8/3/2019 PJR March 2001

1/10

.,irr'$,ril,iitii,",lnofrl

T ".*i

l^S'' ,.tSil.glIdbnfffif * -:

8/3/2019 PJR March 2001

2/10

MonitorTrue oformExcept or a few instances,he coverage y Phrilippineewspapersof the political risiswasas expected.Bv BanNeRnCanr-osBalqumnna, EneRtcPBNarlon EoER,Evpn'N o. Kerrceer aNr Ma.RosprrB B. MnnNoa

THE JOSEPH ESTRADA IMPEACHMENTTRIAL: What began n the SenateHall wasconcluded n the streets.Top to bottom: (1)The impeachmenttribunal (2) SenatePres dentAquilinoPimenteland Chief JusticeHilario Davide(3) theprosecutors (4) the defense anel (5)the "no" vote ofeleven senators riggeredPeople Power II.A11photos by Ltro Oc,tupounless statedotherwise.

ANEWSPAPER is a businessenterprise,and in some casespublishedby peoplewith apolitical agenda. n thepress ov-erage fthe politicalcrisisof2000-2001,including the trial of former President o-sephEstrada, hepolitical and economicinterestsof the country's major news-papers found expression n their oftenobvious biases.A monitor of the Metro Manila-based roadsheets,political abloidandtwo of the widest-circula tedManila tab-loids showed hat as far as he politicalcrisis was concerned, he newspaperscould be generally classified nto twopredictablecategories:l) those hat a-vored the Estradaadministration,and(2)those that either were opposed o theadministration, favored he opposition,or both.The biasesof the newspaperswereobvious n the way they repoftedon thecase tself, he membersof the Prosecu-tionTeamand he DefensePanel, he es-timonies of the witnessesand the per-ceived pro- and anti-Estrada enator-judges.The ndividualnewspapers' di-torials and columns were even moreclearlypro- or anti-Estrada, ut this wasas t shouldbe, the opinion pagesbeingthepropervenue or the expression fanewspaper's nd ts columnists'views.NewsascommentThe Philippine Daily Inquirer hadthe most extensivecoverageof the im-peachment rial. From Novemberuntilbefore Estrada inally steppeddowi asPresidentof the Philippines,almost al lthe newsstorieson its front pageaswellas ts insidepages ncluding ts lifestylesectionwere devoted to the impeach-ment caseagainstEstradaor a relatedas-pect ofthe political crisis. n general, heInquirer coverage ended o favor the thengrowing Estrada Resign Movement, al-though there were instanceswhen itsnewsstorieswere sympathetico Estrada.Both Today and the Philippine Slarprojected an anti-Estradastance,al-though there were instanceswhen Zo-day was an advocate of obviously pro-administration ssues.But Today tendedto emphasizedetails that encouragedreaders o believe that a conviction was

in the making. Its editorialsalsoconsis-tently targeted he incompetenceof theprosecution awyers,particularly afterthe first few days of the trial.In contrast, he Slar was clearly anti-administration.On an almostdaily basisits news reporting was focused on re-porting events rom an angleunfavorableto Eshada, is allies andhis lawyers.BusinessWorld ived up to its repu-tation ofbalanced and fair reporting .Asober; usinesslikeonecharacterizedtscoverage f the mpeachmentrial.The Manila Times ndManilaBulle-tin inttially gave the impeachment riallessprominence.Both occasiona lly e-sorted o downplaying rial develop-ments. In almost all its impeachment-related reports, both the pro- and anti-Estradasideswere reported nthe Timesaswell asMalaya, but significantspacewas provided or reportson statementsfavoring Estrada.The Manila Srandard,on the otherhand, had the tendency odramatize he reporling of the impeach-ment rial.The Tribunewasengaged lmost uIl-t ime in bashingsuch personalit ies sl locos Sur Governor Luis "Chavi t "Singson,CardinalSin, ormer PresidentCorazonAquino, and others dentifiedwith the anti-Estrada pposition. t alsoimplied on an almostdaily basis hat heimpeachment asewas weak, and thatan acquittalwas nevitable.While imply-ing that the House prosecutors'casewas weak, the Tribune at the same imetookpains o projectthe mageof aPresi-dent eager o go through he Constitu-t ional rocesso clear isname.Th e Courier, on the other hand,could bestbe describedn one sentencein its coverageofthe political crisis upto the time Gloria Macapagal-Arroyotook ove r as Presidentofthe Reoublic.I t ivedup o ts radi t ionas hegovem-ment sequestered imesJour"nal) of be-ing pro- whatever administration s inpower,andpro-whoever'sPresident, e-gardlessof what the issuesare.The Courier's bias for the adminis-tration was very obvious. The paper,mainly through ts editorialsand opin-io n pieces.nevermissedany opportu-nity to attack anyone and any group in

+ PmrpprnrlounMl|silIUttw March2001

8/3/2019 PJR March 2001

3/10

the broad EstradaResign Movement.Whether it was the Makati BusinessClub, Manila Archbishop JaimeCardi-nal Sin, former presidentsCorazonAquinoand Fidel Ramosand hen Vice PresidentMacapagal-Arroyo,among others, heCourier had only the most negativeob-servationsand comments. ts editorialcartoonswere the same n their ridiculeof those demanding hat Estrada esign,as well as those involved in his pros-ecution,while depicting Estradaas thetrue championof thepoorvictimizedbythe evil plansof thepolitical opposition.The Cour ier a lso played upEstrada'sclaim that the Makati elite wasconnivingwith Aquino et. al. to bringhis pro-poor governmentdown. It alsocontinuously hit Cardinal Sin and theChurch for what it describedas Churchinterventionn state ffairs.The Courier playeddown develop-ments damaging to Estrada by printingstories on them on the lower part of thepage,or by burying damaging etails nthe middle of the news story.The Courier however,actually didbetter han some crony newspapers e-cause t cared o print news potentiallydamaging o Estradaalthoughwatereddown.Servile ournalismThe editori als and columns of theCourier included some of the most ob-vious examples f servileournalism oemerge rom the political crisis.Beforeand during the impeachment rial, theCourier was unabashedly ro-Estrada.Most of its columnists ook it upon hem-selves o wage a daily battle againstEstrada's ritics. But onceEstradawasbootedout of office, the editorialsandcolumns instant ly became pro-Macapagal-Arroyo.The three abloidsmonitoredexhib-ited different approachesn communicat-ing their biases o their readers. ike 99percentof the ablo ids,Abante's news"storieswere studies n sensationalism.But it gave reports negative to Estradaorominence.

