Educating Rita

By Virginia J. Pasalo

 

IT is easy to pillory Senator Trillanes. Especially if a white BBC anchor pilloried him. Somehow some people attain superiority that way, superiority by identification. This attitude can be justified, the behavior of Senator Trillanes leaves much to be desired, most often accompanied by anger. Anger is normal these days, something we are accustomed to during these times, in the company of shaming and cursing, which has become accepted as the practice in this government.

They make a big thing about the question, “Are you a Democrat?” First, that question, is loaded in its context. The anchor was asking, in his context as a Westerner, whether Senator Trillanes was a Democrat. In the Philippine context, there is no such thing as a Republican or a Democrat.

There are two meanings of a Democrat. First, it could mean a member of the Democratic Party, as opposed to a member of the Republican Party. Second, there is the general meaning: “a person who believes in and upholds government by the people; an advocate of rule by the majority or a person who believes in and practices the principle of equality of rights, opportunity, and treatment”. That question was answered in the first context. He expounded on the second context afterwards.

The detractors of Senator Trillanes jumped in and called him ignorant and idiotic. Some people were quick to accuse him as not having done his homework and praised the anchorperson for having done his. That question was even out of the question. If the anchorperson did his homework, he knows exactly what context Senator Trillanes was speaking from, having done his homework in rattling off the failed coup attempts Trillanes led. I do not wish to pass judgment on those who call him names. There is already too much venom going around. The world needs fresh air, lots of love, and a lot of effort to understand the context from where each individual is coming from. We need to slow down our descent into abysmal ignorance, to bridge gaps in understanding, and unify our voices.

I do not know Senator Trillanes, nor do I approve of his methodologies. However, I mind how the news is being handled these days. There is a deliberate attempt to mislead, or to angle the news, to “kill” the political careers of individuals who speak their minds. Proof of this is how Senator Risa Hontiveros was branded as a supporter of the Maute group, without considering the context of her presentation. Another is the malicious accusation that the tuition fee of the Vice-President’s daughter may be coming from drugs. These political spins continue to be peddled as news, not only in social media, but also on You Tube, private messages and e-mails. There is no question that it is well-coordinated, well-financed and has the imprimatur, or the tacit approval of the ruling political hierarchy.

The more disturbing trend is that the public seem to accept these as news and share them away, with their own judgment sprinkled in, shared by others with the secondary comments, without verification from the original source. A little “homework” or complete, diligent staff work could have led to a fairer, more balanced view.
This is where our educational system has failed. The schools are churning out graduates who were not imbued with the desire to question, or trained at least to research and inspect beyond the apparent and the propaganda.

In “The Closing of the American Mind”, author Allan Bloom says that the real community of man is the community of those who seek the truth, of the potential knowers, to the extent they desire to know. The schools, the church, government and other institutions have failed miserably in creating these communities. We see only that these institutions have become monolithic over the years, becoming more bureaucratic, more entrenched, peddling their own “truths”.

So where now do we begin? We begin, where the we should have begun at the outset. The child is exposed to his/her parents, before any other community. The home is the most ideal place we can mold children, and this is where, even if he goes to school or to a particular church, go back regularly. Change activists should look at the dynamics of this particular institution, and begin from there.

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