You're probably wondering what the hell major, major is.
This is what "major" pro-Duterte bloggers were described as in 2017 as they battled the opposition and mainstream media in defending Duterte on social media.
Not everything was hunky-dory with them as they also fought one another because of the rivalry in getting the larger slice of the proverbial pie in terms of followers.
Para sa bayan didn't exactly mean they were working for the good of their coutnrymen and the country. It was also in aid of of their own wallets or bank accounts, if you will.
In the end, factions went their separate ways or forged alliances with those whom they agreed with. The tie that bound them was money of course. Also the pelf and the power of being associated with politicos who had the largesse to dispense with.
The worst was, they came to define the public discourse on the major issues of the day. This was true up until the May 2022 election. Since then, there has been a major fracture because of the usual causal differences.
But mostly, it's about battling for survival in the new administration. It didn't help that the then Marcos campaign chose only one major, major blogger to promote their candidates. We later learned the reason for this. The blogger's manager was one of the largest contributors to the Marcos campaign.
Unfortunately, these bloggers haven't done much for the public discourse in the past six years of the Duterte administration. All of them weren't for Duterte to begin with. Most of them were working for other candidates. It was only after Duterte won that they jumped over. They had contracts to fulfill so best to play it safe than to face legal action later.
Like it or not, the public discourse has become entertainment. It's a freak show of the lowest order. This gave rise to the "baby bloggers;" those who have less than a hundred thousand followers with video as their chosen format and TikTok and YouTube as their platforms. Monetization was also a main driving force. Those who were able to get the attention of the masa made it.
This is why the public discourse is now in the shithole. Public intellectuals have chosen to become partisan, to the point they've become propagandists in their own right.
Just look at the opposition ranks of "public intellectuals." They can see no wrong and do no wrong. They refuse to be accountable for their mistakes when they were in power. They are too engrossed in their self-righteousness and sense of entitlement, all the while claiming to be fighting for the masang Pilipino.
It took more than thirty years for Filipinos to realize they had been hoodwinked by the opposition and the Americans in 1986. But what's worst now is the lack or seeming absence of critical thinking, which has been replaced by blind devotion to the Marcos administration.
The opposition has been decimitated because of their irresponsible acts and behavior but you have to admit that checks and balance is needed.
Our new crop of public intellectuals are players. They're in the game for money and power. Forget the bullshit about "para sa bayan." We are aware of what's wrong with government but we don't hold the politicians accountable.
At the end of the day, we play into the system as well. The system is rotten to the core. Change is only in the rhetoric but nothing is actually accomplished because laws aren't enforced. It makes you wonder why we keep passing laws which are ignored anyway.
One reason why we have been left behind by our regional neighbors is our penchant for not doing anything for the greater good but only for the entitled rich, who control the country, and the entitled poor who are being controlled by the oligarchs and politicians with doleouts which only reinforces mendicancy and the concept of an ayuda mindset in exchange for votes each election cycle.
Benigno of GRP has constantly written about how our problem is cultural. He's right. It's socio-cultural. The absence of a national identity is one. We identify more as Western when we are Asians who look similar to Westerners because of racial mixing as the by-product of colonization.
In this respect, we truly get the government we deserve. It doesn't make a difference which side of the political fence you're on. It's also the root of the problem why our regional neighbors continues to pass us by, one after the other.
I don't think there is any hope left for the Philippines given we are out of leaders who are capable of disruption. We need a total overhaul of the system if we're to make signficant changes in the system.
From hereonend, we will just be plodding along with public discourse limited to the inanities of the so-called public intellectuals.
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