Category: Development

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

Posted on By benign0 4 Comments on Education: how big a factor it REALLY is to Philippine national development

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…

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Development, Education

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

Posted on By Ilda 40 Comments on Are Filipinos individualist, collectivist, or just a bunch of moochers?

Labels are now the “in” thing among so-called “intellectuals” 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…

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Culture, Development, Society

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

Posted on By benign0 18 Comments on Foreign direct investment: Are Filipinos up to the task of seizing opportunities served up to them?

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…

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Culture, Development, Economy, Education

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

Posted on By benign0 41 Comments on Foreign capital will not solve Filipinos’ inability to apply capital profitably

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…

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Development, Economy, Media

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

Posted on By benign0 59 Comments on The key dysfunction of the RH Bill ‘debate’: leaving out the ‘being’ from the ‘human’ equation

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…

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Development, Religion, Science, Society

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

Posted on By benign0 9 Comments on Iran: model of successful population control and an inspiration to Filipinos

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…

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Development, Economy, Education, Media, Religion, Society

The RH Bill: Economic growth alone will not solve overpopulation

Posted on By Ilda 23 Comments on The RH Bill: Economic growth alone will not solve overpopulation

I cannot say in absolute terms that I am a strong advocate of the proposed Reproductive Health bill (RH Bill). In a perfect world, we wouldn’t need to introduce such legislation. But we do not live in a perfect world and if one’s intention is to seek flaws in the proposed bill, one will surely…

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Development, Economy, Education, Environment, Government, Politics, Religion

Over-population is not just a problem of poor countries

Posted on By benign0 19 Comments on Over-population is not just a problem of poor countries

Think of what it takes to sustain human civilisation at the standards of living we believe that everyone is entitled to. Have we stopped to think what it would mean for a billion Chinese people, say, to have access to a standard of living equivalent to that enjoyed by Western Europe and North America today?…

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Development, Economy, Environment, Society, Technology