The campaign for the 2019 mid-term elections in the Philippines is about to kick off (if it hasn’t yet). It seems, however, that no political camp has really given much thought to what it is exactly they will be proposing to the Filipino voter. At the very least there’d be some form of vision being pitched — a “better” Philippines in one flavour or another. The vision proposed, say, by the incumbent administration of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is a drug-free and truly independent Philippines.
The Opposition led by the Liberal Party (a.k.a. the Yellowtards), as we understand what they continue to be screeching about, espouses a return to the status quo. This status quo is guided by the “freedom” narrative that lorded over the Philippines’ political chatter for three decades with thinking that orbits the Western liberal platitudes of North America and Western Europe. This stubborn pitching of a tradition is what continues to serve as the pillar of the Opposition rhetoric. Rather than evolve to challenge a popular political brand, they continue flogging what is essentially a dead horse.
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Note that whilst the Duterte brand is, by most objective measures, popular, its quality and effectiveness is open to wide debate. The trouble with the Yellowtards is that their key strategy is to compete on popularity rather than on quality. They battle Duterte at the lowest common denominator. There is really no mystery around why they prefer this approach. Yellowtardism traces its roots to a “popular” revolt in 1986 and a reboot of this in 2001 when a legitimately-elected president was ousted in a similarly Manila-centred “people power” circus. In both instances, power was seized by the Yellowtards on the basis of a slanted display of mere popularity. To this day, they continue to pin their hopes for a return to power on “heroes” and “martyrs” around whom they could rally the next such circus. This is the core reason for why they now consistently fail.
To the credit of non-Yellowtard commentators and pundits — even those squarely within the so-called “Die-hard Duterte Supporter” (DDS) cliques — there exists frank debate over the pros and cons of how Duterte is running things. Many commentators and observers even risk ostracisation by daring to be objectively critical of Duterte and his most revered social media “thought leaders”. The advantage of non-Yellowtard commentators is that they are not weighed down by the obsolete romanticism of “people power” rhetoric and neither are they loyal to a choir of Yellowtard heroes, martyrs, and saints. The Opposition will serve themselves best by keeping an ear extended to the chatter within non-Yellowtard cicles, because it is there where the most carefully-thought-out crticial, and data-driven reflection on how the Duterte administration is running things is being had. More importantly, it is within these communities of real thinkers where the roadmap ahead is being debated.
Any advertising professional will tell you that it is very difficult, impossible in fact, to run an effective campaign around an unclear objective. To battle a popular incumbent requires brains. As such, the Opposition needs to take stock of its current brains trust. Its stakeholders need to ask: Who among the Yellowtards are smart enough to think outside the square? The most difficult intellectual exercise, after all, is coming up with a different approach to solving a problem — specially one that came about because of flawed thinking. What the Yellowtards are essentially doing is using the same flawed thinking to solve a problem that was created because of that very same flawed thinking.
Trying to beat Duterte will require a lot of intelligence, creativity, and originality. Duterte is, after all, a politician who came out of nowhere and dismantled Imperial Manila’s monopoly over the Philippines’ national politics. Simply throwing a tantrum over lost power will not change the fortunes of the Philippines’ Opposition groups. What they need is to up their game and be more competitive and less beholden to relics of their discredited narrative.
benign0 is the Webmaster of GetRealPhilippines.com.
Let us be more aware of the common tactic by the Yellowtards. That is, make the other side look bad, evil, and more important, dictatorial. They will present themselves as guardians of democracy, freedom and justice. Anyone not on their side will be another Marcos, hence another evil dictator. But on the other hand, let us look objectively what they, the supposed saviours of the nation, have done since 1986. Has the country improved, has the lot of the lower class been better,? And what have they done to the economy, peace and order and foreign relations? Do we see foreign investors coming to the country, or are they by passing us, knowing that the security and stability of the country is suspect? The Yellowtards present themselves as squeaky clean, incorruptible, and honest. But have they done anything to curb corruption? These questions need to be answered and we must ponder over these before we elect anyone belonging to the party of supposed decent and honest candidates. They have hoodwinked the Filipinos long enough.
if the yellows can’t call another people power in the past, they will not win the election 2019. they might try to stage anarchy anytime this nine months before election.
…. are they (duterte supporters) ready to defend the president?
If the fake VP Lugaw Robredo, is what the opposition can just offer, as an alternative to Duterte. The “Queen of Shabu”, is not even fitted to run in the position as a “dog catcher”. She took her Bar Exam 3 times. She continues to talk nonsense, about the high price of ‘siling labuyo”. She has no good legislative records , in Congress. She is just a “wall flower” of the opposition.
All the opposition Senatorial candidates are tainted with corruption, in the previous Aquino era. Most have grown rich exponentially, with stolen government funds.
So, they tried to do the recent , coup d’ etat to regain power. They cannot win in honest and fair elections. They can win thru : HOCUS PCOS and SMARTMATIC. The crook, Andres Bautista; their willing tool in winning elections is now in Ohio, U.S.A. enjoying his loots.
It is time for Filipinos to work together for the good of our country. Let us remove the EDSA addiction; and throw out the heroism and martyrdom of the Aquinos. It is time to destroy the EDSA shrine.Rename the airport, Manila International Airport; and remove the nasty faces of the Aquinos in our currency. The Aquino propaganda books in our textbooks must be removed…
Let us renew our country !
Don’t be distracted by criticism. Remember ~ the only taste of success some people have is when they take a bite out of you.