We beg to differ.
Sometimes we forget that only a very tiny tiny minority of Filipinos are able to articulate the kinds of ideas exchanged within the circles of people who think. One can find lots of brainwaves splashing about in the Philippine social media scene where so much could be discussed about people and events and so many…
Read More “‘Great nations achieve great things’ – Is the Philippines a great nation?” »
It’s a common mistake to liken the way one feels for or regards a country to the way we feel for or regard an actual person. So when we say we “love” our country, poets will wax lyric about how this “love” is like the love we feel, say, for a parent. In reality, that’s…
Read More “Is ‘love of country’ a concept that is still relevant in the Philippines?” »
How do Filipinos express their patriotism? The answer to that question varies from one Filipino to another. Some insist that speaking in pure Tagalog, the national language, gives them a sense of nationalism. Some rally behind an American Idol contestant because they say they feel a sense of pride when they see their own kind…
Read More “Scarborough standoff: a test of genuine Filipino patriotism” »
The Philippines is a country by colonial edict — much like the way the old Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia were, as well as many African nations. They are meaningless hollow pin-up states cobbled together for the sheer pleasure, vanity, and mercantile ambitions of their former imperial architects. In the case of the Philippines, even the name…
Read More “A sense of nationalism: The Philippines has no such thing” »
Whatever it was said by whoever this James Soriano is, if it is the truth about the utter lack of intellectual tools Tagalog provides its speakers, then no apologies are needed to be given to those who take offense from these words. A Manila Bulletin column published on August 24 titled “Language, learning, identity, privilege”…
Read More “English vs Tagalog: James Soriano owes no one any apologies” »