We beg to differ.
It remains quite the modern-day curiosity how more than a million people would troop to Manila for a chance to catch a glimpse and possibly — hoping against hope — touch the “revered” Black Nazarene figurine. I don’t get it. How is this crowding around a relic different, say, from the 30,000 Filipinos several years ago who trooped to…
Now here is a Tagalog word that you only hear during new year’s eve (and even then, hardly). That is “manigong” as in Manigong Bagong Taon, the Filipino greeting for a Happy New Year. I have always had a problem with this word, which I presume means “prosperous”. It is a word doused with generous…
Following days of vigorous discussion around the much-publicised disappearance and “rescue” of Ica Policarpio, a statement was released yesterday by her family through a Facebook post by her sister, Bea Policarpio. This was after the large number of Netizens who had responded to an appeal issued by Bea to assist in the location of her…
We Filipinos take for granted the 13th month pay. We probably would go on a witch hunt if we found our company does not give it (let me note that 13th month pay is separate from Christmas bonuses). This pay scheme was mandated by a law introduced by Ferdinand Marcos in 1965, and it continues…
Read More “Is 13th Month Pay Symbolic of Filipino Wastefulness?” »
I’ve observed that nearly every country in the world has people who hate their government. Whether US, China, Japan, Russia, or even Israel, there sure are critics. Of course, hating on governments has been around since government has been around. But anti-governmentism has become bloated into one of today’s pretentious fads. Right now we have…
The Zimmerman-Duterte Effect sounds like the name for some phenomenon that leaps out of the pages of a Theoretical Physics textbook, but somehow it may indeed be scientifically sound – despite a radical collision with those too butt-hurt to admit that genetics has no place in a discussion on the area of the Pinoy’s inherent…
Being exceptional in the Philippines is not only not rewarded, it is also punished. Often severely. Being exceptional, in the eyes of Filipinos, means that you are something the rest of them aren’t. You aren’t in solidarity with the rest of them, especially if they’re mediocre. Naging iba ka sa kanila. Di ka nakisama. Leadership…
Read More “Why being exceptional is a bane in the Philippines” »
Evidently, Inquirer columnist Rina Jimenez-David set out to write another unimaginative piece on presidential granddaughter Isabelle Duterte, the latest outrage fad her Yellowtard community is feasting on. This is not the point of my article here. The more interesting insights to be gleaned from Jimenez-David’s piece lies in what can be read between the lines….
Read More “The POOR are responsible for uplifting the poor, NOT the rich” »
