A More Peaceful More Credible Election Does Not Necessarily Translate to Progress
Sure people died – but definitely lesser than prior elections. Although, this was marred by the Ampatuan massacre, a sweeping observation gives the perception that it has been less violently and as less fraud-laden (counting-wise) as all prior elections. Civic groups were effective in campaigns against vote buying as more resources flowed into it. However, a new form of fraud has emerged – paying qualified voters not to vote.
On the upside, the automated polls were a vast improvement. The system wasn’t perfect but it was definitely a quantum improvement over all prior elections.
The chart below shows that alhough the voting process has improved as far as counting is concerned, but Pinoys still make choices using the same tired criteria which takes advantage of the ignorant, the undereducated, the miseducated, and the functional illiterates.
Now, that our polls are automated, we can now show the world in a faster manner, how moronic Filipinos are. 
Philippine Mainstream Media’s Incompetence and Reinforcement of Stupidty is Validated
The stream of conspiracy theories (no-el, secret candidate, AFP coup, etc ) spewed by numerous blog sites was like walking into a chicken coop full of headless chicken running around. For the first time in my life, I paid full attention to the entire spectrum of Philippine media and came to the conclusion that except for a handful of people like Carmen Pedrosa, and Mike Tan all the rest are sycophants who lick the butts of the Next Big Oligarch. It doesn’t matter whethey they are in Malaya, Inquirer, GMA, or ABS-CBN – their attention to the facts and evidence are absolutely zilch.
Filipinos are not a bold people
The election results so far validate that Filipinos in general vote using traditional evaluation criteria. It was amusing that had Aquino lost, Estrada would have won – never mind that Gordon, Teodoro, and Perlas were clearly the more able and more honest ones. In choosing comfort over transformation, Filipinos scampered away from the challenge to be bold.
Filipinos are still a long way off from the type of politics that affects permanent good. The period from 2010 to 2016 provides a great opportunity to test new approaches in promoting a more active civic consciousness that can transform Filipino voters to become more well informed and more discriminating in their choices.
The good news is politicians along the mold of Gordon and Bayani are starting to gain adherents.
Whether this trend will continue remains to be seen.
Filipinos who supported the frontrunner’s still have no solid arguments to back up their choice.
Sen Aquino’s victory win now puts the onus on Noynoy’s supporters that their gut was right. Thus, tracking of KPI’s starts now – and Noynoy and his supporters will be made to account for the KPIs – GDP, Gini, Balance of Trade, Investments on the Ground, Unemployment, Underemployment – the whole nine yards. you wanted the job, you got it – now get to work mofos!
Aquino and his supporters have raised the level of expectations – and now they have to deliver. It is still a stretch of the imagination to see how a 3 bills per year senator can whip the Philippines into shape, much less confront the oligarchy to which he belongs within a period of six years.
Supposedly, one has to give Noynoy the benefit of the doubt. Actually, matagal na. Since he was Congressman, and Senator. What makes these people think Aquino’s performance will be any different? If any thing, sure, it will be different, it will be worse than Arroyo and FVR, slightly better than Estrada – and as stinkingly incompetent as the administration of his mama.
The Oligarchs are Still In Control of the Philippine Power Stucture
Understanding the Philppine Power structure becomes easier through the use of the IEMP model framework.
