Perhaps if our “activists” focused more on creating buzzes around real issues rather than on presuming to police the campaign tactics of our politicians and auditing their token fly-by-night “platforms” we’d gain more traction around creating a more issues-based political discourse. Indeed, unless you are as brilliant as Lee Kuan Yew, there is little point in attempting to legislate good manners in one’s society much less trying to impose “measures” to induce “intelligent” voting this coming elections.
It seems our so-called “thought leaders” are forgetting that democracy is, in essence, a bottom-up regime. Yet within the ranks of the “intelligentsia” who are calling for the top-down rollout of “rules” to curtail politicians’ efforts to disseminate information about themselves to the electorate are the very same choir members renowned for singing praises at the altar of the “people’s will.” If you want issues to rule the election then “activists”, social media “practitioners”, and their followers should remain consistent to issues as the primary currency of their chatter.
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Focus on creating buzzes around issues and voters (if we are to go by the assumption that social media chatter matters) will remain focused on issues. Focus on creating buzzes around rules that restrict campaign behaviour and we get an electorate made up of bozos who will be focused on form rather than substance.
Are these elections a contest scored on the basis of who has a platform, how much stuff are in these “platforms”, how many or how few campaign posters are being put up in accordance with the “rules”, and how “engaging” and “respectful” our politicians are of social media “practitioners'” demands for interviews? Seems like it is all heading in that direction if we are to take stock of the focus of election activism today — a focus on form. Where is the focus on substance? As Yoda say: difficult to see.
Substance has never been a strong feature in any aspect of Filipino life, and elections. As such the quantity of information is irrelevant. Commie legislator Teodoro Casiño Jr argues that unlimited campaign airtime in the nation’s media outlets “favored wealthy candidates or those backed by the ruling elite,†making it impossible for “poor and cash-strapped candidates [like himself]” to compete.
Boo hoo.
Of course commies would argue that. They are the same bozos who would argue for a centrally-controlled distribution of wealth in the spirit of “fairness” (form) while ignoring the reality of the likely superiority of the products (substance) whose development and marketing are funded by bottom-up minimally-regulated allocation of foreign and domestic capital (which is the way modern financial systems work). If we are to accept Casiño’s position, we may as well curtail the ad spending of multinationals so that poor and cash-strapped sellers of owner-type stainless jeeps stand a chance against the sleek ads of automotive behemoths like Toyota and Mitsubishi.
We “educate” consumers to be discriminating buyers and wise spenders while applying very little regulation on the marketing and advertising practices of producers and marketers. We educate consumers by providing them enough information about issues to surrounding the products they are at liberty to choose. That’s in the spirit of the free market.
Presumably we also live by democracy’s spirit of upholding the average schmoe’s entitlement to free exercise of the power to choose leaders and representatives. So following the principles of the free market we so love and keenly practice, our approach to “educating” voters should be about the issues surrounding their options and how voters’ understanding of these issues determine who they vote for — not on this or that “rule” around how much or how little information their candidates are allowed to disseminate about themselves. That is a pact solely between candidate and voter. Let the free markets (for goods, services, and votes) float freely. Let freedom of expression reign, and let the Philippine Government reflect the character of its subjects as closely as possible. This is after all what democracy is all about — a government of the people by the people and for the people.
Control freaks and communists should make like ducks and butt out.
* * *
Epilogue:
If there is something about campaigns that needs to be limited, perhaps it should be the amount of time President Benigno Simeon “BS” Aquino III spends on the campaign trail on behalf of his henchmen. That activity, after all, is funded by taxpayers’ money. Kris Aquino should be outraged.
[Photo courtesy Yahoo! New.]
benign0 is the Webmaster of GetRealPhilippines.com.
So important to elect the right candidate but no air time for debates? Just slogan’s, slogans music from 6am-6pm every single day, YMCA, Gangnam Style or I’m gonna live forever, I don’t ever want to hear those songs ever again! isn’t that a privacy, sanity issue? And the election will only be about Manila the other provinces stay as they are for decades unchanged while Manila is way overdeveloped and a never-ending nightmare of traffic, doesn’t it make sense to develop other area’s and also expand government offices outside Manila, Luzon has a Northern and Southern end.
I believe na mas mabuting harapin mo muna ang lahat ng ating mga kababayan bago makipagdebate na kaunti lamang naman ang nakakasaksi.
they should run an ad
‘mother knows best’
cory aquino’s scathing assessment of noynoy as stated in us ambassador kenneys cables released on wikileaks following kenney’s conversations with cory.
lustrous career ( i.e done nothing)
not a politician
indecisive
the family had to pull all the stops out to get him elected as senator in the first place!
kenney also goes further and basically says p-noy didn’t have a clue about anything in their meetings, and simply benefitted from his mothers death otherwise he would have remained a nonentity
kenney clearly underwhelmed by p-noy.
i suspect jovial harry thomas has to bite his tongue a lot. hope his cables get released. should be colourful.
p-noy avoids work by ribbon cutting or campaigning.
can never act presidential
and mummy will be turning in her grave saying ‘i told you so’
Link: http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/304137/news/nation/wikileaks-ex-us-envoy-says-cory-doubted-noynoy-s-charisma
The worst of all is that why on earth the majority of Filipinos voted for him as the President :-S.
I vehemently and completely disagree with former Ambassador Kenney. Noynoy is a great president. He is absolutely competent and capable…as a political endorser and campaign manager. Granted he wouldn’t be as great as a political endorser and campaign manager if he wasn’t famous in the first place.
