So, who is the better thinker?
I am tempted to say that some Manila-based scholars have a biased view against a leader like Duterte. But I have personally known a few who are supportive of the former President. I prefer to believe that some people are in what is called an echo chamber. Most critics of Duterte have either a left-leaning bias or a Catholic faith-centered bias. Journalists who believe in their fellow journalists’ views are also the ones who tend to critique the Dutertes. Ironically, they also believe in fabricated lies and biases. What is even more ironic is that those who tend to shut down other people’s opinions concerning their political choices claim to be a proponent of democracy. Yet, they could not tolerate opinions that are different from theirs. They have become egotistically self-centered, like Protagoras, thinking they are the measure of all things. Or perhaps their metropolitan position has given them the guts to feel like they are at the center of the world.
Duterte has become a global phenomenon, it is more than the EDSA People Power. The protests have gone national and global. The supporters have conquered the globe. For purposes of an example and as a matter of comparison, let us grant that Duterte will be found guilty by the ICC and that VP Sara Duterte will be removed from office and disqualified to be a presidential candidate come 2028. That would mean an immense and easy victory for the Marcoses so that they can continue their grip into power. My reasoning mind could not render any sound and valid judgment as to why progressive activists and religious Catholics would allow such a disastrous scenario. Where is their thinking mind at this point? As pointed out by my colleague, Professor Oliver Perater, these people demonstrate a sense of the “lack of political sustainability.”
What is even more appalling and distracting to me is that these academics, including some from a top university where I studied, and intellectuals who fell silent about the political maneuvering of the current administration are likely the same people who were critical of the Marcoses’ return to power, those who popularized the hashtag #NeverAgain. This could mean that these critics are not really critical but merely parroting their perceived idols, former mentors, or immediate colleagues – an echo chamber indeed. They attack people like first class "mariteses" but when they get exposed for their idiocy, they will accuse people of being childish. So, who is childish? When you get a dose of your own medicine, you are actually committing another logical fallacy. Tu quoque, that's what it is called. They only question the metrics because it is not to their favor. But if it gives them an advantage, they will readily bask in glory!
These academics, including journalists, are a product of their elitist but not so elite education in good universities here and abroad. But their education does nothing else but to boast a big ego, pushing their cosmopolitan biases against intellectuals down South. A clear picture of the echo chamber machine disguised as a quality scholarly education from elite universities in the country. The best thing to do, ignore them while they are hurting because of a wounded pride. They will live the rest of their lives regretting the things they say that they should not have said because instead of painting a bad image of the ones they look down upon, they are actually projecting their own character - weak, overly confident but irrelevant in this life.
Why are anti-Dutertes an echo chamber? They are an echo chamber simply because they are a minority left over from the supporters of former Vice President Leni Robredo and the Liberal Party, also known as the “Kakampinks.” The Liberal Party is now a defunct political party that is beyond revival. They continue to adhere to the belief that Ninoy Aquino is a real hero, the traitor whose privilege speech in the Philippine Senate in 1968, divulged intelligence information that pertains to national security, which then led to the eventual loss of Sabah. Philippine politics is much laden with irony and contradictions that are beyond critical understanding from a “woke” and lame wannabes. As a matter of transference, they now turned into lovers and supporters of their past enemy. Nothing could be more childish.
- Menelito Mansueto, Professor at MSU-IIT, studied communications at UP Diliman