| THE FOUR NETWORKS THEORY OF POWER: NOTES Organizations are the starting point for understanding power. It focuses on four main organizational networks — ideological, economic, military, and political — as the building blocks for power structures. To provide a backdrop for understanding the Philippine power structure, showing how the economic and political networks gradually subordinated the ideological and military networks. Finally, it shows how the theory explains the class domination that characterizes the Philippine power structure. The theoretical starting point for power structure research is a seemingly mundane one, but that’s what makes it very useful: power is rooted in organizations. From that humble beginning we can soon reach classes, states, the military and the ideological organizations that provide the basis for the collective search for meaning and forgiveness (organized religions). *** Organizations at their most basic are simply sets of rules, roles, and routines developed to accomplish some particular purpose. They are ways of doing something together that people agree on, or at least accept for the time being. Religious rituals, for example, are routines that become the basis for the institutions called churches. The established routines for face-to-face economic exchanges become one basis for the more complex economic system of markets. *** This too sounds very banal. But organizations can quickly become hierarchical and/or fierce when they begin to grow larger or face an outside threat. People will fight to hold on to their organizations. They like their roles and routines, which often become rituals. *** Instead, the point is strictly sociological: these four networks happen to be the most useful organizational bases for generating power. In Mann’s (1986, p. 2) words, “Their primacy comes not from the strength of human desires for ideological, economic, military, or political satisfaction but from the particular organizational means each possesses to attain human goals, whatever they may be.” **** The emphasis is on people acting through social networks, the distinction between “social action” and “social structure,” is cast aside. There no longer needs to be a periodic revival of the “agency vs. structure” debate. Because the four networks have different and constantly changing boundaries that vary with the invention of new technologies and the emergence of new organizational forms, the old division between “endogenous” and “exogenous” factors in the understanding of social conflict is discarded as “not helpful” *** IDEOLOGY Mann defines the ideology network in terms of those organizations concerned with meaning, norms, and ritual practice (1986, p. 22). It generates “sacred” authority and intensifies social cohesion. Its usual manifestations are in organized religion, and its most prominent historical power actor was the Catholic Church. In all cases, it gains loyalty and financial support by providing answers to universal concerns about the origins of humanity, death, the purpose of life, the reasons for guilt feelings, and other existential questions. **** ECONOMIC The economic network is that set of institutions concerned with satisfying material needs through the “extraction, transformation, distribution and consumption of the objects of nature” (Mann, 1986, p. 24). The economic network gives rise to classes, which can be defined as positions in a social structure that are shaped by their power over the different parts of the economic process. The most powerful economic class is called a “ruling” or “dominant” class if it “has successfully monopolized other power sources to dominate a state-centered society at large” (Mann, 1986, p. 25) *** POLITICAL The fourth and final network, “the state,” is defined as a political network whose primary function is territorial regulation (Mann, 1986, p. 26-27). Its usefulness in laying down rules and adjudicating disputes in specific territories is the source of its uniqueness (Mann, 1984; Mann, 1986). This unique function is the basis for its potential autonomy, but it gains further autonomy due to the fact that it interacts with other states, especially through warfare (Mann, 1986, p. 511). The state can take on other functions besides territorial regulation and has had varying degrees of influence at different phases of Western history ( (Mann, 1977; Mann, 1986, p. 514). **** MILITARY The military network is defined in terms of organized physical violence. It is the power of direct and immediate coercion. As already noted, military power had a greater range throughout most of history than either political or economic power. Even so, we often forget that until very recently an army could only carry enough food for a 50-60 mile march, which forced it to rely on the local countryside in extensive military campaigns. Historically, many armies fought for the benefit of their own leaders, who created “empires of domination” by taking over newly arisen civilizations based on the economic, ideological, and political networks. In more recent centuries military networks usually are in the service of a political network, but they still can be separate from it, as seen with guerrilla armies based in subjugated ethnic groups and terrorist organizations based in ideological networks. Although most theorists regard military power as one aspect of state power, there are four good historical reasons for distinguishing political and military power. First, the original states had little or no military capability. Second, most historical states have not controlled all the military forces within the territory they claim to regulate. Third, there are historical instances of conquest undertaken by armies that were not controlled by the states where they resided. Fourth, the military is usually separate from other state institutions even when it is officially controlled by the state, making possible the overthrow of the political elite by military leaders (Mann, 1986, p. 11). FROM: http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/theory/four_networks.html, Accessed 05/11/2010 |
As a European colony, the Philppines was exposed to the feudal power structures that prevailed in Europe. At the onset, governance of the Philippines was between the Church and the colonial administration making the calls over the economic and military apparatus.
The power of the church (ideological network) was diminished as the Renaissance advanced. During the American occupation, the Philppine landlord/merchant class (economic network) became more entwined with the political administration (political network).
