Last July 2016, both political parties in the United States had their respective National Conventions. The Republican National Convention (RNC) was from 18-21 July, while the Democratic National Convention (DNC) was a week later, 25-28 July. The Republican nominee for President is Donald Trump, while for the Democrats it is Hillary Clinton.
Donald Trump is often perceived as the anti-establishment candidate. He is the guy who is trying to be perceived as relating with the plight of ordinary Americans. And yet he has made a lot of enemies out of minority and immigrant communities for his perceived racism, bigotry, and lack of political correctness.
Hillary Clinton, to many, represents the traditional politician that Americans have seemingly grown tired of; she has been tied to numerous scandals, and has been painted by her enemies as not being all that truthful with the American public.
| 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 |
The overall tone for each of the national conventions couldn’t have been more different. Observers noted that in the RNC, the overriding tone was fear; in the DNC, the overriding message was one of hope.
The RNC speakers were making their points that America is no longer safe. America is getting the short end of the stick and is no longer respected in the international community. Illegal immigrants are taking away jobs and are connected to violence and crime in neighborhoods. Donald Trump will “make America great again.”
Image courtesy: The Wrap (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
The DNC, on the other hand, had speakers making their points that the type of racist and inward-looking mentality espoused by Trump and the Republicans does not belong in America. America is already great, so they said.
Image courtesy: rediff.com
In the Philippines, the two-month old presidency of Rodrigo Duterte has had him also make a few major speeches. In particular, his inauguration speech and his first State of the Nation address (SONA) are highlights, the former delivered last 30 June, the latter last 25 July.
Watching the speeches, one would get the impression that president Duterte would rather go do actual work than make those speeches. Despite having a prepared address, president Duterte had ad-libbed parts of his addresses. Depending on one’s perspective, the impression one would get is that he is either: speaking from the heart, or going on pointless ramblings and tirades.
Similar to the US, the two moods of hope and fear also characterize the Philippine political scene. Hope is festered among not only supporters of Duterte from way back, but also the groups who have been longing for a different kind of politician, one that Duterte’s predecessor, Benigno Simeon “BS” Aquino, embodied quintessentially.
Fear dominates among the people who are afraid that Duterte’s campaign against illegal drugs will descend into anarchy and chaos. Fear is also expressed among the classes who are ultra-sensitive to any impending signs of despotism, dictatorship, and threats to their so-called freedom and democracy.
Native Americans, the Cherokee, in particular, have a legend called The Two Wolves which, I think, fits aptly in the current climates of the US and the Philippines:
An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy.
“It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.” He continued, “The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person, too.”
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?”
The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”
In both the US and the Philippine scenes, fear is represented by one wolf, hope by the other.
Which one will Americans and Filipinos feed?
Whoever wins, it will definitely make for an interesting show.
А вы, друзья, как ни садитесь, все в музыканты не годитесь. – But you, my friends, however you sit, not all as musicians fit.
Political candidates do anything to get elected. There are : lies, mudslinging, character assassination, false accomplishments peddled to the voters, etc…if we swallow these, we are suckers …
A political candidate will never tell us the Truth. It is because, if they tell the Truth…they will not get elected. Name brand is another tactic. Like, if the name is Aquino, Roxas, Marcos, Arroyo, Robredo, etc…it must be good…nothing is further from the truth…we are not electing packaged material !
Hope is in us, not from the political candidates. How many times, we swallow the bait called:Hope; then, get disappointed.
Change is another one…”the more things change, the more they stay, the same”…they usually say.
Let us use our common senses, on whatever is peddled to us, by any of these politicians. If we see Concrete Results, of what they are peddling. Then, this must be the Real Thing !
