DISINFORMATION, MISINFORMATION

DISINFORMATION, MISINFORMATION

What causes poverty?

Is it hereditary? Can it be solved?

I won't argue about how economic policies and programs play a big part in solving poverty. However, I would like to focus on the subject of information.

We always say, let us make an informed choice. This means that when we think, act or react emotionally, our behavior stems from a good basis – that of having all the information on hand. For example, when a woman decides to use contraceptives, then she has all the information about how it affects her body, how long and how often she has to take it, how her partner would be able to take it, as well as the why of it – why having too many mouths to feed is bad for the health, and not only because it is costly and it is impossible to give equal love to all the children, etc.

There is also a kind of information or shall I say disinformation which is bad for anyone. Being informed that a certain chemical adhesive is good when in reality smelling it while in the process of using it could produce headaches and possible poisoning is being anti-human. The consumers are made to accept the labels on the product but because it is in English, and is imported, they could be swallowing information that could lead later on to dire consequences for them. That is a form of disinformation wherein the manufacturer withholds certain information just so they could profit from the sale of the product.

Withholding information is also when a company ceases to share information about their real financial state. So that stockholders are made to think that it is doing a lot of good.

In the educational sector, disinformation is when a school scrimps on reading materials that could broaden the minds of the students and/or its constituents. Thus the students read books that were bought many decades ago thus containing old facts and opinions , or the authors of which are not top in the fields that they are studying, or even the faculty of the school do not update themselves anymore on the subject matter that they are teaching. So the students/constituents are disinformed, so to speak

Of course, we know that misinformation is when we are given the wrong facts and figures about a subject matter, about a person/s supposedly in authority, or even a political candidate presents himself or herself as a capable and morally upright person worthy of being voted upon yet in reality has only so much money to buy newspaper syndicates to write about him or her.

Now that we are in this important election period where we will choose the president and vice-president who will lead us through 6 years, let us make sure that our information are enough, true and valid before checking the names of our chosen candidates in the ballot. 

WAITING FOR MAY ELECTIONS

While waiting for the election date, what are we going to do, listen all the time to the exchanges among candidates? Definitely. Revelations are made every week and they are getting horrific and horrific. I wonder what other secrets certain candidates have?

 In our barangay, a rally was held by a big party and look what our main street now has -- kilometers of flying posters here and there. I wonder why the Comelec allows candidates to just have their pictures in them. Actually pictures should only be one fourth of the size of the tarp, or even less and the rest should be their platform. Now you see Folks, in the local elections, anything and everything goes. 

This is sad because we do not get to know our local officials. Unlike in the national posts, the candidates get covered by big media, radio and tv, and they get interviewed as well. Although, I doubt the sincerity of some officials because their past history of being an official is highly debatable, still it is good that the media cover them. For example, there is one candidate who is proud of his stint in a training institute. Fine, expose yourself as its leader but don't fail to mention the trainors who trained those you had given the opportunity to land jobs in the market. I know that the TESDA is a training institute and its trainors are high caliber, some of them have even had a stint abroad. I used to work there as an Audio-Visual Specialist during martial law when it was still called National Manpower and Youth Council. Rony Diaz, the DG then gave me the job which allowed me to broaden as well my view of the need to make media educational more deeply. 

Anyway, I hope that Grace Poe would use the voice of her father in her radio ads, especially those where he gives inspiring words about loving one's country.  

PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES: START OF A NEW ELECTORAL ERA

The series of presidential debates that we have witnessed in our lifetime augurs well for us -- it means that our voters have come of age and expect candidates not merely to have money, good looks or sexy demeanor, or even experience (experience in what? we ask). Rather, the debates have shown that they could think and speak out spontaneously, or even impromptu, without being coached or even reading something on paper. 

Although the last debate on Sunday, the 24th of April was conducted in English mostly, still the people sat it out to find out for themselves as to who would merit being elected as president. The debate furthermore showed who are presidentiables and who are not worthy of even being included in the list. 

May I posit my ideas on the different topics that were discussed:

TRAFFIC -- I think that the lasting solution to the traffic in MetroManila is to disperse industries and offices, and to stop the erection of high rise buildings. When these are done, then that means people will go out of MMla and find residences near their places of work. When high rise bldgs are prohibited, then less people will be staying in MMla. 

POVERTY -- When a child is poor and complains about not being able to go to school, I think that is a big problem that should be put on the shoulders of the barangay chairperson. Barangays get allotments and so the chair is responsible for shaking the pillars of our society to get help for his or her constituents. 

OFW -- the final solution I can see to this is, right, create jobs in the country. In the 70's it was good to send people abroad because Marcos had made travelling a privilege of the elite. Airfares were highly expensive. I myself was able to leave several times in the 80's only because my sister was able to share her stewardess benefits with me, which had meant my enjoying 50% discounts and more from airfares, apart from the free tickets provided by sponsors of international conferences to which I had been invited. But the elected president upon assumption of post must find out which provinces have the most number of OFW relatives and then study how to make them more nurturing of their constituents. 

CONTRACTUALIZATION -- This work contract is anti-UN-ILO pronouncements of upholding the dignity of labor. Everyone in this planet should condemn the Department of Labor and Employment for allowing it to exist in our country, the seat of People Power. Look what power our workers have now.

MINDANAO PEACE -- this has to be planned in three stages. First stage is to integrate all the citizens of Mindanao into the Philippine socio-cultural fabric. Second is to weed out the warlords. Third is to get Sabah because it is oil-rich and could greatly help in solving economic problems, not only in Mindanao but those of the whole country.  

CHINA -- This can be resolved easily, not militarily nor by a dramatic scene like RD planting a flag at the boundary near the West Philippine Sea Island and exposing himself unnecessarily to harsh consequences. 

