Read, understand, react

“You can fool some people sometimes. But you can’t fool all the people, all the time.” -Bob Marley, Get up Stand up

I AM not a member of the national directorate of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines anymore. However, as a member of the union in the province, I am moved to reply to the responses of the Duterte siblings to the union’s statement.

In the statement, the union merely admonished Davao Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio and Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte on their personal attacks and veiled threats against a member of media, who in turn, only reminded colleagues of how to handle news of the death of the lone casualty of the attacks of Maoist rebels against facilities of Lapanday Foods Corp last week.

It would do well for the siblings to be reminded they’re not just spoiled brats of a kingpin mayor anymore. They are no ordinary persons for they are not only persons of power in their fiefdom, nay city, they are also presidential children.

“As a public official, she is subject to commentaries and criticisms especially from the press and should not respond with personal attacks and threats,” reads part of NUJP’s statement.

Hours after the release of the statement, Duterte-Carpio took to her social media again and responded: “National Union of Journalists in the Philippines. I too have a constitutionally protected right to freedom of speech and expression. The NUJP, my husband (Manases ‘Mans’ Carpio, Lapanday legal counsel), or even the President (Rodrigo Duterte) cannot shut me down. I will speak when I want to. Hahaha. Mamatay na kayo sa inis, sasagot pa rin ako.”

That response puzzled me since nowhere in the union’s statement did it state nor try to “shut down” the Davao mayor. I don’t know where the mayor got confused in the message considering most parts of the statement consisted of a direct quotation of the sibling’s tirade against a broadcaster.

As for her hot-headed macho brother, the vice mayor also took to his social media account and unfurled a string of off-tangent barely comprehensive tirade that sounded like a kid stripped of his favorite toy in the park by a bully.

“And again, let me reiterate ? Imo pakauwawan akoang pamilya, imong hilabtan nga wa man intawoy sala ninyo o sa publiko, bukbukon taka? Media man ka o bisan unsa ka pa. And dili tungod media ka, hawod na ka ug di na ka pwede hilabtan. Ayaw kabalaka kay di ko pareha anang uban nga momasaker,” the vice mayor response to the union’s statement.

Again, I am appalled at the response. I assume these public officials, elected servants at that, would know how to react to dissent or a public rebuke. Again, nowhere in the statement of the union did it try to shame the presidential family.

It called on their public statements which were uncalled for.

At first, I was tempted to chalk their off-tangent responses to poor comprehension skills. But, I realized there is something more sinister at play here.

It is something deliberate, something conscious, and something you develop through one’s years growing up–attitude.

It’s the attitude of entitlement which betrayed the siblings’ petulance and insolence veiled under the supposedly “masa” language. What is being displayed here is the attitude of the nouveau royalty. The impertinence of a fief lord against a serf.

It’s the attitude that bore such unfortunately popular lines: Do not bite the hand that feeds you and how dare you question the boss.

It’s a manipulative attitude. Goading their serfs to attack their fellow serfs by using the language of the serfs. It’s introspective victimization.

Filipinos are known to be melodramatic. The reason why teleseryes, where a muchacha is being ganged upon by the alta sociedad, thrive. This has worked so many times in our history. Erap used it but we all know how his administration ended, right?

So here’s an unsolicited advice: You can manipulate the people with your brand of rhetoric but you certainly cannot do that to all, all the time. Review history, ma’am and sir, and you’ll see it never ends well with despotic tyrants.

EJKs and tourism

“If you feel like there’s something out there that you’re supposed to be doing, if you have a passion for it, then stop wishing and just do it.” -Wanda Sykes, comedienne

LAST week, Tourism Secretary Wanda Corazon Teo zeroed in on the media for making it hard for her to sell the country to tourists by the latter’s “pesky” reportage of the extrajudicial killings. To be fair to her, she also mentioned Vice President Leni Robredo for mentioning the Duterte administration’s bloody war on drugs in a taped video message to the United Nations.

I say Teo zeroed in on media because Robredo only mentioned this administration’s bloodlust once in that taped message while we, the media, apparently won’t stop reporting on the killings.

In an interview, Teo asked media to “tone down statements and coverage on EJKs… It’s making my job of selling the Philippines more difficult.”

I commiserate with the good secretary. I can only imagine the difficulty of the position she’s in. How do you entice tourists to visit the country when Filipinos are getting killed left and right? So, let me extend an olive branch then.

Since the good secretary has identified the media as the culprit, methinks it’s only befitting that we in media should help her out. I launched a crowd sourcing of sorts on Facebook. I asked colleagues how they would sell the Philippines to tourists through an advertisement pitch or blurb.

Mine was, “Philippines: Where you can rest in peace.”

I even posted a caveat telling them that by posting on my crowd sourcing post, they give me expressed permission to quote their ad blurbs on my next column. So here are what my colleagues in media offer:

“We’ll love you to death.” –Nonoy Espina

“Live your (after) life to the fullest in the Philippines.” – Chino Gaston

“There’s more fans in the Philippines, where people can easily rest in peace.” – Chris Panganiban

“Enjoy Boracay! It’s (war) free.” – Froilan Gallardo

“Come to the Cordilleras and have a taste of heaven.” – Kimberlie Quitasol

Meanwhile, Erwin Mascariñas took it to another level and submitted a suggested copy for an entire brochure: “Up for an adventure? Experience real-life death-defying tours. Join our Tokhang urban slum adventure raids and get a chance to see and experience a turkey shot like no other. Book now and avail our special riding in tandem promo.”

Meanwhile, Rigoberto “Bobi” Tiglao just commented that “actually our infrastructure can’t accommodate any tourists anymore.”

