Wednesday, May 11, 2016

7 Things I Learned from Halalan 2016

For my international readers, halalan means election.

Facebook has said it. We were the most active and socially involved country in terms of our election. We were too involved if I may say so. Everyone became a political analyst and campaign manager overnight for different candidates.

It seems like a good thing no? Unfortunately, it wasn't for a lot.

People started bashing other candidates and while this is a little normal, it went to the point that family and friends were fighting each other and even unfollowing and unfriending one another which is tantamount to a severance of the actual relationship in real life. This was heartbreaking because it was so unnecessary. People broke off relationships because of a difference in opinion and points of view.

Different strokes for different folks remember? 

To say that people went ballistic would be an understatement. Luckily, my friends and I never had this happen to us and I think it's because we all respected one another. My takeaway from this whole circus are the following:

1. If your friend unfriended you, perhaps you weren't really the friends you thought you were. It hurts but at least you now know that a simple difference in opinion was enough for you guys to be F.O. (friendship over.)

2. Take note of those who went crazy with their support for their candidates. Take note of those who bashed others just to make a point. Take note of those who called you names and what not. When the zombie apocalypse happens in our lifetime, STAY AWAY from these people. If they can seek blood when they really have nothing to gain, what more can they do when it's their survival at stake. They will not help you. They will kill you to give themselves a better chance to survive. RUN AWAY from them. Seriously.

3. We are ready for change. We are clamoring for it. At the end of the day, Duterte gave us hope for a brighter Philippines. This is what essentially won him the race.

4. When I met Duterte in person, I realized ... he's not that tall. He really is the typical Pinoy.

5. Our local media are biased. A lot of them are no longer professional and they do not respect their jobs. They just see it as a job and not an honor. I say this after several encounters where I saw firsthand and heard known journalists make snide remarks and comments as well as have a ready made article even before a press con started. It was very appalling.

6. We still have a lot of uneducated voters which is very sad. They voted famous personalities without checking if these personalities deserved to be voted. I wish that this would be addressed in the future. No more empty promises please.

7. People will always reveal their true colors when you give them a mask. In this case, the mask was the social media platforms people engaged on. A lot of them waged war, called names, threatened even and these are all disgusting things. Now that the storm is over, they are back to wearing their "decent" mask. However, for me, I now have a clearer view of people and their bias. I hope everyone else has them too. No amount of "We all went crazy with the election but now let us put to rest blah blah blah blah blah." If you called me a retard or an insipid fool for having a different candidate that I supported, you don't have a space in my world. No to negativity.

Respect begets respect. 

We may not all like the same thing or support the same persons but we all need to respect one another. The only ones who do not deserve respect are drug lords, drug addicts, rapists, pedophiles, human traffickers and trolls.

23 comments:

  1. There is a lot of debate over the 2016 presidential election here in the US. People are really all upset about it because the candidates aren't really that great.

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  2. Respect is the key. We have our own opinions and views but human beings deserve respect.

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  3. Presidential elections seem to bring out the worst in people. I have yet to see it bring out the best, unfortunately. I'm glad to see you learned lessons form it though :)

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  4. Welcome to the voting world. Fighting over candidates is part of the process.

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  5. Politics can get crazy. It is so hard to know who to choose.

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  6. It really got personal and disappointing. You make pretty good points, I laughed at number two. Definitely a no-no when the zombie apocalypse arises! Lol. I hope today, we can all move on from this and just respect the new leaders.

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  7. I don't like politics, there's always so much involved! I honestly hate election time!

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  8. Haha number 2 is so funny but true. There are some people uncapable of helping or being nice

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  9. Respect begets respect. I hope now that the election is over, everyone would just hold hands and unite for the new government. Its obvious from the election results that most Filipinos are clamoring for change. I just hope and pray that we made the right decision and indeed change is coming for the better.

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  10. I think I'll leave the politics to the pros, never liked them that much to be honest.

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  11. There's so much going on in the political world, so confusing!

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  12. That is why I hate politics. People forget to respect other people's opinions during this time. I love number 2!

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  13. , Its hard to choose for President and supporters will be crazy

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  14. Everyone's human, i guess. I don't like the journalists that we have but I understand if they're trying to secretly inject their own agendas. Who am I to assume, anyway. The US elections nowadays and recently are much more active by the way, even with a small percentage of US friends in my list!

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  15. Respect is key but it seems like so many have stopped being respectful to those that disagree with them. It's really sad to see the level some have gone down to insult others.

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  16. Yes, respect is the key. I hate to read all the political posts on facebook just because of the lack of it. It even splits families, colleagues and even social groups. Let's promote respect!

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  17. Yes, if they unfriended you, you aren't the friends you thought you were. Friends should be able to share thoughts and convictions without changing their friendship.

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  18. I honestly hate politics. People get way to crazy with it sometimes. I think everyone needs to respect everyone else's opinions too. No need to fight over politics.

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  19. After this elections, I conclude that we are divided not just by islands and dialects, but by politics and religion as well. Ohh, I guess Filipinos never run out of things to argue with. Haha! Nevertheless, respect is a must in our differences.

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  20. I hate the topic politics and also religion. I do not mind if they argue as long as it is not personal and focus on the politics and the real deal what they can go to improve the country.

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  21. Oh there was a time when we had more people of good integrity in the media, but now, it's most terrible here too.

    And I too wish more voters were educated.

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  22. Elections tend to bring the ugly out of people! That's usually when I go through my new-feed and delete all the ugliness lol

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  23. There is a lot of talk about the election. I think it's important that voters be educated.

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Hi! Let's all try to add more positivity in this world and adhere to the saying, "if you don't have anything nice to say, keep silent."

Showering you with unicorn poop so you'd always stay magical! Heart heart!