Tag: Strategy

Duterte’s #SONA2016 message: No time for blame games. We’ve got a job to do!

July 26, 2016 benign0 34 Comments

Many would have understood if President Rodrigo Duterte had devoted a big portion of his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) to blaming his predecessor. After all Duterte did acknowledge, just the same, that the Philippines is still in a “mess” and that Filipinos are suffering. But Duterte’s first SONA came across like a…

Crime, Government, Society

Is there really any point in holding a presidential debate in the Philippines?

September 21, 2015January 23, 2022 benign0 23 Comments

First of all, Filipino voters do not appreciate debates. They appreciate dance and singing numbers and seeing politicians mouth off the latest trending catchphrases. But when it comes to things that require thinking, guess what: Nosebleed! Indeed, if there is a national “debate” of consequence, it is happening only within a small clique of “politically…

Development, Politics, Society

Philippine Elections 2016: do Filipinos have to get burned again?

August 15, 2015August 15, 2015 FallenAngel 3 Comments

While keeping abreast of the developments leading up to the 2016 Philippine national elections, one particular conversation from the past with a relative came to mind: RELATIVE: Let’s go to the venue using our normal route. ME: But, there will be a lot of traffic there. Why don’t we try instead an alternate route? RELATIVE:…

Civics, Government, Politics

Is ‘Daang Matuwid’ (straight path) enough for the Philippines to catch up?

July 29, 2015 benign0 24 Comments

If we are to believe President Benigno Simeon ‘BS’ Aquino III and his minions, the Philippines’ only hope for a bright future is to continue the “reform” agenda set in motion by the current administration. But of course they will say that — because the current party in power — the Liberal Party — wants…

Development

Filipinos must get over the BIG mistake of voting for #PNoy and start thinking about the way FORWARD!

March 16, 2015March 16, 2015 benign0 15 Comments

The political discourse in the Philippines hasn’t progressed. In fact, it has regressed, particularly in the “activist” community where reform and change and a focus on new ways to see and effect things should be emanating, but aren’t. Back in the 2009 campaign, the rallying cries of activists who wanted to see different approaches applied…

Culture, Development, Government, Politics, Society

If Filipinos can’t produce results, the least they can come up with is DIRECTION

February 11, 2014February 11, 2014 benign0 30 Comments

The din of chatter and news releases about this and that crime suspect, presidential candidate, disaster relief effort, international territory dispute, plus the loud non-stop melodramatic rationalisations issued by a who’s-who of crooked politicians and their lackeys is so loud and pervasive that you could be forgiven for thinking that the Philippines is a hive…

Civics, Culture, Development, Government, Society

Dear Philippines: Hope is not a strategy

May 21, 2013May 30, 2013 benign0 5 Comments

Hope springs eternal indeed as that other cliché goes. But then, we might ask: Hope in what exactly? Now that the Philippine Fiesta Elections of 2013 have come and gone, the hard questions must be asked, the vacuous campaign rhetoric ditched, and the motherhood statements junked. Perhaps the usual halfwits will continue to squabble and…

Development, Politics

Nearing his 12th month: But where is the VISION of Benigno ‘Noynoy’ Aquino III?

May 6, 2011 benign0 12 Comments

In a previous article, I noted how Manuel Buencamino, a noted apologist of the administration of President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III attempted to debunk a remark made by Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri that highlighted Aquino’s lack of any sort of vision (the type that refers to the future) for the Philippines. Zubiri said that Noynoy…

Development, Economy, Government, Politics