Is Leni Robredo too ‘nice’ to be president?
Vice President Robredo being herself. [Photo from Philstar]
By JoeAm
Democracy and civility are under attack around the world, including in the Philippines where some 25,000 people have been killed and largely not accounted for. Opposition groups struggle to have a voice because the State controls most institutions and their members and the State weighs heavily on the media if they report unkindly. State-backed trolls abound on social media.
In this article, I will explore how a pro-democracy advocacy can speak with a louder voice. JA
_______________
Is Leni Robredo too ‘nice’ to be president?
For someone who believes in democracy and civility, the correct answer is: “What a ridiculous question! Of course she is not too nice. She’d run a sound, honest, productive government. The nation would once again become a rising star!”
AND if the question were: “Is Senator Trillanes too impetuous to be president?”
The answer would be: “What a ridiculous question! Of course he is not too impetuous. He’d run a sound, honest, productive government. The nation would once again become a rising star!”
AND if the question were: “Is Justice Carpio too old to be president?”
The answer would not change.
If you think about the question, you’ll discover that it is telling you something very important about the person asking it. Whoever is asking the question has doubts.
Do you? Do you have doubts? If so, you have a problem . . . and are a part of the problem.
If you want a better Philippines, you must get rid of your own doubts.
The more important two questions you need to ask are:
- Am I committed to putting a pro-democracy, principled person into the President’s office?
- How will I respond to people who say Robredo is too nice, or Trillanes is too impetuous, or Carpio is too old?
“But Joe! Joe! Joe! I want the strongest candidate! I need to pick the best president! That’s what we all do!”
Okay, so if the question is, “Who would make a better president, Robredo, Trillanes, or Carpio?”
The correct answer is: “Each would make an excellent President.”
If you are a member of, or believe in, a unified push for democracy, you can’t care, one person over the other. That’s what being united means. Your mandate is not to undermine your collaborative advocacy’s pick, but to support it. If you can’t do that, you will most certainly lose. You will lose the same way Mar Roxas lost.
It was not the 16 million who defeated Mar Roxas. It was the millions who said ‘yeah but’ and pointed out that he slipped in the mud or ran the terrible trains or was a pampered ‘elite’. And they wanted something . . . less imperfect. So they voted for Poe the movie idol or Duterte the real man or Binay the guy who built Makati.
In search of the illusion of a better perfection, they refused to elect character and competence.
Here’s the straight shot. Your candidate will not be perfect. Your candidate will be necessary. Because he is necessary, he will be perfect.
If you want a democratic Philippines, you will have no patience for people who recite the failings of a good, capable person. They are not interested in the Philippines. They are cheap-shotting. They are speaking fallacies. They are interested in some childish fiction, that images and illusions should be president. Or they are interested in proving their intellectual or moral superiority, imposing their personal view on the nation.
No.
No.
ANYONE can be a good president if he or she is a an intelligent, sincere, decent, earnest person. WITH YOUR SUPPORT that person will be a highly capable president. They can even get very close to being a perfect president.
But if you undermine that person with nagging reservations, with doubts, with fears that others might be right when they point out a flaw, you will lose.
It’s already starting with Vice President Robredo. The undermining. The weakening. The statements “She’s not dynamic enough” to get elected. “She lacks show business sizzle.” “She’s dull.”
Well, let me tell you, if those are the credentials for President, just elect Pacquiao and be done with it.
Speaking straight again, let me admonish you, you need to get rid of your need to be important, to be perfect. You need humility. And the kind of open mind that allows good candidates to work without your oppressive judgment bogging them down. You need to stop proving that you have the wisdom of God to know who is best.
Then all you have to do is to wait for the leadership of the pro-democracy front to set before you your perfect candidate. Then support him, or her. 100%.
No reservations. No “yeah buts”. No “I wish they had gone with X”. No no no.
AND you are not allowed to say, “Well, she’s not perfect but . . .”
That is a horribly self-centered viewpoint. As if it matters that someone has to think just like YOU to get it right.
Here’s the way to win the election. Toss aside your doubts, your caveats, and your need to justify yourself. Just demand decency and good character and earnest intent, under law.
Well, it’s true. It is important to be tactical as well as strategic, so I’ll work on responses to specific criticisms in a separate article.
What I want to accomplish here is point out how self-defeating it is to worry about perfection. If you are a member of the pro-democracy push, your role is not to lead it, but to build it. It is to not let others chip away at the foundations, as happened with Mar Roxas. It is your job to put a real person, of character, competency, and commitment to democracy into the presidency.
Critics are a dime a dozen. Their job is easy. They work in the realm of hypothetical where every statement has weight.
Your job is hard until you achieve something within yourself: To KNOW that an imperfect person can be a perfect President.
Then your job is easy, too.
Your candidate WILL get the nation on track. Trust your leadership’s selection. Trust your candidate. Have no patience with those who undermine that candidate, intentionally or unintentionally.
Don’t be a doubter, or feed the doubt.
The doubters are the real reason the nation is in such horrid shape. Not the 16 million.
The Society of Honor by Joe America 
Nailed it, Joe. Timely.
Thank you, LG. Glad you found it meaningful.
Doubt. Self-interest. Know it all. Apathy. Termites that gnaw away at the very foundations of our republic. Add another one: Won’t lift a finger. No sir, that’s not my life’s mission. But while we are at it, Leni’s too soft, like Cory, etc. etc. If we haven’t learned our lesson in Duterte times, that it’s not showbiz and instant coffee, it’s intent and quiet purpose, then move over Somalia. Filipinas gets the crown, at the bottom of the pit, if it has a bottom.
For sure.
I love this! Well said.
Why, thanks, discontent. It is pleasing to see you . . . well . . . content. 🙂
😀 😀
DUTERTE IS JUST DISTRACTING YOU FROM SO MUCH INCOMPETENCE THIS AUGUST
Don’t fall for it – all that nonsense Duterte is talking about – attacking the clergy and God, attacking the VP, etc. is meant to shift discussion away from so much incompetence and failure in the past few weeks.
Let’s list them down:
1. Inflation
2. Lower growth rate
3. Shabu smuggling continues in large amounts
4. Corruption in govt – some he makes a show of firing them, some he will not do anything- like the Tulfos and Teo
5. Incompetence of the Con-com’s output on federalism/charter change, all of whom he handpicked, hence they all resembled his background: poor in economics, poor in mathematics
(con’t)
6. Lower remittances esp from the ME which will impact on the exchange rate
7. lower rankings on practically every index- from impunity to corruption to tourism
8 natural disasters where they have to send look alikes
9 populist “papogi” measures which are now biting back – e.g. pensions and salary increases for armed forces and PNP
10. shift in power to Arroyo
11. widespread dissastisfaction with his handling of the West Phil Sea
12. Mocha Uson’s inanity which is a reflection on him, because he appointed her and refuses to fire her
And that’s just off the top of my head. Add the others.