The People's Journal, the tabloid.sister-publicationof the Courier, alsoconsistentlycrit icized Cardinal Sin,Aquino, Ramos,Macapagal-Arroyo, heMakati businessmenand the streetpro-testers.The paperwas unabashedlypartof the stateapparatus o discredit thecritics ofousted PresidentEstrada.ThePeople'sJournal inevitably refened tothose critics as palt of "the noisy mi-nority." On the otherhand, t referred oEstrada's upporters-thepeopleshout-ing for him to remain-as the "truepeople."The Peoole's ournal was a consis-tent advocaieofthe "classdivide" pre-tense of the ousted Presidentand hisspokesperson rnestoMaceda. n sev-eralof its editorials, t said hat herewasa dark and sinisterconspiracyo unseatEstrada, echoing the statementsofEstrada'sspokesman, is all ies, an dEstradahimself.Though perceived o be anti-Estrada,the "serious tabloid" Pinoy Times re-ported hepolitical crisis airly, rom be-fore and during the impeachment rialuntil it led o PeoplePower I. AlthoughPinoy Times expectedlycoveredanti-Estradaprotestsextensivelyan d fol-lowed leadsnegative o Estradaear-nestly, t provided enough space orEstrada's ebuttals and in fact placedthem in comparably attractive space,such as he front page.Although its opinion pageswerefull of anti-Estrada oices Pinoy Timescontinued o use he servicesof ReneSaguisag, olit ical ally and defenderof then PresidentEstrada,as a colum-nist. Its "Mula saMambabasa" Fromthe Readers)section also publishedlettersboth severely ritical ofand laud-ing Pinoy Times. Saguisagwas inci-dentally not alone n his crit icism ofthe Church's "meddling" in polit icalaffairs. Frankie Evanselista. on e ofPinoy Times' columnists, was a?rti-Estrada, but at the same time againstthe CatholicChurch's aking a promi-nent stand on the polit ical crisis an dEstrada'smpeachment.

MonitoImpeachingEstradaThe House of Representatives i-nally endorsed n November13,2000 hearticlesof impeachment o the Senate.The endorsement by then HouseSpeakerManuel Villar (Las Piflas)wasthe biggestnews of the day,not only forits impact. but also becausewhen thearticleswere filed in the House,not toomany wereoptimistic about ts prospects.It was also he irst impeachment ase oreach he Senaten the Philippines,andthe first in Asia.As big as the news was, it was notgiven much prominence n someof thenewspapers.The People's Journal, forexample, did not caffy a full report onthe House endorsement f the articlesof impeachmento the Senate.nstead,it publishedaprofile ofthe newly-electedSpeaker of the House, Arnul foFuentebellaCamarinesSur,LAMP), andin the samestory provideda two-para-graphmentionof the endorsement,one"in haste"by unseatedSpeakerVillar.The Timesplaced its repoft on theevent ("House indicts Erap, sends m-peachmentarticles o upper Chamber ortrial") above he front-pageold thenextday, but this story was overshadowedby the bannerheadline SenateoustsDrilon."The StandardS nclination towardsreport ing the human drama wi th ineventswas evident n its November 14banner story where it described n thesecondparagraph ow opposition aw-makers "ra ised clenched f ists andshouted

ErapResign"' while Villar wasreading he mpeachment fticles.Abante also highlighted the dramain the event. n its bannerstory"Lnpeachna!" it describedhow the people n theHouse sessionhall as well as the gal-lery reactedo Villar's sudden ction.Battle of ralliesOne of the most evident bat t legroundsbetween he administration ndthe oppositionwa s in the number ofrallyists and rallies stagedpro or con.Again, n this areaof coverage s n oth-

Plnppru ounilAusilEUrtw arch2001 5

8/3/2019 PJR March 2001

4/10

Monitor

ers, it was evident on whose side thepaperswere eaning.In its issueson November 15 andduringPeoplePower I the nquirer em-phasized hat the demonstrationswerenot taking place only in Metro Manila,but were happeningall over the Philip-pines. This was merely actual,andwasnot reportedby the pro-Estrada apers.On theotherhand,although he nquireris perceived o be anti-Estrada,his didnot prevent it from giving prominentplay to the one-million strong Lunetaprayer rally organizedby Malacafiang,and he hugecrowd Estradawas able ogather.inPangasinann one ofhis pro-vlnclal sortles.Today reported on the var iousgroup's allies,promoting he antiswhileslamming hepro-Estradaallies "Sin toleadDecember rally," December ). Itssuppoft or the anti-Estrada allies wasevident n its photoplacements.Photosof anti-Estradaallies usuallyappearedon the rontpagewhile thoseof thepros,whether argeor small, usuallyappearedin the inside pagesor the back page,which was the caseon January12.The Star publishedan article,"Pal-ace:We're not fomenting classwar"'which sought o prove hat not all of thepoor are pro-Estrada,and that in fact,anti-Estradasentimentswere ramDantnotonlyamong heeconomic nd nte l -lectualelite, but a lsoamong thepoor.ln covering he protestactionsver-sus Estrada,BusinessWorldavoided re-porting statementsrom official sourcesmeant o dissuade eoplefrom joiningdemonstrations,sdid somepro-admin-istration newspapers.t reporled whatactually transpired,or what the plans orfuture demonstrationswere, as outlinedby protestorganizers.The Standard3coverageofthe pro-test allies,while relativelyextensive ndgivenmuch space hroughpictures,wasmostlynegative.On November14,alongwith a story identiSringthe sites or theholding of the National Day of Protestwas a prominentlyplacedarticle on the