This was broken in the Philippines when Marcos declared martial – a period when the political network and the military netwok held the economic and ideological networks at bay. At the same time, the political elite in Marcos administration wasted no time in turning themselves into the economic elite (economic network) as well. Although it showing how the economic and political networks gradually subordinated the ideological and military networks. Finally, it shows how the theory explains the class domination that characterizes the Philippine power structure.
With the downfall of Marcos, the oligarchs (economic network) regained the ascendancy and once again control the political apparatus (political network).
Noynoy Aquino’s win solidifies oligarch control of the Philippine economy and the Philippine state.
Philippine Elections still boils down to who has more ignorant voters
As if it wasn’t disturbing enough that Aquino was going to win, the next person who was most like going to win it was Estrada.
It’s hard amusing to a foreigner, nah, a sane person, to understand why given three exceptional candidates in Gordon, Teodoro, and Perlas – people just had to choose from a trio of ethically-challenged (including possibly two mentally challenged) candidates in Aquino, Estrada, and Villar.
Clearly these election was not determined by who had a better track record and was most likely to deliver the bacon without sacrificing integrity.
No sir, this election was all about which voter candidate had the most number of ignorant voters – Aquino or Estrada.
In my book, the Philippine has just garnered the latest accolade of “a nation of idiots”.
| About: Bong: A self-described "mutt" having ancestors of diverse origins - Maranao, Ilonggo, Butuanon, and Ilocano. Born and raised in Southern Mindanao's Davao City, now living in the East Coast's Sunshine State. |
its interesting to me that u cite ucsd’s site on power, which is about private sector control over the USA.
if the private sector is powerful, why would opening up to capital be a good thing?
[Reply]
helios Reply:
May 11th, 2010 at 7:31 pm
Hi GabbyD,
do u mean opening up the country for competition? well I do believe that opening up the country exposes the Filipino Oligarchs to competition, a higher number of capitalists in the country would actually dilute power. In political economy, it is actually much easier to address the interests of the few (as against addressing the needs of the many) because the few are actually well organised and learn how to cooperate with each other. Competition is actually a good thing.
BongV
appreciate what youre doing. You research about stuff…. If only Noynoy would do half as much.
Only shows how serious you are.
[Reply]
GabbyD Reply:
May 11th, 2010 at 8:18 pm
if u look at the website above, its about the power of (i’ll use the term) oligarchy in US. now, its ironic to me, since bong wants to open up Philippines to western/foreign capital.
following the logic of the source website: wont there be a problem of oligarchy still? this time by foreigners?
[Reply]
BongV Reply:
May 11th, 2010 at 9:16 pm
opening up the economy opens it to foreign oligarchs, and foreign SMEs – competition between foreign and domestic oligarchs will lower the prices.
basic algebra cannot anderstang. por dios por santo, bumalik ka sa FV.
GabbyD Reply:
May 11th, 2010 at 9:53 pm
hhmmm… maybe i should go away if you dont understand irony of using the US OLIGARCHY to solve RP OLIGARCHY….
also i’m disappointed in your response. if thats ur best argument, maybe charter change is in trouble after all!
Pastor Art Reply:
May 11th, 2010 at 10:17 pm
@GabbyD,
I don’t think you got the idea. The idea is diversity and competition amongst the oligarchs. The US oligarchs are only oligarchs in their own land not in the PI. Their only power is their superior as well as cheaper products and services which, as a result, making them affordable in our own country. Also, it may likely result in more jobs as they set up shop in the PI. In other words, the “common tao” wins while the oligarchs duke it out.
HusengBatute Reply:
May 11th, 2010 at 11:23 pm
Not sure how you imagine the scenario would play out, but Singapore, China, Japan, even Dubai and other countries were enriched instead of ruled by “foreign oligarchy” or what you refer to as the “US oligarchy.”
BongV Reply:
May 12th, 2010 at 12:37 am
Gabbyd:
ganito yun.
A couple of points:
1 – Foreign investment does not necessarily equal oligarch-owned investments. A lot of small and medium investments can from retired expats can increase if they were actually allowed to own the land on which they reside. That’s a retired soldier or navy man or engineer – not an oligarch – who just wants to stretch his retirement money.
