The CMFR Monitor of the News Media Coverage of the 2010 Campaign and Elections

NEWS MEDIACOVERAGEOFTHE 201.0NATIONAL ELECTIONS

THE CMFR 'M0'NlT0R

National Endowment for Democracy

THE CMFR MONIIOR OF NEWS MEDIA COVERAGEOFTHE 2OTO CAMPAIGI{ AND ETECTIONSby the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility

with a grant from the National Endowment for Democracy

Copyright @ 2010By the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, Philippines

All rights reserved, No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or byelectronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval sys-tems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer whomay quote brief passages in a review

lsBN 978-97 t-93724-7 -9

THE CMFR MONITOR OF NEWS MEDIA COVERAGE OFTHE 2010 NATIONAL ELECTIONS tr

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility(CMFR) published this study with a grant from theNational Endowment for Democracy (NED).

Editors:Melinda Quintos de Jesusluis V.Ieodoro

Editorial assistance by:John Reiner M. Antiquerralara Q. de JesusHector Bryant [. MacaleRupert Francis D. MangilitKathryn Roja G. RaymundoRuby Shaira F. PanelaGarol M. ParageleMelanieY. PinlacMartha A. Teodoro

Photos by:Lito Ocampo

Cover and layout design by:Design Plus

Printed by:Design Plus

THE CMFR MONITOR OF NEWS MEDIA COVERAGE OFTHE 2010 NATIONAL ELECTIONS tr

TABTE OF CONTENTS

l, Introduction: Hopes and Fears 7

ll. Overall Findings 17

ll l. Automation and CivilSociety Init iatives .....................39

lV. Polit icalAdveftising ............. 49

V. Election Day Coverage ...........59

Vl. Radio Goverage ......,....... 67

Vll. Tabloid Goverage 73

Vlll. Cebu Newspaper Goverage ...................... 85

lX. Conclusions and Recommendations ..... L07

List of Candidates .. LLI

Aboutthe Centerfor Media Freedom and Responsibil i ty.....................119

INTRODUCTION: HOPES AND FEARS tr

Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION:HOPES AND FEARS

ESPITE SUSPICIONS of fraud in past elections and disappointment over the results,Fil ipinos sti l l go to the polls in large numbers each election period, For the 2010elections, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) predicted that 85 percent of the

50 million registered voters would vote on election day,

iVhile only 75 percent did manage to vote, it was not for lack of trying, Many failed to votececause of such difficulties as having to wait in long lines for hours without protection fromthe record summer heat, and some voters' inability to find the precincts where they wereregistered. But 75 percent of 50 million voters, as elections go, is still significantly large-larger in fact than the 40 percent that usually votes in US elections, for example,

The May 10, 2010 turnout and that in previous Phil ippine elections, which have ranged from80 to 95 percent, suggest not only continuing faith in elections among Fil ipinos as a meansof changing their leaders. lt also indicates a stubborn commitment to the democratic prem-ise that it is the voter who can make a difference in the life of a nation.

The 2010 elections were especially significant in this respect, Filipinos looked fonruardto the elections as an opportunity to replace an unpopular president and a graft-riddenadministration, But they also looked at the exercise as a chance to elect someone theyidentified with democracy and change, The death of former President Corazon Aquino in2009 focused cit izen attention on her son Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino l l l as the logical heirof her commitment to democracy and transparency, As was later confirmed by the results,Noynoy Aquino became the repository of Filipino hopes for reform, development and $oodgovernance.

tr THE CMFR MONITOR OF NEWS MEDIA COVERAGE OFTHE 2010 NATIONAL ELECTIONS

But the May 2010 elections were significantin another respect. Not only did they offer,in the minds of many Fil ipinos, an alternativeto many years of misrule. They were also thefirst nationwide automated elections in Phil-ippine history.

Filipinos were notably ambivalent over thelatter prospect. While they welcomed thepossibility that automated polls would pre-vent the fraud and other irregularities thathad characterized past elections becauseof the near-interminable manual count, theyalso feared that the automated system, andtherefore the elections themselves, wouldfail, or would be manipulated to the incum-bent President's advantage.

The context of these fears was the perception that President Gloria Arroyo was preparing toremain in office through, among a number of options, orchestrating a failure of electionsthat would lead to the extension of her term.

Civil society engagement in the campaign to prevent a failure of elections, and to help as-sure that these would be honest and fair as well as meaningful, was among the indicatorsof how eKensively these fears were felt. In some cases, media groups also worked closelywith non-government organizations to monitor the campaign as well as the preparations forautomation, addressing issues like election spending and possible glitches in the operationof the PCOS (Precinct Count Optical Scan) machines.

The Philippine press and media dutifully reflected in their reporting the particularities ofthe context in which the elections would take place. As the campaign period approached,the major media players-the two biggest networks and the leading broadsheets-correctlyanticipated the need to not only help assure the success and honesty of the elections,but also to arm the electorate with the wisdom that could enable it to make the neededchanges in the country's leadership. As early as a year before the elections, these mediaorganizations were already reporting the reservations of some election watch groups overthe automation system, while at the same time preparing such initiatives as the training ofcitizen journalists.

Given the particularities of the May 2010 elections, media coverage of the election cam-paign itself needed, and promised to be, many things: lt needed to be thorough as wellas pro-active, and focused on the issues but rigorously aware of the context-the largerpicture-in which the campaign would proceed.

€9,:''

The presidentialcandidates at a

forum


Backgound: The CMFR monitor

Ttre Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR)monitored media performance in the 2010 campaign andelections in the context of both the special circumstancesin which they were taking place, and the opportunity for im-proved and meaningful repofting and analysis the exerciseoffered to the Phil ippine media.

CMFR has been monitoring media coverage of Phil ippineelections since 1992, and in every instance has made rec-ommendations towards the improvement of media coverage,These efforts have not been unrewarded. Changes in mediacoverage incorporating some of the recommendations of theCMFR monitor in 2004 were evident, for example, in the me-dia coverage of the 2007 elections.

Both the 2004 and 2007 monitoring projects made somerecommendations even during the period of the monitor it-self, when the campaigns were still ongoing, but reservedothers for the final reports.

As recommended by the CMFR 2004 monitor, the majorplayers in the media community exerted more effort to pro-vide the public both the information on, as well as the con-text of, the 2007 elections.This was evident in the pro-activeefforts by leading media organizations to broaden coverage of independent candidates andsmall parties, and to provide the public information on the advocacies and/or programs ofindividual candidates,

In television, the public affairs programs focusing on elections deepened the discussion ofissues. W also added to their program schedules special fora, inviting candidates t0 talkabout their platforms and advocacies with public feedback and interaction,

CMFR observed in 2007 that the leading media organizations had minimized their pastemphasis on celebrity reporting.Their coverage also criticized media personalities who wererunning for office on the basis of their popularity but were clueless about platforms andprograms. Partly as a result of this critical media stance, a number of celebrities, for the firsttime in over a decade, lost in 2007 .Among those who failed to make it to an elective postwas the extremely popular boxer Emmanuel "Manny" Pacquiao, who ran for congressman inhis home town of General Santos.

Another change in the coverage of the elections of 2007 was the emphasis on the part ofthe broadsheets and the two majorW networks monitored to present and discuss develop-

tr THE CMFR MONITOR OF NEWS MEDIA COVERAGE OFTHE 2O1O NATIONAL ELECTIONS

Independentpresidential candidate

Jesus Nicanot "Nick"Perlas

ment issues. In some cases the reports seemed to have come straight from the campaign

headquarters of the individuals and parties advocating this or that policy, but the networks

managed to get discussions on development issues going by prodding candidates and

groups to discuss their programs in special public affairs programs. CMFR observed that

the latter managed to get the ratings despite competition from sitcoms and crime series,

which should encourage the networks to continue these efforts in future election coverage'

Noting the lack of background understanding of basic electoral laws and development is-

sues, CMFR also suggested in 2004 the holding of in-house seminars and other training

activities. CMFR found that the big players in the media were better prepared in 2007 to

cgverthe elections partly because of these in-house seminars and training activities.

The 2010 challenge to the nedia

CMFR noted even then thatthe coverage of the campaignfor the 2010 elections would be especially challengingto the media, demanding, among others, sustaining thereporting of an exercise that at the national level aloneeventually involved nine candidates for president, eightfor vice president, 61 for senators, and 187 party-listgroups. At the same time, the increasing sophisticationof the media handlers of the parties and candidates, es-pecially the most moneyed, demanded the most exact-ing vigilance against being manipulated into unwittinglyfavoring certain candidates over others'

Other pitfalls demanded that media take the same care in 2010. Biased reporting has been

a constant possibility during elections, when media personalities and practitioners them-

selves are often recruited into the campaign machines of parties and candidates, and use

their links with the media to feed the news and opinion columns.

For all its advantages, the lnternet has also posed the additional peril of the old media's

(print and broadcasting) echoing reports that in some cases are based on unverified in-

formation. These arguably new perils have not made obsolete such "traditional" lapses

(whether intentional or othenrvise) as single sourced reports, editorializing in the news col-

umns, and ignoring the other side of an issue'

Project scope

To find out whether the media had avoided these and other perils, CMFR monitored:

o 7V PatrolWorld (ABS-CBN 2)o 24 )ras (GMA-7)o PrimetimeTeledyaryo (of the government-run NBN-4)


Also monitored were the front pages of the broadsheets:

t Manila Bulletino Philippine Daily lnquirert The Philippine Star

These broadsheets have the largest combined circulation among the Manila dailies, andare, for that reason, the newspapers with the widest reach. Only their front pages were moni-tored because most readers read only the front pages, where the major news stories areusually placed.The CMFR team, however, did take note of exceptional articles in the insidepages which provided information on the campaign and elections, among them specialsections such as the lnquirer3'Talk of the Town" regular section.

Using content analysis instruments consisting of a discourse analysis and a time allotmentanalysis, student volunteers from the University of the Philippines (UP), St. Scholastica'sCollege and the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP), together with summer in-terns from these and other Manila colleges and universities as well as CMFR staff mem-bers, monitored the W news programs mentioned and the front pages of the three Manilabroadsheets.

Content analysis is a method in communication research through which the content of com-munication, among them such questions as bias in reporting, may be scientifically estab-lished.Time allotment analysis determines how much time is allotted to a particular issueor event. This detemines the fairness and balance of the reportage. Discourse analysis, amethod of analyzing the use of language, enables the researcher to determine the focus,emphasis, topics, and subjects of the news. The first is needed to quantifiably establishbias or lack of it, while the second is needed to further refine and validate through linguisticindicators the findings of the first.

Ihe time allotment analysis team was headed by Prof. Ma.Aurora Lolita Lomibao of Manila s St. Scholastica's College,while the discourse analysis team was headed by Prof.Danilo A. Arao of the UP College of Mass Communication.Prof. Luis V, Teodoro of the UP Diliman College of MassCommunication was overall supervisor and editor.

Ihe team members were:

From the Polytechnic Universi{ of the Philippines

Lou Ann GarciaReynald RamirezMark Louis Baltazar SayatPrincess Rocel Ubofrgen

Vice-presidentialcandidate JejomarBinay

t .2 .3 ,4.

tr THE CMFR MONITOR OF NEWS MEDIA COVERAGE OFIHE 2O1O NATIONAL ELECTIONS

From St. Scholasticab College

From the University of the Philippines

5.6.7.8.9 .10,

Lt.12.13,t4.15.16.17.18.19.20.21.22.23.24.25.26.27.28.29.

30.31.32.33.34.

Zipporah AntonioJosette Emily De JesusPrincess Ann FloresReggie Anne MadlaAngelene MarcianoJenny De Venecia

Jon Lindley AgustinJohn Reiner AntiquerraMarie Alexis Bahil loMyra CabujatJan Karl CoballesMely Ann CristobalMa. Bea Patricia CruzMaria Ernica de GuzmanRae DucutRoyce Lyssah MalabongaCherrie Ann OngtecoAna Marie Angelica PascualKimberly Ann PauigLaurice Claire Pefr amanteAbigail RoblesThomas Benjamin RocaChristine Joy SarmientoJanet TanMario Urrutia

Maria Khamine Kianah AmilKristina Noelle AndayaJedidiah BandiolaAmalia Airiz CastaDebbie Nufrez

The CMFR interns who helped in the project were:

From the Lyceum of the Philippines University

From the University of the Philippines

1235. Monica Joy Cantilero


CMFR monitored the coverage 0f the campaign by:

*leded AM radio station news programs during selected periods

o Boses (dzRB)t )ne on )ne with lgan kasama si Lala Roque of (dzBB)c Tambalang Failon at Sanchez (dzMM)

Selected tabloids over a six-week period

o Abante/Forwardo BulgarTReveal) People's Journal

Pu bl i c affa i rs p rogra n s

' me Correspondetfs (ABS-CBN 2)' HalalanTElection (ABS-CBN 2). Failon N{ayonTFatlon Today (ABS-CBN 2)' Square OIT(ANC). Stictly Politics (ANC)) Talkback with Tina Palma (ANC)) Reporter's Notebook (GMA-7)) I-Witness (GMA-7). )Fl{ Dianes (GMA-7). Kandidato/Candidate (GMA-7).

Eledion specials

) "Hot Sear'(ABS-CBN's Bandila). HarapanTFace-off(ANC)t The Platform (ANC)) lkaw na ba/Are you the One? (GMA-7/QN/dzBB)) lsangTanong/OneQuestion (GMA-7). Hatol n{ BayanTltation's Judgment (NBN 4). Timbangan/WeigningScale (W5)

Seleded news sites and hlog sites

101Araw.comabs-cbnNEWS.comB I o gwa tc h/ P h i I i p p i n e 0 n I i n e C h ro n i c I es (POC)BulatlatGMANews.W

t

a

t

a

a

13

tr THE CMFR MONITOR OF NEWS MEDIA COVERAGE OFTHE 2010 NANONAL ELTCTIONS

o lnquirer.neto Mb.con.pho Mindanews. NBNi.lVo Newsbreako Philippine Center for Investigative Journalismo Philstar.com. Pinoy WeeklyO VERA Fi|es

CMFR looked into political advertising:

During primetime tetevision programming (6 - 10 p.n.) from Feb. 9 to May 7(excluding Saturdays and Sundays)

. ABS-CBN 2o GMA-7o NBN-4

ln the following broadsheets from Feb. 10 to May 8:

o Bulletino lnquirero Star

CMFR also looked at the coverage of the Cebu dailies comuni

CMFR engaged the Cebu Citizens Press Council (CCPC)to monitor, with the use of the sameresearch instruments, the coverage by Cebu print media of the national and local elections.

In partnership with the CCPC, the Cebu monitoring team was composed of faculty membersand students of the University of the Philippines Visayas Cebu College (UPVCC) and St.Theresa's College (STC) headed by communication professor lan Manticajon.

The CCPC did its own monitorin2007 with the support of UPVCC and STC. Forthe 2010project, the Cebu-based team reviewed the coverage of the presidential, vice-presidential,senatorial, party-list, and local elections from Feb. 10 to May 10. The team monitored threeEnglish and two Bisaya-language dailies:

t Banat Newso Cebu Daily Newso Sun.Star Cebuo Sun.Star SuperBalitao The Freeman

1 4

INTRODUCTION: HOPESAND FEARS tr

Cebu was chosen forseveral reasons,The press community has achieved a levelof solidar-ity that allows them to take institutional positions.The Cebu media seemed better preparedfor meaningful coverage, because of the more favorable context in which they function,

The partnership enabled CMFR to get a sense of the characteristics of the coverage of one0f the most developed sectors of the communig press, which had largely been ignored inpast efforts to monitor media coverage of the elections, in contributing to the political em-powerment of its constituency.

Proiect limitations

CMFR did not monitor allthe media organizations nationwide because of budget and man-power constraints. While CMFR engaged the CCPC to analyze the 2010 election coverage offfire Cebu print media, this did not mean that the coverage of the Cebu print media is typicalof the coverage of elections by the entire community press in the Philippines.

'[he study used purposive sampling. lt is therefore indicative only of how media covered

tre elections, but not extensive enough to represent the coverage of the entire Philippinernedia.

Presidentialcandidate JosephEstrada with hlspadymates

15

OVERALL FINDINGS tr

0hapter 2

OVERALL FINDINGS

OME 0F the findings of the 2010 monitor suggest that the major players:among'themedia organizations, in keeping with the findings of the 2007 monitor, were m0repro-active in their coverage of the 2010 elections. Not only did they hold debates

ard fora where the presidential candidates could present their platforms as well as their*'EilS o0 such issues as Charter Change, the reproductive health bill, the Visiting Forcesxg'eement and the accountability of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in the corruption cases and-rnan rights violations that occuned during herwatch.Their reporters were also focusedrr extracting during interviews with the candidates the latefs views and intended policyaeproaches to critical issues like land reform and poverty.

3otirABS-CBN 2 and GMA-7 also aired special public affairs programs during primetime, in.flntrast to their 2004 and 2007 practice of airing such programs after those hours. CMFRrad noted in2007 that it did not make sense to air such programs beyond primetime, when'e,t'er viewers would benefit from the information they provided.

.lfile same pro-active approach was evident in the case of some of the broadsheets, which

cpened their pages to articles providing background information on the candidates, in-,depth interviews, and panel discussions on public issues.

Complaints overthe alleged bias of the majorW networks and broadsheets seem to havebeen mostly impressionistic. Despite some instances of biased reporting, these were theexception rather than the rule. 0n the other hand, the government network did favor admin-istration candidates in their reporting, and hardly covered other candidates for either theoresidency, the vice presidency, or the Senate.

1 7

Top: Lakas-KampiGMD presidential bet

Gilbefto Teodoro Jr.

Above: RichardGordon of Bagong

Bayan-VNP


Scope of print monitol

From Feb. 10 to May 10, there were t,294 election-related re-ports on the front pages of the Manila Bulletin,the PhilippineDaily lnquiret and The Philippine Star.

Number of reports

Among the three, the lnquirer had the most number of elec-tion-related reports (540, or 4t.73 percent) followed by theStar (470, or 36.32 percent). The Bulletin had the least with284 reports (2L.95 percent).

Many reports were not just on one category (for example, thepresidential campaign) but also on others, such as the vice-presidential or senatorial campaign, at the same time,

Some old problems in the coverage of previous electionspersisted. These included the extensive focus provided thepresidential candidates, often at the expense of the public'sknowledge about the senatorial and party-list candidates,and understanding of the issues related to the senatorial andparty-list elections.

Ihe newspaper reports mostly focused on the presidential elec-tions and candidates (55.26 percent). Reports about the elec-tions in general-such as alleged plans to rig the elections in favor

of the incumbent president or to prevent them altogether, the country's preparedness in con-ducing nationwide automated elections last May, among others-were a close second (42.8Lpercent).

Coverage of the vice-presidential (25.66 percent) and senatorial elections (25.97 percent)was consistently low duringthe entire period, Exceptfora few instances, reports aboutthevice-presidential and senatorial candidates were limited to their reactions to controversiesor statements they made in behalf of their presidential candidates.

Some local issues and the campaigns of candidates running in local elections were re-ported on the front page (23.80 percent). But more often than not, the coverage focused onthe controversial or more prominent candidates (such as congressional candidates formerpresident Gloria Arroyo and boxer Emmanuel "Manny" Pacquiao) or if a local issue had abearing on the national elections (such as the withdrawal of support of Arroyo's allies fromad m i n istration ca nd idate G i I berto Teodoro J r. ).

18

OVERALL FINDINGS tr

furcnge of the party-list candidates

r:t-l ist election issues and candidates had a dismal::a'e rn the coverage (9.81 percent), despite serious con-:;:ns on whether all the 187 party-list groups accredited by:: COMELEC as well as some of their nominees actuallv=: resented "marginalized" sectors.

ffiial rcports

3; ffiere were clear efforts to provide meaningful reports.%tcularly notable in the coverage wasthe lnquirersin-depth'n nk lssues" series that discussed issues the candidates-:-d the public-should be addressing and remembering this:::mrng elections.The series, which appeared on the lnquirels-Trt page, flagged some of the country's biggest problems,:*0ng them corruption, poverty, lack of development, and:"rbiems in the agrarian, urban land, ancestral land, and fish-=i,'s reform programs of the government,

--r Stals "The Vote 20L0" reported the profiles of presi-:ertial candidates and stand on issues.The said front-page-<ia'. special also gathered vice-presidential candidates on:-: r position on various issues,

-e inside pages were not covered by the CMFR monitor. But: s[rould be noted that there were reports, including spe-: aisections, on the elections and the candidates in the inside pages of the newspapers- cnitored. The lnquirefs "Talk of the Town" section, for example, put together the positions:f the presidential candidates on various issues such as the power shortage, population

i'Etfth, and climate change.

Covenge of the presidential candidates

tsenigno Aquino lll's high survey ratings, religious and celebrity endorsements, and reactionsio various controversies such as Hacienda Luisita made him the most covered presidential:andidate. Aquino, the Liberal Party (LP) candidate, was the subject in 424 reports.

The Nacionalista Party's (NP) ManuelVillarJr, was second, with 388, He figured in various is-sues duringthe period such as his religious and celebrity endorsements, his supposedly lavishcampaign spending, his survey rankings, and the C-5 road extension project controversy.

Third and fourth most covered were the Puwersa ng Masang Pilipino's (PMP)Joseph Estrada1254 times) and Lakas-Kampi CMD's Gilberto Teodoro I. (248 times), Other presidentialcandidates were given far less coverage.

.

AN:AKPAWTS-PARTYLISi

FAR* sA p12S

AC-sAHcs

Top: LP's vice-presidential betManuel Roxas ll

Above: Anak PawisPaftylist


Fei11y.lo',M*,10,2010

' t

, ,

' '

Total number of election-related reports

P deniialeteetions I ,' ,,Vice-presidential elections

,senatorid ebitions : 'l

Party-list elections'nectionsingeneral'

, : : :

Local elections

Tbtal,nurn,ber,or,reportsinewshole) . .'

% share (election-related reports/news hole)

*Note: Election-related rcp1rts may have n1rc than one category

February 10 - Mry 10,2010

Aquino, Benigno lll (LP)

Vi l lar, ManuelJr. (NP)

Estrada, Joseph (PMP)

Teodoro, Gilberto Jr. (Lakas-Kampi CMD)

Gordon, Richard (B.Bayan-VNP)

Villanueva, Eduardo (BP)

Madrigal, jamby (lnd)

De los Reyes, John Carlos (AKP)

Perlas, lesus Nicanor (lnd)

Acosta, Vetellano (KBL)

87

OU

2L

19

1 71 A

,:4

Martild:adwn

284

r3765

b2

23:.

134

65

76r37.32Vo

Phitw'DailJ:l6quinr

540

304

133

. 135

52

201

L7L.r:,1193

45.26Y0

PtdllppineDatry lnquher

r82, , . . , , i80. , '

114. " : ' 1 ! , L ; ' .

69, i , q :

37' t,'32,,"

,' ,,,

29. .

t 1 r

' ' I '

,, I,fte .Puitiiffie:,r:Shr.

470

:,r7'4.134

, ,139r'52

zr i '72

'., ,1949 l

49.53%

1294. . : . : . . '. 7 1 5

J J Z

336r275543082s03

M.57"/,

55126Yq

25.66V0

25-57%

9.81%

42.8t%

23.8Yo

,,rfttfhlti*tine:!! i

155

133

80

82

47

33

25

27

22, : , , y & , , ,

wr424

388

254

,'748,'

137

9:6,

79,13

661 0

Covenge of the vice-presidential candidates

Among the vice-presidential candidates, it was Manuel Roxas ll who received the mostcoverage (he was the subject in 169 reports). Loren Legarda came in second (127 reports)while former Makati mayor and eventual winner Jejomar Binay was third (104).

20

OVERALL FINDINGS tr

h tO- I ry10.2010

Tffft: l'l:--3 tl (LP)

rcglta. Lore{t (NPC)

l ' - r, -r : -:' { PDP-Laban)

@n. Eduardo (Lakas-Kampi CMD)

ar*,;-,:: 3ar'ani (B,Bayan-VNP)

EsA hrfrfr (BP)

i :-- - . := KBL)

Orroeco. Dominador Jr. {AKP) ''

Manila Bulledn

'.. .: ::: ::, . .:. :40

t,,',,. '.2,91,,.., ', '. '.

30

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PfrilippircItaily lnquircr

58

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Wnge of the senatorial candidates

--:"e's,as scant focus on the senatorial candidates'positions on development or p0licy

s,-e.s despite the fact that these issues impact heavily 0n legislation, and that there were:1 :.a"ldidates vying for t2 senatorial slots.

--:- Ponce Enrile was the most covered senatorial candidate (he was the subject of 89Er'l't"s). His reactions to various controversies, such as the Philippine Stock Exchange con-T3reslr' involvingVillar, were quoted several times.

