What’s in a clap?
Why are critics making much ado over Senator Risa Hontiveros’ refusal to applaud when President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. was introduced before he started his first State of the Nation Address (SoNA) last Monday?
Netizens couldn’t help but notice when short clips from the SoNA livestream showed the lady solon just standing straight, arms on her side, while everybody else was applauding the entry of the President.
Some were quick to denounce Hontiveros for her defiant stand being the only opposition lawmaker in the upper chamber dominated mostly by members of the super majority supportive of Marcos Jr.
When the 19th Congress opened last Monday, a new set of Senate leaders were elected. Hontiveros was announced as one of only two Senate minority members along with designated Minority Leader Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III.
Some have said that clapping is like high-fiving yourself as a positive response to something that someone else has done. It is the most common sound that we, as humans, use without our vocal chords.
We do it as a social gesture to show approval and admiration in groups, crowds, or by ourselves, and more so in the setting of being presented with something like a show or performance. But what is the reason behind why we clap?
A study has shown that the clap of an individual actually has very little to do with his or her personal opinion of the quality of the performance. It has more to do with the feeling of belonging in the group that someone has just experienced something with.
Haven’t you ever heard someone say that they’re “Just clapping to be polite”? Or when you applaud because everyone else is clapping, even if you’re not really sure what’s going on yourself?
Whatever, Hontiveros’ one-woman stand during the SoNA was something that was sure to go viral, knowing social media’s propensity to make a mountain out of a molehill. It was there for everybody to see that defiance doesn’t have to be verbalized. It could also be in the form of nonconformity to established norms.
Is she being an iconoclast? A maverick? Counter-culture critic? Or simply a free spirit who doesn’t want to be bound by norms?
Interviewed much later, the lady senator said her refusal to clap doesn’t mean anything at all. In fact, she said she supports some of the plans mentioned by Marcos Jr., such as the mention of renewable energy sources and social protection for vulnerable sectors like solo parents.
However, she noted that many of the programs Marcos mentioned in the address were already being implemented. She also rejected Marcos’ call to institutionalize mandatory military training for students, saying this initiative has been proven to be “not optimal” for the youth.
She had hoped the President would mention anti-corruption measures following his announcement of big-ticket programs and projects that are prone to corruption.
“One concern, going forward, is that, because these are big-ticket programs, these have the potential to be subject to corruption that should be monitored. [I was hoping he would talk] about anti-corruption efforts given the history of plunder and graft and corruption in our country in the past decades,” Hontiveros said.
Hontiveros has always been known to be a dissenter, having criticized the administration of then president
Rodrigo Duterte on several occasions, including his fourth
SoNA, which she called State of China’s Affairs in the Philippines.
She accused the former president of lawyering for
Beijing rather than protecting the country’s territorial sovereignty.
Will the 19th Congress be kind to Hontiveros now that she’s once again on the minority side? The guess is she would continue to be essaying her role as an opposition stalwart in a venue dominated by a supermajority.
She has no choice. But she can also choose to applaud.
“Will the 19th Congress be kind to Hontiveros now that she’s once again on the minority side?
Hontiveros’ one-woman stand during the SoNA was something that was sure to go viral, knowing social media’s propensity to make a mountain out of a molehill.