"We shouldn’t have to keep asking for it."
"We shouldn’t have to keep asking for it."
It says about how much political communication has changed in the past three years that the term ‘proof of life’ is now being used when inquiring if the President of the nation is still alive or not.
There have been several times during President Rodrigo Duterte’s Presidency when he has been absent from the public eye for days. When public clamor about his health, location, and current status becomes too loud for the Palace to ignore, out comes a photo of the President on social media.
It has been observed that such photos are not taken by the Palace or government communication arms such as the Presidential Communications Operations Office, but by a Duterte family member or, more often, the President’s aide, Senator-elect Bong Go.
The photos said to be taken at home show Duterte in the typical Filipino pambahay outfit of T-shirt and shorts with a copy of the day’s newspaper—usually the Philippine Star—in hand or nearby, face up and prominently displayed.
When a photo like this was first posted to social media, netizens began calling it a ‘proof of life’ and the term has stuck.
‘Proof of life’ is evidence that shows a kidnap victim is still alive. It refers to tense, frightening situations, to negotiations with black-hearted kidnappers, to fear and terror for the victim’s life. I had never heard or seen this term used except in crime news, books, movies, and television.
For example, last April 28, a South African photojournalist sent proof of life after being abducted while covering events in Syria in January 2017. In the photo, according to Times Live, he “holds up a sheet of A4 paper with the words, “Saturday, 13/04/2019” and the name Shiraaz Mohamed. A man wearing camouflage, whose face is covered and is holding an assault rifle, stands behind him.”
But the phrase has taken on a different meaning that is quite possibly unique to the Philippines. From being a phrase used in security situations, we now use it to refer to evidence of a person’s condition and whereabouts, particularly the head of state’s.
How unusual it is that the people of a country are so unsure or unaware about their leader’s welfare that they must, from time to time, ask if he is still alive? “Only in the Philippines,” so the saying goes.
People are used to news about the president appearing daily—in the newspapers and broadcast media from the time of Ferdinand Marcos to Joseph Estrada, and in social media as well from the time of Gloria Arroyo onward. The advent of the Internet made updates even more frequent until they are now ubiquitous.
So when there is radio silence, people wonder: how is the President? Is he okay? Is something happening that we should know about?
The latest Duterte proof of life photo came out last Sunday, after a rumor spread around midday that he was confined at a Manila hospital for an alleged heart ailment. According to Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo, the President neither confirmed nor denied going to the hospital.
But that afternoon, Go shared photos of himself with Duterte in a room said to be at the presidential residence Bahay Pangarap. In one of the photos, the President sits at a table holding a copy of the day’s Philippine Star; in another, he is eating merienda with Go.
What’s more alive than chowing down on pancit palabok, right? The question is, must we keep going through this uncertainty whenever Duterte is out of the public eye? This is the first time this has ever been an issue; previous presidents and their staff managed this better.
Transparency has always been a hallmark of good governance. It is to conduct business in such a way that others may easily observe the actions performed for purposes of accountability.
According to democracyweb.org, “In order that officials may be held accountable, the principle of transparency requires that the decisions and actions of those in government are open to public scrutiny and the public has a right to access government information. … Without accountability and transparency, democracy is impossible.”
The health of a nation’s head of state is of supreme importance to the people, who must know if the leader is well enough to fulfill their functions and duties that they were elected them to perform.
When our President ‘disappears’ for days at a time, it causes concern and alarm. Transparency is key to managing this. We shouldn’t have to keep asking for proof of life.
FB and Twitter: @DrJennyO