Dear ABS-CBN, GMA, TV5 and other local channels:
I’ll make this post short. I would just like to request for you to please stop accepting political propaganda ads at least not at this time. I know. I know. These ads are not illegal. No laws are being broken because the ads do not explicitly use the term “vote” or whatever the legal loophole is.
Finding loopholes through technicalities: This is something we Filipinos, not just politicians, are good at. Hangga’t may butas, lusot lang. Okay lang na di ako mag-seatbelt sa kotse, wala namang makakakita. Okay lang na uminom ako at magdrive, di naman ako lasing. Okay lang na damihan ko ang unli-twirl sa Family Mart kahit di ko maubos, binayaran ko naman ‘yun eh. Sige lusot pa!
We have this natural tendency to justify wrong actions. May nalalaman pa tayong lesser evil ek ek. Siguro, mayroong mga gray area na applicable ‘to. Pero sa usapan ng eleksyon at estado ng bansa natin, di na pwede ang trial and error! Konti na lang lulubog na tayong lahat.
We need to have this rare quality to not choose the lesser evil, but instead create something for the greater good. Strategize. Think of the long term. Consider what will happen to the future generations. ‘Pag pumutol ba ako ng puno, may epekto ba ‘to? ‘Pag nagtambak ako ng lupa sa dagat, okay lang ba ‘yun? Parang dati binabasa ko pa nung bata ako ang mga signage ng The Four Way Test ng Rotary Club, thinking “Wow! Tama ‘yung mga tanong. Dapat i-memorize ko ‘to para pagtanda ko.” Pero tumanda na ako’t lahat, di naman siya nasusunod.
Local channels, you should choose to be the greater good. Ang contradicting lang kasi. You campaign for clean elections but then you show political ads that obviously would affect the outcome of the elections. Tapos ‘yung iba pa sa inyo may affiliation sa politics. It’s time to do the greater good: TV is a powerful medium. Politicians pay you to run their ads. You could choose to turn them down. Naturingan pa namang may news and public affairs department kayo. The public is who you should protect, not the politicians who have money to throw at you. I guess you are also businesses, and you also need money. Their money. But wait! Those come from taxpayers’ money too. Our money. You should know better.
Maybe, this is just a way for you to be fair. Politicians have free speech rights too. Or maybe to show TV viewers which future candidates have the highest campaign funds. There might be a correlation between high funds and possible corruption in the future. I don’t know.
I really don’t know.
Thanks,
XX
Amiciness
