Missing in action: Philippine youth against Binay
Youth protest against Binay at Rizal Park [Photo credit: impressivemagazine.com]
And so they protest for change or against wrongs.
Around the world, they protest. They rally. They shout. They demand. They occupy. They march for equality, for new social ideas, against war, for care of the environment, for racial equality, against the rich/poor divide, for independence, for peace.
But in the Philippines? Against Vice President Binay?
Silence.
Absolute, total, deafening silence.
Oh, a smattering of young people get out of bed and join the leftists to protest America, as if that will assure them jobs in the future. They have also finally taken up protesting China because they got criticized for their silence about Chinese occupation of Philippine seas. The leftists did argue weakly against the Binays a couple of weeks ago but turned the argument inside out to make it a protest of Aquino policies. Some young people were there.
So, “why?” I ponder.
Why is there no youthful outrage that the Binay family is acceptable under the Philippine moral and ethical umbrella? How can they accept such poor standards for the highest office in the land?
How can young people accept the way poor people’s votes are bought with little gifts from conniving game-players? That is okay by young people, that the innocent and under-educated of their land are played for fools? That kind of nation is fine and dandy with Philippine youth? Peachy keen? A-OK?
They can’t look at 625 Makati sister cities, an extra-governmental organization able to overthrow due process, and say . . . um, I don’t think this is Constitutionally correct? They can’t connect dots like that?
Why are Philippine university students, and even young working people with a whole future ahead of them, willing to step aside and let the Binays, with the values they represent, move into leadership of the Philippines? They are willing to place their futures in the hands of the Binays?
Wow.
These are the reasons I could come up with for the apathy among Filipino youth:
- They, like the DE class, are busy getting by, trying to pay for school and get a meal. They’re preoccupied.
- They, like the DE class, feel impotent They think they can make no difference, that all politicians are corrupt. Why try?
- They think Binay can make the Philippines just like Makati.
- They have no idea about the role government plays in creating jobs and assuring fair practices?
- They are too young to understand what Marcos put the nation through. They can’t relate.
- The teachers are teaching obedience rather than initiative. The teachers are not teaching civic responsibility or values or the role of government.
- They have been browbeaten into submission by parents and taxi drivers and the relentless unenlightened hordes who defend Binay. They are afraid to speak up.
- Student leaders are inept at stating values, organizing rallies and inspiring protest.
All of the above.
None of the above, in which case I stand ready to be enlightened, because I can’t figure it out.
Why do old people have to do the job of Philippine youth? [Photo credit: Inquirer]
How can theft of taxpayer money, used to build a grand hacienda, help the poor?
I know protests in Biliran where Naval State University operates could offset the Binay campaign trip here a couple of weeks ago, and the government-sponsored banners still flying over the streets. Seven of eight municipalities here are Makati sister cities. But I don’t see any rallies.
- Is there NO sense of doom? Of a nation on the path to backward . . . yet again?
- Of opportunity put at great risk?
- Of values moving into the Palace that are at odds with everything they’ve been taught?
- Of the obscenity of their nation willing to go with power, favor, money, lying, cheating and stealing?
- Of the horror of a whole swath of the nation’s population being manipulated and “bought” by greedy scoundrels?
These possibilities don’t set their youthful blood to boiling? Their idealistic eyes to seeing red?
Most responsible adults are in a near panic and the young people are off watching Jurassic World. They are letting old people like Jim Paredes (“Stop Binay”) fight on their behalf. What is that? The idealism of complacency?
Youth is the hope of the Philippines, and today, from all that I can tell, that hope is missing in action.
Dead in the water.
The Society of Honor by Joe America 
They’re busy frolicking at the beaches, getting drunk, painting their faces and taking selfies. Regrettable.
Ah, yes, the selfies. I should have written that into the blog.
The duty of youth is to challenge corruption.
Kurt Cobain
PEOPLE POWER DOES NOT END UNTIL THESE THIEVES OF PEOPLE”S MONEY DISGUISED AS PUBLIC SERVANTS ARE JAILED…WE THE PEOPLE MUST OCCUPY THE COCONUT PALACE USED AS AN OFFICE BY THIEF BINAY..WE THE PEOPLE MUST NOT ALLOW A THIEF OCCUPY A GOVERNMENT BUILDING PAID FOR BY LAW ABIDING CITIZENS AND TAXPAYERS!!! OCCUPY THE COCONUT PALACE!!! PEOPLE POWER IS HERE TO STAY!!!
1987 CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES
or the SUPREME LAW OF THE LAND
PREAMBLE
We, the sovereign Filipino people, imploring the aid of Almighty God, in order to build a just and humane society, and establish a Government that shall embody our ideals and aspirations, promote the common good, conserve and develop our patrimony, and secure to ourselves and our posterity, the blessings of independence and democracy under the rule of law and a regime of truth, justice, freedom, love, equality, and peace, do ordain and promulgate this Constitution.
ARTICLE XI
ACCOUNTABILITY OF PUBLIC OFFICERS
Section 1. Public office is a public trust. Public officers and employees must, at all times, be accountable to the people, serve them with utmost responsibility, integrity, loyalty, and efficiency; act with patriotism and justice, and lead modest lives
There you go. Black and white.
Kids don’t go to rallies because they are boring. Today’s rally organizers, if they are not reds, they are gray-haired do-gooders. Couple that with the fact that kids don’t want to do what their parents or old folks are doing and you get rallies with very little youth participation. Back in the day, the youth were led by the youth. Remember “don’t trust anyone over 30?” You have to make a rally more fun and exciting than “frolicking at the beaches, getting drunk, painting their faces and taking selfies.” In the old days rallies were happenings, to use a term popular then. People used to go to find out what was happening and to be a part of it and in doing so they learned about the issues. Many times they learned about the importance of human rights from police clubs and tear gas and they saw the connection between corruption and oppression. The problem is not the kids; the problem is the rallies themselves, more precisely the problem is with how rallies are marketed. Kids won’t go to rallies just because old folks gave them history and civics lessons or told them what should and shouldn’t be. You have to have something more attractive than just a good cause to pull kids away from what they are doing. Maybe we old folks should focus on finding ways to market rallies instead of blaming the kids.
That is the most profound takeaway I’ve gotten from the comments. Very simply, why do young people not rally? Because of what the old people are teaching them. Every crook and shirker of accountability and cheater and liar makes the world in which their kids live.
Joe, when we were young, why did we protest, was it because of what old people were teaching us? Or was it because we didn’t like the way the old people were running the world – Vietnam war, the draft, segregation, etc.? Over here it was against the US bases, Marcos, land reform, etc.
Besides, in those days the roads were bad and the youth could not afford to go “frolicking at the beaches”, “getting drunk” was not as easy because there was not a wide selection of alcoholic beverages, and “taking selfies” was impossible without a phone cam. :-).
We didn’t like the way the old people were running the world. Anti-establishment.
Your generation wanted to smoke pot and explore free love…
Now the sex part is even easier and safer for the youth now.
The escapist aspect is taken care of by selfies and Facebook.
The pot smoking and free love, like the protests of this and that, were also flaunting “the establishment’s” values, as I think about it. We werent’ happy just to get out of the house and unto ourselves (I was out at 18), we had to make STATEMENTS.
Maybe youth today are rebelling against the “establishment’s” overabundant sense of entitlement to things the entitled are not entitled to. So then, five years from now, we have rebellion by the connected class of unread gamers against the Binays, who are correctly read as gamers themselves.
I get dizzy contemplating the cycles of life.
It is interesting that your generation made its statements – worldwide. There were the students and laborers of the First Quarter Storm in the Philippines. There was the hippie and anti-war generation with Marvin Gaye singing “What’s Going On” in the United States. In Germany the 68ers had one agenda more – to get rid of the Nazi legacy, as embodied in their slogan “trust no one older than 30” because he/she could have been part of it.
Now if I look at how the 68ers went over here – the radicals went all Baader-Meinhof, the moderates became the Green Party which is now comfortably part of the establishment, still mouthing the old stuff while drinking their green tea and sending their kids to the private schools which are now the better way to ensure a future for them – the public school system has slightly degenerated here as well, encouraging mass migration and asylum while not living in the ghettos where people have to live with its consequences.
Young people here do not have the time or inclination to rebel, they look after themselves. They often see the old rebels with their cushy pension funds as hypocrites, partly correct. They try to deal with the confusing world of today, somehow. Yeah, Rainer Langhans, one of the most famous nudist commune leaders with a harem of his own back in the days, just turned 70 recently. Still with his old haircut, but in finest clothing, now part of high society.
Haha, we do all tend to grow up once we have to earn a living.
Well, I guess the youth of today grow up earlier because times are not as easy as then.
Or maybe not that hard, just that you have to have MORE to meet a minimum standard. Work is needed to pay the mobile phone, the flatrates, the table, the fashionable clothing.
But wait, the “Walk your Talk” cause of the STOPBINAY movement is gaining traction from the youth – the yuppies of today…
I believe it is just a matter of a good cause and the youth will be out there marching. The STOPBINAY movement is a convergence of similar-minded individuals in FB spearheaded by non-politicians. It looks like a great cause for students, yuppies and a little bit older to join in, basing on comments in their FB page.
