Category: Development

The futility in outrage over Manny Pacquiao’s homophobia

February 17, 2016 rsurtida 22 Comments

The recent outrage over Manny Pacquiao’s statements about the LGBT community is just a media-covered exercise of something that every Pinoy—educated or otherwise—live with and even practice on a daily basis. Pacquiao simply represents the groupthink of Filipinos. And, unfortunately, Filipinos are among the biggest anti-LGBT group of people in existence. Just take a walk…

Culture, Development, Media, Politics, Religion, Society

Why Filipino politicians routinely get away with incompetence and criminality

February 14, 2016 benign0 9 Comments

There are no consequences — not for the Philippines’ most popular celebrity, boxing champion Manny Pacquiao who is also a House representative in Congress. Despite holding the dubious distinction of being the top no-show in House sessions held in 2014, he remains a Filipino favourite. It may be just as well that Pacquiao has been…

Culture, Development, Education, Politics, Society

Feb 26 2016: 30th anniversary of the stupidification of the Philippines

February 10, 2016 benign0 20 Comments

The 26th of February this year marks the 30th anniversary of the 1986 EDSA “people power” revolution. Three decades ago from this day, the “evil” regime of President Ferdinand Marcos was supposedly toppled by a popular uprising that was sparked by an army mutiny led by then General Fidel V Ramos accompanied by then Defense…

Development, Politics, Society

Imperial Manila: Uniting the Nation at a Price

February 7, 2016February 7, 2016 zaxx 12 Comments

It was the dawn of April 27, 1521 when Ferdinand Magellan and his handful of men, confident of their superior European weaponry, got off their ship and waded ashore for a face-off with defiant Lapu Lapu and his 1500-strong army of natives defending Cebu’s Mactan Island. Little did Magellan know that this iron-willed Visayan datu would…

Development, Government, Media, Society, The South

Daang Matuwid brought the Philippines straight down the highway to hell

February 5, 2016February 6, 2016 Ilda 42 Comments

Daang Matuwid. What the hell does it mean? Its literal translation in English is “straight path”. Without any context, it does not make a lot of sense. Straight path to where, exactly? However, its ambiguity helped launch the Presidency of a non-performing lawmaker Benigno Simeon ‘BS’ Aquino III back in 2010. A lot of people…

Crime, Development, Government, Politics

Can the Philippines compete in the 21st Century global economy?

February 4, 2016February 4, 2016 benign0 12 Comments

When the term ‘self sufficiency’ is mentioned, what often comes to mind is food. On that alone, self-sufficiency in terms of food is already a big issue in the Philippines. The Philippines is the world’s biggest importer of rice and is a major market in the region for the agricultural exports of many countries. The…

Culture, Development, Economy

Mar Roxas’s campaign promises NOTHING to the Filipino people

February 2, 2016 benign0 12 Comments

Generations of Filipino politicians have paid lip service to the idea that Filipinos deserve an egalitarian society and that the it is unjust that vast wealth be in the hands of so few. It has become a template campaign promise during election season for politicians to issue promises to “eliminate poverty” and dismantle the monopoly…

Development, Economy, Politics

Netizen slams PNoy’s views on OFWs in viral ‘open letter’ posted on Facebook

February 1, 2016 benign0 25 Comments

A note posted by Facebook user Lesley Dianne Siojo Cabildo containing “an open letter” to Philippine President Benigno Simeon ‘BS’ Aquino III is going viral. The letter accompanied a meme originally posted by Cabildo on the 24th August 2015. The meme (pictured below) quoted the following statement supposedly made by the president: Filipinos leave their…

Development, Economy