Contrary To Contreras, Actress Isidro Is Bold & Right & Bright – Beautiful!
What did Agot Isidro say again on 06 October on her Facebook page dedicated to Rodrigo Roa Duterte, President of the Philippines? As reproduced on ABS-CBN online by Joan Leary (09 October 2016, push.abs-cbn.com):
Unang-una, walang umaaway sa iyo. As a matter of fact, ikaw ang nang-aaway.
Pangalawa, yung bansa Kung saan ka inuluklok ng 16 million out of 100+ million people ay Third World. Kung makapagsalita ka parang superpower (ang) Pilipinas eh. At excuse me, ayaw namin magutom. Mag-isa ka na Lang, wag kang mandamay. Hindi na nga nakakain ang nakararami, gugutumin mo pa lalo.
Pangatlo, may kilala akong psychiatrist. Patingin ka. Hindi ka bipolar. You are a psychopath.
My translation:
First, nobody is quarreling with you. As a matter of fact, you are the one picking quarrels with people.
Second, that country where you have been enthroned by 16 million out of 100 million people is Third World. When you speak, you make it sound like the Philippines is a superpower. And excuse me, we don't want to starve. If you want starvation, do it to yourself alone. So many people are starving and yet you want them to go on and starve some more.
Third, I know a psychiatrist. Have yourself checked out. You are not bipolar. You are a psychopath.
I much admire Agot Isidro for saying what she said on Facebook. I disapprove of the outrageous Rodrigo Roa Duterte, President of the Philippines, but I myself don't have enough courage to do what she did.
Now, De La Salle Professor Antonio Contreras has written a scathing rebuke of Agot Isidro on her Facebook post. He said (10 October 2016, nowreader.com):
Agot Isidro should be ashamed of herself. What she said is precisely what happens when you become mendicant. You think heavens will fall and we will all get hungry just because the US and the EU are pissed off.
Let me educate you Ms Isidro. International relations is not as simple as you think it is. Countries do not behave like the soap opera characters you play where a bitchiness of one leads to a catfight, or a fistfight.
It is not what leaders say that matters. It is what is in their country's best interests.
You say we are not a superpower? My dear, we may not be but we are strategically located that countries like China and the US would like to have a piece of us. Yes, Ms Isidro. We have what many want except that we have been so effing loyal to the US even if treats us badly in many agreements. (It's) about time we have to tell the US to treat us right since there are others ready and willing to take its place.
So before you even try ranting, read first. Okay.
By the way, I am a political scientist. You may want to have a one-on-one with me on political literacy. You badly need it. You seem to be ignorant of the nuances of politics and IR. Don't worry, I will not charge you for consultation. I will do it pro bono for love of country.
(I suppose IR is international relations.) Reacting to the many positive, pro-Isidro posts and Likes (and 1 Love, mine) on Facebook, Contreras had this subsequent post (same source as cited):
I do not give a hoot if Agot Isidro is a best actress awardee and a magna cum laude. Di lang naman siya ang magna cum laude sa mundong ito. (She is not the only magna cum laude in this world.)
I do not even care if she called the President a psychopath. I will leave it to the psychologists to validate her or condemn her for practicing psychology without a license.
What I do care about is when she premises her tirade with the assumption that we will go hungry if the US leaves us. This is a mendicant mentality. That is an insult beyond forgiveness. Magna cum laude or not.
I forgive Philippine actress Agot Isidro for being so brazen. But it is the truth, isn't it? What Agot Isidro said meets my standards, specifically the requirements of "Frank A Hilario's 5-Star Guide To The Truth," that which is an amended version of the "Rotary 4-Way Test" (for more details, see my essay, 17 September 2016, "The Truth Is Out There, Mr Duterte. (It's Also In My New Book)," iWord Affairs, blogspot.co.id):
(1) Is it true?
(2) Is it fair?
(3) Is it of goodwill and building friendships?
(4) Is it beneficial to all?
(5) Is it free?
(2) Is it fair?
(3) Is it of goodwill and building friendships?
(4) Is it beneficial to all?
(5) Is it free?
Except #3, because what she said there does not build goodwill and friendship when it comes to Rodrigo Duterte and his advocates. Actually, she prefaced her last 2 sentences with this: "Have yourself checked out." Her last 2 sentences implied this: "Prove us wrong."
In any case, what she said builds goodwill among those who do not love the President not for what he is but what he has been saying and doing. She gets half a star. So I rate Agot Isidro here as worthy of a total of 4.5 out of 5 Stars.
And I forgive the De La Salle political scientist for being so nasty. In my book, what he said deserves only 1 Star for being freely said. Antonio Contreras, I have met him; I may have debated with him; certainly I have read him; he deserves a 5-Star rating himself, but not this time.
Contreras commits so many logical fallacies because it's plain to see he hates Agot Isidro more than she hates Rodrigo Duterte. His 1st sentence is name-calling, his 2nd a nonsequitur, his 3rd concluding without proof. And so on and so forth. His posts convince me Contreras is a political scientist, like he says, not a debater.
I don't agree at all with Contreras but I had to reproduce his double take for the lesson he teaches us, despite himself. I was educated to be a teacher at the University of the Philippines Los Baños, and I can recognize lesson material when I see one!
Now he is saying he doesn't care if she calls the President a psychopath. On second thought, he is being sorry for his rant? I forgive the sinner like I said, but I cannot forgive the sin. A logical fallacy is a logical fallacy; too many occurrences of that in a bombast of 345 words and that's unforgivable, whether or not you are a magna cum laude graduate of New York's Fashion Institute of Technology or an outstanding professor of Manila's De La Salle University.
Let's make it a national fashion to always attempt to speak the 5-Star Truth, and never a 5-Star Rant full of logical fallacies, shall we? @
11 October 2016. Essay word count, excluding this line: 1178
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