Nice list.
Mar Roxas lost not because of “doubters” in his abilities. He lost because the supposedly centrist Aquino government in which he was mostly identified with, and was endorsed by, was unable to politically capture the anger and frustrations of the excluded mass.
It was the criminal from Davao who took advantage of that seething frustration and took the 16 million for a ride.
You were obviously not over here reading all the expressions of doubt. Anyway, the article isn’t about what cost Roxas the election, but what can be done to strengthen unity of the pro-democracy push. If you don’t accept the premise, you don’t have to accept the way unity is approached. But I don’t see any solution in complaint.
Pro-democracy push? I’m not exactly sure we share the same page on details. The current regime might be undemocratic in its ways and method of governance but it was elected democratically – fair and square.
If we want democracy to triumph in both the selection and governance phase, whoever the bearer of that torch need to establish a credible platform to democratically allocate economic wealth.
If ever there’s any lesson we can learn from populist uprisings in many parts of the world including our own, it is that there can be no true democracy if we don’t democratize wealth.
We don’t have to share the same page. The blog is sort of democratic with a heavy handed justice department. 🙂 I agree, poor distribution of wealth undermines democratic value, not that I know of any autocracies that do it better.
Professed democracies need to put their money where their mouth is. Lip service democracy is not democracy at all.
You just can’t say we’re for democracy and then proceed to enact policies that will marinate the masses in paralyzing poverty while you protect the 1% who are comfortably huddled behind golden gates.
Democracy is a path, a balancing of interests, not a set of ultimatums. One does not protect the 1% by advocating for unity to get the right leader elected. One gets the right leader elected. After election, a million things compete for attention, from health care to sovereignty to economic well-being and poverty reduction to rebuilding a nation’s ethical character. The path unfurls, and if enough people advocate for improved income distribution, then it can happen. One ought not be labeled a hypocrite or failure if your personal agenda is not the one people follow. Get thyself to the front of the line first.
No, in Philippine context, given the level of political maturity, the burden and responsibility to set the agenda for the flowering of democracy rests most entirely on the one who wanted to lead.
A pragmatist without strong commitment to true democracy and will govern through negotiations will most likely succumb to anti-democratic factions very much like Obama bending to the will of bankers and aligning his party to become what is now labelled Wall Street Democrats.
Confronting inequality is not under negotiation, confronting evil is not under negotiation, confronting the enemies of democracy is not under negotiation.
You give them an inch and see what Trump and Duterte does.
Democracy is politics, politics is give and take, and I have no idea what you want to happen. You seem to be speaking from some ideological platform about pragmatism and I get lost.
There is no such thing as half democracy or democracy in name only, a pseudo-democracy.
Either you have one or you don’t.
Aquino and Obama are pragmatic politicians who presided over their terms thinking half democracy is good enough. Democracy in appearance but not in substance. So they negotiated their way through with anti-democratic factions. They pacified the masses and comforted the already comfortable.
What was the consequence of that?
The consequence is we got Duterte and Trump.
Have we learned anything from that?
Very little, I suppose.
I’m lost. Democracy has as many shapes as there are governments that deploy it, and most are not the same this year as last, so by your stringent criterion, there is no democracy anywhere. Trump and Duterte are produced by democracies but factors leading to their election were social, cultural, economic, political, and intrusions by foreign powers. It is not possible to create institutional perfection in a framework that gives everyone a voice. I still don’k know what you want or propose as pragmatic solutions to anything.
To the extent that there is very high income and wealth inequality in the US, it is not a real democracy, it is a pseudo-democracy. Some would even go as far as saying it’s actually an oligarchy.
You are lost because you think it is still actually a bastion of true western democracy.
We disagree on that and I think it will be futile to belabor the diverging points of view for now.
xxxxxxxx
Political pragmatism, like the ones both Aquino and Obama deployed, is not an ally of democracy. It polluted and compromised the concept with the consequence that after their terms ended they unwittingly helped create the environment (severe and widespread economic alienation) for the successful election of undemocratic and uncivil regimes.
I am sure the greater world will be shocked to discover that the US is not a real democracy. What nation, may I ask, has a real one? I am lost because your comments wander around in the forest of ideas and seem never to point to solutions for all the troubles you see. It is like the MMT discussion, ideas without a landing place that I can grab onto and say, “yes, I agree, that would improve the way things operate.”
If the US is a democracy,
– Medicare for all would have been in place
– big banks should never have been bailed out
– top tax rate would be at least 60%
– internet privacy and data collection would have been regulated
– $15 would have been the minimum wage
– and most of all, Donald Trump is not the president
To the extent that these policies, among many others, were not adopted in spite of wide majority support, the US is NOT a country with real democracy.
The US is a country where money, in light of Citizens United ruling, talk the loudest. Money became speech. The more money you have, the greater is your voice in policy making. Corporations and oligarchs, in minority, rule the day.
Which of these do you still not understand?
I understand that you did not give me the name of a real democracy, and that these criteria are yours, personally. Medicare for all is a social service and does not make democracy. It makes socialism. Had big banks not been bailed out, the US would have risked seeing the kind of financial collapse not seen since 1929. Economic ruin does not make democracy. Tax rates are how a nation is funded and wealth is passed around. It has nothing to do with participative government. Internet privacy and data collection are both opportunities and risks, they do not make democracy. Minimum wage . . . never mind, I can see now that your real democracy is socialism. I’ll end now, as this has become one of those debates like MMT, a lot of words meaning nothing, in the end.
Democracy, from the Greek demokratia, literally means rule by the people or majority rule.
The policies I cited are supported in wide margin by majority of American people. That they are not being implemented makes American democracy a farce, a fake, a pseudo-democracy.
This is one of those exchanges that you willingly and obviously refuse to grasp even the most basic and simple concepts and definition of words.
You are going tralalalala on this one.
I want a nice President. I do not like an awful President. Nice people do nice things. Awful people do awful things. Where is the disconnect?
We really need to put a stop to the “epal” and vote buying shenanigans.
We also need to find a mechanism to stop the trolls from infecting the masses. I bet the battle in 2019 and 2022 will be in social media again. We need some sort of whack-a-troll machine.
And someone who can assure elections are fair and not tampered with.
This article is a great demonstration of how a discussion of people in leadership positions eventually devolves into a discussion of principles and ideas. Which is how it should be.
Remember ” great minds discuss ideas, …. small minds discuss personalities…”?
Duterte’s approach was to engage the small minds with his recent statements on juntas, Marcos, Escudero, etc. Pacquiao’s reaction was from a very small mind.
Pacquiao is astounding for his confidence and stupidity and moral vacuity.
*******
1. The question is: Can the genie of incivility be put back into the bottle?
2. The problem of incivility may not have begun with Duterte. It may even have started before the advent of soc-med. But certainly, soc-med grew the genie out of the bottle. And Duterte encouraged the shade of the genie to waft widely around the country. He put the genie on the national stage.
