Essentially, a politician’s job is to convince his constituents to buy into his words. This usually involves convincing the voters that he best has their interests in mind. Or to be blunt about it, that his self-interests most closely align with their concerns.
As I pointed out from the start of president Rodrigo Duterte’s term, his opponents will be so eager to capitalize on any opportunity to distort and take out of context his ramblings, tirades, and his tongue-in-cheek and tell-it-like-it-is pronouncements. He makes it so easy for them to do so. The opposition has also used these same opportunities to sow fears of the return of Marcos-era type martial law, and of threats to the “democracy” of Filipinos.
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Actually, what members of the opposition really refer to, and fear losing, is their ability to do anything they want, without scrutiny. But I digress…
When it comes to Duterte’s pronouncements, one recent example that comes to mind was his administration’s initiative to close down and clean up Boracay, the preferred beach getaway of your hippie and high-society crowd. The opposition had a lot of room to denounce it as a “dictatorial move”; some even likened it to a “dry run” for Martial Law. As usual, concern was thrown around the livelihood of those who would be affected by the closure, maybe some of it genuine, but also some of it rather opportunistic and exploitative, and politically-motivated, dare we say.
Boracay was closed sometime April or May 2018, and just recently re-opened. While your opposition was busy wracking their minds looking for “a better way”, Duterte’s administration just went ahead and DID it. His opponents, while pre-occupied with giving feel-good motherhood statements in response to him, were also busy giving everyone who didn’t agree with them pieces of their supposedly “decent and enlightened” minds – whether they could spare them is another matter.
And the opposition – whose voice is currently dominated by the Liberal Party and the Yellowtards, are still wondering why fewer people are listening to them nowadays.
It would have been easy for the opposition to make Filipinos listen to them for alternatives to Duterte’s iron-fisted (from a soft, forgiving Pinoy point of view) way of doing things, if they had them in the first place. And that’s the problem; they don’t have any. Collectively, all the opposition can muster is “not Duterte”, and yet at the same time, this group of people is hobbled by the LP’s and Yellowtards’ lack of results from all the time they were the dominant force.
Those who work in the corporate world are very familiar with the kind of problem-solving mindset that is emphasized in it: “don’t just stop at telling me what I can’t do; tell me what I can!” Employees are expected to bring proposals or solutions to the problems they elevate to their bosses.
If you think about it, to conclude that the opposition’s lack of action is analysis-paralysis is rather inaccurate. It is more fittingly characterized by focus on saying something, with little or no intent to follow through. This is the most important realization that Duterte’s opponents have yet to come to: that words not backed up with action mean absolutely nothing. This applies not only to them, but also to Duterte’s outbursts that they claim “espouse violence, or a culture of rape”. To attribute such cause-and-effect to Duterte, without taking into consideration the bigger context of Filipino culture’s “do what I want” component, is to be intellectually dishonest.
[Photo courtesy: BBC]
А вы, друзья, как ни садитесь, все в музыканты не годитесь. – But you, my friends, however you sit, not all as musicians fit.
A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don’t necessarily want to go, but ought to be.
A great leader steals people money and never get prosecuted and incancerated … NOW, THAT IS A GREAT LEADER.
They can only be found in the Philippines.
A Great Leader also take people for a ride … and never arrive …
The opposition, lead by the Aquino Cojuangco political axis; the Roman Catholic Liberation Theology minded priests and nuns; the N.P.A./C.P.P. , the Liberal Party; the political opportunists; and other leftist groups; use Demonization Tactics ; Politics of Destruction and Politics of Obstruction on Pres. Duterte.
They are the same tactics that they used, to oust the late , Pres. Marcos, Sr.; but with the help of the U.S./C.I.A.
Unfortunately, these are also, the obsolete tactics, the communists used to remove the Czar of Russia.
In our today’s world of Information Technology; where people have the ability to connect to the internet and inform each other. The resist, demonization and obstruction political tactics will never work.
The Filipino people have already been awakened by the internet bloggers. It is like when, Dr. Jose Rizal, had written and published his two books: “Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo”, during the fight for independence… Only in our time, we have many faceless/nameless: Dr. Jose Rizals, in the form of Web Bloggers and Web Masters. I consider them the true “Filipino heroes” of our times.
This modern trend is what the opposition cannot understand !
