Do Filipinos hate being Filipino?
Does this man defend the indefensible because he loves Filipinos? [Photo source: Rappler]
By Joe America
It struck me as I was meandering through the thought forest about human rights that Filipinos hate Filipinos. They also hate themselves because they are, after all, Filipino.
Now this is dangerous territory because I am white and some might view this as a racist commentary (even though Filipino is not a race but an ethnicity). However, I would note that many Filipinos claim I am more Filipino than a lot of Filipinos, so it’s not just me who is being judgmental here. But just to level up the discussion, let me tell a few balancing jokes.
Q: What do you call a bunch of white guys sitting on a bench?
A: The NBA.
Q: What do you call 500,000 white guys jumping out of a plane?
A: Snow.
Q: What’s the difference between a white man and a snake?
A: One is a evil, cold-blooded, venomous, slimy creature of Satan, and the other is a snake.
On the roof of a very tall building are four men; one is Asian, one is Mexican, one is black, and the last one is white. The Asian walks to the ledge and says, “This is for all my people” and jumps off the roof. Next, the Mexican walks to the ledge and also says, “This is for all my people”, and then he jumps off the roof. Next, is the black guy’s turn. The black man walks to the ledge and says, “This is for all my people” and then throws the white guy off the roof.
Jokes are sociological analysis under the cover of laughs.
Human rights principles, guidelines, and laws represent the highest efforts of the brightest humans to grasp that people OUGHT to be treated with fairness, understanding of diversity, and compassion. We ought not be making easy judgments about race or religion or gender or national origin or age just because humans have spent the better part of their time on the planet collecting in groups and warring against – and insulting and discriminating against – others who are somehow different. We ought not be running around hating on one another on such superficial grounds. Everyone is entitled to dignity, and due process.
Scientists have shown that our affinity for belonging to groups is a chemical reaction in the brain. We are comforted by being with like people, just as dogs are drawn to the magnetic comfort of home, and always return there via internal GPS. So human rights principles are not natural. They ask us, intellectually, to be kind to people who are different than we are. It takes an intellectually strong person to recognize the principles of equality and fairness and compassion, and an even stronger person to ACTUALLY DO acceptance and diversity.
Why does President Duterte believe killing Filipinos without due process is a good thing? Why does he give Filipino resources to the Chinese and give Chinese companies preference over Filipino companies in infrastructure development? Why does he object to human rights organizations so violently when it is those organizations that make sure Filipinos working abroad are treated with dignity?
And why is it that so many Filipino legislators and Supreme Court justices will not protect the document that was written by some very bright Filipinos to PROTECT Filipinos? Why will they undermine the Constitution so willingly, and remove those protections?
And why is it that the broad Filipino masses detest the most successful Filipinos? Why do they hate intelligent Filipinos and ‘do-gooder’ Filipinos who are striving to do nothing but . . . punch line, folks . . . GOOD? Why are there more crabs on the land than in the seas in the Philippines?
Why does a poor nation spend so much on whitening creams?
Where is the love Filipinos have for Filipinos? For being Filipino?
I don’t see it. Indeed, to get down and personal, I think President Duterte, his henchmen, and even populist gameplayers like Senator Poe and Senator Angara have no love at all for Filipinos, or being Filipino. If they did, they would help take care of them honestly and honorably rather than preening and posturing while being occupied mainly about taking care of good old number one.
They were hired by Filipino voters to take care of Filipinos, to do HARD stuff, not take the quickest and easiest path to fame and riches.
Who are today’s Filipino heroes? They are not in government. The good and decent Filipinos – the heroes – are the HUNTED!
Explain that one to me. That the decent and courageous of the Filipino nation are being hunted down, one by one.
It is a strange form of love to me.
It seems to me that Filipino leaders . . . if they loved Filipinos, and being Filipino . . . would cherish the ideas behind human rights principles because those principles raise Filipinos to the highest heights, right beside whites and yellows and every other color in the rainbow, to stand equal UNDER LAW and moral judgment.
Tearing down those laws, and those principles, and the people who advocate them, is ABUSIVE TOWARD FILIPINOS.
That’s what came to my mind.
All the evidence suggests that Filipinos hate Filipinos.
And given that they are Filipino themselves, one can conclude that they hate being Filipino.
They hate being themselves.
Now, proving me wrong is easy. The masses can stop blaming the ‘elite’ for their struggles, for the elite are the brains, riches, and hope of the nation. The yellows can stop blaming the 16 million for anything, and figure out how to help them, for the critics likely have not lived a lifetime going nowhere. Trolls can go get an honorable job. And the voters can elect Filipinos who love Filipinos rather than those who don’t give a whit, unless they benefit.
In other words, be proud to be Filipino. Really proud, not fake, insecure cheering proud. Be proud to defend Filipinos rather than punish them. Not just your group of Filipinos. ALL Filipinos. Be proud to TAKE CARE OF Filipinos rather than use them.
Prove that your compassion is genuinely other directed rather than self-serving.
The Society of Honor by Joe America 
Colonialism has consequences that last beyond the time the conquerors leave. Everywhere.
Short answer is: yes, for many, but not all.
Going further, the issue shouldn’t be whether a Filipino is proud/hate being one, but rather if he strives to adhere to universal norms of what is good and just.
