The rebranding of the Yellowtard cause around the colour pink represents a massive misreading of the pulse and character of the Filipino people. For so long, the Opposition led by the Yellowtards (the bloc of partisans within it rabidly-loyal to the Aquino-Cojuangco clan) expressed bafflement over the continued popularity of incumbent Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. Unfortunately for them, that vexation had not translated to curiosity and that curiosity into actionable insight that serves their “cause”.
The fact is, Filipino culture remains a culture of machismo. Ana P. Santos, in her June 2018 piece “The Price of ‘Machismo Populism’ in the Philippines” for The Atlantic, describes “a sexist strain that has long festered just beneath the surface” of “polite” Philippine society that Duterte taps to sustain his popularity. Santos further observes…
Male action stars popularized in Philippines’ cinema and telenovelas who save the day seemingly using nothing more than braggadocio, and noontime variety shows where scantily clad women dance and male hosts flirt with them, glorify machismo and normalize sexist behavior.
Indeed, this makes the Yellowtards’ cozy relationship with Big Corporate Media even more interesting when one considers the hundreds of millions of pesos in profits these media companies have made on the back of low-cost productions that regurgitate action star and kalaswaan tropes that keep Filipino audiences hooked. This does not include the mind-numbing noontime variety shows that made stars of the likes of Vice Ganda, Maine Mendoza, the Tito-Vic-and-Joey trio, and Kris Aquino. Right in the ingrained mediocrity and exploitation culture of Big Media and the symbiotic relationship the Yellowtards maintain with their oligarchs shareholders and the celebrities whose careers they prop up lies the profound hypocrisy of this disente camp.
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More important, however, is the curious fact that Yellowtardom’s “thought leaders” and campaign strategists had all but failed to apply the marketing wisdom of their media henchwomen to their own desperate campaign to seize power legally as the 2022 national elections approach. The pink ribbon that presumptive leader of the Philippines’ “United Opposition” sports nowadays presumably represents the plight of the country’s “victimised” women consistent to the context Santos paints in her Atlantic piece. Indeed, they go as far as suggesting that Filipinos today suffer a form of “battered wife” syndrome. In his Inquirer piece “The will to fight back”, Professor Randy David writes of “why [‘vice president’ Leni Robredo is] running for president and why the nation desperately needs someone like her at this time.”
The metaphor she employs references the complex situation of countless victims of domestic violence. Without saying so explicitly, she likens the Filipino public’s forbearance with Mr. Duterte’s incompetent and violent presidency to the deep ambivalence that women experience when the men they chose to love and raise a family with turned out to be dissolute tyrants. They continue to love their abusers, offer excuses for their repugnant behavior, and hang on to every little sign that they are at heart good persons.
Under this light, it becomes easy to see why the Yellowtard campaign is underpinned by an ill-thought-out strategy that dooms it to failure.
First of all, the Feminist Card at play in the branding of the Opposition bid targets only half of the voting population — women. Second, of that female population, only a minority set would consist of members who would consider themselves in abusive relationships. The Union of Catholic Asian News reports that only “one in four Filipino women aged 15-49 has experienced physical, emotional or sexual abuse by their partner or husband.” On this back-of-an-envelope reckoning alone, could be gleaned that Robredo’s ill-fated campaign would directly resonate with less than 13 percent (one fourth of the female vote) of qualified Filipino voters. That is a clear set up for failure.
This is the whole trouble with the elitist mindset of Yellowtardom that was forged over years of shrill chatter within their echo chambers and chi chi private-school-along-Katipunan-Road conferences and forums. They have come to regard Philippine society through the yellow- (and now pink-) tinted lens of Western European and coastal North American woke culture where every fluidity, equality, and other nebulous gender-prefixed notion, when shouted out, serve as calls to “activist” action (or prayer).
It really comes down to what pink actually means to the Filipino. Has there ever been anything in Filipino culture that was symbolised by this colour? No? Why pink then? It seems the Yellowtards and the broader Philippine Opposition that they infest are in the midst of an appeal to voters that seeks to espouse anything but what really matters to the ordinary Filipino.
benign0 is the Webmaster of GetRealPhilippines.com.
Doctors and cancer patients are also criticizing Liberal Party’s rebranding. They hijacked the pink ribbon, a popular symbol for breast cancer awareness.
Pink is hardly a Filipino color. Korean – maybe, but not Filipino. True Nationalists typically choose a color from the national banner; so yellow was at least “Filipino”. Ironically though, “F” is not even a genuine letter in the native a ba ka da alphabet, yet the people are called “Filipinos”.