2 Foreign oligarch-owned companies will provide competition thus customers can get a better deal when companies compete. This boils down to who should be king – the customer or the service provider? Who can provide the Philippine customer and employee a better deal? Considering that a larger number of Filipinos are opting to work for foreign owned companies says a lot about working conditions in domestic Filipino corporations that happen to be owned by the oligarchy.
items #1 and item #2 are very basic topics that have been covered in previous posts.
that you keep raising the same questions that have been previously answered by these previous posts – makes me conclude that any of the following are operative:
1 – you have not read these posts (if you have not, i suggest you use the search function before asking a question)
2-you were told to read the post – but you did not read it, therefore you ask the question again
3-you read the post, you were not able to understand it, therefore you ask the question again
4-you read the post, you understand it, but you just want to be makulit and pretend to be stupid, therefore you ask the question again
5-you read the post, you just can’t get it, therefore you ask the question again
6-no matter what post you read, you just can’t get it, therefore you ask the question again
the longer i get to read your questions, the more I am veering towards no. 6 – and replying to you is just a waste of my time – because no matter what – you just don’t get it.
it’s like training cats how to bark – ain’t gonna happen.
ilda Reply:
May 12th, 2010 at 12:49 am
Apparently, the sort of topics and discussions here in AP are non-existent in FV. Puro kasi tsismis lang duon or witch hunt. They don’t discuss ideas there.
Ano bayan, sobrang chronic time waster!
Jay Reply:
May 12th, 2010 at 12:58 am
Holy crap how ignorant can you get. It doesn’t matter how you change the form of government from a democracy to a parliamentary. If you still have the same retards (i.e. noynoy) in there who haven’t shown a care about civic duty to the people, then they won’t do anything at all.
It doesn’t matter what color you paint ‘tae’ with. Because in the end, it is still ‘tae’. And it stinks!
UP nn grad Reply:
May 12th, 2010 at 8:02 pm
Gabby D: What a a non-oligarch Pilipino with talent always claim is this — given the opportunity, then he can bubble to the top, too. The foreign money provides the opportunity; the Pilipino talent can then slug it out to rise to, say, a Villar-level or maybe a “regular director” level or maybe even a Gordon-level or a mayor-this or congressman-that. What a non-oligarch Pilipino also hopes for is that there will be many more non-oligarch Pilipinos bubbling to the top.
Then this — foreigners don’t vote, foreigners should NOT be allowed to contribute money to fund any particular candidate. They are not citizens — they should have less rights!!!
So now, you have old oligarchs with their money pitted against many more non-oligarch Pilipinos with enough money to care less about patronage.
You add a dollop of garlic and arsenic plus some cinnamon, sugar, in a background where USA Millenium Challenge Corp had pumped money so that more Filipinos are getting more information on those corruption/shenanigans that perpetuate bad-oligarchs in power, and what do you know. Suddenly, the odds of oligarchs perpetuating themselves simply by the magic of the romantic aura around their grandparents’ names have been lessened.
GabbyD Reply:
May 12th, 2010 at 9:15 pm
@Bong
whoa!
thanks for distilling your many posts into TWO ideas. now, think about the link you provided: its a discussion on power of FOREIGN OLIGOPOLY in the US ECONOMY.
you dont dispute this link — infact, by linking and not commenting further, you BELIEVE IT.
now, lets talk about ur TWO BIG IDEAS. they are valid, but incomplete.
1) “Foreign investment does not necessarily equal oligarch-owned investments.” — i.e Small Investments
this is a statement that may or may not be true. pero sabilihin mo nang totoo — assume its true that small investors/business will come.
IF they will come, IT MUST BE TRUE that the the bigger players will ALSO COME. this is especially true if u open up to industries with HUGE CAPITAL REQUIREMENTS, like media, but its true generally.
do u dispute that? this is my point.
2) Foreign oligarch-owned companies will provide competition thus customers can get a better deal when companies compete.
Again, this may or may not be true. the devil is in the details. But here is my point — if you BELIEVE that there are OLIGOPOLIES in the world, and they act as such in developed country markets, then you should ALSO BELIEVE that they would do so in smaller markets like RP.
since you believe that OLIGOPOLIES act like oligopolies in larger, better regulated (maybe) markets, then they would do so here too.
