A Tale of Two TMs

By Andrew Jonathan S. Bagaoisan

Halalan 2013 Maguindanao Log 2. (Read the first log here)

COTABATO CITY—In Mindanao, this was one bout to watch. Symbolic in many ways, the battle for the governorship of Maguindanao tested the new political climate of the province after 2010.

The two contenders were former political allies, mounted together during the previous election to fight the Ampatuans. They are even related by blood.

Datu Tucao Mastura, mayor of Sultan Kudarat town (not to be confused with the province) a few kilometers north of Cotabato City, is the uncle of re-electionist Gov. Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu. A “distant” one though, Mastura clarifies.

Mastura, the elder and a “kingmaker” in the province, supported Mangudadatu’s bid in 2010. Mastura even fielded his nephew Dustin as Mangudadatu’s running mate and acted as campaign manager.

But strained relations and supposedly broken promises during Mangudadatu’s first term parted the two.

(Shots by Mores Heramis & Gani Taoatao)

Tucao Mastura was the provincial chair of the Liberal Party in 2010 when Toto Mangudadatu ran under Lakas-Kampi-CMD. Mangudadatu and other local leaders later trooped to the LP. Following differences, Mastura bolted and ran under the opposition United Nationalist Alliance (UNA).

Like other high-profile head-to-heads this election, no words were minced as the two attacked each other and dredged up past offenses. The row reached the national awareness with ABS-CBN’s KampanyaSerye documentaries.

Both accused each other of coddling the Ampatuans. Mastura said Mangudadatu reneged on his campaign pledge to bring back the provincial capital to Sultan Kudarat town and then left Mastura and company in the air.

Mangudadatu countered that Mastura power-tripped even with no position, acting as governor by approving or killing projects. He claimed the Masturas such as his vice-governor were maligning him and hindering his initiatives.

Simultaneous meetings de avance. (Shots by Gani Taoatao & Mores Heramis)

If anything, the exchange of diatribes reflected how candidates could openly speak and campaign in Maguindanao this time around.

Not far behind though are allegations of back-handed violence between both camps, who signed a peace covenant months before.

Both charged the other of masterminding killings. When a grenade was thrown at the house of Mastura’s mayoral candidate in a Mangudadatu bailiwick, the former blamed the latter. Late in the campaign, a fire razed the Liberal Party headquarters in Sultan Kudarat town. The owners of the property claimed they were threatened previously by Mastura’s men. No incident was conclusively linked to either candidate.

Yet beyond that, the verbal war hardly became violent.

The barbs leveled off two days before the polls, as Mastura and Mangudadatu simultaneously held packed meetings de avance in their home towns.

Toto Mangudadatu and his children at the LP meeting de avance. (Shot by Gani Taoatao, ABS-CBN News)

Amid long, winding speeches by local candidates, the standard-bearers appealed to each other to lay off the personal attacks.

Halfway through Mangudadatu’s event in Buluan, one of his daughters took the podium. As her siblings sat with their father nearby, she broke down to tears asking her “Lolo Tucao” to stop saying that Toto risked the life of his wife Genalyn in 2009. Genalyn’s fateful trip to file Toto’s candidacy ended in the Maguindanao massacre.

Asked by reporters after, Toto Mangudadatu said his children were hurt hearing the insinuations and wanted to speak out. He urged his rival to focus on his platforms and achievements instead.

Up north, Tucao Mastura told our news team the same message for Mangudadatu: act professional and stop hurling false charges. It was the end of the campaign anyway so it was best to tone down, he said.

Top: A child at the audience of Mastura’s meeting de avance; Bottom: Toto Mangudadatu’s son, Buluan vice mayor Datu King Jhazzer speaks at the LP event. (Shots by Mores Heramis & Anjo Bagaoisan)

It all ended in a tumult of cheers at the hall of the Shariff Kabunsuan Cultural Complex here in Cotabato City on May 15. The hall, part of the ARMM Governor’s compound, was where the provincial Comelec met to canvass the results.

Three remaining towns had yet to transmit their votes that afternoon: Northern Kabuntalan, Gen. Salipada K. Pendatun, and Sultan Kudarat. Mangudadatu had now comfortably led Mastura by 90,000 votes. He already arrived there from Buluan in an armored tank awaiting his apparent proclamation.

