ASSIGNMENT #4- SHORT ESSAY (200

WORDS)

 What does the author try to convey? (By shooting the messenger, you validate the
message.)

"By shooting the messenger, you validate the message." Logico says. This
"cryptic" became trending when Philippine Army Col. Mike Logico posted this on
Facebook on Tuesday, October 4. This post gained many different reactions from
people and became controversial because it was posted after the news about the
death of broadcaster-commentariat Percy Lapid, which happened on this
Monday night, October 3. He died because of a gunshot wound after being
ambushed in his car near his home. Percy Lapid was known as a prominent critic
of Pres. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte. That’s why
Philippine Army Col. Mike Logico's "cryptic" can be related to Percy Lapid’s death.

Shooting the messenger means people hate the deliverer of the news even
though he’s not the one at fault. For example, when you’re in a war, soldiers who
deliver the bad news to their commander are ostracized and blamed instead, and
sometimes even have to suffer the violent reactions of their commander. It is sad
sometimes that people often blame and even red-tag those people who simply
assert their opinions and deliver facts. By shooting the messenger, they already
validated the message as the truth. It means that because you violently reacted
to the one who speaks against your stand, it means you just proved what the
messenger is voicing out as the truth, because if you don’t agree with what is
being said, then you’ll not use violence and react harshly because you know the
truth and can defend it easily by stating facts. There’s no need to use violence or
even red-tag someone who stated their opinions properly, legally and cautiously.

It is speculated that Percy Lapid's death was motivated by his status as a

vocal critic of both the current and previous presidents; that it was an act of
vengeance. This is kind of alarming because it happened a lot during the times of
the late President Marcos Sr. Many people died on his watch just by voicing their
opinion. We don’t have the freedom to talk and share our opinions because you’ll
be penalized or even go to jail. That era for me is hard and scary. If you can’t
voice your opinion, then what will happen if the government takes advantage of
their position? How are we going to call out their wrongs? Or if our human rights
are being ignored or oppressed, how are we going to share it with people so that
we can prevent other people from falling into the same scenario? But I remain
neutral about this news because it is not yet confirmed that it is because of being
a critic; it may be for other reasons. I just want to say to all the people who
harshly criticize Percy that they should not red-tag someone just because their
opinions differ from others'. Simply assert, calmly, that what he claimed is false,
using facts. You are merely demonstrating the authenticity of what has been said
by red-tagging or reacting aggressively.