Category: Culture

Will Filipino voters reward politicians who support the Reproductive Health Bill?

May 16, 2011 benign0 5 Comments

We are seeing interesting times today as it seems like roles have been reversed for the first time in the last several decades. The Philippine Roman Catholic Church descended into a very public tantrum following hints from President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III that calls for a boycott on paying taxes made by some Church officials…

Culture, Development, Politics, Religion

The Church’s flaccid ‘all-out war’ against Philippine Reproductive Health

May 12, 2011May 12, 2011 benign0 5 Comments

The Church of nowadays is doing what it does best, pointing a finger at the “Infidel” and launching a crusade against it. In this case the Infidel is President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III and his MalacaÃ±ang and the “crusade” is a step up of its “all-out war” against the Reproductive Health Bill currently being pushed…

Culture, Development, Religion, Society

Overpopulated Philippines: reduced to panhandling for foreign investment

May 11, 2011May 11, 2011 benign0 33 Comments

Everytime I hear this and that initiative to “attract” foreign investment to the country and then see these touted as “solutions” aimed at uplifting Filipinos from the clutches of poverty and the setting of our economy on a “firm” path to prosperity, I find my eyes rolling up to the high heavens as if to…

Culture, Development, Economy, Education

Do Filipinos suffer from narcissistic personality disorder?

May 3, 2011September 19, 2015 Ilda 151 Comments

It’s official. I finally got confirmation that a lot of Filipino men are so into themselves. I thought it was just me but a recent survey conducted by global market research company, Synovate Inc. revealed that 48 percent of Filipino males felt they were sexually attractive. This revelation made another global media outlet, CNN International…

Culture, Environment, Lifestyle, Society

Why Australia is a great country

May 2, 2011April 4, 2014 benign0 27 Comments

There isn’t much about living in Australia to complain about. This is, I think, the reason why I haven’t written much about Australia. I realise though that my long silence about life in Australia is a bit disturbing. Maybe it is just me getting a bit uncomfortable with being too comfortable. Indeed, when things simply…

Culture, Government, Lifestyle

The funny way Filipinos talk about sex

April 30, 2011October 5, 2015 benign0 5 Comments

Do Filipinos like talking about sex? Answering that question is a journey in itself, and the journey begins with a concept I coined a while back — the Filipino’s tradition-religion complex. The tradition-religion complex represents a narrow framework in which a person finds moral clarity. In the case of the Filipino, it encompasses a small…

Culture, Education, Lifestyle, Religion, Society

Three fundamental roadblocks to improving Philippine public transport

April 26, 2011December 11, 2022 benign0 21 Comments

Solving the mass transport problem of large Philippine cities is one of those hard problems. Much of its hardness is accounted for by that inescapable fundamental nature of the poverty that defines the Filipino’s very existence — the Filipino’s habit of entering into commitments that they are inherently incapable of honouring. Such commitments are almost…

Culture, Development, Economy, Lifestyle

Sexuality in Philippine society: imprisoned in an obsolete tradition-religion complex

April 25, 2011April 25, 2011 benign0 11 Comments

In her article â€œBetween Sensationalism and Censureâ€ (Philippine Journalism Review, April 2002, pages 35-37), Diana Mendoza observed how the bizarreness of Filipinosâ€™ regard for sexuality is reflected in Philippine cinema. Her observations are gleaned from among others, comments made by sociology professor Michael Tan of the University of the Philippines in the Sixth International congress…

Culture, Education, Lifestyle, Media, Religion, Society