Pinoy Rickey puts on his critics hat…
I just have to scratch my head with all this Mt. Everest bruhaha over the past couple of days. What for? Why now? What took us so long to do this?
A high school classmate of mine climbed Mt. Everest a couple of years ago, and although he did not reach the absolute top, we were all very proud of his accomplishment. I think it is with this same spirit that Filipinos are proud of the fact that not one, but three Filipinos climbed the top of Mt. Everest this week.
What is so shameless however, is the coverage of ABS-CBN News online. Their news reads like a press release and the climbers’ “sponsors” are included in every single news article on Mt. Everest. Which begs the question: were they really out to establish Philippine pride, or is this just another opportunity to make money from advertising? They are so biased over there, it’s no wonder no one trusts their so called news: “So and so was the first Filipino to reach the top of Mt. Everest, and was sponsored by so and so.” Shameless. This is similar to how ABS-CBN and Gloria tried to capitalize on Manny Pacquiao as if they were responsible for his win.
What is commendable is the INQ7 coverage, which treated the event exactly like it is, which is news — even if GMA-7 had sponsored one climber. In the end, they are supporting the accomplishments of all the Filipinos who climbed Mt. Everest which is how it should be.
But then again, why now? Was this a network war thing all over again?