Category: Society

A grim scenario for the Philippines as the COVID-19 pandemic runs its course

Posted on By benign0 18 Comments on A grim scenario for the Philippines as the COVID-19 pandemic runs its course
A grim scenario for the Philippines as the COVID-19 pandemic runs its course

The scenarios playing out as we move further into uncharted social territory as the COVID-19 pandemic ravages Philippine society seems to be gravitating to just two — worse and worst. The earlier, Worse, is already a known risk today. As social distancing and lockdown periods continue to extend with no end in sight in the…

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Lifestyle, Society

The COVID-19 pandemic did not “expose” the class divide. It’s always been there in plain sight!

Posted on By benign0 25 Comments on The COVID-19 pandemic did not “expose” the class divide. It’s always been there in plain sight!
The COVID-19 pandemic did not “expose” the class divide. It’s always been there in plain sight!

People are now lamenting the sad social divide supposedly laid bare as the COVID-19 pandemic ravages Philippine society. This comes across as mere quaint virtue signalling within the current context — one that provides fertile environment for that sort of behaviour. The fact is, the social divide has always been there for all to behold…

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Society

The rapid spread of the novel coronavirus forces us to rethink our lifestyles

Posted on By Ilda 2 Comments on The rapid spread of the novel coronavirus forces us to rethink our lifestyles
The rapid spread of the novel coronavirus forces us to rethink our lifestyles

Societies around the world have been caught flat-footed after the spread of a new disease now named COVID-19 carried by the novel coronavirus has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO). It has exposed how ill-prepared most governments, including governments from First World countries are, to a threat of mass casualties. One…

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Society

The Opposition should stop blaming Duterte if they want to win the next election

Posted on By benign0 10 Comments on The Opposition should stop blaming Duterte if they want to win the next election
The Opposition should stop blaming Duterte if they want to win the next election

Gone are the days when demonising the incumbent worked for an Opposition party. Indeed, this is the lesson that today’s Philippine Opposition still hasn’t learned in the aftermath of the catastrophic loss of their Otso Diretso coalition in the 2019 election. That bunch hinged their entire campaign on a smear job on the government of…

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Politics, Society

The problem with De-stigmatizing and Forced Acceptance Efforts

Posted on By ChinoF 2 Comments on The problem with De-stigmatizing and Forced Acceptance Efforts
The problem with De-stigmatizing and Forced Acceptance Efforts

The reaction of opponents against the decision then of President Duterte to move tambays (derived from “stand-bys” or loitering freeloaders) off the streets included attempts to de-stigmatize tambays. They say things like “not all tambays are crooks” or “being tambay is not wrong.” But these are not really true because increased number of tambays has…

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Civics, Culture, Society

IBON Foundation “red-tagging” complaint will fly only if they can CATEGORICALLY DENY links to the Communist Party

Posted on By benign0 2 Comments on IBON Foundation “red-tagging” complaint will fly only if they can CATEGORICALLY DENY links to the Communist Party
IBON Foundation “red-tagging” complaint will fly only if they can CATEGORICALLY DENY links to the Communist Party

News has now gotten around that communist front IBON Foundation filed an administrative complaint against Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Undersecretary Lorraine Badoy among others. IBON Foundation reportedly claim that Badoy engaged in “red tagging”. Presumably, the complaint draws partly from a video showing Badoy allegedly “hijacking” the agenda of a talk show that included…

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Politics, Society

Unless social media changes, it will continue to make people dumber instead of smarter

Posted on By benign0 7 Comments on Unless social media changes, it will continue to make people dumber instead of smarter
Unless social media changes, it will continue to make people dumber instead of smarter

Social media is proving to be less and less effective at delivering across important messages in an increasingly complex world. The trend towards more digestible but, as a consequence, less substantial content shared on social media started back in the mid- to late-2000s when “microblogging” sites like Twitter started ramping up in popularity. As more…

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Society, Tech Talk

Recall that Western and Christian ideals were used to justify colonisation and imperial rule

Posted on By benign0 5 Comments on Recall that Western and Christian ideals were used to justify colonisation and imperial rule
Recall that Western and Christian ideals were used to justify colonisation and imperial rule

Back when the Spanish Conquistadors first set foot on Philippine shores and claimed all in the name of God and the Spanish king, it would have looked like this all made sense. Christianity, after all, was the “good” religion and Western civilisation regarded as a necessary “civilising” force. Europeans saw themselves as burdened by a…

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Government, Politics, Society