BASHING THE PRESIDENT
by Antonio C. Antonio
February 8, 2015
This is just an afterthought to a blog I wrote last December
9, 2014 under the title “Asking the Right Questions” but published on my
blogsite only yesterday. (http://antonantonio.blogspot.com/2015/02/asking-right-questions.html)
I was in high school when Martial Law was proclaimed by then
President Ferdinand E. Marcos. For more
than a decade, presidential criticism was non-existent and a very unhealthy
thing to do… fear gripped the whole nation.
If there was nothing nice to say about public governance, “zipping it”
was the more prudent thing to do.
Bashing (meaning: severe criticism) the President then was a workable
solution to landing in jail, forced disappearance or ending your life.
“The EDSA Revolution of 1986 brought back our basic
freedoms… including freedom of speech.
This ushered in a post-Marcos era where some people took special
pleasure in bashing the President --- from Corazon C. Aquino to Fidel V. Ramos
to Joseph E. Estrada to Gloria M. Arroyo and Benigno S. Aquino III. I agree, however, that some of these
presidents deserve to be bashed but some simply don’t. Curiously, some of these bashers were
praising alleluias to the President during the Martial Law years.” (Antonio, 2014).
Social media and other communications platforms opened the
floodgates for people to be hypocritical (meaning: behaving in a way that suggests
one has higher standards or more noble beliefs than others). All too suddenly, we regained our freedom to
liberally speak our minds. The
mainstream media and, most of all, netizens are having a field day criticizing
everything and everyone. Every gesture
our president makes could be the subject of condemnation from some… especially
those who did not vote for him. Often,
his demeanor (meaning: outward behaviour or bearing) is interpreted to favour
whatever political ends his dislikers have.
The Philippines is fast becoming the primary example on how democratic
freedoms can easily be abused and misused.
Social media has become so powerful that even terrorist
organizations use social media to advertise and spread their hate ends and
purposes. But, on second thought, under
Martial Rule, the State could always find ways to regulate and curtail social
media.
“I am just wondering… could the present-day presidential
bashers do the same under Martial Law; when it was not too fashionable and
utterly dangerous to speak out against the President? Probably not…” (Antonio,
2014) Under Martial Law, Presidential
follies are never a justification for bashing the President.
Just my little
thoughts…
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like and share Pro EARTH Crusaders on Facebook or follow me at http://antonantonio.blogspot.com/.)
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