Filipinos are once again spam-voting a compatriot into the pages of a major Western media outlet. This follows the tradition of how Efren Penaflorida got on the CNN Heroes list and how the Palawan Underground River got listed as one of “the new seven wonders of nature”. Filipinos have a vast resource in the form of the sheer number of warm bodies that inhabit the Net. And they use it primarily for this sort of thing.
Recently Filipino Netizens have turned their sights on TIME Magazine’s 2017 100 “Most Influential” list and are campaigning to get current President Rodrigo Duterte on it and on top of it.
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This is a bit ironic considering that Yellowtards led by Leni Robredo and Risa Hontiveros as well as the Philippines’ entire industry of oligarch-controlled news media had been criticised for seeking leverage from foreign media to put their causes on the global map. And now we see the Duterte camp doing something similar in principle — looking to foreign media for validation and to serve as a platform for propping up a Filipino artefact.
What then when Duterte is crowned amongst (if not the) 100 Most Influential people of the world in 2017?
Get Real Post author Midway Haven describes the perverse psychology behind that “Pinoy Pride” underlying the recognition “awarded” to the Palawan Underground River in a similar exercise a few years ago…
Soon enough, when the provisional list was announced, the first responses were predictable, and they all had one hive-mind reply: “PROUD TO BE PINOY!” Seemingly, even the sense of topos was eliminated from the river: rather than it becoming a wonder of nature, its sense of natural grandeur was competely ignored for the sake of voters being “Pinoy.” From now on, in the “Pinoy” worldview, the Puerto Princesa Underground River is a “Pinoy Wonder,” a trophy to be brandished for nationalistic bragging rights. When other countries began wondering why their own nominations didn’t make it to the list, the response was also of one mind: “It’s your fault that you didn’t vote hard enough.” This is when I fully realized, disappointingly, that many Filipinos pride themselves on voting frenzy, using any and all virtual means to get any and all people and things “Pinoy” on the top spot, no matter what the cost and repercussions. When I gave my opinion as a status update on Facebook that the river didn’t deserve to be on the list, I was greeted with menacing all-caps howls of me being “unpatriotic” and possessing “crab mentality.” Indeed, to these people, “resistance is futile.”
Indeed, these little polls invoke psyches that are microcosms of the macro national collective psyche that powers the Philippines’ national elections. For that matter, it is the same psyche that drives appointments — the Kamaganak Inc syndrome that plagues every Philippine administration.
Perhaps this is a good opportunity for Filipinos — on either side of the political fence — to reflect on what “people power” means. Do we use our vast population to contribute to humanity’s collective intellect? Or do we use it to debase it with our intellectually-bankrupt notions of “national pride”?
benign0 is the Webmaster of GetRealPhilippines.com.
If Filipinos could put as much effort into improving reality as they exert on superficialities, self-promotion, and glossing over the truth, the country might be a much nicer place to live in.
From a different perspective, perhaps this “spamming” is just the “average Joe’s” way of showing support for the administration, knowing full well that some sectors have been trying to “destabilize” it.
I don’t think these polls matter much in the long run. Back in 2007 4-Chan spam voted founder Moot to the top of an online Time poll but nothing happened. Made them feel better though and gave them a laugh. Same here I’d imagine. The power of the vote is such an illusion that it makes people think their voice counts. While it may “count” it never “counts” because the status quo remains the same.
“Do we use our vast population to contribute to humanity’s collective intellect? ” Didn’t the Philippines make into the Guiness book of records for the most retweets last year over Aldub? Pretty dumb.
Duterte does not need the validation of being on the cover of Time. The international community continues to show their disdain for him and such an honour won’t change their opinion. He is his own man, take him or leave him as he comes. Link
I don’t think, it will matter, even if Pres. Duterte will make the top list of the Time’s Magazine’s 100 most influential people. Pinoy Pride people will be jumping with joy, because, they will attach themselves to Pres. Duterte, to “share his honors”…
Leni Robredo, Trillanes, Aquino, Mar Roxas and the rest of the YellowTards, will be full of envy, that they were not even been mentioned. Inspite of the fact, that they believe thermselves, to be “fighting for Human Rights” in the Philippines.
