Simply appalling

“The masses are not bound to society by their shared values but by coercion at the hands of those in power.” – Margaret L. Andersen, on conflict theory, Sociology: The Essentials, p21

IT is quite appalling to see how we, as a people, have come to be this way. A polarized nation with nothing but prejudice and vindictive pride.

As a friend and colleague Inday Espina-Varona puts it, it seems that the sycophants of both polarizing ends appear to be coming from the same sewage. It is overwhelming that I cannot help but feel helpless and useless at the same time.

While our economy is in the rut, physical violence runs rampant in many parts of the island. I feel like this administration is hell-bent on killing its constituents, directly and indirectly. What’s worse is that some people who I used to consider as people of conscience, some are even outright religious, are the ones in the front seat applauding the demagoguery. Well, at least that is how it appears in the echo chambers of various online social media networks.

A case in point is the latest rant by the president against the church on Sunday. Manila Bulletin quoted the president as saying: “There’s a developing story in Itogon, 43 persons… Nag collapse yung church… Alam niyo, kung pinalitan ninyo ‘yung pari diyan, hindi magbagsak ‘yung simbahan diyan. Bobo ‘yung mga pari.”

Let me point out why I know the president is misinformed about what happened in Itogon and you can also do this too with a simple Google search and searching for subsequent corroborating articles on the Internet.

First, it was not a church. It was a bunkhouse of miners. Second, the priests have nothing to do with the landslide. It is the mining operation in the area of Benguet Corp. for the last hundred years. Third, a church might have been one of the structures that were destroyed by the landslide but it wasn’t a Roman Catholic church.

In a report by Micaella Ilao of ABS-CBN, Itogon mayor Victorio Palangdan said the landslide destroyed the bunkhouses of Benguet Corp. which were being used by the miners. “We know for a fact that this area is dangerous because there is a big tunnel mined by Benguet Corporation a hundred years ago,” the report goes on in quoting the town mayor. This news report is corroborated by other news organization who covered the story.

We have heard a lot of ad hominems, nonsequiturs, and outright lies from the president but this one, at least for now, is by far the most calloused one yet.

However, this administration’s army of trolls was quick to deflect the instantaneous avalanche of hate comments against the president. They point out that if the “delawans” are capitalizing this latest foot-in-mouth for the president’s supposed ouster, then who would replace him? They then push to further deflect by pointing out that the vice president should not be one of the choices because she is incompetent. At least, that’s what the president told them.

It is tiring to see that some friends and even close relatives (read: the first degree of affinity and consanguinity) post religious passages on social media yet defend all the insensitive crap the president has been spouting at a heartbeat. Be that as it may, however, I will still continue unmasking the truth behind this administration. Just as I’ve have done with the previous administrations, without fear or favor. I believe I owe it to the readers to know the truth.

I believe this is the second prong of the two-pronged approach against disinformation. One is to debunk while at the same time continue with the truth-telling in all of our reportage. How do we do this, you ask? It is only through multi-sourcing that we get the facts straight.

No matter what I feel about this administration is not important because it is not about me. It is about informing the public so they, in turn, can make intelligent decisions. Especially so, that next month will be the start of yet another circus show for the acquisition of power and avarice.

Pushing back

“WITH all three of us working together, truth does not stand a chance!” reads RJ “Thinking Pinoy” Nieto’s social media post, referring to the rest of the triumvirate, Margaux “Mocha” Uson and Sass Rogando “For the motherland” Sassot.

We are fighting back.

Together with other traditional news media organizations, we are going to fight back. We are not taking crap from anybody’s troll, bot, or an actual person but misinformed or just plain stupid and ignorant, anymore. Worse, are their handlers, most of whom used to work with traditional news media organizations.

I have personally witnessed some former colleagues in the industry who went from calling for an end to impunity and extrajudicial killings to shouting “delawan obosen, bias medias, and fake news” at every news article that doesn’t support the narrative they have set for themselves. (Shouting online is manifested in an all-caps post.) They who have allowed themselves to be trapped in a circular argument and embraced false dichotomies.

They bash news media for being biased. (Yes, there’s supposed to be “ed” after the word.) It is as if these people didn’t know the dynamics in a newsroom. I find it ludicrous that a former station manager of a regional newsgroup of a national TV network rant and lose his cool on his Facebook wall over news that his former station aired that debunked a lie his tatay said.

This is almost always the case, by the way. If a certain news item does not conform to the President’s ridiculous claims, then it must be “fake news.” If you argue against this administration, then you must be a dilawan or bayaran.