*-: 12 most covered senatorial candidates were either incumbent or former senators. or

i[,*er' members of the House of Representatives.

l; :he lnquirer devoted a few fea-:": articles to such relatively un-{r :'il n candidates as LP candidatesI er Lacson and Martin Bautista:- I PMP's Jose Apolinario "Jun" Lo--"ra. a namesake of the NBN-Z|E::: *,ption whistleblower.

LP senatorial candidate Risa Hontiveros Baraquel

2t


Senatoriaf candidates Mldam Defensor Santiago, Lizn Maza, Gwendolyn Pimentel, and Adel lamano

1

t-'.1

t{-:

6

7

Enrile, Juan Ponce (PMP)

Remulla, Gihert (NP)

Marcos, Ferdinand Jr, (NP)

l.Re '

Cayetano, Pia (NP)

Defensor Santiago, Miriam (PRP)

Estrada, Jinggoy (PMP)

mion;iriniiiuMf,.Revilla, Ramon Jr. (Lakas-Kampi CMD)

'@tIdei{{s t;;,,,,.,.,': ; 1.;,';-',,.:.,]De Venecia, Jose lll (PMP)

iiiti

19,l:::,,t1

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44

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Covenge of the party-list candidates

The groups/candidates rumored to be administration-backed were the most covered amongth e pa rty-list grou ps/ca ndidates.

Ang Galing Pinoy (AG) nominee and former Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel "Mikey" Arroyo'sbeing the son of then President Gloria Arroyo, questions over his legitimacy as a representa-tive of a marginalized sector, and speculation that he was running as a party-list nomineeto give way to his mother in the congressional elections for the second district of Pampangamade Mikey and AG the most covered party-list nominee and group.

They were followed by close Arroyo ally and l-United Transport Koalisyon (1-UTAK) nomineeAngelo Reyes (27 times) and I-UTAK itself (17 times).

OVERALL FINDINGS tr

'flfrne -enspapers monitored covered these controversial groups and candidates and report-oc --Tos that these were all efforts to install Gloria Arroyo as the next House of Repre-ser'lr:l'r€s Speaker. But these reports lack substantive discussion on the original intent offur,-! c Act No. 7941 (the Party-list System Act), and on whetherthe COMELEC-accreditedgror-ls n fact met the law's requirements, Another urgent issue the media did not suffi-{DtrrT\ address was the process of selecting party-list group nominees,

Rlrry 10 - ilay 10,2010 Madla

.t,'i Galing Pinoy/AG's Juan MiguelArroyo

Builqi

7

5

v

fg Gaf ing Pinoy {AG) ,, r. :.

1- -:ited Tra nsport Koalisyon/ I-UTAK'S Angelo Reyes

l-{lnibd Transport K0allsyon:{i'U ,..,'.,,t.. .l '.,,' ' ,'.,,1

3ariela Womens Party (GABRIELA)

Aq Galing Pinoy/AGls Dglilis'pif, 11',,,,,,

3.a,an Muna

&rlray Hayaan YumaOong,t3Uf $lfiayan ! Citizen's Action Party (AKBAYAN)

Bapn Muna/BAYAt( friUf*irfuOplO.li ,.''1,',.,.'t.,,,,'

af,,ocacy for Teacher Empowerment through Actioniooperation and Harmony towards Educational ReformsA TEACHER)

Ang Ladlad LBGT Palr{ANG,iWLADI

1-United Transport Koalisyon/1-UTAK's Vigor Mendoza ll

Anakpawis lrrn$nW$, r,,AngatAting Kabuhayan Pilipinas, Inc. (ANAK)

cilizens' artue agqi* r,ffi n tergAel li. . .'.r. ..,,, lKa bataa n Part/ist (MBATAAN)

Kasangga sa xauntadn tiiCr{*1m.6ngn666g1...'1,.,,1

3

t

z

4L

I4

hrcnge of the local candidates

-:"cal candidates were generally covered if they were prominent nationally, were controversial,r' &ere reacting t0 an issue involving the presidential candidates of their parties.

rmong the local candidates, former President and now Pampanga 2nd District Rep. Glorialroyo was the most covered (76 times). A far second was boxer and Sarangani Rep,Emman uel "Manny" Pacquiao,

sh

T7

t2

i3i

4,,7'

4'

4

254 4L 1

12

,128

' ' '{l

4, ,a .

F

,.4,

49

IV

z t

t l

I O

1 1

I 1

1t

9,8

7

23


Other most covered candidates were also controversial. Cebu Gov, Gwendolyn Garcia wason the front page 15 times when she affirmed her support forTeodoro despite reports thather polit ically powerful family had defected to Vil lar. Valenzuela councilor Shalani Soledad,Aquino's former girlfriend, was the subject of 13 repofts.

I

2

4q

6

7

7

7

8

8

I

9:

10

10

10

February 10 - May 10,2010

Arroyo, Gloria (Pampanga)

Pacquiao, Emmanuel (Sarangani)

Nograles, Prospero (Davao)

Garcia, Gwendolyn (Cebu)

Soledad, Shalani (Valenzuela,

Pineda, Ljlia (Pampanga)

Dominguez, Miguel (Sarangani)

Rodriguez, Rufus (Cagayan de 0ro)

Singson, Luis Chavit (llocos Sur)

Marcos, lmelda (llocos Nofte)

Panlilio, Ed (Pampanga)

Defensor, Matias (Quezon City)

Duterte, Rodrigo (Davao City)

Ar;oyo,.Diosdado t0amarines itito*e)

Lim, Alfredo (Manila)

Salceda, Joey (Albay)

Villarosa, Amelita (Mindoro)

Manila,Br{.t'etln

zt

' , .A

7

.q

5' , 2 ,

T

, . . . , .L .

5. . 1 . '

l ,

b

5

. . :76

m'.T7, tE

1 ?

LZ

L 1

7L

1 1

10

10o..l

o:,

8: 8:.'

8

.,,.?,ltilftDitrd,:tattytlr$tnet

z l' , l . l

. ' , , ' .

: l l ' :

4,8

2

. : :2

. '4, ..

1

. : $ : - ' '

1

" ' 2

IltsPhilipplgc., .r $tar , :

27

11

2

4- 'I

4 1

4

4

9

1

c

I

Background

More than half of the reports provided background material (719 out of 7,294 rep0rts 0r55.56 percent).There were 508 reports that did not provide background information.

Among the three papers, 0nly the Bulletin had more reports that did not provide backgroundinformation (145 of its reports had no background; 117 did).

Some electign-related items on the front page were "stand-alone" photos that were merelyprovided with capti0n 0r independent infographics.Thus, background information 0n thoseitems were marked "N/A'(not applicable),There were 67 such items (5.18 percent).

24

OVERALL FINDINGS tr

k

F*!-y 10 - Mry 10,2010 $airal,,&lletHn

I L 7',1,74i, '

L L

,,t@,

Ptdlip$neDaily Inquirer

369,,r. tgg, . :,

32

" ' ' : |54fi , : ' ,"

ttre,Phifipplrc', ' r , ,$tai , , ,. . . : . . t r . . .

Z J J:.: . ..:.. :. . , ; ,224 , ,

:' :':,:.,,41g,; ,,;'

719

soa67..:.........1294h1

FCness/balance

:i * ' i ' and balance are among the professional standards of journalism, and refer to:i -::J t0 present both or all sides in any controversy or issue, as well as to devote com-:':-:: e amounts of t ime and space to, for example, both accusations as well as denials.- :;:*laign and election reports, the absence or presence of bias (meaning preferential

l"i:::'t n favor of a candidate or political party) can be determined through evaluation:r ur::'er the repofts presented each or every side with equal emphasis in terms of time3-: ::,:e, whether the reports used judgmental or pejorative terms and labels (e.g., "a' :'- s:'col dropoutj') that tend to predispose listeners or readers against the subjecti:: ' :rort, or whether the report ened in its emphasis (e.g., ABS-CBN's emphasizing.t*:- -: s alleged psychiatric problems by putting it in the lead of its report).

S':*: reports contained more than one slant for or against a candidate, institution, orgt ' : - : C\ lFRincludedal l stor ies/ i temsfororagainstanyofthecandidates,groups,or in-fl:--- l"s. lt is thus possible that a report may have been slanted for someone/somethingi-,r ii --ne same time slanted against another candidate, group, or institution,

-= :!,3rage was generally neutral (89.47 percent). CMFR did not detect institutional biasl f i - , o f the threepapersmoni to red fororaga ins tacand ida teorgroup. l tmustbenoted-:r*5,er. that the Bulletin's practice of publishing single-sourced reports continued in thel - 1- eLect ions.

kt10-fry10,2010Shi

lteg3"re

t r : - , j

r:-j :::,j

: ro l

zJ4

IY

22.499

18

t7440

90. :...148,,

TL73

6.86%'3;66%'

89..47%

-s nay have norc than one slant

25


February 10 - May 10,2010

Presidential

nquino;:EenignolUt fm,'

Estrada,Joseph (PMP)

Villar, ManuelJr. (NP)

Teodoro, Gilberto Jr. (Lakas-Kampi)


De los Reyes, John Carlos (AKP)

Madrigal, Jamby (lnd.)

Villanueva, Eduardo (BP)

Vice-presidential

Roxas, Manuel ll (LP)

Binay, Jejomar (PMP)

Senatortal

De Venecia, Jose lll (PMP)

Langit, Rey (Lakas-Kampi CMD)

Lim, Danilo (LP)

Marcos, Ferdinand ir.

Ocampo, Saturnino (NP)

Recto, Ralph (LP)

Santiago, Midam Defunsor (PRP)

Farlftist

Anoyo, Jose Miguel "Mikey" (AG)

Local

Pacquaio, Emmanuel (Samngani)

Marcos, lmelda (llocos Norte)

Montano, Cesar (Bohol)

Sulb&

I

8

z

11

4I

T

PhilippineDaily lnquirer

19

z

L

z

The HdllppineStar

1 8

I 5

9

I

4,|

1

1

L

J

tt

26

OVERALL FINDINGS tr

Ihe Hdtlffie ,Star

t7

Presidential

Vittar, f*argfirli$,','l

Aquino, Benigno lll (LP), , ,,,,;;,. ,;

;, ,,,,

fice-presidential

Roxas, ManruetJl,itP)','',

Paily-tld, : ;,;: ';, ';1:,,,,.,.:; 'Uendoza, Vigor ( 1-UTAK)

. l ' ' t ' l i ' ' ' ' . : .

Local

Anoyo, ctord:tPatit* ga)3olante, Jocelyn (Capiz)

Luna, Ryan'165i4)'i . "1

Scope of broadcast timekeeping monitor

{ll three broadcast news programs monitored (NBN-4's Teledyaryo, GMA-7's 24 )rasandABS-CBN 2's W Patrol Worldl extensively covered the elections during the entire electionlampaign period (excluding Saturdays, Sundays and the Holy Week break), with election-'elated reports comprising almost 38 percent of the combined news hole of allthree newsshows. N Patrol covered the elections most, with 41,59 percent of its total airtime devoted:o the elections. Teledyaryo allotted 38.55 percent of its total airtime to the elections, while24 2ras allotted 32.36 percent.

)espite the dominant impression, the three broadcast news programs monitored covereda ll election-related issues, not just the candidates for the major national positions. To theseelection issues in general, Teledyaryo devoted t7.I8 percent of its airtime, while W Patrolallocated 15.85 percent and 24 )ras,t1.83 percent.

fte number of election-related reports, most of them focused on the conduct of the electionsather than on the candidates, further increased in the last two weeks of the elections. This'vas apparently due to the numerous problems with the PC0S machines and the compactflash (CF) cards, which gave added credibility to the "no-elections" scenario some journal-ists, oppositionists and civil socie$ groups feared. Teledyaryo, which had previously beenaveraging only 35.21 percent election-related reports in its daily news coverage, increased it

t

I

t

27

tr THE CMFR MONITOR OF NEWS MEDIA COVERAGE OFTHE 2010 NATIONAL E|ICNO\S

i . u *

t0 57.64 percent of total airtime in the flnal weeks of the cam-paign. 24 2ras'eleclion coverage jumped to 54.79 percentof total airtime in the final week, compared to an average 0fonly 28.23 percent in the previous weeks. lT Patrol dedicatedalmost 76.99 percent of its news coverage to the elections, anincrease from its previous average of 36,64 percent.


0verall, however, the most extensive coverage during theentire campaign period was still on the presidential elec-Iions. W Patrol coueredthe presidential elections most, withL9.24 percent of its total airtime devoted to the presidential

campaign.0n the other hand, 24 )ras allotted 16.73 percent of its news hole to the cover-age of the presidential campaign, while Teledyaryo allotted tL.24 percent'

Aquino topped the total airtime allotment for the coverage of the presidential candidatesof all three news programs. Villar came in second, and Teodoro third. Aquino topped airtimeallotment in both 24 )ras and 7V Patrol, while Teodoro was the candidate given the mostairtime in Teledyaryo Villar received the second highest airtime allotment from all threenews programs.

However, presidential coverage was skewed in favor of the top three candidates from themost established and presumably more moneyed political parties-Aquino, Villar, andTeodoro. The total airtime given to the bottom six candidates was almost equal to the totalairtime devoted to topnotcher Aquino.

Aquino, Benigno lll (LP)

:,:,:i:lll:li:la1:11r:_1:ll:tr'a::rr.::.::r,t :1.:.,r.::::,.;:..,:l:ii::i:l:i

Teodoro, Gilbert (Lakas-Kampi CMD)

F

i;tf

LP's Benigno Aquino lll

10.26

28

OVERALL FINDINGS tr


In contrast, the vice-presidential campaign received littlecoverage from all three news programs. The vice presidentis constitutionally the country's second-highest executive of-ficial, and is next in line to the president in terms of succes-sion. But scant attention was nevertheless given to the can-didates vying for this post, indicating a major shortcoming inmedia coverage of election campaigns and elections.

W Patrolallotted only 6.85 percent of its total news holeto the vice-presidential candidates, while 24 Oras allocated5.19 percent of its airtime, and Teledyaryo only 2.37 percentforthe entire campaign period,The airtime given to Roxas was only 25o/o of the airtime al-otted to his running-mateAquino, while Legarda received only around 20o/o of the airtimeof her running-mate Vil lar.

Among the vice-presidential candidates, Roxas received the most airtime during the entirecampaign period. Binay came in second, and Legarda third. Legarda received the mostairtime from Teledyaryo,while 24 )ras gave Roxas the most airtime. W Patrolallotted theTost airtime to Binay.

cmarl!:.w7,4w1

2

3

4

Roxas, Manuel ll (LP)

!inq* r'.;.;,,,,,;,,,;,t;t,Legarda, Loren (NP)

y.1yno, Eduardo ( La kas-KampicMD)Fernando, Bayani (B-Bayan),!lei;!id;&:::[t ,,:, :.,,,,:,,:,,Sonza, Jose (KBL)

iq,

32.27i

19.27

2 0 1:

8 .18

.]..'..4 .,2.15

ji4'.

22.19

tintLL.O2,,ai,,,h,,',':lrt.8.30

tu.4.34

'4js'

5

6

7

8

Covenge of the senatorial candidates

The senatorial elections did not receive as much media coverage as their significance war-ranted. TV Patrol covered the senatorial candidates the most, but allotted only 5.93 percentof its total airtime to them. But 24 )ras and Teledyaryo allocated even less, with only 3.79percent and 2.84 percent of their total airtime devoted to the candidates, respectively.

NP's vice-presidentialbet Loren Legarda

L:;,,::1,,

3.09

1;*g,,12.041,,,4tt.:taili:t.f,lt.:

,,, :,.:,': ;,, ,,,'.',2.36

iroi.,1,0.02

.OrOl:lr

57.5546.242.3332

t. :.: :'',:.,:

::,,, ::'

19.24

9,76,,

c.cJ

29

tr THE CMFR MONITOR OF NEWS MEDIA COVERAGE OFTHE 201O NATIONAL ELECTIONS

As measly as the total airtime allotted to the senatorial candidates was, the news shows

did try to cover all the senatorial candidates, Bolh N Patrot and 24 Oras provided airtime

to 50 of the 61 officialsenatorial candidates, whileTeledyaryocovered32'

As in print, Enrile received the most airtime from all three news programs' He was followed

by Gilbert Remulla and AdelTamano, both of NP

Teledyaryogave the most airtime to Silvestre Bello lll and Ferdinand "Bongbon$" Marcos Jr'

24 Orasallotted the most airtime to Enrile and Ramon Revilla Jr', while W Patrolcovered

Remulla and Tamano the most, Most of the senatorial candidates who received the most

airtime were incumbent senators or representatives'

Februarv9 -

ilq'7,2010

1.4z

3

+

6

7

8

I

10

ean$d6te,

Enrile, Juan Ponce (PMP)

Remulla, Gilbert (NP)

Tamano,Adel (NP)

Marcos, Ferdinand Jr. (NP)

Revilla, Ramon Jr. (Lakas-Kampi CMD)

Lambino, Raul (Lakas-KamPi CMD)

Santiago, Miriam Defensor (NP)

Hontiveros, Risa (LP)

Bello, Silvestre lll (Lakas-Kampi CMD)

Cayetano, Pia (NP)

WPakdhtld

J . I L

I .2U

5.46

4.0

2 .71

3,19

2.r4E n A

1.15

4.43

Covenge of the party'list candidates

The party-list elections were mostly ignored bythe news programs monitored' TV Patrolcoueredthe party-list elections the most, but devotedonly 4.18 percent of its total airtime to the pafty

list elections for the entire campaign period.

Tetedyaryoand 24 2rasboth allotted a measly Lpercent of their total airtime to the party-list sys-tem and those planning or claiming to representthe marginalized.

TV Patrol aired reports only on 53 of the 187

C0MELEC-approved pafty-list organizations vyingfor Congressional seats. But 24 0ras covered evenfewer at 19, and TeledYarYo 18'

240ras

4.07

2.2t

2.r81.10

3.36

1.2!

3.06

1.51

1.39

1.01

lble&lp

3 .15

2.01

3.02

3.41

2.14

3.29

2.15

0,10

4.15

1.23

Totat,atuU||le{i*mil|., utes and oeconds|

12.43

tr.4211.06

8.51

8.2 t

8.09

7.35

1.25

7.097 n 7

Srio . % '

YF"*q u,ilffi

&13-$#-P30

OVERALL FINDINGS tr

AG received the most airt ime during the campaign period, followed by 1-UTAK and theparty-list group Alyansa ng Media at Showbiz (AMS).

Teledyaryo gave the most airtime to AG, which was followed by the Kabataan Party list. 240ras allotted the most airtime to Aka0 Bata and 1-UTAK. W Patrolcovered AMS the most,followed by AG,

Februafy9.'-May 7,2010

W,Fet$:,Sb'dd

6.29

6.04

8.0

4.36

2.r04.42

3.1

0.15

1 . 1 8

24:0t8

0,54

2.04

0 . 1 1

1.0

0.37

0.26

0.09

3.01

1.50

Tel6dyarts

10.0

0.13

0.0

t.2x3.38.09.010.0. JZ

Cadldtf,o., : r"' '

Ang Galing Pinoy (AG)

1-United Transport Koalisyon ( 1-UTAK)

Alyansa ng Media at Showbiz (AMS)

Ang Ladlad LBGT Party (ANG I-ADLAD)

Ka bataa n Partylist ( KABATAAN)

Bayan M,una (BAYAN MUNA)

Buhay Hayaan Yumabong (BUHAY)

Akap Bata (AKAP BATA)

The True Marcos Loyalist (For God,Country and People) Association of thePhilippines, Inc. (BANTAY)

Kasangga sa Kaunlaran, lnc. (ANGKASANGGA)

Tobl ailtime (in mln-ub,andrseconds)

L7.23

8,21

8 . 1 1

6.56

6.25F ' 1 7

3.20

J . I O

3.0

Scope of broadcast discourse analysis monitor

From February 9 to May 7, the three news programs monitored (NBN-4's Teledyaryo, ABS-CBN 2's W Patrol, and GMA-7's 24 )ras) had a combined total of t,647 election-relatedreports which comprised 35.1 percent of the total number of reports during the 62 days ofmonitoring,

Number of reports

Teledyaryo had the least number of election-related reports while W Patrol had the highestproportion of such reports at 44.47 percent. This means that more than two out of everyfive reports on W Patrolwere about the elections, which was almost the same case for Tele-dyaryo whose election-related reports accounted lor 41.40 percent, 24 Oras, on the otherhand, had 531 election-related reports, amounting t0 30,53 percent of the total number ofreports or news hole,

31


out of the 1,647 election related reports, 50.27 percent were 0n the presidential cam-paign.The senatorial and party-list campaigns were given little covera$e as they accounted

for only 13.18 percent and 7.65 percent of the total election-related reports, respectively.

tubruaryg-May7,20lO

Total number of election-related repofts

:*laliqintialreFcu ,.Vice-presidential elections

liiatoortam1iqd'"-'Party-list elections

.lgii*s*,,inrdA*,'..:'r,Total number of reports (news hole)

Total number of electron+elated reportvTotal number of reports (news hole)

656

.r.gf3:.

LTT

.$.70

:..i$1,475'&:4tk

531,;.11g;.:

108

..,.' .1'

19tl.l,'.

1,739

,i

460a

20585

.i,.

Teledpryo i.,*,tll.i..:, .:,,:' ,,,'::':r,647.,lg

304

9,.126

,Az-*,,,t:,

4,325

3d:

J T

249

T,LLI

4t:4q96

Independentpresidential bet Jamby

Maddgal

*Number of reports (reports nay have nore than 1ne categ1ry)


Among the presidential candidates, in terms of number of re-ports (Aquino, as noted earlier, led his rivals in terms of broad-cast time, followed by Villar), ru Patul and 24 Oras coueredVillar the most, followed closely by Aquino. ln Teledyaryo,Te-odoro was the most covered presidential candidate, followedby Villar. Aquino was a distant third as a news subject in Tele-dyaryo, in one more demonstration of the program's bias-and in reinforcement, whether wittin$ly or unwittingly' of thesuspicion and outright claim by the LP thatVillar was Anoyo's"secret candidate".

The difference in the amount of time devoted to the candi-dates and the number of reports on them was relatively slight. The results of time allotmentanalysis and discourse analysis in terms of number of reports, serve to check and validate

each other. What both show is that the focus of the news media in covering the presidential

candidates was mostly on Aquino for being the leading candidate, Villar for the controver-sies surrounding him, and Teodoro for his being the official administration candidate.

While Estrada initially led in terms of the total amount of time as well as number of reportsdevoted to him, he was in fourth place overall given the apparent media perception thatAquino, Villar and Teodoro were the more newsworthy subjects, despite Estrada's eventuallyplacing second in the presidential contest.

32

OVERALL FINDINGS tr

- . . . , . . : . : ' : . : : " ' : : . . . : . , , ' . ' . . . . . :

Vi l lar, ManuelJr. (NP)

Aquino,!i@d111111P1 1','," , ,r,, :',':'

Teodoro, Gilberto Jr. (Lakas-Kampi CMD)

Estrada;:Jo PgPr :t'',-"- : .: : :


Vittanueva,id ,PPl" ,.."' r'',.,

Madrigal, Jamby (lnd)

oe tos,nepq;tonn Ca*qs{AKp}.,'t',:,,,

Perlas, Jesus Nicanor (lnd)

lcosta;,vegll'aao:{iaL}':,,. .' , '. ,..,'t,':,,,' ,',':

Total per Program

IV Pabol ttbrld(ABS-CBN 2)

166',.,::,' : :*r,.:.;'.,,,.,,108

': .:,r,, .'.:::: ::l

40,.,";,, ' ,,5,Q ;,; :,, ' , ' ,

28' , ,,,; ' ::"20

Z J

tr

681

,,l4,0ras:,temmi

144.:: ,'i[2:',,'

oo

,.,,t,ffi.''

99,,,,,1g '-

79

,', ,'*0'. ,,74

,l :,1g. .l: . : ,1. : , : . . : .

930

Icte&ryo,{'!!Btf4t,,

66

48

96

22

,,: ,,:,lf:,..:

I T' . . , , t ' ,

7n

' : . : t t t : ' '

286

I4al,

376

341',

303

,2r7,,154

,150'

118

110

104,':.24'

1,897

Covengc of the vice-presidential candidates

For the three news programs, Legarda was the most coveredvice-presidential candidate, followed by Roxas and Binay. Binay'swinning the vice presidency despite his ranking in the mediacoverage suggests that while the media could be an importantfactor in voter decision-making, it is not the only factor.

