Yellow lives matter, but Duterte-styled Iron-Fisted Visionaries (IFVs) matter more

The Yellows are struggling to survive these days, and the fact they need to face is the enormous capital flight that’s taking place in the form of lost market share. Much of the attention, clout and following they used to enjoy and thought to be their birthright have steadily dwindled away like the vital signs of a half-conscious terminally-ill cancer patient on intensive-care life support.

Like Yellow matter in a stinky toilet – the Yellow submarine continues to sink

SUPPORT INDEPENDENT SOCIAL COMMENTARY!
Subscribe to our Substack community GRP Insider to receive by email our in-depth free weekly newsletter. Opt into a paid subscription and you'll get premium insider briefs and insights from us.
Subscribe to our Substack newsletter, GRP Insider!
Learn more

Yes, yellow lives matter (fecal-smelling or not). In fact, without them much of the exchanges in blog spheres and social media wouldn’t be as exciting and action-filled as they are now. They used to raise key phrases and slogans as their battle cries, such as the following, but the greater majority of Filipinos seem to have lost touch of them.

  1. EJK – People are no longer that interested in keeping count of all the killings; EJK will soon die of lack of attention and vanish away like just another emotion-devoid statistic.
  2. Never again – The entire black-propaganda bogeyman storyboard simply got shot down from the sky when Duterte declared ML in Mindanao with not a single major incident of rights abuse.
  3. Fake news – Yellow media and allied bishops have lost credibility when they cry foul over the “bots and trolls” swarming the web. When they claim that anyone against them is a purveyor of fake news, it became the surest sign that they’ve become their worst nightmare come true.
  4. Hukayin si “Not a hero” – All the demonizing of Marcos got busted in one fell swoop when Baste Duterte flashed an old clip that quoted Ninoy as saying “Makakain ba yang mga infrastructures na iyan?” in reference to the late dictator’s legacy accomplishments.

Whatever flagship issues and concerns the Yellows raise keep getting burnt out and run down (gasgas na), eventually losing their flavor. As the saying goes, food no matter how tasty loses its appeal when you keep eating the same thing every day.

The age of Iron-Fisted Visionaries has arrived

On the other side of the court is a totally different ballgame. It’s one that keeps changing and adapting, without fear of opposing views, dissent and attacks. In fact, it thrives on challenges, hurdles and difficulties – getting better at what it does best.

Birds of the same feather flock… and so it is with the Duterte camp: an assembly of like-minded people is taking on daunting challenges like traffic, joblessness, territorial issues, corruption and crime; and providing solutions never thought of during the Yellow years. We are hearing of subways, missiles, diplomacy with China/Russia and high-speed internet connections, things we couldn’t even dream to be possible one administration ago.

As this is supposed to be a democracy (crazy as it is), fellow Filipinos will allow you the right to exist as Yellows; you even have the right to assemble together and pat yourselves on the back for having Yellow pogi-points. You reserve the right to express yourselves without the threat of the barrel of a gun getting aimed at you. But do heed the warning that you are doing yourselves no favor by sheltering and insulating yourselves within your safe-haven echo chamber.

An integral part of survival is to know your enemy or those of the opposition. Our bodies need bacteria to keep our immune system strong. Think of how sickly people in immaculate living conditions become when they visit the real world – like the Philippines. So get real. Recognize reality and try to keep up with the changing times.

The next big catchphrase to displace EJK off its throne should be one that comes from the other side of the Yellow-laced fence, and let that be IFV – which stands for Iron-Fisted Visionary. It’s about time we stop waiting for the Yellows to fire their next missile – which always turns out to be a dud anyway. Why not bring out rockets from our own arsenal that will get the Yellow liberals on catch-up survival mode, running to keep up and struggling to catch their breath.

In the political sphere, Singaporeans have their Lee Kwan Yew, China has the capitalist-state-running CPC, and Thailand has its disciplined military taking the political helm. Iron-fisted visionaries (IFVs) exist even in the business world, with the likes of Steve Jobs and Elon Musk. They are relentless in bringing standards up to the next level. They work based on a road map of what they want to achieve and a clear idea of what they picture their country, organization or product to be in the near/distant future. Their moves are calculated despite the risks. Fundamentally, they are strategic game changers.

