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“Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”
from Proverbs 27:17: as quoted by Tim Tebow pregame before a November 2011 win against the San Diego Chargers.
Once again the Philippines has been shut out of medals in the Olympics. Let me tell you, it is fair. We deserve that outcome. Every nation has it’s baggage. What Pinoys fail to realize that there is no magic spell that engulfs you when you leave this country to compete with the best of the best in the world. You take your baggage with you.
Four years ago some idiot came up with this factory analogy of how anything superior on Earth is made. Not just Olympic medal winners.
Let’s take your typical production facility of world class items. Top of the line products. It can be coffee, it can be shoes or it can be luxury cars. The end product has to surpass or be in the top 3 of anything else like it in the world.
Before anything happens there has to be a world class design (plan). In that plan you foresee the practical application of the following things.
1) Raw Materials – for a world class product not just anything has to do , you need quality material to start with. Sometimes quality can only be achieved by going through numbers. Like eliminating about 99.99 % of what you have access to. Whether it’s coffee beans or leather for the shoes, you just have to have good stuff to start with. Bringing in huge quantities gives you the luxury of being choosy.
2) You have to have an elite production/ refinement process- To be the best in the world , raw material is not enough, but what you do with it is part of the equation. Look at what goes into the production of a BMW or a Rolls Royce or a Bentley.
Olympic medalists are not that much different except when humans are involved, what gets them through the weeding out process is motivation and desire. You can’t make the same case for coffee beans.
Part of the motivation of being good at something is the prestige that comes with being the best . Like I have said many times before this society only values basketball in terms of a competitive event. Even with something we value we don’t do well internationally. What more with events we do not value??? And these are events that are only relevant once every few years. The Filipino sports psyche is fascinating if you examine the PBA. There are three chances a year to be “champions”. This lends itself to instant gratification. There is no big off season wait for the finality to sink in. It’s like missing a bus to Muntinlupa in rush hour. You miss that there is another one right behind it. When raised with that mentality, hard to imagine a lot of people training 4 plus years for one event that sometimes lasts 12 seconds.
You can not deny that this country as a culture only cares about basketball. We are the only country in the world where basketball is the predominant choice for our male athletes to dedicate themselves to. There is no significant number two sport nationally. We can’t even dominate our own region in a sport where we care more than they do what more other Olympic sports?
Even more than an Olympic Gold Medal in skeet shooting, nothing would thrill pinoys more than a Filipino or Filipinos in the NBA. The challenges are similar. It is the best basketball league in the world. When it was publicized Manny Pangalinan was going to buy the Sacramento Kings , what I found fascinating is college educated people projecting their own self entitlement on the most elite level of basketball. All it takes is a Filipino owner and the floodgates will open. It’s like saying “My daddy will buy that company and I can work there. ” That is the pinoy mentality. Let’s buy our way in. We don’t have to compete our way in. How many Olympic medals in our history do we have to show for this mentality???
Chemical skullduggery aside, the Olympics should be about a level playing field and pure competition. Competition is very different from the very Metro Manila attitude of “singit”. Taking shortcuts that are not legal. Just last week in the hotel right beside Asian Institute of Management , a motorcyclist went against a one way street on the sidewalk. I gave him the #1 sign, but I might have used the wrong finger. Again just speaking for Metro Manila, this is a culture where jeepney drivers disregard the law unscathed but police stop private cars in hope of a bribe. Is that behavior contributing to the common good? Our society treats rules as a nuisance yet we cry like babies when we can’t compete internationally. When those very rules are what establishes the integrity of the competition. Pinoys are fond of short cuts and throwing their weight around if they have any.
The Olympic motto is “Faster, Higher, Stronger”. It is not singit, connections, nepotism, gaya, sympathy, epal , bakya and other things pinoys excel at. Pinoys would easily medal in a world wide competition that valued those things. We see it in our society everyday. Arnel Pineda mimics Steve Perry and for some reason we are proud of that?
The fact that this country elected someone who was under no obligation to be faster higher or stronger (better) than more qualified candidates tells you everything you need to know why when it comes to the world’s best we can’t compete. Our collective mindset is in no shape to go up against the best of the best. We don’t respect people who legitimately compete so we can’t do the same ourselves. Come election time we ignore all merit, track record and qualification an just “keep it in the family”. We just do not reward go-getters and doers with our vote. A familiar last name is enough. A link to the past is enough. The hell with the here and now. The Olympics reward the here and now.
The Olympics does not care who your father or mother was. The Olympics does not care what color you wear or what symbol you make with your hands. The Olympics does not care how much you bash the previous gold medal winner in your event. The Olympics does not care you can impose your own agenda to a judicial body. The Olympics does not care that you feel you have the right to tell the media what to say and when to say it. The Olympics does not care about your sense of entitlement or however you got it. All the Olympics cares about is are you faster, higher , stronger than the people in your event. That concept is so foreign to us and we wonder why we can’t medal. Based on their everyday behavior I believe that the pinoy is adverse to integrity and competition. Not exactly a formula that will generate world class results.
Bill LaForge who briefly coached the Vancouver Canucks had what he called the PHD formula. PHD stood for pride, hustle and desire. Please note that formula is the polar opposite to being self entitled. It means to scratch and claw for everything you can get while competing. Imposing your will on the man across from you. Like I said, our society seems to believe that self entitlement comes from family you are in. Noynoy did a good thing by removing the wang wangs. Too bad the other less obvious vehicles of self entitlement still remain, including him. Our culture of self entitlement just because we are Filipino (signified by the motto “Basta Pinoy Da Best“) does not count in countries far more advanced than we are that do not care about Willie Revillame. That is why a level field might as well be walking on the moon for pinoys. The world is a much bigger place and you will have to work hard to distinguish yourself among the best all things being equal.
