Category: Government

Filipinos should address the Philippines’ negative image by fixing its problems

September 26, 2014 Ilda 18 Comments

Are Filipinos more concerned about projecting a positive image to the international community rather than finding a solution to the negative images that keep finding their way into the hands of international news media organizations? It would seem so. This was evident when a lot of Filipinos felt outraged and demanded an apology from a…

Development, Economy, Government, Media

Climate change activism: mere farts in the wind

September 25, 2014December 16, 2022 benign0 12 Comments

Another United Nations (UN) climate summit, another bunch of promises. Has the UN really been an effective body in efforts to mitigate the worst of humanity’s many scourges that Planet Earth suffers? Considering that China is, today, the single biggest producer of “greenhouse gases”, the role the UN plays in an effort to curb emissions…

Development, Economy, Environment, Government, Lifestyle, Science, Society

Kabadingan and kalaswaan in Philippine government

September 24, 2014 benign0 37 Comments

If there is anything that “fashion” show, The Naked Truth, organised by Filipino clothing brand Bench to showcase their underwear line revealed to us, it is that kabadingan (faggotry) and kalaswaan (lasciviousness) is a Filipino condition that seems to transcend fields of endeavour. Way back, I wrote about a similar condition that afflicts the Philippines’…

Government

Wretched Philippine-style poverty is actually quite normal

September 23, 2014November 5, 2022 benign0 28 Comments

It doesn’t take much to remind Filipinos of their poverty. The problem, however, is that these reminders almost always have to come from external entities. And within this month alone we enjoyed the privilege of two stark reminders, Typhoon Mario and that Aegis Global viral video that the Philippine government is now desperately trying to…

Civics, Crime, Culture, Development, Government, Lifestyle, Society

The futility of begging for foreign investment when your country sucks

September 22, 2014 benign0 23 Comments

Recent events have, yet again, highlighted the embarrassing way with which Filipinos and the government they elected to lead them are desperately scrambling to extricate themselves from systemic poverty after decades of misguided “development” approaches and serial promise breaking. Like many many previous presidents before him, Philippine President Benigno Simeon ‘BS’ Aquino III went on…

Culture, Development, Environment, Government, Politics, Society

Aegis video pits Malaysia’s infrastructure versus the Philippines’ in bid to attract BPO business!

September 20, 2014September 20, 2014 benign0 184 Comments

It seems the Philippines has been singled out by a company in Malaysia as its single biggest competitor for investment in the region. A promotional video produced by a Aegis Malaysia, a global business process outsourcing (BPO) company makes a pitch to its clients to locate their BPO needs in Malaysia by highlighting that country’s…

Culture, Development, Economy, Government, Lifestyle, Media, Money Talks

Deja vu all over again as Typhoon Mario’s devastation of Metro Manila mirrors Ondoy’s in 2009

September 19, 2014 benign0 26 Comments

Today may as well have been a day in September 2009 when Typhoon Ondoy struck and devastated Manila. Back then I wrote about the Philippine government’s utter failure to step up and provide relief to hundreds of thousands of its victims (a failure to be repeated many more times since), and how Metro Manilans pretty…

Civics, Development, Environment, Government

Noynoy Aquino’s arrogance is forcing Filipinos to take matters into their own hands

September 19, 2014September 19, 2014 Ilda 25 Comments

The mobbing of Budget Secretary Butch Abad by angry students from the University of the Philippines (UP) is a sign that the system in the Philippines has broken down. The fact that a large group of Filipinos did not hesitate to verbally abuse a public official and were even prepared to physically assault him shows…

Crime, Education, Government, Politics, Society