Month: November 2012

China enshrines territorial claims over West Philippine Sea in newly-issued e-passport

November 23, 2012 benign0 18 Comments

Apparently Chinese nationals carrying newly-issued Chinese e-passports are now in violation of Philippine national sovereignty. Does this mean that Chinese citizens attempting to travel into Philippine territory using these documents are now banned until the violation is rectified? Perhaps affected Chinese nationals should now start thinking twice about proceeding with their travel plans. The “violation”…

Government, Media, Politics

Filipinos – is there a link between being emotional and being ‘free’?

November 23, 2012August 8, 2013 FallenAngel 18 Comments

Fellow GRP writer Ilda nailed it quite succinctly: Filipinos are overly emotional. Emotions are known to drive people to do irrational things, and Filipinos are no exception to this rule. Whenever people let their emotions guide their decision-making, they display a lack of ability to think things through logically. On the other hand, Filipinos pride…

Culture, Society

This Thanksgiving Day, let’s be thankful for Uncle Sam’s continued warm military embrace

November 22, 2012November 22, 2012 benign0 15 Comments

To the compelling arguments for the welcoming back of American GIs back to the Philippine Islands, the usual suspects can only hark back to the “bad” old days of boom boom town Olongapo City for a counterargument. Never mind the simple truth that Filipinas flocking to GIs in droves merely highlights the dismal failure of…

Culture, Development, Lifestyle, Politics

Filipinos are too emotional for their own good

November 22, 2012February 6, 2020 Ilda 142 Comments

Another global survey has confirmed what some of us have been suspecting all along: Filipinos are a very emotional people. American pollster company Gallup conducted a survey covering over 140 countries to compare how people feel about their lives and the Philippines came up as the most emotional of the lot. As usual, some Filipinos…

Culture, Society

Arrest of Mumbai netizens forbodes Philippines under Cybercrime Law

November 21, 2012 benign0 4 Comments

The Indian city of Mumbai has long been dominated by hard-line rightist party Shiv Sena. So when its powerful head, Bal K. Thackeray died recently, the city effectively shut down in deference with shops closing for the day and workers going home. Annoyed with all this, 21-year-old medical student Shaheen Dhada took to Facebook to…

Politics, Tech Talk

Is there hope in reforming the lazy presidency of President Noynoy Aquino?

November 21, 2012 benign0 66 Comments

In a statement marking the 30th Anniversary of his business forum, consultant Peter Wallace pretty much delivered an indictment on the very essence of the capital base of President Benigno Simeon ‘BS’ Aquino III’s political power — popularity. In calling on BS Aquino to make “tough, unpopular decisions”, Wallace is essentially offering the antithesis to…

Government, Politics

Kristin Stewart and Robert Pattinson reunited: will it last?

November 20, 2012 Kate Natividad 2 Comments

So what’s everybody’s verdict on the reuniting of Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart? Is it even possible to continue having a relationship with someone who cheated on you? Perhaps money talks. Their new movie The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II, the last in the series of ‘Twilight’ vampire movies is a hit. Romance needs…

Culture, Glitz and Glamour

Filipino viral videos: mere modern symptoms of a very old cultural dysfunction

November 19, 2012 benign0 32 Comments

As my colleague Ilda pointed out, Filipinos seem to be averse to speaking out. This may seem to be a counterintuitive assertion to make, given how Filipinos pride themselves with a tradition of flamboyant political activism, tacky spectacle in the way they practice freedom of speech in their mass media, and voluminous undifferentiated chatter in…

Civics, Crime, Culture, Lifestyle, Media