Why do we need to share good news?

I believe that for the past year, it has been clear to a lot of people that there are politicians who are trying to rise back to power by putting down the administration of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte. We see these politicians attack and smear the president’s image with the help of some mainstream media and support from a political party.

For the past year, they have tried to brand Duterte as a killer by reviving the issue on the so-called Davao Death Squad and their insinuation that he’s ordering the police to just kill those involved in the illegal drug trade (thus the issue on EJK.)

They accused him of being corrupt because of his supposed bank accounts that they presented and they also likened him to former President Ferdinand Marcos in order to tag him as a dictator; even if there are evidences that prove otherwise.

In all these attacks, we have defended the president by exposing the true motive of his enemies, and contrary to what they make it look like, they don’t really fight for the people – they fight for themselves and to strengthen their grip on power.

However, as you have probably noticed by now, they seem to have influence over some mainstream media and their attacks have been amplified due to this connection. Every time they attack the president or they throw accusations toward him, we have seen that it dominated the news provided by mainstream media.

Take for example one of their first attacks on the Duterte administration: EJKs. The issue on EJKs and drug-related killings have dominated both local and international news. They used an unverified number of EJKs and killings related to the drug campaign and these numbers can be seen in a number of news articles and even in a video message by Vice President Robredo to the United Nations. So, the government has presented the Real Numbers to clarify the numbers being used in the news. Sadly, it was not given the same attention as the attacks on the current administration and its war on drugs.

It’s clear that negative news have dominated news articles and reports, but does that mean there’s more bad news than good news? No. You may have noticed that even if there are more reports about the attacks on the president and criticisms on the war on drugs, essentially, they’re just talking about the same thing over and over again. This repetition of the same issues may have overshadowed the good things that the Duterte administration is doing or has done; issues may have prevailed in the news over the achievements of the government, but that does not mean there is more bad news than good news.

Now, this is where I’m hoping that we focus our strength, to share the good news through social media; because as much as our criticisms of the political enemies of the president and revealing their real motives are vital in defending him, these politicians will not relinquish their thirst for power just because they are being exposed.

I believe that what we must do is to beat them at their own game; they are trying to smear the image of President Duterte and destroy the image of our country with their repeated attacks, they are trying to control the public sentiment by dominating the news with their allegations, and if they succeed in overwhelming the good news with their own poison, then the change that we hope for our country will surely not happen. We will go back to the usual kind of politicians who are not truly sincere in their oath to serve the Filipinos. By sharing the good things that the current administration is doing, we defeat the alternative truth that they want the public to believe. We have a lot of good news; there are a lot of achievements by the president and his administration; a lot of us are already experiencing the good changes in this government, so all we have to do is share it so that the information that goes to the public is not only the alternative truth that are being peddled by the enemies of change. Spreading the good news and changes brought by our government is the best offense we can deal to the power-hungry politicians; by working together, sharing the good news and defeating the negative articles and reports that dominated the mainstream media, we send them a clear message: You cannot fool the people!