To be fair, once “Noted Blogger” Manuel L Quezon III stopped blogging (or at least desisted from politically-controversial writing) whilst he was an undersecretary during the administration of former President Benigno Simeon ‘BS’ Aquino III. Much of what ails the communication machine of current President Rodrigo Duterte has to do with too many communication channels coming out of Malacanang. One of the most influential channels, Mocha Uson’s blog, is a consistent source of big red targets for the Opposition’s infantile potshots against the Duterte government. So it seems there is significant opportunity to improve things in the obvious solution this situation begs.
Should Mocha Uson, like Quezon before her, desist from blogging while she is employed by Malacanang?
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It goes without saying that Uson is a valuable ally of the Duterte administration because of her vast following on social media. However, this following was originally amassed in the course of her work as an adult entertainer before she started dabbling in political blogging at the start of the Duterte campaign leading to the 2016 presidential elections. Thus whilst widely-regarded as an influential social media personality, her experience as a social media maven up until the campaign was not tested in the Philippines’ political blogging jungle.
Engaging people who originally followed you to be entertained is a vastly different exercise to engaging people who followed you to be informed or to exchange ideas. Most of the notable bloggers who cut their teeth and amassed their following blogging about politics from the very start have built brands on the consistency of what they stand for and the ideas and principles that underlie what they write. As such, consistency is extremely important in political blogging because the sort of scrutiny political blogging attracts is far more critical.
In the showbiz and lifestyle blogging space, however, it is mostly what appeals emotionally to an audience that determines the nature of content and timeframes involved in fielding it. Because entertainment and lifestyle is subjective and a function of personal taste, there is greater latitude for inconsistency and whimsical experimentation. We can see Uson’s background as an entertainment blogger being applied now to the political blogging landscape in this manner — and this is where the problem seems to lie. Despite a year on the job, she still manages to make the same mistakes.
The trouble with the Opposition is that those mistakes — which, in the bigger scheme of things, don’t really mirror nor impact the performance of Duterte’s government — become a disproportionate target of their attention. The fact, for example, that Uson’s Mayon location gaffe sent Opposition social media “thought leaders” on a quaint ridicule campaign that lasted for days is evidence of the intellectually-vacuous nature of their political “movement”. Uson is a mere curiosity at best and, at worst, a fatal distraction for the Philippine Opposition.
Uson was an entertainment blogger and remains, in style and form, an entertainment blogger who just happens to write about politics these days. There really is not much anyone can do about this. In giving Uson disproportionate time of day, the Opposition merely reveals their own intellectual bankruptcy.
Discrediting a blogger who does not mirror an established community of career government service professionals will deliver nothing for this Opposition. If the Opposition want to be taken seriously, they need to recognise their true role as a serious alternative to the Duterte administration. What then can the Opposition offer? This is a question that defines the challenge the Opposition face.
Duterte, despite how much the way he is doing things today comes across as detestable to the Philippines’ disente mob, is actually focusing on his campaign promises. Therefore the argument that he is a disservice to Filipinos will never fly. Indeed, the fact that Duterte continues to enjoy high trust and approval ratings survey after survey is not as baffling as Opposition “influencers” make it out to be. The formula underlying his survey numbers is quite simple. He promised X, Y, and Z during his campaign, and he has spent the large part of his first year as Chief Executive laying the foundation for delivery of X, Y, and Z.
Whether Mocha Uson is in the picture or not does not change that fact. But because the Opposition’s top “influencers” are such small-minded crybabies and such fundamentalist adherents of the dogma of their Yellowtard overlords, they have, thus far, failed to evolve into a force capable of mounting a compelling and relevant response to the Duterte brand.
Therefore, going back to the earlier question, “Should Mocha Uson, like Quezon before her, desist from blogging while she is employed by Malacanang?”, the answer in the context provided above becomes crystal clear: It does not matter either way.
The Opposition have lost sight of the bigger fish to fry and are all milling around and nibbling on the little fry — which is why they remain starved for relevance. It cannot be emphasized enough that the Opposition need to re-evaluate the bloc of people who presume to lead them. At the moment this bloc is none other than stragglers of the once-powerful Liberal Party — the “Yellowtards” — who have, for the past year, done nothing but devalue the Philippine Opposition.
Filipinos — including supporters of Duterte — need their Opposition. Sadly the Opposition we see today is not up to the task of addressing that need. They are too busy cracking jokes about Mocha Uson and high-fiving one another as they laugh at their own jokes.
benign0 is the Webmaster of GetRealPhilippines.com.
