Christmas news dumps and cops dressed up like Santa Claus

“There are many things from which I might have derived good, by which I have not profited I dare say… Christmas among the rest … I believe that it has done me good and will do me good and I say God bless it.”  A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

PR operators sometimes release bad news or documents on Friday afternoons or the day or days before and after important holidays. This technique is called the Friday news dump. One US television show “The West Wing” even had an episode dedicated to this technique called “Take Out the Trash Day”. This is done because less people read news on weekends and even less on holidays. As such, there will be fewer people to notice or react to the news. The days prior to and after special holidays such as Christmas and Chinese New Year for some Asian cultures also have the same effect with holiday cheer adding as a deodorizer. Some people also time actions which they know will be published and receive negative reactions also during this time in the hopes that people will not notice it or if they do they won’t care.

I always make it a habit to search the news during the week before Christmas or any holiday to see if anyone used this technique. Last week I was not disappointed. On Dec. 21, 2022 or a few days before Christmas, the Cebu City Council finally approved on final reading an ordinance which it had been trying to push for a couple of months despite opposition. The ordinance in question granted the city council the power to subpoena persons to testify and bring documents in aid of inquiry or investigation AND granting itself the power to punish with contempt the failure of anyone to heed the said subpoena.

This ordinance runs counter to long standing jurisprudence of the Supreme Court which states that local legislatures unlike Congress and Courts DO NOT have the power to hold anyone in contempt. When I read the article on this Cebu city ordinance, I recalled the words of my law school professor, the venerable Atty. Jacinto Jimenez, who succinctly put why such an ordinance is untenable.

Imagine if this ordinance is left unchecked and unchallenged. Local Government councils would be able to compel anyone to attend their hearings. There could be an instance where a person or officer of an organization whose actions affect the whole country could be called by each and every LGU local council.  With 82 provinces, 148 cities and 1,488 municipalities in the Philippines each with their own local council that would be a lot of hearings and a high possibility of being found in contempt by one or more council. Also, if these LGU councils can be given this power why not the barangay councils. The Philippines has at present 42,047 barangay councils. There are other reasons why giving LGU councils this power would be unwelcome by many sectors but the prospect of multiple synchronous and asynchronous hearings is what should be most troubling.

Had the news of this ordinance been released at any other time, there would have been an immediate backlash from many people and organizations. By timing the release on that date, this landmark ordinance has flown under the radar and has been relatively unnoticed. This is a clear example of the use of what we can now term the Christmas news dump technique.

Unfortunately with due respect to the members of the Cebu City Council, I have to say that not only was this done in bad taste but eventually this will not hold. The practice of news dumps is not an altogether effective tool if the controversy is too hot or if it personally affects a particular group of people in the Philippines who are contentious and litigious by nature. There are about 40,000 living lawyers in this country and many of them will surely feel personally compelled to act on this attempt to clear what can be perceived as a legal abomination. Worse, the very act of subverting the most beloved of Philippine holidays for a questionable purpose is a magnet for a strong backlash.

As a former city administrator, I will always support measures to empower local governments. This move, done during this Christmas time, however leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

On the other side of the world in Peru, a group of police officers conducted a drug raid wearing Santa Claus and elves costumes. According to the team leader wearing Christmas costumes allowed them to blend in and execute their raid without drawing much attention. The drug dealers reportedly could not react in time upon seeing Christmas costumed cops barging in their den. Some of the suspects even thought that it was a joke. This is for me a proper albeit devious use of Christmas as a cover for an operation. I can just picture and hear the arrested persons screaming at the elves-cops saying “Is there nothing sacred anymore?”
I just hope that Christmas remains a time for something greater than earthly concerns. If one is to “use” the season let it be for something worthwhile even if not traditional like the cops of Peru dressed up like Santa Claus.

This is just my oblique Christmas observation. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everybody.