Indeed, everybody is shocked — just shocked! — by where this year’s presidential elections are headed. Rodrigo Duterte the crass, irreverent, and possibly murderous candidate who came out of left field from the Philippines’ deep south is leading the polls, handily beating the elegant Grace Poe, the debonaire Jejomar Binay, the prayerful Mar Roxas, and the wise and intelligent Miriam Defensor-Santiago.
Despite being called out for outrageous misogynist remarks by the US and Australian governments (two of the biggest sources of government cash doled out to Filipinos), Duterte’s lead over his rivals remains as strong as ever. He is, as was observed a while back, truly an anti-fragile presidential candidate. Bad publicity does not weaken his bid. It, instead, strengthens his winnability. This is because everything that used to be associated with “good publicity” has now been woefully associated to failed governance.
SUPPORT INDEPENDENT SOCIAL COMMENTARY! Subscribe to our Substack community GRP Insider to receive by email our in-depth free weekly newsletter. Opt into a paid subscription and you'll get premium insider briefs and insights from us. Subscribe to our Substack newsletter, GRP Insider! Learn more |
Indeed, the regime of incumbent President Benigno Simeon ‘BS’ Aquino III ticked all the boxes as far as being the “good” candidate and the “righteous” leader is concerned. Voters back in 2010 and those who continue to apply the same thinking applied back then to today’s situation, work on the basis that a candidate who prays, goes to Church every Sunday, believes in gender equality, and is a big fan of “sacrifice” will make an absolutely brilliant national leader.
Perhaps then we had grossly underestimated the collective intellect of the Philippine electorate. It turns out that some of the truisms we in Get Real Post have been harping about for years have finally sunk in across a broad swathe of Philippine society; that,
(1) It is utter folly to expect different results whilst doing the same thing over and over again; and,
(2) That one cannot solve a problem using the same thinking that created it to begin with.
Duterte is the antithesis of everything that the Aquino regime represents. His legions of supporters are thinking in ways vastly different from the thinking applied back in 2010 when being politically-correct and being civil and polite were regarded as virtues to be admired. This explains why mainstream media keeps issuing megabucks-funded messages of bafflement to their vast audience base. Being an industry owned and operated by the very taipans that paved the road upon which Aquino marched to power, it is seeing the rise of Duterte through the once mainstream lens of civility that has now degenerated to abject obsolescence.
Unfortunately, it seems voters no longer see things through that 30-year-old emo lens engineered by the Philippines’ mainstream media moguls. Their voices are no longer propagated through traditional channels like Kris TV, Eat Bulaga, the Probe Team, or priests’ homilies and bishops’ “pastoral letters”. They are channeled via Facebook posts and comments and “viral” memes. Their messages are delivered not by creamy-skinned high-heeled news presenters but by anonymous social media trolls roaming the Net behind fearsome-looking avatars.
The Duterte vote is a vote against the naive emotionalism that imprisoned the minds of an entire generation of Filipinos over the last 30 years since the 1986 people power “revolution”.
The buckets of promise that the Yellow horde exhibited back in 1986 turned out to be its biggest liability — for when you promise a lot, even an 80 percent delivery success rate will be seen to be a colossal failure. The Aquinos should have promised less. That way, even small success would have been perceived to be a big win. Unfortunately, the grand loftiness of “straight paths” and “honest governance” held Cory’s “democracy” to a high standard. And so whatever semblance of achievement that was accrued over the last 30 years consistently failed, in the eyes of today’s voters to measure up in relative stature to those promises.
This, perhaps, is the genius behind Duterte’s campaign. He promises very little — which pretty much likely sets his administration up for outstanding perceptions of success over the next six years. Perception, after all, is the currency of a democracy. Leaders’ performances are monitored through the lens of voters’ perceptions — which is why those Pulse and SWS “consultants” make megabucks conducting polls and surveys — because politicians in this democracy live off analyses of voters’ perceptions and plot strategy on the basis of forecasts on these perceptions.
And so, here, we get to the awful truth about what it means to be a democracy. All of what we are seeing — and lamenting — today is just simply how democracy works — it entailed delegation of the important task of selecting leaders to a popular vote. The underlying assumption there is that what is popular determines what is right.
As such, the means to acquire political power is to appeal to popular sentiment. The people leading in this race, therefore, are those who had successfully applied that strategy.
