The President speaks: Will the people listen?

When President Benigno Aquino 3rd addresses the nation this evening, he will convince millions of Filipinos hearing him on TV and radio or reading and listening to highlights of his speech in pro-Aquino media. Despite years of open disregard for the law, double standard treatment of friends and foes, and the unprecedented anomalies in public spending and smuggling, many Filipinos who supported him since 2010 are just waiting for some sliver of justification to keep their faith.

That is the power of media narrative, which also makes it hard even for journalists to abandon an entrenched perspective on a well-covered topic, whether it is Aquino’s purportedly reformist rule, or his predecessor’s widely assumed corruption (see March 14 column, “The Pope and the President’s Mystique Sticks”). Such stubborn views persist despite evidence to the contrary. And that will make Aquino credible to many.