What we should do about those infomercials

Because of the whirlwind of political events, the huge issue that had Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago fighting (and insulting) government officials for spending P110 million on infomercials seems to have been set aside by a media that always gets to the next latest breaking news… which is that dramatic decision by Sen. Manuel "Mar" Roxas to set aside his Presidential ambitions in favor of Sen. Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III.

The bottom line in the case of infomercials is that, they have become the propaganda tool of ambitious Cabinet Secretaries, almost all of whom have one or two infomercial running on nationwide television because almost all of them are running for the Senate or a higher elective office, thus allowing the use of the people's money for their undue advantage! I submit that it is our media organizations that have profited handsomely with those infomercials, which is why, we no longer hear about it in the news.

Hence like all the problems of this sick nation, the question whether infomercials should be allowed, curtailed or regulated has been left hanging in the air… problem unsolved. If you ask me, some infomercials maybe necessary to send the right information that a government agency needs to project to the nation. But they should not use the Chairman, President or the Secretary of any government agency as their main attraction. There ought to be a law banning the heads of these agencies from appearing in infomercials.

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With the political season well underway, you will hear of people asking you to support this or that particular politician… and yes, businessmen would now be tapped by their political patrons to shell out a few bucks (by the millions of course) to fuel their political pal's campaign. So where do we put a line between giving a politician financial support because they share their idealism vs. giving that financial support in return for a quid pro quo?

A good friend of mine, Mr. Cesar Dakay, Jr. dropped a copy of the US based Crusade Magazine in my office which had a very interesting article as its headline story which blared, "Is There a Solution When Society is Corrupt?" written by Plinio Correa de Oliveira, a staunch defender of the Catholic Church and an anti-communist advocate. The author wrote, "A while back, the Italian Parliament voted to overturn prison sentences for politicians convicted of receiving illegal campaign contributions. The legislation established that illegal contributions to political campaigns were no longer crimes but simply "civil offenses." Whereby those convicted would only be fined."

While this issue may not be relevant in this country because not a single politician has been convicted of illegal campaign bribes perhaps because we don't have laws against this practice. But it is a good place to start for the group that Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato Puno created called the Moral Force Movement (MFM). This issue falls under that old Roman maxim, "Do ut des; facio ut facias (I give you that you may give me; I do for you that you may do for me)". In American lingo, it is "You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours!"

De Oliveira says, "If honest people are asked to pay bribes, what can be said of the dishonest? Bribery spreads like an oil stain on a cloth, penetrating the entire fabric of society…. Obviously, every kind of illegality and immorality should be categorically repressed. However just punishing thieves will never eliminate theft. This is because the number of thieves tends to grow exponentially in a country whose population does not obey the Ten Commandments."

De Oliveira further says, "What today's society really lacks is those moral elites par excellence where families still retain a memory of their forefathers, still value their reputation for honesty and still desire to serve as models for society. Putting an end to the situation described above all calls for an essentially religious apostolate that attracts Divine Grace. This apostolate, with the help of grace, must really touch people's minds and souls, and achieve real conversion. Such conversions would be the starting point whereby something could be done."

I purposely reprinted excerpts of that article because it is relevant to us today, where there is an almost total breakdown of morality… where people have totally lost their moral compass. This is why I squirmed in frustration when I heard Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes, including his estranged Vice-Mayor Carlo Fortuna who disagrees with anything under the sun, finally found a common ground to agree on… having that immoral Dog Racing in Mandaue City. Now should this mean that we should only chose candidates from church organizations, like Gov. Ed Panlilio or Bro. Eddie Villanueva? What about Noynoy Aquino who is waiting for some Divine intervention to decide whether he should run for the Presidency?

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