FIRST, President-elect Rodrigo Roa Duterte took on the Catholic Church as the “most hypocritical institution” simply because some members of the Catholic hierarchy are lecherous scoundrels. He mistook the papacy and the clergy of the Catholic Church built by Jesus Christ some 2,000 years ago which the “gates of hell shall not prevail against.”
Then, Du30 took on the press, saying that corrupt members of media deserved to be killed. He cited three categories of members of the media: one, the crusaders; two, those who work for vested interests; and three, the extortionists.
Santa Banana, I’m actually glad that the president-elect has taken on media as an adversary. It is an institution I am well acquainted with as a veteran journalist for over six decades.
Sure, there are rotten eggs in media, just as there are corrupt people in government or any other institution and profession.
Media involves public trust. Extra-judicial killings happen because the wheels of justice in this country turn slowly.
Some work-related cases are when commentators become paid hacks of politicians. Some opinion writers act as crusaders for criminals and drug lords in the provinces where the latter operate. These are the members of media that Du30 wants killed.
Many cases of journalist killings, however, are not work-related. They are personal.
Now, this is why some members of media are corrupt. Compared to other professions, journalism pays poorly. Would you believe that even here in Metro Manila, reporters get only P10,000 a month? In broadcast, there are some who earn P7,000.
This is why I believe journalism is not a profession but a calling. One cannot hope to get rich unless one becomes corrupt.
Would you believe that when I got into the Philippines Herald, I started as a business editor for P250 a month? That was in the 1950s. This was also how much I made as editor of a provincial weekly in Cotabato. This amount took care of my board, lodging and other daily expenses, and despite this I still managed to send home P150 to my mother. I guess it was the Ilocano in me.
I can only imagine how poorly paid members of media in the provinces manage with their salaries. Most publications and broadcast entities in the provinces cannot expect to make money. These organizations are mostly established by vested interests and politicians—for obvious reasons.
In other countries, most media outlets have cooperatives where members of media partake of the profits. Here, however, most media outlets are controlled by vested interest and taipans.
Thus, until journalists get the pay they deserve, there will always be extortionists among them.
Still, I am not saying that corrupt members of media deserve to be killed, like what Du30 said. I believe the rule of law also applies to everybody where due process is held sacrosanct.
The true test of members of media who remain true to their calling is how long they have stayed in the industry.
It’s in the impunity of killing where I draw the line. In fact, this culture of impunity has become an affliction among some local government executives.
It will be a jungle without the rule of law and due process. Under our laws, even the lowliest of criminals have human and civil rights.
Du30 promises to metamorphose like a butterfly as soon as he takes office. Should we believe him at all? Can a zebra change its stripes? He was elected by over 16 million Filipinos precisely for what he is: A self-confessed killer and womanizer, a vulgar and foul-mouthed man. Will he change all that and become a traditional politician? Is this the change he promises?
As I have said in a previous column, I am beginning to like Du30 because he gives me, an opinion writer, so much to write about. His method of communicating with media and getting things done are completely different from the ways of any other president we have had.
All I can say is that we deserve the president we elected.
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The Commission on Elections claims that the May 9 elections were clean, honest and fair. But the smoking gun is the claim of Senator Bongbong Marcos that he got zero votes in 11 areas in the Visayas and Mindanao, even in areas with many Iglesia ni Cristo members who have been instructed by their church leaders to vote for Duterte and Marcos.
Bongbong, who lost to administration candidate Leni Robredo by 263,000, got zero votes in 63 municipalities and three cities in 15 provinces.
I cannot believe that there are no Iglesia ni Cristo members in these areas. That gives credence to the complaints of INC members that in Lamitan, Basilan, Marcos got zero votes when there are three locales of the INC.
Bongbong also got zero votes in Robredo’s bailiwicks in seven municipalities in Camarines Sur and three municipalities of Sorsogon. He also obtained zero votes in the bailiwick of Robredo’s running mate, Mar Roxas, in Iloilo. I cannot believe that there are no Iglesia members in all these areas.
What is doubly tragic for Bongbong is that the Comelec, under Chairman Andres Bautista, keeps telling us that the May 9 poll was an election that other countries can emulate. What? Is this the reason why the Comelec en banc refused to do a manual systems audit of the May 9 polls? It appears that Bautista, the Comelec and its “little Garcis” are in connivance with Smartmatic’s fraudsters, along with the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting.
As for Leni, I repeat what I said earlier. Can she sleep soundly at night, knowing she became vice president because of a fraud?
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The Bureau of Customs, now under marine officer Nick Faeldon, will definitely become Du30’s acid test in his fight against corruption. Faeldon will have to fire everybody at Customs including all the security guards who are also in the take.
I covered Customs many years back. I know that the system itself encourages all bureau personnel to be corrupt.
I recall the day when the late President Ramon Magsaysay brought in some 400 Philippine Military Academy cadets from Baguio in an attempt to end corruption at Customs. The cadets ended up getting corrupted, themselves.
It will be a 24/7 job for the incoming Customs chief. I can almost imagine all the smuggling syndicates laughing at Faeldon, being a misfit at Customs.