WHAT'S RIGHT WITH PINOYS

 

“What’s wrong with the Philippines?” was the banner of the Bangkok Post column, by Gwynne Dyer, a British-Canadian military historian, and journalist, published four days after the May 9, 2022, Philippine presidential election.

A haunting question, indeed, it’s the last straw that broke Pinoy camel’s back in the eyes of the world. Here are his column’s pertinent excerpts:

“Bongbong” Marcos didn’t just win the presidential election in the Philippines this week. He won it by a two-to-one landslide, despite the fact that he is the extremely entitled son of a former president who stole at least US$10 billion and a mother who spent the loot partly on the world’s most extensive collection of designer shoes (3,000 pairs).

“[I]ndonesia became a democracy … elected only presidents who were under accusation of purging political opponents and siphoning money … some Filipinos hurl themselves enthusiastically at plausible fraud who gains a bit of notoriety. Why?

“Two hypotheses, both weak, come to mind. First … alliance between the Marcos family … and the Duterte family …”

“The other hypothesis? Ninety-nine percent of adult Filipinos are online, and Filipinos aged 16 to 64 spend on average nearly four hours a day connected to social networks.”

TWO HYPOTHESES

The first hypothesis: Marcos-Duterte alliance – a sweetheart deal rumored to have been brokered at the exclusive island resort, political pundits theorized that such a deal ultimately pulled off the 2022 election in a landslide.

The second hypothesis: “Ninety-nine percent of adult Filipinos are online” can be lumped with a variety of other hypotheses dished out in opinion pages, most well summed up by the following news item by The Guardian:

“The Marcos family has spent years rebranding its image, falsely portraying the authoritarian rule of Marcos Sr. in which billions were plundered as a golden era and downplaying past atrocities. Research have described an onslaught of disinformation designed to revise history, enhance the reputation of the Marcoses and undermine their opponents.

“Many voters are not old enough to remember Marcos’s rule, which ended in 1986, and academics warn that the period is not taught thoroughly in schools, creating a vulnerability the Marcoses and their backers have exploited …”

DAMAGED CULTURE

The early straw that saddled Pinoy camel’s back went over decades ago. Teresa S. Abesamis, AIM former professor & DAP Fellow, in her article Our Damaged Culture in the January 5, 2021 issue of the Business World, wrote:

“In 1987, American journalist James Fallows won an award for writing a long piece in the Atlantic Monthly about the Philippines, where he spent six weeks as an investigative reporter after the EDSA Revolution. He concluded that our main problem was the lack of nationalism, which would deter progress for our country. He correctly predicted that Korea and our neighbors Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia would do better because of a sense of nationalism. Perhaps he is right in many ways.

“Certainly, South Korea, which had been our peer in terms of economic development when Marcos [Sr.] came into power, has more than quadrupled its economy compared to ours today. And Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia, which were behind us in economic development at the time, have out-performed our country in many ways. The corrupt Marcos [Sr.] regime, notwithstanding its authoritarianism, was clearly a failure. The aftermath of political and media corruption and weakening of institutions of democracy have continued to this day and clearly at their worst in our history.

“Why are we being such sad sacks?”

After having subjected ourselves to degradation for decades, particularly in the eyes of the international community, I believe it’s time for us Pinoys to change the narrative about the Pinoy persona on the world stage.

TNT TRIO WILL TRANSFIGURE PINOY MISCONCEPTION

The TNT Trio’s claim of the rigged 2022 election will negate the first hypothesis on the fairy tale of the Marcos-Duterte unity sweetheart deal along with debunking the misconception on Pinoys’ conduct that they put up for sale their votes during the last election. The rigged election claim will unveil the character of Pinoy voters as not gullible or ignorant, but critical and informed, who resisted and countered the onslaught of disinformation propaganda that tried to whitewash the atrocities and corruption of Marcos Sr.’s dictatorship and glorify his son’s candidacy.

The TNT Trio’s claim of the rigged 2022 election will bust the second hypothesis to reveal the authenticity of Pinoys -- not as “suckers” for tons of Marcos Jr. disinformation -- but as “busters” of this rigged 2022 election which, in the words of the TNT Trio, is “the biggest scam in our electoral history”.

Attesting to the Marcos Jr. disinformation campaign, the recently published study, “Political Economy of Covert Influence Operations in the 2022 Philippine Elections,” showed thousands of political influencers that were presumed to have been commissioned to perform political campaigning in the last elections spending an estimated P600 million to P1.5 billion.

The study claimed that Marcos Jr. spent the largest amount on covert political influencers for his campaign. Fact-check coalition Tsek-PH reported that Marcos Jr. was the biggest beneficiary of fake news; Robredo, his opponent, was the top victim of disinformation.

WHAT’S RIGHT WITH PINOYS

Have you ever wondered that this rigged 2022 election exposé by the TNT Trio may be a blessing in disguise to Pinoys and the Philippines? Maybe, the TNT Trio are heaven-sent instrument and the exposé is a wake-up call on a platter, as a gift dropped from the sky, to pave the way for the rare opportunity to reveal the truth about the “scam”. Their exposé will bust a smorgasbord of political myths and concocted theories bandied about by a bunch of pundits in opinion pages. Thus, it will bring about the transfiguration of Pinoys’ long-suffering despondent image from “suckers” to “busters” in the eyes of the world.

The TNT Trio’s claim of the rigged 2022 election is not only a legal battle, but also a moral crusade. It is not only a matter of justice, but also a matter of dignity. It is not only a test of our institutions, but also a test of our character.

It is not only a question of what’s wrong with the Philippines, but also a question of what’s right with us, Pinoys.

Head collage photos courtesy of executivechroniclesdotcom, primesdotcom, blogspotdotcom, & pinterest

Video clips courtesy of YouTube