Category: Politics

President Aquino’s Second State of the Nation Address (SONA) 25 July 2011

June 19, 2011June 19, 2011 benign0 167 Comments

Philippine President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III is due to deliver his second State of the Nation Address (SONA) to a joint Senate and House session of Congress. What is he going to say? What is he going to claim? What achievements are he planning to present to the duly-elected “representatives” of the Filipino People? Twelve…

Government, Media, Politics

The Philippine National Debate: the cheerleaders among us as a cheerleader President leads us

June 16, 2011June 16, 2011 benign0 7 Comments

There is a big difference between being a mere cheerleader and being a true leader. Cheerleaders are able to whip up emotional fervor and lure people into spectacular but short bursts of mindless emotionally-fueled stampedes. Real leaders, on the other hand are able to sustain commitment by providing a solid foundation of substance underlying the…

Culture, Government, Media, Politics, Society

CBCP blogger Carlos Antonio Palad calls Reproductive Health Bill supporters ‘enemies’

June 9, 2011 benign0 21 Comments

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines is reportedly now “tapping” Filipino bloggers in the “fight” versus the Reproductive Health Bill currently being “debated” in Philippine Congress. The CBCP’s official press release, indicated that its “media affairs” people had met with “several bloggers.” Though the title of the article described the purpose of the initiative…

Media, Politics, Religion

Hypocritical respect

May 27, 2011December 2, 2011 Ms. Mike Portes 7 Comments

Is this an honest mistake or a subliminal message from the Office of the President based on PNoy’s warning to China regarding the disputed Spratlys? To quote: “â€œWe may not have the capabilities now, but that might force us to increase our capabilities also,â€? Or is this a message that the PNoy administration is dead…

A Noynoy supporter blames Noynoy’s aide for Noynoy’s lack of substance

May 27, 2011May 27, 2011 Ilda 25 Comments

A friend asked me how I manage to keep my cool when someone is obviously trying to intimidate me online. Indeed, there are many critics in the blogosphere who do not have any qualms about undermining a writerâ€™s credibility just because they can. My experience as a blogger has taught me that there are many…

Government, Media, Politics

The RH Bill: Economic growth alone will not solve overpopulation

May 20, 2011May 24, 2011 Ilda 23 Comments

I cannot say in absolute terms that I am a strong advocate of the proposed Reproductive Health bill (RH Bill). In a perfect world, we wouldnâ€™t need to introduce such legislation. But we do not live in a perfect world and if one’s intention is to seek flaws in the proposed bill, one will surely…

Development, Economy, Education, Environment, Government, Politics, Religion

Will Filipino voters reward politicians who support the Reproductive Health Bill?

May 16, 2011 benign0 5 Comments

We are seeing interesting times today as it seems like roles have been reversed for the first time in the last several decades. The Philippine Roman Catholic Church descended into a very public tantrum following hints from President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III that calls for a boycott on paying taxes made by some Church officials…

Culture, Development, Politics, Religion

“Ampaw”

May 9, 2011March 19, 2014 Ms. Mike Portes 8 Comments

Mother’s day 2011 started out as a breezy summer morning that turned out to be a rainy afternoon by 1500H but that didn’t deter me from trooping to the nearest mall which was SM Sucat. I just went out yesterday to buy ice cream at SM Sucat @ 1600H but hey, guess what? I went…