The yellow camps – Liberal party – mainstream media have been feeding all these negative feels, and even hate to the Filipino people. The Filipino people are not as gullible as 30 years ago. It is up to the people now to feed from either the yellow camp or the current administration. I have been away from PI for 6 years now. When i was there i was busy earning a living and was doing away with negative news. My first 2 years abroad was also busy adjusting and making a living. News from family and news about calamities were what mattered to me. But i was also slowly reading world news, acquiring and sharing information (for example science, Cancer updates), buying books and sending them hope after reading them. WHEN #SAF44 happened that’s when my patriotism was reborn. I sought news, insights…and i woke up from aquino stupidity. I became selective on news sources (Manila times and PTV my top 2), journos to read, bloggers to follow. With wider availability of internet to more Filipinos, this will help in the awakening, re-awakening, education, and development of critical thinking of the Filipinos. And with the help of the Duterte Administration,I BELIEVE THE FILIPINOS WILL CHOOSE TO FEED THE GOOD WOLF – joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.
It’s looking like the LOVE of President Duterte for The Flag, For the Motherland is starting to transcend the Filipino People. For when one is down, isn’t going up the only way to go?
So for the Yelowtar_ _, i am sorry, for the supporters of the Aquinos, the Liberal Party, the Oligarchs, the Mainstream Media, can you please try to be bigger persons and and let go of your love of power, love of money, and love of entitlement?????
Many in social media are giving the Wolf of Hope a well-deserved feast:)
Thus, the rabid whimper of the Wolf Of Fear i.e Rappler.
Feeding the wolves is easy. Shedding their sheep’s clothing to identify who they are is the hard part.
the wolves will be hungry now. people power already switched allegiance to president duterte. they knew they were hypnotized by the color yellow.
Yes, it only took 30 fucking years of “People Power” and “Pinoy Pride” for Filipinos to realized how stupid they had been, in falling for brainwashing propaganda of the atrocity of Martial Law, and to join a mob of sheep to graze freely in greener pastures, only to be devoured–one-by-one–by wolves in their midst.
agree 100%
The Failipinos in the Failippines fear the beast within the wolf because they do not understand the beast within themselves.
After watching Senator Alan Peter Cayetano’s interview with Christiane Amanpour on CNN, here are some suggestions to the Duterte government on how to communicate better about the war on the drugs.
The key is to focus on just three points. What are these three points?
POINT 1: Many of the killings are due to the drug lords cleansing their ranks.
– The drug lords and the crooked police who worked for them in the past are killing off their pushers before they can surrender and confess what they know.
– Of all the people who would want to capture these pushers alive, it is the Duterte administration, because these pushers have a lot of intel on drug networks. They are useless to the Duterte government if they are dead.
– The drug lords and crooked police are framing the legitimate police for the deaths of the pushers to discredit the anti-drug campaign.
POINT 2: Average daily killings are actually lower now under Duterte compared to the previous administration.
– Statistics from the last ten years prove this. Statistics also show that the number of casualties in police operations is very small as a percentage compared to the number of surrenderees.
– Groups connected to the drug lords—including the drug lord protectors in high government positions—are distorting the number of killings in order to discredit the anti-drug campaign.
– Central to this disinformation campaign is the move to label every death an “extra-judicial killing” even those that have nothing to do with the anti-drug campaign. The head of the Commission on Human Rights, Chito Gascon, a loyalist and appointee of the previous administration that coddled the drug lords, seems to be a participant in this disinformation campaign.
POINT 3: Leila de Lima is a tainted source.
– During Leila de Lima’s term as secretary of the Department of Justice in the previous administration, the Bilibid national penitentiary, which was under her supervision, became the number one source of shabu (meth) in the Philippines.
– It was also during De Lima’s term as DOJ secretary that the drug lords at Bilibid were able to turn their jail cells into luxury suites and do whatever they wanted, including hold lavish parties and concerts. She even attended their parties, and there are videos and pictures to prove this.
– Leila de Lima had an intimate relationship with her driver whom witnesses have claimed was the fixer/middleman between the Bilibid drug lords and the prison guards and DOJ officials who accepted bribes so the drug lords could have free reign at the prison.
Important tip shared by a friend who’s a pro: Stick to three points, and don’t let the interviewer control you. No matter what the interviewer asks, answer in a way that brings the discussion back to your three points. Resist the temptation to keep elaborating once you’ve made your point so the message is not drowned out by the details.
