Category: Development

Filipinos need to end their love affair with mediocrity and ‘pwede na yan’ mentality

July 9, 2014August 4, 2014 Ilda 118 Comments

My views are not very popular with Filipinos. I guess it’s partly my fault because I like posting topics that some might consider taboo and boring. But it’s not like I discuss religion or make fun of other people’s religious beliefs. Granted, I like talking about Philippine politics and society in general but I really…

Civics, Culture, Development, Economy, Featured, Government, Lifestyle, Media, Politics, Society

The Philippines vs Singapore: Jeepney vs Formula 1

July 7, 2014 benign0 14 Comments

The Philippines with its population of 96 million registered a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of $117 billion in 2006. Singapore for its part, with its relatively paltry population of 4.6 million delivered a GDP of $132 billion on the same year. For less than half a tenth of the humanity Filipinos apply to the job…

Development, Economy, Money Talks

Filipinos desperately need a shared sense of belonging

July 7, 2014 benign0 11 Comments

At the coffee shop where I routinely get my morning fix, customers mill around the counter in a way that often makes it difficult to distinguish those who are (a) in the process of ordering and paying, or (2) waiting for a concluded order to be served. So it is a normal and routine courtesy…

Civics, Culture, Development, Politics, Society

Philippine employment dilemma: Dumb down the jobs? Or smarten up the workforce?

July 6, 2014 benign0 11 Comments

The Philippines is imprisoned by a deep systemic inability in its people to extricate themselves from poverty. It is a problem that is an outcome of (1) the sheer number of Filipinos that inhabit the planet, (2) the average productive output of each warm Filipino body earning (or seeking to earn) a living, and (3)…

Development, Economy, Education, Money Talks

The persistent myth of economic growth

July 4, 2014August 4, 2022 benign0 5 Comments

Development in understanding in recent years is making real limits on growth a lot more palpable since it is becoming quite evident that our approach to measuring economic value and the costs of acquiring said “value” (i.e. our monetary system) is woefully incomplete. Yet economic growth remains the be-all-end-all that pervades every aspect of human…

Development, Economy, Environment, Lifestyle, Money Talks

Ph President BS Aquino doesn’t care if he broke the law while handling taxpayers’ money

July 4, 2014July 4, 2014 Ilda 33 Comments

According to Philippine Presidential Communications Operations Office head Herminio Coloma Jr., President Benigno Simeon “BS” Aquino won’t apologize for the controversial Disbursement Acceleration Program or DAP after it was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. He insists that “the executive branch ‘exercised good faith and due diligence’ in accordance with existing laws and relevant auditing…

Crime, Development, Economy, Government, Politics

Change from within: how science and celebrity can effect it

July 4, 2014 benign0 4 Comments

It has often been highlighted that to get on a sustainable course towards prosperity, Filipinos need not a change of men but a change in men. It is a social transformation that needs to come from within. An article in Scientific American provides insight on how lessons learned from the success of some past initiatives…

Culture, Development, Lifestyle, Media, Science, Society

Achieving developmental focus: The Philippines’ Vital Few initiatives

July 4, 2014July 4, 2014 benign0 1 Comment

The Philippines is a most massive outcome of lots of actions underpinned by very little thinking. So many initiatives, advocacies, “movements”, agendas, and vested interests driven by even more characters in a country of 100 million clueless people — it sounds like a chapter out of John Barrow’s book Impossibility. The Philippines is a case…

Charter Change, Development, Economy, Media, Society

Vys
on The REAL solution to inflation lies in the rich and middle classes curbing NON-ESSENTIAL spending
YOU'RE insensitive and economically incorrect. You have no right to
History
on UK Immigration, Lies in History and Wokeness Debunked by Simon Webb
Not entirely false. People have been migrating to Britain for
History
on UK Immigration, Lies in History and Wokeness Debunked by Simon Webb
Depends on the individual immigrants. In the past, Britain did
History
on UK Immigration, Lies in History and Wokeness Debunked by Simon Webb
Absolutely wrong. Colonizers are technically migrants. Subsequent migrants also helped
History
on UK Immigration, Lies in History and Wokeness Debunked by Simon Webb
Blacks were not nobles. But there were Black and brown
History
on UK Immigration, Lies in History and Wokeness Debunked by Simon Webb
Absolutely wrong. Colonisers are technically migrants. Subsequent migrants have also
megget
on WHO instructed Tab Baldwin to “limit” his public “apology” to just “four minutes”?
"Risa eyes German embassy help to summon Gorebox maker" now
benign0
on WHO instructed Tab Baldwin to “limit” his public “apology” to just “four minutes”?
Apologies, this from the Manila Times editor! Honesty needed in