By Herman M. Lagon There are moments in public life when a country does not know whether to laugh, cry or check the dictionary. Senator Robin Padilla’s latest “force majeure” moment gave us all three options. On paper, it was a question about whether international conflicts, natural disasters or national emergencies could justify remote voting …
Impulses
The ad hominem habit
By Herman M. Lagon There was a moment during the recent Senate tensions when the debate suddenly stopped being about rules, quorum, online voting, or constitutional procedure. It became about credentials. Senator Rodante Marcoleta, in the middle of a heated exchange with Senator Risa Hontiveros, remarked that discussions become difficult “kung wala tayong legal background …
The power of eleven
By Herman M. Lagon There was something almost cinematic about that Senate walkout last night. Not cinematic in the polished Netflix sense, but in the very Filipino way where tension, absurdity, humor, and constitutional crisis somehow end up sharing the same cramped jeepney ride. One moment, senators were debating a proposal to allow remote participation …
Silence is also political
By Herman M. Lagon There is a different kind of silence settling across many campuses lately. Not the calm silence before classes start. Not the sleepy quiet of libraries during finals week. This one feels heavier somehow. Election season comes, filing deadlines pass and suddenly everybody realizes there are barely enough students willing to run. …
Feeling it right: Empathy, sympathy, apathy
By Herman M. Lagon Knowing the difference between empathy, sympathy and apathy has quiet power. These three emotional reactions help us to respond to the suffering of others, particularly in close-knit Pinoy communities where shared burdens define relationships. Though they are similar, these emotions have rather different effects on our relationships. While empathy is walking …
Beyond ‘bobotante’
By Herman M. Lagon A few nights ago, I posted a question online that sounded half-sarcastic, half-exhausted: “What do you call a person who, after everything is said and done, will still vote for and defend the corrupt, the sloth, the gasbag, the inept, the vile, the crass, the trapo, the greedy, the prig, and/or …
Gaslighting the public: When narratives stop adding up
By Herman M. Lagon The strangest thing about last week’s Senate hullabaloo was not even the gunshots. Filipinos are no strangers to noisy politics and emotional press briefings. Still, what disturbed many people last week was not just the Senate shooting narrative itself, but the sense that the public was being asked to doubt its …
The right to speak
By Herman M. Lagon A public school teacher posts online about students squeezing themselves under a single electric fan during the peak of summer heat. A government nurse tweets about finishing another shift handling too many patients at once. A municipal employee quietly vents frustration over delayed salaries for job-order workers. Then somebody eventually comments: …
When emotion overrides reason in public debate
By Herman M. Lagon One quiet tragedy in today’s political culture is how difficult sensible disagreement has become online. Public discussions online have become harder to navigate because emotions now often overpower evidence. People who disagree are quickly labeled enemies, and thoughtful criticism is treated as personal hatred. What was once imagined as a democratic …
The viral Senate
By Herman M. Lagon What makes Philippine politics uniquely exhausting is that sometimes the punchline writes itself before critics even begin speaking. The recent Senate reshuffle following the takeover of the new majority under Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano gave Filipinos another season of what increasingly feels like political situational comedy. Robinhood “Robin” Padilla heading …