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They Say, It’s Fake News



I was going to write about the alliances that candidates are forming to consolidate their forces or machinery against an individual or group of opponents. The movements could come across as noble. This group says they are campaigning against the ills of political dynasty. This other group claims to campaign for the return of good governance in city hall. It is quite interesting that unlikely personalities from different and at some point, opposing political backgrounds, from distant districts could come together against a common adversary. One may find it ironic or humorous that some of these personalities who claim to oppose a political dynasty themselves hail from a political dynasty which has held some position for over a century now. I guess, one forgets about oneself and one’s background for the sake of consolidation of power. Yet, on the other hand, some alliances are not very surprising. Some associations are naturally expected due to kinship, remotely related they may be. Some of these alliances are rooted on friendships that have run for decades already. It’s just interesting how all of a sudden they are all so concerned about good governance and ridding the city of corruption.


But I’m going to set that aside, because there seems to be an undercurrent beneath this mainstream flow, a sub-text to the main plot which everyone is watching, a background noise which most people don’t notice or choose to ignore. There have been reports. Well, I’m not sure if we could call those reports because they did not come through mainstream media. There have been posts of attempted abductions of school children. There is a post of an attempted abduction of some elementary pupils outside a school in Concepcion Pequena. There is a post of an account of a high school student who has escaped abduction. Apparently and (allegedly), the abduction had been initially successful, but the abductee student was said to have escaped when the van stopped by Libmanan. The student was able to run all the way home with his school uniform now all muddied. There is also this post of a failed abduction of school children in Iriga. This has happened before. There had been a wave of reports of attempted unsuccessful child abductions in white vans around Naga. I just could not remember the year, but that was less than a decade ago.


But, instead of investigating to apprehend the criminals to bring them to justice, the media and police are investigating and even questioning the veracity of the statements of the victims and their families and concerned members of the community. Naturally, authorities should go after perpetrators of crime. On the other hand, they really have to verify the certainty of claims of crime.


When a barangay resident walks down a street and comes across a fallen tree blocking the way. It is only natural for him/her to tell the neighbors all about it. He/She doesn’t want to create alarm. He/She wants to tell people about it, so they don’t fall in any sort of danger. Neighbors would most probably view that fallen tree across the road and make comments about it and maybe share this information to other friends, not because they want to spread alarm, but it is the human thing to do to interact, to communicate, especially about unusual events. The sharing of information takes on a nobler cause when the intent is to prevent other neighbors from getting into trouble, to keep children from danger. I suppose any radio announcer or chief of police would do the same if they experience a crime firsthand.


Any form of wrongdoing is spread not to cause alarm, but as an expression of concern for the rest of the community, to prevent it from occurring again. But apparently, some people in the community, sadly those in the authorities don’t seem to appreciate this, and just interpret this as a plea for panic.


Should not we, as humans express sympathy to victims of crime? If they really are telling the truth, we have done the naturally right thing to comfort the troubled. If they turn out to be telling lies, we still have done the naturally right thing to comfort those whom we perceive as troubled. But, in its place, some in the media have declared these cries of concern as fake news. The police have labelled them unfounded and have even gone to the extent of hypothesizing them to be politically motivated, since they’re coming out in the campaign season. How ridiculous. Sirs, by calling them politically motivated you’re showing your political colors. When a parent experiences a similar case of abduction, he/she may now hesitate to go to the media for fear of being labeled as fake news, or going to the police for fear of being labeled as politically motivated.


So, where do they go now?” For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” 2 Timothy 4:3

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