Interesting images from the SONA TV coverage
The adage, "A picture is worth a thousand words," was clearly illustrated in the television coverage of President Noynoy Aquino's State of the Nation Address on Monday, July 25, at the Batasan Pambansa. The following are some of the images that caught my attention:
Noynoy had to say "pasensya na po" as he started coughing in the middle of a sentence. Viewers were probably thinking it's time the President stopped smoking. For trivia buffs, ABS-CBN reported that the president used the word "wang wang" 20 times and was applauded 48 times.
A huge Philippine flag was fastened to the wall right behind Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, Speaker Sonny Belmonte and Noynoy on the elevated platform so when the National Anthem was sung, the three turned around and had their backs to the audience. Not a pretty sight. The TV director was alert enough to focus his cameras on the choir and the SONA guests.
The Senate President was more interested in leafing through several sheets of paper on his table than listening to the President who was only a few feet in front of him. It would have been understandable if this was an isolated shot but every time the camera focused on Noynoy, Enrile and Belmonte were always included in the shot. While Belmonte was earnestly listening to the speech, Enrile was hardly attentive at all. Ironically, before Noynoy arrived at the Batasan, the Senate President was interviewed on what he wanted to hear from the President. His reply: "I'm here to listen." Not!
A member of the diplomatic corps was caught on cam fiddling with his cell phone while the others had blank looks on their faces. It was understandable because the President delivered his entire speech in Pilipino. I'm sure the Dept. of Foreign Affairs will provide the different embassies with the English translation of Noynoy's speech. (Future entries to international beauty contests should follow his lead and answer questions from the judges in Pilipino and ask for an interpreter.).
The Kapamilya network's show biz orientation was pretty obvious with constant shots of Kris Aquino who was seated beside Makati mayor Jun Jun Binay. As every intrigue oriented viewer knows, the two had a falling out recently because the mayor had told reporters he and Kris were dating. Apparently, that conflict has been resolved. Later, after the speech, anchorman Tony Velasquez read her tweet on the air. She congratulated her brother on his speech and responding to his appeal, she said "I will thank every Pinoy I come in contact with." Co-anchor Tina Monzon Palma ignored the tweet and proceeded to ask one of her guests, former Congressman Teddy Boy Locsin a serious question.
When the SONA broke up, the ABS-CBN coverage shifted to the studio where Palma and Velasquez asked for feedback from their guests Teddy Boy, Prof. Julio Teehankee and former congressman Adel Tamano. However, the network chose to continue feeds from Batasan to show various political personalities like Imelda Marcos, Lucy Torres, Bongbong Marcos exiting the plenary hall while the three voiced out important comments. The director used a multi-screen with the Batasan feed occupying half of the TV while the more relevant visuals of the discussants were less prominent. What's more they had share the screen with someone signing for hearing-impaired viewers.
Unlike previous rallies where demonstrators burned the effigy of former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Monday's anti-Aquino protesters were kinder and burned a papier mache of a "penoy" (sounds like P-Noy, a presidential nickname). There were no reports of violent clashes with the police.
On the sound bytes side, the most memorable lines in Noynoy's speech were, as follows:
"Pinipersonal ko daw ang paghahabol ko sa mga tiwali. Totoo po yan. Personal sa akin and paggawa ng tama. Ang mali gaano katagal man ito nanatili ay mali pa rin. Pag kinalimutan natin ang mga ito, mangyayari lang ulit ang kamalian ng nakaraan. Kung di magbabayad ang mga nagkasala parang tayo na rin mismo ang nagimbita sa mga nagbabalak gumawa ng masama na kung puede ay ulitin nyo ang inyong ginawa."
Disclaimer: The views and observations of the author do not represent the position of Yahoo! Southeast Asia on the issue or topic being discussed.
