by Maria Ressa
Filipinos have high hopes for President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, who took power two months ago with the largest margin of victory in two decades and an 85% approval rating. His popularity rested mostly on promises of good values and cleaner governance—promises his mother, democracy icon Cory Aquino, made too. Yet his first major test in office shows how early political compromises are exacerbating problems in the weak institutions he’s promised to reform.
On Aug. 23, a disgruntled former police officer took a tourist bus hostage and after a long stand-off, killed eight passengers, all Hong Kongers. The government’s response was an exercise in incompetence. In public hearings that began Friday, police and politicians admitted that untrained, ill-equipped forces were used while elite units were put on standby; that national leaders played no role in the crisis response despite foreigners’ involvement; and that ad hoc, unclear lines of communication between local politicians and local police complicated matters. To add insult to injury, the authorities in charge left the scene to eat in a nearby Chinese restaurant precisely when the killings began.
The incident sparked outrage in Hong Kong, where the government has called for an independent investigation and compensation for the victims’ families. But Mr. Aquino only belatedly realized the gravity of the situation. His first instinct was to blame the national media for covering the event live, a sentiment that citizens in the blogosphere and on Twitter quickly echoed. When the hearings did little to quell public anger on Friday—two weeks after the fiasco—he claimed responsibility “for everything that has transpired.”
There is truth in that assertion. The agencies tasked with resolving the hostage crisis—the Department of the Interior and Local Government and the Palace Communications group—are divided into two political factions, both of which are competing for political influence. Instead of choosing between them, Mr. Aquino rewarded both with high cabinet offices.
The first, the Samar faction, is named after the street where one of Mr. Aquino’s campaign headquarters was located, and includes former aides and officials with long personal ties to the president and his family. Many of them, like National Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, served under Mr. Aquino’s mother’s government in 1986. The second, the Balay faction, is associated with the Liberal Party and former cabinet secretaries who publicly challenged Mr. Aquino’s predecessor, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Younger and perceived as more professional, the Balay group is also associated with Senator Mar Roxas, Mr. Aquino’s vice-presidential candidate who did not win election.
These factional splits played a big role in last month’s bungled response to the hostage crisis. The Department of the Interior and Local Government is in charge of both local government and security, and the secretary of the interior usually controls the Philippine National Police. But in July, President Aquino stripped Secretary Jesse Robredo, who belongs to the Balay faction, of his powers over the police.
Mr. Aquino handed leadership to an underqualified member of the Samar faction, his personal friend and “shooting” partner, Interior Undersecretary Rico E. Puno. During the crisis, Mr. Puno exerted almost no leadership, preferring to let the local police handle the situation. There was little crowd control, and a local radio station was allowed to speak to the hostage-taker in the final moments of the crisis. During the later hearings, Mr. Puno said, “I am not capable of handling hostage situations. . . I am not trained to do that.”
The factions also played a role in the management of public information and press coverage. The Palace Communications Group, which in the past was headed by one press secretary, now has three leaders with cabinet secretary rank: the Samar faction’s Sonny Coloma and the Balay faction’s Edwin Lacierda and Ricky Carandang, the latter of whom is a former television anchor for my news organization. Thus on the fateful day, the administration had trouble deciding what to say and how to say it. Local officials were left to handle messaging, focusing on the details rather than the broader substance and impact of the day’s events. Hong Kong’s chief executive Donald Tsang was even prevented from talking to Mr. Aquino.
For many Filipinos, this bungling is wearingly familiar. The country has a famously weak system of law and order which often sees criminals go unpunished. Mr. Aquino ran for office promising to clean up this culture of corruption. That’s why the hostage crisis was so disturbing: It was a disastrous example of incompetence, political factionalism and lack of national leadership.
All of which points back to the president’s office. Like his mother, President Aquino is easy-going, well-liked by his peers, and shies away from controversy and conflict. That manner of governance might have worked in the House and Senate, where he failed to initiate or pass any bill, but it doesn’t work in the president’s office. The Samar and Balay factional split represents a real test of Mr. Aquino’s leadership—between familiar, highly valued personal loyalty and generational change and professionalism.
The president’s indecisiveness has already indirectly led to one tragedy. The coming weeks will show whether he can learn from his mistakes, or whether the Philippines is in for another Aquino presidency that has good intentions but bungled outcomes.
Ms. Ressa is the head of news and current affairs at ABS-CBN Broadcasting and the author of “Seeds of Terror” (Free Press, 2003).
Reprinted from The Wall Street Journal Asia © 2010 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All rights reserved.
