DIGGING BENEATH: AN ANALYSIS OF THE NEWS

FRAMING OF TOP FOUR ONLINE NEWS PORTALS ON MARCOS’ BURIAL

A Thesis

Presented to the

College of Arts and Letters

Bulacan State University

In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree of

Bachelor of Arts in Journalism

by

Dimla, Maricar S.

Medina, Jann Ericko N.

Panganiban, Ma. Thea L.

Pascual, Annabell G.

BAJ- 4A

Ma. Cecilia M. Eugenio

Adviser

[0]
 May 2017

CHAPTER I

The Problem and Its Background

Introduction
The Philippine government established the Libingan ng mga Bayani (LNMB) or

Heroes’Cemetery in 1947 to serve as a resting place of the fallen Filipino soldiers of the

country during World War II, war veterans, national artists, and past presidents. The said

103-hectare cemetery is owned by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

Historically, it was first known as the Republic Memorial Cemetery however, the late

President Elpidio R. Quirino signed Republic Act 289 which states that presidents of the

Philippines, national heroes, and patriots of the country can also be buried there (Tan,

2016).
In year 1954, former President Ramon D. Magsaysay, Sr. then officially renamed

the cemetery into Libingan ng mga Bayani. Over the years, late president Ferdinand E.

Marcos, Sr. established the Proclamation Number 208 in 1967 which states that there was

additional 142 reserved hectares for future expansion of it (Pasion, 2016).

At the present time, the Armed Forces of the Philippines is in charge of the LNMB

and it released guidelines that limit the persons who can be buried at LNMB. In the

Allocation of Cemetery Plots here is the official shortlist: Medal of Valor awardees,

Presidents or Commander-in-Chief, secretaries of National Defense, AFP Chiefs of staff,

Generals/flag officers of the AFP, active and retired military personnel of the AFP –

including active draftees and trainees who died in line of duty, and active reservists and

Civil Armed Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU) Active Auxiliary who died in combat-

related activities, former members of the AFP who laterally entered or joined the

Philippine Coast Guard and the Philippine National Police, veterans: of Philippine

[1]
Revolution of 1890; World War I; World War II, and recognized guerrillas; government

dignitaries, statesmen, national artists and other deceased persons whose interment and

re-interment have been approved by the Commander-in-Chief, Congress, or the Secretary

of National Defense, former presidents, dignitaries, statesmen, national artists, widows of

former presidents, secretaries of National Defense, and Chief of Staff.

In addition, AFP designated grave slot according to position: 46 allocated grave

sites for presidents, 94 plots for secretaries of National Defense, government dignitaries,

and statesmen, 133 for the AFP chiefs of staff, 118 for Medal of Valor awardees, 183 for

other generals and flag officers, 5,334 for World War II veterans, 1,375 for national artists

and scientists and the remaining grave sites are designated for retired AFP personnel and

veterans.
However, the attempt to bury the late President Ferdinand E. Marcos, Sr. at the

LNMB led to national case and discussion. The late President Marcos was known for the

declaration of Proclamation No. 1081 known as Martial Law in 1972 which lasted until

1981 wherein during those years human rights violations rose. According to Dolly De

Leon’s petition against Marcos' burial at Libingan ng mga Bayani, to the justices of the

Supreme Court (SC) of the Philippines, 70,000 people were imprisoned, 34,000 were

tortured, and 3,240 were killed, these statistics were tallied by the Amnesty International

(AI). Furthermore, in 1962 the foreign debt of the country which amounted only $355

million had increased to $28.3 billion in 1986.

Way back in year 1998, former President Joseph Estrada planned to bury Marcos

at the LNMB but it faced complications and protests. For the past Arroyo and Aquino

administrations the planning of burying Marcos remained not discussed.

On August 7, 2016, President Rodrigo R. Duterte asserted that the late President

Marcos should be buried at LNMB. On the other hand, the National Historical

[2]
Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) puts to question the war records of the late

President Marcos as fake based on their record, through this, the burial gathered a lot of

media attention due to the campaigns of those in favor and different protests of those who

oppose. One of these is the online petition of Dolly de Leon which was launched on May

24, 2016, which strongly believes that Marcos should not be buried along the remains of

true heroes of the country (Serafica, 2016).

On the published article of Gerth (1986) in New York Times entitled,

“MARCOS'S WARTIME ROLE DISCREDITED IN U.S. FILES” it stated that late

President Marcos lied about receiving U.S. medals: Distinguished Service Cross, Silver

Star, and Order of the Purple Heart, which he claimed as early as the year 1945.

“In 1982 and 1983 journalists in the Philippines

and the United States, as well as Representative Lane
Evans, Democrat of Illinois, tried to determine the
validity of the American awards to Mr. Marcos,
including the two Bataan-related medals. The Pentagon,
in replying in 1984 to Mr. Evans, noted that no official
''citations for these awards'' could be found…”

In connection with this, there were six petitions were filed and consolidated as

one case. The first oral arguments held last August 31, 2016 and the second was done on

September 8, 2016. In the first petition, it was mentioned that the 1987 Constitution is

anti-dictatorship, thus, burying late President Ferdinand E. Marcos, Sr. is equivalent to

denying the abuses during the Marcos regime.

However, according to the respondents – who are the heirs of Marcos,

Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, Deputy Chief of Staff of the military’s

Reservist and Retiree Affairs Rear Armiral Ernesto Enriquez, Armed Forces of the

[3]
Philippines Chief of Staff General Ricardo Visaya, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana,

and Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO) Administrator Lieutenant General Ernesto

Carolina – “There is no item in the Constitution that “expressly prohibits” the late

President’s interment at the Heroes’ Cemetery.”

In the second petition, the Republic Act 289: An Act Providing for the

Construction of a National Pantheon for Presidents of the Philippines, National Heroes

and Patriots of the Country was highlighted for it states that only “national heroes worthy

of emulation” can be buried at LNMB and a Board of National Pantheon shall order the

burial.
On the side of the respondents: “The pantheon referred to in RA 289 is not the

existing Heroes’ Cemetery. It refers to the site in East Avenue, Quezon City, approved by

late President Quirino on May 12, 1953. To date, no National Pantheon has been erected

at the site.” President Marcos, through Proclamation 208, declared the Libingan ng mga

Bayani located in Fort Bonifacio a national shrine.”

The third petition raised the Republic Act 10368: Human Rights Victims

Reparations Act was used in the argument; to bury late President Marcos at LNMB

recognizes the human rights violations happened in Martial Law.

The respondents tackled the arguments raised in the third as irrelevant as the

victims already received monetary compensation and recognitions. Therefore, should not

affect the court decision.

The fourth decision discussed the Marcos family’s 1992 agreement with then

President Fidel V. Ramos. The former President Ramos gave permission to bring home

Marcos’ remains as long as it would be brought straight to the Ilocos Norte without

military honors and not be buried at the national shrine.

Respondents said, “Duterte is not bound by the agreement since it is “doctrinal”

that “incumbent presidents are free to determine [their own] policies.”

[4]
 Next, fourth and fifth petition presented the International Covenant of Civil and

Political Rights:
“The burial violates the International Covenant
of Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and international
norms on the right to the truth and the duty of the state to
preserve memory and guarantee non-repetition.
ICCPR mandates the state to ensure that a
person whose rights are violated must be recognized and
be given “effective remedy.”
Allowing a hero’s burial for Marcos denies
Martial Law victims the ‘remedies awarded to them by
competent authorities.’”

The respondents answered, “The government does not violate international

covenants because the petitioners’ premises are that the interment will make Marcos a

hero and there will be a “re-writing” of history. The administration is not “re-writing”

history by allowing the burial as they are not naming Marcos a hero but only recognizing

him as a former president and soldier.

The notion that only “heroes” can be buried at the LNMB is a “legal and

historical” misconception.”

And the last petition asserted that late President Marcos being a World War II

veteran is fake according to the study of National Historical Commission of the

Philippines and he was “dishonorably discharged” when ousted in 1986.

As a counter argument of the respondents, “The NHCP study is incomplete. The

Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO) recognizes Marcos as a member of the retired

army personnel based on a certification issued on August 18, 2016. PVAO records show

that Marcos was a World War II veteran and among retired military personnel. Because of

PVAO’s certification, Marcos is considered “honorably discharged” from the service.”

[5]
 On November 8, 2016, the Supreme Court decided to allow the burial of the late

President Ferdinand E. Marcos, Sr. at the Libingan ng mga Bayani after the vote count in

which those who are in favor won by four votes. The petitions arguing that allowing

Marcos to be buried at LNMB will remove the essence of the EDSA revolution and will

give “grave injustice” to the Martial Law victims were dismissed by the high court.

Supreme Court Justice Diosdado Peralta, one of those who voted to dismiss the petitions,

said that President Duterte has the right to allow the burial because it was bounded by the

Constitution and his administrative powers. With this, a total of 217 articles were

published by the top four news online portals (ABS-CBN-19, Inquirer- 64, GMA- 80, and

Rappler-54) from November 8, 2016 to November 18, 2016 based on the gathered and

retrieved sample articles.

Meanwhile, the public’s source of information is not only limited to the print

media. As stated by McLuhan (1969), online news portals are used as another outlet by

the public to gather news and information.

According to the study of TNS Digital Life, the 45% of the total number of 1000

respondents proved that online news portals are another channel to provide information.

They published a study on select urban areas about their news consumption in 2012 that

showed 45% of Filipino respondents rely to the internet while 36% listens to radio; 12%

reads newspaper; and 4% refer to magazines. In comparison to the 2011 study by the

same firm, there is a significant 8% increase in the number of internet users; while a

decline of 4% and 10% on radio and newspaper, respectively, and no changes at all in

magazines.

[6]
 An evident proof of this is an article from rappler.com: “Supreme Court: Marcos

was not pure evil” published in 6:22 PM, November 08, 2016— tackled the petitions

allowing Marcos to be buried at the LNMB and after 27 years, the Supreme Court on

Tuesday, November 8, decided to allow the burial of the late dictator Ferdinand E.

Marcos, Sr. at the Libangan ng mga Bayani after the vote count in which those who are in

favor wins by four votes.

In addition, on GMA News Online: “Sereno: Hero’s burial degrades pain of

victims of Marcos, Martial law” published also last November 8. Chief Justice Maria

Lourdes Sereno said that the executive branch has abused their power when they granted

the military the permission to bury Marcos’ remains at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

According to Sereno, granting a dictator, plunderer, and a human rights violator is against

the original intention of the LNMB, which serves as a national shrine. She added that the

way the court looks at the Marcos’ issue as a soldier’s entitlement to military burial is a

shallow move to assess the case.

Moreover, Sereno said that the court disregards the duty of the State to recognize

the pain the victims of Martial Law. Regardless of the unity the burial promised, Sereno

is not going to support such shallow view over the Philippine history.

Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio also stated his opinion regarding the

issue, saying that the moment Marcos was ousted in his presidency after 20 years made

him ineligible to be buried at LNMB. He added that the burial of Marcos at the Libingan

ng mga Bayani is not a form national healing; but rather an effort to bury the collective

shame of impunity of the past.

Prior to that, last August 07, 2016; the Associated Press (AP) as published on

INQUIRER.net: “Duterte gives go-ahead for Marcos burial at Libingan” said that the Office

[7]
of the President Duterte released a memorandum to the Chief of Staff of AFP General

Ricardo R. Visaya for the internment of the late President Marcos at the LNMB. Also,

according to President Duterte, Marcos is ‘qualified to be buried’ at the Heroes’ Cemetery

for he was a former president and soldier of the country. Therefore, it is ‘fine’ even if the

Filipinos are against it.

On the other hand, in an article by ABSCBN News Online last October 16,

2016, 04:44 PM: “Duterte on Marcos burial, we will follow SC”, when asked about the

Marcos’ burial, President Rodrigo Duterte said that he will comply on what the Supreme

Court states; according to him, Supreme Court knows, interprets the law, and decides

who among the contending parties will win.

He explained that his position on the late President Marcos issue is not on his

heroism and war medals but rather on the law that gives late President Marcos the right to

be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. The issue about the war medals is up to the

next generation to solve. He also wished that Supreme Court will not judge based on

emotions. He added that the issue on Marcos’ burial had left the Ilocano people alienated.

With the recent trend of the late President Marcos’ burial news articles, the

researchers conducted a comparative content analysis on how the Marcos’ burial issue

was reported on the top four news portals— ABS-CBN News Online, INQUIRER.net,

GMA News Online, and Rappler— since the Supreme Court made their final decision

until the internment of the late President Marcos at LNMB.

The researchers chose this topic because media practitioners, specifically,

journalists are not just trained to be language competent but also to look over the

historical, cultural, sociological, and political aspects in reporting. Also, it was timely due

to the current administration’s pronouncements of Marcos’ burial at the Libingan ng mga

[8]
Bayani. It was also relevant to the journalists for it helped them to relieve history because

journalists are also historians (Lavoinne and Motlow, 2016 in Zelizer, 2004).

Interviews were also sought from the editors – Isagani de Castro, John Nerry,

Maria Ressa, and Jaemark Tordecilla – of the respective online news portals. After the

interview with the editors, historians Michael Charleston Chua and Maria Serena Diokno,

to ensure that there is a basis when it comes to the reportage of historical facts concerning

the late President Marcos’ burial. After that, Center for Media Freedom and

Responsibility’s Luis V. Teodoro provided inputs as to how crucial the role of journalists

in making sure that historical facts are not altered when it comes to writing news

concerning history.

Statement of the Problem

The main objective of this study was to determine how did the top four online

news portals in the Philippines such as ABS-CBN News Online (news.abs-

cbnnews.com), INQUIRER.net, GMA News Online (gmanetwork.com/news), and

Rappler (rappler.com) frame the news on late President Marcos’ burial.

Specifically it sought to answer the following questions:

1. How did the Online Sensationalism Index factors affect the presentation of the late

President Marcos’ burial issue?

1.1 Sensationalism

1.1.2. Impression of the news article

1.2 News Content

1.2.1. Dramatic Subject

[9]
 1.2.2. Verbalized Emotion

1.2.3. Dramatic Pictures

1.2.4. Headline

1.3 Personalization

2. What is the most used kind of framing among the top four online news portals?

2.1. Episodic framing.

2.2. Thematic framing

3. What factors did the online news portals consider in reporting the Marcos’ burial?

3.1. Organization pressure and constraints

3.2. Journalistic routines

3.3. Ideological/political orientation of journalists.

4. Was there any distinction between the top four online news portals in portraying the

late President Ferdinand E. Marcos’ burial at the LNMB?

Scope and Delimitation

The researchers focused on how the top four news portals in the Philippines –abs-

cbnnews.com, gmanetwork.com, inquirer.net, and rappler.com – presented the late

President Ferdinand E. Marcos, Sr. burial case in their news articles. These articles were

published in the news section of the respective online news portals, regardless of their

type of news (hard news or soft news). Also, it included updated articles published within

the given timeframe. The 40 sample articles were divided into groups and into 10

categories to ensure that the articles to be analyzed were similar to one another and there

[10]
would be no mismatch. The researchers incorporated the list of articles, divided into

themes to ensure their congruence.

The period of the study started from November 8, 2016 to November 18, 2016

when the Supreme Court voted to allow the burial of the late President Marcos at

Libingan ng mga Bayani until the internment of the late President was held.

Due to the fact that the pronouncements of the President Rodrigo R. Duterte to

bury the late President at the Libingan ng mga Bayani were made before he occupied the

presidency, the researchers decided to pick the crucial period in reporting the Marcos

burial to ensure the feasibility and make the study more specific.

Significance of the Study

Upon the completion of this study, it will be of importance to the following:

College of Arts and Letters. This thesis will serve as a reference for future students of

Mass Communication in the College of Arts and Letters; will serve as pattern for the

future students when they choose a topic that frames a certain historical or sociological

issue that has an impact.

Academe. To contribute to the related studies conducted on news framing of reports that

concern historical facts and figures, this will be vital so that they can refer to this study

when topics such as how the online media became the new avenue for journalists to put

their contents.

Future Journalists. This study will help future journalists to make them aware to how the

online news portals write their news concerning historical facts and figures, to guide them in

[11]
fulfilling their duty as future journalists, and to observe the ethical standards in writing

news reports: to remain unbiased and always be objective.

Journalists. To all journalists, modern or traditional, may serve as one of their guides on

how to properly dwell with news and stories that involves important people in our

history, without any bias, and siding only with truth, for, they are not only writers of the

news today, writers of what could be the history of the future generation.

Department of Education (DepEd). For this study will help them since Department of

Education plays a vital role in securing that historical facts will always be what it is, that

historical revisionism will have no/ room in the curriculum they use.

National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP). May this study help them

to achieve their aim to build a Filipino society made of citizens that know their own

history, who love their own country, and are proud of their cultural heritage.

Filipino People. To help the Filipino people discern on how they view the news that

involves important people in the history of our country, and may they be educated to

check the facts. This will allow the Filipino people to stay vigilant and participate in

discussion concerning social issues.

Future Generation. Through this, may they have an idea of what the generation before

them did for them to experience the freedom the Republic of the Philippines has in the

present. For, the true job of journalists is just not to inform the present people, but also to

educate the future generation of what truly happened in their history.

Definition of Terms

[12]
 Diminishing language barrier, the following terms were supplied with definition

and it served as guide for readers’ better understanding on this study for these terms were

mentioned on the succeeding chapters.

Activists. A person or group of people that campaigns for social change in their country

or state. (vocabulary.com)

Comparative Analysis. Is a study that compares two things through their

similarity and differences. (businessdictionary.com)

Content Analysis. A writing technique for systematically portraying written, spoken or

visual communication that provides a quantitative description. It is equipped to analyze

new materials gathered by the researchers, and to identify open-ended responses to

interview or survey questions. (pasc.dss.ucdavis.edu)

Corrupt. A person who commits dishonesty or a crime for his or her personal gain.

(Merriam Webster dictionary)

Desaparacidos. Is a Spanish word that means “The Disappeared.” It was used during the

Marcos era when he implemented wherein, people against the government mysteriously

disappears and is still not found to this day. (desaparecidos.org)

Dictator. A leader who rules a country with authority and often executed in a brutal way.

(Merriam Webster dictionary)

File. A record of the court that is composed of the original complaint and all pleadings

and papers belonging thereto. A paper is filed when it is delivered to the proper officer to

be kept on file as a matter of reference and record. (Legal-

dictionary.thefreedictionary.com)

[13]
Hard news. A news type that involves politics- domestic and international- economics,

social topics, and human interest that needs immediate reporting because of its short

lifespan and importance.

Hero. A person who has sacrificed something great for the greater good of others.

(Merriam Webster)

Heroes’ Cemetery or Libingan ng mga Bayani (LNMB). Was established back in 1947

to serve the fallen soldiers of the country during World War II, however later on, the late

President Elpidio Quirino signed Republic Act 289 which states that presidents of the

Philippines, national heroes, and patriots of the country can also be buried there.

(Rappler.com)

Human Rights. Are rights of human beings that are inborn no matter what their

nationality, residence, sex, origin, color, religion, language, etc. is. (ohchr.rog)

Loyalist or Marcos Loyalist. Supporters of the late President Marcos.

Marcos. The surname of the late President Ferdinand E. Marcos, Sr., who is known for

implementing Martial Law in the Philippines.