We must continuously ask ourselves about our standards. I have to feel competitive when I write for GRP. It’s not like I want to beat the brains out of FallenAngel or anything. But this website is like a relay. First of all there is common goal. I was attracted to this website by it’s ideals and discourse. There is this unspoken understanding that I uphold the same ideals and discourse. Just like a relay team has an objective to combine their individual efforts into one finish line. Secondly because the others have set a standard before I got here, I feel obligated to blend in so to speak. The rest of the people on this site set the bar high. I have an internal drive to always prove myself to be worthy of writing here. Try not to be an “automatic out” as they say in baseball.
One thing you can not deny is to even qualify for the Olympics you have to go through grueling preparation . Bobby Knight who coached the 1984 US Men’s Basketball team famously said “Most people have the will to win , few have the will to prepare to win. “. The current occupant of Malacanang has neither. In three years not one person has convinced me that Noynoy expended a calorie towards striving to be President of the nation. In fact in his years in Congress and the Senate he did a good impression of the role Claude Rains made famous.
I have no idea why pinoys think they are the exception to a simple rule: garbage in , garbage out. If not much is demanded then not much should be expected. We are the victim of our own low standards. It’s quite evident what is important to us. When it comes to elections we do not value candidates who are “faster, higher, stronger” mentally and emotionally. We seem to value candidates who are only the first three letters of the last word of the previous sentence. Running a country is no joke. You vote in dumb or someone who has never proven himself or herself smart , you will get dumb results.
Philippines, let me ask you a question. Our internal gold medal in an Olympics that comes every six years is the seat we bestow to one individual for President of this country. The world sees our “Gold Medalist”, we put him/ her there. This is not American Idol with no real consequence and another one coming up next year. Every president has an impact that last decades. Philippines, in our own internal Olympics you hand out the medal. No one else. Just you. There is no silver medal when it comes to president. You decided Noynoy Aquino was our gold medalist. The best we have to offer. By having him as the gold standard, what message are we telling our children? Have the right mother who will die just before the campaign season and you too can be president?
I want to make it clear that I am not blaming Noynoy Aquino for the Philippines never seeing the medal podium in the Olympics. I am blaming the Filipino society’s lack of standards in general that allow an undistinguished individual like Noynoy Aquino to have six years as president to do as he pleases. Lack of standards and lack of results go hand in hand.
Tell me Philippines, are you really proud to show the world your own gold medal winner out of 90 million people??
We have one gold medal internally every six years and we can’t even get that right. May 10, 2010 was one moment in time that we will regret for decades. We can’t even pick a winner, how the heck are we expected to produce any?
Putting a very sharp needle into the balloon known as Pinoy Pride since 2012.
Gogs,
here’re a couple of often-used filipion phrases that succinctly describe the situation:
“bahala na” or “puede na yan”
until we get rid of this mentality, we will always be stuck in mediocrity.
I suspect it also has to do with Peping Cojuangco being the head of the Philippine Olympic Committee. A relative of mine worked there for a number of years and even the individual sports associations are not spared from politics.
Yup Frank and RV. It’s the Pinoy way. Basta Pinoy Da Best!!!! Just don’t expect anything resembling victory.
the truth of the matter is you the farther away from the Philippines you get, the more you realize how much brainwashing is going on in the Philippines
which is a double-edged sword, yes.. mabuti na marinig ng marinig ng tao ang “the best ang filipino” or “sobrang talneted ng mnga Filipino”
….but at what cost? do you know how stupid that sounds or looks to those of us outside the Philippines who see the truth?
Just take basketball.. ni hindi man lng makapunta ng Olympic basketball team ang Pilipinas. Nigeria nga meron at kung ano pang mnga bansa meron panlaban … nasan ang Pilipinas?
Wala
World Cup.. halos lahat na ng mundo representado.. nasan ang Pilipinas? wala
Tutuhanan lng po, walang ibubuga ang mnga Pinoy.. it’s a land where the blind lead the blind and those who have power and money manipulate everything to keep their power and grow their wealth
a truer oligarch system if any in history..
Thank you ISTT for reading.
“mabuti na marinig ng marinig ng tao ang “the best ang filipino†or “sobrang talneted ng mnga Filipino— –
The problem with that mentality is people believe success and accomplishment is something that they are born with and will come easy. So they don’t work. Since they believe being Filipino is like winning the genetic lottery. Like you said, the world does not agree with that sentiment. We all put on our pants the same way.
I have lived in this country 12 years and 2011 was the first time football/soccer had any kind of profile. Just like that Pinoys were screaming World Cup. Pinoys loved them because they thought the team was good and they thought they were pinoys. The case can be made that they were neither.
http://edrlopez.blogspot.com/2011/08/espns-scott-van-pelt-describes-azkals.html
But who do we blame, the people? The players? What about the big businesses who supports such sports (basketball, etc.)? Aren’t they the ones who supports and promotes such sports?
We have to put things in proper perspective. Yes, I agree that there is no future for us in basketball, etc. but we don’t just stop there. We should also be able to advance a positive alternatives or remedy to change the situation.
The last thing we should do is to browbeat ourselves on something that is not really impossible. The last thing we should do is to cast blame and faults instead of taking steps towards realization of what we have in mind to help Philippine sports.
