Category: The News Media

The News Media

a goddamned game show off the life of a witness

fernando_modesto_untitled_pastel_on_paper_29x43_inches_1984_301224739.jpg Fernando Modesto, Untitled, Pastel on Paper, 109 x 73 cms., 1984. Kulay-Diwa Gallery of Philippine Contemporary Art. Rightclicked and downloaded with express permission (thanks much!) from the webmaster at www.kulay-diwa.com

This comment made me laugh  aloud  today, (ha-ha-ha-ha, sobra) (soweee), from a viewer, a comment on the show “Harapan” (Face-to-face)

From  stuart-santiago:      you didn’t miss anything worth hearing. it was an awful show. if i were jun lozada i would have walked out and left korina and ricky to their own pathetic devices.

Dear stuart-santiago,

     This made me laugh.  I plugged  the show ten hours before it was shown, so i thought i was obliged to say something lest people think i had endorsed it. So i just said i didn’t have any comment (go figure, ha-ha); although  it’s true i just caught the tailend; actually half. (friends who know me know, when i say “no comment”, or when i don’t comment,  i either think the question  isn’t worth  getting engaged in  or i’m being polite;  i shouldn’t even be in the internet! Yeah i know. Duh.) Here it is: IT WAS A GODDAMNED GAME SHOW-TRADING-OF-BARBS SHOW. (How’s that for being polite, ha-ha). Questions like “Sa inyo bang tingin o opinyon si FG ay kasangkot, etc?” (In your view or opinion is FG involved, etc.), and similar questions like, “Ikaw ba ay isang bayani? Bakit? (Are you  a hero? Why?), or “Ano ba ang inyong mga pananaw sa korupsyon? Ito ba ay hindi na bago? (What are your views about corruption? Is this not new anymore?),  that just let the guests  throw around and toss recycled exhortations, denials, counter-accusations,  and nothing more and nothing new, made the show a contest of opinions and the height of inanity, especially for a witness like Jun Lozada who almost got killed,  his kids cannot go to school now for chrissake, and you make him jump hoops in a three-ringed circus, gosh. (The Sunday Mass held at La Salle, Greenhills is the saving grace of the week). It should have just been  a one-on-one  between Ben Abalos and Jun Lozada where the questions would  elicit from the two  a common timeline, a common set of events, the golf and power breakfasts, the trips to China, the wining and dining, then go into those, get details, what they ate, who sat where, etc., it only becomes real when there are details (that’s what journalists do for godssake), just like Jun Lozada’s narration fresh from the traumatic experience; it’s the details that make people realize the bacchanalia that Gloria, FG, Ben Abalos, and their cabal are  engorged in on contracts and taxpayers’ money (i’ll let you in on a secret, it’s the details that in 2000-2001 made people  see the Estrada  gov’t and midnight cabinet for what they were), (then, for TV, i would have put graphics and visuals for the timeline and events) leading up to airport incident, so that we could reconstruct what really happened and this time it’s something new because Ben Abalos is there and who knows what else you could squeeze from the witness Jun Lozada  everytime he remembers something (some witnesses take days of interviews to remember details spanning one year) . I know that would require a lot of skills but the alternative is song-and-dance  like what we saw.  You’re right, i agree, if i were Jun Lozada, i would have walked out.  That’s where you see the character of the person. Mabait syang tao. (He’s a kind man). It’s like, his layers have been peeled off and he’s willing to endure all of the utter senselessness  of TV. (i shouldn’t have written that, i know, but i thought i’d let  witnesses like Jun Lozada and his family and friends know). To the letter-sender: i’m glad you wrote in, thank you!

Rules of Court, The News Media

my students’ ordeal last week

resizedsealion.jpg              resizedsealion2.jpg

Law on Mass Media and Communication. First test, rights-and-privileges part of the syllabus. Answer the following questions fully. You are not allowed to leave the room until you’re done. You are not allowed to consult any materials, to talk to each other, or to use any electronic device. 50 pts with 10 pts bonus. 29 Jan. 2008, afternoon class. Marichu C. Lambino. 

 

     1.During the Nov. 29 Manila Pen assembly of the Magdalo soldiers, General Lim in a prepared statement quoted the Constitution: “The Philippines is a democratic and republican state. Sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority emanates from them…” And he proceeded to justify the hotel takeover. Questions: What is the Constitution? What theory is the quoted provision based on? Define and explain. In your study of history, does the theory justify the 1986 EDSA uprising? What about the 2001 EDSA uprising? What about the Nov. 29 Manila Pen takeover? Why or why not? (10 pts) 

 

     2.Make a diagrammatic presentation of the structure of the judiciary. (10 pts)

 

      3.Upon complaint of many faculty members, the U.P. administration blocked the sites “Friendster” and “Multiply” in the school computer units inside U.P. academic and administrative buildings because the massive use by students of the sites was clogging up the server and delaying internet downloading in the entire University, thus delaying and  hampering research for days on. Student Britney Sibat filed a complaint or petition in the Supreme Court stating that the act of the U.P. admin was a “violation of the human rights” of students to: “a free marketplace of ideas.” Questions: In what case and in whose opinion was the “free marketplace of ideas” used? What was that case all about? Does the principle apply to Britney’s complaint? Why or why not? In your opinion, will Britney’s case prosper? Explain fully. (10 pts.) 

 

     4.At the height of the Senate investigation of the ZTE broadband deal, then Comelec chair Ben Abalos resigned. In a press conference where he announced his resignation, he was near tears and his family members were crying. Friends say he had been hurt by all the allegations of corruption against him. Can Ben Abalos find comfort in what Justice Malcolm said in U.S. vs. Bustos? What is that case all about and what did Justice Malcolm say? (5 pts.) 

 

     5.A number of organizations, including the NUJP, the CMFR, PCIJ, and individual reporters, filed a series of suits this week against the officials of the PNP, CIDG, and DILG, for incidents arising from the Nov. 29 Manila Pen incident. The parties said the respondents violated the right of the people to access. Questions: State  the right fully. What is this right all about? Explain. In the leading case on the matter taken up in class, what conditions need to obtain before the right can be invoked? Were the reliefs granted in said case? Why or why not? In the problem stated, do you agree with the particular contention of the organizations and journalists? Why or why not? (10 pts.)

 

      6.Two weeks ago, the DOJ kept repeating in interviews that Magdalo soldier Nicanor Faeldon managed to slip out at the height of the Manila Pen standoff because a female reporter gave him a press card. An Inquirer reporter, using unnamed sources in the PNP, disclosed the name of said female reporter. A petition for the writ of habeas data was filed against the Inquirer and its reporter by Atty. Ambo to ask them to reveal where they got the name and who gave it to them. In your opinion, will the case/ petition prosper? What can the Inquirer invoke? Explain fully and discuss the cases taken up in class. (10 pts.) 

 

     7.Why are intellectual property rights referred to as economic rights? What is the “fair-use doctrine”? Under the present Intellectual Property Code, are you allowed to photocopy an entire book for use in your class assignments? Why or why not? (5 pts.)                       

 

                                         -30-