A tweet issued yesterday by Inquirer columnist Dax Lucas resonated loudly across the Philippines’ Netizens:
The country’s so-called enlightened class in near panic over the prospects of a Duterte presidency. What a fascinating sight to behold.
Indeed, the elegant simplicity of this tweet hit me hard too and, finally, how I really feel about these 2016 presidential elections became a lot clearer when it sunk in. I regard a Philippines ruled by President Rodrigo Duterte with mere bemusement.
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Duterte is really just the end product of many years of political discourse marked by a poignant irrelevance in the issues of the day that stood out and the triumph of all the wrong arguments. Indeed, the ascent to power of incumbent President Benigno Simeon ‘BS’ Aquino III himself represents the single biggest failure of post-1986 Philippine “democracy”. In Aquino, we see the result of the folly in the fatal assumption underlying Filipinos’ embrace of democracy as embodied in Cory Aquino’s 1987 Constitution: the idea that;
What is popular represents what is right.
It was easy to bandy around the notion that a president’s mandate to govern is granted by virtue of the Filipino vote when the winning candidate embodies all of what “polite society” regard as the “right” characteristics. Aquino, supposedly, had all the right stuff — the son of prayerful national “heroes”, the one anointed by the Philippines’ self-described “thought leaders”, the Reluctant One who, as the thinking went, won’t be blinkered by power because he did not want it to begin with (supposedly).
And this is where the magnificence in Lucas’s tweet comes in. The most recent product of the Filipino Vote, a man who is everything Aquino is not, is now the subject of the screechy lament of the very same bozos who, just six years ago, pompously drumbeat ad nauseum the “triumph” of the very same “power of the people”.
“Aquino is president because the people had spoken!” Back then, in 2010, this was a convenient truth. Unfortunately, today, the truth is not only INconvenient, it is also confronting.
The rise of Rodrigo Duterte says a lot about what the Filipino people have become after 30-years of Cory’s “democracy”. Or, perhaps, it revealed what Filipinos really are — really always have been since 1946 after being granted “independence” by the United States. Filipinos did not really fail because there was less democracy, or that because there was too much democracy, or even because they were ruled by the Spaniards, or because they were ruled by the United States, or, yes, because America’s armies still march all over its territories shagging its women.
Perhaps the real lesson to be learned here is that the Filipino people are, quite simply, incapable of succeeding collectively under any circumstances. In short, there really is no “inclusive growth” to aspire for, because, in truth, the spoils of economic growth are exclusively for the picking of individuals and families who possess cluey enough minds and spot-on enough attitudes to recognise opportunities when these come knocking.
In reality, Filipinos have no excuse for failure. They are custodians of a land rich in natural resources situated in a region that is one of the most if not the most enterprising in the world. People who are destined for astounding wealth and greatness overcome the odds and navigate around all the roadblocks. They do not make them excuses to fail.
Unfortunately, one will find that most if not all Philippine history books are a trove of such excuses. The historical account in those books speak to the character of the Filipino — a people who embrace the comfy warmth of excuses to fail rather than venture out into the cold and tread the confronting dark frostiness of the road to success.
It is therefore pointless to scare Filipinos into thinking that a Duterte presidency will be a plunge back into the “dark ages” of “authoritarianism” because that is simply missing the point of the insights history has to offer. The real point is that the last 30 years have demonstrated that Filipinos are experts at failing both under a dictatorship and under a “free” democracy. Filipinos’ predisposition to failure does not lie in their politics. Failure is hardwired into the very fabric of their culture. As such, it is at this level where change needs to happen.
Plastic surgery does not cure an ugly gene. A genetically ugly person requires a drastic mutation at the molecular level. Filipinos can change presidents, can change their politics, can change their Constitution all they want. But until they change their culture, success will elude them.
benign0 is the Webmaster of GetRealPhilippines.com.
Let Us go back to EDSA86 and open our eyes to what really happened. Soon we realize that Cory was bringing the Filipino People then to a bloody civil war until it was prevented with the simple yet horrifying idea for the elite (both the ruling and the opposition) to contemplate.
Bringing the specter of death right in the doorsteps of the elite would force them to think of the welfare of the people because death is imminent. The more corrupt the individual the more he clings to dear life no matter what.
I bet those claiming to die for a decent way looting the Filipino People are the very first to leave this country when their very lives is at stakes (Roxas and company). Next to go are those who deceive the people with the legal lies.(Binay and his kind. Those left to kill each other are Dutertes and the Trillaneses.
Poe and MSD and their supporters will just wait on the sidelines until enough blood has flowed enough that that order be restored.
