Using media to pressure the President

Just the other day, I wrote about how an “Anti-Vice” squad were openly using SMS or text messages to discredit the Vice President, by sending out false text messages at the height of the Holy Week.

Well it seems that certain elements connected or associated with President Aquino have found ways to feed left leaning media practitioners to come up with articles aimed to pressure and eventually embarrass President Aquino into doing their bidding.

If some of you remember, just before the Impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona started, rumors spread around town about how the President was allegedly told to his face that his presidency was pointless if he could not even prevent the Supreme Court from awarding Hacienda Luisita to tenant farmers. True or false, the story spread and in its path followed the whirlwind impeachment of Chief Justice Corona.

Picking up from that observation, another group of operators is clandestinely collaborating to stir up another whirlwind to force the President to do their bidding.

Why else would you beat a dead horse or attempt to resuscitate Frankenstein? This is exactly what certain leftist group, left leaning media practitioners, some renegade members of the PCGG and lawyers delisted from the social register of Malacanang are reportedly attempting to do.

In spite of the fact that the Supreme Court itself has decided with finality on the ownership and subdivision of the Coco Levy Funds, there is once again a well-funded and well-organized attempt to revive and sensationalize the case, in order to create an impression of public interest so that President Aquino can be embarrassed and pressured into calling for a reinvestigation of the matter.

I personally noticed the fact that several stories and reports have been written in the past month about the Coco Levy fund, in spite of the fact that the case has long been settled with finality. When “dead” stories or stale news suddenly start coming back to life for no reason at all, it only means that someone or some group has actively engaged the services of a PR practitioner or co-conspirators in media.

In the recent media blasts on the Coco Levy, it is interesting that President Aquino’s name was being mentioned right beside the name of his once estranged uncle Danding Cojuangco. Clearly, there is an effort on the part of the PR writers to “embarrass”, cloud, or pressure the President to rethink his position and his place on the long dead issue.

So why are the witch doctors digging up the past or resuscitating the dead?

For starters, leftists need a cause and what would be better than a mythical pot of gold at the end of their red colored rainbow. By retelling the myth and the tale of the Coco Levy, certain leftist leaders will once again weave false hopes and true greed.

But the guys who really make me sick are the true opportunists who are in it for political and monetary considerations in spite of their substantial financial and political treasures.

Top of the list would be a bunch of lawyers who should change their titles from lawyers to influence peddlers. By reviving the Coco Levy controversy, a bunch of lawyers are confident that a new round of legal works would be up for grabs. In such a situation the lawyer-influence peddler is confident of representing the leftists for a fistful of millions, while making money on the side, if, they can force their opponents to make side deals like they did in a past administration.

I really don’t know about the truth behind the PCGG renegades considering the fact that fellow columnist and PCGG Chairman Andy Bautista has long declared that the PCGG is destined for closure. Nonetheless, it is possible that some PCGG people simply don’t want to see the sunset of their agency, which explains why they are looking for a new lease on life.

It is also possible that the entire revival effort is the handiwork of savvy operators working clandestinely with willing members of media purely for purposes of harassment as well as generating revenues. In a recent talk I had with an advertising researcher, I was told that many business establishments have 3 reasons for advertising in media outlets.

The first reason is because a particular newspaper, TV or radio is the best choice to advertise a product. The second is because a media outlet is considered stable and reliable. The third and worst reason why advertisers place in a newspaper, TV or radio station is because it is unpredictable, ballistic and critical which forces advertisers to feed the “angry god of media” in order to keep it happy.

That to me is the most stupid reason and self-defeating action. The more you feed the “angry god of media” the bigger, uglier and hungrier it gets! What makes it “strong” is because it feeds on people’s fear and company money in the form of advertising.

Yes it can breathe fire and curses like the demon that it is. But in the end it will go tired and weak when people stop feeding it and stop being afraid.

I hope that President Aquino still remembers when a concerted effort was made to convince him to sideline his sisters, the way he sidelined Peping Cojuangco. Now they want him to sell out his own uncle Danding Cojuangco over something that officially and legally belongs to Danding Cojuangco.

Sometimes, the master of the house also needs to sweep the floor and throw out the garbage. Perhaps P-Noy needs to do the same with the influence peddlers and troublemakers.