The men-in-robes who turn Filipinos into consumers of misinformation.
This is in response to the list of “fake news” sites published by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) which included GetRealPhilippines.com. We did not respond to this initially because we thought it was too ridiculous to be taken seriously. The lack of a sound basis and coherent set of criteria applied to coming up with this list led us to assume that people would not easily fall for this propaganda stunt.
Evidently, however, we underestimated the influence these men in robes exert on many Filipinos as we had, in the last few days, been receiving requests to comment on our inclusion in this list. Many of these requests come from university students that had seemingly been instructed by their teachers to write papers on “fake news” sites and had used the CBCP list as reference for their work.
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It is quite interesting that in this day and age when information is so easily accessible that Filipinos continue to rely on an antiquated institution that has, for centuries, sought to suppress the evolution of society from one imprisoned by ignorance and superstition to one enlightened by science and evidence-based problem solving. The CBCP has exhibited neither the transparency nor the humility to subject itself to the same critical scrutiny that Filipinos demand that their other leaders be subject to. The hypocrisy in the way the CBCP conducts itself and regards the public in this regard is nothing short of astounding.
It should be noted that the CBCP list included only sites perceived to be critical of the Liberal Party and the broader Opposition to the government of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. No sites associated with the Opposition camps were included in this list. This is particularly relevant today in light of recent revelations surrounding certain characters associated with the Yellow and Liberal Party camps alleged to be orchestrating the operations of a large number of anonymous sites many of which are known publishers of unfounded opinions, downright false information, and even seditious material meant to undermine the Philippine government and slander it before a global audience. The people behind these treacherous disinformation campaigns should be held accountable for the damage they had done to the welfare of the Philippine state. More importantly, Filipinos should demand that the CBCP, at the very least, reveal the process with which it decided which sites to include in its “fake news” list.
GetRealPhilippines.com is not a “fake news” site. How can it be when we do not even presume to be a producer of news? What we do publish are opinions. Our work is subject to public scrutiny and our comment threads are open to anyone who wishes to challenge the positions any of our writers take on any issue. We have yet to see anyone successfully debunk any of our views and discredit any position we have taken. Nonetheless we continue to encourage all who find our views disagreeable to prove us wrong. We are one of the oldest political sites in the Philippines. Our longevity attests to the strength of our brand as a trusted source of insights on Philippine society. We were a blog long before posting on Facebook was referred to as “blogging”.
To those who are quick to believe certain “thought leaders” who insist that the CBCP are right to include us in a document no different to those medieval lists of banned books they hold a tradition of issuing over the last 1000 years, we ask that you challenge yourselves to be better than that. Be better than what mainstream media profiles you as. Be better than the politicians who expect you to vote for the same status quo that has not served Filipinos well over and over again.
Most important of all, be better than what those men in robes in the CBCP think you are.
benign0 is the Webmaster of GetRealPhilippines.com.
I , myself do not trust, those church leaders. They are political running dogs.. Just look at the Iglesia Ni Kristo, selling their votes to politicians, for the highest bidder. The Roman Catholic Church is a billionaire and a Haciendero, like the Aquinos. While their followers, live in abject poverty…
These CBCP idiots cannot even distinguish, websites that broadcast/writes news, and websites that are frequented by bloggers, to render opinions…
If there are “Fake News” in this GRP website. They are the Paid Trolls of the Aquino Cojuangco political axis. I challenge anybody in the CBCP, to debate with me; if what I am blogging is , “fake news”…
They can just pull out one or two of my previous blogs, and question me..I’m here, ready to answer anybody from the CBCP. I have been blogging in the GRP, for more than five (5) years now. I had tangled with Paid Trolls; paid hacks; and all kinds of evil “hombres”. My computer was even hacked. I received viruses, malwares, etc…to stop me from blogging. Yet, I’m still here …
I am not a lawyer. I am a Technical man, an OFW . I have a regular job and a family to support.
However, I blog, because I care for my fellow Filipinos. I give them information, and is
encouraging them to think, what they read and believe !
“While their followers, live in abject poverty…”
Whose fault is that, living in abject poverty? Isnt that the (stupid) fault of the (stupid) follower?
Mr. Haighton, the churches (CBCP) are against Birth Control. They encourage poor people to have many children. The more numerous the followers; the more they will earn money of their contributions. The followers are poor; but the churches are very rich !
Dear Hyden,
I know all that. But pls tell me that the church puts a gun to your head demanding from you to procreate and that you will obey (or the church will pull the trigger if you don’t obey)? So because the church doesn’t use a gun it is still YOU who does the procreating. You have the liberty to NOT listen to what the church preaches. That is called individual freedom. An individual can also say: “hey wait a minute, church. I have no money whatsoever to raise my (future) kid(s) properly. So, I take a rain check”. Each individual has the right to say NO.
Or are you saying that every blind follower of the church can be compared to a drug addict? That it is hard to beat the addiction? If that is true maybe Duterte should also kill/murder all (blind) followers. (Food for thought?). I am sure the Philippines have more church addicts then it has drug addicts.
Let me add: The Philippines has a plethora of bible addicts in tandem with church addicts.
