You either are or aren’t a communist. How difficult is it to answer a “yes” or “no” when asked, Are you a communist? Evidently, very difficult. This fact about the Philippines’ political and cultural minefield was brought to the fore when, in a recent press conference given by Ana Patricia Non, founder of the Maginhawa Community Pantry, GMA News reporter Tina Panganiban-Perez asked “Meron ka nga bang link sa communist groups?” (“Could you confirm if you actually do have links with communist groups?”). As a result of this simple question, Panganiban-Perez became the latest whipping girl of members of the Opposition led by the Yellowtards (the bloc of partisans within it loyal to the Aquino-Cojuangco clan) and the communists who had taken to social media to whip up an outrage fad around this.
The context behind this latest outrage fad is in reports that Non had shut down her community pantry initiative due to what she described as incidents of “red tagging” coming out against her. One would think then that if her reasons were such, then the natural question would then be whether said “red-tagging” actually does have bases. This is likely to be the motivation behind Panganiban-Perez’s line of question. In short, Panganiban-Perez was only doing her job laying the factual groundwork for the report she will presumably have filed following this conference.
Indeed, there are other bases as well to justify why such questions need to be asked of Non. As of this writing, what seems to be Non’s Facebook profile, “AP Non”, is publicly-accessible and, as such, fair game for reference. Noteworthy features of this profile include a background image of a protest rally where a banner screaming “PAG HINDI UMALSA ANG MASA, WALANG TINAPAY SA MESA” (“If the masses do not revolt, there will be no bread on the table”). The slogan is attributed to communist front and “women’s issues” group (so they claim) GABRIELA. The profile image used is a black background upon which the words “WE CRIED A RIVER NOW WE FIGHT BACK #OustDuterteNow” is written.
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It is on this profile that Non seemingly announced her decision to shut down her community pantry in a post dated yesterday, the 21st April. Among other events documented on her timeline is her participation in the “Grand Mananita” rally held in the Diliman Campus of the University of the Philippines (UP) in June last year.
It is evident then if these are indeed content she had published herself on Facebook that Non is a supporter of initiatives that (1) aim to unseat the government of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte outside of established institutional processes and (2) incite the masses to revolt as a means to put “bread on the table”. It is reasonable then to expect a journalist worth her salt to use these observations collectively as context for the hard questions that certain members of the “activist” communities Non consorts with find uncomfortable. It is quite ironic that these very “activists” who habitually assert the entitlement of journalists to ask such hard questions are the very same ones now trying to muzzle Tina Panganiban-Perez.
In his Manila Times column “A crisis in truth seeking”, Professor Antonio Contreras writes…
I am in deep awe at investigative reporters who are able to pore over documents, some of which are even classified and secret, and interview well-placed sources, some of whom are even working for their own governments who, protected by the assurance of secrecy as a confidential source, would provide vital and credible information about the inner workings behind every government decision, or scandal.
Here, Contreras refers to those traditional bogeymen — states and governments — as roadblocks to “truth seeking”. Funny enough in this recent instance, on the question of whether or not Non is a communist, it seems it is the so-called “activists” and “thought leaders” of the Opposition who have taken the role of the personas traditionally associated with efforts to thwart said “truth seeking”. Here, again, we see the hypocritical selective nature of Yellowtard and communist “activism” on exhibit. Indeed, it is easy to see now what sorts of regimes these people would put in effect in the event they succeed at seizing power.
benign0 is the Webmaster of GetRealPhilippines.com.
The idea of helping out where there is a need doesn’t belong to one group or ideology. Of course the long term consequence would have to be thought through- as it should be in what we have now. The obvious problem is associating with organized terrorists. Miss Non should know the trouble with that if she cares at all about credibility.
Instead of belonging in Filipinos’ civic space, community initiatives like these routinely get hijacked by partisan groups and politiciised beyond all recognition.
This is why ordinary folk lose all sense of control over their destinies at a local level because they feel no strong stake in ideas they do not regard themselves as empowered to own.
At least she could have died a hero’s death by outing herself as a communist.
Instead she has to protect her UP-educated Starbucks-sipping ass by not giving an answer. Karl Marx should be turning in his grave to see his ideology hijacked by idiotas like her
Yellowtard media like Rappler and ABS CBN are now busy turning Ana Patricia Non into a celebrity as I write this. The Opposition are starved for “heroes” because lame hero narratives are all they know how to use as campaign platforms.
“celebrity” – or “flavour of the month”???
Ah, so that’s AP Non. No wonder her name seemed familiar. To post things like that, with overthrow government themes, kinda dumb.
Perez was asking what a reporter should ask anyway, what real journalism should be like.
I am also skeptical of Contreras’ claim that ” investigative reporters.. are able to pore over documents, some of which are even classified and secret…” As far as I know, real investigative reporters just stick to what’s legal and available. I doubt they actually need to obtain anything secret or through illegal means. For example, the journalist who wrote about the My Lai massacre during the Vietnam War did not illegally enter facilities, obtain secret documents or pretend to be someone else. He just happened upon William Calley in a public place and got to interview him. Real investigative journalism does not need anything shady to be done to get information. Investigative journalists are not supposed to be like Chevy Chase’s Fletch.
That’s true. Even with publicly- or legally-available documents and information, a unique or insightful perspective can already be pieced together by a skilled writer. The key here is in connecting the dots. “Journalism” as most people regard it is predominantly scoop-based (i.e. obtaining and publishing facts — often taken out of context). Real investigative journalism involves finding patterns and insights in what seem, on first glance, to be unrelated bits of data and information.
Ohhh its ok to ask that with little REAL evidence. eh benign0?
Then benign0 THE FOOL, are you a China-paid, marcos loving hack, who lives in AUSTRALIA but is panget? It is OBVIOUS that you are funded by the marcos propaganda machine to spew BULLSHIT on a regular basis as evidenced by your pro-marcos articles…
Punching POOR people when they are down. You make me sick benign0.
Oh, so now I am “panget”? Lol! 😀
Is that not why you use Jimi Hendrix as profile photo?
Maybe benign0 is a blues rocker.
Wokes are gonna fume at saying Benign0 chose Jimmy Hendrix as a profile pic because he’s ugly. If they’re not, that’s quite the irony. lol
I did not realize you have to be “Woke” to insult someone.
You know what else is Ironic? GRP calling on people to clue in and change their character and culture. Isn’t that a woke person does?