Archive for the ‘Society’ Category

Since the Quirino Grandstand hostage standoff, most Filipinos have cried out declaring to the international community how one nation can never be punished for the sin of supposedly one man. Rolando Mendoza, according to certain people, acted upon reasons only described to be selfish and nothing more. Names have been called out while fingers have also been pointed in all directions as government officials try ... Full story

There are many ways to try and talk with President Noynoy Aquino's supporters. Unfortunately, none of them works. They are so caught up with their own narrow view of what is good and evil that they cannot see beyond their flawed reasoning. While most of us already knew from the beginning that it was ... Full story

In the aftermath of the tragedy that claimed the lives of 8 innocent foreign tourists who made the one mistake of ignoring their friends’ advice that the Philippines is not a safe country (as is the usual refrain in Hong Kong and everywhere outside of the Philippines) and generously came over to spend their vacation money to contribute to the economy of a country known ... Full story

A couple of years ago I was in line waiting for my turn to pay my tuition fee. There were no more than four counters open for transactions in my university which was a dumb idea. You see, those counters are supposed to serve the entire university, not just one college, for the remainder of the enrollment period. Imagine the distance of that line. The ... Full story

Filipinos have been mounting a bit of an inward reflection and soul-searching in the face of overwhelming shame brought about by the appallingly incompetent handling of the August 23 Mendoza hostage incident that resulted in the unnecessary deaths of eight foreign tourists. Something interesting was dug up by the mostly half-witted efforts in this exercise taken by some Philippine apologists and triumphalists -- the ... Full story

One of the worst reactions that Filipinos have on the hostage crisis is, “We are still proud to be Filipinos in spite of what happened! Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!” It's very wrong. To the world, it looks like we're proud of foreigners being killed in our territory. Full story

On Aug. 23, Rolando Mendoza, a former senior police inspector with the Manila police department, boarded a tourist bus in downtown Manila and took control of the vehicle, holding the 25 occupants (tourists from Hong Kong and their Philippine guides) hostage. Mendoza, who was dressed in his police inspector’s uniform, was armed with an M16-type rifle and at least one handgun.... Full story

Most of us knew it was just a matter of time. As predicted in my previous blog, President Noynoy Aquino's high popularity rating at the beginning of his term only had one way to go and that was down. What I never expected was for P.Noy's fall from grace to be as quick and catastrophic as this one, and to be witnessed by ... Full story

"Going postal" just got upgraded to "Going Pinoy Policeman". Tragedy brings out the best and worst in people. At best - it can be an opportunity for dissecting what went wrong, what can be done to do things better, and to create the necessary policy framework to create the conditions that prevent a repeat of future performance failures - to learn from it and grow. ... Full story

The Whole World just witnessed "World Class" Filipino Policemen and Media Practitioners botch a hostage taking crisis in the Failippines, ending up with 8 innocent hostages dead, as well as a Tourism Industry that will be avoided like the plague for years to come. No tourist in his right mind is going to want to visit the Failippines. ... Full story

For a country that has bore the brunt of natural disasters and man-made disasters, economic malaise, a chronic insurgency, migration of professionals, dysfunctional government, human rights violations, sex scandals, botox for teens - the recent hostage taking was supposed to be just another day in these darn crazy islands. However - it isn't. With foreign citizens - tourists and China involved - Aquino better ... Full story

Last Sunday, the 21st of August was the death anniversary of National "Hero" Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr. That date is significant to me because I remember back in 1983, how his brother Agapito -- what's-up-with-the-nickname -- Aquino in a stroke of marketing genius began to fly a flag bearing the acronym ATOM (August Twenty One Movement) that was to go on to become indelibly associated ... Full story

Most Filipinos are anti-elitist. A good proportion of the Philippine population would prefer that they be seen as being one with the common tao rather than be seen as one of the elites. Indeed it is a land full of contradictions. This mentality is inconsistent with the behavior exhibited by a people who also routinely act like The Talented Mr Ripley (read: social climbers) ... Full story

Since the people have spoken last May 10, 2010, an Aquino presidency became a reality. Needless to say, despite the glaring incompetence of the current president back in his legislative years as a senator and congressman, people ignored them since they are comfortable with the kind of thinking that P.Noy’s purpose is to unite the Filipinos -- whatever that means.... Full story