Covense of the senatorial candidates

The three news programs' 12 most covered senatorial candi-dates were Enrile (PMP), Ferdinand Marcos Jr, (NP), ManuelLapid (Lakas-Kampi CMD), Bong Revil la (Lakas-Kampi CMD),Ralph Recto (LP), Defensor Santiago (PRP), Jinggoy Estrada(PMP), Ariel Querubin (NP), Rey Langit (Lakas-Kampi CMD), Raul Lambino (Lakas-KampiCMD), AdelTamano (NP) and Liza Maza (lnd). Only seven (Enrile, Marcos, Lapid, Revil la,Defensor Santiago, Recto and Estrada) were elected as senators. But all seven had a verystrong media presence via advertisements in addition to their advantage as media sub-jects,

Covenge of the party-list candidates

The party-list campaign was given the least coverage. The groups that were used as newssubjects were covered mainly due to the controversies that hounded them. Not surprisingly,the most covered party-list group was AG whose first nominee, presidential son Mikey Arroyo,became controversial for claiming to be qualified to represent tricycle drivers and securityguards, I-UTAK was also the second most covered party-list group mainly because of its first

Lakas-Kampi CMD'svice-presidentialcandidate EduardoManzano


nominee, former energy secretary Angelo Reyes, who wanted to represent the transport sector,The other most covered party-list groups were Bayan Muna, Ang Ladlad, and Kabataan Partylist.

BackgYound

About 64.6 percent (or close to seven out of every 10) of the total election-related reportso'f W Patrol, 24 )ras, and Teledyaryo had background information. This percentage is incontrast with the common observation that providing background, 0r context, is among theleading weaknesses of Philippine press reporting.

Fairness/balance

CMFR found that more than eight out of every 10 election-related reports were neutral,and were neither positively nor negatively slanted or biased in favor of a candidate or party.While there were positively-slanted reports toward particular candidates, these were only alittle more than 10 percent of the total number of election-related reports. The reporting bythe networks overallwas neutral, despite the occasional biased reportfrom individual prac-titioners. Teledyaryo had the most number of positively slanted reports, which were mostlyon presidential candidates Teodoro and Villar. But the number of Teledyaryo reports thatcould be described as biased or slanted were not enough to affect the overall neutrality ofthe reporting of all three networks.

:tatt,,Positive

Negatirre

1 R 6. . 4 . : t . . . .

,.,1;s;;1390

it:ii

'::&/:V9,.:,,:

84.2V0

i&16d,*Note: Reports may have nore than one slant.

l f Vil lar focused his candidacy on his allegedly poor origins, Aquino launched his candidacyfor president on an anti-corruption platform. His supposedly mediocre legislative recordand his alleged use of his parents' names to further his campaign were some of the is-sues thrown at him. But it was a purported "psychiatric report" which openly questioned hismental health and capacity to run the country.

What later turned out to be a fake report was first circulated on the Web by a blog site (wwwpoliticalamateur.wordpress.com, now inaccessible), on April 8, and later through email andsocial networking sites, The "rep0rt" alleged that Aquino, then leading in the presidentialsurveys, had been clinically depressed in 1996 and had undergone psychotherapy.

34

OVERALL FINDINGS tr

W Patrolaired the so-called report's contents in itsApril 8 episode.The program claimedthat two sources from NP had provided the informalion. W Patrols rival news program, 24Oras,did not report it. Butthe network's late night news program, Saksi (Witness), broad-cast the report with the warning that the Internet was the source of the report.

W Patrolfocused on the alleged report's contents before get-ting the reaction of Aquino and Fr. Carmelo Caluag, the al-leged author of the repoft, who denied any connection withthe Ateneo de Manila University's psychology department andsaid he was the principal of the Ateneo High School when thereport was supposedly made, Bandila, ABS-CBN's late nightnewscast, reported it from the same angle as the ru Paffolreport, But Saksi5 lead was on the reaction of the partiesinvolved, who said the document was fraudulent.

Was ABS-CBN's gaffe a form of bias? While possibly unintend-ed, that was the impression it gave, although the network wasbeing accused of bias forralherthan againsfAquino.

The print media demonstrated more restraint. They reportedthe claims of the "report" two days after it aired in the W news programs. The Sfarreported it April 10, but focused on Vil la/s denial that the NP was the source of thedocument. Vil lar had been crying foul over alleged dirty tactics against him weeks earlier.The lnquirerreported on the same day thatAquino had asked ABS-CBN for an apologyfor its erroneous report on his mental health. Despite the "psychiatric report" debacle,some columnists continued to write on Aquino's mental health, anyway,

Coverage by public atfairs programs, electionspecials, and online media

Outside of the three newspapers and news programs monitored, there were serious effortson the part of the press to provide in-depth coverage of the campaign and elections.

Public affairs prcgnms

Ihe usual news programs kept track of events on a daily basis from day one of the campaignto election day. But it was the public/current affairs programs that provided the in-depthdiscussions, analyses and contextualization needed for those events to be meaningful tothe public.

Public affairs programs such as Reporters Notebookand Strictly Pll7rcsshared a commoneffort to explain complex campaign and election-related issues like the party-list systemand the first-ever nationwide poll automation system. 0ther equally important issues suchas campaign finance were the subject of programs such as The Correspondents.

EduatdoVillanueva ofBangon Pilipinas


#

Regular news and public affairs programs such as Bandila, Mediain Focus, Strictty Politics,and Square )ff crealedtheir own electionspecials, pressing candidates for their views on various issues.

Election specials

In addition to their regular news and public affairs shows, themajor broadcast outlets aired election specials to provide audi-ences with analyses on a candidate's knowledge of laws as wellas how he or she stands with regards to various developmentpolicy issues such as agrarian reform, freedom of information,energy, and women's rights,

In the 2007 monitor, CMFR noted the determined effort of thebroadcast organizations to present and discuss development is-sues in election specials aired during 0r near primetime program-ming. (ln the 2004 monitor, CMFR noted how news and publicaffairs programs were aired beyond prime time and after thedrama and entertainment shows-when there were less viewerswho could have been educated more about election issues')

This yeat election specials were also aired during or near primetime.The news programs in ABS-CBN and GMA-7 (and their sister sta-tions ANC and QW, respectively) consistently reported the issuesdiscussed in these election specials, Ihere were evident efforts toengage the public in election issues discou6e as early as a year

before the elections, as in the case of Harapan (Face-0ffl,

Election specials such as Hatol ng Bayan (Nation s Judgement), Harapan (Face-off), lkaw na ba(Are you the one)? lsangTanong(0ne Question), and Kandidato (Candidate) periodically grilled

the candidates on controversies and their stand on various development and policy issues.

It was not among the networks monitored, but CMFR noted that the revamped W5 (formerlyknown as ABC 5), produced TimbangaA which gathered experts and former government

officials who examined the platforms of candidates on issues.

0nline media

Reflecting the changing media landscape, the online medium has evolved into a distinctand powerful source of news and information for the 2010 elections. More and more Fili-pinos followed and even participated in the online coverage of the elections by socialnetworking sites such as Facebook and Twitter These new web tools brought the onlinemedium several notches above the Internet's 2007 presence and contribution to the infor-mation needs of citizens.

t

Aquino

36

OVERALL FINDINGS tr

Unprecedented in the country's election history, bloggers and citizen journalists covering the2010 elections were given media accreditation lDs by the COMELEC. Candidates also real-ized the power of the new media and posted advertise-ments on sites such as YouTube and Facebookfor thefirst time. The online presence of political ads spilledover into the old media, thus widening their influenceand impact on publ ic opinion.

The newest web tool used by most of the websitesmonitored were the the social networking sites (SNS) asmeans of soliciting netizen participation. Netizens nowa-days are not just limited to leaving comments but canalso upload videos, photos and reports and can interactwith website administrators through the social network-ing sites. Compared to the 2007 election online cover-age, the online coverage of the 2010 elections gainedmore participation and awareness from the citizens-asseen in the citizen initiatives behind blogs BlogWatch and l)0Aravucom which became alter-native sources of news and information duringthe campaign and elections.

But the online medium has also been the source of image spin and black propaganda.Some of the stories the mainstream media reported which later turned out to be false, suchas the fake psychiatric report on Aquino and the alleged US mansion of Villar, started onlineand spread like wildfire over Twitte| Facebook, and e-mail.

Online sites of news organizations

Ihe online news sites'micro sites and special sections on the 2010 polls provided netizensa broader and more in-depth look at the elections.

Video streaming, graphic representation of surveys, geopolitical maps, automated electionguides, downloadable election-related documents, podcasts, lists of national candidatesand their profiles, and external links to media and other institutions with relevance to theelections were the common features of the micro sites and their election sections.

The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), for example, criticized the dirty politick-ing in the elections and the extravagant campaign spending of some presidential candidates. ltalso looked into the online political ads and text campaigns of the presidential candidates.

Bulatlattook on an alternative approach by focusing on critical reports about Aquino andhis family's Hacienda Luisita and agrarian reform controversies.

Pinoy Weekly closely monitored the possibility of a failure of elections as well as thedifferent social, economic, political and cultural issues mostly ignored by other mediaorganizations, 37

AUTOMATION AND CIVIL SOCIflY INITIATIVES tr

Chapter 3

AUTOMATION ANDCIVI L SOCI ETY I NITIATIVES

FIER MORE than a decade, the Phil ippines finally implemented a nationwide au-tomated election system (AES) last May 10, 20L0.The phil ippine government hadbeen planning the switch from a manual to a computerized voting system since the

The Philippine Congress passed Republic Act (RA) 8436 or the Poll Modernization Law in1997, apparently in time forthe 1998 presidential polls. But RA 8436, which should havestarted computerized elections, was not fully implemented in 1998 and in the 2004 elec-tions. The delay was allegedly due to insufficient funds and conflict over the implementationand interpretation of RA 8436,

|n2007, the 13th Congress amended RA 8436 through RA 9369.The C0MELEC testedthe automated election system in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM)elections in November 2007.

But as the May 10 polls neared, the public expressed fears that the automated electionswould be deferred, or if implemented would fail. Many questioned the competence of theCOMELEC t0 access and use working, reliable Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) ma-chines and paraphernalia (i,e, ballot, secrecy folders, indelible ink) on time. Civil societyorganizations and election watchdogs also criticized the COMELEC's lack of a back-up planas well as its incapacity to produce clear, realistic rules on the manner of voting (i.e. length/duration of voting, counting of votes, random manual audit, etc,).

1990s.

39


The COMELEC's preparations for poll automation were one of the most reported themesduringthe monitoring period. Both the broadsheets and television provided daily accountson the preparations of the C0MELEC (i,e. printing of ballots, delivery and testing of PC0Smachines, etc.).The monitored broadsheets published a total of 192 front-page stories (or14.84 percent of the 1,294 print reports) on this subject, while theW news programs aired257 reports (15.60 percent of the total L,647 reports),

Reports on the PCOS machines were frequently in the press, especially in the televisionprograms. Some television programs provided the public with clear instructions on how touse the PCOS machines on election day.

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Campaign conduct

Campaign finances

Contesflhorse race

Polls/surveys

Personality

Poll automation

Other C0MELEC-related lssues

Election-related violence/ peaceand order during elections

The'Anoyo factof

Civil socie$ and elections

Development/policy issues

0ther themes (total number o0

Total number of reports

215

,85'.,70

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39

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Other reports also looked into other issues related to the PC0S machines. 24 0ras, forexample, explained in its March 12 report how the machines would be delivered to theprecincts.

The possible failure of elections was a staple item in the news. But these reports did notfully discuss the possible causes and implications of such a failure, lnstead they tied thefailure to the supposedly worsening of the energy crisis. In early March 2010, the recurringblackouts especially in the Mindana0 region further fed fears of a possible failure of elec-tions. Stories on fears that the alleged energy crisis would be used to manipulate votes, andhow the C0MELEC and its partner organizations plan to solve this possible problem weresome of the stories that appeared in the media.

40

AUTOMATION AND CIVIL SOCIEIY INITIATIVES tr

But the press failed to alert the public on the C0MELEC's failure to prepare unified guide-lines on the conduct of poll automation to the Board of Election lnspectors (BEl) and toconductthe necessary training of the teachers who would constitute the BEls.The lack oftraining was evident on election day, as many reports showed,

Canpaign ad rules

The press also reported other C0MElEC-related issues (243 reports in W and 273 in thebroadsheets) like the disqualification cases against incumbent appointed officials, the ac-creditation of the C0MELEC's citizen arm, the review of the registered voters' list, the absen-tee voting system, and implementation of election laws and COMELEC resolutions.

The most reported COMElEC-related issue was the rule on campaign advertisements. Elec-tion watchdogs crit icized leading candidates l ike Benigno Aquino l l l and Manuel Vil lar Jr.for allegedly violating the Fair Election Act as interpreted in C0MELEC Resolution No. 8758which was promulgated on Feb. 4,2}L).Accordingto election watchdogs like Pera't Puli-tika (Money and Politics), many candidates had used up the allotted airtime for campaignads as early as March.The Bulletin published on Feb. 11 a helpful matrix comparing theCOMELEC's campaign guidelines in the years 2004,2006 and 20L0.

700

(ampaign foridurt

{.arnpai€n finanreg

Iontestflrarse ra.P

Pollsfsurvey s

Personalitv

Poll autonratiorr

Other { einrelec+'elated isstre;

Ilection-r'plated vialeneelpear:e and order dur iriE; elettions

267

L9Z

F6f ta -ffirffi€ 111-

The "Arroyo f"lctor"

tiuil society and PIB{tione

Developmentlpr:licy issues

tlther theme5

T 7 R*6fi0-r 181

,: BULLETIt, i : ' : INQUIRIR # sfAR r TOTAL

41


IHEMES IN TELEVISION

Cdmp. l ign { :ondue:

Ci lmpalgn f inances

Contest,/il0rse rac0

Pol i : l :urvey;

PcrEonn I i iy

P$ i l au toma t t0n

Othe r Comeler-rc lated issues

t l r r t ion-re l { t€d v io lcrr te lpe*ce and order dur ing

€leet tong

The "Arroy0 factor"

Civ i l soci l ty and * ler t iof is

D*velcPrnent/Pol icY rssue:

Other thenres

ffiotu, i# 1 1 l- 1 1 7x m 3 8 I :

4 3f f i 2 2lEs 103 l3 1 9

39

%so l*rx 6l :i:.i,i+::.t;r 51 I lw 4 0 r ,r y 1 s 4

alr/ 'PATROI i. Z4 ORA5 *TELEDYAfiYO ETOTAI

Arroyo's ertt

The May 2010 elections clearly spelled the end of the nine-year reign of former president

and now Pampanga 2nd District representative Arroyo. She was elevated to Malacafrangin February 2001 after a people power revolt against ousted president Joseph Estrada.She then ran and won in the 2004 presidential race, an election marred by controversiesincluding her alleged instruction to then election commissioner Virgil io Garcil lano to ma-nipulate the results in her favor.

Her alleged plans to extend herterm and manipulate the May 2010 polls surfaced in thepress long before the campaign season began. The attempts of Arroyo and her allies t0amend the 1987 Philippine Constitution to change the mode 0f government from presiden-

tial to parliamentary was consistently linked to a possible no-electi0n, and even martiallaw scenario.

For a president leaving office, Arroyo was consistently mentioned in election-related reportsduring the campaign period.The'Arroyo factor" was the most reported theme in the threeManila broadsheets monitored, with 302 reports on it (0r 23.34 percent of the 1,294 elec-tion reports).TheW news programs monitored aired 117 reports on the'Arroyo factor",

AUTOMATION AND CIVIL SOC ry INIIATIVES tr

Her alleged plans to extend her term, her Congress bid, her all ies' midnight appointmentsand her relationship to presidential candidates Gilbefto Teodoro Jr. and Vil lar were some ofthe topics in the 'Arroyo factor" theme.

Evident efforts

With the prospect of Arroyo's leaving Mala-cafrang and the automated system in place,many Fil ipinos believed the 2010 nationalelections would bring positive changes. Dis-cussions on how the candidates and party-list groups plan to bring changes in gover-nance, and if they can, would have helpedthe voters in choosing who to vote for. Butthe press, especially the W news programs,inadequately reported the platforms of can-didates and party-list groups, Similar to theresults of the 2007 monitor, the press cov-erage of the elections was mostly driven bythe candidates and their activit ies.The can-didates' campaign activities dominated thethree monitored W programs with 553 reports (33.58 percent of the 1,647 reports). In thebroadsheets, campaign conduct was the third most covered theme with 267 reports.

When there were reports on candidates' platforms, these often contained motherhoodstatements and failed to provide the whys and hows of the proposed solutions. For ex-ample, in theTV news programs monitored, a candidate's opinion on "development/policyissues" would be mentioned only in passing in the reports on presidential debates andfora. "Development/policy issues" was still the least covered theme in W (only 80 out ofthe 1,647 W reports), and was only the fifth most covered theme in print (with 182 reportsout of 1,294).

But there were nevertheless evident efforts to enhance voter capacity to make informed de-cisions, As noted earlier, the lnquirer published "Think lssues", a series of in-depth articleswhich looked into problems the candidates-or whoever gets into government-need to ad-dress t0 improve the country's dismal socio-economic state. Among the issues discussedwere corruption, agrarian reform, urban development, and povefty alleviation,

The Sfar published profiles of the presidential (except that of Jamby Madrigal who refusedto be interviewed) and vice-presidential candidates.The profiles contained the candidate'spersonal and professional background, his/her advocacy, campaign finances, and, mostimpoftantly, his/her views on national issues like the economy, national security, educationand foreign affairs.

43


The three W news programs reported the state of the candidates' and party-list groups'

campaign finances (212 reports). But most0f these reports were in the he-said, she-saidformat, and inadequately explained the issues. Reports on the alleged lack of f inancialsupport for Teodoro and his vice-presidential candidate Eduardo Manzano and on adoverspending were in this category.

Stories on peace and order during elections weregiven less prominence in both the broadsheets(with only I22 outof the 1,294 front-page reports)and W programs (only 153 out of the 1,647 re-ports). As in previous elections, these were reportson the Phil ippine National Police's plan of action,the l iquor/gun ban, and the kil l ing of candidates inthe provinces.

Civil society's role in the elections (103 repofts onW and L74 in print) remained underreported de-spite its huge participation in the pre-election andcampaign periods.

The number of reports on the "personality" and"contest/horse race" remained low, similar to a pattern established in 2007. There wereonly 72 repofts on the contest/horse race in the three monitored broadsheets, while Wregistered 168.These reports were usually on the alleged bailiwicks of the political partiesand the race to lead in the surveys/polls.

W had 243 personality-driven reports while print had 113. Most of these stories delvedinto the relationships of the candidates with their families and with celebrity endorsers.For example, the Manila Bulletin reported on March L2lf'at Kris Aquino suggested that herbrother, then SenatorAquino, undergo a facelift t0 "enhance his'face value', as he becamemore visible in his campaign for the presidencyl'

The results of pre-election surveys appeared regularly in the broadsheets (192 or 10.74 per-cent of the L,294 reports) and on W programs (181 or 10.99 percent out of 1,647 reports).

Other themes

Almost 27 percent of the combined number of election reports in the monitored broad-sheets and W news programs (789 out of 2,94t) reported on other themes besides theconduct of the campaign, poll automation, election-related violence, etc.

The three broadsheets monitored had such election-related reports as the Lakas-KampiCMD party defection (20 reports), religious endorsements (tg), the El Nino phenomenon(16), the energy/power crisis (16), and political endorsements (from non-candidates andlocal officials, (16).


Lakas-Kampi CMD conflict(defections, internal problems)

Reli$ous endo$ements

El Nino phenomenon

Energy/power, crisis

Political endorsements

Celebrig endorsernents

Power interru ption/fai lu re

Midnight appointrnents

People Power I and ll(and call for People Power if the automatedelections fail)

DOJ dismissal of murder raps against ttloAmpatuans

Villafs intervention in the Philippine StockExchange

Celebrity endorsements

Turncoatism

Election fraud

Presidentialforum

Appointment 0f CJlgovernment officials

Media coverage of elections

Media efforts on voters' education/mediacampaign for clean and fair elections

Power shortage during electrons

Citizen journalism

Voters' education

Military participation

C-5 road exten$ion proieeleontrovers)f

Television also reported celebrity endorsements (34), turncoatism (17), election fraud (13),presidential forum (11), midnight appointments (9), media coverage of elections (9), me-dia's voter education campaign (9) and the power shortage (9).

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Total

20

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151 6

15I J

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131 1I I

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o

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7

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45


Givil society and elections

Two hundred and seventeen (2tT or7.38o/o) outof 2,94I election-related reports in the moni-tored newspapers and W programs were on the efforts of civil society orpnizations (CSOs)

to insure fair and honest elections. The media coverage focused largely on the conduct of thecampaign.

CSOs in the Philippines have always been vibrant and active and have been the vehicles forthe voluntary involvement of cit izens in social, economic, and polit ical issues and concerns.Their value to Philippine society has been most notable in their promotion of programs

relevant to national development.

The CSOs intensified their election-related activities more than a yeat prior to election day.These activities expanded from such basic and traditional concerns as quick counts, votewatches, and voter registration and education projects to more direct forms of electoralparticipation as the campaign for honest elections and good governance.

Preparing for the 2070 canpaign andelections

0n Jan. t5,20L0, CMFR, with the supportof the National Endowment for Democracy,organized the "Roundtable Discussion withthe Media: Civil Society Engagement in the2010 Campaign and Elections" to raisethe level of coverage and awareness ofcitizen roles and participation in meaning-ful elections.

In one of the sessions, National Institutefor Policy Studies President Mario Tagui-walo cited the complexities involved in the2010 campaigns and elections: The elec-

torate is larger, people are more globally integrated, there are prevailing interests and ten-sions within our society. He also cited the undeveloped state of contending political playersand the weak mandate of the COMELEC as areas of concern. Because of these, the publichas expressed disillusionment about elections and politics which offer only more of thesame.

According to Taguiwalo, the rationale behind CSO engagement in the political arena andthe responsibilities of the media in the 2010 elections lies in the need for knowledgeable,independent, and responsible sources about contentious issues and the drive to focus at-tention on defining issues that could influence choices and push for political reform.

46


fte roundtable discussion involved around 30carticipants from national and community pressrganizations as well as from members of civil

society involved in electoral activities.

ifhe press group included print, broadcast, andnew media repofters from Luzon, Visayas, andVindanao. Represented were Davao Today,dyGB, GMA-7, Mabuhay MindaNews, MindanaoDaily Mirror, Newsbreak, Philippine Center for In-l,estigative Journalism, Philippine Daily lnquirer,Pinoy Weekly )nline, Punto Central Luzon, Sun.Star Cebu, and The Philippine Star.

Change Politics Movement (CPM), Movementfor Good Governance (MGG), National Citi-zens'Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL), the Legal Network forTruthful Elections Inc,(LENTE), Youth Vote Philippines, FirstTime Voters Project, BtogWatch, and Rock Ed Philip-pines represented the civil society sector. Rvote, a district initiative which advocates for votereducation and responsible cit izenship, also participated in the discussion.

A number of CS0s and the largest media organizations in the country collaborated to as-sure meaningful elections (Eleksyon/Halalan 2010). The media and the civil society sectoragreed that citizen engagement should be encouraged not only during the elections butmore so in between periods of this political exercise,

CPM/MGC efforts

CPM and MGG linked the elections to citizen-driven political reform, CPM members aredevelopment workers and community orgnizers (http://www.changepoliticsmovement.net/). MGG is a coalit ion of reform-minded organizations, business leaders, and individuals( http :// m ggph i I ippines. com/).

The two groups initiated a citizens'draft, or"people's primaries" and developed a scorecardfor the evaluation of candidates to encourage voters to choose new leaders and to providenontraditional polit icians an equal chance in winning the elections.Their aim was to encgur-age change in the political culture of the country through voter empowerment and leader-ship development.

The two took very different tracks in their initiatives. CPM actively supported the Liberal Partyticket led by Aquino. MGG chose to take a non-partisan stance.

Perhaps because of its non-partisan strategy, MGG had a stronger media presence thanthe CPM on election day. MGG representatives served as resource persons in the different

47


discussion panels of W networks ABS-CBN 2 and GMA-7. W5 developed a public affairsprogram to present the MGG's "scorecard" on the candidates' adherence to certain leader-ship criteria (competence, track record, ethical compliance, etc.).

CS0s as sources

The CSOs also served as major sources of news and analyses,since they hold substantial data and information on salient is-sues. These featured prominently in print and broadcast reportsas well as commentaries.

Their early warnings about the strong possibility of failed electionsor a no-elections scenario prompted investigations into the prob-lems and vulnerabil it ies of poll automation.The public's growinganxiety forced the COMELEC and other concerned agencies toexplain and resolve the following issues: the award of the au-tomation contract to Smartmatic International Corp.-Total lnfor-m ati on Ma na gement Corporatio n (Sm a ftmatic-Tl M ), malfu nctionsand delays in the delivery of election paraphernalia, discovery ofother errors in the automated system, and the accuracy of elec-tion results.

