Archive for the ‘Mindanao’ Category

No sooner had the ink ran dry on the creation of the Mindanao Development Authority when I spotted a seemingly harmless news item on Inquirer. Here we are talking about the culture of impunity and what can be done to instill integrity. Then, bam, I get a whiff of something that stinks - the smell of delicadeza being placed under a bus and ran over ... Full story

After all the post-Ampatuan massacre chest-thumping what next? Ningas-cogon na naman! What else is new in da Pilipins? What next? How can we move the Mindanao agenda forward so that the rest of the Philippines can reap the benefits of the Peace Dividend. Malacañang hawks advocate total war, Aquino advocates removing the carpet under the feet of non-performing LGUs, Gordon talks about addressing poverty in ... Full story

Here now lies the whole trouble with the inbred Philippine Media community and its boys' club of mutually high-fiving Establishment "bloggers". While so much ire, speculation, and hearsay "reporting" directed at a who's-who of bozos in Imperial Manila (revolving around, who else, President Gloria Arroyo) is given so much profile, a whole class of feudal chieftains and carpetbaggers enrich and entrench themselves in the ... Full story

As I am writing this, a joint session of the Legislature is debating whether or not to give its endorsement to the declaration of martial law in Maguindanao, which was triggered by the massacre of 57 people 18 days ago by a mixed force of over 100 Ampatuan mercenaries, paramilitaries, and police. The private army ... Full story

The trouble with swinging a pendulum hard in one direction is that it will eventually swing back in the opposite direction just as hard. In the Philippines, the pendulum has swung from one end to the other hard all within less than a month. Within days of the "heroic" triumphs of Manny Pacquiao and Efren Penaflorida, both of which sent Filipinos on a massive ... Full story

The Indio PoV A recent blog post by Blackshama on "Another example of Philippine Idiocy" encapsulates the historical amnesia in the artificial Philippine state The Inquirer even in its editorial silliness  at least has got one thing right. ... Full story