In my perilous journey through social media (I'd say perilous for my mental well-being), I've noticed this trend of social media pages and groups entitled "Solid Defenders of [insert name of politician]" or [insert name of politician] Fan Page." Fan page?!
Why the heck should our public servants have a “fan base,” showbiz-style? Why should they have an “army” of devotedly loyal supporters who will do everything to defend their “idol,” to the point of being a**holes on social media (and sometimes, lamentably, in real life) to those who even “dare to criticize” their idols?
At alam ba ninyo ang nakakalungkot? Yung pulitiko may “fan base,” pero bakit mabibilang mo lang sa daliri ang mga nagmamahal sa bansa natin? At ang pakiwari pa ng karamihan sa atin ay ang pagtatanggol sa pulitiko ay pagtatanggol rin sa bayan!
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The fact that political dynasties have corrupted not only an area's economy but also the thinking of their constituents can be seen by this reasoning of a Facebook friend whose city had been ruled for decades by a single family (hint: it’s one of the largest cities in the Philippines): "Bakit namin nanaisin ng bagong pamumuno? Kung hindi dahil sa political dynasties, hindi uunlad ang bayan namin."
Imagine that! Thinking that only one family has the “key” to a city’s progress, to me, smacks not of democracy but of feudalism.
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“’Yang mga kabataang aktibista, binayaran lang iyan!” – sabi ng mga matatanda na agad pumapatol sa P500 para dumalo sa rally ng senatorial candidate.
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It’s interesting to see how people of varied political alignments can sometimes agree on a few things.
For instance, among my bus enthusiast friends whose political spectrums vary, there is at least one candidate for senator who believe they should not be voted for.
I’m not going to name that particular candidate here, but there’s one main reason they believe this guy does not deserve a vote: he ruined a bus company.
According to some of my friends, this guy took one of the oldest (and what was once largest) bus company in the Philippines – which was, by the way, one of the many companies that really struggled during the Covid-19 pandemic – and brought it down to a point where, at one point, it had to rely on secondhand buses just to keep their fleet running.
But wait, isn’t the guy a labor organizer? Nah, my leftist friends say: he’s a fake labor leader who, while his company was struggling, reportedly bought a luxury car – and had the temerity to post it on social media!
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Here's an advice to our youth: Don't be afraid to speak out against tyranny, corruption, and injustice. Be more afraid of what your future will be if you don't speak out.
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