I confess that I did nothing to stop or at least, call out the rumormongers on social media. I was indifferent about it. I thought all the lies would just die out when confronted with the truth. But that didn’t happen and the people ought to know the real situation of what is happening to the country.

Last week, I heard some pretty compelling figures that convinced me, finally, to fight this lie-laden rhetoric online.

As of April, this year, there are 69 million Filipinos who are active social media users. Hootsuite has ranked the Philippines as the number one social media users who stay online at close to four hours each day. What is alarming is that the purveyors of fake news have a great number of following which, in turn, creates echo chambers. Unwitting users confuse echo chambers as an approbation of the distorted views of reality they post online.

It used to be that trolls, bots, and real accounts post misinformation or outright disinformation online. Now, referring to the quote above, they just declared war against the truth.

I, for one, cannot take it anymore. I didn’t cultivate my journalistic career just to upped by lying SOBs.

This paper has joined other traditional news media organizations in the fight against disinformation. We will debunk every lie posted online especially on social media networks. If my editor-in-chief and I fought the proliferation of disinformation individually, now entire news organizations will collectively fight back.

Enough is enough. We will resist the lies.

Lesser of two weevils

I HAVE always believed that the phrase “clowns in politics” was just a metaphor. But that changed a week ago. There are actual clowns in politics. Mind you, these clowns aren’t funny. Well, there never has been a funny clown. At least, that’s how popular culture has depicted these creatures of the circus. They try to be funny but almost always fall flat on the ground. In movies, they are either depressed, hysterical, degenerate, or murderous.

We witnessed the President’s misogynist take, yet again, on why Davao City is currently the rape capital of the country. I’ll let the advocates at #BabaeAko take that one. In their latest statement on the incident, they have made it clear that rape is neither about physical appearance nor love. It is about power. It is about imposing your will on another human being.

As the title above suggests, I’ll be talking about the lesser evil last week.

In his attempt to show Filipinos that the weevil-infested imported rice is safe for eating, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol actually ate bukbok rice. To complete the meal, he also ate the imported galunggong (round scad) that were allegedly laced with formaldehyde, more popularly known as formalin.

Piñol has been pushing for the importation of rice and galunggong in his attempt to smother the rising inflation currently gripping the nation. A solution that is as ridiculous as it sounds. The Philippines has been an agricultural country and plus, it’s an archipelago. This means that the country should not be facing rice and fish crises considering we have one of the most fertile soils in Southeast Asia and has one of the longest coastlines in the world.

Many advocacy groups have called for his resignation for his bumbling mistakes. Piñol retorted with the now template reply of the clowns of this administration: “These canards are gross attempts to discredit the Duterte administration.” Canard means an unfounded rumor or a concocted story.

Well, newsflash, Mr. Secretary, the people do not need to “discredit” this administration since it has been doing a banged up job by itself. The government has more than enough expertise and resources to address the failing economy. Importing rice and galunggong only cements the export-oriented and import-dependent character of this government’s overall economic policy.

However, the government can always look into its capabilities rather than look far to solve these problems.

The government owns and runs the world-renown Philippine Rice Research Institute, for crying out loud. Just this August, the institute has developed healthier forms of rice and rice-based products to help address malnutrition in the country. Even here in Cagayan de Oro, foreigners have alleviated poverty in their respective countries by studying at the Southeast Asia Rural Social Leadership Institute based at Xavier University’s Manresa Campus in Upper Carmen. If other nations have improved their agriculture-based economies by schooling here, why can’t we apply these teachings to our own leaders?

As for fisheries, we have the most professional personnel most of whom are experts in aquatic resources management. Did you know that the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources has more boats than the Coast Guard? Why can’t these boats be used for, I don’t know, the people?

Plus, Mr. Secretary, for all this administration’s bravado, it has been undermining itself.

Lately, the Duterte administration has slashed the health budget by P31 billion, agriculture by P3.6 billion, labor and employment by P5.3 billion. Wait, aren’t these departments responsible in addressing most of the President’s campaign promises? He promised affordable health care, poverty alleviation, and ending labor-only contracting. How can these departments do that when their budgets have been compromised?

In contrast, this administration has increased its budget for representation and entertainment spending from P2.9 billion to P20.03 billion. Therein lies the crux of what this administration is all about. Beyond its smokes and mirrors, it only just wants to entertain.

But we aren’t entertained. We are reeling because of the decisions of these clowns in government.