The point is, whatever Mar Roxas (the “good” emo voters’ candidate) did or to whatever level he performed was evidently irrelevant to the criteria of popularity applied towards determining whether or not he will ascend power.
Unfortunately for him, the behaviours he exhibited and the perceptions he propagated as a result of the many incidents and situations where he failed to connect with his constituents contributed to that failure to achieve the popularity required to win this election.
It’s simple, really.
We chose democracy, therefore we should live with the outcomes it delivers us. That is the fundamental reality at work here.
Social media took away the power to influence the vote from mainstream media. In the process, it provided us a more real and more confronting picture of the true collective character of the Filipino voter. And on that reality, we may be on the money preparing to salute a Rodrigo Duterte presidency come July 2016.
benign0 is the Webmaster of GetRealPhilippines.com.
who were the post martial law leaders?….cory aquino…fidel ramos…joseph estrada…gloria macapagal arroyo… benigno aquino III…how were we during martial law and where are we now after 5 administrations???… this is the angry question all filipinos are asking now…what has happened to improve the lives of all filipinos?…the answer is lost in the wind..the struggle forgotten …poverty is foremost in people’s minds and we worry so much about our next meal that we don’t notice the corruption around us…the corruption in our very own government…all the good presidents promised us milk and honey and all we got is a dead cow and countless bitter stings from the bees…our confidence level on our government is so low it approaches disbelief and dire concerns…we are left to our own resources and feel abandoned by every public servant whose only concern is how much hew can mulct from us…every president, at the end of their 6 year term has been accused of graft and corruption and worst… of plunder…even the marcoses were allowed to come back and enter politics again…what is wrong with us?…have we willfully handed our fate to God and allowed this country to be overrun by thieves and drug lords???…have we lost faith in humanity and resigned ourselves to a perpetual con game initiated by our very own public officials? …where is salvation?…when can we have a true leader that will put us ahead of everything and end the reign of corruption?…who do we trust??? ..who can we trust again???…we are all so desperate that this man from davao is stealing our hearts and soul…this man is everything that we loathed in our government but he has one special talent…he makes corrupt officials and criminals disappear…and we want so much to see these people turned into fertilizers that we are going to vote for him as our POTP…we have already lost everything except our freedom…and we choose this man to somehow turn things around and if he ever turns out to be a bust then we can always impeached him or hang him by his neck till he is no more………………………….
Sir BenignO, do you mean this now as an implied endorsement or just an analysis?! 🙂
Magnificent evaluation of the current situation and the political process BenignO.
Since the idiot stranglehold of moronic TV shows is almost over, maybe it’s also time to rename traditional channel shows to:
Eat Kris! – it’s the latest craze, spin the wheel and win a grilled Kris Aquino Body part. Bring it home and share it with your loved ones. Game only good while supplies last. Will be replaced by Eat Boy!
Bulaga TV – Get a new surprise every day. Politicians make wishes which we grant. He always wanted a Jaguar? Well, have the surprise of your life when the thing jumps out of the box and mauls you. Viewer discretion is not advised.
The Team Probed – Watch your favorite members of the Probe Team being probed. Arrests and convictions guaranteed, fun for the whole family.
Thanks! I tweeted a pretty nifty summation of this article earlier:
The same way Filipinos threw away the baby (intellectualism/discipline) with the bath water (crony capitalism/martial law) when they rejected FM and everything associated with him, they are now throwing away decency in conduct/language with incompetence by their puking out the Yellow camp and everything they stand for.
The myopic nature of the Filipino’s ability to decipher the good from the bad by viewing an entity as either ALL good or ALL bad rather than as a gray scale of virtues, qualities, strengths/weaknesses reeks of how simplistic his mental capacity is.
We as “analysts” here should also learn to praise those we do not support for what they do right, and call out those we support for any of their shortcomings.
During the last debate, Duterte gave a complement to opponent Mar when he said he will just copy/adopt a certain plan Mar had in his platform since it was good.
Cory on the other hand rejected nuclear power just because Marcos built it – which is totally childish.
I guess we not only need to get real, but also grow up as a people. We need leaders who will model this for us.
