We beg to differ.
A “new Philippines” cannot be achieved by merely singing some blurb every morning. Proof of this is in how even the basic principles of the Panatang Makabayan (“Patriotic Oath”) had failed to embed in the Filipino psyche despite several generations of Filipinos being made to recite it in the morning. Without a foundation of “love…
Who’s sinophobic? Or rather, who’s fanning sinophobia in the country? It’s not the average Pinoy but overzealous nuts in the country’s government. You have the now famous coast guard commodore who infringes on the authority of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the National Security Council (NSC), combined. Then there are the leftist-liberals who…
One is consistently hard-pressed to get an authentic stand-up-and-put-hand-on-heart-with-welling-eyes vibe when called to emit a bit of patriotic signals for the Philippines. The latest such attempt to reel in some “love of country” sentiment comes in the form of an all-too-familiar “people power” stunt pulled by “non-government coalition” Atin Ito (“this is ours”) which set…
Us martial law babies remember past Independence Day celebrations before. Flag-raising at the Rizal monument followed by a military parade at the Quirino Grandstand. What most Opposition “thought leaders” seem to conveniently leave out of their version of recent history is that, post-Marcos, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) was largely-divided into Marcos loyalists…
“Thank you Vietnam” posts with both Philippine flag and Vietnamese flag in the background. Anti-China battle cries and social media campaigns pointing out that your President isn’t doing anything to condemn China. These now flood my Facebook timeline and I can’t help but say my piece in these posts. The issue of a Chinese vessel…
Read More “False Patriotism Amidst the Recto Bank Fishing Boat Incident” »
Filipinos are being pulled in different directions nowadays as various political blocs battle one another for dominance in a landscape characterised by turmoil and unrest. Looking just a short time back, the mid-2000s was the same. It was also a time of frequent street rallies and accusations of “human rights violations” among others being thrown…
Now that the Philippine government will be in an “all-out” war against the New People’s Army (NPA), the terrorist arm of the Communist Party of the Philippines, it is worth exploring some lessones learnt from the recent war that liberated Marawi City from similar terrorist elements. To be sure, a war against the NPA will…
“What have you done for the country?” That was the last question a former friend and colleague asked me before he blocked me on social networking site Facebook. I didn’t even get the chance to answer because he already muted me. I thought it was such a lame question anyway. I was shocked he would…
Read More “A response to the question “What have you done for the country?”” »