But it took hours persuading the Board of Canvassers to lower the limit for calling the election. In the end, the Comelec agreed that even if all registered voters in the three municipalities voted for Mastura, it would not be enough to beat Mangudadatu.

UNA attorneys there raised no objections. Mastura was absent, but he told a news crew that his camp planned to file an electoral protest.

The stage was crowded as the board finally raised the hands of Mangudadatu and his running mate Lester Sinsuat before midnight.

(Shot by Gani Taoatao, ABS-CBN News)

After Mangudadatu’s other party mates and relatives were proclaimed, he called on the rest of his family and supporters to the stage for picture taking. An elderly man approached and shook his hand, prompting Mangudadatu to embrace him. It was Datu Midpantao Midtimbang, one of Mangudadatu’s gubernatorial rivals in 2010 and Mastura’s party mate.

Interviewed before his proclamation, Toto Mangudadatu clearly wanted to change the post-election rhetoric.

He told Jorge Cariño: “I myself will find a way for us to reconcile.”

Then, to other reporters he aired an apology to Mastura for any hurtful words he might have said. “It was just because of the election.”

Now that the Maguindanaoans have chosen, this election will hardly be the last we will hear of Tucao Mastura, patriarch of one of Maguindanao’s powerful and influential clans.

But as the tide of politics here changed in the past three years, the next three will tell if these two TMs will find themselves on the same side again.

Holding up Peace signs for the cameras: Vice Gov Lester Sinsuat, Gov Toto Mangudadatu, and Rep. Zajid Mangudadatu (Shot by Anjo Bagaoisan)

Wanted in Maguindanao: Hassle-less elections

By Andrew Jonathan S. Bagaoisan

2013 campaign posters in Buluan (Shot by Anjo Bagaoisan)

BULUAN, MAGUINDANAO–The rural air is occasionally broken by blaring music. It’s different from the familiar amplified chants calling Muslims to prayer five times a day. The sources of the music: roving rented mini-pickups packed with speakers and dressed in campaign posters.

One vehicle plays a down-tempo, pop tune repeating the nickname of a provincial candidate as a chorus. Another passes by moments later, blasting a rap-style song in Maguindanaoan extolling the virtues of another candidate.

It’s my second election coverage here in Maguindanao. With me are the same reporter, a few same crew mates, and some newbies to this election hotspot. Some elements have changed in three years, the sound of campaign jingles one pleasant surprise.

Our set up at the Maguindanao provincial satellite office in Buluan (Shot by Anjo Bagaoisan)

Our haunts have changed too, mirroring the changes in local politics. Since we arrived, we’ve set up our live point outside the Rajah Buayan Silongan Peace Center here in Buluan–the de facto capitol building which was not around in 2010.

Last election, we were stationed outside the provincial complex in capital Shariff Aguak. The capitol there is still imposing but unoccupied. The compound’s sole tenants are a brigade of soldiers.

We merely pass by Shariff Aguak on our two-to-three-hour trips from Cotabato City. The standout mansions of the Ampatuans still loom near the capitol, yet even this bailiwick of the clan seems less hushed than it looked before. More residents roam the town center, and the campaign posters are more varied.

Thoughts of a first-time media absentee voter

By Andrew Jonathan S. Bagaoisan

Last day of absentee voting (Shot by Edgar Soberano, ABS-CBN News)

I stared at the list I jotted down on a sheet of grade-school-ruled pad, asking myself if I was ready to take the plunge.

I had a nagging feeling–second thoughts even–to be sure. I was casting my vote for the first time, and this list of candidates for senator and party-list was my assurance that my first time was being done right.

The list was a digital one at first–a rough draft sitting on my laptop. When I learned in February that media workers like me could vote earlier, I hurriedly listed names that had the best chance of getting my vote.

I only went back to the list the day before, April 28. The three-day period of local absentee voting (LAV) for soldiers, police officers, civil servants and the media had already begun.

This mini-Election Day felt like a final exam. I went through a review, scanning the profiles of the 34 senatorial bets on the Halalan 2013 web sites of ABS-CBN News and of the University of the Philippines.

I watched the final leg of the Harapan TV debates. I shuffled my digital list as the candidates faced the nation. I thought I wouldn’t complete my Magic 12. But after Harapan, I was already weighing who to retain or replace in an already-full lineup.

