Where truth lies

This isn’t going to be a review of the 1996 movie of the same title, although the line may be more apropos for the real-life drama unfolding right before our eyes. Fact is stranger than fiction, and that truism finds no better example than the events taking place in our beloved country. Depending on which side of the fence you’re on, the central issue which is the declaration of the state of emergency by the President is either a resurrection of the ghosts of the past or a necessary iron-handed defense of the State.

Clearly, deservedly or not, President Arroyo has been haunted by the loss of credibility she suffered when she decided to run for President right after she proclaimed to the nation that she wouldn’t because her presence was a cause for divisiveness among the people. Public perception of her less-than-honest and less-than-sincere image had been cast then, and no amount of high-powered PR manipulations have been able to change that.

It didn’t help that the "Hello, Garci" controversy added fuel to the smoldering dis-ease that many felt about her. In fact, it turned into quite a conflagration; this alarming series of recent events being the spit and crackle from this political bonfire.

UP Professor Solita Monsod believes that the so-called middle forces (the bulk of the Filipino middle class), being the intelligent community that they are, are not easily swayed by either the leftists or rightists, who leave slim options for a PGMA-led administration. Thus, no popular response has been elicited by the many attempts to start another people power. And so, the spit and crackle has dismally failed to spread the incendiary forces to a popular uprising.

In the course of all this, anybody who is anybody has pitched in his one peso’s worth (give or take, allowing for the fluctuating exchange rate), and done his bit to propagate one of a zillion opinions regarding the PGMA-cling-to-power-versus-the-opposition’s-unholy-alliance scenario. The administration is peddling their version of the facts, or the truths, as may be applied in the cases of dishonesty and corruption against it. The opposition is pushing its own version of the truth, as well. Even the Church has, in no uncertain terms, declared that the truth behind all these controversies should be pursued.

The context within which these truths are framed, as described above, are not as static as facts are presumed to be; in fact, these truths are fluid, dynamic, depending on the forces that are exerted on these so-called truths. As communications practitioners, we know that the message is only as good as the motive that drives the sender to communicate that particular message.

This principle may help us understand better the underlying messages that are thinly veiled by official statements issued to the press, or the arresting one-liners issued during ambush interviews. When you think about it, can we really expect to hear the naked and unvarnished truth from representatives and spokespeople of the administration? The opposition?

Is it within the realm of possibility that Secretary Ignacio Bunye or Chief of Staff Mike Defensor would utter anything deleterious to PGMA and her administration? Would Francis Escudero or other members of the opposition inflict damage to their cause by acknowledging any redeeming qualities about the President? Highly unlikely. And the same is true for just about anyone who designs to promote his own take on the issues; the most fundamental motive force behind each person’s truth is the preservation and the propagation of his own needs and desires.

When the job of communicating these so-called truths becomes necessary, those tasked to do so – this group usually gets lumped together in the sobriquet "corporate communicators" – are "guided" by the parameters with which the organization views the issues, normally survivalist and self-serving. Who in his right mind would incriminate himself, anyway? The same holds true for any government administration, political organization or even civic-minded and socially responsive business organizations.

The message told to the public, then, is a carefully crafted, often slyly designed, message, which is, in fact, a spin on the truth. Thus, we may come to witness several versions of the truth from various quarters. When the Catholic Church, represented by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, recommended setting up a "Truth Commission," it was evidently a response to the clamor from its constituents to clear the air and sift the "real" truth from the many confusing versions that obfuscated it.

Such deliberate efforts to muddle the facts betray the real agenda of those who attempt to disinform. There are, as even a fourth grader knows, many ways of telling the truth, without necessarily owning up to the blame, if there were any. When someone goes in front of a television camera and declares that an army general requested, of his own volition, to be relieved of his command, that is a fact. But the circumstances that surrounded the fact – that the general was constrained by an atmosphere of distrust which ultimately prompted him to make the request – are part of what constitutes a truth.

To digress a little, Hinduism has a great narrative on truthfulness called The Ramayana. It tells the story of Lord Rama who stayed in the wilderness for a period of 14 years so that his father’s words of truth will not be broken. The Ramayana is an epic tale of God incarnated as a prince who gave up his right to the throne in order to help his father keep his words. The story to this day continues to be a stark reminder that it is our spiritual duty to tell the truth. And who does not know the great fairy tale "Pinocchio," who struggles with the consequences of lying and the rewards of telling the truth? Isn’t it interesting that he can only become Geppetto’s real live son when he is truthful?

Who among us modern-day princes – in business, politics or any other arena – would be as scrupulous as Lord Rama? Who among us are leading a Pinocchio-inspired life? As we reflect on these questions, we are reminded of US President Abraham Lincoln, whom history labeled Honest Abe. Wasn’t it he who said, "You can fool all the people some of the time; you can even fool some of the people all the time; but you can’t fool all of the people all the time"?

Today’s process of communicating has, sadly, become a sophisticated and strategic tool used by government, putschists, oppositionists, marketers and corporate communicators, even terrorists, to earn that all-important public opinion in their favor. It has turned into a mercenary trade; the best communications strategists are to be had for the most amount of money. Sadly, the concepts of honor, dignity, justice and morality are thrown to the wind; all that remains is the task of ensuring the objectives of the sender are met, bereft of principles, bereft of morality.

The tragedy of the whole situation is that all these claimed truths being broadcast over the media and written about in newspapers are turning into one big lie: that these truths emanate from parties or individuals who have the welfare of the people at heart. Liars. After all is said and done, they’re all doing it for themselves.

Email bongo@vasia.com or bongo@campaignsandgrey.net for comments, questions or suggestions. Thank you for communicating.