It was the right move on Twitter’s part to copy the main feature of Clubhouse; live audio only discussion by Twitterati of any topic they choose to. Twitter Spaces is what Live is to Facebook. It gives netizens the opportunity to gather together in a digital town hall to talk about and make their opinions known on key issues.
I have been listening in on several spaces on the platform. It is a diverse mix of Pinoys across the socio-economic spectrum. It is still mostly the ABC crowd. The age range runs from millennials to boomers like myself. Some discussions have direction. Others are just laments about anything and everything under the sun.
The most discussed topic is politics and governance. I am surprised that the average Pinoy still does not have an idea of how government is run. The choice of candidates is still based on cognitive bias; like or dislike at first sight. They prefer to be spoon-fed instead of researching about the issues raised. Ikuwento mo na lang or paki-explain naman, are the usual retorts when they are asked if they understand the specifics of a particular issue.
What binds them together is their disdain for the opposition’s antics. Leni Robredo may win over the AB crowd of Ateneo, La Salle and UP students and their parents but not the more CD crowd that is par for the course for the average Pinoy. They prefer Marcos over Robredo for the simple reason that his theme of unity appeals to them.
It was not Marcos who preached unity to begin with. As soon as he won in 2016, Rodrigo Duterte appealed for unity to the opposition. This was the same message in his first SONA. But we all know this appeal fell on deaf ears and Leila De Lima began the process of investigation in the Senate without even warming her seat. The first half of the Duterte administration was tumultuous to say the least. It was only after the opposition’s stalwarts were termed out in 2019 that things settled down.
Leni Robredo and the opposition will lose again on May 9. It is now just a question of by how many votes. Their optimism has never dimmed despite their loss in 2016 and 2019. They actually never took the time to analyze why the lost and take corrective measures. The way their thought process is, it is the public’s loss not theirs. It is the public which should adjust. This is where their optimism comes from.
This was obvious in Leni Robredo’s speech when she announced she was running for President. A country likened to a battered wife. A stupid analogy which in their minds they thought the public would understand because of the number of battered women amongst the D and E? This is the victim card. It could also be the gender card if you think that it was the same narrative as 1986 again; a simple woman going up against a dictator.
Times have changed. It has been twenty-one years since Joseph Estrada was ousted. I doubt if the opposition can muster the same crowd at EDSA when they kicked Erap out. For one, who is going to light the fire? In 1986, It was Juan Ponce Enrile and RAM. In 2001, it was the the vote on the envelope which turned out to be empty. A civil-military coup is not easy to plan as GMA tells in her memoirs.
Yesterday, there was a call to change their label “Kakampinks” to “Kababayan” or “KakamPinoys.” This is them realizing at this late in the race that the “Kakampinks” smacks of exclusivity. From the onset it was when the rebranding was announced and Robredo changed colors from Yellow to Pink. Where does the flag figure in the messaging? Up to now, they still do not get why Marcos’ unity theme is selling. The simple explanation is the Filipino is tired of the Marcos and Aquino narrative being fought by their present proxies. It is the opposition which cannot move on from this narrative. This is why Duterte saw to to it that Marcos was finally buried.
It is not only in the label where the opposition made a bad decision. It is also the nature of their supporters to be “woke” and practice cancel culture. They believe they are the epitome of moral and intellectual superiority. Anyone who is not on their side does not have the right to exist and should be canceled. There is no respect for other’s opinions. You cannot agree to disagree. It again boils down to Marcos and Duterte evil, Robredo and her cohorts good.
It took a personal experience with an individual afflicted with narcissistic personality disorder for me to realize that the oppositions appears to be suffering collectively from this psychological condition. They tick all the check boxes of symptoms when you look their behavior closely. The irony is they first accused Duterte of being afflicted with the same condition, when they compared him to Trump. Other than being populists, there is no other common denominator between the two.
It will be interesting to see what the opposition’s reaction will be when they finally lose on May 9. It will still not be logical. There is no cure for narcissistic personality disorder. Even if there was, treatment is not an option because a narcissist will never admit to being dysfunctional. We have no other recourse but to sit back and enjoy ourselves as we watch them self-destruct.
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