We beg to differ.
Super Typhoon Hagupit (locally code-named “Ruby”) has come and gone, and many lessons have been learned. But the most important insight following this experience is quite tragic: that the thousands upon thousands of lives lost in previous years to typhoons were all preventable. The death toll in the aftermath of Hagupit’s visit to the most…
The latest “viral” photo of a politician being portrayed as “simple” and doing something “out of the usual” is of widow and congresswoman Leni Robredo of Camarines Sur. The photo supposedly shows her waiting for public transport along a major highway, instead of having a special ride. Some might be reminded of another “simple” politician,…
Read More “Why “Simple People” Photo-Ops Reflect a Problem in our Society” »
“He does try,” commented one netizen of Department of Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas who is shown in a widely-circulated photo on a motorbike while on an inspection trip in Taft, Samar, one of the areas where Super Typhoon Hagupit first made landfall. It can be noted that Roxas was not wearing a…
Read More “Mar Roxas motorbike spill mars #Hagupit PR while wife Korina strikes again!” »
The trouble with Filipinos is that they don’t see any meaning in their lives that is bigger than themselves. At best there is, like most warm-blooded mammals with bulges in their heads wider than their brainstems, that instinctive altruism for his own immediate family. But even that one is often brought to question on account…
“Hindi kaunlaran ng nakararami. Kaunlaran lang ng iilan.” This is what Marlon Angara, a fisherfolk from Casiguran, said when asked about what he thinks of Aurora Pacific Economic Zone or APECO. He is one of the locals who are at risk of losing their land and livelihood to give way for the construction of a…
Ultimately this is really the only question that really matters. There is no disputing the fact that the Philippines must change. The alternative? Well, that’s really up to Filipinos. If the Philippines does not change, it will continue along its current path. It would be a matter of being content with that course and the…
Read More “Why is it so exceedingly difficult for the Philippines to change for the better?” »
Jejomar Binay ‘should’ not be a presidential candidate in the Philippines. But of course. This, however, is the Philippines. And, yes, Binay is a presidential candidate. Not just a presidential candidate, but the leading candidate. Bizarre as that may seem, that is the reality in the Philippines. The country is a democracy, and vocally “proud”…
Read More “Only a massively-popular celebrity can stop a Binay presidency now!” »
As a topic, current Vice President Jejomar “Jojo” Binay had become prominent in both media and social media early this month. And now recently it looks like he will slowly make his way back into the spotlight as he has made yet another statement on more pieces of property allegedly owned by him. As has…
Read More “Why media and social media have failed to contain Jejomar Binay’s prominence” »