We beg to differ.
Normally giving stuff to poor people and taking the opportunity to adorn these “gifts” with logos or representations of your organisation is not necessarily bad. So, on one hand, I do agree with communications expert JP Fenix “tak[ing] exception to the negative comments on [ABS-CBN broadcast journalist Korina Sanchez’s] advocacy of giving away new rubber…
Read More “Why there is no need to feel sorry for Korina Sanchez” »
Noted constitutionalist and former president of the Ateneo de Manila University Fr Joaquin Bernas lauded the Supreme Court decision to ban pork which, he wrote, “restores the normal constitutional order of handling public money”. He cited the specific clause in the Constitution that clearly defines the limits of the power of any one government official…
The first 72 hours in every disaster relief and rescue operation is the most crucial. It’s when a responsible and speedy reaction is much needed. It was during this most crucial time, the 1st 72 hours, that I was hoping our government leaders have acted more swiftly and responded more responsibly as well. No, I…
In the aftermath of the devastation wrought by Typhoon Yolanda (a.k.a. Haiyan) the hard question stares us squarely in the face: What’s next for a nation that, even in normal times, struggles to deliver the most basic services to the majority of its people?. According to recent reports, up to four million Filipinos are left…
Read More “The Philippines’ long road to recovery after Yolanda: Are Filipinos up to the task?” »
When it comes to advertising and product placements, Filipino politicians are the best. Advertising executives can actually learn a thing or two about how to optimise exposure of any product from them. The results speak for themselves. Politicians whose names and faces are printed on almost anything – billboards, noodle packets or candy bars get…
When Anderson Cooper of CNN reported that help was slow in coming to people in the provinces battered by Haiyan, the government and its supporters immediately went on the defensive. Instead of coming out with admissions of some lapses in leadership while reassuring that help is coming, they instead came out with defenses of their…
Read More “Comparisons to Hurricane Katrina are Excuses for Incompetence” »
And when we say the Philippines, we don’t mean just the government; we mean to include the Filipino people who voted those incompetent officials in, like for example, president Benigno Simeon “BS” Aquino III. From the start of his term, it has been painfully obvious that BS Aquino’s presidency was heavily anchored on popularity. Thus,…
Read More “Typhoon Yolanda has exposed the nakedness of an image-conscious Philippines” »
Did the Filipino people elect their leaders so that they could be given a “break” in times when their leadership is needed the most? It seems that’s exactly what they did. Many Filipinos are already quite aware of the embarrassingly cringe-worthy manner with which Philippine President Benigno Simeon “BS” Aquino III and Department of Interior…