Category: Politics

Lack of a strong national identity makes for dog-eat-dog Philippine politics

May 29, 2021 Ramon Ortoll 8 Comments

For a political and social scientist, Professor Antonio Contreras surely is naive. But he can also be pragmatic when it comes to his own self-promotion. Borderline personality disorder? Maybe. In his Manila Times piece he rails against the “dirty politics” of these times… Popular culture has reinforced the image of politics as devoid of virtue….

History, Politics

China is the “bad guy” whether it is about tobacco or the virus

May 29, 2021 Ramon Ortoll No Comments

Sinophobia and tobacco. Mareng Winnie throws everything at China. In her Inquirer column today “A victory for tobacco, a defeat for our children”, Monsod writes… Wasn’t China the source of the virus in the first place? Not only that, didn’t China try to cover up its virus situation in the second place? The virus, indeed,…

Lifestyle, Politics

Inday Sara – Digong “Daughterte-Duterte” tandem puts 2022 in the bag for admin camp

May 29, 2021 Ramon Ortoll No Comments

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is the political equivalent of Dolphy whose comedic timing was impeccable — so unlike comedians of today who rely on their gender and insults to get laughs. The idea of Duterte as Vice President was first floated by Bong Go. It didn’t resonate with voters. Even the so-called “Duterte Die-hard Supporter”…

Politics

Opposition horse-trading shaped by energy oligarchs vying for control over oil and gas in West Philippine Sea

May 28, 2021May 28, 2021 Ramon Ortoll No Comments

So now journalists have to get their stories from Facebook posts. In her Inquirer report “Control of West PH Sea oil seen in takeover of Malampaya project”, Frances Mangosing uses a statement from a certain “security expert” named Jay Batongbacal as reference to highlight how a takeover of the Malampaya gas project by Dennis Uy’s…

Business, Politics, Society

Looking back: Marawi City may have been sacrificed to allow US military interests to remain in the Philippines

May 27, 2021 Ramon Ortoll No Comments

The tangled web of the Philippine police and military which links the latter to criminal gangs and other lawless elements has long been whispered about specially in the provinces where it’s mostly an open secret. Friends who have close friends whose relatives are officers in the police and military establishments have informally confirmed these links….

History, Politics

How to build a non-Yellowtard Philippine Opposition

May 25, 2021 benign0 9 Comments

If there is one big hurdle the Opposition face in their effort to put up a respectable challenge to the camp of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte over the months leading to the 2022 election, it would be coming up with a non-Yellowtard campaign. Thanks to several decades of the Yellow narrative (an entire political mythology…

Politics

“Vaccine hesitancy” latest Opposition quibble in on-going time-wasting effort to sabotage Duterte gov’t

May 23, 2021 Ramon Ortoll 2 Comments

I don’t think there was a group of anti-vaxxers in the country pre-Covid like what they have in the Western countries. Anti-vaxxers came about because of the fiasco around dengue vaccine Dengvaxia, as I recall. I’ve written about why the government of former President Noynoy Aquino approved Dengvaxia even if it hadn’t undergone the last…

Politics

The Opposition wastes time lying to themselves and to Filipinos about history and about Duterte

May 21, 2021 Ramon Ortoll 1 Comment

The Opposition can’t disabuse themselves of the notion that Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is a Chinese puppet. PhilSTAR columnist Boo Chanco, for example, is fixated on the concept as is evident in yet another one of his pieces, today’s “Is China losing Duterte” where he suggests that “China will likely finance a candidate next year….

History, Politics

Gabsboy
on EDSA 40 years after: Overthrow and “Leftist” Ideals Don’t Work
It would have been absolute cinema had the military coups
Ven
on The Philippines reels from yet another global “crisis”
Who the hell is prepared for a crisis when any
megget
on The Philippines reels from yet another global “crisis”
the filipino way is scraping by on the least amount
Gyn
on The Philippines reels from yet another global “crisis”
This whole thing is not working, and you know it
Redd
on The Philippines reels from yet another global “crisis”
"For now there is little promise seeing that Filipinos’ foremost
megget
on The Philippines reels from yet another global “crisis”
when the entire world turns to dust, who will be
megget
on The Philippines reels from yet another global “crisis”
and you moved here...?
DRSQL
on The Philippines reels from yet another global “crisis”
The call center market will absolutely be dead within the