Now, its possible that you dont believe in WESTERN OLIGOPOLIES and how they perpetuate power, and that they enhance competition wherever they are, i.e. you believe in the power of oligopolistic competition in the west, but not here. thats cool — in fact, THIS IS WHAT I EXPECT YOU TO ARGUE, given your (1) and (2).
But i wonder, since u linked to that UCSD page on power and private sector IN THE WEST/FOREIGN MARKETS to bolster YOUR ARGUMENTS on DOMESTIC OLIGOPOLIES.
this all boils down then to the appreciation of the word IRONY. its IRONIC that you use the existence of FOREIGN OLIGOPOLIES to criticize DOMESTIC OLIGOPOLIES.
ChinoF Reply:
May 12th, 2010 at 11:04 pm
GabbyD, a you a loyalist for the local oligarchs? Are you against foreign investment? You want only support for the local oligarchs because you believe that they are the ones to save the country? Just asking to make sure what you believe in.
ChinoF Reply:
May 13th, 2010 at 12:11 am
And I think the choice is this… do let stay in domination the selfish, inefficient, uncaring local oligarchs, or efficient, quality-conscious, and caring foreign oligarchs?
BongV Reply:
May 13th, 2010 at 6:35 am
GabbyD:
The point is
1 – competition – open it up – small, medium, and big – ALL NOT JUST BIG.
2- regulation – limited to ownership of land where the residence is owned or the business HQ is located.
Nampucha tatanga tanga ka naman.
One more stupid question, frankly – I am gonna delete you – BAWAL ANG TANGA SA AP.
And frankly, I don’t waste my time with the tanga. So go ahead GabbyD, you will be the first person to be banned on AP dahil TANGA.
Go back to FV – maraming tanga doon, stay with your group
Jay Reply:
May 11th, 2010 at 11:24 pm
Not all oligarch’s are idiots. Just because you have some land and resources doesn’t mean these people don’t go out and seek other business ventures and ways to create opportunities and jobs while creating a better product. Its the Oligarch’s in RP that want to keep the common people as dumbed down as possible.
Take for example the uncontested San Miguel beer brand. Another group comes in, makes a brewery, creates a product that competes in line with SM Beer brands and offers people (besides the foreign goods like piss poor coors or budweiser) an alternative. This competition will force San Mig to either compete in pricing and quality or lose a market share to the foreign brand.
Also the created opportunities for jobs allows the ‘common tao’ (as PA coined it) to even be part of the business in the long run, maybe even buy shares of the successful business and hold high, management positions or ownership of a new brewery.
Competition makes the world go round.
[Reply]
jethernandez Reply:
May 12th, 2010 at 10:31 pm
@GabbyD
What is your fncking ANTI-THESIS?
If bong states in context that foreign capital investments direct or otherwise is GOOD FOR THE PHILIPPINE ECONOMY. WHAT IS YOUR ANTI-THESIS?
If bong states this…. blah blah blah
Pwede mong sabihin : I beg to defer because blah blah blah
Being articulate in conversational english as your friends describe you is not enough in web forums such as AP… dun ka na lang sa Facebook at sa Filipino Voices… and stay there! Putangna… pagkahabahaba ng ingles mo… di ko makita ang anti-thesis mo.
[Reply]
stop with the diatribes. indeed the grapes are sour.
negative campaigning is counterproductive. if you spent so much time pitching for you candidate than deriding your market’s (voter’s) intelligence, then you might have communicated your message a little clearer.
the people this site always calls “you filipinos” “ignorant”, “stupid’ are the real kingmaker.
you cannot expect to insult them into voting for your exalted candidate.
[Reply]
BongV Reply:
May 11th, 2010 at 9:19 pm
actually all it proved that the Filipino voter vote like pigs
given HLI and oligarch control of the ignorant and stupid -
“If pigs could vote,
the man with the slop bucket
would be elected swineherd every time,
no matter how much slaughtering
he did on the side.
is very much in play.
thank goodness, I am already overseas and no longer have to deal with all that crap.