JOSE RIZAL WAS A FAKE HERO … made up by Americans … so Filipinos do not kill each other choosing their national hero …
EL FELIBUSTERISMO AND NOLI ME TANGERE did not spark the revolution … because there were only 1,700 books in circulation … books then were a luxury … it was written in Spanish … Filipinos do not read and write nor understand Spanish … 6 months after its release … it sparked the “revolution” .. WHAT? Unless they have Starbucks in every street corner offering free internet access ….
THE TWO BOOKS did not create the environment of revolution … THE SPANISH COLONIZERS were good people. Just take a look their descendants … from Aboitiz to Ayala to Zobels … NOT A HINT OF CORRUPTION … built empires that employ Filipinos with outstanding benefits …
IF ONLY FILIPINO MINDS WERE COLONIZED but the Spanish Colonizers had difficulty so did President McKinley.
FILIPINOS ARE JUST UNGOVERNABLE ….
I have been shopping Philippine blog sites to get away from Political Analysis. ALL I FOUND WERE ALL POLITICAL ANALYSIS.
Nothing on Philippine Fake News
Nothing on how Crime Investigation should be conducted
Nothing on legal analysis of laws and its applications
Nothing on economics … well there was but it was basic Law of Supply & Demand
Nothing on Agriculture
Makati Stock Exchange
Philippine insider trading
Education
Philippine culture
All about DUTERTE YELLOWTARDS BENIGNO AQUINO LENI ROBREDO DUTERTE MOCHA USON …
this makes me miss dead sites like philippinefailblog and dapinoychronicle which predominantly featured articles regarding how bad filipino culture is. at least we still have sean akizuki’s makingitfuninthephilippines.
Thank you, Making it Fun in the Philippines has plenty of non-political blogs problem is I cannot make a comment unless … I have …
“problem is I cannot make a comment…”
Should we hold our breath… I guess not…
Considering… having the discipline and ‘first world’ academic background of a language instructor, it really makes you wonder if TROLLatio is even capable of commenting with something different in approach for non-political blogs!
However, any moment now… wait for it… in 1, 2, 3…
Patton obviously a Filipino. Please do not desecrate our great General by using his name for you to post looney uneducated clueless responses. Try something else. Like … Kachupoy or Dolphy. (these are the recommendation of my toxic corrosive fingers of my girlfriend)
Well, GRP has had its heyday as commentary for culture although, if you take the time to read deeper into what we write, much of the commentary on politics we highlight here still draw reference from dysfunctional Filipino culture. Indeed, much of what makes the Yellowtards rich fodder for content in this site is owed to how closely Yellowtardism manifests and, worse, amplifies this dysfunctional culture.
here in GRP, i miss Grimwald’s writing.
a great leader follows his people where they want to go. that’s president duterte.
People vote a president where they want to be taken for a ride. And that president is the pilot. That’s President Duterte. “Kayo ang Boss ko” (my GF has a hard time explaining this to me so I can understand)
I LIKE DUTERTE. Post-Aquino state of the Philippines requires extreme measures. The people voted right! People are tired of the justice system. So far they are not tired of looney investigation of killings and fake media coverage.
The Fake Media Rappler and its cohorts are more focused on politics of killings than investigation of killings.
I get it. The Philippine Fake Media is afraid of the military. Because the gun is mightier than their pen.
It reminded me of Chinese Bus Massacre. The Fake Media were attacking Benigno Aquino politically than how the wacky investigation was conducted.
that’s what the pilipino people like and that’s why president duterte doing it for them. i bet the people want to see pnoy jailed and all his cohorts.
You have to forgive the Yellows. They all rallied around a guy who did nothing with his life. They justified him for 6 years with nary a complaint or even constructive criticism. He was flawless in their eyes. In 2016 despite all the irregularities in the polls the country chose the successor to the beloved Noynoy . Somebody who exposed the house of cards of the Lieberal party. So the knee jerk response by the jerks is to denounce anything from the Duterte camp. Even if the attention is to do work. Work is a 4 letter word as far Noynoy is concerned. PSN is not. Xbox Live is not. Josh is , so my analogy is not perfect. Bottom line , the Lieberals have absorbed the traits of their chosen golden child. They are also allergic to work. So they are threatened by anyone who dares does differently than the girly man child.
Notice the press has been mum about Noynoy dates in over two years. Maybe because the pork barrel is not there to finance female dates that act as human smokescreens. Why is this relevant? Because 2010-2016 was one big smokescreen . Noynoy does work, Noynoy dates women etc.