Public opinion

Title

Public opinion

Creator

Tajoda, Cresenciano

Language

English

Year

1953

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Abstract

One of the essential elements in the lifeblood of democracy.

Fulltext

One of the essential elements in the lifeblood of Democracy is... fDitblic (DfLution by CRESENCIANO TAJODA College qn 1/yUBLIC opinion is any expresJL sion on a controversial to pic. It results from the re action of persons on any public or political issue that concerns them as citizens. The kind of public opinion im plied in the democratic ideal is tan gible and dynamic. It springs from many sources deep in the day-today experience of individuals who constitute the political public, and who formulate these opinions as working guides for their political representatives. This public opi nion listens to many propagandas, most of them contradictory to each other. It tries, in the clash and con flict of argument and debate, to se parate the true from the false. It needs criticism for its very exist ence, and through criticism it is constantly being modified and molded. It acts and learns by ac tion. It believes in the value ol every individual's contribution to a voice in deciding the fate of the nation and in their individual fates. What has been obvious these past few years is that the right to vote, to choose between this can didate or that, is by itself not done in a true democratic environment and in a truly democratic way. Alleged terrorism of the party in the administration in the '49 bloody poll operated without re gard for the Bill of Rights to sec ure ends' in the interests of a per son or a small group under the dic tates of only one person or source, taking into consideration that the devilish pattern was the same in so many provinces. The real terror ism in our polls did not come from the better knowledge of how ma jorities feel about the questions of the day which press for solution. Terrorism in our polls comes from utter disregard by the powers on the helm of our government for the rights of individuals. It thrives when the media of information are of Law gagged, not when they are free for everybody to use. . . free from the claws of the unscrupulous and vested party interests. These vio late the precepts of true democra cy. Democracy guarantees rights, privileges and liberties to indivi dual citizens of a democratic coun try. It involves the citizens' parti cipation in civic duties, information on public issues, and the capacity to make up one's own free mind. The people, it has been truly said, must understand, live and, if need be, die for the basic ideals of de mocracy if these ideals are to be safeguarded properly from the in sidious forces that act like Trojan horses in our midst. They must learn that it is not a mere shibbo leth but a vital truth that the state is their own, that they are free citi zens with rights, privileges, duties, and responsibilities. With a vast number of people in a community, these democratic privileges have not always been easy to emphasize. We are not liv ing in an age like that of the Span ish regime when, participation in the choice of persons to run the government and in the running of that government was limited exclu sively to the crown influenced by a few bureaucrats. There was no such thing as public opinion then. Today, we are supposed to be cap able of formulating public opinion if only to put into action the rights, privileges, duties, and obligations as granted to us explicitly by the constitution and the laws of our land. Unless the ordinary citizen can find channels of self-expression, the common man may become the forgotten man. When such a si tuation develops, when public opi nion cannot get itself expressed, democracy is lost. For public opi nions can be satisfactorily guided only if we know about them. How does public opinion ex press itself and what should be beThe Author lieved and how, since individual opinions often contradict one ano ther? How can we discover and determine which of them speak most truly for the masses? The most reliable index of public opi nion is the popular vote at local and national elections. After the cam paigning the shouting, and torch light parades. . . when the last bal, lot has been cast and the final an nouncement of defeat and victory has been declared to the popu lace ... the will of the people is said to have been expressed. It is presumed that the national presi dential elections reflect the main divisions of public sentiment, and the elected is regarded as the sym bol of the desires and aspirations of the majority. But even elections do not provide completely infallible .in dices of public opinion. For how can we tell whether the people are voting for principles and not for personalities? At all elec tions rival candidates are chiefly concerned in getting votes, and the heat of party battle does not al ways provide the best atmosphere for a clear discussion of issues. Im mediately before elections, the spir it of party or class and the comba tive ardour which such a spirit in spires, becloud and confuse the minds of many voters, making them think of party triumph rather than a candidate's merits or his principles. A large percentage of the votes may be given with little reference to main issues involved. It is true, then, that some elections have fail ed completely to represent the will of the people. Democratic safe guards have not eliminated the oc(Continued on page 8) Page 7 OCTOBER, 1953 'JhJdttA Jitau-el (Continued from page 5) T3i{ y\Jest0tius JKotelos Where's that hammer! I want to knock some soluble sense into your heads. Don't blame this hombre for being a too nosey mosey sort of a gringo. But here's something interest* ing for the studes of this univ. Just shomp your decaying teeth into this column and we will keep things hum* ming. Brace yourselves. . . The