It was all credible?

I laughed out loud when I saw an advertisement from former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo congratulating the Daily Tribune, on its anniversary issue recently. She greeted the paper saying: “Congratulations to the Tribune for being a steadfast beacon of credible reporting and good journalism”.

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Now I had been reading the Tribune practically everyday during her presidency and I believe it is one media outlet that had lambasted her and her administration relentlessly. Sometimes, as a journalist myself, I would wince at the language in which the paper, its columns and editorials, took her and her cabinet apart. Now she is commending it for its “credible reporting and good journalism”. Does that mean she also thinks that what the paper had been saying against her, and even her family, “credible” and “good”?

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But maybe the former president was not the one who had drafted the text of that congratulatory advertisement. Maybe some people from her staff had written it, happy that the Tribune has now turned to the incumbent as its whipping boy. Meanwhile, what happened to GMA’s spokesperson, the one who was always in the forefront while her camp was trying to evade the arrest warrants being readied by the local court, and flee to another country? I am referring to former Land Transportation official Elena Bautista Horn, who had been very visible then. Has she been sacked? GMA should look for someone like now Congressman Anthony Golez who was one of her most effective spokespersons. Remember?

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As for broadcast journalists, or those with television as their medium, it seems of them have become so complacent and arrogant that they will not even own up when they commit a boo-boo that is destructive to people, or even to countries. One example is David Letterman, who had interviewed American actor Taylor Kitsch, where they said that the actor had been treated badly by Customs officials in the Philippines.

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Now, that was very damaging, especially to our Tourism efforts. How could we project to the world that “It’s more fun in the Philippines” when we treat visiting movie stars that way? But later investigations disclosed that the Kitsch incident took place in Indonesia, not in the Philippines. And that it was not Kitsch who had mentioned the Philippines, but the host, David Letterman. I understand communication has been made to Letterman about this but we have not heard of any reply, much less an apology from him. Why? Does he feel that, as a popular TV host, he has to appear infallible? People who admit their mistakes and apologize or make amends are more admired than those who stonewall and add insult to injury. As long practicing journalists, most of my colleagues and I do not hesitate to admit it when we err, because we know that our readers do not expect us to be perfect, human as we all are.

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Meanwhile, Filipinos, and even the so-called Fil-Ams in the United States are all excited over the chances of Filipino-Mexican teenager Jessica Sanchez who has been hogging the limelight – and the open approval of the judges themselves – in the popular show “American Idol”. So far, Jessica, who looks totally Pinoy without any Mexican trace in her size or appearance, has been getting an edge in every elimination, but who can tell? We also had finalists in the past and they fell by the wayside later. Maybe with the help of Filipinos back here, she will have a bigger chance. And who will preen the most in case she does? The Mexicans or the Filipinos?

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Since I no longer watch the impeachment trial, I missed the testimony of Congressman Tobias Tiangco who was called by the Corona defense panel as its witness. So I did not see if there were dagger looks at him from the congressmen-prosecutors. Of course I’m biased, but the glimpse of Tiangco’s face, his hair, his eyebrows and his general expression did not make me wonder why he is going against the consensus of his fellow members in Congress.

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I later learned from the wires that a member of the defense panel had been cited in contempt by the Senate-Court for having announced that senator-judges had been offered bribes, supposedly by Malacañang. The senators did not take kindly to that, and easily voted to cite him. So defense and prosecution are now quits, but the prosecution lawyer got away with it, while the Senators may not let defense lawyer Jose Roy II go so easily. Of course they understood why lawyer Vitaliano Aguirre had shut his ears while Sen. Miriam Santiago was haranguing them, but Roy, who has not proven his statement, so far, may have to bit the proverbial bullet yet.*

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