What we need now is for IFVs (rather than rights-advocacy-centric EJKs) to catch fire in our discussion circles. Why do we have to be reactive to whatever the Yellows throw at us, when we can take matters (esp. of the topic of discussion) in our own hands and set the standard which everyone else has to simply catch up on to remain in the game?

IFVs will be the driving force in the next decades to come. Political candidates and parties will rise and fall on the basis of whether they can match or outdo a Duterte. When we weigh a potential senatorial aspirant, ask yourselves – is he/she an IFV? Is your current mayor or governor an IFV? If not, vote him/her out the next time around.

IFVs are not necessarily dictators, but if they are – they are benevolent ones. They simply are not distracted by the opposition. They shoot the opposition’s argument with a better-stinging rebuttal and move on. This is why people listen to them, believe in them and eventually follow them. Their passion spreads like an uncontrollable wildfire – invading, pervading. For these visionaries, time is a precious commodity they can’t just be noynoying around with (man, this word needs to be added to the English dictionary – would you agree?)

The more we get IFVs in public office, the better it will be for the future of this land and for succeeding generations to come. An IFV is behind the New Clark City with the goal of decongesting MM, another is behind the relentless infrastructure/train projects making life more livable for the traveling public. IFVs have begun to emerge in government institutions across the land, simply because the leader who appointed them is an IFV himself. Who in his right mind would wish a return to the coup- and blackout-infested Cory days, or the wasted years of Noynoy’s shameless sham Daang Matuwid scam?

IFVs inspire us to perspire

Some people believe that the government will not change unless Filipino culture changes first. That’s like a catch 22, chicken-egg riddle. It hasn’t worked thus far; so why not consider the opposite strategy: The top leader must be an IFV first for the rest of the magic to trickle down to the lowliest Pinoy mopping floors and scrubbing toilets at some distant municipal hall in a far-flung province. Imagine an honest janitor who gets out of his way to return a wallet he finds left behind in the toilet, all because he is inspired by a president who works his ass off just to give his citizens a comfortable life.

Singapore’s success story did not start from the bottom – it started with its head, from the very top. The rest is history.

Duterte is not the be all and end all. He is only the start of a new breed of leaders this country will have. This will be my humble prediction: We will have a series of IFV presidents for the next 30 years. How about that for a change?

PS: To succeed in your vocation, find an IFV in your workplace who best models the type of worker/leader you aspire to be. Try to feed your mind with material that can transform you into an IFV. I personally recommend one small booklet I still keep around entitled “Passion for Perfection.” Just one short life to live – make it count.

41 Replies to “Yellow lives matter, but Duterte-styled Iron-Fisted Visionaries (IFVs) matter more”

  1. Sorry Zaxx, as long as the average Filipino is sabotaging everything in sight – as I posted elsewhere – it doesn’t matter how “visionary” the government is. Plans are useless if there’s no-one capable of executing them.

    In any case, I have heard of nothing visionary from the present administration. The education system still sucks. People are still lying, cheating, stealing from and killing each other like it’s completely normal. Business process is, if anything, more of a shambles than it ever was. The LTO still can’t even manage to issue license plates inside of a year, so I doubt your hopes for a wonderful new transport infrastructure are ever likely to materialize.

    In fact I would venture to say that it is physically impossible for the average Filipino to BE visionary. Thinking outside the box is not taught in schools, not a respected skill, and not practiced in everyday life. On the contrary, people are encouraged to make do with third-rate, to get away with the minimum level of effort, and to reject anything new and useful (especially if it might have been invented by foreign heathens).

    If I’m wrong, perhaps you’d care to offer some concrete examples of this brand-new visionary administration?