trK#K?uW Kffru&wffF.ffkcl P';*"-t *lsrth s!e{*seherl prcvrl ;lr*se*{*eluitt upliori ethar::* .iug1q:ilqlrastrtwarning romthe Civil ServiceCommis-sion to governmentworkers not to at-tend protestsduring working hours.The next day, the Standard reportedthat he generalstrike had"failed to para-lyze transport and business n MetroManila" ("Strikeendswith mixedresults,November 15 p. 2). The decisionofKompi l 's "People 'sCourt declar ingEstradaguilty" was relegated o the in-sidepageso give way to the story mini-mizing he mpactofthe protestshepre-vious day.The Courier played down the dem-onst rat ionsand other orotests.andsometimes id not even iporl that heyhadhappened.This was the case n itsNovember30 issue.On that day, t didnot run any storyabout he big rally thathappened he day before along AyalaAvenue where businessmen haredlunchwith workers,peasants nd urbanpoorto dramatize heir commondisgustwith Estrada. t just publisheda photoof some anti-Estrada allyists, and an-other photo of anti-Macapagal-Arroyorallyists.As if theireditorshadconsultedwith thoseof the Courier.the Peoole'sJournal did the same.Trial by newspaperPinoy Timeshad a team of lawyerswho commented aily on what washap-pening n the trial. It alsopublishedar-ticles aboutwhat the peopleshould bevigilant about,a glossaryof legal erms,an assessment f the evidenceso farpresented, tc.so ordinarypeoplewouldunderstand hathad beenpresented ndwhat was beingdebated n court. Thesewere undera daily sectioncalled AngPaglilitis Ang kauna-unahang ider nana-impeachsa Asia' ("The Trial: Thefirst leader mpeachedn Asia." subheadin italics). It also publishedstoriesonthe people nvolved in the trial such aspresidingJusticeHilario DavideJr., hesenators, he prosecutors and the de-fense awyersso he peoplewould knowwhere thesepeoplewere coming from.This sectionwas an attempt to educate

11u. i r :s .s- . i r l i s r r : , r r " i r ; r ; t ' . r . , rir : q l iu r r * f tu r i l - r x* i q t l ' . ' q , { i r

people on the law on impeachmentaswell ascourlprocedures. ut it alsopro-vided readers he contextual nformationsooftenmissing n mostPhilippine ews-papers'news epoftsevenon importantevents.' lrnpeachBulaga!'wa salsoa PinoyTimes egularsectionwhile the mpeach-ment trial las ted.This section ocusedon the ighter sideofthe trial. It featureda daily dose of storiesabout the im-peachment ncluding humorous epi-sodes, ndevenhada isting ofthe best-and worst-dressedsenator-judges ndlawyers.The sectioneven ook note ofthe major protagonists' hair styles.On the irst day of the rial, theJour-nal tried to projecta positive mage orEstrada.TheJournal's bannerheadlineread, Erap trust ratingmovesup to 410%"(December ). In its editorial he ollow-ing day, heJournal told its readers hat"if US tradition andpracticewere o befollowed, he membersofthe PhilippineSenateshould be expected o vote forthe acquittalor convictionof PresidentEstradaalong party lines...no fs andbuts,ust voting alongparty ines." (De-cember8, p. 4) Thiswasof coursea mis-leadingcomparison. S senators id notvote strictly alongparty inesduring heimpeachmentof former PresidentBillClinton n 1999.Clintonwas n factac -qui t ted becausesome Republ icanscrossed arty lines o vote in his favor .The Tribunewas not be outdone. tgave special emphasis o a PulseAsiasurvey hat showeda majority (54 per-cent of the respondents) f the popula-tion disagreeing ith thecall for Estradato resign. Thereportalsomademuchofthe Pulse Asia claim that oppositionIeaders' rust ratings had plunged.Consistentwith the chorusamongpro-Estradapapers that the impeach-ment casewas weak, the paper's De-cember 7,2000 editorial nsisted, Theprosecutionat this stageof the gamehasa weak case against PresidentEstradawhom the House mpeached ome hreeweeksago." December ,p.4)

B !

o Prnppm ounmt|sil lUttWMarch2001

8/3/2019 PJR March 2001

5/10

The paperalsowent out of its way toattempt to discredit SenatorsFranklinDrilon and TeofistoGuingona n its De-cember8 issue.The Tribunebannerstoryturned into a commentary disguised asnews when it criticized the two senator-judges for helping former PresidentAquino and then Vice PresidentMacapagal-Arroyo through the shriek-ing mob ofpro-Estradasupporters lock-ing their way to the Senategrounds.Discrediting the oppositionThe next day the Tribune followedthat up with a news story that actuallyurged he "lawyers ofPresidentEstrada"to "move for the disqualif ication of(Guingona ndDrilon) lrom sittingas u-rors in the impeachment rial followingtheir decision o ensure hat the so-calledJericho marchers would be able to getnearer he Senate uilding. ." ("SolonsdecryDrilon's intervention,"p. 1)On December10, he hird day of theimpeachment rial, the front pageof theTimes didn't publish any news storyabout the trial at all, its banner storybeing on thedisappearancefpublic re-lations man Bubby Dacer. Instead of astory on what had happenedat the trialthe previous day, the Timeshad a reporton National SecurityAdviser AlexanderAguirre's having identified "the sup-posed financier of the 'jueteng gate'scandal . . . "The December 9 editorial of Todaynoted the disappointingperformance ofthe prosecution, targeting in particularReps.SergioApostol andRoanLibarios.It called hemoidiots,"'TweedledumandTweedledee," Stan Laurel and OliverHardy" and "fools" and predicted that"althe rate hose wo idiots n thepros-ecutionhavebeengoing,we shouldhavean acquittal on the merits by early nextweek."The December 12 Today editorial"Dangerous defense" again targetedApostol and Libarios for doing a lousyjob, calling it "Erap-like." It targeted heprosecutionagainthe next day, but thistime declaredHouse prosecutor RaulGonzalesunprepared.The prosecutors lso receivedunfa-vorablepublicity from the Manlla Stan-dard, which reported on the privateprosecutors' nvolvement in the im-peachmentrial. SimeonMarcelo,apri-vateprosecutor,had been ntroduced bythe House prosecutionpanel into theproceedings o he couldquestion locosSur Governor and ueteng pay-offswhistle-blower Singson.The next day, in the Standardban-ne r story "Prosecutors change law-

yers,"one of the subheads as "11 man',panel ll-prepared?"while the ead was aquestion:"Was it an outright admissionby the prosecution that it was ill-pre-pared to impeachPresidentEstrada?"The Standard rcport did not mentionthat Marcelo had been asked to ques-tion Singsonbecause he latter had re-quested hat he be examined n Filipinorather than in the English language.

\Mmske m*isu$s f**a*wmrd **heckler$'utw descr$befue*furee$pefrtetsr$expelled rorn theSemate alleryfimtemtionel?

