We beg to differ.
A TV report on Bandila that aired some time this week had me a little flabbergasted. According to a report from Jasmine Romero, the Department of Tourism had created yet another “master plan” to “level up” the country’s tourism and part of that masterplan involves turning Roxas Boulevard into a tourist attraction. Let’s forego the discussion…
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Or The Thirds’ Word War If there is one key take away from one of Sen. Sergio Osmeña the Third’s hearing on the President Benigno Aquino the Third’s Administration’s failure to get any of the Private Public Partnership (PPP) projects on the ground and running, it’s that there’s a pretty good chance that some if…
It’s all so interesting to note. One moment, Filipinos would giddily cheer the successful resupply of Philippine military personnel camped in the derelict BRP Sierra Madre which was purposely run aground in Ayungin Shoal in 1999 to seal the Philippines’ territorial claim there. Then on another, they’d give each other high-fives over what is essentially…
Read More “The Philippines’ Han Solo moment: Why the Ayungin drama made Filipinos ‘proud’” »
A lot has already been said recently about Filipino food and how the world reacts to it, so I won’t be covering much of that issue here. What matters I suppose is that, in spite of what foreigners think of our local delicacies, we have an opportunity to show the world that our food has…
Read More “Expo 2015 and Filipino Food: An Opportunity Slowly Slipping Away” »
I realised the whole problem with the prevailing discourse within the social media space I inhabit: there is too much discussion about politics and not enough about the underlying issue with Philippine society that I have long highlighted is the real deal here — Filipino culture. Fact is, the Philippines is beset by a really…
Read More “Repeat after me: I am the Philippines and I am home to a dysfunctional society” »
The following is a copy of the Foreword I wrote for my friend Ben Kritz’s new book Same Planet, Different World: An Outsider’s Inside View of the Philippines. You can download the book from Amazon here onto Kindle or any of a variety of apps also supported by Amazon. We in our clique of the…
Read More “The country we’ve made for ourselves: why we need an outsider’s perspective” »
I’ve come to realise that much of Philippine history was really all about a monumental effort to counter centuries of butthurt. The Philippine “revolution” of 1898 was an epic reaction to 400 years of butthurt in the hands of Spain. The arbitrary re-defining of the 4th of July, 1946 from “Philippine Independence Day” to “Philippine-American…
Read More “Much of Philippine history was motivated by Filipinos’ kneejerk butthurt reactions” »
One thing that could go right for Manila Bay Reclamation is that it could pave the way for a new start, without the burden and limitations of a once glorious past that will never be reclaimed. Reclamation is actually a part of a plan for Manila’s growth that was started by the Americans when they…
Read More “What Could Go Right With Manila Bay Reclamation” »