    1. @marius You don’t believe on what zaxx had said on this? If you’re thinking on how will the Filipinos gonna change ourselves & if there’s hope to it, well then I have a ONE or TWO solutions to this huge problem & these are: 1) Enact & upgrade this proposed law in our country called the Anti-Pasaway Bill; this controversial law was became a headline in our country way back 3 years ago [and take note, under the PNoy administration] & it’s still pending to this day. And I predict that this proposed bill will become a law & it might upgrade it’s rule under the Duterte’s administration especially when most of us have this social disease called “Pasaway” or ignorance. We’ve use that everyday & this is the main reason why the Filipino people are undisciplined, becoming an anarchists & lagging behind us from our Asian neighbors like Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, Vietnam, etc., etc. We need an iron fist laws like this one in order to change the cultures & attitudes of the Filipino people from being worst to a great one! You think that this is a human rights violation? Think again, and go ahead for those people who are against this kind of law & file a TRO at the Supreme Court that they think it is an unconstitutional & anti-Filipino. Hah! Keep on dreaming on this one, guys, you will never succeed to this kind of your dirty tactics but in the end Filipinos will learn their lesson. And speaking of lesson, here’s another one to end the horrific problem of the Filipino people 2) the Filipino people need a BETTER EDUCATION & NOT BECOMING A LIFETIME POOR DIRT PERSON as what Mr. Zaxx posted his previous blog entitled “Why the State should NOT be Pro-poor for the Philippines to Prosper“.

      This is all what I have to say but if you have any other ideas on how to solve the huge bad problems of the Filipinos, then post your reply here.

        1. Yes but this is not a joke, Mr. Robert. You know that kind of Filipino attitudes [pasaway or ignorance] is one of the many things that Filipino people are capable of. This is the REAL reason why the Philippines are lagging behind to other Asian countries for many years, and it’s really irritating & a humiliation to the world. You could see that in here everywhere & every Filipinos and if you want to find out, then go to my country to check it out. If you want to know more about the bad cultures & attitudes of the Filipino people then read this link — 12 Annoying Attitudes of Filipinos We Need To Get Rid Of.

        2. mrericx,

          I like to think that I know the Philippines and its people/population, but that aint true of course. But I do know some things about the Philippines and its people based on my personal experiences.

          To make a law stating how an individual must behave (stand in line and wait for your turn) is really absurd. Its just a matter of etiquette which everybody should have been told about by their parents when they were young/kids/toddlers (its part of the upbringing). Those who dont know the etiquettes, is just a way to seperate them (the haves and dont haves). So I observe them and laugh at them. I really dont care about them.

          You cant make laws to change a ‘culture’. It wont and doesnt work. Dont you have better things to do instead and make real and better laws? Like, divorce, abortion, same-sex marriage?

        3. Look, Mr. Robert. I don’t care to you could give me an advice about that. The situations in your country is really much different than my country. We’re living in this world with many countries that have different sovereignty, and heck why the United Nation was created in the 1st place? As what my president said we will fix our own problems here unless if President Duterte will go to abroad & visit some of the countries that he could observe it on how they make thrive & survive on their own & apply it here just like what Rwandan president Paul Kagame did as shown on this video: https://youtu.be/kuGimWnORIM

          Maybe & hopefully he could do that before his term will end in 2022 for my country he just need political will, the love of my country & my people and even the taste of an iron fist unlike the previous administration which is the opposite.

        4. mrericx: on the one hand, you’re saying Duterte should go and study how other countries succeeded, but in the same breath you’re telling Robert that you don’t want to know why the Netherlands is successful. Do you HONESTLY believe Filipinos are somehow a different species of human? That Filipinos don’t have the same brains and psychological responses as the other 6 billion people on the planet?

          So make up your mind. Which is it: are you interested in learning from people who got (some) things right, or are you going to carry on making the same mistakes, over and over again, shouting “Pinoy Pride”, while the rest of the world doesn’t know whether to laugh, cry, or facepalm?

        5. Marius,
          I think what mrericx is trying to tell me is that the Filipinos are trying to invent the wheel (again) not knowing that it is already invented. Instead, maybe Filipinos can try and invent a wheel with tubes that wont burst when driving/biking through glass (or through nails).

          Even with Duterte in power, they still look and are a 3rd world country. And no president can change that. Only people can change that. So, so far, nothing has changed and even after Duterte’s term is over, it will still be the same.

          What were Mr. Thaddeus Grimwald’s favorite famous last words when he still was a GRP author?
          “Proof me wrong”?