And Maria Ressa passed her test with flying colors. Asked why there was no self-restraint in the coverage of the hostage situation, she replied: “We would have been criticized by the viewers or what viewers would have done is switch stations.”
And she Tweeted: “If only one network does it, you would just switch to another. Needed gov’t to ask for blackout from all. We would’ve cooperated.”
Sa madaling salita, “it’s the viewers’ fault. They made us do it.”
PNoy has to be told. And Maria Ressa does it in a compelling way.
PNoy needs to wake up. He should shape up.
A typical case of the pot calling the kettle black. . 😛
Maria Ressa just repeating what most pundits already been saying along, not her original take on President Aquino, but considering that her own profession contributed greatly to the fiasco and never even admitted the slightest responsibility for it and blame it on the administration then chances are the good intentions of this government will be surely ‘thwarts’ by the many obstructionists like her.
Truth really hurts. Hopefully PNoy would be wiser and stronger.
I agree with your title, Ellen, but I’m not going to read Ressa’s article. In my view, her credibility to rate president is close to flunk too.
PNoy’s good intentions will be ‘gone with the wind’ if he does not let go of his buddies who do nothing but humiliate him. O, andyan na si Tiyo Peping!
Mahaba-habang training ito…..
#6 Anna, agree 101% about Ressa’s credibility.
Wala pa lang credibility, hindi ko na babasahin 🙂
May substance ang article ni Ms. Ressa, the government must know when and where to put up those yellow line. Rehabilitating this country from starvation to injustice requires more than an act of wang wang style mode but determination to do the right thing, like what his father did.
Huwag kayong magpadala diyan kay Maria Ressa – ibang tao lang nakikita niyan. Bulag pagdating sa kanya. Sasabihin niya, di naman siya ang pinaguusapan.
If Ressa grades P.Noy she might as well grade her colleagues in broadcast media too. Those in particular are Rogas and Tulfo who, I believe, directly assisted Rolando Mendoza to pull the trigger.
Buti nga nag pakita si PNoy doon. Saan ka nakakita ng presidente ng isang bansa na naroon din sa hostage taking? Its not his fault. A president of a country doesnt deal with hostage situations. It is a police matter. He should have just fired people right away para tapos na ang kuwento. Yun lang ang mali nya.
Baycas, I do not agree with you on the Rogas’ and Tulfo’s role in the hostage undertaking. I listened to all the tapes of Rogas as they were presented to de Lima. Rogas pleaded so many times with Mendoza not to inflict harm on any of the hostages. As a matter of fact, Mendoza vented all his emotions through these two. Mendoza communicated all his frustrations through them. Without those tapes, the police could have easily gotten away with all their made up lies! As I was hearing the tapes, I heard Yerba talking in not so friendly way with Mendoza. Parang padabog dabog. You can not be rude to someone who is already at the brink suicide. But maybe that was how Yerba was trained as a negotiator, tobe very rude!
Mendoza had said so many times that he needed a negotiator who was going to address his issues. I heard too how these media men communicated the urgency to the police but the decision makers were no where to be found. Yun pala nadun na sila sa restaurant.
Pnoy will have a difficult task of undoing the perception that just like his performance as a legislator, BOKYA pa rin siya as a president. It is not enough that one’s heart is in place in serving the people. Magiging UTO UTO lang siya, a softie. He has to realize that the Philippines has now gotten the Most Corrupt brand. With this, a lot of the so called public servants have already acquired a “corrupt” way of doing things. Pnoy can not be all smiles. He has to show that he is tough! He has to hire and fire people.
I like the de Lima probe. I listened to the deliberations as much as I could. Although the Daily Tribune thinks otherwise about the de Lima’s efficiency. If after this probe, Mayor Lim. Gen Martibay and all the other irresponsible officials are not fired, then I do believe that Pnoy will not have an impact on changing how the Philippines does its business. It will be business as usual for the incompetents!
Being an efficient Mayor and an awardee are not necessarily the only qualifications for a good cabinet man. Robredo may be set in his ways and his standards so high that he forgot that now he has to fit into a team. He can not be just the leader now but a player with all the other agencies. I hated and continue to hate the bansot but she had a good pick for her cabinet men. Lahat sila marunong magsinungaling and knew how to cover her tracks! I am not saying that Pnoy should pick the same kind of cabinet men. I am just saying that he should background check these men first before he appoints them. Kaso mo, I think Pnoy based his pick on his sisters’ pick first and then those who helped him win. Not all of those who supported him are upright public servants. Marami sa kanila just switched allegiances. The same banana saba.
hostage taking was a very unfortunate incident which ended tragically , no doubt about it. However, focusing on one incident and overlooking the total picture is unfair and bias to say the least. It’s like looking at a half filled glass of water , maria ressa looked at it and said its empty.