Because the danger of being proud being a Filipino can be redefined by unsavory characters like our present and past presidents as someone who is corrupt, foul-mouthed, cruel, duplicitous, etc
On another level, a Filipino can be proud to be late, a poor planner, poorly informed, superstitious, chaotic, line-cutter, inefficient. “E Pilipino ako, e! Ganyan talaga tayo.”
Analogously, a white supremacist in the US can define an American patriot as someone anti-black/ Semitic and packs several guns.
I dream of the day when human beings can look at themselves as such, and drop their ethnicities in favor of a universal viewpoint. (Boo! Did I scare the alt-right?) 🙂
I agree, andrew. But there is a psychological dimension as well as ethical, I think. The ability to embrace those who are different is stressful, almost. One must set aside biases (that we have considered legitimate) and find pleasure in the differences rather than threat. I think the rule-based ethical part is the easy part. And that applies to the US as well as Philippines, where there has been a great backsliding in character (psychology) and ethics (rules).
The most obvious thing that sticks out in what appears to be self-loathing is, of course, money and the terrible lack of it; I read that a Redditor said “many Filipinos are being indoctrinated to either work abroad or emigrate”.
I remember when I was young going through a period of low self worth when I hated going out on job interviews and believed I was not worth hiring for anything. When I need to relate to people who have very little promise in their lives, in terms of jobs, money, or the opportunity to progress, I reflect back on how painful that was. A lifetime of that will of course generate angers toward the entitled, and leaving would be a natural path.
Very true. 10% of the population is working overseas. In middle to lower income families, the OFW is the one with the relatively higher economic power. Who has the cash has the power and thus the role model of success is the OFW.
Agree with all of the comments as of this writing.
Identity and Cambridge Analytica.
People are many things in many different circumstances. Talk about traffic discipline or Belgian dentists and I’m ashamed to be Belgian, talk about chocolate or beer and I’m proud to be Belgian. Inside Belgium I’ll never feel Belgian, I’m Flemish and hate Brussels, abroad I love my Walloon neighbors, sharing the same passport. And these inconsistencies exist too in all other spheres of my live, for religion, my profession, economic status, linguistic…
Cambridge Analytica made it clear that we are all just similar pieces of carbon-based hardware, programmed with similar codes and that silicon-based hardware with analytical capabilities, exceeding ours, can analyze and consequently exploit to the fullest all minute differences that exist between.
From Wikipedia: The company claims to use “data enhancement and audience segmentation techniques” providing “psychographic analysis” for a “deeper knowledge of the target audience”. The firm narrows voter segments from 32 different personality styles it attributes to every adult. The personality data informs the tone of the language used in ad messages or voter contact scripts, while additional data is used to determine voters’ stances on particular issues…
US citizens have always been exceptional in identifying themselves as Americans. America being an idea, a sharing of the same amazing constitution, more than the name of a tribe or a geographical region. Therefor being American is on a higher vlue level than being from English, German, even Asian or African descent. It comes (came?) before political identity, religious identity or economic status… It is more a personal decision than a given by the coincidences of nature as being Belgian or Filipino is.
Instead of linking attitudes to the “Nation” we should talk about politics. How power is attributed, used and perceived.
Within Europe, they say an inferiority complex is a sign of being Austrian ..joke..
Furthermore, Brussels is EU HQ, but real Belgium is somewhere in the Middle East..
A German, an Austrian, a young woman and a nun are sitting in a train compartment.
The train enters a dark tunnel. After the tunnel, the German is holding his cheek in pain.
The woman thinks: “The German must have tried to touch me and grabbed the nun”.
The nun thinks: “The Austrian must have grabbed the woman trying to touch me..”
“and she slapped the German”. The Austrian thinks: “next tunnel I’ll slap that German again”.
Replace German with dilawan, Austrian with Dutertian and switch roles between the young woman and the nun, make the train an overland bus and it might make a good joke. Maybe.
🙂 European jokes are a lot like American, with the fools changed.
We can talk about power anytime. You can write up the article, hahaha.
I really, really, really liked this description of yours:
Cambridge Analytica made it clear that we are all just similar pieces of carbon-based hardware, programmed with similar codes and that silicon-based hardware with analytical capabilities, exceeding ours, can analyze and consequently exploit to the fullest all minute differences that exist between.
It’s a wake-up call, and I hope you don’t mind if it finds a way into my social media blurbing.
Our self-loathing is a coin with two sides: on one side—worship of the “dominant” foreigner and disgust for our lowly kin; while on the other side—an extreme desire to compensate.
Like Doña Victorina—we want to pretend that we are Spanish or American (Chinese) as our tongues let out a mangled Spanish or English (Mandarin) in a faux metropolitan accent.
Yet—the same self-loathing leaves such a huge gaping hole in our pride, our sense of worth. It is this gap that, I think, drives the gut, vulgar populism which are witnessing.
The solution may lie in offering a counter-narrative that is theoretically sound and profound and at the same time capable of being distilled into powerful simple and understandable memes, slogans and axioms. Perhaps—a constructive nationalism that is based around building something rather than declaring “enemies of the states to fuel some us-versus-them vitriolic nationalism.
