EDITORIAL – Cannot be denied

The mammoth crowd that massed up on Wednesday at the Freedom Park area for the homecoming rally of Davao’s reverred son Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and his runningmate Alan Peter Cayetano cannot be denied—it is the biggest anyone running in this elections can assemble without any form of coercion, compensation and free transportation.
The masses came from different walks of life. Different age brackets. Different tribes. Different beliefs. One thing is sure—they share one message. Their love for Mayor Duterte and their show of unconditional support. Nobody was paid in that rally. Nobody was even given food or water. No campaign shirts. If at all, those selling Duterte shirts and other novelties are having the time of their lives. Business was brisk
All around the venue that was literally filled to the brim, people listened to their man like they have not in years. They missed his voice. They missed his words. They miss him plain and simple.
And when the time came for them to light their candles, out came even house lamps and candles of all forms and shape.
“What is important is the message. I don’t mind if I come and bring a torch, but that is just being emphatic,” said one supporter.
The scenes last Wednesday resembled that of a rave party. Very electric and entertaining.
The real message though is that perhaps, despite the low ratings in the survey for now, the support Mayor Duterte had been given would at least be shown on the news report on national television.
You see, media networks also have their own biases. And what was to be a massive assembly of people shown for example, only the measly handshakes as Mayor Duterte was making rounds to the crowd in another engagement are shown on the report of one network giant—a disservice to the people who came to express their show of force on national television.
The quaint request of Dabawenyos that endured the long hours standing is that the news coverages will show the real footages and not just snippets of handpicked scenes.
It is obvious, the media has control over the outcome of the news no matter how much people try.