Category: Development

President Noynoy Aquino may have a good reason for giving a no-go to charter change!

May 22, 2013 benign0 45 Comments

In a pre-emptive strike on the whole discussion around ‘charter change’ that is likely to come up after the opening of the 16th Congress in July, President Benigno Simeon “BS” Aquino III issued his two cents on the matter of foreign ownership of land in the Philippines. â€œI donâ€™t think they are necessary detriment to…

Charter Change, Development, Economy

Pinoy Pride Is Never There Where It Really Counts Elections 2013

May 22, 2013May 15, 2018 Gogs 8 Comments

May 13 2013. I want you all to forever remember that date whenever you get the temptation to beat your chest like King Kong over whatever superficiality captures your nationalistic imagination until the end of time. One reason why 2013 may be an improvement over 2012 is a year ago the nation was “captivated ”…

Culture, Development, Government, Politics

Dear Philippines: Hope is not a strategy

May 21, 2013May 30, 2013 benign0 5 Comments

Hope springs eternal indeed as that other cliché goes. But then, we might ask: Hope in what exactly? Now that the Philippine Fiesta Elections of 2013 have come and gone, the hard questions must be asked, the vacuous campaign rhetoric ditched, and the motherhood statements junked. Perhaps the usual halfwits will continue to squabble and…

Development, Politics

The Quest Endures…

May 20, 2013 P. Farol 18 Comments

“Here we are again Kate… Ups and Downs.” — Dick Gordon, May 20, 2010 Days after garnering 500,000 votes in the 2010 Presidential Elections I cringe at the thought that after the second automated national and local elections to be held in the Philippines, aÂ sizableÂ portion of the country’s electorate is back to square one. For…

The Apeco Mess

May 14, 2013 BenK No Comments

If outgoing Rep. Edgardo â€œSonnyâ€ Angara Jr. of Aurora wins the election to the Senate seat of his father, as he is widely expected to do, it seems he will be starting his tenure in the upper house of the Philippine legislature under an extraordinary cloud of controversy. Last week, in a statement whose timing…

Alienation and Estrangement: In Defense of Humanism

May 13, 2013 Jose Mario de Vega 3 Comments

Â In 1844, a young German philosopher wrote a book entitled â€œThe Philosophic and Economic Manuscriptsâ€. The said writer is no other than Karl Marx. In that work, Marx begun to examine, analyze and scrutinize the concept of alienation (entausserung). The other term that he used is estrangement (entfremdung). Marxâ€™s central thesis is that: The…

Civics, Development, Society

Why Enabling Steps Are Not Enough

May 13, 2013 P. Farol 47 Comments

Political dilettantes talk about “enabling steps” because that’s all they know. Most people can’t tell how a chess game will go simply just by looking at the opening game. Â I think it’s actually the middle game that determines a great game from a mediocre one and the greatness of the game is not seen in…

Charter Change, Culture, Development, Economy

Will the Philippines prosper if we change its system of government?

May 11, 2013 benign0 81 Comments

Can a change in system of government really change the development trajectory of an entire nation? Perhaps so, but the complexity of any causal link that might exist between a system of government and the future success — or failure — of a country does not allow us a straightforward way of determining just how…

Development, Government, Society