Esteemed political social media blogger Sass Rogando Sasot posted this much-appreciated hat-tip to GRP on Facebook.
I may not always agree with GetRealPhilippines.COM. In fact, its founder benign0 and I even acerbically criticised each other’s views before. Yet despite his sarcasm and “pang-asar” tactics, benign0 never dehumanized me. Unlike Jover Laurio funded by Kris Aquino, he never deadnamed me nor launched a transphobic attack — potent weapons of those who would like to silence a transwoman.
His sarcasm and pang-asar tactics were directed towards my opinion. Even his ad hominem were related to emphasising the weakness he perceived from my opinion.
After our exchange of views, benign0 and I remained civil. And every now and then, we even share each other’s article. Why? Because we are grown ups. Our alaskahan are banters expected in society that values freedom of speech.
Salamat benign0! Salamat GRP for being one of the true advocates of freedom of speech in the country!
“The reality Ressa and her ilk fail to appreciate is that the social media game demands competitiveness in its players. If Laurio is Ressa’s and the Yellowtards’ best bet to win such a game, then they are setting themselves up for failure. Worse, if their strategy to get ahead in that game is to propose that the playing field be regulated with “traffic lights”, it means their real plan is to discredit the whole game itself seeing that they are losing it on many fronts.” [Quoted from the GRP article ‘Resibo Queen’ Jover Laurio represents the demise of free speech on social media]
Thanks Ms Sasot. We don’t have to like one another personally to respect, even admire, and, definitely, build off one another’s work. Real personal friendships are mostly formed offline. But work relationships are built on a foundation of trust in one another’s integrity and respect for the quality of one another’s work.
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What we as a blogging community should use as currency to measure the strength of our social networks is the quality of the content we produce, the soundness of our ideas, an openness to challenge against our most cherished beliefs, and a willingness to collectively evolve towards a goal bigger than our individual selves.
Friendship amongst bloggers is nice and a much appreciated bonus to what is essentially thankless work. But we should never let friendships and personal alliances get in the way of an honest search for the truth.
Always happy to be on the same page in this regard, Ms Sass Rogando Sasot.
benign0 is the Webmaster of GetRealPhilippines.com.
Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.
I have always admired your writing Benign0 and yes lately with Sass, though she tends to get emotional on some topics. I was just surprised you two had some “asaran” before. haha. But I guess that was a healthy asaran.
Kudos to you guys and more power to GRP. We need this kind of blogging to shake these gullibleS.
@Felix, thanks. We try our best not just to deliver quality content but also to establish mature and sustainable social networks (read: not echo chambers) with other bloggers.
GRP only deadnames the dead. Like every article about Jennifer “Jeffrey lol!” Laude back in 2014. To prove some kind of point, I imagine.
I don’t have any quarrel with : transgenders, lesbians, gays, queers, etc…I respect them. They are people like me, who are breathing , living and loving on this Planet Earth.
Ms. Jover Laurio, the paid Kris Aquino’s webmaster of the Pnoy Ako Blog, wanted to continue to hijack our mindsets; to promote the heroism of Ninoy Aquino, Jr.; the sainthood of Cory Aquino; and hide the incompetence of her mentally retarded brother, Pnoy Aquino.
Unfortunately, most of the Filipinos, except the Aquino trolls and YellowTards, have awakened. Most are well informed now by the social media.
You cannot destroy the social media; neither can you change it thru your likings, to promote your personal and political agendas. Blogging and social media are here to stay. Corrupt politicians must watch out now. You can be exposed anytime by bloggers…
We have now a good venue for discourse, to any topic, pertinent for improving the information coming to us. We can debate and discourse anything. No one is censored or prevented from giving his/her opinion. You can give your “point of view” in any debate or discourse. Whether, it is nonsense or with sense. You can give a rebuttal of any kind in your debate…It is up to to readers to judge. Not the webmasters or web editors. No one is preventing you, to tell in the blog, what you want to write.
So, kudos to all webmasters, bloggers and social media advocates. Truth will always come out, no matter how you hide and destroy it !
THERE IS NO WAY ANYONE CAN DESTROY SOCIAL MEDIA. Social Media is no more Social. It is Political.
The mainstream media and the entertainment world in the U.S. have become political. They have veered to the leftist agendas. Most of them are progressive left and socialist. Most are anti Trumph.
Social media is still an open field for debate…
I ABSOLUTELY AGREE !!! Hollywood is now politicized. Even TMZ used to be the darling of entertainment is now in Politics.
The difference between U.S. Politics and Philippine Politics are In U.S. Politics they have evidences, not verbal, not witness accounts, not affidavits (Affidavits in the U.S. are notarized by a minimum of 18-year-old hip surf dudes) but by corroborated witness accounts and forensic evidences. In the Philippines it is all blah-blah-blah-blah.
