Sad! Captain Barbell, the country’s superhero, is falling from the sky. In a world where the battle for the hearts and minds of people is fought in the arena of the media, the president’s men who run the department are highly amateurish. What a waste—Teddy Locsin Jr. would better serve the
country as press secretary than a UN ambassador.
One word, one bullet that is disabling the president’s wing, is EJK, a despicable word that the enemy of the state has honed to shoot down
the president’s rating. Gangs and criminals, drug peddlers, and their bosses kill with impunity because, anyway, the media and HR groups will call it EJK.
Rogue policemen involved in drugs, kidnapping, and other criminal activities
likewise kill with impunity in broad daylight to discredit a president who is
bound to get them one way or another.
EJK is not only undermining the president’s rating but also overshadowing the government's positive achievements.
The Mega Manila subway system alone is mind-bogglingly inspiring, and previous administrations considered it too big and too expensive to even discuss. It is not new; it has been floated as far back as I can remember, but no
president dares to touch it with a totem pole. It needs a superhero to drag it out of people’s dreams into reality. Still, hey, the subway system is just one of many goodies in the president’s sack full of promises – a 9 trillion build, build, and build infrastructure program. A whopping 9 trillion worth of goodies – including local and international airports, superhighways, expressways, railways, high-speed trains, Light Rail Transit systems, skyways, bridges, ports, and free college education. It is breathtaking, and then you pause and wonder –
what the hell were previous administrations doing? You realize then why
the president's political enemies want him to fail: to save face.
What the government needs is a PR company or an agency of government that will respond effectively to the president’s critiques in a civilized manner, not name-calling or cursing. It is right for the media to
cover the war on drugs, but it should likewise cover what the government is
doing for the fallen innocents. Cops are charged with murder. Erring cops are
sent to the front line while others are either discharged from service or
suspended for offenses unbecoming of an officer and a gentleman.
Where in the
world did you hear an entire police force of a city numbering thousands
shipped out to other places for mere suspicion of involvement in crimes? Why is
the media mum on these crucial issues?
The government needs a media that highlights its gargantuan infrastructure projects. The war on drugs, which initially excites people, has lost its allure. Let people hear what they want to hear…a beautiful Philippines racing towards “first-world” country status.