Once the UN resolves the case in our favor, then we can ask all the ASEAN countries who sign the decision to join us in boycotting all Chinese products. That would mean a great economic loss. And from the ASEAN Bloc we could spread our influence to the other continents as well. 

It is only through cooperation that China can say that it is a world power that recognizes the need for a moral stand that  considers the plight of all of her neighbors. 

One thing I noticed in the last debate though was the rather subtle sadism of one of the candidates. First he said that he had nothing to ask the other candidate  as he had deemed her more intelligent than he is and that she is very much capable of being the president. Then his question was, "How are you?" meaning healthwise. I find it sadistic instead of being a caring question because it was a double-edged sword -- the other side of the blade or question was --"are you sure you are capable of leading the country?" If I were to ask someone about his or her health, I would say, " "Ma'am, how are you? I hope you are well now." Then I would say "I have nothing more to ask you Ma'am because I know you could answer any question that I would raise." Concern for an ailing person should be shown first, if any statement is going to considered a humane treatment. 

So you see Folks, we need to be very sharp in the exchanges. As we go up the rungs of the social ladder, we can see that even those who purport to be stupid but actually are not, have hidden arsenals of cruel techniques to "kill" their opponents, literally and figuratively. 

So help us God in our choices, Folks. Let us pray hard that we could discern who is the best candidate that will lead us through another 6 years, hopefully, under a happier atmosphere. 

FEMINIST CHALLENGES TO THE PRESIDENCY

Feminist challenges to the presidential position in our country have not been seriously taken by the candidates nor the public. In fact, many women even seem to support the most macho candidate that ever hit our electoral space. 

What do we mean by feminist challenges? We mean that women, who are aware know why women have to ascend to positions of power and that is in order to be able to help alleviate the problems of the country, more so the women who occupy the lowest rungs in the economic strata.

We need to vote for a candidate who has feminist leanings because

1. We have to improve our historical experiences of women assuming presidential positions.

a. Cory was able to assume the presidential position but that was due to her husband's murder -- wherein public sympathy shifted to her, and... Folks, AND, the campaign of feminists for her to assume power. With her ascendancy, she was able to restore democracy in our country. That is why we are now enjoying making jokes, critiquing and laughing at officials who bungle their jobs. Freely we can do that unlike during the reign of terroristic Marcos and his cohorts. 

b. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo could have been a good president next to Erap but she was used by certain forces and thus was pushed to become president. In 2004, to prove that she deserved the post, she ran for president but had to use "Hello Garci" methods in order to win. Although we never got to prove that yet we know that Garci padded the votes for her. 

2. If we allow a macho to win, that would be the end of us. He will be committing errors and will keep on apologizing every time. We are too gullible to fall for his apologies. A macho is a macho is a macho at 70. It is difficult to change his ways. Nor will he do so. And even to have his chosen VP beside him will not change his macho behavior, more so when he becomes the president. 

3. A non-feminist president will only consider women as recipients of manna, of grants, of help, and not as empowered women. He will not grant powers to women especially when he would feel insecure beside outspoken women. 

4. A macho president will always commit errors that will be so gross, we would be the laughing stock of the world. What, the Philippines claims to have put up the first woman president, and now has to turned to a macho guy? I am even afraid that with so many rooms available in Malacanang for him to host parties and have his friends come over, many undereducated women would volunteer to help him happy hosting. 

5. All the religious will go down in history also for being a failure to stop a notorious womanizer in assuming the the highest position of the land

UP FACULTY CENTER: NO TO BEING A HAVEN FOR NON-INTELLECTUAL ACTIVITIES

Wilhelmina S. Orozco 

The Faculty Center was already up when I graduated from UP in 1969. It did not impress me a bit -- the architectural plan. With four floors and each one having long hallways with doors to every faculty's office, I thought I was like a motel room, reserving too much privacy and irrelevant to a thinking and socially-committed institution's character. 

I studied philosophy there sometime in the 90's and one subject was assigned to a room of a professor who had several, as in, several paintings of nude breasted woman. Then he had a couch inside where he said, he would sleep or rest now and then. I almost puked at the lack of sensitivity to women's concerns at that time. I reported his office to the chairman of the department who right away moved our class to his office. 

In the 60's I have heard of professors who had had students, female, as their special companions inside. I pitied the wives of these professors but it was only later on when I had read many feminist writings already. At that time, professors having dalliances with their students seemed to be just one of those things. 

Eventually, a greater event happened which shocked me out of my own ignorance of gender issues, and which led me to go to Europe to deepen my studies of the feminist movement. I need not mention the details here but the architectural plan of FC has something to do with it. 

Hence, if anyone is thinking of doing another architectural design of FC, please make it a departmentally communal undertaking, not individualistic at all. Also, have skylights so that it would reduce the use of electricity. UP has great fresh air, and so the offices need not have air-con at all except during summer. Perhaps cubicles of instructors and professors inside one big room could lessen temptations to take advantage of female or male students sexually.

Then that sculpture of the muses in front of FC could be transferred to the sunken garden where there is a lake -- as the muses are all in the nude. Students who pass by that sculptural piece now could be cringing in shame or disgust at seeing nudity in the grounds when they should have full concentration on the lectures of their professors, on writing their term papers, how to pass their exams, and how to recite in class to respond to their teacher's questions, among others. 

Also, may I suggest that the streets of UP be named after inventors, philosophers and artists, instead of politicians, without denigrating their contributions to our society. I just think that an academic community should be reminded that there had been a lot of beautiful minds that had existed and enhanced the life of intellectuals. 

May the UP students awake to the realities now.