‘Haircut vs hairstyle’ bicker is a distraction

By Alex P. Vidal

“We live in such an age of chatter and distraction. Everything is a challenge for the ears and eyes.” – Rebecca Pidgeon

THE news that a billionaire, who badly needs a haircut, has sued a young politician, who needs a hairstyle, for cyber libel, is a distraction amid the myriads of topics that have lined up in the Philippine media these past days.

Aside from the cyber libel uproar between hairstyle and haircut, there’s also the peripheral word war between Smiling Imee and I’m-not-gay Ping.

These are cheap scuffles that shouldn’t be given front-page attention by responsible and professional press.

The spat between a nepo baby politician from Batangas and the Department of Energy (DoE) on termination of numerous contracts of the nepo baby politician’s solar company and the issuance of warrant of arrest against a playboy gambling lord and his cohorts in relation to the missing sabungeros are the more important issues.

Ditto for the more popular celebration of the Santo Niño (Holy Child Jesus) as a major religious festival in the country held in the third Sunday of January.

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It marks the birth of Catholicism in the Philippines and featuring vibrant parades, traditional Ati-Ati, Dinagyang, Sinulog, Binirayan dances, masses, and community feasts, honoring the Christ Child as a symbol of faith, humility, and Filipino identity.

From Kalibo, Cebu, Iloilo, among other cities and provinces that celebrate Santo Niño, the devotees carry and dress their own Santo Niño statues, symbolizing a childlike trust in God, and participate in joyous processions, chanting “Viva Señor Santo Niño!”

But because the billionaire who needs a haircut is an influential person, some media outlets immediately considered the issue as “major event.”

Because the young politician who needs a hairstyle is a yahoo and weird, some reporters elbowed the more interesting stories for the cyber libel story.

A legitimate news should be timely, factual, and significant information about current events that affects people’s lives, but what qualifies shifts with audience, source, and context, distinguishing it from opinion, rumor, or routine information, often focusing on the unusual (“man bites dog”) over the usual (“dog bites man”).

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We consider the issue involving the nepo baby politician and the DoE more important because it marked the first time an Iloilo cabinet official in the person DoE secretary Sharon Garin openly revealing in public why the DoE was throwing the books on the nep baby politician’s solar company.

Garin confirmed on January 13, 2026, that it terminated 163 renewable energy service contracts (with a total capacity of around 17,000 MW) because the developers failed to meet their power production timelines.

The pride of Guimbal, Iloilo was referring to the Solar Philippines Power Project Holdings Inc. (SPPHI), the company founded by the nepo baby politician, which accounted for the majority of these terminated contracts—around 64 percent or nearly 12,000 MW of committed capacity.

Garin confirmed the fines and terminations were part of a broader DoE crackdown on non-compliant developers, which the agency referred to as “flippers and opportunists” who secure contracts but do not follow through with the projects.

Garin feared that the failure to deliver these projects could lead to insufficient energy reserves and higher electricity prices in the future, thus necessitating strict enforcement to ensure the country’s energy security.

The DoE has referred case to the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) for further legal action.

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THE Dinagyang Festival 2026 is gearing up for a unique celebration this year now that the Iloilo Festivals Foundation Inc. (IFFI) has revealed the unprecedented more than 100 side events.

These side events that are mostly free are sports concerts, arts contests, food festivals, and shows at Sunburst Park, malls, and other public space, according to side events committee boss Gabriel Felix Umadhay.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor-in-chief of two leading daily newspapers in Iloilo, Philippines.—Ed)