Category: media

“harapan” nina korina’t ricky: HARANG!

anc’s korina sanchez and ricky carandang roundly deserved the put-down by sister mary john mananzan, o.s.b. [order of st. benedict; she taught us religion and history in high school] when she minced no words and declared UNFAIR the way they had set up the show so that the promised lozada-abalos face-off turned out to be a forum for abalos and panelo and razon and formoso and dee to launch a sustained attack on lozada without giving the guy equal time each time to respond. UNFAIR talaga. mabuhay! si sister mary john who was so incensed, she was prepared to give up her time on cam in favor of lozada.

what were korina and ricky thinking? sa halip na maliwanagan ang bayan, lalo lang nilang ginulo! what a waste of valuable time and what a waste of a nationwide captive audience who was expecting NOT a rehash, nay, a parody, of the senate investigation, complete with insultuhan at taasan ng boses, but rather who was expecting and wanting to be clarified, affirmed, enlightened.

what were korina and ricky thinking? can it be that they themselves don’t believe jun lozada and didn’t think he deserved ample time to answer the brickbats thrown at him? or were they just being their commercial selves, trying to get as many sensational soundbites out of as many talking heads as possible, treating the audience as though we were children with short attention spans? or maybe they’re just hedging their bets, in case gma and her cohorts prevail?

this is the problem with media’s attitude that their job is only to inform, that is, to report or give voice to both sides of an issue, but not to sway us one way or another. not for them to take sides. not for them to advocate anything except freedom of the press, never mind what they do or don’t do with that freedom. all they seem to be capable of is skepticism. which is really a cop-out, a way out for people who don’t have a real grasp of issues and therefore do not have the confidence and the nerve to take a stand. which is no way to serve the nation.

pasalamat sila na hindi sila pinahiya ni jun lozada by walking out on the show even if he had every reason to. what a guy. what a class act.

as for korina and ricky, i do believe they owe jun lozada a proper apology.

glorietta, media, and blogs

it was not unexpected that the philippine national police would find for a gas explosion, not for an explosive device. matagal na nilang sinasabi that evidence was pointing to a critical build-up of gases that could have been prevented if the guys in charge were doing their job.

but it was unexpected that the police would recommend charges only against the engineers, operators, and fire prevention officers who were immediately responsible for safety measures, and not against the mall owner nor city hall. unexpected because matagal na silang naghi-hint that the the pnp was not beyond charging even ayala land and mayor binay for command responsibility if warranted. kaya na nga panay ang press release ng ayala land before this, contesting findings of a gas explosion and negligence.

puno‘s excuse:

“. .. it was just that repairing the malfunctioning sewage system was not the job of the owners while those who had been charged had immediate responsibility for the repairs of the sewage system.”

pero kaya nga tinawag na “command” responsibility, di ba. kahit hindi ka directly responsible for repairs, pero kung mga tao mo ang pumalpak – june july august pa lang daw me problema na ang sewage system – ibig sabihin may pagkukulang ka rin. kasi kung on-top-of-the-situation ka, kung maayos ang palakad mo, wala sanang pumalpak, wala sanang namatay at nasugatan.

i smell a rat. maybe a backroom ex-deal (puno style) between ayala and malacanang. hmm. maybe re charter change? or maybe that is still to come, and nagpapapogi lang ang palasyo sa mga ayala.

not that i’m completely sold on the negligence charge.

i was expecting that anc, as is usual with important developments, would have some resource persons, maybe an engineer or two, to share their expert opinions, but no, not this time. later in the evening ricky carandang devoted the whole hour of the big picture to the same story, but again we had to listen to the same pnp guys rehashing what we had already heard, with ricky just clarifying the double blast, the ayala investigations, and the rdx angle.

the biggest let-down of all, not just from anc but from all media is that no one has yet asked the BIG question posed by some bloggers and, i hear, science e-groups, soon after the blast: conceding, for the sake of argument, that it was indeed not a bomb but a gas explosion. WHAT IF it was not a matter of criminal negligence but, rather, a matter of creative criminal engineering? surely it is humanly possible to orchestrate such a blast? what would it take? why is it not being considered by the police as a distinct possibility?

nakakadismaya our media. no time to read, no time to research, no time for critical thinking. paano kasi, ang he-hectic ng buhay. bread trip. one show after another, one deadline after another, no time to read read read and google and surf the internet, much less to turn on to pinoy blogs, where some of the discourse is remarkably (happily) higher than in broadsheet and broadcast media.

fwd text

lessons learned from trillanes:

1. pwede pala maglakad from makati trial courtto manila pen

2. kasya pala tangke sa hotel

3. pag naposasan pala media, nakakalimutan ang nag-aaklas, sila na muna pinag-uusapan

4. di pala maganda si pinky webb pag walang make-up

5. kulot pala si ces drilon pag di nag blower

trillanes-lim breakaway, and surrender, live

4:20 p.m. pnp-swat forces surrounding manila peninsula hotel, apparently waiting for orders to move in and arrest senator trillanes and brig. gen. danny lim who are holed up in a second-floor function room with other magdalo soldiers after walking out of makati’s regional trial court at 10:30 or so this morning, and asking for gloria arroyo’s resignation.

4:45 the five-star hotel has not been completely cleared of people – meron pang guests, at marami pang media reporters and photographers. including magdalo lawyer j.v. bautista who is now questioning the legitimacy of the warrants of arrest. and what’s the point daw, talaga namang nakakulong na ang mga rebelde before this action. he says they’re not moving out or giving up. he also named teofisto guingona, dodong nemenzo, and unnamed bishops as supportive but haven’t seen them inside hotel.