(Shot by Chito Concepcion)

I had already covered a national election in 2010. Assigned out of town, I, like most of my colleagues could not vote. Thankfully, my registration remained active when the Comelec approved a petition to include members of media in the absentee vote.

This time, I had to grab the chance. Voting was one right—and duty—I did not miss out on, even as a student voting for the school council or for national candidates in mock university polls.

The Bookshelf: Great expectations, great discontent

By Andrew Jonathan S. Bagaoisan

Who doesn’t want instant fortune? The rags-to-riches dream is so ingrained in popular culture we spot it from game shows to get-rich-quick schemes. One ‘90s Hollywood movie where Nicolas Cage and Bridget Fonda split a lottery ticket as a tip puts it this way: “It Could Happen To You”. What if it did?

That’s the surprise that met Pip. An orphan raised by his domineering sister and her blacksmith husband, the teenage Pip one day learns he has “come into fortune”.

The catch–Pip cannot know who the source of his fortune is until his benefactor says so.

Pip’s self-told story takes him from the foggy marshes of Kent to the seedy apartments of 1800s London, where he tries to shut out his erstwhile life and pursue his dream of becoming a gentleman.

Still, the past catches up with him through the characters he meets in the city–each holding connections to his childhood. Some have never left his mind–most especially Estella, Pip’s unrequited childhood love.

But Pip’s supposedly-unlimited fortune slowly alters him and how he treats those close to him. Only his devotion to the indifferent Estella grows, fed by a notion that her hand is part of his “expectations”.

Then his patron shows up one night.

Charles Dickens first released “Great Expectations” in weekly installments over nearly nine months. It explains the novel’s length and the plot’s intriguing twists and turns.

Dickens relies heavily on descriptive scene-setting to transit us between acts. But it can go too far for the 21st-century non-native English speaker, who has to read aloud through many an “accented” dialogue.

Writing style aside, he weaves a classic morality tale of how wealth can corrupt and how gaining the world never guarantees satisfaction.

We watch Pip trickle then tumble down, wondering if he’ll turn back. Yet he narrates with a certain naïveté that you think he remains the child who was terrified by an escaped convict at the beginning. I had to visualize him a little older as the chapters progressed. But even early on he describes his surroundings with a measure of wit and irreverence mature for his years.

While Pip is faulty and can be stubborn to change, we feel for him and take his side. And no other aspect of his story makes the reader relate to him more than his feelings for Estella.

Pip and Miss Havisham, played by Helena Bonham Carter in the most recent movie version (Courtesy Telegraph.co.uk)

“Great Expectations” also hits at the reality of love’s expectations. Case in point: Estella’s guardian Miss Havisham, a rich old spinster embittered by a lover’s deceit. Under her influence, Estella grows up to spurn Pip’s unwavering affections.

Pip’s other relationships have bright sides nonetheless. We admire friends like Joe, Biddy, Wemmick, and Herbert, who stay behind him through his slips and slumps. Amid the restlessness and uncertainty of Pip’s future, their scenes also lead us to smile, chuckle, even shed a happy tear.

They make us trust that second chances are possible. And we hang on to see if these chances happen in the end. They can be a fresh start at making a living, a chance to love again, or a redemption from past wrong.

Like Pip, his friends, and their “great expectations”, our own collective discontent is a hint at something better ahead.

(I read the free e-text version of the book at Project Gutenberg. Get it here.)

*Past bookshelf reviews:

• “A Tale of Two Cities“
• Intro to Christie
• Agatha Christie’s heroines

The President campaigns in Maguindanao

By Andrew Jonathan S. Bagaoisan

BULUAN, MAGUINDANAO—Things were different when the previous sitting President last visited this province.

Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s low-profile stop at Shariff Aguak, the capital of Maguindanao, late in March 2009 was hardly note-worthy and routine at most.

On her itinerary was a briefing on the Solid Waste Management Program in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and a ribbon-cutting at the newly-built P218-million provincial capitol complex.

The photo-ops of Arroyo and her hosts, the Ampatuans, took a different light eight months later, when 57 corpses of civilians and media workers were found and dug up in Ampatuan town.

