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| A Philippine Blogger |
It's the pride of
journalism in the Philippines, this finely honed knack for slapping
sensationalism across the front pages. Who is attacking whom today? What
American transgressions can we pounce on today? Did Kris Aquino cry on
television today? Did Miriam explode? Did Enrile zing verbal insults at a
fellow senator? Were people murdered at the mall? Beheaded in Mindanao?
Arrested in San Francisco? Impeached in the congress? Eaten by a crocodile? Did
any buses smash into each other today on the expressway? Trucks roll down the mountain
in Mindoro? Bridges collapse? Police conduct a rubout? Flash floods kill some kids? What kidnapped
person emerged from the jungles of Sulu and how much was that ransom, anyway?
Any Sultans on the rampage today? The Chinese landing on any new Philippine
islands? Is Jessica Sanchez coming to the Philippines? Who is her boyfriend
here?
It is endless, the
sleaze and slime and underbelly of the Philippines, racked and stacked at
newsstands across the land daily, hawked on the highway by gap-toothed vendors
thrusting a pile of bold headlines through the car window, or blazed in full
bloody color on the television screen, carnage dealt like big magic cards from a pompous
talking head's bottomless pit of grue and gore.
I studied journalism
at the University of Southern California. Got my Master's Degree at it. Man, we
never imagined anything quite like Philippine news. Those were the days when US
journalism actually tried to be upstanding. Walter Cronkite ruled the news
roost, a man of impeccable objectivity and passion for doing news right. Dan Rather rather tilted to the left but Tom
Brokaw held steady. And Fox News, under the direction of "Da Man"
Ruuuuuupert Murdoch, one of those rare Australian hopping creatures of low
moral integrity, went sharply right for ratings. "Fair and balanced"
became the Fox motto, the big lie, itself testimony to the deceits and slurs
this network would willingly ship to overfed and intellectually lazy Americans.
But even Fox news
carries itself with integrity compared to Philippine news.
Here, the big
television networks use every trick in the book to squeeze out pesos. Jam 50
minutes of shampoo and soap ads at us per hour. Market mercilessly to kids. Turn up the volume of
advertisements so we have to leap from the sofa for the remote to
push mute. They even feature their own station's drama stars as news features,
as if we are all SUPPOSED to be goo-goo eyed watching those ego-polished fake
people strut their phony stuff. As if it mattered. As if it were properly a
part of every Filipino's earnest, productive work day to know what ACTORS are
up to.
I screamed at my
wife the other day, as I am inclined to do now and then when the cross cultural
pressures get a little heady. "Honeybunch, those television dramas are
FAKE you know! They aren't real!"
She tends to get
absorbed by them.
But back to the
headline.
"Philippine bloggers
suck!"
I have drawn that
conclusion recently as I've watched another blogger whom I held in high regard
go off the deep end of negativity. Angela Stuart-Santiago. She now joins Ellen Tordesillas on Joe Am's
list of Fox News aspirants, bloggers who have gone biased. Gone negative. I
fear that Noemi Dado of Blogwatch is going the same route. Who's next? Not
Raissa. Please tell me, not Raissa.
Angela got my goat
by doing the inside-out twist of the Fitch ratings. Taking what ought to be a
moment of celebration for the entire Philippines, flipping it, and attacking
President Aquino.
I can't comprehend
this.
Well, I can. Each blogger believes we should be perfect. He . . . or she . . . believes the President should be perfect. Perfection in this model is what the blogger believes is best, or correct. Never mind that the blogger has little information to work from and absolutely zero responsibility if he . . . or she . . . ends up WRONG. The Filipino blogger writes into that easy-writing space between his . . . or her . . .ego-bound ideal and reality. And is aghast if anyone sees it differently.
Filipino bloggers are 100 percenters, just like the normal population. My way or you are an idiot. They don't write to learn, like dear JoeAm. They write to instruct. To lord their wisdom. To prove their superiority.
Filipino bloggers are wits of great nit when they flamboyantly strut their words as if they and only they had the inside scoop, the better perspective, the greater wisdom and the deeper insight. They also leverage people's desire for gore, for pain, for headlines and hard opinions and put conflict in the headline and insult in the text of the article. Nevermind that most of it is fiction, made-up stuff. You know . . . opinion.