The previous administration could have…done better on this. While yes—the previous administration accomplished much progress; much of the progress was the “incremental”/“steady” type that doesn’t quite inspire morale—while what progress was extraordinary (the dramatic and permanent[1] expansion of PhilHealth) didn’t receive enough PR work to flood us with mental association.
[The latter sounds epal-ish—but bear in mind that we live in a country where the current administration is now sticking the word “Change” onto every bureau, department and commission’s slogan…]
People want big things. Or things that look really big. Or both. To fill that void, to make one believe in the “nation” again. To dream again.
I think that a possibly constructive way of building nationalism in the country could be via a moonshot project, a wide-eyed, idealistic, nearly-impossible project around which we could rally around. Like the Apollo Program which landed Americans on the Moon.
As Filipinos—we are constantly bombarded with messages talking about how pitiful and flawed we and our nation are. It is understandable that we sometimes compensate through vulgar, unadulterated anger and resentment—it sucks, being at the losing end of history, being “last in the class” among our neighbors.
It would be nice, to do something great as a country together.
I wonder what moonshot projects would be good to aim towards…
Ask Sen. Pacquiao to hit the moon. He might even try it.
Haha. From Nixon’s mouth, BBM was promised the first express ticket to the moon. Should be a one-way trip.
For what its worth: Sarangani is one of the most optimal locations for launching rockets.
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/scitech/science/602582/why-the-phl-is-one-of-the-best-rocket-launch-sites-in-the-world/story/
Lanz Anthonee Lagman, the author of the article, certainly knows his geometry and Newtonian Physics. Thanks for the interesting read, IP.
http://m.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Transportation/Europe_s_Spaceport/Europe_s_Spaceport2
ESA in Kourou, French Guyana also uses the ‘slingshot effect’.
Hmm.
A space program might seem like a superfluous program—but it sounds like the sort of thing to boost national pride.
We should try talking with India; the Indians know how to do space on the cheap:
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-29341850
They sent a probe to Mars for only 71M US$ which is roughly 3.621B PHP—which is less than half of the usual pork barrel allotment for our legislators.
A space program is indeed superfluous. I won’t be surprised if many Filipinos will just see it as a waste of money and resources.
Nevertheless, for something more feasible, how about a local automotive brand? Made in the PH and all that jazz? Nothing says industrialization more than having one’s own automotive industry. This is probably something that a lot of Filipinos would support.
Hmm… A good stepping stone for such a development could be the ongoing moves for Jeepney Modernization? Rather than import new vehicles, we could surely manufacture it here. Could even be a possible compromise for the left-leaning groups…
Two articles by me on industrialization:
http://filipinogerman.blogsport.eu/being-truly-modern/
http://filipinogerman.blogsport.eu/free-tertiary-education/
It can only go step by step is the point..
and educational policies must complement it.
sayang ang Sarao, had they deepened their skills and looked for new markets.. if only..
Another what if for iur jeepneys.
https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2003/08/20/217876/pinoy-jeepney-invade-papua-new-guinea-soon
Not only the jeepney many more Filipino discoveries and inventions could have been more supported and or promoted.
https://ipfs.io/ipfs/QmXoypizjW3WknFiJnKLwHCnL72vedxjQkDDP1mXWo6uco/wiki/List_of_Filipino_inventions_and_discoveries.html
Irineo, remember Francisco Motors?
Here is a forum asking what happened to them.
https://www.tsikot.com/forums/garage-150/francisco-motors-buhay-pa-ba-20671/index4.html
Sounded a bit like a nationalist fanatic here. Haha
Nevertheless, do know that the idea stems from a view that the Filipino will probably never have his salvation unless he is able to create something for himself. Because observing the PH: It has mostly been a consumer and it seems to have grown to be too complacent. And unless he grows out of this complacency, there will probably be no progress.
Hmm… This reminds me of the commonly bandied term in GRP: A culture of small-mindedness?
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Yes, an automotive industry. Let’s do one better than Elon Musk. Let’s have autos that run on water. If Musk has his Tesla models S and X, we can have our Tubig models X, Y, and Z.
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How about cars that run on garbage, especially plastic garbage?
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Hmm. Banana leaves?
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Unleaded carabao manure is excellent even for jet engines.
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Cow pies! I hear Indians cook meals with cow dung cakes but it is a fact that a company called Cowpathy produces, from pulverized cakes, various beauty products like soap, shampoo, and toothpaste…. and even medicine. We should set up a Manila branch called Bakapathy.
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Duterte getting mad produces about 60W of electricity.
Connect the cathode to his left ear, the anode to his right nostril.
One claim that I wish were true, the hydrogen reactor.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Dingel
Fake news or urban legend that this is A pinoy invention.
http://gotecotech.com/turn-plastic-into-gasoline-diesel-kerosene/
Even an American gave up on plastic to diesel because of economic reasons.
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2016/02/economy_took_steam_out_of_gas.html
Superb assessment. Agree entirely, both as to the shortcomings of the Aquino Administration (they agree, too), and the ability of building to generate social cohesion. Wars don’t exactly build, but are historically how it has often been done. I think building a disaster resilient nation in the face of climate change and erratic super-state behaviors, and rebellious sectors, could be an approach.