Martial Law. A law that can be executed by the government that involves suspension of

the existing law in a country. (Legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com)

National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP). Is a government

organization that deals with the preservation of the country’s historical legacies.

Military Funeral or Soldier’s Burial. A memorial or burial rite conducted by the

country’s military for a deceased soldier, sailor, marine, or airman, who died in action or

in the battle, veteran, or prominent figures or head of a state.

[14]
News Framing. The construction and structure of how news were delivered. It is an

expanded research about a certain topic discussed in the news. Goffman's Framing theory

is a research of topic in media that focuses interest on definite dealings and then places

them within a field of importance. (journalism.org 1988)

News portal. A website that delivers news.

Ombudsman. A person assigned by the government to investigate and address the

citizens’ complaint. (Legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com)

Online. Digital, anything that’s in the internet.

Positive Journalism. A kind of journalism wherein writers or journalists deals more with

the positive or good side of a news or story. (openschoolofjournalism.com)

President. A person elected by the citizen of a state or country to lead them. (Merriam

Webster)
Press Release. An official statement or stand of a particular group, organization, or

person that is given to the press. (dictionary.cambrige.org)

Ruling. A court’s decision in a case. (Legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com)
SC. Abbreviation for Supreme Court
Soft news. A type of news that has a slight or not even social and personal importance,

because of this, soft news combines information and entertainment in its content.
SolGen. Abbreviation for Solicitor General.
Solicitor General. An officer in-charge of representing the Executive Branch of the

government. (Legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com)

State Funeral. It is a public funeral ceremony that observes strict protocols. It is

conducted for people of national significance.

Supreme Court. Part of the legislative branch of a Democratic country, it is considered

as their highest court. (Legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com)

[15]
Unconstitutional. A governmental conduct or court decision that violates one or more

requirements in the country’s Constitution. (Legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com)

Vigil Lighting or Vigil. An assembly held outdoor wherein in people carry candles as a

protest or to show support in a specific issue.

Wire. Newswire, an agency that sells news to smaller/local media agencies.

Yellow Journalism. Is a Journalism practice that adds sensationalism to sell their

news. (pbs.org)

Notes for Chapter I

Gavilan, J. (2016). Timeline: Ferdinand E. Marcos, Sr. Burial Controversy. Retrieved

November 12, 2016, from http://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/151667-timeline-

ferdinand-marcos-burial-controversy

Tan, L. (2016). Aquino sat on Binay proposal to bury Marcos in Ilocos. Retrieved

November 12, 2016, from http://www.rappler.com/nation/143276-binay-camp-

aquino-failed-proposal-bury-marcos-ilocos

[16]
Sassy Lawyer (2016). Republic Act 289 and the Marcos Burial at Libingan ng mga

Bayani. Retrieved November 12, 2016, from http://sassylawyer.com/republic-act-289-

marcos-burial-at-libingan-ng-mga-bayani/

Zelizer, B. (2004). Taking Journalism Seriously: News and the Academy. Retrieved

November 23, 2016 from https://nbgyjm118.files.wordpress.com/2017/02/e-b-o-o-k-

0803973144-taking-journalism-seriously-news-and-the-academy.pdf

Serafica, R. (2016). Netizens campaign against Marcos burial at Heroes’ Cemetery.

Retrieved November 13, 2016, from http://www.rappler.com/move-ph/134236-

netizens-campaign-marcos-burial-heroes-cemetery

Robles, C. (2016). Chan Robles Virtual Law Library: Republic Act 289: AN ACT

PROVIDING FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF A NATIONAL PANTHEON FOR

PRESIDENTS OF THE PHILIPPINES, NATIONAL HEROES AND PATRIOTS OF

THE COUNTRY. Retrieved November 12, 2016, from

http://www.chanrobles.com/republicacts/republicactno289.html#.WCgm_NKrR1t

Pascual, F. (2016). Trudging back to old haunts and bad habits. Retrieved November 12,

2016, from http://www.philstar.com:8080/opinion/678581/trudging-back-old-

haunts-and-bad-habits

National Historical Commission (2016). Executive Summary: Why Marcos should not be

buried at the Libingan ng Mga Bayani. Retrieved November 12, 2016, from

[17]
https://www.facebook.com/notes/national-historical-commission-of-the-

philippines/executive-summary/1259008467457343?__mref=message_bubble

De Leon, D. (2016). Petition: No to Marcos burial at Libingan ng Mga Bayani. Retrieved

November 13, 2016, from https://www.change.org/p/no-to-marcos-burial-at-libingan-

ng-mgabayani?

recruiter=27975810&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=facebook&utm_ca

mpaign=autopublish&utm_term=mob-xs-share_petition-

reason_msg&fb_ref=Default

Gerth (1989). Marcos’ wartime role discredited in US. files. Retrieved November 12,

2016, from http://www.nytimes.com/1986/01/23/world/marcos-s-wartime-role-

discredited-in-us-files.html?pagewanted=all

Tan, L. (2016). Supreme Court allows burial of Marcos at Heroes’ Cemetery.

Retrieved November 13, 2016, from

http://cnnphilippines.com/news/2016/11/08/Marcos-hero-burial-

Libingan-ng-mga-Bayani-Supreme-Court.html

Pasion, P. 2016). SC orals on Marcos burial: Issues and answers. Retrieved November 13,

2016, from http://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/144623-issues-marcos-hero-

burial-supreme-court

[18]
 CHAPTER II

Review of Related Studies and Literature

Related Theories

These theories were presented and integrated by the researches because they

deemed that these will help in the further understanding of their study.

The Agenda-Setting Theory

[19]
 According to Adams, Harf and Ford (2014), the Agenda-Setting Theory aims to

determine what agenda from a certain issue is set by the media and attempts to explain

how media has gained control over what the public should think about.

They further stated on their paper, A Critique of Maxwell McCombs & Donald

Shaw’s Theory in Em Griffin’s A First Look at Communication Theory, that there are two

levels of Agenda-Setting Theory; the first level which tells about how the media has the

ability to transfer what they deem as salient or important information from a certain issue

to the people’s mind; creating a prominent picture inside.

The second level, on the other hand, aims to tell the effect of the salient

information transferred by the media into the people’s mind. McCombs as cited in

Adams, Harf and Ford (2014) said that though the Agenda-Setting Theory suggests that

the media influences what the public should think about, some individuals may perceive a

certain issue as irrelevant; and therefore need less orientation for it. In this scenario, the

weak agenda-setting effects are demonstrated.

Furthermore, individuals who deem that a certain issue has a high relevance for

them need a higher level of orientation; they are more absorbed in the news. In here,

strong agenda-setting effects can be observed. Overall, Adams, Harf and Ford (2014) said

that individuals who are less informed about a certain issue are more likely to be

influenced by the salient information the media presents.

To understand how the Agenda-Setting Theory takes process, there are two steps

that need to be considered; first; and even must happen: second; the story should spark

the attention of the media.

[20]
 After the media covered and aired the specific issue, it was now exposed to the

public view; which in return, then tries to comprehend what happened at why it

happened. The public develops a “frame” on the issue based on the agenda the media

presented.

According to Carlos (2016), the media has the ability to construct a ‘reality’ for

the public to view and perceive. Although, it is still up to the public if they’re going to

absorb the reality and agenda the media has set. Furthermore, even though it is the

usually the media that sets the agenda for public discourse, there’s an underlying

questions that queries: who sets the agenda for the agenda-setters?

When the Agenda-Setting Theory suggests that it makes some aspects of an issue

salient, the Framing Theory aims to explain how the media affects the way how the

public views a certain issue (Scheufele, 2010).

In general, Framing is considered as a latter part of the second-level of the

Agenda-Setting Theory (Amadeo, 2007). She further defined framing as the process of

transfer of information from the media to the society and vice versa.

Moreover, Scheufele (2010) said that there are two concepts of framing: the

media frames and the audience frames. While the former focuses on the “a central

organizing idea or story line that provides meaning to an unfolding strip of events. The

frame suggests what the controversy is about, the essence of the issue” (Gamson &s

Modigliani, 1987, as cited in Scheufele, 2010); the latter is defined as “mentally stored

clusters of ideas that guide individuals’ processing of information” (Entman, 1993, as

cited in Scheufele, 2010).

[21]
 Primarily, there are two types of media frames (Benjamin, 2007); which are the

Episodic Framing and Thematic Framing.

Scott London’s review essay, How Does the Media Frame Political Issues?

(1993), provided a view on the difference of episodic and thematic framing. These two

frames contribute greatly to whom the public attribute the responsibility of a certain

issue. He cited Iyengar’s definition of episodic framing which states that this kind of

framing focuses on events that portray an individual’s situation that presents a certain

issue while thematic framing gives more highlight on general evidences and trends that

happen over a period of time.

Furthermore, Dianne Benjamin, on her Episodic vs. Thematic Stories (2007) made

a clear analogy using camera lens to differentiate the two major frames. She said that

Episodic Framing is like a telephoto lens, creating a portrait of an individual and its social

situation while Thematic Framing uses wide-angle lens, providing a view of the

environment and the surrounding trends.

Moreover, London (1993) delineated that when the media presents news using the

Episodic Framing, viewers tend to put the responsibility, in his example, homeless or

unemployed people, on the individual’s failings, like low education or laziness. On the

other hand, the viewers put the accountability on the government when high national

rates unemployment rates or poverty is presented using thematic framing.

The researchers chose the Agenda-Setting Theory to determine how the Marcos’

burial became the public’s agenda over the time frame given; and what kind of agenda do

the online news portals set that made the burial the public’s discourse while the Framing

[22]
Theory will help the researchers determine what kind of media frame do the top four

online news portals used in portraying the burial itself.

Theoretical Framework

Marcos’ burial

Top 4 news online portals

Agenda-Setting Theory

Framing Theory

Distinctions or disparities among

the top 4 news online portals

Fig. 1 Integrated Theoretical Framework of Agenda-Setting (McCombs and Shaw) and

Framing Theory (Goffman)
Using the integration of two theories namely Agenda Setting Theory of

McCombs & Shaw and Goffman’s Framing Theory (1974) the researchers did a further

analysis and extensive research on the news stories involving Marcos’ burial from the

timeframe of November 8, 2016 to November 18, 2016.

[23]
 With the help of these theories, the researchers would like to find if there were

any distinctions on how the top four online news portals frame news stories involving

Marcos’ burial.

Other Related Theories

Priming Theory

According to the Priming Theory, the media influences the public standards on

the way they judge the government, president and political candidates by making issues

more salient than others (Scheufele, 2010).

It is also said to be an ‘extension’ of the Agenda-Setting Theory. Scheufele (2010)

said that priming can be traced back on the cognitive processing of information. The

information an individual is receiving creates memory traces which later influences on

how they view an issue when brought up at a given time.

He further said that the Agenda-Setting Theory and Priming Theory are somehow

related; only that agenda-setting theory works on a macro level, while the priming theory

is agenda-setting being examined based on the accessible salient information on an

individual’s memory.

Moreover, Amadeo (2007) said that Priming Theory can be considered as an

‘activation of judgment,’ which means that the people develops their judgment based on

the salient information stored in their minds for a period of time. Iyengar (1990), as cited

in Scheufele (2010), further explained that these judgments are based on the accessibility

of the retrievable information on their mind.

Through this theory, the researchers would like to determine how the memory

traces of the public about Martial Law affect the public’s perception on the issue of

Marcos’ burial.

[24]
Gestalt Theory
On the other hand, Max Wertheimer, Wolfgang Kohler, and Kurt Koffka

formulate theory that transform something into simpler form in order to perceive it easily

and this is known as Gestalt Theory as "Law of Simplicity" or the "Law of Pragnanz".

The theory implies that humans are attracted to the simplest, general or symmetric

structure and they visually and psychologically attempt to make order out of chaos, to

create harmony or structure from seemingly disconnected bits of information. In relation

to the online news portals, Gestalt Theory applies on the interface or appearance of an

online news site.

Opgenhaffen (2011), as cited in OʼBrien (2011) said that “Online news represents

a dynamic, information-rich environment characterized by multimedia, interactivity, and

hypertext.” Furthermore, he said that the online news sites today had included more

interactive features on their portals so that online news readers would feel that they are

part of the news experience.

Moreover, O’Brien (2008) said that “online news mediates informational and

social experiences through a multi-media, interactive, hypertextual interface.”

An interface is what public usually see when they open a website. It has controls

and methods that they can navigate to create an interaction with a specific website on the

internet. According to Feldman (2006), there are three concepts to be followed in order to

create an effective web interface. These include chunking, grouping and Hick’s Law.

Miller (1956), as cited in Feldman (2006), said that an average person can only

process and recall seven bits of information—plus or minus two. It means that, an

average person could only process information he’s receiving at a very minimal amount.

[25]
A load of information given all at once could result to confusion that’s why chunking is

important. It is the process of placing options into “chunks” so that the online readers

could avoid confusion when navigating to an online news site.

Grouping is somewhat similar to chunking. Feldman (2006) defined grouping as

“a technique for clustering different web elements together.” This can be observed on the

categories present in the online news sites such as news, entertainment, features, sports,

etc. Through grouping, users can easily find what type of article they want to read.

On the other hand, Hick’s Law is used to represent a hierarchy arranged interface

elements of a particular kind, such as text links (Feldman, 2006). Hick’s Law can be

observed on the menu where top or trending stories are placed and a list of articles links

are listed below.

Through this theory, the researchers would like to know the aspects of the

interface in placing the news stories on the online news portals and its hyperactivity with

its audience.

Related Foreign Studies

In 2009 study on “Media Framing of A Political Personality: A Case

Study of a Malaysian Politician” by Tiung and Hasim it stated that the political

personality of a politician is preferred on framing the news.

The study conducted a content analysis of 11 online newspapers – Overseas

Chinese Daily News, Nanyang Siang Pau, Sin Chew (Sin Chew-I), New Straits Times,

The Star, The Borneo Post, Daily Express, Berita Harian, Utusan Malaysia, Kosmo, and

[26]
New Sabah Times – about how they presented Malaysian politician Datuk Yong Teck

Lee.

Neuman, Marion, and Ann (1992) in Tiung and Hasim (2009) content analysis is

defined as a way to “collect and analyze” media contents such as words, meanings,

pictures, symbol, idea, them or any message that is used to communicate. On the other

hand, Reese (1996) in Tiung and Hasim (2009) proposed that media contents should be

analyzed using its “aspect of medium, publication technique, message, source, reference,

and by analyzing how to find the meaning of a certain message.”

In gathering samples, the authors found 241 sample articles to be included in the

study 234 hard news, six feature stories, and one interview.

They then sorted out who wrote the news: reporter, correspondent, and news

agency; after that, news focus was determined – that the political personality is preferred

over the party. The role of news headlines was also discussed as from the headline both

positive and negative elements can be seen (Tiung and Hasim, 2009).

The writing styles being employed can also be examined; “positive catchphrases

and metaphors” are also being used to describe Datuk Yong. (Tiung and Hasim, 2009).

In addition to the study presented above is “Amanda Knox: A Content Analysis

of Media Framing in Newspapers around the World” by Freyenberger, 2013 that also

employed the content analysis of 34 newspapers digitally collected from around the

world on how Amanda Knox was framed.

The study is about the 20-year-old Amanda Knox as she rose to international

media when she was charged for the murder of her roommate, Merideth Kercher. Her

[27]
four-year imprisonment was covered by this study and how the news around the world

was framed.

The authors of this study also used content analysis, making its main purpose to

identify tone, story placement, and page placement. In 34 newspapers worldwide, 500

articles were randomly chosen as their sample.

The tone explains how Amanda Knox was mentioned in the article (negative,

neutral, positive), story placement (headline, lead, paired with graphic, body), and page

prominence (inside, section front, front page): these were the dependent variables; while

the independent variables were the nation and the newspaper (Freyenberger, 2013).

After the process of content analysis, the key findings are the following: the tone

of Amanda Knox mentions in UK and Ireland was negative: story placement was more

prominent in Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, South Korea, and China, and the page

placement was more prominent in United States and Canada. This is because she is a US

citizen and the press there paid attention to her very much.

The two aforementioned studies have explained how useful the content analysis

as a research method when framing theory is concerned (Riffe, et al., 2005; Hertog &

McLeod, 2001) in (Wojdynski, 2008).

The two dominant theories that were incorporated and used in this study were the

agenda-setting and the framing.

In his study on “Multimedia framing in US newspapers’ online coverage of

Iraq War”, Bartosz Wojdynski (2008) discussed the power of these two theories in terms

of mass communication and its importance to the way since both print and electronic

media play a vital role in shaping the public opinion (Tiung and Hasim, 2009).

[28]
 Freyenberger (2013) stated that it is a must to acknowledge the Agenda-Setting

Theory of communication along with framing research that is why the convergence of

these two theories seems to be inevitable that is why in a model by McCombs and

Ghanem (2001) in Wojdynski (2008):

“The model categorized framing as the vehicle

through which elements of the media agenda are
transferred to the public agenda, incorporating not just
the salience of various issues relative to each other, but
also to cognitive and affective attributes manifested in
the media frames.”

Related Local Studies

“And if we forget about the brutalities, and if we

forget these martyrs, another dark era will be
experienced by our children and grandchildren. We will
only continue to remember as a people if we will all be
storytellers of our history, to our friends, to our family, to
our children and grandchildren. In doing so, we secure
their future. For in learning history, we can avoid
repeating its tragedies. Never again, never again…”
(Chua 2012)

Lessons from the past was presented by Michael Chaeston Briones Chua, in his

study—TORTYUR: Human Rights Violations During the Marcos Regime. According

to him, people seemed to forget the lesson that should have been learned during the

Marcos Regime. Even those who have experienced the tragedy of Martial Law only

remembered the discipline and how great the Philippines was during this era, which, in

Chua’s point of view, can cause a great damage in our culture. In his study, Chua

[29]
sketched the key events that happened during Martial Law in our country. He plotted out

the events starting from September 21, 1972, the day wherein democracy died in the

Philippines, until its redemption during the years of revolution.

Furthermore, he also stated the kinds of torture Filipinos experienced during these

years which are the following: electric shock, San Juanico bridge, truth serum, Russian

roulette, beating, pistol whipping, water cure, strangulation, cigar burns, flat iron burns,

pepper torture, animal treatment, and sexual torture. Add to that, more than those

Filipinos and activists that have been tortured, he also discussed the case of those who

disappeared, also known as the desaparecidos.

In his conclusion, the current corruption our country is experiencing today, is the

effect of what happened years back, during Martial Law, wherein dreamers and idealists

were wiped out by the hands of dictatorship. Human Rights violation and suppression of

people are the clear evidence that there was no democracy in the Philippines during

Martial Law, and if Filipinos tend to forget the lessons from the past, history shall repeat

itself.

To add more facts about the Marcos era, in the thesis Blood Money: An

Investigation on How Human Rights Violation Victims under

Martial Law are Recognized and Compensated, the researchers,

Benjamin and Tacadena studied and investigated how Human Rights Violation Victims or

HRVVs were compensated by the state over the years. It dug through the ongoing claims

process under the Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act of 2013,

wherein a Human Rights Victims Claims Board was also built to address the issues and

claims.