Holier than thou attitude is not the way to do it. Insulting by sarcastically ‘admitting’ that ‘walang ibubuga ang mga Pinoy’ is a self-depreacting attitude that we should avoid.
How can we be winners when we are already beating ourselves even before we take action to change and reform?
Losers think like one. Losers hate and like to fault others. Losers always blame others. Never themselves. Let us avoid that attitude if we want to become winners.
With TFC going worldwide, the brainwashing has spread well beyond our borders.
Shared. 🙂 That is a nice shot. Exactly pride is only thing that the Filipino mob has when it comes to that kind of competition. It is ridiculous that filipinos got attracted and addicted to a sport that may not even fits them, say for examplevin Basketball knowing that filipinos aren’t so much gifted with the required height for them to get insane with it and yet they say that nba player is my idol! Isn’t it too sarcastic? I believe that more than anything else, determination and perseverance mixed with proper training and self-discipline will lead us to whoever we wanted to be. Politically, the culture that we got used to reflects how we perform during election time. We asked for change, we asked for daang tuwid and now we live it, without even realizing that change and daang tuwid might be in different forms.
Thanks for reading. There is nothing wrong with enjoying basketball on it’s own regardless of one’s physical traits. But if that is what occupies your sporting universe then do not cry like a baby that you are not among the best in the world in things you don’t focus on. Others focus and pay the price and win.
I just cited that as an example, you know what I mean. I did not say, it is happening all the time. What I mean to say is that while you choose your sport, it’s better to go with something that is proportionate with our phisical characterictics so that we can easily form a good raport with the sport.
Nice one Ed.
Special mention pa talaga ako ha? Hahaha.
Indeed, a society that values complacency, mediocrity, and shortcuts to success and excellence can only dream of success on the global scale. If Filipinos want to prove that they deserve to hang among the best in the world then they have to work for it.
The path to success and excellence involves a strict and disciplined training regimen. Now those are words that the average Pinoy will cringe at.
Until the Pinoy finally admits, as a starting step, that he/she is not the best in the world and uses it to improve his conditions, then why bother whining about why the rest of the world sees us as a joke?
yes, yes and yes.
I did mention you again to prove a point that at some point we all have to prove something. Yes, victory is sweat. Yes, the Olympics are a wet towel every four years to the pinoy that they have no real reason to be full of themselves.
Parang sinabi lang ng article na to ang naiisip ko tungkol sa selection ng national team natin sa kahit anong sport. Ang problema sa atin is that we are not sending the best of the best. Wala akong nababalitaang somebody scouting the country side for talents in basketball, volleyball, tennis, baseball, soccer, etc. Majority of the line-ups that get selected are always from the prestigious schools. Are they always the best? No. Maybe it is with our limited resources or maybe it is with the sports programs but I do seriously believe we have many undiscovered talents in sports somewhere. We just need to reach out for them.
That applies to the Ruling Class as well.
If I read you correctly : politics gets in the way of results. That is so pinoy. Hence the point of what I wrote. We as a country rather be “pinoy” then effective. Because we fail at being effective we live vicariously through people like Jessica Sanchez who really has not accomplished much. Before anyone gets enraged at me, look at how many people have been Top 5 in American Idol in the last 6 years and how many have careers now?
This is actually noticeable every four years (besides the Olympics): while the world cheers for their teams (or even players) for the FIFA World Cup, Pinoys would rather go apeshit over the UAAP Finals.
What’s even sadder is the thought that, if Filipinos are so crazy over basketball, why does absolutely NO ONE (neither government nor private corporation) have the foresight to create a national basketball team for the Olympics, or at least even the World Championships? Are Pinoys just content to have a local team with very little international exposure?
The Philippines needs to first admit that we’re CHUMPS in sports, and yes that includes basketball–and that’s not even because we’re “poor.” Heck UGANDA won the gold for men’s marathon. And if THAILAND and INDONESIA can bag themselves Olympic medals, then it’s definitely not about the Philippines being a “poor nation.” It’s now a matter of culture.
What we need is:
FIRST – a comprehensive and consistent sports program that takes care of its athletes, generously funded by either the government or private corps (better if both).
SECOND – an athletics program that makes sports other than basketball palatable to potential athletes (my recommendations: boxing, football, track, sailing).
THIRD – review the funds for substandard “community basketball courts” and instead use them for city or regional stadiums and training centers.
FOURTH – send athletes to the Winter Games. Yes, we did it before; the last time we sent them was in Lillehammer. More importantly, we should also never overlook that the Paralympic Games are as important as the Olympics; we should focus on sending good athletes there as well.
Yes, our pepetual failure just shows us where tunnel vision and inability to see the picture will ultimately get us. Nowhere.
Hi Gogs,you know that all the things said here are,for the most, part true and if it weren’t all true it would be bashing the country.The examination of all things in Philippine society being so dismal that it could go on all day long,why stop at the Olympics?It is sad.A serious shift in the national conscience is called for.How to get it there and to take hold is just beyond me.I can see how most kids these days just want to get out of here.
The problem here is that the Philippines is in such a bad shape that they as a country should focus on more relevant things. Sports should not be one of them. Like Rome in ancient times where “games” were given to the populace to divert everybody’s attention from the real problem.
This is all just smokescreen. So why did we even bother to?
Many times things are used to divert attention from somewhere else. Even political events are used to sneak in other political agendas. Again, look at all the politicians who surround Manny at every fight and public appearance.
