We beg to differ.
Contrary to popular belief, Roman Catholicism is not the state religion of the Philippines. The state religion is really sort of a sub-belief system or sect of Roman Catholicism called Pakitang Taoism — really more a philosophy than a religion, to be fair. But while Roman Catholicism provides a regimented framework of dogmas offering a…
Read More “Noynoying and the national philosophy of Pakitang-Taoism” »
The obvious place all the skirt-lifting that had been going on over the thirty-odd working days of the impeachment trial of Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona is starting to emerge in the horizon. Indeed, it is easy to quibble over how the “accuracy” with which Corona declared his assets and liabilities on that hallowed…
Firstly, I think it’s better named “20 things to dislike in the Philippines.” It’s supposed to complement the video “20 Reasons I Love the Philippines” by the same director, Michael Goodman. Both videos are supposed to show the pros and cons of the Philippines from a foreigner’s viewpoint. Rather than a mere aimless criticism, the…
So we want to be a “proud” people, do we? Well perhaps it is time we took the bull by its horns and ask ourselves: Proud of what exactly? You see, this is the 21st Century. Old notions of one race being superior to another or an entire people being anointed as blessed above the…
Read More “Why greatness will continue to elude the Filipino people” »
So Taylor Kitsch could not tell one Third World southeast Asian nation from another. That’s enough for Filipinos to get up to their usual hollowheaded call to arms over yet another perceived slight against their much-vaunted “pride”. Pride in what exactly? Well know, there’s an unanswered million dollar question if there ever was one. But…
Read More “Taylor Kitsch’s excellent Indonesian adventure” »
It was more than two (2) weeks ago that a report came out that Cristy Ramos filed a sexual harassment case against two members of the Philippine Azkals team, Angel Guirado, and Lexton Moy. Read the story here. It just also happened that a lawyer relative of mine and I were listening to 92.3 when…
Read More “Did the Azkals bite off more than they could chew?” »
The term may be new but the observations go way back. The term “Noynoying” is a new buzzword that hit home run and stuck. Philippine President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III after all is the no-results president — the President who so early in his stint in office had already been criticised for his slack work…
Read More “Noynoying – the Philippine president lends his name to the Filipino Condition” »
The term we use to describe hyper-sensitive people here in the Philippines is balat-sibuyas, which literally means “onion-skinned”. The analogy is that just as onion skin easily comes off, Filipino people are easily hurt. I aim to derive another analogy using the onion. Attempting to get a message across to Filipinos creatively is like peeling…
