I wasn’t even a mediaman yet when I saw that movie about the triumph of the revolution in Nicaragua. If I remember it right, the movie featured a scene in which rebels solicited the help of a photographer to propagate the lie that a dead rebel leader was still alive. The body of the rebel leader was made to pose like it was still alive and the photograph was subsequently printed on leaflets distributed everywhere. The internet was invented only years later.
That film involved media ethics, but that was a secondary issue. The main pull of that movie for me was the final scene when rebels triumphantly entered the nation’s capital and seized power. This column, though, is not about that but about proof of life. Or of Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella trying to prove that he is alive, contrary to a Facebook post that claimed he died of prostate cancer.
I was actually among those who read what the person posted in his account. He is, after all, a Facebook friend. When I first read it, I immediately checked the Facebook accounts of the mayor’s close friends. I also opened websites of some local papers. The claim was earthshaking and, for a small community such as ours, there was no way developments like that would be missed.
The erroneous post was so glaring that I was surprised why it still could be read hours later. It prompted me to ask a friend what was the possible motive of the person who posted it. Somebody told me the person is identified with the political opposition, although I couldn’t find a way to verify that. But the health of the mayor has been subjected to speculations for weeks now. And some of the rumors being spread around were too harsh that the claim that he had died was no longer surprising.
What rather surprised me was that the mayor’s PR machinery picked up the non-issue and even came up with a photo purportedly showing he is alive. He actually could have just dismissed it, held a press conference about the pandemic and everybody could have seen that he was alive and kicking. The mayor ended up making a fuss over nothing.
What wasn’t nothing was the death of lawyer Clarence Paul Oaminal hours later. When my wife informed me about it last night, I messaged my former dyLA and former SunStar officemate Vincie Monterde, who is now with the barangay hall of Inayawan. He used to be with the Talisay City Government. Oaminal was a Talisay resident. Vincie answered in the affirmative but could not say what was the cause of the lawyer’s death except to say that “naglisod siya’g ginhawa” (he was short of breath) and that prior to his death “gihilantan silang tanan” (they all had fever), referring to him and his family.
Soon, my Facebook friends posted their condolences for the family, which confirmed what earlier was raw information. This is how social media operates nowadays, with a person’s passing being confirmed by the expressions of sadness and sympathy posted by relatives and friends.