Having biased mainstream media in the Philippines, it would have been difficult for the ordinary Filipinos especially the OFW to see all the good things the Duterte administration is doing. Mocha has a lot to do with that 80% trust rating,, Duterte’s political capital. She may not be the smartest or most articulate blogger, but she knows how to make ordinary Filipinos feel they deserve better.
Failipinos cannot fix problems in their country called the Failippines unless they’ve already resolved the underlying conflict within themselves.
Mocha Unson can blog, if she wants to blog. If people reads her blogs; it is not her fault. To discredit Bloggers, of any kind, because you do not agree, with what they write is futile. The Blogosphere is an uncharted territory, as part of the CybeSpace or HyperSpace.
The beauty of blogging is: no one can stop any Blogger, to write what he or she wants to write. Mainstream media people, cannot understand why these Faceless Bloggers, are sinking their ships, media empire, and taking over their Journalistic professions. They do not know what to do with them.
So, they propose some sort of a “gatekeeper”, that will oversee what any Blogger will write, and not to write. They want to “license” Bloggers, to control them. They want some sort of a censorship in the Blogosphere.
Only those who are hopelessly corrupt are afraid of these Bloggers.
This only show their ignorance about the advances in Information Technology.
This girl mocha uson is a trash! Why did malacanang employ this bitch in the palace? Just because of debt of gratitude? And her millions of maniac followers on facebook? Pathetic. I thought this administration selects only the “best and the brightest” but it turns out to be the dumbing-down and mediocrity appear to be the norm these days. And to add misery, Duterte already overpaid the blunders of mocha all year long using the hardworking tax payer’s money and still he shows no sign to fire her. Such a waste of money, really. The Filipino people deserve better communication service from Malacanang.
Benigno, the more you defend this bitch, the more you become a retard. She represents many Filipinos whom you criticized in your articles for being stupid and you wanted to get rid that stupidity but now it is obvious that you contradict yourself. How can we emulate the mighty Singapore which initiated much of its reforms on the back of merit and not on favor? On the back of excellence and quality? When this scenario in the Philippines is acceptable to you? And that this admin continue to perpetuate? Your “credibility” or “principle” depends really on who is sitting in malacanang whom you think is always “right” or “wrong” regardless of what they do or say. Is that what you think is a trait Filipinos should continue to uphold? If so, you are no better as a person.
This mocha uson’s gaffe is a normal reaction from the critics because she is a damn Asst. Sec. Opposition are even much articulate than this admin. It is just that their power and influence are limited especially because they are few in numbers. Nonetheless, they published many intellectually rich articles that are way above the admin heads can argue with all the relevant evidence and information ready to be slapped on thick faces, but as usual, die hard dutertards like you dismissed them as destabilization plot. Sad but true.
Pinoy Citizen:
A girl with a thousand of followers in the social media , cannot be a trash. She has a message to her generation; that they can only understand. Older generation cannot understand the younger generation.
There is the so called : “generation gap” !
What message? Are you referring to the messages she preached as a former pervert and now a purveyor of fake news? Yeah, those messages don’t need brain cells. And those who believe in her are simply being fooled.
Again, you’re just proving the point of this article. You keep on harboring Mocha a purveyor of fake news while putting Jover Laurio on a pedestal w/o realizing that she is also fake news herself.
Unfortunately, you’ve been fooled for 30 years and you want us to go back there? I’m serious here.
KRChronicle, did i even mention Jover Laurio here? You were the one who brought her up and now accusing me of something i did not do? Stupidity is really your best attribute.
30 years, really? Remember that you did not do anything on that supposed “30 years” of yours because Aquinos are genuises and you are an ultimate whiner!
Being open-minded and unbiased is more like my attribute. One-sidedness is pure stupidity. You don’t want to mention Laurio so you only target on Mocha. Ideas, bro. Ideas.
And here you go again with your “you did not do anything” strawman; worse is that you’re unknowingly showing your ignorance. I learned critical thinking as I grew up and up to the point of the 2010 elections that I voted for Gilberto Teodoro yet the Yellow narrative is still there. The people voted for Noynoy Aquino due to narcopolitics (his mother Cory’s death). With the abundance of social media and the glaring incompetence of the Second Aquino administration that the biased media is trying to cover during those 6 years, the people tried to do something… and they did. So 16 million Filipinos voted for Duterte. So are you gonna call those 16 million “ultimate whiners” as well?
Trash can follow trash.
pag may 5 million follower ka baka ma hire ka rin kaya work hard lang hahahaha
Marga, no thanks. You prove to me how shallow this admin is in terms of hiring employees in executive branch. I would rather not present myself as a clown to fool anyone and corrupt the hardearned money of filipino people.