I applaud Senator Alan Peter Cayetano for his vigorous defense of the honor of our country, our police, and our President in front of the international media. Although he seemed a bit nervous, his passion and sincerity came across in the CNN interview. Meanwhile, De Lima was speaking like a stoned zombie who was obviously more interested in defending herself rather than the victims she was claiming to represent.
Leila de Lima proved one thing in that CNN interview: She will utter whatever lie is necessary—even lies that jeopardize the reputation of our country—to save herself. After watching that interview, it is clear there is no way De Lima will resign from the Senate or hang herself, as has been suggested. There is no way she will do that, because you cannot shame the shameless.
stop that probe probe at the senate. just bring out the witnesses against de lima in search for the probable cause.
De Lima is an immoral woman. She is a Drug Lord protector. She is deeply affiliated with the Chinese Triad Drug Mafia crime syndicate. Look at her works at the Bilibid Prison…her sex video with her driver lover titled: De Lima , KAMA SUTRA…
De Lima must be debarred and impeached !
Hayden,
De Lima is just one of the numerous members of the Senate that is controlled by the Chinese Triad Drug Mafia. There are others and their “controllers” are actually legitimate Chinese businesses. Money doesn’t discriminate on what’s legal or illegal and ethical or unethical. The Chinese has the money and our politicians have their price. Just like the old saying: “money talks, bullshit walks.”
Aeta
@Aeta:
“He who have the GOLD dictates the outcome…”a saying goes.
Chinese Triad Mafia Crime syndicate are over the world. Most members are in legitimate and illegitimate businesses. If they can, they will deal in political corruption, like bribery. There was a time , when the British who were still in control of Hong Kong. A British Police Commissioner, went to jail in Britain for corruption, done by this Chinese Triad Mafia.
They know how to corrupt public officials. They have done it well in the Philippines.
The multi million U.S. dollar, Bank Heist at a local bank, with money remitted to Bangladesh, is a classic example
of their work. The Bilibid Prison corruption, is another example. Along with the Shabu proliferation in our country. With the advent of China, as economic super power. The Chinese Triad, becomes a sophisticated crime syndicate !
Hayden,
“’He who have the GOLD dictates the outcome…’” This is true.
Everywhere you look in the Philippines, Chinese-Filipino business cartels (legitimate or illegitimate) have the “gold” while the Filipinos scrape for “tin cans” that littered this whole country, with nothing to show for it except 3 decades of bickering and fighting amongst themselves for crumbs that fall off the oligarchs’ tables.
The Chinese “triad,” “Chinese Mafia,” “Bamboo Network” or whatever anyone wishes to call it is very much alive in our society, corrupting our leaders and robbing our people the opportunities to bring their OFW family members home to restart their own businesses or find decent jobs; and, compelling our destitute population to turn to a life of crime or commit social injustices on each other just to survive.
We can only put an end to the continuous fleecing of our country by the Chinese if our people stop wasting so much time arguing over which of our leaders started the fire of graft and corruption and kept it going.
Instead, we should set aside our differences and learn to unite to identify, uproot, and destroy the real assholes who are supplying the fuel that keeps the fire of graft and corruption raging.
Aeta
This is so far off the mark it is unbelievable. Did anyone even realize the Democratic ‘machine’ STOLE the election from the real winner:BERNIE SANDER’s ? The ‘people’s choice’ was run over/cheated rendering democracy Dead-On-Arrival in the USA.
LOL! You assume too much that people here don’t know exactly what happened in the DNC. Perhaps you can tell me what relevance it has to the point I’m making in the article.
Ironic that for all your “obsession” about being correct, your comments hardly contribute anything useful to the discussion.
@Aeta:
The Chinese use the same economic tactic, as the British did to them. The British grew Opium in Afghanistan, and forced China to legalize Opium. There was the so called : Opium War. A lot of Chinese were hooked on Opium…Opium dens were everywhere in China. It made China very weak. French, American, Japanese came to partition China. Its riches were looted. Its people became servants. They were treated like dogs in their own country, by their foreign occupiers. These foreigners were called by the Chinese: “foreign devils !”
See the parallelism of our situation to their situation. Same situation, different times !