2.1. Duterte, with the filter-less brain and the filter-less mouth.
3. How, then, to put back the genie in the bottle? How to grow back the filter in thought, in language, and in attitude?
4. The first recourse, I think, is for the leaders to show decency. Well, not only show but be decent in form and in substance. VP Robredo has shown decency in both form and substance. No doubt she is a class act.
4.1. The judiciary is by nature circumspect and decent in language but not so in decisions. It must cease to engage in groupthink and come up with ponencias that are rigorous in meting out true justice.
4.2. Congress, especially, the Lower House is a problem. The reps are not averse to engage in sex talk and lewd questions and suggestions. The senators are not nice in thought and in action.
4.3. The Church has shown restraint.
4.4. If the nation’s leaders practice decency, the nation should necessarily follow.
5. The second recourse is for all citizens to refrain from engaging in incivility in thought and in action. Start by being kind to yourself and family and extend the kindness to neighbors.
6. The third and final recourse is to be decent in social media. In this regard, TSH commenters serve as a community model.
6.1. Given the stupidity of what is going on, the urge to use foul language is strong… and perhaps this sentence is a good example. But the point is lost when we use execrable language. The language becomes the point and the argument is lost.
6.2. News media should publish commentary guidelines and hire moderators to purge all indecent commentary.
6.3. Did you see the flood pictures of people wallowing in the water full of litter, dead things, and god knows what else? For the flood to recede, we must stop throwing waste into the streets and clear the litter.
7. Yes, we can wrestle back the genie into the bottle. We can be as innocent and nice as children again. Don’t you remember how it was before? How someone was makin’ a list and checkin’ it twice to see who was naughty and nice?
So, yeah, Christmas is around the corner and we better be good for goodness sake.
*****
Indeed, when/if the cultural umbrella of decency returns, then all candidates will pass the character test and voters can focus on policies. Every institution has to help, though, and there is a loooooooooong way to go.
6.2 I believe they can hire BPOs who do content moderation and they can afford to do so.
https://www.taskus.com/glossary/content-moderation/
******
Good one!
*****
Leni lacks the necessary “popularity” to take the center stage. She is nice and all, but to win the presidency you need to suit in with the taste of many people, not majority of the people but enough people to win the election. In my opinion, Leni is best to take on the support role, like a cabinet member, for whatever department her skills and talents are fit with.
If she want to take on the presidency this 2022, its better for her to take a senatorial seat first in 2019. The likes of Grace Poe will beat her if a presidential election will happen now.
To contradict President Duterte and to act like the opposite of him in media and in public is not enough. She needs an exposure, and being a senator is best, and act like Trillanes everytime there is a Senate Inquiry, Trillanes looks firm and confident, making sure that she stands out over her peers. Then why Leni won the VP race vs Trillanes? Because Trillanes attacked Duterte, and Duterte that time was the crowd favorite, and its a bad thing to attack the fan favorite. Also, its the VP race, and i said before, VP is more of a support role, which Leni suits best.
You are undermining Leni Robredo, as your pro-China advocacy would require. You are for sure not the target audience for this blog, but good of you to miss the point so profoundly anyway.
Joe,
@Andres2018 ‘s post was precisely the “small-minded” response Duterte was seeking from his supporters- to take away the discussion from all the failures which I enumerated in 1-12 above. He has nothing to offer so he discusses personalities instead.
Yes. He is, however, a good example of what professional trolls do to leverage the doubts that yellows state. The noise that undermines gets louder because the trolls leverage any perceived weakness.
@andrewlim8
“Small-minded” and “great-minded” Filipinos have the same voting power, its about the numbers.
I am not taking away the discussion of all the failures of Duterte, i mean, the post is about Leni, i would be happy if Joe will post anything about the failures of Duterte.
The post is not about Leni at all. Perhaps you should read beyond the title. By the way, given that Lance Corporal X abdicated his title, I hereby grant you the honor of bearing the title Chief Troll at The Society of Honor. Congratulations on your appointment.
I generally don’t comment directly about the Philippine Head of State, and leave that to others. Occasionally, I do remark as to the ridiculous of some of the goings on under him. This is a line I have drawn in my effort to stay on my side of the line between what a foreigner can engage in, and what he ought to leave to Filipino citizens. I would welcome a blog from you on that subject, of course . . . unless you are of Chinese citizenship, then I’d have to put in lots of caveats.
I am a Filipino, and i voted for Duterte and Robredo last 2016.
No blog from me, i am not a writer. Im afraid i could not articulate.
Its not about undermining Leni. Just take my comments as the view of the masses that are not with the same idea as you. To win the presidency, you need to look at all angles. Look who are the voters are, what they want. Are the 60 million Filipino voters have the same concept of civility as you? You need to really quantify.
You are an idealist, it seems to me. This post of yours, i believe is to empower the people within your circle, remove their doubts on Leni that is. Thats why, i understand you saying that this post of yours is not for me as the target audience. But, the market is wide.
You may or may not take this, to be a successful president, there are two major parts to consider, you need first to win the presidency, and second, you need to stay in power. That is in-order, obviously. Duterte is now in second part, that is, how to stay in power. So, all the strategy of Duterte and Co revolves around that, how to stay in power. For Leni, its the first part, that is, how to win the presidency.
Someone asked, “Is Leni too nice to be president?” You answered, “Its a ridiculous question…..”
But what about someone asked “Can Leni win the presidential race?” I am interested in your answer.
Not only can Leni win the presidential race, she stands a very good chance of winning given how disgusted people are with rising prices, non-performance and brutality of the drug war, loss of sovereignty, assorted prancings of Mocha Uson, and all the other failings that Andrew started compiling.
Your comment does cast doubts on Leni Robredo, and is what it is. You are entitled to an opinion. I believe most Filipinos are decent people, yes. Each has his lot in life, and for way too many, it is not enough. I believe they were tricked, were suckered in, and a growing number are quite aware of that now.
I am not an idealist in this blog. How can you get things so incredibly wrong, post after post? I am a pragmatist suggesting how pro-democracy people can stop giving you trolls such an easy ride by nagging on perfectly fine candidates.
I believe about 20% of Filipinos are decent. Some of those who voted Duterte for his anti-crime platforms are probably even the very traditional kind of Filipino. I even think that a part of that crowd might be disgusted at being associated with the 10% riff-raff around Mocha.
50% of Filipinos are I believe followers. Middle ground people. Those who will vote someone because she is a “good compromise” – many Poe voters – or voted Duterte – Leni to balance things out. Hard to make them commit to anything. They just go with the flow, mostly.
If my figures don’t add up to 100%, you are right. I am not yet decided about the other 20%. At least some are opportunists, maybe 15%, and 5% could be outright crooks.
We’d have to get into the definitions of decency. Some people are handicapped by lifestyle, and we’d have to discuss whether small scale crime or begging are indecent. I don’t consider them to be. Following is not, itself, indecent in my book. Family arguments? Bitter political rivalries? Do those mark indecency? Worth discussing, but a little off track.
