Filipinos need to mature from being emotional crybabies to level-headed adults

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Typically, we are a highly reactive easily butt hurt people. But we can mature when we try to win the opponent by helping them get back to their senses. When the Yellows call for “hukayin ang bangkay ni Marcos sa LNMB”, you can respond by saying “If will it add a single peso to your monthly take-home pay by doing so, go ahead”. If the Reds insist in fighting for their “never ending revolution”, ask them “have your actions so far brought in more jobs for Filipinos?” And if martial law cry babies bring up their “Never again” slogans, ask them if they are willing to be the ones in the front lines battling terrorists in the South.

The purpose of a debate is to win the opponent over to your side; so that together you can unite and build the nation. We should also take the initiative to not just react, but also “Set the agenda – the topic of discussion”. The more we move away from emotionalism and personalities, and towards discussions on principles, strategies and solutions, the closer we are to maturing intellectually as a people.

The last article I wrote, Duterte has won Filipinos so much respect that the Yellows can no longer hope for reelection, garnered a surprising 15K hits on FB – i guess because I included the magic words “Duterte” and “Yellows” in the title. Otherwise, if it were a rather neutral topic like “The benefits of harnessing green energy” – hardly anyone will read. So at this point, Filipinos are still very immature. Somehow, we still need to balance it out: between getting an audience and having relevance. Many of us are still learning as we go along on this journey towards national and cultural maturity. The quality of our debates and discussions is our mirror to keep us moving in the right direction.

Then there’s the concept of branding – Sass, Mocha and TP have all set up their own pretty impressively; and they did it riding on a bigger giant – Duterte himself. They deserve the socmed clout they’ve worked hard on – hopefully, they won’t squander the opportunities and huge potentials of having enormous followings. It’s quite interesting Sass started out here in GRP with that Tagalog article: Mga katanungan tungkol sa Philippines vs. China arbitration case. Since then, he/she never looked backed.

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