Media’s action re the hostage taking debacle reminds me of an incident way back during Marcos’ time when a guy was killed for being anti-Marcos amid a rabid throng of Marcos supporters.
Media people were there but did nothing but document (in pictures) how the guy was being brutalized and finally killed. Media practitioners must remember to be human first, then purveyors of news.
Lets not blame the whole media industry, its just the work of a few bad eggs, sorely exposed by Ang See…people who were focused more on the ratings contest, or getting the story first without consideting the impact of their actions…bottomline, irresponsible…and the answer “hindi kami pinagbawalan/pinagsabihan, kung sakali naman susunod kami, etc…” is so childish…so they expect to be treated as children next time…
…but the media, the factions, the inept cabinet officials, for me, they don’t matter as much as the president does…without exerting too much effort Noynoy can save or lose the day, he doesn’t have to be superhuman, he just has to be sensible, he just has to wake up and realize he is the president of the country…
For starters, he must stop acting like he’s a tv celebrity and be prudent with his answers to questions, this is not the time to be cute, as he is not…he must avoid looking, sounding trivial, as much as possible…he should be aware that whatever he says – has impact, on him, on his governance, on the country…
There are words that must be avoided, and there are words that must be used…ie, avoid words like “laughable” to describe the Quirino incident or alluding to it…use words like “improve”, “catharsis”, “progressive”, etc…
and telling everybody on tv that he and Robredo don’t agree on campaign schedules, don’t mesh, etc…we don’t really want to know that…we’ll just be content with its being deliberated, the process is ongoing and will see what the CA, being an independent body will come up with…
His communications staff, or Ochoa, or best friend, etc., must consider his weaknesses and strengths (if he isn’t aware of them) and probably let him read prepared statements (carefully, deliberately prepared) and just let his spokesperson handle the questions later, of course even that guy needs some work…
and as I said earlier, he must at some point “operationally define the existence of his administration.” like what is the “daang matuwid” really? if all he can give us are “good intentions” I’m afraid this “daang matuwid” or translated “straight path” will really lead us somewhere else other than “heaven.”
May God help us all!!!
who does this ma ressa think she is? the nerve of some people in the media to presume that the presidency has to meet their expectations!
Noynoy does not answer to the media, they are just supposed to give us information so we can make “informed decisions” this attempts or presumptive attempts to manipulate public emotion, impression, etc…is so cheap even for her…
I don’t why all of a sudden everything has become a media incident, are the media companies involved making a lot of money out of this? haven’t they had enough during the campaign period? or is this payback time? is this administration beholden to media companies that it seems to kowtow to them already?
When a narrow minded critics jump in and gave comments to any situations,the first thing he would do look for words that exceeds the discription of the situations,especially resulted of failures.These kind of personnalities existed in all walk of life.DISSATIFACTION been always comes in through thier genius thinking,due of so much watching a highly funded movies which just same situations w/a lot of time to make scene perfectly and precisely performed by performers.A fraction of a second are needed to make it perfect,but in a real life,there are many factors to be consider,not only timing, the psychological,mostly everything,that you can name in the event were involved.If ONLY,somebody would FORCAST,the final outcomes of a situation,the PERFORMER would change the course of the situation,for satisfaction of the EXPECTATORS.
The media is the one who instigated the hostage-killing situation. Why can’t Ressa admonish tulfo, rogas & the RMN network? Did media asked themselves why it did arise the outburst of the hostage-taker?
Not in all situation that the people must & has to right to know especially if one’s lives is in danger. Look at the actual footage, how can the police go inside the bus if there’s a live hook of the situation? Where’s now your motto of “responsible journalism”?
You media were the ones who killed the tourist and not the police or hostage-taker.
These media people MUST be charged criminally! Period!
I am with the RMN guys that without them, we would not have known what actually transpired in those critical moments when the ht started shooting his hostages. Had it not been for the media, the brother of ht could have been made to disappear or tortured somewhere, especially with the instruction of Mayor Lim to bring him to Tondo.
Martina:
There’s a protocol when to cover a hostage situation. What happened now to your KBP manual? Do you think you weren’t overlapped the police out of this context? You supposed to cover only but not to interfere on police matters.
If you will review the actions of your people at RMN don’t you think they’ve exceeded what they supposed to do? You guys even interrupted a police communication lines. You even go beyond negotiations. Are your people are now part of the negotiations, part of the crisis committee on that situations? You can interview any matters but not on a life threatening situations like that. There’s a boundary between a coverage and policing. Media has to come only when a situation had been done and not on the middle of it!