Well, I can. Each blogger believes we should be perfect. He . . . or she . . . believes the President should be perfect. Perfection in this model is what the blogger believes is best, or correct. Never mind that the blogger has little information to work from and absolutely zero responsibility if he . . . or she . . . ends up WRONG. The Filipino blogger writes into that easy-writing space between his . . . or her . . .ego-bound ideal and reality. And is aghast if anyone sees it differently.
Filipino bloggers are 100 percenters, just like the normal population. My way or you are an idiot. They don't write to learn, like dear JoeAm. They write to instruct. To lord their wisdom. To prove their superiority.
Filipino bloggers are wits of great nit when they flamboyantly strut their words as if they and only they had the inside scoop, the better perspective, the greater wisdom and the deeper insight. They also leverage people's desire for gore, for pain, for headlines and hard opinions and put conflict in the headline and insult in the text of the article. Nevermind that most of it is fiction, made-up stuff. You know . . . opinion.
The Philippines is a
nation always jealous, always envious of the United States. Always insecure, with Filipinos trying to puff themselves up or put the US down. Filipinos are always comparing their nation with the neighbors, Viet Nam, Malaysia, Indonesia. They watch for every international ranking with absolute terror in their hearts.
Then we have a truly
impressive POSITIVE milestone reached. Something never done before. The Philippines emerging
from banana land to modern, investment grade stature. Recognized formally and
tangibly around the world as a globally upstanding nation. And what do so many Filipino bloggers
do? What do so many citizens do?
Flip the
distinguished award inside out and CRITICIZE THE PRESIDENT WHO BROUGHT THEM
THIS ESTEEMED RATING.
Christ Almighty.
Philippine bloggers
suck.
My first instinct after seeing the title was to say no, not all of them.
ReplyDeleteI like Doy Santos over at Pro-Pinoy and J of The Nutbox. I feel a lot more informed, a bit more intelligent after reading any of these two. Not offended or worse, violated which is often what I feel even after just a paragraph or two from the others, who for differentiation purposes I'd refer to henceforth as the blah-blah-gers.
But after reading through this article, I see the point and understand the choice of words (for the title) and so I was willing to leave it at that.
But then, I thought, why be so kind? Why not go for the jugular and hit more than a few raw nerves? Act way below my age bracket and do some real b*#!@!ing for a change.
Like, why not go with this for the title -Stupid Filipino Bloggers!
This would be my title if I were writing about your friend over at GRP , you know, the one who calls himself benignO (malign0 is more like it).
"it will take years to re-engineer the stupid out of the Filipino"!, he says in a recent blog. Well, he would know, won't he? He, being stupid filipino no. 1. Stupid enough to think that just because he is, the rest of us Filipinos probably are. I wonder what box this guy ticks when asked for his ethnicity whenever he fills up the Australian Census form. Maybe he chooses Others eh? Talk about getting real. About himself.
But then again, this article is not about him. And who am I kidding, I probably won't use that other title myself. I'm too old for this kind of crap.
Yes, Cha, my insult is aimed to whom it applies, not upstanding people like Doy Santos or "J", in my opinon, or MLQ III, who is in temporary retirement, thee of the most respectable voices around in my opinion. You don't get whine, you don't get insult, you get issue, earnestly presented.
DeleteIt is interesting, these characters like bening0 who, indeed, represent the archetype of the nasty 100 percenter whose aim is to rise by bringing others down. So in their approach, they define themselves as the worst of what they criticize.
My title was on purpose obnoxious to replicate what I see going on in mass media and too many blogs hereabouts. Riding on sensationalism tending toward unkindness.
Speaking of the Ignacios, their articles have been getting increasingly lame lately. They don't have anything decent or logical left to say, so they just resort to mudslinging and character assassination. But if I were them, I'd think twice before going home to the Philippines or writing another article. With their real faces now exposed in Facebook, it'll be very easy for netizens to hunt them down.
DeleteP.S. I have a feeling that Mr. Ignacio has a new blog - Spinbusters (just google it). The articles there and those in GRP are nearly the same. In addition, Mr. Ignacio hates ABS-CBN, Inquirer and Rappler (the main targets of Spinbusters) with a passion.
Thanks for the info.
Delete1. You scream. I scream. Ice cream.
ReplyDelete1.1. If only that delicious cold sweet stuff were the outcome then there should be no end to shouting matches or headlines.