As if the former administration is great on hiring their employees where most of them are friends and close allies of the former President? Unfortunately speaking, you’re actually a clown trying to fool anyone and you prefer the corruption that they’ve done as long as it was not Duterte or anyone who is in the Presidential office.
Comparing the blunder of one to another does not make it right KRchronicle. You prove to us here how shallow you are.
There’s no shallowness in open-mindedness, I tell you. If anything, you’re just biased and crap.
What makes you think I’m defending her?
By showing soft stance on her and comparing that to opposition’s supposed “failure.” Don’t you have many articles here that insinuate not to condemn mocha as an Asst. Sec instead of going frankly condemning her of being an incompetent nut?
That’s not defending her. Defending her is writing something that supports anything she says. Show me an example of such an article or even just a passage in any of my articles where I supported anything she said or even referred to anything she said.
Benigno, are you going to pretend always of what is already obvious to you and your readers? It is not in terms of what she said but the way you portray her as a lesser evil compared to the opposition. You try to make her position as Asst. Secretary as not important and you want the public to leave her at that and let them focus on other “important things” while she is robbing the public funds of her blunders for her 6 figures salary? Are you really that callous? You could have suggested that mocha uson should resign or much better duterte fires her to save his administration from further humiliation and hire someone who is the best. And much much better, her salary could have spent on building additional public classrooms for students, say, in remote areas. But no! You are going around the bush trying to find reason why mocha is still harmless and that opposition is an ultimate loser. That’s how retarded you are benigno. That’s the terrible effect when you put your loyalty to your politicians.
Again with your ad hominem shenanigans, fam. You’re also making up your own assumptions as well with your own filthy shit.
But the question is this: is there any value from it? Despite of her blunders and mistakes, the advantage of the likes of Mocha is that since she’s more of a blogger than an Assistant Secretary, her advantage is that she can connect with the ordinary Filipino through her views. You fire her and hire the best? You must be joking if you say someone from the Opposition because you think they’re the best while they’re not. Sass Rogando Sassot is a better choice due to being a political analyst but I doubt you’ll agree because you have your own selfish agendas. I repeat you also have your assumptions, so you need a double check.
@PinoyCitizen: What makes you think I am loyal to any one politician or to Duterte for that matter?
Perhaps he thought that most of your articles are pro-Duterte so went on a emotional rampage that he ended making his own assumptions because he didn’t like it. So yeah, he’s parroting the same thing.
It’s the trend now. If you don’t say anything positive about X politician then you are anti-X. Head over to Reddit Philippines and you’ll see how people who don’t voice the same outrage against Duterte get burned.
@KRChronicle: Yeah, hallmark of a lazy thinker. Doesn’t consider all the information first and nitpicks on cherry-picked snippets taken out of context.
Nice strawman you got there. If you try to dig deeper, the Opposition wasn’t even articulate either. When was any Cocoy Dayao or a Jover Laurio article intellectually rich? Especially Laurio, whose articles are more like ad hominem-induced trash and you call it ‘intellectually rich’? Yeah, how rich of you.
The more you TROLL and personally attack the author and this site, the more you’re exposing yourself. All emotional outbursts rather than logical thinking. And what, you’re trying to elevate someone like Jover Laurio, who is much worse than her?
But as usual, die hard Yellowtards would just resort to ad hominem and forms of red herring rather than make up a coherent argument because they’re already losing one. Sad but true.
KRchorincle, perhaps you are not reading the works of brilliant writers published in inquirer and rappler stating facts and analysis on the real situation in the Philippines. Though not all articles are perfect but the thought is there. Looks like you are only a fan of following those who are trolling you. Hahaha!
So, i’m a yellowtard and GRP and you are dutertards? Go kid! Whatever makes you happy and sleep at night, i will give it to you.
Ad hominem? I’m attacking the very intention of the writer. That’s what i do. Oh, you haven’t making any “coherent argument” that would compel me to believe in you. So, yeah, eat your own filthy shit!
Thanks for exposing yourself. You call the writers of Inquirer and Rappler ‘brilliant’ yet they were not and they never offer “facts and analysis” but just the opposite. You fail to realize that these are Yellow media outlets. They would never post these “facts and analysis” when it was Noynoy Aquino or Leni Robredo or any Liberal Party-alinged President. Trust me, I know how I see things.
Unfortunately, these ‘brilliant’ writers from Inquirer and Rappler can’t even hold a candle on ACTUAL brilliant writers like Bobit Avila, Alex Magno, Rigoberto Tiglao, Francisco ‘Kit’ Tatad, and even Teddy Locsin, Jr.