BTW, congratulations to all Filipinos for the successful putting into orbit of our very own Diwata-I satellite. The question is: will Ateneans go over to the campus across the street to greet and celebrate with U.P.? Sana kahit minsan magkaisa tayo. It’s time we move beyond our crab mentality and little cliques.
Looks like Du30 is the guy to unite our people. For those who will lose in this coming elections (you already know if you’re one of them), let’s set colors aside and begin the reconstruction from the rubble and damage that 30 years of incompetence, mismanagement, and utter lack of common sense has brought to our country.
Indeed, it’s lazy thinking. Rather than engage in a bit of work to think through issues on the bases of their inherent merit or soundness, Filipinos would simply embrace nebulous brands, personas, and slogans blindly on the basis of a vibe or gut feeling of some sort.
Bull’s eye. !
You are very right indeed. Thanks for the input.
Agree with your analysis except on Cory’s rejection of the Bataan nuclear power plant. Can’t say if she really had rejected it just because it was a Marcos project. I don’t have enough info but in hindsight she made the right decision. I don’t think the Phil had the infrastructure and know how to operate such a plant. Do you think the Phil then could have handled a crisis similar to Chernobyl or Fukushima? Even now, scientists are divided on the merits of nuclear power plants.
I am prepared for a DU30 presidency. What I I don’t like is him giving enemies of the state (CPP-NPA) a free pass inside his government. And sharing power to boot.
I would’ve considered voting for if not for his relationship with those damned Reds.
This is why the United States is staying out of the picture. It’s definitely going to be raining cats and dogs in the Failippines in the near future.
U got a tiny brain,still believes on imperial propaganda..What government benefit if they will not stop the people leaving in U clled CPP NPA mentality..Always look at the profit
Agree! good analysis bro!
Talk about cutting your nose to spite your face. That would mean the Filipino voter is a Neanderthal in terms of political evolution. Hence, “cheating” the elections to favor the only legally qualified presidential candidate (which is actually just a reactionary correction to the broken judicial system) is not only justified but quite proper.
Wow!
Did you just say that cheating in this election is okay?
Really?
You just said that?
No wonder you support Roxas.
The votes for Duterte, and for other candidates, against Mar Roxas, tell a lot of where Social Media has far gone.
The Aquino era was a failure. Because, the Aquinos made themselves heroes and saints. Look at the International Airport. It is named after that traitor murderer:Ninoy Aquino, Jr. Both Cory Aquino and Ninoy Aquino, Jr., are in our currencies. What have they done to the country, to deserve this honor? They protected their Hacienda Luisita.
Benigno Aquino III, who is mentally retarded and suffering from depression, became our President. The quality level of the Presidency, has gotten so low. He is an utter failure, as a President.
Now his anointed, Mar Roxas, who is also incompetent is running for President. It will be more of the same, if not worse, if you vote for Mar Roxas and Leni Robredo.
Let us all choose very wisely, for the candidates. Review their track records; where they stand; what are their platforms;etc…
We don’t have to commit the same mistake over and over…we must move forward…
Yes lets move forward and embrace communism.
yeah exactly right. the creation of coalition political party is to run allies for president and vice president all yellows for its dynasty. the three guys running are all yellows doing sarsuela bluffing the citizens that they’re against the admin. by the way, anyone knows why kit tatad was kicked out by ex president Marcos as his information secretary?
Pardon me for bringing this up. I really don’t intend to spoil the party!
Duterte started ok and despite of the Pope cursing incident and the Jacqueline Hamill rape joke imbroglio he still has manage to stay still ok, even topping the surveys!
Then comes the Trillanes’ expose…the Duterte Hidden Accounts! It was initially dismissed as “kalokohan” but as of late Duterte admits that he has accounts in different banks (but according to him, “amounting only to thousands not millions”).
According to Ellen Tordesillas, “A friend went to BPI an hour ago to find out if the expose of Sen. Trillanes on Duterte’s account is true. Using the bank account number she saw in the Inquirer, she deposited P500. It’s validated. The account is existing.”
http://getreal.rocks/how-they-verified-dutertes-bpi-bank-account-is-hilariously-clever/
Now the battle of words between Trillanes and Duterte rages on. Trillanes said he would resign from the Senate and quit the vice presidential race if his accusations against Duterte were proven false. Kakasa kaya si Digong with a waiver or whatever up his sleeves?
