Show business personalities are using their popularity to push for the candidacy of Vice President Leni Robredo and her runningmate Senator Kiko Pangilinan. The narrative is decency or the lack of it in the present administration.
First and foremost, President Rodrigo Duterte himself is not a candidate here so any reference to him as compared to the Robredo presidential bid is of no moment. So if an actress like Pangilinan’s wife Sharon Cuneta, no matter how popular she is, brings the narrative of decency to the table based on personal judgment is out of the question. Rodrigo Duterte, the outgoing chief executive, is not the candidate.
The narative of blaming lack of decency to one side of the political fence is also a biased perception it being, again, personal. Decency or the lack of it cannot be subjective. It also is not a monopoly of one side. If perceptions are based on social media, decency or the lack of it is universal. Both sides can go the extremes in the height of arguments. Yes, even show business personalities. Mouthing unprintables on social media is just as indecent as an actor playing his private on video. Decency? It’s a universal thing. It is not the sole property of a particular class.
And while the narrative is drawn towards decency–foul mouthed and all–people should be reminded that politics is not just about decency. Above all, it’s performance. It’s the delivery of services to the people. Now, if one actress will say that this current government is not doing its job, she needs to contradict the dominant numbers based on actual pulse surveys that say otherwise.
Numbers are the hardest to beat. They tell the story.
Performance is about numbers. Roads, bridges, electrification, environment management, criminality, illegal drugs, even corruption, is all about numbers. Whether or not you prove it, numbers will point to one thing–measurable performance outweighs the intangible values like decency.