Arroyo and the Ampatuans in 2009 (Best available photo from the Office of the Press Secretary, c/o Pinoy Weekly)

The so-called Maguindanao massacre was tagged on the ruling clan, particularly Andal Sr. and his son, Andal Jr. In turn, it also tainted Arroyo’s term being the climax of hundreds of extra-judicial killings during her stay in power.

Year 2013 found them replaced by rivals and detained under criminal charges. But politics has its way of repeating itself. Maguindanao still proves the election trophy crucial even to opposing administrations.

Last April 12, red, yellow, and green frills welcomed Pres. Benigno Aquino III to Buluan, hometown of re-electionist Gov. Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu.

No longer is the governor’s seat in Shariff Aguak, where the palatial capitol complex came to signify the opulence of the Ampatuans amid the squalor of the province.

Aquino flew from Cotabato City where he checked on projects being implemented by Mujiv Hataman, the ARMM caretaker governor who is vying for an elected term this May.

This next stop was more political than administrative—an opportunity to raise the hands of Mangudadatu, Hataman, and the Liberal Party (LP) bets here. Nearly all top officials in ARMM and Maguindanao had now aligned themselves with Aquino.

Buluan’s nearly-completed gymnasium hosted the area’s first LP rally. Residents–estimated from 50,000 to 70,000–endured the midday heat and lined up through security checks.

The covered court could not contain all, explaining the second stage put up outside. Spectators listened to local candidates there while sitting or standing under gigantic umbrellas.

There, Team PNoy senatorial candidates Koko Pimentel, Jun Magsaysay, Risa Hontiveros, Bam Aquino, Sonny Angara, and Loren Legarda first gave their campaign speeches before repeating them inside the gym.

The attendance shows what has changed in Maguindanao in more than three years. Even a political rally here was unthinkable before.

Campaign snapshots: Jolo brings Jodi to Imus

By Andrew Jonathan S. Bagaoisan

Imus Mayoral candidate Homer Saquilayan (Shot by Angelo Valderama, ABS-CBN News)

The covered basketball court at the Narra Homes Subdivision in Imus, Cavite vibrated with shouts and music the afternoon of April 4.

It was no summer sports league. Instead, Imus was having its own version of the many events enveloping the country since March 31–the start of the campaign period for local positions.

At an enlarged stage inside, the candidates of the “Team Saki” slate–named after their mayoral bet Homer Saquilayan–were working up the assembled supporters into cheers.

A live rock band jammed the intro tunes to pop hits like “Call Me Maybe” as each contender was introduced.

The contenders are one side of the intense political battle permeating Cavite that spilled into Imus. They wore azure collared shirts printed with lines in all caps: “No more lies”, “No more deceptions”, “No more corruption”.

The shirts and the speeches hit at the administration of Saquilayan’s opponent, Mayor Emmanuel Maliksi. The two are at odds over Supreme Court and Comelec rulings in March declaring Saquilayan the duly elected mayor of Imus. Maliksi, however, refuses to leave city hall.

But the city candidates (there since noon) were not the only reason for the excited crowd. Even the subdivision guards and barangay watchmen outside were racking their heads over the flow of vehicles entering the already-cramped subdivision from the narrow main road.

Welcoming streamers announced the main attraction—Cavite reelectionist governor Juanito Victor “Jonvic” Remulla, vice-gubernatorial candidate Jolo Revilla, and Revilla’s girlfriend, actress Jodi Sta. Maria.

The hot afternoon meant good business for nearby home-based stalls selling cold refreshments. One heavyset owner already took on blending halo-halo ingredients as the orders piled up. But she laughingly told her vendors, “Kapag dumating na si Jodi Sta. Maria iiwan ko na kayo!”

Candidates Jolo Revilla and Jonvic Remulla (Shot by Angelo Valderama, ABS-CBN News)

By 4 p.m., the motorcade of Remulla and Revilla arrived. The governor, wearing a personal collared blue shirt, his running-mate in white, met screams in the court. The band struck up “Mangarap Ka” as the tandem walked to the stage.

The opening melody of Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger” accompanied Saquilayan as he handed the microphone to Revilla.

Female shouts of “Jolo! Jolo! Jolo!” met the actor, who smiled and quickly replaced the chant with Jonvic’s name. Soon the band joined in with a beat.