Several citizen watchdogs including the Center for People Empow-erment in Governance (CenPEG), the Automated Election System(AES) Watch, and Kontra Daya 2010 were at the forefront of pro-viding critiques and recommendations about election fraud andviolence. But these efforts were reported only in passing despitetheir call ing attention to potential problems in poll automation,

The Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) got mixed reactions as the newCOMElEC-accredited citizen arm. A few groups scored PPCRV for its delayed and incom-plete vote count on election day itself and a few days after. PPCRV had earlier raised thealarm over irregularit ies in the bidding contracts on some election paraphernalia. lt alsoinitiated agreements to ensure a peaceful election in Mindanao.

A pioneer in election monitoring, NAMFREL found that traditional forms of electoral fraudsuch as vote buying remained rampant in spite of the automation of the voting process. ltreiterated the need to be more vigilant, to continue voters' education, to guarantee strictcompliance with election rules and laws, and to prosecute those who commit electoral of-fenses.

48

POLITICALADVERTISING tr

Chapter 4

POTITICAL ADVERTISING

MFR MONIIORED the political adveftisements aired duringthe primetime blocks (sixto 10 p.m.) of ABS-CBN 2, GMA-7 and NBN 4 from Feb.9 to May 7, excluding sat-urdays and Sundays, The monitor measured the extent to which political ads were

used before and during the 2010 campaign, the factors that determined the focus of someof the candidates' ads, and the extent to which the ads influenced some of the results ofthe elections.

CMFR also monitored political advertisements in the Philippine Daily Inquire4The PhilippineStar,andlhe Manila Bulletin from Feb. 10 to Mav 8,

Ads and coverage "most helpful," but...

A Manila Standard Today survey conducted Feb. 20 to 26 found that advertisements 0ntelevision were regarded by 51 percent of the survey's 2,500 respondents as the mosthelpful means through which voters decide whom to vote for, followed by 46 percent whosaid that television news was the most helpful,

These results validate the candidates'focus on polit ical advertisements during Phil ippineelection campaigns, and help explain why they allocate more than a fair amount of theircampaign funds for advertisements, particularly over television, which for 2010 was esti-mated by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) to have amounted toP4,3 bil l ion during the campaign period and P1 bil l ion before the campaign officially be-gan, for a total of P5.3 bil l ion. But the particular case of NP presidential candidate ManuelVillarJr. suggests thatthe edge political ads provide candidates is limited by, among otherfactors, critical commentaries by credible columnists. 49


Out of the ad: Out of mind

But all things being equal, advertisements can make the difference between being remem-

bered on election day and being completely out of voter awareness' A number of candi-

dates forthe 2010 elections, including Villar, had begun airing advertisements even before

the start of the official campaign period on Feb. 9, 2010' while these ads did not ask for

votes, and therefore managed to avoid charges that they were in violation of election laws'

they nevertheless helped keep the candidates in the public eye and mind'

F*C=C*€H€

When the Supreme Court allowed Sta' Monica, Suri$ao

del Norte mayoralcandidate Rosalinda Panera in Novem-

ber 2009 to run during the 2007 elections and to keep

her post despite complaints that she was campaigning

prematurely, the Court in effect legalized the use of such

ads, thus voiding Sec' 80 of the Omnibus Election Code'

which clearly states that "lt shall be unlawful for any per-

son, whether or not a voter or candidate, or for any party'

or association of persons, to engage in an election cam-

paign or partisan political activity except during the cam-

paign periodl'

A study by media monitoring agency Nielsen Media found

thatfrom Nov. 1,2009 to Jan,3t, 20L0,Vil lar used up 696 minutes of airt ime overABS-

cBN and 758.5 minutes over GMA-7, while Beni$no Aquino lll aired 2L8'75 minutes of ads

in ABS-CBN and 136.75 in GMA-7 duringthe same period'

Sec. 6 of the Fair Election Act of 2000 states that "Each bona fide candidate or registered

political party for a nationally elective office shall be entitled to not more than one hundred

twenty (120) minutes of television advertisementl'Although c0MELEC Resolution 8758 of

2010 interpreted this provision as limiting candidates' television exposure via advertise-

ments to 120 minutes per station, both Villar and Aquino had passed that limit even before

the campaign period began. The COMELEC, however, eventually ruled that it would credit

ads to those who paid for them rather than the candidates, in effect making the 120-minute

rule meaningless in Practice'

Distribution of print advertisements

While political advertisements in print were numerous, these were not as much as the num-

ber aired on television. A total of 616 political advertisements was published from Feb' 9

to May 8. Majority of the advertisements (565) was placed in the news section while other

ads were placed in the sports, opinion and business pages of the newspaper' At least 46

percent of the advertisements were less than r/+ of a broadsheet in size while advisories

from civil society and election groups were mostly more than l+ of a broadsheet in size'

50


Number of ads for presidential candidates

xu*l*rOi ..,,candidates

Number of ads for party-list candidates

Hu*r*rrrf@,ii Ae|Number of ads for political parties

*,

19

1018

Party-list groups took up 37.50 percent of the total number of advertisements with 231ads. Forty-one out of 187 party-list groups published their advertisements. Some of thesegroups, however, namely the Association of Government Accountants of the Philippines(AGAP) and Parents Enabling Parents Coalition Party (PEP) Party-list endorsed candidates.

Senatorial candidates took up 25.LG percent of the total number of advertisements with155 ads, Out of the 61 senatorial candidates, 34 had their advertisements in print. NP'sAdelTamano had the most number of advertisements with 31 ads, followed by Pwersa ngMasang Pil ipino's (PMP)Juan Ponce Enrile and Ramon Mitra with 24 ads.

Advertisements on elections in general made up 17,69 percent of the total number with109 advertisements. These include advisories on voting by media organizations such asnewspapers and ABS-CBN, ballot samples published by C0MELEC, call for volunteers by theParish Pastoral Council on Responsible Voting, matrices on presidential candidates' standon issues byTask Force for Family and LifeVisayas, among others.

Advertisements for presidential candidates totaled 84 advertisements. Most of these ad-vertisements came in the form of endorsements. 0f the nine presidential candidates, onlyLakas-Kampi CMD's Gilberto Teodoro Jr. and Villar had their own advertisements. WhileAquino had the most advertisements in print, almost all of his advertisements were en-dorsements from different groups such as Kabataan Kontra Korapsyon, National AgunanDing Kapampangan, and Farmers and CARPER Advocates,

Not far behind is the number of advertisements for vice-presidential candidates with 83ads, 0f the eight candidates running for this position, only four had advertisements in print.Roxas had the most advertisements with 44 ads followed by NP's Loren Legarda (20 ads),Partido Demokratikong Pilipino-Laban's Jejomar Binay (17 ads) and lastly, Bagumbayan-Volunteers for New Philippines' (B,Bayan-VNP) Bayani Fernando with only five ads,

L2a::.:.:.:4,::,::.:.::,.,,..:W40

1,'l{3i

139

51


0nly in print did s0me groups have advertisements against a candidate. As early as thethird period, People Against Poverty published advertisements against LP's Manuel Roxas ll,questioning the candidate's claim on the Cheaper Medicines Act,

Distribution of television advertisements

For presidential candidates

For viee-presi,Centialcandidates

For senatorial candidates

For pa rty-list candidates

For political pafties

About,elections in genenl

Total number of politicaldvertisements

3l.il

138

164

lst

LzA

356

2nd

I JO

Lsl

2A

1 1

zz

475

204

I I V

zo

651

{St

137

172

369' h

101

41

798

5th

385

2A2

661

r4450

87

L , J Z L

,00t'

701

492

1,085

235

1 7

107

z , zJ L

tbtat

1,833

L:782

2,829

404

298

331

6,330

g

i A total of 6.330 adveftisements were aired on the primetime block of the networks for theentire campaign period (Feb. 9-May 7) and took up a total of 46 hours 56 minutes and 10seconds of airtime.

Some senatorial candidates took up 44.69 percent of the total number of advertisementswith 2,829 advertisements and consumed 17 hours,41 minutes, and 45 seconds,At least35 out of 61 senatorial candidates aired advertisements within the weekday primetimeblock of three networks, of which were mostly 15 seconds long,

Advertisements for presidential candidates consumed 15 hours, t9 minutes, and 15 sec-onds of airtime and reached a total of 1,833 ads or 28.96 percent of the total advertise-ments. 0f the nine presidential candidates, only independent candidate Jesus Nicanor Per-las and Ang Kapatiran's John Carlos delos Reyes did not air any advertisements.

Four of the eight vice-presidential candidates-Legarda, Roxas, Binay and Fernando-aireda total of t,282 advertisements over television totaling nine hours and 28 minutes of air-time. While party-list groups did not air advertisements in every monitoring period, theystill reached a total of 404 advertisements which took up three hours 41 minutes and 30seconds of airtime. But only t8 out of L87 party-list groups vying for a seat in the House ofRepresentatives a i red advertisements on television.

Political parties aired the least number of advertisements with 298 ads, While the politicalparties paid for advertisements for specific candidates, only PMB the NP and Bangon Pilipi-nas (BP) aired advertisements extolling themselves.


Advertisements on elections, which included ads on the COMELEC's voter education cam-paign, Bulletin ads urging people to vote, and network-initiated voter education jingles andreminders, recorded the second lowest number of ads (331).

Trends

A total of 854 advertisements were aired during the first threeweeks of the campaign, Just two weeks after, the candidatesstarted to limit the airing of their advertisements; the total num-ber of ads significantly decreased to 475, taking up only threehours, 35 minutes, and 30 seconds of the primetime block.

However, given the airtime limit prescribed by the Fair ElectionsAct of 2000, some of the presidential candidates found ways tocircumvent the 120 minute rule without seeming to break it.

Akap Bata partylist aired adveftisements that used Villar's cam-paign j ingle "Dagat ng Basura (Sea of Garbage)", While the ad-vertisement did not exactly feature Villar, the use of his jingleendorsed him implicit ly.

Legarda aired a rehashed version of Villa/s "Naging Mahirap (Once Poor)" advertisementthat used "Dagat ng Basura (Sea of Trash)", also featuringVillar and which was paid for byLegarda's political party, the NPC, Legarda was a guest candidate in the NP slate.

At the same time, political parties had their own advertisements. PMP's "Tunay na 0posi-syon (True Opposition)" advertisement featured all the candidates of the party. Meanwhile,the NP released two different advertisements and took up 72.27 percent of the ads forpolitical parties. Both NP advertisements featured Villar and were "paid for" by his senato-rial candidates.

Towards the middle of the campaign period, the number of advertisements for some sena-torial candidates began to increase, this time with presidential candidates appearing with,and endorsing the candidate. Vil lar appeared in the advertisements of Col. Ariel Querubinand Miriam Defensor Santiago while Aquino was featured in all of his senatorial candidates'advertisements, who also eventually started appearing singly with Aquino.

By April, the party-list gr0ups had started airing advertisements endorsing presidentialcandidates, a trend that continued until the end of the campaign period. Among others,Akbayan partylist endorsed Aquino while Buhay HayaangYumabong (BUHAY) partylist andPuwersa ng BayaningAtleta (PBA) endorsed Villar.

53


Villar and Legarda

The Villar case

The Villar case was instructive in terms of how unpredictably even the most lavish use ofpolitical advertisements in the most popular medium in the country can help reverse ad-verse publicity.

When he announced in September 2008 his candidacy forthe presidency in the May 2010elections, Villar almost immediately began airing political advertisements, in 0ctober thatyear.The ads were in addition to his endorsement by such television personalities as co-median Dolphy, talk show host Boy Abunda, singer Sarah Geronimo and noontime varietyshow hostWill ie Revil lame. He continued to air ads unti l 2010, in the apparent convictionthat they could spell the difference between victory and defeat.

lf Joseph Estrada's franchise as the "Boses ngMasa (Voice of the Masses)" earned him tt mil-l ion votes in 1998, Vil lar went further and identi-fied himself with the poor. 0fficially, he launchedhis campaign for the presidency with his "Paba-hay (Housing)" advertisement in 2009,which gavethe public a tour of the house in Tondo where hisfamily used to live-and which for a time provedhighly successful in establishing his supposedlypoor origins.

Another Villar ad, his 'Akala Mo (You Thought)"advertisement, focused on his supposedly beingonce poor but his being able, through his "sipagat tiyaga" (industry and patience) to rise from thatstate to his present status as one of the wealthi-est men in the country,

In a pre-election survey conducted April 16 to May 6, 2009, or about a year before the 2010elections, Villar had led all candidates for president, suggesting that his ads, disguised asadvertorials, were working. But ads or no ads, with the entry of Aquino in the presidentialrace,Villar's rating in a subsequent SocialWeather Stations (SWS) survey dropped to sec-ond place, at 37 percent compared to Aquino's 60 percent. Aquino's ratings, however, wereinfluenced by the recency of his mother's death, and did not remain atthe same levels.

Although both Villar and Aquino were haunted by recuning issues, initially the Hacienda LuisitaMassacre and Stock Distribution Option issues againstAquino seemed to resonate more withthe public than the ethics complaint againstVillar arising from the C-5 extension controversy.

Despite a complaint for conflict of interest filed before the Senate ethics committee over Vil-lars alleged manipulation of the C-5 project budget, Villa/s ratings climbed to 35 percent in

54


a Jan.2t to 24,20L0 SWS survey from 27 percent inthe Dec. 5 to 10, 2009 survey, Aquino's ratings, on theother hand, slid to 42 percent from 46 percent.

Responding with more ads

The number of advertisements Villar aired during thesurvey period November 2009 to January 2010had multiplied, Nielsen Media noted that from Nov.L,2009 to Jan. 3L,20t0,Vil la/s polit ical advertise-ments were on the air a total of 24 hours 14 minutesand 30 seconds overABS-CBN 2 and GMA-7 alone.A few days before the start of the official campaignperiod, Pulse Asia released the results of its pre-elec-tion survey of ian. 22to 26, which showed Aquino'sratings down to 37 percent while Villa/s rating wasup to 35 percent, meaning they were statistically tied.

ButVillar faced issues other than the C-5 controversy. 0n Feb. 12,2010, former senatorand LP senatorial candidate Franklin Drilon accused Vil lar of land grabbing in l loilo. Duringa campaign sortie in lloilo City lastFeb. 19 as reported in NBN 4's-Teledyaryo,Villartouredthe media in the subdivision involved in an attempt to prove that there was no land grab-bing. That issue died, but others continued to hauntVil lar,

In the first month of the campaign (February) Villar had 114 advertisements, although lim-ited to his "Panata (Vow)" advertisement which told the story of his brother, Danny, whomhe claimed died without receiving proper medical care for leukemia. The majority of hisadvertisements were aired from Feb. 15 to 26.

The results of succeeding pre-election surveys showed that the issues thrown at him didnot substantially affect his ratings at that time. Villar received a 29-percent voter ratingcompared to the previous month's 35 percent in the Feb.2t to 25 PulseAsia survey,32percent in the Feb. 20 to 26 Standard polls conducted Feb. 20 to 26 compared to the previ-ous month's 34 percent and 34 percent in the SWS survey of Feb, 24 to 28.

Hounded by controvercy

0n Mar. 2, Richard Gordon was interviewed by radio broadcaster Mike Enriquez in his pro-gram lkaw na ba?: The Presidential lnterview over dzBB. Gordon alleged that Villar tried tobribe him into withdrawing from the presidential race.

This was not the first bribery allegation thrown at Villar. 0n Feb. 9, former president Estradaalso claimed that he had been offered a bribe by another presidential candidate, whom heimplied was Villar, to withdraw from the race.

Villar (center)with his senatorialcandidates Ocampoand Maza

55


Villar denied both accusations , But during this period (March Lto L2), the number of hispolitical adveftisements significantly decreased, to only 50 ads, Within the next two weeksof the campaign (March 14 to 26), more issues against Villar emerged, among them anallegation of technical land grabbing.

As early as Feb. 2010, rumors of a secret all iance between Vil lar and former President Glo-ria Macapagal Arroyo had started circulating via text messages from anonymous sourceswho claimed thatVil lar and First Gentleman Jose MiguelArroyo had met on Jan, 7,20L0.While both Vil lar and Teodoro immediately denied the alleged all iance, speculations thrivedwith news of his party's lack of campaign financing. (Teodoro did not air any advertisementfor February.)

While Vil lar had only one kind of advertisement, his popular j ingle "Dagat ng Basura" whichwas aired 48 times, he had advertisements with NP senatorial candidates and his vice-presidential candidate Legarda, which also used the "Dagat ng Basura" jingle. Nielsen Me-dia Research during this time also released its report announcing that some presidentialcandidates, including Vil lar, had already exceeded their l20-minute airt ime limit for bothABS-CBN 2 and GMA-7,

Arroyo 3 secret ca n d i d a te ?

0ne of NP's adveftisements had as part of its cast some NP senatorial candidates identifiedwith the opposition, such as Bayan Muna Partylist Rep. Satur Ocampo,Tamano and Gwen-dolyn Pimentel, daughter of Senate minority leader Aquil ino Pimentel, who reiterated whythey had been part of the opposition. The group claimed in this advertisement to be the realopposition, in apparent reaction to the claim thatVillar was Arroyo's secret candidate.

Villar himself boosted the number of his appearances over television through 159 adver-tisements, even as the March t9 Io 22 SWS survey showed his ratings as the preferredcandidate for president to have dropped to 28 percent from 34.

In the succeeding weeks, Villar's "once poor" ads were challenged by several columnists aswell as by anonymously sourced documents circulated online: His brother Danny's deathcertificate, which showed that the Far Eastern University Hospital had admitted and treatedDanny, who, after 13 days, died of leukemia; and the land transfer certificate on the Villarhome in Moriones, Tondo,

Enter the columnists

Villa/s claims about Danny's dying without medical help and his supposedly poor origins hadbeen questioned first byWill iam Esposo in his Feb.8 column forthe Sfar("Was MannyVillarreally ever poor?"), Esposo's column claimed thatVilla/s family used to have an "owner-type"jeep, as claimed by someone who used to be Villar's neighbor in Tondo. Esposo also allegedin contravention of his "once poor" claims,Villar had attended expensive private schools.

56


[',lone of the primetime news program that CMFR monitored picked up Esposo's expose. Theissue initially died there. Villar never denied Esposo's allegations, but did release a newadvertisement that claimed that his brother, Danny died in 1962 without receiving propermedical treatment due to the family's poverty.

0n Mar. 28, Esposo published another column usingthe two documents and further claimedthatVil lar was lying about his being "once poo/'. Other columnists such as Solita Monsod,Conrado de Quiros and Manuel Quezon lll, all of the lnquiret as well as Malaya Businesslnsights Lito Banayo also weighed in on the documents and questioned not only his claimthat he had come from a poor family, but also his integrity.

0n Mar. 30, both W Patroland 24 0ras aired storiesbased on these claims. A week after, W Patrol quot-ed Villar as admitting that his survey ratings had sliddisastrously because of the issue. In a Pulse Asiasurvey conducted on March 2tto28,Villa/s ratingshad slid to 25 from 29 percent in February while in aStandard poll conducted April 4 to 6, his rating hadfallen to 26 from 32 percent, also in February.

Vi I la /s television advertisem ents i ncreased even m oreby 73.61 percent, to a total ol2LG advertisements.While he had only 39 W advertisements counted aspaid for by him, most of which were 30 seconds inlengh, he appeared in other advertisements such asNP advertisements and as an endorser of the Sen-ate candidacy of Querubin. 0n April 12, abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreakpublished the story"How Villar built his business empire with deceit", which described several malpracticesVillar's companies allegedly employed in their drive for profits. The article used a complaintfiled by Villar's former lawyer, Restituto Mendoza before the National Labor Relations Com-mission againstVillar for bribery, corruption, deceit and fraud.

0n April 2L, W Patrol reported thatVillar had threatened to file a disbarment case againstMendoza and claimed that all these were part of his rivals' black propaganda.

Whether these claims were indeed black propaganda or not, his ratings continued todecline, He received a 26-percent rating in the SWS survey conducted April 16 to 19,down from 28 in March, and 23 percent in the Standard poll, down from 26 percentin March.

As Villa/s ratings continued to slide, the number of his advertisements continued to in-crease. By this time Villar had already exceeded his airtime limit and was using Legarda'spolitical pafty, the NPC, and his senatorial candidates'airtime.

Villar with endorsersinger/actressSarah Geronimo

57


ln one of Villar'scampaign rallies

During the CMFR fifth monitoring period, which covered April tl to 24, Villar appeared in198 advertisements, including those of Legarda and Querubin,

Villar kin claim nedia bias

To arrest the decline of his ratings, Villar's mother and sisters appearedbefore the media on April 26, His mother burst into tears as she deniedallegations that the family had not been poor, while his sisters accusedthe media, specifically the two biggestW networks, of bias againstVil-lar.

On the same day, however, 24 )ras aired a report on theVillarfamilyfinances. The report quoted anthropologist Mary Racelis and historianAngelito Nunag, both of whom said that the Villar family was undoubt-edly middle class.

0n April 28, SWS released the results of another pre-election surveyconducted from April 16 to 19, which showed that Villa/s ratings hadslightly dropped once more, to 26 from 29 percent. In another survey,Pulse Asia noted the decline of Villa/s ratings to 20 percent from 25,while on May 3, Standard released the results of its last, pre-electionday survey which showed that Estrada had overtaken Villar for secondplace after Aquino, with a rating of 22 percent compared to Villar's 20percent.

The number of Villa/s political advertisements decreased duringthe lasttwo weeks of thecampaign, most especially on ABS-CBN 2. His ads on May 6 numbered only six comparedlo 2t in the previous day.

During the last two weeks of the campaign (April 26 to May 8), Villar had 164 advertise-ments via the airtime allotments of party-list groups, specifically those of PBA, Alyansang mga Grupong Haligi ng Agham at Teknolohiya para sa Mamayan Inc., the Associationof Administrators, Professionals and Seniors, Butil Farmers Party, BUHAY and Alay BuhayCommunity Development Foundation, Inc. and NP senatorial candidates Susan Ople andSantiago.

Butthe results of PulseAsia's May 2 and 3 survey released on May 9 showed thatVilla/sratings had dropped further, to 19 percent. Villa/s ratings never picked up again.

What was apparent in the Villar case was that media exposure via advertisements no matterhow extensive does not always translate into public support, and that what matters moreis favorable media coverage and comment.

58

ILECTION DAY COVERAGE tr

Chapter 5

ELECTION DAY COVERAGE

I T HAD taken four years of heated legislative battles to establish the basis in law for auto-

I mation (Election Modernization Act or Republic Act 8436). But the C0MELEC imptemen-I tation had been fraught with scandal and controversy at different stages, and up t0 the

eve of election day itself, many Filipinos were not sure whether the new process would workwell enough to hold credible elections, or would even Iead to a failure of the process,

Information technology experts, political scientists, public administration specialists andvarious fair elections and voter empowerment groups raised questions central to the integ-rity of the system as early as a year before the elections. Their questions focused concern0n, among others, the availability of transmission facilities for the electronic delivery ofelection results, physical security of the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines in-cludingthe Compact Flash (CF) cards, the installation of the source code, the breakdown ofthe PCOS machines, and not the least, the training, 0r the lack thereof, that would preparetechnical personnel and members of the Board of Election Inspectors (BEl) and Board ofCanvassers for the new system of voting,

Because most countries undertake automation in phases, Fil ipinos were dubious about theattempt 0f the COMELEC to automate in one shot the 76,475 clustered precincts all overthe country.

It did not help either that just a year before the elections, the legality of the bidding prgcesshad provoked len$hy hearings in Congress. And it was hardly reassuring that the bid waswon by Smartmatic Corp., the same company involved in the controversial 2004 electionsin Venezuela.

These new issues were perplexing and overuhelming enough. But there were also the oldheadaches that have plagued manual elections for decades, which would not be addressed


by automation. Election experts in the country warned about complications arising from the

clustering of the precincts and the newly certified voters list, As in the past, there would

probably be as many voters who would not be able to vote on May 10, 2010 because their

names were not in the list as there were in the past.

There were few reports on the implications of the simple clustering of precincts, which

increased voters to up to 1000, from previous levels of 200. Little was heard from the

COMELEC or the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), the poll body's

accredited citizen's arm for 20L0, about the impact of the numbers on the old time and

motion systems for running an electoral precinct'

A new assignment

on May 10, everyone, includingthe media, was focused on automation,

the machines and the length of time it would take to vote'

Reporting on the first automated elections posed new challenges t0

the media. The press had to be alert to new kinds of problems as well

as to keep the coverage on the day itself interesting. But it was obvi-

ous from the first hours of coverage that the two major networks were

clearly prepared to resort to the magic of technology to keep audiences

tuned in,

In the past, the media usually caught partial readings and reported

incomplete vote counts. With automation, this was n0t possible to do

as the count could begin only after the end of the day'

Given the excitement surrounding automation as well as the tight cgn-

test among candidates for high office, broadcast media or$anizations

had prepared for the c0verage in a big way. Their strategies included

training programs for citizen journalists in election reporting and the

use of the latest technologies to aid in the coverage'

Unfortunately and ironically, the press, despite-or perhaps because-of the intense focus

on the new voting machines, still failed to highlight critical problems during election day.

