We beg to differ.
It is the 21st Century. Yet the most iconic symbol of the Philippines remains the jeepney. Once hailed a triumph of “Filipino ingenuity”, it now persists as a stark reminder of a failure to develop engineering excellence at a time when engineering excellence is an even more important foundation upon which global competitiveness could be…
My social media feeds for the past few days have been filled up by a post of some guy with a mildly-modified SUV, getting apprehended by the Land Transportation Office (LTO) for “unauthorized modifications”, including a mild lift and an LED bar. The LTO was quoting JAO No. 2014-01. Quoted below, among others “a) the…
What can I say? Philippine sports mirrors Philippine life. The unclassy behavior of Gilas Pilipinas broadcast to the whole world the other day reflects the way Filipinos regard their national sport. This is, after all, a sport played on any large enough hard surface that could be found across the country. Watching a barangay league…
Read More “Gilas-Aussie brawl proves basketball is a TAMBAY sport in the Philippines” »
Opposition and left-leaning “activists” are up in arms over a photo of what is said to be a list of requirements jeepney drivers need to meet in order to comply with government efforts to improve the quality of public transport and air quality in major Philippine cities. Jeepneys are 1940s-vintage design vehicles and remain a…
Read More “Being “poor” does not exempt jeepney drivers from complying to road safety standards” »
There’s a lot of talk lately about “re-building” Marawi City. Jose Montelibano in his Inquirer column today offers thoughts on what needs to be considered to not just to do that but to do it right, as in build A New Marawi that, at the same time, puts it on a path towards becoming a…
Read More “A New Marawi City that is SQUATTER-FREE is an absolutely worthwhile goal” »
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is unlike previous Presidents the country has ever had. It’s not just his swearing and his unabashed tirades that make him exceptional. We already know that he is the first President to hail from Mindanao, which in itself is already a standout feature of his. But what the Opposition fail to…
Read More “Duterte’s policies are unpopular with people who want to maintain the status quo” »
As usual, the whole “debate” around the plight of the hundreds of thousands of jeepney drivers and the “threat” to their “livelihood” presented by the prospect of modernising public transport in the Philippine has taken a wrong turn. Highlighted by the usual “socially-aware” cliques of “activists” is the wellbeing of what is, essentially, a relatively…
Read More “HOPE lies in imagining a JEEPNEY-FREE Philippines” »
It’s crazy the way the Philippine government coddles these jeepney drivers. They are mere pawns in a vast decades-long campaign of emotional blackmail Filipino commies have subjected Filipinos to on a national scale. And yet, though these World War II era contraptions have been pitched across as a “public utility” that “serves” Filipino commuters, they…
Read More “Like squatters, jeepney drivers are national PARASITES” »