‘18 hours of work’ is damn wrong, y’all people.
I can’t believe y’all can go that far.
I’m a mere bystander from the screens, watching all these politically-noisy people argue about almost anything with a hint of the elections in it. And in the lead-up of what’s going to be the most heated contest to be the country’s top honcho, it seems I’m about to see it all for the next few months.
It has already gone too far though. Every move you make, every step you take, they’ll often intentionally draw the line to link it to politics. Yes, even the clothes I innocently wore just to fulfill my human right to appropriate clothing as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights prescribes can be judged as throwing support for a certain candidate who doesn’t even know me. Basically, everything you do or have can be looked at that way. It’s just *bleep* absurd.
And to add to this hilarious but hideous political circus, even statements that seemingly don’t bear any importance can spark fiery online discussions that often do not end in a positive resolve.
Take the much-maligned and contested response uttered by presidential candidate Leni Robredo in the recent presidential interview topbilled by Jessica Soho lasst January 22. She [Robredo] was asked about the hours of work she takes, and from there, the opposition’s primary bet answered these very words:
“Ako, siguro, on the average, mga 18 hours? 18 hours a day kasi on average, mga anim na oras ang tulog ko.” [I think, on average, 18 hours? 18 hours a day because on average, I sleep for six hours.”]
Robredo’s statement irked her critics, particularly supporters of her nemesis Bongbong Marcos, Jr. They pointed out that she is either lying or stupid, and proceeded to share this equally-interesting article from Inc.com’s Geoffrey James. I also took some time running through its contents and it’s pretty easy to see why he’s not sold about someone who claims s/he can dedicate ¾ of their day hustling. Sen. Imee Marcos, sister to Bongbong, joined the egg-throwing party, enlisting the help of the controversial director and content creator Darryl Yap among others in delivering the attack through a mini-skit.
But the Pink Republic won’t let that get away, and turned the inevitable quagmire into a new, greener real estate. They sent out powerful and substantial rebuttals to their funny blitzkrieg, noting that a lot of our fellow Filipinos are actually battling in the work field with only six hours to spare for sleep — all are often underappreciated and underpaid due to corrupt practices of the solons and bureaucrats [mis]leading our nation.
And this is literally the bone of contention my compatriots are struggling with right now.
And for my end, it’s all much ado about nothing.
Why is that?
Looks over size and performance
Point being is that we shouldn’t even be talking about it to begin with. Polls are supposed to be all about what those candidates can bring to the table, not about who they are. But Wong, in her article ‘Philippine elections and the politics behind it’, has exceptionally raised the notion that we’d rather focus on the main casts’ personalities than their platforms. More often than not, these guys often display themselves publicly like showbiz personalities to amass attention, which are translatable to votes. And also, there are now a ton of showbiz personalities who left the camera or fame for a governmental seat this election. The fusion of pop culture and politics here has become inevitable, leading to oftentimes dubious choices among poll-goers.
Words are sickening and tiring
We developed some kind of fatigue on their promises. That’s why we often say we’ll vote for someone who delivers on their promises, and not just build a statue from their utterances. Even Sen. Bato dela Rosa said that when a candidate is content with laying all those platforms out, voters will assume you’re just full of words but can’t act on it.
But part of a better candidate analysis is actually listening to how they’ll plan up for the country’s growth. Compare the candidate’s platforms, and seek which one seems most ideal in all aspects and situations. So, in the end, you must still lend an ear.
We just want to argue
Admit it, it’s election season, and we all have bones to pick with anybody. If someone doesn’t support our opinion, you’ll end up disagreeing with them. You even throw in a towel with ‘respect my opinion’ written all over it if it seems you’re against the majority’s choice. Or in Taylor Swift’s words, ‘and I bury hatchets but I keep maps of where I put ‘em’.
We spend a lot of time feuding that we forget the essence of this election — to look for the ideal candidate to lead our country. I mean, we got an eternity of time — 3 months to be exact — to do that. And we choose to angrily respond to social media commenters or pay attention to the unimportant?
I reckon one more try.