Problems ignored

Given the central place of the PC0S machine, very little attention was given to other problems

that could arise from the clustering of precincts and the lack of preparedness of the BEI'

The BEI is composed of three members: one chairman and two other members, one of which

serves as the poll clerk. According to the 0mnibus Election Code (Batas Pambansa Bilang60

ELECTION DAY COVERAGE tr

881), public schoolteachers shall serve as members 0f the BEI and they wil l conducttheelections organizing the voters and assuring orderly behavior inside the polling place.

But the COMELEC General Instructionfor the BEls for the May 2010 automat-ed elections (Resolution 8786) did notelaborate on the requirements necessi-tated by more voter in each precinct. ltwas not surprising then that many voterswere disenfranchised because in someprecincts the BEI was totally unpreparedfor the numbers. The result was long de-lays for voters, some for as long as fourn0urs.

The COMELEC said that it left it to theBEls to decide how to manage each pre-cinct and the movement of voters. ltsresolutions did not guide the BEI so itcould properly fulfill its responsibility onelection day itself. The new system gave the BEI a new role in a new process. Without properpreparation and training, the most dedicated teachers could easily falter. Some precinctswere managed well enough and there were few complaints. But, there were many otherswhere voters stood in line and, given the hours, were forced to leave without voting.

The system set up in many precincts had voters waiting in line to be given a number. Thissometimes took as long as an hour. Given their numbers, the voters still had to wait, andthe wait was longer than the act of voting itself.

In the early hours of the coverage, as the lines lenghened in the hot sun, the media ban-tered about the length of time it would take t0 shade the ballots and how long the outgoingpresident and other personalities had taken to complete their ballot, Reporting teams fol-lowed presidential and other celebrity candidates as they voted.

A few anchors had picked up on complaints about the long wait. But the huge problem wasunder-reported in the period when the BEI could have made adjustments in their systemfor voting. No official or volunteer was asked early enough why the process was taking solong. In some precincts, it would have been solved by simply passing on number cards asthese were used. At least, it would give the voters some idea about how much longer theywould have to wait.

The long lines of voterswas generally regarded as normal, even acceptable, and thatvot-ers were called to do their duty and wait for however long it took to vote. The willingnessof the voters to stand for hours in l ine was unduly celebrated as commitment to duty

Voters in the lastelections

61


and belief in democracy. lt was unfair to forget that many voters simply did not have thecapacity to stand in the heat or to be absent from work, especially the daily wage earn-ers, or from other duties they had for that day, Such acceptance on the part of the mediawas a failure to inquire into the problem, and examine the reasons for things going wrong;which if done, early enough, could have forced election officials to try and set things right.No one seemed prepared to watch the conduct of the system of voting itself. The reasonwhy there were long lines goes back to the fact that each BEI was left to its own devicest0 set up its own system. The resulting differences in the efficiency of the systems werenot highlighted by the coverage.

Media did repoft on people's complaints, and on the vendors doing brisk business sell ingfood and drinks to the people in the lines. But media reports on the failure of the systemscould have directed the officials to find a solution in time.

0ther lapses

The press also failed t0 report on other lapses by the COMELEC, from the absence of ul-traviolet (UV) scanners which would have checked if a ballot form was legitimate, to thereasons for the delayed transmission of votes from the last 20 percent of the precincts. Ina few days, the serious implications of the delayed transmission became obvious with theclose vice-presidential contest.

There were spot reports on election violence and fraud, but these were reported with littlec0ntext, lronically, election day, which the media routinely described as peaceful and rela-tively orderly was marred by 29 incidents of violence, with 19 dead and 23 wounded (ac-cording to VotePeace which monitored election-related violence). Reports limited only tothe numbers killed or injured during elections can have the effect of making such violence"normal." And yet the mapping of such incidents is one way of raising public awarenessabout the conditions that give rise to election violence or fraud, perhaps showing how theseco-relate to the rule of political warlords.

Little context was given to other problems such as missing names in the voters' registrationlists and cases of vote-buying. With a little bit of editorial preparation, reports on theseincidents could have provided the necessary background on what needed to be done toeliminate these recurring problems in the future.

Focus on candidates

Given the "disenfranchisement" of countless voters who could not wait for hours. the at-tention given to the candidates and where and how they voted showed media preferencefor the easy story. Especially where these candidates did not have to wait in line, the focussuggests acceptance of the status attached to celebrity and officialdom. Specific instruc-tions were given to the field reporters of some networks to focus on this, despite the fact

62


that automation had created an entirely new environment, and, as it turned out, entirelynew issues.

0nly where a presidential candidate waited in l ine l ike an ordinary cit izen, which candidateBenigno Aquino l l l did in his precinct in Tarlac was the focus justif ied. Without such condi-tions to set the presidential candidate's act of voting apart, a summary report of where orhow each one voted would have sufficed, as a "color" piece,

As a government-owned network, NBN-4 lived up to its reputationas government's propaganda machine and showed obvious biasfor administration candidate Gilberto Teodoro Jr. The administra-tion candidate was the network's most covered candidate duringelection day, giving him, and him alone, full coverage when hevoted. a.

For local posts, mostly prominent candidates were covered onelection day. Despite the power and resources devolved to localgovernment officials, the press has been slow to focus on theirimportance and on the responsibilities of local government of-ficials and their impact on public service.

Media attention could have highlighted the significance of whohad been elected to the House of Representatives, given the ca-pacity of Congress to set the agenda, whoever may win as presi-dent. Editorial preparation could have gone to those areas wherenew faces and new challengers could change the landscape oflocal politics.

Quick count

Adding to the sense of uncertainty about election day was thelow profile of the National Citizens' Movement for Free Elections(NAMFREL), an election watchdog with decades of experience toback its credibility and its findings. In its place was the PPCRV whose experience was morein the education of voters rather than the count. The quick count systems and the broadnetwork that NAMFREL volunteers had established since 1986, usually with the cooperationof media organizations, gave way to a vote count center established by the PPRCV with theKapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP/Association of Broadcasters of the Philip-pines) as partner.

But on election day itself, with reports of votes recorded quickly by COMELEC, there was n0longer any need for the parallel quick count. And PPCRV's count would be only an auto-matic echo of the COMELEC's quick announcements of the total votes received atthe endofthe day.


Indeed, automation fulfilled the promise of speed. But complaints and controversies re-mained, which media would do well to review, if they are to learn the lessons and confrontthe real challenge of elections in the country after 20L0.

GS0s as resources

During the 2010 campaign period, civil society organizations (CS0s) led inquiries andproduced research on central issues. The three major stations invited CSO representativesas resource persons on election day, providing more informed analyses on various issuessuch as C0MELEC's lack of preparation, poll automation, failure of elections, election fraud,election violence, vote count, among others. Some of these CSOs included the Movementfor Good Governance,Youth Vote Phil ippines, Rock Ed Phil ippines, and NAMFREL.

PPCRV, the COMELEC's citizen arm, had representatives in both television stations for mostof the day's coverage, PPCRV hotlines were also flashed on the W screens.

Citizen journalists

A positive change in the coverage of this year's elections was the training of citizen journal-ists to enable them to cover election-related news and developments. While ABS-CBN 2had a numberof cit izen journalists reportingforthem in the 2007 elections, itwas only inthe 2010 elections that the network began long-term preparations to orient citizen journal-ists nationwide in election reporting.

"Boto Mo, lpatrol Mo (Your Vote, Your Watch)" was a year-long campaign by ABS-CBN toencourage Filipinos to actively participate in monitoring the conduct of the 2010 electionthrough citizen journalism. The "Boto Mo, lpatrol Mo" patrollers used phones, camcorders,and digital cameras in reporting to ABS-CBN. One citizen journalist, for instance, reportedthe alleged presence of one localcandidate in Maasin,l loilo.Anotherreported a confronta-tion in Tuguegarao City between two mayoral candidates. Several reported crowded pollingplaces, long lines, vote-buying and lack of assistance given to senior citizen voters, amongothers.

GMA-7 also encouraged citizen journalism through "YouScoop", in which people posted vid-eos and photographs of irregularities and anomalies they had observed during the electionperiod. 0rdinary citizens reported, among others, a skirmish in Cavite and children givingout fliers in Tarlac as people voted during election day.

Shorvtime

Rival networks ABS-CBN and GMA-7 did not stop there. Taking a cue from the CNN cover-age of the 2008 US elections, they draged out their latest technological tools for theirelection day coverage.


ABS-CBN reported election updates in realtime with the help of these tools and assigningtheir reporters to different places from where, using "virtual presence", a feature of "aug-mented reality", they transmitted their reports. The network's 103-inch touch screen monitorshowed graphics that accompanied news reports, as well as updates from social networkingsites.The network also had a "war room" filled with "Boto Mo, lpatrol Mo" volunteers, stafftrom abs-cbn.com, and a team from Systems and Technology lnstitute (STl) which did aparallel count.

For its part, GMA-7's "Eleksyon 2010 (Election 2010)" made special reports and pollupdates that were delivered via touch screen monitors and two-dimensional and three-dimensional images, These tools were also used by CNN in its coverage of the 2008 USpresidential elections.

Hi-tech rivalry

The competition for greater audienceshare through hi-tech presentationsproved to be so heated that a news pro-gram of ABS-CBN, TV Patrol, criticizedGMA-7 for using the term "hologram"to refer to the digital tools it used. Theprogram interviewed experts who saidthat what GMA-7 used was only a greenscreen or chroma setup, in which thereis only one camera and the green back-ground surrounding the person in focusis removed. In using the green screen, I/Patrol said that only a two-dimensionalimage would be produced.The program said that a three-dimensional image of the personshould be seen in the set before it can be called a "hologram". W Patroladded that CNNhad been flooded with online criticisms when it also used the term "hologram" when it wasonly augmented reality. ABS-CBN then told viewers that GMA-7 had refused to commenton the matter.

0n the other hand, in an lnquirerafticle, GMA-7 admitted thatthe technology it used cre-ated only a "hologram effect". The local network giant admitted that it indeed used thetechnique called "chroma key". Soho said that "the term 'hologram'was used by their sup-plier to describe the special effect" and that they qualified it as a "hologram effect" whenthe supplier said it was "n0t strictly a holograml'("Battle of networks shifts to holograms",May 15)

In the same article, Soho and ABS-CBN's then News and CurrentAffairs chief Maria Ressaagreed that while the technology "helps explain the context by using visual aids like tables,graphs, maps" what was important was that the network "still practiced good journalismJ'

GMA-7's MikeEnriquez and HowieSeverino during theirstation's electionday special coverage


ABS-CBN's"Hatapan" election

special

Ressa said in an interview with W Patrollhat "The main idea here is (to) make our viewerslook at things in a new light. Seventy-five percent of what they remember is going to be thevideo that they see. And if it's presented to them in a way that peaks their interest, they'llremember itl'

Beyond technology

Granted that technology can help deepen audi-ence understanding of what's happening, but thenetworks were not as quick to add substancewhen necessary. There were reports on areas theCOMELEC or the Phil ippine National Police hadplaced under their control, but there was no ex-planation on how an area or localig ends up inthat situation. Viewers' complaints (such as faultyPCOS machines or allegations of vote-buying)were broadcast using touch screens, but there wasno additional information corroborating such com-plaints or why they happened.

The missing background information in these re-ports left audiences to look for the additional in-

formation themselves. The experience showed that more technology at play really poses agreater challenge to the networks: to, among others, beef up their research capacity andthe quickness with which reporters can get the information that can help supplement theirrep0rts.

To be fair to them, the W networks also used in Twitterand Facebookin posting news updatesand fielding reports from correspondents. The networks also encouraged viewers to post theirinsights and comments on these websites. Videos of reports were also uploaded by all fournetworks in their respective online sites as well as in the video-sharin gsile YouTube.

66

RADIO COVERAGE tr

Chapter 6

RADIO COVERAGE

MFR monitored coverage by selected AM radio stations in response to arguments

that their repofting .ouiO n. even m're influential than that of television and print'

There was indeed a strikingdifference in the campai$n and elections coverage of AM radio

whencomparedtothatofotr ' . ,media.Butthisdi f ferenceconsistedmost|yofAMradio 's' n f

ffiffi;r,rg., i*i* found that whire the erections occupied a substantial amount of

airtime and space in television, print and online media, the coverage of AM radio was mini-

mal throughout the period covered'

But there were also similarities. As in television, the senatorial and party-list elections were

barely discussed in radio, And if they were, the reports and commentaries were limited to

the known and/or moneyed candidates'

Scope of the monitor

Three news and public affairs programs, Bosesof dzRB, 1ne on 1ne with lgan kasama si

Lala Roque (001) ofdzBB and Tambatang Failon at sanchez(TFS) of dzMM' were monitored

for two weeks, from April t2lo tG and April t9 to 23'

Number of rePorts

During the period covered, only 77 or 26'55 percent were election-related out of the total

2g0 news reports in the three radio programs. Forty-four of the 77 erection-rerated reports

(or 57 .tlpercent) were aired in the first week while 33 (42'36 percent) were aired over the

iadio programs monitored during the second week'

tr THE CMFR MONITOR OF NEWS I/EDIA COVERAGE OFTHE 2010 NATIONAL ELECIIONS

The bulk of election-related reports during the period were on the following: the prepara-tions by the COMELEC, the problems and scandals l inked to election automation, and theexodus of members of Lakas-Kampi CMD to either NP or LP

But overall, the number of reports on the campaign and elections in the periods monitoredwas minimal. Rather than the elections, the three radio programs focused more on the coun-try's water and power shortage, and the attempt by acting Justice Sec, Alberto Agra to dismissthe murder charges against Governor Zaldy Ampatuan of the Autonomous Region in MuslimMindanao (ARMM) and acting Maguindanao Vice-Governor Akmad "Tato" Ampatuan,

Boses aired the most number of election-related reports with 38, followed by IFS with 22,and 001 with 17. When compared to their own news hole, Eoses still had the h ighest pro-portion of election-related reports at 34.86 percent, followed by 001 at24.29 percent, andTFS at 19.82 percent,

While IFS and 00lusually aired just two to three election-related reports in one day, Bosesaveraged sli$htly higher with four election-related reports. However, there were days whenany of the three radio programs monitored would carry n0 single election-related report.ln fact, Boses did not air any election-related report on April 16 and 23.00ldid not airelection-related repofts on April 15 while on April 21,TFS had none.

CMFR also observed that 41 of the 77 election-related reports (or 53.25 percent) wereaired during the second half of the radio programs.

IOIAI NUMBER OF RADIO REPORTS

290

z ) v

200

150

Numbero f Numbero f Numbero freports reports reportsabout aboLrt v ice- about

presidential presidential senatorialelections elections elections

Number of Number of Totalreports reports number ofabout about e lect ion.

party-l ist elections in relatedelections general repofts u$.

nei'!s hole


0f the 77 election-related rep0rts, 25 (32.47 percent) were on the presidential elections.Lakas-Kampi CMD'sTeodoro was the most covered presidential candidate.Thirteen out of

350

300

100

50

68

RADIO COVERAGE tr

the 25 presidential reports or almost 52 percent had Teodoro as their subject. Nine of these

13 reports (69.23 percent) on Teodoro were from Boses of the government-owned dzRB'

Teodoro was followed by Villar with seven out of 25 (28 percent) reports. The third most

covered presidential candidate was B. Bayan-VNP standard bearer Richard Gordon, with six

reports.


0nly 11 reports were aired on the vice-presidential candidateswithin the two-week monitoring period. Most reports on the vice-presidential elections were about B. Bayan-VNP vice-presidentialnominee Bayani Fernando (seven reports).Tied atsecond were NPvice-presidential nominee Loren Legarda and LP vice- presidentialnominee Manuel Roxas llwith two reports each.

Covenge of the senaturtal candidates

The senatorial candidates were the least covered in the entiretwo-week monitoring period. 0f the 77 election-related reports,only four (5.19 percent) were on the senatorial elections.

Moreover, only three senatorial candidates were mentioned:Ramon Revilla Jr. of Lakas-Kampi CMD, Jose de Venecia llland Juan Ponce Enrile, both from Puwersa ng Masang Pilipino(PMP). De Venecia was mentioned most with two reports whileRevilla and Enrile were both mentioned once.

Meanwhile, 00lhad no report on senatorial elections.

Coven{e of the party-list ttoups

In a repeat of the coverage by the rest of the media, the party-list candidates were also rarely

covered. Throughout the two-week monitoring period, the monitored radio programs carriedonly five reports on the party-list elections (or 6.49 percent of election-related reports).

Only four 0f the 187 accredited party-list groups were mentioned. These were: Ang Galingpinoy (AG), Ang Ladlad LGBT Party (ANG LADLAD), the Confederation of Non-Stock Savingsand Loan Associations, Inc. (CONS|-A), and 1-United Transport Koalisyon (1-UTAK)'

AG, I-UTAK, and CQNSLA have been roundly criticized as "sham" party-lists because of links

to the administration. AG's nominees were Juan Miguel "Mikey" Arroyo and Lubao, Pam-panga mayor Dennis Pineda, a known Arroyo ally. The first nominee of I-UTAK was Energy

Sec. Angelo Reyes. CONSLAs nominees were members of the military: former Air Force Col.

xi {'*1.'3 W,

69


Ricardo Nolasco Jr, and Navy Rear Admiral George Uy. CONSLA allegedly had up t0 P60bil l ion in financial assets.

CONSIA party-list was in almost all of the whole April 2 1 episode of Boses. Hosts Ed Veaola andEllaine Fuentes interviewed CONSI-A nominee Nolasco, and the three discussed the aims of thepafi-list for most of the entire program. While Boses also briefly discussed the history and sig-nificance of party-lists in the Legislature, most of the commentary wentto promoting CONSLA.

The April 13 episode of Boses reeked of bigotry when Veaola derisively used the word"bakla"(faggot) to refer to the members of the gay advocacy group Ang Ladlad. Veaola alsosarcastically thanked the COMELEC for supposedly allowingAng Ladlad to run, "Wasakinninyo pa ang party-listsystem.Walanghiyain ninyo!",Vezola said of the COMELEC decision,(Go ahead and ruin the party-l ist system!)The party-l ist group aims to represent lesbian,gay, bisexual, and transsexual persons in Congress.

It was not COMELEC, however, that approved Ang Ladlad's bid to run. In fact, it denied the party-lists registration first in 2007 , and again in 2009 on the gounds that it lacked memberc andthat it was fomenting "immorality", respectively.Ihe Supreme Court overturned the C0MELECdecision, hence allowing for the first time Ang Ladlad s participation in the elections.

Meanwhile,TFS had no report on the party-list elections.

Themes

Most of the election-related reports has themes related to the COMELEC, Nineteen out ofthe77 (25.97 percent) election-related reports were 0n that body's disqualification of can-didates, its rules on campaigning, precinct clustering, and overseas absentee voting.

1 A

10

I

6

2

o

4J

1 1 "-lr r r1 l '*l:

l Boses rOneon One H r i t h I oan Kasama s i La la Rocue Tamba lano Fa i l on a t Sanchez70

".'""'""""',i"{":l}:"-S5:'--"::;"*$"'""Jo"e")""'")"-.-N

^,-"---""o

' ,,oo" od't'o

RADIO COVERAGE tr

Election automation was a significanttopic of the election-related reports, since the 2010elections were the first fully-automated elections in the country. Twelve out of TT (15.58percent) were on the automated elections.

There were also some reports about civil society groups'-such as Kontra Daya (Anti-fraud),the Parish Pastoral Council for ResponsibleVoting (PPCRV), and the National MovementforFree Elections (NAMFREL)-calling for clean and transparent elections.

Backgtound

Forthe most part, the reports in the three radio programs provided background to their sto-ries. News reports with background were at 57.89 percent (22 out of 38 of election-relatedreports) in Boses,76.47 percent(13 outof 17 election-related reports) in 001,and77.27percent (17 out of 22 election-related reports) in IFS.

However, there were still a number of reports that lacked background. Of the total 77 elec-tion-related reports aired during the period, 25 (32.47 percent) did not have background,

zs, _ iTlT':1':11T1111*, 2 2 :

Hoses One on One Wi th Igan Tambalang Fa l lon a tKasama si Lala Roque Sanchez

'i: with background r !,tithout background

Fairness/balance

0f the 77 election-related reports,40 (51,95 percent) were neutral. Twenty-eight (36,36percent) were positively slanted for a particular candidate or personality, while t8 (23.38percent) were negatively slanted, (The tallying system allows for double counts when areport is both negatively and positively slanted.)

Boses showed consistent bias for Gloria Arroyo and her allies, and against personalities inthe opposition and known critics of the government,


While both 001 and IFS had occasional bias for or against a particular candidate 0r per-sonality, there was no noticeable trend. The biased reports in 001 and IrS can be attributedmore to personal and professional lapses rather than institutional policy.

B o s e s One sn l lne wi th lgan kasama siLala Roque

Tambalang Fai lon at Sanchez

a Posilive slant I Neqalive slant n Neu'tral

1 )

1 0

I

6

A

2

0

72

TABLOID COVERAGE tr

Chapter 7

TABLOID COVERAGE

MFR selected for monitoring several issues of three Manila-based tabloids on theassumption that their reporting on campaigns and elections, because of their widerreach relative to the broadsheets, could be influencing the voters more than the

broadsheets were,

The coverage by the tabloids of the 2010 Automated National Elections was no differentfrom that of the broadsheets and the broadcast news organizations.

Scope of monitor

The issues of tabloids Abante (Forward), Bu@ar (Reveal) and Peoples Journalthat weremonitored focused their coverage on the popular candidates and paid scant attention tothe lesser known candidates,

They allotted considerable space to the issues the leading and more controversial presi-dential candidates were involved in-Benigno Aquino lll and the fake report on his mentalheal th; ManuelVi l lar i r . andtheC-5roadcontroversy;andGi lbertoTeodoroJr isassociat ionwith former President Gloria Arrovo.

While the focus on these issues could have had negative effects on the chances of thecandidates mentioned, they nevertheless contributed to enhancing the tabloid readers'awareness of the already well-known candidates, while keeping the relative unknowns outof the public eye, For instance, Ang Kapatiran's John Carlos de los Reyes did not rate asingle news report and was mentioned only when a complete line-up of the candidates wasnecessary, or appropriate. 73


As in the other news media, the three tabloids covered the presidential campaign mostduring the last six weeks of the election campaign period (March 28 to May 10, 2010).Exactly 1,006 out of the 1,640 election-related reports (or 61.34 percent of the total elec-tion-related reports) published by the three tabloids during the period monitored were onand about the presidential race. The number of reports on and/or mentioning presidentialcandidates was more than the combined number of reports on the vice-presidential candi-dates (386), the senatorial candidates (421), and party-list groups (116).

However, despite the large number of reports on the presidential race, the monitored tab-loids stillfailed to discuss what issues the candidates needed to address.There were only1 12 reports about development issues, compared to the 350 reports on the conduct of thecampaign (candidate sorties, communication strategies, etc.),

Number of reports

CMFR analyzed a total of 1,640 election-related reports, Election-related reports comprised22.92 percent of the tabloids'combined news holes (7,155 reports) during the last six weeks ofthe election campaign period. (CMFR separated the six weeks into three two-week periods.)

CMFR also noted an increase in the number of election-related reports as May t0 neared.However election-related reports remained focused on the presidential candidates.

NUMBER 0F REPoRTS (PER PER|0D)4 5 0

350

300

250

213t 7 6

".-t* Prfsidential

--l- Vice-presidefi tial

' " '#5enator la l

*Party- l is t

-* t* ' Elect ions { in ge neral}150

too

50

o : . . . . . .

First per iod {March 28 -A n r i l t n l

Second per iod {Apr i l 1X Third per iod {Apr i l 25- A p r i l 2 4 ) May 10 )

The People's Journalpublished 687 election-related reports or 24.23 percent of its total newshole (2,835).Abantepublished 584 reports (or22.95 percentof itstotalnews hole of 2,545),while Bulgar published 369 reports (or 20.79 percent of its total news hole of 1,775).74

TABLOID COVERAGE tr

The number of stories on elections in general significantly increased in the last two weeksof the election campaign (April 25 to May 10) as the tabloids issued more stories on fearsover the failure of elections and the automated polls.The number of stories on the party-listgrgups also increased duringthis period (from 29 in the second monitoring period [April t1

to 241to 58 in the third period).