[Reply]
Pinay Goddess Reply:
May 11th, 2010 at 10:21 pm
Sorry, but i don’t feel slighted by the points presented in this blog. I don’t find this insulting, it is rather enlightening. It provides me with information to understand better why we are in our present state. Filipinos are generally onion-skinned (i’m glad i have Chinese skin). I would appreciate someone telling me what’s wrong with me or the work i’ve done, so i can improve. If only more Filipinos share this mentality, then we won’t be at the tail-end.
Well, truth hurts some times. But time to move on…
[Reply]
John Reply:
May 11th, 2010 at 11:49 pm
Hey BongV,
Did you exercise your right to vote?
[Reply]
BongV Reply:
May 12th, 2010 at 12:54 am
John:
Before I was allowed to register I was asked to sign a discriminatory and disenfranchising affidavit requiring from Filipino immigrants and permanent residents in other countries to return to the Philippines to establish domicile within three years from registration.
No siree, why will I return to that hell hole called the Philippines? Fact is, Aquino’s win just accelerated the migration plans of my immediate family. It’s the same feeling as the one I had after Estrada won – I had no regrets leaving the traffic, the corruption, the congestion, the trash, the stench, the hostile workplace – there is nothing worth holding on to.
So, no, I did not sign the affidavit because I had no plans of returning to the Philippines and establish domicile – that’s my vote.
ChinoF Reply:
May 12th, 2010 at 11:09 pm
BongV’s case shows a very glaring problem with the Philippine system. It demonstrates an irony between Philippine policy and professed support – if the OFWs are to be treated as “bagong bayani,” then why are they deprived of their right to vote? Enough with these residency and coming back home conditions. Filipinos should be allowed to vote whether they come home or not.
Jay Reply:
May 11th, 2010 at 11:28 pm
Sadly Jccastro, the message can’t be anymore diluted for you to be able to understand any better. Its as clear as day. You either get it or you don’t. It is pretty logical.
You reap what you sow. Now sow with the rest of the of your kind for 6 years.
[Reply]
jccastro Reply:
May 12th, 2010 at 7:49 pm
jay
if you do a little sleuthing, you will find you are not intelligent enough to deserve wiping my behind.
im sad for gordon for having you as a supporter.
the rate at which you alienate people into voting against gordon makes me realize that you are on the payroll of noynoy or perhaps erap.
lol.
jccastro
(i understand, the economy is so bad that we have to make a living one way or the other)
[Reply]
jccastro Reply:
May 12th, 2010 at 8:09 pm
gordon after the election:
“But let me break that by praising Dick, whom I consider a hero for coming to the finish of his long and lonely journey in the Senate to get the automated election bill passed in Congress. It had been an uphill battle, with manual-counting advocates and critics slamming the effort, up to the last few days before Election Day. When a technical flaw caused the recall of PCOs machine flash cards, the prophets of doom cried, “Failure of elections!,” and still others urged the postponement of elections. But Flash Gordon stood firm and resolute, his words if translated in simpler terms, declaring that elections would be held, come hell or high water. His firmness matched that of Comelec Chair Jose Melo (another hero of mine), who would not be dissuaded from holding the elections on May 10, 2010, period.
In his message texted to me by his long-time Upsilon “errand boy” Louie Pawid, Dick said of the success of the automated election: “Faster count, no time to cheat, no protests/partisanship, no conflicts, no need for watchers, teachers have an easier time.”
His message printed in today’s issue of the STAR says, “I congratulate Noynoy for his spectacular victory. I call on our people to support him. I ran a straight-forward campaign and thought that we could run on the basis of platform, track record, vision and volunteerism.”
there is nobility in defeat. grace in losing.
if our candidates could accept the inevitable with all humility, why can’t we?
how could we presume to know more than the millions of voters who made the choice?
who elected us that we feel we have the right to pontificate?
whether we voted for noynoy or gordon or jc perlas, the fact remains that it is noynoy who will be our president for six years and he deserves all our support and prayers for his success. his success will be our success. the effect of his mistakes will trickle down to the least of our brethren.
we all live in a small pond. what happen if we poison the pond?
