Jaime E. Masagca
#advocatusdiaboli
#chasinglightschasingdreams
Before the next stack of manuscripts for editing arrive, I want to share my thoughts and experiences in the 2022 Presidential and Local Elections, which is unprecedented in my over half a century of recollections.
Unpredicted but filled with human interests, from the frenzied, irrational, and even bizarre as bringing to a political rally a terminally ill patient.
Elections as far as I can remember held in November in the past and my maternal families must go home to my grandfather's island town to vote, when the latter and several of his cousins and friends were still active in politics, including my godfather who I recall was the vice mayor. As a small kid, my aunts and grandfather would be amused if I stand up with a make-believe political speech for the latter.
It was something of a family reunion, to go home and vote, not just to go out and vote. That was the era of slow but sure counting of election results, where vote buying is unheard of, so far back that the concept of automation was far from anyone's imagination. There was just food for everybody who may want to have lunch, not in my grandfather's house but in a relative's house, our Tata Imo, short for Guillermo, as it's not the family custom to have anyone come in except on fiestas and when expressly invited. My Chinese-Filipino grandfather was a stickler to protocols and privacy which my contemporaries in the town say I’ve inherited.
During those days, petitions for disqualifications premised on issues of citizenship by jus soli or jus sanguinis were unheard of. My great-grandfather was an immigrant from Xiamen, China but it was alright for my grandfather to run as he had lived with the constituents long enough to be fondly called "Dadoy na Pilay" because of his congenital foot deformity and can't wear shoes. (He wasn't conscious about it, that he even joked that when he visited a good friend in the Old Congress, he was the only one that left footprints on its marbled floors.) What mattered then was either being a Nationalista, my grandfather's political party, or with the Liberals.
I've got no political inclination, not only as always advised by older relatives to stay out of politics, or as a friend's comment that I should stay out as "I am not suited for it because of my stubbornness and idealism". But I still hear suggestions that I go home as the place is being left behind. Indeed, the town is very rich yet remained poor because of many factors that can perhaps be inquired about in an academic dissertation.
I even joked that no other town is as rich as even people there are surnamed Diamante (diamond) and Bulawan (gold).
The town is not nevertheless isolated from tic tocs and other social media platforms' complacency. Bluntly saying it, I and some friends that have links to the place were somewhat dismayed by the blind support and zealous behavior of many in defense of their presidential choice, apparently for failing to winnow the chaff of disinformation from the enlightening grains of truth, or was there an intentional preference for the chaff?
By analogy, boats have two outriggers for balance and stability. The same with a democratic society that one has always to be on the other side of the fence for each other's sanity and better perspectives. It was just unfortunate that there resulted in a negative societal divergence; the analytical against the moronic, the intellectual versus the dumb, the principled vs. the leeches, and of course the whole truth versus the "alternative truth", though respect and restraint are still mandated.
However, with so much destabilization, it's hard to remain apolitical. With so many lies that mislead, it's hard not to speak the truth. With so much stupidity, it's hard not to ridicule. With so much impertinence, it's hard to be humble, AND with so much affront, it was hard not to fight back.
Nobody should expect that all will agree with each view and comment posted on social media platforms. Everyone has the right to an opinion that may be incongruent with ours.
They could hate, mock, or curse for all we care. Anyway, we also have that right to amusingly ridicule another’s incorrigible absurdity but let us not despise the dim-witted for foolhardiness enhances wisdom as darkness is to light.
From a larger standpoint, the 2022 national election has become a contemporary socio-political Armageddon, a Götterdämmerung or Ragnarok which in Norse mythology "refers to a prophesied war among various beings and gods, that ultimately results in the burning, immersion in water, and renewal of the world... 'or a disastrous conclusion of events".
On the battlefield called social media, the political clash was fierce and contentious. It has even polarized public opinion, with the thinking class and incorrigible pudding heads.
