Many Filipinos often pride themselves with the idea that the values of old in the Philippines continue to endure. Some people even openly scoff at Western countries, saying that their “liberated” ways has somehow ruined them. But then again, if these people are as decadent as some Filipinos say they are then why is it that they seem to be much more advanced and productive than we are. Then, there are those countries like Singapore and Japan whom we call out on being “uptight” and take themselves too seriously but are nonetheless centuries away from the kind of mindset that we have.
As stated by Dumangsil in his article here, the media is all too often the only authority our brainless masses recognize. For those who cannot understand what is written on his article, I can best summarize it as an expose on how the media is being used by the powers that be to control the countless impoverished citizens of our country. It’s sad to note for instance that more people wept and reacted for a beaten celebrity than the brave soldiers and policemen who fought for the freedom of their country and died at the cruel hands of their enemies. Worst yet, the media continues to corrupt the minds of our less fortunate countrymen with lies and misguided ideas, leading us to becoming a mediocre and stagnant nation of fools, cowards and knaves. While we can’t really blame everything on the media for the multitude of problems that our country is facing, we cannot deny the fact that they aren’t really helping much. Indeed, the Philippine media has succeeded in making the Filipino people oblivious to the rampant poverty, corruption and violence that take place on a regular basis. For reasons that continue to elude me, it seems the big TV networks of the country have convinced Filipinos that everything is okay because we have people like Manny Pacquiao, Charice or Kris Aquino to keep us happy, never mind the homeless and starving Yolanda victims, the lost funds to improve our country and the criminals and murderers who rob, rape and kill innocent bystanders and are still at large.
The media expounds endlessly on values and virtues that Filipinos have and why it makes us superior. Unfortunately, I would like to add that these values and virtues are only presented superficially in most local shows and the idea of morality and its full implications are almost never explored. The Pinoy media likes to talk about being strong adherents to the MTRCB’s rules and regulations and that their shows have Christian values that people should imitate. However, the “virtues” these shows aim to display are at best misrepresented and, at worst, not even fully shown.
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Here, allow me to explain:
Hope
- What The Media Wants Us To Think: Hope is good and that it will ultimately be what saves us from the perils of the world. In fact, it’s hope that makes Filipinos so special and what makes them superior to all the uptight peoples of the West and the other Asians around them who act like they have sticks up their asses. The fact that unlike those fetishistic Japanese and those grumpy Singaporeans, Filipinos are still able to smile despite all the disasters that have happened to them over the years. See, even after Yolanda, Filipinos continue to smile because they still have hope for the future and it is their hope and that continues to give life to them despite the difficulties of the times.
- What It’s Actually About: Well, here’s the killer, hope really is good; but it’s only good if one is willing to back it up with actions. Hope, with no real direction, is just false hope. In the end, it just becomes misleading and counter-productive. In the science fantasy setting of Warhammer 40,000, the Chaos God (demonic deity) Tzeentch is associated with hope and the delusion he brings to his followers. Based on my observations, Pinoys who like to rant about hope being one of the Pinoy’s biggest assets is really no different from the common Tzeentchan cultist who, despite being utterly screwed in every sense of the word, still thinks that everything is okay and that things are always in his favor. Hope is never enough and like I said, all the hope in the world is pointless if one isn’t willing to fight for it.
Faith
- What The Media Wants Us To Think: Faith is the Filipino’s greatest asset. It’s what makes the Philippines so special because we are the only country this far in Asia that is predominantly Catholic or Christian. Surely we are blessed and that we are the apple of God’s eye here in Asia. We’re also a conservative people and we’re nothing like those lewd Americans, perverted Europeans and lecherous Japanese. And even if we’re poor, miserable, hated or about to be killed, it’s okay because the next life will always be better. In fact, screw this life, it doesn’t matter if we can barely afford a meal each day or that I can’t write my own name or that we have more than twenty brothers and sisters living in our little shack because we’re sure to be rewarded in the next life because of our humility.
- What It’s Actually About: Okay, this is probably one of the biggest reasons we don’t really get anywhere in this country. The so-called “wholesomeness” in Philippine TV is a sham when even your afternoon teleseryes contains implied sexual encounters. They often refuse to air shows that get people to think critically and the value of faith is undermined so that people can be better controlled through religious dogma. Faith is about believing in a power greater than yourself and that you are a accountable for your every action. No, faith is most certainly not about placing yourself in the hands of people who consider themselves morally superior because there really is no such thing as “moral superiority”. We are all equals in the eyes of God and equally flawed and sinful. No priest, minister, nun or miko is any more righteous than the rest of us. To have true faith means to do God’s work yourself and not sit around waiting for a miracle to happen or worshiping statues crying tears of blood or the face of Jesus that formed on your bathroom floor.
