You looking at me?
Now that the marines have started to behave themselves, perhaps it is time to reflect on Sunday’s rather farcical events at Fort Bonifacio.
Relentless. That’s the only word to describe crowd of a hundred or so journalists who jostled the supposed actors in the drama. Any of the marines who so much as twitched got 20 cell phones rammed in his face. I have no idea why so many media people were allowed into the Fort; there is no doubt in my mind they were active participants in the performance.
I thought the ANC coverage was exemplary though. Pia Hontiveros is an excellent anchor—she is unflappable, she cuts through the crap “but what does that really mean?”, and she asks acute questions in a reasonable way. Ces had a good night too, as did the reporter inside the Fort—all in all, ANC covered a fast moving story in a calm and objective way, without any grandstanding.
Restive. That was the word the Inquirer coined for the marines on display on Sunday and a pretty good word it was too. They weren’t rebellious or revolutionary or even mutinous, they were just fidgety and disgruntled (the Reuters word for them). None more so than the bull necked and agitated guy who paced the parade ground (pursued by the media pack) muttering darkly about free elections. He was apparently in the officer in command in Lanao del Sur during the election, which perhaps tells us something. He was terrific and gets my vote for best supporting actor in this week’s awards.
Who tipped off the media about this pseudo-event at the barracks? I'm against military intervention in this political crisis; but if they are going to act, they should just draw their guns. But no, they're such self-important posers, they have to wait for the cameras to arrive before they act all aggrieved. They've decided the outcome of two uprisings, so now they're divas.
Posted by: Carla | February 28, 2006 at 04:49 PM
I'm glad Gloria cheated in the last election because if not FPJ would have been president. And since FPJ died, he would have been replaced by Noli whom I don't like.
Unfortunately the middle forces don't see this. If Jose de Venecia could have cheated so that he can beat Erap in '98, would the middle forces have tolerated it, seeing how Erap was as president? They would! Ask the same question about Gloria.
Point is democracy won't work in our country because squatters will vote idiot candidates by the millions so let's support machiavellian pygmy presidents who will deliver middle-class (who are in the minority) aspirations.
Am I wrong?
Posted by: totoy | March 01, 2006 at 03:24 AM
A provocative point of view totoy. Actually if Gloria hadn't cheated, Noli wouldn't have won either. That would have meant Loren would have been president and all the forests would have been cut down and replaced by her stupid Luntiang Pilipinas signs.
I do agree with you about de Venecia though -- the middle class would have been only too happy to look the other way if that would have kept the man with the wristband out of Malacanang. The only reason de Venecia did not manage to cheat his way into office is that Erap's lead was so enormous. That strikes me as as one of the central fact of post-1986 Philippines -- that of the four elections from 1986 to 2004, only one had an uncontested result and that was in 1998.
So far the masa candidates (if by that you mean Erap and FPJ) have been idiots I agree, but I don't think that means they always will be. You can't blame the people for choosing fools if that is all they are offered.
Posted by: torn | March 01, 2006 at 04:20 AM
LOL. I've a similar post. They're such drama queens.
http://caffeinesparks.blogspot.com/2006/02/soldier-is-drama-queen.html
Posted by: sparks | March 01, 2006 at 09:00 PM
In a game of chess when one side resigns the other side wins. The House prosecutors resigned when the Senate voted not to open the envelope. That should have been the end of it.
Estrada's reputation would have been in tatters for the last three years of his term, but the country and its democracy would have survived and the voters might well have made a better choice two years ago.
Instead, the military tipped the scale for Gloria, who assumed office on the same day as the current Butcher of Baghdad. Clinton's impeachment was thwarted so the people behind it took out their wrath on the hapless leader of a former dependent, someone whose petulance they viewed as somehow culpable for the closure of several convenient overseas bases.
The Philippines got used as a trial balloon for gaugeing the effect of a bought media on democratic processes in an extra-constitutional environment.
How's Erap's trial coming along these days? Is it moving any faster than Saddam's?
Posted by: Sergeant Pepper | March 02, 2006 at 04:38 AM
Ah. Yes. Totoy. I couldn't have said that any better. Sigh.
Long live the midget.
Posted by: carlos celdran | March 02, 2006 at 04:58 AM
Midget, Shmidget. I think she's kinda cute in a little Filipina way, and so I support her presidency, since she was is way more sexy than Erap. And Ramos has never been in the running, and Aquino (yech).
Hey! I had dinner with Erap and Honasan (sp?) years ago down in Surigao, and we all got drunk and judged a beauty pagent. Now that was Filipino politics at its most fundamental.
I'm going to bed.
Posted by: Carl Parkes | March 03, 2006 at 04:53 PM
funny cause i think pia h. was to excited while the reporters in the field where being objective & calm.
funny cause having more than one anchor to coordinate & deliver the news is over.
you give to much space for the anchors to think aloud.
it seems to me the down side of anc in delivering the news is that they tend to glamorize & sell the personalities who in reality should just be the medium of delivering the news.
when it comes to news, personaly, siete pa rin ako. cause it's news delivered w/o the frills.walang prenoprotectahan, walang kinikiliang.
something i find hard to beleave from anc.
Posted by: joselu | March 06, 2006 at 11:12 PM
Hi Joselu -- Thanks for the comment. I left a reply over at mlq.
There is probably a lot in what you say -- people can always see the same event in very different ways.
Posted by: torn | March 07, 2006 at 12:54 AM
Joselu -- For some reason my comment never got posted on mlq, so I'll amend it and stick it here instead.
I agree about the guy in the field. As for the anchors, Pia and Ces, I would say: (i) I do think you need two (otherwise what is one anchor going to do during the long periods of inactivity that are a part of any crisis?), and (ii) it’s all relative, if you think Pia was agitated you should see some of the hyper newsmen on British or American TV.
I honestly think PIA did a good job. Sure, she didn’t try to play down the drama but who would? It was very exciting, no one can deny that. As for the marine who was striding around the place muttering about elections — wasn’t that important? Isn’t that what this whole thing was about? And he was the former army commander in Lanao del Sur. I think that’s significant (but if Ces is still flogging that particular dead horse over the airways as I think you said on mlq that seems a bit weird, I agree).
Posted by: torn | March 07, 2006 at 02:22 AM
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