We beg to differ.
Why would Heart Evangelista be “bad” for possible future Philippine President Chiz Escudero? Personally, I think it’s about time the Philippines had a glamorous First Lady again. So you go girl! Good to read that you don’t care about all this crap talk about you possibly weakening Chiz’s bid for the top job! I mean,…
Read More “Will Heart Evangelista make a good First Lady to Chiz?” »
I realised the whole problem with the prevailing discourse within the social media space I inhabit: there is too much discussion about politics and not enough about the underlying issue with Philippine society that I have long highlighted is the real deal here — Filipino culture. Fact is, the Philippines is beset by a really…
Read More “Repeat after me: I am the Philippines and I am home to a dysfunctional society” »
The following is a copy of the Foreword I wrote for my friend Ben Kritz’s new book Same Planet, Different World: An Outsider’s Inside View of the Philippines. You can download the book from Amazon here onto Kindle or any of a variety of apps also supported by Amazon. We in our clique of the…
Read More “The country we’ve made for ourselves: why we need an outsider’s perspective” »
I’ve come to realise that much of Philippine history was really all about a monumental effort to counter centuries of butthurt. The Philippine “revolution” of 1898 was an epic reaction to 400 years of butthurt in the hands of Spain. The arbitrary re-defining of the 4th of July, 1946 from “Philippine Independence Day” to “Philippine-American…
Read More “Much of Philippine history was motivated by Filipinos’ kneejerk butthurt reactions” »
GetRealPhilippines repeatedly points out the sensitivity of da Pinoy as something that is immature and something we should grow out of–and fast, for many reasons: Ego distorts our way of thinking–it helps Pinoys make excuses for bad behavior instead of correcting them. Ego shifts blame–it helps insists that it’s Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s fault that the Philippines…
Read More “Why is da Pinoy so easily butthurt? Is it an excuse?” »
I don’t pretend to know much about the nitty-gritty of military life. In fact, the closest I ever came to experiencing it involved being an officer in the Citizen’s Army Training (CAT) program in high school, and being a normal cadet in the Reserved Officers Training Corps (ROTC) program in college. If anyone cares to…
Read More “Why cadet Cudia’s case has played out on social media like an EDSA revolution” »
The definition of “honor” that Filipinos are more familiar with – and therefore live out more – is, in the vernacular, dangal. Dignity. They will use whatever means necessary, even illegal, to protect their dignity from hiya (shame, losing face). The other, just as important way to define honor – katapatan, propriety – is hardly…
Read More “Upholding honor: Filipino civilian and military societies need to work hand in hand” »
Apparently certain Filipino activists think so. Spokesperson for Pagkakaisa ng Kababaihan para sa Kalayaan (Kaisa Ka) Proleta Gomez, in a statement implied that the “support” the United States Armed Forces receives from the Philippines as it increases its troop deployment there under new agreements with the Philippine government is likely to be mainly in the…
Read More “Is the sex trade all Filipinos have to offer to visiting US troops?” »