MANILA -- I arrived here one day after the burial of former president Noynoy Aquino. Broadcast and print media are still active to report on the developments of the burial, and other angles that could speak about the life of the former president. Even those working for the Aquino family were interviewed to give details on PNoy and his legacy to people who have been touched by his life.
We are not detached from the truth that the idea of putting PNoy to run for president was inspired by the feeling towards the former president Corazon Aquino, PNoy’s mom, who got the sympathy of the Filipino people at the time of her death. The rest is history, yet it highlights the kind of behavior we have as Filipinos, willing to show concern and sympathy to someone who is sick or someone who has gone ahead in the afterlife. There is a soft spot in us that no matter how dynamic are our interactions, we can invoke our kind of feeling towards our fellow Filipinos.
The other side of it, when brought to the level of politics, could [change] the rule of the game. Our sympathy, grief and values, can be translated into a tool for leadership that we think could help us escape the many social problems we’re facing. The media, through its subtle approach riding on the cover of “fairness”, could employ propaganda that will not exactly project endorsement and leaning toward politics. But they could follow angle of reports which could frame meanings into the senses of many receivers of information. The phrase that media “could make or break you” is something we can ponder.
Because it is already election season, we can’t blame analysts to look at the many situations as becoming an instrument by some to boost political intents.
I see no fault in the fair and continuing updates on the life of the former president because he is dead and worthy of reports on his performance and legacy as a former leader. However, if this could again be the instrument by some to promote their political intents, this could be bad for the Filipino people. This is becoming an injustice that they might again be lured by some to decide on based on the appeal to emotions and not on the ability to solve some pressing problems.
Over the years, while we have seen so many changes in leaderships in the country, we knew how leaders manage to set their style that people could lean into them. Yet we can also assume that on their own, they don’t actually believe their plight could exactly end them into better places in government. The interest groups are the ones moving things to realize political ambitions at the expense of the people.
Now we are feeling the movements of our political actors. We don’t know how things will settle as many things will happen as we near the elections next year.
We’ve got so many challenges along the way and we hope not to be eaten up by our emotions. Instead, our consciousness will help us look for leaders who have the consciousness to see the true problems of Filipino society.
While driving home the other day, I heard in many radio reports the verbal exchanges of President Rodrigo Duterte and Senator Manny Pacquiao on corruption. They are both on the same party, but why these started just now when corruption could have been talked about before and leading to, maybe up to the end of Duterte’s term? Well, this signals the political season.
It is hoped that we are learning from the kind of strategies that political actors are using to get to the end of all these political discourses. We have no standard at this point but we still need to balance things. Let us continue to weigh things and study the dynamics as observers and participants of the electoral process.