For its part, the Bulletin looked likea governmentpropagandapaper ratherthan a privately-owned broadsheetdur-ing the first few days of the impeach-ment r ial with thesebannerheadlines:' Estrada ignspeacepact odaYwith rebelgroups December10)' Estrada saves all death con-victs from lethal njections(De-cember1)' S in hai ls Erap decis ion ondeathpenalty December13)' 5% o ov't pay hike in P715-Bnat'l budget December 4)Surprisingly, the tabloid Abante'snews treatment of the involvement ofprivate prosecutorswas more objective.It reported that the congressmen-pros-ecutors were studying the possibility ofchanging he compositionof the 11-per-son panel.While the report took noticeof the perceived unsatisfactoryperfor-manceof the prosecutors,t did not puttoo much emphasis n it .BusinessWorld et aside eight (8 )pagesevery day for the unofficial tran-scripts of the hearings. This effort-achieved at greatcost to the newspa-per-was an exemplaryexampleof pub-lic service by BusinessWorld n lhecourseofits coverage. heFilipino-lan-guage broadsheet Kabayan was theonly other newspaper to provide thesameservlce.In the course of the impeachmenttrial, the nquirer bannercdstoriesdam-aging to the President suchas the testi-monies of witnesses, he evidencepre-

Monitosented, etc. The Inquirer also printedan insightful daily analysis by RaulPalabrica, ts resident awyer andRead-ers' Advocate, on what had transpiredat he mpeachmentcourt the daybefore.The Palabricaanalysisavoided egalese,and nsteadexplained n simple anguagewhat had happened,evaluated the evi-dence presented,and discussed hevalue of the witnesses' testimonies,among others.The Inquirer also published specialarticles which dealt more comprehen-sively with the issues at hand. For ex-ample,"Making the mpeachmentcase"(Dec. 10,p.A8), an "In Depth" article,explainedhow the mpeachmentprocessworked.On January2 1, he nquirer pub-lished another n Depth afiicle, "Under-standingmilitary intervention n politics"(p A8).The Courier, unlike the other news-papers,did not publishany specialsec-tion, except or a pageofphotos called"Photo Parade"which cameout almostdaily. "Photo Parade" included photo-graphsofboth the anti- andpro-Estradarallyists,aswell as scenes t the trial.Opening the envelopeThe opening of the first envelopefrom theEquitable-PClBank wasone of,if not the most significant, event in theDecember 20 trial session.Bu t th eJournalb next day reporton this devel-opment was relegated o the secondpage, with the report emphasizing thatthe contents fthe envelope ad not ye tbeen acceptedas evidence.On the sameday the Tribunebannertook a different tack altogether,suggest-ing that not all was well among theHouse prosecutors. "Impeach courtopens Equitable envelopeProsecutorsdissatisfied, ry conspiracy"subheadnitalics.December 1Both the Bulletin and Malaya re-ported on the openingofthe envelope.TheBulletin, however, emphasizedhat"the defensepanel did not want to cre-ate fears or suspicions hat they want tohide the truth from the public."On the otherhand, wo articlesof theStar read, Prosecutors: Velarde' docu-ments tamperedAccount endorsed byGZG" (subheadn itali cs) and "Trust inSenate mpartiality fail ing," both ofwhich expressed he sentimentsof theprosecution-and, as it becameappar-ent ater, of the public- that the admin-istration was trying to suppressvitalevidenceagainstEstrada.The only mention of the opening ofthe envelope nlhe Timeswas at the endofthe main article, "Erap security ight-

PmpprulounililFilInflEul arch20017

8/3/2019 PJR March 2001

6/10

Monitorened." The only other mention of thecontents of the envelope was in the ar-ticle "Penmanshippro due at Erap rial."The Times editorial cartoon that day,however, showed he prosecutionea-gerly unveiling the Velardeor "Valhalla"bank accounts,which under closeexami-nation,were symbolizedby what lookedlike a hugepesosign.Ejection ofthe three spectatorsP/R noted a suspiciouslydeliberateinaccuracy in Malaya s, Ihe Times' andToday's se of the word "hecklers."OnJanuary , Senator-JudgeMiriam Defen-sor-Santiago eactedviolently to threespectatorswhom sheclaimed had ookedat her "provocatively" while Senator-JudgeRaul Roco was questioning ros-ecution witness JasmineBanal. TheManila newspapers aid considerable

while Roco was aking ndirect exceptionto her earlierstatementswhile question-ing Banal. It later becameclearthat thethree had not even stood up and hadmerely tried to get a better view of theproceedings y peeringaroundan nter-veningpillar.The inaccurate and probably mali-cioususe of the word was oointed outin the Manila Times olumnof Fredde aRosa (Observer, Heckling andbody an-gtage," January 12). Dela Rosa said,"It's incorrect o say he trio heckledMrs.Santiago.To heckle s to embarrass ndannoy someoneby questions,gibes orobjections, o badger with mocking orderisive emarks."Todayhadthe arlicle "Angry Miriamgetscourt o throw out 3." However, tdefended he actions of Santiagopar-ticularly n its editorial Miriam curious

the strength of that case. Samegoes orJuanPonceEnrile."On the other hand, almost all the col-umnists of the nquirer were highly criti-cal of Santiago'sbehavior in court.ConradoDe Quiros, or example,printedsome disparagingcomments aboutSantiagohe had received ia email.The Tribuneiseditorial of January6,however, said that Santiago was "defi-nitely right in demanding he expulsionof (the) hree ndividuals.. ."As could be expected,when Santiagoimperiously demanded he expulsionfrom the impeachmentcourt of the threespectators, he Standard gave the storyprominent page-one reatment. Thestory"Court evicts 3 on Miriam's plea"was accompanied y a big photographof the three sDectators.The Standardsknown dislike of anti-Estradamilitantsshowed n the story"Militants sidewithsocialitesagainstMiriam" when it de-scribed as "improbable during normaltimes" the militant groups' reaction oSantiago's antrums.Abantewas not silent on Santiago'slatest f it. Abante Tonite reported in"'Nakakapraningsi Miriam" that an n-creasing umberof peopleweregettingannoyedover the senator'shigh-hand-eqness.Witnesses nd evidenceAs it covered the testimoniesandevidence resentedo the mpeachmenttrial, BusinessWor ld ontinually moni-tored he mplications fthe political cri-sis on the country 's economy and thebusiness ector.The stateof the Philip-pine peso, or examplewas aregularsidebar of its coverage: PesoseenatP49-P50 as mpeach rial goeson" (Decem-ber 12,p.1); Market meltdownPesohitsall-time trade low of P52 Stock martindex alls 46.01 points " (January 3,2001banner tory).ln general,BusinessWorldused s tsstory angles he side of the witnessesfor theprosecution:After Emma Lim tes-tif ied, its banner story was "Singsonsecretaryclaims bringing money toErap" (December12).When Singsontes-tified again, BusinessWor ld reported,"Singson says Estrada go t 'juetengmoney"' (December14,bannerstory).The samewas rue n the caseof Equi-table-PCl Bank Senior Vice PresidentClarissaOcampo's "Prosecutionwitnessbares attempt to hide Velarde account,"January 3, page 1), former PhilippineStockExchangecomplianceand surveil-lance group chief Ruben Almadro's("'Erap knew of bribe attempt n BWcase,"'January 0,banner tory ), ormer