        6. But how can you expect Filipinos to change their 3rd-world behavior by emulating advanced nations when the Dutch themselves behave fraudulently in entering contracts in Ph ? – in reference to the LTO license plate fiasco marius mentioned earlier…
          License plate contractor indicted

        7. Ha! you’ nailed it, zaxx! Wow, not only the Filipino gov’t & the oligarch practicing corruption, even some of foreign companies doing their businesses here is also doing a corruption business here! (Take note of what ZTE & Dalian from China did to us before). So how will you gonna punish a criminal both Filipinos & non-Filipinos violated a law here? Or better yet, instead of our country, let’s move to Singapore where the LAWS IS THE KING & no one else & also its very strict!!! So how will a Singaporean & a non-Singaporean violated a law like he’d vandalize in a public places or smoking in a non-smoking area? Of course you should punish them according to their laws it provide, just like what this American teen had done before when he was caught vandalizing a car in Singapore. And I don’t care if a law is not perfect and it could easily be change or amend, IT IS STILL A LAW anyway, and we must follow it or face a consequence if you don’t.

          And here’s another thing why those Westerners who still believes on the values of human rights & freedom as their norm. Do you think that it is more important to value more on human rights & freedom than following the laws & become the law abiding citizens? So is it OK if we could take drugs like taking cocaine, LSD, Shabu (meth), etc., smoking in a non-smoking areas, rape a minor girls & boys, kill & hate an African or Latino immigrants, steal the taxpayers money rather than follow the laws in your country? That’s a huge BS!!! And so that’s why as of today, those Western style democracy are sucks & very corrupt! I don’t know if you agree on this, but for now I’m out.

        8. And btw, here’s an additional info on why Western style democracy really in a deep s__t already, I’d read this blog just a few minutes ago & I like it! It’s about this 16th century Italian philosopher, Niccolo Machiavelli who’d wrote the book, The Prince, and he’d predicted that the liberal democracy is on decline.

        9. That’s right mrericx, liberal democracy does not work on stupid people. Maybe average Americans are getting stupider and more obese these days – which makes the need for iron-fisted leadership something to reconsider for their society as well.

          crazy people + freedom and liberty + loose gun control = mass shootings.

          Filipinos should dream of rights and liberty after 30 years of iron-fisted rule. That’s how our tiger neighbors did it. Asian solution for Asians. We needed that terror teacher back in our days just to get us into the right habits – the ones we need to make us responsible on our own once we’re out in the real world.

          “dictatorship” is a hard sell in PH, so IFV can serve as that euphemism palatable enough for rights crybabies to chew on.

        10. However in North Korea, it is way to authoritarian tha Singapore, it is far more brutal than China and Singapore. Its laws were very rigid, more severe than it was before.

        11. Zaxx,
          When I buy a car in my own country, the plates are already on the car when I collect the car. The car dealer got the plates through/from the RDW (https://www.rdw.nl/). The RDW probably has its own source(s) from who actually do make / manufacture those plates. Maybe it is also from J. Knieriem from the city of Goes (English website: http://www.jkg.eu/; http://www.jkg.nl/). I really dont know. Maybe you can/wanna contact the RDW. They should be able to inform you exactly about the what, who and why?

        12. Zaxx,
          my intial response to you is under moderation (I added a few website addresses).
          Personally (and business wise) I do NOT know that Dutch company (Knieriem). I already sent a message to the Dutch agency that is responsible for plates and DL (driver’s license) in my country (the RDW). I hope they can shed some light on that Dutch company. I will update you here the moment I get a response from the RDW.

        13. It would be great to get the Dutch side of the equation on this. But just from the looks of it… there’s something not right. Why would JKG still be bragging about a deal gone sour (of their own undoing) right at the top of their website’s home page (jkg.eu)?

          “Just recently JKG has officially been awarded the PhP 3.85 billion (EUR 65.000.000,-) contract for the supply of the new Philippine number plate program for the next 5 years. ”

          Shouldn’t they be sweeping this under the rug by now?

          Fishy, really fishy. The other angle could be… Crooked Pinoy company partners with Crooked Dutch company. As they say… birds of the same crooked feather eat fishy stuff together.