The recent political contest has defined social strata and religious groups, and soured relationships, which sadly has isolated the Catholic church by the partisan stand of some of its Bishops, priests, nuns, and the laity, with their message of hate, baseless judgment, sacrilege, blasphemy, and other uncalled-for acts that are outside of the sensibilities and functions of the Church. On the contrary, it has instead led to the defeat of their anointed candidate. No matter what, Filipinos still have that sense of decency to reject disproportionate mudslinging, cursing, and their priests engaging in active politicking.
What was gratifying though is that while some in the Church have chosen to tread the path to Judecca, many have remained neutral and true to their vocation.
The so-called "community pantries" organized by the religious groups were observably conceived to portray the present administration as inept in addressing the needs of the people during the height of the pandemic, that people are hungry and suffering, hence a call for change, to vote for the opposition.
Thus, I was motivated to write then:
ALE, ALENG NAKA PUTI
Isang Community Pantry kung ito’y tawagin...
Aking nadaanan at ako’y nagtaka.
Mahigit isang taon na ang pandemyang ito
Na marami ang nabigla, nabahala,
At nagutom lalo na sa simula.
Bagamat marami ang kaagad tumulong ng kusa
Sa iba’t ibang paraan sa abot ng kaya
Ng walang karatula o banderitas na makulay
Bakit ngayon lang kayo Ale, Aleng naka puti?
Sa tawag ng panahon at mga hinaing
Ang inyong pinto’y matagal na naka pinid
Tulad ng tenga na naging bingi.
Ako tuloy nagdududa sa inyong mithi.
Who says that we should not be critical of our government? Yes, we all should but in the context of democratic exercise for cooperation, logic, and for alternative solutions to issues. It should never be for the purpose of destabilizing, discrediting, and pushing for a particular person to be in power and assuring that such denunciations would not serve as a showcase of the critic's idiocy.
I always contended that elections and personal preferences of candidates become divisive only when personalities are elevated as demi-gods that we fall to delusions of the promises of panacea from the imaginary ills of the present system which fallacies damage our social sanity; more so that we as people are generally prone to emotionalism and perhaps to fanaticism and pessimism that traps us in the ruinous cycle of tolerance.
Aptly the outcome of over 31 million votes in favor of Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. was perceived to be the emphatic conclusion of the yellow regime institutionalized by a farcical revolution hatched mainly by the oligarchs and the dominant church.
Not in rare occasions that there were attempts to sway me away from my preferences, and from the convictions of my reason and principles. I was unfollowed, perhaps unfriended on Facebook, flooded with private messages on the excesses of the Marcoses, evident collapse of the economy with a BBM victory and other adverse propaganda. But my academic trainings have taught me to be analytical of facts, of statistical figures, and to discard anything that has no basis, unproven or are mere hearsays. Baseless skepticism and pessimism are indicative of a moronic behavior, that entertains fictional thoughts in a serious scenario.
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President-Elect Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr. in Legazpi City |
I had but one sacred vote, but I joined the battle of the gods to preserve the free and guided choice of the people, and that I was voting as a Filipino, not as a Bicolano. What is my solitary vote nor my ostensible lack of capacity to influence voters that the other camp would entice me to jump over the fence?
I was "canceled" but strangely I had more friend requests on social media. I did not accept the "surveillance cameras", only the active intellectuals.
To the thinking mind the election process was an opportunity to seek truth and justice relentlessly, but with prudence to ferret out lies and commit no injustice, but not taking sides is moronic. True neutrality is siding with the truth, justice, and who is right whoever they are like in the never-ending story about Martial Law.
I was already a college student then to know. While there were verified reports of abuses, the so-called victims were those engaged in armed struggle, in fanning the flames of anarchy, rebellion, and insurrection. When someone hits you it's about what you have done. Even snakes do not strike unprovoked.
Many of the contemporary protesters are millennials that are ignorant of what the regime was all about. The civil government then continued to function with the elected local executives on the status quo, in sharp contrast with the Cory government where the Constitutional authority was replaced with a revolutionary government, and local officials were replaced with officers-in-charge.