Love
- What The Media Wants Us To Think: Oh! Here’s the best of all! We Filipinos, after all, are a “romantic” people. Don’t you know that love makes everything better? Never mind that the guy you fell for is a criminal or psychopath who rapes and eats babies because love conquers all! Never mind that the girl you love is a materialistic and prudish twat who likes to hurt children because love conquers all! Never mind that we’re homeless or can’t even afford to feed just one of our twenty-four children because love conquers all! Remember that all those good stories end with love and love always equals happily ever after. Why, in all those films with John Loyd Cruz, Sarah Geronimo, Coco Martin, Angel Locsin, Piolo Pascual, Bea Alonzo and Anne Curtis, doesn’t everyone find love in the end and live happily ever after? Look at Dingdong and Marian, didn’t they just have a wedding straight out of a fairy tale? They’re probably enjoying their happily ever after even as we speak! So c’mon, let’s make love and be a family even if I’m just fourteen and you’re just twelve because then we can have our happily ever after.
- What It’s Actually About: Okay, hands down, I’m no expert in this topic but I have observed so many problems this country faces because of our misguided ideas on love. As Dumangsil said in his post, everyone seems to think that everything ends with love even though in real life, it’s quite the contrary; everything begins with love. It is the love between a man and a woman that creates a new life after all. Unfortunately, the media glosses this over in order to highlight the feel-good effects of romance instead of the responsibility that comes with true love. Love isn’t just about one’s emotions and that finding someone in your life might require a little practical thinking as well. I note all the unwanted pregnancies I’ve encountered so far and I’m beginning to think that all our “romantic” sentiment in the Philippines is nothing more than just the kind of “love” that horny teenagers feel. Love is seldom the ideal slush that is presented to us in most Pinoy romantic comedies so one shouldn’t put too much stock in them. Love is all too often ironic in and of itself and love almost always comes with a sense of humor as one commenter had mentioned. It’s not that perfect princess or that prince charming you should aim for because those images are probably just their “public” appearances and that they might be really different people in real life. Love is kind of funny in that you might just find the person you’re looking for might be under your nose the whole time. Maybe the princess you’re looking for might actually be that quiet but cute girl in the office next to yours. Your knight might even be that plain-looking but hard-working guy who just lives next door. If you want real love in your life, I strongly suggest you ditch local romantic films and teleseryes and what they often have to say about the subject. Love is best experienced for yourself.
Happiness
- What The Media Wants Us To Think: Ooh! Ooh! Filipinos are one of the happiest people in the world. We’re always smiling. We’re always smiling even if bad things have happened to us. Just look at our president, he was smiling even after that horrid hostage crisis, he was smiling even after Typhoon Haiyan hit and he’s still smiling even after those 44 police officers and soldiers were killed. Filipinos are like our president because we are all always smiling. Therefore, we are a happy people and we’re always happy even if bad things our happening to us!
- What It’s Actually About: Happiness isn’t just about smiling. Yes, you can smile, but are you really happy inside? Anyone can smile, actually. A common citizen, a politician, a police officer, a soldier, a porn star, a rape victim, a dog and a crocodile (permanently) can smile, but do they really mean it? In fact, to say that Filipinos are a happy people because they smile is very erroneous, to say the least. It would be better to surmise that we are a nation of “Stepford Smilers” because it is only our faces that smile and not our hearts. Here is a comment from a Russian friend that I have that would be better suited to expressing what I mean here:
“Americans say that we Russian people are a grumpy people because we not like to smile not like Filipinos who smile all the time. But I like to think, ‘why smile when nothing funny’? We Russians are like that. We do not like to smile when nothing funny or when not happy. To smile even when bad things are happening is crazy, like your president. There he is smiling like idiot when hostages get killed because of him, he still smiling after storm come and destroy cities and he still smiling even after police and soldiers are killed by terrorists. A Russian who smiles when he find dead body of homeless boy in the street after winter is crazy and sadistic. Tragedies never funny and not something to smile about.”
I HAVE RETURNED TO LAY WASTE TO OUR ENEMIES!
Thaddeus,
My apologies for commenting again. I start to sound like a ‘broken record’.