When the politician steps in the ring,why doesn’t someone KO him/her?That would be entertaining.I’d pay to see it.Not much,but a few pesos.
If only bayanihan qualifies as a/an SEA/Asian/Olympic game sports, we will have a gold medal.
We can’t even do “bayanihan” that well, by the way.
Off-topic but I love that pic.
“Dude, look at my hands. They’re so big…”
I was really debating what pic to use. Was tempted to use for the nth time the You Light Up My Life pic that I already used in a previous blog.
Gogs, nice article as usual although Im very sure our “favorite” yellow idiot will soon show his/her face here and blame gloria again for this prob. I wish idiots like him/her would just get lost.
The thing about our favorite idiot. My blog about Noynoy disrupting TV Patrol did mention the troll division of Malacanang’s communication team. Not a peep from any of the usual yellow idiots.
It might be because of the fact that the yellow idiots don’t want to be detected as members of the malacanang troll team. Unfortunately for them, they were already found out the moment that they post their stupid yellow propaganda here. It seems that malacanang itself is afraid of GRP since this site is gradually removing the yellow mind control from the filipino people.
Hey, this is gonna be completely random, hope you don’t mind.
No budget for athletic training. Not enough money for a lot of people to concentrate on being an athlete. We always depend on the private sector for this. The government does not take the initiative to raise these standards. The private sector would only do so if it’s profitable. We can’t really blame much on the people alone. Dreamers exist mostly among the middle class. And they are just 15 percent of the population. The rest would not know of having dreams like these because no one taught them to. Something is wrong with our social conditioning. The education sector and the media shape the minds of the people mostly, it has to start from there.
I hear you. It all has to come down to values. A topic that I touch on is almost every post I have written here in GRP. Your hierachy of values will affect your decisions and your decisions affect your output. Like I said the universal rule is garbage in garbage out. There is no magic in the real world. We do value the family in pinoy culture which can be both good and bad. Nothing like real competition to show how inefficient pinoy society is. No one can get explain to me that our president is there not because of merit or track record but because of the timing of his mother’s death. How dysfunctional are we??
the article was dead on. we like to dream big but are unwilling to put in the necessary work for it. it’s hard to make the same old excuses of ‘lack of funding’ or ‘politics’ stick when war-torn or famine-stricken countries are winning medals.
Some people hate GRP because we reveal the ugly truth behind “Pinoy Pride” and those same people can not handle the truth. Check all banana colored glasses at the door.
Wow…thattsa a lotta explaining!Paquiao is an exception to all this.When one person decides to do something himself,it can get done!!!THE CRAB MENTALITY that does exist in the Philippines is not well suited to any type of team sporting events.
Expecting a medal when virtually no effort was put into the games on a realistic national level is a belief in fairy-tale type scenarios.However I did not hear anyone expecting much out of the reps from the fils.The boxer that lost complained,even sent formal protest but the un-sympathetic judges just laughed.That says a bit right there.MAYBE next Olympics do not even send a team,save the money and build a dam or hand out some condoms to poor people?
I’ve all but given up on the Philippines even winning a bronze medal. Their collective ineptitude is a gold standard however.
Yeah, the whole b-ball fixation Flips have totally turned me off the sport. Besides, football (soccer) was labeled, “the most beautiful” game. I guess that is completely lost in most Filipinos.
Come to think of it, the Canadians kinda have this mentality with hockey. What makes them different is that they’re actually very good at the sport.
@Ronnie – Tell me if I am making too much of this but who is Manny’s main trainer and in the weeks leading up to a fight where does Manny’s most intense training happen? It just can’t be climate. It might be environment.
@ Sid- based on my observations in hockey in Canada. Canadians really understand hockey so they know not everyone can be Wayne Gretzky ( scorer but no muscle and won’t go into the corners) so others accept their role as doing the nasty unglamorous things necessary to win a game like a Larry Robinson . Pinoys from what I have seen feel everybody in the court is Allen Iverson and nobody should be Kurt Rambis or Rick Mahorn. Europeans gained ground on the Americans as players and as teams because they were well coached in fundamentals and the team concept. Can pinoys say the same?
Why did we fail in the Olympics? First and foremost is the lack of resolute political will. Add the fact that the state has no world class support or training facilities for our athletes. Our politicians suck and all they give a damn about is their political image, political expediency and opportunism games. Yes people… we shine in political circus games.
Politicians in short don’t care about productivity for the whole. Just as long as they get what’s “theirs”.
“Tansan” ang medalya natin….mga pulitiko…Parang sila ang pinakamarunong sa buong mundo…
Oh heck ya Hyden. Trashy know it all politicians are so worshipped in this culture and the joke is on the worshippers. The same people they worship are the same people holding them back.
we are so mediocre that filipinos recently won an asean quiz competition, a filipino film won at the asian american film festival in the states, and a filipino booth won best exhibit at a korean expo. but don’t let the truth get in the way of the country bashing. the blog gets more clicks that way.
Red herring detected.
The author is talking about the Olympics. TBH, only an anti-intellectual prick like yourself will treat this as ‘country-bashing’.
the topic is in fact not the olympics but an imagined “low standard” trait that resulted into poor olympics performance. this amateurish “analysis” becomes a problem however, because if we supposedly have low standards how can we produce brilliant math students or filmmakers? i will not presume to know how to improve our contry’s performance in the olympics, but i recognize that we are good in some areas. something that is impossible for grp writers to do. just chalk it up to a low standard and mail it in. daido, you are a good man. improve your reading comprehension, then get back to me.
