"Bobo" as the new norm; Dealing with professional political trolls
by Ronald Michael Quijano
Last update - March 24, 2020
It was 2018 when I thoroughly engaged myself with the philosophy's academe and practice. Skeptical of my beliefs and religion, I've been questioning it and refuting it ineffectively, until the year that I have understood the core concept and the art of argument; that it must be done reasonably, artistically, and intellectually. Until then, I have learned to criticize notions from other sides with genuine reasoning and learned to step away from militantism. To my surprise, it works excellently. I am now able to dispatch my cases and rebuttals calmly and intellectually, making sure the pureness of acumen and reason is loaded in my constructs. Despite such a realization, the mainstream media has now taken over the art of debate and turned it into a bigotry war. Political trolling is now the new norm, internet trolling, on the other hand, has been detected ever since the emergence of Web 2.0 and threatened the control of fruitful communication. This language that emerged in mainstream social media is far from the goals of those creators of the said media platform. In the Philippines, trolling has been the aid to spread fake news and buffoonery targetting a specific person, whether in politics or in showbiz. The power of trolling took notoriety in May 2016 presidential election.
Armand Dean Nocum, a former newspaper reporter, marked the emergence of trolls even before the May 2010 elections. Nocum, now a veteran political strategist, unveiled how he created his network of artificial social media groups over a period of six years, perhaps not perceiving that all these would one day be named trolls. He used social media to elevate the cause of his candidates. He now has 50 social media sites he called "fake" being used for his public relations consultancy. He administers a group of trolls whose profession is to infiltrate online conversations, specifically on Facebook, to further causes or candidates, and in the last elections, he succeeded in using this organization to discredit political competitors, among others. He believes that such a strategy is effective in persuading people to believe in his candidate-client and in the established message. He has observed that ordinary people tend to believe the comments of other ordinary people like them. This art of language has a special property on it - marketing. Marketing in extreme led to exploitation and destruction of both lives and the environment. Marketing in extreme also results in hating capitalism. As to how Aristotle puts it, "Evil lies on the extreme". One serious danger that these trolls are imposing is spreading fake news, taking advantage of the behavior that Filipino norms have - only reading the headline and not the full story or the source.
Last December of 2019, the nCoV or novel coronavirus made an outbreak in Wuhan, China. It continuously spread across the globe and made its way to the Philippines and was named COVID-19 as we understand its nature further. March 14, 2020, President Rodrigo Duterte declared a community quarantine in Metro Manila, despite the effort, this does not solve the problem of spreading the virus. On the night of March 16, the President declared an enhanced community quarantine in Luzon, intending to slow down the movements of the people and attempt to contain the virus. Along with this enhanced community quarantine, military personnel was used to supervise the fulfillment of this policy. Different political parties and organizations that are known for their activism labeled the policy as the president's excuse to implement Martial Law. They were also upset not to hear an address on the medical approach. They then gathered in public places and voice out their message amid the COVID-19 threat. The Kabataan Partylist and their supporters with their deemed slogan "Aksyong Medikal, Hindi Militar" cause outrage among the Filipino netizens amplified by the trolls. The most popular argument bestowed and used by the trolls and their followers are;
- "Pinag-aral kayo pero napaka bobo niyo"
- "Ayan ang mahirap kapag sumobra sa talino, nagiging bobo"
- "Puro kayo reklamo, ano bang ambag niyo sa bansa?"
- "Di na lang kayo sumunod sa Gobyerno. Ang titigas ng ulo niyo"
- "Anong gusto niyo? Mga doktor at nars ang nasa checkpoint? Mga bobo ba kayo?"
- "Mga feeling woke, manahimik kayo sa bahay niyo"
- "Ito ba ang kabataan? Ang pag-asa ng bayan? Mga bobo"
. . . and countless posts of how "bobo" they are. ( I don't know if Atty. Larry Gadon deserves blame for this.) These are just a fraction of hate collated, but these prove the point. Maybe, the slogan is misleading. They should have changed it to "Solusyon Medikal, Huwag Puro Militar", so these ignoramuses would clearly understand the point. The main problem of language as usual. Logical fallacies are unknown to the trolls.
When I was in elementary, I was stupid. When I entered High School, I was also stupid. I don't even know what am I doing those days. Don't know, don't care. Unlike my two brothers, they were both active in their academics and extracurricular activities, receiving countless recognitions. I can still remember how my teachers and my parents have constantly reminded me to study hard.
"Mag-aral kayo nang mabuti at nang mamulat kayo sa reyalidad ng ating lipunan. Sabi nga ng ating pambansang bayani na si Dr. Jose Rizal - "Ang kabataan ang pag-asa ng ating bayan."
So did I. I finished my degree in education with honors. With the help of my teachers and myself, I was enlightened not just in politics, but also in religion. I became an atheist and continue to question things, always curious, finding answers. I also became engaged in politics, actively commenting on the things I find irrelevant and problematic. My father - and most of my family members - are disappointed with what I have become, especially in my religious beliefs. My Papa Jojo and my Tito Happy often label me as "AntiChrist" or "Satanista". I don't really know if they understand the essence of being an antichrist, but I am not. I am just simply an atheist who lacks belief in God, but that doesn't mean I worship the devil since I don't also believe in one. When we also talk about politics, especially Marcos, things escalate. If they don't have an argument left to reply, they will just simply address "Mga bobo, wala kayong alam" or "Sa sobrang talino, nabaliw na kayo". At this point, I still don't understand the reason to encourage someone to study hard, gather knowledge, and be critical if in the end, society will just want the youth to end up believing what they already believe.