Jay Reply:
May 13th, 2010 at 8:08 am
Oh how sad for you. If Intelligent people can only wipe your behind, does that mean the 12 million that made intelligent choice are more qualified?
I’m sad you are completely oblivious to the message, opting to feel offended because the truth seems to sting you a bit. Enough that you try bring the silliest correlation with nothing to back it up whatsoever. You are desperate aren’t you?
As of your off comment about the economy, gee I wonder who is the guy who keeps defending the people who helped vote a guy in with no real long term plans to help the economy. Too bad you are satisfied for your fix for a transactional ’savior’ leader when there were people offering to help change the politics, but in turn change society as a whole for the better.
benign0 Reply:
May 12th, 2010 at 8:37 pm
@ jccastro,
Firstly, Dick Gordon has no choice but to make statements like that. That is because he, at the end of the day, is a politician. If there is a small pond around here it is the one inhabited by politicians. As such Gordon is taking the prudent approach of not poisoning his pond. On the other hand, Da Pinoy blogosphere and, for that matter, the rest of Pinoy society is a big pond. As such, a bigger pond is better able to tolerate (and, in fact, thrives on) a more diverse variety of chemicals that contribute to a wider array of dynamics in its ecosystem (in contrast to the small backyard where being in on the love-in is the more prudent approach to take).
As such, the contrarian and highly-critical input that AntiPinoy.com provides is a big contributor to this dynamism in the BIGGER POND within which the circles of mere politicians constitute but a tiny (albeit influential and powerful) subset.
Second, this whole “how could we presume to know more than the millions of voters who made the choice?” bnllsh1t is easily overturned by one name: Erap.
Tough luck!
[Reply]
ChinoF Reply:
May 12th, 2010 at 11:13 pm
Insulting? Who’s insulting? We’re only describing things as they really are.
When the crap hits the fan for the country because the elected leader did not perform according to expectations (and did not solve the country’s problems), who’s to blame? That’s all we’re saying.
[Reply]
From Bong, as usual, a well-researched piece that readers could use as reference material for future engagements. It provides a better understanding of the Philippine power structure and the interplay of the elements of the power structure as brought about by turn of events. This supports the notion that in our present state, the economic network controls the political network. As an outcome, bad choice of political leaders.
It’s sad to note that our economic condition greatly influences our political decisions. So how can we expect hungry and uneducated Filipinos to take a wise pick of ideal candidates?
Good read. More of this kind please.
[Reply]
I agreed with your assessment of Noynoy as president. It difficult to see how he can outperform the two last two best presidents (for me) that we had – FVR and GMA. He must at least perform better than Erap and her late mom.
Oh well, only time will tell if and when we can become smart citizens who will embrace excellence over mediocrity.
Sadly, the enlightened ones are outnumbered by the not so enlightened ones.
[Reply]
Jay Reply:
May 13th, 2010 at 8:13 am
I think the issue is not even outperforming the past transactional leaders. One thing is for sure is he’ll NEVER be the transformational or political changing leader that even some intelligent strive or pray him to be, based on motivation and personal successes alone. The Philippines had a shot at 2 candidates, with one more than willing to help citizens become the smart people he realizes they can be. Proof positive yet the people rejected it all for their symbol of proof positive being in prayers and hoping for change, and for dramatic promises that even they know he won’t keep.
[Reply]
If Gordon wins the election, he will open up the flood gates of local mainstream media against foreign media. A competition that it would have been beneficial to many Filipinos. It is sad to say I agree with you when you said “What makes these people think Aquino’s performance will be any different? If any thing, sure, it will be different, it will be worse than Arroyo and FVR, slightly better than Estrada – and as stinkingly incompetent as the administration of his mama.”
Its funny my friend made a comment about Aquino “Maglalaro lang yan ng PSP at Nintendo sa Malacanang. Bakit sya ang nanalo?” and you know what I believed him.
[Reply]
I didn’t expect Erap has 10 million worshippers lurking in our country. That would serve as as a guage how far we are from becoming an intelligent voters overall.
