Parliamentarians of the Social Media, Unite!

Cheap. Convenient. Effective. The Parliamentarians of the social media has just struck an easy and compelling method for the government to modify its policy. When millions of OFWs thru Facebook and other social media shamed the Bureau of Customs (BOC) personnel of their filching practices and ordered a random checking of their Balikbayan Boxes and tried to levy taxes on some items inside the boxes, in no time, without much debate, the government backed off.

Another issue that caught the ire of the parliamentarian of the social media, is the “special accommodation” that Associate Justice Marvic Leonen mentioned in his dissenting opinion when eight of the Supreme Court Justices allowed Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile to post bail for non-bailable offense, as plunder. Momentum started gaining ground on the shaming of these eight Supreme Court Justices appointed by Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Pictures of them posted on Facebook with a tag: “hoodlums in robes”. The tagged pictures could be seen by their immediate families, relatives, friends, associates, and a million other smart phone users – this, could have deleterious impact to their respectability and profession. This could be a wakeup call. The government people should always dispense their duties with propriety, as the parliamentarians of the social media are watchful, fearless, harsh, impulsive, and unforgiving with their opinions and criticisms.

The Iglesia ni Cristo, (INC), a cult, religious sect, meanwhile, transformed many of its members as parliamentarians of the street of the olden days; reminiscent of the People Power. As if the INC is unaware of the many failures of this “People Power” syndrome, still they wanted to replicate it. There were Mayors or Governors (Jun Jun Binay, ER Ejercito) suspended, or stripped of their elected position because of law indiscretions who resorted to “People Power,” but neither get successful. So many instances in the past that disgruntled people eyeing of what they thought could be a trigger for instantaneous mobilization of people, like the Mamasapano incident for example, trooped to the EDSA Shrine. And there, chanting together with their “hakot” crowd tried to revive the magic of EDSA’S People’s Power. However, the daily commuters had enough of the traffic mayhem these parliamentarians of the street had caused intruding into their grinding lives. The parliamentarians of the streets are becoming the symbol of people’s disdain and hatred.

Intelligent member of the INC knows this, of course. But the INC as a religious institution had a crack pierced in their midst. Brother Isaiah Samson Jr., an Ex-INC Minister filed criminal complaints before the Department of Justice (DOJ) against the INC Leadership. This could open the floodgates of other administrative anomalies happening in the INC’s inner sanctum. To prevent it from getting out of hand, the INC has to nip it in the bud. Solution! People Power.

Banking on what the INC thought of their humongous political clout in the government nourished through years and years of their block voting tradition during election, they could turn their pliable members as pawns, disguised as parliamentarians of the street.

And this, they did. Funny, what their demands are: they invoke the separation of Church and State. Stop the Madame Secretary of Justice, Leila de Lima, to take action on the case presented before her. And they wanted her to resign.

For four days the INC inconvenienced millions of commuters. Enter the parliamentarians of the social media. Through Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, they shamed the INC and its pliable members. The parliamentarians of the social media shamed also those politicians pandering for the INC’s votes in the coming 2016 election. The parliamentarians of the social media took a swipe, too, of those opportunist, disgruntled figures, who’s dying for a trigger for the government to fall.

The INC’s idea of People Power went pfft. In the same vein, the INC’s desire for De Lima boomeranged to their faces. The hash tag #DeLimaBringTheTruth trended big on Twitter.

The parliamentarians of the social media shamed the Binay’s and his family to the bone. They are doomed. The Parliamentarians of the social shamed the BOC, they toned down the handling of the Balikbayan Boxes. The parliamentarians of the social media shamed the INC, this could be the beginning of the fall of this religious sect.