ALL OF A SUDDEN, the method of the moronism reveals its purpose. I think that originally, most of us were assuming that Noynoy Aquino was just stupid. Any casual observer could be forgiven for forming that impression from the manifold evidence of his inability to formulate a coherent platform, speak intelligently on any issue during the campaign, and the amateurish and constant gaffes in the ... Full story

The Leftist-infiltrated organisation Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CenPEG) throws in their two cents on the matter of the first visit of President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III to the United States. In its "Issue Analysis No. 09" on the subject, published on the 14th of August 2009, the group stated that it sees Noynoy's agenda in this coming visit as an affirmation ... Full story

There used to be a local version of "Sesame Street" in the Philippines called "Batibot" which had some of its muppets roughly corresponding to some of the original Sesame Street characters. Instead of Big Bird, there was Pong Pagong. But they also had a Tagalog version of the song "One of these things is not like ... Full story

In the movie Inception the character played by Leonardo DiCaprio leads a team of dreamweavers on a mission to implant a concept in the inner reaches -- three levels down, to be exact -- of a powerful industrialist's subconcious. The expectation here is that an idea that originates at even the lowest depths of one's subconcious ultimately manifests itself in one's behaviour during the wakeful ... Full story

Nobody who rests comfily within the bed of Establishment thinking seems to want to take a position on the debate around abortion. All of what the venerable Ellen Tordesillas can add to the debate, for example, is a wish of "good luck" to those bold enough to take a position and slug it out in what is otherwise a splendid arena that pits the ... Full story

It's another vow from the AFP and PNP - AFP, PNP vow to strengthen fight vs private armies. How exactly are they going to do this? Are they proposing anything new? Too much attention is being given to end-game activities while focus on information gathering and distribution is lacking. Twentieth century approaches to law enforcement are not enough in the 21st century battleground. Pangako ... Full story

More than twenty years ago, James Fallows wrote an article entitled, "A Damaged Culture: A New Philippines?" It was Fallows who coined the term "damaged culture" to describe our country's polarity and cultural backwardness. Of course, many of our highly sensitive and emotional countrymen were very infuriated and felt insulted by this foreign correspondent from The Atlantic Monthly. Many media practitioners lambasted him and ... Full story

"My Way" is favorite karaoke/videoke classic for Filipinos. But it also illustrates very well the Filipino attitude in life... especially in politics. Full story

Catalonia, a part of Spain, just banned bullfighting, an age-old tradition associated with the country's cultural identity. Just because it’s culture or tradition doesn’t mean it’s untouchable; if it has to go, it has to go. Full story

P-Noy Aquino getting flack for the SONA wasn't a surprise. His getting elected wasn't a surprise. P. Noy's gaffes aren't a surprise. Lacierda's incompetence is not a surprise. The communication group's "Cabinet rank" is not a surprise. The policy pronouncements about "public-private cooperation" is not a suprise. Everything that P'Noy Aquino has done so far is not surprising.... Full story

Filipinos are so addicted to pleasant stuff that they refuse to face the truth. They instead want to drown their sorrows in pleasant things and insist that even if there are gaffes and mistakes, everything is still OK. Full story

I say - More WOTL Less Wowowee. Finally, the Philippines has a TV show that tells it as it is. Initially, I thought it was an indie-film. But obviously, it isn't. The Philippine entertainment industries reason for producing B-movies and re-imagined Mexican/Korean/HK telenovelas is that there is no market for such fare. I find that hard to believe.... Full story

How do we learn from the past? How do we use those learnings to improve our lives. An excellent example is the work of the ancient Chinese strategist Sun Tzu's - "The Art of War". By learning from the experiences of the various kingdoms and validating this in real life, Sun Tzu was able to accumulate a body of knowledge which remains relevant today.... Full story

I recall barely 2 years ago, while debating on PEX about religion, origins of the universe, and a bit of cosmology - String Theory was just in its infancy. Not suprisingly, a legion of people who did not understand the theory just ridiculed it. But it seems that the theory is not just about to die down because of ridicule. In fact, one of the ... Full story

