Inflation is a phenomenon which happens world wide. It causes many problems to countries all over the world. Inflation is the rise in the general level of prices. When inflation occurs, each ringgit of income will buy fewer goods and services than before. Inflation will reduce the “purchasing power” of money. As a result Senator Nancy Binay tweeted “we have to strengthen our initiatives to ease the burden of inflation including the provision of financial assistance to poor families and discounts to the transport sector.”
In the tweet of Senator Nancy Binay, the problem of the rise in inflation rate and it’s effects spurred the writing of the commentary. According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), inflation climbed to another 9-year high, hitting 6.4% in August. This is also the fastest since March 2009. This statement is directed to the government of the Philippines and to every sector that plays a part in serving the people. This serves as a call to those who are in the position and have the capabilities to provide help for the poor families who are the ones that are greatly affected by inflation. At times like this, the people depend on the government. We expect them to do something they should do. Something they have pledged and taken an oath for which is to attend to the needs of the citizens, to serve the people. The government is a strong force that plays a big role in terms of economic issues and once they put into action what is expected of them, they can definitely be mediators of change.
The tweet of Senator Nancy Binay will not be that effective if there are negative replies on the tweet which when read by the audience, can affect their decisions. The fact that the target audience of this post are the people in the government who has numerous encounters with Senator Binay and knows about her political history and what she does can also be a constraint in this rhetorical discourse. They will probably not be persuaded if they see that she is not actively participating in talks about inflation issues and is not actually making a move on “easing the burdens” of inflation herself. In addition, The number of likes and retweets does not make the commentary or post more credible, no matter how many it is. After all, what Senator Nancy Binay said is just her stand on the issue. Also, twitter is just a platform to express one’s opinions and thoughts and it does not guarantee the credibility of the statements. If the tweet was published offline in traditional media (newspapers, magazine etc.), its persuasive qualities would not change because it still has the same ideas and content in it. It also would not be able to persuade more people since the audience would still be the same people, those who can be influenced or affected by what Senator Nancy Binay said.
Moreover, this particular tweet of Nancy Binay on the issue of inflation rate is effective and can create a rhetorical situation and discourse. We can say that although Senator Binay was able to target her audience, there are still constraints on her tweet which could affect their decisions.
Sources: https://www.rappler.com/business/211176-inflation-rate-philippines-august-2018
https://www.twitter.com/senatornancybinay
Annjie Gancita
April Magbanua
COMM10porary 