Thieves come at night. Monsters linger in the dark.

As we walk through the year of suffering, the press has faced its nightmare—from the decline of the print industry, risk of infection, budget cuts, and to the attacks on media freedom. No one was looking when the thief came. No one was prepared when the monster arrived. 

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Everyone humbly slept as the night fell, but only one was awake. From his mouth he will tell; a tale of a long night.

 

MEDIAMEN AS FRONT LINERS

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When the COVID-19 came to the Philippines, Jairo Bolledo, at that time, was a producer, desk, and a mobile journalist in one of the biggest news media organizations in the country. 

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From mid-March to early April of that summer, shows are suspended to abide by its employees in complying with the quarantine lockdowns and restrictions. 

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Bolledo was at his home for two weeks, preparing himself for a sudden change in his workplace—from generating news items at work to producing news packages at his own comfort zone. He alternately performed at these new work spaces but he never thought he had seen the worst, until he realized that there was no safer place in this time of crisis.

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Being a journalist during a pandemic equates the responsibility of the media as the watchdog of the society to the duty of our healthcare workers as frontliners. As news is the major source of information about the events of this crisis, journalists shed light in reporting authentic news to the public. 

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Stand for Truth, for example, is a digital newscast produced by GMA News and Public Affairs incorporated with mobile journalism that covers relevant issues relating to politics, and the society. Bolledo was part of the team behind Stand for Truth’s newscast since 2019.

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Bolledo served as news desk and, occasionally, a mobile journalist in Stand for Truth. They faced prime setbacks in the abrupt change in their workload capacities. In the pre-pandemic era, data are gathered in the ground having face-to-face interactions with their subjects. But now, when it comes to gathering information, resources are limited through social media and other non-physical, online platforms -- as if restricting their space to report the right amount of authenticity needed to expound the issues or problems of their reports. The perceived alternative method before became the main set-up for the newsrooms nowadays.

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When the economy contracted, the same happened with the media. Due to diminishing budget allocations to each show quarterly, employees were forced not to be on board, leaving them no choice but to get into another show, or worse, to withdraw from their duties for the meantime. Bolledo was severely affected by this sudden change in his workplace. Because of this, he has to substitute for his workmates' loads, making his tasks at hand to add up from five to seven—from the research phase to script writing and producing the material. These all have formed into severe stress, considering this blunt adjustment in his work capacity plus the fatigue he gets working from home. 

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Nevertheless, Bolledo believed that he could persist for all of these hurdles. After all, he knew that being a journalist in this time of pandemic is just like the work of modern heroes without capes. They amass news to the greater public to inform them about the state we have today, and show them the events often neglected in this course of catastrophe. 

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He was slowly getting used to this situation—going out of his house with face mask and shield, alcohol in pockets, washing hands properly, and observing physical distancing. Over time, he completely adapted to this new normal.

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Until September 6 of 2020.

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It was yesterday when he went to his friend’s house a few meters away from his residence, attending to some things that he usually do. After going home, he felt unwell and started to contract colds. 

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For him, colds were normal due to seasonal allergies that he was aware of. In the morning, his stomach began to ache which for him, again, is normal because he has gastritis. 

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Until afternoon, his stomach pains became unbearable and later on, he started to get chills. He and his grandmother both acquired the flu. But the flu, he said, is not just a simple flu. He knew it was different. He experienced severe headaches, as if someone was drilling his skull, and he felt so weak that he can’t even get up on his bed. 

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Bolledo felt terrified, and what he did next is he isolated himself. Early symptoms of COVID-19 include colds and stomach cramps, so he thought that maybe it was the disease. But over the night, on September 7, he felt fine and everything went clear. The same goes with September 8, so he shrugged the thought.

 

September 9.

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Bolledo was with his aunt in their living room eating a vanilla cake. It was fun, and an ordinary day for the family. He took a bite of the cake, but he noticed that he cannot taste it. He is very particular in taste so he knew something’s wrong. He jokingly told himself, ‘Is it me or the cake is just bland?’ He shrugged the thought and guessed that it was just the cake being tasteless and even smelled it. At that moment, he froze.

