Our greatest fear

Among the greatest fears of a reporter, and even editors, for that matter, is to give erroneous figures or names in a report that gets published. But the worst of all is when one reports someone to have died when the person referred to is still very much alive and kicking. A great humorist who was once reported as having died, asked what he had to say about it, replied glibly, “The report of my death has been slightly exaggerated”.

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Mary Jane Veloso may not be as quick on the draw, but she could also have said that the reports on her death had been exaggerated. But, as journalists ourselves, we can empathize with all those national dailies that had rashly headlined the “death” of Mary Jane Veloso, the Filipina overseas worker scheduled to die by firing squad in Indonesia Wednesday. All throughout the week, it was clear that the Indonesian government was unyielding: their country was being destroyed by the drug menace, and those found to be its agents deserved to die.

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And so the execution of Mary Jane and eight others, mostly foreigners to that country, had been set. They had already been transported to the island where such executions are performed, and last minute appeals to the highest authority had been rebuffed. So the staff of the Manila dailies, knowing that the time had been set, and there seemed to be no more possibility that it would be moved, decided to put out the news – headlined, at that – about her death. But a miracle occurred, and Mary Jane got to stay alive beyond the 3 a.m. time for her execution. So a lot of editors and staff had red faces on Wednesday.

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The closest experience I myself had to what those editors and reporters went through was on the day after the infamous Escalante massacre took place during the days of Martial Law, that was also the time when the insurgency was virtually at its peak in Negros Occidental. The massacre that took place at the public plaza drew international attention. I was then writing for Reuters, but also helping out with another international wire service because their regular stringer was out of the country. It was a truly gory scene we saw, and even the body counters were having some difficulty because some of the bodies had disappeared, and only the unclaimed ones were left at the military camp. After checking with several police and military officers, and some civilians, as well, we came up with a total of 21. And that was the number I sent to the wire agency.

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Early next morning I got a call from the bureau chief reproaching me, because, he said, all the other reports said there were only 20. Of course I stuck to my figures, but when he said sarcastically, “So what are you going to do about this?” I snapped, “I'm going there and kill one more.” He slammed the phone on me. But I did drive back to Escalante, and again went through the checks, all the while praying that I had gotten the right figures. And, indeed, the officers confirmed it, saying that they had traced some to the homes of the victims. I remembered the incident after the Mary Jane affair, and truly sympathized with the “kuryente” of their writers.

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Even if Manny Pacquiao, an adopted son of Bacolod, did not call on his “kasimanuas” here to pray for him in his encounter with Floyd Mayweather this weekend, I know that many of them have already started doing so, knowing what a great honor his victory would bring to our country. Just imagine, a nobody who came from the lowest ranks of Philippine society, building himself up to become one of the greatest in the world of sports that is boxing. Jose Rizal is our national hero and, no doubt, a great source of pride for us, but in his day, media was not as obtrusive and with so many outlets as we have now. That is why, the whole world, virtually knows that there is this young man from the Philippines who has raised himself, through his fists, to international prominence.

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I hope we can pass this on to Manny: your adopted kasimanuas in Bacolod are praying for you, that you will succeed, that you will be guided by the Lord, and that He will keep you from harm.*

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