        14. Or – and I am spit balling here – that PH firm/company needs to cover up something by blaming the other party (to save face and to save their own skin)

          I get the impression that most Filipinos will blame the other for something when the result is not going their way.

          Hopefully, I will get a response from RDW fast.

        15. zaxx: and yet, somehow, the Dutch have managed to build a strong society and not so long ago ruled a large and successful empire. They must be doing something right, no? Do you believe there is literally nothing that can be learned from them? Or if not the Netherlands, how about Singapore or China or Korea? What about a little bit of this from here and a little bit of that from there? You don’t need to EMULATE them. Of course that wouldn’t work. You need to look and learn and understand.

          I’ve no idea what happened in the case you mentioned, but there might be a clue in the fact that NOBODY ELSE has ever (apparently) had a problem with JKG. Filipinos always seem to manage to turn the simplest thing into a shitstorm, don’t they? I’m not saying foreigners can’t be dishonest and corrupt – of course they can. But knowing how the public bidding processes work here, I can take a very good guess at what happened there. It would be interesting to find out the facts. If JKG have been up to no good, you can be certain that Dutch prosecutors will take notice.

          One might ask why the Philippines is even going halfway across the world to print license plates. Is there really nobody among 100 million people who can stamp a piece of aluminum? We all know it could be done locally, but making things complicated – and international – generates the maximum potential for skimming.

        16. Zaxx,
          One other thing. Pls dont just read a newspaper and believe what it says. Pls do your own investigation into the matter. Personally, I cant believe that JKG intended to do frauduleus business with the Philippines. It will always come out in the open and harm one’s own (JKG) business in the end.

          If I want to sell something to you, I want it to be a successful deal. It may open the markets in Asia for me. If the deal turns sour, it may or even will harm any future deals with even locals. And as Marius already indicated, I am sure I am not the only one who can manufacture plates.

    2. concrete examples of this brand-new visionary administration?
      well I guess we just need to dig a bit deeper marius…
      Duterte’s MM subway project

      To be funded and built by the Japanese and with NO Tunnel Vision LP Yellows to mess up the project , what could ever go wrong?

      1. You certainly do need to dig a little deeper. Let’s make a few observations and ask a few questions.

        1) The Philippines is a low-income country. Another way of phrasing that is that the population on average produces very little economic output. So how is a $7B subway going to pay for itself? Are there perhaps better ways that $7B could be spent? Could $7B be invested in such a way that it produces $70B of income, 10% of which can then be spent (ie., wasted) on a project which benefits a tiny fraction of the population of Manila?

        2) The proposed route is 20-something kilometers. So that’s something less than $350m per kilometer. Subway works in advanced countries run anywhere from $50m/km to $200m/km. Starting to smell a rat here yet, zaxx? For comparison, a typical 2-lane highway costs $2m per kilometer, which means $7B could buy more than 3000 kilometers of non-urban roads. Light rail could be done for about the same price. How much economic value might that generate – in terms of, say, farmers getting a new route-to-market?

        3) Ignoring roads for a moment, let’s consider what else you could do with $7B. Well, frankly, you could build a replacement for Manila. $7B, using state-of-the-art technology, would be enough to build a city (a FTZ, perhaps) for half a million inhabitants – complete with homes, business premises, energy supply, and ecosystem services. If anyone was planning THAT, I’d be happy to call them “visionary”. But no. They’re going to spend the money on a subway line, on a route short enough to walk in an afternoon.

        So what I see so far, zaxx, is a government doing what Filipino governments have done since forever: wasting lots of other people’s money, and pocketing some of it along the way.

        I’m expecting at least a -4 score for the above cost-benefit analysis, Pinoys, for raining on your parade. Don’t disappoint me.

        1. and deeper down the rabbit hole we go…
          1-billion-doesnt-buy-much-transit-infrastructure-anymore

          “New York, meanwhile, is building the most expensive subway line of all time, at $1.7b per km. This figure makes London’s 16-km-long Jubilee line and Amsterdam’s 10-km North-South line, which both faced delays and controversy and cost $350m and $400m per km, respectively, seem reasonable in comparison.”

          Let’s not forget the 3Billion PHP lost to traffic a day in MM, and the plus points a rail system from the airport will do for tourism in the country.

