For reporting Palace’s side, media at fault

The nosedive in President Aquino’s ratings is “media-related,” Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma said in reaction to the biggest plunge in his boss’ ratings in recent surveys. He might as well have said media instigated the disastrous operation in Mamasapano and then attempted to cover it all up with a badly contrived, constantly changing and increasingly worse web of lies.

Coloma’s pathetic attempt to put the blame for President Aquino’s worst blunder on his favorite whipping boy (the media) reminds us of a child who, upon being caught with his hand in the cookie jar, screams: “Look what you made me do!”

“We are hoping that (with media) disseminating correct and truthful information, Filipinos can thoroughly understand the position of the government,” Coloma said.

We ask: But who, Secretary Coloma, has refused and continues to refuse to disseminate correct and truthful information?

How many times has President Aquino addressed the nation, each time with a different version of his “truth”? And did we not, as is our obligation, truthfully and accurately report on, and even disseminate in full, his ever-changing Mamasapano narratives?

Yes, Secretary Coloma, in case you missed the memo, there is a reason the media are called the Fourth Estate—checks and balances, that is—an essential ingredient of democracy. And no, you may wish it so, but we exist not to sing your praises when you do well but to help watch that you remain faithful to your sworn duties and to report and even chastise you when you fail to do so.

—ROWENA PARAAN, chair,

National Union of Journalists

of the Philippines, [email protected]