Got milk?

By Reyshimar Arguelles

It’s entertaining how rich politicians process social issues as if they already know a lot about what the common man goes through. They’re panting for relevance without putting much thought to the statements they churn out.

But you can’t regulate opinions no matter how unbearably dumb and insensitive they seem. You can easily get away with low-brow humor and an obvious lack of an adequate upbringing so long as you control a vast array of resources.

We are not just talking about greedy politicians but also politicians who think they are on the side of the people because these pompous dirtballs know better. The carelessness and ignorance that our leadership exhibits would drive us to the ground as politicians veer away from a genuine dialogue on policy-making to focus more on brand-building.

We can see a clear instance of this malaise play out when politicians start to adopt advocacies and elicit unsolicited opinions on issues and events.

When Mt. Taal was going through a phreatic eruption, Senator Tito Sotto proposed cloud-seeding over areas that were affected by ashfall. The science doesn’t add up. Rainwater can cause volcanic floods that will only cause more damage to the affected municipalities around the Taal. People and health experts singled out Sotto for having the boldness to suggest something that will make things even worse.

But, hey, you couldn’t expect him to issue expert opinions since he is an outsider to the scientific community. Like any citizen concerned about the toll that natural calamities cause, it’s only right for him to make statements bereft of any practicability. That’s okay. What’s not okay is when you order the Philippine Airforce to implement a measure without much circumspection.

Unless you’re really intent on helping people out, you wouldn’t have to make irresponsible pronouncements only for the sake of enriching the type of image you want to project. In maintaining this image, Sotto railed against his critics who posted memes about him. He urged them to “stop finding faults and people to blame.”

But it’s clear that there’s no one to blame for making statements that are totally detached from reality.

In a more recent example, Senator Cynthia Villar attributed the subpar performance of Filipino students to a lack of access to adequate nutrition. In yet another vapid tirade since her comment about the value of agricultural research, Villar blamed the Philippine Carabao Center and the National Dairy Authority for failing to provide the country with affordable milk. In her words, this milk crisis is the reason why many Filipino kids are “dumb.”

While there is credence in the fact that nutrition is closely related to academic performance, Villar has discounted other more critical factors affecting the delivery of quality education. The school system needs revamping, families need better economic opportunities, and the country needs to secure fertile land from greedy real estate moguls moonlighting as politicians.

Milk isn’t the only reason why there is rampant inequality in the country. Milk isn’t the only reason why there is rampant hunger. Milk isn’t the only reason why children are not doing well in an educational system that sees them as products to be exported so that the country becomes “globally competitive.” But if we insist to attribute these crises to the unavailability of milk, then we should also point out the devolving quality of public service that current politicians are a testament to.

If we really need to transform our society and deal with crises in a more rational manner, it doesn’t help to keep electing officials who obviously need more milk in order to pass off as competent.

For now, we have to make do with whatever we have at the moment and take the time to reevaluate our choices, or else we end up with the same clowns as always.