‘Fake news’ and Graciano Lopez Jaena

“Fake news has emerged a new menace, whose purveyors proclaim themselves as journalists and taint this noble profession.”

—Ram Nath Kovind

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

IF he were alive today, Graciano Lopez Jaena, who would have turned 164 on December 18, 2020, might resent the attitude of some politicians who call legitimate journalists and their scathing reports as “fake news” after being discombobulated by constructive criticisms.

The “fake news” expression was unheard-of during the Ilonggo writer’s salad days as a propagandist against the Spanish colonizers.

It was only when the media’s role to shape and influence the public opinion became supremely overwhelming in a pluralistic society more than a hundred years since Lopez-Jaena’s death that modern times politicians began to denigrate the mainstream media’s function in democratic states with gusto and spleen. 

“Fake news” incidentally became a byword invoked by non-believers of facts shared in the social media and who treat stories penned by legitimate but aggressive journalists with utmost cynicism and revulsion.

The truth is no principled and credible journalist will ever write, much less imagine drafting a bogus or “fake news” in the context designed by enemies of free press and expression.

It was also probably a coincidence that the greatest Filipino journalist was an Ilonggo from Jaro, Iloilo City.

Many of Lopez Jaena’s fellow journalists were hailed as martyrs after being murdered in the line of duty more than a hundred years after he died of tuberculosis in a foreign land wallowing in poverty before his 40th birthday.

Born on December 18, 1856 and died on January 20, 1896, Lopez Jaena was not only an outstanding journalist, but was also an orator at par with the country’s and even Asia’s best.

 

-o0o-

 

As the first Ilustrado to arrive in Spain where he started the Propaganda Movement against our Spanish colonizers, Lopez Jaena became revolutionary when he formed a triumvirate with Dr. Jose Rizal and Marcel H. del Pilar.

But he became well known for his newspaper, La Solidarid.

Contemporary journalists in Iloilo today flood the Western Visayas community with newspapers and magazines.

Almost every freedom-loving and lovers of letters and literature would want to become newspapermen or own and manage their own newspaper in the Ilonggo-speaking populace.

It runs in the Ilonggo blood after all.

Before he became an icon in the propaganda movement, Lopez Jaena was first sent by his parents to study at St. Vincent Ferrer Seminary in Jaro which had been opened under the administration of Governor-General Carlos María de la Torre y Nava Cerrada.

In the seminary, he served as a secretary to Claudio Lopez, his uncle who was the honorary vice-consul of Portugal in Iloilo.

But he had ambition to become a physician. 

Lopez Jaena convinced his parents that he needed to enroll in a university in Manila.

He was denied admission at the University of Santo Tomas because he did not have a Bachelor of Arts degree when he was at the seminary in Jaro.

 

-o0o-

 

Lopez Jaena was appointed to the San Juan de Dios Hospital as an apprentice. He eventually dropped out due to financial difficulties and returned to Iloilo.

His assimilation with the poor ignited his feelings about the injustices common in that era. Lopez Jaena’s potentials as a reformer and writer became apparent at the age of 18 when he wrote the satirical story “Fray Botod” which depicted a fat and lecherous priest. Lopez Jaena ribbed Fray Botod’s false piety which “always had the Virgin and God on his lips no matter how unjust and underhanded his acts were.”

The story was not published, but a copy circulated widely in Iloilo. The infuriated friars could not prove that Lopez Jaena was the author, thus he came off the hook, so to speak, temporarily.

The son of Jaro refused to testify that certain prisoners died of natural causes when it was obvious that they had died at the hands of the mayor of Pototan town, thus he was pilloried.

 

 -o0o-

 

He continued to agitate for justice. 

When he received threats on his life, he sailed to Spain in 1879, where he pursued the Propaganda Movement.

In the land of our colonizers, Lopez Jaena became a leading writer, propagandist, and speaker for reform of the homeland.

He finally pursued his medical studies at the University of Valencia but did not finish, thus incurring the ire of Rizal.

Lopez Jaena defended why he did not finish his medical studies by saying, “On the shoulders of slaves should not rest a doctor’s cape.”

“The shoulders do not honor the doctor’s cape, but the doctor’s cape honors the shoulders,” Rizal intoned.