2. One damaging aspect of bold headlines and horrible news is that they desensitize us. We become not only inured to tragedy and evil but accepting of these.
2.1 We are surrounded by noise and chaos. That is why we should go on regular retreats. Several times a day, I retreat into solitude. But I imagine if I were to go into some solitary place, the woods or some far-flung shore, where no news could reach me for a lengthy period, I imagine I would emerge fresh and sensitive. Never mind rumors of war or tidings of badness. I imagine just the emergence of a new Bieber would shock me no end. And an item on a beheading would send me into a catatonic state.
3. Yes, the world is too much with us. Still with our standards and ideals we are able to see the failings of the world. Still we recognize, cry and laugh at those OMG moments.
3.1 This is not to say we do not have our own failings. Nor that are we not cognizant of them. We are. We are not 100 percenters.
4. Should I read Angela? Should I follow Ellen? No, I shan’t. I’ll leave it up to you to keep tab on the trolls while I enjoy my dollop of ice cream. But let me know when you are tired...
I don't follow Ellen anymore, as my comments are never published, so what's the use of that. Angela I generally undestand and get something from, and will stay involved with her articles. I also require large gulps of quiet during the day, to separate from the rubbish and find some perspective.
DeleteThe way I see it is that basic to both Ellen and Angela is their belief that the rich and powerful are actively waging war on the poor and powerless. Hence many times their positions on issues are quite predictable. Knee jerk. Conclusions that come from the leanings rather than facts. Both can get very emotional about it although Angela tends to be more intellectual and scholarly. She looks at the system whereas Ellen looks more at the personalities. It is easy to agree with them when the enemy is obvious - Marcos and company, dictatorship, Arroyo and company, CBCP - because when you are marching shoulder to shoulder against a common enemy, class lines tend to become less visible, less irritating. But the shared vision and common goal gets complicated when you have a very popular leader like Noynoy who is not bad, who is actually arguably good but who comes from the oligarchy and is not quite the miracle worker that Jesus was. And then all the stereotyping and clichés about oligarchs surface and are pointed out to explain why and how he does things the way he does them. So recent events like Tubataha, Sabah, China, Kristel, Burgos, Fitch, etc, take on a special color that more often than not are based on their class war perspective. But that's just the opinion of someone who like you is finding them more painful to read. - mb
DeleteAhhhh, wow, that opens my mind on "why" intelligent people would be so negative toward their president. It is the same thread that appears to exist in the arguments of Anonymous, below. No better way forward, but disatisfied with Philippine culture (oligarchic power) and taking it out on the Oligarch-in-Chief. What I miss is the sense that this is my country, right or wrong, and it elected Mr. Aquino president, and I'll support him. Because the opposite is to diminish the Philippines. Thanks for the eye-opener.
DeleteHavent read much of Stuart-Santiago, so really cant say if she is a "nattering nabob of negativism." Maybe, based on that Fitch post.
ReplyDeleteI guess some people are destined for a lifetime of suffering, reinforced by telenovelas. Maybe their personal lives are problematic, and they take out their frustrations on national issues.
Many suffer from that disease we have identified before - "you are my enemy in one issue, so you are my enemy in all issues."
Or it could be plain ignorance of economic development. Can you ask her if she has a magic wand that can transform a poor laborer into a middle class homeowner with white picket fences and a two car garage with children in private colleges? In one lifetime?
Push back the Greeks in our midst! They will destroy themselves first and bring down the country with them! No to nattering nabobs of negativism!
I need to incorporate that in the headline to the blog, or a subhead. "Push back the Greeks! No to nattering nabobs of negativism!"
DeleteJoe,
ReplyDeleteIm forming in my head two topics I will write for future essays:
1. On Filipino Extremism - Notice how several political pundits have lurched from the extreme left in their youth to extreme right in their senior years? E.g. Adrian Cristobal, Bobi Tiglao, Gary Olivar, Jerry Barican. There are striking similarities between the extreme left and right - the loss of objectivity (using Marxism and Catholicism as absolute truths), the love of mutually exclusive dualities (you are with me or against me) and the use of simplistic slogans. More later.
2. A disturbing view of corruption from the Catholic Vote Phils - they see it as only a "temporal" issue and voters can choose to vote/not vote corrupt candidates, as long as they are anti-RH! Imagine that! No wonder Catholic dominated countries remain mired in high levels of corruption!