[Reply]
Jay Reply:
May 13th, 2010 at 8:19 am
I think there may have been a huge anti-gloria sentiment in effect during the elections. I’m not really knocking what they saw in Erap during his two years but they were more convinced he can guarantee them ‘ginhawa’. Now whether it is for long term, I highly doubt it.
So the election attitude was pretty much
1. Pro-Yellow
2. Anti-yellow/Anti-gloria
3. lesser evils
4. REAL CHANGE DAMMIT! And willing to see through it.
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@ jccastro, Nah. I personally find insulting Pinoy voters more fun. They make it easy. Just look back over the last 10 to 20 years of our history and you will see why Da Pinoy Voter is such easy pickin’s.
And besides, here is one TRUTH about Da Pinoy Mind:
Filipinos are driven by hiya.
There is nothing that strikes fear in the vacuous mind of Da Pinoy more than losing face. That is the reason why Pinoys take particularly virulent offense at foreigners airing their views on Pinoy dysfunction over international media outlets. Pinoys are fine behaving like morons amongst one another as long as a veneer of coolness is somehow projected to the rest of the world.
And that is the beauty of the Net. Technology has enabled us to air out Filipinos’ dirty underwear for the world to get a bit of a laugh out of. And that, I believe, is what will ultimately put a rocket up Da Pinoy’s fat chicharon-bloated arse.
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i always have faith the we FILIPINOS are not stupid and we can solve our problems on our own ways. people who not not filipino, who not lived in the Philippines, and Fipilinos who were claiming that their not , doesnt have the right to state a negative comments about us..
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Philippine Elections still boils down to who has more ignorant voters
“As if it wasn’t disturbing enough that Aquino was going to win, the next person who was most like going to win it was Estrada.
It’s hard amusing to a foreigner, nah, a sane person, to understand why given three exceptional candidates in Gordon, Teodoro, and Perlas – people just had to choose from a trio of ethically-challenged (including possibly two mentally challenged) candidates in Aquino, Estrada, and Villar.
Clearly these election was not determined by who had a better track record and was most likely to deliver the bacon without sacrificing integrity.
No sir, this election was all about which voter candidate had the most number of ignorant voters – Aquino or Estrada.
In my book, the Philippine has just garnered the latest accolade of “a nation of idiots”. “
Bong V and like minded anti noynoy bloggers,
I symphatize with you since you are all in the GRIEVING stage but i strongly disagree with you that “Philippine has just garnered the latest accolade of “a nation of idiots”. ”
Your article is very informative and incisive but it totally miss the critical determinants in the 2010 election.
No matter how you pontificate that the Philippines is a nation of idiots because they voted on a candidate who has no competence, performance, track record, etc….you totally and sorely miss the point that the most critical issues for the voters are corruption and poverty. This has been the repeated results of surveys early last year… In Kepner Tregoe(KT) these are the MUST ISSUES, the GO-NO GO for the candidates to consider. In marketing this is the Unique Selling Proposition that a candidate must position itself. The voters are the buyers and these issues are what interest them. No matter how you call the voters, “IDIOTS, STUPID, TANGA, BOBO OR WHATEVER YOU WANT” you cannot impose your idea to them. You are just a very tiny part of the market and the market wants people who responds to their needs and desires. You and other issues and marketing advisers failed to advise your clients then afterward you blame the market. The marketplace are the people who will vote. Tha marketplace is the purest form of democracy whether for a physical goods, social ideas or political candidates. The marketplace or a democracy is never intelligient or idiot, correct or wrong. It only reflects the decision of the people.
Finally Bong V and like minded people, please continue dwelling in your grieving stage because that is understandable for people who are hurt and at a loss but please, please, please never describe the Philippines as a nation of idiots because they voted for the candidate you do not like.
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BongV Reply:
May 15th, 2010 at 2:38 pm
Yeah the “voters” said the same thing about the Erap
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BongV Reply:
May 15th, 2010 at 2:43 pm
and in case you forgot – before during and after elections – ma erap ma noynoy – still idiots
already idiots BEFORE the fact