The State must also protect itself from lawless violence and all other external and internal threats including fake news with the intent to destabilize that mass media was abridged.
Suppression of press freedom is unacceptable in a democracy. But the abuse of press freedom with lies and fables, to twist the truth, mislead the people, to subvert justice is far greater a tragedy that inevitably history must be re-written or "revised" as it truly happened. That's revisionism from a precisely moral viewpoint.
Long after the pink ribbons have faded away and hysteria has died down, toxicity persists, with many more rabid than dogs guarding its litter.
Students have walked out of their classes, asked for Academic Breaks as if it was a fad, and gone to the streets ranting rehashed slogans and the battle cry that dates to the "1st Quarter Storm". Pardon guys but your slip is showing who and what motivated you. I've been there, done that, and re-think.
The same for any government or any administration. Nothing is good enough for the opposition, the critical, the biased media, and the so-called perennial street parliamentarians. Nothing is good enough, even when they by chance come to power.
I'm no stranger to rallies and protest actions and inclusions in the military's hot list but was never convinced with that foreign ideology that the youths are dying for. We were just there for change on localized issues.
Outside of the Premier University, I've also attempted to be recruited to the propaganda arm of the National Democratic Front but declined as it is but blind idealism of a radical school of thought that has gone bankrupt and won’t work for man's longtime social survival.
The "Academic Breaks" clamored by students is claimed to de-stress them secondary to the election results, in a poll where they are not the candidates or the latter even knowing them. Generations X and Baby Boomers may have gone through the worst stress or anxieties but have weathered them. Something is conclusively wrong with most millennials and centennials being stressed so easily even by imaginary occurrences, that together with the incidence of suicidal cases, mental health among the youths has to be looked into by parents, the academe, and the government.
One or two of the Bishops that are continually being critical of the presumptive President in their offensive language of "I have no other words for you but EVIL", are unknowingly describing themselves instead.
What interests does the Church have in the outcome of the elections? The fear of being "canceled" or the shame of losing credibility as obviously God had not granted their prayers? But how can they get heaven's favors with all their blasphemy and sacrilege?
Church history even tells us that "not all of man’s actions are of God’s". Legend would have it that "Rita was refused admission into the cloister but was transported overnight into the locked convent by her patron saints, John the Baptist, Augustine, and Nicholas of Tolentino".
Being critical of the clergy doesn’t make us less of being a Catholic. Neither should it be taken as an attack on the Church. On the contrary, being critical is defending the Church from its prophetic enemies.
What we need now is to strengthen the faith, unify the faithful, respect other faiths, and not scatter the flock into mocking other faiths if we believe in the universality of redemption.
Propaganda from the losing side continues to trickle and expectedly, a reaction is elicited. Instinctively, if it's itchy it should be scratched. If it's bitchy, it should be bashed, the same with public posts on social media.
I came across a posting of disgust that sounded so authoritative, given his academic degrees. Unfortunately, it was hollow being not anchored on anything factual. The same with a trying hard analyst who in futility discourses things that are outside of his discipline. Political creativeness has also its limits. Unfortunately, we had a deluge of overnight lawyers, tax experts, and historians. Conversely, the brilliant lawyers have become ignorant, and those that excelled academically have been exposed to be nothing but pseudo-intellectuals.
Credibility is more than calling one a dictator's son, a thief, or a tax evader. What if someone also calls somebody, "a child of an adulteress" and the like? It was the opposite that add up to the 31 million-plus winning votes.
Nobody should expect that all will agree with our views and comments posted on social media platforms. Everyone has the right to an opinion that may be incongruent with ours. They could hate, mock, or curse for all we care. Anyway, we also have that right to amusingly ridicule another's incorrigible stupidity.
AND, for the yellow remnants in government, it's not moral to seek the downfall of the very authority that appointed you in Office by unduly siding with its enemies Be critical, yes, but support by all means your Chief Executive unless loyalty or decency is beyond the morals that you have no right to remain even for a second more.
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