Ladies and Gentlemen, the Circus Act that comes along once every 3 years in what is known as the Philippine General Elections has come upon us once again! With its cast of merry characters including jesters and clowns, old and new, ready and (seemingly) eager to provide us all with acts of maximum comedic and/or horrific effect (depending on what goggles you are wearing), we can be assured of a performance that will surely keep us on the edge of our seats! Pardon the sarcasm but it is a mere reaction to certain things that we, the general public, have been subjected to, indeed bombarded with, in the last few months leading up to the May 2010 election. I shall attempt to enumerate these "certain things" in this blog entry as well as in subsequent ones.
ACT I - The Infomercials.
I must ask, can anyone mistake these 30 second television ads which feature a prominent politician in a rather prominent manner (and which magically start appearing on your TV sometime before an upcoming election), for anything else other than for what they really are - They are definitely infomercials and cannot, by any stretch of the imagination, be considered as premature campaigning can they???? After all, they only show the face of the candidate himself/herself throughout the entire duration of the ad with said candidate's name flashing repeatedly in some part of the screen. The sarcasm, as you may well have noticed is not without basis because curiously, the word "infomercial" is defined on this computer as, "a television program that promotes A PRODUCT in an informative and supposedly objective way." In my opinion, the dictionary could not have been more accurate for it not only defined the meaning of the word itself but also gave meaning to the whole situation. It seems like some of our politicians in using these ads, allegedly not for purposes of campaigning but rather to provide information, have become mere "products" of a system corrupted to its core. The corruption in full circle can be illustrated by the infomercials themselves: Politician A spends X amount of pesos (perhaps from their own pocket or perhaps from yours and mine) on these cleverly/foolishly (relative to one's point of view) disguised ads conveniently called "infomercials," and once they are in power, eventually attempt to recover the amount of pesos spent on such infomercials and eventually make a career out of a public position doing just that.
Sarcasm aside, I remember seeing one of these infomercials as early as June but I am not sure if they had been aired even earlier. What I am sure of, however, is that the campaign period for candidates for President, Vice President, and Senator doesn't start until Feb. 9, 2010, and for congressmen, not until March 26, 2010.
ACT II - Presidential Bandwagoning
We have recently been hearing news about Mr. Politician A leaving (insert political party here) for (insert another political party here). Ms. Politician B leaving (insert political party here) for (insert yet another political party here). This kind of scene, one which we are all too familiar with (I think) has been an unfortunate recurring phenomenon here in the Philippines most especially before elections. And I say unfortunate because it has continued time and again with no end in sight but most especially because the platforms - the stands on legitimate societal issues, seem to get lost in all this flip-flopping. Perhaps one should wonder if the concerns of the people are even genuinely thought about, nay even considered at all by our so-called leaders when they run for a position. This party jumping without so much as a pause gives one the idea that the only thing our leaders are interested in is the assurance of a position in government. Politicians bolt one party for another because of some passing fad or seeming love affair with a particular party's standard-bearer, as if hoping that the fairy dust will rub off. They think that by attaching themselves to a "favorite" candidate will assure them of a post but what they all seem to have forgotten is that by popularizing and championing the concerns of the voting population will also lead them to the same target.
Jat Tabamo (Entry #1)
No comments:
Post a Comment