 

He cannot smell it too. Panicking, he asked his aunt, ‘Why does the vanilla cake not smell like vanilla cake?’ His aunt jokingly said it smells appetizing, like what a vanilla-flavored cake would smell like. 

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But he wanted to be sure so he went to their bathroom and smelled all of the fragrant soap from local to organic to dishwashing liquids. He even tried to smell their trash bin but he can’t smell anything. 

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His heartbeat took a leap. One of the major indications of COVID-19 is the loss of sense of taste or smell. So, that very moment he knew, he had it. He cried out of fear, and isolated himself once again.

 

September 10.

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Bolledo called their city health office to inform them that he is a suspected COVID-19 patient, and request for approval for swab testing. He maintained his home isolation, but later that day, his sister experienced the same symptoms as well as his grandmother who was 81 years old and three other nephews which were thirteen, eight, and three years old. Experiencing the symptoms, they quarantined themselves.

 

September 11. 

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Bolledo’s brother, who is a seaman, had scheduled a swab testing prior to their quarantine days because of his work. On that Friday, his test result came out positive. Bolledo’s brother went home that day, and it assured Bolledo that his whole family had absolutely contracted the disease, but they just don’t know where they got it, and who might have carried it to their home. Nonetheless, he is certain that what happened to them was an outcome of community transmission.

 

September 14. 

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Bolledo’s symptoms subsided but his shortness of breath remained. He described it like a heavy brick of stone was on his chest, making him feel dizzy and light headed. It didn’t last a couple of days though, but his family experienced the indications up to two weeks long.

 

September 16.

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Bolledo and his family properly went through the swab testing, but this did not make anything easier for them. They were discriminated in their neighborhood because the news about them having the disease was disclosed by their local government unit to the public. The news spread like fire, and everyone seemed to despise them. 

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No one tried to come close to their residence, as if what they had is far more deadly than the coronavirus. It was life depriving, and unethical for what the LGU did. 

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With fear and consequent bigotry from the society, the family did not attempt to go outside. Bolledo’s aunt brought them food, and their other necessities. 

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On September 19, the swab test results finally came out. It was positive. That day, Bolledo officially became Patient 280055.

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It was October when he and his family were cleared of the virus. Every day, what happened to them caused a constant fear. As they became free of the stigma, the trauma did not leave them. They became afraid of going out, and will only do if it’s essential. Bolledo confessed that even after going to church, he bathes himself right away because of fear that he might get the virus again. He said that COVID-19 is no joke, that everybody has the potential of getting the disease even the finest of persons. In fact, Bolledo is a tall, fit man, and lives a very healthy life, yet COVID-19 did not skip him. 

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Through the course when Bolledo felt hopeless, he realized that the duty of a journalist surpasses the passion one must put into his craft. Journalism took a part of his soul, that even though he had the disease, it didn’t stop him from making news to the Filipino people.

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His fear was there, but his passion outlasts. Bolledo thought that, as a person, we can always do better and should do more. Today, as natural calamities take their own share in imparting terror to our country at the same time with the ballooning cases of COVID-19, he said that he will continue his job for Stand for Truth, especially that the Filipino people needed journalists more than ever.

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And if greater opportunities will ever knock on his door, he will gladly accept it as long as it can make him extend his help to the community as a media practitioner. Bolledo only hoped for the best of the situation; that in every journey, a destination awaits. People should partake their own duty in combating the disease, the way our front liners do their job in making the nation safe and informed. 

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“To be a responsible citizen and a fellow to our Filipino people, we should take accountability on the actions we do. So, let’s do our part to be safe, and let’s trust each other that we can survive this pandemic and this predicament in our society,” Bolledo said.

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Up to this day, there have been already 600,000 cases of coronavirus in the country. A fraction of that is our front liners consisting of our journalists. Their fight will be long, and many may fall. But as the pandemic advances, front liners will continue to adapt to this situation because for them, the long dark night has just started.