How about we start at YOU first?
BTW, you say we can produce brilliant math students or filmmakers yet most of Filipinos are stuck in a cycle of mediocrity. Of course, I’m talking about the dysfunctional culture.
We can never promote CRITICAL THINKING and PROGRESS with such people. We are good in some areas, yes. But it can really uplift us as a society? Not enough.
im giving you facts about some contests that filipinos won. all you can offer is to cling to this dogma that anything filipino is mediocre. but how can this “cycle of mediocrity” produce outstanding math students? you dont make sense. try again.
I like how you mention generic names and refer to them as facts. When I last looked no one supports you. You are an object of my pity and not my rage. Must be crappy working for morons . There but for the grace of God go I.
Jaks2, did you google half the day to find any “pinoy” winner in any obscure competition that we don’t pay attention to? Just to discredit me since I don’t worship your president? Did you know who won that same Asian-American film festival last year??
Events that carry cache / prestige are ones with that have a history and some sort of notoriety . That is where the competition is. So don’t make my point insignificant. Pinoys know about the Olympics and the NBA. They really do not focus their attention on any other sporting event. Not even the Fifa World Cup. Some segments traditionally have but nowhere near the numbers of NBA/ PBA.. How did you get your job with the Palace? Earn it or given it?
no i do not have to discredit you since you do a good job of that with every word you type. ok so you’re devaluing the math olympics (where we medaled :)) because it is “obscure” and has nowhere near the prestige of the olympics. but its not easy getting into the math olympics too and it is definitely an achievement.
there are two things here: first you kid yourself into believing you have the solution to the country’s anemic olympic performances. then you mixed it your trademark anti filipino outlook. (not very imaginative though using “low standard” again) the result is this article. thats my take. i welcome yours hehe
Like I said: only morons will take this blog post as ‘anti-Filipino’. 😀
More like anti-PINOY to be exact.
The article clearly tackles the Filipino society as a whole. You are clearly missing the point. Its true, it also takes a lot to be able to make it to the math Olympiad (i know, i was there too once in my life). But the qualities and virtues you put in there are clearly out of the ordinary Filipino’s mindset. Hence, our society fails to produce more achievers.
Writers and some commenters here are not saying they have the cure-all for the Pinoy, but opening the minds of some of the readers here is a start. If you fail to see that, then clearly you are the real Anti-pinoy.
About jak2. Of course he/ she will miss the point. jak2’s goal is not to enhance to detract from any point in any article. jak2’s goal is to be an S*** disturber because the Palace commands it. Read my previous post about bus drivers and how jak2 tried to make some lame argument that bus drivers in Edsa are disciplined. Just goes to show you working for Minister Ricky and Noynoy must be really a desparate person’s work. Give you an example. I don’t like Justin Bieber. Let me tell you one thing I don’t go to. A website that caters to Justin Bieber maniacs. Let them live with their own bad taste in music. jak2 is a part of a breed that is here to make their boss happy. Insult them all you want , it’s a job to them. Like the bad guy in a pro wrestling match. That is what they are there for. People like Fishball and jak2 should be an object of our pity and not of our rage. They work for the biggest goof.
i merely pointed out to readers that after they wade through your bluster, easily obtainable stats will show our country is not even in the top 50 in road traffic fatalities per capita worldwide. you just hate it when facts contradict your rants. why are you allergic to facts?
Jaks2 so you see Edsa as a drivers utopia and you feel the current president is a worthy competent leader that will bring the whole Philippines to utopia just like Edsa. You are entitled to your opinion. With all your rebuttals to the various posts on GRP will the Minister of Propaganda let you go home now?
TBH jaks2, we’re more allergic to your so-called ‘facts’ that are fabricated and can be used as tools to escape from reality and say ‘Ok lang yan.’ Ugh.
You brought up Asian American Film Festival. Right there the pinoy element is diluted. Like I said about Jessica Sanchez she did not grow up watching Wowwowwee so how can you say she is even a cultural product of ours?
Whatever film makers you cite , they may be talented which befuddles me why if not for the annual mandatory embargo of foreign movies, none of these local film makers will make movies that will be profitable among the masa that usually support locally produced movies.
Do you want a distinguished, experienced , high achiever as a president? Call me old fashioned but I do. Not one who earned the sympathy vote of an emo nation by his mom dying at the right time. You could not tell me in a million years that he was on track for the presidency in 2010 if his mom died ten years ago or ten years from now.
Sorry, I am not discredited just because I oppose your boss and your boss’ boss.
no fabrication needed. if you know how to use google you can easily find them
Maybe I am not as good in Google as you but I tried using Google to find any evidence that Noynoy is intelligent and that he is accomplished. That is not easily Googled.
we also won two bronzes at another kind of olympics. the mathematical olympiad in argentina hehe
You got off-topic right there, trollfag. 😛
anything positive about the philippines is off topic?
Nah. You’re telling us to go “Think Positib” yet to delude ourselves and refuse to face reality.
Am I right?