A strong, firm, honest, pro-poor, enlightening and unifying leadership is one of the attributes the country needs to disentangle us into the belief system that has been suffocating our people from the many pretentious leadership we have (voted and not to discount the rigged elections) had due to their popularity (without substance) and other factors totally blanketing the general populace of their deceptions and near total subjugation esp. of the poor. We’ve depended too much with the so called “learned”, but whose only interest are for themselves. We still have a small glimmer of hope that will likely shine more brightly, come from 1st July, the path to disentangled us from this vicious cycle of oppression of the few. Only those that oppressors are nervously plotting all the lies to ensure that they still maintain their status in our old society, and we pray and act, with Almighty God’s guidance and protection, that REAL CHANGE will not be broken by the evil forces of our land.
If Duterte becomes President, I promise that I will follow all the traffic rules, queue properly, not spit in public or urinate on walls, I won’t litter, do drugs, steal, rob, murder or rape. I don’t want to be executed.
Everyone ought to do that even if Duterte fail to become President. It is the way to go! Don’t you think?! Just sayin’. 🙂
@Dick, so if Roxas, Poe or Binay becomes President you continue to drive like an asshole, squeeze in where ever you can, spit and piss anywhere, litter and while being high as a kite, rob, murder or rape.
Sounds like the typical voter who would support the above mentioned 3 candidates.
No, you’ll not be killed by DU30, but probably by the NPA because you’re an ideological enemy.
Mark my words. DU30’s presidency will not last long. Either he’ll be coup’ed out, a “people power” or his communist “friends” subverting and overthrowing him and declare a people’s republic.
Say hello to Worse-Than-Martial_Law era.
No success without discipline.
That is the problem here.
Too much freedom. Far too much…!
Everyone pissing where they want, no one being responsible for their fuck ups. Pointing fingers at others and constantly rolling in excuses and how “kawawa” we are. Never ever admitting it, even when we are caught red handed. Anointed by the man in the sky, so I must be right and all this other infantile nonsense. A nation of spoiled brats who refused to go to school, but watched bullshit noon time game shows and cartoons instead. Always going the easy way and waiting for someone else to do the job. Throwing your trash, because someone else should pick up your shit. Someone who is not as wealthy as you. Never being able to wait for your turn, always squeezing in front. Once in front not giving way.
Filipinos in daily life show a clear picture. It’s not so hard to understand why this country is in shambles.
There is an inner longing for the man with the stick. The guy who will beat your sorry ass if you don’t do what he wants you to do. We were home alone for 30 years and now the house is a mess and the fridge is empty. Now we suddenly want DAD back to put things back in order.
It’s also a sort of sexual pleasure obtained from receiving punishment. Spank me, I’ve been a bad boy/girl. Aside from the fact, that as the lazy cunts that we are, it is much easier to receive orders than to think for yourself.
So in a way, yeah.
Take it like a man and stop giggling while receiving your well deserved punishment. Say “Thank you Sir” and that you will do better in the future.
Then go & FUCKING DO IT!
Ditto on your view.
We had the same problem here in the US. It’s called Liberalism. Lol
This generation of Filipinos who have not witnessed the uncertainties of EDSA86 will now witness the horrors as a consequence of myopic partisanship of all the politicians and their rah rah boys and girls.
Are you ready for the coming chaos and bloodshed ?
Please go and change your pants, you just soiled yourself like a frightened little girl.
You sound like Colonel Kurtz in “Apocalypse Now”.
Like there’s something else left to destroy after this abysmal term of a lame duck president is finished. Idiots like you who keep harping on the oncoming “apocalypse” by someone like Duterte yet fail to see the massive butt-fuck we all received from PNoy deserve to have a special award for being conveniently blind to atrocities committed by the yellow army.
If Filipinos wanted change instantaneously, VOTE DUTERTE !!!
If OFWs and their dependents wanted Php100.00 to a dollar, VOTE DUTERTE !!!
NOTHING TO BE AFRAID OF DUTERTE IF FILIPINOS ARE NOT CROOKS !!!
ONLY CROOKS ARE AFRAID OF DUTERTE !!!
VOTE DUTERTE NOW! Because America is voting for DONALD TRUMP!
Filipinos have had BAR TOPNOTCHER!!!
Filipinos have had HOUSEWIFE!!!
Filipinos have had COUP-de-TA’Ters !!!
Filipinos have had ACTORS !!!
Filipinos have had ECONOMIC PROFESSOR!!!
Filipinos never have had street-talk president !!!
Filipinos never have had priest president !!!
Let us have STREET-TALKING PRESIDENT !!!
Let us have STRAIGHT-TALKING PRESIDENT !!!
This could be good for the Filipinos !!!