The national hero died of tuberculosis in poverty on January 20, 1896, 11 months short of his 40th birthday.

He was buried in an unmarked grave at the Cementerio del Sub-Oeste of Barcelona the following day.

Marcelo H. del Pilar’s death followed on July 4. Rizal was killed on December 30 by firing squad in Bagumbayan.

Their deaths ended the great triumvirate of Filipino propagandists, but their works contributed in the liberation of their compatriots from the Spanish colony.

Lopez Jaena’s remains have not been brought back to the Philippines.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)

 

Critical years for journalism

 “The courage in journalism is sticking up for the unpopular, not the popular.”

—Geraldo Rivera

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

SOME of the world leaders who waged a battle royal against the press continued to stumble and fall even as the people’s trust and confidence in the purveyors of news and information has not eroded.

The fall of US President Donald Trump can be cited as a good example.

His efforts to undermine the credibility of the critical press by constantly calling journalists who asked tough and confrontational questions during press conferences as “fake news” appeared to have backfired.

The press refused to be bullied and continued to report the truth and be faithful to the veracity before, during and after the November 3 Presidential Election.

ALEX P. VIDAL

When the press reported the truth about Mr. Trump’s lackadaisical handling of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the American public believed it because it’s the truth and nothing but the truth—no matter how some White House spinners, including Mr. Trump himself, refuted it.

There are now 14.6 million cases in the United States with 281,000 deaths (as of December 6, 2020, according to the data from the New York Times).

Analysts pointed to Mr. Trump’s indifference on the COVID-19 issue to be the major reason why he lost to President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr., 306-232.

Sidestepping the pandemic issue and calling the press “fake news” in a bid to disparage the media has cost Mr. Trump his reelection, in one way or the other.

 

-o0o-

 

The Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has compiled the 2020 World Press Freedom Index showing that the coming decade will be decisive for the future of journalism, with the COVID--19 pandemic highlighting and amplifying the many crises that threaten the right to freely reported, independent, diverse and reliable information.

This 2020 edition of the Index, which evaluates the situation for journalists each year in 180 countries and territories, suggests that the next 10 years will be pivotal for press freedom because of converging crises affecting the future of journalism: a geopolitical crisis (due to the aggressiveness of authoritarian regimes); a technological crisis (due to a lack of democratic guarantees); a democratic crisis (due to polarization and repressive policies); a crisis of trust (due to suspicion and even hatred of the media); and an economic crisis (impoverishing quality journalism).

These five areas of crisis—the effects of which the Index’s methodology allows us to evaluate—are now compounded by a global public health crisis.

“We are entering a decisive decade for journalism linked to crises that affect its future,” RSF secretary-general Christophe Deloire said. “The coronavirus pandemic illustrates the negative factors threatening the right to reliable information, and is itself an exacerbating factor. What will freedom of information, pluralism and reliability look like in 2030? The answer to that question is being determined today.”

According to the RSF “analyses”, there is a clear correlation between suppression of media freedom in response to the coronavirus pandemic, and a country’s ranking in the Index. 

Both China (177th) and Iran (down 3 at 173rd) reportedly censored their major coronavirus outbreaks extensively. 

In Iraq (down 6 at 162nd), the authorities reportedly stripped Reuters of its license for three months after it published a story questioning official coronavirus figures. 

Even in Europe, Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary (down 2 at 89th), had a “coronavirus” law passed with penalties of up to five years in prison for false information, a completely disproportionate and coercive measure, said the RSF analyses.

“The public health crisis provides authoritarian governments with an opportunity to implement the notorious “shock doctrine”–to take advantage of the fact that politics are on hold, the public is stunned and protests are out of the question, in order to impose measures that would be impossible in normal times,” Deloire added. 

“For this decisive decade to not be a disastrous one, people of goodwill, whoever they are, must campaign for journalists to be able to fulfill their role as society’s trusted third parties, which means they must have the capacity to do so.”