Gogs, i agree with your statement that the Filipinos lack basis for their standards. and i think that is why they look for it elsewhere and model after it. it is sad, because, for an example, you can’t be just “yourself”.. you have to be a “localized version” of some foreign act for you to garner recognition and respect from your fellow citizens. what’s even sad is when praised by a foreigner, we sensationalize the issue (with the help of the media) and become disillusioned in “Pinoy Pride.”
sometimes i hate thinking about it, but “Pinoy Pride” is more about having a “(affix your popular icon) of the Philippines” before your introduction.. so much of that and we can’t be just Filipinos. “consuelo de bobo” nalang kapag walang parangal, “Pinoys Da Best” pa rin kahit walang karangalan. the fact that Filipinos can imitate a foreign act makes Filipinos “da best.” sad that our country has to sink that low.
the way we uphold our value system has become so dumbed down that we are willing to make the compromise if those values don’t work for us. just because some practices seems inevitable and embedded in our culture doesn’t mean we can’t do anything to change that. but those people who don’t seem to care about it far outnumber the people who are willing to make the change.
I have many things to say in response to what you said. There is an excellent take on one of your points recently here in GRP ( not by me) on Gwyneth Paltrow on how people just grasp at straws.
Years ago in my own blog I made the point that it was so fitting that Freddie Aguilar be the one to criticize Arnel Pineda because Freddie earned his international fame by being himself and being original. Journey is Journey well before Arnel was anybody. He just mimicked. This makes us proud? Nobody was ever proud of an Elvis impersonator.
Like I told another reactor here, it’s all about values. The pinoy values attention way more than it values originality.
There is much more to react to but let me summarize what I think you are saying in one sentence: we are not secure in our own skin.
Not sure how that premise translates to Basta Pinoy Da Best.
the one thing I notice right here on this site is that whenever someone,no names,is at a loss for any type of intelligent response he comes back with insults and accusations that he himself is guilty of…DUH!!!!
Gogs,
Nice article. Noticing several references to canada in your posts. Which part of the great white north do you live in? I lived in Vancouver for a couple of years and now I’m living in Melbourne, AU. I brought my Canucks Jersey with me, and will forever be a Canucks fan.
I’ve noticed a trend with filipino sports lately. Most of the good ones who excel, are half flip, half something. Look at the Younghusbands and all the other foreign sounding names with the Azkals, PBA players, even some of the athletes who competed in the Olympics were fil-(something). Is our country really that deprived of talent?
Regarding the comments about basketball, we do dominate in SE Asia, once we go out of SE Asia, we don’t anymore. I enjoy watching basketball and I agree with your comments about the obsession with the sport, but it really is something we can’t compete in. We are not big enough to compete at the global level. I’m 5’10, rather tall for a flip, but around average in the west, I get pissed off when people say sayang yung height ko since I don’t play basketball. Football/Soccer might actually be a good sport for filipinos, I like watching the askals, but it would be better if they won more games. Countless other games we can focus on, the ones that don’t require size.
Cheers, eh!
For my thoughts on the Philippine side you can check here
and <a title="Azkal 2" href="http://edrlopez.blogspot.com/2011/07/injecting-dose-of-reality-is-not-For my thoughts on the Philippine side you can check here
I actually have a lot to react in terms of your points. Azkals full of Filipino Spaniards or Filipino British maybe just one Filipino Filipino. Not only are deprived of talent but deprived of focus and attention. I will add more.
Read my short bio underneath all my posts since you asked about my location. Thanks for reading.
“Like I said about Jessica Sanchez she did not grow up watching Wowwowwee so how can you say she is even a cultural product of ours?”
I really like this one Gogs. It really hit the spot, and yet again you wrote another great article. The sad thing is that “pinoy” will always be blind or if not will shut their eyes from the truth.
Thank you Lanz. I believe in what I write knowing full well some people’s response will be “sobra ka naman”. I just found the latching on to Jessica to be without basis. And it just meant so much to them. Even my relatives. You can read my first post here which came just as she won and the aftermath.
Great writing, Gogs. Really enjoyed this piece.
I appreciate that Toinks.
I am blaming the Filipino society’s lack of standards in general that allow an undistinguished individual like Noynoy Aquino to have six years as president to do as he pleases. – Gogs
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Gosh, how come that an Olympic issue ended up bashing the Filipino people because Noynoy was elected president? Can’t you guys move on? Why camouflage an anti-Noynoy issue when you can just open a thread about Noynoy and how bad he is and proceed from there?
I have no trouble with people criticizing Noynoy especially when it is justified. Democracy dictates that the people should and must express their dissatisfaction with their leaders.
But to mentioned the name of Noynoy and blamed the Filipinos for his election on every issue is just not proper. I suggest you do it in one thread and focus all Noynoy-related issues there.
One thing I know is, Olympics or not, poor losers abound in our midst.
My final point should stand for itself. The people bestow a gold medal once every six years to what we hope is higher , faster , stronger. But since people disagree then the Olympics makes for a good parallel. It’s a showbiz culture. Showbiz is not a business known for integrity or values yet they dominate politics. Show biz known for pretending, faking and publicity stunts. Then again so is politics. Forget competing or qualifications.
Those are my points in the piece and I stick by them. BTW Noynoy asked for all the attention when he ran and got more attention when he won. Sorry but any president or Prime Mininster in any culture is fair game. I am not the only one perplexed how this guy with no significant deeds waltzed his way into Malacanang. We are reaping what we have sowed.
Gogs, I agree with you on the ‘higher, faster and stronger’ category in the Olympics, but it is improper to liken the earning of an Olympic medal because of physical superiority to gaining a public office through an election.
There is nothing parallel to the two. Olympics champions and promotes parity, purity and equality. No such thing in politics. The moment you compare the two is the start of twisting the facts to serve your ulterior motives.
You can always trash Noynoy, why not, but it’s a bit of a stress to use the Olympics as a staging ground to do it.