If Filipinos are MAN ENOUGH, VOTE DUTERTE! Do not run to papa !!!
DUTERTE IS AFTER CROOKS! DUTERTE IS GOING TO UN-CROOK THE PHILIPPINES !!!
Visayan Presidents are GOOD PRESIDENTS !!!
We are not a Democracy. We have never been a Democracy. We are govern by Feudal Oligarchy. The Oligarchs which consist of only 10% of the population, rules us. The rest 90%, which consist, by you and me and the rest, are govern by these vested interests groups.
The Aquino era is an era of :deceit; pretension; political opportunism; widespread corruption; massacres and murders; DAP, PDAF,Pork Barrel Bribery;BBL Law; “Laglag/Tanim Bala”; weak leadership; Bilibid Prison Shabu Manufacturing; etc…
Cory Aquino pretended to be a “Woman of God”…she used religion in politics. The Nuns and Priests of the Roman Catholic Church, were her complicit to her political agendas . Cory Aquino, was an “Angel of Darkness”, masquerading as an “Angel of Light”. Satan was Lucifer…so, Satan can masquerade as an “Angel of Light”.
Feudalism was fortified in the Aquino era. The Land Reform Program of Marcos Sr. was stopped, because Cory Aquino, had to protect her Hacienda Luisita; and the Haciendas of her cahoot Oligarchs.
I do not mind Duterte, if he becomes President. Let us just wait and see, how he will govern the Philippines. He has good plans, but it remains to be seen, if these plans will be realized and implemented.
The Filipinos are themselves, the stumbling blocks in their growth and progress. Greed and self interest are their first and foremost motives. I see the same character traits, by people colonized by the Spaniards. Maybe, the Spanish colonizers sent their bad people to rule us. Not their best people.
After the Spaniards and the Americans left; the country’s Feudal Oligarchy took over. We are in a mess, from thereon…
DEMOCRACY IS NOT DESIGNED FOR FILIPINOS. Filipinos should not be playing with democracy. Demagogic dictatorial rule is fit for Filipinos. This is the only way they can learn.
Behadings, floggings and stoning of crooks in public as free entertainment should be promoted.
Assuming Duterte gets the most votes for the presidency, he will have to face the majority of voters that didn’t vote for him and explain all his lies leading-up to the disclosure of his bank accounts that, in his own words, have a little less than P200 million (which was not reported in his SALN); that is, after he had denied just a couple of days ago that there were no such accounts (sinungaling) and thereafter admitted that such accounts existed but had de minimis amounts of money (sinungaling). Corona was impeached because he misdeclared his SALN; Duterte will likewise be impeached for at least the same offense–perhaps after he has demonstrated in the course of the first six months of his presidency that his promise to eradicate crime was the biggest lie of them all.
Aquino must go to jail, for his corruption of the : DAP; PDAF; Pork Barrel Bribery; etc..
Aquino must answer for his role in the Mamapasano SAF massacre. His misuse of the government Helicopters , in political campaign. Aquino has a lot to answer to the Filipino people.
Let us bring back the Death Penalty…so that , we can cut the heads of these crooks in a French Guillotine…
Aquino’s sidekick Abad, who did the HOCUS POCUS, in Aquino’s stealing from the : DAP; PDAF; Pork Barrel theft; etc… must also be brought to Justice.
De Lima and her driver lover, must be brought to Justice also; for implementing “selective justice”…
Mar Roxas must be jailed, for the missing Typhoon Yolanda Relief Fund, and the rotting Typhoon Yolanda Relief goods.
Abaya must be jailed for his complicity with the : “Laglag/Tanim Bala extortion scam.
So many crooks in the Aquino regime. Let us bring the death penalty; and build a French Guillotine. So that, we can start cutting the heads of these crooks.
Why are you not able to see that your bets also are impeachable?
Failipinos will forget what you said, Failipinos will forget what you did, but Failipinos will never forget how you made them feel.
The DU30 rise is the result of the Filipino People anger on Pnoy and his allies reneging on their promise for a Freedom of Information and refusal to re-impose the death penalty on heinous crimes.
Already repulsed by the use of ‘girly’ in the title but I read it anyway since you used to be my most favorite blogger in the world in HS.
Look, if you want a culture change then make the PH irresistibly attractive to foreign investors. Go big on agriculture. Solve the traffic problem once and for all. Allow foreign companies to build schools in the country. Solve the internet problem once and for all. And guess what, MASSES of balikbayans will SWARM the country with their children (who grew up overseas) and it will create a new generation of Filipinos with an expanded perception of the way things are and the way things can be. Those people want to go home! But they want to go home to a better PH. And they will rebuild it for sure.