NUMBER 0F REPoRTS (PER NEWSPAPER)

1200

1t00

800

f00

q00

200

0

t 2 5

L 0 5

BU LGAR

*Pres id . : r t ia l !V icc -pr . t ide l l i J l 5enJ io r ia l

Almost 34 percent (554) of the 1,640 election-related stories were published in the editori-al and entertainment sections,These stories were not evaluated for slant and back$round.

The tabloids monitored published a total of 131 stand-alone photos- six from Bulgar,58from Abante and 67 from People'sJournal. All of them were given an N/A evaluation forbackground.

Coverage of the presidential candidates

The most covered candidates in the tabloids were thosewho were leading in the surveys of polling groups So-cialWeather Stations (SWS) and Pulse Asia

For example, in the coverage of the presidential race,Aquino-who was leading in the surveys-was the mostcovered presidential candidate (575 reports) in thelast six weeks of the elections. And just like in thesurveys, closely behind Aquino in terms of coveragewere Villar (456 reports); Teodoro QaD; and Estrada( r73) .


Gordon followed with almost 50 percent fewer reports than Estrada (he was covered 90times). Vil lanueva was in the news 48 times; Jamby Madrigal, 23 times; Jesus Nicanor Per-las,22 times; and John Carlos de los Reyes, 19 times, The last four were the least coveredpresidential candidates and were also the bottom dwellers in the surveys. The huge gapbetween the most covered candidates and least covered obviously indicated how mediaperceived each candidate-who should be given attention and who's not worthy-on thebasis of their standing in the surveys.

NUMBER 0F REP0RTS 0N pREStDENTIAT CANDTDATES (pERTABL0|D)

575

0 0 0 0

r 7 3 * , 0 . 1 8

er g !o ''E g:'

r :o : €U-'€ '#"X , j"'J =,* e; € ::'-H €lAc*sl i ] AqLrir lo Dit Los [stracla Gorrir :r t fv1adriF,al Pcrl ;rs Tlodorr: Vrl larrr"rrva Vi l lar

Re r,r:

2 4 1

:00

100

126 22

9,,€l

Ptop l l ' r j ou r r r : r l € To t J l

It was the same in the vice-presidential and senatorial races.

Goverage of the vice-presidential candidates

*A lx r rL l & Bu lg . r r

A review of the stories on the vice-presidential candidates showedthat Manuel Roxas ll (l7L), Loren Legarda (L26) and JejomarBinay (t2t) were the most covered. The three occupied the topthree spots in the surveys, Eduardo Manzano and Bayani Fer-nando trailed far behind with 40 and t1 reports, respectively,

Perfecto Yasay Jr. was covered in seven reports, often only whenEddie Vil lanueva, his running mate, was also mentioned. Domi-nador Chipeco Jr, and Jose Sonza were mentioned only once (inAbante and People s Journal, respectively), and only appeared inthe last monitoring period.

TABLOID COVERAGE tr

REPoRTS 0t{ VICE-PRESTDENTTAI CANDIDATES (BY NEWSPAPER)

Chi peco

Fe r t rn ndo

LegardJ

Mitnzano

Roxas

5onr;r

YJsJ y

t 10fl

l 1

* 4l 1r*

* Abante

I Br"r lgar

'- : Pdoplc'3 JournJl

t Total

:0 ,n l

: 11 1 :

€ 2' a:lt q

* t ' ; l

1::a::.a::a,

2,,,,t::

J'':::':t'.

4.:,:l

6til7

8

I

ry10

tt,,'I 1

tt'::l.ri

li :t;,,;,'.ttl.;,1,,::',,,-;:;,,.-;

Revilla , Ramon Jr. (Lakas-Kampi CMD)

Tamano,Adel (NP)

0campo, Saturnino (Bayan Muna)

l .Sotto, Vicente lll (NPC)

1r& tr iirl* i

63ii:: l

C I

,,.&48

:,;::,:,W,.::.

33,,til

26t,,&

25

,'$',23

,,:; ,:

,::r.:r.:)ti1rrr..:r;.r.r:rr:r.1:r:: r:r::1:,:r:11r.:::r r:r ir.,: I.r

De Venecia, Jose lll (PMP)

77


Ang Kapatimn'sJohn Carlos de los

Reyes

As in the broadsheets and the broadcast media, themost covered senatorial candidates were from the es-tablished and popular polit ical parties. Re-electionistsenators (Juan Ponce Enrile, Ralph Recto, Jinggoy Es-trada, Franklin Drilon, Vicente Sotto l l l , and MiriamDefensor-Santiago), candidates from well-known po-lit ical families (Ferdinand Marcos Jr., son of formerPresident Ferdinand Marcos, and Jose De Venecia l l l ,son of former House SpeakerJose DeVenecia Jr.), Gil-bert Remulla and Adel Tamano (both spokespersonsof the NP) and prominent opposition personalit ies l ikeSaturnino Ocampo and Risa Hontiveros were the mostcovered candidates for the Senate.

The Bangon Pilipinas Movements senatorial candidates were covered 25 times, while thoseof AKP were mentioned in two reports. Only one senatorial aspirant from Kilusang BagongLipunan was covered, and only once, in Bulgar. (lmelda Papin and Zosimo Paredes later joinedBangon Pilipinas Movement after leaving KBL and Ang Kapatiran Party, respectively).

But not all the most covered senatorial candidates won in the elections. For example, thesecond most covered, Remulla (58 times), only placed 16th.

The most photogaphed

Photos would have helped the public recognize the lesser known candidates running inthe first fully automated elections. However, most photos featured the popular candidates.Aquino also had the most number of photographs at 40. De los Reyes, Perlas and Chipecowere not photographed at all.

Abade .l .Aquino, Benigno l l l

li:titiqtm;lia3. Teodoro, Gilberto Jr.

1. Legarda, Loren

2. Manzano, Eduardo

3. Roxas, Manuel ll

10

.10i

z +

15t h

40.::.:..:wT 7

People's Joumal10o

4

Total4 1t r

q

78

TABLOID COVERAGE tr

Coverage of the party-list elections

The party-l ist groups and their nominees received scant coverage, appearing in only 116out of 1,640 reports.They were also seldom quoted in reports. Most reports on the pafty-list

system appeared in the People's Journal (56).

Most of the party-list groups covered, like Bayan Muna, Anakpawis, Kabataan Partylist, Ga-briela Women's Party, Ang Galing Pinoy (AG), and Akbayan I Citizen's Action Party (Akbayan),got seats in the 15th Congress.

But as in the broadsheets and the broadcast media, reports on the party-list groups did notcontribute to the public's understanding of the significance of, and the rationale behind theparty-list system. For example, reports on the disqualification protest againstAG represen-tative and presidential son Juan Miguel Arroyo and other alleged pseudo-party-list groups

could have been an opportunity to explain how the party-list system works'

The reports were also limited to the groups' positions 0n controversial issues and/or theircriticism against the former administration. For example, on Bayan Muna's criticizing formerPresident Gloria Arroyo's allegedly anti-labor policies.There were some reports on the pafty-

list groups' stand on policy issues, but most of these were obvious press releases.

Bayan Muna (BAYAN MUNA)

ArakBawis (ANAI0AWIS)

Ka bataan Pa rtylist ( KABATAAN/

Akbayan ! citizen's Action Party (AKMYAN)

Ang Galing Pinoy (AG)

Gabriela Womens Part) {GABRIELA)Ang Ladlad LBGT Parry (AllG I-ADLAD)

l-United lianspsn Koalisyor ( I-UTAK)

Sectoral Party of Ang Minero (ANG MINER0)

Itesangga sa Kaunlaran,lnc. {ANG KASAIAGA}

Pamilyang 0FW-SME Network Foundation (0P0)

TndeUnion Oongess ParV {TUCP}

ilbai$e

6

4A

aI

2

J

aL

B$lgri

4

z

I

J

?

o

Total

191 R

1.1.

t0

9

I

7

6

6

E

Peopleb Joumal

6

4

z

4

3

3

3

Background

Most of the stories in the three tabloids failed to provide background, especially on suchissues as the poll automation, the Ampatuan Massacre, and the fake report on Aquino'smental health, A total of 944 or 57,56 percent of the total number of election-related sto-ries had no background to put the events reported in context.


The reports that were obvious press releases followed a particular pattern: A candidatewould remark on a specific issue and would promise to do something about it if helshewins, For example, an April t5 (People'sJournal) report on Mitra's agricultural moderniza-tion program was on his intention to improve the country's agricultural sector.

BACKGR0UND (PER TABrorD)

10009008007nn

600

500

400

300

200

100

0

944

Aba n te Buigar People 's Journ; : l t o t a l

s Y e s t N o * N / A

CMFR did note that many reports contained background (565). However, most of these 565reports were on the campaign sorties, alliances and personal lives of candidates.

Fairness/balance

Out of the 1,640 reports, 564 were biased for or against a candidate or party-list groups.The positively slanted reports comprised 14.88 percent, or 244 of the total news hole,while the negatively slanted reports totaled 338 (20.61 percent).These figures compareunfavorably with the much lower number of slanted reports in the broadsheets and W newsmedia monitored,

Bulgars low number of slanted reports could be attributed to its news section's focus ongeneral election stories, which were mostly neutral, Slanted reports were commonin Abante(Forward) and Peoples Journal, which published more news reports on the presidential,vice-presidential and senatorial campaigns.

People's Journaf for instance, had a tendency to attribute information in an entire article toonly one source. An example is its April 5 banner story titled "Noynoy'dirt"', which reportedon Remulla's claims thatAquino set up a security agency and used his position as the sonof former President Corazon Aquino to get contracts from government entities.The story didnot get Aquino's side of the issue.80

TABLOID COVERAGE tr

SIANT IN REPORTS PERTABTOID

600

500

400x Abante

r BLl lgar

: P{ople's JournJI

* Total

NeEative N,lu I rJ I

Sourcing was a glaring problem in many of the reports. A People's lournalstory on May5 reported that "analysts" were telling Aquino to stop claiming victory in the elections be-cause he was leading in all surveys.The story was sourced from the NP and kept repeatingthe term "analysts" without identi{ying who these were.

Elections in the entertainment sections

Most of the editorial and entertainment pieces in Abante, Bulgar, and People s Journalwerededicated to the elections. The three tabloids published a total of 32I editorials, columns,and 239 entertainment stories.

The majority of these were produced by Bulgar (297 or more than half of the total numberof editorial and entertainment pieces in all three tabloids).

Personality-driven stories were in the entertainment section, and were focused on actor-politicians Jingoy Estrada, Revilla and Manzano. Reports on the candidates' relationshipswith local entertainment celebrities were also common.These were mostly on Aquino (withsister and W host-actress Kris Aquino), Roxas (with wife and W anchor Korina Sanchez),and Vil lar (with endorsers Will ie Revil lame and Emmanuel Pacquaio) and Legarda (withendorser Sarah Geronimo).

Personality sketches of senatorial aspirants Joey De Venecia, Tamano, Remulla, Pimentelappeared inthe Peopleslournal'sentertainmentsection.There was also a feature story onAlex Tinsay, but in Abanfe3 editorial section.

Columns discussing the horse race (who's ahead and who's behind) and the mudslingingbetween Villar and Noynoy Aquino were also frequent.


Former PresidentGloda Macapagal

Arroyo

Focus on the campaign

The CMFR monitor found that the tabloids mainly discussed what was happening on thecampaign trail, and provided less space for reports on other important aspects of the 2010polls like the automation process.

Compared with the 350 stories on the conduct of the campaign and the 235 personality-oriented stories, the three tabloids produced 106 reports on poll automation and 157 onother COMELEC issues. Stories in these two categories discussed the unreliability of thePrecinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines, the P700-mill ion secrecy folder and indel-ible ink contracts, and delays in the printing of ballots.

Civil society played a huge role in explaining the poll automation pro-cess and protecting the votes of the people. However, these efforts bycivil society groups were the least covered, with only 20 reports onthem in the last six weeks of the election campaign.

Gloria Arroyo appeared in L62 stories, often for her alleged alliancewith Villar, her endorsement of any politician as a "kiss of death", andher involvement in the Lakas-Kampi CMD Party and Teodoro's cam-paign. Many of the stories on fears over a failure of elections were tiedto Gloria Arroyo's alleged plans to stay in power.

Reports on the surveys totaled 213, making the surveys the third mostcovered theme in the tabloids.

The results of the surveys by SWS and Pulse Asia were usually covered.Aside from reporting survey results there were several editorials andcolumns that questioned the credibility of the surveys and slammedtheir supposed influence on the voters' choice of candidates. A col-umn by Julius Babao in Bulgaron April 15 recommended that surveysbe banned for their supposed conditioning of voters' preferences, de-spite an SC decision declaring the banning of exit surveys and limits

on the publication of survey results unconstitutional. Eduardo Maglabe's April 18 column,also in Bulga4 contested the survey results, saying 2,500 respondents could not possiblyrepresent millions of Filipino voters in the country-and in apparent ignorance of the safe-guards respectable survey firms adopt to assure the scientific integrity of the results.

Other themes

Among the most covered themes 0r topics was "political alliances", especially those of lo-cal candidates supporting national candidates and vice versa, and "internal party problemsand defections" (many of which involved the Lakas-Kampi CMD candidates).

TABLOID COVERAGE tr

A total of 60 stories on "Celebrity endorsers of national candidates" appeared mostly in theentertainment pages. Religious endorsements were also a common theme, especially in thelast two weeks before May 10.

THEMES (PER rABr0rD)

Campajgn {ondu.t

Crmpaign f in, :nces

Contest lharse race

Pnl Is/surueys

Personai i ty

Po l l au toma t i on

Other Comelec-related i5sLreg

Elect io n - r€ lated

vio l en ce/Fcace. . .

The "Arroyo factor"

Cirr i isociety arele l e c t i ons

Development lpol ic

V issu€s

Oihers thefiies

r ;5Fff,nt| zti , : . 1 ,

ffifl- ',,m 6 1. . .4. r . .1 : . r '7tuI

- s ll - , . . ; - - . . f ; q

:i-- 2 1! - . . , ? q

fffff- 'ouF.F3ffitu,,,T 2 5i : 1 6

KIL,ut o e' ; . - : . ; 1 - d A

ff ib,u,l 3l 6

1' jo- 2 6; F

ffil&,,,

83

CEBU NEWSPAPER COVERAGE tr

Chapter 8

CEBU NEWSPAPER COVERAGE

0RTHE 2010 election campaign, CMFR engaged the cooperation of the Ceb-u CitizensPress Council and its partners in the media and academe to monitorthe coverage ofthe campaign and election.The purpose was to get a sense of the characteristics of

that coverage in the press of a city which has the most developed press and media outsideMani la.

The Cebu monitoring team examined the election-related reports in the front and insidepages of Cebu English-language dailies Cebu Daily News, Sun.Star Cebu,and The Freemanas well as those of the Bisayan-language newspapers Banatand SuperBalita from their Feb,10 to May 10 issues.

Scope of monitor for English-language dailies

0f the 9,280 reports (the total news hole) published by the Cebu English language dailiesfrom Feb. 10to May t0,20L0, 2,902 or31 percentwere election-related. Sun.StarCebuand the Freeman tied in the total number of election-related reports published with 1,504reports. Cebu Daily News published 794 election-related reports, The Freeman had thehighest percentage of election-related reports at 33 percent of its news hole, followed byCebu Daily News (31.57o/o) and Sun.Star Cebu (29.30%).

Election coverage in the first two weeks from the start of the campaign period for the na-tional positions was at 389 reports.This number went down to 335 reports in the secondmonitoring period from Feb. 18 to March 13, then increased again to 388 reports fromMarch 14 to 27 as the campaign period for the local elections started. There was another


surge in the number of election-related reports as the campaign period entered its finalmonth (April 11 to May 10).

TOIAL NUMBER OF REPORIS

10000

9000

8000

7000

6000

5000

4000

3000

2000

1000

' 9280

Sun.Star Cetri-r The Freenan Ccbu Da i l y Ncws

r El€etion-r€lJted reoofi: rlr News holr

NUMBER 0F REPoRTS (PER PERToD)

3500

3000

2500

:000

1500

1000

500

0

_.._.,* 1634

*+911.*1+sg

{ * 7 8 3

-----t...i'35_- ..- JfJ :*:fx -

f , d * s g . -

e " s z s I ; p - 3 G 9 I . . i l e s 4 ) ) U

-*- fl6---

February 10 - 27 Februarv 28 h4arch 14 - 27 hrlarch 28 - April April 11 - 24 April 25 , May 10

r'1arch 13

-{*Frontpage *-41+-'.lnsid€ pages .-#[lection-related reports ,-.*-. Ner,vshole

86


Placement

Most of the election-related reports were in the inside pages (93.28 percent of the election-related reports or 2,707 reports), As election day drew near, however, more election-relatedreports appeared on the front page.There were 1,646 election-related reports in the mainnews sections of the inside pages, or 56.72 percent of the election-related reports. TheBusiness, Nation, and Community sections of the three newspapers altogether contained1,061 election-related reports, comprising 36.56 percent of the election-related reports.

Of the 195 election-related reports on the front page, 725 were glen banner-story treat-ment (4.31 percent of the election-related reports) compared to 70 second front-pagereports. Because of their smaller tabloid-format size, Cebu's English-language newspapersusually contain only two reports on the front page,

Focus

Cebu print media's coverage of the 2010 elections prioritized the contests at the local levet,A total of 7,244 reports were devoted to the local elections, constituting42.sT percent ofthe election-related reports and dominating all the other election-related categories.

Elections in general received the second highest coverage among election-related reportsat 34.11 percent or 990 reports. The presidential race was third at22.T8 percent or 661reports'The vice-presidential (5.51 percent), senatorial (6.51 percent), and party-list (5.24percent) campaigns received scant coverage. (A single article may be about more than

NUMBER 0F REPoRTS (pER ]{EWSPAPER)

i800

1600

1400

1t00

1000

800

600

400

700

0 j5un.Star Cebu The Freeman Cebu Daily News

I Barrner [' Second front pa€e ston/ rs Main nevrs pagee g L-lther Sertions

1400

1?00

i000

800

500

400

200

0

510388

5un.5tar Cebu The Freeman Cebu Daily News

I Presidential

e Partyllst

I Vice-presidential

I Local

I Senatorial

# Eleetions in genoral

i€ Local (other areas in the Phil ippines)


0ne election-related category. For example, a report on the shifting of local alliances withnational parties was counted as a report on both local and presidential elections.)

Coverage of the local elections focused on the political tension in election hotspots innorthern Cebu, the Cebu Ci$ South congressional rivalry between Tomas Osmefra and Jona-than Guardo, the Cebu gubernatorial bout between incumbent Gwendolyn Garcia and chal-lenger Hilario Davide lll, son of the former chief justice, and the shifting local supportfornational parties like the stir caused by Rep. Nerissa Soon Ruiz, a Mandaue City mayoraltycandidate who turned Nacionalista despite announcing her support to Lakas-Kampi CMDa few weeks before.

In the presidential race, attention was focused on the survey frontrunners: Manuel Villar Jr.,Benigno Aquino lll, Gilberto Teodoro Jr., and Joseph Estrada. In the vice-presidential contest,Manuel Roxas ll and Loren Legarda were the most prominent news subjects. In the senatorialcontest, only 19 of 61 candidates earned ample coverage.0f the 187 candidates forthe par-$-list elections, only about 23 party-list organizations appeared in Cebu's English-languagedailies in as few as one and as many as 18 occasional reports about the party-list.

IOTAI NUMBER OF EIESTION.RELATED REPORIS PER NEWSPAPER

Subjects

The Commission on Elections led by a wide margin as the most reported news subject inthe 2010 elections with 652 reports. lt was followed by Villar (373), Aquino (365), the PNP

88


(361), Cebu City MayorTomas Osmefra (303),Teodoro (298), and Cebu Governor Gwendo-lyn Garcia (274).

Except for Estrada (140) who ranked 14th in the order of most covered news subjects, theother presidential candidates received little coverage: Richard Gordon (53), Jesus NicanorPerlas (34), Eddie Villanueva (30), Jamby Madrigal (22), and John Carlos de los Reyes(19).The efforts by non-government organizations (NG0s) and civic groups at assuring aclean and orderly electoral exercise were also given ample attention by Cebu's English-language newspapers, especially Sun.Star Cebu,whichhad26T reports on this subject.

(February 10 - Mry 10,2010)

COMELEC

Vit ta iManuel l r , r (NP), '

Aquino, Benigno ll l (LP)

P h ' r l i p i i n a ' N a t i o n a l , , P o t h e ' ' t ' : , ,

0smefr a, Tomas (B0PK-LP)

Teooon;-Gilbei!0.;f {rat<as-:K'ampicMD},,

Garcia, Gwendolyn (0ne Cebu Party-Lakas)

NG0lCivit:soeiety/Civicgroups' I: ' :

Liberal Pafty

A r G , t o d a l , - . , . ' , ;

NP

O n e @ , P a r , r y . , , : . ' ' i

Lakas-Kampi CMD

ery,fO* (PlnP)-1. ,,' ' ,t ,

Bando Osmena Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK)

Vi l lar, ManuelJr.

* Aenignofil'; ':'

Teodoro, Gilberto Jr.

a,,to$9i).h, ,'',,, "'Gordon, Richard

eerta9.,wicanor, ., ,,, .

Villanueva, Eduardo

rvr*otgui 'De los Reyes, John Carlos

Sun 9tar;.Gebu' . . r. l

l .-r ' i ..:. :]..: :,. r.:. '

. . . _ . . . - i , , . . i ,

338', , !2A., , . ,

t2r. ,l$]:

r45113

1 1 6

179

79,. : . , . . . .,48 . :57

96F?

52

A5

Ihe.ryeernant . , i r . , ' , : , . . .

214

;',','1Ut152

, '.,,,167 I :

1 1 6,., ,:''tt6 . ,

101' . , ' , , 6 6 ' . . '

77

' , . t ' t 9 7 ' . .

64, ,:2g, ,,.,

6 1

65

40

Cebu DailyNeus .

100

9 1

92' l t t ' ,4L' , ,

A '+z

. . i r 6 9 . r

57, ' , , : 22 , , . ,

45',,"21'

282529

,.,23 "

25

1241 n {L Z L

113

52,25

I Z

12:.-

I

158t52116bc

19

I ]

10

,10,8

lbtal' , l r i :

- i

: :652

37'3

365,361

303

298

274

267

201,.!72

149:: . :

7,+7

143

140

I J O

'tiital. t i . : i

J T J

,365

2981406?

34

30' t4 ,

19

Cehr llaily'ileltg

9 1g2

69

23

9

t t8

2 89


Among the candidates for vice president, Roxas was the most coverednews subject with 131 reports. He was followed by Loren Legarda (77),Jejomar Binay (36), Eduardo Manzano (23), Bayani Fernando (15),Perfecto Yasay (7), Jose Sonza (1), and Dominador Chipeco Jr. (1). Inthe senatorial contest, the following candidates figured prominently inthe community papers: Gilbert Remulla (45 reports), Juan Ponce En-rile (35), Vicente Sotto lll (30), Franklin Drilon (26), Risa HontiverosBaraquel (25), Ferdinand Marcos L (24), Adel Tamano (23), JinggoyEstrada (23), Miriam Defensor Santiago (22),Pia Cayetano (22), RamonRevil la, Jr. (2I), Emilio Osmefra (20), Saturnino Ocampo (20), RalphRecto (19), Sergio Osmeha ll l (17), LizaMaza (16), Jose de Venecia l l l

(15), Manuel Lapid (15), and Ruf ino Biazon (12).

While NP senatorial candidates Remulla and Tamano had relatively ample coverage, the re-ports on them mostly focused on their defense of the NP's controversial standard-bearerVillar,with both Remulla and Tamano speaking for the party. Coverage of the senatorial elections bythe local dailies may be described as reactive-i.e., only those candidates who came to Cebuand actively organized press conferences or submitted press statements were covered.

Binay, Jejomar.luiiirtltisltFernando, Bayani

,e$t$ t,

0nly a few party-list organizations appeared in Cebu's English-language dailies, amongthem the All iance for Nationalism and Democracy oTANAD (29 reports), Kabataan (18), aparty-list organization running under an anti-communist platform, Akbayan (15), Ang Lad-lad (10), Bayan Muna (10), Gabriela (7),Trade Union Congress of the Phil ippines oTTUCP(4), Ang Galing Pinoy (3), An Waray (2), Butil (2), and Cooperative Natcco Network Party orCoop-NATCCO (2).

ANAD appeared mostly in the Freeman, which featured the party-list organization's ac-tivities and platform. In{ighting among this organization's leaders on who was the rightfultop nominee also helped ANAD land in the news. Kabataan, meanwhile, f igured in a localcontroversy when some of its Cebu chapter members clashed with alleged goons of a vice-mayoral$ candidate in Cebu City over the posting of campaign materials. Ang Ladlad is agay rights organization which was earlier disqualified by the COMELEC.90


FeHuary 10 - May 10,2010

Remulla, Gilbeft

forietuanP*o

Sotto, Vicente lll

@rtau*r,*Hontiveros Baraquel, Risa

tVlal ',tbCInand:r

Tamano, Adel

a,,lin.ggqy

Defensor Santiago, Miriam

eay Pia.