attention o this story,particularly be-cause he threewho were eiected romth eSenateallery- Dante imenez"hairofthe VolunteersAgainstCrime and Cor-ruption (VACC), RosannaFores, andBettinaAboitz- wereorominentmem-bersof society.The Times headline ead, Hecklersbared from trial" and n itseditorial "Thecaseof the heckledsenator,"while 7o-day used he sameword in its editorial.Malaya in a news article also referred othe "hecklers".Thesepapers'use oftheword "heckler" would suggest hat tohecklewas o look at someone orovoca-tively" as Santiagoalleged. trebstertI,{ew 20'h Centuty Unabridged Dictio-nary,however,defines he word "heckle"as "to annoy or confuse (a speaker)byinterrupting with questionsor taunts."None of the three observers ad heck-led Santiago. Santiagodescribed heirsupposedly bjectionable ctsas stand-ing up to peer at her "provocatively"

an d correct." It claimed hat "Roco...stressed is point a bit too much asthough provoking his colleagueor, asSantiagobelieved,egging [on] the gal-lery to make un of her." "Santiagowasright to complainand o demand edrcssfrom theChief Justice."The Todayeditorial also claimed hatthe three spectatorswho were ejectedfrom the gallery "...are just the type tohave campaignedor her doomedpresi-dential bid in 1992. " and hat "Santiagowas actually being kind just asking ortheirexclusion rom the august hamber."The editorial went even urther by prais-ing not only Santiago, ut alsoSenator-JudgeJuanPonceEnrile: "... it is us tthe likes of Santiago-after raking thewitnessesof the prosecutionover thecoals who will vote to convict thePresidentf his lawyersnonethelessai lto weaken hepowerful caseof his guilt.By the same oken,shewill vote to ac-quit if the prosecution ails to sustain

*- i ; r igf$sroe i . j f f id-"r "-H?X

a Pmppru ounflAl|sitfutIW March2001

8/3/2019 PJR March 2001

7/10

Finance SecretaryEdgardo Espiritu's("Estradamade money from BW, courttold," January12-13,bannerstory) andformerSecurities ndExchangeCommis-sion Chair PefectoYasay's estimonies("Former SEC chief bares bribe' offersbyEstrada,Tan," January16,p.1).The only time thalthe BusinessWorldstory angle was favorable o the defensewas when it reported "Estrada lawyersgrill Singsonon testimony holes'."Almost all o f the Inquirer's colum-nistspraised he prosecutionwitnesses,especiallyEquitableBank VicePresidentClarissaOcampo.The witnesses' estimonies erealsoprominentlycov ercdby'Abante:On Ltm,itreported n its December 2coverstory"'Naghatid ako ng P5M sa Palasyo!"'while "'Si Erap si Velarde!" (Erap sVelardel)was ts lead story on December23, afterOcampo's estimony.Abante'sreporl on Ocampo's other exposewas"'Velardepapers si-switchdapatl 'The Journal waspredictablyantago-nistic o all prosecutionwitnesses. heywere portrayed in the news as either li-ars Lim, SingsonCaridadRodenas ndYasay),without credibil ity (Singson,Almadro and Yasay),or with inadmis-sible estimony Ocampo).Hostile to prosecutionLike the Journal, the Tribune wasalsohostile o theprosecutionwitnessesin its reports. t used almost the samewords and phraseso describe hem astheJournal. Again, on January16,2007,the Tribune banner story turned into acommentary his time in repoding onthetestimony of witnessYasay.The reportsaid, (Former SEC chair)PerfectoYasayJr. wove fantastic ales n his testimonyyesterday before the impeachmentcourt..." (lead, "Yasay claims threats,bribe bids, bomb scare," anuary16).Malaya also habitually portrayed heprosecution itnessesn a bad ight. Limwa s labeled as "Chavit 's girl" and a"liar"; her testimony was either re-hearsedor fabricated; shewas hazy withdates and indebted to Singson.Singson,on the other hand, was de-scribed as not credible. Malaya writerssuggested hat his testimony might bethrown out of courl. They also claimedthat Yasay lied under oath by publish-ing statementso thateffect.Espirituwasthe only witnesswho receivedpositivetreatment n Malaya.In repor ling about he witnesses,heStandard made t a point to put Singsonin a negative ight. In "Singson showsP5-million check," December14,p.2) orexample, Singson was reported ashav-

