If I trusted all the guys who kept telling me to trust them, I would probably be a run-down alcoholic has-been by now. I am so glad that skepticism runs through my veins. It has kept me grounded and safe from being trapped in sticky situations. I don’t know why some people can’t adapt the same kind of mentality because I see a lot of people committing the same mistake over and over. I mean, it is easier to exercise a bit of caution especially when you are deciding on a life changing-event, whether it is going out with a guy, buying a car or house, or voting for your country’s president.
For a minute or two all skeptics in this loony bin we call the Philippines, believed in a fairy tale and actually thought there was a chance that Noynoy Aquino might not win the election. I thought the high turnout of voters would have meant that Filipinos are finally rooting for their underdog. Alas, once again, Filipinos have proven to themselves that we care more for popularity over substance. We are back in the USSR.
Now that the election is over, there are some people who are talking about giving the winner a chance to prove himself. Ok, let’s just think about that for a second. They want us to give Noynoy Aquino a chance to prove that he can be an effective leader. Are they referring to the same guy who was talking about a failure of elections? The same guy who said that he does not want to talk to tail-enders like Dick Gordon? If Noynoy had any semblance of humility in him, he should at least acknowledge the man who was instrumental in how fast we are getting the election results now that we have an automated system. The guy he should be thanking is Dick Gordon. Thanks to Dick Gordon, there was no electoral fraud. The deceit of the Noynoy administration started during the campaign.
There is a clear difference between a skeptic like me and a plain negativist like Noynoy. My skepticism is borne out of seeing a trend or proof that something will not work. In contrast, Noynoy’s negativism was just plain counterproductive because, for one, he wasn’t doing anything like proactively seeing to it that things will go to plan and, second, considering that there has been no precedent in the failure of an automated system, he had no basis for his negativity about it. Indeed, there is a difference.
As blogger BongV said, we here at AntiPinoy.com have always predicted that the vacuous Pinoys will win in the end. To quote myself in my earlier blog “It’s so obvious who is going to win this fight. The enormous number of men and women charging ahead with Noynoy without using a bit of brain to understand why they are doing so, is enough indication of what the most likely outcome of this election will be.”
Is it right for people to tell us to give Noynoy Aquino a chance? First of all, it’s not like we have any say in the way he is going to run Malacanang. Yes, majority of Filipinos voted for him. His win though doesn’t prove that it is right for him to be in Malacanang especially now that we know it was the media all along who played us like a fool. Noynoy’s win should make us more skeptical because now we know that his administration has control of the media. This means that the flow of information from Malacanang will be even more filtered. Secrets will abound — particularly those regarding his mental state. They made sure he won and they are sure to cover up any further gaffes or misbehavior.
I say political correctness will be our downfall. Fear of litigation and this consideration for safety will make us live smaller and cautious lives. This will just make us bottle up our rage with whoever is in the Administration. If we really believe in equality, we should believe in the right of every idiot to express himself so there can be a rebuttal and a free and open debate. Only then can minds be changed and hopefully a more mature society will emerge out of all the discussion.
All this talk of restraining ourselves is not good for us and the whole society. We cannot allow “our esteemed” journalists to run free pushing flawed ideas into our heads. We now know that half the time they do not know what they are talking about. To quote something I read earlier from a writer named Helen Womack, to put a gag on ourselves exposes us to “a danger that we assume what other people are thinking, rather than knowing what is on their minds.” And this is the reason why I like Dick Gordon, as a skeptic, I didn’t have to worry about what was in his mind because he always said what he wanted to say.
It’s a shame. They didn’t give us a chance to make this election an informed and truthful one. If there were more debates and discussion and if the platforms were detailed, it would have been fair to say, that we could give their platform a chance to work. They cannot take away our right to criticize and be skeptical especially since we have seen Noynoy’s track record in the past. Giving Noynoy a “chance” would be the equivalent of going to sleep for the next six years. Instead, we should apply the same if not more of the scrutiny and critical evaluation that we applied during his campaign.
As long as ordinary citizens like you and I can’t have a chance to be heard, there is no chance that a Noynoy Aquino will be any better than the last. I’d love to be proven wrong and If I am wrong, I have no problem eating my words. I and a few hundred thousand more people would like to be wrong because we really want to see everyone achieve economic and intellectual stability.
The next time someone says “trust me”, ask him to prove himself first. He might just be a lunatic in disguise. It’s time we look after ourselves. We can’t rely on anybody else but us. If we don’t, we might end up like a run down, alcoholic has been.
Ilda is agent provocateur. She wants to help people realise that things are not always what they seem.
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