Revilla held forth on his accomplishments as a barangay captain in Bacoor for the past three years and the problems in Cavite he assured the crowd he and Remulla would solve if elected.

But seemingly he saved his biggest pitch for their votes for last.

Shades of Halalan in UP Diliman

By Andrew Jonathan S. Bagaoisan

A student looks at the slate posters of UP Diliman’s STAND-UP, ALYANSA, and KAISA 2013 USC bets (Shot by Anjo Bagaoisan)

When a Philippine news website released the results of the University Student Council (USC) elections in the University of the Philippines (UP) in Diliman, readers questioned the choice of coverage. The update came out under its “Nation” section. Was it relevant to non-members of the UP community?

While this article is not an endorsement or defense of the site’s editorial judgment, a glance at this particular student activity may offer some points in light of the coming midterm elections.

As an open campus, UP Diliman is exposed to events and issues in the so-called real world. More so, the dynamics of the students, teachers, and the community in and around UP make up an academic mirror to issues facing the country.

And perhaps the yearly elections for UP Diliman’s USC reminds us of the Philippines in many ways.

The USC polls and the three-week-long campaign before them are a mix of the traditional and the ideal. There are elements familiar to national politics and others yet to be seen on a bigger scale, both good and bad.

Up for grabs are 33 university-wide positions and 250-plus posts in each college council.

This battle for voters, albeit among more than 23,000 students, can rival a KampanyaSerye-style local race in intensity–fortunately minus the violence known to some hotspots.

The issues can get hot and the exchange of diatribes even hotter. They range from matters affecting college students to matters relevant to the national, an involvement inseparable from the Iskolar ng Bayan. Even non-students in UP say they have a stake in the polls.

The results may have no direct bearing on the national scale, but the leaders these students elect and the stances they take will help determine the direction of the student movement led by many from this campus.

Party lines

This 2013, UP students mark 100 years since electing their first student council. To some, this year’s polls continue to test if students will keep to or depart from the brand of student leadership and national participation represented by their outgoing leaders.

UP Diliman’s polls last February 28 resulted in a council led by KAISA, the youngest of the three university-wide political alliances/parties. In a first, KAISA won top posts chairperson, vice chairperson, and number one councilor.

After students gradually voted in fewer candidates from previously dominant parties STAND-UP and ALYANSA since 2006, the incoming 2013 USC faces the challenge of agreeing on a direction to lead the campus in.

In predominantly Left-leaning UP politics, the parties all tag themselves as activists. Nevertheless, their stands on issues like tuition increase, state subsidy for education, or even the latest public scandal can vary.

This Left spectrum is color-coded too: red STAND-UP is the extreme of the left, blue ALYANSA is on the opposite end, and yellow KAISA often stands in between.

Supporters of the 3 parties react as their bets win (and don’t win) in the 2013 USC elections. (Shots by Anjo Bagaoisan)

This dedication to ideologies differs this brand of politics from nominal student body exercises. It is a big deal here for parties to be involved or have a say in campus and national issues throughout the school year and not just when elections are nearby. Do otherwise and you’ll be called out for it at the campaign.

Compare this to Philippine party politics, where the tying bonds of parties are their founders or leaders and their relationships to the administration. Party names and colors are worn and shed like clothes nearly every three years. And no issue, since national party ideologies revolve around very similar motherhood goals.

Jumping parties in UP Diliman is taboo and even rare. And while some personalities have risen in fame from the party lines through the years, they have come and gone. Still left are the parties that train and attract a new generation of leaders and voters.

Yet political parties in UPD share some similarities with their national counterparts. Their histories involve splits and break-ups–although in UP’s case, they arose largely out of differences in ideology. STAND-UP, ALYANSA, and KAISA could all be traced to past dominant party SAMASA.

The parties also have bailiwicks among the colleges and courses, making the voting behavior of UP Diliman students an observable trend, akin to the red and blue states in the US.

Personalities vs issues

Nevertheless, USC elections every year cannot avoid classic elements associated with national campaigns.

Unlike its national counterpart, UP’s election code sets no limits or monitors on campaign spending, much less guidelines on the sizes and locations of posted campaign material.

Thus by February, the campus becomes littered with flyers, posters, and stickers as parties and candidates engage in a race for recall. The flyers are filled with programs, statements, endorsements, or attacks. The posters and stickers—stuck from jeepneys to waiting sheds—are emblazoned with the names and pictures of those running.

