Perversing the Freedom of Speech: How Filipinos Set Aside Rationality for Radicalness's Sake

Newly-appointed Chief justice Maria Lourdes Sereno visited the offices under her new position today

Image retrieved from GMA News

Three months after the ouster of Renato C. Corona as the Chief Magistrate of the Philippine Supreme Court, and the public hearing of the nominees for the vacated post soon after was conducted, President Noynoy Aquino has finally given his choice: the highest court in the country was now to be presided over by the first ever woman Chief Justice, in the person of Maria Lourdes Sereno.

Taking this in retrospect, we Filipinos have that sometimes debilitating tradition of paying utang-na-loob, or that oh-so-generous hospitality we give to people who have helped us in the past. It is but unavoidable that we give some leeway led us to where we are. Surely Sereno is not immune to that, is she? Sereno's could arguably make decisions in the future that will be beneficial to the president and his interests.

However, my opinion, which could also be the opinion of many others, is not significant at this point. She had barely done anything in her job as the new Chief Justice (I repeat: It's her first day) and so we can only wait until she pulls off a favor for the president and point it to her, blatantly, if I may emphasize, once she does that.

And yet, there are many of us who seek to ignore this rational, logical cascade, and instead jump the gun on such matters. Case in point is the flock of picketers in front of the Supreme Court today, protesting Sereno's appointment. They were quick to accuse her of being a "puppet" for the administration and that her rule is merely for the president's benefit.

Rallyist groups flocked in front of the Philippine Supreme Court Tuesday (Aug. 28) to protest the appointment of Maria Lourdes Sereno as the first Woman Chief Justice of the country

Image retrieved from ABS-CBN News

Look at this for a moment: "So its the chief justice's first day of office... She's a friend of the president and she was put there by the president. She's a puppet of the administration!!" That sentence pretty much summed up the call of the picketers today at the Supreme Court. Time out: Did you get what that sentence meant? The new chief justice is barely getting things running and you say that? isn't that a bit premature? To quote Robin Williams, that's like saying obese people have a high chance of getting healthier because they might exercise. It's ludicrous, absurd and irrational.

The protest at the Supreme Court earlier this morning is just the latest of a long line of protests aimed at various people in various positions for various reasons not bearing the credibility usually associated with logic. Whether it is of students protesting of sudden increases in school fees, or of public vehicle drivers rallying about fuel price hikes, or of people from the "informal sector" - politically correct term for people who don't legally own the houses they live in, a.k.a. squatters - complaining in the streets about not liking the place where they are being relocated (note: they are being relocated to somewhere else for free), or of the usual "poor" people who go on and on about aberrations in the government (Like that RH Bill debate - that's for later)... They take to the streets not for talks, not for deliberations, not for negotiations... It's never that. It's because we've been spoiled by that illusion of People Power, that "revolution" to get what we want, period.

Some will say, "But you've never been to our position. You've never experienced what we've experienced..." But I say to them, "Heck, your experience isn't even what you're heralding! You complain about not getting what you want, and that's all there is to it. No heralding of any cause, no protecting of anything that needs to be vanguarded... You complain simply because you have the capability to. There's no issue being defended here. You're simply choosing a side, not knowing what that side actually stands for, and wait for a fight to pick up, getting a few minutes of fame alongside it."

And that is what being an "agent of change" is now for the many of us. We want people to listen to us simply because we have a voice, but it takes more than a voice to make a change. Our freedom of speech doesn't give us carte blanche to say anything we want, whenever we feel like it, wherever we want to say it. That's not what this right is for. The freedom of speech is for us to be able to channel our reason to others. Our voice now becomes our microphone to spread our logical view to other people, with other people doing the same, in an effort to seek the general will of the people and the enact changes that will benefit the society.

Rizal himself stated it, and that great historian Zaide has this in his book: "Let us be reasonable and open our eyes. God... wants us to use and let shine the light of reason with which He has so mercifully endowed us." 

Let me end with a quote from Dionysius of Halicarnassus, whose statement said it best, "Let your words be better than silence, or be silent."

The Filipino's Distorted View of the English Language

Image retrieved from bornegames.com

(Image URL: http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa159/Shriana/JumbotronFacepalm.jpg)

The evening of April 15th 2012 saw the Binibining Pilipinas 2012 competition and all the people and things involved therein trend worldwide on Twitter. It was a prestigious event that sought to crown the most beautiful of all the beautiful women the Philippines has to offer, with the whole nation watching it happen.

The participants wowed the crowed with their stunning smiles, their elegant prowess and charming looks. It was a tight race, until they opened their mouths and started to speak come the question and answer portion. Suddenly, Twitter was full of sneers and jests on the language of the contestants as they spoke hilariously incorrect statements that would make their English teachers cry. I tell you, if speaking grammatically incorrect sentences in public was a contemptible offense, then senator-judge Miriam Defensor-Santiago would have cardiac arrest lashing rebukes to the beautiful contenders.

And that's the problem with the majority of Filipinos. They see the English language as a sort of Ilustrado mark, thinking that speaking the language somehow makes the impression that we are better intellectually, socially and economically. Inversely, we cast a wary look at our own language, having the belief that speaking it somehow degrades our status in the community.

First off, there is nothing wrong in having a preference towards the English language. After all, it is pretty much the lingua franca of the world, and to hone oneself to its usage is commendable. However, there is no problem with our native tongue, either. We should in fact, embrace it, as it is our own language. To distance ourselves from it is highly absurd. Isa lang ang salita natin. Kung mamatahin natin 'to, hindi ba parang minata na rin natin 'yung sarili nating pagkakakilanlan? (We only have one language. Wouldn't casting disdain on our own tongue be tantamount to casting disdain on our identity as a whole?)

Its a real shame that we think this way.

Now, I won't go way out of my head here and say we should use Filipino every time and to abstain from using English, for that'd be ludicrous. As I pointed out, English is the trade language of the world and to not use it would be a blatant, ignorant mistake. However, I exhort Filipinos to use our own tongue if we can not say what we mean and mean what we say in the foreign language we want to use, whether it is English or not. Sa madaling salita, kung hindi ka marunong mag-Ingles, huwag kang mag-Ingles. Hindi 'yun makakabawas sa pagkatao mo. Kung hindi mo rin lang masasabi ang gusto mong sabihin, mag-Filipino ka na lang. Mas maganda nga 'yun pakinggan kasi masasabi mo at maipaparating mo talaga ang nasa isip mo, kaysa mag-Ingles ka para mag-mukhang mas magaling o mas nakatataas sa mga kausap mo. (In other words, if you don't know how to speak English then don't tire yourself doing so! It'd be better for you to use your own tongue as you can say what you really mean and bring this across to your listener in a clearer way, than use English to make an impression that you know a lot more than you really do.)

We should get rid of that mentality. What does your speaking a foreign tongue do if you don't know how to speak it? It will only make you a laughing stock and an incompetent fool in front of your listeners and make them think that you're worse than you really are instead of better. How's that for an impression?