Commentary

Probing the Probe Issue

Watching the controversial report by The Probe Team in the jampacked UP-CMC room brought back memories of martial law when secret screenings of films barred from the tills by Marcos were held.  Although the situation now is less dramatic, the same principles and freedoms are at stake.

BY ROWENA CARRANZA
Bulatlat.com

Censored

I watched the controversial Probe Team report on the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) chair Efraim Genuino when it was shown at the University of the Philippines’ College of Mass Communication in Diliman, Quezon City last Sept. 17 and tried to look for reasons why it should not be shown. I couldn’t find any.

GMA7, Probe’s carrier station, did not allow the airing of the report last Sept. 14 because of alleged incomplete supporting documents.

The report picks up President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s order for a lifestyle check of government officials and focuses on Genuino. Broadcast-journalist Bernadette Sembrano pointed at discrepancies in Genuino’s statements of assets and liabilities (SALs) and presented papers that show he has shares in several corporations. The report also showed footages of two posh houses in Makati City allegedly owned by the Pagcor chair.

While it is true that the report would have come out better if Probe was able to show papers showing that Genuino still owns to this day the said companies, and true, the 15-minute segment could have used better footages than that of Sembrano dialing the phone, Sembrano inspecting documents, Sembrano walking, Sembrano driving… the report can still stand.

The effort to be balanced was obvious. Probe took the effort to interview Teresita Baltazar of the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC) and get corroboration by interviewing a neighbor of Genuino.  As for the Pagcor chief, he lost by default when he refused to be interviewed. If all reports where the accused was for some reason not interviewed are not allowed to be published, then more than half of news reports would not see print.

Alarming

Most disturbing however was Probe Team’s executive producer Che-Che Lazaro’s statement after the showing in UP. She said it was the first time in Probe’s 15 years with GMA7 that management asked for a copy of their script on the Genuino episode. That, she also said, while there have been instances in the past when the station made suggestions on their report, it was the first time management pulled out an entire show and replaced it with a two-year old episode – just a few minutes before airtime.

Lazaro also revealed that Genuino has now agreed to an interview – but on three conditions: no camera, an advanced copy of questions to be asked, and a copy of Probe’s script.

So what makes Genuino special?

On the same day that it printed the Probe story, the Philippines Daily Inquirer also published its investigation of Pagcor’s finances. It said that Pagcor is now in financial straits because of anomalous contracts, overhiring, overspending and “mindless” donations outside its mandate.

But no less than President Macapagal-Arroyo issued a statement defending Genuino: “The financial state of Pagcor is open to the public. There is nothing furtive about its finances and these are bound by the rules of transparency and accountability.”

“I wish to dispel the notion that this institution is a so-called cash cow that is unaccountable to the people and can be milked by those in power. Pagcor is the source of social amelioration and relief for millions of Filipinos,” the president said.

Genuino, Sembrano herself pointed out in the report, is a friend of Mike Arroyo, the president’s husband. The two are both members of the Rotary Club of Makati.

Martial law déjà vu

Watching the Probe report in the jampacked UP-CMC room brought back memories of martial law when secret screenings of films barred from the tills by Marcos were held.  Although the situation now is less dramatic, the same principles and freedoms are at stake.

It was not a fiery Behn Cervantes or Lino Brocka (both activist movie directors) however that faced the crowd in UP but gentle and cautious Probe producer and staff.  Lazaro, Sembrano and Booma Cruz, Probe’s producer, were all careful not to directly link Malacañang to the censorship case.

Meanwhile, GMA7 may have dispelled somewhat the angry reaction with its swift response to the issue via a press release shifting the blame to the Probe Team, questions about its independence have inevitably risen.

Given the Probe’s posture and the station’s understandable desire to clean up the mess, it is more likely then that a compromise will be reached. Bulatlat.com

Back to top

We want to know what you think of this article.