Editorial
Nauseating
AS early as the beginning of this year, we already started to see television advertisements featuring politicians whom everyone knows are, or were, aspiring to run for president in the May 2010 elections. There was Senator Mar Roxas pedaling a padyak with poor children; and there was Senator Manny Villar highlighting his poor beginnings. It was cheap gimmickry through an expensive advertising medium.
But undeniably, nothing beats exposure through national television – talk about launching a face, strengthening recall, indoctrination. The men of the President certainly know this. And thus came all these so-called “infomercials” (information commercials).
The public could brush aside the obviously personally-financed political propaganda. But a publicity scheme using the people’s tax money – and under the guise of serving the public good – leaves a very, very bad taste in the mouth. The people can only take so much politics overload from infomercials. Add to that all the provincial sorties now being undertaken by presidentiables and many other aspirants for other national positions. There was basis for outrage against those self-serving infomercials of government agencies.
Unfortunately, the collateral damage involves those that are truly done in the name of public service such as the television ads of the Department of Health under Secretary Francisco Duque III.
Obvious flagrant abuses are supposedly declaration of advocacies of government officials whose jurisdiction do not include their stated advocacies, i.e. at best a PAGCOR infomercial should be about charities it helps, not about a contrived drug prevention campaign which it never had since its creation until now; DILG about how to report corruption, not about what its head promises to do; TESDA about available vocational programs, not about fun and games for the young; DECS about involvement in parent-teachers activities and curriculum improvement; and the DPWH about tips on how to detect and report corruption and poor standards of construction of projects.
Only the DoH has put infomercial to good use by, for example, advising the citizenry on proper preventive measures vs. the A H1N1 virus, the Ebola virus, the melamine scare, and the perennial dengue threat, among others.
It is sad to see the decent work of a few good men in the present administration destroyed by the bigger shameful lot. The election is still nine months away. Until then, or at least until the official campaign period starts, the people would like to see some more real public service and development work done. The politics is getting a bit too nauseating.
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