 

-o0o-

 

Crises threatening journalism’s future, according to the RSB analyses:

GEOPOLITICAL CRISIS. One of the most salient crises is geopolitical, caused by leaders of dictatorial, authoritarian or populist regimes making every effort to suppress information and impose their visions of a world without pluralism and independent journalism. Authoritarian regimes have kept their poor rankings. China, which is trying to establish a “new world media order,” maintains its system of information hyper-control, of which the negative effects for the entire world have been seen during the coronavirus public health crisis. 

TECHNOLOGICAL CRISIS. The absence of appropriate regulation in the era of digitalized and globalized communication has created information chaos. Propaganda, advertising, rumor and journalism are in direct competition. The growing confusion between commercial, political and editorial content has destabilized democratic guarantees of freedom of opinion and expression. This encourages the adoption of dangerous laws which, on the pretext of restricting the spread of fake news, facilitate tougher crackdowns on independent and critical journalism. 

DEMOCRATIC CRISIS. The previous two editions of the World Press Freedom Index reflected a crisis caused by growing hostility and even hatred towards journalists, and this crisis has now worsened. It has resulted in more serious and frequent acts of physical violence, and therefore an unprecedented level of fear in some countries. 

Leading politicians and those close to them continue to openly foment hatred of journalists. The democratically elected presidents of two countries, Donald Trump in the United States (up 3 at 45th) and Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil (down 2 at 107th), continue to denigrate the media and encourage hatred of journalists in their respective countries. 

CRISIS OF TRUST. Mistrust of media outlets suspected of broadcasting or publishing news contaminated by unreliable information continues to grow. According to the Edelman Trust Barometer, which studies the public’s trust in institutions, 57% of the people polled in its latest international survey thought the media they used were contaminated with untrustworthy information. Undermined by this crisis of trust, journalists become the targets of the public’s anger during big street protests taking place in many parts of the world. 

ECONOMIC CRISIS. The digital transformation has brought the media to their knees in many countries. 

Falling sales, the collapse in advertising revenue and the increase in production and distribution costs linked above all to increases in the price of raw materials have forced news organizations to restructure and lay off journalists. 

In the United States, for example, half of the media jobs have been lost over the past ten years. 

These economic problems have social consequences and an impact on the editorial freedom of media around the world. Newspapers that are in a much weaker economic situation are naturally less able to resist pressure.

The economic crisis has also accentuated the phenomena of ownership concentration and, even more, conflicts of interest, which threaten journalistic pluralism and independence. 

(The author, who is now based in New York City, is a former editor of two dailies in Iloilo, Philippines)

 

Stop calling media as ‘fake news’

“Societies have always been shaped more by the nature of the media by which men communicate than by the content of the communication.”

—Marshall McLuhan

By Alex P. Vidal

POLITICIANS and their subalterns who call the media “fake news” if they can’t get a favorable report or commentary shouldn’t be tolerated and allowed to go scot free, so to speak.

They should be exposed right away as “panit sibuyas” or onion-skinned and discouraged from staying in the public service so they can no longer draw salary from the public coffers.

If they are allergic to media criticism they can always resign and  transfer in the private sector where they can perpetuate their idiocy and build their own legacy and kingdom without public scrutiny and accountability.

Public officials are expected to welcome any inquiry on their activities and performances in the name of public interest; they must welcome any criticism from the media, including requests for full disclosure of important documents and transparency from the taxpayers as long as they are working in the government.

If they get mad in a slightest criticism—or if they detest unfavorable reports and commentaries—they aren’t fit for a public office.

Being constantly badgered by media criticism is part and parcel of their having been elected or appointed in the positions paid by the taxpayers.

If they get a negative publicity it means they need to improve their services somewhere. They need to correct a mistake and level up. 

It doesn’t mean they are good-for-nothing.

-o0o-

A negative media comment or news will not abruptly end their splendid career as politicians or public servants.

It will even boost their stock or give them the leverage to improve and become better if they know how to appreciate the wisdom of a constructive criticism in public service.

Media’s role will always be adversarial. 

They can’t earn the public trust as “fiscalizers” or doyens of check and balance if they pay homage and do the bidding for the politicians.

Press people are the politicians’ partners in nation building, not rivals or detractors.

In fact, they should start to worry a lot if nobody from the media is writing or reporting and commenting about their activities and performances anymore.

