The government tries propaganda (combined).pdf

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Part of The Guard

extracted text: 12 GUARD October 1937 THE GOVERNMENT TRIES PROPAGANDA The commonwealth of the Philippines has adop ted a queer weapon—the strangest so far io its armory -to fight unrest and bring about peace and contentment among the masses. Americans harshly label it as propaganda. Germany’s Dr, Goebels quali fies the like of it as the “pro per presentation of the truth,” Our own officials use neither term; to them it is nothing but a campaign to bring the government closer tp the peo ple. Propaganda Jó?. Unrest A large and competently staffed Information Board han dles one end of this enterprise for the government; a squad of constantly travelling depart ment secretaries, and the Pres ident, bent on seeing to it that the Commonwealth is published in the right way, take charge of the other end. Radicalism in the island is being fought relentlessly today by the government—terror with terror, force with force, propaganda with propaganda. Five cabinet members, armed with orders from the President, take turns—some times jointly—in pushing through the propaganda compaign. If you are a poor tenant, and you have taken the no tion that something some where is wrong —particularly7 with regards to the present order of society—or you have allowed yourself to be banded with fellowtenants for a com mon cause, very likely you have heard of the government propaganda already. You probably have attended no less than three public meetings already and in all three meetings you have been told that President Quezon is magnificent statesman, that the Commonwealth under his capable administration is a success, that you should place explicit faith in him that he has the interest of the com mon tao at heart, and that everything will be all right with you. You have been told, too, that since the Commonwealth was inaugurated, quite a num ber of laws have been enacted by your National Assembly and promptly signed by your President, to ameliorate the lot of the poor. The sum of 7* 1,000,000 his been placed at the disposal of the poor people who may want to go to Min danao to secure their own landholdings; the tenancy law has been modified to suit your needs, and bo on. Soothing Words Well paid orators of the government, appointed in the capacity of public defenders and confidential men, haran gue your kind everywhere. If you have been bold enough in your denunciation against those who oppress the poor in the past, you have, most likely, been visited by special government investigators right where you work. Most likely also, he had out-talked you. You were not aware of it, perhaps, but you were ac tually witnessing how the propaganda machinery of the Commonwealth works. All this may confuse you, at fir3t. You have never had the occasion to witness the likes of it before: there are no candidates, and this is no election time. And yet, hard ly a month passe? without a silver-tongue orator walking up the platform at the plaza of your town. At times the speaker is introduced to you as a Department Secret ary, at other times it is the provincial governor or a goverment investigator. You can always be sure, however, that the theme of the speeches is the same throughout. It is about His Excellency the President and his excellent administration of the affairs of your country, and about the nice things which the gov ernment is doing for you. No Escape From It The Commonwealth is bent on the publicizing itself and when so powerful an institu tion as the state decides to do that, one can be sure it will be thorough and effective. There is no escaping that propaganda. I f you are a radio owner, you are bound to be interrupted in your readings any one night, and told what Mr. Quezon, your leader, is doing in America, what your assemblymen are doing or planning to do to make better your lot. Ques tions, mostly those that bring out some splendid services or undertaking of the Common wealth or of its officials, are answered over the radio and hammered into the public consciousness. Dramatizations of the la bors of “our President” are staged on the air, with some good hired speakers taking the role of President Quezon. Even Hon, Felipe Buencami no, answering questions sup posedly asked him by his in quisitive colleagues in the As sembly, was dramatized on the air recently, under the auspices of the National In formation Board. The pur pose was to inform the pub lic that although it is cost ing the government much money for trans-Paci f ic radiophone service and cable charges, the Quezon trip to Washington is really worth while. The speaker who play ed the role of Buencamino very effectively concluded in Tagalog: “...and our Presi dent is coming home with one hundred million pesos— think of that, one hundred million pesos—secured by him from the treasury of the United States government.” Printed Sheet Like the platform and the air, a portion of local press has been commandeered by the Commonwealth in its drive for self-publicity. President Quezon’s fight for the rejection of the HHC law was effectively aided by a section of the local press. His coalition movement re ceived a similar support and so was his election for the presidency. When he finally assumed the presidency, he did not lose sight of the press in his campaign to win the people to the side of the government, and did every thing to win the press to his side. Publicity Office With a P100,000-appropriation freely granted by the National Assembly, the Com monwealth organized a pub licity office known as the (Continued on page 14) Emiliano Son Pansiteria IS I THE RESTAURANT OF THE ELITE | PERSONS IN CEBU CITY For Order Call Tel. 457 283 Juan Luna, Cebu City Dr. Gabino C. Palacio DENTIST E c Clinic Hour: I 8:00 A. M.