As I have observed for a long time now, we Filipinos are the kind that cuts off its nose to spite its face. That unexamined fact that our culture has long nurtured providing/forcing lessons TO others (from biag ni lam-ang to florante at laura to noli me tangere) has made our behaviour go towards the path of scorched earth machinations, regardless of justice or fairness, even for as shallow a reason as amor propio.
The output from the ‘cutting nose’ frame of mind is “born to lose”, and I regret to say, that is what is going on today. That the reason is unexamined is rather fascinating, isn’t it? I often noodle about social reconstruction, and how one goes about it, because the roots of bad thinking are so deep.
In contrast with the mindfulness of others that is ingrained in Japanese culture, the attitude of many a Filipino toward life and their fellow Filipinos is best exemplified by the president they elected and continue to approve of – “dapat si mayor ang mauna”. In other words, after the boss gets his takings, it’s a mad scramble for what’s left.
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My items 6 and 6.1 echoes this.
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Such a weak self concept is that, though. Scavengers rather than builders (c Francis).
Or pirates, like the precolonial barangays that regularly raided each other?
There are Filipinos abroad who retreat into their own subcultures, interacting with non-Filipinos only when needed. Usually the less educated and more provincial ones. Do they hate each other? They are Duterte’s definition of real Filipinos. Those who have to have rice 3x a day if possible.
Someone who doesn’t know the latest showbiz gossip, or who doesn’t think Bam Aquino is bakla (heard recently) or who can’t eat with their hands (me) is suspect. Imagine how weird cooking rice in a cup is to them, or thinking that depression really exists! Pausing to think looks weird to them!
Their pride was Pacquiao and is Duterte now. Would Chicken Joy instead of pride chicken help? Otherwise, I second emotion to Karl and Francis. Don’t say ‘second the motion’, that is elitist.
I hate to sound elitist—but I can’t help but think this insular attachment to small groups adding up to a fractious society is due to our lack of a fully literate culture.
Reading broadens the mind. It is no substitute for social interaction—but reading a book (especially non-fiction which I think is sorely and most especially lacking) is itself a meditation, a reflection into one’s preferences, beliefs, values, principles—self.
Nation. Religion. Ideology. Literacy is required to comprehend these sort of concepts. And our instrumental education system just makes it worse; we churn out workers, good and dilligent workers—but not critical thinkers, not people who find wonder in learning.
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Have to agree. Reading not only broadens the mind, it deepens the heart.
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Elitism is misconstrued, I think. Too often it is a pejorative to suggest arrogance, the label assigned by someone who is on the losing side of the argument. The loser uses the “elitist” charge to blame someone else for his own ignorance or inability to express complex ideas. For myself, I can’t imagine how what you express is anything but knowledgeable, insightful, and well crafted. So let ‘er rip and don’t worry about how others take it.
The culture is clearly not fully literate. Maybe because literacy was taught as a tool to serve new masters, as scribes.
Mangyans who write love letters on a bamboo roll in Baybayin might relate better – Will might say because love..
I can eat with my hands! There is something authentic to it. I was trained by my help in a room off the dirty kitchen where they gathered to get away from the snooty elites who were playing cards and getting drunk.
There’s nothing wrong with the Filipino. It’s only a matter of projection. If we could translate or transform family love for country love, we would hit the jackpot, there being no other race that is loving and protective of family. Show me a Filipino and I’ll show you a family. Next, show me a Filipino and I’ll show you a country. Point A to Point B. It can happen overnight, or it may happen after a century or so, but we never run out of hope. Hope—that’s another story. Maybe we hope too much, just hoping and not lifting a finger. So many things awry about us, but faith, hope and love is our strongest suit, so it’s still possible. Where’s our Mahatma, MLK, Jack Kennedy, Ho Chi Minh, Mao Zedong, Ninoy Aquino (he seems foreign now)? He or she can arise in a split second. The situation is ripe for a rebound. Like August 20, 1983.
There is a lot of self-punishment going on amongst the Filipino. If that is projection, I need a new AV department to show me how to view it positively.
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1. I think there is an interplay of love, hate, contempt, indifference, and cooperation.
1.1. As a general rule, I would say we love ourselves and are indifferent to others. We do not — generally — actively hate Self and Others.
2. I would look at the interplay from the perspective of (a) identity and (b) the constructs of the Hierarchy of Loyalties. With respect to identification with certain constructs, we tend to take things personally.
3. From the perspective of the first four constructs — Self, Family, Clan, and Tribe — we strongly identify with these (because of our collectivistic nature) and the predominant emotion would be love and cooperation.
3.1. Exceptions: inter-family and inter-clan squabbles may exist, for one reason or another, and generate hate. For inter-family relations, one reason could be the division of properties. For inter-clan, the killing of a clan member (rido) or political rivalry (Ampatuan vs. Mangudadatu).
3.2. Inter-tribal relationships are generally characterized by indifference or cooperation.
4. Beyond the tribe and in the social setting, we belong to various religious and political persuasions.
4.1. For those within our circle — co-believers (religion) and co-followers (politics) — we evince love, respect, friendship, camaraderie, and cooperation. And sycophancy.