Wow, both of those would be very very interesting articles. The kind of rich probing we need to understand what is truly going on. I wish you well on them.
DeleteAndrew,
ReplyDeleteThese are very significant topics. The first one, the transformation of idealists into anti-heroes is the stuff of myths. Reminds me of Jim Carey's quote: "I'm the establishment I once rejected".
The second one is also about reverse transformations, of how the Church resorts to expediency to impose its absolute dogmas, how the shepherd becomes the wolf. Jim Carey again: "One thing I hope I'll never be is drunk with my own power. And anybody who says I am will never work in this town again."
Jim Carrey: "I'll just say this: in my opinion Fux News is a last resort for kinda-sorta-almost-journalists whose options have been severely limited by their extreme and intolerant views; a media colostomy bag that has begun to burst at the seams and should be emptied before it becomes a public health issue."
DeleteMaybe, and this is just maybe. These people who have the audacity to criticize this President, lived in the country just a little bit longer than you, have seen, heard and lived through the same things before, and therefore not as optimistic as you.
ReplyDeleteYou can research and reflect on the country's business environment, and have a positive outlook. But people who put their own money on the line for business will probably have a different take. Not a hit on you, but you're retired, good for you BTW. But people who still have to work for a living, see, hear, and live through things that you don't, or maybe at least not anymore. All of a sudden, bloggers who don't agree with your view are trolls, hackers, and evil foreign agents "undermining" the forces of good?
I know, its suppose to be a global community, and everyone can Google just about anything anywhere. But I bet your personal views towards US politics, will probably be a little different from someone who has never lived in a "Red" or "Blue" State.
Anon, worthy defense of the long-term residents and their skepticism and wariness or outright condemnation of President Aquino. I agree, my perspective is limited and shaded by a kind of military patriotism that respects the heavy decisions a commnader in chief must make, and grants honor to the leadership, especially when notable victories are won. Journalists are not military men, so they miss that perspective, if it is also to be considered a legitimate one. So I guess they can boo when victories are won. The are free to do that.
DeleteMy views toward the United States are not the subject of the blog, but, yes, they would differ from an outsiders.
I still am troubled as to how the Philippines emerges as a confident, productive nation when so many are every day chipping away so rabidly at her foundations. How can you ever build a substantive national pride in your country when you cannot give to it? When you canot cheer for the accomplishment of the community of Filipinos who are all in it together? If you can't be happy for President Aquino because of all the dynastic bitternesses, at least be happy for the Philippines. The Fitch rating was a very BIG deal. Postive. Something every Filipino will benefit from, and many Filipinos worked hard to accomplish.
I know it must have been a while since your Military days, from someone with a little recent experience, allow me to give you a little refresher. We may be loyal to the Constitution and follow all legal orders up the Chain of Command, but we always have our personal/political views towards whoever the Commander in Chief is.
DeleteGoing back to the Philippines, Its a little difficult for a business owner to have "substantive national pride" when he still can't compete with the Mayor's relatives. Is that what we are really lacking? pride?
How about anger? How come nobody's angry that the same companies, who's always owned by a relative from somebody in power, gets the contracts? Nobody seems to be angry with how dumb and thuggish our law enforcement personnel act. Nobody's angry with how power lines in Metro Manila look like they were spun by drunk, retarded spiders. Nobody's angry with public housing built half way and abandoned all over the place, etc...
Angry. I think people need to be angry with inefficient and retarded actions. Maybe an Anti Retarded Act law? I'm sure you'll sure get a barrage of Philippine "pride" if you ever tweet Paquiao being a steroid user.
Ha, yes, it's been awhile. Very definitely, the Philippines runs on powe and favor, as you cite. I've written numerous blogs about that. And it must be exceedingly frustrating to have the "names" move to the front of the line, as people seem to do in various lines hereabouts, from NSO to ATM. Especially if you have a big business investment depending on getting contracts. The incentive to cheat is high.
DeleteStill, one must figure out how to get out of such a rat's nest of unfair dealings. That's where I think the President's good governance push is in the right direction, and why it is disappointing (to me) to see him undermined left and right, often by the corrupt or people disadvantaged by his acts (the Chruch, and RH, Arroyo, etc.) He is goring oxen and the oxen are squealing. Or maybe it is pigs for the fiesta, I dunno. And the anti-dynasty push is visible, and that, too, is good. FOI would be a strong move as well to undermine the ways the cheaters thrive.
