30th anniversary of the stupidification of the Philippines

February 10, 2016

by benign0

The 26th of February this year marks the 30th anniversary of the 1986 EDSA “people power” revolution. Three decades ago from this day, the “evil” regime of President Ferdinand Marcos was supposedly toppled by a popular uprising that was sparked by an army mutiny led by then General Fidel V Ramos accompanied by then Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile. The “revolution” that followed then came to be associated with the Aquino-Cojuangco clan who, over the next 30 years, embedded in Filipinos’ heads the notion that it was the “heroism” of the noted members of that clan — Senator Benigno Aquino Jr and his wife, the late former President Cory Aquino — that inspired that revolt.

Thus started the systematic stupidification of the Philippines.

This supposed stupidification of the Philippines was carried out by the Cult of Yellow that came to surround the Aquino and Cojuangco clans. Not only did they carry it on, they took that stupidification campaign to new heights and embedded the mentality deeper in the Filipino psyche than any previous regime had.

Interesting, indeed, that the 30th anniversary marks the completion of that process. The crop of idiots running for the presidency in the May 2016 elections is proof of this. Filipinos’ embrace of national stupidity is such that they actually continue to pompously debate the merits and demerits of each candidate as if one has any real advantage in virtue over the other that is of any consequence to the fortunes of the Philippines over the next six years.

Unfortunately for an entire generation of Filipinos, the ascent of Cory Aquino to Malacanang was the seminal milestone that introduced the idea to them that stupid and incompetent people could actually aspire to be president and actually succeed at attaining that aspiration.

What is really remarkable about the 2016 elections is that all of the candidates are idiots. Compare that to 2010 when only one of the candidates was an idiot. That idiot succeeded at winning the presidency handily beating far more competent and qualified candidates. We all thought that was quite funny even as it marked the beginning of the final phase of the Philippines’ stupidification. Turns out that the laughs were premature. The 2016 election campaign has proven to be even more stupid. This time idiots are competing against fellow idiots.

Amongst the crop of presidential candidates in the running, none of them is at a calibre that is worthy of comparison to the stalwarts of Philippine politics that once presumed to aspire for the presidency. This time, Malacanang suffers from a stigma of being perceived as the dunce seat where the dumbest politician of the land gets to sit.

And so, we see today, none of the good ones have joined the race to occupy that office in the palace in 2016. Only the dumb, stupid, and clownish ones have joined that race. Filipinos, for their part, are cheering them on — like a bunch of jailbirds crowding around a cockroach race betting cigarettes over which bug scurries the fastest.

That’s Philippine politics 30 years after the 1986 people power “revolution”. That’s the Philippines — paatras ang asenso.

When will Filipinos start to get it — that they’ve been had by a Yellow movement that sold them empty promises and delivered a nation that is even more humbled than it ever has been in its history? So far there seems to be scant evidence that Filipinos have learned anything about what being a truly free and democratic society is really all about. We see it in the electoral bevaviour being showcased today and in the quality of the national “debate” surrounding these bozos clambering all over one another for a piece of the media spotlight.

There are no issues at stake, no ideologies to propagate, and no visions to inspire. All Filipinos get for the taxes being wasted on this “democratic” exercise is a bit of entertainment on their TV screens to distract them from the wretchedness of their existence.

And so the question is this:

What specifically are we supposed to be “celebrating” on the 26th February?

We hope that in the process of answering this confronting question, Filipinos will, at least, take stock of what their country has become over the last 30 years.