If Leni will win the election because of the incompetency of Duterte and his party, it seems that its an exploitation of your opponents’ weakness, the same strategy that Mar Roxas lost. She still needs a tract record to stand among other contenders. Review what happen last 2016 election, a Duterte supporter would say, “Roxas is a failure because of this…yolanda, etc, mamasapano, and this and that… Here comes our Duterte, look what he did to Davao City.” If Leni has some accomplishments to offer, other than citing the incompetency of Duterte, then maybe she have a chance.
You obviously have not followed her career, or stint as VP. She does amazing work these days with a very constrained budget while being belittled cruelly by the State’s trolls and the President himself. She has a dignity that cannot be found elsewhere in government, and a mature, diplomatic way of phrasing objection. Terrific lady and the Philippines would be seen as mature and dignified with her at the helm. You should be proud of her. Every Filipino would be if they stopped listening to the trolls, envious political rivals like Duterte, and had the chance to see her at work. She represents Filipinos in the best way possible.
******
“You should be proud of her.
*****
Yes indeed. What in the world do people want “Filipino” to stand for? I look around, and man, she shoots to the top, and Pacquiao the bottom.
Amazing works like?
I don’t do research for others. The information is readily available to anyone who reads beyond Mocha Uson and the Manila Times, or who can google. And Karl has a point. Why did you vote for her if you doubt her capabilities? I would add, I have little patience for people who troll me on my own blogs or social media posts.
@Andres 2018
VP Leni’s Amazing Works:
And have a tour of the OVP website to familiarize yourself with the amazing work of the lady you claim you voted for.
http://ovp.gov.ph/angat-buhay/
1. Perfectionism is nonsense. A President never runs a country alone, he or she has a team.
If one looks at the team Duterte has and had, well I don’t need to say much. Compare that to Aquino’s team and you have notches of difference, including the present worse plight of the poor.
2. The need for a strong person is often reasoned out with Filipinos being extremely hard to lead.
Also the need to keep Senate and Congress under control. But what if Filipinos started electing proper Representatives and Senators for a change instead of horses, I mean Manny Pacquiao?
3. What is wrong with being nice and decent? Even 1995 I noticed NASTY creeping into the culture.
Maybe the pendulum of Zeitgeist (spirit of the times) will swing back. Certainly it will never be like the Amorsolo times of the 1950s again. The modern age is here to stay, but can it be a bit nicer?
4. He or she is one of us, he or she isn’t one of us. This postcolonial syndrome still is at work.
Binay and Duterte are OUR niggers. Mar Roxas isn’t, the Aquino’s aren’t. That kind of thinking. Does it apply to Leni Robredo though? Or Trillanes? Or Sereno? It hardly does, I think.
5. The populists have underestimated Filipinos. The pepedederalismo debacle is an example.
The Duterte double debacle in Marikina also. If I dare divide overseas, “non-elite” (UP, Ateneo etc.) Filipinos, I would say 20% are decent/traditional, 50% followers, 10% riff-raff (Mocha’s crowd)
—————————————-
There is of course the possibility (just following my intuition here) that not Grace Poe (already “bistado” or noticed in her moves) but Nancy Binay might run for Presidency and win in 2022.
She has the advantage of appealing to the average Filipino by being average, at the same time she has shown sensibility (katinuan ng isip) which was sorely lacking in the Duterte Administration.
Her slogan is “Be Nice”. Nice will not be an obstacle if I read the cards right. Crab mentality of those who are don’t get why Leni’s daughter is a scholar in Harvard is more dangerous.
——————————————
Joe, of course you are right that undermining one’s own favorite is the most dangerous thing one can do. Filipinos are often not satisfied with themselves, so they look for fault in others. Very sad.
Whew, thanks for that last paragraph. I thought you missed the point, but you nailed it. Nancy Binay is an interesting case. Someone is coaching her, and it may be Daddy. She is picking her issues, getting on the right side of them, and treading right down the independent middle between opposing forces. More power to her.
I have no doubts or reservations about ms leni, mr. Trillanes or mr. Carpio because clearly they share the same values I have. They need all the help we can give to manage a young democracy such as ours. It would be foolish to let them bear all the burdens of governance. We are all in this together and we have to make it work for future generations.
Well said, Grace. You are exactly in sync with the point of the article.
So what are Leni’s policy and ideological stand?
It’s off-topic, but worth spending a little time on. The blog really is not about Leni Robredo. There are two components of her policy positioning. One, she is basically doing her job as Vice President with a number of housing and poverty alleviation advocacies. She speaks regularly for laws, decency, and human rights. She is also the person the united opposition has selected as their leader. The platform for that opposition is being developed. It includes LP, Akbayan, and other organizations. You should feel comfortable that Akbayan is engaged, as they, in my mind, most closely align with your thinking. Her response to President Duterte’s slap at her the other day was very telling as to why she does what she does. Here’s an article about it. https://www.rappler.com/nation/209672-leni-jesse-robredo-video-response-duterte-tirade
Leni’s housing and poverty alleviation advocacies are commendable given the limited resources at her disposal as vice president Homelessness and poverty though are systemic problems that will defy band-aid solutions.
Is she too nice to be President? In a way, yes. She is too vulnerable, sweet and fragile. Too non-confrontational when the time calls for standing up and confronting evil.
Parang na gulpi de gulat ng kriminal na presidente at natameme na lang.
I do not know if that is a strength or a weakness politically.
Why couldn’t we have Antonio Trillanes instead?
Well, you weaken the pro-democracy advocacy by saying she is too vulnerable. I think you missed the whole point of the article. Also expressing favoritism for Trillanes. I’m gobsmacked and discouraged that even educated people cannot grasp the principle. Woe to democracy. By the way, I think she is one of the strongest, least fragile people around. Incredible strength.
That said, a lot of people commenting on the article on Facebook DO get the principle, and a few have candidly acknowledged they undermined Mar Roxas. One said in her case, she was negative about his wife. So I recovered nicely from my discouragement. Plus the article is getting a lot of reads.
I am sure Leni, her late husband Jesse, and their families are good, decent, honest people.
But this is a war, Joe.
Do good, honest, decent people like Leni have a stomach for engaging in war?
Somebody said good always triumphs over evil. But we have seen that is not always the case. Evil in many instances overpower the good.
You’re saying we get her elected first then we can get the democracy project rolling. Okey, so we have President Leni in 2022. Then what?
How is she going to confront the MAD team and the Crazy Rich Asians (Filipinos)?
Bahala na, we’ll take it from there?
The article is not about Leni Robredo. She is fully capable of running a sound government. Intelligent, precise, principled, hard-working. The nation would be in great hands. Her government would be well-organized, staffed with capable people, pointed at proper priorities, and effective. You are undermining her and it is that kind of undermining that gave us President Duterte. Why don’t you try getting outside the need to promote only your opinions and help elect a capable head of state for the Philippines?
