What more to expect in the Philippine Daily Inquirer

(In response to PDI's Editorial, October 26, 2009)

With the recent declaration of President Joseph “Erap” Estrada’s candidacy in the 2010 presidential elections, and with the Inquirer’s casual return to its tirade machine against the former President, one can’t help but expect which editorials will be published in this daily broadsheet for the next few months.

Initially, we expect the attacks will continue against President Erap’s image as corrupt, a murderer, a thief, and a gambler. The Inquirer proudly branded President Erap these images for the past 12 years. And it was not solely Erap who the paper set an attack dog against; the Inquirer too positioned a bunch of character attacks to the ex-chief executive’s friend, Fernando Poe, Jr. back in 2004.

Next would be the discreet mode of the Inquirer towards the Arroyo government, on which the paper was rumored to have conspired with to help depose President Erap in 2001. President Erap does not avenge as he did what’s best during the advertisement ban on the Inquirer back in 1999. He sat down and talked to each of the editors of the broadsheet. This memory should remain as a reminder for the Inquirer to maintain its fearless views along with fairness, accuracy and balance in the news stories they publish.

But ultimately, we expect more demolition job against our beloved President Erap in the upcoming days. Demolition write-ups, like this editorial, are obviously a series of effort to destroy the already crippled image of the former President. Why did the paper question President Corazon Aguino’s apology to President Erap for participating in the 2001 coup d’etat? It seems like President Erap can do nothing good. Could this be the editors’ way to show they are afraid of President Erap’s comeback in politics? We highly doubt that even all of their writers in PDI are anti-Erap.

Likewise, the huge turnout of the crowd in Tondo manifests how the masses still seek President Erap’s leadership. This, we must say, was another thing the Inquirer disregarded, as they decided to opine in another editorial that President Erap’s declaration was untimely due to the country’s reeling from the effects of the typhoons and that President Erap thinks the coming elections is all about him. Senator Loren Legarda announced her bid for VP also just recently, and yet it was only President Erap who was singled out to be criticized by the Inquirer. Those editorials only continue to prove that the anti-Erap forces are back to pull him down.

Yet why would the Inquirer bother demonizing President Erap if he really has no chance in winning the 2010 presidential elections? Is this a slip from the Inquirer editors that out of their overwhelming opposition against President Erap’s candidacy, emotions gave away in their editorials that they consider the former president a formidable and winnable candidate?

Our only unsolicited advice to the editors of PDI is to let them sit back, relax and observe how President Erap delivers his platforms to the Filipino people. Because maybe through deep reflection, the Inquirer editors someday may recognize President Erap’s good will and plans for our country.

Lloyd Ian Zaragoza, MyERAP National Chairman
Joseph Ginno Jaralve, MyERAP National Spokesperson