—7:00 P. \L 172 D. Jakosalom, St. C^ba City, Philippines 14 GUARD October, 1937 The Government... (Continued from page IS) National Information Board. The Board, staffed with able writers weaned away from the newspaper profession, is headed by Ex-Editor Mauro Mendez. The board arranges radio programs, books com memorating the progress of the people under the Com monwealth government, pamphlets telling the masses what the Commonwealth is doing for them. Informative leaflets, translated into the different dialects, on how to acquire homesteads, on the relations between tenants and landlords, and containing all legislative enactments design ed to improve the lot of the masses, are printed under the auspices of the Board. These are circulated in the pro vinces free of charge. The board’s latest move to fight restlessness will soon be evident in the form of a news organ published in English phd in Tagalog. The news sheets, which is being printed by the government printing office, will Boon be dis tributed free of charge. It is gossipy and is patterned after the ¡Sakdal) or similar radical papers. It will, however, have a different end: to sell the government to the people and answer attacks hurled by redical newspapers against the government. An example of the need of information on government afffairs may be had from re cent press discussions about the necessity of the President having a private chapel at Malacañang and of having a yacht like the Casiano.. Any one whose motive is to arouse popular hatred against"'gov ernment officials, and against our leaders, can go very far — if there is nobody in the government to answer back and enlighten the public on government necessities. Choice Speakers A policy handed down re cently with regards to the choice of government inves tigators, confidential m é n, and public defenders, lends strength to the view that ths Commonwealth will persist ently push the publicity campaign. Preference, it has been gathered in government circles, is given to “good pub lic speakers” of the appoint ment of public defenders, gov ernment investigators, and confidential men. Thus, if a lawyer is to be appointed pub lic defender, he should have a sweet tongue, and a good com mand of sugarcoated words. The purpose, of coarse, is clear: the government wants to utilize their services in the publicity campaign. By now, the public will have noticed how arduously Depart ment Secretaries have taken to the task of pacifying the mas ses and of publicizing the gov ernment. Such campaigns were quite unknown during the pre Common wealth era. A comparison between the kilometrical speeches being deli vered by our Department Secretaries in their provincial inspection trips today, and those of the members of the cabinet of any American Gov ernor-General, will give any one an idea of the extent of that campaign. Benefits— But Where? President Quezon is not the first executive to employ pro paganda to win the people to his administration. Not less than 100 newspaper men have been established be hind the Rooseveltian breast works to serve out New Deal ammunition in the United States. Every branch of the U. S. government, almost every bureau of each depart ment, reveals T. G. Joslin, Hoover’s former secretary, ha9 at least one former Wa shington correspondent on its pay rolls. The propaganda, for the Commonwealth is as .vet too young to be judged. One dis concerting the fact about it however, in the opinion of observers, is that while so much is being done by the government to inform the people of wh*t it is doing for them, so little is being received by them in the form of tan gible relief. They are told of their improved conditions and of the government aids being given then. But the*y ask: where are those and in what form are they given us? Propaganda: Dangerous Tool In a young country like the Philippines, the dangers of propaganda cannot be Over looked. The dangers become even more apparent when such a propaganda is coupled with a gagged press and bans free speech which, fortunatetly, is not yet the case local!. There is obviously, need here for a campaign of in formation, particularly if that campaign is limited to enli ghtening the mases on their rights, and on their opportun ities for improving their lots in life. It is the observation, however, that side by side with that campaign, should be some workable schemes to improve the conditions of our masses. In Italy, Germany, and Russia, people have been ma de to forget what they want or what they need. Mussolini, Hitler, Stalin—all three did it through propaganda. One former head of an European press burean revealed that in many places in Italy, and in Germany, the people, althou gh persecuted and spied upon by fellowmen, think that they enjoy greater freedom than any other people on the earth. They look upon American de mocracy as a failure and as a land of riot, lynching,fstrikea, gangsters, and public enemies. While many of them suffer from want, they think they are happier than other peo ples. Propaganda made them feel that way. Are we to have an equal of that in the Philippines? The President has alreadv made clear his desire to have a government-controlled radio station to broadcast govern ment information to the peo ple. Whsre is this‘leading to ? Go Chan Co., Inc. General Importers TEL. 386 99-101 Magallanes St. MAIN LINE: Building Material Hardware Porcelainware Glassware Enamelware P. 0. BOX 18 Cebu, Cebu, Philippines SOLE DISTRIBUTORS Primus Incandecent Lanterns Aladdin Mantle Lamps Continental Fishing Lights “Camel” Brand Paint & Oil “P” Brand Ultramarine Blu$ SCHOOL SUPPLIES Cocoa Coffee Cornstarch Sugar Etc, Etc,
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