Kris: The wrong target

I seriously wonder if the Internet movement that’s calling for Kris Aquino to go on a six-year vacation outside the Philippines is for real.

The proposed “Despedida for Kris” is certainly a novel political statement and holding celebrities and politicians to their word is an idea whose time has come. At the very least it rubs salt on people who conveniently flake out of their bold statements by making the equally bold but shameless mea culpa by saying: “I lied” or “I’m sorry” then take it back.

Still I wonder if there are 4,000 plus individuals who would actually hound a person who is a “non-political entity” and whose only sin is being famous and partly flaky.

What makes the movement unbelievable is the fact that their call for Kris to leave the Philippines for six years actually gives Kristeta or Krissy a fresh controversy that she can or will deftly juice for name recall, mileage and media exposure. As it is, just reacting to the challenge has already given her air time and print space which, good or bad, still adds to her high recognition which in turn gets her all those endorsement contracts. In short they just did her a favor.

It’s the equivalent of throwing a Gremlin into a swimming pool. Just add water and it turns into your worst nightmare.

No, this is not an unsolicited defense of Kris Aquino. Believe me, she can very well take care of herself and from what I know of her, the “despedida issue” is the equivalent of a ripple, boring and nothing compared to the tsunami-like controversies she has expertly surfed on.

While 4,000 twitters and bloggers may find it cute to pick on Kris Aquino, it might also be worth their while to step back and ask: Am I locked-in on the right target or is Kris Aquino merely a distraction that was placed by a strategist like the devil in order to distract us from more serious matters such as electoral fraud by the outgoing administration or “failure to launch” on the part of the incoming administration?

In the past three years we have all fallen for all sorts of tricks and been fed the wrong targets. Politicians pull out red herrings or alleged scams and accusations against others. Then we discover that the senator, congressman or media personality was merely trying to improve their ratings or public recognition.

There were even a number of text messages about killer typhoons or prayer requests for missionaries about to be beheaded in some foreign countries that turned out to be pranks or a hoax.

Perhaps the “charge of the despedida brigade” is just for laughs or a form of entertainment in today’s Web-based communities. But being a “novel” idea, it could also end up distracting people as well as legitimize a trivial matter. Before you know it, media makes it cannon fodder for the network wars.

It is tragic when we put effort and creativity into socially insignificant issues simply because they’re cute, funny, or rib tickling. But when challenged to be significant or life changing we defer to the experts or the politicians.

Does deporting the Queen of Endorsers to the US have more relevance and social significance than paying attention to the urgent needs of people around us?

While you were busy blogging or surfing the Web, someone you know or someone who works for you was experiencing great anguish because they don’t have money to pay for tuition fee or experiencing the fear and the helplessness of being an unemployed senior citizen. 

And yet there you are happily offering to contribute time and money to the “involuntary despedida for Kristeta”.

No I’m not picking a fight with the 4,000 plus event organizers for Kristeta’s imaginary despedida. I am in fact appealing to you “twits” to refocus your energies and actually host a “fiesta for the homeless” or better yet try to break the record that Jesus set with the Miracle of feeding the five thousand.

If 4,000 “Twits” got together in agreement to do good, that in itself would be a modern day miracle. If 4,000 Filipinos actually showed up and got along on one idea, that would be a miracle of biblical proportions.

If 4,000 Filipino twits actually brought enough food and got along while feeding more than 5,000 hungry Filipinos, you would have broken the miracle of the two fish and five loaves. I bet you that after that has happened, the Almighty God might have broken protocol and paid us a genuine “state visit” that even Obama could not outdo.  

As for the “despedida of the decade” just remember what many people often complain about: We don’t get to choose who our relatives will be, but take comfort in the thought that God knows why he inflicts them upon us.

I can almost hear what my brothers and sisters are all saying!

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The incoming administration would be well advised to think and then think again before they speak or decide on certain matters.

Memory reminds us how in the early years, there was such a hatred for “anything Marcos” that even good projects were shut down or closed down. Competent individuals who could have made significant contributions were treated as competition or threat or even worse branded as an “enemy”.

True leaders are in control and can control. They should not be controlled by the weak minded, fearful or the greedy. Perhaps people like Noynoy Aquino should follow the shopper’s formula of restraint. If you feel like you want to buy something, wait 24 hours and then wait another 24 hours. The longer you wait the more you realize what you need versus what you want.

The same goes for shooting the mouth off, making rash decisions, or following the advise of others.