THERE are only a few things that the natives of these islands are rabidly passionate about to the point of actually going berserk when they lose or someone disagrees with their point of view (often times both) and they are:
* politics – meaning elections both local and national
* beauty contests/pageants – also both local, national and international
* basketball – particularly the Philippine Basketball Association or PBA
* boxing – only when it involves Manny Pacquiao
* religion – only when it is profitable and convenient
* social media, particularly Facebook
All of the above make up the psyche of the “modern Filipino” and these are the things that he/she lives for and gives meaning to an otherwise completely boring and useless existence.
Also, all of the above are intertwined that the “modern Filipino” lives and breathes them, sometimes unconsciously without even making an effort i.e. he has no job, he blames the government (politics); a love one dies, he blames God (religion); he sees a pretty face and he remarks “uy, pang-Miss Universe ang beauty” (beauty pageants) and his daily life is all documented in Facebook from his cheap meal in Jollibee to his first Frappuccino in Starbucks with matching “selfies” of course.
Take note that when I say “modern Filipino” I meant not only “everyman” or the average Filipino on the streets; it also includes most particularly the trendy social climbers and the so-called millennials.
Of course, there are exceptions. But they are few and far between and these non-conformists usually prefer football/soccer over basketball, read books by Albert Camus, Jessica Hagedorn and Aries Rufo, watch films by Ridley Scott or Luc Besson, listen to Pink Floyd, David Bowie and Grace Nono, swear on William Strunk Jr.’s “Elements of Style”, a vegetarian, and advocates for the legalization of marijuana.
For these singular individuals, remnants from the “Age of Aquarius”, life does not evolve around “politics” and “beauty contests” but on more transcendental pursuits i.e. “getting high and getting laid.”
And let’s talk about what makes the Filipino psyche but first for the uninitiated:
Psyche – Another word for the place where your thoughts come from is your psyche. Not your actual brain, but whatever it is that generates all of your thoughts and emotions. Psyche comes from the Greek psykhe, which means “the soul, mind, spirit, or invisible animating entity which occupies the physical body.”
Politics, the midterm local and national elections, are done and dusted. We already have winners (proclaimed) and losers. Normally – and I use that word loosely – most people move on and get on with their lives but not with the Filipino; he just cannot move on, particularly the losers. They cannot accept defeat.
The usual and boring whining is that they were cheated. Yup this is the Philippines. In any contest, particularly elections, nobody loses; they were all cheated.
Quite simple really, if you say you were cheated then you have not or cannot protect your votes. You have the temerity to be a mayor, congressman, governor or senator and yet you can’t even protect your votes? How do you expect to serve the people? Cheated or not, you still lose.
The most plausible explanation why you lost is that the voters preferred someone else and not you.
As an example, that utterly ridiculous wannabe senator Neri Colmenares. He has been flooding social media with announcements that he will not concede; he lost but was cheated.
Yeah right, did you really expect that you will win? First-timer Jiggy Manicad has more votes than you!
If indeed there was cheating it will be a complete waste of resources to cheat on you as you will lose anyway. One on one with Mel Carreon and he will beat you by a mile.
And that’s the Filipino psyche at work; they just cannot accept the fact that people prefer someone else other than them.
Instead of accepting and learning from the fact that you failed then move on and strive to do better and win the next time around, they make all sorts of excuses and justifications why they lost and dwell on it playing the much abused “victim card.”
Everytime Gilas Pilipinas or the men’s national basketball team loses in an international competition (which is inevitable considering the height and skills handicap) the sorry consuelo de bobo is “puso” whatever that means.
The last time a contestant from France won the Miss Universe beauty pageant it made the headlines in almost all the major newspapers in the Philippines while in France, the home country of the Miss Universe winner, it didn’t even make the headlines. It was mentioned in a small item somewhere in the inside pages.
That just goes to show the utter stupidity of the importance the natives of these islands give on utterly stupid beauty contests.
Meanwhile when France won FIFA World Cup 2018 it made all the headlines, prime TV not only in France but the whole world and they’re still talking about it now.
It’s only in the Philippines where the natives are obsessed with beauty contests/pageants. Name any occasion from barangay to town fiestas and there will always be beauty contests.
From Miss Gay to Miss PNP I’ll be surprised if there is no Miss Sepulturero.
This preoccupation with getting approval that they’re beautiful just shows a damaged and shallow if not empty psyche with almost no self-esteem so much so that they need other people’s approval that they’re beautiful… pathetic indeed. (brotherlouie16@gmail.com/PN)