“Her government would be well-organized, staffed with capable people, pointed at proper priorities, and effective.”
Hahahahaha-rinawa.
“Why don’t you try getting outside the need to promote only your opinions and help elect a capable head of state for the Philippines?”
That is exactly what I’m doing with these exchange, putting Leni’s (or whoever’s) feet to the fire and help make her capable, Joe.
Make no mistake, it’s a war out there.
No time for marshmallow, Joe.
No, you are undermining Leni Robredo, exactly what brought Duterte to the Philippines. Nice work, that. This is exactly the attitude I was referring to, your finding a need to overlay your personal vision as some kind of ‘truth’ and damaging unity in the process.
By the way, I would note that, based on the comments on my FB posting of this article, about half the people get the concept of the blog, and half do not. So I recognize it is not easy or natural to grasp the point. I’ll just let you be in whichever half you choose to be in, and move on now. My head aches (not really, but a person can only slam a wall a limited number of times before a physical condition arises.)
“No, you are undermining Leni Robredo, exactly what brought Duterte to the Philippines.”
Lordy, I hate to be repeating myself here but the 16 million who voted for the Davao thug were persuaded solely by their perception of having been left behind or economically alienated by the policies of the Aquino admin. No undermining, one way or the other, is necessary to reinforce what they, on their own, already believe.
@Micha, I know you would take offense with someone butting in your comments.
Everybody is entitled to their own opinions, but not to their own facts.
you give me the impression that everyone should take your opinions as facts, and I would be very glad to be proven wrong.
SO MUCH SYMBOLISM IN THAT SKIDDED CHINESE JETLINER
I find so much parallel in that Chinese jetliner that skidded off the runway in NAIA and our situation with China on the West Phil Sea.
1. The timetable to clear the runway keeps getting pushed back, similar to what Duterte keeps on saying about the Hague ruling on the WPS- that he will use it someday, just not now. (it will never happen)
2. Just like that jetliner, China will keep on hampering Philippine well-being, specially our economy, our fish catch and our sovereignty.
So we ask, TATAY, TATAY BAKIT MO PINAMIGAY? (Phil sovereignty)
Terminal 1 is a completely mobbed mass of anxious humanity. Oppression for sure.
TOO LATE THE ” PATRIOTISM”
I just realized that the way Alan ” Boneless Bangus” Cayetano pathetically grovels to be relevant and friendly with Duterte is the same as Duterte’s pathetic groveling and trying to be ” friends” with China. 🙂
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/664558/duterte-slams-china-s-nasty-words-to-phl-pilots/story/
The nerve of this guy to now portray himself to be a patriot after all he did in the first two years of his term.
If you hate yourself being wrong, that’s nothing nobody is perfect even and particularly perfecto yasay. Look more closely for your blind spot, and that is doubting or letting the seed of doubt cloud your better judgment. This is how the trolls of duterte succeeded in destroying the image of much better, more competent, more superior quality of leaders compared to the imbecile duterte packaged as the ultimate ace. In this article of Joe America, look more closely on the person whom you are rooting to be president to replace the inutile duterte. Then look inward within you for the seeds of doubt planted by social media trolls on the likes of Leni, Trillanes, Carpio, Sereno. I for one would say Mea Culpa, i have not defended with all my heart and soul, the last bulwarks of our democracy, precisely because of such doubts that are in fact baseless or simply based on fake news or data.
Yes! Look inward and build strength and confidence. Push that strength and confidence out.
Joe, I’m glad that the TSH in these last four blog-installments, IMO, is more pensive in tone and content. I detect a good amount of hope riding in the discussions on the Constitution and simmering sense of responsibility directed at the forthcoming decisions that must be made.
Thank you, Sonny. I’m enjoying writing again. I went flat for a time, part the frustration of bad internet connection, part the dismay of goings on in the Philippines. But the internet is humming, things are happening that give hope, and it is time to get back to work.
I also believe that Duterte was packaged clearly to win the presidency. The packaging was almost perfect that even the elites, the over thinking majority succumb to the propaganda! Duterte’s strength was over emphasized and his weaknesses described as strength of character and decisiveness while Roxas was described as weak in character, indecisive and slow in making decisions. The Pilipinos failed to read the real character of the man they chose to lead the country!
wgbanlaoi@yahoo.com
Good evening, Mr. JoeAm! Thank you for condensing in one article what many of us feel; our regrets; and what we think should be done.
“Is Leni too nice to be president” is actually a variant of the “what does she know? She’s just a housewife” doubt-sowing that the Marcos camp tried on Cory. (If you will notice, many of the current psy-war tactics of the Duterte/Marcos propagandists are straight from the dead dictator’s musty chest of tricks.)
Unfortunately, this question appeals to the simple-minded, and to those whose thinking is fed by old and comfortable prejudices.
If I had a company of my own, I’d hate to have to assign these people as job interviewers. They fail to see potential, possibilities, creativity. They fail to have the necessary faith that integrity and character will get the job done properly. Most importantly, they forget their own role in helping the candidate achieve the targets.
Ok. Suppose we voted like mature people in 2022 and had the sense not to be annoyed by trifling faults of our candidate. (Faults which are amplified by paid trolls, remember.) What then, as Micha asked above? Well, we should consider the following:
1) The VP currently has very limited resources and power at her disposal. Nevertheless, she gets things done without fanfare and with utmost economy. She will be a good manager of the national wealth if she becomes president.
2) The Marcos-Arroyo-Duterte gang and the loyalist/DDS crowd? They will once again fall into obscurity if they are beaten in the elections. We are a nation of butterfly politicians. Remember when President Noy was just elected? There was practically no opposition back then. Every congressman wanted to be an LP member. Leni, or whoever else wins, will have that kind of leverage; and this is where we need a principled, decent, unselfish president, to wield that influence responsibly.
3) The most important thing: Relentless, organized, intelligent, sober efforts from us citizens to demand accountability from public officials. A president like Leni will have our ear. My feeling is that her heart will be in the right place and will ignore those who would try to leverage “political debt.” As ordinary Filipinos, we cannot afford to repeat our laziness during Cory’s days, or our pettiness during Noynoy’s term. If a good candidate wins in 2022, it must be a symbiotic relationship between citizen and president. Else we die as a nation — there is China circling like a vulture.
I am personally glad that LP membership has been reduced to only those who would remain or join it because of principles. I can vote straight LP now and have peace of mind.
Wonderful assessment, Emmanuel. I read along nodding “exactly” all the way. Thank you for the rich statement of confidence, clarity, and realism together.
Hear Hear for the first part.
But, in my opinion, you went a step too far to incorporate Mar Roxas. This was a person with a track record of failures. Certainly, Churchill had a list of failures on his CV before he became the force needed at the time, but clearly had other characteristcs needed at that time.