What we need is a government that doesn’t seek to CONTROL, but seeks in every way possible, to ENABLE the people especially those in the lowest-caste of society.
Going back to your use of ‘girly’ in the title.. I just want to say, a man is only as good as his word. Negative reinforcement has temporary results and don’t lead to a single iota of change in the end. Being undiplomatic and shutting out suggestions by the international community due to pride, will not lead to any progress at all. The idea that we can even achieve progress without our allies is inconceivable. You need someone who can stand next to the PM of Singapore, or have a cup of coffee with Putin. You need someone who can stand next to great world leaders and an old buwaya who has issues keeping his word is not that.
For cultural change, we need to be open as a country to the world..thru fixing traffic, fixing the internet, making business creation easier, etc.. things can work themselves out on their own. Believing otherwise characterized the bloodiest century of human history.
Change IS possible. All your articles are based on a dark and pessimistic view of the Filipino society and that can only call for bloodshed and totalitarian control. You should read the Intelligence Paradox. I think it describes your case perfectly.
You can’t say it isn’t about Duterte and really about the Aquinos bc that’s stupid. Let’s get rid of one set of problems to invite another even more fatal set of problems. Uso magmove on.
We as a country cannot afford to be ostracized by the global community esp. by our own allies.
I have just made the comment section a little more diverse in terms of viewpoint, you’re welcome. POE2016
There can be no real change without bloodshed. A glorious bloodless EDSA86happened because the scheming 3rd Force opposition elite which included Allan Peter Cayetano’s father was discovered on time. That was why the son Allan Peter saw his father terrified and crying and wanted him and his siblings sent out of the country asap.
All we need for genuine change is blood flowing from the corrupt power elite and the opposition elite. If only the small time criminal ayungin,biya and hipon in the country like then Marcos’s Col Alfredo Lim could only eliminate by DU30, what we will have is a Teddyboy “dirty finger” Locsin writing high praises to the Butcher from Davao City aka savior of the desperate middle class ! lol
Our “enlightened” classes are very funny at the moment. All bitchin’ and moanin’ and generalizing contrary opinion as brain farts from “bobotantes”. Di pa nasusuntok umaaray na.
Very tough and brilliant characters forged in the fires of Internet hugboxes and Uber rides, they are.
“Pwde naman pala”. This is the realization of Filipinos now under Duterte’s results-oriented public service. That their government is here to serve us, not enslave us. We are now acutely aware who in government are mere talkers like Leni Robredo and most LP senators who still delude themselves that they control the country. Now we are taking the cue that we can succeed. Duterte’s independent foreign policy is now working wonders for our national self-esteem and economy. All of these new realizations and victories are mutating our DNA. We already felt that we can be better and that we can be a race to reckon with. Now that is confirmed by the respect other nations accord to all Filipinos through our President. What hasn’t change though, and it needs to change soon, is our reliance on leaders to set the good example and discipline, much like children to a father/mother. It may take another national catastrophe like the sudden demise of Duterte, God forbid, to teach us to be truly independent. Just like a movie wherein the hero dies in the middle of the film, that we now have to rely on each other to finish the mission. For now, we can thank Cory and her ilk for bastardizing the essence of democracy and by contrast, Duterte for teaching us national pride and showing us what a working government is really like. If there’s a will, there’s a way. “Pwde naman pala!”
Most Filipinos are very sensitive for nothing! They dwell on trivial matters and could not even see the greater picture of things of what is happening and what will happen. We have been so much reliant that things will go right by depending so much with those that lead us, when in fact we should also be moving in harmony with the leadership of the day. Now that things could be done, in so much little time, by a committed government, to some with amazement, we could duplicate and strengthen the foundations of government by being “assertive” (as been encouraged also by the Mayor) on things that do not conform to good governance and raise these up so that those officers in government that are still in the sleep mode to start waking up or be push-out of their sleepness , ineptness or monkey businesses using government time and money. We could now face the future with more determination, vigor and pride that something good is happening and more better things to come and the best is not in that too distant future, if we, the majority, do our part and prevent crooked regimes to control us again. We surely need the sense of urgency that has been denied to most of us simply because we were led by those who do not even have a small hint how the majority poor Filipinos interact and think and the real need to give back their honor and dignity as citizen of our beautiful and blessed land. Magtulungan po tayo sa pag-angat ng ating bansa lalo na ang mga mahirap, Lumad, minorities, law-enforcers at kawawang mga civil servants na napabayaan ng mga nakakaraang administrasyon.
You say being girly like it’s a bad thing. Girls get crap from men all the time, women give birth and suffer impositions of patriarchal societies. I think you meant the boys.
Well, girlies see “male” as a four-letter word. So, you know, fair’s fair in the gender wars.