Still hypothetical, but I’m curious about his supporters’ thoughts and reactions if Trillanes’ allegations turns out to be true? Will they ignore or tuloy lang ang ligaya? What’s your take on this?
Most of his supporters operate under the premise that EVERY Pinoy politician is a crook–including Duterte. But the capper to all this is that he’s a crook who gives back by way of tangible results (like Davao)and a zero-hypocrisy clause about what he is that sets him apart from the rest of the pack. Whether you like the guy or not, seems the only way to actually stop him is an act of God or something—ehem!—else. He’ll be the president. Because among the other presidentiables, all the rest are the same old ineffectual residues of this failed administration.
Salute your comment
PS: And it’s not like Trillanes is the avatar of decency as well. Talk about pots and kettles.
And a KSP megalomaniacal-zero-results-pot at that. Send that guy back to prison where he belongs.
I will speculate… wildly. Take it with a lot of asin.
Trillanes has walked into a trap, I think.
If GMA had the Ampatuans to control the restlessness in Mindanao during her term, DU30 is one of the guys FVR utilized to have some stability in the South. Unfortunately, the Ampatuans abused the power allowed them, DU30 never did. He remains quite close to Tabako because of this. Just pay attention to the guys behind DU30, a good number of them are FVR guys.
If DU30 had been running a “successful” campaign, it is precisely because there are people behind him who are so adept in reading the mood of the populace; they are FVR guys. Inside the archipelago, nobody matches FVR’s psy-war mind.
I think FVR has been furious at how PNoy has handled China from the beginning. First, PNoy agreed not to send a delegation in the awarding of the Nobel Prize to the Chinese dissident Xiaobo. So from the beginning of his term, PNoy already gave the signal to China that there was a sitting Prez who was a “bakla”.
But, PNoy’s biggest blunder was agreeing to Trillanes’ insistence he could fix things because Trillanes said he had a friend who was a General or Admiral in the Chinese Navy. So, like Purisima in the case of Mamasapano, PNoy sent Trillanes to a secret mission to China without advising anybody else in the Cabinet. As we all know, Trillanes fucked up that mission big time. China got insulted that PNoy would dare send them so stupid an emissary. DFA’s Sec del Rosario was fuming mad, he wanted to throw Trillanes out of the window upon his return. Recall that ten or 11 months thereafter, China announced their nine dash line. As a result, we had to go to Hague.
But, if there was one who was really furious, it was FVR. During his term, he was able to have very good relationship with China with some of the top guys there even becoming his personal friends. Even Erap was appreciative of this goodwill that FVR developed and passed on.. Of course, GMA nursed this good relationship with China. Then comes narcissistic PNoy with no diplomatic skills sending a megalomaniac loose Canon named Trillanes, and everything falls apart.
I think FVR never forgave these two for the blunder, and it is pay back time. I think they will allow Trillanes to get deeper into the trap in the next 3 to 5 days, and then……. Trillanes will fall flat in his face.
Not sure about this, but there are certainly more than meets the eye in what is going on.
Sending Triplanes on a secret mission to China, was the most idiotic move of Aquino. China is still mad at the way Aquino behaved during the Luneta Chinese Tourist Hostage…Trillanes is a newbie; he has no diplomatic training or skill. He has no knowledge in international relations, or foreign policies. I believe, he did not even know of any diplomatic protocols. The guy was a military rebel, and a known ass licker of Aquino…so, here, we go…Stupidity at the highest level..
It should read: “Sending Trillanes…” please correct
@Add, you are not wrong with what you are saying. But I was more than disappointed that Ramos was still showing up for the last Edsa celebration.
He could have really stayed away. I was disappointed again that he was still there parading around with those yellow pudding heads as if being a traitor is something to be proud of.
Uh oh…. Ah so… My suspicion… My little theory is proving to be correct by the day….. IT IS TRAP.
There are now papers floating around that the BPI account in Julia Vargas has a running balance of around Php22,000xx from March 2015 to March 2016. It’s peanuts, and Trillanes makes a big fuzz about it? Sonamagan, even call center agents would have this kind of bank accounts; definitely does not show a corrupt DU30.