So I understand discouragement of the honest and kind and hardworking. But I don't know how dissing the President gets the nation anywhere new. It is the same acrimony that allows cheaters to thrive.
Many people just see through the President's "good governance push" as the routine high profile media circus that we've seen from past administrations. Marcos, his Mom, Ramos, Estrada, and yes even Arroyo had these "good government initiatives" that simply look good on paper. Whatever issue or scandal hits the press today, will long be forgotten when the next scandal hits tomorrow. Things are the same as they were, and I think people are beginning to wake up and are pissed. Maybe this is good thing.
DeleteI don't think its a battle between "good" and "evil", but more of a battle against cultural norms that's keeping the country down and pathetic compared to our Asian neighbors. Maybe a benevolent ruler can straighten the country out, but I don't think Aquino fits that bill.
I don't buy it. He has sincere people in the cabinet agencies doing earnest work, swimming upstream against institutional barriers like the Church, a judiciary that is corrosive and impotent rather than helpful, and the corrupt who are feeling heat. So having written that, I guess I agree with your comment that it is a battle against cultural norms. But you provide no better way, and indeed, add to the burdens of culture by joining the critics who also don't have a better way.
DeleteMoney is going to education, a bit more to defense, the private/public partnerships are starting to roll out, tax collections are firming up, the Mindanao peace agreement a striking step forward. But if you want to see failure, you can find the things to justify it. And indeed, if enough go down the dark "coup mentality" road, the Philippines will simply retreat back to its sluggardly begging ways.
Sincere people, how do you gauge that? I think many are starting to go with expecting results, and to me that's a good thing. Ah yes the lack of money, the excuse I hear every time I inquire why a government office runs the way it does. That I don't buy. Private and public partnerships, you mean the oligarchy?
ReplyDeleteBut you're right, I'm not offering a better way. I worry about my own little world, and concerned primarily with what effect me and my wallet. Just trying to give you some insight as to why people are criticizing this President, and its not just because people have this evil agenda to undermine the forces of good.
I guage it by appreciation for the style of Robredo, that people care more about their job and nation than lining their pockets.
DeleteLack of money is not an excuse, it is a real factual matter. And oligarchy is the culture of the Philippines. I'm not sure what President Aquino did to make those two facets of Philipino life exist, poverty and rich families and the huge gap in between.
It sounds to me you are dissatisfied with the Philippines, not the President. I offer that a better way is to respect that he has a very difficult job wading through the power-pushers to get good deeds done, and he cannot be a dictator. And that support of the President is a better national demeanor than complaint.
I don't think Angela and Ellen have an "evil agenda". I think they don't really grasp the notion of respecting a duly elected President even if he does things differently than they would do them. They are also a facet of Philippine culture. 100 percenters. It's my way or it's the wrong way. It is guaranteed to fill the pot with negativity, because the President, in his very intricate, visible job, will never do it 100% the way they want.
Unless you personally know the people in power, a call to judge somebody's character is subjective. Personally I could care less, as long as I see results.
DeleteMoney is mismanaged in the country, and that's a real factual matter. A government office hires people in various positions, just for the sake of hiring people. A guy that will hand you the form in window A, a guy that will check your form on window B, all the way to the guy that will receive your money on window Z. Retarded "systems" are kept in place, in order to ensure the guy who owns the copy machine outside stays in business, the guy who ones the drug test clinic, lawyers and notary public, cedula vendors, fixers etc... Do I need to say more?
To me, this call to "respect a duly elected President", is similar to how it's OK to bash President Bush, but it's not OK and even racist to bash President Obama; Fox news is biased, shameful and dirty, but MSNBC is OK.
Interesting thoughts here. Let me serve up my reactions.
DeleteI'm doing a piece on the Army, Navy and Air Force (Wednesday's blog), and it is weird to see such an overstuffed administration in the Army, with golf courses and swimming pools, whilst the Navy and Airforce have tin cans and cessnas. So I agree with you. I think many private companies suffer from similar poor allocations. I visit Robinsons Department Store and the place is crawling with about a thousand sales agents but there is only one cashier to collect the money. But I definitely agree government processes are "retarded".
Your last sentence zings me in the heart because I have called President Bush an idiot and President Obama the best President since Lincoln (a judgment I have since refined downward a bit). So, yes, the judgment is in the eye of the biased beholder.