If they are not anymore being mentioned in the news and commentary sections of leading media outfits, this means they have become irrelevant and inconsequential.    

Being in that dreary level is already a red alert for any politician or public servant if they are about to be hurled in the dustbin of history.

-o0o-

IF we don’t know how to control our emotions in the social media, we will only have ourselves to blame if we get into trouble.

Like what happened to Boracay resident Ronald Quiboyen and Ronel Mas of Zambales, who both used the social media to announce they were giving rewards to anyone who can kill President Rodrigo Roa Duterte.

Quiboyen threw himself under the bus when he proposed in his Facebook account to double Mas’ P50 million offer in the Twitter to P100 million to anyone who can finish off the loud-mouthed and hard-hitting president.

Of course we all know they were only joking. 

They aren’t that rich and crazies to spend that much just to order the assassination of the country’s most feared leader in this century and declare it in the social media to boot.

But their kind of joke isn’t funny.

Even those who don’t admire Mr. Duterte and those who have no love lost for the arrogant president will agree that their threats were tantamount to gross violation of the laws on inciting to sedition related to cybercrime, and violation of Republic Act No. 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees on the part of Mas, who is a public school teacher.

We may agree to disagree without being unlawful and violent.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)

It's not yet over 'til the fat lady sings

“True, it's not over till it's over. And even when it's over, it just begins again.”
― Kate McGahan

By Alex P. Vidal

THE final hymn wasn't played yet.
But it looks like MORE Electric and Power Corporation (MORE Power) will close the year 2019 with a major edge over its rival, Panay Electric Company (PECO), with its recent victory in the Supreme Court that halted the implementation of the ruling of the Mandaluyong City Regional Trial Court (RTC) declaring two sections of MORE Power’s franchise law void and unconstitutional.
Ilonggos saw MORE Power and PECO spend the 2019 in bloody legal skirmishes.
PECO, for sure, still have several aces up its sleeves and isn't in the mood yet of throwing in the white towel.
After this latest major setback in the SC, PECO is expected to go back to the drawing board and prepare for the next showdown with the MORE Power when they start the 2020 next month.
The more PECO is wounded, the more it is emboldened to assemble a larger army for a bigger battle.
After having seized the superior position, MORE Power won't sleep on its victory; instead, it is expected to tighten up its grip in the pivotal SC en banc decision and sustain the juggernaut.
The suspense and thriller movie of the year the Ilonggo electric consumers have started watching in 2019 will have a more intense and complicated continuation in 2020.

-o0o-

POLICE Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) Spokesperson, Lt. Colonel Joem Malong called as "fake news" the report that several school kids in Western Visayas were recently abducted by a group of men from Manila.
A "wrong information" is different from "fake news."
Since the abduction story was false, it's a wrong story or wrong information.
It can only be called as "fake news" if it was announced in the public in the form of a legitimate news item in the media: newspaper, TV, radio, Internet.
But if it came from unreliable and unverified sources and spread only in the coffee shops, barber shops, in casual conversations with no factual basis and not even a raw data, it's a plain and simple "wrong information."
Since the story about the abduction of school children was never processed as a news item (meaning it never met the basic news ingredients of who, what, why, when, and how) it could not be qualified to be in the category of a legitimate news; therefore it shouldn't be called as "fake news."
It maybe called only as a "kotso-kotso" (gossip) or "himu-himu estorya" (fabricated story).

-o0o-

The splendid performances of our athletes in the ongoing 30th Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) being hosted by the Philippines and the pomp and glorious display of excellence by the host country during the opening ceremonies is a different story.
We should be proud of it as Filipinos; we must proclaim it all over the world. No problem with that.
But the alleged corruption in massive scale of the country's sports officials and the accountability of Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano as head of the Philippine Asian Games Organizing Committee (Phisgoc) is another story.
We shouldn't be too overwhelmed by the success of our athletes and the splendor of the opening programs and parades that we will become deaf, mute, and blind to the major concern: some P6 billion of taxpayers money should be accounted for--only when all the athletes have gone home to their respective countries and the games were over.
(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)

Don't use the word ‘news’ if information isn’t true

“If you can manipulate news, a judge can manipulate the law. A smart lawyer can keep a killer out of jail, a smart accountant can keep a thief from paying taxes, a smart reporter could ruin your reputation- unfairly.”

