Trust Filipinos to find something funny in the midst of Gloriagate, the scandal involving the wiretapped conversations between someone who sounds like the President and someone who, according to some COMELEC people, is COMELEC Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano.
Since the scandal broke, anti-GMA text jokes and the "Hello Garci" ringtone have made the rounds of the Texting Capital of the World. (The "Hello Garci" ringtone is so popular that the site that offered it-- txtpower.org-- crashed because of the thousands of people who wanted to download it.) Among the best-selling CDs now being peddled on the streets of Manila is a copy of the alleged GMA-Garci tapes on CD.
However, the people in Malacañang don't find this funny. The Philippine Daily Inquirer reports:
Malacañang is taking seriously all anti-Arroyo text rumors, text jokes, the peddling of CD copies of the Gloria-Garci audio tape, the wildly popular "Hello Garci" ring tone, and the Internet Web journals or blogs that have become the medium for political dissent by tech-savvy Filipinos.
Since the scandal broke, anti-GMA text jokes and the "Hello Garci" ringtone have made the rounds of the Texting Capital of the World. (The "Hello Garci" ringtone is so popular that the site that offered it-- txtpower.org-- crashed because of the thousands of people who wanted to download it.) Among the best-selling CDs now being peddled on the streets of Manila is a copy of the alleged GMA-Garci tapes on CD.
However, the people in Malacañang don't find this funny. The Philippine Daily Inquirer reports:
Malacañang is taking seriously all anti-Arroyo text rumors, text jokes, the peddling of CD copies of the Gloria-Garci audio tape, the wildly popular "Hello Garci" ring tone, and the Internet Web journals or blogs that have become the medium for political dissent by tech-savvy Filipinos.
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"While these text messages are sometimes illogical, these are being done to create doubt or confusion in the minds of the people," Bunye said, asking texters, bloggers and CD pirates to "stop all the intrigues."
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye adds that all these text messages and "other modes of disinformation" reach Malacañang, and they're "not taking them lightly."
I guess sometime in the last week Bunye lost his sense of humor. I don't blame him. The prospect of unemployment can do that to you.
Anyway, my word of advice to Bunye, et al.? Lighten up, and just do your friggin' jobs.
Just because a lot of people are getting a kick out of the whole GMA-Garci episode doesn't mean they want to kick you out. As for his plea for texters, bloggers, and CD pirates to "stop all the intrigues," here's what I think.
One, I hardly think forwarding a text joke-- even one political in nature-- qualifies as sowing intrigue. People find the jokes funny. And with all the crap we have to deal with, a good laugh-- at the expense of the President, or not-- is a welcome reprieve from the dreariness that is Life in the Philippines.
Two, I disagree that the discussion of any political issue on the internet-- this one, in particular-- contributes to political instability. Sure, the internet can be a source of innuendo and unintelligent opinion-- but so are our national dailies. You want intelligent, objective commentary? You read blogs, not the columns of these so-called opinion makers in our broadsheets-- who pass opinion for fact, don't even cite their sources properly, and sometimes twist the truth to suit their politics and personal agendas.
Three, I don't think those selling copies of GMA's wiretapped conversations contribute to creating "doubt and confusion in the minds of the people." The Administration is doing a great job at this on their own. Some of the President's men say that it's her on the tape, but it's been spliced. Others claim that it's not her, but some impersonator. Ano ba talaga? (What is it, really?)
If they want people to stop poking fun at GMA and this Administration, then they better get their act together, stop fooling around, and focus on ways to improve the lives of our people.
Because that is not a laughing matter.
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye adds that all these text messages and "other modes of disinformation" reach Malacañang, and they're "not taking them lightly."
I guess sometime in the last week Bunye lost his sense of humor. I don't blame him. The prospect of unemployment can do that to you.
Anyway, my word of advice to Bunye, et al.? Lighten up, and just do your friggin' jobs.
Just because a lot of people are getting a kick out of the whole GMA-Garci episode doesn't mean they want to kick you out. As for his plea for texters, bloggers, and CD pirates to "stop all the intrigues," here's what I think.
One, I hardly think forwarding a text joke-- even one political in nature-- qualifies as sowing intrigue. People find the jokes funny. And with all the crap we have to deal with, a good laugh-- at the expense of the President, or not-- is a welcome reprieve from the dreariness that is Life in the Philippines.
Two, I disagree that the discussion of any political issue on the internet-- this one, in particular-- contributes to political instability. Sure, the internet can be a source of innuendo and unintelligent opinion-- but so are our national dailies. You want intelligent, objective commentary? You read blogs, not the columns of these so-called opinion makers in our broadsheets-- who pass opinion for fact, don't even cite their sources properly, and sometimes twist the truth to suit their politics and personal agendas.
Three, I don't think those selling copies of GMA's wiretapped conversations contribute to creating "doubt and confusion in the minds of the people." The Administration is doing a great job at this on their own. Some of the President's men say that it's her on the tape, but it's been spliced. Others claim that it's not her, but some impersonator. Ano ba talaga? (What is it, really?)
If they want people to stop poking fun at GMA and this Administration, then they better get their act together, stop fooling around, and focus on ways to improve the lives of our people.
Because that is not a laughing matter.
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