Check. I hope that is the way it goes.
Rallies of yesteryears were successful and fully participated in by the youth because you have to be there to know what’s happening in the ground. Today with just a flick of switch, you can turn on your smartphone and know what’s going on at rallies through social media with pictures and videos to boot. There’s no need to go to the rally site anymore and be beaten up…
Or, the electronic media can put together a large crowd in just a few days.
well we know the finoy youth are mia’s on the binay issue. it is nice and good to know the why but it is as equally good to do somethin about it.
the filifins is known to be one of the texting capitals of the world and most of our young fav toy is the celfon.
what if each of us get registered unlitexting for a day (very cheap from P10 to P20 per day) and each of us broadcast (forward) a canned (pre-forma) message to all the young ones we know? and then request them too to forward the same message to their frens?
i am very confident that with the so many brilliant and well-gifted-with-the-pen bloggers here, a good potent message on the binay issue will come up. the text ought to be short and sweet and to the point.
text barrage…text barrage…text barrage…pres obama used his blackberry to get to the youth and students for his campaign. let us do it the finoy way…texting…use unlitexting…and text to as many youth as we can.
call this chain texting…text barrage or whatever…i say it is just another tool of mass information.
in a weapon’s system we have the destruction catalyst and the delivery mechanism. in our info battle to get the youth unsilenced, we need a message and we use the celfon as our delivery mechanism…
oops…are the politicos reading this …a tool of mass misinformation…a cheap charlie method for mass epal…(a way to stay within the election spending limits)…God bless us all and mabuhay ang Pilipinas, ating inang bansa…gude
Ahahahaha, the politicos ARE reading, juan, and we can expect that cell phone companies to make a lot of money during the campaign period. Your advice is very good. It sees the realities “on the ground” and says, go with them . . . don’t fight it.
This reminds me of a get-together with friends who are law students. One said “Let’s not talk about serious things. We’ve had enough of that in school. (His face looked like he wanted to puke). Let’s talk about nonsense.” Everyone agreed. So we just laughed all night, took “groufies” and got drunk.
I just came from a get-together with friends today. This time I was with doctors. One said “I only get an average of 1 hour of sleep a day. We’re so busy in the hospital. I can’t even eat. How can you eat if you have a patient in pain in front of you?” Another one shared “But I’m glad I have this work. We have reduced the mortality rate (pregnancy) in this town to ZERO from 52/month.
All of us are in our mid-20s.
So there’s your youth right there.
Drunk or working their asses off. That explains a lot, indeed. I suspect closer to the elections, maybe they will find some concern about who’s going to win.
The youth simply don’t care, don’t know what’s going on, do things only for themselves, do selfies, do fashion, do teleserye; what media tells and sells to them. Some are simply stupid and just choose a candidate their parents choose. This why unfit candidates like Erap wins. On the otherhand, some youth over involve themselves like the activists, the militants…these young turks are fanatics, they forget the reason why they are doing it…no gov’t administration is good enough for them. Hence, Binay enjoys them. We don’t! Same on you Binay et al…may you rot in hell!
I find that dismaying, but it does fit with what I see. They join the leftists or the Binays but do nothing to protect their freedoms or the principles that OUGHT to underpin democracy, like fair treatment. Bizarre set of ideals.
they wont care as long as they have the latest gadgets and toys. or the latest fashion trend :- (
I’m trying to think why, when I was young, we were driven to the streets and parks. First was racial freedom, then college tuition hikes, then Viet Nam. The tuition was local and didn’t succeed. The race and ‘Nam protests were nationwide and eventually changed government policy. Our feeling was generally anger.
I’m thinking that maybe students in the Philippines didn’t quite grasp the MEANINGS behind all those formations for the raising of the flag.
But for most the “happening” was more important than the content or message. The rallies made us feel strong, influential, sometimes heroic. But the “insider” political debates were monopolized by a very, very small group.
True.
Yep – our so-called lightning rallies on Recto Avenue were an early 80s incarnation of flash mobs – a lot of fun because of the very real risk as well = PC Metrocom. Most of us who joined activism where teenage outsiders, not part of the really “cool” cliques at all.
Well I guess today our kind would become heavy metal fans, gothics or school shooters – being political as a way of somehow being cool isn’t the thing anymore nowadays.
when you were young Joe, there was no mobile phones, no FB pages, no twitter, no instagrams… it is now “rally in cyberspace” – just like the old Plaza Miranda kuno in Cyberspace…. 🙂 🙂 🙂
Unfortunately, the cyberspace rallies don’t make the front page of the Inquirer.
The Filipino youth action is not attuned to the present situation wherein they do not care if who will eventually win the presidency, i.e the perennial liar and plunderer or the inexperienced newbie? The new breed of Filipino youth have long sold their principles to the devil starting when Comelec allowed the youth to vote for SK representative to the Sangguniang Bayan.The Trapos and Dynastic inclined families of shame start mentoring their children and relatives to be elected as SK leaders with corresponding monthly stipend? The young bobotante who will vote for local SK post in the community acts like the diabolical twins of their elders and started also to distribute the usual election paraphernalia like t-shirts, umbrellas, plastic fans, ball pens and introduced the new breed of voters to tig limang daan up to isang libo at limang daan in some instances , a coming of age baptism of fire for youth who are more attuned to IT’s gadget, computers and new mobile phonesare now like veteran voters turned bobotantes since there is no principle required to vote for a qualified and competent voters. You will not believe when we say that in some localities even an INC nod is required as block voting in order that the endorsed candidate for SK will win the election adding insult to injury? So the youth as they grow old will be habitual professional voters, i.e. scratch my back and I will scratch your back? Only the really idealistic and patriotic youth will vote intelligently, hoping that they will not be tainted with the poker faces of politicians imprinted on fake paper bills for the gullible young bobotantes? This is how the way a veteran of boodle fight professional politico is doing it in his city with a questionable municipal structure and to be replicate throughout the country when it come into a national election?
Gadzooks, that is about the most discouraging scenario I’ve read, and yet it seems to fit. Schooled to pass the exams and get the grades, and following directions into adulthood. Achhhh! Vacuous.
Fraternities and sports and selfies and let others handle the future.
I just read that the earth is well into its sixth period of mass extinction, and humans are not expected to make it through. I understand why now. We are devolving into shallower beings.
Your description of the Filipino youth of today reminds me of someone I used to know about 50 years ago– me. Looking around I can’t see that I have changed much. Largely uninformed, insufficiently motivated and since I began living in the Philippines almost 20 years ago, disenfranchised as well. Some of my lack of knowledge has been replaced by a rueful acceptance of the undesirable aspects of the nature of the Filipino and of the political consequences of these characteristics but basically I’m about what I was 50 years ago. And yet I still see the tremendous potential of this country and the people in it. Perhaps if their feet get put to the fire as a consequence of China’s continued aggression and provocations, the Filipino people, young and old, will unite in opposition. Sometimes the only way that people will unite is against a common enemy.
I am thinking that China is really very smart, and they will eventually get what they need (conjures up a Rolling Stones tune) and leave. I think they are rolling the drilling rigs into place now. Or at least one. Then they will just expand from there, small we little steps.
he bigger threat is from within. Complacency with corruption, lying and manipulating.
There is tremendous potential, but I think the “olds” will have to deliver it for the complacent young. You know, feed the little ones . . .
*******
1. Just a thought: the young protest against the establishment or what is established. They protest against, or for, grand causes.
2. Binay is not the establishment — not yet. He is not grand enough.
3. Note that UP students, and many other students across the nation, participated in a walkout to call for President Aquino’s resignation, in late February 2015, in the wake of the Mamasapano incident.
*****
The more I know the less I understand.
forgive my asking. How come Pres Aquino is establishment and Binay is not yet? How come Mamasapano is grand cause and alleged massive thievery of the peoples’ money is not yet a grand cause. Is it a case of already against not yet, not yet? How come the youth’s active patriotism become a kick on the president and the youth’s inaction became a pat on the back of his vice president? What is the context of the youth activism equation equals establishment and/or grand causes? If you don’t know where the youth are going they will never get there.
Check out the youth who participated in a walkout for the resignation of President Aquino. UP students. UP – the school of the VP. UP – the bedrock of youth activists identified with the left, funded by you-know-who. When money talks, some students will pick up a placard and walk…But would they understand teh cause or do they believe in the cause?
To mention now UP Students’ pros and cons on issues misleads opinions. And should be of no salience. UP Students are like waters of rivers. You can not wade or swim in the same river twice (so says Heraclitus) because waters change every second. Turbulent flow is measured in feet per second. Activists UP Students during Martial Law are not the same as the activists UP students now. UP students and UP graduates do not share the same molecular or psychic characteristics over time. UP students, graduates and alumnus are like water in rivers some start as pure and potable, only to become murky and polluted . Even if students of UST, Mapua, or La Salle or Harvard and Yale do not bring disgrace to their University still they are over time different in their beings (subjective for or against evil). This view is made stronger by fake UP students.
