Posted in Vantage Point on May 4th, 2004 No Comments »
Despite hopes for the contrary, the May 10 elections are likely to result in the same thing Philippine elections have been noted for since 1947: the triumph of money, of alliances of convenience, and the use of public funds for private ends.
The trapos call it democracy. But it’s no more than traditional elite politics, the poor being so out of it except as window-dressing for the futile exercises Filipinos call elections.
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Posted in Vantage Point on May 1st, 2004 No Comments »
A project monitoring how the campaign for the May 10 elections is being covered by selected media organizations in Manila has bad news to report. The leading metro Manila broadsheets and the two biggest television networks may be “failing to meet a fundamental responsibility.” That responsibility is “making voters aware of what choices are available to them for the 12 Senate seats” as well as for the party-list and local elections.
Called “Elections: Citizens’ Media Monitor,” the project was put together by the non-governmental Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) with the help of church and civic organizations, and forty volunteer journalism majors from the University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication under the supervision of two of their professors.
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