4.2. For those outside the circle, we evince indifference, disrespect, contempt, and hate in different measures.
4.3. Generally, the greater the adherence to the Faith (religion) or Lodi (politics), the greater the magnitude of positive or negative affect.
5. Some notes on politicians.
5.1. Politicians are loyal to Self, Family, Clan, Tribe, and constituency. They are generally indifferent to others outside those constructs… except to entities that can prove useful.
5.2. Most politicians are, at root, indifferent if not disloyal to their own political party.
5.3. Most politicians are sensitive to religious groups as a rich source of votes.
5.4. Most politicians do not grasp the construct of the nation.
6. The sense of Self is very strong in the Filipino. Conversely, our sense of the Other is very weak. I do not think we hate ourselves. Rather, we are full of ourselves. Mainly due to low self-esteem.
6.1. Despite our collectivistic nature, we are self-centered and indifferent to and inconsiderate of others. I have not witnessed locally the politeness and gentility extended to strangers in other countries.
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on 6.1 I’ve seen this in the provinces. This is certainly true in cities and progressive provinces. It seems the City life makes people more coarse and less polite.
“Hi Joe” still greets me everywhere in the Provinces, outside urban settings. Old people, young people. It is a simple expression that says we (Americans and Filipinos) are historically connected, and it is a more favorable judgment than negative.
Section 5 is a hell of a way to abide by one’s oath, for elected officials who recite one.
Oaths mean as little as some speeches on special occasions. Or even prayers for many people. It’s just to sound nice.
Seems like a horrible way to run a moral nation.
Offtopic: what a way to start the week by him talking about defending the motherland (BS), calling for the destruction of CJ Sereño, declaring Boracay by designating it for “land reform”, and upon arriving in China, becomes shameless.
https://www.rappler.com/nation/199873-philippines-duterte-need-china-xi-jinping?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=nation
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Re Duterte’s war on Sereno: unspeakable vileness.
“He even joked that Sereno could end up in jail, and that he would occupy the cell between her and Senator Leila de Lima.”
“‘Samahan ko sila, diyan ako sa gitna. De Lima dito, pati siya. Kung wala na talagang iba,’ he said.” — Rappler
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Just listening to Sereno’s speech that triggered Duterte’s ire.
She is throwing down the gauntlet.
This is history repeating itself: Cory vs. Marcos.
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I don’t see what recourse she has, as an individual with no personal army, should the SC be willing to trash the Constitution and any notion that the Philippines is a nation of laws. Perhaps she will become a vocal critic of the Administration, with the power to pull together the Catholic Church and all pro-democracy factions. I’ve not heard her speak, so don’t know if she has that kind of dramatic influence or not.
Not exactly like Cory. Sereno is fiercer. This is 2018 not 1986. It ain’t wait and pray anymore. It’s pray and hit back. Both her parents and her husband have Mindanao backgrounds.
If it has to be rido then so be it.
Cory faced coups and several attacks from all corners where did this wait and pray come from?
Ramos the Kingmaker saved her each time. She never threw the guantlet at Marcos. She was more like a patron saint carried on a pedestal by the opposition forces.
You’ve inspired (incited? haha) me to do some reading about the Aquino presidency. I think there is no question as to her importance in leading the overthrow of Marcos after a troubled election. She was named woman of the year and became a role model for women who have the courage to lead against injustice. That, alone, earns her the respect of an entire global community. Her actual presidency was, indeed, troubled, however. She was, after all, unskilled at management or technical problem-solving, and she had critics everywhere biting and condemning, much as her son faced. This 1986 Washington Post article provides a detailed look at her problems:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1986/09/14/the-troubled-presidency-of-corazon-aquino/f4d1a094-e414-476d-871a-1e2de61bdd63/?utm_term=.02728afa8ea8
That being said, though, I think it would be a harsh critic who would come down hard on her, after her lead role in restoring democracy to people who may not have the gifts of national sacrifice, understanding, and compassion that democracy requires.
In other words, blame the people around her, not Cory, I think.
THE MESSAGE, THE WAY IT IS DELIVERED, THE MESSENGER’S DEMEANOR AND THE CRITICAL BACKGROUND
While in legal terms CJ Sereno’s message may be superior and “fiercer” (ref, Irineo), Ex-Pres Cory’s
– message of the time: centering on “tama na, sobra na,” (now a cliche’)
– the way it was delivered — in fluent understandable Pilipino,
– her demeanor,
– the background of the assassination of the admired Ninoy, and
– the waning of the Marcos brand at that time,
– the economic downturn,
– the perceived corruption — sir and ma’am being seen as being in the 10-20 percent “mine” business
made a lot of difference in the Cory versus Marcos fight.
Add this NYTimes article by Stanley Karnow to the Washington Post article.
https://mobile.nytimes.com/1990/08/19/magazine/cory-aquino-s-downhill-slide.html
NHerrera, thanks, you got what I meant. In fact ‘tama na, sobra na’ was the right thing in 1986. Today is different, Filipinos have changed, are possibly more cynical?
Joe, Karl, thanks for the sources. They explain the disarray I noticed when I helped out at Cory’s state visit in July 1989 as a student earning extra money. Manglapus annoying everyone with his ideas of a ‘Filipino car’. Different orders coming from different people in the entourage, but the Embassy staff managed to sort it out. Teddy Boy Locsin and then PSG head Voltaire Gazmin I also recall.
