PUBLIC OPINION
by Antonio C. Antonio
September 9, 2014
An example of public opinion is the growing fear of ordinary
citizens towards the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the many horror stories,
experiences and opinions they have of the police. In other countries, citizens breathe a sigh
of relief when the police arrive in any emergency… in the Philippines, people
get more worried, anxious and scared when the police appear. While other countries are concerned about the
police always arriving late at the crime scene, the Philippine crime scene is
characterized with the presence of the police… sometimes they are the
perpetrators of crimes. The latest
robbery-kidnapping case along EDSA which was caught on camera and posted on
Facebook by a netizen is just one of these crimes involving police
personnel. To allay the growing distrust
of people, the PNP assured the public that (a) the PNP is not a perfect
organization although they are trying hard be true to their motto of “serve and
protect”, (b) that there are indeed rogue elements (meaning: members of an
organization who behave differently from other members; often causing damage or
harm to the organization) in the PNP as in any other organization, and (c)
there really is no cause for worry because the bad elements in their
organization is ONLY 10%. Oh my God!...
this is an alarming piece of statistical data!
If the total number of policemen in the country is 157 thousand, there
should be around 15,700 criminal cops on the streets trained in combat, skilled
with martial arts to subdue people and equipped with firearms to kill if the
situation calls for it. Throw-in the
twisted authority mindset that they have supreme prerogatives over life or
death of civilians; we have a deadly recipe for mayhem (meaning: the crime of
maliciously injuring or maiming someone, originally so as to render the victim
defenseless). Have said this, plus other
maleficent deeds they are accused of ranging from “kotong” to robbery to
kidnapping to drug dealing, it is not hard to understand why public opinion
does not favor the police for now.
We often hear people talk about moulding public opinion as
an essential part in whatever they are doing.
Public opinion is an important ingredient that gives impetus to public
policies. Public opinion is part of a
political exercise to mould perceptions.
In a political exercise, however, perception is oftentimes more
important than the truth as in electoral campaigns. This is where advertising, media blitzing and
political operators come in; as opposed to environmentalism, environmental
advocacies and environmentalists/environmental advocates.
Public opinion is defined in various but related ways, such as:
(a) An aggregate of the individual views, attitudes, and beliefs about a
particular topic expressed by a significant proportion of the community; (b) A
summation of public expression regarding a specific issue or event involving
the population in general; (c) The predominant attitude of a community; (d) The
collective will of a people; and, (e) Views prevalent among the general public.
In 1961, an American political scientist V. O. Key defined
public opinion as “opinions held by private persons which governments find it
prudent to heed”. Earlier, however, in
1918, an American sociologist, Charles Horton Cooley theorized that public
opinion is a product of a process of interaction and mutual influence rather
than a substantial part of a society agreeing to one singular opinion. Contemporary history, however, presented
public opinion in a more structured, deliberate and scholarly manner. The introduction of statistical analysis and
a scientific procedure in gathering data elevated the determination of public
opinion to a specific scientific study.
The collective view of a defined population can now be presented more
intelligently to include demography… and doing away with speculations.
Public opinion is also a critical element in environmental
advocacies and environmentalism. But
public opinion on environmental matters must be factual and largely understood…
not perceptions, speculations or myths.
This is the actual challenge confronting environmentalists and
environmental advocates. Environmental
issues and concerns are often treated as unimportant or mundane. People have a tendency to ignore anything
that they don’t “feel”… not like the felt fear they have for the policemen. It may be worth considering that police
criminality and brutality might pale in comparison to nature’s wrath. Questions are: How many more natural
calamities do we have to experience before we “feel” climate change? How many more deaths do we have to witness
before we “feel” anthropogenic pollution?
How much increase in average global temperature do we need before we “feel”
global warming? Is there really a need
for these to happen before we are start increasing the level of environmental
awareness?... of public opinion?
Just my little thoughts…
REFERENCES: (Keyword: Public Opinion / Police / Crime / News)
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