Taking on Pink after their experiment with White ended with a mega-fail last 2019 elections, the Yellowtards at heart are so desperate for a game-changer move. The focus on motif over substance simply shows how shallow their political agenda and strategy are.
The only thing Filipino about pink may be “pork barrel”, the primary incentive for Filipino politicians aspiring a seat in Congress, and the weapon used by erstwhile Nobel peace prize winner wannabe PNoy to unjustly oust CJ Corona.
The only winner in all this pink-sation on the road to May 2022 will likely be Food Panda. So we at least know which stock to invest in.
Why pink then?
And why not, as Leni will say. Yellow is already passé. Ninoy and Cory, the origin of the color, are just a distant memory especially to the generation z of the voting public. There no longer remains, after the death of The last of the Aquinians (Noynoy), in the original protagonists in the Cory-land to continue the fight in its original form. The team needs a new blood, a unifying leader that will co-opt everything the Yellow represents. A new battle cry that will once again accompany the wars against the resurging Marcoses, their mortal nemesis.
To the unassuming it’s just a mere rebranding, a revitalization effort to attract and embrace more factions (artist, feminist, elitist, communist, and all kinds of -ist) to the fold. For Leni, it’s the start of something new. Right now it’s just a remarketing of the brand; transforming even. After election, when she’s president, the complete overhaul and transformation will follow. Just like what FM did to the KBL.
And that my friends is the genius of Leni Robredo. : )
The more I read your comments, the more I realize how stupid you are.
The fact (you admit) that Yellow is passe also means that those associated with that color are also passe. Doesn’t matter if they changed color and went through a long process of rebranding. Filipinos will only take more offense for being taken for idiots.
A rose by another name is still a rose, and you can dress up a pig in satin and lace, but it’d still be a pig. Applies to you too. No matter what you say, you’re still an idiot.
“…that Yellow is passe also means that those (Ninoy, Cory, Noynoy) associated with that color are also passe.”
Exactly, that is why Robredo is coopting it for herself. You didn’t get the idea so I cannot argue with you. You were never there. Sorry. : (
Hahahah! Wow! What a galactically stupid person you are.
Did you not understand the comment above where I said “doesn’t matter if they (Leni, etc.) changed colors??”
Leni changing colors, coopting it herself, however you wanna put it… make no difference.
She’s still passe.
Sorry you do not have the minimum required brain cells. 🙁
Wala ka pala kwenta kausap. Waste of time.
I’m calling it!
Yellowtards can now be called “Magentards”.
They’ll still be Yellowtards to me. Every new colour they adopt will just be new disguises.
Like, no Filipino countrymen are fooled by that cheap publicity bulls**t gimmicks of these yellowtard son of a bitches of ditching their yellow to pink color-switches, as their goddamned policies, philosophy and agendas, are still the one and the f**king same, regardless of the changes.
These yellowtard liberal elitist motherf**kers think that the entire Filipino countrymen are dumb and foolish, but they’re f**king mistaken.
“I’m calling it!”
So said the jeepney barker sa may kanto.
He calls people’s attention to direct them to the rides they’re looking for home. In essence, we can say that they bark for a living. Which brings me to the main point I want to share today.
If calling or barking makes money for a living, would it be fair to say that some member/posters we have here barks for a living? I said that because I notice a couple of people here have a habit of barking to mock, deride or taunt those whose ideas or opinion they do not agree with. They will jeer at you in a wink to express their disapproval of your view. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind people poking fun at other people while disagreeing to what was written. And if one is doing it for the money, it’s even better, at least, it’s not for naught.
In a way, posting and sharing here is like a sport. You go in, play the game, you get knock down or you get to knock (someone’s opinion) down; you agree or disagree; you win or lose. I see it, in fact, as a game of brinkmanship. You engage to dare and challenge, to provoke and trigger reaction from other people in order to explore and dissect issues at hand. Walang pikunan, sports lang.
Most importantly, we need avoid to get out of touch with the mission of this platform which says,
“The mission of Get Real is “to DEVELOP AND ARTICULATE groundbreaking and insightful IDEAS and disseminate these to as big an audience as possible. The approach to developing these ideas — CRITICAL THINKING — is what unites the men and women who run the various blogs and media channels that make up the GRP Network.”
Next time we call or bark, remember what the essence of the mission is: avoid cyber libel. : )