PNoy and Pappy: A Culture of Mendicancy

Friday, 15 April 2011 10:56

Written by Aaron Benedict De Leon

Politics and Entertainment have somehow, in some form and way, contributed to many of today’s societal miseries and mishaps. As much as we want to blame it to them for our own misfortunes in life, we have allowed these institutions and their behavior to shape and influence our behavior, and succeedingly, our choices and decisions in life.

The recent spate of political and entertainment issues have not only created a new form of social attention, but it has also exposed the country of its even bigger problem- we have developed a culture of mendicancy, in all fronts, on all sides and from all levels.

As a young man, I have always believed that the condition for best learning and education in life is satisfied when you’re allowed to grow on your own, with proper guidance and timely sermons as necessary interventions to protect the individual from too much freedom.

As a caretaker of an institution, whether you are a father, a respected figure or a leader, you have a responsibility in the molding of each individual under your wing, but you never should bear and take it upon yourself the entire burden of creating their future and shaping their lives.

The mutual relationships that exists between society and its actors in our country, has nurtured a sense of backward, laggard growth amongst the individuals and citizens of this country.

WILLING WILLIE

In the case of Willing Willie, we have an atmosphere where the host and its audience is in direct interaction. Willie Revillame assumes the role of manager/leader/driver of the program, where his word is divine and his instructions are sacred and holy to the show.

You have an audience which is delighted by Willie’s charisma, but that charisma, I can argue, does not naturally come with his persona. It comes with the reward you get by embracing that persona.

Willie is often seen as a savior, a provider, a god when it comes to game shows in the country. He holds the key whether a contestant gets a measly 5,000 peso prize or an additional 10,000 purse for doing something extra-ordinary. The bottomline is, he holds all of those who watch and partake in the program hostage of his antics.

Willie plays it smart in a business sense, but hides a mask which the downtrodden are blinded with. He plays his part perfectly, being the one responsible for bringing a dime to a family, livelihood to a poor individual and a fortune to the hopeless. What the poor does not know is that he earns more than what he gives back, contrary to what claims on National Television.

Would anyone of us know how much advertisers pay him to plug their products? Would anyone of us know the proportion that he shares out of his salary for the poor he so called cares for? We cannot ascertain that fact, but one thing is for sure, Willie has played his part well.

What he does not realize is that his attitude and approach also contributes to creating a moral hazard to society, a behavioral outcome of his antics on Live TV. People become largely dependent on the momentary financial relief his show provides, with people flocking the entrance of TV5, screaming and shouting Willie’s name just to get a hand on those prizes they have never seen or touched in their entire lives.

Sorry if I’m at a loss for a diplomatic word, but I see it as a concrete exploitation of the masses, kayfabing the business motive of the show with operant conditioning that the motive of show is pro-poor and the reason for its existence is because of the less privileged.

So what makes Jan-Jan’s dancing different from any of what he’s asked from his previous contestants? This antic has taken exploitation to its lowest level and form, that only now people noticed that the marginalized were actually being overly used for business motives.

How many wake-up calls does our society need? And how many shows like these would we continue to entertain? It’s just the same reactionary attitude we have been displaying to so many national issues that have come our way, but can we sustain this advocacy?

PNOY’S FUEL SUBSIDY PROGRAM

And on the other side of the spectrum, we have President Noynoy Aquino, who continues to pry on his high political capital. Here is a President who I say enjoys some level of popularity because his media packaging and unforgettable tagline “Kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap.”

As we all know, the prices of oil and fuel have constantly been going up because of several factors, but mainly because of the ongoing Northern Middle East crisis. There seems to be no stability in the prices of oil in the international market, thus we continue to experience hikes till right this very moment.

Our economy is a social market, where the principles of a free market is followed with necessary safety nets and interventions established by the government as its form of checks and balance.

I don’t know if President Aquino is very familiar with this principle, but he should because he is an economist by degree.

But what seems to be common in most of the President’s strategies and solutions, is that they are band aid solutions.

Take a look at the humungous investment they have poured in to the Conditional Cash Transfers Program of the DSWD, and now, the impending policy to provide fuel subsidies for Public Utility jeepneys and tricycles.

We are spending half a billion pesos towards temporary relief, without really having a clear forecast as to when the prices of oil would stabilize. I wouldn’t call it papogi points, but this solution has made neither drivers nor the general public happy.

For the longest time, these people have been echoing for long term solutions to the continuous fluctuation of oil prices. They have resorted to public assemblies, rallies, transport strikes and even political lobbying to institutionalize the needed solutions, yet there has been no genuine effort on the part of the government to solve this on a long term basis.

Thus, these people have become sick and weary of these temporary relief programs that do not bear sustainable and permanent solutions to their problems.

But again, only when there seems to be a looming increase will the PUJ sector not relent from politically pressuring our government.

And to make things worse, the Aquino administration has failed to look at institutionalization as the solution towards the problems attributable to poverty, and has always resorted to subsidies, temporary assistance and short term fixes to remedy these social ills.

One year into office, the direction and the compass by which the Aquino administration intends to solve poverty in the country remains wanting.

And the government, being the leading institution of this country, has created a culture of dependence stemming from overly ambitious promises and flowery words during the previous campaign season.

When will governments start really taking accountability to the letter? And even a greater concern is, when will the general public finally come together to pressure government to think of institutional solutions, rather than temporary fillers.

POST-SCRIPT

Aside from Shalani Soledad, Willie and Pnoy may have something in common, and that is they have contributed immensely to this culture of mendicancy, out of creating false and unrealistic promises to our people.

This spate of events should make both of these leaders realize, that they have a responsibility to whatever happens to their constituency or audience, that they owe them results rather than promises.

Willie and his charisma can actually help people realize their long standing mistakes about their dreams and ambitions to become rich, to clarify that it takes hardwork more than a fortune to build a stable future.

And PNoy, being the head of state, having Presidential Powers, can put this position to good use by institutionalizing mechanisms and policies to ensure that stability in prices, in the provision of basic services is achieved efficiently.

Willie and PNoy do possess the characteristics capable of changing the fortunes of our country, and as a youth leader, I urge them not to bully their critics with hurtful and often undiplomatic words, but to use these experiences as a leverage to be of better help to the Filipino people