CNN: 'Ire' in the Phl

Good intentions are never enough and in the case of CNN, the Cable News Network, their week-long special feature: “Eye on the Philippines” is being perceived to be a mixed bag of blessings and “insults.”

A week before the actual coverage I met a senior executive producer from CNN and I learned of the special. The Filipina EP would not let us in on their storylines and simply said “watch it from Monday to Friday at 7 a.m. Manila time.” Having driven an hour just to get to the meeting and leave without a hint was a let down and a turn off. So I went on without thinking much of it.

Three days into their feature, I picked up a couple of very strong reactions on radio and in print media about how CNN took advantage of the Philippines by getting paid to air the country’s tourism advertisement on one hand and slapping us with the other, by featuring very damaging stories on the country’s poverty.

Radio commentator Deo Macalma was particularly miffed about how degrading the stories about garbage can dining and “Pag-pag” or recycled fastfood leftovers were sold or consumed by poor Filipinos. After paying CNN P63 million, some people can’t be blamed that such a story felt like a stab in the back.

Within the Philippine STAR, fellow Columnist Bobit Avila was clearly riled by the same story about garbage can dining but even more so about Anna Coren of CNN allegedly mentioning a “survey” showing that 70 percent of Filipinos support the Reproductive health bill. I think Bobit is on the Anti-RH side of the argument and is convinced that P-Noy and his associates are actively using survey results to promote the passage of the RH bill.

Given the stature of CNN and Anna Coren, I appreciate Bobit’s concern about how a special feature could end up becoming politicized and influencing or impressing people about the RH bill.

Hearing and reading all about this during breakfast, I watched the Thursday edition of “Eye on the Philippines”. I don’t know what I missed during the week, but yesterday’s episode, which was on location in the province of Batangas, came across as informative, positive and actually directed by what Filipino respondents or sources contributed to the story in the course of interviews.

We alone can be our best friend and our worst critics. Unfortunately many traditional news sources or “authority” figures tend to highlight the negative or tend to be critical of an administration or the people without realizing that they are determining the outcome of a story or contributing to a state of mind.

I understand the anger or the ire of Pinoy viewers over the “pag-pag” story or garbage can dining because many of them feel it is the exception to the rule or the extreme case. I have seen the “pag-pag” story in the news at least once and I have seen kids pick food out of a garbage can at least twice. I can confidently say that many people will buy the kids a “siopao” or sweet bun just to give them something cleaner.

But years after the fact, the question is: how come no serious government action was ever taken against the pag-pag system of garbage can dining? Are government officials at the Department of Health and the Department of Trade so detached with the stuff on TV that it simply becomes entertainment for them instead of a real problem that needs to be dealt with firmly? At the end of the day we can’t fault CNN for citing specific problems none of us ever did anything about and left for everyone to see.

We also have to wonder, who shared these extreme cases or the so-called survey results with CNN? I suppose it would be safe to say that local contacts did, right? Yes Anna Coren could have exercised editorial judgment, but if Filipinos are comfortable about “shitting” in their own backyard, why blame others. 

Yes it’s embarrassing, yes it seems unfair, but the question is: What are WE going to do about the problems and not about what CNN reported?! As P-Noy used to say: we need to know the real problem in order to come up with the right solution. Lets deal with it and move forward.

When we invite guests to come and stay at our homes we do our best to make our homes presentable and that requires every member of the family to help clean up the place and prepare everything. The same goes for the Philippines, each of us lives in a place where improvements can be made and problems can be addressed, not glossed over or fenced up. In the end even our opinions won’t matter unless we direct the right people to respond to the real problems one at a time.

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Last Wednesday during the formal start of the ADB Conference in Manila, I had the unique experience of being able to drive from the Mall of Asia to Guadalupe, Makati at 5 p.m. and it only took me 30 minutes of leisurely driving. This I suppose was largely due to the traffic management plan laid out by the MMDA where many delivery trucks were banned and where MMDA enforcers manned bottlenecks and illegal loading areas to prevent jeepneys and buses from obstructing EDSA.

My point is, if we can achieve this for a couple of days because of the ADB Conference, why can’t we maintain it for the millions of commuters in Metro Manila permanently?

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