The only thing we have to fear is fear itself, along with a couple of Valentine’s Day movies. But can you really blame us? These days, you can’t ride a bus on Edsa without getting paranoid about being blown to smithereens. You can’t stop at a red light without fear of someone suddenly pointing a gun to your head. You can’t park in front of your own house without worrying that your car might vanish in thin air. You can’t elect a congressman and not think that he might be snorting cocaine. You can’t turn on the TV and not look at the Ombudsman without wanting to punch the damn screen. But we digress.
Philippine society is more than just a police report headline on a tabloid. But media splashes blood on our consciousness so persistently we can’t help but cower in absolute terror. You’d think this was Iraq or Afghanistan.
“Dog bites man” is not news. But “man bites dog” is news. Although on this side of the world, “man bites and eats dog” is nothing surreal. It is a culinary fact—an experience made even more delightful with ginger and gin (A practice I condemn, by the way). But what if the “man bites dog” part becomes an ordinary everyday thing? That’s essentially the story of Philippine society for the past few decades. The one H and five W’s (who, why, what, where, what-the-fuck) no longer suffice. In these times of ten thousand cable news programs clawing for your attention, there must be dramatic scoring and special bumpers and title cards replete with hysterical graphics. Crime reports and bizarre features get more mileage than politics. I remember seeing—gasp!—business reports on primetime news back in the ‘80s. Now you won’t see any numbers and charts on these programs unless it deals with prices of pan de sal and jeepney fare. Or comparative boasting of ratings.
But in spite of all that puffing about public service, media is essentially business. For every show that features impoverished lepers and tuberculosis patients, there’s a one that highlights gruesome crimes and toothless cross-dressers slapping each other silly. Gnash your teeth and pull your hair all you want over the very, very, very late airing of the aptly titled late-night news, but it seems the majority of viewers want to see drama, gossip, and people winning a house and lot and a car all the way till midnight. This is an industry that gives the people what they want instead of what they need.
But anxiety and unease is exactly the intended effect of a terrorist act. The body count doesn’t matter. The goal is to inconvenience if not paralyze society as it goes about everyday living. This is manifested in little hassles like security guards poking into your bag with a stick and tenderly touching your butt, not to mention German shepherds sniffing your luggage. If you’ve ever tried carrying a wrapped gift on the MRT, you know what I mean.