Jona-s, your tenses are everywhere.
You Abnoy lovers ALWAYS miss the point. ALWAYS. It has nothing to do with Olympics dealing with sports and the Presidency being a product of elections.
The point is simple. The Filipino standard is always subpar, even in choosing our president. Yun lang.
Jose Garcia, if you allege, you prove. Since your allegation has no legs to stand on, it’s just a lie. I don’t lie against other people. That’s cowardice.
I don’t see the point you’re talking about. What Filipino standard are you talking about with regard to participating and winning in the Olympics? Poor countries like us have difficulty participating in the Olympics. Our sports program are in disarray because of priority problem. Its a big picture than the so-called ‘standard’ you are talking about.
With regard to choosing a president, what’s that got to do with Olympics? Do you choose winners in sports? Again, you got lost in the ‘parallelism’ that the author imagined on his piece. I can’t blame you. If one is not really adept, you could lose in the confusion .
Jona-s
What exactly are my allegations? That you are Abnoy’s fan? That your tenses are terrible? (you have an ep (f) depect also btw), that Abnoy is subpar?
Again you miss the point completely. We as a nation can not get higher, faster and stronger because we put no real premium in these things. “Siguro pwede na yan, yan na lang” is the story of our lives. It has everything to do with the presidency. We have a dunce for one and evidently the dunceness trickles down to his followers.
Adept my a$$.
Jose Gracia, you read my post and you’re the one making allegation so don’t ask me about what you alleged. I cannot think and speak for you.
I don’t mind you helping on my tenses. Sometimes it’s typo and most of the times I write on the fly. Any correction from anyone is very welcome. I don’t mind so long as you understand what I’m talking about.
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“We as a nation can not get higher, faster and stronger because we put no real premium in these things.” – Jose Gracia
And did I argue with you on that? That make sense but sadly that’s also old news.
Let’s talk Olympics if you want and our non-participation or failure to participate on it. But don’t mix it with gripes against the occupant of Malacanang because it only gets confusing. Are you seriously dealing Olympics matter or you’re just using it to camouflage your attack against Noynoy. Like I said, go ahead attack Noynoy but attack him on the proper thread.
The Olympics has nothing to do with your so-called “dunce and his followers”.
The Olympics is so fresh to talk about it with a rehash criticisms of the president of the Philippines. It’s naked sour-graping and it doesn’t look good.
Adept.
Vero, ma basta prenderci la mano ci sono tanti di quei cdmnaoi e di combinazioni di tasti che mi sembrava di impazzire, ma era troppo bello sdraiarsi fra l’erba, mimetizzarsi, alzarsi un pochino per guardarsi intorno, avvicinarsi furtivamente dietro a un soldato e con la tecnica del CQC zack!! Era tuo! E lo potevi anche interrogare e spesso ti dava dei trucchetti
Gogs,
Don’t just allow posts that appreciates and agrees with what you are saying. Post also those who disagrees or presents an opposing views of the issue.
In the spirit of fair play, don’t you think you should practice what you preached?
1) you must mistake me as someone who has control over the comments made here. FYI I don’t.
2) you are a walking, talking TOS violation waiting to happen so even if I did have the gate keeper function you should be the last one lecturing on fairplay.
3) fishball despite being on the payroll of the administration understands the TOS or knows what line not to cross. Notice FB does not have to resort to multiple ids.
You have no control over the comments here but you are lecturing me about ‘line to cross’ and ‘violation’ of which only you knows.
Again, in the spirit of fair play, tell me why my posts which happens to contradict yours, are being erased and me being prevented to post (in the past, at least). What violation/s did I make so that I would be able to avoid it this time around.
As a gentleman, I’m asking you that to ensure that I’ll be able to maintain being a member of this blog in good standing. I expect the same from your end.
I swear to you on my autographed picture of Pete Rose, that I have no more power than you when it comes to feedback by readers here. Once I hit enter or submit on my own post its there and I can’t edit. Granted I can email the GRP Webmaster to delete or edit something I wrote and he is more likely to pay attention to me than a random emailer.
Listen, jona-s. The decision to retain or delete comments here is mine alone. Your comments are showing up now. But I’m keeping an eye on you and can put them BACK in the spam queue right now and owe you NO explanation whatsoever. So just drop this inquiry into comment moderation practices here and just take what you get.
If you want advise on how to remain in good standing here, there’s lots of material about etiquette all over the Web. Just Google it yourself.
Listen, benigno, I appreciate that my comments are showing up now because I don’t see any reason why they shouldn’t. I don’t mind you banning me on your blog especially if I do something wrong or violates your rule. But a simple contrary view should not be a cause to delete my comments.
I know you from other forums before and I was disappointed by your admission that YOU are the one playing dirty games of deleting comments. How can somebody as articulate and as opinionated like you can do that?
Well, that maybe be the supreme privilege of a blog owner. Fine.
I don’t remember having skirmishes with you so your admission is really a surprise for me. Imagine, me discussing issues with your people then you coming in and muscling your way just to stop me from communicating? I don’t think that speaks well of your people’s capability to engaged in discussion.
There are some here who calls other people names short of swearing but they enjoyed continued privilege to post. I just basically oppose views that I think is contrary to mine and I get to be stopped?
If you’re satisfied exchanging views with people who agrees with you and have the same thinking and ideas as yours, fine. That’s the way to regression and I respect that. I just thought initially that this blog, with you on top of it, would be a marketplace of free ideas.
Prove me wrong, benigno.