ing failed to drop the bombshell he hadpromised.As earliernoted, heprosecu-tion panelcame n for generallyunfavor-able reatment.The defense anel'sperspectivewason the other hand emphasized n theStandard afiicle "From trial to mistrial?"(December 15, bannerstory) where thedefense warned that the use of privateprosecutors"could lead to the voidingof the proceedings."However, he other witnesses' esti-moniesgot good reatment romthe Stan-dard. Ltm's tagging of Estrada son andSan Juan Mayor Jinggoy Estrada as ajueteng bagman was reported as a ban-ner story, and her claim that she deliv-eredmoney o Malacaflanggiven promi-nent treatment("I delivereda black bagto Malacaflang,"December12,page ).The said report,however,was quick inpointing out Lim's boss-subordinatee-lationshipwith Singsonand he defensepanel'sdiscreditingher.Star witness Ocampo'sexpose hatEstrada and Jose Velardewere one andthe samepersonwas the Standardsban-nerstoryonDecember 3: "I saw hePresi-dent sign as 'JoseVelarde' - witness".The story was accompanied y a pictureshowinga"calm and collected"Ocampo.From pro to conThe Standard3 penchant or humanintereststories was again apparent n asidebar story about Ocampo: "Friendsdescribe er as prim andproper."'When Mendoza revealed thedefense's llegedattempt o tamperwiththe Velarde account, the Standard pub-lished "Clarissa bomb stuns defense."The story describedEstelito Mendozaas "stunned"by Ocampo'sstatement.It was at this point that the Standardcoveragebeganto change rom pro- toanti-Estrada. The Standard thus gavebanner treatment to Yasay's testimo?rylinking the abduction of Bubby Dacer othe BW scam nvolving Estrada "Yasaylinks Dacer case o BW scamDante Tanwas missingman's client"). In that story,Yasay was reported as saying he sus-oected that the PR man "was abductedbecausehe was about to divulge whathe knew about" the BW scam.The 'bombshell' that Ilocos gover-nor Chavit Singsondroppedon Decem-ber 14 took secondplace to the an-nouncementof the next United Statespresident "Bush nextUS presidentHighCourt reverses recount order") in theTimes. Thenext day, he result of the USpresidentialrace was again the empha-sis of the banner, Gore gives up at lastAmerica must rise above a house di-

lllonitor

e$i{.tl

SCENESFROM AN UPRISING: Wile themilitants were marching to Mendiola,Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was sworn intoffice as the 4th President of the Republic.Top o bottom: (1) still at the EDSA shrine(2 & j)Flyovers full ofpeople, not withvehicles(4) militants on their way toMendiola (5) a steelJbnceand barbed wireseparate he anti- and pro-Estradagroups. (6) Arroyo speaks before theMalacafiang employees.All photos by Lrro Octuro

PnnppmounilAu$ilHftuf March2001 9

8/3/2019 PJR March 2001

8/10

Monitorvided, says Bush" (subhead n italics).The Timesalso ried to call attentionto the supposed ack of composureoftheprosecution'switnesses. n theban-ner story "Bombshell alfiiaI Bank ffi-cial says President signed "JoseVelarde" on P500M check," it claimedthat Ocampo was "trembl ing visibly"when she ook the witnessstand. It gavethe impression that she was a very ner-vous witness despite other observationsto the contrary.On January4,the Timesbannerhead-line was focusedon the PhilippineNa-tional Police's vow that arrestswouldsoon be made in connection with theDecember30 bombings. The trial article"Both sidesclaim win in Chavit exam"wa sagaingiven es s rominence.Considering hat the Times s ownedby former presidential adviser on LatinAmericanAffairs Mark Jimenez, ts ban-ner on January12which read, Tan: MJneverownedBW'was perfectly in char-acter.However, he article did not mme-diately go into the detailsof what it pro-claimed n the head, eaving he readerwaiting until the fifth paragraph. n addi-tion, thestorywas actuallyaboutEdgardoEspirifu's estimony, ot Thn'sstatements.The January 17 Timeseditorial de-fended Jimenez's eputation stating-again-that he was not involved in theBW scam and that the SEC investiga-tion failed o proveallegations f his in-volvement.This tackmade he estimonyof Espiritu appearas less mpor tant othe prosecution'scase."The Estrada mpeachmentrial-fu 1lof liesandhalf-truths, uchas hosespo-ken by Mr. Espiritu,and ndeed, ull offacts and real truths-continues to beboth a baneand blessing o our democ-racy. May the Senator-Judges nd theFilipino peoplehave the God-given dis-cemment o know truths rom falsehood.""Best for last," part of Today'sJanu-ary 17 editorial, declaredYasay's esti-mony as useless, aying that the testi-mony of Almadro was sufficient. Theeditorialurged heprosecution o call onchoicewitnesses n view ofthe time-con-straints.The Bulletin noticeably did not pub-lish detailedaccounts f the estimoniesby the witnesses, xcept or Espiritu's.In addition, its reportsalso ended o fa-vor the Estrada defensepanel.That 10-11 oteThe Senateribunal'sdecisionnot toopen the second envelope on January16 riggeredPeoplePower I. It was hemost significant event in the trial thatday but surprisingly,on January17,Ihe

TV CREI4/AT EDSA: The biasesof their interests.

People'sJournal's banner-rn an un-canny repeatof its namesakeand ante-cedent he TimesJournal's failure to re-port on the funeral of Ninoy Aquino in1983-read, "For fuiling to take itnesslesls 3000 cops face ouster" (kicker initalics).The TimesJanuary 17 banner head-line read, "Defense scores!Pimentelquits; private prosecutors walk out."The enthusiasticexclamation point inthis headlinesuggestedhe enthusiasmthe Timesstaff had apparently elt at the'No" vote of the night before. The ar-t ic le emphasized he statements fEstradathat the prosecutionwas "suc-cessful n hiring professional iars"-alibelousstatement, ince it not only ac-cused he prosecutionof being unethi-cal, but also all its witnessesas liars.The Philippine Star story was more tothepoint : "Erapallies shackleDavidelburyP3.3-B bank evidencePimentel quits asSenate resident" (subheadn italics).PeoplePowerAt the height of People Power II,BusinessWorldmanaged o maintain asomewhat distant stance in its reoort-age. t published o catchy r emotionalleads, imiting itself to plain, no-non-sense eporting. It also consistentlyavoided spreading huge pictures on itspages.The January 19-20 issue ofBusinessWorldcarried he banner story"Campaignfor Estrada ouster spread-ing Civll obediencedrive starts n 'nextfew days"'. But the caption for the pic-turesaccompanying t read "Two for theroad": it showed the anti- and pro-

