Weekly Brief
Opposition efforts to make a big deal about Ninoy Aquino's death anniversary flop spectacularly over the weekend.
In review and in prospect
The death anniversary of You-Know-Who came and went over the weekend and, not to the surprise of most of us, what we got was the sort of slow-news-days one would normally expect of a weekend. The Philippine Star issued its sombre editorial yesterday observing “Government agencies mum on Ninoy Aquino Day, an official holiday” and noted;
Republic Act No. 9256, passed into law in 2004, designates August 21 as Ninoy Aquino Day, and tasked the EDSA Commission with "[planning and implementing] appropriate ceremonies" in commemoration. Part of the EDSA People Power Commission's mandate was transferred to the NHCP in 2017.
However, the Star editor observed;
There was no commemorative statement from the Palace as of Sunday noon. The National Historical Commission of the Philippines, which had marked August 21 with social media posts in 2020 and in 2021, was, on Sunday morning, promoting a webinar on the Spanish-era Filipino Propaganda Movement. The NHCP eventually reposted a tribute to Aquino by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts early Sunday afternoon.
The only newsworthy thing of note is the curious case of how Opposition talking heads expressed surprise — even outrage — over why the government of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr remained mum on the occasion. It’s long been a no-brainer, of course, that the idea of an administration led by a dynasty that was the target of an ouster in 1986 that came to be branded a “people power revolution” would continue to commemorate the “sacrifice” of Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. who, we are told, laid the foundation for that “revolution” would be nothing short of ludicrous. Considering too that Marcos and his family were demonised since that “revolution” by the very people who planted the Aquino flag as the de facto face of that “revolution”, it really would not have been sensible for members of the Opposition to expect much over this weekend.
Nonetheless they did and came to social media crying over their dashed expectations.
This is the sort of sense of entitlement that likely contributed significantly to the loss the Opposition has suffered over three consecutive national elections. A habitual failure to read the pulse of the Philippine public and a refusal to reflect, evolve, and transform has proven fatal for a camp that had rested on its laurels a couple of decades too long.
Last week’s blog posts
Accepting Racism, Rejecting Racial Prejudice and the Equalitarian Dogma
August 19, 2022 by ChinoF
"I am not saying that there is no more racial discrimination these days. But the Equalitarian Dogma and anti-racism are the wrong approaches. They are questionable ideologies that try to force equality..."
The 1986 revolution: an overselling cover-up of endemic failures
August 16, 2022 by The Unpopular Opinion
"But, is there something to celebrate about the aforementioned revolution in the Philippines in the first place? Or was it just a celebration created to feed and inflate the egos of Filipinos?"