By the way you said it, it seems you’re becoming one. It’s sad that you call people who disagree with you are Dutertards so you’re no different to the left-leaning liberals like the SJWs, etc. That’s how they act, in case you don’t know.
Lies. Anyone who is hurling labels and insults against a person you disagree with is committing ad hominem. And I already did a LOT of coherent arguments here yet you ignore them and dwell on your safe space instead. And please, you’re already spewing filthy shit on this page because of your “everyone should compel to believe in me because I am right!” nonsense. That’s self-entitlement and it’s a terrible idea.
KR, I guess you did not bother to read or you cannot take the brilliant writings of their articles. What you read are those anti-research lazy write-ups of madman anonymous bloggers who lack research materials and logical facts to support their thesis. You are fan of them because your thingking is in line with them.
Perhaps you don’t know sarcasm. You want me to be yellowtard as you desperately relatr me with several times to justify your fucking assumptions as one that’s why i gave you your own filthy shit and unfortunately, you did not get it. Tsk tsk tsk.
Actually, there is no brilliance on a one-sided, biased article from those Yellow media outlets. And if anything, Jover Laurio is a perfect example of a madwoman anonymous blogger because before she is exposed, she is also being vicious and vile when she’s anonymous. And the Inquirer gave her the ‘Filipino of the Year’ award? That’s more like stupid than brilliant. Sorry, I’m not a fan of her while you’re a fan of those Yellow media outlets because they go with your thinking.
All I got is nothing but red herring on your part and you own assumptions of me being Dutertard while it’s the other way around. Again, you’re grasping on straws.
Unfortunately, Jover Laurio, which you vehemently support, is a PERFECT example of what you call a madman anonymous blogger.
Yes, she is making fun of Duterte, wishing he and his family die in a plane crash.
You keep on saying you never even mention those people yet you try to hid it yourself due to your one-sided anti-Duterte bias. Just like you said, eat YOUR OWN filthy shit due to your own hypocritical stance, finger pointing and lazy thinking; tells me that the shallow ones are the people in this discussion rather than the people they’re pointing against.
Son, if you think that someone like Florin Hilbay, Tonyo Cruz, and even Jover Laurio is more deserving to be in the Malacanang Communications Office then you need to seek help. They’ll even do more damage even worse than Mocha Uson.
Congratulations, you just went FULL YELLOWTARD with what you wrote.
Is it really black and white? What about those qualified and neutral in politics but have good qualifications in their resume? Don’t they deserve to be there? By hiring mocha uson, it became a source of plague that is pulling down the very core of once respected malacanang office.
Congratulations, you just went an emo dutertard with your sick rebuttal.
And you consider the likes of Jover Laurio, Florin Hilbay, Tonyo Cruz, etc. to be neutral? Even the biased mainstream media is mostly one-sided. But still, you can’t provide a better alternative to Uson because only a few of them, including her, had connected with the ordinary Filipino through their views.
Still, my point stands. And I’m no Dutertard so nice grasping on straws, son. What you did is much more sicker than what you try to accuse me with.
Where in my writing did I even consider them? You have same thinking with KRchronicle. Or perhaps you two are one. You both want me to be your opposition to justify your cause and you ate your own filthy shit.
Just like the author try to point out: you focus more on personalities rather than issues and ideas. Still, you fail to realize that you’re spewing your own filthy shit in the first place. So try again.
Picking on Mocha actually reflects how even the “opposition” is transfixed on personalities rather than issues. Instead of harping on how or why she was selected, they attack her as a person. With the way they attack her though, she looks like the victim, and that’s helping her become more popular. And it doesn’t help that most of those who attack her are of the “educated” classes. Makes you wonder if they are “educated” at all (And Rappler is trying to play victim, but are unsuccessful because of their “conyo” image). And attacking her at all is to me an admission of defeat. because they can’t think of anything better to do, attacking people is all they can do. Indeed, it proves that people like Duterte and Mocha won because the “opposition” are actually helping them, even unwittingly.
THIS.
We brought up in our discussions that this is exactly what happened with Donald Trump upon what happened and the events that led to his way to the presidency. The Left denied any debate and intellectual discourse up to the point that the true voice of the American people were expressed through the ballot. The Left and the left-leaning liberals failed to realize that Hillary Clinton is a worse choice.
In the case of the Philippines, people like Duterte and Mocha will continue to thrive unless the Opposition learned their lesson on intellectual discourse. As of now, they offered nothing.