Category: Culture

How to stop Philippine Media’s systematic dumbing down of an entire nation

August 22, 2014May 19, 2022 benign0 51 Comments

It is pretty much a no-brainer. The idea that the Philippines’ entertainment industry is a massive contributor to accelerating erosion of the collective intellect of Filipinos has long been a widely-accepted fact in Philippine society. As far back as 2006, Isagani Cruz wrote about this in an Inquirer article. I cited the key excerpt in…

Civics, Culture, Development, Education, Government, Media, Society

Study confirms need to establish English as medium of instruction also at elementary school levels

August 20, 2014April 1, 2023 benign0 36 Comments

A study jointly conducted by the University of the Philippines’ Assessment Curriculum Technology Research Center-College of Education (ACTRC) and the University of Melbourne on the effectiveness of Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education in (MTB-MLE) in the Philippines has confirmed something many Filipinos have known for some time — that English remains a highly-prized skill that most…

Culture, Development, Education

Philippine Army keeps cool as Malaysia goes on high alert against Islamic militants!

August 20, 2014August 20, 2014 benign0 38 Comments

For many Filipinos, the fight being waged by Islamic militants to re-establish a Muslim caliphate across vast swaths of the Arab world in North Africa and the Middle East has remained a mere peripheral issue. Recent events however have revealed disturbing insight into how much of the events over there may be resonating among the…

Culture, Government, Religion, The South

Ramon Bautista’s ‘hipon’ joke: Davao women should lighten up

August 20, 2014 Kate Natividad 59 Comments

What I am really curious about is what possessed comedian Ramon Bautista to insinuate that Davao women are “hipon”, slang for (I am told) women who have a nice body but a not-so-nice face. “Hipon” is Tagalog for “shrimp”. So, yeah, shrimp is the word because the head of a shrimp is discarded after the…

Civics, Culture, Glitz and Glamour, Lifestyle, Media, Politics, Society

Endemic corruption in Philippine society stems from a national Trust Deficit Disorder!

August 13, 2014 benign0 9 Comments

The public puts its trust in government officials to look after the best interests of the public. A very simple tenet. Yet it is one that seems to elude the fundamental sensibilities of Philippine society. When was the last time we rested assured that a Philippine government bureaucracy, bureaucrat, or official is doing its, his…

Civics, Crime, Culture, Government, Lifestyle, Politics, Society

Will Pope Francis’s prayers make a difference to Typhoon Haiyan’s victims in the Philippines?

August 8, 2014 benign0 31 Comments

There is a world of difference between (1) making a quick visit to the Philippines, and beholding all the usual stock-standard confronting sights of impoverished Filipinos “bravely” scraping together a living and (2) growing up in the Philippines, and experiencing that poverty (either as a part of it or as an observer) everyday for many…

Civics, Culture, Development, Lifestyle, Media, Religion

Why a Bongbong Marcos presidency in 2016 is unlikely

August 7, 2014August 7, 2014 benign0 76 Comments

Many Filipinos will not vote for Bongbong Marcos for the same reason they voted for President BS Aquino back in 2010 — because of who their parents are. Whatever people of any camp say, that sort of thinking pretty much makes most Filipinos of the same ilk as far as thinking faculties go. That pretty…

Culture, Politics, Society

People constantly fiddling with their phones are such eyesores!

August 6, 2014 benign0 8 Comments

Considering that only the creme de la creme of Philippine society was invited to grace the 5th State of the Nation Address (SONA) delivered by Philippine President Benigno Simeon ‘BS’ Aquino III, it remains quite remarkable that bad manners continued to baldly manifest itself in this chi chi occasion. Too bad for all those who…

Civics, Culture, Lifestyle, Tech Talk