A sporting chance

There is a public backlash against the order for ABS-CBN to cease and desist its broadcasting operations. If only it were because of a weakness in the government’s legal position, then this would be an easy fix.

But the process is clear. A franchise is needed to operate and the giant corporation has no vested rights.

Still, there is widespread condemnation of the move. This is compounded by the reality that ABS-CBN has been one of the most reliable sources of news and information in this time of uncertainty.

The fallout is hardly monopolized by the President. After all, his was the most honest position in this sordid episode. PRRD has always been candid about his displeasure. Solicitor General Jose Calida has assumed the mantle of villain-in-chief by default. But he has also owned his unsympathetic posture from the start.

It is Congress, despite their intellectual contortions, that is reaping the whirlwind of public scorn. If they think the dribbling and passing make them the Jordan and Pippen in this scenario, they should seriously understand that it’s the theater and comedy of the Harlem Globetrotters they’re channeling to a public that is not amused.

Road to perdition.They just sat on the franchise renewal bills. If they believed there were violations by ABS-CBN management of their franchise and the Fair Elections Act, they should have scheduled hearings to know the truth.

And now they want to spank the NTC for being disobedient. Congressional contempt is reserved for failure to appear or for obstruction of legislative duties – not to punish the exercise of power. Once authority is delegated to an administrative agency, even Congress must abide by it. And if Congress should act, it is not via single, joint or concurrent resolution, much less by letter of the Speaker or committee chair. They act through the constitutional straitjacket of the bicameral process of legislation which includes actual hearings. Afterward, the presentment to the President.

For many, this is the casus belli: the refusal of our elected representatives to even give ABS-CBN a sporting chance.

Context is key. When confronted with the record of other nations in their response to COVID-19 we ask: what are we doing differently?

There are only 14 countries (out of 235) with populations of more than 100 million. China and India have billions. The Philippines is 13th with 110 million. In Southeast Asia, only Indonesia outranks us with 274 million. Vietnam approaches at 95 million.

Vietnam has already tested twice as much as us. Malaysia has only 32 million people yet they’ve already tested almost two times as much as us. We have done 25 percent more than Indonesia, though. Indonesia has a higher incidence of cases and more deaths.

We’ll have to step up testing and contact tracing because control measures such as quarantine and social distancing alone are not enough. We need updated statistics on percentage of testing kits, labs and personnel, hospital beds and health workers, tracing capacity vis-à-vis the population, to better understand the board. Otherwise, we might believe that our numbers are low.

It takes a pandemic. To a public regularly fed (up) with a diet of Congress, the President and select executive officials only, it was a pleasant surprise to view that screen shot of their co-equal Supreme Court Justices en banc on the Zoom audiovisual online platform. The photo, released by the Court’s Public Information Office, gifts us with the first ever glimpse of the members in historic video session, out of their stuffy robes, in their own personal settings and at camera angles different from the usual overhead shots from the session hall CCTV.

Compared to our elected officials, the appointive Justices are strangers to us. It was the first time for many to actually see their faces and know their names. This is a positive step as actually seeing them at work, dressed like you and me, promotes public trust in the institution.

The US Supreme Court this week allowed their first ever coverage of oral arguments which was conducted remote by teleconference – as in by phone. This was even more historic though theirs was audio all the way. For the sake of order, the seniority rule was observed in the Justices’ questioning.

Practitioners decried the lost opportunity to witness the actual argumentation – e.g. body language of Justices as indicators, learning from seasoned appellate arguers etc. Of course, the procedure nullified the dynamic of the hot bench – a.k.a. the withering, inquisition style questioning from the justices on the high dais, looking down from their perches. Another new normal.

Patriots Day. For the past 10 years, the law has mandated the observance of a special working holiday every May 7 known as Health Workers Day. R.A. 10069 meant “to give due recognition to the important role and contributions of the health workers who provide vital health services … promote their rights and welfare and enhance their sense of worth and dignity.”

Our health workers are true patriots. The oaths they take impose on them a moral obligation to take care of us. But there is no legal duty to do this at all costs. On the contrary, it should be government’s responsibility to ensure they can do what is above and beyond the call of duty. You want to promote their rights and welfare and enhance their sense of worth and dignity? Make sure they are protected at all times and properly compensated: PPEs, capacity training and incentive pay.

“These are the times that try men’s souls.” How we survive this crisis will not depend on the competence or ineptitude of our leaders. In the end, our life and our future rests in our own hands. “We have it in our power to begin the world over again. A situation, similar to the present, hath not happened since the days of Noah until now. The birthday of a new world is at hand … how trifling, how ridiculous, do the little paltry cavilings of a few weak or interested men appear, when weighed against the business of a world (Thomas Paine).”