You use the word media. Does that include all? TV, radio, newspapers & magazines? Is it really that bad in the Philippines?
Maybe its about time to start your own TV network, radio stations, newspaper(s) and magazine(s). Do some crowd funding (startup company) and become a media tycoon by only printing and airing the truth.
But at least stop buying the current Phili newspapers & magazines, stop watching Phili TV programs and stop listening to Phili radio stations.
If and when everybody does the above, for sure those companies are out of business pretty quick.
Easier said than done but I’ll take your word for it. I’ve always dreamed of starting my own videogame company like Capcom or Blizzard but, considering the Pinoy mindset, that’s not gonna happen soon… 🙁
Your idea is too far-fetched. The golden rule of mass media is to get the people what they want. These companies are just catering to the demands of their customers which is us. The garbage what we see, hear and read are the effects of Filipinos not educated well enough.
Carlo,
when I dont like a TV program then I either dont watch it or turn off the TV.
I understand my idea is far-fetched but one has to begin somewhere.
is that really what filipinos want? are filipinos really demanding for more saccharine telenovellas and romance films? are people shouting for more talent shows? or perhaps they want them because thats what they are given. if there were more variety on tv, like in the usa which has sci-fi, homicide, mystery, animated, and other shows then perhaps the filipinos would be clamouring for that. can you imagine a filipino version of the x-files? i sure can’t. i don’t think the filipinos have it in them even though movies like interstellar, the hobbit, and jupiter ascending play in the cinemas and people do go see them.
the monotony of filipino media is surely an indication of the filipino mindset. no variety and no risks taken. sure there might be a filipino or two who took risks in the past. quentin tarantino even has favourite filipino directors who made risky films back in the 70s. those films would not even be considered for production today because abs-cbn does not believe in risks or variety. but i think if they started taking risks in their programming and offering variety filipinos would clamour for more. the philippines needs a napoleon in the government and an orson welles in the entertainment industry.
I cant agree more with you Mowgli !!!
If a person is Smiling in the Midst of a Tragedy and Catastrophe. His Head should be examined by a Good Psychiatrist…”siguradong may sira siya sa Tuktuk ng ulo”…
The Aquino administration is using the “Diversionary Tactic”, to cover their failures. So, they Dumb people with: teleseryas, movie/TV stars, Prize winning shows, etc…
Did they explained why there is a very high rate of inflation?
Did they explained, why those Police/Soldiers became “Sitting Ducks” of the MILF/ISIS/Al Queda?
Did Aquino explained his “UnHoly alliance” , disguised as “negotiation” with the MILF/ISIS/ Al Queda?
Did Aquino explained why his “purse holder” ABAD was in the MILF/ISIS/Al Queda negotiations?
The MILF has grown tremendously over those years…who is financing them? People will not flock to fight like that, unless, they are getting something in return…they even get better weapons than our soldiers…
So, Aquino and his cahoot media divert us with: Hope, Love, Proud to be Pinoy, Holiness, etc…celebrities like : Pacquiao, Charise, Lea Salonga, Kris Aquino, etc… divert us with nonsense entertainments and talks…
Did Aquino explain why Hyden Toro and his endless alts are so fixated on him? No, he hasn’t; no wonder he’s fucked-up in the head.
@Pallacertus:
Another “Diversionary Tactic” of a Paid Hack of Aquino…I am just an OFW Taxpayer. I have to know where the money that I’m paying is going…like the rest of the Filipino taxpayers…
Answer my questions….can you see the pattern here of these YellowTard Paid Hacks…
I learn from a Reliable Source from the Philippine Military; that there were forty five (45) SAS soldier/police in that mission. Forty four (44) were murdered…however, One (1) survived.
The One survivor claimed he hid in a River, near the Massacre Site.
I looked on the Telescope from Space…in that Massacre Site are: rice fields, and sugarcane fields,etc…a claimed “River” is nowhere is site…
How did this Survivor survived? Made the River, for his survival? Or had some UFO friends helped him?
Purisima and Aquino have to explain this to the Filipino people. I don’t hear and see the so called “Survivor” talking to the Media…
I smell a STINK in the SAS operation..
No River near the massacre site…if you look
on the Planet Earth Coordinates…somebody is lying and had sacrificed these soldiers/Police, for a Price…
..No, Hyden0079, there is a river.
