i take it as an auspicious sign that the first response to HUWAG IBOTO was a “second the motion without any reservation!” thanks, anna de brux :)
but being contradicted is cool, too, and arbet bernardo‘s quick riposte, “kesa naman kay Miriam o Enrile.= P” made me laugh, oo rin nga!
and then i heard dzmm teleradyo listeners weighing in on the matter, and the winning argument was, “may karapatan ang mga senador to do what they want, sila rin merong freedom of speech!” lol.
say pa ng isa, si vilma santos nga, nagbebenta ng sabong panglaba, pero okey lang sa mga taga-batangas, magaling naman siyang labandera, ehek, gobernadora.
mercifully the next reaction was manolo quezon‘s, which gently reminds me that a boycott of those senators and vice-president will achieve nothing of consequence.
…if stuart-santiago says, don’t vote for politicians who do product endorsements, what will it achieve? It will validate the assumptions of the politicians when they undertook those endorsements. They won’t lose or win on the basis of a boycott on the basis of their endorsements. And those who do win despite such a boycott will only serve to entrench the practice. An advocacy of a boycott would only be effective if done -now, prior to elections- by boycotting the products they endorse. A mass-based approach to an issue raised and ventilated (and most effectively wielded) by the middle and upper classes is self-defeating. It’s not that it’s the wrong fight -just the wrong target, considering those expected to do the fighting.”
true. for now we would be a tiny tiny minority at best whose boycott of these politicians would hardly make a dent in the final count. but i have this romantic notion that the impossible, like EDSA, is possible. that one day, a tipping point might be reached and, as in Jose Saramago’s Seeing, the government will hold electionsbut nobody will come until late afternoon, and only to cast blank ballots.
hope springs eternal.
Spot on Angela! Hope springs eternal indeed. It took us 400 miserable years to kick out the Spaniards (with a little mock help from Uncle Sam) but kick them out we did so who says, it can’t be done.
Up until a few years ago, few would have have guessed that political opinions would be formulated from all the corners of the Philippine archipelago and from the rest of the world giving millions of Filipinos abroad a ‘first hand’ insight into what goes on in the Philippines in record time!
I beg to disagree with Quezon (at the risk of sounding Polyana personified). It’s not so much achieving something of consequence — not easy to achieve something of consequence in a short period of time — but if a ripple of reflection in the middle class is created by such a move as yours, it would already be a step in the right direction; the important thing is that it is on record; I’m positive many of those legislators are bound to hear about it. The thing is to continue beating the drums of dissent and until they hear it. Freedom of expression at its best!
[…] back to stuart-santiago’s follow-up to my response to her initial call to boycott all […]
I just bumped into this site Googling “Susan Calo-Medina,” hehe! I find it interesting. Even the colors and the background are nice. :)
Anyway, going to the topic of boycotting politicians who do product endorsements, I feel that we should still look into the politician’s — or the person’s, at that — character most of all. Is he more of a public servant than a politician? Meaning, has he contributed anything for the betterment of his constituents? I would choose a movie actor anytime over a politician if that actor has done wonders to my community.
Let’s take the case of the “Star for all seasons” Vilma Santos. Now, I’m not a Batangueño, so I wouldn’t know her achievements in her native Batangas, but people there really love her, even elevating her status from mayor to governor. Now, she must have done something to win her fans — err, people over. I believe Batangueños aren’t blind just to base their votes on Vilma’s sheer popularity.
I may be right; I may be wrong. Just my take on the issue. Thanks for the space. :)
hi, anna ;) “to continue beating the drums of dissent” – sounds good!
hey, andrew :) lucky bump, thanks! will tackle your points in next post. pinagiisipan ko pa.