Category: Society

Repeat after me: I am the Philippines and I am home to a dysfunctional society

March 26, 2014March 26, 2014 benign0 37 Comments

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…

Crime, Culture, Development, Government, Media, Politics, Society

The country we’ve made for ourselves: why we need an outsider’s perspective

March 25, 2014November 22, 2017 benign0 2 Comments

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…

Civics, Development, Economy, Government, Money Talks, Politics, Society

Much of Philippine history was motivated by Filipinos’ kneejerk butthurt reactions

March 24, 2014March 24, 2014 benign0 24 Comments

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…

Culture, Development, Politics, Society

Why is da Pinoy so easily butthurt? Is it an excuse?

March 23, 2014June 4, 2015 Impaler Triumphant 41 Comments

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…

Society

Why cadet Cudia’s case has played out on social media like an EDSA revolution

March 17, 2014March 18, 2014 FallenAngel 48 Comments

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…

Civics, Crime, Culture, Media, Society

Upholding honor: Filipino civilian and military societies need to work hand in hand

March 16, 2014March 17, 2014 FallenAngel 2 Comments

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…

Civics, Culture, Lifestyle, Society

Is the sex trade all Filipinos have to offer to visiting US troops?

March 16, 2014March 16, 2014 benign0 38 Comments

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…

Culture, Lifestyle, Society

The Philippines: an Ampaw Republic governed by an Ampaw President

March 15, 2014 benign0 7 Comments

It all started with former Congressman Teddy Casiño’s morning greeting on Twitter… Good morning citizens of the Ampaw Republic! That pretty much made our morning. Within minutes, hordes of Pinoy Pridists descended upon the hapless activist, denouncing his likening of the Philippines to the no-substance low-nutrition Filipino dessert ampaw. Ampaw is made of puffed-up grain…

Culture, Development, Government, Politics, Society