University was quite a while ago for me, but I’d agree with the first comment about the selfies and other mindlessness. For the CDE, I’d add that horrid Daniel Padilla and his ilk; for the AB, probably Game of Thrones at best. Caring about politics and other aspects of local reality just isn’t cool. As for the minority who DO get riled up, I imagine they’re still not different from the majority in that–as you guessed–they don’t do critical or original thinking and they’ve never been raised, taught, or incentivized to do it. And so they depend on spoonfeeding by leftist groups with hand-picked items on their agenda (privatization of UP properties, rising costs of education, etc.), and these don’t include Binay. (For what reason, we’re left to speculate.)
So the youth are waiting for a leader who can tell them there is a cause out there just for them. I think Edgar hit the nail on the head, that Binay is not “establishment”, and he is, indeed, more like the students for rebelling against the “establishment”. Nevermind what is RIGHT or WRONG. Those are fluid concepts in the Philippines, where, for many, right is defined by what you can get away with.
I think the speculation is that the leftists may side with Binay against the establishment.
Ho ho ho, boy, I’m not sure what the point is of having principles. No one here abides by them, other than the one about looking out for number 1.
JoeAm you can not abide to anything you don’t have, except a life of poverty perhaps.
Well, as much as I for one would hate for you to drop the principles that have made you such a decent and influential fella, I couldn’t blame you for the disillusionment.
For what it’s worth, the not-quite-youth-any-longer generation (full disclosure: mine or so), now in their late 20s and early 30s, especially those social media-savvy, might be more of what you’re looking for. Not so big on loud but hackneyed street demonstrations, but lots of idealistic folk going into government or civil society or otherwise “socially conscious” work. (Whether we’re doing so as a significant break from the past remains to be seen; I haven’t heard of any statistics.) Who knows, maybe the demographics of active idealism are changing like the rest of the times.
I’ve perked back up, actually, pussyfooter, based on the comments that suggest youth are engaged in different ways, and are in the marches. As momentum picks up, I think more will hit the streets.
Yes…agreed, every single factor that everyone else has put forward: e-toys, selfies, mindless teleseryes, fashion, and all the other trappings of our “modernized” world have turned our young into mindless, unthinking puppets. BUT all this, IMHO, are easy cop outs. Collectively, we (the adults, the parents, the media, etc.) as a society should bear the shared responsibility of raising our youth as responsibly as we possibly can. We all are partly to blame for what our youth has become! AND we should also realize that it’s not too late to ameliorate, or even reverse the situation. There is still wisdom in the old adage, ‘it takes a village to raise a child’. It all starts at home. Sometimes, I wonder if we even try to give our youth a chance to become critical thinkers, or have we simply succumbed to resignation and left the responsibility of raising our children to the ‘wolves’ and ‘vultures’ who, as we know will not miss a beat in doing so if we let them–and sadly, it looks like we have! The pressing question is, ‘should we continue letting them?’.
the millennials have found an escape hatch in the internet, the pope was right in saying that the internet can be a tool for the good, sadly the young is still very pinoy in that he would rather play his guitar or fighting cock than mind the world around him, an islander at heart.
hi Joe Am did you ask yourself these countries the question: do they have any one, just one who can corrupt the entire country’s Boys Scouts and Boy Scouts’ leaders? Do these countries have laws that do not teach the youth love of country and patriotism? Do they have a system of education for the youth that inspire dreams for jobs and life abroad ? If you did not, sad to say Joe Am you could be as clueless as these youth’s elders.
I’m a lot less clueless today than yesterday, thanks to the questions I posed and the many instructive answers provided, including yours.
Conclusion: Young Filipinos don’t care who controls their country.
It may be that they almost all subscribe to the lazy way of thinking, popular with their contemporaries in Europe, that “all politicians are crooks, so it makes no difference”.
This is a self fulfilling prophecy, of course, because if you don’t care who rules you, you will be ruled by the worst.
How very, very different to the attitude of the 90 year old Filipino novelist F.Sionil Jose, who cares very much indeed and who has, framed, in his Solidaridad Book Shop, a well known quotation about all that is needed for evil to triumph being that good men do nothing.
Joe Am says he is focused on the substance of messages not the messengers. So am I, and certainly so are the majority of commentators and bloggers who may not even know each other. Still we cannot detach the messenger from the message; the former have feelings though the latter have none. So every time I comment it is without malice to the messenger; so I apologize for any misunderstanding my thoughts that might arise. Take for example below:
“It may be that they almost all subscribe to the lazy way of thinking, popular with their contemporaries in Europe, that “all politicians are crooks, so it makes no difference”
“This is a self fulfilling prophecy, of course, because if you don’t care who rules you, you will be ruled by the worst.”
It can be said that not only in Europe but all over the world some people believe that politicians (not all of course) are crooks and it’s right to expect the worst. Some of the time in some places ” if you don’t care who rules you, you will be ruled by the worst.” Take Europe as a place e.g. U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Spain, etc. where the youth is alleged to subscribe to a lazy way of thinking practicing free love not even heavily participating in elections, thinking most of their politicians as yucky , YET their countries continue to hold fast in the UN top twenty countries with the highest human development index. Is it then their youth or their adults?
“a well known quotation about all that is needed for evil to triumph being that good men do nothing.”
To corrupt the quote and make it insidious is to say: “all that is needed for evil to triumph is for some good men to do the evil things.”
I am at least certain that many even quite many bloggers can supply many names of some good men. On Filipino youth and their elders, it is about parental dominance and control. It is culture. In politics it is political dynasty. A City Mayor tells his children students and graduates of sectarian colleges: “Son, start a printing business to provide the city’s printing needs; Daughter please establish a Computer School. All my city employees will require computer training and certificates. Son, You will be city councillor, Girlie you will start a law office. Now. Now, will these children (not all of course) of the elite say No to Mom and Dad? Will they join protests and demonstration instead of holidaying in LA or the Big Apple or London or Athens?
What about the youth of the teeming masses? Why can’t they protests and demonstrate? If they are not scavenging for bread (noodles and some change) they are in school breathlessly hurrying up to finish their studies so they can be OFWs and be able to send home some bread to their sickly parents.
Sadly true.
Why was there EDSA march against ERAP not BINAY? WHY? What are the differences between the two?
Scratching my head.
1. Both are colored people.
2. Could it be there were proof against ERAP?
3. Binay’s charges are more abstract that cannot be proven in court?
4. If Filipinos were able to discern the differences between ERAP and BINAY charges, does that mean the young internet connected Filipinos knows about law than Sereno, Carpio and deLima?
5. Have the young Filipinos given up hope and better spend their energies somewhere?
6. Are the Filipinos tired of same same same?
7. ARe they afraid the SUCCESSOR of Binay like Erap’s SUCCESSOR is more of the same?
8. Is it because the Philippine Media use the word “SUCCESSOR” as in “GRACE POE SUCCEDS BINAY” means she’s another clone of Binay instead of “next Vice-President” which is more refreshing and a total reboot?
This young 26-year-old American knows about Filipinos that confused fellow Americans on the table, Take a listen:
Do not forget to read the comments from Filipinos below this video.
If not, type this “FILIPINO AMERICAN IDENTITY (Fil-Am) w/ @AJRafael” (without the quote) in Youtube search box
Joke only pasensya po. Not sure whether this retort will unscratch heads or add knowledge or confusion to Joe Am.
1. Why was there EDSA march against ERAP not BINAY? WHY? What are the differences between the two? Ans: the difference? THE EDSA MARCH ORGANIZERS OF COURSE.
Scratching my head.
1. Both are colored people. Ans: More like the color of money.
2. Could it be there were proof against ERAP? Ans: more like judicial proofing
3. Binay’s charges are more abstract that cannot be proven in court? Ans. It might be more about abstracting solid concrete like buildings and real properties into loose money aspects;
4. If Filipinos were able to discern the differences between ERAP and BINAY charges, does that mean the young internet connected Filipinos knows about law than Sereno, Carpio and deLima?
Ans: It can not be proven yet that young netizens do not give a damn about pernicious law than Sereno, Carpio and de Lima but the handwriting is on the wall. More Young facebook netizens knows more about photo postings, good food and fun than old timers and intellectual retirees who deliver lethal blows as online news commenters.
5. Have the young Filipinos given up hope and better spend their energies somewhere?
Ans: If young Filipinos are spending their energies somewhere it is because of HOPE they can sustained life of those they left behind and hope the future will bring change.
6. Are the Filipinos tired of same same same? Ans: Dirt poor Filipinos know that getting tired is DEATH. To the filthy rich same, same is not tiring, merely monotonous and boring.
7. ARe they afraid the SUCCESSOR of Binay like Erap’s SUCCESSOR is more of the same? Ans: Who are they? The misnamed “bobotantes” or the bought COMELEC, the bought judges, who really determined the winners or the genuine voters? Why talk of Binay’s successor when he is not there yet? Why speculate of Binay being Erap like escaping from office and later being convicted of plunder? Why speculate (a kind of thinking) that Binay like Erap will not finish his term? Why speculate prospective Binay ‘s successor being the same (caliber?) of Erap’s successor? Can there be foresight when there is no hindsight?
8. Is it because the Philippine Media use the word “SUCCESSOR” as in “GRACE POE SUCCEDS BINAY” means she’s another clone of Binay instead of “next Vice-President” which is more refreshing and a total reboot?