[30]
 Furthermore, this study also looked on the efforts extended by the Senate House

of Representatives after the era of the late President Ferdinand E. Marcos, Sr., which

includes the Hawaii Class Action Suit in 1986, and the compensation bills passed for the

benefit of the victims.

In lieu with the current ongoing study, these finished theses will pave the way to

the current researchers in terms of historical background of what happened during the

Marcos Era. It will plot the timeline of the events, tragedies, and aftermath of Martial

Law in the Philippines. Moreover, these finished theses are essential for the current

researchers for, if the history of the person involved in the current issue that will be

analyzed will not be studied thoroughly, then, the researchers will fail to determine

whenever the framing of the top four online news websites were biased, sensationalized,

or stating nothing but the truth.

Another study related to the current thesis conducted is the A Comparative

Analysis of News from the Top 4 Philippine News Websites Pertaining to the Jenifer

Laude Murder Case, wherein the researchers discussed etiquettes on framing prominent

people, in their case, Jennifer Laude. They gathered articles from the top four online news

websites in the Philippines and analyzed these crucially in order to find whether these

online websites violated the rights of Jennifer Laude, and if ever, misframed her.

Furthermore, the methodology used in this study will be appropriate for the ongoing

study of the current researchers. Also, theories applied in analyzing the articles can be

utilized by the current researchers for they have similarities in the choice of platforms.

Related Foreign Literature

[31]
 In a published journal by William Overholt entitled, The Rise and Fall of

Ferdinand Marcos, the timeframe starting from the election of the late President

Ferdinand E. Marcos, Sr. up to the revolution against him. According to Overholt, by the

time Marcos became the president of the Philippines, back in 1965, the country’s

economic status was considered as one of the great models of political and economic

success. However, towards the end of the 1960s, the failure of the Philippines’ economic

status is very visible, contradictory laws were passed by the congress, and bureaucratic

corruption arose. In the same year, the late President Marcos believed in order to solve

the country’s problems, Martial Law must be implemented. Although leftists were against

this proposal, in the end, Marcos won.

The first years of Martial Law was described by Adrian Cristobal as “"It was like

an old lady taking off her girdle. Everything just fell out." Instead of focusing on the

employment projects, Marcos focused more on the so-called “The Eleven major

industrial projects.”

With these dilemmas, the Marcos regime faced the public slowly started to turn

away and Marcos administration started to crumble down. First, he lost his military

support from soldiers. Second, guerilla communists started spreading faster than

expected. Third, the government itself lost their unity because at that time, Marcos was

already ill, and doesn’t want to face with the situation. Add to that, the government failed

to solve the two greatest national crises, financial and the security crisis. Lastly, the

people in the opposition proved the inhumane deeds the Marcos regime have done, and

that they could muster it in order to achieve democracy again.

[32]
 To back up the facts present by William Overholt in his journal, a published book,

The Philippines: Human Rights After Martial Law, accounted the Human rights

violations that was committed during and after Martial Law by the Marcos

administration. Leary, Ellis, Madlener, documented the reports sent to the Philippines last

January 1984. Even though the late President Marcos lifted Martial Law since January

1981, International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) continued to receive reports of human

violation, including cases of extrajudicial killings by members of armed forces. The

jurists focused their enquiries on human rights abuses by the military and security forces,

economic and social rights, legal limitations and restrictions on human rights, the

independence of the judiciary and legal profession.

This book and journal will lead the researcher on crucially analyzing the

published articles of the top four online news websites in the Philippines that contains

discussions on the Burial of Marcos. Moreover, these will help the current researcher on

checking and verifying the facts, ideas, and concepts mentioned in the published articles.

It will guide the researchers on how to properly establish the history of Martial Law, the

late President Ferdinand E. Marcos, Sr. to the netizens.

On the other hand, for the researchers to have a background on the emerging new

media in the Philippines, the book The New Media, Society and Politics in the

Philippines by Raul Pertierra deciphered the relation of new media to the politics of the

Philippines. It started back in “EDSA dos” back in the year 2000. According to Brisbin

(1988) as cited by Pertierra (2012), it is considered as the first successful revolution

paved through electronic media. With this alone, the connection and cause and effects of

new media to the political stand of the people is vivid. Furthermore, Pertierra (2012)

[33]
stated that Philippine politics is involved in a world of simulacra, where the media

oversees the staging of their self-presentation.

Moreover, the author stated the difference of the traditional media and the new

media. He said that traditional media is broad; however, it is not interactive, which is the

advantage of the new media. It interacts with their audience and allows the free flow of

opinions that can even set the mood of the public. To wrap it up, new media became the

extension of public domination, and became a way of showing support in a particular

issue, case, topic, idea, or even a person. It can break or build the presentation of the

things being talked about, especially when it comes to politics.

The eight chapter of the book, Taking Journalism Seriously: News and the

Academy, focus on the dwindling status of journalism, not only in America but across

the globe. In here, it was stated that the presence of media where it was highly needed

wasn’t observed and was more prevalent on the ones that were deemed crucial.

Over the years, journalism’s future has been on a debate due to the rise of blog

sites, ‘soft’ journalism, and press releases that paves their way to the mainstream media,

market-driven newspapers and journalists’ not being able to protect their sources. Due to

this, journalists’ objectivity was questioned.

Therefore, the book suggests that journalism should be taken seriously, with a

wider and broader understanding. Taking Journalism Seriously: News and Academy also

suggests that journalism should be looked at different angles; in that way, we would be

able to take journalism on a more serious level.

[34]
 Moreover, the author, Barbie Zelizer (2004) implies that looking through these

angles enriches the journalism ground and would expand the name of journalism to

fields, professions, practices, and cultural phenomena.

Furthermore, the chapter examined five academic lenses that provide angles on

how journalism should be perceived namely; sociology, history, languages studies,

political science and cultural analysis. These lenses are not only separated in their own

fields, but also provide a wide range of issues for journalism to think and take on to. They

magnify journalism’s purpose; each lens providing their own picture for journalism to

study. For example, sociology focuses on people, practices, behavior, structures, etc that

tells how journalism matters; history provided on how journalism mattered due to its

accounts of the past events; language studies centralizes on the verbal and visual tool by

which journalism matters; political science determines the focus on how journalism ought

to matte due to the role of journalism in making political news; and last, cultural analysis

illustrates how matters differently.

These five lenses aren’t taken collectively; but rather each lens creates a view on

the journalism world in their own perspectives. Various reasons arise as to why scholars

study journalism; and through these lenses bore more interdisciplinary studies which

drive the scholars to continue reexamining and pushing its boundaries.

Lastly, this book hopes that by looking through these lenses and disciplines, the

study about journalism will continue to gear on; in that way journalism will be taken and

looked at a more serious and broad way.

Related Local Literature

Notes on the New Society of the Philippines

[35]
 On his book “Notes on the New Society of the Philippines,” Ferdinand E. Marcos,

Sr. stated the urgency for him to declare Martial Law because of some reasons. According

to him, he did not become the President of the Philippines to watch his country fall, so he

had to do something about it.

At first, Marcos had been hoping that the country would be able to obtain change

and reform without the need to resort to martial necessities. He was contemplating

whether he should sign the document that has been sitting on top of his desk; and has

sought advices from his two dedicated generals, Fidel Ramos and Fabian Ver.

The document that he has been contemplating on was meant to be a “plot”

recommended by his two generals to stage a series of bombings, kidnappings and

assassinations to pave way to the start of Martial Law.

Furthermore, he said that he was angry at the said document, and that new media

has portrayed him as the true culprit that wrote it. According to him, the new media made

him appear like a traitor and conspirator in front of the people he had sworn to serve.

He also asked what was the reason behind such hate of new media against him

and his family. According to him, of all the Presidents, he had suffered the most abuse

from his critics; but as a politician, he had to face heads up these accusations. It was part

of having a democratic politics; to be able to throw criticisms.

New media, for him, had become part of the opposition, rather than the neutral

observers and reports of men and public events.

Marcos also recalled the assassination plan against him. He knew that every

president was prone to this type of threat, and that he was willing to take one bullet for

the next ones to take place. He said that his enemies that time, the Communists and the

[36]
Leftist wouldn’t be satisfied by the downfall of his government, but much rather by his

death on an assassin’s bullet.

With late President Marcos lifting the suspension of the Writ of Habeas Corpus,

chaos started to emerge on Metro Manila; with the counts of robbery and kidnapping

rising at a remarkable speed.

Late President Marcos was alarmed at the outburst, and immediately rushed back

to Manila, with one thought in his mind; he needed to unite his people to counter the

Maoist Communists, which was considered as the common enemy.

He came up with one, tempting solution after a few days of thinking; to establish

a revolutionary government which was strict, swift and direct. But he also knew that a

revolutionary government will result to an uncontrollable bloodshed. And according to

him, it was very hard not to adhere with what the Constitution says.

So, on the dreaded date of September 21, 1972, he enforced the Proclamation

1081, also known as Martial Law.

Late President Marcos, on his book, continued to point out at the media, saying

that the foreign and local media only focused on reporting the failure of his

administration, rather than the analysis of the deteriorating conditions of the country in

which the origins can be traced back history.

He then went back to the Constitution, citing the Article VII; Section 10 of the

1935 Constitution, saying that it was enough to protect the Philippines from his enemies.

Marcos also stated the rebellion of the poor; he said that the poor people were the

reason why a government exists. And due to the timeline of events in history, the poor

had grown to be ‘combustible materials,’ meaning that the poor were excited for sudden

[37]
change, which would only result to minimal amount of success. He left a question that

goes: “Of what good is democracy if it is not for the poor?”

Turning into a new chapter in his book, Marcos said that the fundamental reason

of the rebellion of the poor was equality. And that struggle is the foundation and

ideological force behind the New Society.

The ideological basis of New Society comes from the rebellion of the poor that

establishes a new political bond rooted on equality. He said that the demand for equality

wasn’t something new; as history has his own accounts of it.

He further owned his accountability for the Martial Law. He said that he envision

the country as a New Society; but the way to achieve it depended on the responsibility of

each Filipino people; if they would be able to see and understand the needs and necessity

of their time.

st
He also said that we have entered the Age of Responsibility after September 21 .

According to him, everyone is responsible and that no one can escape the charge of

history.

On the second to the last chapter of his book, Marcos said that in the eleven

months of Martial Law, the poor had gained the state of civil equality—which means

‘equal treatment.’ The poor in the society was no longer underprivileged.

Finally, on the closing chapter, he enumerated all of the economic advancements

of the country; including land reforms and agricultural developments. Small and medium

enterprises started to emerge, as well as industrial activities.

But he did not forget to cite the backlash of his proclamation, and said that things

like that were inevitable.

[38]
 In the end, late President Marcos said that Martial Law was the ultimate weapon

for stability—as it took the country out of the status quo it has been on.

He further said that in the New Society he envisioned for our country won’t be

achieved in one time frame only. Contemporary solidarity should be observed; as the old,

young, men and women, the well-offs which were no less than the poor were all equal

and needed. They all have their own importance and contribution to the advancement of

the country.

Closing it off, late President Marcos said,

“We have risen to claim our destiny. We can

only lose it by failing ourselves. We shall not.”

The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos

This book was authored by Primitivo Mijares, the late president Ferdinand

Marcos’ right-hand aide who became a whistleblower and revealed all the evil plots of

the Marcos Regime and his sudden disappearance at that time.

Mijares wrote for The Daily Express— another Marcos crony hand has been on

attendance during cabinet meetings; after all he was the ghost writer of late President

Ferdinand E. Marcos, Sr.

He became an insider against human rights violations during the Marcos Era

which were documented on his book. There, he wrote several accounts about the Marcos’

lust for wealth and power which he later on used in a testimony in America.

His book narrates his own personal accounts and experiences when he was still an

aide of Marcos; with recounts of Marcos’ steps in plotting to declare Martial Law. On one

entry entitled A Summer Night in Washington, D.C., he recalled former president Marcos

[39]
instructing him to talk over Col. Narciso L. Manzano (USA Retired), a former soccer

coach in Manila and a brutally frank man, about the plans of uprooting rebellion.

The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos is a compilation of

their plans, told in chronological order to feed their lust for wealth and power witnessed

by the Mijares. It is another account of Filipinos trying to turn the tables against tyrants

and exercise the power of democracy in the country.

On the book, Diary of a Dictator -- Ferdinand & Imelda: The Last Days of

Camelot, the Marcos Diaries documented the making of a dictator and countless

controversies, sex scandals, spies and lies under his rule that sent the whole nation into a

pit of economic collapse.

The book highlighted late President Ferdinand E. Marcos, Sr. and Imelda as the

“Kennedys” of Manila, a figure where the public looks up to but their lust for wealth and

power put an end on the Philippines’ Camelot; with a delusional Marcos thinking that

he’s the messiah that can save his country paired with his wife Imelda who lavished

herself with jewelry using the national treasury.

A year after the Marcoses fled to Hawaii due to their exile, the investigators of the

new government of late President Corazon C. Aquino found cardboard boxes on the

Malacañang Palace that contained private documents and a diary.

The diary exposed Marcos’ ambitions for his country rooted from his delusions

and personal ambitions in which he deemed as the will of God. These paranoias turned

into daylight threats and his delusions grew as facts inside Marcos’ head; he even came to

a point where he lied to himself.

[40]
 As the story goes through the diary, it exposed how Marcos manipulated the

Supreme Court and the military to create violence and rebellions which he will blame to

the Communist Parties so that Martial Law would pave its way.

It also revealed Marcos’ mistrust on media for he believed that they can influence

how historians write history. In the end, he followed Churchill’s quote, “Make a history

and write it.”

The journalist William Rempel was the first person outside the Philippine to

receive access to the diaries in which he later published parts on the Los Angeles Times,

but after 25 years, still a major part of the diary was still locked up in a seal.

Conceptual Framework

Marcos’ burial

ABS-CBNnews, GMAnews online, INQUIRER.net and rappler Sensationalism

News Content
Personalization

Media perception of Marcos’burial

[41]
 Framing of Marcos’ burial

Distinction or disparities among the top 4 news

online portals

Fig. 2 Integrated Conceptual Framework of Agenda-Setting (McCombs and Shaw) and

Framing Theory (Goffman ) with variables.

Conceptual Model of the Study

In the illustrated framework above, the researchers have included variables such as

sensationalism, news content and personalization that will play a vital role in the study.

In accordance to the Agenda-Setting Theory by McCombs and Shaw, the top four

online news portals present the Marcos’ burial on how they perceive it. Their perception

affects the public’s view on the issue. Thus, creates their own judgment based on the

presented online media frame.

Through the abovementioned variables (sensationalism, news content and

personalization) the researchers were able determine how the top four online news portals

frame the issue of Marcos’ burial.

Sensationalism- under this factor measures the degree of words and emotions

found in the news stories that may be written in such a way that they attract or elicit

emotions from the readers pertaining to Marcos burial when it comes to writing articles

relating to Marcos’ burial.

[42]
 News Content- an aspect of the news article that is essential for the content

analysis in order for the researchers determine how news stories’ statement or quotation,

headline, and photos affect the message content.

Personalization- this will provide the researchers to easily determine the

concreteness or the specialization of a certain article if the traditional and non-traditional

sources are giving general or specific information and statements about Marcos burial.

Furthermore, the way they frame the burial affects the public perception thus, the

public creates their own judgment based on the presented online media frame. Lastly, the

researchers analyzed the online news articles about Marcos’ burial to determine if there

were distinctions or disparities in framing the said burial among the top four online news

portals.

Notes for Chapter II

Tiung, L.K.& Hasim, M.S. (2009). Media Framing of A Political Personality: A Case

Study of a Malaysian Politician. Retrieved November 11, 2016, from

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235943880_Media_Framing_of_A_Political_

Personality_A_Case_Study_of_a_Malaysian_Politician

Freyenberger, D. (2013). Amanda Knox: A Content Analysis of Media Framing in

Newspapers Around the World. Retrieved November 10, 2016, from

http://dc.etsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2281&context=etd

[43]
Wojdynski, B. (2008). Multimedia framing in U.S. newspapers’ online coverage of the

Iraq War. Retrieved November 12, 2016, from

https://cdr.lib.unc.edu/indexablecontent/uuid:c4be8894-71fd-41a7-8130-eea80880aaf

Amadeo, B. (2007). Framing, Agenda Setting and Priming: Different Answers to

Different Questions. Retrieved November 14, 2016, from

http://cim.anadolu.edu.tr/pdf/2007/Amadeo.pdf

Adams, A., Harf, A., Ford, R. (2014). A Critique of Maxwell McCombs & Donald

Shaw’s Theory in Em Griffin’s A First Look at Communication Theory. Retrieved

from journals.chapman.edu/ojs/index.php/mc/article/download/902/1052

Scheufele, D. (2010). Framing Theory as Theory of Media Effects Retrieved November

14, 2016 from http://www.phil-fak.uni

und_Medienwissenschaft/Vowe/Forschergruppe/Scheufele_Framing_theory_media_ef

ects.p

Benjamin, D. (2007). A FrameWorks Institute FrameByte Episodic vs. Thematic

Stories. Retrieved November 14, 2016 from

http://www.frameworksinstitute.org/assets/files/framebytes/framebyte_thematic.pdf

London, S. (1993). How Does the Media Frame Political Issues?. Retrieved November

14, 2016 from http://www.scottlondon.com/reports/frames.html

[44]
OʼBrien,H. (2008). Exploring User Engagement in Online News Interactions.

Retrieved November 06, 2016 from

http://faculty.arts.ubc.ca/hobrien/files/OBrien_Exploring_User_Engagement_in_Online_

News.pdf

Feldman, A. (2006). Web Site Interface Design Theory: A Designer’s Primer. Retrieved

November 06, 2016 from https://www.cosc.brocku.ca/~bockusd/3p94/webui1.pdf

Marcos, Sr. F. (1973). Notes on the New Society of the Philippines.

Zelizer, B. (2004). Taking Journalism Seriously: News and the Academy. Retrieved

November 23, 2016 from https://nbgyjm118.files.wordpress.com/2017/02/e-b-o-o-k-

0803973144-taking-journalism-seriously-news-and-the-academy.pdf

Mijares, P. (1976). The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos.

Retrieved November 23, 2016 from

http://rizalls.lib.admu.edu.ph:8080/ebooks2/Primitivo%20Mijares.pdf

Rempel, W. (1993).Diary of a Dictator -- Ferdinand & Imelda: The Last Days of Camelot .

Retrieved November 23, 2016 from https://www.smashwords.com/extreader/read/293222

Carlos, R. (2016). A Comparative Content Analysis of News from the Top 4 Philippine
News Websites Pertaining to the Jennifer Laude Murder Case. Retrieved on March 26,
2017

[45]
 Chapter III

Methods of Research

In this chapter, the researchers introduced the research instruments, designs, and

approaches that were employed in this study to obtain relevant results to achieve answers

to their problems. This also tackled the respondents, the sample news articles that were

used, method, techniques, and detailed procedures of data gathering.

Respondents and Sampling

The researchers gathered a total of 179 news articles from the top four online

news portals in the Philippines, according to the online ranking site, Alexa (2016). In the

aspiration to analyze the articles fairly and scientifically, the researchers toned down the

[46]
numbers of the news articles into 40 and categorize it into ten categories— the dominant

subjects of news articles published during the time frame. Thus, the four articles present

in each category are of equal themes.

