We beg to differ.
This is one of those rare times that I cannot disagree with the Inquirer editor who, today, in light of the latest “approval ratings” report on Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte commented on Malacanang’s response, that the “love is still there” for Duterte despite the perceived drop in public approval for his government… Even at the…
Ancient astrologers used to look to the heavens, check an elaborate diagram, then “interpret” the positions of various heavenly bodies to come up with “insights” on society and life. This ancient and unscientific form of correlation was convincing enough to influence the decisions and rulings of powerful monarchs. To this day, in 21st Century Philippines,…
Read More “Filipino ‘journalists’ have become modern-day astrologers” »
Many see the Philippines today as hopelessly polarised with the “die-hard Duterte supporters” (DDS, a.k.a. the “Dutertartds”) on one side and the old “Yellow” cliques loyal to the cult of personality of the Liberal Party (LP, a.k.a. the “Yellowtards”) on the other. The Yellowtards were, since their colossal loss in the 2016 elections, easily-characterised as…
The Duterte administration, one year into its term, remains terribly awful and inept at controlling the narrative. It still lacks its own public communications apparatus that it could use to bypass the other media stations. There’s PTV4, and the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO), and yet so far both have proven ineffective. Even if one…
Read More “The competitive advantage of Yellowtards over the pro-Duterte in media” »
In a democracy, we can all theoretically push ideas and changes we want to see happen. It is with this kind of ideal in mind, that I read thru Florin Hilbay’s recommendation to create (yet another) government body called the ‘Institute for the Integrity of Information”. Hilbay says: “The way to counter-balance government disinformation is…
The Philippines is a paradise for con men and carpetbaggers. Because Filipinos lack a substantial foundation of principles to stabilise their journey through life, it is easy to use modern technology and basic persuasion techniques to herd them in different directions. It is a nation of 100 million people just asking to be milked of…
Read More “You can’t ban ‘fake news’ unless you also ban Eat Bulaga and Catholicism” »
Despite the length of the Senate inquiry on “fake news” and the amount of noise it generated, there was very little real insight that came out other than the realisation that information is “out of control” in the Philippines and, as a result, “the truth is dead” in its society. Yet, whilst a lot of…
Something very disturbing occurred at the recent Senate hearing into the spread of fake news on the Net. First off, Senator Bam Aquino couldn’t hide his anger towards two pro-Duterte bloggers — Communications Assistant Secretary Mocha Uson and RJ Nieto a.k.a. “Thinking Pinoy”. During the hearing, Aquino kept berating and questioning their credibility. He was…