Punchline
A big cruel joke
By Ermin Garcia Jr.
HOW the Comelec will eventually interpret and promulgate the rules anent a controversial provision limiting participation of journalists and other practitioners in the information and entertainment fields, would make an interesting study for the legal academe even before the Supreme Courts rules on it.
As things stand today, entertainment celebrities and journalists are required to resign from their programs and posts if they choose to endorse a candidate.
Easily, some basic rights guaranteed by our Constitution are undermined by the intent of the law to level the playing field in politics – to give those with less resources equal chances to contest electoral posts. Even the Comelec commissioners themselves are already divided on how to enforce that provision.
In fact, I would suggest that local colleges and universities engage their law students in debates over the issue if only to hone their knowledge in constitutional law and subsequently improve their passing averages in future bar exams.
Questions: Can we deny anyone the right to express his idea and preference of candidates simply because he/she has the misfortune of working in media? What makes a journalist today different from a web blogger, and should the latter be sanctioned as well for believing in some candidates? Should society deny a person an opportunity to earn legitimately by endorsing a candidate? Are politicos the only animals who have the right to openly endorse their favorites (yes, relatives mostly) using the media without fear of being sanctioned? What makes a journalist/celebrity political endorser different from a religious sect preacher who tries to convince others to vote for a specific candidate? Etc…etc.
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POLITICAL AD BAN. This dangerous propensity of Filipinos to regulate every norm of societal conduct, i.e., when some are perceived to have more than others, is symptomatic of a desperate society in need of a semblance of established order. We harbor the illusion that government regulation is the answer to all inequities in society.
“Leveling the field” has always been a convenient rationale in this country, particularly among the intelligencia. Yet as we have since come to learn, the more regulations are set in, the more unleveled the field becomes, in favor of those who have. Worse, when more Pinoys become more quite adept at exploiting the rules’ loopholes, it becomes an occasion to create more laws, more regulations to offset the ‘opportunists’. At the end of the day, we have an overdose of laws that simply cannot be enforced and just made matters worse for the have-nots.
The political ad ban is a classic example. It has virtually become one big cruel joke on the have-nots. The supposedly maximum number of ad placements that candidates can make only serves as a convenient cap (enabling them to effectively dodge solicitous marketing teams of media outlets) for those who have, but it is not even a factor nor a consideration for the have-nots. If you simply don’t have the money, no amount of rules will serve you, period! So what leveling of field are we talking about?
But behind all that, the real victim in this exercise of government regulation is neither the haves or the have-nots, but the media. It is told it cannot earn than what it deserves more from politicians, they who made the laws.
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AN OXYMORON. The only conceivable rule that can truly level the field is for government to completely subsidize all political advertisements, requiring candidates (rich or poor) to pay a specific sum to cover all uniformly produced media ad placements. But guess who will suffer the most in this scenario? The voters. Why? There will not be enough information about the candidates that will be dished out by such an arrangement.
And guess who the real victim will be in this scenario? The media, again! It’s news practitioners who will be inveigled with bribes for space and airtime to make their messages appear as legitimate news, deserving for free exposure. (This is already the norm under the political ad ban law). A thoroughly corrupt media would be in place.
There is simply no such thing as “leveling the field” in politics. It’s an oxymoron that creates the illusion that politics can be a fair game. It can never be, not even with a hundred and one election laws.
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IT’S NOW KING PD BARBA? Smiley PD Barba never ceases to amuse me with his self-serving statements and pr gimmicks. But his latest antic showed some dangerous signs about him.
His latest pronouncement that the provision in the memorandum of agreement signed between Guv Spines and the Liga ng mga Barangay – requiring all kapitans to turn over their government-issued shotguns to the police – can and should be changed, just made his boss Guv Spines look irrelevant.
If only he were not too full of himself, he would have known that it was not his business, being a subordinate, to even suggest a change in the MOA. He was not even a signatory, and it was the chief executive’s decision to include that provision. His suggestion implies Guv Spines, a former senior police officer, was not at all circumspect when he authorized the purchase of the shotguns.
Then, who was he to unilaterally decide allowing the defiant kapitans to keep their shotguns in violation of a provision in the MOA? Was it his intention to send the signal that it is he, not Guv Spines who signed the MOA, who has the final say in the implementation of the MOA?
Finally, since when can a mere appeal letter to a government agency supersede the legal effects of a memorandum of agreement signed with the governor? Is it now all right for a government employee who steals petty cash from government to keep the money until his appeal for understanding and forgiveness is acted on by the mayor?
Watch out, guys! Smiley PD Barba is beginning to think he is bigger than Guv Spines!
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