Same dog – same alphabet soup solutions

Yesterday’s double dose announcement from Malacañang started out as a non-event with President Rodrigo Duterte going only so far as saying that some people will be allowed to work and others will not be allowed to go out. As disappointing as it was for many people who were expecting substantial change in the quarantine status, they were somewhat used to the outcome where PRRD spent more time dwelling in the past, stirring the pot, but serving very little. Perhaps people did not mind it so much because no news was better than bad news.

On the other hand, the mid-day announcement of the IATF spokesperson turned out to be a case of “Same dog – Same alphabet soup.” If you are thinking,  “Same dog, different collar,” no that’s not what yesterday’s news conference turned out to be. It was more like someone ran out of creative ways to communicate so they stirred a pot of alphabet soup and ended up with the letter “M” thus the word “Modified”. All these jargon and alphabets are just being jumbled around but making very little difference in the state that people are living in whether rich or poor. Given all the disaster movies and real life experience Filipinos have gone through, we really had no problems with the word “Lockdown” but government communicators decided to pretty up or soften the term to Community Quarantine. As a result of expansion and extensions we’ve evolved to “Expanded,” to “Luzon-wide” and to “Enhanced” status.

Before yesterday’s double billed disappointment, we were all already familiar with GCQ or General Community Quarantine where we were told that certain people and businesses will be allowed to work and operate, while ECQs stayed under quarantine. Having failed to transition from ECQ to GCQ, the government and big business inside Metro Manila want to have their cake and eat it too, thus the Modified-ECQ where citizens stay home while factory workers and laborers go to work. That presents two conflicting solutions because on one hand you are telling the citizens of Metro Manila that it is dangerous to go outside their homes while saying that it is necessary and ok for workers and laborers and companies to take the risk because its good for the economy.

I am reminded by all of this of the poster that featured a tired gorilla scratching its head saying “Just when I knew all the rules – they changed it!” At the rate the government communicators and policy makers keep making up rules as they go along, it won’t be long before people go ape. They will be smart enough to stay home but sooner than later, the public trust and cooperation will run out and not even the fearsome Duterte will be able to contain the anger and frustration of people who are slowly getting fed up with the mixed messages and senseless alphabet soup solutions. If it’s ECQ let it be. If it’s GCQ, fine. Learn to abide by your own definitions and rules. Incidentally, many people listening yesterday were listening on radio where they didn’t see the charts, graphs, images or understood the jargon. Not everybody is online, has plasma TV or cable. Government communications is not just about messaging, it’s also about being considerate and knowing the audience. Clearly, the Duterte administration has also been under quarantine for so long they have started to limit themselves to the Malacañang press corps and PTV. Think people, think audience, think Filipino under quarantine.    

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Speaking of government communications, a number of people have lamented the unexplained absence or replacement of Secretary Karlo Nograles as the IATF spokesman. The insiders I spoke with in Malacañang were either clueless or playing me dumb saying nobody knows. One suggested that it came as a result of “sapawan” or over-lapping after Sec. Nograles touched on a subject matter that was “reserved” or in the prevue of the Presidential Spokesperson. This allegedly resulted in a sweeping memo from the Executive Secretary stating that henceforth, only Roque speaks for the President as well as the IATF.

All that seemed a bit petty if not unbelievable, so I continued asking around and someone told me that the instructions came from upstairs. That led me to go south among my friends in Mindanao just to find out if Karlo Nograles had committed some political mortal sin? Apparently Karlo Nograles was “as clean as a whistle” and had many followers and supporters, and his recent stint as IATF spokesperson highlighted his effective communications skills as well as political charm. And that was apparently what did him in. Nograles was too good for his own good to the point that certain powerful people in the regional politics were worried that his success may launch him to run either for a Senate slot or worse to run as Mayor of Davao City!  Nograles has flatly refused to comment on the matter as any professional would.

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 Allow me to express my condolences to the family of Sonny Parsons who passed away a few days ago, reportedly due to a heat stroke while riding his big bike from Marikina, I presume going to Quezon province. Sonny Parsons actual last name is Nabula and I went to the same school with him and his older brother Nelson, along with my own siblings Mike and Ricky.

In our media interactions, Sonny always managed to bring in color, drama and provided good material for conversations during my earlier stint with ANC/ABS-CBN. May he rest in peace and may God comfort and provide for his family. Go with God my friend.

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