--Mario Cuomo

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- INSTEAD of saying “it’s a fake information”, those who don’t believe that a certain information isn’t true are incorrectly saying “it’s a fake news.”
It’s a wrong choice of words. It’s a wrong syntax.
An information does not automatically translate into a news.
Raw information, in order to become a news, should have the basic facts and the following elements: what, when, where, who, why, how.
A mere information, on the other hand, has been defined by Mirriam-Webster as “the communication or reception of knowledge or intelligence” or “a knowledge obtained from investigation, study, or instruction.”
By telling Iloilo City reporters recently that the alleged assassination plot against the Garin father and son (Guimbal Mayor Oscar Sr. or “Oca” and Iloilo 1st District Rep. Oscar Jr or “Richard”) is “fake news”, what Philippine National Police (PNP) chief General Oscar Albayalde actually meant was “the information about the purported assassination plot had not been validated and could not be true.”

-o0o-

If Albayalde got the story directly from the media, he can’t even call it as “fake” unless he wants to undermine the credibility of reporters and the authority of editors.
If the story had been disclosed by the media and picked by Albayalde, it becomes a news. It’s Albayalde’s call whether to confirm or deny it.
The least that Albayalde can do, actually, if the alleged assassination plot story came from the media (newspapers, radio, TV, Internet) is to tell the public that “the PNP will verify or investigate it”; or just directly, “we (in the PNP) don’t believe it.”
If it came from “sources within the PNP intelligence” it’s only an information, not news.
If Albayalde did not trust the information, or if he did not believe in the veracity of the PNP’s sources, he could now call it as a “fake information.”
But not as “fake news.”

-o0o-

I also would have wanted to call the attention of a high-ranking official in Negros Occidental who recently called a Facebook post by a critic about the capitol’s alleged “ghost” projects also as “fake news”.
He also lambasted the critic on the Facebook wall where the critic made the allegation.
Again, a Facebook post or comment is not a news. It’s only a piece of “information” in the user’s “status update” and is verifiable.
It’s always a waste of time and counter-productive to engage any critic in a ghoulish word war in the social media.
Unless the critic made the same allegations when interviewed by reporters; or, unless the critic filed an official complaint in the Office of the Ombudsman.
The high-ranking capitol official, or any concerned public official for that matter, will now have to explain whether he likes it or don’t.

-o0o-

MEET THE 10 NEW SUPERFOODS. The superstars -- blueberries, almonds, tomatoes, flaxseeds, broccoli, red wine, salmon, olive oil, edamme, brown rice. The understudy -- strawberries, peanuts, white button mushrooms, beer, sunflower seeds, cauliflower, trout, safflower oil, black beans, barley. Source: Sally Kuzemchak, R.D., Fitness: Mind, Body + Spirit…OUTSMARTING A SNACK ATTACK. Eating two small snacks a day can help us lose weight. Trouble is, research shows that we're munching more than ever before--choosing foods that are high in calories and fat--and packing on the pounds as a result. "Often we're not even hungry, but because we're surrounded by food, we're tempted to eat anyway," says Kerry Neville, Ph.D. of American Dietetic Assn…LET US STAND UP BEFORE TOUCHING THE TOILET HANDLE. One in three people flush while sitting down. If we are one of them, let us consider this: When we flush, droplets of water spray in the air. That means we can be exposed to bacteria, which increases our risk of getting a urinary tract infection (UTI). Source: Soap and Water & Common Sense.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)

Emily Lopez, first victim of gossip, fake news

“There is a fundamental difference between men and women - women need romance, men need intrigue.”
--Sherry Argov