For the parties, a vote for their ideology should mean a vote for their entire slate, no matter if the candidates are veterans or not. But straight voting has hardly been the cumulative case in UP Diliman, at least since youngest party KAISA came into the scene in 2005.

The elections are in large part popularity contests judging from past results, as students still consider their personal knowledge of candidates when casting their ballots.

With such a scheme, parties still devote their energies into drumming up their running personalities. It’s seen in the wearing and repetition of nicknames during room-to-room campaigns and in the rhyming slogans worthy of a commercial.

The 2013 candidates for USC Chairperson in a poster for a “teleserye-inspired” debate put up by the campus publications. (Courtesy Solidaridad / The Philippine Collegian)

The reality of personality politics often centers on the battle for USC chairperson. The most-promoted names in the lineups, the chairperson candidates are the main faces of their parties during the campaign period. That’s not to mention the clout any party would have over the council when their candidate wins.

Their clashes are focal points in the election, especially when well-known students face off for the top post. In 2000, Raymond Palatino of STAND-UP (now Kabataan partylist representative) beat now-broadcaster Mariz Umali of SAMASA, ensuring STAND-UP’s dominant presence in local politics.

The chairperson race is also where black propaganda can overshadow the more-pertinent issues permeating the campaign.

In 2013, the candidate who bore the worst brunt was KAISA standardbearer Ana Alexandra “Alex” Castro. She eventually won the election by more than 1,500 votes over both her opponents, but not without being charged with flip-flopping stances and called derogatory names during the campaign.

Independent candidates for the USC are few and rare. And not always do UP students vote them into the council. Eventual winners often presented a stand-out campaign focus—like Kester Yu, who won top councilor in 2009 with an environmental platform. This year, no independent candidate ran for the university-wide posts.

Parallels

This year’s polls did not merit the media attention they got in 2012, when the USC’s first transgender chairperson Gabriel Paolo “Heart” Diño won in a comeback victory for ALYANSA. The news stories then focused on Diño’s win as an achievement for gender rights in the country.

Hardly noticed too was the effort behind one of the country’s largest campus election automated counts. On its fifth year of large-scale use, UP Diliman’s “Halalan” open-sourced system consolidated votes cast via computer terminals in colleges spaced kilometers apart. All a student needs is his/her student number and a pre-generated password.

The UP Linux Users Group or UnPLUG developed the system. They started out automating the votes in UP dormitories back in 2005, then in selected college council votes afterward. Only after winning an IBM server in an international contest did UnPLUG have the means for a university-wide count in 2009.

A student prepares to list down the 2013 USC winners at Vinzons Hall. (Shot by Anjo Bagaoisan)

The automation turned what was a vigil till early morning at the Vinzons student center into as early as 30 minutes. Recently, the wait has gone back to two hours at most to account for manual votes, colleges that finished late, and preparation by the University Student Electoral Board for its proclamation of the results.

Like its national counterpart, UP’s automation has its share of delays and glitches nonetheless. Last February 28, 58 of the 11,245 votes cast (5.15 percent) were still manual due to difficulties for some students in casting their votes. Even so, no fears of manipulation or major malfunction have yet to materialize.

The proclamation at the Vinzons lobby is as festive and as noisy as the national. Supporters of the three parties come in color and in force to cheer up or cheer down winners. Election day is also the center of attention for a number of student publications, including the campus radio station dzUP.

But despite a reputation for awareness and involvement, it is still a challenge to get most UP Diliman students to vote. University-wide turnout has hardly breached half the student population in recent years. This year it was only 48.4 percent.

Some students say they are “tired” of the politicking and the mudslinging, others of the extreme focus on the national compared to the local. While they have a say on issues outside campus, these students also ask what their council can do for them as fellow students–one parallel with the national psyche. And it is something the parties have taken to balancing between.

First-year students at UP Diliman are told they are entering a microcosm of society. The tuition increase of 2006 helped dispel that notion, as financial means now determines in part who enrolls in the so-called “national university”.

All the same, the USC elections show that the future leaders and voters are a parallel of their countrymen, both in how this political exercise is and could be done.

Solution eludes nursing school woes

By ANDREW JONATHAN BAGAOISAN and MARK ANGELO CHING

Last of two parts. Read Part One here.

