For anyone who has been observing the Philippine political scene long enough, it is not hard to come to the conclusion that regardless of who wins the presidential election, Filipinos will remain the same mediocre, divided, and self-interested collection of disjoint tribes that they’ve always been. The term of Benigno Simeon “BS” Aquino was marked by an inability of mainstream media to keep up with successfully covering up its deficiencies and obvious gaffes. The current term of president Rodrigo Duterte is poised to end unable to live up to its full potential of “change” – in no small part because the elites of Imperial Manila did their utmost to obstruct it.
Whichever side you stand on the political fence, Filipinos have in common that they see their politicians as sort of godfathers, mga ninong, who shower them with gifts and favors before, during, and after the elections. Self-interest is a great motivation; the rich want “concessions” and influence that will make them richer, while the poor want the freebies that will get them thru every single day without damaging the “budget”.
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The “decent” crowd – now AKA the Pinklawans, Pinktards, Pinkoloids, anything but Yellowtards – are clinging to their choice of Leni Robredo for president – buy, buy, MUST WIN – in order to salvage whatever is left of their clout and precious collective political ego. On social media platforms, despite having the weight of conveniently-placed assets to silence opinions they don’t agree with, they have been largely unsuccessful in totally cancelling out the DDS – the Diehard Duterte Supporters – and continue to be met with a ferocity that has led them to cry “our dissent is being silenced”, when all they mean to say is that, they’ve been so used to the privilege of having the last word on things that the loss of it feels like oppression. What complicates things for the Pinkoloids are the supporters – long-time or recent – of the Marcoses, particularly the presidential aspirant Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr., who have ridden the momentum of the sliding irrelevance of the Liberal Party (LP) to come out in a “safer space”.
On the other side of the track, the DDS may have the numbers – or so the surveys say – but they have little socio-political weight even after five years of being the dominant force. They lack a large-scale communications infrastructure, which is why Duterte, his administration, and his supporters are left at the mercy of mainstream media to be misrepresented, and their words twisted, to give unwitting audiences the impression that things in the Philippines are worse than they actually are. It is still also more socially accepted in certain areas of the country to cancel/ostracize DDS in real life; by the virtue of “whom you’re connected to”, Duterte’s offensiveness will carry over to you as a supporter. Duterte’s supporters may not have the snooty air or the inability to step out of their echo chambers that the “disente” do, but they turn off the non-aligned just the same by being irrationally hostile towards any criticism of Tatay Digong, especially the warranted ones.
Suffice to say, both the LP’s supporters and the DDS most likely overestimate the number of live bodies they have on their side. When we focus on the presidential election next year, however, the mood this early indicates that Bongbong Marcos, or Sara Duterte if she decides to be a substitute, will win, and that Leni Robredo and any remnants of the LP will lose – if the Liberal Party competes fair and square. – a big if. Duterte and Marcos supporters, on the other hand, assume that people will fall into line and forget all the offensiveness associated with their candidates when they win.
Robredo’s win in the vice-president elections last 2016 remains unconvincing for a portion of the electorate. On the other hand, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) has been perceived for quite some time as too lenient on the skullduggery of the Liberal Party; the DDS and Marcos supporters may just find out the hard way, again, that, more than the votes, it’s who counts the votes that count. Regardless of who wins this election, certain bad blood (sama ng loob) will remain unresolved, and Filipinos will still be divided. The social conditions will result in a stalemate where everybody loses.
I believe, however, that the DDS and the Pinklawans can actually reach a compromise. Hence the following proposal.
As previously mentioned, in a fair fight Leni Robredo will most likely lose; Duterte and Marcos supporters, against all odds, will not allow a repeat of 2016 to happen. The agreement they can reach is that the Pinklawans get to keep their deluded self-righteousness and “entitlement” to label their political enemies all manners of “stupid”, but in return, they forfeit the election immediately, and all privilege to comment on politics in any medium they share with their political enemies. To extend this proposal even further, the Lenitards can have their own, Liberal Party-dominant piece of land, consider themselves seceded from the bigger Republic of the Philippines, and run it according to their own inoffensive, West-friendly principles/ideology. The rest of the Philippines will be run according to the vision of a Duterte-Marcos “dream team” that their supporters have. A “friendly” competition can even be staged to see who has developed the farthest after a certain number of years!
What happens to those who identify neither as Pinktards, or DDS? Sorry, Filipinos have already decided your side for you; if you criticize Leni, you’re a Dutertard. If you criticize Digong or Bongbong, you’re a Yellowtard. It’s up to you where you want to be lumped.
