Words are great fun, eh? One of my favorites is “epiphany”. Elegant, ephemeral, artistic, profound. Angels singing hallelujah against the brilliant rays of the rising sun, casting elation across a big internal sky of fluffy white clouds. Cool word.
“Thug” is nice, too. Dumb. Physical. Heavy, like the clubs used.
Anyway, I had an epiphany the other day as I was engaged in a bit of spat with the Anti-Pinoy blogsite founder, who uses the screen name “BongV”. Now I hold a great deal of respect for BongV, as he is a quick-draw internet maven able to provide reams of relevant information on any issue, he is a successful professional in the US, he operates charity endeavors benefitting kids, I agree with a lot of his observations about flaws in Filipino society, and I particularly appreciate the historical basis he provides for the current state of the State.
But I have been troubled by the Anti-Pinoy method which generally tends to gang up on and name-call anyone who disagrees with the AP line of thought. Try patriotically to support President Aquino and you will be filleted and fried.
The epiphany came when BongV issued a threat to me. It was a small one, nothing serious. Something on the order that if I wanted to play the game (of disagreeing with the AP line), I better be prepared.
My response was that this was simply old-school Filipino way of reaching for intimidation first and the gun second.
Suddenly, all the dominoes clacked into place, ringing up five's and multiples thereof at every combo.
The AP crowd behaves just like the Filipino government and power-based society the AP writers criticize. Clannish. Rich with intimidation. Ego-bound. Unable to listen or hear contrary views. Unwilling to put in place an architecture for building, always willing to tear down.
If ever there were a black pot, it is AP. Precious little refined consideration that the world is populated by individuals who have different backgrounds, thoughts, needs, and points of view. Little give, lots of totalitarian push.
Don't get me wrong, there is a lot of good thinking on AP. And the site inspires good thinking (along with some bad thinking, I fear). It has gotten richer and deeper and less shrill with maturity, while rival FilipinoVoices has dwindled through lack of commitment and passion.
But the method is exclusionary, not inclusionary. It drives out opposing views through insult. It doesn't teach, it lectures. It has set in place a dividing line between AP and FV. It does not welcome dissent. AP's passion is painting people black or white, for us or against us. The passion is spent bringing well-intentioned people down rather than applying the energy to hearing, respecting, and incorporating different views in a wholesome community.
Frankly, the site is so . . . so . . . so . . . Filipino.
How would this observation go down on AP? I'd be labeled a crybaby for seeing and saying what I see and say.
I dunno.
Indeed, sometimes I whine with the best of them. But I see a lot of hypocrisy in AP, an operational method that mirrors the power-mongering dysfunction that they criticize, of not being open to new perspectives and approaches, of being unable to articulate an agenda for building.
Too many thugs, not enough diplomats perhaps. Too many agendas to push and not enough exploratory science. Too much looking back and not enough building for the future.
A site in its teens, pimply and full of itself; not yet in adulthood but, indeed, growing . . .
It is a fun place to visit if you like to risk a verbal “Wipeout” now and then.
BongV is in the early stages of American assimilation. He does not grasp that the hidden strength of America is in the idea of how people should treat one another, an idea that is being refined from one generation to the next; sometimes taking a step backward but always trending upwards over the long haul. Diversity is the key to maximum human potential and the enemy of diversity is intolerance.
ReplyDeleteBe patient Joe, BongV has much potential. While most Filipinos are stuck in Plato's Cave believing that what is in the Cave is all that is, BongV has already left the Cave and is trying to make sense of a wider reality. It takes some time to de-program oneself from a lifetime of Cave behavior. But since he has the intellectual curiosity and courage to question the Cave behavior, that in itself shows intellectual advancement. He will get there, eventually.
The flaw of the AntiPinoy is their desire to drag people out of the Cave kicking and screaming. That is no different than a born again Christian shoving Jesus down your throat.
Leaving the Cave must me voluntary, otherwise it will not be genuine. True change starts with a burning passion from within. This existentialist decision is a conversation you can only have with yourself. Some do it early. Others later on in life while sadly, some never will (in this lifetime).