Why not keep it to Leni who has show an enormous capability for bouncing off nasty accusations while staying a decent person, a show of character which is rare in these times. No need to include others.
I like the comments from Alexandra Ocasio-cortez when she refused to discuss others like Trump but simply fought for her own program and principles. I hope and believe Leni can do that. And we should support that by focussing on what we need, not what others do wrong.
Alexandria won. We need to win.
I didn’t chose Mar Roxas. He was the LP candidate along with other major candidates Duterte, Poe, and Binay.
He finished second. He was relentlessly undermined. He could have won and the Philippines would have a decent government.
As for your negative portrayal of him, I would ask, what is your authoritative basis for that conclusion? I sort information into four categories: (1) what is documented as substantially true (his business background, BPO effort, Senatorial work, role on trains, DILG work, Tacloban success/storm effort), (2) that which is patently false (troll work, portrayal of slipping in mud as representative of his character, Tacloban failure), (3) the analysis and guesswork we individually do piecing this and that together, and (4) what we know first hand from meeting or working with Mar Roxas.
I believe you are working in the realm of (3). So if you don’t care for Roxas, you would have opted for Poe, Duterte, or Binay. That’s fine. If that is not true, and you believe that, of the choices, Roxas had the most experience, certified good character, and sound competence, then you have a choice. Back him, support him, and talk positive. Or express reservations and weaknesses and undermine him, to show yourself as intellectual and a rigorous judge. And chase more people to Duterte, Poe, or Binay. A whole lot of people undermined him. I am saying stop that. Put the best man in office and forget about being so self-promotional and all-seeing (when we all operate primarily in ignorance).
My stomach turns when I hear people say “Well, Aquino made mistakes, but he was a good president.” Or, “Mar’s not perfect, but he’s the best we have.” They are justifying themselves, is what most are doing. They believe that only they have the truth and know best about the way things should be done. It is such an arrogant, self-involved way of looking at things. We all operate from a base of substantial ignorance, all the things we can’t see or know.
Aquino was a good president. Period.
Roxas would have been a good president. Period.
Robredo would be a good president. Period.
Anything beyond that is people showing off, in the main. Unless they can authoritatively document what they are saying.
1. Including Mar Roxas in the Robredo discussion diverts the attention. Q.E.D.
2. Training for many years and gradually increasing competency in emergency control myself, I feel reasonably competent to manage rather complex situations, but only to a certain level. When a politician just jumps into a slot where he is responsible for a whole country, it makes my stomach turn around because it makes me worried about the person’s lack of realism or lack of morality. The latter because the job carries an enormous responsibility. Unless he turns out to be a brilliant manager and can indeed turn around a lethargic organisation. Katrina and Yolanda are indeed prime examples of reckless incompetence costing lives and livelihoods. If you then look further back into the history of the appointed leaders, you see a similar pattern which makes one wonder and draw a conclusion based on performance. Probaly just like you and me were evaluated before the next step in a career.
In my opinion not the right person to include when the argument is that Robredo could make a great president but rather a distraction… returning back to point-1.
Sorry. That would be your blog, not mine. I need to refer to Mar Roxas because he is a perfect case for how people undermine, unintentionally.
As for your second point, that’s what we all do. It is still based on ignorance, probably in the 90% range.
Yolanda recklessness was that of Mayor Romualdez, not Roxas. Case in point.
Your opinion has no bearing on what is already done.
It strikes me that you don’t really grasp the intention of the article. It is not to discuss qualities of Leni Robredo or other candidates. It is to discuss unity and our tendency to analyze without regard as to whether or not we are helping or hurting our own cause. But I’ll do another article, scheduled for next Friday, to address the matter again. About half the readers, I figure, missed the point, so I failed in getting the point across well. So I’ll try, try, again until they grasp it, or convince me I am wrong. No one so far has said I am wrong in searching for unity and a strong pro-democracy voice.
*******
THINKING CONUNDRUMS
1. Premises
1.1. 1987 Constitution: ”Section 3. There shall be a Vice-President who shall have the same qualifications and term of office and be elected with, and in the same manner, as the President.” [Bolding mine.]
1.2. 1987 Constitution: ”Section 8. In case of death, permanent disability, removal from office, or resignation of the President, the Vice-President shall become the President to serve the unexpired term.” [Bolding mine.]
1.3. Andres 2018: ”Leni is best to take on the support role, like a cabinet member, for whatever department her skills and talents are fit with… VP is more of a support role…”
1.4. Andres 2018: ”I voted for Duterte and Robredo last 2016.”
2. Analysis
2.1. Categorization error. The commenter does not fully understand that the qualifications of the President and the Vice-President are the same. [1.1]
2.2. Scoping error: The commenter does not fully understand that the Vice-President can become the President under certain conditions. [1.2]
2.3. Erroneous reasoning: Commenter claims that VP Robredo is best “to take on a support role.” And yet he voted for her [1.4] despite the erroneous presumption of his claim [1.3] and his erroneous comprehension [2.2].
3. Go figure.
*****
People with agendas seldom argue without fallacies . . . half-truths, diversions, obfuscations, illogic. They are not striving for knowledge, but are peddling product.
He is now the Chief Troll, resurrecting ang reincarnating 2018 times 😉 is already an enormous feat. Not even Popoy can do that.
One thing is for sure,
After 3 to 4 months he will call himself Andes2019.
*******
🙂
*****
What I know is physical time travel to the future is not a reality yet–only mind travel based on artificial intelligence as defined by past and current accuracies in the application of the ARTS, SCIENCES and the resulting tsunamic TECHNOLOGY which are changing the earth–its politics, economics, ethics, etc. I could be wrong, mahirap magsalita ng tapos, kaya si Nostradamos sinulat na lang.
To me It is FINISHED for Leni. She will improve on Cory, Noynoy, and all the GUYS before Cory. LENI IS MY GUY. As was Monching MAGSAYSAY IS MY GUY and like the others Amang, Claro, Lorenzo, Jose Wright, and a few more names already written in the bedrock of history . I will include Noynoy, Mar, Sonny and Gary. FINISHED for Leni, Sonny and Gary– and come backing Nonoy and Mar. In the future when the young Egeneration looked to cogitate what they did, they will see the details of the struggle they heeded in a book written about this Society. Insane? Ask the blowing winds.
hey, Hey, HEY !!! How is that, what is that again?
When I read what the husband did as Mayor, what he was doing in DILG and he went missing and Noynoy and Mar stayed longer with Leni to give her moral support despite their awesome duties and responsibilities. There is something there in the likes of the life of Cory. And against ALL ODDS mostly evil than benign in election politics Leni got elected as the nation’s VP. It is FINISHED. “Iti missa est”.
Divine history suggests the internecine human war between good and evil continues to be FINISHED in their own junctures. If it is FINISHED for Leni, it is also FINISHED for her opposites. The details which are glaring for the discerning are written and read here in the Society.