The one to beat, however, was from my igso Elson Elizaga – “p***ng ina, bumalik kayo dito!” It encapsulates the kind of vocabulary the president uses and it has a macho ring to it, much like the president’s default posture.

I know the ad-blurb suggestions are sarcastic and borders on snarky. But what kind of answer does one get with a ridiculous request?

In that same interview in Thailand, by the way, the good secretary also mentioned that her department is finding it hard to sell the country because of the President Digong Dada’s proclivity to bash the major sources of tourists – the United States and the European Union.

Teo admitted in the interview that they get nervous “every time he (Duterte) opens his mouth.” She said every time that happens “they release a press statement on the developments in our agency, just to distract the public from what the President said.”

I actually feel sorry for Teo. I know how it’s like to have a lippy boss who is not afraid of running it to the chagrin of the subordinates.

So, what she’s actually requesting media is not only to “tone down” reportage of the killings but to “distract the public” from what is really happening across the country.

Nobody is painting anything. It’s this regime that is painting itself into a corner. Journalists are not out to “destroy” this country’s reputation. This regime is doing a banged up job all on its own.

I’d like to end by quoting the statement of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines: “It would be better if, instead of asking us to ‘tone down’ the killings, you ask the President to order an end to them. That way, we could truthfully report that the killing season is over and the Philippines is, well, ‘more fun.’”

Skating on thin ice

“Don’t be surprised when a crack in the ice appears under your feet. You slip out of your depth and out of your mind with your fear flowing out behind you.” -The thin ice, Roger Waters (Pink Floyd)

THE animosity on social media has really taken off. People whom I thought I knew to be discerning and critical are sharing obvious propaganda passing off as journalistic work. Even people who are close to me by blood have been espousing hatred towards political dissenters of the republic which he based on an article written by paid hacks of the “fifth column.”

It pains me to see government employees, career bureaucrats, and academics swallow President Digong Dada’s hate rhetorics–hook, line, and sinker. Hasn’t it occurred to them that hate escalates? It’s like wildfire. You keep fanning on the flames of hate, you will get burned eventually. When it does, please don’t act surprised, aghast or scandalized at the level of hatred floating around because we did our part in it.

How do you think the Rwanda genocide started? It started with hate propaganda against an entire class of people broadcast on local radio over and over until the collective psyché of the people snapped. Hate took a life on its own. Interesting sidebar to this is that it was fanned by religious people. Just like what the fictional international crime lord on the TV series “The Blacklist” said: “Hell hath no fury than a fundamentalist scorned.”

Trolls and even actual people who behave like trolls on social media have been fanning this great ball of hate. With all the available information online, methinks these people consciously choose to be ignorant like fanatics in a cult. I agree with Prof. Ben Domingo when he posted online: “Trolls do not deserve an explanation.”

I mean what can you really do or say when the person you are trying to reach out to has decided to believe in the alternative reality this regime has whipped up. I used the word: decision, because it is exactly that–a conscious choice to shut out dissenting opinions and perspectives. One cannot even call for sobriety online without being branded as either a “dilawan” or an “adik.”

The “us and them” tactical narrative is as old as time. The generals and czars used it to divide and conquer. It even has a biblical version: “If you are not with us, you are against us.”

As for me, I take solace in the thought that the age-old primeval law of self-preservation will ultimately kick in. Human beings can only eat so much bull crap in their lifetime.

Mob anger

“Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment.” – J.R.R. Tolkien, Fellowship of the Ring (Gandalf’s Advice)

LAST week, the city was overwhelmed with anger when the Balinado house on JR Borja St. near Burgos St. was burglarized. Thirty-year-old graduating education student Cherrymae Dayo was allegedly raped, and then stabbed. Dayo managed to run outside the house to call for help but later died in the hospital. The main suspect, Warren Amarga, 24, admitted to stabbing Dayo to the chest but denied having raped her.

Within minutes after the police announced that they have arrested five suspects hours after the crime was committed, a mob started to form outside the police station in Divisoria. A radio reporter asked one of the kibitzers outside what he hoped to accomplish by joining the mob outside the police station. The kibitzer answered he wanted to punch or at least scratch the face of one of the suspects.

Meanwhile, local social media groups overflowed with angry posts. Most posts wanted death to the suspects. They want the recently approved Death Penalty Bill (House Bill 4727) to be applied on the five suspects.

First, death penalty cannot be applied on the suspects yet since it is still a bill (read: proposed law)–senators have yet to vote on it. Second, the members of the Lower House, in all their “wisdom,” only arrived at a consensus after the House Speaker removed the heinous crimes of rape and plunder in the list of offenses punishable by death. HB 4727, should it pass the bi-cameral session, will only cover drug-related offenses.

That’s the problem with most netizens these days. They read less than their comments. Perhaps, these “righteous” people should direct their anger at our congressmen who were among the majority in the Lower House to delist rape in their Death Penalty Bill.

Some asked why the human rights advocates, specifically the Commission on Human Rights, were silent. That rhetorical question is really dumb. This argument, if you call it that, has been going around social media since the start of President Digong Dada’s campaign last year. The CHR is not a law enforcement body.

It bothers me that in this supposed information age, many netizens choose ignorance.

Look, I understand anger. What I don’t understand is why there was no public outburst of anger in the Jamaca case or the Fernandez case? Is it because the suspects in these cases involved were police officers? Where was the people’s “righteous” anger then?

I agree that whoever raped and killed Dayo should be punished with the full force of the law. Such crime was incorrigible. However, if the mob insists that these five suspects should be killed and that their anger is “righteous,” I dare them to go to the police station now. Go and grab the gun of the officer-in-charge, and pull the trigger to kill the suspects even before their guilt could be established in court. Go put a hole in each of the suspect’s head.

Go ahead, make Cocpo’s day.