That’s the problem of our Phil media nowadays. It only happened here in the phils. Nobody in this world where a media can go beyond police operation except here at our country. You always complain of press freedom, complains of press harassment, complains of the rights of information. Rather you supposed to stand where you must supposed to stand in every police situation.
Yes, I believe too that Maria Ressa and her station’s people washes their hands on the outcome of the tragedy. I watched also their coverage of the events, and ABS-CBN also showed live the arrest of the brother of Mendoza. The reporter knows because police have been telling them not to show on TV the arrest, but even mentioning that the hostage-taker may not like what he is seeing on the TV monitor and may hurt the hostages. But still they covered the arrest for long duration until shots were heard.
the President humbly accepted shortcomings on his parts in this tragic incident…media for their parts has not, but instead deflecting blame on everyone else…it’s time for each to own up his own mistake and start from there…
GMA Network releases new guidelines for crisis coverage
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/200659/gma-network-releases-new-guidelines-for-crisis-coverage
Gumawa na din ba ABS-CBN ng ganitong guidelines? Kung hindi pa, dapat dito kay Ma Ressa sinisibak eh… head pa naman ng ABS-CBN news and current affairs.. panunuro at paninisi ang inaatupag!
Kaya hindi ako nanonood sa ABS-CBN eh…
May substance ang article ni Ms. Ressa, – clearpasig
May substance nga… panis naman…
Parasabayan,
First off, I am infuriated by the likes of Rogas, Maderazo, and Tulfo who are “just doing their work” BUT at the expense of hostages’ lives! And, it is more maddening to know that a Nene (Pimentel) defends them all the way!!!
Secondly, may I ask you to comprehend more where I’m coming from with my conclusion?
Last week, I was able to reconstruct the culminating events (the “last-two-minutes,” to some) from news reports (radio and print), Arnold Clavio’s UB interview with Orlando Yebra (on GMAnews video archive), the RMN transcript, the GMA7 video footage (on Youtube), and the survivor’s tale of the incident (in Ding Gagelonia’s blog).
I posted my “stories” here, here, and here.
Presence of various degrees of culpability can be exacted to all those directly and indirectly involved in the August 23 hostage incident.
Whether the writer is credible or not is not the issue. The issue is if what she wrote is truth or fiction. It’s a case of the message and the messenger. It’s the message that counts.
Media can never be blamed in that hostage incident. Media will always be in the lookout where the news is and given the chance they will do everything, even putting their lives in the line of fire to get the news. So what do we expect from them, that’s their job.
It’s the authorities who bungled on their job. Media has no power over them. If they were barred to be inside the area, even if they insisted on the coverage, they can’t do anything. The situation calls for it, and they must obey the order.
The one glaring mistake of the authorities was not having the area cordoned-off, even the whole of Luneta Park if needed and everybody must be off-limits except those who were engaged in the negotiation with the hostage-taker. But they gave a free hand on everybody that even “mirons” that served as audience were too close to the area for comfort.
It’s all water under the bridge by now except for the unending arguments of who are the saints and the sinners.
In the final analysis, blame the incompetence of the government from top to bottom.
Noynoy accepted responsibility, so be it.
Perl,
Yang si Maria Ressa ay galing ng CNN pero mukhang hindi yata niya nai-apply ang natutunang guidelines sa tamang reporting ng mga delicate cases. Feeling niya siguro ang galing-galing na niya dahil ni-recruit siya ng ABS_CBN at binigyan ng mataas na position sa News Dept.
Sa aking palagay ay sina Tulfo at Rogas ay dapat may pananagutan din sa nangyaring hostage tragedy. They went overboard sa kanilang trabaho. They acted as ‘NEGOTIATORS’ samantalang wala namang pahintulot at coordination sa ground commander at crisis committee. Dapat alam nila na hindi sila pwedeng nakikipag-usap sa hostage-taker ng walang pahintulot. In-‘interview’ nila si Mendoza at ini-ere ng live sa kanilang radio para nga naman sikat sila, not realizing that they actions may jeopardize the police operations. Hindi na sakop ng trabaho ng reporter yan. O baka naman isip nila eh bahala na ang mga pulis basta mag-grandstanding sila. Kasuhan ng Interference in Police Operations o Obstruction of Justice.
(1)
Parasabayan,
First off, I am infuriated by the likes of Rogas, Maderazo, and Tulfo who are “just doing their work” BUT at the expense of hostages’ lives! And, it is more maddening to know that a Nene (Pimentel) defends them all the way!!!
Secondly, may I ask you to comprehend more where I’m coming from with my conclusion?