Ans: Magsaysay succeeded Quirino; Garcia succeeded Magsaysay; Macapagal succeeded Garcia; Marcos succeeded Macapagal; Cory succeeded Marcos, Ramos succeeded Cory; Erap succeeded Ramos;’ Gloria succeeded Erap; Noynoy succeeded Gloria; better stop there. That’s over more than 60 years presidential succession history and there seems to be no CLONE of one another, not even a case of corruption clone to the bone of a president to his vice president or successor president. There was (is) no symbiosis or parasitism. The history of the Philippine presidency seems to tell nothing of cloning or rebooting. Question No. 8 begs another question. Why? What for is this question?
Neo, you have provided superb answers to MRP’s questions, each worth a reflection or six. I enjoyed the read, especially “Can there be foresight when there is no hindsight?” . . . and of course, the last question, which caused me to snort my Milo.
no need to go to the streets anymore. theres FB, Instagram and Twitter to voice out their opinions and I think its more effective than rallying.
I guess they are satisfied with PNoy which they voted. SCS, Binay just don’t register to them but slur to the country is immediately dealt with.
im pretty sure they would not allow Binay to win
i agree there is this hi tech social media but is it for the have nots or only for the haves? the ordinary el cheapo celfon, the massa toy, what does it offer only voice and text. how can we use this massa toy as a tool of mass information? i am lucky to have an internet access, i read brillant and educating inputs from these social media and i react and enjoy, i get synergized from the many points of view. i think our message is reaching only a portion of the population with the hi tech social media. let us adopt the junk mail solicitaion method (yes i too receive them on my celfon, scam and all). a short, sweet and to the point text via celfon texting on the issue can probably reach the other pair of finoys. wht do yall think on dat…how do we ritz d oder finoys? Pinas was great and it will be great again…i feel she is still great in so many things except…leaders with the political will to lead for the good of the country and politicos with the heart for filipinos and country and for selfie and frens. Mabuhay ang Pilipinas, God we thank for our blessings. gude.
mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa…my last input shud hav bin “i feel she is still great in so many things except…leaders with the political will to lead for the good of the country and politicos with the heart for filipinos and country and NOT for selfie and frens.”
let me pass to you all what mang beho said to me…
“fren, talo ikaw pg bnay eu boto.
aq bilib bnay nkaw pela ng bayan, cia ayaw salita, cia sabe politik lan. aq boto du30.
du30 gud man, puso filipino, crimen cruzader, paktay mga drug lord at addik at
rice caltel pati iba kilabot kliminal. roxas ok din, husay, dunong, gud administlatol, pwde lin plesident.
grezpo ok lin pero dpa time, hilaw konti, ok cia bise plesident.
ikaw hwag boto bnay, talo ikaw, talo tau lahat filipno.”
well, that is mang beho’s message and i am only his messenger.
yall hav a nicede.
agree 101%. Binay is the face of whats wrong with the Philippines
to all who wants mang beho’s message (or a simiral msg) ritz more finoys…request your yayas, caregiver, house alalays, or your secu’s (sg) to text them to their friends and relatives. btw do a pasaload or tip them P10 so they can register for unlitext with sun, globe, smart or talkntext…. just a thought….let us start a celfon viral …gude
wala ba sa FB yan para ishare ko na lang hahahaha
one may think i am computer literate but i am not. i know how to type and login, that is just it. 1 .don’t even know how to upload in facebook, i just access fb . i know how to email and use my old tech celfon and text a lot. i think mang beho will be happy if you cut and paste his message and share it or you can make a similar message and put it in facebook. i am still in the very early stage of computering. i am still learning, i know just enough to blog and to read articles. nagimasen koma no ado ti ammok ti computer. i thank my son for having the patience to teach me every time i encounter difficulty with the computer. you all are helping me learn because of all the good writings you all present and i feel the urge to participate and i am learning a lot too…thanx for educating me. keep on blogging. gude and God Bless us all…mabuhay ang Pilipinas.
gude
This might just be rumors and hearsay but I heard from several of my former high school classmates scattered all over the country that it seems there has been a movement of sorts that now prevents or at least discourages student dissent when it comes to government practices. UP in particular was particularly active back in the day but they were silenced, or so I was told.
Personally, I think it’s because kids today have become desensitized and absorbed in social media, the internet, relationships and school. I mean, when I was in college, I couldn’t give a rat’s ass about what happened to the government as I was planning on migrating to other countries anyway.
Maybe that’s what many kids are thinking too?
Sorry to say this is the effect ng mga pilipino sa pagiging ofw, mga kababayan natin na nag immigrate na sa ibang bansa, nawala na ang pagiging nationalistic, patriotism ng nga pilipino. Former ofw ako nakakalungkot isipin na behind na bansa natin compare sa ibang nation. ANG TUNAY NA BAYANI AY MGA LOKAL NG MANGGAWA HINDI ANG OFW hindi nila iniwan ang bansa sa kabila ng paghihirap. Walang pinagkaiba sa pamilyang iniwan ng magulang. This is only my opinion.
There is another symptom (or cause?) of this non-action by the youth towards Binay. The youth who do care and want to hold rallies, are for some reason, very reluctant to speak out against Binay, even if these same people are among the most vocal against Aquino. I once remember speaking to some militants about this. When I asked them why they want Aquino to resign, they gave me plenty of answers, but when I asked them why they didn’t hold rallies against Binay or any of his allegations, they tried changing the topic. They couldn’t even properly answer my question as to why they did not have any rallies against Binay’s antics in the BSP as well as the Makati Science High School, despite giving a detailed explanation on why they are vocally against Ayala’s deals with UP. Suspicious, isn’t it?
It is. It is hard to explain irrationality, perhaps.
I don’t know, but the fact that whenever they “criticize” Binay they still somehow find a way to put the blame on Aquino (same for China/US) makes me believe that at least some of them want to support a Binay-China alliance.
Also, I don’t know if this is true, but I read somewhere that Bayan Muna sided with China in the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands dispute. Is this true?
Millennials are very different from us Baby Boomers. “They are narcissistic, overconfident, entitled and lazy, but they just might be new Greatest Generation” – Time magazine
http://nation.time.com/millennials/
I’ll believe it when I see it. I do like the younger senators vs the older, however. More focused on achievement.
For our “yesterday” generation the virtual world is just that, virtual. The real thing are rallies. For the current generation the virtual world is very real, they know that rallies are just a virtual play. And most journalists are from yesterday too, the news they broadcast is the virtual reality of rallies, the dying convulsions of yesterday.
The new generation might be smarter than we think. Why waste good energy on a sure looser? (Correction, “the new generation” should read: “the very small fraction of political interested youth, very small as it always has been,”…)
Come on, it’s been sweltering outside the past few months! Sayang ang gluta!
But seriously, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the first People Power happened in February and the second in January — the cooler months. I remember thinking people not really massing against GMA at the height of her mess because it was also hot outside.
More than that, I wouldn’t bet against the Filipino youth.
Is anyone here under 40? I ask because all the comments seem to indicate otherwise. Someone even mentioned having a text barrage; all the kids still love their phones, but I think they’re now on Twitter, Viber and other stuff younger than Facebook. I don’t know, maybe there are communication tools even younger than those now.
Could it be they’re biding their time? They do live in the age of instant this and instant that. Maybe they feel a year is still too long to be worrying about the next leader. Especially since no one except Binay (and I guess, Cayetano) has openly declared an intention to run. I’d give the youth until October or thereabouts to make their presence felt.
Well I’m only 18 so…
Oops! Well, may maybe you have one of them “old souls’ which give you greater awareness of the world around you. Or maybe your presence here IS proof that Millennials have new ways of weighing in on the issues of the day.
Good query by Lilit Trinidad: “Is anyone here under 40? I ask because all the comments seem to indicate otherwise..”
I am very glad there is a teenager amongst the group. May I therefore ask Mami Kawada Lover this since she seems to be the only one below 20 here, Dont worry there is no right or wrong answer here, Im merely trying to find the “correct” trigger for the youth.
1) What would cause you to get out of the house, or comfort zone for that matter, to join a street protest or rally?
2) If you cant see yourself doing so, what would be the alternative that you feel you could do in order to forward a cause like “anti-corruption”?
Neither to be honest. I find rallies to be a lost cause. I’d rather instead do posts on the internet, or doing actually constructive activities for progress. For example, rather than rallying against the administration, I could instead go to the community and help them solve their problems (I already did so for my NSTP). I think outreach programs can be more effective than rallies, ecause the results are tangible and more fulfiling.
There you go! There is more than one way to skin a cat. Outreach is one. (That’s a real evil idiom, by the way.) Helping educate those who don’t read this blog or have limited access to information is another.
I often read comments on news sites and other fora. The number of those opposed to him, I figure some have to be from young people. Also, I’ve been thinking: Binay was once part of the so-called parliament of the street, so I imagine he would have some idea how to handle mass actions. The day after Jim Paredes’s walk, there was a rally by his “supporters”. Today, there’s supposed to be around a thousand ‘supporters’ outside Makati City Hall, and that number will probably rise around mealtime.
