“Ang bumangga, giba!”
is what the Tulfo brothers religiously chant after every episode of their
“public-service” program in TV5. It’s a statement with a clear message of
conviction, boastfulness and idealism that they are indispensible; that with
the powers that have been bestowed upon them by media, they are untouchables. Unfortunately,
this has been twisted by the recent brawl, “Pag binangga, maga” may now be a more
appropriate tagline for the Tulfos since the incident proved that they too, can
be pinned down.
In the same light,
showbiz couples Raymart and Claudine most probably had the same line of
thinking when Claudine (allegedly) nagged the ground crew of Cebu Pacific upon
learning that their baggage was offloaded. Similar with the Tulfos, we have
proven that these “gods, goddesses, and heroes” in the television are nothing
but humans. Moreover, the recent brawl in NAIA terminal 3 reflects how savage
human beings are; a proof that if evolution is true, then our animalistic
tendencies when provoked remain the same despite millions of years of “evolving”.
In this blog, I will try my best to objectively form analyses and draw
conclusions as to the reasons and possible solutions amidst violent and rash
actions done by the “highest species” in the planet.
The
trick of the tick
I’ve heard for a
number of times that whenever we are confronted in a tight and difficult
situation, we must always remember that God placed the brain (head; thinking)
over the heart (emotion) because we ought to THINK first before we FEEL.
Science somehow agrees with this by explaining how the Limbic system in our
brain controls the emotions that we feel. But “to err is human” so at certain
instances, without a clear mind and a healthy spirit, we would really fall into
the trick of the tick.
I say “trick of the
tick” because we experience irregular “ticking” of our hearts when too much
emotion sinks in. Try remembering instances when you really had extreme
emotions: anger, happiness, anxiety, fear, etc. Notice that the heart would
beat faster than the usual. It ticks too fast that our brain functions are
probably diverted. (Of course, these are just my assumptions, and I don’t have
any scientific proofs to support this).
The Bible shows how weak human emotion is. In Luke
22:49-50, the most passionate and “holy” disciple of Jesus suddenly became very
aggressive and defensive when they saw that they were surrounded by Roman
soldiers, “…they said, ‘Lord, shall we strike with the sword?’ And one of them
struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his right ear.” But Jesus,
constantly teaches us that rash actions lead to more violent results. So
instead of snapping a finger to kill all the soldiers, he said "Stop! No more of this." And He
touched his ear and healed him.” (Luke
22:51)
If it is true that Cebu
Pacific offloaded several baggage WITHOUT even informing the passengers, which
irritated Ms. Barretto, then they are the “sinner” in the hands of an irate
customer.
On the other hand, if it
is true that Claudine went beyond the line when she nagged and blamed the
ground stewardess, which “awakened” the hero in Mr. Tulfo, then Ms. Baretto was
the “sinner” in the hand of an angry (heroic) god.
Still, in another light,
if it is true that Mr. Tulfo advanced by punching Mr. Santiago, kicking the
legs of Ms. Baretto and pushing her towards the counter, then he becomes the
“sinner” in the hands of another angry god: Raymart.
The result? Clash of the
“Titans”
Ms. Barretto’s rantings,
Mr. Tulfo’s heroic deeds, and Mr. Santiago’s protectionism over his family are
proofs that when irked or provoked, we forget to calm down to think ant talk.
Instead, we immediately strike down the ear of our enemy and pick up a fight.
Come to think of it, if we
strike the ear down, how would they listen to us?
Media + Frenzy = Crazy
Whenever I teach
communication, I always try my best to include “netiquette” in the syllabus
because I have noticed how unmindful internet users we have become. Because of
the ease of uploading and posting pictures, videos, and ideas on the net, we
have failed to think before we click (to borrow the campaign of GMA news and
public affairs).
While it is the right of
the public to air their sentiments and share their opinions, I don’t think
anyone has the right to lambast any single individual on earth. Sharing of
opinions ends after sharing it. The moment we add curses and “hate” speech, we
go beyond the lines. (I strongly hope that this blog remains as neutral and as
calm as I opt it to be because the truth is, I am annoyed with the actions done
by some individuals involved. I will not mention who they are, of course.)