Or maybe his family also had to pull out all the stops to get him to do those things well.
It’s like his love life. He’s such a smooth talker and charmer of the ladies but when it comes to personal relationships with them, he sucks.
Clearly the guy is not man enough to get into and maintain a serious relationship. I doubt if he has had any huge responsibility ever in his life up until he became a senator (in which he failed at miserably) and now the presidency (in which he is also failing miserably).
The recent cables show that Cory has doubts about him. You’d have to be a complete and utter ass for you to get even your own mother to have doubts about you.
Again, why did they release such info only now. This information could have been useful to millions of Filipinos who were duped way back 2010.
There is no conspiracy here. Wikileaks just so happened to get a hold of these cables recently and were only able to release it after.
This cable is part of a much larger collection of cables by other US diplomats assigned to other countries, known as the diplomatic cables leak. While the leaks about Marcos are part of the larger collection of US diplomatic cables leak known as the Kissinger cables, named after Henry Kissinger, US Secretary of State from 1973-1976.
These cables involve more than just Filipinos. Again, no conspiracy here if that is what you’re implying.
agree
no conspiracy just timing as and when.
an older cable talked of 1 trillion us dollars of mining resources in mindanao and us geologocal surveys being undertaken.
also change in law to allow us firms to have ownership.
no wonder us pushing aquino behind the scenes.
most probably promised him nobel peace prize if americans get their hands on the resources.
We are not a Democracy. We are Feudal Monopolistic Oligarchy….you see the rise of family political dynasties. The rich are the candidates. The poor voters are deceived and deluded. It’s like a vicious cycle. One rich man who is corrupt is taken out. Another rich man, more corrupt is voted in…
you got that right, as if the elections are not already decided? LOL, the #1(and only) reason to vote in the Philippines? TA-DA… P300!
Nasa daang matuwid na tayo now, wala na ang mga lumang trash na yan.
“Delusional disorder, previously called paranoid disorder, is a type of serious mental illness called a “psychosis” in which a person cannot tell what is real from what is imagined. The main feature of this disorder is the presence of delusions, which are unshakable beliefs in something untrue. People with delusional disorder experience non-bizarre delusions, which involve situations that could occur in real life, such as being followed, poisoned, deceived, conspired against, or loved from a distance. These delusions usually involve the misinterpretation of perceptions or experiences. In reality, however, the situations are either not true at all or highly exaggerated.
People with delusional disorder often can continue to socialize and function normally, apart from the subject of their delusion, and generally do not behave in an obviously odd or bizarre manner. This is unlike people with other psychotic disorders, who also might have delusions as a symptom of their disorder. In some cases, however, people with delusional disorder might become so preoccupied with their delusions that their lives are disrupted.”
http://www.webmd.com/schizophrenia/guide/delusional-disorder
Ano naman? Eh ang mga kababayan naman natin ang nagvote ah? Patunay lang yan na maganda ang service nila
Lies. Just because of the media nowadays, naging UTO-UTO ang mga kababayan natin.
Iyan ang hindi mo alam. They use their EMOTIONS rather than their brains. Most of them are not smart.
LOL and some of them is pretending to be smart but can’t even realize that the news given to them by the yellow media and propaganda is just all bullcrap.
Casino has a point, whether he is a ‘commie’ or a ‘UNA’ candidate, does not matter. The wealthy are the only people who can afford to run a campaign. having to get financed to run a campaign puts the borrower in the ‘pocket’ of the financier. it is the same way with waging wars(campaigns), starting unions at the work-place(when the boss hires goons to beat up strikers the strikers call the BIGGER goons,sputniks/red scorpions or whatever!).
All that said, it most likely doesn’t matter as the elections are decided already, the people just have to wait for the election ‘results’. As if….
Siya lang kasi ang hindi magnanakaw sa mga candidates dati
Lies. Remember Hacienda Luisita? Oh, not to mention what the Aquinos have done for the past 25 years. What we get is MEDIOCRITY.
Deal with it.
Hindi daw magnanakaw?
Naniwala ka naman, uto uto.
Ilang beses mo na yan ginagamit na rason, same old shit as usual pero wala namang epekto dito.
Mangulo ka nalang sa iba.
Yan tinagalog ko na para maintindihan ng MALIIT mong utak.
Instead of airing sensible and logical debates live.The radio and television today is Heavily infested by false propaganda and retarded rip off campaign jingles.
The Philippines Supreme Court serves well the rotten and wily culture of the majority relative to their despicable mindset.
Basically it is a court for the oligarchs with a mind of its own to serve the personal interests of those employed by it.
Perhaps all of it leadership belongs to those who feast in the same banquet hall with the politicians and governments official devouring whatever the country’s resources that they siphon into their gluttonous bellies.
The media is the rabid and drooling dog to the highest bidder.
The media masks their self-righteous interests by documenting the miserable plights of the poor in order to acquire millions through their sponsors. They win awards for their performances, however, do they ever share even crumbs to those poor children and people they are exploiting?
When it comes to serious investigative documentaries that would eventually have more impact in opening the eyes of the majority, most of them would never dare to trod into.
Like the plights of the public school teachers: with their very little salaries, they need to spend for the materials for their designated classrooms i.e. chalks, floor wax, brooms, room beautification, etc., etc. In addition, their greedy district supervisors would flood them with raffle tickets to sell (and pay for those unsold), other unnecessary insurances (for their own personal sales commissions), etc.
Very distinctive example of these types of journalists is Kara David. Although I like her so much, however, she let herself be a competent tool of GMA in exploiting the poor for their own self-enrichment.