And the facilitators of this evil, are : Aquino; the whore: De Lima; Leni Robredo; Mar Roxas; Porky Drilon; some Filipino Chinese; the Liberal Party; Aquino’s cahoots;the YellowTards; the YellowTard media; etc…
Let us all be vigilant !
@ HT, the Opium Wars were not about getting Chinese people ‘hooked’ on OPIUM, NO ,IT WAS NOT. It was about TRADE, and what Britain saw as ‘UNFAIR’ tarriffs. It may looklike that because China got its ass kicked, but it was about selling goods to a vast Chinese markets that Great Britain and France (and a few other countries with Naval Military capabilities) wanted access to.
It did not hurt their cause that they had superior weapons than the Chinese as well.
Your reporting something that was not happening.IF you think that is irrelevant then why not just say the cow jumped over the roof of the Wells Fargo Arena during the DNC? and NO, sorry, having been in the country for many years and hearing what people have to say about the USA, I am spot on.
You’ve been schooled Son, and why are you quoting ‘OBSESSED’? I stated nothing of the sort and said nothing remotely like that in my previous comment….
AND WHAT NERVE YOU HAVE, after reporting incorrectly what was happening, you dain to think you can tell me about being RIGHT? You, Sonny, are a shithead.
Who are you replying to, Tell It like It Is: me or Hayden?
@ Aeta, Fallen Angel is the answer to your question.
It is almost FUNNY, that Filipino’s see this murdering scumbag as some sort of hero when all he is doing is stripping Philippine citizens of their civil rights (NOT HUMAN RIGHTS, DUH!)and has complete disregard for the constitution or the the rule of law.Duterte is a Neanderthalic thug and Filipino’s are so stupid, they love the guy.
[Revised]
Lincoln,
Which fucking planet do you live in that spoon-feeds your mind with ignorance about the reality of life in the Philippines? You probably live in the U.S., or other First World countries, where your version of how you see the Philippines is molded by CNN.
If CNN tells you the drug dealers willingly turned themselves in after Duterte pleaded with them, you’d probably believe that, too. Damn, it never ceases to amaze me that media brainwashing also happens to people in First World countries. You’re a perfect example of it.
Aeta
Wrong, you are wrong. I have lived on the beach in Camiguin for many years. Baragay YUMBING to be exact.
I have seen so much reality of Filipino life that it just might surpass your years on the planet,KID. Just because I disagree with the GRP writer’s doesn’t mean I am out of touch with what is happening in the Philippines or anywhere else I have been fortunate enough to travel to on this planet. I see things you see, with perfect eye-sight. I interpret things differently because I was educated elsewhere and lived many years outside of 3RD world hell-holes (like the Philippines)so as to be able to see what is actually happening when a guy like Duterte orders the murders of street level drug-dealers. it is just a short step to the next civil (NOT HUMAN) rights bereavement that Filipino’s will suffer. Just like the USA, what will it be, HABEUS CORPUS maybe? The USA lost that on Dec. 31,2011 and if you think IDK what I am talking about look up Obama’s NDAA from that date,OK? Your just a MORON Sonny, with a lot to learn.I’d post Paul Roberts website so you could MAYBE get a clue, but your nasty-ass doesn’t deserve it.I hope you stay as ignorant as you are now,which is:Just able to tell when your getting fucked in the ass BUT too stupid to do anything about it.
Is this reply for me, Tell It Like It Is?
@ Aeta,
This one is for you,YES.
Tell It Like It Is,
I, too, have seen so much reality of Filipino life because this is where I was born. I left here when I was 10 years old to migrate another country with my family, but came back often because we still owned 40 acres of farmland and a rice mill that my parents needed to tend to.
The rice-farming industry started having problems in the mid-1990s when rice wholesalers (mainly Chinese) started hiding the rice produce, paid farmers to do the same or not plant new crops, bought the farmland to limit the rice production quota, and transformed these idle land to housing subdivisions or other commercial properties.