And then, Trillanes talks of 42 real estate properties, but mostly owned by the children of DU30. Yet, the first one that media checks is a unit in P Guevarra, which is only valued at 2.3 million. Even ordinary employees could buy such unit. That could hardly buy just the main door, an imported antique, in the house of Binay, which has been valued at 15 million, yes just the freaking door by itself.
What is this, they are again using trial by publicity, which they effectively used on CJ Corona whom they accused him of having 80 properties. In the end, it comes out Corona had only four properties, three of which was purchased for investment purposes only. I don’t think this black propaganda will work this time — sawa na ang publiko sa style ng dilaw. ….. Why don’t they investigate this cabinet secretary, who is part of the inner circle of PNoy, who gifted his mistress with Php400m house — yes, his mistress, not his wife? The grapevine has been talking about this for quite some time already.
How stupid, Trillanes took the bait. He said he got his info from his network of informants. I have a feeling the DU30 camp fed the info thru the ISAFP hoping it would end up in the hands of one of the candidates. Trillanes who must still have some connections in the military was of course the first to get into the trap. Thinking he got the scoop, he immediately called a press conference, also baiting Roxas in just after a couple of hours. Poor Roxas, I think he will be cursing at Trillanes on Monday.
The two have to realize DU30 has been in more tight spots than what he is facing today. Just look at the map. Going south, from Digos going to Gen San or Makilala/ Kidapawan, or east, starting from Panabo/Tagum, or north, all the way to Valencia and Malaybalay, Davao City is surrounded by some of the most dangerous places. You are talking of private armies, small groups of bandits, and all sort of rebels, organised or not. They can say whatever they want about Davao City, but no one will deny it is an oasis in that general area which is so dangerous. This could not be if DU30 has not become a world class expert in negotiation.
This is where I think Manila underestimates him. Indeed, DU30 keeps his cards very, very close to his chest. He probably learned that the best way to negotiate with dangerous people is to allow the other party to see him as weak. They will always be mistaken if they underestimate him. Crass, uncouth, probably, but he is more sophisticated than anybody in Manila, and it will surprise many. He is the face of Sun Tzu in politics.
I think Monday we will see the election as over; a Senator resigning and a candidate withdrawing. Abangan natin. This is getting to be interesting; we might learn a lesson or two in playing high stake games.
Don’t Count on it! Basing from their exchanges of words in media…Nothing will happen come Monday’s face-off! Duterte declared that he won’t even be there! It will be a Trillanes vs. Panelo show! Duterte said,”Let them argue.”
If proven wrong I should refrain from ever commenting here in GRP forever!
Duterte:
“I want Trillanes to sign affidavit so I can sue him for breaching my privacy.”
“Suing Trillanes a waste of time.” (Duterte changes mind)
“Gusto ko kay (I want) Trillanes to execute an affidavit, on his accusation against me, what good it will do for him, so that, legally, he has that, and I have my supporting papers … put that in black and white.”
Trillanes:
“Sue Me!”
“The challenge remains. Once and for all let’s end this. Kung hindi ito totoo [If this is not true], you have the chance to get rid of a Senator Trillanes forever. Ilabas mo, pirmahan mo, punta tayo sa bangko, pag mali ako [Bring the waiver out, sign it,let’s go to the bank,if I am wrong] I will resign on the spot and I will withdraw my candidacy.”
So, 2016 is like the 1992 Presidential Elections: FVR = Duterte, Danding Cojuangco = Grace Poe, Mirriam Santiago = Mirriam Santiago (pa rin). Kanya – kanyang manok, for the sake of certain interests.
I am inclined to agree with you that Trillanes is baited into a trap. Nakuryente.its a strategy, brilliant strategy. He should have have looked into the timing, the technicalities, legalities, & finally the consequencies. Dinakma nya kaagad. If I wwere him, di na ako sisiput sa Monday.
I read your comment 6 years ago and it gave me goosebumps then, and now. But now, everything came to pass, very quickly, I must say you are accurate with your observations.
mautak si Digong. now he admitted it, all candidates should do the same. probably this is his gambit if ever. and Digong is not a person who would keep billions of pesos. observe Digong, he’s not the hypocritical type. that hidden back account may have been created by anyone and he just admitted he owns it. and he will use it to his advantage. he knows to play the game of chess. he knows the House of Cards.
