Separation of the Church, the State, and the Media

The #ChangeIsComing is quite common in social media these days. It seems that the Filipinos are having renewed faith and enthusiasm about the state of the country because of president-elect Rodrigo Duterte’s winning in the recent national elections.

While I understand that this is a strong indication that the Filipinos are already tired of the political farce we watch on television, I am also a little disturbed by the hashtag because this somehow connotes that most of us are relying on a single political figure to drive change in the country. Of course we cannot discount the fact that the kind of president we have will dictate our fate as a nation in the next six years. But, I cannot reiterate further the importance of us being active players toward societal change -- not mere observers nor excellent cyber bullies, but ACTORS.

 Read Bob Ong’s “Kapitan Sino” for you to understand the drift.

The Church.

A “punisher” type of leader is being associated by the people to Pres. Digong. News says death penalty will be revived in the country. CBCP issues a statement that nobody is entitled to get the life of another person. But the families of victims of heinous crimes shout for justice.

My two cents: Let the law of man take its course because it is anchored anyway on the protection of life, liberty, and property. It is your role, clergymen, to do something about the values of the Filipino people. Maybe standing on the pulpit to do your sermon is no longer effective. You have to reach out to the real world 360 degrees and rebuild your church that is more immersed with the people.

The State.

The yellow oligarchs are organized also like the Mafia although they employed a different strategy – they made use of the state to ensure their unbreakable power and they also use the media to condition the minds of people to believe their version of truth. They documented the Philippine history through their eyes.

I’m not saying that the Marcoses are clean. My point is, who is isn’t and where are your proofs? We’ve had two presidents from the Aquino family and until now, the case of Ninoy’s death has no court decision yet? Perhaps the yellow minions didn’t like this issue resolved. They want the drama and they’re riding the show because they’re getting power out of this. While Ninoy may have been a great man, I don’t think the son was able to pursue the ‘legacy’ that the EDSA Revolution promised our nation to have. Let’s cut all the lies and drama. Can we just fix ourselves and move forward?

While it’s nice to revisit the past once in a while, the clock is ticking and we need to participate in nation building NOW – so you start resolving your personal issues and how you treat the people around you because one negative vibe emitted can be passed on to others like a domino. And may I call on the intervention of the church again to rekindle a stronger sense of spirituality among the people, please?

The Media.

The Spaniards introduced to us the Catholic faith and the western form of government. This topic is one of our common references when we talk about the separation of church and state.

But at the time of EDSA, the role of media moved like an invisible hand which united our people to end the dictatorship. Since then, more than listening to what the church and government had to say, the people preferred to listen to the media and its animated presentation of their version of facts.

The politicians took advantage of our fanatic culture. When you’re seen on TV, you’re famous. You’re an authority. You’re somebody to be respected. On the side, our media played favorites. And it pushed for the great social division – between the class of the rich and famous vs. the class of the undiscerning masses.

At this point, the media hype focuses on the “change” that will be brought to us by Mayor Digong. Everybody seems to be happy and optimistic. Let’s see what happens in the next couple of months, if the hype will not tone down.

Remember when the media used to glorify GMA and Noynoy only onset? But when they were already towards their exit, they delivered nega stuff about them which the mob instantly believed in. Same pattern was employed – they were good only at the beginning; they were consistently good where there is ‘business.’

The Social Media.

All netizens are now voiced and heard. Some are thinkers, some are bullies, there are peace makers, and there are those who are either clueless or apathetic. The determination of truth depends on which expose becomes the most viral. There is too much information and we are all super busy individuals to research further which of available contents are more reliable. Our generation is susceptible to unverified twisted truths. We live right now in an extremely dangerous information era.

Bottom line: EDUCATION IS CRUCIAL.