The Insecurity of the Filipino Braggadocio

""Valar Dohaeris". All men must serve. Faceless Men most of all."

―"Jaqen H'ghar"


It is not very uncommon to see a Filipino admit they were wrong. 

It is rarer for you to see a Filipino who will say, "I'm sorry, I was wrong." - and then actually atone for the mistake and then some more.

What you almost always see rather, are these two: projection and deflection.  



This permeates Filipino social discourse all throughout and on all levels.

Sometimes, I even think that my generalized statement is mostly accurate because of cultural factors.

In the era of fake news and an over-saturated social media stream, the best narcissist always takes center stage.


I know that this may also be true for other cultures.

But then again, I am constantly confronted with the swagger of the Filipino braggadocio.

The braggadocio, swishes his sword of greatness with words like a red ribbon on a Chinese New Year


Hidden in crass language, the Filipino braggadocio is an expert at word play.

Some would say it is a form of philosophy (small P) in and of itself

But that would be an insult to Philosophers (big P)


Self Aggrandizement

Have you ever attended a conference, a seminar or a group activity, where the speaker actually and sincerely downplays his actual achievements? Never.

Sometimes, I fancy attending one and it would be in the form of:

Speaker: "Hello, I am Mr. So and So, and I am nobody, no one and nothing."

Audience: Silence.

Speaker: "I, a being of nothing, humbly come to you in the hopes that something would come out of nothing."

Now, at the end of the talk, the audience would be fascinated, enthralled and actually thrilled that their 3,500 peso seminar fee was not put to waste.

It would only be at the end, the very end - when the audience have already left and are already in their vehicles going home, that they would find out that they have spoken with somebody.

Those days of powerful silence and humility are gone.

Leadership That Inspires

A long time ago, the Catholic Church held a very strong sway in the voting behavior of Filipino citizens. Hence, in politics. This was seen in delayed or aborted legislation concerning contraception, abortion and divorce. This was seen in the first EDSA peaceful revolution and many more.

I'll leave it up to you to do your own historical research.

Duterte's election was a pivotal turning point against this 'traditional Catholic vote'

Fast forward to 2016...

Duterte seemed to be the candidate who usurped everything that traditional politicians exemplified. He was outspoken against the Catholic church. He was decisive in curbing the narcotic problem. He was uncivil and uncouth - a man who bowed down to no one, (except maybe Xi Jinping). He seemed to be the one who will overturn the traditional structures that gave and made the Philippines its character for the last decades.

He definitely isn't a traditional politician.

That anti-thetical character appealed to enough voters to change the tide of history. Many of the non-Catholic segment of the population wanted something fresh. They wanted something out of the traditional Catholicism.

Their mantra of "Change is Coming" came true.

Change came indeed.

The question is, what kind of change did it bring?

It sickened me to hear Protestant and Born Again spiritual leaders utter words like, "I'm friends with Duterte or Bato." in the middle of their preaching while teaching about Christ.

It was paradoxical.

It is the ultimate embodiment of Protestant church leadership desperately clinging on to worldly ways just to find a means to solve the gargantuan spiritual problem of worldliness, narcotics and social apathy.

In a way, one can say that to solve the narcotic problem that many Protestant pastors and Born Again ministers have had to grapple with among their flock - they struck a deal with the devil.

The means to justify the end.

Lo and behold, we are all learning now about how that contract would turn out to be.

Now, these churches complain when Duterte called God stupid.

In silence these non-Catholic ministers may have been snickering in glee as Duterte embarrassed the Catholic church - never thinking for a second that one day, the devil they unleashed would come to bite them back.

And it did. And it will continue to do so.

You never strike a deal with the devil.

Not only that, it brought along something that is far graver than the petty bickering among different religions.

Remember, leadership inspires.

If this leader rebels against God, we can expect others to follow suit. Indeed it is already happening. A slow and morbid moral decay that is festering like an untreated wound. Full of pus and full of maggots, it eats away not just flesh, but the spirit.

