AS
I WRECK THIS CHAIR
By William
M. Esposo
Two
recent controversies demonstrated Filipino dysfunctional thinking —
the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, or also known as Republic Act
(RA) 10175, and the dynasties issues in Philippine politics. What may
be obvious is dysfunctional thinking but that’s clearly rooted to a
damaged culture, a culture that had preconditioned many Filipinos to
think and react the wrong way.
Take
the case of those bemoaning the spread of political dynasties. Don’t
you think that it’s illogical to hope that a political system
dominated by political dynasties will resist the dismantling of their
source of power and wealth? So why are so many Filipinos demanding
from the ruling elite to craft the enabling law that will stop
political dynasties? It’s stupid.
The
problem is nobody wants to invest time, resources and labor to uplift
the bottom part of Philippine society — the poorly informed and
poorly educated who are suckers for electing showbiz personalities
and clan members of political dynasties. The only real solution is to
elevate the level of political discourse so that even the poorly
informed and poorly educated are empowered to appreciate real issues
from illusions offered. Only when Filipinos reach that level of
appreciation can we expect an irreversible rejection of the political
dynasties.
Imagine
that — even Manny Pacquiao is now out to establish his own
political dynasty? His wife is running for vice governor in Sarangani
while his brother is running for congressman in South Cotabato. What
has Manny Pacquiao accomplished as a public official to justify
having more Pacquiaos in public office? What are the qualifications,
to begin with, of all three of them to deserve becoming congressmen
and vice governor? In Cavite, there are two Revillas running and if
they win, that will make three Revillas in this Cavite dynasty. Same
question — what have Senators Ramon Revilla and Bong Revilla done
to deserve a political dynasty?
When
we succeed in transforming our voters into better-informed and more
discerning bosses — that will be the time when we can enact all the
legislations that will remove all the inequities in our system.
Everything begins and ends with the voter. If the voters keep
electing clansmen of political dynasties, then they deserve the
downside that these dynasties bring.
The
problem of evolving a better-informed and more discerning voters base
cannot be accomplished by mere mass communications campaigns. The
mindset can only be reformed when we go down to them and bring them
up. Transforming our people’s mindset is a long-term and
multi-faceted effort. This would entail community development because
a community’s mindset will manage to re-infect a reformed member’s
way of thinking.
A
good model for this is the community and nation building efforts of
the Gawad Kalinga (GK) that was the inspiration of Tony Meloto. GK is
not so much of giving away homes but more of value formation. Give a
damaged culture a house but with no reform of the self-defeating
culture and nothing will be accomplished. The old bad habits will
dominate the new stimulus.
In
the case of the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, what ruled was
hysteria, not reason. As a whole, RA 10175 was guidance for
cyberspace behavior that was long overdue. There may have been
imperfections but these can easily be remedied when the implementing
rules and regulations are crafted.
Instead
of all that disgust, angst, aggravation, frustration and outrage that
have been expressed on social media — how come nobody cared to get
involved and make representations on the needed modifications. We the
bosses failed to do our obligation as members of a democratic society
— the obligation to get involved and voice our sentiments to our
elected leaders. They need feedback if they’re to serve us better.
Instead of raising your blood pressure, why don’t raise your voice
in the proper forum? There are mechanisms for that. Use it.
It’s
quite obvious that much of the negative reactions to the libel clause
resulted from its association with Senator Tito Sotto. Sen. Sotto had
earned public ridicule over a plagiarism issue that he aggravated
with his reactions. If people looked at the issue with reason and
with less passion, the simple premise for that clause is that nobody
should be allowed to libel, slander, and defame another person
without being meted corresponding penalties. The stiffer penalty for
cyberspace libel is unjustified but libel on cyberspace should be
meted penalties.
Some
folks misconstrue owning a computer with owning cyberspace. You may
own your computer but cyberspace is a public domain and therefore any
libel, slander, defamation done therein is subject to existing laws
and penalties. Once you post something libelous on cyberspace, be
ready to account for it.
Many
also failed to realize the national security aspect of RA 10175. This
law was greatly necessitated by the cybercrimes being conducted here
— precisely because we did not yet have the RA 10175. The Justice
Department (DoJ) clause of RA 10175 was needed to be able to thwart
these syndicates operating cybercrimes here.
Much
of the opposition to RA 10175 can be classified as the results of
MISTAKEN NOTIONS (tool for suppression) and IRRATIONAL HYSTERIA over
what demonic acts the legislation will lead to. We’ll never
progress thinking this way.
*
* *
Shakespeare: “Madness
in great ones must not unwatched go.”
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