EDITORIAL - Passions vs. realities

Albay Governor Joey Salceda wants a boycott of Chinese products amid Filipino-Chinese tensions over the Spratlys. While the conflict is of national interest and thus big news, the call for a boycott by the governor of a province with a little over a million people is not.

Unfortunately, what should have been ignored by media as plain demagoguery by a local official who has no say over national policy, it has instead been wrenched from obscurity right into the forefront of all headline news.

It would have been different if the one calling for a boycott had the stature and the preeminence of, say, the president of the Philippines. Then the media would have been obliged to give prominence to the story, never mind if the story itself if ridiculous.

But Salceda calling for a boycott? And then media giving it prominence as if the call truly carried substance? Jesus Christ, isn’t there anything sacred for the media anymore? On the other hand, is this not one more manifestation of media’s confusion of its own mission?

To be sure, media did not invent the story. Salceda did call for a boycott. But media should have assessed the true worth of the story. Noynoy Aquino calling for a boycott (thank God he did not) is page one material. Joey Salceda doing the same thing is not.

But because of irresponsible and gross negligence in assigning true worth to the story, media made it appear the Philippines itself is calling for the boycott, prompting Malacañang to scramble and issue a disclaimer, fully aware of the story’s dangerous consequences.

Has Salceda ever considered the implications of China taking him up on his effrontery? Bilateral trade between the two countries was worth $27.7 billion in 2010, with the balance of trade favoring the Philippines. 

We exported more at $16.2 billion to China, while we imported less at $11.5 billion from that country. And then there’s the 200,000 Filipinos working there, all sending even more dollars home. Will Salceda be able to plug these holes if they occur? Can he even take up the slack?