(First published Tuesday, 16 June 2009)

OFFICIALS of the Commission on Higher Education are used to dealing with members of congressmen making all sorts of demands—from requests for scholarships to following up the permits of nursing schools.

But the buck of political pressure does not stop in Congress. It goes all the way up.

A former commissioner recalled being contacted by a Malacañang official to order CHED to relax its requirements, specifically the one requiring nursing schools to have a partner tertiary base hospital.

The former CHED official also pointed to a school owner, a close supporter of President Gloria Arroyo, applying to open other nursing campuses. The school, which did not meet the hospital requirement, was among 23 that were ordered closed by CHED in 2005. CHED then received an order from Malacanang to give that particular school a permit.

Three years after, the school’s owner figured among the President’s choices for CHED chair. Arroyo eventually picked Dr. Emmanuel Angeles of Angeles University, who was not involved in that controversy, to be chair.

Presidential support lacking

Describing the relationship between the Palace and CHED, the former official said, “If the President supported us more, CHED would have been stronger.”

New nursing schools open despite ban

By ANDREW JONATHAN BAGAOISAN and MARK ANGELO CHING

Note: This two‐part report was the output of my thesis with Mark Angelo Ching, which was supervised by Prof. Yvonne Chua and edited by Prof. Chit Estella. We chose to investigate the state of our nursing schools partly due to our concern with the increasing number of jobless nurses. We also saw that the media has not looked deeper into this issue since the 2006 exam leakage controversy. For our research, I took care of interviewing most sources and researching the Congress archives, while Mark compiled and analyzed nursing board exam performances of schools. Our work on this thesis familiarized us with the dealings of the Commission on Higher Education and the problems that still need to be addressed in nursing education. Vera Files (Part 1 & 2), The Manila Times, and GMANews.tv (Part 1 & 2) released the report.

First of two parts

(First published Monday, 15 June 2009)

NURSING schools all over the country will be opening their doors this week to thousands of students with the great white cap dream—getting a nursing degree, working in a hospital abroad and earning a comfortable living.

But not all these schools are qualified to offer the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program. In fact, some of them were supposed to have been shut down years ago for failing to meet the requirements of the Commission on Higher Education, while some new ones were not supposed to have opened at all.

The fact is, many students are spending their parents’ hard-earned money on substandard nursing education because CHED has been unable to weed out the poorly performing nursing schools.

In 2004, CHED declared a moratorium on the opening of more nursing schools after professional nurses complained that nursing schools were sprouting like mushrooms, even as more students were failing the nursing licensure exams. The problem reached tipping point in 2006 when news of a leakage in the exams made headlines.

But political and business pressures exerted on CHED have been preventing it from effectively regulating nursing schools and closing down those that perform badly.

CHED records show that from 2004 to 2007, more than 120 schools began offering nursing courses compared to only 98 new schools in the same time span before the moratorium. A total of 459 nursing schools operate in the country today.

Number of nursing schools in the Philippines, 1998 – 2007 (Source: Commission on Higher Education)

CHED officials revealed that the commission even allowed more schools to open by continually processing pending applications. As recent as August 2008, CHED exempted certain schools from the moratorium through a verbal agreement among the commissioners. This agreement was not made public by CHED. Even now, a number of schools are reportedly applying to open, one of them with up to 17 new campuses.

Philippine TV trends of 2012 (Part 3)

By Andrew Jonathan S. Bagaoisan

(Last of three parts. Read Part 1 / Part 2)

2. HASHTAG FEVER

While a world of its own, the Twitterverse has also become a second home for television—the Philippines included. Viewers take to social media to comment on shows they are watching, a number to support or bash the personalities starring in them.

Netizens use the # or hash sign to mark names, topics, or phrases dominating the online conversation.

At first these “hashtags” emerged during live TV events, such as the finales of reality shows like “Pinoy Big Brother”. The hashtags gain consensus among Twitter users before making the site’s “Trending Topics” list.

TV networks and shows soon put up Twitter handles of their own, opening a line of feedback to the public.

Since tweets with specific hashtags could be monitored, news organizations have used them for special coverages too. For instance, the #Harapan, #Halalan and #Eleksyon2010 tags in 2010. In 2012, news orgs followed the Corona impeachment trial with hashtags like #CJonTrial. And newscast TV Patrol welcomed its 25th year in 2012 with #TVPatrol25.