Some have asked: Whatever happened to the spirit of EDSA 1986? Why don’t we see that in young people today? Well, to begin with, “people power” has long been co-opted by political manipulators during “EDSA Dos” and during other informal people’s movements that followed.
Young people aren’t stupid, they sense at the ground level how various “good guy” interest groups that used to be united against the Marcos regime are playing self-serving games like everyone else–just like the Marcoses!. These include religious groups, NGOs (from leftist advocacy organizations to secretly-for-profit NGOs set up by politicians), and the camps and hangers-on of every president elected since 1986. You have Binay, a former leftist street parliamentarian who supported Cory Aquino in difficult times, amassing astonishing wealth through massive graft. So why are we surprised if young people are sometimes a little, well, skeptical of political processes and democratic government?
Also… as Joe has pointed out in many posts, our economy is doing comparatively well. The BPO sector is absorbing young graduates and jobs are taking up their attention. (No such absorption for young ones elsewhere in the world, such as Egypt; no wonder its jobless new graduates were at the forefront of the Arab Spring–it was the only thing going on, for them). The Philippine economy had tanked in the early 80s–this, as much as the Aquino assassination and other factors, led to Marcos’ ouster.
That is a very excellent point, Vicara. Optimism in the Philippines is higher than at any time in recorded history. The economy is cranking and that is getting spread nationally. It is not exactly the “Winter of Discontent” for those going to school to get educated and compete for jobs. That does not mean things are peachy keen, and the Binay love factor reflects that the working poor have not yet felt their government is on their side. But for studious and aspiring students, they’ll let the leaders deal with politics and they’ll focus on what has to be done to get started in life.
Excellent.
Thank you, Joe. One suspects that economic growth in neighboring countries is also what has been keeping their young people politically complaisant.
Another “provocation” from Joe. 😎 I must say it’s a spot on in the sense that the topic is very timely and appropriate in the face of the ongoing political development in the country. And there’s nothing better to start the conversation than by quoting our national hero.
“The youth is the hope of our future.” – Dr. Jose Rizal
Who will disagree with that?
Eras or generations, time and again, always comes up with ideas, thinking, modes, philosophy, trend, way of doing things, etc. that introduce reforms and innovations. In other words, people do by with what they have that enable them to do things through the ideas and thoughts they possess which affects their surroundings and the people and accomplish the desired change they want. We always come up with something different, something new about something that is old. And most often such efforts are spearheaded by young, vibrant and committed people.
The idea of good governance is as old as governments. Every time we want it we either demand reform or change, fight for it through legal means, complain and protest, go to the mountains and join the freedom fighters, go political and pursue it with vigor, etc. Anything to make the establishment notice that we abhor bad governance and want the government to straighten its ways. The voice of the people against malfeasance, nonfeasance and misfeasance in government is actually the voice of the young majority.
In the ’70s and the ’80s and even earlier youth participation in rallies and demonstrations was, I would say, at the peak considering those are troubling times for the country for a lot of reasons. There was the Jabidah massacre, the founding of the Communist Party, Plaza Miranda bombing, declaration of martial law, the dictatorship, the MNLF conflict, capture and imprisonment of well known personalities from Kumander Dante to Ninoy Aquino, etc. Each and every event solidified and galvanized people to act and react and express their indignation and opposition to whatever the government is trying to do or refuse to do when it’s not ramming policies and laws down people’s throat. It was the time activists and street parliamentarians, made up of youth, students, teachers and laborers and professionals, took the government by the horn and engaged it in meaningful, hostile and most often deadly and destructive confrontations.
But like what a song say, the times they are a-changing. I share some of the sentiments of some here about our youth of today. No longer we see the intensity, boldness and tenacity of activism in our streets. We see rallies and demonstrations but we don’t feel the dedication. For sure there is commitment but how deep it is is anybody’s guess. We see people marching but not necessarily there to really drive a message but just to be present in a drive. In the past, marches and rallies were more than just marches and rallies. They were physical expression of people’s defiance and showcase for civil disobedience against the establishment. As such, you can be killed by just marching or be maim by mere rallying. They were not camouflage for picnics and get together that we commonly see today. Even the Left, who have gone mainstream, no longer pack a punch. The First Quarter Storm is just a memory now. It can never be replicated. The two EDSAs we had are a thing of the past and not really one we can call youth driven.
But in fairness, the socio-political involvement of the youth of today, while incomparable with the past in terms of degree and quality, takes in another form brought about by the social and technological evolution. No question, the idealism inherent in the young generation is alive and well. They’re just being express in a different manner and channel at present. The battlefield of ideas and rhetorics is no longer confined in the streets and public places but is also being fought in the realm of cyberspace. The rallies and demonstrations and other mass actions, while moderate in comparison with the radical past, do not end in public gatherings anymore but now extend to the comfort of our homes. The Internet has become the sky-is-the-limit venue for the youth of today to express and share their critical views and social awareness. The mobilization as well as radicalization of the young has become handy and convenient by technological means not available in the past.
After all is said and done I’m of the opinion that our youth is as committed and dedicated as the youth of the past. There were changes in the form and vehicle of expression but the desire for reform and change remains the same.
Rizal’s word about our youth as the hope of the future remains relevant today. So long as the adult takes care of the present our youth will have a bright future to hope for. 👍
Enjoyable read, and I like the optimism. The point about cyberspace is most interesting. It is perhaps rather like the steam release valve on a pressure cooker. Venting is possible without leaving the house and getting water cannoned. As a result of the comments to this blog, I’ve concluded that complaints should be registered with and about the elders, not the youth. And perhaps as we get closer to elections, we will see some youngsters hitting the streets to favor this point or that.
Venting is possible without leaving the house and getting water cannoned.
========
Exactly. You can inflict damage without hurling a molotove bomb or be tear-gassed by just clicking your keyboard and vent away. The anti-riot squad cannot touch you. You are not covered by curfews. Nobody will finger nor identify you in a suspect’s line caught for subversion. You’ll never see your face in the morning papers being carted in a police/military van or being put in an ambulance on stretcher. One more thing, with all the profanity and blasphemy that you will heap against the government, you remained anonymous.
Which leads me to ask, isn’t the youth of today more ‘armed’, free, safe and daring than their counterparts in the past? 👀
Wow, fascinating question. They are better armed, perhaps, and certainly have a force to what they do, influencing opinion makers. I don’t see much organization or structured priority to what is being done. More free, yes. More safe, no. More daring . . . no. Daring is being in front of the water cannons, not trolling opinion columns.
Binay is not the establishment? Really?
The Vice President is the other ‘president’. What can be more establishment than that? If the president is the establishment how come the other president is not? Was it because of the “vice” in the title? C’mon! 🙂
One need not be grand to be called a establishment. All one had to do is be a part of the system. It the adult cannot see VP Binay as the establishment it’s no surprise if we have a confused youth of today.
Are the youth missing in action regarding Binay? I have no idea. I have yet to see the age brackets of those who comprised the popularity ratings that put Binay on top to know that fact. But if I may guess, I think majority of the youth belonged to the DE class. Are they the ones responsible for those pro-Binay ratings? Could be, but being young and stupid nothing is permanent with them. That means they can always turn the other way if necessary as typical with the young people. 💣
I don’t think Binay registers as being a part of the Aquino government, which to me is the “establishment”. But I suppose I do define it overly narrowly. The oligarchs are a part of the establishment as well. But Edgar’s point is very telling. Youth protested Aquino about the coffins, but not Binay about the garage rip-off. Aquino made a mistake in the Philippine social/emotional ethic, Binay has not made one.
Joe, let’s just play with semantics for a while to make the discussion less serious. 🙂
Aquino per se is not the establishment, he represent it. A president is the head/face of the establishment, ergo, he is it.
But how ’bout the VP? The establishment cannot have two heads/faces, one may logically say. There is no such thing as two-headed establishment, one may even conclude, hence Binay can be anything except the head/face of establishment.
Okay, Binay may not be the face of the establishment but he can surely be the ass or the balls, or any body parts there is because the establishment is not one person but one body, group, system or apparatus that exercises power and influence.
Binay is also ‘president’ in a lower capacity. He is also grand in a minuscule way.
Fine, for purposes of cohesion, let’s agree he is the ass of the establishment. Since the establishment don’t have permanent representatives because people take turns and work their way to become a part of it, understandably, Binay can possibly work his way from being the ass to being the face of it.
If the stars will correctly align in his favor next year we’re going to have an ass as the face of the establishment in 2016.
What a Bummer. 🙊
If the stars align correctly, he’ll be in jail. If we have an ass as the face of the establishment, the slate is wiped clean, according to the will of the voters, and he starts with the benefit of the doubt. We can do friendly wagers as to whether or not he keeps the slate clean or if he finishes his term in office. I would fall back to “watch” mode and probably not participate in much discussion until there was an act or deed I could comment on. Pro or con.
:).
I above 40 and I based in Metro Manila, but I have never attended rallies. Posting in comments would suffice and there are other means to support anti corruption. I still believe the children are the future, if not through rallies maybe social media,etc.
my sentiments too.
