this long week
Manila, 9 September—Just like that, we're wrapping up the third quarter of the year with the first -ber month now in motion. So far, September has not pulled any punches: We've had a resignation at the Supreme Court, an amnesty getting voided, spiking inflationrates and the President's historic visit to Israel.
Yeah, it's a lot to digest: We have political pundits weighing in on how the President is silencing yet another critic at the Senate, alongside people asking if the President is deliberately doing so to muddle the conversation about his Israel visit, granted he was less than welcome in some sectors, and some deals are reportedly not pushing through as expected because of his bloody drug war. Add this to the fact that the trip was initially rumored to be a medical one, and was also panned for having such a big delegation.
Anyway, the thing about Trillanes' amnesty is such a headline hogger, especially now that the President has backtracked on it. Never mind that it paints the President and his administration as desperate; what matters is that it has managed to sideline talk about record-high inflation and the weakest peso in 13 years. I hope we can stop amplifying Robin Padilla and start turning our megaphones toward more important voices.
Speaking of more important voices: I agree that in certain situations we must seek Bong Go's comment. Take for example this PCIJ article which details how firms of Bong Go's father and half-brother have bagged multi-billion infrastructure contracts under this administration. Ayan, magsawa kayo kaka-mention ng pangalan ni Bong Go sa mga story na yan.
Oh, by the way: There's a new survey out and the hungry are growing more and more displeased.
'Road to victory'
Anyway. Some food for thought for that next campaign you're doing:
This document was purportedly sent to BuzzFeed by former social media director of the Duterte campaign, now Tourism undersecretary, Pompee La Viña. It was among the documents cited in this harrowing long read on how Duterte used Facebook to fuel his drug war. While we already know more or less how we were screwed in 2016, this document was written in such... corporate campaign-speak that it left me breathlessly frustrated and angry. Why do brilliant people support such horrible ones?
Housekeeping postscript
How do you like this redesign? It's cleaner and lends itself to reading. I hope you're not bored.
Last weekend, I compiled past newsletters over at Substack, if you ever want to backread some entries without going through previously emailed newsletters, or maybe you subscribed recently and want to take a look at what has been sent previously. Here you go.
Because it has some private letters, it needs an email; these dark times feel like whispering in a dark cave. Wouldn't you like to know who's in the dark with you, too?
Anyway, it's going to be a mirror of these newsletters + additional written things. I want to write often, but I don't want to clog your inboxes, so this newsletter will still come once a week, with a nod or two to what else has been written. I have a feeling we're in the middle of something terribly important. Better to write it down, yes?
A fresh batch of copies of Mnemonics have arrived. P399. Also available at Materica.