Andronico Del Rosario
Most people understand that an editorial cartoon usually represents the views of a newspaper’s editorial board.
The Manila Times looks like it is insisting on its stance with a highly controversial one—though it’s on the other side of the fence.
Netizens—particularly those versed in journalism—asked themselves why the once-hallowed periodical would purposely run this now-viral editorial cartoon:
[Statement] A disgrace to journalism
Shame on the Manila Times for running an editorial cartoon that parrots the mindless red tagging by government of critics and dissenters. pic.twitter.com/nIT2eVQs0a
— NUJP (@nujp) October 25, 2020
The cartoon shows a person wearing a green beret with a star and a red shirt with a gold hammer and sickle and—both symbols of the communist movement. The person is also seen holding a paintbrush and is surrounded by several masks labeled law-makers, activists, feminists, and others—people who are usually seen speaking out against oppressive governments, which also includes journalists.
Often, editorial cartoons such as this would slip through the many photos on social media, but not this one. The NUJP National Directorate, in the same post, has called out the Manila Times for running such a cartoon.
“Shame on the Manila Times for running an editorial cartoon that parrots the mindless red tagging by government of critics and dissenters,” the statement said.
The NUJP also said that while the Times has certainly shown its biases as of late, they still “expect it… to tackle issues with more depth than this cartoonish vilification of a large cross-section of Philippine society, sans context and, most important, evidence.”
It also said that the cartoon is “its greatest disservice to the profession and to the Filipino people and Nation.”
Journalist Mia Magdalena, a favorite target of bloggers who support the Duterte administration, recently shared her thoughts on the cartoon:
WTF, Manila Times? This is dangerous and stupid. https://t.co/naBitrKAdN
— Miss Maggie (@MiaMagdalena) October 25, 2020
Even Jaira Balboa, social media handler for the Philippine Star and Interaksyon has weighed in:
https://twitter.com/jaibalboa/status/1320377882552664064?s=21
Former employees and other netizens have also weighed in on the not-so-surprising-yet-still-oddly-surprising turn of events from one of the country’s oldest dailies:
https://twitter.com/probablynotPia/status/1320271069337374720?s=20
manila times this you? https://t.co/yFVfBsMzzt pic.twitter.com/s3BKf9UEen
— Prince (@prince_aali) October 25, 2020
https://twitter.com/ToniSpeakEasy/status/1320319067459407877?s=20
How we got here isn’t that hard to find out.
Recently, Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade, spokesperson for the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) went on a tirade on his personal Facebook account, giving what he called a “warning” to Kapamilya actress Liza Soberano.
He would continue said “warnings”, answering most of the queries about this statement both on his social media account and during live interviews.
This also has ties to the recent budget deliberations held for the 2021 National Budget. Presidential Communications Coordination Office (PCOO) Undersecretary Lorraine Badoy also came under fire from Makabayan bloc lawmakers after they showed evidence of Badoy using PCOO social media assets—PCCO’s and Radio Television Malacañang’s (RTVM) official Facebook pages to red-tag progressive lawmakers in the House of Representatives.
Parlade and the rest of the NTF-ELCAC have since been told off by both Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and President Rodrigo Duterte for tagging individuals as communists or terrorists without prior evidence.
