A different end game

We need a branding campaign to boost the nation's identity, Communications Secretary Martin Andanar declared. Exactly what he meant by "nation's identity," I don't know, and that in itself is a serious concern.

But the truth is, they've been engaged in that campaign for a while now. Rodrigo Duterte clinching the presidency is a result of cunning, if morally questionable, branding. Or propaganda, it's a very thin line.

The Product: Duterte

The Branding Journal (www.thebrandingjournal.com) says, “Broadly, a product is anything that can be offered to a market to satisfy a want or need, including physical goods, services, experiences, events, persons, places, properties, organizations, information, and ideas” (Kotler & Keller, 2015).

The product was a tough guy whose claim to fame or infamy was ridding the streets of Davao City of petty criminals allegedly, or perhaps quite obviously, through extra-judicial means. The product had so many features, and each one could be viewed in more ways than one. For example, the product could be a mayor willing to do whatever it takes to go after criminals, or a thug that has little or no regard for the law.

The product brought peace, order and progress to a city. The product is an offensive, insensitive, tactless, rude, crude, misogynistic sociopath.

The product needed polishing, it needed branding.

The Brand: The Messiah with a clenched fist

“A brand is a name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller’s good or service as distinct from those of other sellers” (American Marketing Association).

Change is coming, the slogan went. The branding campaign went into overdrive in the last few months of 2015. At around that time, while the country wasn't perfect, it was making headlines all over the world for having one of the soundest economic policies in the world, for jailing three senators for plunder, etc. A tough-guy had no place in that current picture, a new picture had to be drawn where the product, a killing machine, could be of use at all. Corruption can't be the main campaign line - politicians, corrupt or otherwise, can fight back. Kidnappers and the criminal activity was so 1999. Guns do not solve poverty... but wait...

Speaking of poor people... 

They've got a product but there was no real need for it. The need has to be created. Drugs... we're a country that's drug-infested. Oh, we're not? But that's because the current administration then was glossing over the problem. The branding can bloat the numbers, one, two three million maybe more Filipinos are drug addicts. Drug addiction equals unthinkably heinous crimes (although the plunder of untold billions of pesos from the nation's coffers remains, in my book, as the most heinous crime ever committed against us). You get rid of the drug addicts, you get rid of crime, just like Davao. Never mind that the peso is at its strongest, jobs are pouring in, more and more Filipinos are enjoying unprecedented opportunities to move forward in life. Everybody hates, or at least looks down on or couldn't care less about drug-addicts. Drug addicts don't like drug addicts. That's a portrait that needed to be painted - not of the Filipino with a brighter future ahead, but of the drug-dependent who steals, murders, rapes.

Who will believe that? Let's see...

Float the idea on social media, using the same formula that made Eat Bulaga and Willy Revillame endure and stay relevant - inanity and vulgarity, but entertaining.

Why not on mass media? Because it remains a mainly one-way communication stream, let's engage the market in a real-time conversation and focus our energy and resources on social media. And just like the salacious Hayden Kho videos, the idea did easily spread all over social media like wild fire, and soon the mainstream media had no other choice but to join the bandwagon. From being Asia's strongest economy, we have become a drug-infested country, and in that picture, the product Duterte, that clenched fist pointed at you, fits perfectly.

And the product has by the latter part of 2015 become relevant.

"Paano kong manalo? - Dolphy"

Is he really running or not? For weeks, nobody knew for sure, but looking back at how things played out the Duterte camp knew. But to further engage the audience, another element was added: suspense. After withdrawing his candidacy for Mayor and eventually submitting his Certificate of Candidacy for president, the questions surrounding his candidacy just added to the tension that gripped his avid supporters. It wasn't final yet, a petition was filed questioning the move and Comelec had yet to validate his candidacy, to which the product said: "I really don't know why I was brought into this crossroad. Whatever decision that Comelec [makes] about my candidacy, I will accept it." That was probably the last time I saw any hint of humility, or respect, in this product.

