Deceived!

By Rolo B. Cena

Random

Dumaguete Star Informer

11 December 2016

The country has been seeing and hearing one deceptive behavior after another lately, and the signs suggest that we can expect a lot more of them in the coming days.  While most people have used deception to make something good or cover up a wrongdoing, what we are generally experiencing lately are very overwhelming that Filipinos cannot just ignore. 

Maria Schneider for instance felt deceived after shooting the scene of an infamous “butter rape” with co-lead star Marlon Brando in the movie Last Tango in Paris.  Movie director Bernardo Bertolucci, based on the 2013 video recording now circulated in the net, admitted to have conspired with Brando to do the rape scene using the butter stick as lubricant.  Bertolucci defended that he and Brando had just wanted to make the scene realistic and had wanted to let Schneider feel the rage of humiliation not as an actress but as a girl.  The movie gained its box-office success with Oscar nominations for Best Actor and Best Director.  Bingo!

And so goes with the lies and treasons our country has been enraged and manipulated by another political showdown on earth:  The Delima-Duterte’s soap dish that has maintained its primetime popularity rating in the country’s top terrestrial giants. 

The feisty Senator Leila Delima has denied at her best effort her intimate sexual relationship with her former driver Ronnie Dayan.  In a sudden twist of fate, the former admitted that she had an affair with the latter but defended herself in the guise of “frailties of woman.”  In a press conference, Dayan later admitted that he had an “affair” with the now-troubled senator that lasted for seven years.  Another musical note to listen to:  The Senator articulated that she could not destroy the man who has been part of her life.  Bingo!

Duterte had comprehensive information that Region 8 CIDG Chief Marvin Marcos is involved in illegal drug trade.  More than that, Duterte knew that the latter possesses tons of critical data concerning the regional arena of drug trafficking.  Nevertheless, he instructed PNP Chief Ronald “Bato” De La Rosa to reinstate Marcos as the chief.  The murder of another state witness Mayor Rolando Espinosa of Albuera, Leyte then ensued.  Bang! 

Lately, Ronnie Dayan, the former driver-lover of Senator Delima, was presented to the Senate for the hearing on illegal drug trade along with Kerwin Espinosa, son of the late Rolando Espinosa.  In his testimonies, he stated that his exchanges with the younger Espinosa happened five times in 2014.  Juxtaposing his allegations with that of the younger Espinosa, Kerwin affirmed that he met Dayan four times in 2015.  Worse, dovetailing these to the me-and-my-big-mouth hullabaloos of the adultery-drug-troubled lady would summarize to deception at its peak!

 

A classic tale of dumb-if-you-do-dumb-if-you-don’t desperate move:  Vice President Robredo resigned from the Cabinet.  And she is making a big fuss of it– along with her cohorts and fanatics.  Her camp believes that this would start the fall of Pres. Duterte.  Madam Robredo, even a simple googling would give us the information that you are not the first to resign from any Cabinet.  Gloria Arroyo, former Vice President of then deposed Joseph Estrada resigned from her post as a member of the Cabinet; Dinky Soliman did that several times, and others no longer worthy to mention.  Hey, Lady, had you been to yourself lately?

Through the years, we members of the Filipino community have always been in conflict with some of our peers.  This is so because the familiarity of everyone simply accords us the readiness to attack the other:  We knew when people are inactive, weak, or absent. These signs are what war or corporate experts need to peep through beyond enemy borders, which are actually hard to conceal, yet easy to detect.  This would require something essential and this is where deception – and its critical role come in.  When one is unable to show the enemy something that the opponent wishes to see and wishes to believe in a way that creates false impression, the enemy is seduced into deceiving himself.

Tragically painful:  Our leaders deceived us Filipinos more than once!  Marcos did that, and for this reason, he was – or were we fooled to believe that he was – named as the greatest dictator of all times, with the longest list of lies and deceptions.  Cory Aquino had allegedly a material number in her register and so with Fidel Ramos who had allegedly the most inexplicable of all.  Joseph Estrada had a number to share, too.  Gloria Arroyo had allegedly the second longest list.  Benigno Aquino III would be foolish to claim he had none.  Deceptions then, according to John J. Mearsheimer in his Book “Why Leaders Lie,” had become more than just an art; it is a science of strategy.

Sun Tzu elaborates in his book “The Art of War,” which I quote:  “Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make our enemy believe we are far away; when we are far away, we must make them believe we are near.”

Three Zoroastrian Wise Men deceived Herod – it saved the baby boy born in a manger in the Judean town of Bethlehem, who has lived and became King of the People.    

Had you been deceived lately?  Look who’s talking!