ONE good thing about the Philippines is that columnists like myself can post whatever stories we want. Another is that nobody has to read them.
In the Philippines the media is protected by some amendment in the Constitution which states: “Panatang makabayan, iniibig ko ang Pilipinas.” No, wait, that’s what we used to recite in grade school after the flag ceremony. Anyway, whatever our Constitution says about press freedom, we, Pinoys, should be darned glad that there are protections in place. In some countries, like the ones I only hear during the Parade of Nations in the Miss Universe competition, the government controls the media. Take, for example, China. In their country, it’s all about propaganda, so you might sometimes come across highly amusing tellings of world events:
“Beijing, China—China Newspaper, the official newspaper of China, announced today that Chinese troops have entered the Spratley islands. For the filibusters who do not know, these islands are part of the Chinese territory since the Ming Dynasty when Marco Polo ate some Mongolian dishes and offered it in gratitude to Kublai Khan. Anyway, Russia, Cyprus, Afghanistan, Kazahstan, Turks and Caycos, the British Virgin Islands and Mississippi fully support this endeavor to fight against the evils of Western capitalism and the Philippines’s penchant for the annual Starbucks planner which is the source of unbalance in the entire continent of Asia. China, being the no. 1 country in the world, will start imperializing this territory by giving out leaded toys and truffles made of dogs.”
I imagine the Chinese people—at least not a few of them—regard whatever propaganda their government espouses as true. I bet they can’t wait to see the paper everyday, so they can get their version of current events. In fact, that’s the big advantage China has over us, since the government controls the media, they control the people. Maybe the only reliable entry in a Chinese newspaper is the horoscope, (“For today: the Wooden Ox will have the strength to pound the weakling American bird.”)
Over in the Philippines, things are more complicated. Our government lies a lot, as well, but it can’t force the newspapers to print the lies accurately. From time to time, reporters do seek the truth and often they find it. Unfortunately, this sometimes doesn’t excite us Pinoys. We are titillated by other issues. Take, for example, the recent headlines of a “credible” Philippine news web site:
“Kris Aquino: Gusto Mo Ng Gulo?!?”
Bongga!
Of course, this refers to Kris lashing back at one basher who went on a rant over her and Bimby’s dad (James Yap) absence at a recent awarding ceremony. The basher accused Kris of being a bad mom and not allowing Bimby to see his father. Kris posted an angry reply and challenged the basher: “Gusto mo ng gulo?”
I can imagine how the web site’s tech people must have shuddered in excitement as they uploaded this bit of news. Like any good piece of journalism, the writer must have spent hours and hours researching, verifying and double-checking the facts and the credibility of their sources.
By now, I should actually just surrender to the fact that anything Kris Aquino says and does is news. Whether she has a new boyfriend or a new endorsement, Pinoys get a kick out of Krissie news. They watch her weekdays on her ABS-CBN magazine show in the mornings, and then on her quasi-news talk show in the evenings—that’s twice a day, from Monday to Friday, at least 10 times a week of Kris Aquino stuff, people! They also follow her various social media accounts, hanging on to anything she says.
During a barkada milk tea session one day, one of my friends said that the reason President Noynoy Aquino is rating high in the surveys is because whenever there’s any news remotely bad about the president and his actions/policies, it’s easy for Kris to wag the dog and distract the nation.
Rather than feel infuriated for the failings of our leader, we become entertained by the antics of Kris—and these antics have extended to her children, Josh and especially Bimby. Case in point: Bimby simply attends a birthday party and it’s already news.
As we were about to conclude our milk tea session, my friend’s parting shot gave me even more goosebumps: “You have to remember, Kris Aquino is a Cojuangco, so she’s part Chinese.”
Aba oo nga noh!
1 comment
Kris Aquino still being talked about? Baka ikaw at mga kasama mo na lang. Kaya nga panay press release si kris kasi nakikita niyang ang bilis niyang maging irrelevant at ang mga nilalabas niyang balita MA at PA na lang. In this age of social media, people would rather talk about something else than kris. Kaya nga toddler ratings ang palabas niya sa umaga at single digit sa gabi. Hindi ba biglang sinibak ang the bash.