Trolling and Trolls, Prostitution and Prostitutes ARE NOT definitive, absolutely Good or Evil. The mind and emotions can only reach the limits of discernment and wisdom–so bloggers may carefully judge or be judged. The nitty-gritty, the specifics of discourse separates the fakes from the real– that generalizations and conclusions be made based on truth. Mr. Joe and Mr Chemrock it is okay if here, bloggers call me a Troll.
Your use of waka in your handle reminds me of professor Popoy who has a lexicon of wakas, but if I am wrong in my assumption just tell me.
I was once one early morning, in a beach in Chiba Prefecture looking for evidence of lovemaking the night before–Don’t ask me HOW COME? –and the country now has a population problem.
I learned in an abandoned colony, Professor in Bahasa Indonesia is Guro. A guro should not teach or tell his students in public what they already know. It disrespects their intelligence and curiosity. More so for you Mr. KG who is not my student.
My Lolo and Lola who had long passed sometimes speak in riddles of their youth–my curiosity shoves me to keep trying to understand them.
I shall try for this forum sake to rein in or stop being a nuisance here.
Good Night. Boa Noite, Mi lukim ya; Ah Dios.
Lukim yu bihain pukpuk.
Since you included Tok Pisin in your adeus, my encryption app called google translate, recognized you.
So as Neo once said, see you later alligator! In Tok Pisin: Lukim yu bihain pukpuk.
Maybe you can top the number of reincarnations of Andres.
And a few years back I was questioning Primer for using Karl Popper and Primer in the same thread, also JAG and HVRDS.
You guys are masters of handles.
Deo Gratias! You just said the mass is ended, right?
Mr KarlGarcia I learned in Grade School from Fr. John P. Delaney, SJ what is in the hour-long, in-between those Latin words “Introibo Ad Altare Dei” means is My Gift to God and God’s Gift to me–suggesting no need for me to become a priest.
Gratias ago!
It is Sunday.
Leni could be a capable choir conductor or one of the ladies in the choir. It is FINISHED, she could stand tall and not a dwarf among ASEAN or the Big Twenty when they posed for pictures after a summit.
At the time I was told only few Filipinos have heard Anglican Mass at the King College Chapel–.the home of the famous choir.
I agree uncle Sonny! ( with Joe)
Has anybody noticed? Leni is as beautiful as the Lady conductor of the choir and orchestra. Kayumanggi nga lang. I could be Gibbor1 or Gibbero2 to say that to manage or to administer EFFECTIVELY an agency or a nation one should have the skills and knowledge of a an orchestra or choir conductor. Seldom the drummer who beat the noise to high heavens becomes a good conductor.
I’ve noticed.
In classical music I agree.
Who gave the Beatles rythm?
In jazz the bass often leads.
And gamelan, kulintang?
What music is the Philippines?
The Beatles had exotic rhythms that came from the deft intertwining of vocal and instrumental chords. I caught an interview driveabout with James Fallon (?) (the Brit comedy show host who sings in cars) and Paul McCartney, visiting his former homes and places where he played music. “Let It Be” came to him in a dream, and Mother Mary was his mother, who appeared in the dream to give him worldly guidance. Serendipity is a word that is often trite in the use of it, but I think that’s where the Beatles got their rhythm.
Thanks, Karl. (from Unc geezer) 🙂
🙂 That’s correct Latin, Karl.(gratias ago = I give thanks)
I used google this time, Unc!
Yay for Google!
Because “Introibo Ad Altare Dei” is such a memorable phrase from the old Latin Mass for geezers like me let me give the complete and not waste the reference:
“Introibo ad altare Dei, ad Deum qui laetificat juventutem meam.”
I will enter the altar of God, to God who gives joy to my youth. Beautiful. 🙂
I’m sorry, sonny, you don’t officially qualify as a geezer until your disposition turns sour. You have a long way to go yet. 🙂 🙂
Thanks, Joe!
Truth be told, the adrenaline and education I get from the TSH beats all the botox and liniments, and elixirs being peddled around. 🙂
Yes, it is a good way to keep mentally limber, I agree, and inspired, too, now and then.
Tweeto Wakatono, I found your gibberish messages to complicated to comprehend that even my encryption apps refused to decipher. Are you really human or you have just taken a writing lesson from Sophia?
“Tweeto Wakatono, I found your gibberish messages to [too?] complicated to comprehend that even my encryption apps refused to decipher. Are you really human or you have just taken a writing lesson from Sophia? – trebor9 ”
To trebor9 – I am sorry, my bad. Please be assured– although my messages (not the personal me, Eh) is gibberish (nonsense, garbage, unintelligible, rubbish, twaddle, claptrap) –that I am not a robot but a human being like the 110 million+ Filipinos now alive and kicking. Of course I need to explain to prove I am not fake news to hide a sinister agenda.
To Mr Joe Am – This is a little long for your blog of quality, so just DELETE. Anyway it could appear in a future book. Also it could germinate into farther (likewise further) knowledge–and discussion.
THE EXPLANATION. I was may be a young idiot when in Grade three I was to memorize a prayer with words (gibberish?) I can not fully understand like HEAVEN, HALLOWED, KINGDOM, TRESSPASSES, TEMPTATION and EVIL. Sure enough and with age I perhaps outgrew my idiocy.
In high school, I was a fool because although I don’t understand thousands of words because they are CONCEPTS, I kept on reading Kierkegard,Spinoza, SPA (Socrates, Plato, Aristotle), Nietzsche, etc. Perhaps those thousands of incomprehensible words GOT STUCK in my stubborn brain which in later years will just light up to make others not understand me. Some of those gibberish words and concepts started CROPPING UP in school lessons decreasing the amount of my childhood idiocy. USA’s Classic Comics was educational while Bulaklak and Liwayway, Hiwaga and Pilipino Komiks were joyous fun.
In College and PG studies, gibberish messages continually squatted on my brain as they come from Das Kapital, the Wealth of Nations, the writings of John Kenneth Galbraith, Tolstoy, Nabokov, Bertrand Russel, etc. I got almost drowned by required reading on the basic books in Plant and Animal Genetics, Military Science, Meteorology, Water Engineering. As joyful distractions I read all of Sir Conan Doyle and Mickey Spillane, and a little of D.H. Lawrence and the Bard of Stratford upon Avon.
My God! My life of childhood idiocy has to contend and endure tons of gibberish messages BUT which somehow in old age had helped me in my quest for HONESTY as prerequisite of INTEGRITY– two gibberish words from my Itay whom to the day of his death, I understood by his example.
ENOUGH of this gibberish explanation to trevor9. And probably best DELETED now.
Sorry, one more thing on the name Sophia (name, word, concept in PhD degree) which rings a bell on my dementiackish brain. In a basics of philosophy (for dummies?) Sophia was told like: To achieve an objective plan (or constitution) that is DEVOID 100% of FUTURE vested or selfish interests, this must be done by a select group of jailed WISEMEN who know they will all be put to death after they finish the document (which of course would not apply contextually to the members of the exalted Constitution Consultative? Committee of the present Duterte Administration ) .
