Category: Culture

Wait a minute… Why do Filipinos hate the Marcoses so much to begin with?

January 4, 2018January 4, 2018 benign0 65 Comments

Would the Philippines have gone on to be a better country had the late former President Ferdinand Marcos never existed and, as a consequence, the “Martial Law years” never transpired? The way Filipino “activists” keep harping about the “evil” Marcos and the “dark ages” he subjected the Philippines to under his “Martial Law regime”, it…

Culture, Society

The annual Quiapo Church Black Nazarene fiesta (Traslacion) and Filipinos’ fascination with crowding

January 4, 2018 benign0 16 Comments

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…

Culture, Religion

On that word “Manigong”

January 1, 2018 Charles Englund 20 Comments

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…

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Culture, Lifestyle

Ica Policarpio mirrors the plight of an entire society that remains lost and has yet to be found

December 27, 2017 benign0 11 Comments

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…

Culture, Media, Society

Is 13th Month Pay Symbolic of Filipino Wastefulness?

December 27, 2017 ChinoF 13 Comments

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…

Culture, Money Talks

Anti-Governmentism is a Dumb Fad

December 25, 2017 ChinoF 5 Comments

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…

Culture, Government

Zimmerman-Duterte Effect: Why Native Pinoys should Crossbreed with Culturally Superior Stock

December 24, 2017 zaxx 52 Comments

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…

Culture, Society

Why being exceptional is a bane in the Philippines

December 19, 2017December 19, 2017 Amir Al Bahr 23 Comments

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…

Culture, Society