Last week, I was able to reconstruct the culminating events (the “last-two-minutes,” to some) from news reports (radio and print), Arnold Clavio’s UB interview with Orlando Yebra (on GMAnews video archive), the RMN transcript, the GMA7 video footage (on Youtube), and the survivor’s tale of the incident (in Ding Gagelonia’s blog).
I posted my “stories” here at Ellen’s Blog (blog post Nos. 12663, 12669, and 12690).
Presence of various degrees of culpability can be exacted to all those directly and indirectly involved in the August 23 hostage incident.
(2)
As to the two radio broadcast “journalists,” Michael Rogas and Erwin Tulfo:
They led the hostage-taker to believe that they were effectively conveying the hostage-taker’s immediate demands to the police. But this was not the case during that time the hostage-taker was already “twice” angry: (1) after reading the Ombudsman’s letter and (2) after finding out that the negotiator lied.
The hostage-taker became “thrice” angry when his brother was being arrested. This was compounded by a perceived tactical offensive against him (presence of snipers – early on noticed by Rolando way before Gregorio made a scene – and the SWAT activity somewhere in the area). These were all INSTANTLY demanded by the hostage-taker to be INSTANTLY withdrawn, undone or stopped.
Yes, Michael asked about the hostages’ condition. Yes, Michael tried to pacify the angry Rolando. Yet, Michael repeatedly “reassured” the conveyance of the INSTANT demands to the police for immediate action – starting at the “sniper” segment of the transcript. Yet, Michael repeatedly asked about what’s going on inside the already maddened and confused (to kill or not to kill) hostage-taker’s mind.
(Note that Michael initially appears to be giving the opportunity for Rolando to air what’s going on in his mind just like an ordinary “panawagan sa radyo” works. Perhaps, this is what Jake Maderazo is telling us that in his long years as radio broadcaster, it’s really very hard to throw questions in delicate situations. Then why the hell did they do an interview on someone who’s in a delicate situation?!!! All they did was put themselves also in a delicate situation!!! Perhaps, Jake, in his long years in the business, should know by now when to SHUT UP, avoid predicaments, and prevent precarious conditions to be experienced!!!)
Michael, btw, even offered Erwin Tulfo’s service as “negotiator.” Yes, Rolando needed one to trust at that time but who gave him that authority?
What triggered the killings was that the immediate demands during that very crucial time were NOT instantaneously met or granted. The police were not effectively informed of the imminent danger to the hostages simply because the radio broadcasters presumed that the police all the while knew what was happening. Blame it on “maling akala.” It was even too late to just inform the decision makers even if they are in their command post. You see Rolando’s order was for the accosting police to stop what he was doing in a matter of minutes. “Mga huling hiling, hindi sa tamang pulis nakarating!” And this happened because Rolando was “reassured” (by Michael) that the police are listening to him.
(3)
1. Who would think that Rolando will be enraged by past and present circumstances?
2. Who would think that mere interviewers-cum-meddlers will transform into INSTANT “negotiators?”
3. Who would think that meddlers will become “official” messengers of demands and bad omen?
4. Who would think that the blood-boiling Rolando will believe that the meddlers are conveying effectively his demands to the police?
5. Who would think that the maddened Rolando will become more and more impatient…so impatient as to start the killings?
Of course, no one knows!!!
6. Who would want the hostages be harmed? Who would want the hostages be killed?
Definitely, no one!!! (Even the bungling police, mind you. )
The incident could have been avoided. The rage could have been prevented. The killings could have been averted. If only the negotiator practiced what he was trained to do then (No. 1 of which is not to enrage the gunman!) and if only the radio broadcasters practiced responsible journalism and hadn’t interfered with the negotiation (No. 1 of which is to shut TF up!) then most likely I won’t be typing these litanies as a result of my infuriation!
(4)
As to ventilating Rolando’s anger thereby pacifying the enraged…or letting out the steam through the broadcasters…
Trouble was, in the process, Rolando was able to grandstand. (Notice his choice of the Quirino Grandstand?) Suddenly, the long-neglected Rolando is now a worldwide “sensation.” It’s a two-edged sword…not only may it pacify a man but it may also embolden a man…a gunman with hostages at that! “I am the king of the world. Do as I say…or else!!!”
Another trouble was that, as the situation is “fluid,” Michael was easily transformed into INSTANT negotiator who’s only able to absorb demands or commands but actually helpless to address such INSTANT orders. Michael was “SpongeBob.” The demands or commands went only as far as Erwin (“Patrick?”)…simply because they are not supposed to be the official messengers in the first place! (I guess, there’s truth in what grown-ups say that the cartoon is “nakabobobo.”)