Fr. Rector saunters into the Ca rolinian office (where's that place?) and solemnly says, "Boys, no politic al cackling. That's one. Don't use too many slangy phrases and state ments. That's two. The studes have to scurry and scratch for the nearest dictionary whenever they manage to peep into your columns." That's on the level. Yep, I really have a very poor estimatation, if you pardon my English. I saw a curtain--- no-no--- certain cute piece of property. She was sport ing a plume... er-er... a pony's tail. My attention was caught by the way she wore her upless dress done in se quins and laces. Her ballerina skirt flowing like the esteros in Manila and her shoes were a dreamy Opon-Mandawe bridge creation. Her long dark tresses were fluttering like wings of a sparrow, hopefully trying to catch the dying golden rays of the colossal sunset, sinking solemnly to end the life of a glorious day. Atta Boy! She even look extra pains to punctuate her foce with periods to make it look like a sanctuary of the eloquent moles. She really appeared to be rich, heal thy, and well. Rouge, lipstick, chalk, eyebrow liner, sandpaper were very much In evidence. My ugly puss drop ped to my boots when she entered a barong-barong. She was a s-q-u-a-tt-e-r. Meow-meow. Barranco, baranco, barong-co! Still crazy about the Barranco mambo, eh? Want to get acquainted with it? Here's the-pitch: Get set. Hands like a boy scout doing sema phore signalling. Fundamentals. Take a 100-meter dash. Stop. Crawl 50 yards more. Take a high |ump and jacknife 5 times. How's your joints? Another fundamental. A skip-hopjump routine. Snore, not swore, 16 times. Lie flat on your back. Roll to (Continued on page 10) studying and writing the whole day long. In the evening he honored me with his presence at my slide lecture, and I appreciated deeply his hearty applause. I should have liked to spend a lew more days with these ascetics of scientific research, but a pre-arranged schedule urged me to proceed further North, where "those at home" were wailing im patiently. A journey of twelve hours brought me from Bern to Bonn, West Germany's Capital. When crossing the border 1 saluted my fatherland with a prayer for all those who had died, and for those who had done wrong to the world. When in 1934 I bade farewell to European shores, heavy clouds hung over them, and a co-passenger sighed, "Clouds over Europe!" Yes, these clouds had developed into a devastating thunderstorm, and now—how was Germany now? Heavy fog deprived me of the pleasure of seeing anything worth while, but as the train was rolling on, my thoughts travelled ahead, always pivoting around one ques tion: my home, my folks, and friends, how would I find them? At times the train was crowded, but people disturbed me little in my re verie; they hardly spoke to one another, as if they were used to carry their worries alone and would not share their joys, either. One lady made an exception. My for eign-made suitcase and PhilippineAir-Line-travelling-bag caught her attention . and stirred her curiosity. casional demagogue who claims to represent the popular will which he himself has created by using tech niques ranging from simple decep tion to the more robust forms of vote getting. What about the expressions of sentiment which crystalize in pub lic meeting, and in the claims of countless political, economic, reli gious, racial, and welfare associa tions? Such associations have great importance in the development of public opinion, for they arouse at tention, excite discussion, formulate principles, submit plans, embolden and stimulate their members, and produce that impression of a spreading movement towards the upholding of right principles with a sympathetic and sensitive people. The information I gave her netted me an apple as a. token of "wel come and hospitality in a home land that rose from, the dead." Stopping a while at the big city of Manheim I was frightened by the sight of death and destruction; large districts lay still in ruins; war had been wild. At my arrival in Bonn, Fr. Jung, our Mission-Procura tor, was waiting for me. With searching eyes we took in one another's appearance and experi ence of the 20 years that lay be tween our last handshake and this thrilling moment. We had been friends and still were. It was al ready dark; of Bonn I could not see much. Soon the car stopped in front of the Mission-Seminary of St. Augustine, which had been my Alma Mater in 1925 and 1926. The gigan tic 600-room building, which in part we students had built with unskill ed, though diligent, hands had been greatly damaged in the war but had been fully repaired. As we entered the huge parlor, the old porter of former years greeted, re membering my name, a classmate grasped my hand in a cordial shake, the Father Rector came and the Father Provincial, and* many other friends of old, former professors or schoolmates,—all men matured in service and suffering — their eyes spoke and their mouths, asking more questions than I could an swer; the emotions were strong, the joy deep; brothers, co-officers in the army of Christ. (Continued from page 7) Yet as we well know, this ability to produce the impression of a spreading movement, has its dan gers, for there is such a thing as an artificial and fictitious opinion. The art of propaganda has been much perfected in our times. And it has attained a development which en ables its practitioners to skillfully and sedulously apply false or one sided statements of facts to be guile and mislead those who have not the means or the time to ascer tain the facts for themselves. The twentieth century is the age of the expert who knows how to build a private interest with public support and to the prejudice of the common good. Our rights and liberties must be secured by eternal vigilance!' Page 8 THE CAROLINIAN

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