President Noynoy Aquino will be giving his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) soon. If his army of speechwriters will have their way, his speech will be all about giving people "hope". Hopefully, it will not be full of motherhood statements similar to his election platform and inauguration speech. Heaven forbid that Conrado de Quiros have his way in writing it lest ... Full story

Philippine society is full of contradictions. One of its many contradictions is that the Philippines is populated mostly by religious zealots and yet its people are quite tolerant of sexual and lifestyle deviants. About ninety percent of the population in Philippines are Christians, eighty percent belong to the Roman Catholic Church while ten percent belong to other Christian denominations. Considering the country's population is ... Full story

Earlier this week Get Real Philippines raised the issue of pornography in the Philippines, which despite being illegal generates over a billion dollars (nearly 65 billion pesos at the current exchange rate) in annual income, making the local porn “industry” the eighth-largest in the world. To get some idea of ... Full story

Kris Aquino is no longer just another screeching Filipino showbiz personality. She is now the sister of the President of the Philippines. The timing of her marital woes with basketball player James Yap couldn't be worse for the spin machinery of her brother President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III -- a man who owes much of his appeal to the masses to the Catholic mind of ... Full story

How can you tell if someone is really humble? They say that someone humble is someone who is modest, reverent, and politely submissive. A humble person is someone who is never arrogant, contemptuous, rude or even self-abasing. In my not-so-humble opinion, I don't really believe that President Noynoy Aquino is humble. He is so self-aware about the level ... Full story

Have you ever watched the "Untouchables?" You should. It provides a textbook case of sleuthing, pain-staking gathering of evidence, and building an air-tight case. The experience of the US' Alcohol Prohibition era also shows how unenforceable laws cause corruption. Jueteng has come to the headlines again. Illegal gambling has become a favorite whipping boy of politicians who are out to score brownie points. But I ... Full story

One of the myths some have about other countries is that they were able to develop their cultures without outside influence. Not true at all. Every culture today is a “tainted” culture, a melting pot of the entire human race. Same with the Philippines. Full story

What's in a number? A lot actually. If you are starting to lose your religion, try doing the math and you will figure out what life is all about. Truth be told, if President Noynoy Aquino will be honest with himself, he should see his win as no more than a numbers game result, and not the outcome of some imagined divine intervention as his ... Full story

Filipinos are culturally hobbled by a compulsion to assert class dominance over the other. Much of the priority pursuit of the average Filipino involves decking himself in the latest branded t-shirt, sporting the latest mobile device, and uttering the latest hollywood catchphrase. Nothing new nor nothing surprising about this. Much of what contributes to the impoverishment of the Filipino is driven by a neurotic susceptibility ... Full story

(Updated with Part 3 - July 9' 2010 - Charice serenading a country that rejected her talent) Honeymoon periods with new incumbents are understandable. We, Filipinos, though have a way of overdoing things - not necessarily the right ones. In this satire featuring an animated (literally, a cartoon in the tradition of South Park) interview of Sarah Palin by Larry King about her invitation to ... Full story

Once upon a time there were two villagers working the fields in a remote boondock. The fields were well-tilled as they were a hard-working people. Fortunately they had good soil and because of that there was minimal need for water. Still, the village needed more water and a council decided to have a competition on who can best serve the needs of the village. ... Full story

At the time of this writing, millions of people around the world are obsessing about the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa and the noise of the annoying Vuvuzela horn. From every continent, people speaking almost every language, coming from practically every race, creed, and color are excitedly watching the game called “Association ... Full story

Organised religion has a tradition of being averse to stepping up to a serious debate on a level field when its dogma is challenged. Certainly the Roman Catholic Church is not an exception to this tradition of intolerance to free inquiry. I wrote a while back how the Roman Catholic Church is really... an institution ... Full story

Everyone knows there’s a strong culture of corruption in the country. But has anyone bothered to wonder whether our well-meaning Filipino culture is itself actually helping corruption build up? Full story

I don't understand what is so complicated about this whole English-versus-Tagalog "debate". For me, it is a simple return-on-investment calculation. Compare every peso of public funds spent on Tagalog-articulated instruction and every peso of public funds spent on English-articulated instruction. Which of those two pesos spent contributes more to opening more doors of opportunity for the average Filipino? As I wrote way back in ... Full story