The Vhong Navarro Case: Are We Feeding You Dirty Entertainment Rather Than Balanced Well Proportioned News?

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Damn! It's currently the blockbuster news that's still scorchingly hot due to more shocking revelations coming out from both parties involved....and also from third parties joining the bandwagon of extreme controversy. It has overshadowed all other news in the Philippines, even the privilege speech of almost namesake senator with the name of "Bong."

Vhong Navarro says it couldn't be rape since Deniece Cornejo and him already had a previous sexual relationship. Apparently, Deniece had performed oral sex on Vhong several days before the "attempted rape" broke out and created a resounding noise all over the Philippine archipelago.

The CCTV footages at Forbeswood Heights condo also seems to side with the declarations of Vhong seemingly making it strong that it was a planned and deliberate setup. Poor Cedric Lee and his minions which includes a Mixed Martial Arts expert and body-builder friend. You guys are the bad guys in this movie.

Now former MTV Philippines VJ, Kat Alano, enter the picture, and blows the story to a whole new level once again. While Alano never mentioned names in any of her posts, Twitter was immediately abuzz with speculation that she may have been a victim of Navarro’s advances. Her strong cryptic social media posts about rape believed to be in support of Deniece,  Kat is now widely believed to be a victim of Vhong 9 years ago.

"But the issue for me is NOT about whether this Vhong coverage is stupid, it's about proportionality. You have to admit that this disproportionate coverage of the story is also an attempt to raise ratings, get more ads, etc. Is it ethical? The problem is when news producers and journalists say that it's the viewers' responsibility to watch non-controversial news, we fail to hold news agencies accountable for their obligation as filters of stories - in the end, it's them who decide what gets released, which story to cover. I think when we allow ratings to determine the content of news, then what separates news from entertainment?" - Jonas Bagas

"Totally agree.It's the same argument I got into over the state of Philippine Cinema with someone else re: MMFF. He kept arguing that it's 100% the audience's fault that the MMFF keeps on producing a lot of trash and that the producers have no accountability because their job is to earn money. I said, of course not. Filmmakers can make money while still making quality commercial films and have a social responsibility to at least try. Just because a consumer wants something that is bad for them doesn't mean the producer should keep producing it just because it makes money. And more so with news, to your point." - Allan Carreon

"They call it public service when in reality it has become their milking cow. Remember Willie Revillame claiming that the money that he gives away is public service, when in fact their show rake more from the ads they get. So the formula is be populist, get more viewers to get more ads, give a little of money to the viewers, then call it public service." - Vincent De Jesus and Jonas Bagas

Deniece Cornejo, Cedric Lee and 6 others now face charges for kidnapping and serious illegal detention, which is a non-bailable offense. The respondents also face charges for serious physical injuries, grave threats, grave coercion, unlawful arrest, threatening to prevent publication in exchange for compensation.

Vhong is still recovering from his wounds in the hospital after an operation on his broken nose.

"Sadly, this might be the negative effect of social media; what gets commented on or shared most often is what the news will follow, as long as it keeps getting attention." - Rommel Panal

Just like journalists, online media people like bloggers have already become a strong source of information. Those who post over-eager assumptions, wild guesses, fake updates and videos, humorous memes, and a lot of other stuff pertaining to the Vhong case has made the issue top-billing any other MMFF movie to date.

But the too-much-information may have went overboard and made us lose touch of everything else that's happening around us. We may have been burdened by this sensational issue which kept us from seeing that there are far more important priorities in life rather than focusing on the lives of "celebrities" and their shady lives.

Are we letting you read garbage, or do you feel you deserve to hear out all the itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny, nitty-gritty details about our teleserye-like news that climaxing into something more than meets the eye. I'm sure it will further transform into something even bigger as the days pass, and everyone will continue to get hooked with it.

Don't blame us if we also share an interest to what's the real score. We are so curious of the truth right now that we're willing to spend a few minutes of our lives reading about this shit!

For now, let's have fun with the memes that's been spreading around like virus!