Last week President Duterte admitted that he cannot control the drug problem. Now he is repeating that admission seemingly to make him seem human after the recent spat of killings in the drug war. It's the admission of a mistake. And see how brave it makes Duterte because he is only human after all and it takes a real man to own up to his mistakes. Never mind that his whole campaign was built on the promise of ridding the Philippines of drugs.
“Nangako ako that I will do away with the shabu. Ngayon, alam ko na na hindi ito matutupad, na hindi talaga matapos ‘to (I promised that I will do away with shabu. Now I know it won’t be fulfilled, that this really will not end),” Duterte told soldiers in Marawi on Thursday afternoon.
But he vowed to pursue his campaign against drugs despite the seeming hopelessness of the effort.
What is the public supposed to do in the face of this admission? Duterte has broken his promise. Now what? Is it time for his ouster? Time for another revolution?
He appealed to the public that he be given another chance to work in the remaining five years of his administration to make life more comfortable for Filipinos.
Duterte admitted his administration is facing a host of problems, but he said with the cooperation of the people, it would be able to surmount all the challenges and make the country progressive.
Headlines ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1
“Pretend that I am doing well. Just give me the remaining years. Five years pa naman. And we will build a strong country and a strong Armed Forces and police,” he said.
The public is now supposed to ignore all the problems Duterte admits exists and the fact that he cannot make good on his keystone promise and simply pretend that everything is fine. As if pretending will make everything bad go away.
It's not as if this is an outrageous thing to ask. The entire nation is living in a pretend world. Pinoy pride infects everyone to the point that the state of the nation is exalted to such a degree that none of the Philippines' many faults are recognised and when those faults are pointed out the response is outrage that they have been revealed rather then introspection and a questioning of how to remedy those faults. Foreigners and natives both make excuses for the Philippines' many failings.
So let's play pretend.
Let's pretend the Philippines cares about the environment.
Let's pretend that when Duterte was mayor of Davao everyone was safe.
Let's pretend that Manny Pacquiao lost unfairly to Jeff Horn.
Let's pretend that Chidren are safe in the Philippines.
Let's pretend that anyone in the Philippines cares about the rule of law.
Let's pretend that banning smoking will make the air safer to breathe.
Let's pretend the peso is doing is doing fine and that any depreciation is wonderful.
Let's pretend that Filipinos are healthy and beautiful.
Let's pretend that the Philippines economy is booming!
This list could go on but let's end it with the most stunning game of pretend happening in the Philippines.
What is "Happyland?"
Happyland is literally built around a dump, or many dumps -- each day people wade through the rubbish looking for anything of value. Tons of chicken scraps are collected from takeaway's garbage bins then recycled by boiling. It's called 'pagpag', and it's sold to hungry families in the slums for a few pesos.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/ted-mcdonnell/poverty-malnutrition-and-disease-make-manilas-happyland-a-ve_a_23033108/
A deteriorating highly congested “refugee camp” surrounded by mini garbage dumpsites is now also known as “Happyland” — a name derived from the Visayan dialect’s name for smelly garbage: Hapilan.
http://www.rutialon.com/2013/02/philippines-happyland/
Happyland started as a toxic landfill called Hapilan, or "smelly garbage" in the local dialect, and was renamed by the locals in hope of better times. It's located about 20 minutes away from the capital city of Manila in the Philippines and photography is usually prohibited.
https://www.cnet.com/news/take-a-360-degree-virtual-journey-through-the-happyland-slum-in-the-philippines/
These people with no hope are living, eating, and playing in a literal garbage dump and with a linguist sleight of hand this awful shambles which should not exist is magically transformed into "Happyland" "in hope of better times." And despite the name change they are still dining on garbage scavenged from the rubbish which is then sold to them to eat.
In "Happyland" they are paying to eat garbage!
Such is the false magic of pretend and such is the game that Duterte is asking the public to play.
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