In recent months, a striking pattern has emerged in Philippine digital media: almost every major streaming platform, online news channel, and social media broadcast appears fixated on Vice President Sara Duterte. From repeated panel discussions to recycled headlines and speculative commentary, the VP has become a permanent fixture in the news cycle.
Yet while this happens, billions of pesos linked to flood control projects—many of them questioned by watchdogs, engineers, and local communities—receive far less sustained attention.
This imbalance raises uncomfortable but necessary questions.
Selective Spotlight: Who Decides What Matters?
Flood control projects are not minor issues. They involve massive public spending, affect millions of Filipinos during typhoons, and determine whether communities live or drown. When projects fail despite enormous budgets, accountability should be relentless.
However, instead of sustained investigations into:
why floods worsen despite record allocations,
who approved the contractors,
and which political families benefit,
the media narrative often shifts back to VP Sara Duterte, even when developments are speculative or repetitive.
Are Streaming Media Paid — or Personally Motivated?
This leads many Filipinos to ask:
Is today’s streaming media truly independent?
Some viewers believe:
Media attention follows political power and advertising money, not public interest.
Investigating flood control projects risks angering powerful families and allies.
Attacking Duterte figures generates clicks without threatening existing power structures.
Others see something more personal:
A lingering political hostility toward the Duterte camp, carried over from previous administrations, now amplified by content creators who benefit from controversy-driven algorithms.
The Marcos Connection No One Wants to Hold Too Long
Public records show that flood control budgets expanded dramatically under the current administration, and oversight institutions are closely linked to the same political network. Critics argue this creates a conflict of interest when investigations are led or influenced by allies of those in power.
Yet this angle rarely stays in headlines for long.
Instead, the media conversation pivots—again—to VP Sara.
The Cost of Distraction
When media organizations prioritize personality conflicts over systemic corruption, the public loses:
transparency,
accountability,
and meaningful reform.
Flood control corruption is not abstract. It results in:
submerged homes,
destroyed livelihoods,
and preventable deaths.
Ignoring it is not neutral—it is a choice.
Journalism or Just Content?
Streaming media thrives on outrage, speed, and virality. But journalism is supposed to serve the public, not political convenience.
As Filipinos consume news daily, the real question is no longer just why VP Sara dominates the screen, but who benefits when bigger issues quietly disappear.
Because corruption doesn’t need defenders—
it only needs silence.