IMO, warm bodies are needed in the streets to create an impact. Internet participation cannot replace physical presence, exposing real identities and risking limbs or life to make a statement, especially to people as thick-faced and callous as the Binays. When asked to comment about the bashing he got from netizens when he, together with his junior, tried to grab the limelight during the Zamboanga siege, Binay spoke something like “Those people (his social media critics) are/is but just one or two individuals using multiple accounts.”
BTW, I and my other half joined the #stopbinay walk and there were young people there.
I think there is a concerted effort to get more young people into the Walks. I think the next one will be a week end instead of work day. It’s good to know some young people were there.
Luv this installment, Joe! The interlocutions are priceless. Lotsa learning to be had. For me, anyway.
Thanks, sonny. I’ve learned a lot from the discussion, for sure.
“DTI tells four millers, bakers to slash bread prices or face NBI probe” – INQUIRER
Obviously four millers and bakers are overpricing. Instead they were told to slash bread prices or FACE NBI PROBE.
Not happening to Binay’s overpricing!!!
I JUST LOVE PHILIPPINES !!!! DOESN’T ANYBODY?
Well, in the Philippines they have threshold of outrage !!! I do not know how much.
Binay was adviced by Aquino not to run for Presidency so they can forget the overpriced cake and buildings and Mt. Makiling, BinayLand etceteras …
But Binay refused to budge. He still wanted to run. Now, look at !!! He is hunted. He is stalked.
See, people? This case against Binay is nothing but for show. He was given a way out but he did not accept the deal.
SO, WHO IS CROOKS NOW? TELL ME?
There was no uproar against Aquino’s offering deal with Binay …
There is no uproar on DTI offers to overpricers …
There is no uprorar on NBI …
There is no uproar from Ombudsman …
There is no uprorar from National Grains Authority …
There is no martsa-martsa sa EDSA …
IT IS MORE OF THE SAME.
Tears in your beer today, eh? Where did you read about the Aquino offer to Binay? That’s new to me.
Aquino did. It was in the Inquirer. Binay and Aquino had a tete-a-tete. Tulfo exposed it. Malacanang never bothered to investigate Tulfo where he got the information from.
Ah, that meeting a few months ago? I thought Binay went in to ask Aquino to call off the dogs and Aquino said he could not do that. I don’t read Tulfo except with healthy doses of grains of salt.
After “tears in your beer” I Googled. And, Googled! You are right! I thought I read it somewhere. Maybe I had too much Nescafe to snort! 🙂
Trust me, I am not pro-Binay or a paid hack.
(Never trust someone who says “Trust me”, “Honestly…” )
I trust that you will always enlighten or amuse or offend . . . 🙂
Another ingenious way officials to force companies to bribe is approve building construction … half way thru they question the height of the building. IT IS HAPPENING ALL THE TIME !!!
It is easier to come across than tear down the whole building. It is called CREATIVE CORRUPTION !!! Wheeeew !!!!
Take this for instance, I sent thru United States Post Office a document to the Philippines a power of attorney to my cousin of my stockholdings in the Philippines. According to tracking number, 3 days after I dropped it in our friendly USPS branch it reached the Philippines. It cleared Philippine Customs two days later. It has been two weeks already it never reached my son’s residence in Ayala Alabang. IT WAS ONLY PIECES OF PAPERS IN MANILA ENVLOPE INSIDE USPS ENVELOPE. NEVER REACHED !!!!
Maybe Philippine Post Office opened it and cannot put it back together !!! Crooks everywhere !!!
I also subscribe to National Geographic for my son. 6 issues never reached.
It made me seek out Duterte. Davao City is the safest City in the Philippines !!! Just reading. And, thinking.
WILL THERE BE AN END TO ALL THIS? PRAYERS HAVE NOT WORKED. Well, I do not pray. Do not believe in God at all. What does it take to make Philippines turn around? What goot is a goot president if majority of the Filipinos are not goot?
The OFW spoiled children are busy texting, Selfies, Facebook, Friendster. Do not care about political arena at all. OFW children are not affected by crookery. Their parents are abroad. They are not affected at all. If Philippine economy goes down, OFWs maintains the same lifestyle. 48% of Filipino household are dependent on OFWs. They do not feel economic pain. They are totally in a different world compared to locally employed Filipinos.
The left-behind Filipinos live in telesyeres fantasies: Rags-to-riches, slavemaster-fell-in-love-with-slaves, OFW stories … NOTHING like The Fall of Lehman Brothers, Wall Street, Shark of Wall Street, Manchurian Candidate
The Filipino movies does not add Intelligence to Filipinos. So are the Philippine Media. MABUHAY ANG MGA OFW !!!!!
The idea that Filipinos are not creative is nonsense, as evidenced by the ingenious schemes to get money. My favorite was Customs adding a P548 import charge for DOCUMENTS that got added to the DHL delivery bill I has to pay at delivery. To protest it, I’d have to spend thousands. Low-life schemers.
I got my sister in Singapore to buy some special anti-cancer herb (for a friend here) and air-parcel over to Phils. Herbs cost S$50, air-post S$75. I was told to collect it at customs. As a foreigner I know they will whack me with some other “charges” so I got my Pinay girlfriend to go and collect. She was asked to pay duties US$175.00 ! We told the custom officer u can take it home and shaft it up your xxxx. (Eventually we found the same cheap herbs in a medical shop in Binondo)
Regarding telesyeres, fantasies, gameshows etc, we call this the MTV crowd. My social circle of Filipinos are all like this. They don’t read newspapers. Their general knowledge of the world around them is so shallow. Had it not been for the internet where at least they see some news on Yahoo etc, I think their general knowledge would have been worse.
I’m really relieved to find in this blog so many brilliant Filipino minds. I find myself actually learning many things here.
They believe that everyone is corrupt and it is a matter of who sits in power who gets to persecute the others.
You want real change? Never justify and allow people to be paid below minimum. If you can not afford it, you shouldn’t be in business fattening yourself at the expense of others. You treat street vendors fairly if you can afford what they sell, no need to bargain for it since you don’t in dept stores. You pay the right taxes and if any government employee harasses you, file a case at the Ombudsman.
Thanks, Lawrence. Your ideal would be nice to get to, but some “olds” have to be moved out of the way first.
“The (Inquirer) publisher was on the short list for Supreme Court Chief Justice to replace Corona” – JOEAM in his previous blog Truman Burbank
He was just picked as International Criminal Court justices based in The Hague to replace Meriam Santiago !!! Harry Roque was prosecutor of ICC in Rwanda’s ethnic cleansing.
Wow:
Inquirer Publisher Pangalangan
Meriam Santiago
Harry Roque
Filipinonization of International Criminal Court !!! Philippines Global Leadership Role. There will come a time ICC will prefer witnesses and affidavits !!!!
MABUHAY !!!!!
Gadzooks.
“There will come a time ICC will prefer witnesses and affidavits !!!!” — hahaha I like that. This is the thing that made me pull my hair whenever I read local cases.
I can only speculate from afar, being away from the country for work, but I think the main reason is the negative stigma associated with “protesting” and many of these “university students” are, in most cases, privileged. I think the way to go about change is to cast their votes. If they (youth) can muster up the strength to go out and vote (against Binay) then a larger awareness will become prevalent. Im hoping these youths will excercise this very important right. That is, hoping their parents don’t sway them to vote Binay because the cars they are driving was part and partial, a product of their “strong ties” with the VP.
That may be true of some students, at some schools, but I think most of the student population is trying to afford the fees and boarding. There has to be some momentum to the protest to get them out.
Speaking of silence, the Pope had just released a new encyclical affirming the science of global warming and lamenting a global economic system that plunders the resources of the poor and giving it to the wealthy but it’s been largely ignored both by the media and the bishops where it was supposedly addressed.
I’ve noted several articles about it, so I don’t think the media missed it. I suspect the political bishops are ducking their heads.
Why alll of thia issue’s did not came out since vp binay eara at makati. Sad to say but they let so many years to come. Now all if them is barking like a dog. Because election is coming… shame on them.. is this the things you want to show the youth? Shame on them.. as a politician they are elected to lead the country and all the constituent for better not for worst. But thing is instead of leading and showing the youth on how to lead they show he youth and the people how the dow fight in a big table with 1 bone. Im sick and tired of political dynasty and traditional politics.. politics is the best business in philippines. Its about time to amend the constitution and cut of this traditional and political dynasty. Give the people a good life and lead them to a better life…
I’m sure you speak for many, Raizen. The culture of corruption is a lifestyle in the Philippines, and therefore difficult to eradicate. I occasionally fee the way you do, but do also see some good people in government who are not of the corrupt class. In time, I think they can change the lifestyle.
Uncle Joe, the Filipino Youth lacks the inspired pied piper to show them the way, how is it done. The problem is they are too comfortable and contented just to get by, and just eat their meals 3x a day. It is a good thing, we have the Internet and Facebook for a venue to at least have them know how corrupt Binay is. Sadly, it would take more than Jim Paredes so the youth can “walk the talk”.
I’m wagering that if Binay is still in the race, the Stop Binay movement will pick up steam as the year progresses, and youth will join. I agree, the pied piper does not yet exist. But “the movement” will become that piper in time.