          A subway in MM still makes way more sense than above-the-ground solutions since right of way issues always turn out to be the bone of contention in these types of prime-real-estate located projects. We can’t afford delays.

          Again, Japan will fund and build it; and I’m pretty sure they will not get into something they haven’t assessed to bring a feasible ROI. If building a new city is your counter-proposal, I think Duterte’s got that covered as well (New Clark City with rail link to MM).

          MM is at the brink of a full-scale heart attack; it’s about time we get our much awaited triple bypass surgery.

        2. >> Japan will fund and build it
          Ah yes. The famous Filipino confusion between borrowing money and getting something for free.

          Somehow, somewhere, Filipinos will pay for it. If you don’t see this intuitively, I can’t explain it to you. And it is extremely poor value for money. Manila is a sinkhole for cash. You could pour $700B into it and it would still look like … Manila. It would be cheaper to just bomb the place. Perhaps you could get the fat boy in NK to do it for free?

          As I said, you could take that $7B and do things with an enormous return on investment. You could actually achieve something. You could be VISIONARY. Building a 20km subway line is not even close to visionary. It’s a mundane and fundamentally stupid waste of money.

          The New Clark City thing is interesting, I’ll give you that. Note the budget for it: about $2B. I’ll keep an eye on it to see how it pans out, but honestly, I’m fully expecting it to disappear in a heap of ignominy. If it is ever actually built, and looks even remotely like the 3D renderings, I’ll buy you a crate of Red Horse.

        3. “I’m fully expecting it to disappear in a heap of ignominy.”
          Well Marius, at least you’re consistent in your expectations. But you missed important details in forming your analysis. If some hopeful Filipinos adopt your attitude, they WOULD REALLY FAIL. What’s the point of it all? Why even try?

        4. @klara: I’m consistent in my expectations because Filipinos are consistent in the outcomes. I look at what happened yesterday and use it as a reasonable predictor for what’s going to happen tomorrow.

          Anyway, I think it was actually zaxx who wrote an article on the value of doing nothing. Several cultures have a meme along the lines of “if you don’t know what to do, don’t do anything”. And it’s good advice. A lot of government “initiatives” are not just an enormous waste of money but end up making the original problem worse: road-building often falls into this category because of (1) an astounding level of corruption at the DPWH (2) an astounding level of incompetence at DPWH and (3) no understanding of urban planning, transportation theory and suchlike in this wonderful country.

          Filipinos are famous for working hard. The problem is that they work hard at things that produce no useful result – usually because they haven’t thought things through. To use another old saw (supposedly from Abraham Lincoln): “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”

          What are these “important details” that I missed?

        5. Consistent expectations based on consistent outcomes ? Fortunately, things don’t work that way. If they did, there’d be no way of moving “forward”- in any sense you can conceive of.
          If we could condense the reasoning as to why the PH is what it is now, it would come out like some sloppy scientific thinking- at least to a certain range of perspective.
          Important details you missed? For one, proportionality in pricing. You can look up the rest. ZAxx has good info in his comments.

        6. >> proportionality in pricing.

          Explain please. Zaxx pointed out that the most expensive subways in the world have cost more than $350/km. I’m not sure how this makes everything all right: the fact remains that the Philippines is spending cash like a drunk with a new credit card. The country cannot afford expensive subway lines for the same reason an unemployed hobo cannot afford designer shoes. The hobo might one day have the shoes of his dreams, but first he has to have a bath and a haircut, and get a job.

          And you are quite right that there is no way of moving forward. At least none that’s available to the Filipino, because all of the workable methods involve co-operation, analysis and careful planning, concern for one’s fellow man, concern for one’s country, and basic morality (eg., not stealing everything that isn’t nailed down). That’s why the Philippines has not moved forward for 50 years, and why I expect $7B to show a negative return on investment.

          It completely amazes me that Filipinos are quite happy to cheer and shout “Pinoy Pride!” while the government wastes their hard-earned taxes on projects for the rich (ie., a few well-placed residents of Manila) while the rest of the country wallows in poverty.