In this day and age of technological marvels, this kind of thinking can only lead to one thing: perdition and a further degradation of the Filipino soul. 

Falling on Deaf Ears: Duterte Curses and Calls God Stupid

Study: People who use the Internet a lot tend to have less religious tendencies. 

"Tinkering with Technology and Religion in the Digital Age: The Effects of Internet Use on Religious Belief, Behavior, and Belonging" McClure, Paul K. 13 December 2017. https://doi.org/10.1111/jssr.12365

Dear Mr. President, 

You cannot have or give love, 
if you do not have free will. 
Love is consensual. 

Love can only arise if we have the option to say 'No we don't love... '
For it is in the voluntary act of saying that 'we do' or 'we love' 
that our faith is affirmed.

As the 'created', 
we would be nothing more than automatons (robots).
compiled, made and executed to do God's bidding if we cannot 
dare say 'no'.

Regards,

Man's Great Spiritual Turmoil

Something more disconcerting than the President's tirades are the reaction of people through the comments section of various social media sites. Some openly hate Duterte's anti-progressive, anti-liberal and anti-human rights stance. Yet when it comes to badmouthing the spiritual belief of others, they are all for it.

"I hate Duterte, but maybe he can make atheism more mainstream." quipped one.

Indeed, we are living in troubled times and the problem seems to be graver than I originally thought.

The world is experiencing great spiritual turmoil amidst collective challenges that put humanity's faith to the extreme.

So many moral questions, human paradoxes,  prolonged and devastating conflicts point to the need for drastic and decisive action. Unfortunately, for expediency and for want of resolution, we as a race have foregone God's guidance and let our own passions rule us. Our own mortality, our own failures and our own weaknesses have crippled us, so dear.

Prophecy Being Fulfilled
As it is, my hypothesis is that these are all in line with God's plan.
These events must come to pass.

Revelations 13:5

The beast was given a mouth to speak arrogant and blasphemous words, and authority to act for forty-two months. 6And the beast opened its mouth to blaspheme against God and slander His name and His tabernacle—those who dwell in heaven.…

Kumusta na Pinoy Freelance Writer?

Dear fellow freelance writer,
Kumusta? (How are you?)
I hope you're in great spirits. It's quite rainy where I am now and it's always cloudy. I'm beginning to think that Google's weather app is broken because it keeps showing me this icon for the next 10 days or so.

I also hope that you're doing great in your freelance writing projects. Now, on to the blog post! 

http://writers.work review

After finishing a very lucrative freelance project, I've started looking for another gig. That's when I found http://writers.work via Google.

I dunno...

I can't write a proper review of it since you need to shell out $47 to get in. But everything in their video is everything a freelance writer could dream of:

• Appropriate pay (I'm reticent to put "High", since I haven't tried it yet.)
• Flexible working hours (Duh)
• Guaranteed pay dates (Really now?)
• No fees (Mmmm)

Note that they have a "Pay Disclaimer" at the bottom which states:

"While we make every effort to ensure that we accurately represent all the products and services on this website and their potential for income, it should be noted that earnings and income statements made by Writers Work LLC or anyone of its partners are only estimates of what we think you can possibly earn online. There is no guarantee that you will make these levels of income and you accept the risk that the earnings and income statements differ by individual."

Well, there you go. 

Their selling tactics notwithstanding, like the countdown timer, the psychological assurance of receiving guaranteed pay, the cartoon playing with your mind - the fresh site appeals because it's new. 

Freelancer, Upwork and such, have been cornered by the "mass content producers" who will outbid you and are also oftentimes plagued with employers who simply don't pay.

Homeworking club gave a very long review, which ended with a referral link. 

https://www.homeworkingclub.com/writers-work-review/

So there you go.... 

I'm going to put it in the backburner, browse around a bit and hope that my previous employer messages me again on Skype.