I’ve been asking the same questions over and over again, not only of the youth but all of PH citizenry.
So what if most if not all of PH politicians are corrupt all the more should the Citizenry be more vigilant and persevere in protesting this unfettered corruption.
I think corruption prevails in all levels of society and government so much so that it is an accepted way of life. Really Sad.
It is, indeed. And the Boy Scouts re-electing Binay as President shows just how perverse it gets.
A friend of mine once said that reason he was sending his children to good schools is to invest in the network of rich classmates in the future. He said this matter of factly, as if it was the right thing to do. Many Filipino parents tell their children not to meddle in politics. They also advise them to befriend rich and powerful classmates. Imagine, I saw a news item on TV where UP students were asked about the Marcos time. Many said that life was better during that time and that the dictatorship did a lot. The youth against Binay? I bet they’d even love to be invited in the Binay Farm in Batangas!
Oh, honor, wherefore art thou?
I think we are looking at the wrong platform to organize. We should be pushing this through social media like FB, tweeter and IG. Example is the outpouring of support for the SAF 44, social media is instruments. And if you have a youth leader that can inspire and follow, I know we have that, I think we can have the youth engaged in this digital world.
That will be interesting to see, Densho, if a youth leader does arise and inspire. We are rather lacking in heroes of that order.
Top 5 theories why university students now do not rally:
1) pointless – corruption and stupidity are everywhere. Binay? what about PDAF? traffic, MRT, SAF44, BBL, poverty, etc etc etc. Even older middle class people , those who were part of the people power revolution, have given up. This is the legacy of Erap, GMA, Pnoy. People realize nothing ever changes and disillusionment /fatigue has set in.
2) they are thinking about those BPO jobs at graduation (ha ha). Or else, they already know they are going to leave for greeener pastures abroad. BPO jobs are supposed to go to the next tier down, not university graduates; but in the Philippines, they are the highest paying jobs available. Good luck with BPO once technology replaces the whole industry or it moves to a new cheaper country or Filipino English becomes so poor it just doesnt work anymore.
3) why rally? the Philippines is doing oh so well. Why, it’s the 2nd fastest growing economy in the world (ha ha urban myth).
4) they have all been dumbed down by Philippine education which has gotten progressively worse.
5) they are all saying, anyway elections are just around the corner and we will have a change in president. This new president will turn everything around. Ha ha ha.
Reading both your post and MRP’s is truly a downer. My BP is soaring, what with your insults, mockeries, negative conclusions and forecasts. Better join him in the US (if you’re still here) where it’s all roses and good life abounds wherever you turn. Life here is for us who try to make do with what circumstances (traitors, corrupt, and calamities) bring us. I’m pretty sure you have a lot of better options. Laughing at our misfortunes, mocking our missteps, all too tiring and discouraging.
mary grace, relax. I do live in the Philippines so we are all in this together. There is hope if the problem of politics is sorted out.
this is my point exactly. enough people have to get angry in order for things to change. The middle class has to organize and demand change again.
Why must we assume that only anger drives change?
1) unfortunately true. The large mass of my generation that stayed in the Philippines is highly disillusioned, also by PNoy. And even those who were anti-Aquino just hoped the traffic would not be too bad when Peping and Tingting did their nonsense rallies.
2) I guess it could be that way for many of the young. But where are they going to go in the present global economy? And maybe they do think OK, if I rock the boat, I will have a problem getting a job even if it is just BPO. But BPO will also just last for a while – I gave the example of Romania as the new BPO center of Europe, nearshoring makes thing easier. The Philippines may explode in anger when these young people have nowhere left to go.
3) why care about the problems politicians have among themselves? Many left the leftists because they noticed how they were being used for a strange agenda – I was one of those. In the Philippines it is rarely about true causes – it is about the agenda of power groups.
4) Unfortunately true. In my recent blog article about the pre-Marcos republic, I had a young man who shared my article in Facebook and was genuinely astonished that Mar Roxas’ grandfather had been the first President of the truly independent Philippines!
5) hmm… I doubt that they are that stupid. If you ask me, many of them are quietly thinking damn, what is my future, will it be here, and if it is here how will it be? Don’t underestimate. They may not get the best education anymore, but they do think – in the MRT or in traffic.
And – it ain’t typical rally time now. Hot season people avoid going into the sun. Rainy season and start of school people get down to business, in my time it was get your rubber boots and raincoats out. January and February are nice times for rallies, cooler and after the Christmas season. And if you ask me the whole system needs fixing – if it needs workarounds like PDAF, pork barrel or sister cities, something is seriously wrong with it. If it needs Duterte methods because the police and justice system is screwed up, even more.
We now have a VP who turned against the son of the democracy icon, Cory, who gave him the opportunity to head an already prosperous city, who gave him a cabinet position so he won’t just sit in the Coconut Palace twiddling his thumb, not knowing what to do but be a spare tire.
What an ungrateful, vengeful man. I’m sick and tired of reading, watching and hearing his and his spokesmen’s press releases. And the GRP-like people are beside themselves, hilarious and rolling on the floor laughing.
I need to find a virtual garden here in our office tower.
Cory appointed many OIC mayors when she became President.
One of them was Binay in Makati. Another was Duterte in Davao.
Strange to see how things go. Politics is without mercy or gratitude.
From their point of view, it was she who was repaying them for their support (tacit or overt) as the Marcos regime drew its last breath. If only it were true that politics was without gratitude. Because then the whole political patronage system would come crashing down.
Uncle Joe, the Filipino Youth lacks the inspired pied piper to show them the way, how is it done. – bauwow
========
The Filipino youth don’t need someone who will make them follow or show them the way. What they need is someone who is the opposite of Binay. Someone who is rabidly against Jojo Binay who will rally them and provoke them to express their indignation and contempt of Binay’s corrupt ways.
Looking back at history, former president Marcos has Ninoy Aquino as his nemesis. For a long time, Ninoy was the underdog in the rivalry never before seen in Philippine politics. There was a period in time when the sentiment expressed by bauwow above has been raised about Filipinos. That we have lost the will to fight the dictatorship and we’ll just have to settle with Marcos as long as he lives. That was also the time Ninoy practically became irrelevant because of incarceration and medical problem that eventually force him to go abroad. However, what he cannot do when he was alive he was able to do after he was killed: unite the people against Marcos. His death serve as a catalyst, a spark that started the conflagration of the Marcos regime.
Back to the present, we don’t have a Ninoy to Binay’s Marcosian ways. There is nobody, except one which some of you may know, that is standing out there and telling people that he is the opposite of Binay. That he’s against Binay and what he represent.
PNoy, which I honestly think has no personal grudge against Jojo because they are good friends actually, don’t need to attack Binay because he’s not running for office anymore. Moreover, attacking a friend is one of PNoy’s weaknesses. Unless Binay starts a war against him, PNoy will forever be silent about Binay and his predicaments.
Grace Poe at present is in reactive mode. She will only throw stones in Binay’s direction if he starts throwing stones in hers. Which he did when his camp raised the issue of disqualification on citizenship issue. All along she was silent on the corruption allegation against him to the point that certain sectors were accusing her of being pro-Binay. But when they insinuated about the citizenship issue she was forced to counterpunch. But that’s all. She too is not declaring an all-out war against the symbol of corruption, Jojo, but just shadow boxing at the moment.
Who else is out there who is through and through against Jojo Binay? No one. Except one but he’s silent at the moment for fear of being accused of playing politics this early. 😎
On the Pied Piper issue, Jojo Binay is the pied piper. He’s the one leading the Filipinos to drown and be lost in wilderness and web of corruption. Those ratings numbers are proof that Pied Piper Binay has succeeded in fooling most of the people to follow him.
I can’t wait for people to declare their candidacy and start the kerfuffle. 😃
I think of a Pied Piper as leading passive people around, versus a charismatic leader who roils their passions. Senator Trillanes is about as close to one as I can see, but I don’t think an establishment person, and particularly a VP candidate, can get out and get grass stains and rabble-rouse. It has to come from elsewhere and I’m not sure where. Right now, you are right, Binay is the piper, leading the passive.
October at the latest . . .
Who am I to dispute that the Filipino youth does not need a pied piper. I am just a lowly student from row 4. Is there something that I wrote that ruffled feathers?
That is exactly what I was trying to say, a pied piper who will oppose Binay.
Can someone please explain semantics?
Don’t worry about it, jmbau816, we sometimes get a little pedantic about things. I was making the distinction between a leader who people follow because they think they are supposed to, and a leader who gets people to WANT to follow. The latter is likely to build and become more successful. Charismatic. Senator Santiago is a little that way, but gets rather legalistic.
Row 4 is good. I was usually in row 1 getting in trouble because the girl in front liked to talk a lot, and I was who she picked to talk to.
“The Filipino youth don’t need someone who will make them follow or show them the way. What they need is someone who is the opposite of Binay. Someone who is rabidly against Jojo Binay who will rally them and provoke them to express their indignation and contempt of Binay’s corrupt ways.”—jameboy
jameboy, it seems to me you’re disagreeing and agreeing with bauwow’s statement at the same time. Are you trying to give us a lesson in contradiction? Just curious.