To simply address, these trolls have debilitated the power of intellectual debate. These trolls often see buffoonery as a valid way to prove their point. "Mukha kasing tama yung argumento kapag nakakatawa", as to how I usually point it. Filipinos fear debate or argument, seeing these platforms as unnecessary. They often think that debate is all about shouting, cursing, hate speech, and all. And I think this kind of mindset has something to do with the trolling they see online. This can be noticed not just in political terms, but also in religious terms. Take the "Catholic Vs INC debate" group in Facebook for example. These types of trolls can easily condition the mind of their mindless followers to patronize the performance of being a clown. Trolling never resolves an issue because of its innate intent. Intellectual debate, on the other hand, tells you to examine your existing beliefs or your political ideologies. To listen and to be critical, to consider and be vocal, to prove your points intellectually, and part ways with fundamentalism and fanaticism. In philosophy, there are two things you need to ingest when engaging in such a conference; (1) Understanding the argument (2) Critical evaluation.
To be fair, both parties have made their faulty language. Remember when Phillip Salvador publicly stated "Para sa mga bumabatikos sa ating presidente. . . Mamatay na kayong lahat." I wonder if he can tell that to all contractual employee who earns minimum wage and continuously suffer from exploitation. I wonder if he can tell that to all untested PUI and PUM of COVID-19. On the other hand, the opposition labeled the DDS (Diehard Duterte Supporters) as Dutertard (Retarded Duterte Supporters) Sadly, once a person is labeled a Dutertard or a troll, then that person is put “beyond the pale” (Fuller et al 2013, 1). The deceptive outcome of this is that some areas use this label as
a reassertion of the “table manners” of liberal civility; like any such insistence, it can be a way of forestalling political demands made outside the current limits of acceptability in political contention. It can also be used to redefine these demands as so much unintelligible noise. (ibid.)
Simply put, labeling those who do not agree with us as trolls, is saying that they are not worth engaging, barring the chance of a meaningful dialogue. We need to see that there are people who occupy the gray area between professional trolls and real individuals expressing their own political beliefs in ways that might seem to troll.
Also, what's making things so complicated is the baggage we carry together with the label we assign to ourselves. For instance, if you are a supporter of Duterte, all the common characteristics of your fellow supporters such as being a troll will assumably be assigned to you in which you are not. Same for organizations that actively criticize the current administration, they are generalized as being Dilawan in which they are not. We need to direct our attack to the ideas, not to the person since this will only lead to hate and more conflicts. Seriously, this nation needs to be educated with logical fallacies.
Activism - especially political - is a huge contribution to the development of a country. However, some organizations are misguided on executing such a platform that mostly led to generalization. You can see protests that often lead to violence, which then people think of protest as violent, cruel, and bloody. “Nonviolence is an intensely active force when properly understood and used.” as to how Mohandas Gandhi puts it. They might argue that being aggressive in protests is more effective. Yes, and I couldn't agree more, however, the protest itself will be non-sense if executing it properly will lead to the same outcome. Take The Salt March for example, during the transition between the wet to dry season of 1930, Mahatma (Mohandas) Gandhi led a peaceful protest against Britain’s inflicted law decreeing no Indian could collect or sell salt in the country. Followed by dozens, Gandhi walked over 240 miles leading protesters to the Arabian Sea to pick up a small handful of salt out of the muddy waters of the sea. Seventeen years later, after this peaceful yet defiant act, India gained independence from Britain. The Suffrage Parade with the message “To ask for freedom is not a crime,” still holds true today. Peaceful protests like the 1913 Suffrage Parade shared the voices of over 5,000 courageous women speaking out for the right to equal political participation. This protest can remind us of peaceful acts to have the power to change the system. The 1960 Delano Grape Boycott, the 1956 Montgomery Bus Boycott, the 1988 Singing Revolution, and many more, all led to successful social and political development. Activism is indeed a fruitful contribution, especially when done by the youth. Christian Ralf Dugan - an aspiring photojournalist - simply says, "How does ranting and calling out incompetence and insensitivity on social media actually contribute? The more we do so, the more we compel the government and other institutions to take immediate action. We must not settle for bare-minimum policies and orders, because this is a matter of life and death." You might want to read his full essay on this, click here. So yes, guided activism in all aspects is a noble contribution to the development of society.
We need to revert our energy to the things that matter. We also need to step away from the mobs. "To consort with the crowd is harmful; there is no person who does not make some vice attractive to us, or stamp it upon us, or taint us unconsciously therewith. Certainly, the greater the mob with which we mingle, the greater the danger." - Seneca. We need to think independently and be tolerant. Freedom of speech doesn't mean freedom from criticism. We have decided to part ways in being submissive since Dr. Jose Rizal wrote his notorious Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, since Andres Bonifacio decided to step up with years of suppression when we learned to voice out independence among foreign nations. Dr. Jose Rizal will not be taken seriously if the two great novels were full of trolling saying "Bobo" or "Tanga" all the time. Our heroes will be more ineffective if they surf the mob and base their arguments on populism. Remember that just because an idea is held by the majority doesn't make it correct. Lastly, we are all entitled to our opinion, despite our freedom to express we must also first do our research.
Sources;
Almario-Gonzales, Chi. 2017. “Unmasking the trolls: Spin masters behind fake accounts, news sites.”
Cabanes JVA and Cornelio JS (2017) “The rise of trolls in the Philippines (and what we can do about it)”. http://newtontechfordev.com/rise-trolls-philippines-can/
Christian Ralf Dugan, 2020, [OPINION] 'Ano bang ambag mo?': An ethical dilemma in the middle of a pandemic
Five Peaceful Protests That Led To Social & Political Changes
Fuller, Glen, Christian McCrea, and Jason Wilson. 2013. "Troll Theory?"
The Fibreculture Journal 22:1-14
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