But if Bush had accomplished something magnificent, I would have cheered. I cheered his "mission accomplished" escapade, flying in by jet to remind people that he was a hotshot. I thought that was great popular theater. Later, I joined the boos as Iraq became a quagmire and he kept funding it "off budget".
But I accept your point. We all carry our biases, and mine is that President Aquino is very very good for the Philippines, regardless of his histor, his pedigree, or his occasional screw-ups.
looking forward to reading your Wednesday blog. Something that may peak you interest is the typical disposition of Military hardware either donated by, or acquired from the US government. Are they put into good use? end up being a private collection? for individual resale? and my favorite, do they end up being parade equipment? Also interesting how in the world does it make any sense, that the PNP is organized like it was a Military branch.
DeleteYes, well equipped for parades and awards, judging from the photos on the many, many military web sites. Active duty force of 200,000. What percent do you figure is actually in the field fighting? I guess 2,000. Like 1 percent. The Army is doing police and COMELEC and disaster and administrative duty. Yes, and parading.
DeleteAnd you really shouldn't be worried that this President will ever lose popular support. He is an Aquino, son of national hero and a saint, brother of one of the most popular celebrities in the country. To the eyes of the people, he can do nothing wrong. Every single blogger can portray him as the Antichrist, and it wouldn't even make a dent.
ReplyDeleteWell, maybe so, but I think those are the wrong reasons to admire him. The right reason is that he has stabilized the nation on the idea of honest work, and that is being leveraged to build an economic platform that business people trust.
DeleteSir, just curious -- and I enjoyed your exchange here with Joe -- what has the president been doing wrong? I mean, sure, this government is not perfect, but I do think he has the welfare of the Philippines in mind.
Deletecont.
DeleteI mean, I don't agree with all of his decisions, but I don't think he's out to scr@w this country.
tristanism
Tristan,
DeleteI'll assume your question above is for me, so here's my 2 cents worth opinion. I'm not for or against this president. I am for results. Supposed impressions that this country is about to become the next Tiger, Dragon or flying manatee are just that, impressions. The reality for people on the ground leads to a very different picture.
If I'm a company stock investor and the President is the CEO, I could care less who the CEO is and how difficult his job is suppose to be, I just want to see a return on my investment. I want results.
But I also don't think he's out to screw the country. Personally, he might even be a guy I would drink a beer with. But the same thing can be said for the many, retarded, inefficient, a$$ clown monkeys that run/direct the government offices and departments in the country.
Anon,
DeleteRetarded, I hear that a lot these days. We need to tone that down.
But I do get your point. However, this trickle down thing, what does that mean? Jobs for the poor? How? More factories? Call centers? I want to know about it in concrete terms, so I'd know what to look for.
Tristan
Tristan
DeleteRetarded is the best I can describe what we normally see in government offices. Not just to dish away insults but the serious lack of common sense is overwhelming. Bureaucracy might be a more non offending term, but just plain retarded is a more accurate description.
Not sure where the "trickle down thing" came from, but the governments job is to create a conducive environment for business. If you've ever worked on getting a business permit or even a building permit, you'll know exactly what I mean. We're lagging behind our Asian neighbors in FDI for a reason, and it's not due to lack of marketing, negative impressions or even negative opinions from bloggers
Sir JoeA, much I would like to agree on your opinion, may i offer you some insights in understanding the cultural environment in which these negative attitude of some of our political bloggers have made the national govt as the punching bag of their self-styled,urbanized guerrilla protracted war to lead a revolutionary change both inside & outside the ambits of constitutional parameters;
ReplyDelete1) We are proud that our journalists enjoy the "freest" press freedom in this part of southeast Asia
2) Our trimedia industry have the Consitutional license to blame the President and even some members of the national leaders to complain even the problem of cockroaches in your cabinet. There have been some good results in their selective exposure of dirty linen in public only to trivialize a public sin as a national shame.
3) I have yet to hear a publisher or broadcast media put in jail for libelious crime after the Marcos regime was toppled, except perhaps the late Louie Beltran during the revolutionary
govt of Pres. Cory who has been degraded as Commander-in-Chief hiding under the cover of her bed to described a coup attempt by members of the RAM.