Roser-r-r . MrneNoe

Estrada camps demonstrating.BusinessWorldwas also consistenin playing up the unity betweenbusi-nessand aborangle,as shownby thesestories: "Protest walkouts staged na-tionwide Business,workersunite againstErap" (November15,bannerstory)and"Business, abor,urbanpoor in show oftmity vs Estrada"Q.{ovember0,2000,p. )The January 18 report "Protestssweep RP Angry rallies greet vote onbank records" in the Times was actu-ally on both the pro- and anti-Estradagroups'rallies around he country. Theemphasis, owever,was discernibleonthe anti-group rally, a photo of whichappearedon the front page. The pro-Estrada ally was in an insidepage.Atthis time the TimesaLso egan o empha-size articlesabout hosenot getting n-volved n the rallies of either heprosorthe antis. These types of articles in-cluded "Lakas mayor defiesparty callagainstEstradaEusebio:No to anti-Eraprallies" (kicker n italics,November 15),"Mindoreflos passiveto impeach courtdrama" (January18), "Mindoro is pro-Constitution ot pro-Erap. ay sgover-nor," (January20) and "Bataan cold torallies," (January20).The allegedlyanti-Eshadabiasofthemediawas alsogivenvoice n the report"Erap camphits bias' ofmediajob" Janu-ary 19 where "Malacaflang nsists t isonly media that has (sic) blown up theprotestsagainst PresidentEstrada...Parrying reportsof a growing clamor forthe President's esignation,acting PressSecretaryMike Toledo blamed media'smodern technology for making opposi-

tO Pmrpprrul0unmffiillturtwarch 001

8/3/2019 PJR March 2001

9/10

tion mobilizations appearbigger thantheir real sizes and for portraying theprotests as representativeof Filipinosentiments."Two editorials appeared n the Janu-ary 20 and2l issuesof the Times,oneonthe front pageand the other in its opin-ion sect ion. The edi tor ia ls hai ledArroyo's assumption o the presidencydespite ts belief that "the Constitutionshould have been ollowed" and hat ral-lies were merely "disruptive," althoughexpressive swell offree expression. talso expressed ts concern over threatssupposedly eveled against Estradadur-ing the rallies.The January 21 issuesof both theTimesar'dthe Srar alsopublishedapressrelease ntit led PresidentArroyo l4'hPresident Senseofhistory repeating it-self surroundsPeoplePower II heroine"(subheadn italics)which welcomedAr-royo as presidentbut at the sametimecast doubts on the legitimacy of her ac-cession. This piece,however,was dis-tinguishedby its admission or the firsttime that Estrada had mismanaged hegovemmentandwas morally challenged."A big political problem or MacapagalArroyo is that her suppo rters wereunitedby their distasteor Estrada'smis-management nd questionable ersonalmorals rather than any backing for her."Today'sarticle "Suddenly,Edsa's heplace to go to again" described he pro-Eshada alliesas pro-Erap akot rallies."Its January 18 issue featuredthree fullpages fnews; January19, wo pages fnews; January 20, lhree pagesof news;and January 1 threepagesof newsplusthree morepagesof commentaries n therallies and one on the celebrationnar-ties n its Weekenderupplement.-Despite the Star s obvious anti-Estradastand, t publishedapro-admin-istrationarticleon January19headlined"Estrada:RP remainsattractive o inves-tors." It also coverednot only the anti-Estradarallies but also the pro-Estradaralliesaswell. Photosofboth ralliesac-companied he articles. The reportingof pro-Estradaactivities can be inter-pretedas he newspaper'somewhatsim-plistic attempt at being true to the our-nalistic mperativeof balance.The Inquirer cameout with a specialedition on January 19 atd20. It featuredart ic les and pictures related to theeventsunfolding in EDSA at breakneckspeed, scenesat the Senate during theJanuary 16 trial sessiop,an interviewwith some grandchildren of SenatorTessieAquino-Oreta, and even how thesenatorsand witnesseswere dressedduring the trial, among others.

On January 21, a day after Estrada .stepped down, the Inquirer even pub-lished "Exit with dignity 'He was tookind, abused y pals"'(kicker in italics)which from all indications seemed fa-vorable to Estrada.One word could perfectly describePinoy Times: Brave. Without blinkingan eye, its Liham sa Pangulo (Letter tothe President, Pinoy Times'versionofan editorial) had consistentlycalled forEstrada'sesignationor for him to at eastappear n court.Pinoy Timescontinues o publish thefamous Pinoy Times Special Editionwhich it beganwhen Singson squealedon the jueteng pay-offs. The SpecialEdition has detailedEstrada'smansions,showedpicturesof the palatial houses,featuredsome of Estrada'swomen andchildren,etc.On the l9th of January, theStandard's main story was "Aunor,Bong break away" and "Gloria issuesfirst order" on January20.Ths stubhonnlvpro-EstradaTribune belittledPeoplePower ltr.

Abanle Tonite's coverage of thePeople Power I I was emot ional ly-charged.While it is common ortabloidsto use exclamation oints n their head-l i nes , t he i r cho i ce o f wo rds , l i ke"nagdagsaan" to rush in droves)addedintensity if not exaggeration o the re-ports. It also tended o sensationalize,as the phrase"Awayang Enrile-Ramossumiklab na" (Enrile-Ramos eud burstsinto flames, January 18, cover s tory)meanssomethingmore than a word-warin Filipino. Otheiexamplesof strongsio-r ies and heads nclude "Sa EDSAbabagsak i Estrada!" Estradawill fallat EDSA, January 18 , page 2) an d"Mananagot si Erap! (Erap will pay,Janu-ary 18,p.3)

Abante Tonite's cover article onJanuary20 was "Malacaflangsusugurinna" (Malacanangwill be attacked) andwas accompaniedby a picture of a manin the crowd holding a bannerproclaim-ing, Hatol ng bayan:Guilty! (Thepeople'sverdict:Guilty!)The Bulletin published a full pagededicated o impeachment nd ally newson the 17m. The next day, with the ex-ception of four reports,thewhole Bulle-tin frontpage was on rally-relatednews.

MonitoHaving been silent for months on the. issueof the rallies, for the first time sincethe beginningof PeoplePower I, a com-ment on arally actuallymade the Bulle-tin editorial page,which congratulatedMacapagal-Affoyo on January21. Ear-lier, the Bulletin had published photoson street protests but had not com-mented on them.Previously, on January 18, althoughthe Courier ran reports related to thebrewing political crisis, it did not reporton the size of the EDSA and other ral-lies.Neither did it print anyphotoof thehuge crowd gatheredat EDSA, whichalmost all the newspapers id simply be-cause t was news. There was only apicture of Aquino and some senatorsonthe EDSA Shrinestage.On January20, a day after the mili-tary withdrew its support from Estrada,the Courier finally mentioned n a newsreport a crowd estimateof 500,000 atEDSA. For the first time it alsopublished