The researchers conducted an interview with a representative from each news

portals, it is because the knowledge of the topic is not just limited to the editors (-in-

chief) and schedule of tasks vary from every news portal, which is why purposive

sampling was utilized in getting the respondents.

The editor for ABS-CBN News Online and one of the people in charge of

monitoring the social media of ABS-CBN integrated news, Mr. Erik P. Tenedero, was

interviewed because of his hands-on experience during the coverage of the Marcos’

burial, as he was in-charge on gathering photos on-the-ground since the deployment of

the journalists to the protest sites and Libingan ng mga Bayani that day was not even a

plan, and to compensate, ABS-CBN News Online needed to use photos of people present

on the site.

For the INQUIRER.net, Mr. Javier Vicente Rufino, its former Editor-In-Chief

during its launch in 2000 to 2009, Mr. Rufino is now the Director for Mobile and Social,

he is also in charge of the editorial strategies employed in the digital, social, and mobile

efforts of the INQUIRER group.

As for the 3rd news portal, GMA News Online, the researchers interviewed Mr.

Joseph Tristan “TJ” Roxas, an online reporter assigned to covering the Supreme Court

decision on Marcos’ burial, the book re-launch of the ‘Conjugal dictatorship,’ and

protests of anti- and pro-Marcos’ burial groups during and after the SC decision was

issued.

[47]
 News Editor for Rappler, Ms. Miriam Grace A. Go, was interviewed by the

researchers, since she is always in control of the editorial policies used by Rappler in

covering issues like this and ensuring inside sources for exclusives are always reachable

when changes by agencies concerned are issued.

An interview from the Managing Editor of Center for Media Freedom and

Responsibility (CMFR), Mr. John Lawrence Idia, was also conducted so that the

researchers would have a background on the reportage the online news portals in

reporting the Marcos’ burial case.

In order to establish the historical context of this study, the researchers

interviewed Professor Michael Charleston “Xiao” Chua of De La Salle University, his

works include a thesis on Imelda Marcos and a dissertation documenting the human

rights violations during the Marcos regime— wherein he discussed the atrocities during

the regime and the compensation given by the government to the family of the victims.

A renowned activist, Mr. Saturnino “Satur” Ocampo was interviewed, a journalist

during the pre-Martial Law period of the Marcos Regime before going to underground

press and founding Bayan Muna— a revolutionary group who aspires to end oppression

and other form of human rights violations through collective efforts. Mr. Ocampo is now

currently part of the Coalition Against the Return of Marcoses in Malacañang

(CARMMA), one of the groups which strongly campaigns against the historical

revisionism and the burial of the late President Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

The researchers also interviewed authorities from the Bantayog ng mga Bayani

Foundation Inc. (BBFI), Ms. Maria Christina V. Rodriguez, Executive Director, an active

member of the underground press during Martial Law, and Ms. Carolina Malay–Ocampo,

[48]
Board of Trustees, former Journalism Professor at University of the Philippines Diliman.

Also, to provide the side of the authority the researchers sought interview from the

Undersecretary (Executive Director) of the Office of the President of the Philippines

(Malacañang) named Mr. Joel Maguiza Sy Egco and to Ms. Maria Elena Luna

Panganiban from PTV4, a news channel owned by the government of the Philippines,

who is assigned in Malacañang beats.

Research Design

This study was about how the top four online news portals in the Philippines

frame the Marcos’ burial case. It is descriptive in terms of methodology, because it delves

into the topic to allow its further understanding.

In terms of gathering the data needed for the study, the researchers used

quantitative and qualitative approaches.

For the quantitative approach, there was a ‘collection of numerical data’ (Creswell

as cited in Sukamolson 2007). This is now well accepted in the social sciences and

education that includes survey, laboratory experiments; formal such as econometrics; and

numerical such as mathematical modeling (Hohmann and Berry, 2005). This approach

was present in the collection of data from the code sheet used to analyze the content of

the news articles.

Moreover, the researchers also used the qualitative approach– used to gain

knowledge and understanding of underlying reasons, opinions, and motivations. It also

provides necessary insights in the given problem that helps to develop the idea of the

researchers about the chosen topic (Wyse 2011). It was used by the researchers to be able

[49]
to have a thorough understanding on how the top four online news portals covered the

late President Marcos’ burial case.

Reporters and editors from the respected online news portals were interviewed

using a structured type of interview composed of open-ended questions which allows the

interviewee to answer freely and to be able to provide richer information about the topic

(Johnson and Christiensen, 2010 as cited in Benedicto, et al., 2016).

Research Instrument

In this study, the researchers used the method of Comparative Content Analysis

through codebook and code sheet that were suggested by Assistant Professor Jeremaiah

Opiniano – Chair of Journalism Program, University Santo Tomas –and Professor Danilo

Arao, College of Mass Communication, University of the Philippines Diliman. The said

codebook and code sheet were validated by– History Professor from De La Salle

Univerity– Prof. Michael Charleston Chua and Ms. Tarra Quismundo, Journalism

Lecturer at the Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication. Ms. Quismundo also

validated the interview schedule for the respondents of this study.

The codebook is the backbone of the study since it served as the foundation and

guide for the researchers to objectively analyze the content of the news articles. It tackles

the elements essential for the study: the recognition used for Ferdinand E. Marcos, Sr.;

the dominant frame of the news article; part of the article where the burial issue surfaced.

Furthermore, the Online Sensationalism Index, as seen in Gonzales, et. al. (2014) from

the University of Santo Tomas, was also adapted in the study to delve into the content and

presentation of the news articles.

[50]
 The interview schedule allowed the researchers to ask their respondents questions

essential to establish the vital points in their study.

Research Procedure

The researchers collected 179 news articles related to the burial of the late

President Marcos from the top four online news portals, published within the time frame

of November 8, 2016 to November 18, 2016– starting from the day the Supreme Court

decision allowed the burial of the late President E. Marcos, Sr. at Libingan Ng Mga

Bayani until the internment.

The sample articles were toned down into 40 and categorize it into ten categories.

Thus, there were four articles present in each category are of equal themes.

Since a content analysis would be essential to the study, Journalism Program

Chair and Assistant Professor, Jeremaiah Opiniano of University of Santo Tomas; and

Mass Communication Professor Danilo Arao both advised the researchers to pretest the

coding sheet and codebook prior to the actual test to ensure the feasibility of the

instruments.

After the pre-test, the codebook and code sheet were validated by– History

Professor from De La Salle University– Prof. Michael Charleston Chua and Ms. Tarra

Quismundo, Journalism Lecturer at the Asian Institute of Journalism and

Communication.

Then, the researchers conducted the content analysis for the 40 news articles

using the validated codebook and code sheet. After the tabulation of the collected data

from the content analysis, the statistical intervention from the University of the

[51]
Philippines Statistics Society was sought by the researchers, UP-StatSoc offers help to

students who need statistical analysis and treatments of their data. A team of excellent BS

Statistics majors was supervised by a professor in the process.

Asst. Prof. Opiniano also advised the researchers for intervention of the

statistician to the data collected from the content analysis before making an interview

schedule, so that there would be an existing result already from the content analysis.

After the result of the statistical intervention by the UP-StatSoc, the researchers

made the interview schedule for the respondents and validated by Ms. Quismundo of

Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication.

Interview requests were made; fortunately, the group was able to have a person

from each news portal: Ms. Miriam Grace Go, News Editor of Rappler, on February 28,

2017; Mr. John Tristan Roxas, Reporter for GMA News Online, on March 6, 2017; Mr.

Erik Tenedero, News Editor for ABS-CBN News Online, on March 11, 2017; and last

was Mr. Javier Vicente Rufino, Director for Social and Mobile for INQUIRER, on March

13, 2017.

An in-depth discussion was made with Prof. Michael Charleston Chua of De La

Salle University on March 1, 2017 about the Marcos regime, historical facts, and what is

the status of the media during the days of Martial Law; and the group was also fortunate

to have someone from Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR),

supposedly Executive Director, Ms. Melinda de Jesus was to be interviewed but due to

the adjustment of a conference date she referred us to the CMFR’s Managing Editor, Mr.

Albert Lawrence Idia, and was successfully interviewed on March 8, 2017. Mr. Idia

tackled how to objectively frame the late President Marcos, the role of journalists in

[52]
making sure that historical facts are not altered when it comes to writing news concerning

these subjects – Martial Law and Marcos burial.

Moreover, the group decided to interview people who had a first-hand experience

of the Marcos regime: On March 7, 2017, Ms. Maria Cristina Rodriguez, Executive

Director of Bantayog ng mga Bayani Foundation Inc. (BBFI) and Board of Trustee Ms.

Carolina Malay-Ocampo, had personal experiences and lived through the Marcos regime

and Martial Law. They shared stories of how the flourishing economy then started to

dwindle, from the so-called success of Martial Law to the ouster of the late President in

Efifanio Delos Santos Avenue (EDSA).

Furthermore, Mr. Saturnino Ocampo of Coalition Against the Return of Marcoses

in Malacañang (CARMMA) welcomed the group to his house on March 11, 2017. Mr.

Ocampo discussed the campaigns of some group on burying late President Marcos at the

Libingan ng mga Bayani, how the online media changes the way we look in history and

how essential is mass action in fighting revisionism.

Lastly, to provide the side of the authority the researchers sought interview from

the Undersecretary (Executive Director) of the Office of the President of the Philippines

(Malacañang) named Mr. Joel Maguiza Sy Egco and to Maria Elena Luna Panganiban

from PTV4, a news channel owned by the government of the Philippines, who is assigned

in Malacañang beats.

In the commencement of the study, using the descriptive method of research and

through the use of quantitative and qualitative approaches, the researchers were able to

know how the top 4 online news portals in the Philippines frame the Marcos’ burial case.

[53]
Statistical Treatment
This research comprises of two statistical treatments: the descriptive statistics and

the Kruskal Wallis Test.

For the first phase of the study, the researchers tallied the results from the content

analysis they executed, from there, the statistician tasked to compute for the average of

each variable, in total, to get its percentage. Thus, yielding its frequency and a result that

identified its rankings in percentage.

In to the second phase, the adapted Online Sensationalism Index (OnSI)was

utilized to perform the Kruskal Wallis Test, using the tabulated results from the first

phase, by aligning the correspondent series of variables to the results of the first phase.
The non-parametric test, Kruskal Wallis H test of 95% level of confidence, was

used by the statisticians since the significance differences of two groups of variables:

independent variable was the adapted Online Sensationalism Index (ONSI) –

Sensationalism, Dramatic Subject, Verbalized Emotion, Headline, and Personalization–

since it affects the results of the first phase of the study. The result of the each element in

ONSI was individually input in the first phase.

By running the test through spreadsheets, the difference in significant levels were

seen as DNR and rejected. The results yielded as REJECTED are the necessary data

needed for the study, because these allowed the researchers to identify the categories with

their significant partners.

[54]
Notes for Chapter III

Benedicto, Meliza Ann et al., (2016). A Contect Analysis on the Framing of News

Stories Involving Children in Conflict with the Law Published in the Three National

Dailies. CAL-Bulacan State University. Malolos, Bulacan.

Sukamilson, Ph. D , Suphat. (2007). Fundamentals of quantitative research.

Chulalongkorn University Retrieved November 23, 2016 from

http://www.culi.chula.ac.th/Research/e-Journal/bod/Suphat%20Sukamolson.pdf .

Wyse, Susan E. (2011). What is the Difference between Qualitative Research and

Quantitative Research? Retrieved November 23, 2016 from

http://www.snapsurveys.com/blog/what-is-the-

diference-between-qualitative-research-and-quantitative-research/.

Alexa.com.Top Sites in Philippines. Retrieved November 23, 2016 from

http://www.alexa.com/topsites/countries/PH

[55]
 CHAPTER IV

Presentation, Analysis, and Interpretation of Data

For the completion of this study, the researchers arranged the 40 published stories

of the top four online news portals (ABS-CBN News Online, INQUIRER.net, GMA

News Online and Rappler) according to themes to ensure the congruity. This chapter

contains the data gathered by the researchers. The data includes the content analyses done

by the researchers, including the intervention of the statistician on the provided data

through the codebook and code sheet. It also includes the coded interviews also

conducted by the researchers with representatives from the top four online news portals,

historians, and the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR).

1. Presentation of data

Part I

Table 1.1
Comparative Frequency of Hard and Soft News

Online News Portal Types of News

Hard News Soft News
ABS-CBN News Online 1 9

INQUIRER.net 6 4

GMA News Online 6 4

Rappler 2 8

The table showed that GMA News Online and INQUIRER.net had the highest

number of hard news articles relating to Marco’s burial, both publishing six articles. It

was followed by Rappler with only two articles and last was ABS-CBN News Online

[56]
 with just one. On the other hand, ABS-CBN News Online has the highest number of soft

news articles with nine; followed by Rappler with eight and INQUIRER.net ties with

GMA News Online at the last spot with the least number of soft news being published at

four each.

Table 1.2
The News Focus of Marcos’ Burial

ONLINE NEWS PORTAL News Focus

HISTORY LAW AND SOCIO HUMAN OTHERS
ORDER POLITICAL RIGHTS (Marcos’
VIOLATION burial
update)
ABS-CBN News Online 1 5 0 0 4

INQUIRER.net 1 4 0 2 3
GMA 0 7 0 1 2
Rappler 1 3 1 2 3

As presented on the table above, it can be seen that the top four online news

portals focused more on Law and Order in presenting articles relating to Marcos’ burial

with a total of 19 out of 40 articles. GMA News Online has the most number of articles

with seven; followed by ABS-CBN News Online with five, INQUIRER.net with four,

and last was Rappler with three articles.

Moreover, it was followed by Updates on Marcos’ burial with ABS-CBN News

Online with the highest number of articles with four, while GMA News Online comes to

last with two. INQUIRER.net ties with Rappler with three.

In terms of History, ABS-CBN News Online, INQUIRER.net, and Rappler had

only one while GMA News Online had none. Also, the table showed that INQUIRER.net

and Rappler published two articles each themed on Human Rights and Violations;

followed by GMA News Online with one, and none from ABS-CBN News Online none.

[57]
 Among the given news focuses, Socio-political aspect garnered the least number

of attention from the online news portals with only Rappler publishing one article while

the rest published none.

Table 1.3

Part of news where burial surfaced

ONLINE NEWS HEADLINE SUBHEADS LEAD KICKER BODY PHOTO PHOTO CAPTI
PORTAL DESCRIPTIO
ABS-CBN News 1 0 2 0 7 0 0
Online

INQUIRER.net 0 0 1 0 9 0 0
GMA News 2 0 1 0 7 0 0
Online
Rappler 4 0 1 0 3 2 0
Part of the News Article where Marcos’ Burial Surfaced

When it comes to the part where the burial surfaces, it is evident that body has the

highest number of significant appearances, according to the table above, garnering a total

of 26 out of 40 articles. It is due to the fact that the body elaborates details about the

burial, first on spot is INQUIRER.net with nine, followed by ABS-CBN News Online

and GMA news Online; both had seven while Rappler got only three.

It was then followed by headline as it indicates what the articles talked about. It

was observed that INQUIRER.net focused more on the body and at least had one article

surfaces on lead. On the other hand, Rappler used headline more in angling and

presenting articles relating to Marcos’ burial; with four, followed by GMA News Online

with two then ABS-CBN News Online with only one count.

The top four online news portals had a fair distribution of using burial on the

Lead of their articles wherein ABS-CBN News Online had two and the rest garnered only

[58]
 one. In terms of significant appearance on Photos, only Rappler got count of two. Last,

burial was less observed in photo caption/ description, subheads, and kicker.

Table 1.4
Names and Recognitions of Late President Ferdinand Marcos

ONLINE NEWS RECOGNITION OF MARCOS

PORTAL PRESID DICTATO SOLDIER CORRUPT HUMAN HERO FERDIN OTHE
ENT R RIGHTS AND RS
VIOLATOR MARCO
S/ FM
ABS-CBN News 3 2 0 0 1 0 4 0
Online

INQUIRER.net 1 7 0 0 1 0 0 1
GMA News 7 2 0 0 0 0 0 1
Online
Rappler 4 5 0 0 0 0 0 1

INQUIRER.net evidently used dictator as a recognition of Marcos with seven

articles falling under it. Furthermore, two of its articles recognized Marcos as a president

and a human rights violator. On the other hand, Rappler has only two recognitions of

Marcos; five articles fell under dictator and four articles recognize him as president.

GMA News Online falls on the opposite; with seven articles recognizing Marcos as

president while only two articles calls him a dictator. ABS-CBN News Online has a fair

distribution of recognition of Marcos; president with three articles, dictator with two

articles and Ferdinand Marcos garnered the highest number with four articles.

Table 1.5
Comparative Frequency of Marcos’ Burial Articles Raise Awareness On

THE ARTICLE RAISES AWARENESS ON

[59]
ONLINE NEWS MARTIAL MARCOS LAW EDSA ACTS OF OTHERS
PORTALS LAW REGIME REVOLUTION VIOLENCE (Marcos’
DURING burial
MARTIAL LAW update)
ABS-CBN News 0 3 3 0 1 3
Online

INQUIRER.net 1 1 4 0 1 3
GMA News 0 0 6 0 1 3
Online
Rappler 0 1 3 0 2 4

According to the table above, majority of the top four online news portals focused

their articles relating to Marcos’ burial by raising the awareness on the Law; GMA News

Online published six, followed by INQUIRER.net with four while ABS-CBN News

Online and Rappler has three.

The amount of articles that raises the awareness of Marcos’ burial update which

fell under ‘Others’ garnered 13 articles out of 40 articles; Rappler got four counts while

the rest got equal number of three.

In addressing the awareness on Marcos Regime, ABS-CBN News Online had the

greatest number of articles published among the three online news portals, with three;

followed by INQUIRER.net and Rappler, both publishing one, while GMA News Online

published none. Meanwhile, on identifying which online news portals publish articles

that raise awareness on Martial Law, only INQUIRER.net garnered count which is only

one. Lastly, the top four online news portals observed and raised awareness zero on

EDSA Revolution.

Table 1.6
Comparative Frequency of Kinds of Framing

[60]
 ONLINE NEWS PORTALS KIND OF FRAMING
EPISODIC FRAMING THEMATIC FRAMING
ABS-CBN News Online 6 4

INQUIRER.net 5 5
GMA News Online 6 4
Rappler 6 4

As shown on the table above, 23 out of the total number of 40 articles used

Episodic Framing in presenting news relating to Marcos’ burial. ABS-CBN News Online,

GMA News Online, and Rappler share the spot with highest number of articles with six

per portal while INQUIRER.net was close behind with five articles. In addition to this,

INQUIRER.net also has five Thematic-framed articles published while the rest of the

online news portals each had four articles.

