We beg to differ.
The longer I write about Philippine society and its politics, the more convinced I get that the country’s state of law and order is a joke. Take Davao City for instance. All this time I thought that the city was a model for what following the “rule of law” could do. It turns out, to…
The imbroglio Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte suddenly finds herself in after she punched court sheriff Abe Andres on the face in front of TV cameras is becoming complicated. It is complicated by her family’s uncoordinated public relations approach as evident in the belligerent stance her father, now acting Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, exhibited when he…
Recently the Japanese pop group AKB48, an “idol” theatre group composed of young girls, created a sensation after a computer-generated “composite” character “joined” the group to appear in a candy commercial. The character, named Aimi Eguchi, became a hit with AKB48 fans who at the time did not know she only existed in a computer….
Read More “AKB48: Computer-generated pop stars and next-gen pop entertainment” »
The alleged assault against court sheriff Abe Andres by Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte is now turning into a media circus. But one good thing that came out of this recent dragging of the premier city of the southern Philippine island of Mindanao into the limelight is the renewed interest in the spotty human rights…
Read More “Davao Death Squads – do they deliver results or just more problems?” »
So we want more foreign investment, do we? Stop to think. How much of it have we already received? Look around and take stock of what exactly it is about “the Philippines” that is of any consequence to anyone that is indigenous in origin. Indeed, the Philippines is one big foreign investment. Much if not…
Read More “The Philippines is one big SQUANDERED foreign investment” »
The grand-daddy of our culture-as-root-cause thesis, the late great Teddy Benigno, in his classic 2002 Star article Why investors avoid us: The trust factor highlighted what, at the time, was a very conservative forecast regarding China’s fortunes made in a Nomura Research Institute (NRI) study that foresaw a China that could “burgeon into the world’s…
Read More “Without operational excellence, capital is squandered” »
A visitor to GetRealPhilippines.com sent a letter by email dated 31 October 2005 that, in a nutshell, best describes the whole problem with our society’s regard for the youth. Here is an excerpt: we filipinos are so hypocrete. we live on lies and half truth. when I was a kid (am now 40 [years old])…
Read More “The Filipino Youth: where lies hope for a better Philippines in the future” »
President Noynoy Aquino (PNoy) will be giving his second State of the Nation Address (SONA) soon. Like his first SONA, his speech will most likely be full of motherhood statements similar to all the previous speeches he had delivered since he announced his plans to run for the Presidency in 2009. There is very little…
Read More “President Noynoy Aquino’s Second State of the Nation Address (SONA)” »