We beg to differ.
The Philippines – it’s not just home to Fe-rich malunggay and kamote leaves, it’s also the birthplace of a similar breed of leaders: iron-class. How did it come to this – a time and place where “kamay na bakal” has now become fashionable (again)? Apparently, three decades of mis-encountering, mishandling, lousy and incompetent “bakla” politics…
It’s been a slow and agonizing wasting away with the current crop of incompetent and corrupt empathy-devoid bozos that fill the political arena here in the country widely known as the Sick Man of Asia. This decaying remittance-transfusion-sustained corpse of a society/economy, the semblance of life being just the wiggling movement of infesting maggots under…
When thinking of the character of the Filipinos, I am reminded of a taxi driver who said, when you’re in the city, you can’t be “mabait.” Instead, keep making “tutok.” Maybe he meant asserting yourself, but it could also mean that you should be mean and aggressive to others. Perhaps you have heard of some…
Read More “Does Duterte-Fanaticism Personify Filipino Nastiness?” »
It is hardly surprising that demagogues have come to dominate national Americana politics on both sides of the globe. Funny enough, two such popular demagogues happen to be making waves on the East and West both in bastions of American values — in the United States itself where anti-immigrant Republican candidate Donald Trump is ruling…
It is worth pondering the state of our international gateway airport and what is says about our country. You know what they say about the eyes being windows to a person’s soul? Well, a country’s airport is a window to its governance and well-being. Think about it. The first impression that a businessman or tourist…
Read More “What Ails My Airport And My Country Are The Same” »
Shortly after a popular uprising in 2001, Philippine President Joseph “Erap” Estrada was removed from his position and replaced by Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who before that point was the Vice President. Under pursuit by Arroyo and the Supreme Court, Estrada was arrested for government plunder and found guilty after a lengthy trial, though Arroyo eventually pardoned him…
Read More “Who Among the 2016 Candidates Will Hold BS Aquino Accountable After His Term?” »
We all have bad experiences dealing with other people. Some of those experiences make us wish we could just take a gun and shoot whoever had caused those bad experiences. But we don’t because there are also consequences for doing so. Perhaps in the case of the Philippines, presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte and what he’s…
Read More “Duterte’s dangerous experiment: Vigilantism as state-sanctioned doctrine” »
It looks like Davao Mayor and Presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte is going to be another public relations nightmare similar to President Benigno Simeon Aquino and another Presidential aspirant Mar Roxas. Just like BS Aquino and Roxas, Duterte is acting like a loose cannon – speaking and acting like he does not care about what people…
Read More “Rodrigo Duterte needs a PR makeover to win the presidency” »