We beg to differ.
Let me start off with a joke taken from the book Bad Medicine: The Prescription Drug Industry in the Third World by Silverman, Lydecker, and Lee. I changed it a little bit to make the political issues more appropriate for this article but nevertheless, the message remains the same as it describes the magnitude of…
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…
“Here we are again Kate… Ups and Downs.” — Dick Gordon, May 20, 2010 Days after garnering 500,000 votes in the 2010 Presidential Elections I cringe at the thought that after the second automated national and local elections to be held in the Philippines, a sizable portion of the country’s electorate is back to square one. For…
The race for the highest position in the land just got tougher with popular surnames Poe, Binay and Aquino all winning Senate seats and all said to be vying for a push to the Presidency in 2016. Yes, the election is just a popularity contest particularly in the Philippines where most voters don’t even ask…
You didn’t like the results of the 2013 Philippine National and Local Elections? Â Well, tough! For those still scratching their heads and wondering why people voted the way they did, it’s probably time to go to the barber shop, ride a cab, or walkover to some random street corner for the latest political analysis. Â Just…
Read More “Democracy Ain’t Easy But You Shouldn’t Buy Political Reform Snake Oil” »
Somehow, it does seem that the vaunted Sense of Entitlement may be one of the core causes of Filipino problems. Sense of entitlement can be defined as the belief that Filipinos should have what they want, even if there is no proof that they deserve it. Or as columnist Cito Beltran describes in his article,…
Read More “Sense of Entitlement: A core cause of Filipino Dysfunction?” »
It’s not so much the concept of a parliamentary form of government, but the manner in which one group chooses to push for it that has gotten the larger online Filipino community linking arms against it. Tsk tsk. Weak arguments, kilometric tirades, and focus on personal attacks are signs of a creeping desperation in this…
Read More “Why A Parliamentary Shift Advocacy Has ‘Lost It’” »
I beg to differ to some of the hysterics I’m seeing and hearing. I think the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) did a great job within the scope of its ability to influence outcomes. That last phrase is key. You can’t really worry about things that are clearly beyond the scope of your control once you’ve…
Read More “Kudos to the COMELEC for a job well done in the 2013 Philippine midterm elections!” »