Duterte’s supporters have become fanatical. Whether right or wrong, they will stick with him. Duterte can start a cult and many will be his followers. They will not even care if he had secret accounts by the millions. They didn’t mind that he curses, don’t care even if admitted that he had summarily killed criminal suspects, a womanizer, mysogynist, and even applauded him when he could not give a serious answer to the western seas crisis. He could not even explain how he could fulfill his campaign promises to eradicate corruption and drug trading. Sadly, this phenomenon is the outcome of poor governance not only of this administration but of the previous political regimes. Indeed, as he declared, his administration will be bloody. Bloody it will be, but it is Duterte.
Nice one,,,
The account is real as RRD admitted it. But they still have no idea how much is in that account assuming nobody broke the Bank Secrecy Code. And sucessfully depositing whatever amount won’t prove anything.
I’ll be waiting for your blog re Duterte’s hidden billions. 😉
Yeah! Sounds like a direct hit. Post EDSA is just another show of an abused of power and a parade of weak leaders hiding under a cloak of honesty, good governance i.e. the straight path all of which are but empty virtues as it doesn’t directly deal with the problems. Aquino made his presidency about his personality, a show of his inadequacy as a President, his and the mom’s rule being all about them, their family and their padrinos. It’s high time we shift the focus from the yellows back to the people and the country.
DU30 World – if you’re a criminal or corrupt, you’ll definitely get the kind of punishment you deserve, if you’re undisciplined then you’ll have to learn to follow the rules or else, the necessities that his city don’t have he provide. However as much as he wanted to shift the focus from himself to the people, the paid trolling communities and the bias media are on the go to make sure that the people will find something to blame Duterte with while finding excuse to obvious blunders the yellow party have committed. Lest we forget Mar’s camp has been using government utilities for their campaign and has been rewriting incidences in Yolanda and Mamasapano tragedies. Resorting to good ol’ dirty politics to keep people away from seeing their dirt. The usual bobotantes talk about personalities anyway and not accomplishments and platforms. But social media is saving the day. Talk without thinking, act like a retard and you’ll get a rebuttal or a bashing from a crowd of people the social media taught to look for facts, speak their mind and decide for themselves. Good thing there’s not only Duterte warriors out there but truth warriors countering shitty propaganda that’s taking us backwards.
There is no neutral ground in the universe. Every square inch, every split second is claimed by God, and counterclaimed by Satan.
fuckin deep lol
Question, will it be good or bad for the Philippines and America? I believe the time of the Philippines and America are speaking and no longer following the popular normal leaders anymore. We are now seeing that Rodrigo Duterte and Donald Trump are more than likely going to be presidents of each country and nothing they do or say will change people’s minds. I personally hate to say this, but I believe it is because both of them are saying what many voters really believe in their heart.
To be fair though, cold hard statistical analysis and projections already show Hillary Clinton winning the US Presidency this November, unless she somehow drops dead.
http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/clinton-is-winning-the-states-that-look-like-the-democratic-party/
MidwayHaven, This is the official vote numbers in the USA. http://us.cnn.com/election Donald Trump and Hilary are Americans voters choices to win pretty much, and Trump is currently expected to narrowly beat Hillary. It is always important to use official materials for research topics and debates not a just any website. Reading your article that you use as a reference and understanding that it is talking only about one party is important also. It is not predicting the next president, but the person to win the democratic party presidential nomination.
Du is leading in the surveys, why rock the boat just to set up a trap for trillanes?
Have you heard of a man putting out a fire with gasoline, and the fish jumping from the frying pan straight into the fire? That may be what is happening to the overreacting and unthinking angry Filipinos, their response threatening to worsen the problem rather than resolve it. And with a demagogue in Duterte rallying and encouraging them to channel their disgruntlements through him, the people are now heedlessly running into the open sea like hamsters curing themselves of the problem of overpopulation through partial mass suicide.