If we piece together what we have in the maintream media, there were 392 SAF operatives, or 49 teams/ squads, i.e., 8 to a squad. The 49 squads were divided into three groups (a) the core group composed of 4 teams, or about 32 men (some media report this as composed of 38 men), directly tasked with extracting, dead or alive, Marwan and Usman, (b) the blocking force composed of 5 teams, or about 40 men (most media report this as composed of 38 men), and (c) the support group composed of 40 teams that stayed in the vehicles parked in the main road.
In the cover of darkness of Saturday night, 9 teams entered the field via a delivery truck that normally picked up the corn products in the area. They drove as far as there was a road. Then they started hiking until the river and waded through the river which was about chest deep. Crossing the river, five teams, or the blocking force, stayed around this area as this was the critical point of exit. Four teams proceeded towards the target, a cluster of three nipa huts, where one was a bit of a distance from the two huts. That one hut was where Marwan was.
It is reported that firefight broke up 4-am Sunday morning. They could not avoid the firefight as the booby traps surrounding Marwan’s hut started exploding as soon as the four teams got near. The core team lost eight men in the firefight. The blocking force was practically wiped out mainly because the river made their retreat difficult. If there are fallen 44 as reported, then you are looking at 24 survivors from the core team and two (if 38 men, but four survivors if 40 men) from the blocking force.
Now, here is the puzzle. How were the 24 men from the core group able to get out? It appears that if this was a US-PH joint project, there was a division of labor; US had to focus their attention on the safety of the core group of four teams while PH had to focus their attention on the safety of the back-up teams, meaning the blocking force of five teams plus the 40 teams that stayed on stand-by in the main road. What assets or what means the US used in extracting the 24 men out of the killing field, nothing, zilch, is being reported in the media. But, this is the reason why the DNA and photos of the dead Marwan still managed to get into the hands of US, specifically the FBI.
What makes us, Pinoys, angry now is that authorities and officers on the side of PH bungled their part of the task and how terribly they bungled it. There are many reports that BS Aguino (Mama’s Panot) himself and Sec Deles, adviser to the peace talk, were in Zamboanga monitoring the the whole operation in real time, specifically in that room, that was temporarily converted into a command center and a drone monitoring and control set up by the US inside the property of Celso Lobregat. (Now, Lobregat denies there was such a set-up in his property. We don’t know if he is afraid of retaliation from MILF/ BIFF, or it is part of the contract he entered into when US rented his place that required silence on his part.)
But, the nagging question is: Was P-Noy really in Zamboanga monitoring the whole thing in real time? Unfortunately, he evades this question. If he is going to lie anyway, why not lie all the way and totally deny he was in Zamboanga. If he can’t do that, then he probably can say he was in Zamboanga, but not in that room in Lobregat’s property. But, even this seems not possible. So, can he blame the people with their ever growing suspicion that he was indeed in that room, the operation’s command center, if he continues to evade this question? How else should we take all these sudden investigating bodies now, but a cover-up, when one simple question he will not answer? And, why so many investigating bodies? Why not just one independent body? All these moves being pursued by Mama’s Panot and his ilks simply do not make sense. Do they really believe that with time they can change commonsense? He does not answer that one question, and it is puzzling.
So, he really looks so stupid in now putting all the responsibility and blame on the SAF commander, Napeñas, who does not have the pay grade to mobilize 49 teams, let alone 10 teams. I thought there was a need for an investigating body for truth, so how is it that they are suspending Napeñas already? And, why is Purisima already reacting and resigning when he can’t resign because there is a provision in R.A.3019 that says that govt people with pending graft cases are not allowed to retire or resign?? — he has five graft cases pending against him.
