Communications Secretary Herminio “Sonny” Coloma Jr.’s description of the plunge in President Benigno Aquino III’s ratings as “media-related” sounds like a big, undeserved helping of blame for the news coverage of the Mamasapano tragedy.
When news of the massacre of the 44 SAF commandos broke, the public backlash was swift and severe. It was a wonder that Aquino registered a +11 moderate satisfaction rating instead of a negative during the March 20 to March 23 survey.
Instead of just acknowledging that the public was unsatisfied with how the Palace handled the situation, Coloma went on to say that the fallout from the operation and the death of the Special Action Force (SAF) commandos was “media-related”.
Is the news coverage to blame for the loss of Aquino’s lustre?
Granted that the covert mission succeeded in killing Indonesian bomber Marwan, the deaths of the 44 SAF commandos was too high a price to pay, especially after the revelations that followed about undue secrecy, lack of coordination, perversion of the chain of command, and tactical miscalculations.
That’s what the survey reflects.
What did the media do to deserve the Palace’s blame ?
Among other things, the media drew on the well of public opinion, shared commenataries from a wide range of players and citizens, featured extensive live coverage of the Senate and Congress hearings on the case, where lawmakers took time to grandstand and grill resource persons like market vendors.
And based on the wealth of information gathered from print, broadcast and online and social media, Filipino public opinion bore down hard against the President.
To this day, Aquino refuses to apologize for his gross misjudgment and weak leadership in handling the Mamasapano crisis, including his placing undeserved trust in a suspended police general, whose friendship should not have clouded Aquino’s thinking.
This lack of humility — even self-honesty — to acknowledge incompetence and lapses is what weighs heaviest against the President.
Because most people see the mistakes.
There is widespread disappointment, not yet of a level to sustain an impeachment, but Aquino shouldn’t look for more scapegoats.
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