1983-1986 I know only what came on German papers and TV, and the stuff Filipinos talked about, pros and cons. Visited in August 1986 and people were still very euphoric.
Karl, two quotations from your source (Stanley Karnow article!) are interesting:
Aware that her glow has dimmed, Aquino has explained that her victory over Marcos raised expectations of miracles that she could not conceivably fulfill. But she fuels such illusory aspirations by portraying herself as divinely guided – a belief she holds as a devout Roman Catholic. Her defeat of Marcos, she intoned not long ago, ”was indeed a miracle” as well as ”a symbol of God’s love and the task he set us to do.”
– my memory does serve me well, this somewhat exalted language was there at times..
However the future unfolds for Aquino, the Philippines still resembles the portrait painted by her husband, Ninoy, in Foreign Affairs magazine in July 1968.
”Here is a land in which a few are spectacularly rich while the masses remain abjectly poor,” he wrote, ”where freedom and its blessings are a reality for a minority and an illusion for the many. Here is a land consecrated to democracy but run by an entrenched plutocracy . . . dedicated to equality but mired in an archaic system of caste.” Its government was ”almost bankrupt,” its state agencies ”ridden by debts and honeycombed with graft,” its economy ”in pathetic distress.” Filipinos were ”depressed and dispirited . . . without purpose and without discipline . . . sapped of confidence, hope and will.” But, he concluded, the fault was chiefly their own. ”They profess love of country, but love themselves – individually – more.”
First of all, isn’t his exactly our topic now. Second, it is amazing how NInoy – like Rizal – was made into a martyred saint, but a lot of his perceptive writings were NOT taught to people. Sarcastically I do like to say that Filipinos like heroes dead, cowards and scoundrels alive.
Thanks. “Heroes wanted. Dead, not alive.” That fits with a tweet I made yesterday that I keep looking for heroes, but creeps like Senator Gordon keep claiming headlines.
Thanks again Irineo.
I would like to say that it is really about perceptions and portrayals.
Eye of the beholder stuff.
We do acknowledge daily heroes.
But bad news and talangka crab mentality overwhelms them.
Karl, perceptions are OK, as long as they are not as far from reality as stuff by Tiglao. Somewhat objective assessments always stick to the relevant facts, as far as known.
For example: if I say the Munich train station is still relatively safe – or that the situation has worsened compared to ten years ago, or that one year of policing has pushed crime back – all these perspectives are somehow POVs of the reality of a place I pass by very often.
If I said it was like in the Bronx with lots of black drug dealers (true, many Africans are there, police reports say many get caught dealing – but “Bronx” suggests armed violence, or that they threaten people which isn’t true) or said it is totally safe it would be fake news, as there are indeed less drunks and possible junkies at the entrances since the ban on drinking at night, but I would still watch out as these times are more complicated, different folks around.
Okay, Thanks.
*******
Rebiya Kadeer – The Face of Uighur’s Ethnic Minority
“You can understand her frustration. More and more of Rebiya Kadeer’s family have been rounded up into Chinese Communist Party re-education camps. She was once one of the richest women in China, a successful retail entrepreneur, a member of China’s National People’s Congress, Beijing’s model member of its Uighur minority. Today she lives in exile in America accused of sedition for championing Uighur rights. Thirty-seven of her clan members, including 11 children under the age of 10, are locked up. How many of her family are free? ‘None,’ the slight, 71-year old grandmother answers matter-of-factly.”
“Beijing has long practiced transmigration – relocating ethnic Han Chinese, the vast bulk of China’s people, into Tibetan or regions to overpower the influence of the local ethnic groups and permanently alter the makeup of the population.”
“But now, says Kadeer, it has become much more intrusive. When a father is removed from a family and detained in a re-education camp, a Han Chinese man is imposed on the family and moves into the home, a stranger required to be accepted as family, according to Kadeer and her supporters.”
“The Chinese authorities may be pioneering a new totalitarianism, uniquely repressive in human history, according to a historian at Loyola University in New Orleans, Rian Thum. ‘It’s a mix of the North Korean aspiration for total control of thought and action,’ Thum told the Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper, ‘with the racialised implementation of apartheid South Africa, and Chinese AI [artificial intelligence] and surveillance technology.’ Thum visited Xinjiang, where outside access is strictly controlled, last year.”
https://www.smh.com.au/national/the-woman-china-wants-you-to-ignore-20180406-p4z84k.html
*****
I suspect there will be many transfers to the Philippine province. The Boracay resort is a prototype. Quick build and flood.
“Despite the creepiness of the system — Human Rights Watch called it “chilling,” while Botsman called it “a futuristic vision of Big Brother out of control” — some citizens say it’s making them better people already.”
“A 32-year-old entrepreneur, who only gave his name as Chen, told Foreign Policy: “I feel like in the past six months, people’s behaviour has gotten better and better.”
“For example, when we drive, now we always stop in front of crosswalks. If you don’t stop, you will lose your points.
“At first, we just worried about losing points, but now we got used to it.”