Still a long long way. What is good about this talk-talk-talk Philippine Politics is IT LETS OFF STEAM FROM FILIPINOS THRU SOCIAL MEDIA. Without outlet it would explode … but wait … back in the days when there were no Social Media FILIPINOS NEVER EXPLODED … they just plod along … knowing nothing can change.
GONE ARE THE BLOGGERS STIFLING FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION NOT WHAT IT SEEMS … Gone should be censorship. Let them stand on their heads … let the rest of the commentators judge them. It may hurt the blogger in the end it hurts the looney commentators.
https://www.getrealphilippines.com/2012/05/bloggers-stifling-freedom-of-expression-not-what-it-seems/
Key to this is the Yellowtards developing (or re-building) their capability to blog intelligently. That’s not gonna happen any time soon if they continue to rely on Jover Laurio and her Pinoy Ako Blog for “thought leadership”.
Wooo Hoooo !!! I am expecting benign0 mentioned in Duterte’s State of the Nation address and an invitation to Malacanang just like Licking-Aquino-ass JoeAm !!!
Way to go benign0 !!!
benign0 TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL. Here is the rub, once benign0 is mentioned by Duterte (which he will, soon) benign0 will become more patronizing to Duterte. Any comment that is not favorable to Duterte would be zapped to please Duterte. That is what happened to JoeAm. Any discernible criticism of his patron Aquino are banned.
JoeAm can come here at GRP and can debate with us…nothing is preventing this PhilAm dude , from expressing his views: pro Duterte or anti Duterte. The “Dutertards” here in this GRP blogsite will not throw him out… like the YellowTards in the “Pinoy Ako Blog” of Kris “the tulo/the kuto” Aquino and Jover Laurio, did to the “Dutertards”.
The more bloggers, we have of any color, creed and belief; the better .
We can have a vigorous debate !
You guys (socmed bloggers) are our heroes in this ongoing Philippine “civil war”. It’s not the violent kind of war but it is just the same struggle for control of our government between the ordinary Filipinos and the Oligarchs, their paid politicians, the church and the syndicates. We won an important battle, we put Duterte in Malacanang, but the war is yet to be won. Thank you for leading us in this fight.
Interesting take. It is really is possible that the Philippines is in a state of a new kind of “civil war” — one being fought online. It’s got all the same effects — families and friendships ripped across partisan lines. etc.
WHY JOEAM HAS MORE COMMENTERS THAN GETREALPHILIPPINES?
OK. I admit. I ask BPO employees (mostly young fresh graduate professionals while waiting calls from big huge local and multinational companies) to get involve of daily goings-on in the Philippines by reading blogs like Joeam, GetReal, Rappler, PinoyAkoBlog and others. I also tell them what is wrong with these blogs: IT IS ABOUT POLITICS.
They cannot read blogs needling about investigative processes and legal aspect of their talking about. I also reminded them they are just propagating tsismis and making tsismis as news and news tsismis are elevated to the point they write it about in their blogs.
So, one of the few that read asked me why JoeAm (an American) has more commenters than GetReal(an Australian). First, I was amused. Then fumed. I simmered down when I realized I am not before Americans who have natural high I.Q. than Filipinos.
I told them JoeAm has “more” commenters because JoeAm responds to every comment. GetReal does not.
I told them if you see 60 comments in JoeAm divide that by two there are actually 30 comments. But that is still a lot considering comments in GetReal.
If these BPO Filipinos parse further (assuming if they are capable of) most comments are nothing patting JoeAm in the back there really is no meat in their comments. JoeAm blogsite is nothing but mutual admiration club which I rarely find in GetReal.
What is the difference between JoeAm and GetReal? JoeAm has varied subjects to talk about. GetReal is more focused in personalities and politics.
Considering these fresh graduates cannot discern the difference and the counts of comments I FEEL LIKE GIVING UP ON FILIPINOS. PACK-UP MY BAG AND BRING MY FIANCEE WITH ME TO THE LAND OF THE FREE AND REAL NEWS.
Comments are not about the quantity; but of the quality of comments. You can have thousands and thousands of comments, but they make no sense, or have no sense, or are useless/garbage.
What we like is commenters can have a dialogue withe each other, A discourse or debate with each other, in civility… Commenters with good information that can help us all, and that can help the country, as a whole, are very much appreciated. Share your knowledge and good opinions with us…
I believe that Webmasters are there only, to maintain the blog site, not to police or become an adviser in the website . We are all grown ups !
Interesting comments, indeed.
keep it up, please.