As to the taped interview deemed as a “blackbox” of some sort…
I believe the sins of commission and omission of BOTH the police and the radio broadcasters are now known because of this “blackbox.” It also pieced together the climactic events that led to the disaster.
(5)
Please consider these different happy endings of the “Last Two Minutes” in the eye of the broadcast “journalists”:
How-I-wished-this-had-happened
Scenario 1
a. Rolando hopeful
b. Interview started
c. Negotiation about to resume
d. Interview continued
e. Rolando’s demands granted
f. Some hostages freed
g. Rolando bargained for his life (for security measure)
h. Last wish granted
i. Remaining hostages freed
j. RMN and TV-5 out-scooped everyone
Scenario 2
a. Rolando hopeful
b. Interview started
c. Negotiation about to resume
d. Interview stopped to give way to Orlando
e. Rolando’s demands granted
f. Some hostages freed
g. Rolando bargained for his life
h. Last wish granted
i. Remaining hostages freed
j. RMN and TV-5 at least had a priceless exclusive coverage
(6)
Scenario 3
a. Rolando hopeful
b. Interview started
c. Negotiation about to resume
d. Interview stopped to give way to Orlando
e. Rolando got mad
f. It’s either he’ll ask for a new negotiator or stick with Orlando’s new offer
g. Rolando’s demands granted
h. Some hostages freed
i. Rolando bargained for his life
j. Last wish granted
k. Remaining hostages freed
l. RMN and TV-5 at least had a priceless exclusive coverage
Scenario 4
a. Rolando hopeful
b. Interview started
c. Interview continued
d. Rolando got mad
e. Michael repeatedly pacified Rolando WITHOUT repeatedly asking, “Ano na po ang plano n’yo ngayon?,” WITHOUT repeatedly saying that the police is currently monitoring the radio broadcast (thereby NOT promising anything), and WITHOUT offering Erwin Tulfo’s (the ever-adamant-negotiator-wanna-be) service
f. While Michael pacifies Rolando, Jake (Maderazo) called Rodolfo (Magtibay) and/or Alfredo (Lim) and/or Orlando to alert them
g. Rolando pacified
h. Negotiation resumed
i. Rolando’s demands granted
j. Some hostages freed
k. Rolando bargained for his life
l. Last wish granted
m. Remaining hostages freed
n. Michael and Jake are declared heroes!
(7)
Look how simple it is if only the police did its work properly and if there was no extraneous agitation (Scenarios 1 and 2).
It gets really complicated when there is presence of some form of intervention (Scenario 4).
Now, Maria Ressa should grade her fellow Broadcast Media practitioners.
ressa has no standing to criticize anybody on the issue unless she fesses up to her and her station’s role in the tragedy.
they have a code of ethics that they failed to adhere to. basically, the media is not supposed to do anything that would endanger the safety of the hostages. so ressa, YOU FLUNKED ANOTHER TEST. YOU ARE A MAJOR FAIL. and this isnt the first time.
and what do you expect the president do? please. no other leader of a country will micro manage a police matter, save maybe vladimir “macho macho man” putin.
why should the president take a call from a governor of a country calling him directly when he is already in contact with the embassy? you must consider the philippines so lowly that a governor can go straight to a sovereign leader without going through protocol not the least of which for proper verification. remember the sarkozy prank call to sarah palin? donald tsang is an a**h***. he should have known better. he is rude like many chinese from china i’ve witnessed when i travel.
btw, police competency and training do not depend on who the president is.
the president needs to now comb the pnp budget with a fine tooth comb to see where the money is going and why our police are ill-equipped and ill-trained when billions of tax payer money go to it every year. check acquisitions, check units as against prices paid for it, check foreign trips, check training expenses etc.
and please stop saying the mayor should be fired. a mayor is an elected official he can only be recalled or he can resign.
that’s not saying that lim is not at fault. i think he is. not because he asked that gregorio mendoza be cuffed but because he said that the latter be taken to tondo and everybody knows what happens if you’re brought there. mendoza of course got scared and did what he could to avoid being taken to tondo. g*go talaga yang si lim. the situation was fluid and he goes on exacerbate the situation. his dirty harry tricks are hardly appropriate for a hostage taking scenario. di mo puedeng itulak yung hostage taker from the 2nd floor and just say he committed suicide at tapos na. hostages’ lives are at stake.
Presence of various degrees of culpability can be exacted to all those directly and indirectly involved in the August 23 hostage incident.-Baycas
I really really hope that after investigation has been completed, all those directly and indirectly involved in the fiasco would be punished, the major players fired!
