We beg to differ.
Christmas is coming and the holiday season is in the air. No-brainer there. Filipinos know the drill. The banks will be awash with OFW remittances and on the docks will be landed those familiar boxes of loot from “ninongs” and “ninangs” (in the broader sense of both words) overseas. Consider then the safety of all…
Read More “Over the holiday season, reflect on what you share on Facebook!” »
Perhaps at the root of all the factors that contribute to the Philippines’ continued and foreseeable failure to prosper is a deeply-entrenched cultural artefact: victimhood. Filipinos like playing the victim card. It is the heart of its politics — a “victimised” people to whom populist appeals to hero rhetoric resonate. As such, Filipino politicians win…
Read More “It is time for Filipinos to start REFUSING to be victims” »
So, yet again, we approach another seminal presidential election and there is much bubbling and foaming on the surface of the political scene. While the attention of the public has been focused on the turbulent surface of Philippine politics, few have appreciated the underlying reason behind that turbulence. For like the way rough rapids only…
The management of an Icon Residences luxury condominium building in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig has been called out for what Filipino netizens allege are “discriminatory” building access policies. A certain Poch Ceballos posted a photo on Facebook of a letter issued by the building management with the following caption: When Filipino maids in HK…
Read More “Filipino maids banned from using elevators in Manila’s luxury condos!” »
I’ve been hearing about this petition to ban the popular game Clash of Clans in the Philippines. The petition seems to have been instigated by a troop of parents long frustrated by how it has hijacked the lives of their kids. The thinking there, as I understand, is that if addictive narcotics are banned, then…
Read More “Should Clash of Clans be banned in the Philippines?” »
I recall making the assertion in my book way back in 2006 that the Philippines is a society that is inherently unjust. So far I haven’t been proven wrong. The Philippines today remains a society that continues to exhibit an utterly weak tradition of honour. Small surprise that its military capability is now a showcase…
Read More “In the #Philippines, ‘human rights’ is just a fashion statement” »
The most tragic thing is when children suffer from the sins of their parents. That’s pretty much the plot underlying The Human Condition. So with regard to Senator Nancy Binay’s recent lament that the vilification of her family’s politics is starting to touch her children, well, here’s a cliche to consider: It comes with the…
Read More “Binay kids being ‘dragged’ into scandal, Nancy appeals for restraint” »
The marking of the first year’s anniversary of the visit of Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) to the Philippines in November 2013 is a bittersweet one. While the disaster devasted millions of Filipino lives, its most appalling legacy is the vast open wound it left in the Filipino’s collective psyche — the realisation that theirs is an…