4:50 pinky webb nag-uulat from inside hotel. hearing shots. teargas lobbed into first floor. trillanes on cam with ces drilon. trillanes: dito sa ginagawa ng administrasyon na ito, you have to witness the ruthlessness niya, walang pakundangan. ….endangering life of media men… extra-judicial killing. … watch !

i hear that on the march to manila pen trillanes was calling on people to come and stand with them. no people, but a lot of media. these media people, i wonder, the ones who have stayed in the hotel, covering all statements by the rebels and their supporters closely, are they there because they are sympathetic to trillanes et al? sila kaya yung people who will shield the rebels, as in edsa one?

teofisto guingona on cam. hanky to his nose. we are being teargassed. i think call for sobriety a little late.

korina (monitoring situation from studio), quoting guingona: sana kumalma pati ang gobyerno.

5:00. putukan blues. … raining hard outside.

5:07. tank forcing itself into first floor entrance. backs off. abante uli. obviously trying to breakdown door. … army tank/ apc? breaks into manila peninsula.

ces drilon: lalabas na sina senator trillanes and gen. lim to avoid civilian lives being lost.

5:12 guingona, trillanes, lim walking out, but not out of hotel? only to another function room. maybe setting up for a presscon? anc’s tony velasquez and pia hontiveros speculating.

text just came in from my daughter who got it from some news channel : OA ng reaksyon ni GMA! talagang destroy the hotel?

oops i missed that.

bishop labayen (inside hotel with trillanes et al): without justice, there is no peace. justice not administered properly, so no peace in the nation.

trillanes: ako po ay tumayo dito ngayon upang gampanan aking tungkulin… tumayo para sa mga karapatan ng mga naapi. subalit nakita natin kung hanggang saan ang gagawin ng administrasyon… you have been witnesses and victims of the kind of ruthlessness of this adminstration… like soldiers we’re going to face this. … whatever they would want to do with me. … we’re going out for the sake of the safety of everybody.

you’re surrendering?

trillanes: yes, for your sake. we cannot live with our conscience if some of you will be killed in the crossfire. …

danny lim: dissent without action is consent. what we did was in consonance with our solemn constitutional mandate to be the protector of our people…. there’s unfinished business here. …

father robert reyes, appear! and bibeth orteza!

trillanes: dissent without action is consent. one of my main voter base is the afp. im convinced that most of them sympathize with our cause. and thats enough for us for now. eventually it will be their turn, to live up to their mandate as protectors of the people. 5:25 this is not a loss. if somebody lost here its the whole nation. at the end of the day gma will still be there, and you have seen in the past 7 years what that entailed.

bibeth orteza: we were doing something we believed was right. i am very proud of our media… isa akong babaeng me cancer… sana kung kailangan mo mamatay, mamatay ka para sa bayan, wag ka namang mamatay dahil sa sakit. … kaya ako nandito. … hindi matatapos hanggat may ganitong mga taong ganitong katapang. right now im very proud to be filipino… sabi nga ni salud algabre, kung minsan kailangang umatras ka para manalo…

5:35 p.m. walking out of function room, led by trillanes and lim. standing around… a tank and an apc? in the lobby.

5:45. fr. robert reyes: tinanong kung kelan nila gustong lumabas. as soon as possible po.

5:50. bishop labayen’s prayer: …this is of the people, by the people, for the people. we are gathered here for the people to be the center of our attention. but we see that the system has injected in them massive poverty. for this we stand for them and we try to fight for justice, and we know that the forces of this world hate us for this. so we ask you lord to be with us and bless us with justice that we may have peace. we thank you for the gift of life and for the gifts that are still to come, according to your promise. this we ask through christ our lord.

pinky webb: mga taga-media, inaaresto at isinasama kami sa bicutan.

6:00. ces drilon reports, they’re ready to exit and are being asked to by gas-masked soldiers, but teargas fumes still too strong. masangsang pa, maiiyak ka… may 50 pa kami dito. … bigyan kami ng gas masks para makalabas.

j.v. bautista: we’re not going to leave them. …meron daw mga order of arrest. we do not know the nature of that. only courts can issue arrest warrants.

korina: pilit kinokompiska the video of our reporters…

jv: nilalapastangan pati rights of media. overkill. police brutality. state suppression. overreaction. … lumaban po kayo. wag kayo papayag. protektado ang press freedom dito sa ating bansa. sana ang media manindigan rin.

npc’s roy mabasa: nalulungkot kami sa mga nangyayari. ginampanan lang ng media ang tungkulin nila…. walang nilabag. kinokondena namin ito…

trillanes et al have left function room and brought to a holding area. aalamin kung sinong sundalo, sinong civilian, sinong tagasuporta etc.

human rights lawyer marichu lambino phonepatch to korina: harassing of reporters by armed soldiers, hindi ko alam kung bakit tinatrato bilang kriminal. … hindi puwedeng imbitahin pero nakaumang ang mga baril. illegal arrest. wala silang karapatang magconfiscate ng video kung wala silang search warrant. paglabag yan sa batas. nakikita natin kung sinong lumalabag sa batas.

6:20. trillanes being escorted/rushed out of hotel and into waiting pnp bus. arestado. nakaposas. next, vp guingona, nakangiti, then gen. danny lim, nakaposas rin. two more men, unidentified. now fr. robert and bishop labayen making their way slowly, isinasakay rin sa bus, along with some of the technical crew of abs-cbn.

6:37 p.m. two police buses moving out.

the end, and maybe not.