Given the clamor in this country for “disiplina” and the desire to run for shortcuts and rapid results, I wonder if…
Addendum:
http://www.businessinsider.com/china-social-credit-system-punishments-and-rewards-explained-2018-4#despite-the-creepiness-of-the-system-human-rights-watch-called-it-chilling-while-botsman-called-it-a-futuristic-vision-of-big-brother-out-of-control-some-citizens-say-its-making-them-better-people-already-10
*******
This is the zombification of people.
*****
Re Clamor for disiplina.Weonly clamor for that egen are delayed or inconvenienced.
The traffic makes it appear that we demand it, but in reality we are pasaways.
Boracay is only one of the templates of our non-compliance.
Oh, God. I thought of the National ID system and what if it’s also implemented to track “karma” points? To reward or punish?
“Wala ka namang tatakutan kung wala ka namang masamang ginawa, e…”
And it would fit “nicely” with our “hiya”/shame culture.
Oh no! Before I was for a National ID, until that social credit system news.
Have no fear, just look at our LTO licenses, they could not make it work.
We don’t even have a credit scoring, all the banks have to do is monitor meralco bills.
Speaking of National ID.
Entitled:
AN ACT ESTABLISHING THE PHILIPPINE IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM
[ SECOND REGULAR SESSION, 17TH CONGRESS ]
[ 2018 ]
3/12/2018 Prepared and submitted jointly by the Committee(s) on JUSTICE AND HUMAN RIGHTS, FINANCE and PUBLIC INFORMATION AND MASS MEDIA with Senator(s) FRANKLIN M. DRILON, LOREN B. LEGARDA, JOSEPH VICTOR G. EJERCITO, CYNTHIA A. VILLAR, PANFILO M. LACSON, RALPH G. RECTO, JOEL VILLANUEVA, ANTONIO “SONNY” F. TRILLANES, PAOLO BENIGNO “BAM” AQUINO IV, JUAN MIGUEL F. ZUBIRI, RICHARD J. GORDON, EMMANUEL “MANNY” D. PACQUIAO, JUAN EDGARDO “SONNY” M. ANGARA and SHERWIN T. GATCHALIAN as author(s) per Committee Report No. 277, recommending its approval in substitution of SBNos. 15, 41, 69, 95, 917, 1500, 1510, 1577, 1579 and 1267, taking into consideration HBN-6221;
3/12/2018 Committee Report Calendared for Ordinary Business;
3/12/2018 Sponsor: Senator PANFILO M. LACSON;
3/12/2018 Transferred from the Calendar for Ordinary Business to the Calendar for Special Order;
3/12/2018 Sponsorship speech of Senator PANFILO M. LACSON;
3/12/2018 Co-sponsorship speech of Senator(s) JOSEPH VICTOR G. EJERCITO, JUAN EDGARDO “SONNY” M. ANGARA, JOEL VILLANUEVA and EMMANUEL “MANNY” D. PACQUIAO;
3/13/2018 Co-sponsorship speech of Senator(s) FRANKLIN M. DRILON, RALPH G. RECTO, RICHARD J. GORDON, SHERWIN T. GATCHALIAN and JUAN MIGUEL F. ZUBIRI;
3/14/2018 Interpellation of Senator(s) RALPH G. RECTO and SHERWIN T. GATCHALIAN;
3/14/2018 Inquiry of Senate President AQUILINO KOKO III L. PIMENTEL;
3/14/2018 Period of committee amendments closed;
3/14/2018 Period of individual amendments closed;
3/14/2018 Approved on Second Reading without Amendment;
3/15/2018 Printed copies were distributed to the Senators;
3/19/2018 Approved on Third Reading;
3/19/2018 In favor: (17) JUAN EDGARDO “SONNY” M. ANGARA, PAOLO BENIGNO “BAM” AQUINO IV, MARIA LOURDES NANCY S. BINAY, FRANKLIN M. DRILON, JOSEPH VICTOR G. EJERCITO, FRANCIS “CHIZ” G. ESCUDERO, SHERWIN T. GATCHALIAN, RICHARD J. GORDON, GREGORIO B. HONASAN II, PANFILO M. LACSON, EMMANUEL “MANNY” D. PACQUIAO, AQUILINO KOKO III L. PIMENTEL, GRACE L. POE, RALPH G. RECTO, JOEL VILLANUEVA, CYNTHIA A. VILLAR and JUAN MIGUEL F. ZUBIRI;
3/19/2018 Against: (2) RISA HONTIVEROS and FRANCIS N. PANGILINAN;
3/19/2018 Abstention: (None) ;
3/19/2018 Senate requested the House of Representatives for a conference on the disagreeing provisions of SBN-1738 and HBN-6221, designating Senators Lacson, Honasan, Villanueva, Gatchalian and Drilon as its conferees to the Bicameral Conference Committee;
Only two no votes, Hontiveros and Pangilinan. Most see benefits to an ID. I’m inclined to agree.
Since I doubt it would get vetoed,I hope it gets implemented well.
The elimination of redundant id numbers is one big Pro-factor (benefit)
I maybe wrong on the multiple numbers.
That may still be indicated on the card.
I think one number is enough.
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Meanwhile in Vanuatu, China has spent millions on infra and wants to build a permanent military base.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/on-the-ground-in-vanuatu-monuments-to-china-s-growing-influence-are-everywhere-20180410-p4z8t0.html
China has perfected the new model of colonization. Instead of the sword and the cross, China is using copper (coin) and steel to conquer.
