PHILIPPINE ELECTORAL STUPIDITY
by Anton Antonio
July 28, 2015
It was shocking for me to see
this item on my Facebook newsfeed at first.
It was “shared” by a netizen, perhaps, unwittingly. (To read the entire article, please click on
this link: https://ephramar.wordpress.com/2013/05/14/philippines-named-most-stupid-country-to-elect-a-20-year-ojt-as-a-senator-by-time-magazine/.) But “critical thinking” (the mindset of a
true Iskolar ng Bayan) automatically kicked-in and a deeper analysis of things
was the next order of business. Further
research brought me to another link (http://www.filipinostarnews.net/opinion/plain-rice/pranksters-call-phl-most-stupid-country.html)
that bared the truth.
The internet, together with other
social media platforms, has provided too much latitude for free expression of
ideas and a venue to spread news. There
really nothing wrong with this. However,
social media, in unique instances like this, can also be used and manipulated
by some people to pursue their own selfish agenda. In this case, perhaps a political agenda that
ended up to be nothing less than an insult to the Filipino people. There are also some people who have mastered
the art of misdirection. I may agree or
disagree with the contents of the article but it would no longer matter since
the message was pathetically lost simply because of the deceptive methodology
used. More importantly though this
practice of black propaganda should stop.
Sen. Nancy Binay should be
respected because she was legitimately elected… she is now a senator and that’s
just about it. But please don’t get me
wrong. I used to be the Committee
Secretary for the Philippine Senate Committee for Government Corporations and
Public Enterprises and had extensive working relationships with some former
Senators of our Republic… so I fairly know what it takes to be an ideal
senator. After rubbing elbows with
honorable and noble senators in the past, I must say that I am not particularly
impressed by Sen. Binay. But I must, as
a loyal citizen of this republic, respect the will of the Filipino people in
electing her as such. And, lastly, I
detest this mockery of my race in a hoaxical article that talked about
Philippine electoral stupidity.
Just my
little thoughts…
(Please
visit, like and share Pro EARTH Crusaders on Facebook or follow me at http://antonantonio.blogspot.com/
and http://twitter.com/EarthCrusader/)
REFERENCES:
ephmar. wordpress.com, (2013).
Retrieved on July 28, 2015 from https://ephramar.wordpress.com/2013/05/14/philippines-named-most-stupid-country-to-elect-a-20-year-ojt-as-a-senator-by-time-magazine/
filipinostarnews.net,
(2013). Retrieved on July 28, 2015 from http://www.filipinostarnews.net/opinion/plain-rice/pranksters-call-phl-most-stupid-country.html
Note: I have decided to re-print the contents of
these links below for your convenience.
ARTICLE No. 1:
Philippines
Named ‘Most Stupid Country to Elect a 20-Year OJT as a Senator’ by
Time Magazine
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines has been
named as Time’s “Most STUPID Country to Elect a 20-Year OJT as a Senator”. “The
overwhelming victory of a self-professed on-the-job trainee-cum-Senator in the recently held
election in the Philippines cemented the country’s fate,” wrote Time’s news
director Marilou C. Martin. She added,
“Falling for the diversionary tactics of an inexperienced candidate that
saw her steer the issue away from her credibility to her skin complexion to
make herself look like the underdog; gave us no choice but to bestow such title
to a country, who was destined for greatness before the elections.” “And yes, we intentionally all-capped the
word stupid for added emphasis,” according to Martin. Time gave special attention to the
country’s 11,789,643 registered voters (as of press time) who voted for
Nancy Binay, as contributing to the country’s “overall stupidity rating index”. “These are probably the same 11,289,648
people who had no access to the internet to witness
the criticism their bet received for her lack political background or
experience.” The magazine didn’t wait
for Comelec’s final and official number of votes Binay received before coming
out with the latest issue saying that, “The amount of gullibility and the
unprecedented level of idiocy forced us to go to press immediately.” The article also noted that the country’s
saving grace, namely its recent credit rating upgrade, Manny Pacquiao, Jessica Sanchez orJada Pinkett-Smith asking for a copy of Jerico Rosales’ film did
not help one bit. “Those are only minor
achievements as compared to the repercussions the sheer amount of
stupidity the recent actions of the Filipino people entails.” “It’s these kind of situations that not
even Lou Diamond Philips winning the Oscars or the
Philippines winning the next Miss Universe can help with your country’s image,”
said Martin. All is not lost however,
according to political analyst Mak Jendoza.
Ladies and gentlemen, your future Mayor, Vice Mayor, President, First Lady, Pope and
Vice President. “Andyan na yan eh,
ano pa magagawa natin (She’s already there, what else can we do)?”
said Jendoza. “Siguraduhin nalang
natin na hindi na mauulit ito pagdating ng 2016 (We just have to make
sure that we shall not repeat this same mistake come 2016).” “Abe eh kung maging presidente ang tatay
nyan at madagdagan pa ng isang kapatid sa Senado sa 2016, baka pati ang United Nations hirangin na din tayong mga inutil (If ever her
dad became president and another one of her sibling became a senator in 2016,
even the United Nations shall name us stupid),” warned Jendoza. “I can’t say that I’m proud of this recent
‘achievement’ of our country,” said Johnny Manuel Ebola after learning about
the magazine cover. “But at least I’m proud to say that I’m not one of
those 11,789,643 nincompoops!”
ARTICLE No. 2:
Pranksters
call PHL ‘most stupid country’
Hoaxes come in
many ways, but a recent hoax about the Philippines came via the Internet. The
hoax is a supposed Time Magazine report that branded our homeland as
“the most STUPID country to elect an OJT (on-the-job training) as senator.” I was seething with anger when I first read
the “report”, which was emailed to me from Qatar by my nephew Julian Basamot,
Jr. Imagine Time, a well respected international magazine, calling our nation a
“most stupid country.” I believe any self-respecting Filipino would have also
reacted the way I did.
When I
told my son Percy about it, he said the report could be a hoax. This prompted
me to verify. It was supposedly the cover story of latest Time issue. The Philippine flag was
even made the front-cover background. I
found out later that the cover of the current Time issue was totally different
from the one emailed to me. And there was no article about the Philippines in
the current issue. It’s clear that the report was the handiwork of pranksters
or black propagandists who wanted to make the Philippines a laughing stock. In my investigation, I also found out that
the Philippine Daily Inquirer had fallen victim of a similar hoax: A picture of
President Noynoy Aquino with his mouth agape was the supposed cover photo of
Time Magazine. The Inquirer wrote a news report about it and even printed the
ugly picture. Inquirer editor-in-chief Letty Jimenez-Magsanoc had to issue a
public apology after the editors found out that they were taken for a ride. In the recent prank that I almost swallowed
hook, line and sinker, the supposed article slammed the 11 million Filipinos
who voted Nancy Binay, who was the OJT referred to in the Time article, for
senator. The same fake article stated that the Time editors tagged the Philippines the
“most stupid country” after an evaluation of derogatory reports on our country
and other countries. Finding that the
supposed Time article was a fake, I felt relieved.
At the
same time, though, I was concerned about the impression it caused on people who had read the bogus article.
If they did not know it was false, they might have taken it as an accurate Time
report. And they might have perceived the Philippines as it was portrayed —
“the most stupid country.”
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