By picking a particular hashtag, TV shows can track all tweets directed at them and gain exposure (and more viewers) when the hashtag trends.

2012 saw pre-recorded shows like soap operas, sitcoms and documentaries also jump on the hashtag bandwagon.

Some programs merely flashed the hashtag at the beginning or end of each segment. Others like live productions constantly showed their hashtags onscreen during the entire telecast. Shows like “Party Pilipinas” and “The X-Factor Philippines” even made distinct ones based on the themes of their weekly episodes.

But even as TV shows tried to direct the tweets, viewers still dictated what would trend. The best example for the year are the weekly trending topics based on the guests of the late-night comedy talk show “Gandang Gabi Vice”.

1. MEETING THE THIRST FOR NEWS

Viewers gained much in the way of news and information in 2012. TV news met reenergized content and new players, all in time for Filipinos to face the big events of the year.

Primetime weather anchors: Kim Atienza of TV Patrol; Nathaniel Cruz of 24 Oras; Lourd de Veyra of Aksyon; and Mai Rodriguez of Solar Network News

The newscasts increased emphasis on weather reporting by acquiring advanced forecasting tools, updating their visuals, and even hiring meteorologists.

With services like Metra and Weather Central, weather reporters went beyond general temperatures to predict the likelihood of rain, the amount of rainfall, and specific conditions at different times of day.

The new tools came in handy as the country braved calamities like the Hagupit ng Habagat and Typhoon Pablo.

2012 was also the year of news channels, which stood out during the Corona impeachment trial.

The trial became the premiere for the new kid on the block—Solar News Channel. Free-to-air and all-English, Solar took off from its wall-to-wall coverage of the trial and slowly introduced newscasts into previous channel TalkTV.

In October, TalkTV rebranded into SNC and unveiled a slew of local news talk shows to complement its lineup of imported current affairs programs.

Magsaysay and Hontiveros at the Solar remote studio in the Senate during the Corona trial.

Solar News Channel is billed as a news service highlighting “news you can use” over the crime-and-entertainment offerings of other TV news organizations. It is helmed by veteran reporters Jing Magsaysay and Pia Hontiveros, both formerly with the ABS-CBN News Channel or ANC.

ANC lost other talents like Mai Rodriguez and Twink Macaraig to Solar and other networks last year. Macaraig moved to TV5, which is expected to put out its own English news channel.

Macaraig left ANC’s afternoon shift, which the channel replaced with a new block of newscasts with specific focuses. “News Now” covers breaking national stories at 2 p.m. and business stories at 3 p.m. “The Bureau” reports world news, while “@ANCalerts” reports the latest in technology and social media.

Even government-owned People’s Television Network (PTV 4) was revitalized with revamped programs, a new logo, and a bold slogan—“Telebisyon ng Bayan”.

Aiming to lessen its image as the administration propaganda arm, PTV still airs infomercials in the afternoon. But an ongoing congressional review of its charter promises the public channel less restrictions on its sources of funding, and an opportunity of going against the commercial channels.

The Philippines’ news channels as of 2012

GMA News TV continues its streak as the most-watched news channel, while introducing entertainment programs such as classic movies to its lineup.

TV5’s Aksyon TV channel stepped up production of current affairs shows last year, after many of those airing on the main channel were replaced by a daily newsmagazine, “Reaksyon”.

As the networks focus on separate news channels, among the casualties are midday newscasts “Balitaang Tapat” of TV5 and “Iba-Balita Ngayon” of Studio 23, which went off the air this year.

But clearly media companies are recognizing that Filipinos are not only hooked to variety shows and teleseryes, and that there aren’t enough sources of news on TV.

*Read PART 1 & PART 2.

(Do you agree with this list or have your own idea of 2012’s top TV trends? I’d love to know your thoughts in the comments section.)

——————

Related 2012 Yearenders online:

 
 • This blog’s Most-visited posts for 2012
 
 
 
 • ABS-CBNnews.com’s Top stories for 2012
 
 
 
• CMFR’s “The year that was in the news media” 
• New players in the media landscape
 
 
• The big news in TV news for 2012, according to MediaNewser Philippines.