Filipinos have demonstrated time and again that they excel when they’re apart, rather than when they work together. It’s a win-win deal.
Your move, Philippines.
Photo courtesy: dreamstime.com and Hacking, Distributed
А вы, друзья, как ни садитесь, все в музыканты не годитесь. – But you, my friends, however you sit, not all as musicians fit.
Yeah, tribalism hurts Philippines the most. It’s been an elite-created battle royale for a long time, either you side with this group or that group or die alone, because you chose to be neutral, you think that there’s probably another way. Nothing will ever change if Filipinos continue to fighting among themselves.
“What happens to those who identify neither as Pinktards, or DDS? Sorry, Filipinos have already decided your side for you; if you criticize Leni, you’re a Dutertard. If you criticize Digong or Bongbong, you’re a Yellowtard. It’s up to you where you want to be lumped.”
But what if you decide to criticize both? What are you then? : (
Also, the proposal that was advanced is deceptive because it was based on Robredo losing. It’s a one way thing. The proposal does not exist in case she wins. Meaning, it involves a presumption of the administration’s success in the formulation of the proposal.
I say, it will further divide the country. : (
It’s just big question mark when it comes to Leni. It’s hard to think what kind of proposal for Leni if she wins? Just like any past presidents of post martial law era, this is like a coin tossing. Whatever the results, we just have to brace ourselves. Unfortunately.
“It’s just big question mark when it comes to Leni.”
I understand that, but isn’t it the same with the other candidates, too? BBM, Ping, Isko, Manny, etc. are all question marks at this time. Why single her out then? Maybe she’s a threat? If she’s that so bad, so useless, so inutile, why waste time with her? (it’s not really you but some rabid anti-Leni here).
The thing with other candidates is that they aren’t that as loud as Leni but I guess it gets the nerves of those who already hate her but I agree that it’s pretty much useless to throw mud at her all the time or it’s just because she’s hot topic these days? Other candidates like BBM has a proven governance at his hometown, Ping seems capable, Isko at least did something based on his governance in Manila and Manny seems to have lack of diligence, that’s my issue with him. All of them has yet to show what their capabilities as a Philippine President.
Maybe one reason she’s ‘loud’ was because she got the machinery. And political machinery usually results to victory at the polls. Ergo, the other side will attack her no matter what.
Again, no problem with pummeling her but sometimes the attacks from the rabid anti-Leni ends up on being laughably and violently absurd.
“Filipinos have demonstrated time and again that they excel when they’re apart, rather than when they work together. It’s a win-win deal.”
I don’t know about that. I say bring back bayanihan and rethink the foreign ideology that screwed up everyone.
We can always go the way of China and Taiwan, or the former Federation of Yugoslavia breaking up into multiple states. The question is: how much land will the majority be willing to give to this seceded Red+Yellow-turned-Pink-tard state? Will the Babuyan or Tawi-Tawi islands be sufficient? If they aren’t happy, there’s always the option of settling disputes by war. With 110M people holed up in such a small piece real estate; some people think the country is ripe for culling season. But then that would be bad for the stock market. The best option would be the greener pastures of New Zealand and Canada.
Eventually the breakup could eventually happen anyway, considering this is a country divided already, if not by religion then by politics. I think this could be the best thing to happen since a lot of people wanted some form of government change, well, why not just split up? What’s the point of keeping us all together? Stock market could care less about the pain of the ordinary person.
The culling could happen sooner than later. Nobody needs to go to war either, isn’t the Philippines a subduction zone? Thing is, with all the earthquakes, and volcanoes acting out, it won’t be too long before most of the 110M will disappear making nature the true victor and eventually making all talk of democracy a moot point.
“If they aren’t happy, there’s always the option of settling disputes by war.”
I think this is the only wet dream I have to steer the whole baloney of Failipinos and truly think for themselves: Balkanize the Philippines! Subvert the State, even! An ethnic cleansing should take place, too!
There goes the homeless guy. 😄 Kidding aside, balkanize the Philippines? It’s very clear you don’t know what you’re talking about.
Lugaw Robredo is not the real Vice President…she was put there in the position by the COMELEC and the Aquino Cojuangco political axis…
It is pacquiao who seems the stronger contender.
he is handing out money, that is hard to beat.
Now lenny, she is only relevant to fhhags and kakksakkers and will be flogged like an ownerless b*tch dog come election day.
This is an old piece. I think the writer is already dead so let’s just leave alone.
Don’t like it? Go make your own op-ed.
It’s simple, really.