 

THE WAKE ONTO THE DECLINE OF PRINT INDUSTRY

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The print industry is believed to be near on its wake of decline with the advent of new media in the country, sending off a sense of threat in the state of the free press. What makes the print industry more vulnerable into dismissal is the nightmares of COVID-19. Because of the economy’s retraction and quarantine restrictions, printing of newspapers became less, and even some community newspapers stopped their printing operations.

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Newspaper agencies have faced lay-offs and retrenchment, resulting in forced resignation of some of its media men. The budget cuts made a disproportional need between the amounts of information to be mobilized against the journalists working on it. For these hurdles, journalists working in the print media have been greatly affected. John Eric Mendoza, a staff writer in The Manila Times, have covered health and national beats when the COVID-19 took its early onslaught in the country, and have encountered these challenges first hand.

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Mendoza was assigned to the Department of Health from the start of January to end of March, where he attended face to face press conferences. The nationwide Luzon lockdown was implemented that time making him seek refuge in the Manila City Hall Press Club Office, in which Mendoza is a member of, for three months. During his coverage on public health, Mendoza confessed that he and other journalists have been exposed to the virus when two DOH directors turned out to be positive while appearing in some of the department’s press sessions.

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Oh, damn, Mendoza thought at that time, although not in fear but in relief. He dreads for his own safety because COVID-19 is a fatal illness, but he found himself sighing a breath of reprieve because he thought that if ever he would contract the virus, he would not be sharing it to his family since he was far away from them. He was afraid more for his family, than to himself.

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For Mendoza, life should go on. After that incident, he continued working in the health sector. As the cases of the virus grew in the Metro, the implementation of quarantine restrictions was enhanced. Data gathering and press conferences were held online, so journalists have to adapt to these changes. It was early of July when Mendoza took a spot on the crime beat. Reporting on-going crime events, he said, is nerve wracking.

 

In newspapers, editors have a line up of stories to be published the next day. When real time events consume eminent importance, this line up adjusts and developing crime news takes space. This will count up Mendoza’s work capacity and exhaust effort in monitoring another byline. 

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Now that he is already at his home working on his own, Mendoza endures to work despite these pandemic trials. 

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“May trabaho tayo, dapat hindi tayo nabubuhay sa takot,” he said.

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Over time, he got used to these adjustments and only hoped for a better future. He believes that print media will only thrive if the industry itself will work together with the rise of digital news, and if young aspiring media practitioners will have the drive to enrich the duty of the journalists in the platforms of the emerging media.

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“We should build our professional connections even before we enter the industry, for example, from our internships. Second, be a voracious reader. Aside from being curious, a second nature of an effective journalist is being a good reader. Third, sharpen our writing skill, either in a technical or creative manner. And lastly, watch news,” Mendoza said.

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In the end, as long as there will be people hungry for information, especially during these trying times when authentic news is needed more than ever to combat the pandemic crisis, the print media ceases to die. The industry will uphold its legacy even after the nightmares of COVID-19.

 

THE UNEXPECTED RULY: THREAT AGAINST PRESS FREEDOM 

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When we think that we are already safe through the night, is the time when thieves break through our windows and steal our liberties. At the pinnacle of the long night, monsters arrived and we are devoured unprepared.

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It was Tuesday night, the fifth of May 2020.

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We were having our nightly supper while watching our favorite evening news show on the television. You were about to drink in a glass of water when the anchors of the news show suddenly flashed a breaking news. In an eerie yet silent demeanor, they told us that they were signing off. The report said that the National Telecommunications Commission issued a cease-and-desist order against their television and broadcast operations, citing the network’s expired franchise. The network should comply with the order, which the NTC said is immediately executory. The network, said the anchors, will go off air rightly that night.

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The news show ended, flashing right before our eyes the network’s closing video—bidding their last goodbyes on us, followed by the crying sound of the television, then nothingness. 

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We were motionless. We look up on the ticking clock, it’s just 7:52 in the evening.

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“What happens now?” you asked me, a hint of fear is reflected in your eyes.

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I don’t know. I thought. With the novel coronavirus pandemic happening in our country, information on the crisis became an essential commodity. Where do we go now? What happens to us now?

