Bong Go and his politics of excess and over-the-top schemes
Credit to Author: The Manila Times| Date: Mon, 30 Dec 2019 16:13:29 +0000
First word
I WILL open this column with a note first on the word “over-the-top” (spelled with a hyphen), and the abbreviation OTT, both of which are now listed in modern English dictionaries.
Over the top in British English, adjective, means: a) over the parapet or leading edge of a trench; b) over the limit; excessive[ly]; lacking restraint or a sense of proportion (Collins English Dictionary).
Over-the-top in American English, adjective, means: “so unconventional, exaggerated, or excessive as to be considered outrageous, unbelievable, ridiculous, etc.” (Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition).
Over the top, or OTT, “is networking lingo that describes the delivery of content, services or applications over the internet. OTT edge providers typically deliver their content and services to customers on top of network infrastructure that is owned and maintained by internet service providers (ISPs), like Verizon and AT&T.”
Enough of this digression. My purpose here is to introduce the word “over the top” to describe the politics and style of Sen. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go.
A second Metro Manila film festival
I am forced literally to take notice of the curious politics of Senator Go, as the year 2019 comes to a close. While he has been in Congress barely six months, he has unleashed such a flurry of half-baked ideas and proposals, that wading through them is like experiencing a typhoon wherein objects and bodies are flying around in the wind.
First on exhibit here is his idea of creating a second Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF), following his stint there as a juror.
As if one film festival were not enough, Go has come up with the outlandish idea of holding the MMFF twice a year to further help film workers and artists.
The second festival, which Go has dubbed as the Metro Manila summer festival has been uncritically approved by the MMFF’s executive committee. They are now asking the public to support the second edition of the MMFF.
The senator declared at the awards night of this year’s MMFF: “Hopefully, after the success of the MMFF, we will also support the summer festival. Holding the MMFF twice a year is my humble suggestion.”
The idea is not humble; it is grandiose, extravagant and an imposition.
The MMFF is an annual film festival in Metro Manila, running from December 25 until the first week of January.
During this period, only films approved by the festival jurors are shown in the country’s cinemas.
No foreign movies are shown except in 3D and IMAX theaters.
Go claimed in an interview that he had always been a movie fan and he was excited when he found that he would sit with actress Vilma Santos as one of the festival jurors.
If anything, these disclosures prove merely that Go is no film buff or cineaste. I doubt whether he knows much about the history of Philippine cinema, let alone the history of film.
There is no film festival in the world that has two editions during the year. Think of holding the Oscars twice a year. What will the public watch?
Go’s idea is over the top. Filipino filmmakers have trouble already making enough worthy films to show in one film festival.
In Go‘s addled understanding of cinema, more festivals will be necessarily good for Filipino films. It’s all just a matter of raising money for the cash prizes. What will defeat it is the fact that filmmaking is art and hard work. It requires talent, and plenty of it.
My biggest objection to this harebrained idea is the restriction of our freedom of choice of what films to watch during the period of a film festival.
As things are now, we are deprived during the critical fortnight of the holiday season from watching the films we want to see. We are restricted to a Filipino-only diet.
This is already an invasion on our rights. But two film festivals a year? Bong Go is crazy.
Go’s Malasakit Centers
Bong Go’s surreal idea of a second film festival is is not unlike the Malasakit Centers, which he is frenziedly trying to establish all over the country.
The senator had filed the Malasakit Center bill (now a law), which mandates all 73 hospitals under the Department of Health (DoH) to create a one-stop health and social service assistance desks, so Filipinos can get quick and quality access to health care, said Bong Go.
It also seeks to merge the financial assistance provided by the DoH, Philippine Health Insurance Corp., Department of Social Welfare and Development and Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office into one office. This means that patients or their representatives could save time and money availing their services.
Go says there are now 50 Malasakit Centers nationwide that are serving over 160,000 patients. Under the law, hospitals managed by local government units and other public hospitals can also establish Malasakit Centers.
This can be done if they meet a certain requirement and criteria. Adding to this, they need to guarantee the availability of funds for operations, which include maintenance and staff training.
The Malasakit Center is in fact merely a continuation of a political gimmick which Go used during his run for the Senate in the 2019 midterm election. He means to turn it into a perpetual advertisement of his handwork.
In fact, the Malasakit Center idea is just a ripoff of the popular “tapang and malasakit” campaign of Rodrigo Duterte in his successful run for the presidency.
In ordering a forced march of all health agencies and charity institutions in the country, Go has not found most health professionals as supportive of his idea. Doctors will tell you that pooling financial assistance and creating one-stop offices will not necessarily help. What is still primarily important is providing medical service that will cure patients of their ailments or save lives.
We must remember that the Malasakit Center is not a new government health agency, it is just a clerical service.
Go’s political style
The main problem with Go’s political style is that he has not made the transition from campaigning to governing. He appears to be still in campaign mode.
It looks as if he is engaged in what the political consultant Patrick Cadell has called the “permanent campaign.”
It is as if Go is still running for office, even though the elections have long been over, and Go has already been elected.
Finally, Go appears confused between his former work as a personal aide and presidential adviser, and his current work as a senator of the Republic.
Go still persists in trying to project himself as a spokesman for Duterte. Often he makes public statements on presidential thinking even while the official Palace spokesman or the communications secretary are already talking to the media.
This detracts from his work as a legislator. This is his official work now, not his chores as a buddy of the President.
As a senator, he has major duties to fulfill and not spokesmanship for the President.
This confusion of roles is an offshoot of Go’s political style.
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