Tag Archives: macho punditry

komentaryo

The media crisis that is Christian Esguerra

If we are to believe Esguerra and his humble brag coated in sarcasm about his “walang ka-kuwenta-kuwentang podcast” then this is such a small thing, it barely matters. But that’s the thing: he is making it matter, and even his bosom buddy Ronald Llamas can’t seem to stop talking about Esguerra-as-victim at this point, which just makes it matter even more. That a content card was generated to show support for Esguerra as the Marcos vloggers started asking questions of him and his kind of commentary, is also telling: may effect kahit paano ang ganitong pagko-call-out at scale ng mga, as Christian puts it, “kung sinu-sino lang” na pro-BBM vloggers (as opposed to him not being kung sinu-sino lang, kasi nga journalist siya, and therefore hindi “sumasamba” sa pulitiko).

Of course Atty Claire Castro, originally a vlogger, but now the Presidential Spokesperson, is not kung sinu-sino lang, and I sense that it is her engagement with this issue that has gotten Christian and friends all riled up: gawain nga ba ito ng isang Presidential spokesperson? To answer that rhetorical question, it is a yes. Especially in this particular present, after six years of Duterte, and four years into the Marcos presidency, because there is absolutely no other way but to engage across mainstream and social media. Anything less allows for falsity to fester, just like the whole bangag narrative against BBM which the administration responded to too late. (more…)

kultura

Polarization and (un)civil society

There is this famous Spiderman meme where three different spidermen point fingers at each other — except we can’t tell who’s at fault because everyone’s finger pointing and everyone is both victim and suspect. And while all of them are distinctly different beneath the costume, on the surface, there is no telling who is who, and no sense at all how one is different from the other.

We are at this point in our discursive polarization, one wrought by six years of Rodrigo Duterte and the massive propaganda strategy that propped up a governance that undid all that we know about democracy, rights, and justice. This strategy has continued despite his being held accountable at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague for crimes against humanity, because expectedly for all political dynasties, he has a daughter already a presidential candidate for 2028.

It would be easy to dismiss this as just political noise, but it is a propaganda strategy that is so consistent, and so obviously funded, that it continues to affect our political discourse whether we admit it or not. And it’s not because their number is growing (few people at rallies, surveys that say they want the impeachment trial of the Vice President to happen say otherwise), but because they have perfected this strategy and redefined political communications where soundbites are key, repetition is necessary, and content is all.

Yes, we would rather not give them anything. But it seems important to call it what it is: a success. (more…)

komentaryo

The good, the bad, the petty: Chiz and the Sara impeachment #SocialMediaDiscourse

I do not doubt that there is a whole lot of reasons to continue discussing the impeachment of VP Sara Duterte, specifically whether it is right or wrong that Senate President Chiz Escudero is doings things at his own pace, and whether that puts the whole impeachment at risk and / or risking the possibility of getting an acquittal for VP Sara. I tend to think that SP Escudero is far smarter than all of this. He’s not new to this circus, and certainly has engaged long enough with politics in this country to know not to put even his own political career at risk by a failure to thoughtfully and carefully flesh things out, anticipate outcomes, adjust as things unfold.

And if your biases against Escudero don’t cloud your judgment, he actually made a lot of sense at that February 20 press con, talking about how the Senate, in fact, is taking the necessary steps it can take at this point in time, owing to the fact that the Senate is not in session, and many Senators are busy campaigning either for another term in office, or for other elective positions. He is firm in the refusal to rush the proceedings, or to call a session, and denies either side of the political spectrum to pressure him into doing or saying anything: “I will not dignify nor listen to partisan legal opinions or positions for or against the impeachment of VP Sara.”

At this point in our political discourse, that pretty much gives Escudero the license to ignore everyone. For good or bad, partisanship is the rule these days, not the exception. (more…)