@Robert Haighton:
It is not gun the churches put on your head. It is the Fear that you go to Hell, and be Roasted in the Sea of Fire, forever…
If you follow them, you will spend Eternity in Heaven. All your needs are taken cared of by God and his angels…. and you will be forever happy…
It is like the Radical Islam belief, that if you blow yourself up, and kill Infidels (unbelievers); you will be a martyr, and go directly to Paradise, and make love to 72 virgins, forever and ever.
Of course, this is Insane , by Atheist view, like you. But, the believers of any of these religions, are “True” to them. They will die for it !
Hyden,
in my country there are 3 categories of Christians:
a) the strict ones
b) the moderate ones
c) the enlightened ones.
This last category (c) can still be categorized as “religious” because they have been baptised. But after that they have not been taught anything religiously (not going to church, not reading the bible, not applying any biblical ‘rule’/text).
For them it is ‘easy’ to make that transition bec
– all Dutch laws are secular
– we also transitioned from a relatively collectivistic country to a far more individual-oriented country
– there is a clear seperation between state and church. (Hence, the church has no power at all).
Now, I do know that you do NOT like me and my views (I can live with that) but you cant deny that my country is not chaotic and not poor. So probably we are doing (some) things right and good.
Political wise, there are still political parties (CU, SGP, CDA) that are based on religion. If they get into power, they will set us back to the Middle Ages by changing all secular laws (no abortion, no same-sex marriage, no divorce, no contraceptives; no euthanasia).
My point is this:
I do understand from many GRP articles that the Philippines (still) need a leader [sic]. Now if she/he addresses the nation (live on TV, radio and all social media) and telling them that it is okay to use contraceptives and by doing that the future will look far brighter for them (less kids or even no kids) then maybe that will help (a bit). Now how come Duterte is NOT doing that? Because simply put, he is doggone afraid to lose voters.
@Robert Haighton:
The Roman Catholic Church , id part of the Feudal Oligarchy in the Philippines. It is rich and powerful. Well, I like you discussing with us in the GRP. We learn from each other.
“The Roman Catholic church , is part of the feudal oligarchy in the Philippines.”
^I am totally NOT surprised about that ^.
People who live in abject property no longer have the liberty to make decisions. They have put themselves in a position that has robbed them of the freedom to think for themselves. The conditions of poverty does not lend itself to higher thinking. They haven’t the education to equip themselves to think critically or logically. They turn to their religion as their only hope for all problems — religion is their panacea.
The church does not encourage or dictate followers to procreate. They actually teach responsible procreation through the natural method (i.e. using the “calendar” method), however this technique requires discipline, planning and thinking — these traits are lacking in poor people. Poor people do not plan; they react.
You have assumed that impoverished people have the ability to make sound decisions and choices that involve thinking of consequences, e.g. taking into consideration one’s ability to support a child. These people have no capacity to think on that level. They live day-to-day and their earnings go hand to mouth.
“They turn to their religion as their only hope for all problems — religion is their panacea.”
And, has the church solve all their problems?
Most people have a tendency to be curious and want to learn. So we will go and explore things. If every time I stick my penis in a vagina and the woman gets pregnant, its not rocket science what caused it. At least, god didnt do it (I would not know how he can establish a pregnancy in the first place).
I dont know how things are organized in the Philippines, but having kids cost money. So that will make poor people even poorer. And that is also no rocket science.
But here is what I keep on hearing. (Poor) Filipino woman want to have at least a daughter. Now, why is that? Bec the daughter has the obligation to take care of and to (financially) support the mother when she is old. And because there is no recipe or a choice of what we are pregnant of (boy or girl), the number of pregnancies can skyrocket.
“We have yet to see anyone successfully debunk any of our views and discredit any position we have taken. Nonetheless we continue to encourage all who find our views disagreeable to prove us wrong. ”
It’s not exactly proving GRP wrong, after all opinions are expected to be subjective, but there was one article here that I strongly disagree with. I think it was benign0’s viewpoint on cellphones in cars. His disapproval in using cellphones as navigation tools and the people who use it appeared to me as something akin to an old man who is denying the modern convenience of technology. But as said, I can’t prove him wrong for opinions he has strong feelings with. We could just disagree and discuss arguments in the comment section (hopefully in a civil manner).
Do pardon that I no longer remember the particular article nor I can link it. But I assume Mr Benign0 knows what article I am talking about?
The church has had a history of having connections with government since the Spanish era. I remember reading that in the 1800s, friars were being thrown out of other countries and colonies probably because of a wave of secularism happening. There was one place thought where clergy influence on government remained… you guessed it, here. The friars all scrambled to go to the Philippines, where they had political authority of sorts. So the priests expect to maintain that connection even today. It’s the problem of people who believe they have a monopoly of what is right… they will want to impose what they believe on the whole society, screwing the freedoms of others.
I really dont understand why Duterte does NOT end that influence (connections) right here and right now.
Those connections look pretty deep and strong that the government alone can’t do it. So entrenched, it’s likely to get violent (or even more violent) if that “ending of church influence” is implemented. Perhaps though it needs more of the people’s support, such as more of them leaving Catholicism, for it to work.
Lies sound like facts to those who’ve been conditioned to mis-recognize the truth.
We have muslim friends to deal with CBCP and Catholic church.