Pro-martial law video
These are interesting times for the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) headed by former journalist Martin Andanar. After being criticized for the recent blunders of the Philippine News Agency (PNA) and assistant secretary Margaux “Mocha” Uson, it is now receiving flak for a video promoting President Rodrigo Duterte’s declaration of martial law in Mindanao.
The animated video, which was taken down shortly after it was posted on the PCOO Twitter and Facebook accounts, showed a young boy using a shield with the words “Martial Law” emblazoned on it to battle shadowy extremists.
“In the free society, there are groups who don’t want to give independence. They are adamant on detaining peaceful spirits. They are distressing feelings with fears. Let us not allow them to terrify us. We all fight with unity. Martial law should be the rule of the land. Martial law, now,” states the video.
Netizens pounced not only on the video’s faulty grammar and production values but also on its message. As Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III noted, martial law is never a “good normal” because it is an “extreme measure” intended for a temporary period. “Let him (Andanar) cleanse his office of misguided spirits and incompetent persons,” Pimentel added.
Indeed, the PCOO seems to need a good dose of competence. But more than that, it needs to be imbued with a professionalism that can only come once its employees cast away the politicking that they seem to continue to practice a year after the bruising presidential polls. Or failing that, Andanar can replace or recommend the replacement of the politically accommodated employees with genuine professionals.
The PCOO seems to be striving to be a true propaganda arm of the Duterte administration. But propaganda is not synonymous with primitive. It can even be elevated into an art form if its practitioners know how to. In this day and age, quality in both form and substance is necessary for propaganda to be successful. That PCOO video failed in both counts.
On second thought, having an amateurish PCOO may actually be good for an unadulterated appraisal of the Duterte administration.