The most damning report, of course, (though, we can call it a tsismis for now because only two reporters picked this up and others in the media didn’t follow through) is that Deles and MILF’s Murad were continously in the phone during the firefight, and Murad, it appears, threatened P-Noy and Deles that MILF will walk out of the peace talk if the Army was called in to reinforce the operation which was to be strictly a PNP operation. In the meantime, Acting PNP Chief Espina, who was kept out of the loop re operation, became aware of the firefight by about 6-7am, started calling from Crame directly the commander of the nearest Army Battalion, which was just an hour away from Mamasapano. Due to the insistence of Espina, the commander of that Battalion moved, and when he arrived at the site, he was surprised WHY he had to be called in because there were already “maraming SAF” (his exact words) in the main road ready to go in and fight. In fact, they have already tried to go in, but was repulsed, as there were about “mga isang libung” (exact words, again) MILF/ BIFF involved or engaged in the fight. (If Army intelligence are to be believed the bulk of these MILF/ BIFF fighters, numbering around 800, can now be found in North Cotabato. Probably, fearing retalation in Maguindanao, they moved)
At this time, Zamboanga also became aware that an army battalion was already present in the scene to support the SAF support group of 40 teams. NOW, SOMEONE commanded all these guys in the main road to stand down. The claim is that that someone has to be PNoy, because only the president can over-rule Espina, the Army Battalion commander, Napeñas, or the commander of the 40 teams of SAF, or all of these uniformed officers. This is probable and possible because PNoy was the only one listening to the phone conversation of Deles and Murad. It appears Deles and Murad only came up with something to agree upon by around 3pm, and that is when a ceasefire was called. This was too late. The report said the blocking force had run out of bullets by 12noon. Some of them tried to surrender but were killed anyway. From 12noon to 3pm is the time these animals from MILF/BIFF committed their barbaric atrocities. One SAF operative, for example, had his brain removed from his open skull, and replaced with leaves. Others were mutilated beyond recognition.
And now, two weeks after, media is only reporting that PNP and Army are blaming each other. Is there a joke here we are missing? The initial reports showed that Espina and that Army Battalion commander seem to have friendly relationship and great coordination even on short notice. So, why make it appear now that PNP and Army are in some kind of a blaming battle? Is this another cover-up for that SOMEONE who commanded them TO STAND DOWN in that now infamous road in Maguindanao — what for BBL? That may turn out to be an unconstitutional piece of paper, but no real peace? ……That SOMEONE can also talk ANYTIME without the benefit of any investigating body if he wants to, because the questions are not many and are simple. He does not, instead we are being fed on primetime with #NANA, a pus, a YELLOWish thing that makes any normal being vomit.
@Add:
Please give me the Planet Earth coordinates of the “River…this is all I want..I cannot see it in my Space Telescope…all I see are rice fields, sugarcane fields, etc…I have already the Planet Earth coordinates of the place of encounter…
I believe the soldiers are not like the
U.S. Navy Seals to survive in a “River”…they are police/soldiers…did they bring their Aqualungs?
Hope. Faith. Love. Happiness.
Words that presupposes feelings or emotions and denotes inconstancy, hostility and instability all at the same time. Those are words that do not exactly represent what media is or supposed to be. Media is supposed to be fair and balanced; the paragon of transparency and propriety.
Communication is what media is. It infers about relaying, sharing or gathering of information.
Media tells us whether or not there is ‘hope’ not because it, too, desires for it but because we have to know. Media shows us the good and bad side of ‘faith’ not to make us hate those who do not share ours but to see others who have theirs. Media spreads the message of ‘love’ not to promote it but to remind us that there is such a thing within us. Media relays happiness not exactly for its personal consumption and celebration but to triumph victory and success as the way to enlightenment and knowledge.
Having said that, it doesn’t mean media is immune to corruption, to control and contamination. Anything man-made and run by humans are susceptible to error and abuse.
Media is an institution that is so powerful that people look at it with suspicion during times of need, instability or chaos. We tend to blame media for the filth and trash we see in the video, audio and the press and rightly so for its one of the pillars of democracy.
But using it as a escape goat is another matter.
I don’t think we are poor and dumb because of media. I don’t even believe we are dumb. We may be poor but we are knowledgable people. At this day and age, with all the information around us brought by technology, unless you are a hermit, you have no choice but to be informed.
Unless a systematic and intentional dumbing down of the populace is shown I don’t buy the idea that media is to blame as this article suggests.
Television content is only part of the problem:
“We spend more time watching TV than doing anything else except working and sleeping. And we do this despite sound evidence of television’s harmful effects. Researchers at Yale University have found that heavy TV viewing contributes to decreased attention spans and impatience with delay, as well as general feelings of boredom and distraction. Scientific American magazine has reported that television viewers exhibit “passivity and lowered alertness” as well as “less mental stimulation, as measured by alpha brain-wave production, during viewing than during reading.”
The journal Pediatrics published research in April showing that “hours of television viewed per day at both ages 1 and 3 was associated with attentional problems at age 7,” including attention deficit and hyperactivity disorders. The researchers called for “limiting young children’s exposure to television as a medium during formative years of brain development.”
(from LA Times, Dec 7, 2004)
See also: “The Medium is the Message” by Marshall McLuhan
” Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television” by Jerry Mander
Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.