Comelec upheld its validity. The branding was working it's now time to take it to the next level.

The snowball effect was dizzying, but not totally unexpected. His supporters were intoxicated, much like throngs who line up for massacre and pito-pito movies, by promises of a bloodbath, foul language, misogyny that at one point one would think went way too far when he seemed to have implied that while looking at the cadaver of a woman who was brutally gang-raped, tortured and killed, he rued not being the first to sexually assault her. But just like a drunk emboldened by alcohol in his system or an addict under the influence of drugs, the throngs seemed to have lost their mind, or at least their sense morality, or decency or self-respect, even - that remark by the product earned applause from both men and women, and children, in the live audience and shared and defended on the internet.

Still, I kept an eye out for a glimmer of hope, a hint of a good plan for the country and its people. But he stuck to the script - kill. To other issues, he only had amusing one-liners such as the promise to "ride a jet ski while bringing the Philippine flag" when asked about his stand on our territorial dispute with China. He later dismissed the quip as a joke.

But the remark he made about wishing he was the first in line in the gang rape of Australian lay missioner Jaqueline Hamill? If ever I entertained thoughts of actually voting for this product, after that remark, my mind was made up.

The product's rise was not lost on political opportunists, and soon the dogs, eyes filled with lust, panting with their tongues hanging out, were flocking to his side some got in easily simply by ass-licking, but others, especially those with a bigger agenda, say those who did not relish the idea of carrying a surname that is synonymous with tyranny and corruption, may have had to do and offer more to the altar of Duterte.

Tapos na ang boksing

Even before the official campaign period started, it seemed like it was a done deal, Duterte was the next in line for Malacanang. What started out as a showdown between Roxas and Binay and became a three-way race when Poe jumped in was now becoming a no-contest. Mainstream media seemed to be simply echoing what was going on social media which was flooded with Dutertisms and fake news which worked like a charm for the product. Surveys showed the product pulling away from the rest of the pack.

His running mate, an erstwhile vice presidential hopeful with no president, was Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, although that didn't seem to be case on the campaign trail.

The product didn't see anything wrong with proclaiming his true choice for the vice presidency: Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr., son of the ousted dictator whose name he shares, a senator with a plunder charge hanging over his head and a name that needed re-branding badly. It was appalling to watch Cayetano simply swallowing all that in-your-face humiliation, but even he knew that he had a sure winner as an official running mate that even if there was no way he would win the vice presidency, his political future was assured.

Looking back, the official Duterte-Cayetano ticket worked in favor of Robredo though I think that had Marcos officially run with Duterte, had he been seen hand in hand on stage with the product, he would have edged Robredo. But perhaps running under the party that played a significant role in the ouster of his father would have been too much, or too crass.

Even if Marcos has won as senator in the previous national election, I thought he had no chance at winning the vice presidency. But the main product's popularity and acceptability seemed to have rubbed off on him, and towards the homestretch he was neck and neck with administration candidate Lenny Robredo, who eventually won with a mere two hundred thousand votes or so, which is not the subject of an ongoing electoral protest filed by Marcos.

Up until election day, though, I still had no idea what Duterte's agenda was. FVR envisioned a newly industrialized country with Pilipinas 2000, PNoy a clean, honorable, decent and dignified government with Tuwid na Daan, even Marcos had Bagong Lipunan... so other than dead drug offenders in the streets, what bigger picture of the Philippines was on his mind? Which leads me to think that it's not about the country and serving the people, this product is just about power.

Step 1 - the war on drugs

I think even some of his most avid supporters were shocked by the manner in which this war was launched: just days after being sworn in, the killings started. They fell like flies, mostly poor people, some suspected drug offenders, most accused of resisting arrest and fighting back, others totally innocent people, many of them minors, in cases of mistaken identity or just being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

It felt as if police districts were acting like jeepney drivers eager or even forced to take in as many passengers as possible in order to survive that it didn't matter if they were picking up passengers within prohibited zones, just that in their case, they weren't after passengers, they needed bodies, dead bodies.

