4
June
2009
Is there still hope for the Filipino people?
Nathan
Day after day, we have been haunted by problems in the country, of which I’m sure every country does. However, what’s upsetting is that our so-called leaders are focusing on bettering their image more than anything else. We’ve been constantly slapped back and forth on our faces head on and I can understand why people now seem oblivious to everything – there seems to be no hope anymore.
As early as first quarter of 2009, political ads started popping out of nowhere on radio and television. Honestly, I found them nauseating, especially at Villar’s futile attempt at it. “Ang galing sa hirap, tumutulong sa mahihirap. (One who came from poverty, helps the poor.)” True to some extent, but do you really have to rub and shove it inside every person just like stabbing a person all for the sake of self-upliftment. THE HELL. Add to that monotony, is the slightly better attempt of Mar Roxas who used the side car for his ‘benefit’. I’m in no way saying that they have no right to do that or that they do not have any achievements. I think you know what I am getting at… but let’s leave it at that for now.
Next comes the infamous sex video scandal that shook the whole Philippines by storm. Literally. Imagine the scope of the sensation (pun intended) this has achieved through media coverage and the best of all, the eyes and hearts of the gentlemen of the Senate, most especially our very respectable Sen. Bong Revilla. I agree that something should be done to address the issue. BUT! To involve the Senate! Abhoring! What do the courts serve purpose for then? We have venues for serving justice, and it does not include the Senate whose main job to is pass legislations. The Senate does NOT exist to sensationalize issues. Just because the people involved are famous personalities in show business, it does not correlate to having more exposure on cases like this, nor having more justice. Justice is shown towards the camera. Proof? There is preferential treatment towards famous personalities. Justice acts more when a camera is capturing these events (e.g. documentaries, shows such as Imbestigador, Bitag or XXX). Politicians act more and faster or talk more when they are on camera. Need I say more?
Now, amidst all these – the swine flu scare, the impending weather disturbance, etc. – the ConAss has been masterfully and skillfully passed in House (possibly not without guidance from the Palace), shocking a mass of people. This is nothing but a way to secure the future of those who wish to stay in office forever. (Visit http://www.notoconass.com/ to support ‘No to ConAss’.)
Oh, to add, the Right to Reply Bill is… uh… no comment. Geez!
Despite all these, I want to continue to believe that there is hope, especially with the recent CARP extension. But, we need to act. We need to keep our voices open, and ask others to voice out theirs.
The government has done a good deal of escaping from its responsibilities as a beacon of light for the people. It has consistently provided headaches and disillusionment to those who continue to hope. Truth be told, other nationalities love this country more than these politicians do. Shameful… shameful…
I would want to write more, but let’s see… Comment away!
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My comments on the different issues you raised would probably be a blog entry in itself, so let me condense them somehow.
Unfortunately, issues like the sex scandals are fodder for the media. Why do they feast on such? It’s what the masses like. And why do the masses like such things? Because most of them are uneducated and do not understand the implications of supposedly more important things such as HR 1109.
Political ads have never been more evident as compared to today, though I have to admit that since the Senate is not really in favor of Cha-Cha (since they have their own presidential aspirations to protect), there might be a slim chance for HR 1109 to not be implemented. In this case, it’s somewhat like choosing the lesser of two evils.
You are right. We need to act. We need to make people understand and actually care about’s what’s happening. What’s more dismaying than uneducated people who don’t understand are educated people who do understand but choose to not care.
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Nathan Reply:
June 4th, 2009 at 7:41 pm
I agree with the points you raised, and sadly, this is the case. We’ll just have to do our part and see what happens.
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@Adette
Hey sorry if this is old news. I just found this article via Nathan’s twit.
I’d just like to add that the problem goes beyond lack of education. It also goes beyond failure to communicate.
I’m a Filipino. I want to know about politics. I don’t know anything about law.
Add the sensationalistic media causing me to become apathetic to the cause. Add the fact that I don’t know how to research stuff and I don’t know what HR 1109 is. Add to the fact, that I completely tuned out on local news and live under a rock.
What’s the key for me to learn about these? Should I just sacrifice everything and go by determination and patriotism?
Maybe that’s the right ethical and logical opinion but as you can see, that’s not the right emotional opinion.
It’s not enough for activists to say we need to act. There needs to be a rope. What we have is a cave full of echoes.
It’s just not enough to criticize the slogan, there must first be a unification of the message and the ideas. We’re in a spot where not only are the stupids (like me) ignorant of the politics, the activists are ignorant of the politics. (At least that’s how it comes off to me.)
I’m not saying you guys are also stupid for not doing the perfect thing. I’m saying politics in the Philippines from my perception is like a geek vs. mainstream thing still.
The activist know the system better but they only bother with communicating with the stupids when there’s a breach like a virus infection that affected the network. Equally, the stupids only bother the activists to fix their problem without really knowing how to understand “gaining” the proper security habits to keep their PC from being infected.
Meanwhile the average federal government candidates are like corporations who are the ones that understand the bridge and toe the line between the two while benefiting themselves.
This is why it should come as no surprise that the current situation is like this. Within the cracks there are different and willing souls who want to communicate, learn and understand the big picture but echoing is not a good way of communicating. Right now we are a country echoing for a singular message of uncorrupted truth. This is flawed because the top dogs can merely echo back.
That is why you get messages that are rub and shoved to the top of those people’s political lungs. What should be pursued instead is the adaptation of the model of crab mentality and apply this to political education and the message to be spread is no longer that of “our politics has been infected because we never regularly updated our political anti-corruptions” but instead a message defining and explaining the mechanics of the pot we are in by the people who know, understand and our passionate about getting all of our asses out of it.
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