The Aquino Cojuangco political axis will be very much disappointed, that their strategies and tactics to impeach Pres. Duterte, and replace him with their puppet, Leni Robredo, did not work out…
Instead, Pres. Duterte, became famous thruout the world…all the efforts,. they had invested in putting this guy down, went to the drain. Instead of portraying him : “infamous”…he became famous !
These YellowTards will be tearing their hairs shouting: ” What have we done wrong ?” !
the administration should just ignore its detractors and proceed for a better Nation. the pilipinos cannot waste a minute of it. we have to move on as fast we could. we’re already delayed 30 years compare to our asean neighbors. get rid of criminalities, drugs, and graft and corruptions….Amen!
is owning hacienda luisita other than its legal beneficiaries the farmers be considered ‘ill gotten wealth’?
@salagintong bukid: you could start by not saying “amen” to every bullshit statement you see on facebook. Filipinos despise everything that Christianity stands for. Do you honestly think God is going to pat you on the head and reward you while you lie, cheat, steal, and kill? While you desecrate his creation by cutting down forests, cutting big holes in the ground, and spraying poisons everywhere? Drop the hypocrisy and and pride, and show some humility before God. Then you might start moving up, instead of wallowing in hell.
Sure, the Hacienda Luisita was grabbed by the Cojuangcos. It was purchased by Filipinos: blood , sweat and tears…Ownership of these lands, other than the true owners: the farmers, is ill gotten wealth…
However, the Cojuangcos, together with the Aquinos, used their political power and influence…to illegitimately own these lands. Land grabbing at its worst case !
president duterte’s admin cannot amend the 87 constitution. why, because those who committed crimes under the constitution will walk away. even switching to federalism isn’t a good idea right away. clean-up first then switch to fedaralism. if they’re going to amend the 87 constitution, take out and correct the biases. it should be for the people and not just for those who’s in power….AMEN!
in appointing barangay officials, how could it damage democracy? where the objective is to take out those officials involved in drugs and corruptions. where’s the logic there?
hey justice sereno, get straight to the case filed, drugs, proliferations of drugs. we pilipinos are not dumb to be twist. how about the photos of de lima with the drug lords partying? answer that.
The job facing Filipino voters…in the days and years to come is to determine which hearts, minds and souls command those qualities best suited to unify a country rather than further divide it, to heal the wounds of a nation as opposed to aggravate its injuries, and to secure for the next generation a legacy of choices based on informed awareness rather than one of reactions based on unknowing fear.
we’ll see this coming april2 if the pilipinos really want a change. because nobody can do these except the citizens themselves. destabilizations will still continue day after day as long as these detractors is still sitting their post at the house, and judiciaries. they’ll keep on fighting because they know they committed crimes upon the pilipino people….graft and corruption, plunder, and coddling of drug lords.
Of course it’s not right. In fact it’s hugely worrying that we’d even consider it might be!
Our society norm is to cheat, lie and steal – starting from the top down (mostly effectively at the top, and without fear of ever being reprimanded by the electorate). Can’t we just do something right, be appreciated for being good at something – even for just being honest for once!
We live in a parallel universe to the rest of the World, that brainwashes use into believing any nonsense we’re told by any fool who’s bought their way into any useless position. But we claim to want to be part of the real World! The problem is we have to fight our way back from being a global laughing stock where no one respects our country or our views – respect is earned not demanded or paid for (or spam voted for).
The views our nation claims to represent aren’t those of the Filipino people, just the arrogant selfish views of a few overlords – hence this ridiculous drugs war, as one example, has become one mans personal mission translated to a whole nation. I remember wanting to vote for no corruption, better health care, better education and all those basic human rights we so very desperately need – certainly not for 1000’s of Filipino deaths and the ridiculous verbal abuse of foreign countries and their leaders. And we wonder why the rest of the world laughs at us – and they do! But, silly me, I forget that the Philippines knows best through our past history of getting it right! Get real…
i wasnt able to read the whole article so i might have missed the context. to me, spamming about this shows the support of the people for the president but it will not help the economy. the president wouldnt care anyway.