Eager politicians who are into pre-campaigning should think otherwise, since they may find themselves losing the public’s votes in the upcoming elections.
According to the study by the Communication Research students of UP- Diliman, prolonged exposure to the media does not relate to a successful victory in the upcoming 2010 National Elections.
“In the last couple of months, certain public officials have appeared in daily newscasts and the front page more than they used to, while some have become endorsers of commercial products or spokesperson of public advertisements. Interestingly, this increased appearance of politicians in the media becomes even more suspicious as we draw closer to the 2010 national elections,” the study said.
According to their findings on the relationship between politicians and the media, majority of the public believes that the motivation behind the politician’s increase in media appearance was because of “name recall, publicity, popularity” or simply put as "pre-campaigning."
Most of the public are well aware of the pre-campaigning strategies by the politicians on using the media for publicity, and only a few believes that these politicians use the media for actual service, said the study.
Because of this, the public is more apprehensive with these politicians since they can suspect that corruption are more likely to happen with these pre-campaigning politicians than those who don’t do pre-campaigning.
“Kase very premature, nangunguna ka na [sa survey], mangunguna ka pa [sa kampanya]. ganyan ba ang gusto mong taong iboto? Ngayon palang nandadaya na ng kapwa (It’s very premature. You are already leading [in the survey]; you still want to lead [in the campaign]. Are these people the one you want to vote? Even before the election, they are already cheating their competitors),” claimed one of the study’s key respondents.
Studies also showed that not all media exposures are good for the candidates; some of them can be displayed in a bad light, especially during controversial issues where the politicians are caught up in scandalous matters.
“High visibility in the media does not necessarily equate to desirability of potential candidates. High media visibility was risky for those with political ambitions since media may emphasize the negative rather than the facets of political candidates,” they concluded.
The study was based on 681 face to face interviews with residents coming from the areas in Metro Manila and other parts of Central Luzon and the Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) region.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Corporal Punishment Against Children Illegal According to New Bill
Children will no longer need to fear the leather belts of their parents as a new bill submitted to the congress bans the use of corporal punishment on the child.
According to the “Anti Corporal Punishment Act of 2009” by Tarlac Rep. Monica Prieto-Teodoro and 52 other co-authors, Any person---- including family members--- who disciplines a child through force will be punished accordingly by the Family Code.
The bill recognizes that all forms of corporal punishment of the child will be illegal; this includes physical force like blows to the body and psychological attacks like swearing or threats.
Teachers and parents alike can no longer use harsh words which can humiliate or degrade the child in public or let them be subjected to threats and punishment afterwards.
When the bill is enacted into law, those who violate the provisions wil be sanctioned accordingly by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) depending on the severity of the violation.
The bill also advocates the education of parents and institutions regarding the promotion of positive and non-violent discipline of children by sponsoring seminars and awareness campaigns on proper parenting and teaching methods on the child.
Civil rights groups like the Child Rights Network (CRK) and the Save the Children are in total support of this bill, saying that it is time for Philippines to revise its Child Abuse laws to include Corporal Punishment as punishable by law.
According to the “Anti Corporal Punishment Act of 2009” by Tarlac Rep. Monica Prieto-Teodoro and 52 other co-authors, Any person---- including family members--- who disciplines a child through force will be punished accordingly by the Family Code.
The bill recognizes that all forms of corporal punishment of the child will be illegal; this includes physical force like blows to the body and psychological attacks like swearing or threats.
Teachers and parents alike can no longer use harsh words which can humiliate or degrade the child in public or let them be subjected to threats and punishment afterwards.
When the bill is enacted into law, those who violate the provisions wil be sanctioned accordingly by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) depending on the severity of the violation.
The bill also advocates the education of parents and institutions regarding the promotion of positive and non-violent discipline of children by sponsoring seminars and awareness campaigns on proper parenting and teaching methods on the child.
Civil rights groups like the Child Rights Network (CRK) and the Save the Children are in total support of this bill, saying that it is time for Philippines to revise its Child Abuse laws to include Corporal Punishment as punishable by law.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Ignorance: a problem in Mindanao
Journalists who are reporting out of ignorance in Mindanao will only bring further bloodshed between the government and the militants.
This was agreed upon by a group of panelists after an in depth discussion regarding the impacts of the media in Mindanao at the UP Balay Kalinaw on Feb. 10.
“When they [reporters] are sent to Mindanao, they get very few briefings. And these reporters don’t even bother to read [about the situation] at all,” said Carolyn Aguillas, editor-in-chief of Minda News.
She claimed that there are many ignorant journalists who haphazardly report the conflict without even learning about the situation, especially during the issue on the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD).
There are also many news agencies who only send their correspondents to cover stories of bloodshed and chaos, without even bothering to cover other stories which are also worthy of news coverage, she said.
“The only time Mindanao gets in the front page is when there is war and stories about Paqcuiao,” she said.
This stereotyping of Mindanao is something that Atty. Michael Mastura claimed to be the “demonizing” effect on the public’s image on Mindanao.
Atty. Mastura, a member of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Peace Negotiations Panel, said that the media tends to distort the truth on certain issues due to the lack of knowledge and understanding on the long history between the government and the militants.
Mastura claims that one of the reasons for this ignorance is “pack journalism,” wherein all of the reporters would cover the same issue without even trying to verify the facts.
Mastura said that it is not an excuse for the media to be ignorant since they have the greatest responsibility in reporting the truth to the people.
“Whether the judgment is correct or not is something [that the] media should act and not accept,” he said.
Mastura urged the media to be aware of what they are reporting and look at both sides of the story before reporting their news to the public.
“Media has a role to play in preventing that magkakaubusan ng lahi (mass killings),” he said.
This was agreed upon by a group of panelists after an in depth discussion regarding the impacts of the media in Mindanao at the UP Balay Kalinaw on Feb. 10.
“When they [reporters] are sent to Mindanao, they get very few briefings. And these reporters don’t even bother to read [about the situation] at all,” said Carolyn Aguillas, editor-in-chief of Minda News.
She claimed that there are many ignorant journalists who haphazardly report the conflict without even learning about the situation, especially during the issue on the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD).
There are also many news agencies who only send their correspondents to cover stories of bloodshed and chaos, without even bothering to cover other stories which are also worthy of news coverage, she said.
“The only time Mindanao gets in the front page is when there is war and stories about Paqcuiao,” she said.
This stereotyping of Mindanao is something that Atty. Michael Mastura claimed to be the “demonizing” effect on the public’s image on Mindanao.
Atty. Mastura, a member of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Peace Negotiations Panel, said that the media tends to distort the truth on certain issues due to the lack of knowledge and understanding on the long history between the government and the militants.
Mastura claims that one of the reasons for this ignorance is “pack journalism,” wherein all of the reporters would cover the same issue without even trying to verify the facts.
Mastura said that it is not an excuse for the media to be ignorant since they have the greatest responsibility in reporting the truth to the people.
“Whether the judgment is correct or not is something [that the] media should act and not accept,” he said.
Mastura urged the media to be aware of what they are reporting and look at both sides of the story before reporting their news to the public.
“Media has a role to play in preventing that magkakaubusan ng lahi (mass killings),” he said.
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