Written by Richard Juan: sports.inquirer.net/104791/philippines-files-racism-complaint-against-hk-football-fans
“Philippines played a friendly international football match against Hong Kong and have finally defeated Hong Kong for the first time in six tries. No doubt there were more Hong Kongers present at the football match as Hong Kong was the home team.
“As a journalist, you are supposed to write objectively without bias. It was shown in the early parts of the article, as it was stating what happened in the match, what the Hong Kong supports did, and what the Football Associations of both Hong Kong and Philippines intend to do. However, at the end of the article, there were some unnecessary comments about the tragic hostage-taking incident in 2010. “Some in the southern Chinese city still hold a grudge against the Philippines since a Manila hostage-taking incident in 2010, in which eight Hong Kong tourists were killed in a bungled police rescue. The Hong Kong government has maintained a travel warning for the Philippines since the incident.”
“That paragraph is redundant and does not give more information about the racism in the football match. The writer of the article indirectly, or even directly led the readers to think that the racism in the football match was definitely caused by the hostage taking incident in 2010.
“What’s more is that it is obvious that the writer of this article is not very happy with Hong Kong as a whole. The last paragraph of the article shows the obvious lack of knowledge in the OFWs by exaggerating the working conditions of the OFWs in Hong Kong.
“The writer said the domestic helpers work ‘toiling long hours’ for ‘low pay’ to describe the working conditions of the domestic helpers in Hong Kong. That is a incorrect accusation in so many levels. First, the minimum wage for domestic helpers in Hong Kong is approximately HKD$3500 per month, which is equivalent to almost P20,000. Compare that to the minimum wage here of less than P450 per day x 26 working days, that’s equivalent to around P11,700 per month only. Not to mention food and transportation is NOT included while working in Hong Kong, food and transportation is already all included. Two, yes, some may have harder time than others, but the way the writer phrased it is as if ALL the domestic helpers work long hours – that statement is too harsh and too strong. Not to mention, domestic helpers here in the Philippines do the same thing and some may work even harder and yet they get less than a quarter of what helpers in Hong Kong make.
“Lastly, the writer said that “Filipinos are also looked down upon in Hong Kong because more than 100,000 of them work as domestic helpers” – the writer again is generalizing that ALL Filipinos get ‘looked down’ (which again is too harsh for a news article) by ALL Hong Kongers. That is showing the writer’s opinion by trying to link one ‘story’ to another and this should not happen in a news article.” Written by Richard Juan.
“This commentary only aims to discuss the article in the provided link above in accordance with the Philippine Journalist’s Code of Ethics and the Code of Professional and Ethical Conduct of the Philippine Press Institute. The article is about the malversation of funds and several anomalies that were discovered at Benguet General Hospital (BeGH) through an investigation conducted by the Provincial Government.
“Under the Philippine Journalist’s Code of Ethics, a journalist “shall scrupulously report and interpret the news, taking care not to suppress essential facts nor to distort the truth by omission or improper emphasis.” Further, he/she “shall “recognize the duty to air the other side and the duty to correct substantive errors promptly.” Malversation of funds and other anomalies mentioned in the article are sensitive and critical issues that involve public interest; thus, getting the view from the other side is necessary. However, there is nothing in the article that expressly or impliedly states the act of the writer to perform the same. Likewise, the writer failed to exercise the necessary diligence and prudence in making sure that fairness to both parties is observed. The writer was not able to show Benguet General Hospital’s or Mr. Dison Balangue’s side of the story. Moreover, attempts to acquire the same for the sake of fairness and equality were not directly stated or implied.
“Under III.2 of and the Code of Professional and Ethical Conduct of the Philippine Press Institute, “single-source stories must be avoided as a rule.” In connection with the preceding paragraph, the writer only relied on the allegations of Provincial Legal Officer Danio Bolislis and the Provincial Government’s affidavit-complaint. The need to get more sources, especially from the other party involved in the issues, was not satisfied. The provision of the Code also mandates that a journalist “must strive at all times to ascertain the truth of sources’ assertions.” On the contrary, the writer plainly based the article on the allegations of the complainants; extra effort to validate, confirm, or get other views was not exerted.
“Under the Philippine Journalist’s Code of Ethics, a journalist “shall presume persons accused of crime of being innocent until proven otherwise.” Although the writer used the term “alleged” throughout the article, the previously discussed failure or omission to present Benguet General Hospital’s or Mr. Dison Balangue’s side also tends to taint the parties’ innocence. Likewise, the whole article appears to be favorable to the allegations of the Provincial Government and might be prejudicial to the other. The article might influence the public to believe that the allegations of the complainants are true, despite the pending actions in Court that have not been resolved by final judgment.”
