Raindrops and Writing

Due to an unfortunate turn of events, I have to spend the night on a creepy, four-walled structure that can hardly be called a house, but will still serve as a good place to call home. A lot of planning has to be done for the upcoming activities of an organization I'm a part of, but at the same time the old folks at school just won't stop giving us kids deadly homework. One in particular is supposed to be a criticism of an article written by one of the old folks. Something about hegemonic tendencies of the country, and let me tell you, it is one long compilation of shit and some that actually do make sense to me. I mean, how exactly is the work of a college graduate of economics supposed to make complete sense on the cerebral cortex of an individual that was geared to be technologically enhanced and linguistically intellectual? I don't give a damn about the economy, I'll be leaving that to the analysts and the politicians. The criticism's due in three days, yet I still haven't had the chance to even just take a peek at the article I was supposed to critique. Cramming has been a thing I've been doing since the beginning. This piece is supposedly about how I feel towards the article entitled "Confronting Some Hegemonic Tendencies in the Philippine Politics Via Deconstruction". Sounds so intricate does it? Yes, because it really does. I had to read the documents twice to finally grasp the intentions of the writer. In totality, I could say that I actually do agree with all the fumbling, mumbling of words printed there. According to the author, the paper was written for the purpose of attempting to identify and describe some of the salient and decisive elements in Philippine politics that for a long time have been accepted and practiced by most societies and have become the sort of standard operating procedure in political and social dynamics and also to highlight some elemental compositions of the Philippine socio-cultural environment provide a venue to inquire on why and how some of these hegemonic tendencies evolve into a kind of system and culture of corruption that degrade the entire Filipino nation. As a critic it is my job to find the flaws in this piece, make the flaws shine and slowly destroy the ego of the author by shoving everything I found right at his face. Unfortunately, things don't always go the way we want them to be. As much as I'd love to destroy the writer's ego, it is mine that is slowly crumbling down. There won't be much flaw finding work with this specific write-up. All I can do now is agree and say to the world why. For the first time in my life, I must accept this humbling defeat. Great regards to the writer for this wonderful, but still not impressive work. "Social interaction happens to be emphatically concentrated on the search for food, employment, medical assistance, housing, etc.; in short, the struggle for survival comes as a companion to politics." November of 2013, the Philippines was struck by one of, if not, the strongest typhoons ever recorded in human history that has appeared here on Earth. The struggle for survival is at its peak, and the hunt for more power is also gaining in on the politicians. They send help to make the people think they do care, but at the end of the day, it's the reputation they're all after. Why? To gain followers and disciples that would be ready to act immediately once they are called for by their "savior". And here politics becomes a monopoly of those in the academe, the playground for those who have the resources, money, intelligence, and connections. "National policy scandals, many of them unseen by the public, have consistently plagued the three branches of the government: e.g. Fertilizer scandal, NBN-ZTE deals, EXPO 2000 and NAIA Terminal scandal; also the selling of government properties to foreign investors, the misuse of World Bank Funds, the diversion of GSIS and SSS funds, electoral fraud, and sabotage such as the ‘Hello Garci’, the helicopter scandal involving the First Gentleman, the procurement scandal in the military, the pabaon scandal, the defective boat scandal, the housing scandals, commercialization of medical supplies in the DOH, and recently, the Corona scandal." A little bit of inconsistency here, though. If these national policy scandals are deemed unseen by the public, then how come all of the ones mentioned above were in fact very famous to almost every Filipino on the country? On the writer's defense however, I wouldn't know if the aforementioned scandals were already comprising most of the scandals that ever rose from the surface or if these were just the famous ones so I could be wrong with the inconsistency argument. A little clarification would have sufficed though. “Hunger, exploitation, oppression, deceit, corruption, and discrimination continue to be the elemental components of today’s politics amidst all the politicians’ grandest plans and intentions” These words, they give me the chills. Why? Because these words have so far been the most honest and accurate I have ever heard from anyone. Whenever the major population is asked of what they think of the country’s government, a frown immediately grows on their faces and we rarely hear positive things about them. Any action the government does, we think of various hidden agendas that they might have. As if there is absolutely nothing they do that is simply for the good of the people. That is why the line “When one decides to engage in politics, one has to prepare to dive into muddy waters if one wants to survive” are taught to anyone who decides to pursue a career in politics. “How could this be remedied? Or is there a remedy for this devouring and assimilating process? With the emergence of this problematic, the Judiciary, like the Executive and Legislative departments, has to be re-examined and re-evaluated, and the dominant structures have to be deconstructed. Those hegemonic tendencies shall then be avoided, if not totally abandoned.” Easy to say, but close to impossible to actually put into practice because as the author has stated, “No research paper is needed to prove the anomalous character of the Philippine elections.” The major problems with the Filipino people when it comes to Election Day is that they are gullible. A little love and care showered upon them by these plastic-smiling faces and they all believe that the person truly cares. All the negative reputation about the politician simply ceases to exist and proceeds to the abyss. If only these actions would be banned, and people are just given the biographies of the ones running for the position, and the people making these biographies are journalists, freelancers, and bloggers to ensure more accuracy, then these hegemonic tendencies could have a shot of being eliminated. “All existing political principles shall then be subjected to suspicion, to scrutiny. This endeavor must be endless and all-pervading yet liberating in all forms of society.”
“Questions now emerge: Shall the investigation of the nature of these scandals be left alone to the lawyers or to the political scientists, or to the lawmakers, or to the judges, or to the President alone, or to the NBI and the police?” A definite no, in my opinion. A sheet of transparency must be thrown over to replace and remove the curtains in which the government is hiding their actions. Why should the government continue to hide their movements despite them saying they are doing everything that is for the good of the people? If they have nothing to hide and be ashamed of, why cower in fear behind lies and blackmails? If they are doing nothing wrong, why stutter and avoid the media and asked if a rumor was true? If we leave the investigations to the ones with power, then what is the point of trying to tackle the problem of hegemonic tendencies in the country? We must honor the weak, the just, and poor. “If we leave the assessment and judgment of these scandalous phenomena to the judges alone, or to any legitimate authority, how could the poor, the defenseless, the exploited legitimize her claim?” Exactly. It is as if we asked a serial killer to lead the investigation on his own case. So let me end this criticism with Jean-Francois Lyotard. “The answer is: Let us wage a war on totality; let us be witnesses to the unpresentable; let us activate the differences and save the honor of the name.”