We beg to differ.
The Coco Levy Scam orchestrated by former President Ferdinand Marcos and his cronies (foremost of which was Danding Cojuangco) during the Marcos Dictatorship, taxed the coconut farmers in the guise of developing the coconut industry and alleviating the plight of the marginalized coconut farmer. Instead, the substantial funds generated from the Levy over the course…
Read More “The Coco Levy Scam, Danding Cojuangco and Grace Poe” »
So after the political correctness and insensitivity police have savagely beaten up Congressman Manny Pacquiao (for comparing homosexuals to animals), it is now Mayor Rodrigo Duterte’s turn to burn at the stake. A video recently surfaced showing Duterte crossing a line when he apparently joked about a rape and murder in 1989, commenting that the…
Read More “Bashing a ‘Homophobe’ but supporting a ‘Sexist’” »
Jessica Zafra is right about the substance behind Rodrigo Duterte’s rise to prominence, of course. Duterte’s campaign appeals to the Filipino’s id. Id is one of three parts of the psychic apparatus defined in Sigmund Freud’s structural model of the psyche. Id, together with the other two, ego and super-ego, form Freud’s hypothetical mutually-counter-balancing psychical…
Read More “On Jessica Zafra’s pseudo-psychoanalysis of Duterte’s appeal to Filipino voters’ id” »
They say it takes a village to raise a child. In Davao City Mayor and Presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte’s case, it might take an entire nation to help him watch his tongue. Since announcing his candidacy, 70-year old Duterte has been experiencing a public berating, probably for the first time in his life, for his…
The interesting thing about democracy is that it introduces inconvenient transparency to societies that adopt it as a form of government. In a democracy, the truth comes out in many ways unexpected. In the Philippines which is in the midst of election campaign fever, many such uncomfortable truths are coming out. One of them is…
Read More “Why do Filipinos find rape jokes so hilarious?” »
While other great nations land men on the moon, project naval power half way around the planet, and build research centres that churn out wondrous technologies that benefit mankind, Filipinos look to elect to higher office widows of “martyrs” who count “humility” as their primary qualification for office. It is quite baffling that Filipinos are…
Read More “Leni Robredo is not presidential enough to be Vice President of the Philippines” »
Watching Leni Robredo in last night’s vice presidential debate deliver her closing statements voice quivering and on the verge of tears, I thought: Ok, if Chinese troops started parachuting onto Manila while Leni Robredo was VP, what’s she gonna do? Cry and talk about her mommy issues? But that is exactly what she’s framed her…
Read More “Leni Robredo proved in Sunday’s #HarapanBise debate that she cannot MAN UP for the job” »
The thing I noted about the whole ‘Duterte rape joke’ episode captured in the now-viral video is not the offensive joke per se but the way the audience hooted in unison as Duterte delivered the punchline. This, plus the fact that the video had sustained its remarkable obscurity for this long points to a disturbing…