You can tell that to Singapore.Get over it.
ReplyDeleteexcusez moi paul.... while i was in the philippines i kept my silence ... knowing if i spoke i will be shot... now that i am out .. i will speak my truth.. and joe.. or you... can take it or leave it... inasmuch as i take your comments - and either i agree with it or i don't... i understand your view - you understand my view - or you don't or i don't
ReplyDeletestate the reasons why - if you agree or not.
when you include moi in your initial outburst as to "why am i not in the philippines and out there and pissing at the wind" - because I did not agree with your view that I should respect Aquino - I think you should look at yourself seriously and take the advise of your own post.
if you can't recall that comment - it's up to you to look for it.
so if AP does not agree with you - then it does not agree - you are actually behaving in a manner which you ascribe to AP thugs.. susmaryosep.. Jedi mind tricks are so yesterday get over the melodrama joe.
you came into ilda's thread - then you accuse AP of trying to bring Aquino down - WTF? sino ba naman di mafgri-react nyan. that's a very dangerous thing to say in the Philippines - people and families can die - MINE.. you lived in the Philippines for what? I lived in that country for thirty some years - I bled for it and love it more than you can imagine.
so dontcha be pulling that dramatics you sound like an ABS-CBN soap opera
what threat are you talking about? that I will respond to you tit-for-tat? that's a comment thread - you comment, I reply - till we get our points across. plain and simple. what's wrong with that? you just want JOE'S way on AP? You want everyone on AP to agree with you - and since they don't agree they are thugs???? Who really is the thug huh? Look at yourselves. Sheesh.
ReplyDeletei have told you that this is a slipper slope and it's up to you how you want to handle this - so if you want to handle this with your blog post - that's fine. I will not lose sleep over it.
It does not remove the veracity of my statement that Aquino is Cory 2.0, and so far he is playing the script to a T.
you have been hanging around with onion-skinned triumphalist jingoist Pinoys for too long joe. next tning I know, you will be singing hossanahss to the Filipino master race with the L flag and Yellow all around you.
Its 1984 all around you joe - don't you get it?
to joeAm: Pay attention closely to Presi-Noy behavior. Don't you get the feeling that he is trying very hard to curry the favors of the military?
ReplyDeleteHe treats Gazmin deferentially, while he runs roughshod over PAGASA. He gives marching orders to the civilian members of his cabinet, while he is all respecctful to the ex-generals. He promises money to the AFP; he promises hot air to fund the Davide Commission. He has yet to countermand a Gazmin initiative but he has already done so for Robredo and de Lima. Even jueteng ---- remember that the beneficiaries of illegal jueteng include the military higher-ups (not the foot soldiers, just the military higher-ups).
And then, this question --- what has Presi-Noy articulated as to his plans for Pilipinas. Beyond wang-wang. And beyond the slogan "walang korap".
Presi-Noy is even deferential to GMA and Imelda (while he is running rough-shod over Ombudsman Gutierrez). I won't ask you to respond to this since, well, you are vulnerable. Just think about it, then.
By the way.... check out Lila Shahani's recent blog entry.
"... currying the favors of the military"... Presi-Noy being paranoid about some puppetmaster orchestrating a "next" EDSA surge-the-gates makes sense for a Persi-Noy.
ReplyDelete"currying of favors" is along your theme "... trading of favors".
AP comes across as thuggery if you are unable to put up a strong and well-articulated argument. If you care to notice, Joe, we pick the unpopular position in an argument much of the time. We went up against Noynoy's candidacy despite his overwhelming popularity. We point out hairy cultural issues in the face of a huge tide of triumphalism. We sided with Adam Carola, and raised uncomfortable points about "heroes" such as Efren Penaflorida, Manny Pacquiao, and even Cory Aquino.
ReplyDeleteIf there is anyone here that is in a position to be shouted down by a far louder voice, it is us. So where is that big loud voice that represents the bigger majority who hate our message, Joe?