If you read back bauwow’s post you’ll see I’m disagreeing with the notion of the Pied Piper because we already have it in Jojo Binay (if you’ll go by what the Pied Piper did with those rats or children).
Jim Paredes could have been that ‘someone’ I’m talking about but I don’t think he’s running. So, who else do we have out there who will stand up and go head-on with Binay the Pied Piper? We have to because the Pied Piper will surely come again for our children/country and only God knows what’s going the happen when that time comes. 👀
Well, this is really embarrassing.
But hey, I learned a new word, pedantic.
Uncle Joe, my apologies, I don’t know how my e-mail got interchanged with my handle.
Apologies not required from those in the esteemed fourth row.
Vicara, any other suggestions?
If you mean suggested candidates for the presidency, I don’t see names other than the top half-dozen appearing in survey results. And right now, as jameboy has pointed out regarding Poe, they’re all shadow-boxing still. Other than Binay, though, who’s sitting on a pile of wealth and influence which necessarily demands 100 percent of his attention, I think the others each nurse a kind of idealized vision of their projected presidencies. Duterte may be a human rights monster, but he and his supporters in Visayas and Mindanao truly don’t see him that way. He really wants to be the good tough guy. Have voiced my misgivings re Poe, but let’s see. Whatever people say about Cory’s executive skills, in the end she was no one’s puppet.
And if you mean what can drive change other than anger, there’s always enlightened self-interest. Putting two and two together and realizing that LGU money spent on a bridge is better than investing in a popularity-buying fiesta. So next time the barangay votes in the candidate who builds bridges. Little changes taking place, mostly out of sight, but with incremental results. Saw it for myself in ARMM, of all places. Hard to discern this in Manila, which is a 21st-century calamity in waiting, but nationwide people are better informed than they used to be. I’m surprised myself by the end-of-term popularity ratings of our current president. So that would mean less likelihood of people wanting the next one to overthrow the whole system. No wild urching about. Am hoping for a likely election winner who will keep the things that have worked, and appoint the right people to fix those which haven’t. This is do-able.
Thanks Tina, I actually meant the latter i.e. “What can drive change other than anger”. For some reason, my reply got tacked to the end whereas I was replying directly to Vicara’s comment upstairs.
Yes there is always evolution vs revolution; maybe the common people are getting smarter. But all this incremental evolving that is supposedly happening is not happening fast enough. What’s worse, it can get derailed at any time.
Many of the middle class thought leaders and politically savvy people follow this blog. What are they doing sitting on their thumbs? The Philippines is facing an election where the most positive outcome is (judging from the current candidates) that the President is “not corrupt”. Is that all it takes? Are you satisfied with that? What happened to people organizing and demanding more? Demanding change?
Perhaps the politically savvy have found themselves to be less savvy than they thought. The continued public approval of Binay despite everything that’s been thrown at him has in turn thrown some for a loop; as has the strong surge of approval for Duterte. They fear Binay’s war chest, his Boy Scouts/fraternity/provincial networks, and the cunning which enabled him to pull the rug from under Roxas in the last election, at the eleventh hour.
Right now, behind the scenes for each likely candidate, there’s frantic musical chairs going on among aspiring political advisers, rich backers, provincial networks, and PR strategists, working around candidate possibilities–and the aforementioned fears. This is a form of “organizing,” but nothing will take off until the candidate steps up to the plate and is able to voice an authentic message that will galvanize people. Aquino’s presidential campaign rode on a single negative promise: I won’t be corrupt. It just about worked because of family history and because of Arroyo’s excesses. And in response to the point you brought up: No one will be satisfied with just that promise, this time around. They may still want it, but it won’t be enough. It may not be enough to stop Binay who can point to many tangibles he appears to have provided his constituents: Schools! Clinics! He stole from taxes paid by the rich, but he gives to the poor!
Also there’s realization that it’s going to take maybe a couple more presidencies to get things in shape, speed up evolution, and install safeguards against derailing. This could be the takeoff point for Roxas/Poe. Yes, one can see how each fits into a political candidate stereotype, and can make it work for them. (Poe the pure Inang Bayan, channeling a bit of Cory; Roxas the traditional political party’s stalwart.) But also, both can break out of the mold to create a new paradigm. For example, they’re already something of a departure from the deeply imbedded dynastic streak that runs in Philippine culture–the whole foundling issue is interesting in that it may have actually gained Poe supporters, who want her to be judged on her merits; and Roxas has not previously thrust his one child, born out of marriage, into the political limelight. They could, together, build up a campaign around what the Philippines and its people have accomplished in the last six years, focusing on continuity, improvement, and working together. But the partnership would have to come across as sincere, not just something tacked together for political expediency. Then, maybe people will quit sitting on their thumbs and rally round. For now, it’s shadow puppets.
“Also there’s realization that it’s going to take maybe a couple more presidencies to get things in shape, speed up evolution, and install safeguards against derailing.”
Ouch, Tina. A couple more presidencies of six years each? And why would we expect the outcome to be different then if we dont change the system now? Are there any Messiahs on the horizon? I dont see any.
I believe the Philippines cannot risk two more presidencies of the status quo. Even if by some miracle a brilliant president should emerge in this kind of horse-trading celebrity-driven system, he or she would still have to deal with a corrupt congress and judiciary. This country needs a drastic change — not evolution. That change, to my mind, should be to a Federalist Parliamentary system — the adoption of which has been delayed since 1971, when Martial Law was imposed soon thereafter. You can see a link to the Abueva framework on my Facebook page.
I tend to disagree, charles. I think what the country needs is stability after too many years of instability, and the long, arduous trek of weeding out the corrupt players. Steady growth of 7% a year and the change will be enormous in 10 years. Huge reduction in poverty, many new infrastructure projects, rising confidence and optimism. Radical change stops the train and tries to restart it. Which direction, we don’t know and can’t guarantee. We understand the direction now, and it is good.
Joe, we always come to this point, no? You believe in the status quo and see a bright future for the Philippines with Mar Roxas as the next president. I believe the Presidential system is inherently flawed. For example, it forces Mar Roxas to play to the masses e.g. Mr. Palengke — which has been a disaster for him.
Furthermore, the 7% per year growth is not sustainable, ask any economist. Already, it has fallen back to 5% and it will fall back further once the Fed starts hiking rates in September. The trend growth rate for the Philippines has been more 3-5%. Too slow for a country at this stage of development. Remember, this country is actually playing catch-up.
The Philippines needs change, not “more of the same”.
Yes, 5.2% in 1st Q 2015 due to the inability of government to spend as fast as projected due to procurement and process constraints. Growth has been stronger than the 3-5% you indicate, however. There are interesting dynamics in play, China being taken out of the market by tensions, ASEAN opening up the market, the rate increase you project. And the economy is for sure thin, but is stabilized by OFW remittances. GDP trends are here, down the page a few tables:
http://www.nscb.gov.ph/secstat/d_accounts.asp
But what I don’t see is how a drastic shake-up of government would bring something positive to the economy. What, foreign investments? That could be done today but is resisted. So you would require an authoritarian regime that would go against the grain of current business powers. Chaos. Uncertainty. Perhaps you could paint me a verbal picture that would provide assurance of a positive outcome.
Right now I’m inclined to keep my trust with Sec. Purisima who says the Philippines will compete well during an interest rate hike because of a strong financial book: http://www.wsj.com/articles/philippines-will-stand-out-after-u-s-interest-rates-rise-1435270081
Not sure where you got the “authoritarian regime that would go against the grain of current business powers”. No, of course not. Good government acts as facilitator for business and entrepreneurs. Right now, good laws are being shelved /delayed or opposed by a congress that works on pork and horse-trading.
You said so yourself about how the Senate should get out the way of the executive in your post a few days ago. Imagine if the executive and the legislative were fused in one body (parliament), whilst strengthening the anti-corruption drive with a dedicated independent body.
The GDP figures you cite coincide with the unprecedented loose money policy of the US which started in 2008. If you go back further you will get a better picture. And as for relying on OFWs, I believe the path to self respect and sustainable development lies in a future where Filipinos are not forced to work as maids, or worse, carry drugs or prostitute themselves. A government should deliver jobs at home and not export its people to balance its payments.
I think the transition would be disruptive and the value system of patronage would not change, except over time, as with the current system. The Philippines held steady as the rest of the globe struggled during the recovery starting in 2009, thanks largely to remittance flows as a stabilizer. I agree that ideally, OFW’s should come home, and indeed are, with the recent strong growth above the 7% mark. But during the transition to sound economic fundamentals, they are a stabilizing force. The real transition will be “post call center boom”, and what comes when that strong incentive for retail and real estate growth flattens or sags under a global economic downturn. Does Manila have a condo bubble the way it appears to have a casino bubble with the failure of Chinese high rollers to stream over as expected?
I can’t project all these factors well. I am just more comfortable with stability and purposeful change (e.g., to remove the blockages from government spending) within that stable framework. And I just don’t think change as dramatic as you suggest can be done. There is great reluctance to tinker with the Constitution, much less go parliamentary. The debates would be vigorous and lengthy and distract from what needs to be done, land use laws, anti-trust and anti-dynasty, removing red tape, and getting reliable electricity and broadband services.