4) These well meaning bloggers belong to self-conscious intellectual elite who wants "revolutionary change" but do not see that their fighting a cultural problem they themselves are a part of and cannot undo because the ills of society are fossilized or stratified, a dysfunctionality in a culturally damage people. A by-product of the Western mode of thinking that freedom of speech is to disagree even it does not promote moral redeeming values nor encourage people the rightful conduct for the good of the community. jojie
jojie, most interesting comments. By the numbers:
Delete1) That's true, and definitely something to be proud of.
2) Very interesting. It seems like national shame oan be trivialized (Estrada, Marcos) and the trivial can become national shames, for those who see it that way (Aquino's handling of the Sultan, where some wanted more . . . like war?).
3) Considering how the libel laws favor the person who was insulted, that is surprising.
4) Wow. What a powerful explanation; it makes a lot of sense. Westernized notions of free speech promoting disagreement that does not produce morally redeeming values! A product of a culturally fossilized dysfunction.
You should be writing blogs. What great insights. Thanks.
Thanks for your advice and complimentary comments. I would rather share my views than "mislead" others to something not true. btw, fyi, Angela is my paternal first cousin, the competition is not needed. jojie
ReplyDeleteAh, you are a part of that writing dynasty, eh? :)
DeleteBloogers got it from "No Goot News is Goot News". Goot News do not sell, so does Goot pro-government blogs do not sell. Goot governance is expected from government. Bad is not expected and should be hung out to dry. This is where newspapers and bloggers comes in. Expose the Bad not the Goot so people would know.
ReplyDeletePro-government blogs had become cyber-derelict. Pro-Pinoy is one (?). Filipino Voices was a precedent. Not even an Obituary. It was abandoned and neglected. Commentators went their separate ways to show their true color, Anti-anything anti-government searching for holy grail of perfect governance and fixing toxic corrosive Filipino cultural traits. The brain of Filipino Voices is now blogging about his wife. Gave up his pursuite to serve the people as barangay captain.
Anti-anything anti-government bloggers have lost readership. They are like John & Ken of KFI640 L.A. afternoon harangue repetitiously attacking illegal immigrant day-laborers day-in day-out.
Amalgam of commentators shifted to newspapers news commentaries. Just the same it appears they are anti-government, too. The pro-governments are clobbered here and there that they'd ask the newspaper to block and ex-commed and ban those that they cannot wrestle down intellectual factual mat. What are left are looney illogical commentators.
The issue of anti-anything-government is they post comments like me. They are arrogant. Stuck-up. hallucinagic. They believe they are always right. Those that do not see their views are low-intellegicne. The left-behind commentators are low-lifes that pounce on anyone with anti-Manny diatribes (Two Yelp Accounts, 3 Facebook accounts were removed by Yelp and Facebook because of my Anti-Manny anti-boxing sentimentsj). That is how insane Filipinos are. Not to mention Jessica Sanchez. They force the idea that Jessica Sanchez is a Filipino. If we follow their train of thoughts, that makes Obama a Kenyanese not an American.
To keep mey balance I read the pros and antis. The pros are boring. The antis are colorful. It makes my head spin my heart thumping, manometer going up. Heart is made of muscle. Heart requires cardiovascular exercise. The antis makes my heart hearty, fit, happy and gay.
Ah how I miss LA talk radio! People read here and think I'm overbearing. I'm just a little lamb compared to those guys. They kept me awake for an hour and a half as I drove my 13 miles from work to home.
DeleteThe anti's do invigorate the emotions. But I can't go to GRP since they banned me. It's like being a pressure cooker with no escape valve.
Filipino voices had the best dialogue until the anti guys got snooty and stomped out. Where are they, Primer and Dean and Atty Ben? Probably snoozing under a mango tree somewhere. I sometimes think that is the best place to be. This is so many words thrown to oblivion.
DeleteWhere are they now? Why have they stopped? What made them? Did they change their handle? Or, JUST TOTALLY GAVE UP that Filipinos cannot be rescued? Cannot be changed?
DeleteThe Fitch, Moodys and Standard&Poor upgrade is mysterious. I Google TOP TEN EXPORTS and TOP TEN IMPORTS WikiAnswers and Yahoo! Answers have the answer not Phiippine government websites.
ReplyDeleteWhere in the world did Fitch base their data on? WikiAnswers? Yahoo!Answers? Are their sources of economic data from CIA? CIA has the answer to my question than Philippine Government.