I’ve read that in Canada they are planning to legalize marijuana while in the Philippines some would have drug offenders put to death (summary execution). And for those of you who don’t know, summary execution means you only need to be accused of a crime, then you will be immediately killed without the benefit of a trial. I wonder which government has got it right? So to execute criminals is a good idea? To abolish ties with any country that disagrees with you is a good idea? To implement martial law is a good idea? And to remove any opposition that may stand in your way is a good idea? If you answered yes to all then you obviously are of that Dictator frame of mind. So how are Dictators removed from power? Are they voted out? No, they are not because democracy doesn’t exist anymore as they have removed all opposition (closing down congress). Are they overthrown? Yes, if any government or army wants to try to get past the armed forces that the Dictator has surrounded himself with. But chances are, the Dictator will remain in power until he dies of natural causes and I guess that there’s no corruption there either right? And may God help you if should speak out against a Dictator; even this has me fearful of possible future ramifications. But hey it’s ok; perhaps all the world leaders should curse publicly in front of children and make tasteless rape jokes? And Martial Law isn’t a problem; I guess no one should be on the street after a certain hour anyway right? Ya, that’s one part of Freedom that we don’t really need, do we? And being a predominately Catholic country and people doesn’t mean you are going against your religious beliefs by supporting executions does it? An estimated 50,000+ Pinoys are expected to be executed, and this is something you support? Perhaps crime could be lessened by creating jobs and providing better education? Nah, let’s just kill them all instead. “I will kill all you making the life of the Filipino miserable” (R.D.), reminds me of something Achmed the Dead Terrorist would say but sadly this is not a joke. And should your Dictator take power, just remember: “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others” and here’s to all of you for voting the way you did: “Gentlemen,” concluded Napoleon, “I will give you the same toast as before, but in a different form. Fill your glasses to the brim. Gentlemen, here is my toast: To the prosperity of The Manor Farm! “(Orwell, Animal Farm).
I have almost fallen for the eloquence of this blog, until I have read these two statements blatantly ripped-off from one of the brilliant minds of the 20th Century.
”
(1) It is utter folly to expect different results whilst doing the same thing over and over again; and,
(2) That one cannot solve a problem using the same thinking that created it to begin with.”
Please have the journalistic ethics and professionalism to make the RIGHTFUL ATTRIBUTION. Albert Einstein might be Back To Future and Haunt You Future Past!
Look back at all my previous articles. These are phrases I have used frequently and attributed to the great Albert Einstein many times. Thanks for you ad hominem nonetheless.
i feel we voted the right president this time! He can make good changes for the philippines! #Du30
RoJim,
Too bad the Comelec and Yellow (Chinese-loving) Tards voted for the wrong vice-president (Rebredo–who is poised to win).
Aeta
Great insight, thanks for the information.
We are not contented with 80% of promises delivered? You are either blind or delusional. We voted for Duterte with eyes wide open, that despite what you see and hear outside, he has the heart and mind for his fellow Filipinos. Those are things we never saw from the Aquinos and their cohorts, including the so called “freedom or human rights fighters” who were allied with Ninoy.
The whole Philippines, its present state and condition, the overseas slaves and workers sacrificing to be away from their families, the beggars, the jobless, the oppressed farmers and laborers, the neglected victims, the lack of infrastructures, developments (despite the big outlays)… I could go on and on. But if you just open your eyes, you will see that our rulers did not have the true love for their country. Voting for Duterte was not a protest vote. It is a vote for good and good leadership, something, we never had. We know only to well that it s stupid to vote for the incompetent, inept, thieves and cheaters.
The just concluded election is definitely a protest vote-against Aquino’s abuses and most, incompetence.The Filipinos were utterly disappointed,not only of broken promises but the vulgar manifestation of incongruity of bannered advocacy.There is no such thing of Ninoy heroism or Cory legacy,these were only continuously promoted/inculcated by giant media outfits(owned by the oligarchs and staunch allies)for purpose that would serve them best.To date,such presumption back fired and magnified their indiscretions and betrayal to the people.Hacienda Luisita is the stigma of what their great grandmother deviously started,which they would pursue till eternity(The Hacienderos).Pnoy’s impeachment of CJ Corona,for deciding to give those lands back to the rightful owners(the farmers)was a proof of such pursuit.Pnoy insolently disregarded the separation and independence of the branches of our government,that resulted to Constitutional Crisis and weakened our Institutions.With the luxury of social media,people were conveniently afforded information that were intentionally made unavailable by mainstream media.Deception and disinformation has become an obsolete tool for the latter.The Duterte victory is a milestone for Philippines’ democracy.Through a decisive vote,the Filipinos are emphatic in empowering themselves,and once and for all trash the patina of imbalance democracy inconspicuously fed upon us by the Aquinos and the oligarchs.