Category: Culture

The word “charot” reflects Philippine society’s cowardly COP-OUT culture

October 21, 2019October 21, 2019 benign0 4 Comments

Why say something if you don’t intend to mean it? That, in essence, is the dishonest underpinnings of Charot Culture. The word charot in normalspeak is “joke only”. Filipinos who say something tongue-in-cheek, sarcastically, or to convey a sense of irony often have to resort to appending their statement with either one or even both…

Culture, Education

Holding on to Heritage Causes rather than Solves our Country’s Problems

October 20, 2019October 20, 2019 ChinoF 3 Comments

The late Carlos Celdran’s claim to fame is being a promoter of heritage and culture. He caters to those who believe that preserving heritage and culture is what Filipino need to improve the country. I disagree. Let me borrow Ronald Reagan’s style for this: heritage is not the solution to our problem; heritage is the…

Culture

Filipinos don’t owe Carlos Celdran ANYTHING

October 12, 2019 benign0 2 Comments

Nobody owes Carlos Celdran anything. He made a name for himself going up against the mighty Roman Catholic Church. But this is something many Filipinos have already been doing in manners that do not get them in trouble with the law. In this context one’s gotta take with a bit of bemusement what “thought leader”…

Culture, Religion, Society

Resistance to Jeepney Modernization symbolizes Filipino Primitivism

October 6, 2019April 6, 2025 ChinoF 23 Comments

Our webmaster Benign0 and other bloggers have all mentioned how the jeepney is a symbol of the Philippines’ backwardness. Recently, efforts to improve it, or replace it with a better vehicle, met resistance from the likes of “transport groups” like PISTON and Manibela. What’s funny is how even celebrities and middle-class commenters insert themselves and…

Culture, Development, Lifestyle

We can Talk About Environmental Issues Without Climate Change

September 29, 2019September 29, 2019 ChinoF 10 Comments

Some people are so defensive of Greta Thunberg because they think her tantrum was necessary to alert people on environmental issues. I however believe her speech is based on a myth: when you talk of saving the environment, it must include climate change. Either you’re with Thunberg or you’re an enemy of environmentalism. Not for…

Culture, Environment

Greta Thunberg’s Tantrum Won’t Save the Environment

September 26, 2019September 27, 2019 ChinoF 15 Comments

Another SJW moment made the latest buzz as a young Swedish girl, Greta Thunberg, made a “stunning speech” where she called world leaders “evil” for ignoring environmental concerns. Fellow SJWs and left-leaners or “let’s force the world to embrace our kind of good” types are all aflutter about it. Add to that U.S. president Donald…

Culture, Government, Politics

Why There can never be Universal Rules on Art and Beauty

September 22, 2019September 12, 2024 ChinoF 30 Comments

Actor-turned-politician Richard Gomez’ painting of a male organ elicited reactions that range from disgust to laughter and mockery. I’ve personally seen more of the latter. But perhaps it spurs discussions on what art is and what to do about “offensive” art. It reminds me of the PragerU video about offensive art, which likely received much…

Culture

What “Wokes” Fail to Get about Poverty

September 19, 2019September 19, 2019 ChinoF 19 Comments

The “woke” social justice warriors do what they do because their assumptions about poverty and suffering on earth are wrong. My impression is that they are like the vegan “activist” who posted on social media (assuming they meant it) a message admonishing people to not slaughter animals for meat and instead buy from groceries –…

Civics, Culture