Media fawning on Miriam
The Inquirer’s editorial last April 21 (“Gigi’s home”) noted Sen. Miriam Santiago’s perorations on the guilt of former Senate president Juan Ponce Enrile: “On earlier occasions, Santiago thought the evidence against Enrile was enough to sustain her judgment that he was the real mastermind of the scam. But now we hear differently: ‘If she won’t testify, our evidence against Enrile is very much lacking…’”
For a long time, media’s adulation of Santiago has gone out of control. Invariably, reporters of all persuasions would pick up every word or phrase that came out of her mouth. Although frequently absent from the Senate due, according to her, to her poor state of health, she has in fact been quite ubiquitous at forums, conventions and conferences around the nation. Every now and then, her speeches and utterances would become headline or front-page materials.
The Inquirer’s recent observation was spot-on. The flakiness of Santiago’s opinions has been noted in other instances too numerous to write here. Media should go easy on getting wild and giddy over her pontifications. We think that from now on, anything Santiago says should be printed only in the “entertainment pages” of any decent newspaper. Seriously, it is necessary to put it in its proper context!
—GABRIELLE MICHELLE M. AGUILLERA,