Then the government came up with the idea of importing rice from other ASEAN countries as a part of their international trade agreement and to offset the rice shortage—which everyone knew was bullshit because this was the plan from the get-go by our government officials and the Chinese businesses: to import more rice into this country and to turn those farmlands into commercial properties.
Needless to say, many rice farmers—including my parents—eventually lost their farmland and means of livelihood to these motherfuckers.
I’m not going to go into details of what kind of life I had abroad and what I did for a living in the last 50 plus years of my life; but, I can tell you I’m not a “kid” and have experienced as much of this world as you probably have.
Most foreigners who moved to Third World countries like the Philippines often struck out in their own country—whether financially or romantically or both—that prevented them from staying there without losing the last shirt on their back or their sanity.
These foreign expats can afford to stay in the Philippines (or other Third World countries) on their retirement pension–or leave periodically to work overseas to finance their stay in this country–because the dwellings, the food, and the pussies here are much cheaper than where they came from.
Unfortunately, these expats get a little carried away with their new found status, and start to condescend on the way of life of the people by comparing it the way of life in their own countries, which you and I know is haughtily pretentious since there is no comparison.
I shit on my people with my writing because I understand what makes them tick. It’s just like Black Americans can call each other “Niggers” all day long and they won’t get offended. Anyone else doing it will potentially get their asses kicked.
It’s the same concept here. I can call my people “dumbass” or “assholes” or “motherfuckers” all day long, and they shouldn’t take it personally because those are just “call to action” words to get them to change their shitty ways. If they get offended, then it’s all the better; maybe they’ll change faster.
I, too, was educated in First World thinking and taught to abhor violence, unless it was to defend myself and loved ones against people who are trying to harm us.
You and I live in a Third World Philippines, where the kind of reasoning power you and I were brought up with doesn’t work. If you think the United States is a “dog-eat-dog” world, it’s a fucking “dog-eat-everything” in this country. It’s what everyone here calls a “Laman Tiyan” mentality (eat everything you can, no matter what it is, to keep you from going hungry too soon since you don’t know when you’ll eat again).
I’m not sure why you feel the way you do about Duterte, but it’s refreshing to finally have a president who didn’t come from a traditional political aristocracy. You can call Duterte anything you want, but it still doesn’t change the fact that he will still be the president of this fucked up country for the next 6 years, who will turn this country upside down to shake of the dust of graft and corruption that has been clinging on its dirty walls for generations.
The problem I have with you and your comments is you’re always coming off as conspiracy expert about everything that’s going around the world, which include knowing the motives of all the key players in government, as if you’ve walked in these people’s shoes and knew exactly what they were thinking.
You might think you know it all–including which politician is blowing who–but you’re not that good. Nobody is. You’ve even accused me of not knowing enough about my own country, which is sad to hear since I was born and spent the early part of my life here. Yes I’d migrated to another country for a few years, but I’ve since moved back to the Philippines to live—off and on—for almost 20 years now. I think I deserve better than being called a “kid” who still don’t know what the fuck he’s talking about, when it comes to what life is like in this country and how the people who live in it think.
Aeta
“Feeding the Wolves” title is worthy of this article. But there is also an esoteric message for our nation that one needs to know and that is the word “M-A-R-E-M-A-D”. These are the seven presidents from Marcos to Duterte.
Mare is a horse that coincide with the meaning of the name of King Philip II (the name Philippines came from) which was said to be “lover of horses”.
So what is the implication for that? It means that the Philippines will be embroiled in a bitter struggle through politics, economic, social and spiritual upheavals that was brought about by the Sino (Chinese) race that dominates our landscapes, culture, life and consciousness. It was a “female mad horse” owing to the fact that we have past female presidents which also showed that we are really a matriarchal society.
It may sound silly to believe in this but the message is clear that the foreboding (zeitgeist) spirit of times is now working on this nation.
“What you sow, is what you reap”.
So glossalolia isn’t BULSHIT either? MAREMAD?
Its sad that you aren’t kidding…but keep believing that MAREMAD has got the Philippines into the tragic state it is in….it just may help you lead all Filipino’s out of the shithouse…….NOT!!!
WOW, thats some sad shit…whew!