Whatever you say.
Just carry on and get over your fixation on the commenting guidelines here.
Appreciate it. Thanks.
Glad you see things my way.
I swear to you on my autographed picture of Pete Rose, that I have no more power than you when it comes to feedback by readers here. – Gogs
And that’s the reason why I’m pretty sure you lied every time you deny playing dirty games.
I am under no obligation to prove or disprove any of your accusations. Like I said before reading me obviously does not make you happy. Then why read me? Why come to GRP? Why bother making multiple IDs? Go somewhere where you like what you read and feedback will be kinder than what you have given me. You do know that by now you haven’t discouraged me. In the words of David Bowie “you are putting out fire with gasoline”. When you see my next piece and the piece after that , ask yourself if you are doing what you set out to do.
I am under no obligation to prove or disprove any of your accusations. – Gogs
I agree with you.
Reading you and others here does not make me happy nor sad. It just moves me to respond and share my own thinking of the issue at hand. If it so happened that I disagree with you, which is more often, it’s just what the nature of blog is. Nothing personal there. We agree to disagree.
You keep on insisting on my so-called ‘multiple IDs’ even though I already explained it. You ignore my explanation as if everything defended on my so-called ‘multiple IDs’. I already admitted that I have multiple IDs because somebody is preventing me to post on an ID I used to post. I was forced to use multiple IDs because somebody keeps on blocking my posts. I don’t know if you experienced the same situation but until you do, you’ll remain an ignorant on the matter.
It’s not about you, Gogs, it’s about what you are saying. Now, can we kindly go back on the issue?
“Its So Obvious Why We Have No Olympic Medals, Look At Our Society”
The title implies that by just looking at our society our no-medal status in the Olympics is explained. However, lack or failure to get an Olympic medal is minuscule compared to what you will see looking the big picture of our society.
What is an Olympics medal compared to the hardships, poverty, destruction of life and property that abounds in your midst? What’s a medal compared to the erosion of institutions and moral depravation and social decay that eats up everyone? Our country has been besieged by natural and man-made calamities that left it broken and limping and weak. With that situation, looking at society to find the source of Olympics frustration is a misguided thing to do at present.
For most Filipinos, there are more important and pressing matters than Olympic medals.
To better understand our situation vis-a-vis the Olympics, let us look for the effort, plans and programs or lack of it in our sports institutions and gov’t. agencies tasked to handle such thing. Is the business community doing it’s role to the fullest to promote the right kind of sports where Filipinos can competently compete in the international stage? Do we have the warm bodies of athletes that have potentials to deliver if given the opportunity, among other things? In short, let us look at the right place and on the right time.
“Ascende Superius.”
“Come up to a higher place,” or rather, “Ascend to Greatness.”
I doubt we as a people consider it part of our ethos.
and forever it shall be. and its not really a bad place to live here after all.
It’s a horrible place… I’m an outsider and visited for a whole summer. It was the worst place I’ve ever visited, and I’ve been all over the world.
“Ignorance is bliss” is quite the craze here in this country. You should smoke it, and when you do you’ll see what he meant by “not really a bad place to live.”
haha..Gogs, nakita mo dapat ung isang stupid na comment ng Pinoy sa youtube,something related sa world cup 2014 sabi nya “Philippines should join fifa..Phils. to the top” he was slammed by a foreigner there.Twas funny and quite embarassing! Sabi ng foreigner ang Phils. hindi makakapasok sa WC,ang layo ng team nten sa skills ng Korea,Japan tska ibang mideast countries.
Thank you for putting into words what I have all along in my heart and in my head. Keep it up maybe someday we all live to see the Philippines and Filipinos be in a way better mindset than now.
I fully support your observation that indeed, most Filipinos, perhaps the ‘masa’, have very low standards for almost every aspect in our society. May I add the very low standard for government service? Yes, you can see this in the government offices, city halls, courts, etc. People just make do with what these incompetent/corrupt govt officials churn out. Imagine court houses with dilapidated ceilings, city halls with dirty walls and broken windows, trains with dirty stations and poor service, dilapidated buses with reckless drivers, the list will go on and on. The government never steps up to any ‘gold standard’ even if these officilas know what is best simply because people never demand for better service. Filipinos are just too passive and I see this on a daily basis. Its actually infuriating, makes me want to knock on their heads and say ‘ano ba, kontento ka na ba sa bulok na sistema at napakaruming paligid?’. This country needs more thinkers and doers who can uplift the Filipino mindset.
Dapat nga daw sa marathon event, ang pambato natin mga snatcher, pickpockets dahil mabibilis sila tumakbo, and if the Olympic motto is faster, pinoys cannot really excel, sa pagtawid palang sa kalsada, we are very slow and always disregard the right way to crossed the streets, what can we expect if TV continue to feed us with these telenovelas and bakya shows.
paano mananalo yang gilas eh gumagapang na bago bitawan ni mvp bwahahaha
Many Filipinos have a colonialist mentality. It’s a white/WASP worship-especially the lust/love of the US empire. Obsessions with of hapas or US comedians that act the part (for $$$), but are not real Filipinos. No respect for Filipino culture and pre-Spanish/pre-US empire history-other than over-used jokes and trying to act black. It’s quite sad. The US was and is degenerate and debased. It’s best that the Philippines maintain its’ sovereignty and be independent of that toxic colonialist influences -it only serves the US military industrial complex. Pillaging the regions, coups, regime changes, war constantly, etc..etc..No thank you Yankees.