The Silence Amid the Noise Can Be More Deafening, Our Blurred Visions Can Be More Blinding

Wazzup Pilipinas!

"Pag hindi tayo nagsalita.. kinampihan natin ang mali," says Angel Locsin.

This applies to all issues and not just about ABS-CBN. However, only a few are sharing their opinions and majority are contradicting the statement. They will argue "Sumunod ka na lang. Ano ba nagawa mo para sa bayan? Magaling ka pa sa gobyerno. Law is law." While the rest are minding their own business and silent with the harsh realities happening around us.

Those who ignore and let the wrongdoings continue are accomplices themselves.

Why are some of us apathetic!? And others have become illogical with their fanaticism?

Now that we might get accused of being a terrorist and unfairly held against our will for several days because of the anti-terrorism law, have we further broken our moral compass?

We could have a maximum of 5K friends on Facebook yet only a few are truly interacting with our posts. Are most of us busy with only our own personal interests that we would only react when we need something from an FB friend?

Being actively connected online on social media does not necessarily mean visibility to all. Well, Facebook could be doing it intentionally so we would patronize its advertising options, or we are losing touch with true friends, or fans (if your are a celebrity or an influencer), if your only presence is online.

Just check how many of your FB friends take the time to like, share or comment on your posts and/or are followers of your page, and who likewise interact with you. It might give you an idea who your real friends are.

There will be people who believe that we should stay away from people who give out negative vibes with their constant bickering highlighting the issues hounding our republic. But all that positive thinking and hoping things will eventually turn out for the best is like assuring ourselves we will not get hit by a car if we cross the highway powered by our faith alone. God probably does not allow stupid people keep what they do not deserve.

It we keep on underminding the value of getting involved, we let the persecutors win.

Dissecting the Commission on Human Rights (CHR)

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Natatawa ako noon kapag nakakabasa ako ng reaction sa supposedly EJK disguised as War on Drugs. Bakit daw yung CHR, nakikialam lang kapag may pinatay at inabuso ang mga pulis na mahihirap na adik o rapists, pero kapag may na rape o napatay yung adik, tahimik at hindi daw kumikilos ang CHR.

Correct me if I'm wrong, is this because the CHR is mainly for the protection against human rights violations perpetrated by those in power like the government police and military, while murders, rapes, and other crimes of individuals to others are assigned to the police?

Kung baga, the CHR is the one that watches the watchers, with the exception of government officials. Wala tayong magawa against the top officials who seemingly have immunity against persecution of the law. Mistulang VIP sila na pinagsisilbihan at kinakakatakutan kahit they should practice being "public servants".

Mga bantay salakay ang karamihan sa mga pulis. Kung sino pa yung inatasang protektahan ang mga tao, sila pa yung mga pasimuno sa mga kabalastugan at kadalasan ay protektor pa ng mga sindikato, drug lords at private army pa ng mayayamang negosyante.

"The Commission was created as an independent office mandated to investigate complaints of human rights violations, promote the protection of, respect for and the enhancements of the people's human rights including civil and political rights.

These rights include the right to life and liberty, personal security, freedom from torture, freedom from discrimination and freedom from arbitrary arrest, among others.

These basic rights are based on shared values like dignity, fairness, equality, respect and independence. These values are defined and protected by law."

So malawak ang tungkulin kung babasahin at iintindihin, but could they do so much with so many breathing behind their necks?

When Clickbaits and Intriguing Headlines Are Good Enough to Catch Attention

Wazzup Pilipinas!

With the popularity of breaking news with click-bait headlines inciting us to give our immediate knee-jerk reactions even without reading the story in full, have we truly lost the interest to read news or stories that are well researched and written?

Many would often just react to the headline without getting all the facts laid out within the story. Some would read the comments and react to them instead. We've gone lazy to fully immersed ourselves to the actual story, and just rely on others' statements.

Newsmakers and content creators are also aware of this and some are taking advantage of the situation. You could even say the headlines are a trap to provoke our curiousity, and only after reading the entire article that you'll realize you've been duped to react unnecessarily.

A blogger friend has this to ask "Bakit ayaw magbasa ng mga tao ngayon? Dahil ba mahaba? Tamad? Hindi marunong magbasa? Sana may makasagot."

I told him na "Tamad na magbasa mga tao kaya IN mga vlogs ngayon...papanoorin mo na lang reaction about issues habang kumakain ng popcorn. hehehe"

He replied with "Which is wrong and nakakaiyak. Hindi sa ayaw ko ng mga vlogs and the likes but iba pa din ang reading at ang comprehension that came out from practice reading."

Karamihan ba talaga sa atin ay "ayaw intindihin dahil low attention span and some are non-readers?"  as what another Facebook friend replied to him.

She continues with stating some facts:

"The result of the PISA or Programme for International Student Assessment that the Phils joined last year ay nag-rank ang Phils in the bottom sa 3 core subjects - Math, Science and Reading. May study din isang student (Harvard I think) na many Pinoys are liking social media posts without understanding what they are liking and commenting based on headlines or article titles lang. Best way to observe this ay mga comments sa news. You will see yun train of thoughts ng mga commenters."

The friend then said "I know kaya nga nakakadismaya sa mga manunulat. May laman at pinaghirapan ang isinulat ngunit walang nagbabasa. Nakakadismaya din na makitang yung mga walang sense ang tinatangkilik"

Tempting nga to just follow the trend dahil nagiging useless to write good if noone is giving it more importance. If you just want the views, enough na maging catchy and intriguing ang mga headlines or title ng article mo even without any significant and well-researched content.

"True. Kaya lalong nakakalungkot. A craft is about to be lost and it will take x number of years bago ito marealize ng mga tao and the value of good writing.  Madaling i- corrode ang pinaghirapan ng mahabang panahon kaysa ipagpatuloy ito."

Another reaction was "Sa lifestyle today, everyone wants fast or instant. Making them tamad. What's even more bothering is people making comments with lack of knowledge about a subject."

How do you amend this? "through reading. Reading good materials not just flash stories?"

"Tobey Marcks right now a question runs to mind . . .who do we encourage first, the kids, the parents, the educators, who?"

Well, it has become a survival of the most "creative" in marketing our craft. We will be left behind if we don't play the game. It's now a choice to either join the fad, or be among the rare advocates of good writing.  I'm sure we could do both "good writing" and "creative marketing", but it takes more effort.

Do you prefer to stay relevant with the times or become forever forgotten because you kept your prestige intact?