I don't know how quickly you could forget how we were once small voices within FV and yet managed to hold up our own against far more established, well-liked, and better-networked bloggers such as Nick, Abe, DJB, and Lila. Indeed, many of us in AP were once small voices as well in forums such as PinoyExchange.com. We were also threatened, bullied, insulted, and ganged upon. What did we do? We got *better organised* and *elevated our game*. Where is that same kind of stepping up among those who our outraged by our message? You yourself observed it in FV. The mainstays there could not even unite themselves around key ideas. Indeed, despite most of them being pro-Noynoy, they do not have much in common with one another -- not enough to keep FV alive and healthy enough to be a big enough challenge to us.
UPn,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the information on the apparent trading of favors going on. To some extent, I think this trading is a dynamic of Philippine governance and business enterprise, its currency. While I think it is not as efficient as basing things on a strict monetary value, it can be used for good purposes or bad. If it is aimed at advancing an agenda on behalf of the nation, it is at least honorable. If it is aimed at self-service, it is bad.
As I explained to BenK, I have cued up my skepticism, and will watch individual incidents with open eyes, while remaining, on the whole, supportive of Mr. Aquino.
How precious is the right to vote? It is the voice of the people.
Successful democracy requires that its citizens at times sacrifice their individuality for the good of the nation. Giving of one's life if one is in the military. Following the rules and giving up one's freedoms to be law-abiding. Ceding one's desires or intellectual ideals on behalf of unity if a candidate of different ideology is elected.
No one person has ownership of the only way forward. Certainly not BongV or Joe America. Only the collective citizen, registered through the vote, has that ownership.
I rather think giving of oneself, sacrificing one's ideals for a short time (the President's term, say), is not common, or easy. But there is a maturity to it, an honor. It is what the drafters of the American Declaration of Independence and Constitution try to get at, and for the most part, did extraordinarily well. Or take the American Pledge of Allegiance, “one nation . . . indivisible”
The modern condition, with our whiz bang communication, means there are a lot of voices available, and some are small and shrill and self-serving. Rather than stand proudly in respect of the democratic process, one nation, indivisible, they condemn, and split, and rend, and tear . . . And couch it in honorable terms, that they are fulfilling their rights and obligations.
To respect others is a fundamental hallmark of a healthy democracy. I believe that to sacrifice is not to be weak, or stupid, or cowardly. It is simply what is required by the strong to remain strong.
To grant respect to others is honorable.
In Philippine Daily Inquirer First Posted 00:26:00 07/17/2010, Ramon Tulfo tells Persi-Noy asks Persi-Noy to ...
ReplyDelete---
... investigate customs officials and employees who live the life of the rich and famous but whose salaries don’t match their lifestyles?
A customs official has built a mansion in a compound that occupies two blocks, or about 2,000 square meters, at the AFP Officers Village in Taguig.
houses of retired and active generals and colonels in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police. Most of the houses at the military village are huge and will put to shame some of the mansions at the Corinthian Gardens and Greenhills villages. Where did these generals and colonels get the money to build those mansions?
* * *
Before President Noy orders a massive crackdown on tax evaders in the private sector, why doesn’t he order the new BIR commissioner, Kim Henares, to go after corrupt customs, BIR, public works, military and police officials?
UpnGrad,
ReplyDeleteYou do have a casing points here. Now we must act, and write to our Congressman, and share our view points along with our concerns, to let our representatives know, that our systems of governance are desperately need of balance and reconstructioning. All in favor say, Ayyyy...!
And I will set up a petition for us to fill in. So, that we can submit to our Congress[wo]man. One must remember, your true name has to be submitted in this petition form, so it does add value to the systems.
We as Filipinos, being as one, needs to combine our knowledge for a worthy cause, rather than backbiting each others here in the world-wide-web. Or else, nothing is going to get accomplish, and to better ourselves as a nation, not as individual.
E-mail me with your concern(s) and, I will do the best I can, to consolidate each individuals concern on the petition.
Here's my e-mail "m.taporco@yahoo.com"
Hope to hear from y'all...!
Joe,
ReplyDeleteLooks like you've been victimized by the 'akyat-bahay gang'.
