TV: On Jessica Sanchez and Pinoy cheating

Jessica Sanchez is a contestant on the 11th season of American Idol. I did not need to tell you that, though, since the Philippine media have been bombarding us about her since the show started last January.

This girl.

Playing the race card, the Philippine media have been telling everyone how great Jessica is. In fact, every primetime newscast--24 Oras, TV Patrol, Aksyon--has a daily item about her, perhaps to drum up support for her to win the TV contest.

This support is good on paper, of course, but what actually happens in real life breaches fairness and honesty. In the hopes that Jessica becomes the 2012 American Idol, these media entities have been encouraging Filipinos to cheat.

American Idol is a singing contest in the United States. To get the winner, the show encourages viewers to vote for their favorite contestants through phone calls, texting, or through internet voting. And according to American Idol's official rules, only individuals living in the United States and its territories are allowed to vote.

Proof from http://www.americanidol.com/faq

However, there are Filipinos who choose to ignore this rule. They happily vote for Jessica Sanchez, through many methods I will not anymore publish here. And instead of condoning these cheaters, the Pinoy media is happy to encourage them to do it.

The media may not have televised or printed these unfair instructions, but their silence on this matter is deafening. And since I work in the media myself, I know some of my colleagues who publicly post these methods.

Besides, public forums for these media entities are filled with posts of Pinoys proudly declaring how they are cheating. Take these posts from a TV media's Facebook feed:

Dirty cheaters.

This phenomenon is ironic, since the current political climate frowns down on fraud and dishonesty. Majority of Pinoys are calling for the heads of former President Gloria Arroyo and Chief Justice Renato Corona for alleged fraud, so shouldn't they also avoid committing this type of wrongdoing?

But it's not surprising really. Many Pinoys kind of live in a world where they do no wrong. They are the first to cry racism when foreigners criticize them, but then completely deny how they are racist to local foreigners like Indians and the Chinese. Similarly, for them, cheating is not cheating when they are the ones doing it.

Completely in denial.

For a more articulate take on the matter, read this: Indolent Indio