I am waiting for the reaction of ABS-CBN management with regards to Maria Ressa’s tirade against PNOY. As we know, she is under the employ of ABS-CBN and its owners are forever grateful to Cory Aquino for being instrumental in having the network returned to them after EDSA 1. The last paragraph of Maria Ressa’s article shows not only of her giving failing grade to PNoy’s first test but also critical of Cory by saying that…”the Philippines is in for another Aquino presidency that has good intentions but bungled outcomes.”
A Princeton grad, Fulbright scholar, maganda sana ang resume.
But the article says nothing new; nothing that I haven’t read here in Ellenville, or other blogs like Reyna Elena. The only advantage of this Ressa woman is she has the platform. She writes for the Asian Wall Street Journal.
Kung sa laman lang, that fellow Barnido at Reyna Elena’s packs a stronger writing punch than Ressa. Barnido versus Ressa is like Pacquiao v Hatton. Puro credentials lang ang huli.
What about Ressa’s performance in that fiasco about the psychological evaluation of candidate Aquino?
Do you remember this?
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/insights/04/11/10/black-ops-and-nature-2010-campaigns-maria-ressa
Agree, atty sax. Magaling talaga ang article ni Barnido, ampao lang yun kay Ressa.
natumbok mo sax! mas may natutunan pa ko sa mga comments ng mga bloggers dito kesa basahin yang article ni ressa(kulit kasi sabi ng huwag basahin eh).. bagsak talga credibility.. halatang may mas mataas na amo bukod sa mga Lopez…
Mahimay nga:
His first instinct was to blame the national media for covering the event live..
totoo ba to? sinisi ba ni Pnoy and media?
“…are divided into two political factions, both of which are competing for political influence. Instead of choosing between them, Mr. Aquino rewarded both with high cabinet offices.
gusto pang pagawayin ang mga tumulong at pinagkakatiwalaan ni Pnoy, tama lang naman na magkaroon ng posisyon galing sa dalawang grupo sa administrasyon na galign sa magkabilang panig dahil LP si Pnoy at VP si Binay…
Like his mother, President Aquino is easy-going, well-liked by his peers, and shies away from controversy and conflict.
Hay naku! minamaliit ang mga Executive Orders na pinirmahan ni PNoy…
The coming weeks will show whether he can learn from his mistakes, or whether the Philippines is in for another Aquino presidency that has good intentions but bungled outcomes…
nagaabang na naman ng pagkakamali… kung magsalita kala mo madali maging presidente ng pilipinas… sino na ba sa naging presidente na pagkatapos kay Marcos ay napaunlad ang bansa?
martina – September 9, 2010 8:12 pm
Were the RMN guys able to provide a dialogue between the hostage-taker and the police? That very important dialogue which Michael had somehow “promised” to Rolando was absent…and it has caused death to nine lives.
ilang taon na ba si Reesa naging reporter…I am sure more than a year..and lagpak pa rin …ilang beses na nga ba kumuha ng bar exams she Ombudsman Mercedita?
..maiba ako umuwi na ba si putot at si tabbaboy?
An old worn-out adage: “Tug one thread and the whole sweater unravel”.
Here’s a president that went missing for the first twelve or so hours suddenly showed up at the scene at the 14th hour after the hostages had been mowed down and with a smile of satisfaction in his face. Maybe the smile is not meant to be, but that act shows lack of imagination and can never be justified by any kind of explanation.
And then came the speech about in ”two to three years from now we can look back and just laugh about it” is incomprehensible.
How one can smile after a massacre and give a hearty laugh after a few years is something that boggles the mind. A “massacre” as a laughing matter, combines that with the smile, one is tempted to think that something is wrong with the workings of the mind of the pres.
To sum it up it took only a hostage taking incident, a controllable and manageable situation to unravel a series of bunglings, booboos, confusions, comedy and tragedy of errors, incompetence and a sore lacked of strong and decisive leadership in the government. It’s so transparent that any attempt to cover-up and to window-dress is just an exercise in futility. Share the blame it to the trio de los loros, or the trio de los bobos or the three stooges or whatever for wanting to be his own man and in the process messed up the whole situation.
So from day one up to this point, I agree with the title of this article.
All problem,has solution,but finding the solution is another one,which compounded the entire situation,two heads are better than one,but sometimes it is more better if there is no “extra genius” to be jumping in to solve the problems,due you might be good on most of everything,not on all,what if you encountered thats not in your line,you insisting on jumping in,causes the situation turned in to worst,is it justified the good intentions?Experts in thier fields,went to a lot of errors,mistakes and other things,that should be corrected and need adjustments,before they been called “Expert”,now why people are jumping in?w/no knowledge and experiences on the situation.REMEMBER,life is a priceless,too late when one life been wasted,to pay your tuition fee to get educated and to have an “on hand experience” of the situtions.
