Jun Lozada

At last the detractors and enemies of GMA have found somebody who can inflict a lethal blow on the administration in the person of Jun Lozada. The opposition, the left wing, the cause oriented, the mercenary, the media owned by the vested interests and the clergy are single minded in vesting on him the cloak of martyrdom, heroism and inclusive of sainthood regardless of evidences showing that he is of the same ilk as those whom he has implicated in his sensational expose’. The opportunity to use the Jun Lozada revelations in destroying administration is too good to pass up. These groups need to shore up the credibility of the prized whistle blower and would not stop at employing all sorts of machinations, plots, dissemination of misinformation and other deceptions to further their goals of discrediting the Arroyo government.

I am not taking the side of the Arroyos in this unfortunate event and am inclined to believe that there is basis for all the accusations hurled in the ZTE deal. It’s just that I am amused at the antics of both the supposed allies of the president and the senate inquisitors together with its allies in the periphery. Truth is nowhere present in the shouting matches, in the theatrics reminiscent of zarzuelas, the histrionics of the main protagonists and the hiss of lies through gnashed teeth.

Last night I watched “Harapan” a program produced by ABS CBN. This was supposed to be an open confrontation between Lozada and the people he had implicated in the ZTE deal.

Jun Lozada must have had a drama coach who taught him Stanislavski’s method acting discipline which have made movie stars like Marlon Brando, James Dean, Joanne Woodward et al do very convincing portrayals of the characters that they have played. His crying prowess exceeds even those of Tessie Agana’s of Roberta fame. Even his facial contortions, designed to elicit pity and sympathy for an underdog, rivals that of Joe de Venecia’s built in sad sack expression which was eloquently displayed in recent events. The stutters and the staccato delivery of his statements are a speech tutor’s pride. The wardrobe department was an example of great consistency and continuity. The T-shirt during the ABS CBN “Harapan” telecast was a stroke of genius. Here was Jun Lozada, the doormat…the poor Chinese “mestizong intsik” in an ill fitting, conspicuously announced unwashed T-shirt, from the province face to face with the well dressed panel members of the opposing team. One of them could not help but comment, in no mean terms, that he felt that they were set up into a situation where they served as backdrop for the poor crying little lost boy to create a picture of being ganged up by the bully henchmen of GMA. Another said that they were made to believe that the confrontation was to be a one on one and not a ganging up on a piteous somebody who was dressed up as a turkey in a turkey shoot.

To cap the program the last set of panel members were from the groups sympathetic to Jun Lozada. There was an eminent member of the Makati Businessmen’s Club who earlier was adamant that a friend and colleague was mentioned but soon was placated when Jun Lozada said that it was an inadvertent mention, a student leader from the NUSP a religious leader who all waxed poetic in their praises of Jun Lozada’s heroism and honesty expressing their undivided support no matter what. The not too eloquent businessman supposedly close to GMA was the hapless object of the contrast created by this final panel. He was implicated by Jun Lozada in the ZTE deal and was the only opposing voice in the final panel. He did not bother to elaborate but said that he will let the court decide in a hinted libel suit, a point not lost to the religious leader who mentioned that their hero was being pilloried by legal cases against him.

The program might have employed, wittingly or unwittingly, a ruse which is known as an order sequence bias where the series of events are sequenced to lead to a favored conclusion. It is no secret where the sentiment of ABS CBN lies.

If I were to rate the program I would give it the thumbs down. It was a model of excess in most production values. The sledgehammer approach at delivering messages was employed to the hilt. Subtlety was thrown out of the window and drama was overplayed much like a soap opera formula which makes for good ratings but abuses the sensibilities and intelligence of a more discerning audience. Television producers, not only of ABS CBN, deserve well their appellation as “connoisseurs of trash”.

I am sure that the President’s team is as bad as the other side and would not hesitate to employ their own brand of filth coming from their dirty tricks department. I am just making a comment on the most recent soap opera in the tube that make boobs of all of us all the time.

The histrionics of Jun Lozada, although a tad overdone, segued quite smoothly to a chorus, an epode to a Greek tragedy or comedy. Tragic or comic?...you decide.