Category: Development

Philippine-China conflict: How did we come to be so dependent on Chinese imports?

June 14, 2011March 7, 2014 benign0 24 Comments

Last weekend Governor Joey Salcedo of the Philippine province of Albay issued what on the surface looks to be a ludicrous proposal — that Filipinos “boycott” Chinese-made products. Salcedo made this call to Filipinos to “hurt [China] where it counts” in light of recent military and diplomatic tension between the Philippines and China over the…

Culture, Development, Economy, Lifestyle

Philippines: Stuck in reverse since Independence Day

June 11, 2011June 12, 2014 Ilda 60 Comments

A lot of Filipinos want to copy everything about the United States of America. From the form of government down to the style of music, Filipinos look to Uncle Sam for direction. For as long as everyone can remember, Filipinos have always viewed the home of our former colonizers as the land of milk and…

Culture, Development, Economy, Government, Media, Science, Society

Education: how big a factor it REALLY is to Philippine national development

June 8, 2011June 8, 2011 benign0 4 Comments

Making headline news today and filling the columns of the opinion sections of mainstream media are laments (both factual and opined) on the derelict state of Philippine education. According to the Philippines’ Department of Education (DepEd), 27.5 million elementary and high school students marched into schools last Monday. That’s more than the population of Australia…

Development, Education

Are Filipinos individualist, collectivist, or just a bunch of moochers?

June 5, 2011June 5, 2011 Ilda 40 Comments

Labels are now the â€œinâ€ thing among so-called â€œintellectualsâ€ of the Philippine blogosphere. Some Filipinos who are actively participating in debates are suddenly identifying themselves as either libertarian, conservative, progressive, socialist, communist, etcetera, etcetera. Apparently, there are people who think that you need to identify yourself with a particular ideology. Otherwise, they insist on putting…

Culture, Development, Society

Foreign direct investment: Are Filipinos up to the task of seizing opportunities served up to them?

June 4, 2011September 22, 2014 benign0 18 Comments

Seeing foreign direct investment, cash handouts, and subsidies as the silver bullet that will cure chronic Filipino poverty? Think again. Lots of lessons are to be learned in what former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad said in a speech at the Harvard Club of Malaysia dinner on 29 July 2002 about how the presence of…

Culture, Development, Economy, Education

Foreign capital will not solve Filipinos’ inability to apply capital profitably

June 3, 2011April 26, 2018 benign0 41 Comments

In my 2006 book Get Real Philippines Book 1, one of the key solutions I cited to the challenge of effecting fundamental change in the path we have (rather consciously) set for ourselves to chronic impoverishment is to re-evaluate the content of our mass media. I highlighted that it is an easy solution, because much…

Development, Economy, Media

The key dysfunction of the RH Bill ‘debate’: leaving out the ‘being’ from the ‘human’ equation

May 24, 2011 benign0 59 Comments

A lot of the “debate” around the issue of Reproductive Health in the Philippines revolves around the notion of the “human” life at stake during various stages of pregnancy from the time of conception. According to Fr Joaquin Bernas in his now famous Inquirer.net column, “The Constitution commands that the life of the unborn be…

Development, Religion, Science, Society

Iran: model of successful population control and an inspiration to Filipinos

May 23, 2011July 23, 2013 benign0 9 Comments

The Iranian experience in implementing a successful population management program has become a model for many countries that seek to overcome the debilitating burden overpopulation presents to development aspirations. The most remarkable aspect of Iran’s program is in how what was once a religious directive to go forth and multiply had been repealed by the…

Development, Economy, Education, Media, Religion, Society