You’re So Bias:
8 Words That Pinoys Abuse in Comments Sections
by Kel Fabie

Whenever we want to shatter our faith in humanity, all we have to do is go to the comments section of any popular website. Whether it be YouTube or Yahoo or anything else in between, we’re always bound to get clunkers.

Filipinos are no different, but we seem to have a few statements that, while not exclusively ours, the worst among us just love to keep plastering all over the comments. Here are some of the more asinine among them.

Unlike a television show, a news website doesn’t exactly have opportunity cost when it comes to reporting news. It’s not like reporting about JaDine suddenly makes it impossible to report about the bombings in Ankara and Belgium. It just curls my toes when the commenter drops crap like these in the entertainment section  of the site, as if they were expecting to find some hard-hitting news there.

What They Really Mean: I want to pretend this news is beneath me, despite the fact that I actively sought this out just to pretend I didn’t care.

Whenever people criticize a public figure, be it a politician or an actor, their defenders will always trot out the defense that maybe the critic should try being in the shoes of the poor, cruelly criticized personality. This doesn’t really work, because a critic doesn’t really need to do any of these things to be able to articulate how they feel about something, especially if we’re supposed to vote for them or buy tickets to go see them, giving us all the more motivation to speak up when something stinks.

What They Really Mean: Leave Britney alooooone!

At the height of the Jan-Jan “child abuse” scandal facing Willie Revillame, he lashed out at some of the people who condemned him, and asked them what they have done for the country. Some of the people he lashed out against: internationally renowned film and theatre actress Lea Salonga, and well-known Martial Law political activist, musician, and one of the men who coined the term OPM, Jim Paredes. Apparently, in line with #7, nobody has the right to question anybody who has “done a lot.” The funny thing is when stuff like this backfires, like the time a Trump supporter questioned a guy arguing about the First Amendment if he’s a lawyer, and it turns out, the critic was indeed a Constitutional lawyer specializing in First Amendment Law. Whoops.

This normally goes in hand with the “crab mentality lang iyan” comment, as if to say that anyone who critiques is just envious of the person being critiqued, instead of airing genuine concerns about said person. See: Mijeno, Aisa.

What They Really Mean: We can’t defend the guy you’re criticizing, so we’ll just criticize you instead, because thinking is hard.

Some people think that “opinion ko lang” is a magical shield that means your opinions can no longer be contradicted by anybody. This is a common error.

What They Really Mean: I want to express my opinion, but I don’t want you to tell me what I got wrong, because my frail ego can’t handle criticism.

When an article goes out of its way to provide factual information about its claims, some commenters decide to dismiss these facts as if they’re a bad thing. Anti-intellectualism at its finest.

What They Really Mean: Wala kasi akong alam, kaya aangal na lang ako na andami mong alam.

If it disagrees with their worldview, it’s “nonsense.”

What They Really Mean: Nonsense. Nothing they mean makes any sense at all, and they’re projecting.

If it disagrees with their bias, you are “bias.”

What They Really Mean: We like it when your writing agrees with our preconceived notions. Whenever it does not, you are screwing up by forcing us to think. Stop doing that!

This is an indicator that the person has nothing of value to add to the discussion and usually only throws this in after an onslaught of passive-aggressive insults and nonsensical arguments.

What They Really Mean: God bless ME, and I hope you go to hell for disagreeing with me, f***er!

What are your thoughts on the matter? Share away in the comments below!