Revilla, Ramon Jr.

Osmena, Emilio

0campo, Saturnino

Recto, Ralph

Osmefla, Sergio lll

Fh :'4.'{.'1gr0t0r:, :',::,, ,,,,,

Alliance for Nationalism and Democracyxa!q laa .1 , l ' , . t ' . . . ' " ' ' , , ' '

t : . . , . . , . . , . ' . '

Akbayan

l | 1 g c , , 1 1 1 . . 1 . : . ' , ' t t ' . ,

Bayan Muna

Sun;$tar&h.' ::: :: : : :io1 6 . ' l

12, t 1

t2' ' ' . : .a

8

74 6I U

121 n

6

,

3213,I4nv

161.4l ?

10q

8n

4 AA T

I

,e,n{ryn22

b

4: - . . 1 . . :

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4z

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, 6 t t

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. : , 3 .

4

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T' .' ..4......

L

3

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@rA E

3530

Coverage of the party-listsystem in the early period of the campaign also included reportson controversial party-list groups accredited by the COMELEC but which might not be repre-senting marginalized groups, as required by law Ang Galing Pinoy or AG (3) for example is aparty-list organization purporting t0 represent the interest of security guards, but whose firstnominee is President Arroyo's son Juan Miguel "Mikey" Arroyo.

zo

25

24

Z J

Z J

q ^

222L.'nzw

20

T 7

btal

Z V

, 1 8

I C

1010

SunStar Gebu

7

T2

10' . : i

: ' : ' 2 '

5

9$0alltlleits

1

1

J

The data does not support the claim that there was deliberate bias in favor of a particularparty 0r candidate in any of the three Cebu English-language newspapers.The high visibilityof some candidates over the rest of their rivals, especially in the case of the presidential,vice-presidential and local contests, may be attributed to a confluence of the usualfactorsthat constitute the commercial standards of the media in judging newsworthiness: (1) thestory's tendency to entertain 0r interest the readers; (2) the story's impact, like the policy 0rprogram statements of candidates perceived to have a winning chance; and (3) conflict orcontroversy, as in the case of the mudslinging between LP and NP which included the C-5road extension controversy that embroiled presidential candidate Villar, 91


Thenes/topics

The Cebu English-language papers' coverage of the elections highlighted the traditionaldraws of elections, with more space allotted to stories about the campaign activities ofthe candidates (882 reports or 30.39 percent of the total election-related reports), andpersonality-oriented stories (865 reports or29.8L percent). (One report may contain morethan one theme.)

"COMELEC-related issues", which was mainly about how the elec-tion body was administering the electoral process, was third with719 reports (24.78 percent). This number includes stories inform-ing and educating readers about the election, pafticularly the firstimplementation of the automated election system (AES). Even whilereporting on the problems and constraints that plagued the AES, thenewspapers'coverage provided readers information to prepare themfor electronic voting. "C0MElEC-related issues" was followed by the"cocKight/ 'he said-she said"'theme, or who was leading and trail-ing, and what the candidates were saying about each other.

"Development/policy issues" was fifth with 564 reports (19 percent).The Freeman had the most number of issue-oriented stories, devotingmore space than the two other local English-language newspapersfor the candidates to present their plans and platforms. However, inall three newspapers, discussion of candidates' platforms was lim-ited to motherhood statements on development/policy issues. Cov-erage of the candidates' stances on development issues rarely roseabove the traditional politician's shopping list of campaign promises.The reports could have become more relevant if campaign promiseswere reported with backgrounders on candidate track records andplatforms. Platforms and plans for governance, however, were treatedwith greater depth in special reports.

Corruption was clearly an issue in the 2010 elections, with 107 reports on it in the threeCebu English-language newspapers. lt was, however, next only to the economy/jobs as themost reported issue (120 reports). In reporting development/policy issues, the Freemanfo-cused on the economy/jobs (82 reports) and education (51). Meanwhile, Sun.Star Cebusmost reported election issues were health (47), corruption (39),and poverty (35). CebuDaily News, on the other hand, focused on corruption (24) and governance (16).The issueon the South Road Properties, a major land development project of the Cebu City govern-ment, was not covered by Cebu Daily News, though it figured in the top 10 list because ofthe number of reports that carried the issue in Sun.Star Cebu (23) and the Freeman (9).

Reports on themes that could not be categorized came in sixth (481), followed by election-related violence/peace and order (356), poll automation (323), civil socieg and elec-

92


tions (310), contest/horse race (270),complaints of irregularities (253), and polls/surveys(176). Focus on poll automation surged in the final four weeks of the campaign period (Aprilt1 to May t0) as poll automation jitters and uncertainties filled the air with the C0MELECand its technology provider Smartmatic-TlM rushing to meet pushed-back deadlines andfixing misconfigured compact flash cards, Reports about election violence also surged inthe final weeks of the campaign.

ln reporting the polls/surveys, the newspapers tended to focus only on the results and thegroup 0r individuals conducting the study, but other details were left out like period of study,the sampling methodology, the respondents' demographics, and percentage error, Therewas one report though that had a footnote that indicated source of study, period, method-ology using face-to-face interviews, number of respondents, survey error percentage, andconfidence level in the Visayas,

The 'Arroyo factor" was the least reported about, as administration candidate Teodoro care-fully distanced his campaign from President Arroyo and, not being a survey frontrunnerhimself, did not have the same level of attention and controversy received by rivals Aquinoand Villar. Reports on the 'Arroyo factor" included candidates' associating their rivals withthe unpopular leader and then PresidentArroyo's midnight appointments.

THEMES PER NEWSPAPER

1 0 0 0 - - -

900

800

700

600

5oo qio

400

300

J00

100

0

. 865

{i:*

*2 i i

7

:#

' L

, onbs .*,u"" .',".,",::"_",::::__",* {;:$. $ ll.** :l_"_$ ",* *-"ct'""'* ffi .ro .e$*od -.-* 'o" o*'

t n l210

'*n1

93


THEMES (PER PERToD)

Other themes that received the widest coverage were turncoatism, defections or shifts inlocal all iances with national parties, the 2007 elections, the church and polit ics, and courtcases.

February l0 - May 10,2010

Economy/Jobs

eo,1i i ;gionl ' ' " ' ; " ;" ; '

Health

Education

Environment

Governance

Infrastructure

Povertv

Women and children

South Road Properties (SRP)

Background

$in:$iiiCttirJZ

3947322919 ,t t

: ' J $

23' , 2 3 : ,

,IttIre.og

82AT

46

35' , . 3 0

. 2 4

L4: , . 0 . .

z4

4

6

16E

'l

wtr20107,96,87

7ooc

65

Aq

38

32

Most of the reports were provided with adequate background at 94 percent. At the earlypart of the campaign period, the election-related report included context to show complexand shift ing all iances between candidates running for national positions and local polit i-cians and parties. Context also helped readers understand election trends and controver-sies, such as the impact of election surveys 0n voting preferences and the backlash fromcandidates that were, coincidentally or not, survey tailenders,

Fairness/balance

Cebu's three English-language newspapers were generally neutral in their treatment ofelection-related news, with 2,587 out of 2,902 reports, or 89.15 percent, unbiased. 0f thethree papers, Sun.Star Cebuwas the most neutral with a 91.07 percent neutrality rating(974 of 1,053 reports were neutral), followed by Cebu Daily News with 91 percent (724of 795 reports), and the Freeman with 84.35 percent (889 of 1,054 reports). As the cam-paign period progressed, the percentage of biased reports in all three newspapers fell astheir overall neutrality rating rose.

There were m0re negatively-slanted (190) than positively-slanted items (169) among theslanted reports. (A report may contain a negative slant against a news subject and a posi-tive slant toward another news subject.) The Freeman had the most number of negatively-slanted reports (90), followed by Sun.Star Cebu (53), and Cebu Daily News (47).The Free-man also had the most number of positively-slanted reports (1 15), followed by Cebu DailyNews (29), and Sun.Star Cebu (25).


The top three candidates or personalities who received favorable treatment in slanted re-ports were Villar (25 reports, 21 of which were by the Freeman),Teodoro (11), and Aquinolll ( 11), Negative slant was most observed for the following news subjects: COMELEC (23reports), Vil lar (20), Aquino (16), Anoyo (13), and Tomas Osmeha (10),

SIAI{T IN REPORTS PER NEWSPAPER

3500

3000

2500

2000

1.500

1000

500

Cebu Daily News

3 t{eutrai € Slanted eTotal

FAr RNESS/BATANCE (PER PERT0D)

900

8S0

700

600

500

400

300

200

100

l

tebruary 10 - 27 February 28 - fvlarch 14 - 27March 13

March 28 - April 10 April 11 - 24 April 25 - May L0

95


Vil lar, ManuelJr.

Teodoro, Gilberto Jr.

Aquino, Benigno lll

Osmena, Tomas

ANAD

Liberal Party

Legarda, Loren

Garcia, Alvin

Soco, Glenn

Garcia, Gwendolyn

Sotto, Vicente lll

Guardo, Jonaffan

COMELEC

Estrada. Josenh

Yeung, Mariquita Salimbangon

COMELEC

tlrai$im#',.r.Aquino, Benigno lll

.{myq;C061.::'.,t.10smeha,Tomas

i.Fg '.'."''.,1,,..',

B0PK-Liberal

iarn * ,.'l...::Lakas-Kampi CMD

,ri .Guardo, Jonathan

,,gi*.Eij. r,.t'....,..Estrada, Josephgiiiift i .i t..,,..,'r.'., ..Dizon, Alvin

$qr,Star Cebu

L

!.l:.,,1rr

1

L

I

Gebu DaiS llerc

:.':.'a,': .;::

,...,,1t,i l.l i:l

7I

::,.,.t,, t.i

T4I .

1':

.',,.;t.;.1;11t'

l.i: .,i25

: : . : . . . " . : a . . : . : .

i..i.:i,t,...::i.]1.1I.]:

1 1

6

5

b

5

4

4

4

4

J

?

z

,A,

t,

zt,.,t:i

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7 t ,o

i

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2

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2AI O

:;::.,,-;, ';,:,:,:

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4

;',' :; t. t 4,.:,,,;..'...;t ;

4tt.&.-,:

d,:r

z

Bisaya-language dai I ies' coverage

The Cebu monitoring team also examined the election-related reports on the front and in-96 side pages of Bisaya-language dailies SuperBalita and Banatfrom Feb. 10 to May 10.


0f the 2,943 reports published during this period (or the news hole), 986 or 33.5 percent wereelection-related. Super&alitapublished more election+elated reportsthan Banat. SuperBalitaallot-ted 36,45 percent of its news hole to election-related reports while Banatallotted 30,27 percent.

As in the English-language dailies, there also was a steady increase in the quantity of elec-tion coverage as the campaign period progressed, and a spike in the numbers and percent-

age into the lasttwo monitoring periods from April 11 to May 10.

IUTAT NUMBER OF REPORIS PER NEWSPAPER

3500

3000

2500

2000

1500

r-000

500

*

I Election-related reports :i" Nel",,s lrole

STANT IN REPORTS PER PERIOD

900

800

700

600

508

400

300

280

100

0 ,* lF€$1tary10-27 Febrqary2S- tv larc l r l ;1-17 t \ ' lar f t28-Apr i l 10 Apr i l l l -24 Apr i l15-h '1.1y10

March 13

--** Neutr.ll {-5l.rnted

97


PI.ACEMENT OF REPORTS PER PERIOD

Placement

Most of the election-related reports were on the inside pages (89.96 percent of the newshole,0r887 reports), In the lastfourweeks of the campaign period, however,there was asharp increase in the number of election-related reports on the front page.

0f the 99 election-related reports that landed on the front page,25 were given banner-story treatment (25.25 percent of the newshole) compared to 74 second-front page reports (74.74 percentof the news hole).

Focus on the local

Like their English-language counterparts, the Cebu Bisaya-lan-guage dailies focused on the contests at the local level.

A total of 587 reports were devoted to the local elections, con-stituting 20.69 percent of the news hole, and 59.53 percent ofthe total number of election-related reports, Elections in general

received the second highest coverage among election-related reports at24.t4 percent ofthe election-related reports or 238 reports. The presidential race came in third with 204reports, or 20.69 percent. Party-list coverage was lower compared to the English-languagedaifies at t23 reports or 2.I1 percent. 0nly a few party-list groups were featured, somerepeatedly like the Alliance for Nationalism and Democracy (ANAD), which was reportedaboutfive times in SuperBalita and 18 times in Banat,The vice-presidential (1.8 percent)

1:00

1000

800

600

400

zs0

0 --*..--

, .* 539

* '466

c 543-"' {F'5*A-' ---.-. ---&. .45,9".

290

238

q 7

Februaru 10 -27 Februaru 2S - March 1;l- 27 I'iarch 28 - Anril Aprilll - 24 April 25 - Ii,lav 10March 13 10

-+- Frunt page .'.-S-' Inside pages ---*- Hection-related rq)or:s * . fl€lri hole

98


and senatorial (two percent) elections received scant coverage. (A single article may be inmore than one election-related category.)

Subjects

With 161 reports, the COMELEC was the most reported news subject in the 2010 electionsby the Bisaya-language dailies, lt was followed by the Liberal Party (137), the PNP (L22),Cebu governor Gwendolyn Garcia (113), Vil lar (103), Cebu City mayorTomas Osmefra (99),Aquino (93), the NP (92),Teodoro (86), and the Lakas-Kampi CMD party (82).

Jhere was a notably disproportionate share in the quantity of coverage of the incumbents amongthe candidates for Cebu s major positions.The incumbents had the publicity advantage inherentin their public functions. For example, incumbent Gwen Garcia of the One Cebu-Lakas-KampiCMD party was a news subject in 113 election-related reports while rival Davide of LB was anews subject in only 40 reporh, although almost none of the reports were biased for or againstthese news subjects. lt was a slightly different case in the rivalry forthe Cebu City South congres-sional post between Tomas Osmefra and Guardo. Osmefra was a dominant news subject, havingbeen written about in 99 reports, but nine of these reports were biased against him. Guardo wasa news subject in only 60 reports; four were in his favor,

TOTAT NUMBER OF ELECTION.REI.AIED REPORTS PER NEWSPAPER

700

600

500

400

300

200

100

0

241

&i,:s*l#-. h;lwr Preriilential r \tice-presidential s Senatorial r Farty-lilt r local s Elections in general a Local (other areas in the Philippines)

99


February 10 - May 10,2010:

COMELEC.'fwarp t1 :,' ;. ;',.",,,;,',,.:;:PNP/Police'eireia;..e ;ao$ii..'.'..,:.Villar, ManuelJr.

.O;*ana, romat ; ;',,:' t,,; ;":,,,,:,:. :

Aquino, Benigno lll

,ll; rr?:...:!. ]..Teodoro, Gilberto Jr.

rra riiniiiuo.'r,.,..Guardo, Jonathan

.diieiul d,"'';;;;.:,,,;.:.:''',','.Garcia, Alvin,nima;$icrr;;i,.',;,'.,;,.': ;..,,;B0PK-L|beral Party

February 10 - ITay 10,l: . :.:.:..::: .:: :::::':. ..... : . .' ..:. .. .. . . .' .'Villar, ManuelJr.

Aquino, Benigno llt

Teodoro, Gilbefto

*i*liia**. t .,:,,'.t:, "'Gordon, Richard

o!1ios1*q,@@iarr*.;.1,Perlas, Jesus Nicanor

viaiq6i'it.Edt '..,.r. .Madrigal, Jamby

Roxas, Manuel ll' l.l.'...''tt''

Binay, Jejomar

,' tni'$tiditrgr''ar,.Fernando, Bayani

lb:satin*blQ {.';,;,.;,:;;;,::,,;Sonza, Jose

97

73

90

52

50

55

38

49A A

4T

J4

3130

a

25

z+

'l ',,8rndt64

;; ,.:,,'16.d,':,

J2l : . . , : I t i : i t . t t f i l

:,1,,,11Q11 ,

44

55

43

52',:,,.'t ,,'41,'1,,

2 0

23

2 T

19

...1':lt' '.:,.

161

137

t22

113

103. : a . . : . : . . : : : : : . . ' . ' .

. , '1,,99;,.r : :

92

86

u i

60

54

4bl

46

4J

I .:4. :ft:i:.r irr.j:

103: . . . : . . ' :a : :

;,.rr1'9}.P.86

27

1 I. , l : : , : f ' : r ' ' r

' :,.,,,. ';,Q,,

: . . : : : : . . .

";,,,1;,.P,"4

50.r.

J4

t2o

..'.312

2L

:;.:.:.a'

53

52

,15..5

:,:,9:

.19:.,J

27

iq,4':::;',. , 't3,.0

t: i,i-it,:i

lor,:tr0r0r.l

40

2 L

8. : : : : ' : : . : . : ::,,,,',,5:,,t'"t;,1,

00

t...ld.:.,::,t100


Sebruary l0 - Mry 10,2010

Sotto, Vicente lllReviila, Rarnon Jr.Remulla, Gilbert

Hontiveros,Baraqrel, RisaEstrada, Jinggoym ,Pi.Tamano, Adeliim,,oaniloMarcos, Ferdinand Jr.

.lnan.pooc*Lapid, Manuelai*o;,nirPrl,

' '; ' ,,' ',,

Osmena, Sergio

Querubini.Ariei ' '

Drilon, Franklin

fucn iot ""1

Defensor Santiago, Miriam

'oc ;.iatumins

February 10 - W

Alliance for Nationalism and Democracy

Bagumbayan

Ang Ladlad. . : : . . . : . ' . . . : . : . . . . : : .,ALU,.TU0p.

' ' r: :, '' : ,:l

Bayan Muna

Kabataan

Themes

supq$li_tr6

5

4'. .'2."' . '

j

II

z. . . . : . . . . ., , 2 ' ,

?

z

' l t . ) , : . . a . . , .. , . i . t . . , t ,

2

z

2:,..1 _ :. ; ri ,... r-

,Ba!!4

6' , t3 , . .

.... :.. . ..?

A

J

' 2

2. ;.., . z ,

2: . . $,r :r

Total

1 1,8

7,7

6. l o

q

rh

5, .r0..

5' , 5

6

, ' a '

4

4 :

4:. :4',

5

.J

:.1,

L

I

':Bamr18

' , , : 0 I

L'. .'.1

I1

The Bisaya-language papers'coverage of the elections did not differ much from that of theCebu English dail ies in terms of themes covered.The campaign theme was also dominantin the election-related reports with 361 reports, 0r 36,6 percent of the total election-relatedreports. This was followed by personality-oriented stories (216 reports ot 2L.9t percent),(One report may belongto more than one theme.)

"Development/policy issues" was third with 178 reports (18,05 percent). These were mostlyin the form of policy and program pronouncements by candidates as a way to promote their 101


candidacies 0r, in some cases, outright press releases directlyfrom the candidate's camp. As a result, they lacked the back-ground that could have helped voters understand their conteK.The "cocKight/'he said-she said"' and "election-related violence/peace and order themes were also much in evidence, with 146reports (15 percent) and 139 reports (14 percent), respectively.

While corruption was a top issue in the English-language dailies,governance was the top issue in the Bisaya-language dailies (3 treports), followed by health (26), economy/jobs (25), corrup-tion (20), peace and order (16), poverty (14), environment (13),infrastructure (11), and education (10).

THEMES (PER MoNTToRTNG PERToD 0R MP)

Campaign

$Develo pment/ po I icy issu es

$,rElection-related violence/peace & order

'Complaints/ reports of irregu larities

,p@aOther themes,,i6{tit$g!..':,,:'.,:,Civil society and elections

1ifru r.The "Arroyo factor"

106i

64 .50481Z

4L2539 ,

19,.$

4

Backglound

Similar to the findings on English-language dailies, SuperBalita and BanatS reports weremostly provided with adequate background at 84.89 percent or 837 out of 986 election-related articles.

Fairness/balance

Cebu's two Bisaya-language newspapers were generally neutral in their treatment of elec-tion-related news, with 859 out of 986 election-related reports, or 87.L2 percent, unbi-

,to2 ased, which was slightly lower than the English-language dailies' neutrality rating of 89.15


llr:t:, :a:::a::

3 1

Healfr

Economy/jobs

Peace and order

,lwEnvironment

percent. The neutrality percentage also increasedas the campaign period progressed, seeminglyindicating a conscious effort by the newspapersto improve day to day coverage of the campaign.SuperBalita had a neutrality rate of 94 percentin its election-related reports while Banathad aneutrality rate of 79 percent.

Most of the reports (85 percent) were providedwith adequate background, but lower than theEnglish-language dailies' 94 percent which maypartly be attributed to the more limited space inthe smaller Bisaya papers.

That some of the biased reports of the Bisaya-language dailies read like press releasesdirectly from a candidate's camp was validated by the number of positively-slanted reports(84) over negatively-slanted repofts (47). (0ne report may contain a negative slant againsta news subject and a positive slanttoward another news subject.) Banat had more pos-

itively-slanted and negatively-slanted reports than SuperBalita. The number of positively-

slanted reports increased during the last two weeks of the campai$n period.

16

14 ',

I J

E

3

Victorious: Binay,who won the vicepresidency (secondfiom left) andAquino who toppedthe presidential race(third from left)

103


SLAI{T 11{ REPORTS PER PERIOD

300

250

200

150

100

,o

Februa4r 10 -27 February 28 -March 13

March 14 - 27 March 28 - April 10 April 11 - 24 April 25 - May 10

-+-Neutral -{-SIanted

SIANT IN REPORTS PER PERIOD

30

z5

20

! 3

10

5

0

t5

February 10 - 27 February 28' March 14 - 27 March ?8 - Apr i l Apr i l 11 - 24 Apr i l 25- May 1.0

..{-.Positive -.,tsNegative

March L3 1 d

104


Villar, ManuelJr.

4:

3 l

4

a

lrllili*::*lJ

The top three candidates 0r personalities who received favorable treatment in slanted re-pofts wereTeodoro (11 reports, 10 of which were in Banatl,ANAD party-list (10, eight ofwhich were in Banat), and Aquino lll (6). A negative slant was most observed on the follow-ing news subjects: Cebu City mayorTomas Osmefra (9 reports), Villar (7), the local CebuCity administration party Bando Osmeha Pundok Kauswagan-Liberal (5), and Talisay Citymayor Socrates Fernandez (4), who came under attack for his son's brushes with the law Arelatively unknown candidate for Cebu City vice mayor, Rico Palcuto, was the subject in fourreports that were positively-slanted in his favor,

,i:il:lr$:i*

Garcia, Gwendolyn

ii.:*'&t@&i:ilAquino, Benigno lll

i:lsilx2

Garcia, Alvin

Davide, Hilario l l l

Yeung, Mariquita Salimbangon

B0PK-Liberal

105

CONCLUSIONS.AND RECOMMENDATIONS tr

Chapter 9

CON CLUSI ONS AN D RECOMM.EIIDATTONS

For Gongress

o Because having multiple presidential candidates, such as those who ran in 2010,makes it difficult for anyone to get a strong electoral mandate, the number of candi-dates should be more strictly regulated so as t0 eliminate those who have no capacityto launch a national campaign or are obviously using the election campaign only as apersonal platform. This may involve legislation or additional criteria in the COMELEC'slist of candidate qualif ications.

o There is also a need for legislation t0 ensure the election of the president and vicepresident from the same party to prevent the usual problems (among them the vicepresident's ending up merely as a president in waiting) associated with the election ofthese officials from different and even contending parties.

o The Fair Election Act needs to be amended to rescue it from the changing and seem-ingly whimsical interpretation of its provisions by the C0MELEC, which from election toelection has been issuing implementing rules and regulations as companions of theAct,

,, In 2007 , for example, the COMELEC declared that the 12O-minute W airtime limitfor adveftisements specified in the Act referred to the total airtime expended byeach candidate across all W networks. This year, however, the COMELEC revisedthat interpretation to mean that each candidate is entitled to 120 minutes of TVairtime ads per station.

107


e In addition to clarifying what that particular provision means, the Act should also beamended t0 once and for all specify whether a candidate, even after reaching theairtime limit forW ads (whatever it is), may continue to appear in ads purportedlypaid for by his or her political party, supporters, or other candidates in his or herparty.

The premature campaigningthatso obviously characterized the 2010 campaign shouldalso be addressed through an amendment to the Act that would include in the categoryof premature campaigning all advertising that, by keeping a candidate in the public eyeand mind, amount to campaigning for that candidate,

For the media

It is necessary for media organizations to provide periodic, in-depth discussions of thesignificance of an electoral exercise in strengthening democracy. A regular and popularpresentation of the party-list law and the Fair Election Act as a campaign period nears,for example, would go a long way in educating the voters, Repetitive messages do notnecessarily have to be boring and may in fact help in better informing media audi-ences.