Aha! I think the upgrade was based on Philippine Population Explosion. Here is my take. The increase in OFW remittances correlates to GDP's increase. So, therefore, more Filipnos more OFWs. More OFWs more remittances. More remittances increases GDP.
ahahaha, I can imagine some nerd Fitch guy at his computer googling wiki to update his Filipino file. I think you are right about the population explosion and the OFW flood. The most important government agency is the one that prints all the passports.
DeleteHm, very interesting discussions. I enjoy reading the comments as much as (I do reading the article itself. This is what I love about blogs like this – people debating ideas, defending them in a firm and respectful manner or conceding when necessary.
ReplyDeleteI’m not familiar with any of the Filipino bloggers mentioned above, so out of curiosity, I went into a reading spree and just pulled out an article from each one. Then I went ahead and read the comments section of their blogs, too. Amazing, isn’t it, what words can do? And astonishing, how many dissenting voices there are from Filipino netizens? It’s like the Yahoo comments section – with admittedly more intelligent and more informed reactions, expressed in more grammatically correct terms. Amusing though, how some opinions can be as vicious and vile as those comments that internet trolls spout out in the other less intellectually stimulating websites.
I guess people tend to gravitate towards people (bloggers in this instance) who share the same opinion. I got to Joe’s blog from Rappler, and I lurked around longer than I was inclined to because I liked the optimism, the humor, and the irony. But most of all, I liked that Joe offers alternatives and solutions – fantastic at times, and I doubt whether those were even feasible, but they were solid proposals nonetheless. A writer can gripe about things that went wrong in the Philippines – and yes, there are a lot of them – but in the end, what would be a possible plan of action?
Debates are healthy. Only the lazy would shun it. But in most cases, compromise is necessary. Only the insecure would construe it as defeat.
The Aquino administration is far from perfect, and Aquino himself is far from ideal, but I’d prefer him over the alternatives. Besides, I like his stand and actions towards eradicating corruption. Does he get results? I don’t know, but word has it around the local city market that contractors for government projects have less profit nowadays. Apparently, when government officials follow the rules, contractors are forced to actually build the road/building/bridge/etc. that they were contracted to do. In the last administration, one can purportedly get paid without building anything. That’s why most are looking forward to 2016, when a certain high-ranking government official whose ways can bring businessmen back to the glory days, stood a great chance of taking over the Presidency. I think his personal assistant is gunning for the Senate.
Getting sidetracked from all the other comments…but yes…about Philippine bloggers who suck. The funny thing – from my point of view – is that as potentially damaging to the national morale as some of these blogs are, they do not reach the common people, do they? They’re accessible to just a chunk of the society – to a portion of that inverted pyramid where the educated, the informed, and the enlightened reside. So I say gripe away. We can’t hear you.
In the same way though, blogs like Joe’s are confined to the same circle of people. There are blogs everywhere in cyberspace, but how much of those – sucky or not – can actually reach the greater part of Philippine society?
No. The dominant voice right now that people can hear all the way down the pyramid is the media. Whether it’s TV Patrol, 24 Oras, or that other magazine show from the other station, these are the voices that are readily heard. They influence people’s thinking, they damage, they tear apart, they create biases, they destroy images.
Philippine journalists also suck.
Amy, your comments are always a delight. Frank, unshaded by posturing, accurate, uplifting.
DeleteIf the comment thread is good, this blog is a success. Otherwise all is vanity. And I agree, they are typically rich and devoid of the gamesmanship and ego-promotion done elsewhere. It's a place for the healthy of esteem, I think.
Yes, we bloggers only reach a small group of people. But I look at it as throwing stones into a large lake. The ripples head outward, and if we occasionally hit a government leader or other opinion maker with an idea, then the wave can be considerably larger than the initial plop. We just can't see where it ends up is all. I think our stones land with a rich, deep plop. Not the shallow skip of the blogs that have agenda behind them, as they skip off onto the beach, eventually lost among all the other rocks there.
The ripple effect. Pay it forward. Hahaha, I'm actually ashamed of myself. I might have turned to the "dark side" for one tiny moment there. Thank you for the reminder. :)
DeleteHappy to rescue a good mind from the pits of negativity. When visiting the negative sites, it is always best to tie a string to your belt, rather like cave explorers do, so that they can find their way back out from the darkness.
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