It is the job of “activists” to react hysterically and the job of the President to stay composed

Opposition “thought” leaders of late have now focused on monitoring Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s public responses to various circuses stirred up by the Philippine media. Like kibitzers in a street fight, they are egging the President to issue more provocative responses. This, in essence, is the “activist” call of the Philippine Opposition brains trust:

Hawakan mo sa bayag!

For its part, the Philippine media has done nothing more than report blow-by-blow accounts of each swing and connect being launched and won respectively by each side. Reporting timeframes are measured by the hour with no helicopter view providing intelligent insight on the bigger picture over a longer timeframe. Big Corporate Media seem quite happy (quite understandably given their shareholders’ financial goals) to rouse an emotional audience. Emotional people, after all, are in the most profitable frame of mind to consume advertising and make fast purchasing decisions.

Low-brow ‘activism’ is the only form of engagement the Opposition are capable of applying to their ’cause’.

The behaviour and level of discourse of both “activists” and Big Corporate Media “thought leaders” mirror the low bar with which they regard the Filipino public. They are using the same marketing strategy of noon-time television shows like Eat Bulaga. The only difference is that Eat Bulaga pretends to be no more than pedestrian entertainment and a delivery vehicle for ads and marketing gimmicks. What makes the Opposition and their lackeys in the media far more nefarious in character is in how they pretend to be a lot more than that.

Are Filipinos still buying all that? They may be, perhaps, while watching Eat Bulaga but it seems they are not in the same frame of mind when watching merely bemused as their “activists” do their dance numbers before the cameras. If we step back to analyse the intent of the Philippine Opposition which, despite sound advice coming from many quarters, continue to allow themselves to be infested by Yellowtards and communists, all roads in their little intellectually-stunted political roadmap lead to just one thing: seizing power at all costs. They propose no alternatives to how things are done and, instead, only find ways wreak a scorched earth approach to winning.

There is, however, only one legal way to determine who the winners are in a democracy and that is through elections. If the nature of the Opposition campaign that resulted in their catastrophic loss in this year’s elections is examined, one could easily conclude that they have not learned a thing. They continue to apply the same method to their “cause” today. Thus it is very likely that any politician who associates herself with the brain-dead manner with which today’s Opposition engage their constituents will likely lose again.

One would understand the typical “activist” who, with only the streets as their medium, can only deliver an appeal to emotion to get their quaint messages across. It is, however, quite reasonable to expect a lot more of educated and seasoned politicians — that they not succumb to the temptation to pander to these rabble-rousers. Interestingly enough, bozos like former Ambassador Albert del Rosario and “vice president” Leni Robredo seem to find warm comfort in the embrace of adolescent emos. It becomes clear in the example that they exhibit who really is looking out for the well being of the public over the long haul.

Childish hysterical tantrums may draw the crowds, but these are crowds that quietly dissipate as soon as the circus comes to a close. There is something to be said about real leaders who are able to retain their following and sustain public confidence in their leadership over the longer term. It’s high time the Opposition learn that skill, and, more importantly, learn how to win national elections again.

benign0

benign0 is the Webmaster of GetRealPhilippines.com.