Part II
In the second part of the data presentation, the researchers used the Online

Sensationalism Index (OnSI) (as seen in Gonzales, et. al, 2014) to determine the main

objective of this study; how did the top four online news portals frame and present the

news relating to the late President Ferdinand E. Marcos, Sr.’s burial at Libingan ng mga

Bayani (LNMB). Online Sensationalism Index measures the level of Sensationalism,

Dramatic Subject, Verbalized Emotion, Dramatic Photo, Headline and Personalization

present in the articles and below are the following scales used:

For Sensationalism: For Dramatic Subject:

Scale Indicator Scale Indicator
0 Favorable 0 Not Dramatic
1 Slightly Favorable 1 Slightly Dramatic
2 Neutral 2 Moderately Dramatic
3 Slightly Unfavorable 3 Dramatic
4 Unfavorable 4 Very Dramatic

[61]
 For Verbalized Emotion: For Dramatic Photo:
Scale Indicator Scale Indicator
0 Not Emotional 0 Not Dramatic
1 Slightly Emotional 1 Slightly Dramatic
2 Moderately Emotional 2 Moderately Dramatic
3 Emotional 3 Dramatic
4 Very Emotional 4 Very Dramatic

For Headline: For Personalization:

Scale Indicator
0 Direct
1 Clear
2 Slightly Unclear
3 Vague
4 Misleading
Scale Indicator
0 No Statements
1 Experts Only and/or Laypersons Only
2 Experts and Politicians
3 Politicians Only or Laypersons Only
4 Politicians and Laypersons

Table 2.1
Measuring the Sensationalism, Dramatic Subject, Verbalized Emotion, Dramatic
Photo, Headline and Personalization Level of the Four Articles under the SC Final
Decision Theme

[62]
 Theme

Article
Online News Sensation Dramatic Verbalize Dramatic Headline Personalizati
d
Portals alism Subject Photo on
Emotion

DECION SC FINAL
1 ABS News 2 3 4 1 0 3
Online
2 INQUIRER.net 3 0 3 0 0 1
3 GMA News 3 2 3 0 0 2
Online
4 Rappler 2 0 0 0 0 0

The table shown above tells the categories under the Supreme Court’s Final

Decision theme which helped researchers determine how the top four online news portals

present news relating to Marco’s burial.

When it comes to the SC Final decision, INQUIRER.net and GMA News Online

ties on leaving a slightly unfavorable impression to the audience regarding the issue. On

the other hand, ABS CBN News Online and Rappler give a neutral impression.

Moreover, the SC decision is considered as a dramatic subject by ABS News

Online, giving it a score of three while GMA News Online deemed it as a slightly

dramatic subject. INQUIRER.net and Rappler didn’t consider it as a dramatic subject at

all.

In relation to this, ABS News Online garnered a score of four which has

equivalent indicator of very emotional when it comes to verbalized emotions while

INQUIRER.net and GMA News Online deemed emotional while Rappler got a score of

zero. Also, only ABS-CBN News Online showed a slightly dramatic photo and the rest is

zero.

[63]
 Last, all of the top four online news portals presented a direct headline when it

come to presenting news relating to the SC Final decision and all provided significant

statement and quotations regarding the issue except Rappler.

Table 2.2
Measuring the Sensationalism, Dramatic Subject, Verbalized Emotion, Dramatic
Photo, Headline and Personalization Level of the Four Articles under the History Theme
Theme

Article

Online News Sensation Dramatic Verbalized Dramatic Headline Personaliza

Emotion
Portals alism Subject Photo tion
HISTORY

5 ABS-CBN 2 0 0 0 0 0
News Online
6 INQUIRER.net 4 3 3 0 0 1
7 GMA News 1 3 3 0 0 2
Online
8 Rappler 2 0 0 1 0 0

When it comes to presenting news articles relating to History, INQUIRER.net got

the highest score of unfavorable impression or negative feeling to the audience regarding

the issue, earning a score of four; followed by ABS-CBN News Online and Rappler at

two which means neutral and GMA News Online has the slightly favorable impression.
Furthermore, articles related to history and its dramatic subject was considered as

dramatic by INQUIRER.net and GMA News Online while ABS-CBN News Online and

Rappler considered it as non-dramatic at all. This time only Rappler earned a slightly

dramatic score when it comes to dramatic photo and the rest got no emotion at all.
All online news portals provided a direct headline when it comes to presenting

news articles relating to history while ABS-CBN News Online and Rappler were the ones

who failed to present significant statements and quotations from experts, politicians and

laypersons.

Table 2.3

[64]
 Measuring the Sensationalism, Dramatic Subject, Verbalized Emotion, Dramatic
Photo, Headline and Personalization Level of the Four Articles under the Protest (Pro)
Theme
Theme

Article
Online News Sensationali Dramatic Verbalized Dramatic Headline Personaliz
Emotion
Portals sm Subject Photo ation
PROTEST (PRO)

9 ABS-CBN 1 2 3 0 1 3
News Online
10 INQUIRER.net 4 4 4 3 0 2
11 GMA News 2 1 0 0 0 1
Online
12 Rappler 3 4 4 0 0 1

The table shown above tells the fair distribution of audience impression when it

comes to news articles relating to protests done by pro-Marcos. INQUIRER.net has the

unfavorable impression, Rappler with slightly unfavorable, GMA News Online with

neutral and ABS-CBN News Online with slightly favorable.

In relation to this, INQUIRER.net and Rappler deemed the topic as very dramatic

while ABS-CBN News Online viewed it as moderately dramatic while it falls under

slightly dramatic under GMA News Online.

Also, the verbalized emotion for this topic ranges from emotional to very

emotional. INQUIRER.net and Rappler reaped very emotional tone while ABS-CBN

News Online is gone emotional and GMA News Online ended up to not emotional.

All of the online news portals provided direct headlines regarding the issue except

for ABS-CBN News Online which lacks specificity on their headline; reaping only clear.

Furthermore, it was only INQUIRER.net who provided photos in their article which is

[65]
very dramatic. Last, all of the online news portals provided significant statements and

quotations from experts, politicians and laypersons.

Table 2.4
Measuring the Sensationalism, Dramatic Subject, Verbalized Emotion, Dramatic
Photo, Headline and Personalization Level of the Four Articles under the Protest (Anti)
Theme
Theme

Article

Online News Sensationali Dramatic Verbalized Dramatic Headline Personalizati

Emotion
Portals sm Subject Photo on
PROTEST (ANTI)

13 ABS-NEWS 0 3 4 0 0 4
Online
14 INQUIRER. 2 2 3 2 1 2
net
15 GMA News 3 3 3 0 4 3
Online
16 Rappler 2 4 4 0 0 0

On the other hand, when it comes to protests done by anti-Marcoses, it was only

ABS-CBN News Online who has a favorable audience impression while the rest of the

portals range from neutral to slightly unfavorable. Due to this, this topic was deemed the

subject as very dramatic by Rappler, moderately dramatic by INQUIRER.net and

dramatic by ABS-CBN News Online and GMA News Online.

Moreover, Rappler and ABS-CBN News Online deemed it as very emotional and

emotional by INQUIRER.net and GMA News Online when it comes to verbalized

emotion.

Meanwhile, when talking about headlines, ABS-CBN News Online and Rappler

has a direct and specific headline for their articles, INQUIRER.net has a clear one while

GMA News Online has a misleading headline.

[66]
 Last, only Rappler failed to have a statement or quotations from experts,

politicians and laypersons concerned.

Table 2.5
Measuring the Sensationalism, Dramatic Subject, Verbalized Emotion, Dramatic
Photo, Headline and Personalization Level of the Four Articles under the Burial
Preparation Theme
Theme

Article

Online News Sensationali Dramatic Verbalized Dramatic Headline Personaliza

Emotion
Portals sm Subject Photo tion
BURIAL PREPARATION

17 ABS-NEWS 3 2 4 1 1 4
Online
18 INQUIRER. 2 1 1 2 1 1
net
19 GMA News 3 1 0 0 4 1
Online
20 Rappler 3 1 0 0 0 1

News articles relating to the burial preparation garnered a majority of slightly

unfavorable audience impression with only INQUIRER.net getting a neutral impression.

Furthermore, it also gained a majority of slightly dramatic rating when it comes to

dramatic subject with only ABS-CBN News Online deeming it as moderately dramatic.
Furthermore, when it comes to verbalized emotions, ABS-CBN News Online has

the most emotional article or very emotional followed by INQUIRER.net with slightly

emotional while for GMA News Online and Rappler, the topic was not emotional at all.
Moreover, out of the four online news portals, only two provided dramatic photo

for the articles with INQUIRER.net having a moderately dramatic picture while ABS-

CBN News Online has a slightly dramatic one.

Lastly, GMA News Online has a misleading headline for their article while

Rappler has a direct and specific one. Both INQUIRER.net and ABS-CBN News Online

exhibited clear headlines. Three of the four online news portals provided statements and

[67]
quotations from experts and/or laypersons while ABS-CBN News Online provided

sentiments from politicians and laypersons.

Table 2.6
Measuring the Sensationalism, Dramatic Subject, Verbalized Emotion, Dramatic
Photo, Headline and Personalization Level of the Four Articles under the Point of View
of President Rodrigo Duterte Theme
Theme

Article

Online News Sensationali Dramatic Verbalized Dramatic Headline Personaliz

Emotion
Portals sm Subject Photo ation
DUTERTE’S POV

21 ABS-CBN 3 1 3 1 0 3
News Online
22 INQUIRER. 2 2 2 0 1 2
net
23 GMA News 3 2 3 0 1 3
Online
24 Rappler 1 2 3 0 1 3

Moving forward, when it comes to news articles relating to President Duterte’s

point of view regarding the issue, ABS-CBN News Online and GMA News Online got a

slightly unfavorable audience impression while INQUIRER.net has neutral and Rappler

has slightly favorable impression. Moreover, three online news portals considered the

topic or subject of the article as moderately dramatic while ABS-CBN News Online

alone deemed it as slightly dramatic. In relation to this, INQUIRER.net has moderately

emotional as its dramatic subject while the remaining three were emotional.
Furthermore, ABS-CBN News Online was the only portal which provided

dramatic photo and fell to slightly dramatic. However, for the topic ABS-CBN News

Online has direct and specific headline while the remaining three only has clear

headlines.
Last, INQUIRER.net has statements or quotations from experts and politicians

while the other three have the sentiments of politicians only or laypersons only.

[68]
 Table 2.7
Measuring the Sensationalism, Dramatic Subject, Verbalized Emotion, Dramatic
Photo, Headline and Personalization Level of the Four Articles under the Stand of the
Theme Palace Theme
Article Online News Sensation Dramatic Verbalized Dramatic Headline Personali
Emotion
Portals alism Subject Photo zation
PALACE STAND

25 ABS-NEWS 2 0 3 0 0 1
Online
26 INQUIRER.net 2 1 0 0 0 1
27 GMA News 2 1 1 0 0 3
Online
28 Rappler 1 2 1 0 0 4

There is a majority of neutral audience impression when it comes to news articles

relating to the Palace’s stand on Marcos’ burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani except for

Rappler who has a slightly favorable audience impression as shown on the table above.
Moreover, INQUIRER.net and GMA News Online deemed the topic or the

dramatic subject as slightly dramatic while Rappler is moderately dramatic and ABS-

CBN has no emtion at all. Dealing with the verbalized emotion, ABS-CBN News Online

garnered emotional scale while GMA News Online and Rappler got slightly emotional;

INQUIRER.net deemed not emotional at all.

None of the top four online news portals provided dramatic photo for the topic but

all online news portals has a direct and specific headline. ABS-CBN News Online and

INQUIRER.net has statements from experts and/or laypersons; GMA News Online from

politicians only or laypersons only and Rappler from politicians and laypersons.

Table 2.8
Measuring the Sensationalism, Dramatic Subject, Verbalized Emotion, Dramatic
Photo, Headline and Personalization Level of the Four Articles under the Point of View
of Bongbong Marcos Theme

[69]
 Theme

Article
Online News Sensationa Dramatic Verbalize Dramatic Headline Personalizati
d
Portals lism Subject Photo on
Emotion
BONGBONG’S POV
29 ABS-CBN 2 3 4 0 0 3
News Online
30 INQUIRER.net 0 3 3 0 0 1
31 GMA News 3 2 3 0 0 2
Online
32 Rappler 3 3 3 0 1 3

News articles relating to Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s point of view regarding to

Marcos’ burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani garnered a slightly unfavorable audience

impression from GMA News Online and Rappler; neutral impression for ABS-CBN

News Online and favorable impression for INQUIRER.net.

Moreover, three online news portals deemed the topic as dramatic while GMA

News Online alone considered it as moderately dramatic. In relation to this, the

verbalized emotion present in this theme was also emotional for three news portals,

INQUIRER.net, GMA News Online and Rappler, respectively; while ABS-CBN News

Online elicited very emotional.

None of the online news portals provided a dramatic photo but all has a direct and

specific subject for their headlines except Rappler which only has a clear headline for its

article. Last, ABS-CBN News Online and Rappler provided statements from politicians

only or laypersons only while GMA News Online has sentiments from experts and

politicians and INQUIRER.net from experts only and/or laypersons only.

Table 2.9
Measuring the Sensationalism, Dramatic Subject, Verbalized Emotion, Dramatic
Photo, Headline and Personalization Level of the Four Articles under the Point of View
of Imee Marcos Theme

[70]
 Theme

Article
Online News Sensationa Dramatic Verbalized Dramatic Headline Personali
Emotion
Portals lism Subject Photo zation

IMEE’S POV
33 ABS-CBN 2 3 3 0 0 4
News Online
34 INQUIRER.net 2 2 1 0 2 3
35 GMA News 2 3 2 0 0 3
Online
36 Rappler 1 3 3 0 1 3
Articles relating to Imee Marcos’ point of view to Marcos’ burial at the Libingan

ng mga Bayani earned neutral audience impressions for three online news portals while

Rappler alone has slightly favorable impression. Moreover, also three online news portals

considered the topic as dramatic while INQUIRER.net alone deemed it as slightly

dramatic.
Furthermore, when it comes to verbalized emotions, ABS-CBN News Online ties

with Rappler on emotional; GMA News Online with moderately emotional and

INQUIRER.net with slightly emotional.

None of the online news portals provided dramatic photo for the topic. Moreover,

ABS-CBN News Online and GMA News Online has direct and specific subject for

headline; Rappler with clear headline and INQUIRER.net with slightly unclear headline.
Three of the online news portals provided statements from politicians only or

laypersons only while ABS-CBN News Online alone presented quotations from

politicians and laypersons.

[71]
 Table 2.10
Measuring the Sensationalism, Dramatic Subject, Verbalized Emotion, Dramatic
Photo, Headline and Personalization Level of the Four Articles under the Move for
Reconsideration Theme
Theme

Article

Online News Sensation Dramatic Verbalized Dramatic Headline Personali

Emotion
Portals alism Subject Photo zation

37 ABS-CBN 3 2 3 0 1 3
RECONSIDERATIONMOVE FOR

News Online
38 INQUIRER.n 3 3 3 0 1 1
et
39 GMA News 1 3 3 0 0 2
Online
40 Rappler 3 3 3 0 1 4

Last, articles relating to Protester’s move for reconsideration garnered a slightly

unfavorable audience impression from three online news portals while GMA News

Online alone has slightly favorable impression.

Moreover, also three online news portals considered the topic as dramatic while

ABS-CBN News Online deemed it as slightly dramatic. For verbalized emotions, all of

the online news portals considered the topic as emotional.

None of them provided photos but all of the online news portals has clear headline

except for GMA News Online which has a direct and specific subject for its headline.

[72]
 INQUIRER.net provided statements from experts and/or laypersons only; GMA

News Online from expert and politicians; ABS-CBN News Online from politicians or

laypersons only and Rappler from politicians and laypersons.

Part III
To determine the significance differences of two parts, the statistician used

Kruska- Wallis (KW) H test with 95% level of confidence. .

The statistician found out that 12 T2

H under the Dramatic
 i  3(nSubject
 1) scale, specifically, the
n(n  1) ni
categories Focus of news, Part of the article where the burial surfaced and Kind of

Framing had significant differences. Also, in Verbalized Emotions scale, Focus of news,

Part of the article where the burial surfaced and Recognition to late President Marcos

categories had been proven to show the same characteristic.

According to the KW test, in order to determine the significant differences

between the given categories, the p-value per category should be less than or equal to the

significant level which is 0.05. Looking back at the test done by the statisticians, these

scales, Dramatic Subject and Verbalized Emotions had shown to have results less than the

significant level; the reason why the statistician deemed it that has a significant

differences.
Furthermore, according to Minitab Express Support (2016), the significant

differences between the sample statistic (40 articles) and a hypothesized value

(significant level= 0.05) indicates that it is too unlikely to have occurred by chance.

Meaning, there are underlying factors or reasons why these categories have shown to

have significant differences in respect to the scale.

Through Kruskal-Wallis, the researchers found out there were significant

differences between the scale Dramatic Subject with their categories News Focus, Part

[73]
where the burial surfaced and Kind of Framing; same goes with the scale of Verbalized

Emotions on the part of News Focus, Part where the burial surfaced and Recognition of

Marcos because all of these scales and categories had shown to have results less than the

significant level which was considered as rejected.

Upon finding this, the researchers looked back at the sample articles to find out

where the rejection region occurred and analyzed the factors why rejection happened.

Table 3.1
Determining the Significant Differences among the Given Variables under
Sensationalism
Category Kruskal-Wallis Test Result
P value
Type of News 0.198753238 Accepted
Kind of Framing 0.80975857 Accepted
News Focus 0.29629875 Accepted
Part where the burial 0.539977963 Accepted
surfaced
Recognition of Marcos 0.237817322 Accepted
Awareness 0.661808968 Accepted

This table concludes that the null hypothesis (all medians are equal) of the

Kruskal-Wallis H test was accepted since the p-value is greater than the significant level

of 0.05.This means that when it comes to Sensationalism, these categories all have equal

tendencies or all can most likely affect on how the articles relating to Marcos’ burial were

being presented by the top four online news portals.

Table 3.2
Determining the Significant Differences among the Given Variables under
Dramatic Subject
Category Kruskal-Wallis Test Result
P value
Type of News 0.198753238 Accepted

[74]
Kind of Framing 0.002021166 Rejected
News Focus 0.012912575 Rejected
Part where the burial 0.029109033 Rejected
surfaced
Recognition of Marcos 0.530648373 Accepted
Awareness 0.293220497 Accepted

On the other hand, on this table it is shown is the scale of Dramatic Subject

where the categories Kind of Framing, News Focus and Part where the burial surfaced

were rejected because their values were less than the significant level. This concludes

that the way Marcos’ burial was framed, the angle or focus of the story and the part of the

article where the burial surfaced affects the Dramatic Subject scale.
As a recall, the Dramatic Subject scale garnered a rating ranging from moderately

dramatic to dramatic which can be concluded that burial of late President Marcos was a

sensitive one. Three factors affected the scale which were Kind of Framing, Part where

the burial surfaced and News Focus.

On the category News Focus, Law and Order has the most number of articles

meaning the online news portals emphasized on covering the decision of the Supreme

Court. Next is the Part where the burial surfaced in which the Body obtained the highest

score. This part usually highlights all the necessary information relating to the burial.

Last, the Kind of Framing in which Episodic Framing emerged as the highest scorer.

Episodic Framing is usually people-centered; meaning majority of the articles published

tackles the public’s reaction towards the SC decision of burying Marcos at the Libingan

ng mga Bayani which heightened the Dramatic Subject.