You are too naive Joe. If you want to get respect Philippine style then you must play the game. You cannot venture out there without a gang of your own.
Since benigno and bongv is still metioned in some threads of this blog,allow my 2 cents
ReplyDeleteAs I Recall BongV started the site(AP) because some his posts or blogs were not published on time without the decency of telling him why.
Then what followed is the unmoderated filipinovoices by benigs.
As for benign0. I only started blogging and blog hopping in late 2005 and what I observe was benign0 came to strong from many readers, and people began psycho analyzing him like hell. It is true that he himself got his share of insults, what I can say is the man can take it. As he narrated he had been duking it out by his lonesome in PEX since 99 by begging to differ.
I think your history is correct. I dropped out of the AP discussion forum once I realized that most have an agenda to promote that is not based on objectivity. That means is is based on bias or defending themselves. What is the value of that, for the Philippines? They are extremists. I root for the Philippines to marginalize them by progressive steps and growth, improved self-attitude, and economic progress. No country is an Eden. The Philippines has been held back for too long by corrupt acts and personalities, and it is time for commerce and common sense to come forward.
ReplyDeleteAfterthought. BenignO always made me think, as his own thinking was original and moved a layer or two deeper than most. I think he limits himself by subscribing to a bankrupt agenda of tearing down instead of building. But there is no question he has a superior intellect.
ReplyDeleteoops I failed to edit, i meant that benigno came too strong for many readers.
ReplyDeleteAs I said before that Pinoys tend to punish them selves,that is what AP is doing, punishing themselves and the rest by rubbing (the so called cultural malaise)in.
MLQ3 called his advocacies toughlove, well that was then. I don't know if you can still call it toughlove something which you call tearing down instead of building.
I admit like you benign0 is very articulate,and like you his intellect is superior,but look at his post when he has nothing more original to say he picks a situation where one of his past works or some letters sent to him matches the situation.
And he has too many catchphrases, have too much of them you would no longer want to catch them.
"Bankrupt idea of tearing down".That bankrupt idea which he used to call getrealism.
ReplyDeletenow their challenge on who really is the antipinoy?
If the question is who the anti PNOy is ,then there wouldn't be any question that it is their gang.One thing, if you call it an agenda, it surely is not and was not Hidden.
The only thug in Anti-Pinoy is Renato Pacifico who tells the truth like it is. Thuggery is appropriate for Anti-Pinoy. Because in thuggery associates with pain and truth is painful. AND THEY CALL IT THUGGERY.
ReplyDeleteHA!HA!HA! Goot that you mentioned FilipinoVoices. FilipinoVoices is an exercise of literary contest absence of content. It is not Filipino's voices but a voice of the founder. The blog has problem with englischtzes. Perfect englischtzes is measure of IQ, therefore, Filipino fish vendors have higher IQ than Presdients of Korea, Japan, and European countries because Filipino fish vendors speakengese goot englischtzes better.
ReplyDeleteFilipino voices is heavily moderated to the point of exclusion
This "anti-pinoy thug" article if you take the positive and negative sentences THEY SIMPLY CANCEL EACH OTHER OUT!!!! Use simple logic of deduction. So, therefore, anti-pinoy thug article has got nothing to say of substance. CONTENT: ZERO.
ReplyDeleteLiterary grade: PERPEKT ENGLISCHTZES
Spelling: EXEMPLERARY
HA!HA!HA!HA!HA! Goot englischtzes but absence of context.
Antipinoy is INCLUSIONARY provided you run your englischtzes to resident-english-protector, Benign0!
ReplyDeleteAs you know, like all Filipinos, YOU CAN BASH PHILIPPINES and FILIPINOS but never mangle englsichtzes and espellings BECAUSE ENGLISH IS HOLY TO FILIPINOS!
It is their measure of IQ. TO FILIPINOS! NOT TO AMERICANS AND THE CIVILIZED WORLD!
You can add "crack head" to the description list of BongV
ReplyDeletehttp://www.jailbase.com/en/arrested/fl-vcc/2012-10-13/warlito-vicente-885867
Maybe he'll use that photo as his gravatar.
Delete