        7. Most of the problems mainly stem from an underdeveloped sense of determination. Particularly on an individual level. You have good ideas, Marius. esp. in theory. The culture needs a lot of learning.

        8. @klara: sadly, there’s an enormous, yawning gap between what Filipinos WANT and what they NEED.

          Until Filipinos put aside their hubris (“”the father of all sin” in Christian and Catholic tradition) there is no hope for this country. Every Asian neighbor which made progress started in a state of humility: we have failed; we need to learn a different way. That position is the basis of all true pride.

          China is the classic example. The early days of China’s development in the 1980s was achieved by inviting in experts from other countries and learning all that could be learned. They took the bits that seemed useful and discarded the bits that weren’t. You might argue that China didn’t learn any sort of social responsibility, but their economic success is undeniable. The Philippines could have done that. They still could. But they don’t want to. They’d rather be proud, poor, and miserable.

        9. Pride can take many forms. It can be as simple as putting yourself in another’s position, and seeing how your own views need to be adjusted. A lot of Filipinos are very welcoming and open to new ideas. Many are in fact , (in relative terms) quite adaptive.

        10. @Klara: I assume you’re referring to the way I express myself, but there’s a reason why I’m a little too … direct. Basically I know that my ideas are not welcome here. I’ve tried presenting them with respect and consideration for the Filipino’s position. Many times. When I first came here, I addressed people as I would address anyone else, assuming that respect given would result in respect returned and a win-win relationship between peers. I was wrong. Very, very wrong.

          In return for giving my time, money, trust, and assistance, I’ve been lied to, stolen from, abused, insulted, laughed at and disrespected. Not once or twice, but consistently and repeatedly. I have not had this experience in any other country, and I’ve worked in several. It took me a while to figure out that the problems were not caused by miscommunication, or cultural misunderstandings, but by the Filipino desire to hurt, degrade and exploit others. This desire is so strong that they will do it even when they hurt themselves in the process.

          Filipinos, as a group, have entirely lost my respect, and what I do here (mostly) is poke fun at people. There’s no point in engaging in rational debate. Filipinos are so utterly convinced that they’re right, about everything, that there is simply no possible way to engage with them … except with violence and threats, as Duterte seems to realize.

  2. “Without Vision, the People will Perish “, this statement comes from the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The Israelites had Visionary Leaders, called Judges, who guided and led them to the Promised Land, a land, whom they called : Land of Milk and Honey.

    I believe, there are “Iron Fisted Visionary” potential leaders in our country. Only, they are not given a chance. Because the Cory Aquino 1986 Constitution, is tailored and fitted to the Aquino Cojuangco political axis and family, and their Feudal Oligarchs cahoots.

    The government and the Philippine Constitution, need a thorough “overhaul”, to give chance for new breed of leaders to evolve. First, we need, a good house cleaning. Throw, prosecute and jail the rascals out . I have yet to see a politician, or a high government official given jail time, or hanged, because of graft and corruption. They are all enjoying their loots …

    I am an optimist. I see the glass Half Full !

      1. Here’s a quote for Filipinos to ponder, HydenToro:

        “To the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

  3. All we wanted was iron grip on power meant for Duterte like Marcos did (just like the strongmen – Hitler, Zedong, Mussolini, Stalin, Suharto, Kim Il-Sung, Kim Jong-Il, Saddam Hussein, Muhammad Gaddafi, Vladimir Putin, etc.)

    1. All you want is nothing but to TROLL on this site, That’s a fact.

      And also, nice logical fallacy you got there. Or perhaps you’re too dumb to realize it.

  4. Zaxx,
    please take a look at the city of Lagos, Nigeria. At the moment it has a population of roughly 21 million (a city with more people than my country has; 17 million vs 21 million). It is expected that in the year 2050, it (Lagos) will have a population of 40 million. Why is it becoming so popular? Because all other Nigerians move/migrate to Lagos thinking there will be jobs available there. The city government has no clue of what to do. Lagos even has a city planner (Francis Ayo Assaf) but he too is clueless what to do. The only thing he comes up with is to make other cities attractive enough so that people will stop coming to Lagos. I think he has a point. And of course the unbridled multiplication of people also adds to the problem.

Leave a Reply to d_forsaken Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.