Table 3.3
Determining the Significant Differences among the Given Variables under
Verbalized Emotion
Category Kruskal Wallis Test Result
P value
Type of News 0.282113948 Accepted
Kind of Framing 0.156745362 Accepted

[75]
News Focus 0.041930587 Rejected
Part where the burial 0.038153531 Rejected
surfaced
Recognition of Marcos 0.026856895 Rejected
Awareness 0.372026982 Accepted

When it comes to Verbalized Emotions, News Focus, Part where the burial

surfaced and Recognition of Marcos were rejected because the p-value of these

categories was less than the significant value. This means that there’s a need for the

researchers to delve more into these three categories to determine the significant

difference and yield larger observations.

Going back to the results, the Verbalized Emotion scale garnered a rating that

ranges majority from slightly favorable to unfavorable. Through this, it can be concluded

that the emotion depicted in the articles was negativity due to the scale results.
One of the factors that affected the Verbalized Emotions scale is the News Focus

where 19 out of the 40 articles focused on Law and Order due to the Supreme Court’s

decision of burying Ferdinand Marcos’ at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. Second, is the

Part where the burial surfaced where majority of the appearances was seen on the body,

where most of the details about the burial were written. Last is the way Marcos’ was

recognized. According to the tally, 40% portrayed him as a dictator. This contributed to

the negative and unfavorable emotion acquired by the Verbalized Emotion scale.

Table 3.4
Determining the Significant Differences among the Given Variables under
Dramatic Picture
Category Kruskal Wallis Test Result
P value
Type of News 0.726927795 Accepted
Kind of Framing 0.600307686 Accepted
News Focus 0.995168957 Accepted
Part where the burial 0.821541462 Accepted
surfaced
Recognition of Marcos 0.470803993 Accepted

[76]
Awareness 0.991824475 Accepted

This table also illustrates that the null hypothesis was accepted as the p-value was

greater than the significant level as stated earlier. The tendency for these categories to

affect the Dramatic Picture was also equal when presenting articles relating Marcos’

burial. Meaning, all of the categories stated on the table can most likely affect the said

articles.

Table 3.5
Determining the Significant Differences among the Given Variables under
Headline
Category Kruskal Wallis Test Result
P value
Type of News 0.855903024 Accepted
Kind of Framing 0.744648559 Accepted
News Focus 0.894839338 Accepted
Part where the burial 0.788854423 Accepted
surfaced
Recognition of Marcos 0.893671926 Accepted
Awareness 0.498597939 Accepted

Moving forward, this table also exhibits the same situation as the previous table

wherein the null hypothesis was accepted because the p-value was greater than the

significant level of 0.05. This means that the Headlines have equal functions in

presenting articles relating to Marcos’ burial.

Table 3.6
Determining the Significant Differences among the Given Variables under
Personalization
Category Kruskal Wallis Test Result
P value
Type of News 0.21898284 Accepted
Kind of Framing 0.542574635 Accepted
News Focus 0.250389501 Accepted

[77]
Part where the burial 0.644072615 Accepted
surfaced
Recognition of Marcos 0.175557817 Accepted
Awareness 0.448760108 Accepted

Last, the table above also displayed accounts of the p-value greater than the

significant level, thus accepting the hypothesis that all of the categories that fall under

Personalization have similar functions in presenting articles relating to Marcos’ burial.

Fragment Sample of Articles

These are the snippets of the sample articles collected by the researchers to show

the significant difference that occurred in the Dramatic Subject and Verbalized

Emotion scale. A part of an article in each online news portal were lifted which possesses

the categories per scale. For instance, News Focus, Recognition of Marcos and Part of

the body where burial surfaced for Verbalized Emotion and Kind of Framing, News

Focus and Part of the body where burial surfaced for Dramatic Subject. This will yield

more understanding on the significant difference and how they largely affect the

presentation of articles.

President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday said he will stick by his

decision to allow the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos to be buried at the

Libingan ng mga Bayani despite calls by some sectors for him to change

his mind. (lead)

- Duterte won't change mind about Marcos burial at Libingan

ABS-CBN News
Posted at Nov 09 2016 11:29 AM | Updated as of Nov 09 2016 11:47 AM

[78]
 A “barefaced disrespect” and “insult” to martial law victims was

how the Council of the Laity of the Philippines denounced the Supreme

Court decision allowing the burial of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos at

the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

The council said burying Marcos at the heroes’ cemetery is a “great

insult to the thousands of victims of atrocities committed during his reign.”

(lead and body)

-‘Marcos burial barefaced disrespect to martial law victims’

By: Yuji Vincent Gonzales - Reporter / @YGonzalesINQ

INQUIRER.net / 02:28 PM November 17, 2016

But the government clarified that the late strongman would not

gain the status of a "hero" as it acknowledged the "dark pages of history

during Martial Law," during which thousands had been killed and jailed

for opposing the dictatorship. (body)

-‘SC favors dictator Marcos’ burial at Libingan ng mga Bayani’

Published November 8, 2016 1:58pm
Updated November 8, 2016 3:31pm
By VIRGIL LOPEZ, GMA News

More than 2,000 supporters of the late strongman Ferdinand

Marcos traveled all the way from Ilocos Norte to join his family for a

thanksgiving Mass at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

[79]
 As early as 7:30 am on Saturday, November 19, more than 2,200

Marcos loyalists started arriving at the national shrine for heroes in Taguig

City aboard at least 50 buses and 40 private vehicles, according to a

military officer manning the cemetery gates. (lead and body)

-‘Marcoses hold Mass with 2,000 loyalists at Libingan’

Mara Cepeda

@maracepeda
Published 11:48 AM, November 18, 2016
Updated 3:16 PM, November 19, 2016

2. Coded Interviews

Coded Interviews of the Top Four Online News Portals

Below are the coded fragments of interviews conducted by the researchers from

their respondents. Four of whom are from each of the top four online news portals: Mr.

Erik Tenedero, News Editor of ABS-CBN News Online; Mr. Javier Vicente Rufino,

Director of Mobile and Social INQUIRER.net; Mr. Joseph Roxas, reporter assigned to

different beats about Marcos burial for GMA News Online; and lastly, Ms. Miriam Grace

Go, News Editor of Rappler.

Moreover, the researchers of the study also reached out to the authorities and

historians who have vast knowledge on Martial Law and are involved in movements

regarding Marcos’ burial. One of these experts is Mr. Michael Charleston “Xiao” Briones

Chua, a known history professor from De La Salle University, and also has experienced

Martial Law, for he is one of Imelda Marcos’ scholars. On the other hand, Ms. May

Rodriquez and Mrs. Carolina Malay are from the Bantayog ng mga Bayani, an institution

[80]
which remembers heroes during the Martial Law period and People Power revolution.

Lastly, Mr. Satur Ocampo, a known activist during Martial Law until now, he founded

Bayan Muna, and is part of the Campaign Against the Return of Marcoses in Malacañang

(CARMMA).

Each of the coded interviews was divided into four parts which are parallel with

the stated problems in the study.

Table 4.1
Disparities of the Top Four Online News Portals in Presenting Marcos Burial

THEME
“Any agency, any authority can say their IMPRESSION OF THE NEWS
piece, the same goes with personalities, so ARTICLE
why (interview) them? Again, babalik na
lang tayo sa basic principles ng journalism:
news worthiness, news value. Sa amin
naman, kung anong dumating, we do it. In
this case, kailangan may reaction ang
CBCP, mga senador, mga Martial Law
victims, kailangan mo rin ng piece from
the Marcos’ supporters; there are automatic
elements that you should take and at the
same time there are valid people who can
also share their piece on the matter.” – Mr.
Erik Tenedero (Editor of ABS-CBN
News Online)

[81]
“Remember that the Marcos burial was a
spot news hit. It actually happened on that
day, it was a surprise. Actually, we held
back, it took us a while to confirm it was
actually happening. What I did was send a
developing, because it was developing. It’s
different from us from planned coverage…
You just go by your instincts and you take
it. in social novelty, something new
unexpected gets big, does tremendously
well on social, because there’s an
immediacy media. So, our reporter started
tweeting, and we were the second highest
on social, because there was a spontaneous
outgoing of protests. We just write it,
basically. To some extent, you can plan a
coverage, we had awareness that it might
happen, we were actually expecting it to
happen a bit later.” – Mr. Javier Rufino
(Director of Mobile and Social of
Inquirer)

[82]
“Ang responsibility lang namin, ay i-report
‘yong totoo, kung ano ‘yong nangyayari.
Kasi, ‘pag hindi na naming ni-report ‘yon,
parang hinayaan na lang namin na ‘yong
alternative media na mag-take over.
Minsan, kasi ngayon, karamihan do’n pros,
parang sinasabi nila na ‘yong media, bias.
Meron naman, konti, kasi siyempre,
business ‘yan; so meron konti. Siguro,
‘yong ibang network, halata. Kasi business
‘yan, Gusto lang nilang kumita or gusto
nilang mag-benefit ‘yong business nila.
Pero, nasa right side naman ‘yong bias.” –
Mr. Joseph Roxas (Reporter of GMA
News Online)
“ In this case we interview historians when
there are when we get hold of documents
when actually a lot of thing about Martial
Law naman are already established nasa
mga alam mo naman kung ano yong
credible na resources and then when in that
really have to consult historians and even
then you have to minsan yong historians
nag-iiba yong interpretation but what they
do is have to say what are the established
facts, tapos you have to say that historians
have different interpretations about certain
things.” –Ms. Miriam Grace Go (News
Editor of Rappler)

[83]
“Photos, tatlo ‘yan. Official photographers, ON DRAMATIC PICTURES
stringers –nakuhanan n’ya binenta sa
amin, at ‘yong UGC or User-Generated
Content. The photos need to be compelling
enough, the photo has to tell the story that
we are telling.” – Mr. Erik Tenedero
(Editor of ABS-CBN News Online)
“Whatever is available. (photo). On social
and mobile, what the reporter sent, what we
have permission to use, because we’re
crowd sourcing. I’ll pick the one that has
the most impact, what tells the story in the
best way.” - Mr. Javier Rufino (Director
of Mobile and Social of Inquirer)
Hindi kami nagse-select [ng photos]. ‘Yong
editors lang, maybe. Pero ‘yong pictures
kasi, may mga countable times na nagse-
send. Parang contributors ang tawag. Sila
‘yong nagse-send sa Photo Editor namin,
tapos sila ‘yong naga-approve, bahala
kung ano ‘yong gusto nila. - Mr. Joseph
Roxas (Reporter of GMA News Online)
“‘Yong Marcos burial most of the photos
are provided by the AFP kasi sila yong may
official access. Dapat ang photos gives you
additional information hindi lang yong
basta may masabing may litrato dyan,
dapat it helps the readers understand the
story more or feel the experience more
through that photo. – Ms. Miriam Grace
Go (News Editor of Rappler)

[84]
 Sensationalism, according to the researchers’ codebook, measures the degree of

words and emotions found in the news stories that may be written in such a way that they

attract or elicit emotions. With this, the top four online news portals discussed the news

subject thoroughly, aiming balance in their reportage. Ms. Miriam Grace Go, the News

Editor of Rappler, stated that aside from consulting historians and having first-hand

information, Rappler even assigned their investigative researchers to collaborate with

their news reporters to cover the Marcos burial. Add to that, Ms. Go said that reporters

have to had the research skill same as their researchers, which was backed up by the

statement of Mr. Joseph Tristan Roxas, a beat reporter from GMA News Online, wherein

he stated that editors trust their reporters when it comes to fact checking, for it is one of

the skills that you have to acquire in this kind of field. Furthermore, to ensure the quality

of the articles and its reliability, all the top four online news portals have in-house

researchers, in the case of ABS-CBN News Online, they have an in-house historian,

meanwhile, INQUIRER.net.net, GMA News Online, and Rappler have their own

research teams.

In lieu with this, news content is also one of the contributing factors in framing

the late President Marcos’ burial, with that, all the top four online news portals agreed

that the photos included in the articles should be congruent with its content. Mr. Erik

Tenedero, the Editor of ABS-CBN News Online, said that there are stories that are

multimedia dependent wherein, some articles are required to have photos with them to

tell the story and create more impact. Mr. Roxas acceded with this and added that in a

way, the photos encourage their audience to read their article for it is the first thing that

they see. When it comes to the sources of the photos, both ABS-CBN News Online and

[85]
INQUIRER.net used User Generated Content (UGC) or crowd sourcing. Meanwhile,

GMA News Online and Rappler’s photos came from their subscribed contributors.

Table 4.2
Top Four Online News Portals Kind of Framing on Marcos Burial

THEME
“Well, we strive for balance, in terms of KIND OF FRAMING
(Thematic framing (Authority centered)
reactions, the first thing that you have to try
or Episodic framing (People centered)
yourself is: why this person? Anong
authority the person na ‘to to speak on this
matter? Why is his/her opinion important to
the subject? Anyone can talk, anyone can
say his opinion? But why him/her? You
have to know the news value of that. Kung
anong dumating, we do it.” – Mr. Erik
Tenedero (Editor of ABS-CBN News
Online)
“To be honest, more on the reaction of the
public. We operate on two temples, I swim
in the fast temple. My job is to give you
lots of info, kumbaga, ang benta ko ay
mani, snacks, chicharon, pang-tawid-
gutom until the big meal comes, which is
the printed.” – Mr. Javier Rufino
(Director Mobile and Social of Inquirer)
“More on people-centered. Kasi, ‘yong
Supreme Court decision, tapos na siya eh.
Pinasa na siya ng mga Supreme Court
justices, majority, pumayag. Tapos na ‘yon,
so ngayon, ‘yong mga taong affected
naman ‘yong dapat isulat.” – Mr. Joseph
Roxas (Reporter of GMA News Online)

[86]
“Since this is an event, we would go more
to the authority for the information kasi it
is happening, kasi people’s reaction
isasama mo yan eventually to give color to
catch attention but we have to start with the
events, report the event first. Inevitable
yon. The people’s reactions will follow na
lang.” - Ms. Miriam Grace Go (News
Editor of Rappler)
As stated by the researchers, Episodic Framing provides a view on the

individual’s responsibility (Benjamin 2007). This kind of framing was dominantly used

by the top four online news portals in framing the Marcos’ burial. Ms. Go from Rappler

said that it is inevitable, because after the decision of the Supreme Court (authority),

people’s reaction will eventually follow. However, even though they yield more to the

public, Mr. Tenedero from ABS-CBN news online, said that they still choose whom to

interview, wherein they apply the basic journalistic principles.

Table 4.3
Top Four Online News Portals’ Considered Factors in Presenting Marcos Burial

THEME
On Pressures and constrains: “walang FACTORS (Organizational Pressure and
special na team for that (Marcos burial), Constraints, Journalistic Routines,
it’s everyone, all-hands on-deck… there Ideological Political Orientation of the
are expected things for you to write. For Journalists)
example, if you do Church beat, you are
expected to file a story that is about the
Marcos burial but on the side of the
Catholic Church” – Mr. Erik Tenedero
(Editor of ABS-CBN News Online)

[87]
On Journalistic routines: “Normally kasi
we don’t do a lot of background, it was
only late on the day where the briefers and
the profiles, and we just link to them. The
fact checking is not done by the research
team, your fact checkers, to some extent
Google, again, we’re doing fast breaking
news, it helps to have read a lot, even if
you can’t cram it in your live tweeting, it
already gives you the idea of what to live
tweet or what not, what to tweet or what
not to tweet. - Mr. Javier Rufino
(Director of Mobile and Social of
Inquirer)
On Journalistic routines: “Hindi naman ‘to
parang one article lang pagka alam
naman nilang mabigat ‘yong coverage,
magpapadala sila ng dalawa… In terms of
fact-checking, ginagawa naman naming
‘yon, pero siguro kumbaga, based on what
we do naman din, may tiwala naman
siguro ‘yong editors natin, so kung ano
‘yong pina-publish namin, iyon naman
‘yong kumbaga basehan, kaya kung may
questionable naman na part, ‘yong mga
editors naman, naabutan nila ‘yong
Martial Law, so kahit papaano, alam din
nila ‘yon pero kung hindi, babalik ulit sa
GMA News Research. – Mr. Joseph
Roxas (Reporter of GMA News Online)

[88]
On Journalistic routines: “We have a
research team I think, but if it’s a team
purposely formed beforehand to write
about Marcos’ burial is wala because ang
beat assignment would be… reporters are
assigned to cover sectors. Traditionally and
this is what mostly other media
organizations do until today is they
assigned reporters to every local agencies.
Ang pag-cover sa Marcos cases we have
investigative researcher they pursue their
own story and also with the collaboration
of the news department.” – Ms. Miriam
Grace Go (News Editor of Rappler)
In this matter, journalistic routines are the most considered factor in framing

Marcos’ burial, followed by pressures and constrains. Mr. Javier Rufino from Inquirer

said that even though they have to scramble in reporting the burial itself, their reporters

do not forget to research facts on what they are going to report. This was supported by the

statement of Mr. Roxas, wherein they apply the same routine and if ever there are

questionable parts, the editors will direct to the GMA news research team to fact check it.

On the other hand, Mr. Tenedero expressed that pressure and constrains is also a

contributing factor in the reportage of Marcos burial. Every beat reporter was expected to

write articles according to their assignments. In this case, he cited himself as an example,

wherein, his beat assignment was the Catholic Church, and he was expected to get the

side of the CBCP or the Church.

Table 4.4
Top Four Online News Portals on Preventing Historical Revisionism

[89]
 THEME
“Very important ang role ng journalists but PREVENTING HISTORICAL
I believe that there is nothing that we can REVISIONISM
do more. All we can do is do our job, and
that is enough. It is our job to tell the story
as it is, to tell all facts, to make sense of
these facts, to provide context, to make
sure that these information are received, the
message to be there and to be available for
all people. That is our job, our mandate, but
those aspects are more than enough, they
make this job vital, that will ensure that the
people get the right story that they
deserve.” – Mr. Erik Tenedero (Editor of
ABS-CBN News Online)
“Journalists makes the first draft of history,
and let’s say, yes. A lot of historical records
are based on our work and our
documentation.” – Mr. Javier Rufino
(Director of Mobile and Social of
Inquirer)
“Ang responsibility lang namin, ay i-report
‘yong totoo, kung ano ‘yong nangyayari.
So, pagdating sa historical revisionism,
hayaan na lang natin na ‘yong article ang
magsalita.” – Mr. Joseph Roxas
(Reporter of GMA News Online)

[90]
“Actually parang journalist are chronicler,
I think that is more accurate term. You
chronicle what then eventually because of
yours chronicles nagkakaroon ng record on
what happened on this period of history.
The historical revisionism naman is
dependent on how the future generation
interpreting the information of the news.
Siguro nagc-contribute ka sa historaical
revisionism kapag you are not reporting
what is truth, kung bayad ka.” - Ms.
Miriam Grace Go (News Editor of
Rappler)

Meanwhile, on this part, the unity of the top four online news portals can be seen

in terms of the role of journalists in preventing historical revisionism. As said by Mr.

Rufino from INQUIRER.net, journalists makes the first draft of history, many of the

historical records are based from what the media has reported. On the other hand, Ms.

Go, from Rappler, prefers the term chronicler. She also stated that historical revisionism

depends on how the future generation will interpret the information from the news.

Overall, the top four online news portals united in saying that journalists should report

the truth, and provide enough contexts for it to be supported.