The product was not interested in arresting and prosecuting drug offenders, it needed dead bodies - one, to satisfy his supporters' bloodlust, who weren't acting differently from addicts only they have become addicted to images of dead people covered in newspapers with a sign that says they're guilty simply because the one who pulled the trigger said so. And two, to instill fear in the hearts of those who weren't part of the 16 million.

Dead bodies strengthened his hold on his supporters, dead bodies to make everybody else afraid. The stage is set.

Senator Leila De Lima of the Legislature, fierce critic of the product - jailed on questionable charges. Chief Justice Sereno of the Judiciary, Aquino appointee, is now being impeached. They're getting in the way of the product, who wants absolute power.

And Lenny Robredo? She's in the way of the Marcos agenda - re-branding of that name.

I grew up being taught that Ferdinand Marcos was a hero, the guy on posters, calendars, on the covers of textbooks, a huge bust along a mountain highway, etc. And that Martial Law and Bagong Lipunan brought peace and order and progress to this country. Even if the reality of a plundered nation a disenfranchised people and painted a different picture - the textbooks in our school told a different story. And when he was ousted, the changes were swift. By the time summer passed and classes started in the school-year 1986-87, history books talked about the martial law era differently already, and Marcos was re-cast as a villain, along with members of his family.

That's the Marcos agenda - to be able to rewrite history, their family's history in particular. Even without Malcanang, they have made great steps forward in that direction already through social media.

The end game...

The branding was a success - a need that wasn't there before was created and marketed well and the people bought it. But branding is a work in progress, for fads fade, tastes change, and a product needs to be reinvented and repackaged and re-branded all the time to keep the market satisfied.

And this is why Andanar's announcement is alarming. The branding only succeeded in getting the 16 million the buy the product, and I have yet to hear of a non-believer being converted, and out the 16 million, many have shown dissatisfaction with the product. He speaks of our "nation's identity," and that, to me, means the main product needs another to go with it, complement it, make each one indispensable to the other. You've had success selling green mangoes, so before they get tired the sourness, introduce the bagoong. They're about to launch a new product, a new brand.

Marcos's agenda is simple - revision. That's what the family's all about. Never mind that there are other ways to re-brand the Marcos name, they can begin by acknowledging the fact that martial law under Marcos' presidency saw the plunder of our poor nation, the unjustified killing and torture of thousands, and returning all ill-gotten wealth back to the people. They do that, and Marcos' descendants can be given the chance to start from scratch, a clean slate if you will. But no, that's beyond Imelda and her children who grew up believing the lies, and believing that the only way to clear their name is to cover its history with lies.

Duterte's end game is simple - power. That's what he's all about. He will wield it, get drunk in it, hold on to it for as long as he can, for it's his one addiction. Fame and fortune? Secondary, perhaps. He's not there for those. Love of country? Far from it,a Bonifacio or a Rizal he is not and will never be. He's all about power - and every time he gets to exercise that power with impunity - burying a dictator in hallowed grounds, sending a critic to jail, ousting a rival, killing innocents and getting away with it, he gets more and more intoxicated by it, and craves it even more. And anything that shows him that his power is not absolute, that there is in fact a power higher than him horrifies and terrifies him, he fumbles as in the International Criminal Court's investigation of his crimes against humanity.

A true leader would have endeavored to unite a deeply divided nation after gaining power. But the product did not make any attempt to do that - his power was a result of that divisiveness. It doesn't matter that majority of the voters in our country, 60%, did not vote for him, as long as those 60% remain divided and the 40% who did vote for him remain united, his hold on power is solid.

Now, imagine if the 60% united... now that's an interesting product. United to fight tyranny and defend democracy and the rule of law... I like that branding.

Then the end game would be completely different.

The road to ecological hell is paved with good intentions

In a private community, Monterrazas Village in Tuding, Itogon, Benguet, homeowners/residents pay a 25,000-peso annual fee, and among the services provided by homeowners association is the regular collection of garbage twice a week.

