Press Freedom, The Oligarchy, & The Pandemic

A Critical Response to F. Sionil Jose

While most of us continue to battle our way through the CoVid-19 pandemic and the socio-
economic problems it has caused, many issues were raised concerning the (mis)management and
actions of the government amidst the crisis. This includes the shutdown of one of the country’s media
giants, ABS-CBN which generated a barrage of contrasting opinions about the matter all over the news
and social media.

F. Sionil Jose, A National Artist for Literature, published in his Column in Philstar dated May 18, 2020, an
article titled “The oligarchy and ABS-CBN: Don’t give them your ‘balls’”1. The national artist made
important points in the column that I think are important not only in the issue of ABS-CBN’s closure, but
to the discourse of the country’s current socio-political structure and dynamics, that requires critical
response.

I agree that the network is not the archetypal media, idealized by many to serve as society’s fourth
estate. How can this network, owned by a local elite-conglomerate, be a watchdog of a society ruled by
the very landlord/comprador class it belongs to? In fact, most of the media networks are owned by the
same group of wealthy business houses according to PCIJ co-founder and former director, Sheila
Coronal2.

Ultimately, the media industry in the Philippines is a corporate architecture designed to suck profit
through the mediation of information. “Bourgeoise Press” as Lenin would call it, and as Baluyev
emphasizes, “the entire bourgeois press within a capitalist state is a weapon for consolidating the power
of the bourgeoisie”3. This is far from the ideal conception of the fourth estate as a neutral institution
because we are still in a society, structurally divided, that actions and movements are always defined by
class interest. Neutrality in a class society of exploitation, inequality, and injustice, is a farce invented by
the powers that be to maintain their control.

But what is not lost from the media being a bourgeoise social institution, is information itself. No matter
how mediated by the western, corporate, elite disposition these are; information being public, means it
can be subjected to refutations and counter-claims. This is a small space of freedom the press can utilize
regardless of the institutional directives by their corporate managers. The agency of individual members
of the press are given this minute liberty to make any information public allowing the public to
deconstruct the mediations of the elite-controlled social institution. This is where the value of press
freedom, no matter how limited in a class society, is still of importance. Similar to Marx’s lamentation on
the bourgeoisie’s weapons being turned against it by the proletariat 4, this instrument of hegemonic
control provides a space that can be utilized counter bourgeoise hegemony. This is the avenue for
ideological contestation by the progressive ranks, aiming to not only to present counter-narratives, but
offer an alternative society. Maximizing such space while organizing a genuine alternative press allows a
wider range of ideological contestation and deconstruction of mediated information.

Most especially in a time of unprecedented crisis, the importance of public information, and therefore of
the role of the press should be emphasized to address both “Disinfodemic” and government
transparency in crisis management 5. The Philippine Government did nothing to prepare for the
pandemic, was reactive, and focused merely on population control rather than testing. Since the first
case declared on January 21, public testing by the government only started on April at a very slow pace
(224,673 tests or 0.2% of the total population as of May 15) 6. With greater demand from the
quarantined public for information, the Government was adamant and successful in shutting down the
network for putting up critical coverage against the administration.

F. Sionil Jose triumphs over the closure of ABS-CBN as a significant victory against the country’s
Oligarchy and went on criticizing the values of the local oligarchs as compared to some of the elites from
industrialized countries who are more “humanitarian”.

But the closure was not based on Duterte's campaign against oligarchy. Most media networks and
Telcos would have suffered the same fate. The state should have also gone after the Lopezes' other
assets and ownership. This is certainly not a model for any Government, that is sincere in dismantling
Oligarchy. The “anti-oligarch” rhetoric touted by the administration is just a way to justify actions
against un-subservient elite cliques. This pursuit against the media network is not because it’s owned by
some oligarch, but because of certain coverage by the network, that did not fare well with this highly
“interpretative” administration. At best, this is part of the machinations to consolidate oligarchic rule by
making sure every player is in his game 7. Duterte is no less than the representative of this country's
ruling elite the moment its administration adopted the Neoliberal policy-framework of post-EDSA
regimes with an intention to imitate the strong-man image of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

While correct in identifying the role of the oligarchy in the continued underdevelopment of the country,
Sionil Jose’s emphasis on the country’s oligarchs lacking in humanitarian values, seems to be devoid of
critical structural analysis. Firstly, most of the contemporary conglomerates owned by the country’s
biggest oligarchs have their own charitable foundations both to avoid or lessen tax responsibilities and
“win the hearts” of the people. Some of them even have their own “CoVid-19 Response” 8. Secondly, to
expect the elite to be humanitarian in their actions that may help in the country's development is
simplistic, if not a lame excuse. The development of countries was not triggered by capitalistic intentions
alone, but by structural changes such as shifting economic policies towards industrial production such as
Japan9. Japan developed their own production as a matter of conscious economic policy shift while the
Philippines was introduced to certain levels of industrial development to serve the interest of its colonial
masters. All throughout the colonial and post-colonial years, the Philippines served as a surplus market
for industrial states, providing raw and semi-raw materials for their production 10. These industrial
countries lend their humanitarian hands to us in exchange for policy reforms and structural adjustment
programs that would cater the needs of the global capitalist system.

