We beg to differ.
Every now and then I re-share an article I wrote some time back, “Regine Velasquez is ‘Queen of Song’ in a country of low standards” just for fun, and every time I get the same rabid responses asserting the contrary. That Velasquez was crowned “Queen” and that the belief that she is “Asia’s songbird” persists…
It’s not surprising that Filipinos are now called to accept what COVID-19 vaccines they get are better than nothing. Filipinos had it coming for a long time now. A whole national tradition of making do with junk because these were better than nothing marks most of its history since being granted “independence” by the United…
Read More ““Pwede na yan” is Tagalog for “better than nothing”” »
A little bit over a year ago I ranted about the local channel TV5 acquiring the NFL rights and making a mockery of it. They deprived the local audience of a channel that showed it in High Definition while simultaneously showing us commercials produced locally. Which of course fits into a common narrative here in…
Read More “How Streaming Video Can Help Preserve What Braincells We Have Left” »
Basketball, karaoke, and democracy, are favorite pastimes in the Philippines. All three are things Filipinos like to associate with being Filipino. We like to think of ourselves – and are proud of it – as the most basketball-crazy country in the region. When it comes to social gatherings, and Filipinos are involved, everyone is expected…
Read More “What do basketball, karaoke, and democracy, all have in common in the Philippines?” »
It is tempting to think of the unresolved issues with the Marcos family – their alleged ill-gotten wealth, the lack of compensation for all those who supposedly suffered during the Martial Law era, and now the purportedly “undeserved” burial of the late strongman Ferdinand Sr. at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (LNMB) – as political…
Whose side are Filipino “activists” on nowadays? From all the chest-thumping and fist-waving we are seeing all over social media and mainstream media nowadays, it would seem that the Philippines’ chattering classes are on the side of the crooks! That is exactly how both President Rodrigo Duterte’s massive base of voters and the broader swathe…
Read More “Human Rights advocacy is the latest fashion statement in Imperial Manila” »
I find them funny, these articles, blogs, and Facebook posts that together mount a futile effort to trumpet the dubious “achievements” of Yellow-branded “democracy” over the last 30 years. Authors of these hilarious articles make the whole circus sound colourful and peachy only because they apply a low bar as a baseline for measuring “progress”….
The Pinoy Way is that set of behaviors, mannerisms, and cultural idiosyncrasies which have become a staple and hallmark of Filipino culture and society as we see it manifest today. Filipino culture is seemingly built up on three pillars of dysfunction. This means that all the observed dysfunctional behaviors of Filipinos as of yet (I…