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Fearing possible seditious results, former President Corazon Aquino ordered against the airing of a DZXL interview with coup attempt leader Gregorio "Gringo" Honasan. To justify her order, she contended eloquently that Honasan sees the media as a "weapon of destabilization aimed at the institutions that protect the fundamental rights that give life to media and democracy." This bears a semblance of political propaganda, seeming to give stress on the words "media and democracy" for empathic effect when its meat speaks of the precedence of the state in the spectrum of rights. This undeniably compromises the libertarian principle of allowing all and every shade of information and opinions in a marketplace of ideas, in protection of what it deems is a higher priortity-the State and its security.
Philippine media sees itself as the champion at creating public opinion. Although the inherent control against seditious material is still in effect, several accounts on the media's creation of a definite public opinion can be observed. One instant is the public demand for the cancellation of the Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) on the execution of incestuous rapist Leo Echegaray. The media, having fed the public of the verbosity on the Leo Echegaray story to the surfacing of daughter-victim Baby, to the proclamation of death penalty, and to the suspension of the execution via TRO, with all the sensational appendages, have brought the public into an outcry for 'death justice.' This has likewise built enough pressure on the Supreme Court and caused it to give in to the clamors of the "nation."
This, however, paints the underlying political setup of the Philippines, particularly of the judiciary, bringing to question the integrity of the highest judicial office which gave in the demands of the people without standing pat on its decision to halt the execution. Another political factor which may hint the successful lifting of the TRO is that the President himself is in favor of the death penalty that Echegaray's death comes as a guarantee to this "supreme will." It is noteworthy that the president's conviction blends seamlessly with the opinion of the "masa." Thus, given this scenario, it becomes more questionable whether this process of mobilizing public opinion (resulting to the successful lifting of the TRO) occurred as a natural Libertarian process or a process facilitated by the highest office in the land.
The watchdog function of Philippine Media is the source of problematic accounts from the practitioners. Dean Armando Malay, quoted by Paredes (1986), says that "although the regime has tolerated the publication of sensitive articles, there is always an attempt to muzzle the press." This brings to mind the "cow tactics" of the martial law regime where attempts to thwart libertarian policies are enacted in the guise of upholding the "virtuous" laws of anti-sedition and anti-subversion. This brings one to recall former President Aquino's move to deprive air time to the DZXL interview with the state's "enemy", Honasan.
The fact that such laws become the major aegis of the state to silence the otherwise "vitriolic" press in order to protect its security brings to image a media system behind the bars of manipulable legislation. Anti-sedition and anti-subversion laws have long been in effect yet the threat of another possibly pliable law looms anew: the Anti-Media Bribery Law being pushed by Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago. This bill, while promising at first sight (it may have arisen to curb the corrupt AC/DC practices of media, discussed in the following paragraph), becomes increasingly porous when examined up close. The fact that one Manila columnist admitted that "it is very easy to indict journalists for receiving gifts" is testament to this author's contention that such gifts, which may come out of wholehearted charity or with birberous intent, can easily be construed by scheming prosecutors as bribes-hence valid grounds for indictment. Media Bribery may not be used against seditious practitioners (although they will more likely be convicted of accepting "bribes" from politicians seeking their support), but the "flexibility" of this law illustrates the manipulability of established legislation.
With mounting poverty and other ills ambient in modern-day Philippine society, it is inevitable that these socio-economic factors will be mirrored in the operation of mass-media. This has led to the evolution of a different kind of media tactics-AC/DC-or the "Attack-Collect/Defend-Collect" strategy. Under this practice, a journalist (or any practitioner) comes up with material attacking a person of rank, the person attacked will give money to the journalist expecting a "retraction" of the attack. Correspondingly, the journalist will publish (or broadcast, etc.) a new article in defense of the person of rank, and approaches the latter for "gratification fees." The cycle continues and becomes a tradition, corrupting the image of the Fourth Estate, in the process pulling down the quality of reportage. The degradation of the Media worsens.
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