Myths are what come out of people’s imaginations when they start running out of meaningful things to say—as in the case of Duterte’s motley critics, who aren’t making a dent in his ratings well after his honeymoon period should have expired.
Perhaps all that banging of heads against the invincible wall of Duterte’s popularity dislodges the brain a little bit and causes the neurons to misfire, producing delusions and hallucinations that his poor critics take to be rational thought.
Consider, for example, the motley crew who came together the other day to launch something called the “No to Cha-Cha” coalition at the UP College of Law.
They were led by the venerable former CJ Hilario Davide, who seems stuck in a time warp of his own making, and former Comelec chair Chris Monsod, who’s come to believe all those flattering stories about himself. Both of them were stalwarts of the 1987 Con-Con which produced the “Cory Constitution”—apparently the Holy Grail of constitutionalism.
Among many choice remarks, CJ Davide it was who said that adopting federalism would be “a descent into hell.” Tell that to the crowds of Filipinos wanting to leave for hellish federal countries like the United States and many European states.
Not to be outdone, this crew proudly brandished placards reading “I love freedom/democracy/sovereignty/the Philippines [take your pick]. No to Cha-Cha!” So this means those of us who want charter change are enemies of freedom, democracy, etc?
Tell that to Tatay Nene Pimentel, a pioneer of the federalist movement, who’s put a lot more on the line for his country than any of the above. Or to Gat Jose Rizal, for that matter, who once wrote that a federal state would be most appropriate for his country.
Those placards were probably produced by the NDF, whose affiliates comprise most of the new coalition. That would explain the belligerent self-righteousness. Though if you took a poll and asked the average citizen what he thinks of the NDF’s commitment to freedom or democracy, I doubt that you’d find a lot of support—not surprisingly, because, as Duterte loves to point out, these people haven’t won even a single barangay election.
* * *
Here’s a second myth: that “fake news” was born in our country only after Duterte took power. This at least was the spiel being spun at the recent “democracy and disinformation” conference in Ateneo, organized by mainstays of yellow journalism like the Inquirer’s John Nery.
Now how did a technical and factual problem like fake news all of a sudden become an anti-Duterte slogan? Simple: it’s the only reason all those wall-bashing yellow heads can think of to explain the enduring popularity of our profane, misogynistic, unfashionable, bad-mannered President.
But let’s listen to what the experts have to say about fake news: specifically, a report titled “Architects of Networked Disinformation: Behind the Scenes of Troll Accounts and Fake News in the Philippines,” written by Jonathan Ong at University of Massachusetts and Jason Cabanes at University of Leeds.
Here are some of the findings from this Anglo-American Filipino duo:
“The use of fake accounts and paid influencers on Facebook and Twitter for political operations is widespread” although “previous reports have spotlighted only Duterte’s PDP-Laban as hiring fake account operators”.
“Politicians often employ campaign strategists from local ‘boutique’ advertising and PR agencies as chief architects of networked disinformation campaigns.”
“While nobody really admits to being a troll, everyone in the disinformation hierarchy seems to be engaged in various degrees of trolling.”
Unscrupulous PR campaigns are an old and dirty secret among Philippine political operators and media practitioners. But it’s only now, with viral social media, that the dirty linen is finally being aired.
By the way, one of the solutions suggested by the authors is “political campaign finance regulation.” This just happens to be one of the reforms put forward by the guys who wrote PDP-Laban’s version of a new constitution. Will this be acknowledged by the likes of Davide and Monsod? Don’t hold your breath.
* * *
Here’s a third myth, being peddled mostly by the same NDF types who’re opposing Cha-Cha: That the administration’s tax reform law (TRAIN) is responsible for the recent uptick in prices, with January inflation of 3.95 percent year on year already pushing up against the ceiling of government’s target range of 2 percent to 4 percent.
As usual, the best antidote to ideological hysteria is plain simple facts, this time from the Department of Finance:
TRAIN is not a likely suspect behind January inflation, since retailers (e.g. gas stations, groceries) would still be unloading old inventory from 2017 that wasn’t subject yet to the new excise taxes.
Prices didn’t rise that much for those products most subject to the new taxes. Sugary beverages went up by only 2.8 percent, while YOY oil inflation of 7.2 percent was the result of peso depreciation (1.5 percent) and higher crude oil prices abroad (19.6 percent).
A bit of history may help. From Jan 2016 to Jan 2017, diesel increased by almost P14, or 76 percent. But general inflation remained stable (2.7 percent), while price increases for specific items were modest: food (3.4 percent), transport (2.4 percent), housing and utilities (1.8 percent).
This isn’t to deny, of course, that long-term inflationary pressures are building up, mainly from continued growth in our country (compounded by large infrastructure spending commitments) and economic recovery abroad. But these are pressures that can still be managed by BSP’s monetary policy, and certainly are no excuse to blame TRAIN.
* * *
Since we celebrated Valentine’s Day this week, let me close with the political equivalent of a heartwarming story: Customs Commissioner Sid Lapena’s recent decision to fire officials at five ports who missed their January 2018 revenue collection targets.
Because of those five ports—including Naia and the Manila seaports—Customs missed its January target by 12 percent. On the other hand, though, the BOC did exceed its performance a year earlier, in January 2017, by 14 percent.
One demerit, one merit. In our forgiving Filipino culture, no one would have faulted Lapena for splitting the difference in favor of his people. But no, the redoubtable former police general went ahead to enforce the “one strike and you’re out” rule that’s become the fashion under our unforgiving President.
It’s a question, not only of strictly enforcing the rules, but also of demanding the very best from government workers, simply because you believe that our people deserve to have the very best service. Now what could be more heartwarming than that?
Readers can write me at gbolivar1952@yahoo.com.