Even if election campaigns are personality-based, the media could help raise the levelof discourse by refusing to publish or air news mainly characterized by character assas-sination or unverified, partisan claims and accusations. The media could also expresstheir preference for political advertisements that address issues, propose solutionsand/or discuss policy options.

Media organizati0ns could be more transparent to their audiences by disclosing, im-mediately after the end of the election campaign, the income they earned from po-litical advertisements. The media could also disclose who or what gr0up paid for theadvertisements they aired or printed. The media could thus help in making candidatesand political pafties accountable to the people as to how much and for what purposescampaign funds were spent, in addition to helping verify the campaign expense reportpolitical parties are required to file with the C0MELEC.

NBN-4's Teledyaryo's reportage this year, as in past years, reflected government me-dia's skewed concept of public information, which is obviously thought to be synony-mous with bias for administration candidates, and with government propaganda whichpermits little or no coverage of opposing views. These assumptions have informed thegovernment media and information system since the Marcos period.

Government-owned and controlled media organizations like NBN-4 need to seriouslyredefine public information as a service to provide the citizenry information that mat-ters to it as the decision-maker in a democracy. An administration truly accountable tothe people should be able to air in the government network information that may not108

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS tr

be favorable to an incumbent administration or even president, but to which the publicis nevertheless entitled as part of the total picture of governance and society. But pastadministrations have a concept of public information closer to public relations in behalfof incumbent officials rather than information about government policies, plans, andactions as well as discussions over their validity and wisdom,

The last can only be realized by opening the government media system to diverse views,which in turn is premised on its independence. But achieving that independence ispossible only with financial independence, thus the need to seriously study options thatcan assure the government media system funding sources, perhaps from a legislatedshare of the taxes imposed on W and radio sales.

CMFR reiterates its 2004 and 2007 recommendations for the media to cover the party-list elections more thoroughly towards educating voters as to its significance in thecontext of addressing the flaws of Philippine representative democracy.

While the media duly covered the controversies over mass confusion and the COMELEC'sown, admitted cluelessness over the meaning of "marginalized" as a result of ques-tions over the legitimacy of certain party-list groups and/or their nominees, they did notuse the opportunity to provide the citizenry information on such basics of the party-listsystem as why it has been put in place, and what the letter as well as spirit of the Con-stitutional provision and law mean.

By the same token, the media during presidential elections need to devote some oftheir energies to the vice-presidential and senatorial campaigns, given the vice presi-dent's being the second highest official of the land who, in the event of the President'sincapacity or death, could assume the presidency, and the Senate's being both theother half of the law-making body of the Republic as well as the source of most of thecountry's candidates for president. Given the focus on the presidential campaign,this will require pro-active effort by the media to direct electorate attention to thesecampaigns in the same way that they need to transcend the electorate's focus 0n thepresidential cam paign.

Much of the reporting on the campaign sorties tended to be repetitive, with their focuson what the candidates said, where they said it, etc.The public can bear only so muchrepetition. But reporting on the campaign trail does not have to be solely event-orient-ed, Journalists could strike outto proactively identify local issues and concerns so theycanbeinformedenoughto askcandidatesrunningfornat ionalof f iceshowtheywouldaddress these issues, which usually have national implications 0nce they're elected,thus helping raise the level of discourse during election campaigns rather than limitingit to the usual motherhood questions and statements.

Modern technology has enabled media organizations to obtain information from varioussources during election campaigns. While there is nothing wrong in quoting from social

109


networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, information from them need to be verified.The public deserves to know how the media select their cyber sources so that socialmedia users can more effectively participate in the discussions on the campaign.

The same care is needed when engaging in crowd-sourcing by soliciting photographsand videos from ordinary citizens who have mobile phones, among other devices. ltis not enough for media to state how they could send the materials. News segmentsdevoted to the purpose could orient interested individuals and groups on how to ef-fectively become "citizen journalists" as well as with the standards they should observe,among them such basic protocols as providing basic information (e.9., date, place,time, personalities involved) on the photographs and video clips that they record andtransmit to the networks.

ABS-CBN 2 network did train its "Boto Mo, lpatrol Mo" citizen patrollers before the startof the election campaign,This initiative could be replicated and sustained by media or-ganizations beyond as well as during election campaigns as a means to raise the medialiteracy levels of the citizenry, which could then use its appreciation of the media, theirrole, values and standards, in monitoring media performance,

Voter education efforts should be reassessed especially since there was scant coverageof the senatorial and party-list elections, There is an obvious need for voter educationto emphasize the importance of other elective offices in addition to the focus on thepresidential campaign during elections.

The role of radio blocKimers, particularly those funded by political candidates and gov-ernment agencies, should be studied towards devising appropriated means for KBP toregulate them, During a CMFR roundtable discussion on Jan. L6,2010, the journalistswho attended urged KBP to compel its member-organizations to clearly identify whichprograms are paid for by political candidates.

1 1 0

LIST OF CANDIDATES tr

IIST OF CANDIDATES(BASED 0N IHE oFFrCrAr UST 0FTHE CoMMTSSToN 0N ETECTToNS)

Presidentialo Acosta, Vetellano "Dodong" Seinez (KBL)o Aquino, Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" l l l Cojuangco (LP)r De los Reyes, John Carlos "JC" Gordon (AKP)o Estrada Ejercito,Joseph "Erap" Marcelo (PMP)o Gordon, Richard "Dick" (B.Bayan-VNP)o Madrigal, Ma. Ana Consuelo "Jamby" AS (lnd)r Perlas, Jesus Nicanor "Nick" Pineda (lnd)o Teodoro, Gilberto Jr, "Gibo" Cojuangco (Lakas-Kampi)o Vil lanueva, Eduardo "Bro. Eddie" Cruz (BP)o Vi l lar , ManuelJr. "Manny" Bamba (NP)

Vice-presidentialo Binay, Jejomar "Jojo" Cabauatan (PDP-Laban)o Chipeco, DominadorJr, "Jun" Fuentecil la (AKP)o Fernando, Bayani "BF" Flores (B.Bayan-VNP)o Legarda, Loren "Loren" Bautista (NPC)o Manzano, Eduardo "Edu" Barrios (Lakas-Kampi)o Roxas, Manuel "Mar" Araneta (LP)o Sonza, Jose "Jay Sonza" Yumang (KBL)o Yasay, Perfecto "Kidlat" Rivas (BP)

Senatorialo Acosta Jr,, Nereus "Neric" 0laivar (LP)o Albani, Shariff lbrahim "Shariff ' Hussien (KBL)o Alonto, Zafrullah "Noldy" Marohombsar (BP)o Bautista, J.V. "J.V. Bautista" Larion (PMP)o Bautista, Martin Donato (lnd)r Bello, Silvestre l l l "Bebot" Hernando (Lakas-Kampi)o Biazon, Rozano Rufino "Ruffy" Bunoan (LP)o Bong Revil la, Ramon. Jr. "Kap" Bautista (Lakas-Kampi)o Caunan, Henry Buenaventura (PDP Laban)o Cayetano, PilarJuliana "Pia" Schramm (NP)o David, Rizalito "Lito"Yap (AKP)o De Venecia, Jose lll "Joey" Perezo Defensor Santiago, Miriam Palma (PRP)o Drilon, Franklin "Frank" Magtunao (LP)o Enrile, Juan Ponce "JPE" (PMP)o Espinosa, Nanette "Ate Nanette" Meliton (KBL)o Estrada, Jinggoy Ejercito (PMP)

111


. Guico, Ramon Jr. "Gets ko" Naval (Lakas-Kampi)o Guingona,Teofisto lll "TG" de lara (LP)o Hontiveros-Baraquel, Ana Theresia "Risa H." (LP)o lmbong, Jo Aurea "Ate Jo" Marcos (AKP)o Inocencio, Ma, Katherine "Kata" L. Reyes (BP)o Lacson, Alexander "Pinoy" Ledesma (LP)o Lambino, Raul Loyola (Lakas-Kampi)r Langit, Rey Magat (Lakas-Kampi)o Lao,Yasmin "Yas" Busran (LP)o Lapid, Manuel "Lito" Mercado (Lakas-Kampi)o Lim, Danilo "General Danny" dela Puz (lnd)o Lood, Alma "Alma" Abella (KBL)r Lozada, Jose Apolinario Jr. "Jun" Leconia (PMP)o Maambong, Regalado "Dodong" Estrella (KBL)r Marcos, Ferdinand Jr. "Bongbong" Romualdez (NP)o Maza,Liza"Liza Maza ng Gabriela" Largoza (lnd)o Mitra, Ramon "Mon-mon" Blanco (NP)r Nikabulin, Adz "Count Habis" Ganih (BP)o Ocampo, Ramoncito "Monching" Poblete (BP)o Ocampo, Saturnino "Satur" Cunanan (Bayan Muna)r Ople, Susan uTootsu Vasquez (NP)o Osmefra, Emilio Mario "Promdi" Renner (Promdi)o Osmefra, Sergio l l l "Serge" de la Rama (lnd)o Palparan, Jovito Jr. "Jovi" Salvafra (lnd)o Papin, lmelda "lmelda Papin" Arcil la (KBL)o Paredes, Zosimo Jesus ll "Jess" Mendoza (AKP)o Pimentel, Gwendolyn "Gwen" de la Llana (PDP Laban)o Plaza, Rodolfo "0mpong" Galido (NPC)r Princesa, Reynaldo "Prince" Relucio (lnd)o Querubin,Ariel "Marines" Oliva (NP)o Recto, Ralph Gonzalez (LP)o Remulla, Gilbert Cesar Catibayan (NP)r Rifroza-Plazo, Maria Gracia "Grace" de Veas (ALP)o Roco, Sonia "Son" Malasarte (LP)o Sison, Adrian 0rdonez (AKP)o Sotto, Vicente lll "Tito" Castelo (NPC)o Tamano, Adel Abbas (NP)o Tamayo, Reginald "Regie" Balisi (AKP)o Tarrazona, Hector "Tatzan" Mirasol (AKP)o Tatad, Francisco "Kit" Sarmiento (GAD)o Tinsay,Alexander "AlexTinsay" Britanico (BP)o Valdehuesa, ManuelJr. "Manny" Echem (AKP)o Villanueva, Hector "Ka Hector" Labao (KBL)o Virgines, lsrael "Dr. lsrael" Nicolas (BP)

112


Pafty-listo 1-Aangat ka Pil ipino (1-AK)o l-Aani (I-AANI)o l-Ako BabaengAstigAasenso (1-ABAA)o lGuardians Nationalist of the Phil ippines, Inc. (lGANAP/GUARDIANS)o 1st Consumers Alliance for Rural Energy (I-CARE)o lst Kabalikat ng Bayan Ginhawang Sangkatauhan (1ST MBAGIS)o l-United Transport Koalisyon (I-UTAK)o Reyes, Angelo (1-United Transport Koalisyon (1-UTAK))r A Blessed Federation of Farmers and Fishermen International Inc.

(A BLESSED PARTY-LISDo A Convergence for Mindanao Agenda, Inc. (ACMA)r Aabante Emmanuel CivicAssociation (Emmanuel)o AangatTayo (AT)o Abakada Guro (ABAMDA)o Abang Lingkod,Inc. (ABANG LINGKOD)o Abante Bicol 0ragon Inc. (AB0)o Abanre llongo (ABA |LONGGO)r Abante Katutubo, Inc. (ABANTE KA)o Abante Mindanao, Inc. (ABAMIN)o Abante Tribung Makabansa (ATM)r Abono (AB0N0)o AbotTanaw (ABOTTANAW)o ActTeachers (ACTTEACHERS)o Action Brotherhood forActive Dreamers, lnc. (ABROAD)o Action for Democracy and Development for-The Tribal People (ADD-TRIBAL)o Action for Dynamic Development, lnc. (ADD)o Action League of Indigenous Masses (ALIM)o Adhikain at Kilusan ng OrdinaryongTao para sa Lupa, Hanapbuhay at Kaunlaran

(AKO BAHAY)o Adhikain ng mga Dakilang Anak Maharlika (ADAM)o AdhikaingAlay ng Marino sa Sambayanan, Inc. (ALON)r AdhikaingTinataguyod ng Kooperatiba (ATING K00P)o Advocacy forTeacher Empowerment through Action Cooperation and Harmony towards

Educational Reforms (A TEACHER)r Advocates for Penology Enhancement and LegalAssistance (APEI-A)r Advocates for Special Children and Handicapped Movement (ASAHAN M0)o Agapay ng Indigenous Peoples Rights Alliance, Inc. (A-IPRA)o Agbiag! Timpuyog llocano, Inc. (AGBIAG)o Agila ng Katutubong Pilipino, Inc. (AGll-A)o Agrarian DevelopmentAssociation (ADA)o Agri-agra na Reporma para sa Magsasaka ng Pilipinas Movement (AGRI)o Agricultural SectorAlliance of the Philippines, Inc. (AGAP)

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o Ahon Pinoy (AH0N)o Akap Bata, Inc. (AKAP BATA)o Akap Kapatiran para sa Tangkilikan ng mga Obrero (AKAPTAO)o Akbay Kalusugan, Inc. (AK)o Akbay Pinoy 0FW-National, Inc. (APOI)o Akbayan! Citizen'sAction Party (AKBAYAN)o Ako Agila sa Nagkaisang Magsasaka Ako (AGILA)o Ako Ayoko sa Bawal na Droga (AK0)o Ako Bicol Political Party (AKB)o Aksyon Magsasaka PartidoTinig ng Masa (AKMA-PTM)o Aksyon ng Mamamayang Nagkakaisa (AMANA)o Alagaan Natin Ating Kalusugan (ANAKALUSUGAN)o Alagad Party-list (ALAGAD)o Alay Buhay Community Development Foundation, Inc. (ALAY BUHAY)r Alay sa Bayan ng Malayang Propesyonal at Repormang Kalakal (ABAY PARAK)o Alay Serbisyo (Workers in the Informal Sector Economy) (AS)o Alliance and Advocates for Senior Citizens'Affairs (AASCA)o Alliance for Barangay Concerns Party (ABC)o Alliance for Community Transformation and Service (ACTS)o All iance for Nationalism and Democracy (ANAD)o Alliance for Rural and Agrarian Reconstruction, Inc, (ARARO)o All iance for Rural Concerns (ARC)o All iance for Phil ippines Security Guards Cooperative (AFPSEGC0)o Alliance of Advocates in MiningAdvancement for National Progress (AAMA)o Alliance of Associations of Accredited Workers in the Water Sector

( 1-TU BrG) (FORMERLY AAWAS)o All iance of Believers Bridge in AttainingAccurate and MeaningfulAdvancement

(ABBA-AMA)o All iance of Bicolnon Party (ABP-BICOLNON)o All iance of Mindanao Elders (AME)o Alliance of National Urban Poor Organizations Assembly, Inc. (ANUPA)o Alliance of Nationalistic and Genuine Program for Agricultural Development towards

Economic Reform (ANG PADER)o Alliance of People's 0rganizations (AP0)o Alliance of Regional Coalitions against People's Poverty, Inc. (ARCAPP)r Alliance of Vigilant Protectors of Aquatic Products (AVPAP)r Alliance of Volunteer Educators (AVE)o Alliance Transport Sector (ATS)o Alma sa Pagkahikaos at lgnoransiya (ALMA)o Alyansa Lumad Mindanao, Inc. (ALLUMAD)o Alyansa Lumad, Inc. (ALUM)r Alyansa ng Mamamayang Naghihirap (ALMANA)o Alyansa ng Media at Showbiz (AMS)o Alyansa ng mga Grupong Haligi ngAgham atTeknolohiya para sa Mamamayan, Inc.

114 (AGHAM)-


o Alyansa ng mga Naulila ng mga Tagapaganggot ng Bayan (ALNA)o Alyansa ng OFW Parry (ALYANSA NG OFW)o Alyansang Bayanihan ng mga Magsasaka, Manggagawang-Bukid at Mangingisda

(ABA)o An Waray (AN WARAY)o Anak Mindanao (AMIN)o Anakpawis(ANAKPAWIS)r AngAgrikultura Natin lsulong (AANt)o AngAsosasyon Sang Mangunguma Nga Bisaya-Owa Mangunguma, Inc.

(AAMBTS-oWA)r Ang Assosiasyon ng mga Trabahador at pahinante (ANG TRABAHANTE)o Ang Galing Pinoy (AG)o Arroyo, Juan Miguel (Ang Gating Pinoy (AG))o Ang Kalusugan para sa Pinoy, Inc. (AKAP)o Ang Kapisanan ng mga Seaman (AKSI)o Ang Laban ng Indigong Fil ipino (ALtF)r Ang Ladlad LBGT Party (ANG LADLAD)o Ang Mata'y Alagaan (AMA)o Ang National Coalition on Indigenous People's Action (ANG NlCp)o Ang Partido Demokratiko Rural (ANG PDR)o Ang Samahan para sa Magandang Kabuhayan (ANG SAMAKA)o AngTagapagaguyod ng Sikap sa lkauuntad ng mga pinoy (ANG TStNOy)r AngTao Muna at Bayan (ATAMBAY)o AngatAting Kabuhayan Pil ipinas, Inc, (ANAK)o Angkan Katutubo, Inc. (AKl)o AntiWar/ AntiTenor Mindanao Peace Movement (AWAT)o Arts Business and Science Professionals (ABS)r Asosasyon ng mga Maliliit na Negosyanteng Gumaganap (AMANG)o Association for Righteousness Advocay in Leadership (ARAL)o Association of Administrators, Professionals and Seniors (AApS)r Association of Laboren and Employees (ALE)o Association of Philippine Electric Cooperatives (ApEC)r Atong Paglaum (ATONG PAGLAUM)o Babae para sa Kaunlaran (BABAE M)o Bago National Culturat Society of the phitippines (BAG0)o Bagong Bayan na Nagtataguyod ng Demokratikong ldeolohiya at Layunin (BANDILA)r Bagong Henerasyon (BH)o Bagong Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang samahan sa sektor ngliansportasyon

(BANG0N TRANSP0RT)o Barangay Natin (BANAT)o Batang lwas sa Droga Foundation, Inc. (BIDA)o Bayan Muna (BAYAN MUNA)o Bayani (BAYANI)o Bigkis Pinoy Movement (BlGKtS)

11s


. Binhi: Partido ng mga Magsasaka para sa mga Magsasaka (BlNHl)o Binigkis na Interes ng mga Drayber sa Adhikain, Inc. (BIDA)r Biyaheng Pinoy LaborAssociation, Inc. (BIYAHENG PINOY)o Biyayang Bukid (BUKID)o Buhay HayaanYumabong (BUHAY)o Butil Farmers Party (BUTIL)o Champions for Innovative Employment (CHlN0Y)r Citizen Power Movement, Inc, (CPM)o Citizens' Battle against Corruption (CIBAC)o Coalit ion of Associations of Senior Citizens in the Phil ippines, Inc. (SENlOR CITIZENS)o Cocofed-Philippine Coconut Producers Federation, Inc. (COCOFED)o Coconut FarmersAssociation of Linamon, Lanao Del Norte, Inc. (COFA)o Confederation of Non-Stock Savings and Loan Associations, Inc. (CONS|A)o Cooperative Natcco Network Party (C00P-NATCC0)o Damayan All iance of the Aging & Disabled Fil ipinos, Inc. (DAMAYAN)o Democratic IndependentWorkers' Association, Inc. (DIWA)o Fil ipino Muslim Organization (FlL-MUS)o Firm 24-KAssociation, Inc. Firm (24-K)o First People's Representative For Indigent StudentAthletes (lst PRISA)o Free Workers (FFW)o Gabriela Womens Party (GABRIELA)o l lagan, Luz (GABRIELA)o Maza, Liza (GABRIELA)o Green Force forthe Environment-Sons and Daughters of Mother Earth (GREEN FORCE)o ltenerant Vendors All iance of the Phil ippines (IVAP)o Kababaihang Lingkod Bayan sa Pil ipinas (KLBP)o Kabalikat ng Mamamayan (KABAYAN)r Kabataan Partylist (KABATAAN)o Kabukluran ng mga Kababaihang Fil ipina saTimog Katagalugan (BUKLOD FILIPINA)o Kalahi sectoral Pafty (MLAHI)r Kalinga-Advocacy for Social Empowerment and Nation Building through Easing

Poverty,Inc. (MLINGA)o Kapatiran ng mga Nakulong na Walang Sala (MKUSA)o KasangSa sa Kaunlaran, Inc. (ANG MSANGGA)o Kasosyo Producer-Consumer Exchange Association, Inc. (AA-MSOSYO PARTY)o Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan All Filipino Democratic Movement (MAKBAY)o Katribu Indigenous People's Sectoral Pafty (KATRIBU)o Kaunlaran ng Agrikultura, Asensadong Probinsya Angat ng Bayan (KAAGAPAY)o Koalisyon ng Katutubong Samahan ng Pil ipinas (KASAPI)o LPG Marketers Association, Inc. (LPGMA)o National Council for Commuters Protection (NCCP)o One Advocacy for Health, Progress and Opportunity (I-AHAPO)o One Nation Empowered byTechnology (l-NEl)

116

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6rganization of RegionalAdvocates for Good Governance Onward Nation-Building(0RAG0N)Pamilyang OM-SME Network Foundation (0P0)Parents Enabling Parents Coalition Party (PEP)Partido ng Katutubong Pilipino (MTUTUB0)Partido ng Manggagawa (PM)Pasang Masda Nationwide, Inc. (PM)Peoples Freedom PartY (PFP)Pilipino Association for Country - Urban-PoorYouth Advancement and Welfare(PACYAW)Pro-Active on Climate Change Leaders, Inc. (PCL)Puwersa ng BayaningAtleta (PBA)Sagip Kapwa Foundation, Inc. (SAGIP)Sectoral Party of Ang Minero (ANG MINERO)Small Farmers and Land Tillers Association of the Philippines (SABQD)

Social Movement for Active Reform and Transparency (SMART)

Sulong! Barangay Movement (SB)TheTrue Marcos Loyalist (For God Country & People) Association 0f The Phil', lnc.

(BANTAnTrade Union Congress PartY (TUCP)Ugnayan ng Nagkakaisang Layunin atAdhikaing Dakila (UNLAD PILIPINAS)

Una ang Pamilya Formerly Alliance of Neo-Conservatives(1 ANG PAMILYA FoRMERLY ANC)United Caddies and Green Keepers Association of the Philippines (UCAP)

United Filipino Seafarers (UFS)United MovementAgainst Drugs Foundation, Inc. (UNI-MAD)Vendors and Traders Alliance of Philippines Party (VENDQRS PARTY LIST)

Veterans Freedom Party (VFP)Womenpower, I nc. (WOMENPOWER)Yes We Can, Inc. (YES WE CAN)You Against Conuption and Poverty (YACAP)Youth League for Peace and Advancement (LYPAD)

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ABOUTTHE CENTER FOR MEDIA FREEDOM AND RESPONSIBILITY tr

ABOUTTHE CENTER FOR MEDIA FREEDOM AND RESPONSIBITITY

The Center for Media Freedom & Responsibility (CMFR) addresses one of the critical con-cerns in the post-Marcos era. That concern calls attention to the power of the media andthe role of the free press in the development of Philippine democracy.

All over the world, press freedom has been essential to the democratic system. Effectiveparticipatory government is possible only when it can count on a well-informed societywhere individuals freely exchange ideas, and public debate and discussion arise from aknowledge and understanding of national affairs,

That freedom involves not only media professionals, but also the public served by themedia-public officials, the private sector, civil society, readers, viewers, and listeners-whoreceive information and are part of the cycle of public communication. But freedom of thepress, l ike all l iberties, has its l imits, forthe simple reason that it is vulnerable to abuse.

Democratic recovery confronts serious obstacles on the media front. The press and the me-dia need to exert special efforts to measure up as a collective vehicle of information, andas an instrument for clarifying the complex issues and dilemmas of development that thepublic should understand.

Against this background, CMFR was organized in 1989 as a private, non-stock, non-profitorganization involving the different sectors of society in the task of building up the press andnews media as a pillar of democratic society, lts programs uphold press freedom, promoteresponsible jou rna lism, a nd encou rage jou rna listic excel lence.

0bjectives

o To protect journalists and press freedomo To establish a framework of responsibility and ethics in the practice of the presso To raise levels of competence for coverage of special areas of newsr To promote journalistic excellenceo To engage different sectors of society in the growth of a quality press in the

Phil ippines

www.cmfr-phil.org

1',|9

Documents

The CMFR Monitor of the News Media Coverage of the 2010 Campaign and Elections