Masha, a mayor is subject to sanction by the DILG. He can be suspended.
It’s clear that a huge part of the debacle can be attributed to Lim. Let’s see if Aquino would have the spine to make the arrogant and defiant Lim be accountable for his mistakes.
Remember Lim was very close to his mother. Lim defended Cory in the coup attempts during her presidency. Pres. Cory endorsed and supported his presidential bid in 1998.
Remember when Pres. Cory was dying, Lim was present in all the novenas for her.
Kayo naman. Pag wala kayong mapanood, mabasa, nagwawala kayo – Nasaan ang media? Nasaan ang transparency? Martial Law na ba? Bakit nananahimik sila sa pang-aapi ng Malakanyang, ng mga negosyante, ng mga opisyal?
Assuming walang coverage ang media nung hostage taking, meron kayang pag-uusapan dito? Pag palpak ang gobyerno, saan kayo tumatakbo? Kanino kayo nagsusumbong?
If media’s omnipresence is demanded by the citizens, especially when your government abuses you or pathetically incompetent, you must equally bear the consequences. Guilty or not, the audience are as guilty and must share responsibility. One finger points at media, three point back.
Napaka-plastic naman ng iba diyan pero nunca, pag hindi maganda ang coverage sa ABS-CBN, lipat sa GMA, “Aba, mas malinaw ang camera nila, kita hanggang loob!” “Lipat mo sa ABS, minamaso na yung bus!” “Mas maganda sa RMN, kausap si Mendoza!”
You can get only the government that you deserve and the media you ask for.
In the “old” days, pag may hostage-taking na high profile, hindi pulis ang tinatawag, kundi si Ruther Batuigas.
hindi ba ang sabi noon ay bff ni Cory si Fred?
“And this happened because Rolando was “reassured” (by Michael) that the police are listening to him”.-baycas
Yan ang grandstanding nila Tulfo at Rogas. Pinaniwala nila si Rolando na naipapahatid nila sa mga pulis at Command post ang sinasabi ni Rolando sa kanila. Kaya nga meddling at interference ang ginawa ng 2 bugok na reporter kaya humantong sa tragedy. At syempre pa ang scoop-hungry TV Stations na hindi alam ang makabubuti at makakasama sa sitwasyon. Imagine napapanood ng hostage-taker kung nasaan yung mga snipers. Eh kung may telescope din yung baril ni Rolando eh pwede niyang tirahin yung mga nakapwesto. Hindi naman sila pinagbabawalan na i-record ang mga events pero dapat ay alam nila ang dapat lang i-ere ng live at real time sa publiko. Ang kabuuan ng kanilang istorya ay pwede naman nilang ilabas after the incident to get the in-depth story.
Ingat lang sa “fallacy of generalization.”
As Juggernaut said:
Same goes with the government…only, the bad eggs are perceived to be more.
There’s such a thing as police power, and the authorities can use it during emergency and security operations. All the rage against the media is non-sense. The situation was like sugar to ants, it’s where the action is, and how they loved it and they were able to do their trade and able to talk to the hostage taker because the police allowed it.
It’s the police’ ignorance of a power that belong to them and even if they were aware of it, it’s their failure to exercise and implement that contributed to the tragedy.
“Masha, a mayor is subject to sanction by the DILG. He can be suspended.” – Ellen
Our former Baguio Mayor Braulio Yaranon was suspended by the bruha Gluerilla years ago. Judge Yaranon had a good case but Evil always knows what to do to prevail; and the good mayor never recovered and lost to Bautista.
Believe Ressa was CNN’s Jakarta reporter years ago. Her head is now really big when she was given a cushy position at ABSCBN.
SELF-REGULATION…There is such a thing as this one…
(Emphasis mine.)
This was copy-pasted from “Media to set own ruleson covering crises”
The Daily PCIJ
Posted by: Ed Lingao | September 9, 2010 at 11:25 am
Five reasons for the media to develop media self-regulation
From http://www.osce.org/publications/rfm/2008/04/30697_1117_en.pdf
Natural wala tayong pag-uusapan dito kung walang nakialam. Ang kaso may brodkaster na nakialam…
The coverage of crimes in progress or crisis
situations such as hostage-taking or kidnapping
shall not put lives in greater danger than what is
already inherent in the situation. Such coverage
should be restrained and care should be taken so
as not to hinder or obstruct efforts of authorities to
resolve the situation.
Ito’y ayon sa Broadcast Code of 2007 ng KBP.