Noynoy Aquino’s alleged Autism and Manny Villar’s handicap
The blogosphere and mainstream Filipino media is currently abuzz with allegations regarding NoyNoy’s alleged boyhood autism.
We disagree with Efren Montano’s conclusion about NoyNoy’s alleged AUTISM: “SENATOR Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino’s skeletons in the closet will be his waterloo at the day of reckoning in the 2010 elections” … Instead of “weakening” Aquino this “realization” will only strengthen him.
Strength among financiers
(sarcasm) Monopoly-based NoyNoy supporting clans and other entrenched interests with an alleged vested interest in maintaining the economic status quo (but not the political status quo) should REJOICE at this news. What luck–a semi-autistic president that is easy to influence and manipulate? Oh boy, Machiavelli should be rubbing his hands with glee right now–sadly, he’s in Hell.
Sarcasm aside, there is a kernel of truth there. Whoever the real corporate/vested interest backers of NoyNoy are, the last thing spurned backers or backers who want to maintain their influence wants is a WILY SURVIVOR like GMA. They want someone moldable. They want someone they can easily influence. Allegations of autism fit this bill.
Strength among voters
If you want Pinoy sympathy, assume the role of the victim. For good or bad, many Pinoys love to see themselves, either outright or through implication, as victims. Whether victims of the rich (their poverty resulting from some zero-sum game maneuver by the better off part of the economy), victims of nature (although living in flood plains or in unstable landslide prone areas could arguably have been avoided with better planning) or just by bad luck in general. Hence, they would normally gravitate towards someone that they can empathize with. Compare that to the message Villar’s subtext poses–he was once poor but became very rich. Obvious message: anyone can rise above. This isn’t exactly welcome news to a society that lionizes victimhood and where excuses for failure are very common. Subtext message: Villar rose from grinding poverty why didn’t the people around him do the same. This is the deal killer for many of the electorate. It’s bad enough that they can’t empathize with Villar’s rise from poverty it is rubbing salt in their (mental) wounds to deduce that Villar’s rise is from his own personal efforts. The latter is painful to realize because it shines an unflattering light on the efforts of the masses to lift themselves up from poverty.
Intrigues and public persona aside, Villar and Aquino signify two ideas that figure prominently in the Filipino political imagination–the Self-Made Man and the Fortunate Son. It is easier to identify with the fortunate son, specially if he has a (it is claimed) a handicap since the source of his fortune is not of his own choosing or making. His handicap is a mere bonus since a people with a VICTIMHOOD MENTALITY will find it easier to identify with him because he was BORN RICH. There’s no more distasteful and unflattering realization that everyone born poor can, with faith, effort, planning, and risktaking, make it … and in Villar’s case, make it BIG. Villar, the Self-Made Man rising in a country that perceives itself as a country of Fate-Made Men has a tougher climb.
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