On this day last year, ABS-CBN died. Yes, it died. Nobody “killed” it. More importantly, nobody really cared because all ABS-CBN was to most Filipinos was a space filler — a channel through which noise was piped to a people uncomfortable with silence that would have otherwise been essential for reflection.
The only people who really made ABS-CBN larger than what it really was were those communities that formed around oligarchs’ dishonest political agendas. Thus you would see the likes of, say, Rappler “reporter” Rambo Talabong trying to convince everyone that ABS-CBN’s absence from Filipinos’ TV screens is nothing short of a humanitarian disaster.
Really? Are Filipinos “starving” because they no longer see Vice Ganda, the Kapamilya starlets, and those unimaginative teleseryes for free?
To be fair, one thing ABS-CBN’s supporters say that is true is that ABS-CBN serves the Filipino masses. That’s true because only the masa see no problem consuming this network’s rubbish content. Most people in the A Crowd wouldn’t be caught dead watching It’s Showtime or any of those comedies and sketches with those annoying chipmunk-like canned laughter and other sound effects used to make sure the audience “get” the jokes. They certainly wouldn’t encourage their kids to waste time on all that either.
In short, all that the “thought leaders” of the Opposition are saying to make ABS-CBN out to be some sort of “martyr” are all lies. ABS-CBN won’t be missed because nothing in this industry is irreplaceable. An entertainment void is easy to fill, specially in the Philippines. And, no, this is not about “press freedom”. Press freedom is alive and well in the Philippines, thank you. Even ABS-CBN know that to be a fact because it is still free to distribute “news” to its audience thanks to the Internet.
The 2022 elections are just around the corner and the Opposition are still focusing their energies on spewing lies to the Filipino people rather than work on their election winning strategy. Clock is ticking folks.
Webmaster of Get Real Philippines