The idea of humanitarian elite is nothing but a disguise to further the control by the elite over its
subjects i.e., by western industrial states over its surplus markets and semi-colonies, and by the local
oligarchs over the people under Neoliberalism.

This neoliberal project, by strengthening the power of the oligarchy 11, made the country more
vulnerable to the effects of a global health pandemic with intensive accumulation of wealth by the
oligarchs, and high inaccessibility of needs and services by most of the population. With a very weak
healthcare system and delayed response to the pandemic, the Duterte administration’s CoVid-19 only
circled around population control 12. This is characterized by strict community quarantine and lockdowns
raising issues of human rights and abuse of authority by the Police and Military, including cases of
shooting civilians, arbitrary arrests of relief volunteers, and many others. Meanwhile, certain politicians
and public officials were given special treatment and were given “VIP Testing”, Politicians and Law
enforcement officials were not even persecuted for violating quarantine policies. After two months of
Enhanced Community Quarantine, the government has decided to consciously interpret statistical data
to declare the increasing number of CoVid cases as manageable enough to relax on its quarantine
policies. This is after the oligarchs and the compradors have manifested the effects of pandemic to their
assets.

In the time of a global health pandemic, this is what we get in a country ruled by the same landed and
comprador oligarchs who exploited the working masses. A reactive, misguided, yet brutal government
who would be more concerned about instilling “discipline” amidst a pandemic, rather than
strengthening the health sector and intensify health efforts. This is the Government Sionil Jose is
referring to as a government fighting the country’s oligarchy.

We want to do away with Oligarchy in the Country? Introduce structural changes including
nationalization of industries and establish a clear production plan from raw material to commodity
production, not go after critics. Implement massive assets redistribution to make sure everybody has
access to resources and services. Maybe then, if another crisis of the same magnitude as this, we will be
more ready and less vulnerable. But it can only happen if we are willing to redefine our economic
policies away from Neoliberal interventionism.
1
Sionil Jose, F. “Philstar.com.” Philstar.com. Philstar, May 18, 2020.
https://www.philstar.com/opinion/2020/05/18/2014744/oligarchy-and-abs-cbn-dont-give-them-your-balls.
2
Coronel, Sheila S. “The Media, The Market and Democracy: The Case of the Philippines.” Javnost - The Public 8, no. 2
(2001): 109–26. https://doi.org/10.1080/13183222.2001.11008774.
3
Baluev, B. P. Lenin and the Bourgeois Press. Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1983.
4
Marx, Karl, and Frederick Engels. Manifesto of the Communist Party. Accessed May 21, 2020.
https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communist-manifesto/.
5
“World Trends in Freedom of Expression and Media Development.” UNESCO, May 6, 2020. https://en.unesco.org/world-
media-trends
6
“COVID-19 Tracker: Department of Health Website.” COVID-19 Tracker | Department of Health website. Accessed May
25, 2020. https://www.doh.gov.ph/covid19tracker.
7
Ranada, Pia. “Look Back: Duterte's Tussles with Big Business.” Rappler. Accessed May 21, 2020.
https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/246797-look-back-duterte-tussles-big-businesses.
8
Gonzales, Iris. “Filipino Billionaires and Their COVID-19 Response.” Philstar.com, April 13, 2020.
https://www.philstar.com/business/2020/04/13/2006839/filipino-billionaires-and-their-covid-19-response.
9
Ohno, Kenichi. “The Economic Development of Japan The Path Traveled by Japan as a Developing Country.” grips.ac.jp.
Accessed May 21, 2020. https://www.grips.ac.jp/teacher/oono/hp/material01/syllabusj.htm.
10
Sison, Jose Maria, and Julieta De Lima. Philippine Economy and Politics. Philippines: Aklat ng Bayan, 2002.
11
Holden, William N. “Neoliberalism and State Terrorism in the Philippines: The Fingerprints of Phoenix.” Critical Studies
on Terrorism 4, no. 3 (2011): 331–50. https://doi.org/10.1080/17539153.2011.623401.
12
De Silva, Raymund. “COVID-19: Its Impact on the Philippines.” Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières, May 4, 2020.
http://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article52772.