Coming from a Mathematics intensive background, I always try to know as much as I can about, and contribute if possible, the local state of science education. Mathematics is a science too, you know. And mathematics and logic often go together.
Back then in the lead up to the 2016 elections, I did call out then presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte for what he said, about wanting “Algebra, Calculus, and Trigonometry replaced with Business Math.”
Mr. Duterte, may we in the engineering and scientific community remind you, that Algebra, Trigonometry, and Calculus form the foundation for your so-called Business Math and Statistics, and the entire engineering and scientific body of knowledge. They are all interconnected.
Fast forward to today, and now he’s been president for quite a while.
Recently, Duterte has come under fire from critics for what are perceived lapses in mathematics. Superficial Gazette has managed to summarize it all in one neat meme below:
Not much to say about these that hasn’t already been said. The Duterte administration and its followers can very well defend themselves (and strike back hard) anyway.
Instead, what I’d like to point out here, is that for all the “correction” and “pointing out of errors” that Duterte’s critics like to do, they seem to conveniently overlook the flaws in their own thinking.
The noisiest (and one of the most empty) among Duterte’s critics are supporters of the Liberal Party, the political entity that was in power before he won the presidency. They’re also known as Yellowtards, by the way.
I mention this because the apparent foundation for what they cling on to as the recipe for a great leader is this:
Pedigree + All credit + no blame = Good President
And yet, the previous six-year, freeloading, no-results term of their last poster boy, Benigno Simeon “BS” Aquino III turned that premise into a wrong equation:
Aquino name/pedigree + All credit + no blame ≠ Good President
And once again, they stand on the precipice called lack of credibility.
The reality is, very little about the Yellowtards, or even Duterte’s critics as a whole adds up. They continue to exist as many disparate voices which, quite simply, will never form a formidable whole.
Politicians do seem to practice fuzzy math, out of habit, to beguile voters. For the next six years, however, it is Duterte who adds up for the voters. The LP and their supporters quite simply don’t anymore.
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