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- The decision of former Guimaras Gov. Emily Relucio-Lopez to stay away from the kitchen when the heat became unbearable in 2006 was a brilliant move.
Her “premature” retirement from politics, as well, was mourned by her admirers, including some members of Iloilo media, but was hailed by friends who wanted to shield her from “dirty world of politics.”
Relucio-Lopez was supposed to get an ambassadorial post to Italy under the Arroyo administration, but merchants of intrigues and gossipers made sure she would be sideswiped from selection process.
As soon as her name surfaced as among those being considered by then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for the post, green-eyed monsters started to circulate ugly stories about her relationship with husband, former Iloilo second district Rep. Albertito Lopez.
Her detractors tried to flood the mass media with fake news (it’s good social media wasn’t so influential at that time) that Chona Mejia, Rep. Lopez’s estranged wife, was sharpening her knife and was poised to appear in the Commission on Appointments (CA) to “spell the beans” and oppose the former governor’s appointment.
It was actually Sen. Sergio “Serge” Osmeña III who was painting the town red portraying Relucio-Lopez to be “unworthy” of the ambassadorial position.

-o0o-

Osmeña had ax to grind against Relucio-Lopez because his wife, Betina, was Chona Mejia’s daughter with Rep. Lopez.
According to Osmeña, the marriage between Chona and Rep. Lopez has never been annulled and there was no divorce in the Philippines.
When reached by reporters for comment, Chona Mejia reportedly denied she was planning a CA ambush against Relucio-Lopez.
She admitted though she tried to campaign against Relucio-Lopez when the latter ran for office in Guimaras in the 90’s.
Chona Mejia, too, appeared to have let bygones be bygones and wasn’t interested anymore to dip her fingers into the murky waters of politics.
True or not, Osmeña’s saber rattling was dismissed by Relucio-Lopez’s sympathizers as an “intriga” (intrigue) and a “tsismis” (gossip).
It was also belittled as an “estoppel” since Relucio-Lopez had also previously served as congresswoman in Guimaras aside from governor in the island province; her relationship with Rep. Lopez was never used with extreme necessity by her political enemies to stymie her stint as public servant.
It was tsismis or gossip that toppled Relucio-Lopez from the ambassadorial post to Italy.

-o0o-

We remember Gov. Relucio-Lopez’s predicament amid the decision of Facebook to lower the boom on fake news websites in the Philippines that contain false information.
The lady governor would have been a victim of cyber or internet bullying if social media was active during her time.
An outstanding public servant, Relucio-Lopez was a big loss in Philippine politics.
The idea of building a bridge between Guimaras and Iloilo had been conceptualized during her term as governor.
She refused to seek reelection for congresswoman at the time when Guimaras was starting to attract foreign investors and when “delicious” Guimaras mango became an international sensation.

Vice mayor is first victim

“Fake it until you make it.”

--Steven Tyler

By Alex P. Vidal

NEWARK, New Jersey -- Sometime in 1997, a radio station in Iloilo City in the Philippines made a “flash” report that a woman had filed a case for sexual harassment and abandonment against then Vice Mayor Guillermo dela Llana.

She claimed to be the vice mayor’s alleged inamorata.

It spread like a prairie fire.

A few curious supporters and worried relatives immediately stormed city hall looking for the vice mayor.

Reporters were in a mad scramble to get Dela Llana’s side at noontime.

A dentist by profession, Dela Llana didn’t know what hit him.

He refused to comment when asked by reporters, but muttered: “I have no idea about it; I don’t know what’s going on.”

Print and TV reporters, who didn’t have an inkling of the report’s genesis, refused to leave the Sanggunaing Panlungsod premises even if the vice mayor had requested for privacy and locked himself inside his office.

-o0o-

Later in that day, members of the city hall press corps converging inside the office of the late Councilor German Gonzales were able to secure an “affidavit” signed by the “complainant” and with a stamp from the “city prosecutor’s office.”

It was the same document the radio station had used as the basis to make the report.

We verified it in the Hall of Justice and found out the complainant was non-existent.

The address she had used was also fictitious.

In other words, the affidavit was a fake.

The radio station that broke the report had been taken for a ride.

It was one of the first known cases of fake news in the pre-social media era when bloggers weren’t yet an on-line vogue.

Dela Llana’s camp surmised the dirty stratagem had been engineered by a female political enemy it didn’t name.

The political enemy supposedly had “retaliated” after being “humiliated”.

Until now, the author of that obnoxious assault on Dela Llana’s reputation was never identified and sued for moral damages.

Some members of the city hall press corps, however, “knew” who was the vice mayor’s tormentor.