Coded Interview of the Historians

In interviewing the historical experts, the researchers asked questions in purpose

of acquiring answers that will help in yielding a broader view on the historical side of the

study and also to establish its historical context.

Table 4.5
Experts’ Point of view on Marcos Burial

[91]
 THEME
“Actually in all fairness hindi naman MINIMAL TEACHING OF
pwedeng palakihin ‘yong martial law at MARTIAL LAW IN SCHOOLS
paliitin mo ‘yong Philippine Revolution…
Yong Japanese War, yong Spanish Period,
Pre-Colonial hindi pwede, pero sana
pantay-pantay ang pagtalakay mo d’yan.
Siyempre sa mga bata lalo na sa
elementary kinu-kwento ba ‘yong torture?”-
Mr. Xiao Chua (History professor)
“Siyempre, kailangan mo ang educational
system, kasi mismo iyon ang mag-
kakargang obligasyon na mapaabot sa mga
bata kung ano ang tamang interpretasyon.”
– Bantayog ng mga Bayani
“Hintayinnatin yon, dapat magawayan as
soon as possible, ma-review at ma-reissue
ngbagong revisions sa social study and
history books.” – Mr. Satur Ocampo

The campaign Department of Education (DepEd) in widening the teaching of

Martial Law in schools sparked a lot of attention, especially during when the Marcos’

burial issue was still prevalent. However, according to the historian Mr. Michael ‘Xiao’

Chua, there were inside stories that aim to counterpart DepEd’s project. He also added

that elementary students would have a hard time grasping the tortures that happened

during Marcos’ regime; it’s not even discussed at all. Nevertheless, Mr. Satur Ocampo

emphasized that history books should be reviewed and reissued as soon as possible.

Table 4.6
Experts’ Point of view on Marcos Burial

[92]
 THEME
“The vigilance (pertaining to journalists), ROLE OF JOURNALISTS IN
maglabas nang maglabas sila ng mga REPORTING HISTORICAL MATTERS
istorya related to the Marcos Dictatorship,
maging interested sila sa history. At least
they (also) have to consult historian when
they are doing history, for me, kasi
journalists sila, hindi naman sila historian
so mas maganda kung magtu-tulungan
silang historians, meron silang mga,
kumbaga ‘wag silang mag mamagaling
din. – Xiao Chua
Sa katunayan, marami kasi sakit ang media
ngayon, masyado sa entertainment, etc.
pero mayroon din silang magagandang
examples na ang media, more or less, nasa
kritikal side siya, tumutulong ang media na
maglinaw, lalo sa millennials na ano iyong
nakaraan, ano ang mga aral ng nakaraan,
ano ang mga pang-aabuso ng nakaraan.
Marami na rin kasi ngayon na malawak
ang isip, tina-tackle nila kung ano ang
nakikita nila… - Bantayog ng mga Bayani
Ang problema diyan ay nakaraan na ‘yon,
part of history yan, ang kulang na kulang
sa atin, hindi ‘yong media reporting kasi
media reports what is present gagamitin
mo lang background ‘yong nakaraan
kapag meron lang pangyayari dito, may
kaugnayan, tsaka mo pa lang ito magiging
bahagi ng journalism reporting pero ang

[93]
pagsusulat ng history ng tama ‘yon ang
kulang. Ang malaking kapunahan dahil
walang nagi-initiate ngi sa o wala pang
naglabas ng definitive history n’ong period
na ‘yon. Iba-ibang versions may kanya-
kanyang mgai storya. – Satur Ocampo

The experts conceded with a united answer that journalists have to go hand-in-

hand with historians in reporting historical events. Mr. Chua stated that even though it is

evident that journalists are important in history, they also have to give way to historians,

for it is their forte. Add to that, Mr. Satur Ocampo stressed that it is not the reportage of

the historical aspect that lacks, but history itself. This dilemma will again boil down to

the minimal teaching of Martial Law.

Table 4.7
Experts’ Point of view on Marcos Burial

THEME
“Malaki kasi syempre noon, pinasarado MEDIA THEN AND NOW
‘yong ibang media na hindi Marcos, ‘yon
gmga anti-Marcos, kinuha nila ‘yon gmga
printing press, sila ‘yong mga gumamit.
Kinulong ‘yong mga editors… ‘Yong mga
documentaries puro tungkol sa Marcos
dapat ‘yong mga hindi anti, special features
mga gan’on pero dapat hindi kritikal
masyado. Ngayon, malaya pa naman ang
media… dati kasi wala naman social media
noon, may alternative, ibig sabihin pwedeng
may magsalitang iba…”- Xiao Chua
“May manipulation ng data, walang way to
verify, kasiibatalagaangsistema, controlled

[94]
na controlled ang information… Pero
having said that, siguro kahit si Ma’am Bobi
sasabihin niyang malayo namang mas
malaya ‘yong pag-babalita ngayon kaysa
noon. Kasi noon, ‘yong mismong dyaryo
mo, kontrolado.” – Bantayog ng mga
Bayani
“Syempre, pinasara lahat ‘yong media
except ‘yong sa mga newspaper noon…
‘Yong mga policies noon, ‘yong censorship
meron direct censorship tsaka merong
tinatawag na self- censorship so in-orient
‘yong mga publishers ‘yong pwede lang
nilang i-publish, so bawal kayo mag-violate
ng mga rules na ‘yan, ‘yon lamang pabor sa
administrasyon. Just talk about what is good
and beautiful not the ugly parang ganon. So
‘yon ang tinatawag na contolled
media/press…

Bumuo kami underground news service

balita na Malaya ang Pilipinas ‘yong mga
kaibigan namin journalist hindi nila ma-
publish ‘yong katitohanan so binibigay nila
sa amin sa underground, limited ang copy
n’on kasi mimeograph lang, ‘yon ang
simula ng underground press. Tapos ‘yong
sinasabi nilang Mosquito Press noon, sa
amin Underground Press, ‘yong sa iba
Religious orders etc. nag-rereport sila ng
mga balita na sinusulat ng foreigners na
lumalabas sa ibang bansa na tungkol sa

[95]
Pilipinas. Nagx-xerox sila at dini-distribute,
gan’on ang mga struggle noon against the
controlled media.” – Satur Ocampo

Aside from the general knowledge of the media being hushed during Martial Law,

the experts provided the researcher deeper information about the media then. Mr.

Ocampo said that to be able to spread the real situation of the Philippines during Marcos

Regime, the press have to go “underground,” thus the born of the Underground Press and

Mosquito Press. Ms. Carolina Malay from the Bantayog ng mga Bayani, and spouse of

Mr. Ocampo, also said that like nowadays, during the Martial Law era, the younger

generations are one of those who bravely fought the dictatorship happening in the

Philippines.

Table 4.8
Experts’ Point of view on Marcos Burial

THEME

[96]
‘Yong mainstream, sila na ‘yong bagong ALTERNATIVE MEDIA
media ngayon si Mocha Uson, kaya tina-
tap na sila ng Duterte Admin na tumulong
sa information dissemination. That if you
are going to look at it, parang ano ‘yon, ‘di
ba ‘yong mga bloggers na may 1,000 na
followers ay pwedeng pumasok sa
Malacanang Conference, wala namang
mga editor ‘yong mga ‘yon. Kapag hindi
ka nalalagot sa editor, walang nagf-fact
check, kasi at least kahit biased ang media
nagf-fact check sila, kasi wala namang
hindi biased… - Xiao Chua
Kulang ang media sa in-depth na
reporting. Parang masyadong
nakakaladkad pa rin ng news writing kung
ano iyong pinaguusapan, iyon ang
kanilang ifo-focus, and iyong pag-
iinisyatiba na ano na ba ang kailangan
maiharap sa mga taong bayan… -
Bantayog ng mga Bayani
Ngayon maraming mga alternative media,
sa kasalukuyan ‘yong internet, ‘yong social
media ay nagiging challenge d’on sa
mainstream media so may struggle na
umabot na sa puntong true facts or false
facts… In social media, everybody can
post, mag-create ng mga maling balita
gan’on. ‘Yong duty ng true journalist ‘yong
papaano mapo-poster ‘yong correct
information para sa mga mamamayan. –
Satur Ocampo

[97]
 According to McLuhan (1969), the public’s source of information is not only

limited to the print media, online news portals are used as another outlet by the public to

gather news information. With this said, people also refers to alternative media to be

updated in the current events, especially in this generation. However, alternative media

can also be used in generating alternative facts, according to the experts interviewed.

They see the alternative media as a gift and challenge for the journalists in this

generation. Mr. Ocampo stressed out that nowadays, everyone can create news, the

problem is, not all the news created were backed-up with facts. Add to that, Ms. May

Rodriguez, director of Bantayog ng mga Bayani, said that media nowadays lack in-depth

reporting current and important issues.

To know the thematic side, the researchers sought experts in Malacañang whom

can express their side. However, due to the sensitivity of the issue, they want to stay

quiet, and according to Maria Elena Luna Panganiban from PTV4, a news channel owned

by the government of the Philippines, who is assigned in Malacañang beats, and Joel

Maguiza Sy Egco, Undersecretary (Executive Director) of the Office of the President of

the Philippines (Malacañang); it is advisable for the researchers to refer to the special

episode made by the news channel about this issue. Since the release episode would

answer most of the prepared questions by the researchers. In the said episode, Imee

Marcos, daughter of the late President Marcos and current Governor of Ilocos Norte, said

that the public should just respect the decision of the Supreme Court and follow it.

“Kapag state funeral halimbawa: hihimlay muna iyan sa Malacañang then

take the body to the Senate, Congress, and other official places. There’s a
national day of mourning… Dapat hindi na iyon mahalaga, dapat
kilalanin na lang siya na lumaban para sa atin bansa. ‘Yong tatay ko kasi

[98]
 pusong sundalo iyon. Tignan na lang natin kung ano ang gusto ng ating
pamahalaan. Tignan natin kung ano makakatulong, mapayapa, mabilis, at
simple. Let’s respect the decision of the Supreme Court.”

Add to that, Ms. Imee Marcos shared the initial reaction of the Marcos family

about the final decision of the Supreme Court about the burial.

“Sobrang haba na ng panahon. As a matter of fact, nakita ko sa FB live,

sa Twitter, sumugod na ako SC, I couldn’t believe. My mother and I, as a
matter of fact hindi na kami nakakapagusap kasi we’re so nervous. She’s
completely shocked. Parang lotto nga eh. Kung ano number lumalabas na
boto ng SC. Pero kami dasal lang nang dasal kung ba’t parang sa haba ng
panahon hindi na namin maintindihan, kung saan ang patutunguhan. We
gave thanks to President Duterte. Siyempre nagpapasalamat din kami sa
aming supporters, sa mga nakidasal, sa SC decision.”

Coded Interview of CMFR

Interviewing editors and writers of the top four online news portals, the

authorities and historians who have vast knowledge on Martial Law alone is deficient

without the involvement of the press freedom protector which promotes professional and

ethical values in reporting the Marcos’ burial case. The researchers then sought an

interview to the Managing Editor of Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility

(CMFR), Mr. John Lawrence Idia, to have a background on the reportage of the top four

online news portals in reporting the Marcos’ burial case.

Table 4.9
Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility’s Point of View

THEME
ON SUBJECT OF THE NEWS PRESENTATION OF THE LATE

[99]
ARTICLE: PRESIDENT MARCOS’ BURIAL
- “Definitely, and I don’t know how
to expound this but always include
context. Especially, iyang Martial
Law because we have to remember
this is a media that for the brand of
Marcos regime. Sa case niyo,
negatively framed si Marcos. Meron
kasing motion kapag media,
unbiased. Walang kinikilingan. But
you also have to take note na the
moment you decided to report a
particular issue, that’s deciding to
let the people know. So, you would
say na you have bias pa rin
pagdating do’n. Definitely, walang
absolute objectivity, but you can be
as accurate as you can.” – Mr.
Lawrence Idia (Managing Editor
of Center for Media Freedom and
Responsibility)

ON DRAMATIC PICTURES:
- “‘pag online ‘di ba parang visual
nga siya so, very essential ‘yon
(photos) in telling the story, of
course, at important din na related
sana ‘yong photo do’n sa mismong
story.” - Mr. Lawrence Idia
(Managing Editor of Center for
Media Freedom and
Responsibility)

[100]
“Importante, equally important na seeking
KIND OF FRAMING
side of the authorities. Particular lang sa
Marcos’ burial, no’ng inilabas ng Supreme
Court, hindi siya gaanong digested pa ng
media kasi one, mahaba ‘yong decision ng
Supreme Court. Pangalawa, ‘yong
deadlines na binanggit ko kanina. So,
understandably, makikita mo do’n na ‘yong
media sometimes, may report information
as they get it. But, they have to
continuously strive in providing the bigger
picture pa rin. So yes, no’ng nilabas no’ng
Supreme Court, anong reaction ng tao do’n
sa labas. Anong reaction ng mga tourists
doon sa Ilocos. Iyan ‘yong isa sa mga
nakita namin na lagi siyang part ng
narrative. And that’s okay. Mahirap mag-
hold ng attention ng audience kung ang ire-
report mo technicalities. Find ways to
present it as simple as possible. As
interesting as possible.” - Mr. Lawrence
Idia (Managing Editor of Center for
Media Freedom and Responsibility)
“Part of CMFR’s flagship programs ay
FACTORS AFFECTING THE
‘yong promotion of media ethics and
FRAMING OF THE MARCOS
responsibility. So, dito natin makikita ‘yong
BURIAL
cheers and jeers ng media monitors na
ginagawa namin. Tapos for a longer period
of timeframe, longer monitors ‘yong
ginagawa… We actually have to commend
those na nag-exert ng effort to counter

[101]
that… yong nakikita niyo online, nag-
aanalyze kami ng cheers, jeers ng online or
any other forms of media ‘yon ‘yong
instrument namin or review on how that
news media treats particular topics.
Kailangan kasi i-consider in this day and
age, especially internet and social media,
journalists have faster access on
information unlike before. you have to
consider as well, what I’m trying to say is
‘yong online is the quickest way to get the
story out. So you have to consider din
pa’no niya kino-contextualize ‘yong enire
issue.” - Mr. Lawrence Idia (Managing
Editor of Center for Media Freedom and
Responsibility)
“Very crucial, kasi isa ‘yong media sa
ROLE OF MEDIA IN PREVENTING
affected noong panahon ni Marcos, noong
HISTORICAL REVIVSIONISM
dictatorship, ‘yong press freedom
censorship, i-add mo pa ‘yong other human
rights issues niya, so considering all those, I
think na dapat medyo critical ang media or
aware in preventing authoritarian rule from
happening again. So very important in this
day and age. ‘Yong kanyang role in
engaging the public in this matter.” - Mr.
Lawrence Idia (Managing Editor of
Center for Media Freedom and
Responsibility)

[102]
 Pertaining to the presentation of the late President Marcos’ burial, Mr. Lawrence

Idia, the Managing Editor of Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR),

including context in the reports is one of the must dos, especially in this particular issue

for people expected them to be un-biased. However, according also to Mr. Idia, there is

nothing wrong when a news subject is negatively-framed, as long as it is backed-up with

facts, because the moment that journalists decide to report a particular issue, that’s

deciding to let the people know, and you are biased to the side of the public. Add to that,

Mr. Idia also stressed out that photos included in the articles should be the visual

representative of the words in it, for online is a visual world, and most of your audience

rely on the visuals they see.

Moreover, Mr. Lawrence Idia tackled the kind of framing being used by the top

four online news portals. He said that being authority-centered (Thematic Framing) and

people-centered (Episodic Framing), are equally important in framing Marcos burial.

Media should provide the bigger picture of the issue for the public to know the whole

situation. Although, even Mr. Idia admitted that sometimes the media, especially in the

online world, cannot immediately respond to this kind of responsibility because of their

work routines, and deadlines. To counter this, he said that CMFR is known for their

“cheers and jeers” wherein they manage the reportage of each media sectors in the

Philippines. They alert those who have violated or lacking in their reportage, and those

who have been keen to their work receive compliments from them. However, Mr. Idia

said that CMFR is still improving for this matter, especially when alternative media

arose; they lack people who monitor the online portals and alternative media, so it is

really important for the journalists to be more vigilant in their field.

[103]
 According to Zelizer (2004), journalists are also historians. Mr. Idia agreed with

this and said that the role of media is very crucial in preventing historical revisionism. In

this time and age, there are already many alternative facts; it is the role of media to show

the public the truth, especially about Martial Law, because it is their role. He added that

media should be more

This is now well accepted in the social sciences and education that includes

survey, laboratory experiments; formal such as econometrics; and numerical such as

mathematical modeling (Hohmann and Berry, 2005). This approach was present in the

collection of data from the code sheet used to analyze the content of the news articles.

Moreover, the researchers also used the qualitative approach– used to gain

knowledge and understanding of underlying reasons, opinions, and motivations. It also

provides necessary insights in the given problem that helps to develop the idea of the

researchers about the chosen topic (Wyse 2011). It was used by the researchers to be able

to have a thorough understanding on how the top four online news portals covered the

late President Marcos’ burial case.

Reporters and editors from the respected online news portals were interviewed

using a structured type of interview composed of open-ended questions which allows the

interviewee to answer freely and to be able to provide richer information about the topic

(Johnson and Christiensen, 2010 as cited in Benedicto, et al., 2016).

3. Content Analysis
On presenting the news articles about Marcos’ burial, the researchers used

quantitative and qualitative approaches. The researchers adopted a related study from the

University of Santo Tomas entitled: “Online Sensationalism Index (OnSI): A Test of

Sensationalism Indicators for Different Types of News Websites,” to be able to formulate

[104]
their own code sheet and code book, for them to be able to give a parallel and precise

content analysis on the articles of the top four online news portals about Marcos burial.

Furthermore, the above-mentioned research instrument was validated by Ms. Tarra

Quismundo a lecturer from Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication, and Mr.

Michael Charleston Briones Chua, a History Professor from De La Salle University.

From 179 published articles, during November 8, 2016 to November 18, 2016, the

researchers narrowed down the number of articles to 40, wherein the themes of the news

articles appear in all the top four online news portals. This was done to ensure fairness in

conducting the content analysis. With the aforesaid articles, the researchers determined

that soft news articles dominated the hard news for only 37.5% articles were recorded as

hard news, and 62.5% were soft news. It was evident that even though Marcos’ burial

involves political, economic, or social topic that needs to be immediately reported due to

its significance, which are just some of the characteristics of hard news, according to

Tuchman et al., (1972), it still happened that top online news portals came up mostly their

articles into soft news. To counter this, Ms. Miriam Grace Go from Rappler stated:
“Yes, we are prepared for that situation like that. What we are not really
prepared was the burial kasi hindi kami na-taken by surprise, we are preparing in
fact merong mga nakalatag na plano on this date there is someone will fly to
Laoag, then will go to Batac then maghihintay don, another plan, knowing that
Imelda is maarte, gusto nya may parade, magkaka-caravan to going to northern
part to Manila, parang we are deploying na sino maiiwan sa martsa, sinong
sususnod sa parade, sinong mag-aabang dito sa Manila, maghihintay sa
Libingan ng mga Bayani, meron kaming ganong nakalatag. Apparently, what the
Marcoses did was, even their organizer, the usual people they gather for mass
then nilito nila, they gave different information with different groups we will
know because we are in touch with the organizers and we know that these
organizers will not turn to misleading us. The Marcoses misled them.” – Go,
Rappler.

