We beg to differ.
It’s 2014 and as of this writing, guess what: tomorrow is “Independence Day”. Again. According to the latest Philippine History books, the 12th June is the day the Philippines became “independent” — the outcome of the Philippine Revolution which began August 1896. On the 12th June 1898, Aguinaldo led the declaration of Philippine independence from…
Read More “Is June 12, 1898 REALLY the Philippines’ Independence Day?” »
So now the disaster left by supertyphoon Haiyan (a.k.a. Yolanda) that struck central Philippines in November 2013 will serve as a platform to “showcase” Filipino “resilience” to European delegates visiting Manila next month. From the 4th through the 6th of June, the Philippines will be hosting the Asia Europe Meeting’s (ASEM) Manila Conference on Disaster…
As the rainy season draws near, it’s impossible to ignore the fact that the social, economic, and political scenes in the Philippines these past few months brought Filipinos face-to-face with very heated situations. The rise in temperature when talking about the weather in the Philippines is enough to cause one to blow his/her top. We…
Read More “The Philippines’ current situation: nakakapang-init ulo” »
I once blogged about colonial mentality, stating that seeing it as a problem is a myth. After more thought and encountering further opinions on the subject, I still think it is a myth – a dangerous one. A bogeyman, an imaginary monster in the closet. I’ve seen so many discussions where others fiercely blame it…
Why are Filipinos not even good at sport? It seems like our athletes had been waved a red flag one day and then simply gave up on trying to achieve world-class status on all types of sport — I know, I know, aside from boxing, of course. A sport is commonly defined as an organized,…
I have a friend who disagrees very much with my social and political views about the Philippines. He thinks that my commentaries about the country come across as negative and therefore running counter to his own views. This deeply offends him even when I’ve assured him many times these commentaries are not about him. I…
Read More “The Philippines: Between Poverty and Ignorance” »
I found something in my mailbox this morning that I thought might help provide a few folks who are in the business of noisily proclaiming what amounts to no more than a hollow pride in “Being Filipino” with a bit of perspective. Robert Whiting, an elderly gentleman of 83, arrived in Paris by plane. At…
Shrek: [observing a giant building] That must be Lord Farquaad’s castle… Do you think he’s maybe compensating for something? If anything pushes my hot buttons enough to make me interrupt my days of meth consumption it is the spreading of ignorance by Pinoys online. The only reason you spread ignorance is because you…
Read More “One More Term For Pnoy and Other Examples Of Blatant Ignorance” »