*****
Offtopic: So “Amo” is out now in Netflix, which brought me to reading about the cocaine moral panic which swept America during the 80s (does it also ring a bell?):
http://www.psychedelic-library.org/drug_politics.htm
Sara likes to show off her tattoo……Why is her brother hiding his?
We dream big we reach for the stars and fall hard.
Example BNPP, that failed replacement of Metro Manila somewhere in Aurora, etc.
We do build program one time big time in so short a time and I am afraid that it is a recipe for disaster.
Our space program and akl other DOST programs can not be rushed even if others are way ahead.
The race is not always for the swift, but for thise who keep on running.( who said that?)
This is another example of starting at large scale an unproven technology.
https://www.bioenergy-news.com/display_news/10380/air_products_to_scrap_gasification_project_in_uk/
Build program will run on schedule?
Look at how this MEGA – project kept changing deadlines.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong%E2%80%93Zhuhai%E2%80%93Macau_Bridge
Here is NEDA’s list of 75 flagship projects showing their status in the pipeline. Bizarre, it was last updated in June of 2017. It is hard to have confidence that the projects will go well if the overall management of where the projects are is haphazard and not up to date.
If you wander through the site to find the “Development Plan Matrix” to check on status, you get a page that says: “SORRY, THE PAGE YOU ARE LOOKING FOR CANNOT BE FOUND”
http://www.neda.gov.ph/infrastructure-flagship-projects/
Ahhh, here is a February 2018 update: http://www.neda.gov.ph/list-neda-board-confirmed-icc-approved-projects/
Nothing comes up for “Locally Approved Projects” or “PPP Projects”. The Duterte Administration’s projects are in PDF format: http://www.neda.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/NB-Approved-Projects-as-of-Feb-2018.pdf
Note there is a column that cites the source of funding. China is not dominant. Japan is there. Local is there. I see nothing scary about who is funding them, other than the interest rates and other terms (whose labor will be used, China or PH) that are not shown.
Project 7 is good, and shows there is a desire to have strong follow-up on projects:
Infrastructure Preparation
and Innovation Facility / DOF
The IPIF is a facility that will support project development and implementation of key
infrastructure projects. IPIF support will cover such aspects as:
1. Feasibility assessment, feasibility study;
2. Detailed engineering design, including safeguards, project structure, economic
analysis, financial assessment, procurement plan and implementation arrangements;
3. Preparation of procurement documents ready for tendering; and
4. Due diligence reviews of feasibility studies and detailed engineering designs
*******
It would be good if there was the ability to drill down from the first matrix or table.
The project name could be a link, which when pressed, would cascade to an overview of the project phases and their statuses. Each project phase could also be a link, which when pressed, would present details of that stage.
*****
I’ve started to do a short article for Friday run that will basically just introduce us to NEDA and the table. I will mention your suggestion along with others I’ll make.
Even in the Build.com site the actual status says procurement stage or development stage for most.
I sent that before reading your next comment.
Good to know that China is not the dominant funding source.
It is nice that they are following through.
http://build.gov.ph/
Is the site not build.com
I think that is the public relations presentation of the projects, not NEDA’S directly. It hits the highlights. The pdf file I provided has more details.
Thanks, looking forward to your NEDA blog.
Joe, your Bee Fleet idea, seems the way to go.
https://joeam.com/2013/08/31/the-bee-fleet-2/
https://ptvnews.ph/dnd-weighs-pros-cons-acquiring-small-naval-craft/
There was an 8-boat pilot program a couple of years ago. I don’t know what happened to it. Barnacles got it perhaps. I get the sense that there is no real defense strategy that drives these things. Or it is top secret. One or the other.
Top secret until a Senate Investigation. 😉
Barnacles are supposed to eat up decommissioned sunk vessels, but they are also eating those still in the planning stage.
Haha, yes.
Well, when you have been told from birth to be proud being Filipino, when you start business with the anthem…. But then, when you go abroad, you realize that there is little to be proud of. Yes, beautiful islands (ahummmm.. Boracay, Sir?) but for the rest…???? So, a clash of reality and teaching. So, being Filipino, most then shy away and work hard, but socialize together. Almost hidden… Filipino’s amongst Filipino’s. No need to hate being Filipino. But also, not a healthy situation.
Come-on, guys. Get real. There is a lot going for Philippines, the people are great, there are tourism opportunities, lots of options. But get real, It is not the idealistic picture you got told. And that is not bad, but realize the shortcomings and work on those to make it a better country. Instead the majority hides away and the president calls Boracay a shithole, but then, every city in Philippines should be classified as a shithole because every city has the same problems. Isn’t that an interesting clash with the impression Filipino’s try to sell. An explosive contrast. No wonder they retreat in their communities and nothing gets done. Not healthy. So, do Filipino’s hate being Filipino? Certainly not, they love their country and they retreat there after their working lives abroad or they just stay here when they have no chance to go abroad. Only very, very few stay here to build it up so they can be proud. For those, I take of my hat and great them with respect.
Wow I’m a Filipino and I couldn’t agree more.
Glad you found the article meaningful, doktora.