THE second-oldest press club in the country, National Press Club, has been bombarded with flak late recently after declaring Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. as the Republic’s real vice president.
Worse, its vice president — the one who introduced the late strongman’s son as the real veep — issued a statement defending his pronouncement as just “basic courtesy.”
Last Friday, Paul Gutierrez introduced Marcos at its media forum as the person who should be the country’s rightful vice president.
“Because of the ‘magic’ that happened in the previous election … we all probably know that means, that he should be the sitting Vice President of the country, one position away from the position achieved by her [sic] father,” the Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Gutierrez as saying.
Anybody worth their salt can see through that introduction as a tacit endorsement, the wrong pronoun notwithstanding.
Later that same day, Gutierrez issued a statement of “clarification,” which painted what he did more opaque than clearer if you ask me.
In the name of public service, I would like to post two points from his statement and my corresponding comments, if only to point out his skewed reasoning.
“This is farthest from the truth as the NPC remains an APOLITICAL media organisation. My repeated calling him as ‘VP’ is simply a show of basic courtesy to him, as a visitor to the NPC, a courtesy we extend to any politician or candidate seeking an office and whom we also address based on the position he/she is seeking.”
This is lame. “Sir” or “ma’am” (if he wanted to continue with his wrong pronoun for the former senator) would have been the more appropriate address if he really wanted to project the NPC as an apolitical media organization.
Social media activist Gang Capati best articulated this point on her tweet after the supposed forum: “The poll protest has been ongoing, three areas identified for (a) recount by Bongbong Marcos and in those three areas he still lost. You’re the National Press Club, use words like, ‘VP candidate presently protesting.’ Lots of ways not (to) be charged with untruth.”
Gutierrez further said that had “Ms. Lenny Robredo been our guest at the NPC, she would also be addressed as VP.”
Methinks that it is highly inappropriate to call the late strongman’s son as veep when he is still gunning after the position via an electoral protest. Please, humor me with this hypothetical situation. If Mar Roxas contested the presidency after the 2016 polls, would Gutierrez then — in the spirit of “basic courtesy” and being “apolitical” — address Roxas as “President” should he guest in one of NPC’s fora?
Also, Gutierrez addressing the elected veep as “Miss” in his statement betrays his own point. Like, c’mon, man! We were not born three minutes ago. The repeated mention of Marcos as the veep throughout the forum was anything but “basic courtesy.” If anything, it was a blatant display of boot-licking.
“In common media language, we call this ‘tsitsaron’ (to ‘tickle) to put the mind of our guests at ease; I believed that the majority of those present readily acknowledged this and never put any malice on it.”
No, sir, that is not a common media language. What do cracklings have to do with putting a guest’s mind at ease? Have you heard how cracklings sound when eaten? It’s noisy and doesn’t put anybody’s mind at ease. That sound of cracklings crackling is actually intended to trigger the hunger urge and make you crave for more of the same. If anybody put “malice” on the way Gutierrez introduced his guest, it was himself.
Gutierrez, by the way, titled his statement as “Huwag tayong masyadong malisyoso.” That title tickled me. Journalists, by nature, are “malisyoso.” That is part of being a watchdog. “Malisyoso” in the context of being critical and not “malice” in the context of libel laws.
That’s the reason why exactitude is important because we cannot afford to be painted as paid hacks. We do not take anybody’s word hook, line, and sinker. That’s the reason why we employ multiple sourcing on everything we print or broadcast.
Here’s the clincher: At the same forum, Marcos announced his bid for national office in the 2022 polls albeit not mentioning what specific elected position.
I say clincher because now we see the real reason for the supposed forum. It was nothing but an advance teaser for Marcos’s return to the hall of power in the Republic.
I offer one question to Gutierrez before ending this column: Was it all worth it, sir? Pfft.
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