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For the People, Because of the People



These happen because people allow them to happen. They don’t just passively allow them, they even like these sort of things. Perhaps, “like” is too light a word. I suppose, it would be more appropriate to say that they love these things, or even crave for them. When I say, “people”, this includes the government officials, barangay and municipal officials.


How do candidates get their hands on DSWD food packs when they are not elected or appointed officials? Because they are given access by the people who have access to these resources. Since some candidates are not elected or appointed, they were given access by people who are elected or appointed, and are incidentally allied with them. The people themselves support these sort of violations. Well, I’m not really sure if they’re aware that these are violations. Maybe, they do and they think they could get away with them. Probably, they just don’t care if it’s a violation or not. They just have to achieve their ends.


Why are these distribution of freebies a big hit among the people? (When I think of it, even I, would want some freebies.) Free stuff would help much in household budget. That would spare the budget for food for a few days. Then, the money allotted for daily food could be diverted to some other expenses. Then, we wouldn’t have to take up loans from Indians on motorcycles.


A couple of weeks ago, I was listening to a barangay chairman being interviewed over the radio (which was being streamed on Youtube). He was explaining to the anchor the reason for supporting a particular candidate. His reason was that he would support whoever helps the barangay. (I guess, I can’t blame him on that.) with “help”, he means, actual, concrete foodstuffs, money and other materials. More premium is placed on this over infrastructure, legislation or policies.


Common folk cheer and swoon over candidates who hand out 500 peso bills to flood drenched constituents who need actual food to get by. Better yet, they need some infrastructure or policy to prevent another flood or calamity to befall the community again. I mean, we can’t really outsmart nature the next time it throws a tantrum, but we could do something to counter it. But, people love these dole-outs. They go head over heels crazy over them.


Why do candidates reach the level of spending millions on media mileage? Nowadays, media mileage has become social media mileage. Why do they go out of their way to have massive posting of questionable information? Why do they pour out so much resources on these sort of things? Because people themselves swallow and eat whatever is served before them all as the truth. People read those unfounded articles. People watch those made-up videos. People follow these pages and look forward for more. Had people ignored these posting of unquestionable information, it would not have flourished like a shiny fruit about to burst with juice. If people had not read these sort of write-ups, viewed these sort of videos or followed these sort of pages, candidates or whoever they have commissioned to implement these projects would not have started in the first place. If people had not clicked and devoured them in droves, in large numbers, these social media campaigns would have lost its strength, withered away and fallen by the wayside to its defenseless demise. But, people love it when some people are smeared. Haven’t you noticed that along with the proliferation of social media, bashing has become a byword even in offline interactions? I don’t know how it goes. Some people just love it when some people are bashed and brought down. The sad thing is they take it, gobble it up, swallow it and eat it all up as undisputable truth. Is it true? They might say, of course it is; it has to be.


So, if you’re along the critical thinking, fact checking, decency defending, legal leaning side of society who assume that we should be dominant, you might be surprised that we’re actually a marginalized sector of society. People get excited with that which are less than decent, with that which is not so regular, with that which is dangerously destructive. So, if you notice some dubious dealings in the pre-campaign period, maybe the candidates are merely responding to what people like. One more sad thing about this is we’re a democracy. It’s the people who decide. If these less than decent dealings are what they go for, then, how would they decide on the ballot? How about you? Are you with them?

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