Category: Economy

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

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

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

HK Filipino maids react to latest ‘racism’ row as impact of Singapore hate blog ripples across region

June 19, 2014June 19, 2014 benign0 36 Comments

Tensions between Filipino expat residents in Singapore and so-called hate bloggers and online trolls seems to be escalating. The Philippine embassy in Singapore has asked the Singapore government to hold accountable for inciting hatred a blogger who published an article on the site “Blood Stained Singapore” in which the Filipino community there was described as…

Civics, Culture, Development, Economy, Education, Government, Lifestyle, Media, Society

Why do Singaporeans hate Filipinos?

June 18, 2014July 1, 2014 benign0 169 Comments

It’s the obvious question everyone is asking nowadays amidst a raft of hate blogs and other such digital artifcats going “viral” all over the Net. Many of these seem to have stemmed from the whole fracas surrounding a plan by Filipino community leaders to stage a 12th June Independence Day event at a major shopping…

Civics, Culture, Economy, Featured, Government, Lifestyle, Society