Never had the chance to inquire where the collected waste are hauled to, and oddly, even after the municipal LGU announced that collection will be stopped indefinitely because of issues with the dump site, our garbage continued to be collected by the association's maintenance personnel, which just made me wonder even more where they haul the village's garbage to.

I couldn't help but notice though that in the last couple of weeks, we've had to endure the odor of burning plastic coming from neighboring areas. At different times of the day, tell-tale dark smoke could be seen wafting in different areas, and with it, the noxious odor.

Then the source came closer one day - just a few meters from our house, the caretakers of the village's clubhouse have been cleaning and burning tree and plant cuttings, dried leaves and cut grass along with whatever non-organic garbage they found in the area, mostly plastics. This time, thick, noxious smoke would enter our house and because there has been hardly any breeze, it would linger for hours. It got so bad that it was difficult to stay indoors in our own home, it hurt the eyes, the throat, the chest. The odor caused not only difficulty in breathing but dizziness too and we've had to turn on electric fans to clear the air - in vain though since the burning went on all day and sometimes into the night and the fans just couldn't keep up. It actually hurt my feelings, really, for how can one be so callous about the harm they're doing to other people?

So one afternoon, after of hours of trying to just grin and bear it, I walked up to where the burning was being done and talked to a man who was busy gathering even more plastic garbage and throwing them into the fire. I asked him if it was possible to at least not include the plastics. Though he agreed right there and then to put out the fire, a couple of hours later after sunset, the burning resumed.

We slept that night with the lingering smell of burning plastic.

The next day, I walked up to the head caretaker of the clubhouse and brought up my predicament with the plea for them not to burn plastics. I was surprised by his reaction - it seemed that because I and my family have been affected by their actions, have been enduring the noxious smoke for days already, and brought these to his attention, he got offended.

"Ano'ng magagawa ko e walang nagkokolekta ng basura namin?" I asked why doesn't the association collect their garbage, and he said that the conflict between the owners of the clubhouse and the association is none of my business - I didn't even know that the association did not own the clubhouse, much less that there was such a conflict between the two parties.

His stand was simple - he doesn't care if he's inconveniencing, endangering anyone, he will burn his plastic garbage because he has no other choice. Besides, he said, there are other people who do it. I told him that it seemed we've reached an impasse - he insists he has the right to burn plastics, and we can't continue to breathe in toxic smoke - I have no other choice but to bring it to the attention of the authorities, the police in particular, as burning plastic is not only a hazard, it is also illegal.

Go ahead, he said. So I did, and a few minutes later I was back at the clubhouse, three policemen with me this time.

I watched him defend his "right" to burn plastics to policemen, which made me realize: he really believes that there is nothing wrong with burning plastics. When I told him that my son, who was sick the past couple of days, couldn't properly get his much-needed rest because of the toxic fumes inside our house that came from his mound of burning plastic, he (and honestly I almost lost it and wanted to bury his face in his burning pile of plastic when I heard this) reply: "Ba't 'di mo dinala sa hospital anak mo?"

And I couldn't help but notice too how "petty" the policemen believed this issue was, even if essentially a crime was bring committed right in front of them - Section 49, Paragraph B of the law states that "Any person who violates Sec. 48, pars. 2 and 3 (The open burning of solid waste), shall, upon conviction be punished with a fine of not less than Three hundred pesos (P300.00) but not more than One thousand pesos (P1,000.00) or imprisonment of not less than one (1) day but to not more than fifteen (15) days, or both."

There lies the problem with RA 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Law of 2000. If, 18 years after it was enacted, towns, cities and provinces continue to fail to comply with the provisions of the law, and many of us still don't understand the implications of improper waste disposal or care about the harm we cause the environment and the people around us, then something's wrong somewhere.

Is it the law? RA 9003 is "AN ACT PROVIDING FOR AN ECOLOGICAL SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT PROGRAM, CREATING THE NECESSARY INSTITUTIONAL MECHANISMS AND INCENTIVES, DECLARING CERTAIN ACTS PROHIBITED AND PROVIDING PENALTIES, APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES."