One rule in netiquette is
to “keep flame wars”. When there’s fire, our instinct would push us to do all
possible options to extinguish it. Ironically, when it comes to “showbiz”
scoops and word wars, instead controlling the fire from spreading, we
contribute to it by either adding up harsh words or worse, sharing the links
and posts to other people.
If we analyse the kinds of
statements that people create, we see our subjectivity over issues that hound
us. Here are some of the sample statements that I got from comments posted on
Youtube. (Please take note that I am re-posting them just as examples and not
to further instigate word wars.):
Stupid
mon tulfo, he admitted on video, that he kicked Claudine. Bakla Lang ang sisipa
sa babae. Karma na sa ilang Panahon nalang panghihingi ng tong sa mga
illegalista, kanino ka magsusumbong ngayon tulfo... Tuwang Tuwang
nagcecelebrate ang mga pinahihirapan mo.
hoy tanga aksidente yung pagkasipa ke claudine! magisip ka nga!
tanga panuorin mo mabuti yung video! si Mon yung na agrabiyado
Because we now have the capacity
to say out loud what we want and “share it to the whole world” we forget that
there are people on the other side of the cyber world who are hurt when we
curse them. Think about it, if I tell you that “YOU ARE STUPID BECAUSE YOU ARE
READING THIS.” Would you be happy? Of course not, so we should also be careful
with the curses that we post on the net. As what was written on James 3:5 “…the tongue is
a small part of the body, and yet it
boasts of great things. See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small
fire!”
So am I telling the readers to
keep their mouth shut? No. I support the idea of democracy and free speech. But
you see, there’s no such thing as absolute freedom. If you’re really itching to
talk and share opinions, you have to look for a proper forum to air it out. You
could probably open it to your family or circle of friends. At least, if in
case you hurt them, you have just infected a few souls, which means you have
few souls to mend as well. Aside from that, you will have more chances of
explaining and clarifying yourself as opposed to posting something on the net
which is subject for a lot of scrutiny and you may not always have the chance
to clarify your points.
Let’s take Miriam Quiambao’s
tweet as an example. I strongly believe that she does not have any intentions
of hurting or discriminating any homosexual, but the way she wrote it hurt
them. The fuss was aggravated when unmindful individuals re-tweeted her
message. (By the way, I agree with the essence (only) of her message,
but doesn’t agree with the way she phrased it and with the fact that she
tweeted it. She should’ve filtered her audience if she wanted to share her
opinions about the issue of homosexuality.)
“Social media” is labelled as
such because media is not limited to people working in TV, Radio, and
Newspapers anymore. We shouldn’t take the word “social” as it is wrongly
conceived in the Filipino context (i.e. “sosyal” being grand or elite).
Instead, we should take “social” as “society” and realize that the society has
the same responsibilities as that of professional media practitioners.
Airline
not fine
I would also want to point out
that Cebu Pacific must be held accountable in this unfortunate incident. I
haven’t heard much of their side in this issue, but I would really want to find
out if they have issued any sort of communications via their cabin crew or
cabin officers or even prior to flight that some baggage would be offloaded.
Cebu Pacific, being one of the
most popular airlines in the Philippines, must not forget that the reason for
their success is simply because of their cheap fares. This must not be equated
to cheap services as well.
Humility
amid savagery
Evil things happen because we
allow them to happen.
While it is very difficult for both the Tulfos and the Santiagos to amicably
settle the issue, I strongly believe that it is possible… if they would allow
it to happen. On the other hand, more violent actions may also perpetrate, if
they allow them to happen.
Wars happen
because we allow the savage inside us take over our rational abilities.
I would be a
hypocrite if I would say that I can control myself. But in the past few months
of praying and reading the Bible, the Lord has slowly (but effectively) taught
me how to be calm in irritating situations.
While you
may think that this is too spiritual or too moralistic, I’d like to end by
saying that all those involved in this brawl must learn how to admit mistakes
and ask for forgiveness to each other: Cebu pacific to its passengers, Claudine
Barretto to the ground crew, Mr. Tulfo to Ms. Barretto, Mr. Santiago to Mr.
Tulfo, the Tulfo brothers to the public, and the cyber kibitzers to everyone
else.
Man might
never learn how to forgive, but God does. ALWAYS.
“If we
confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9