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A realization hit that night. It is not only the soap operas, sports highlights that were ominously affected by this closure, but also the men behind these shows— over 11,000 employees of the network will be jobless amid the pandemic crisis. How about them? Where do they go now?

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We can only answer but nothing for these questions because even for those who strive cannot reply without hopelessness in their eyes. But to those who stayed in the network, they will never be silent and be the voice of those who fall with the network’s termination.

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“Nang maipasara ang ABS-CBN, hindi naman nabahag ang buntot ng mga mamamahayag.”

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Zhander Cayabyab, a full-fledged Radyo Patrol reporter with the call sign number 49, has been working in the ABS-CBN’s DZMM since 2005. He faced the challenges of the pandemic, at the same time the demise of his mother station. Cayabyab clarified that even though ABS-CBN closed, their operations continued. They deliver news reports through Teleradyo Channel, DZMM’s online platform. The way they report on pre-pandemic and pre-shutdown is the same they do today. But still, it has its own setbacks. Not everyone can access online and subscribe to their cable channel so the audiences within their reach is undeniably limited.

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Cayabyab believes that the ABS-CBN shutdown represents the abuse of government towards entities/personalities of opposition. It was politically motivated, and there’s nothing more frightening than politicians weaponing laws against people expressing dissent. 

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Pursuing the timeline of the network’s closure, it all started with a 30-second political ad, aired on ABS-CBN, showing children raising questions about the Presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte’s foul language, it explained it was “duty-bound to air a legitimate ad” based on election rules. In 2017, President Duterte accused the station of “swindling” because of a campaign ad that he had paid for but was not aired in 2016 and stressed that he would block the company’s bid for a new franchise. Two years have passed and multiple bills are filed for the ABS-CBN’s franchise renewal. The president consequently threatened the network that their franchise will never be renewed, and even suggested that the company owners should sell the network instead. 

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After the NTC’s CDO, the broadcast giant asked the Supreme Court for a temporary restraining order to stop the decree. There have been cases and hearings filed against the network’s chairman Lopez III about his citizenship, and the network’s violations on its Philippine Deposit Receipts (PDRs). All of these are dismissed: the Department of Justice affirming Lopez’s authentic nationality, and the Security and Exchange Commission stating that ABS-CBN did not violate its regulations when it issued PDRs.

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Up to now, ABS-CBN’s plea to a new broadcast franchise is denied by The Committee on Legislative Franchises, permanently shutting down a major part of our country’s largest media network.

 

“Marami akong kasamahang natanggal sa trabaho. Hindi naman sana magbabawas ng empleyado ang ABS-CBN nang dahil sa pandemya. Kaso, pinasara. Kaya walang choice,” Cayabyab said.

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Apart from COVID-19, our country also faced many disasters, especially strong typhoons in the province. It is known that ABS-CBN channels have strong signals in provincial places. Some might say that there are other network channels and other options that can be watched with news. But the problem is, in some rural areas, ABS-CBN and its regional networks have the strongest signal there compared with other media networks. The reach - access to information, is indeed denied to our countrymen.

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Cayabyab only hopes for the survival of the media during these threats against press freedom. As long as they have their job, they will keep working. Nothing, even the nightmares of COVID-19 and the attacks to the freedom of the press, can stop the news and the truth from being revealed.

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From the media men as the truth tellers and so-called heroes alongside with the healthcare workers in this time of pandemic; they, too, are vulnerable from the attacks of suppression and depravity of government for basic human rights -  the right of freedom and expression. It may risk the duty that beholds in their profession for putting their own lives to it, but the desire to do what is right and necessary is still living, although in the ledge of dying. In line with this, as they struggle to strive with the decline of some media industries, they still find ways on how to cope up with the challenges and look on the brighter side of it with hope: a hope to keep the passion burning on seeking for the truth, to inspire and motivate Filipino people to be keen enough, and to learn how to fight for their rights during these attacks. Because, after all, the media exists in service of the people.

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We may not be looking when the thief came at the height of the dark eve. We may not be prepared when monsters arrive from the dark. But we should be awake as we walk through this year of suffering. 

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Because from our mouths we will tell; a tale of a long night.

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