It is supposed to provide "a legal framework for the systematic comprehensive and ecological solid waste management program" for the country, which shall ensure the protection of public health and the environment."

It begs the questions...

Was the law a failure? 

The law clearly had only good intentions, and seemed to have provided ample time for LGUs and the public to comply - three years from the enactment of the law, LGUs must have been able to turn open dumps into controlled dumps, and in five years it must already have an Engineered Sanitary Landfill. It also provided for an education and information campaign enjoining the public and various government institutions to do their share: DECS, TESDA, CHED, DILG and PIA. Within a five-year period from the enactment of the law, RA 9003 said that "people must internalize the value of environmentally sound and sustainable solid waste disposal." But obviously, at least this caretaker couldn't still care less about the value of environmentally sound and sustainable waste disposal. Oh well.

How do you reach into the mind of the caretaker? How can you force, too, a family in an apartment building to start composting their biodegradable waste with no yard space? How does Baguio with hardly any land space available with the continuing residential population growth to build its own Engineered Sanitary Landfill? Sure, we don't need something that big if we implement zero waste efforts in every household, but that's easier said than done.

Or did we fail the law? 

In Baguio, city officials took the law for granted until the deadline for full compliance was up. Nothing significant was done until the LGU had no choice but to close the Irisan dumpsite or risk violating RA 9003 which resulted in mountains of garbage piling up in our streets. Only then did city hall started doing something, too little, too late. The public education and information campaign was a failure, which is the expected result if the ones doing the campaign themselves do not fully understand and appreciate the spirit of the law. Households were asked to segregate their garbage, only to see their segregated garbage dumped altogether in the same truck. If households segregated at all, for coming from simply having to take out all their garbage for collection, segregating them in to 3, 4 or was it 5?, different classifications which was what the LGU wanted them to do at first, wasn't easy.

Out in the streets roads, it's still commonplace to see plastic water bottles and wrappers being thrown out of car windows - cars, both local and from out of town. Pedestrians on their way home with their afternoon snacks don't find anything wrong with dumping their single use plastic cups and bags in the canal right in front of our house.

A lot of people believed then, and still do now, that waste disposal is solely the government's job and that all they need to do is take it out of their homes. And if it's not collected, it's not their problem anymore - they'll continue to dump even more garbage in various collection sites in the city's barangays, or wherever else is even more convenient, or in the case of the Monterrazas Clubhouse caretaker, burn it and the neighbors well-being, health be damned.

To date, no sustainable solution has been forwarded and instead, the city is spending huge sums of money to transport our waste to a far-flung sanitary landfill three provinces away.

More importantly, what do we do now?

While we've always preferred bringing our own bayong when going to market, our family have since doubled our efforts to reduce the waste we generate. We have since included used ice cream containers (for meats and fish and other wet product) and smaller reusable bags (for vegetables and other dry goods) to our "marketing gear" and at one time even launched a social campaign, "Huwag niyo na pong i-plastic." But even with much effort, we are still surprised at the amount of plastic and other residual non-biodegradable waste we end up with. Businesses don't care, once the consumer buys their product, the plastic waste that the product generates isn't their problem any more. The public doesn't care, once they've used the product and thrown out that plastic candy wrapper or detergent bag, it's not their problem anymore.

And as shown by the apparent ignorance (not to mention arrogance) of the Monterrazas Clubhouse caretaker, it seems that we've hardly made any move forward with regards to RA 9003 nearly two decades after it was enacted.

It's not too late and not really wrong to admit that we, all of us - the public, the government - went about this wrongly. Going back to square one is not a bad idea, in fact, I believe it's necessary.

This is a link to the full text of RA 9003.

Let's take this from the top, understanding and appreciating the need for an environment & people-friendly and safe waste management system, if the caretaker gets that, he may just stop arrogantly insisting on his right to burn plastics in his backyard.