and Senate President Drilon.

According to Santiago, the plan to kill the President was supposed to be carried out by October 15, if the oust-Arroyo move did not materialize within the said deadline. She said she got the information from a “chattering” relative of the Senate President. Drilon and Mrs. Aquino denied the allegations, describing Santiago’s story as “fantastic,” “absurd,” and a product of the senator’s very fertile imagination.

Santiago’s mind-boggling expose was the headline of the Inquirer and front-page story of the Star and The Daily Tribune on October 2. The Manila Bulletin used the story for page 1 but focused on Drilon’s denial and call for sobriety. The Manila Times reported on a plot to oust the President based on an intelligence report, whose existence was denied by the military a few days later.

On television, the alleged assassination plot was given substantial airtime on the day the newspapers broke the story.

In his October 3 column, Soliven said Santiago’s accusations “smack of double hearsay.” The Daily Tribune suggested that Santiago must first prove that her information came from a first-hand source. If she failed the test, the paper’s October 3 editorial said, “she of course can always blurt out in that atrocious accent that is neither Harvard nor whatever, ‘I lied!’”

Many reports, including GMA-7’s 24 Oras last October 3, reminded the public of Santiago’s other bizarre statements in the past which she nonchalantly retracted. Among these declarations played up by the press were claims that she would hang herself if she didn’t win in the 1992 elections and she would jump out of a plane without a parachute in 2001 if then president Joseph Estrada landed in jail. Given Senator Santiago’s habi
t of lying, it is amazing why media seem to readily take her statements hook, line and sinker.

On October 5, BusinessWorld’s Greg B. Macabenta gave readers his take on the assassination plot story by writing a fictitious story about a newspaper named the Philippine Daily Indigestion and how it happily made an incredible Martian plot to oust Arroyo the headline. He said the ouster plot, exposed by a Senator Santiago, was made the top story even if it was “too fantastic to be believed” because incredible stories increased sales.

The newspaper’s headline was supposedly jazzed up by the editor in chief who put an “or else” blurb to add an element of suspense to the story. Picking up Santiago’s rumor, Macabenta said, the paper’s editor called up justice secretary Raul Gonzalez to get his reaction to the story. The justice secretary promptly ordered an investigation. So as not to be accused of irresponsible journalism, the newspaper wrote an editorial the following day bewailing the spread of baseless rumors.

The Philippine Daily Indigestion’s editorial said: “Santiago’s allegations of a terminal oust-Arroyo plot by Martians are not only a ‘fantastic’ claim. They are also extremely unfortunate because they make a confusing situation even more confused.” The paper’s motto? Masturbatum est, Macabenta said.

Interestingly, the Inquirer’s headline on Santiago’s expose screamed: “Cory-Drilon plot bared: Miriam says plan is to force GMA out by Oct. 15, or else…” The paper’s October 3 editorial said: “Thus, Santiago’s allegations of a terminal oust-Arroyo plot are not only a ‘fantastic’ claim, as Drilon has pointed out. They are also extremely unfortunate, because they make a confusing situation even more confused.”

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