John and Mocha

SOON after the January 30 Senate hearing on “fake news,” DDS Facebook Pages spread a spliced video showing some of my remarks, and tried to paint me as a peddler of “fake news.” Even Assistant Secretary Mocha Uson posted a slick video with the same desired effect.

But in the same manner that similar concocted stories like Lenileaks and Cocoygate flopped, so did their spliced videos about me. It didn’t land in the news because the journalists and the public who followed and watched the hearing could not reconcile Uson’s special video with what actually transpired in the hearing.

Any journalist or impartial observer would have remembered the main points I shared – that “fake news” is mainly a political tool and therefore a political problem, and that the senators witnessed an orgy of living examples from the Palace spin masters present. For instance, I inquired from Senator Grace Poe whether an undersecretary’s naked lie that Vice President Leni Robredo was the worst peddler of fake news was an official administration position.

I remembered this last Tuesday when a columnist-editor of another newspaper accused me in a column of allegedly attacking a Duterte critic based on heavily redacted version of a Twitter thread I tweeted last Black Saturday.

Read the Twitter thread here: http://bit.ly/blksabado

Based solely on this thread, the columnist went on to argue that “it struck me as representative of how the national-democratic influencers conduct themselves online and off, and why opposition unity remains a serious problem.”

I was stunned because I only have one daddy and his name is Rodolfo. He’s the only one who I get pointers from about how to conduct myself as a person. I was also shocked because I somehow expected more from someone who preached against disinformation in a democracy.

It would have been different had the columnist-editor defended Tess Garcia’s tweets on the term “USDuterte regime.” But the columnisteditor — known for his anti-left views whether in politics or history — aimed low. If Garcia thought the columnist was defending her, she should read the article again. He used her only to drumbeat his anti-left interpretation of politics based mainly on disinformation.

Leaders of Bayan, Makabayan, and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines could defend themselves from the spin that they “enabled” Duterte’s tyranny.

I just wish to add that this Mochalike fabrication crumbles in the face of how Judy Taguiwalo disabled pork barrel patronage and incompetence in DSWD, how Rafael Mariano disabled landlord domination in DAR, how activists mounted the broad Luneta rally against the Marcos burial, how Makabayan solons chose to be ousted from chairmanships rather than vote for the death penalty. The public record is rich — very rich actually — with activist denunciations, protest actions, Lakbayans, walkouts, and other acts of resistance. In fact, scores of activists have been extrajudicially executed too or tagged as terrorists because they constitute a threat to the regime.

“Enabling Duterte” seems a special propaganda tactic used by fans of traditional politicians and Big Business to demonise and disenfranchise activists. They don’t dare use the phrase on oligarchs still fawning over Duterte or others who accepted cabinet posts at the start of the regime or joined the majority coalitions in Congress until they were eased out or ousted.

Like many, I also don’t regret that I applauded the appointments of Vice President Leni Robredo, Gina Lopez, Taguiwalo, and Mariano. Those were signs of cooperation and critical collaboration which the public demanded at that time. The public appreciated that they became arguably the best and brightest because they promoted radical reforms. They provided a counter-balance to the worst in the Duterte cabinet. If people were genuinely sad that they were eased out, how can they now be accused of “enabling” a tyranny which viewed them as threats?

The columnist alleges “the national democrats as a whole remain unable to generate trust from other, more established Dutertismo resisters” and asks “Do they think they can do it all on their own?”

Whether it is about the jeepney phaseout, homelessness, Lumad killings, tax hikes, and other acts of tyranny, the left always sought public support and allies from across the political spectrum.

On Monday, Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno will lead special Araw ng Kagitingan awardees in an event coorganized by a rainbow of formations: Ladies Who Launch, Coalition Against Darkness and Dictatorship, the media and arts alliance Let’s Organize for Democracy and Integrity (LODI), and Movement Against Tyranny (MAT), the broad alliance which the national democrats helped initiate.

Last year, when the nation marked the anniversary of Marcos’ martial law, MAT mounted a broad rally at the Luneta and attracted a multicolor array of speakers and performers who defied both the rain and the “fake news” of leftist bomb threats. That was the rally where a star-studded chorale sang “Di Niyo Ba Naririnig,” the Filipino version of the famous Les Miserables anthem.

On a personal note, Noemi Lardizabal Dado and I worked to have dozens of fellow bloggers collaborate on the statement titled “Bloggers for Freedom.” That would not have materialized if I was a pariah and had other negatives imagined by professional anti-left folks we activists supposedly have.

The last time I spoke with the columnist-editor was at the Black Friday protest last January 19 at the Boy Scout monument. LODI and the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines spearheaded it, with the eager participation from most of the major media organizations. Cause-oriented groups were also there expressing their solidarity with warm bodies. When I saw him, I immediately greeted and thanked him for coming, and asked if he wished to speak. The program was flexible and we were accommodating leaders of Philippine media.

He declined.