Aiding search for truth

THESE days, truths are shades of gray, which only mean there are more fake news than truths, framed by hashtag campaigns that are made to trend in order that they become news in tri-media. And when it has trended, truth is sacrificed. It is interesting that #NasaanAngPangulo was again resurrected since this was formulated by a group that wanted to prime the candidacy of an individual, whom the group wanted to contrast against another. The problem in using that with the current administration is that it shows a lack of context because one will just have to look into how President Rodrigo Roa Duterte (PRRD) acts when there are typhoons, earthquakes, terrorism attacks and the like. A single act does not define leadership. A series of acts cements a leader’s track record.

There is also a sense that not all positioning should be calibrated. After all, communication is not just public relations or, worse, media operations. Authenticity still rules despite the foul mouth of a leader. Clearly, Duterte has a mandate, and that mandate allows him to act accordingly until 2022. Do we applaud him for all his inanities? No, we don’t. But the majority of Filipinos wanted the outlier to be their leader. The majority wanted to do things differently. The majority was accepting of all the cussing made in public because the majority felt the same way felt tired of the status quo, tired of leaders just siding with oligarchs, tired of failed promises and tired of dumbing down.