POS Wants BBM To Eat (Pink) Cake

Now hear this, folks! Whether we like it or not the world of the Pinklawans in Philippine society has become the arbiter of truth, intelligence, class, decency, and morality. Very much like the Hollywood celebrities in America, the Pinklawans expect the rest of us “peons” to embrace their dictates and beliefs because otherwise, in the words of the Hollywood royalty Paris Hilton, you’re just not “hot” (yes, she is that profound). In our country’s case, what is hotter than the elite Oxford Philippines Society or what I prefer to call the Pinoy Oxford Society (POS)? The very same group that recently made a declaration that essentially looked down on BBM’s credential as his credential is not the same as theirs.

So this group, POS, a group of 200 Oxford University students and former students, with Filipino roots, declared (with such authority) that:

i) Bongbong Marcos matriculated at the University of Oxford in 1975 to read for a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (the “Degree”). Matriculation is a formal ceremony marking a student’s admission to the University of Oxford. This is a requirement that all students need to undergo at the beginning of the course.

ii) Bongbong Marcos did not finish his Degree. This was officially confirmed by Oxford University in 2015.

iii) Bongbong Marcos failed his Degree’s preliminary examinations at the first attempt. Passing the preliminary examinations is a pre-requisite for continuing one’s studies and completing a degree at Oxford University. Preliminary examinations are taken in the first half of a degree course, usually in a student’s first year of studies.

iv) Bongbong Marcos has been awarded with a Special Diploma in Social Studies in 1978. A Special Diploma is not a degree, and neither is it comparable, superior nor equivalent to one. A Special Diploma is not a course of higher education leading to an undergraduate or first degree or even a master’s degree.

Funny, but as they have averred to, this issue has already been confirmed in 2015! Why they are bringing this up again despite the fact that this has been clarified already is quite mind-boggling. But they say they are not doing this for political purposes. Oh no! Surely not! We’ll simply just have to believe them as much as we have to teach our daughters to always believe their boyfriends whenever they say: “Trust me baby, I’ll pull out in time”.

Now if the purpose is merely to dispel “disinformation” and to inform the public that Bongbong Marcos’ “Special Diploma” is not a degree nor something that can be used to lead up to a more advanced credential, then why is there a need to even mention that BBM failed his first attempt at the school’s preliminary exams? Should we then demand the Integrated Bar of the Philippines to make a statement that Leni Robredo is a Bar flunker? That she needed to retake the Bar exam to be a lawyer? I find it hilarious to see a bunch of snotty little-nosed rich twerps and their older contemporaries make assessments of the value of another person’s credential, the hell with the registrar’s office!

But the POS gods have spoken, and Filipinos are expected to bow down to the majesty of such authority. I wonder out of the 200 members of this elite group, how many of them belong to the top 100 notable Alumni of the University of Oxford? Last time I checked the list, only two Filipinos made the top 100. The first one being BBM who is ranked at #66 and the other one being Isko Moreno at #86. How can someone who doesn’t have the same piece of paper as these POS boys and girls have and how can a former lowly squatter from the streets of Manila be recognized in the top 100 notable Oxford Alumni and not one of them who are part of the crème de la crème of Philippine society? To top this off, how can a “Special Diploma” be good enough for acceptance to the MBA program at the prestigious Wharton School of Business if they declared that BBM’s Special Diploma is not a course of higher education leading to an undergraduate or first degree or even a master’s degree, as they declared? Aren’t they supposed to be the final arbiter and authority of what a Special Diploma is worth? Oh, this must hurt the fragile little egos of the snotty little Marie Antoinettes! Awww… how about a slice of a nice sweet pink cake?

The Marie Antoinettan hubris of these elites makes it so much easy to mock. I would recommend my readers to mock one if ever you get an opportunity to do so for their stupid and pretentious opinions. Don’t let an opportunity pass by because you can bet your second- and third-class ass that they will not hesitate to do the same to you. These folks assume that their wealth and prestige are substitutes for intelligence, competitiveness, and wisdom, when in all likelihood it is often nepotism that gets them to where they are. (Okay, I take that recommendation back. But you do get my drift, right?)

Now what is worse than the elites? Well, that would be the peons who think they are elites just because they agree with and identify with the sentiments and persuasion of the elites! Acting so uppity and intellectual, these Einsteins don’t seem to realize that very much like their degrees from the University of the Philippines or the Ateneo or De La Salle, their degrees (and experience) may not mean jack squat at other institutions, organizations, or even countries! To embrace the words of the elites doesn’t make one an elite. Just because you agree with people perceived to be intelligent does not make you intelligent! To believe so is idiotic. It’s kind of like watching television in the middle of the night and coming across a commercial showing a cool looking guy wearing a nice Ralph Lauren shirt hanging out with other cool looking guys and cute chicks, all happy and giddy. Now, if you think that if you buy that Ralph Lauren shirt you would end up being like that cool looking guy hanging out with a bunch of other cool guys and cute girls, then congratulations! You are an idiot! You will still be the same old chump only $90 lighter!

Anyhoo, it really is up to individual institutions or groups to assess whether a degree is equivalent or not precisely because equivalency is, as an adjective, about having similar features or identical value, meaning or effect. In other words, it is a value judgment. To make a sweeping statement that a Special Diploma isn’t is the height of hubris! Anti-Marcosian uppity idiots seem so gleeful at this latest slight at BBM’s educational background, they seem to fail to realize that the degrees and diplomas they have from their respective universities may not mean anything either to others, perhaps even to the POS folks they seem to be glorifying now! Being so fixated on watering down another person’s educational background, perhaps, is the “decent” thing to do for these sanctimonious bunch. Funny how these POS geniuses’ declarations don’t seem to matter to how the Wharton School of Business assessed BBM’s credentials when it accepted BBM into its MBA program. Funny how the smear campaign seems to only resonate within their echo chamber.