[105]
 In the statement of Ms. Go, even them are surprised about the unexpected

execution of the burial, and even INQUIRER.net admitted they were a bit behind in

reporting the burial itself. This shows that the unexpected schedule of burial became a

factor why most of the articles ended up with soft news. Furthermore, according to ABS-

CBN News Online:

“Actually, that time, I was in training by CNN International, and
nababasa ko ‘yong exchange sa group namin and nagtitinginan na kami ng mga
fellow journalists ko and colleagues and we were like: “Anong gagawin natin?”
Hanggang sa okay, verified talaga s’ya na ililibing na si Marcos, so pinull-out na
kami sa training. Again all hands on deck na naman ‘yan kahit nasaan ka man,
so go back to base, let’s organize, do whatever we have to do, and assign tasks .
Iniwan naming ‘yong training balik kami ng office. I was tasked to monitor social
media, the movements of the people, nagsimula nang mag-gather ang mga
protesters. I started talking to people who are organizing these protests, netizens,
students na nag-walkout sa klase to ask permission to use their videos, dahil
hindi naman naming pwedeng ipadala ang mga reporters sa mga lugar na ‘yan,
dahil everyone is covering other important things, so d’yan na papasok ‘yong
UGC (User Generated Content). Lahat ng mga reporters pinadala, dito ka, dito
ka. Even the resource person in the seminar from CNN International, umalis and
went to the story. We have to go because Marcos is going to be buried at the
Libingang ng mga Bayani. Sinabi naming na we know, and it’s happening right
now, gulat na gulat sila.” –Tenedero, ABS-CBN News Online

Because of this, ABS-CBN News Online as well as other news portals focused

more on the reaction of the people, wherein the characteristic of soft news according to

Lehman-Wilzig and Seletzky (2010), is a type of news that does not need immediate

reportage, it also has a low level of substantive informational value due to its focus;

human stories, offbeat events, gossips. eg. celebrity gossip, 'man bites dog' items/ human

interest to somehow follows in the developing story.

Meanwhile, when it comes to the News Focus, Law and Order dominated this

category with total of 19 articles, followed by Marcos’ burial updates with 12 articles. It

[106]
is because the timeframe selected by the researchers is when Supreme Court final

decision of allowing Marcos to be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani to interment

period happened that is why majority of the articles and their content dealt on Law and

Order.
Since body is the part of the news article where the full message is written, 65%

of the published articles showed the details of the Marcos burial in the said part. It was

then followed by Headline with 17.5%, 12.5% in Lead and 5% were from Photos.
Given the fact that photos are just a support in the news content of a certain

article, it still reaped points to where part of the article does Marcos’ burial surfaced. In

lieu with this, when it comes to online news portals photos also put flavor and color in

publishing articles for according to Roxas,

“Kasi minsan, kayo ba binabasa niyo talaga ‘yong article? It depends, di
ba? Hindi naman lahat agad-agad binabasa niyo. Bina-base niyo lang do’n sa
headline, saka d’on sa nakikita niyo. So, kung wala siyang picture, boring. So,
kumbaga, in a way, nakaka-encourage din sa reader ‘yong picture na nakikita
nila”

Also, Tenedero delineated the importance of photos and provide scenario to

picture the significance of photo,

“Hindi ako makakagawa ng istorya na sasabihin ko na sasabihin ko
libo-libong estudyante nag-rally sa Katipunan laban sa Marcos burial,
kailangan ko ng photos ng mga estudyante na nagtipon sa Katipunan, also top
schools protest against the Marcos burial, kailangan meron akong patunay na
videos at photos ng mga estudyante Ateneo, La Salle, UP na nagra-rally. Last is
‘yong Carillon ng UP, na pinatunong no’ng Marcos burial as a sign of protest, so
I need that video ng Carillon na pinatunog at maingay during that time. So those
things, there are really several stories na dependent s’ya sa materials, sa videos
and photos at kailangan s’ya. So kung wala ‘yong mga ‘yon hindi tatayo ang
story so kung walang tayong materials maghanap tayo ng mga users na papayag
na ipagamit ‘yong content nila sa atin.”

[107]
 Among the 40 sample articles, the researchers have observed that Marcos is

negatively framed or recognized as an evident 40% of the article recognized Marcos as

tyrant or dictator. When CMFR asked whether it’s ethical or not they explained,

“So, sa case niyo, negatively framed si Marcos. Meron kasing motion kapag
media, unbiased. Walang kinikilingan. But you also have to take note na the
moment you decided to report a particular issue, that’s deciding to let the people
know. So, you would say na you have bias pa rin pagdating do’n. And the
moment na sinulat niyo na ‘yong istorya, this is what you got. Definitely, walang
absolute objectivity, but you can be as accurate as you can. Getting all side, lahat
ng posibleng sides na pwede mong makuha.”

Add to that, majority of the news articles from the top four online news portal

used Episodic Framing, with 57.5%. According to Ms. Go, news editor of Rappler, it is

necessary to get the reaction of the public to give color, and catch the attention of the

audience. This was supported by the statement of the top four online news portals. Add

to that according to Mr. Roxas, beat reporter of GMA News Online,

“More on people-centered. Kasi, ‘yong Supreme Court decision,

tapos na siya eh. Pinasa na siya ng mga Supreme Court justices, majority,
pumayag. Tapos na ‘yon, so ngayon, ‘yong mga taong affected naman ‘yong
dapat isulat.”

Meanwhile, in line with the theories used by the researchers, Carlos (2016)

described the Agenda-Setting Theory as the ability of the media to construct a ‘reality’ for

the public to view and perceive. Although, it is still up to the public if they’re going to

absorb the reality and agenda the media has set. Furthermore, even though it is the

usually the media that sets the agenda for public discourse, there’s an underlying

argument that questions who’s the real agenda-setter, as the public could also set an

agenda for the media to cover.

[108]
 With that said, the online news portals were caught off-guard about the burial of

Marcos’ at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. They weren’t able to grasp the action done as

they were waiting for the 15-day moratorium. However, they were able to pick up their

pace because of their correspondents being deployed at significant areas which feed them

the necessary information. Added to that, they also received ‘tips’ from insiders which

also aided them in covering the burial. This is a clear instance of the argument that the

public can set agenda for the media to cover and talk about then send it back to the public

for further discourse.

Furthermore, this scenario was supported by the Framing Theory which was said

as the extension of the latter part of the Agenda-Setting Theory as cited in McCombs as

cited in Adams, Harf and Ford (2014) in Chapter 2 of the said study, wherein according to

Scheufele (2010) said that there are two concepts of framing: the media frames and the

audience frames. While the former focuses on the “a central organizing idea or story line

that provides meaning to an unfolding strip of events. The frame suggests what the

controversy is about, the essence of the issue” (Gamson &s Modigliani, 1987, as cited in

Scheufele, 2010); the latter is defined as “mentally stored clusters of ideas that guide

individuals’ processing of information” (Entman, 1993, as cited in Scheufele, 2010).

[109]
Notes on Chapter IV

Adams, A., Harf, A., Ford, R. (2014). A Critique of Maxwell McCombs & Donald

Shaw’s Theory in Em Griffin’s A First Look at Communication Theory. Retrieved

from journals.chapman.edu/ojs/index.php/mc/article/download/902/1052

Benedicto, Meliza Ann et al., (2016). A Contect Analysis on the

Framing of News Stories Involving Children in Conflict with the Law

Published in the Three National Dailies. CAL-Bulacan State

University. Malolos, Bulacan.

Carlos, R. (2016). A Comparative Content Analysis of News from the Top 4 Philippine
News Websites Pertaining to the Jennifer Laude Murder Case. CAL-Bulacan State
University. Malolos, Bulacan.

Gonzalez, Marca, Ocampo. (2014), Online Sensationalism Index. University of Sto.

Tomas

Alexa.com.Top Sites in Philippines. Retrieved November 23, 2016 from

http://www.alexa.com/topsites/countries/PH

[110]
Benjamin, D. (2007). A FrameWorks Institute FrameByte Episodic vs. Thematic

Stories. Retrieved November 14, 2016 from

http://www.frameworksinstitute.org/assets/files/framebytes/framebyte_thematic.pdf

London, S. (1993). How Does the Media Frame Political Issues?. Retrieved November

14, 2016 from http://www.scottlondon.com/reports/frames.html

Minitab Express Support. Statistical and Practical Sinificance. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
http://support.minitab.com/en-us/minitab-express/1/help-and-how-to/basic-
statistics/inference/supporting-topics/basics/statistical-and-practical-significance/

Scheufele, D. (2010). Framing Theory as Theory of Media Effects Retrieved November

14, 2016 from http://www.phil-fak.uni

und_Medienwissenschaft/Vowe/Forschergruppe/Scheufele_Framing_theory_media_ef

ects.p

Wyse, Susan E. (2011). What is the Difference between Qualitative Research and

Quantitative Research? Retrieved November 23, 2016 from

http://www.snapsurveys.com/blog/what-is-the-

diference-between-qualitative-research-and-quantitative-research/.

Zelizer, B. (2004). Taking Journalism Seriously: News and the Academy. Retrieved

November 23, 2016 from https://nbgyjm118.files.wordpress.com/2017/02/e-b-o-o-k-

0803973144-taking-journalism-seriously-news-and-the-academy.pdf

[111]
 CHAPTER V
Conclusions and Recommendations

In this chapter, the researchers tackle the results of the past methodologies

employed from the preceding chapters. This serves as the commencement part of the

study wherein the researchers will discuss the summary of findings, conclusions, and the

recommendations to future researchers who may want to pursue the similarly themed

study.

Summary of Findings

1. The top four online news portals in the Philippines ABSCBN News Online

(news.abs-cbnnews.com), INQUIRER.net, GMA News Online

(gmanetwork.com/news), and Rappler (rappler.com) recognized late President

Ferdinand E. Marcos, Sr. as dictator a concrete reason why his burial was framed

negatively. It was shown in the previous chapter, Table 1.4 Names and Recognitions

of Late President Ferdinand Marcos that 40% of the articles recognized him as

Tyrant or Dictator, 37.5% as President, and 10% as Ferdinand E. Marcos, Sr., 7.5%

as Strongman and 5% as Human Rights Violator.

2. How did the Online Sensationalism Index factors affect the presentation of the

late President Marcos’ burial issue?

[112]
 The Kruskal Wallis Test (95% level of confidence) found out two

dominant factors with their corresponding significant partners. These are the

Dramatic Subject and Verbalized Emotion.

The Dramatic Subject affects the: News Focus; Part of the Article where

Burial surfaced; and Framing of the article, and the Verbalized Emotions affects the

News Focus; Part of the Article where Burial surfaced; and Recognition of the late

Ferdinand Marcos, Sr.

3. Framing used to late President Marcos’ burial

The two kinds of framing present in the study are episodic and thematic.

The former gives focus to the people in the story (e.g. late President Marcos, pro- and

anti-Marcos burial protesters, the late President Marcos) while the latter gravitates

toward the authorities and the decision made by them that affects the subject (e.g.

politicians, Supreme Court Justices, military officials, etc.)

The most used frame in the study of 40 news articles is the episodic frame

with 57.5%, since high percentage of articles from news portals deals with how the

public reacted to the decision of the Supreme Court.

4. Factors considered in reporting the Marcos’ burial

4.1. Organizational pressures and constraints

The journalists of the top four online news portals stick to objectivity and

to break reports as soon as they can, since competition online is very tight. An

organizational pressure falls under the ability to publish reports that are verified, use the

[113]
materials with proper authorization, and have highly credible sources. These are the

pressures of the online news portals, especially during the spot-on reports made during

the unannounced burial of the late President at the Libingan ng mga Bayani, followed by

protests by some groups, these portals weren’t able to deploy reporters the area, therefore,

they used the social media to ask permission to users if they can use their photo or video

as they break the news.

4.2. Journalistic routines

In the course of interviews conducted by the researchers, the top four

online news portals do not have any special teams assigned in covering the Marcos burial

case. The online news portals stick to their normal routine of gathering on deck,

deploying reporters on site, and breaking the news through their website and social media

pages. In addition to that, these top four online news portals do not have a designated

team solely assigned to cover the Marcos burial case, but all of them have a research

department to accommodate facts and figures. They also ask experts opinion from

historian, sociologist, and the like, when reporting sensitive issues and points on Marcos

burial case.

4.3. Ideological/political orientation of journalists.

The Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility stand their ground that

the only objective way to portray Ferdinand E. Marcos, Sr. is negatively— this is because

of the facts and figures associated with the late President: cases of corruptions, human

rights violations, and being a dictator in the declaration of Martial Law.

The top four online news portals make their reports from what’s

happening in the beats that has relation with the decision of Marcos burial case and make

[114]
in-depth reports based on historical facts. On the other hand, Prof. Chua argues that the

media is biased in terms of framing Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr. in the Marcos burial case

reportage; he assessed it because of the censorship of the free press during the Marcos

regime, that the journalists now cannot be silenced in giving out facts that late President

Marcos was a dictator.

5.Distinctions between the top four online news portals in portraying the late

President Ferdinand E. Marcos’ burial at the LNMB.

In terms in the portrayal of late President Marcos, ABS-CBN News Online has a fair

distribution of recognition of Marcos; president with three articles, dictator with two

articles and Ferdinand Marcos garnered the highest number with four articles. On the

other hand, seven articles of from INQUIRER.net mostly portrayed Marcos as a dictator

or tyrant, one article recognized him as President, and also one fell under the recognition

as Human Right Violator. GMA News Online falls on the opposite with seven articles

recognized Marcos as president, and only two articles called him a dictator. Lastly,

Rappler also evidently used the term dictator or tyrant to recognize Marcos in their

articles with five, meanwhile four of their articles portrayed him as a President.

Conclusions
1. The way how the top four online news portals framed their reports toward the

reaction of the people contributes a lot to the factor of the Agenda Setting Theory on

the Framing Theory, because of the transfer of information made by the media to

people (McCombs as cited in Adams, Harf and Ford, 2014), people reacted to the

news and started organizing protests to voice out their opinion regarding the Marcos’

[115]
 burial case. And these two-way factors are signs of a strong agenda setting since an

event happened and it sparked the attention of the media to cover it.
On the other side of the episodic frame, is the way reports were made to

discuss late President Ferdinand E. Marcos, Sr. himself– that satisfies the definition of

Iyanger (in London, 2015) stated that episodic frame also discuss the portrayal of an

individual in a certain issue.

2. The late President Marcos was framed as a dictator in the majority of the news

articles state. With this, it is evident that the late President Marcos was negatively

framed. To counter this, Mr. Lawrence Idia, the Managing Editor of Center for Media

Freedom and Responsibility,

“Sa case niyo, negatively framed si Marcos. Meron kasing motion
kapag media, unbiased. Walang kinikilingan. But you also have to take note
na the moment you decided to report a particular issue, that’s deciding to let
the people know. So, you would say na you have bias pa rin pagdating
do’n.” said.

Add to that, he stated that there is no absolute objectivity, but media can be as
accurate as they can.

3. On the other hand, on the result of Kruskal-Wallis test, the researchers found out there

were significant differences between the scale Dramatic Subject with their categories

News Focus, Part where the burial surfaced and Kind of Framing, for, according to

the researcher’s codebook, one of the reasons a news article can fall under a Dramatic

subject when its subject is about death, which, in this case, is the Marcos burial itself.

Furthermore, an article is also considered dramatic if it elaborated through the statements

given by the victims or parties concerned, etc. of a popular event, and by authorities or

officials. With that said, the parallelism with the kind of framing dominantly used by the

top four online news portals, which is Episodic framing (people centered), can be seen.

[116]
 Same goes with the scale of Verbalized Emotions on the part of News Focus,

Part where the burial surfaced and Recognition of Marcos, for an article can fall

under this category when one of the four emotions, happiness, sadness, fear, and anger, is

reflected in the news article. With this said, it means that all the articles that were

analyzed contained at least one of these emotions.

4. Overall, when the news of Marcos burial broke, most of the top four online news

portals were caught off-guard, which affected their reportage, however, they were

able to catch up, do follow-ups, and dig beneath the history of the Martial Law. It can

be said that the news of Marcos’ burial served as an eye-opener to the public,

especially the millennials, about our history, particularly, Martial Law. Even though

some inconsistencies can be seen in the reportage of the news portals, Mr. Satur

Ocampo supported the media and said that it is not the media reportage that lacks, but

history itself. The government should act on this and publish contexts and references

about our history, especially about Martial Law.

Recommendations
Through the course of the study, the researchers have found additional points to

allow an in-depth study of the chosen topic that might help future researchers who are

interested in conducting similarly themed studies.

1. The current researchers advise the future researchers to widen the given time

frame to increase the possibility of finding articles that can be subjected to content

analysis, since the premise of the study is to only compare similarly themed news

articles.

2. Future researchers may also consider the print journalism, the top leading

newspapers in the Philippines, as to how they frame the late President Marcos.

[117]
3. The National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) is also advised to

go hand in hand with the Department of Education (DepEd) in their campaign of

widening the teachings of Martial Law in schools. NHCP is also recommended to

compile all the oral experiences of Martial Law victims and activists to be able to

consolidate and publish concrete reference for the Filipino people. Since in the

course of this study, it is evident that the history of the Philippines lacks

establishment.

4. It is also advisable for the future researchers to delve more on the local history of

Martial Law, in this case, here in Bulacan, as there were already underground

press operating from nearby provinces. Also this will help the future researchers

to have more specific target for their samples, and will help to the repository of

Bantayog ng mga Bayani Foundation Incorporated (BBFI) in researches

conducted about the Marcos regime and Martial Law.

5. Lastly, it is advisable if there will be a group or institution of media watchers that

solely focuses on online or alternative media, especially in this generation, for

even the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility cannot solely focus on

filtering out real news and hoax online.

[118]
Notes on Chapter V

Adams, A., Harf, A., Ford, R. (2014). A Critique of Maxwell McCombs & Donald

Shaw’s Theory in Em Griffin’s A First Look at Communication Theory. Retrieved

from journals.chapman.edu/ojs/index.php/mc/article/download/902/1052

Carlos, R. (2016). A Comparative Content Analysis of News from the Top 4 Philippine
News Websites Pertaining to the Jennifer Laude Murder Case. CAL-Bulacan State
University. Malolos, Bulacan.

Alexa.com.Top Sites in Philippines. Retrieved November 23, 2016 from

http://www.alexa.com/topsites/countries/PH

London, S. (1993). How Does the Media Frame Political Issues?. Retrieved November

14, 2016 from http://www.scottlondon.com/reports/frames.html

Minitab Express Support. Statistical and Practical Sinificance. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
http://support.minitab.com/en-us/minitab-express/1/help-and-how-to/basic-
statistics/inference/supporting-topics/basics/statistical-and-practical-significance/

Scheufele, D. (2010). Framing Theory as Theory of Media Effects Retrieved November

14, 2016 from http://www.phil-fak.uni

[119]
und_Medienwissenschaft/Vowe/Forschergruppe/Scheufele_Framing_theory_media_ef

ects.p
People’s Television Network. PTV News: Imee Marcos Simple Soldier's burial for Marcos. Retrieved April

13, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBJds2Dy6m8

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