Disinformation promotes disunity

The unity theme that was used in the last election by the incoming administration was reiterated after the election and in the inaugural speech of BBM.

Considering the enormous economic, social, and international relations problems that are facing the Philippines, that are thrown into the lap of the new administration, they will really need the unified cooperation of as many Filipinos here and abroad to surmount all these in the coming years. And yet, even after the election results were officially announced, and on the first week of the new administration, the trolls and rabid supporters of BBM were attacking and bashing the opposition and all critics of BBM.

Infrastructures that were finished in the time of Duterte but were actually started in the time of Aquino, were credited to Duterte without acknowledging the previous administration, while a badly-designed pedestrian overpass in Metro Manila which was built in 2018 and is unusable, was ascribed to Aquino by the trolls. Leni Robredo has already turned over the Office of the Vice President, yet attacks on her person are continuing.

Then there is the move by an overeager congressmen to rename the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) to the Marcos International Airport, and the revising the term limits of the president and vice president. It is possible that BBM and his strategic team have nothing to do with these initiatives and activities, but it still indicates the lack of management control, which does not speak well of the incoming administration in tackling the country’s problems.

In this time of availability of information and communication technologies, these things do not go unnoticed. It is in all available media and passed around, fact check/corrected and passed around again. The effect of these on the opposition will be to harden their position against the new government. On those who are neutral to the BBM group, these will send the wrong signals on the ideology and capability of the new government.

Unless the BBM team does not really believe in the numbers in their majority in the last election and the satisfaction ratings of the previous administration, this disinformation is and will be counterproductive to the BBM administration and will promote disunity.

The incoming BBM presidency is asking the opposition and the people to give BBM a chance to prove his mettle. At this time and probably in the next 100 days at least, most are willing to do so as indicated by the subdued opposing voices.

Some may be neutral and apathetic but there are no strong dissent. The danger will be if and when these voices becomes non-cooperative and then into passive resistance, which will make it difficult for the government to implement their policies and programs.

As experienced in many countries, when governments become unpopular, the next step will be civil disobedience which will not even need active opposition to derail the government.

Half of the appointees to the Cabinet and higher government positions are people of competence and integrity who have their own followers and sympathizers. However, there are political appointees that rankle not just the opposition but also the common people.

It is expected that political debts have to be rewarded, but too-controversial personalities should be avoided and their actions monitored to ensure that they are not damaging to the new administration.

Human behavior in organizations are evolving as social structures change and technologies develop. But all human behaviors are anchored on moral and ethical precepts/standards that are necessary for human survival and progress. As history has proven, truth and justice eventually prevail. So, in the long term the Philippine situation will improve. It just that in the short term, there could be suffering if we have a bad government that is not responsive to the people.