Like sharks on a feeding frenzy

It is bad enough already that three Filipinos had to be executed in China for drug trafficking, a crime that casts an indelible stigma on the Philippines, it is worse when the personal lives of the families they left behind get splashed on global television as well.

Last weekend, a local cable news channel, a member of a giant Philippine television network, aired live footages of an ugly confrontation between the mother of Sally Villanueva, one of those put to death in China, and Sally’s estranged husband.

Not that anybody cares, but the issue between Hilarion, the husband, and Basilisa, the mother, was not clear. What was clear was the horrible scene between the two — Basilisa going into hysterics, and Hilarion trying repeatedly to physically attack her.

The footages were not just clips in support of a story, as if there was a real story to begin with to devote so much airtime to. What was shown was a real extended live coverage, the cameras capturing every move and foul language, as if anybody cared to see who won.

Relations between in-laws are traditionally tacky. So it was not surprising that Basilisa and Hilarion would have issues between them. But that is a matter that is not of any interest to the rest of the nation and the world, to which the whole sordid episode was beamed.

What was the cable news channel thinking? Just because the execution of three Filipino drug mules was big news in the Philippines does not justify splashing all their dirty linen in public, including those of relatives who had nothing to do with the story in the first place.

It was a dirty lowdown shame for that episode and attendant footages to have passed the most basic editorial scrutiny and humane consideration. It reflected no less than poor taste and bad decision-making.

If I remember right, most Filipinos were taught early on in childhood that it was bad manners to stare, that it was rude to intrude while others are talking. In other words, character was built on the virtue of minding one’s own business and respecting the privacy of others.

When neighbors quarrel, the reaction of the rest of the neighborhood — whether they mill about to watch every action and hang on to every word, or go inside their own homes and lock the doors and shut their windows is a good indicator of character and where their values lie.

For that cable news channel to extensively air the ugly quarrel between Basilisa and Hilarion, for no other reason than that they were the mother and husband of the hottest piece of news in the land, is no different from watching a neighborhood conflict on the spot.

That was no longer news. That was not even drama. If it was a reality show, then maybe the cable news channel should have said so and publicly announced a change in format. But it cannot be two things at the same time and still pass itself off as legit.

On the other hand, it hardly comes as a surprise that this cable news channel would go to such low extent. It is no secret that it is unabashedly biased toward certain political powers that its own initials have been derisively taken to mean precisely that.

Media has its own policies, of course. And the best judge of content and programming is still the public. Nevertheless, there are certain liberties which the media, because of its power to influence, must not be allowed to take without putting at risk such matters as good taste.

For example, the importance and relevance of a certain piece of news cannot ever justify any declaration of open season on every facet of that piece of news. The news media cannot liken itself to sharks on a feeding frenzy. Basic human decency must still prevail over all.