a photo on its front page showing thehuge crowd at EDSA and emphasizedstories elated o that. But it can be de-duced that the Courier only did so be-cause t felt that Estrada's all was mmi-nent.Somecolumnistsof the Courier alsotried to avoid commentingon events,apparently o asnot to reveal heir sen-timents. But this effort was oo little toolate, the Courier having shown its truecolors in the months that precededPeople Power II. The editorial sectiontook the same ack, however.Even theCourier editorialcartoonwas careful notto makeany statement n PeoplePower I.In thoseexciting imes, on January18 heCourier editorialcartoonwas on the gar-bage crisis, while it chose o feature heGenerics aw in its editorialofthe 20th.When Estrada eventually s teppeddown andMacapagal-Arroyowas sworninto office, the Courier editorials took adramatic 180-degree urn. They sud-denly becamesupportiveof Macapagal-Arroyo, and werebeside hemselvesnheapingpraiseson the millions ofpeoplewho had trooped o EDSA, and in es-pousingpeaceandunity. Yet only a fewdayspreviously, the Courier was criti-cizing the demonstrations hat, it said,were hurting the economy, and doubt-ing whether there would be a successfulPeoplePower I.The Courier columnistssimilarly didan about-face.Somewere careful not toexpress any opinion about what hadhappenedand nstead alked about other,lessexciting events.By all indications,this stancewas to serrr'e s the stagingpoint before hey becameoutrightlypro-

Pmppnt ounilA[sil Mil March2001 11

8/3/2019 PJR March 2001

10/10

ilonitorMacapagal-Arroyo as they had beenslavishly pro-Estrada. One columnisteven wrote about how she had gone toEDSA and how she was in tears whenshesaw he huge numberofpeople gath-ered there. Another columnist disao-peared or a few days. hen suddeniycam e back heap ing p ra i ses onMacapagal-Arroyo.The Courier is a governmentpaper,but that should be no defense or its ex-ercise of servile, whoever's-in-powerjournalism. If anl.thing, ts performanceindicates the urgency of reforming thegovernment nformation system owardsits functioning as rue vehicles ofpublicinformation rather than its present ori-entationas he President's ersonal ub-lic relationsagent.Malaya on the other hand remainedsteadfast o the end. On January 19, tdid report on the PeoplePower rallies,but also reported hat nvestors emainedconfident about the economy and that

the administration's conomicmanagerswere not quitting. In Malayab January21 issue, ts reports were still sympa-thetic to the oustedPresident.The People 's Journal published anumberof PeoplePower I photographson January 18. Its reportswere critical ofthe ProsecutionTeam for quitting. Theeditorial was,again,critical of CardinalSin. Until the end, the Peopleb Journalremained an Erap defender. t onlyceased eing critical of the United Op-position on January21, when it reportedMacapagal-Arroyo's eing sworn in asPresident.For its part, th e stubbornly pro-EstradaTribunebelittled PeoolePowerIT . aying n its editorial.EDSA wa sanoccurrence ueled by a confluencebyevents hat pulled people o the streets.It was angerbottled up for 20 yearssud-denly exploding, the mutiny ofthen per-ceived loyal of f ic ia ls of thePresident...This ime. the crowd wa smade up of mos tly the so-calledorga-nized groups who are the samepeoplethat picketed the Senate or those whoattended he November 4 prayer rally."("EDSA II," January18,p.4)

However, t contradicted tself Janu-ary 27, when the dust had settledandMacapagal-Aroyo was President, witha front page report headlined Edsa IIoverthrowsEstrada:""The Filipino did it again. lead)"Fifteen yearsafter he 1986EDSARevolution,he peoplehaveonceagainproven they are united in overthrowingan alleged (sic) corrupt leader." (para-graph2)

Moremportant'ssues eglectedlxs8,:*,'*.o*"*"d*{J&lf uPrr{6r e} *i4r".. cqsi$ A.re,fu

*"--**&rglggu**.sa?rifi,,r.

!*ur fi*cory.*mffiffix*ffi$i*#H#ffirytffiffiffi*##:;,*"offi;p^,_;l;trff:n;i:*ij::yll .cr." vll, r.g8'r**ffi ;u ,, ,i,4, ;c

PEOPLE POWER II, which oustedformer President Joseph Estrada astJanuary20, was widely coveredbythe media. Televisionand radio sta-tions covered he events ive, whilethe Manila newspapers ublishednu-merousstories n the unfolding dramaat EDSA and otherpartsof the coun-try during the four days ofthe nation-wide rallies. The media covered heinauguration of then Vice-PresidentGloriaMacapagal-Arroyo o thepresi-dencyjust as ully.However, at the time of this writ-ing, Estrada,who claimed hat he wasonly on leaveand hus still the presi-dent, was challenging the legitimacyof the governmentof Macapagal-Ar-royo. He saidArroyo was merely-"act-ing" president,and his lawyers hadfiled a suit in the Supreme Court, inthe courseofwhich one ofthem, ReneSaguisag, claimed that a letter alleg-edly written by Macapagal-Arroyo tothe SupremeCourt justices invitingthem to her inauguration at the Edsashrine ast January20 did not exist.The newspapers reported andwere still reporting on the legitimacyissuebefore he SupremeCourt beforePJR went to press,but most of themgave ittle importance o the existenceor non-existenceof the letter. How-ever, Todaygave it particular signifi-canceand prominence n its February

." Baqy*)l

16 issue,going as far as to publishthe letter on its front page with anequallyprominentarticle"SC releasesa copy of Arroyo's l etter."On the other hand, it gave littleimportance to the inhibition of twoSupremeCourt ustices n the caseofEstrada, amelyChief JusticeHilarioDavide J r. and Associate JusticeArtemio Panganiban.The SupremeCourt hearingofthepet i t ion of Est rada againstMacapagal-Arroyo's presidencyorthe two ustices' self-inhibition romhearing he casewere bigger and moresignificant developments than theexistenceof a letter, and yet, thesewere the issues that Today deemedless mportant.The threemost widely- circulatednewspapersn the country -the Ma-nila Bulletin, the Philippine DailyInquirer and the Philippine Star -gave he self-inhibitionof the usticesand Estrada'spetition more impor-tance. The Inquirer and the Bulletinmerely mentioned he "issue" of theletter in passing. The Star did notmention it at all.Could the fact that one of Today'scolumnists s Rene Saguisag, he eadlawyer of Estrada, be the reasonbe-hind its playing up the issue?Or wasthis ust a plain caseof flawed newsjudgment?

tz Pnuprm oufitlltsil IuBT March2001