AH yes, one more gibberish attempt at explanation. Albert Einstein, that statistical clerk turned philosopher who regretted he did not study Math as the language of Physics and who theorized Relativity into a formula: E= mc2 — which COULD still be gibberish to million souls, I THOUGHT I understood it only after retirement to mean as energy is equal to mass times speed squared. I read somewhere that in doing treadmill for heart test and exercise, my energy is equal to my body mass multiplied by the speed of my motion. Like saying my energy is really my weight (changing as mass) multiplied (how fast I move myself) by the speed (km per hour) both multiplied by itself.
Even if you are not a US or a Philippine Marine soldier (who are consummate foxhole buddies and will LIKELY never kill each other) whose average march is 3 miles per hour, IF you know your weight Mr. trevor9, and fixed the treadmill speed at 6 miles per hour, you will know the stretch of your energy has something to do with your weight (body mass) and the speed you move it from one point to another. The stamina (physical staying power) of politicians like Enrile, Duterte, Imelda, Gloria, vs Leni, Trillanes, Gary, Bam, Mar, Ninoy, will be measured by their Einsteinian E (energy) by using a treadmill.
To KarlGarcia: I said I don’t TRY to tell in public my students what they already know. You are not my student, but if you read again, I have answered your question (to which I presumed) you already know the answer–albeit indirectly.
Finally, being human and old guro, I don’t mind my messages being gibberish to those young of mind.
Sophia is knowledge. Hagia Sophia is holy knowledge.
Philos is love. Philosophy is love of knowledge.
Vishnu had many avatar or appearances, one of them Krishna.
The avatars of the guro are all the same, Andy, popoy or tweetono.
Concepts are they avatars of reality? What’s in a name?
Ang ganda naman IBRS. The avatar of the guro could also be Abu from Australia, Trobriands, Tausogs, Maranao, Dumagats, or just like the African Americans I can have as avatar the surnames of the Founding fathers, being Washington, a Jefferson, a Jackson, a Williams, a Carter or Clinton, but I will hesitate to use as avatar, a Macapagal, Estrada, a Ramos, etc. for debatable reasons.
PiE (anybody, really), pls give synonyms for avatar. I’m catching on but still need help. 🙂
icon.
https://1.gravatar.com/avatar/4fbbd25cabe79003e164872560dcdfea?s=60&d=identicon&r=PG
Thanks, Karl. I get icon, image, manifestation. ?symbol, ?representation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avatar_(disambiguation)
Original Hindu meaning: material manifestation of a deity.
Darn, I thought you were going to talk about girls in this episode, but instead we got physical education.
I know you have answered it, I am just so makulit.
Not gibberish at all.
I was reading a tribute article about Peter Drucker, and the author said he is often circular when driving a point, yet when it is time to nail it, he nails it.(paraphrased)
That is why his 1950s ideas are still applicable and if not just tweaked a bit to adapt to our times.
Too bad, he was maligned as a has been by some people before he died.
You are a legend professor, I am glad even if I am not your student, I consider you as one of my teachers in life, as is all of the contributors including those who were called trolls here in TSoH.
As for Sophia the robot.
She is an Emirates citizen.
What is her opinion on OFW maid’s days off and keeping passports?
Maybe she could be interviewed by Heydarian.
Or Jimmy Fallon.
If I accidentally whacked your views mercilessly at times, it is because you are LIKE one of my favorite students. you should read Dale Carnegie and contrast him with Talcott Parsons. Never mind Max Weber and Karl Marx who did and wrote it in London Library.
Early in the previous century, Fred Winslow Taylor, the Father of Scientific Management (POSDCORB) could have visited the UP College of Agriculture in Los Banos. A graduate (not a lawyer) of the same college could have been the first to codify the country’s Population and Family Planning Policies (a copymight still be found in the POPCOM Library).
Re:
Dale Carnegie.
How to win friends and influence people, etc.
bookmarked.
https://archive.org/search.php?query=dale%20carnegie
https://archive.org/search.php?query=Talcott%20parsons
Talcott Parsons: Bookmarked
Mercedes Concepcion: The Population of the Philippines: Bookmarked.
Click to access c-c42.pdf
TSoH’s librarian at your service.
As for the Father of Scientific Management, we go back to pigs.
“”Management theory came to life in 1899 with a simple question: “How many tons of pig iron bars can a worker load onto a rail car in the course of a working day?” The man behind this question was Frederick Winslow Taylor, the author of The Principles of Scientific Management and, by most accounts, the founding father of the whole management business.
Click to access The%20Management%20Myth.pdf
Karl, before the declaration of Martial Law I heard her as an invited lecturer to one of our training programs, Professor Ditas Concepcion admonished senior public servants: “what population explosion are you talking about? They are already here, born and are with us now.” And that time was may be 48 years before we exploded to more than 110 million souls. Traffic, dengue, recurrent floods, drug addiction, murders, plunder, heinous corruption etc. Prof. Ditas said it was FINISHED to happen long ago. I won’t mind and will be happy to be corrected If Prof Ditas is still around to say here I am fake news.
May be Prof Ditas did not know it, in mid nineties, my kumpadreng Tony(+), who used to be salesman of office equipment told me he can’t understand those POP I (UP Population Institute) people. He was giving them % commission for the electric calculators they purchased and they did not like it. All they wanted was discounts. This comment is not gibberish I hope. .
Irineo, Sophia is saudi citizen. The only female saudi who don’t need to wear scarf.
Animal Genetics is very clear.
In High School our dirty minds laughed at Animal Husbandry.
Well, I won’t forget the smell for a semester I got every time I attended a lecture on Swine Husbandry; it was better and milder on lectures in Poultry Husbandry. Darn, those smells stick to one’s clothes and body and indelibly to one’s mind.
One time, The missus was not amused when I asked an attractive saleswoman tending a store near Quiapo Quinta market what does her husband say every time she arrives home from work. She said her husband is used to the familiar smell but she takes a bath to remove the smell.
Ah, the smell of infidelity. The perfume of number 2 sticks to the body of the mister and gives him away when he caresses the missus.
When King Lear’s eldest daughter says ‘willst thou husband me’ to her father’s enemy, what does she mean then?
Chicken or oink?
Adobo.
Mr Ireneo, I supposed had experienced how it is to perform artificial insemination of carabao cows. I saw it’s dung messy. Pero, It’s awesome experience to watch a stallion perform reproduction techniques with his mare. Not so unlike watching a French Emmanuelle movie. And that’s undergraduate Animal Husbandry for the ninos innocentes.
I had a co-worker who used to have a summer job inseminating cattle cows. With an arm-long glove he took a handful of frozen cattle sperm and inserted same into the business end of the cow. I wondered how the cows felt every time they saw him coming.
You kidding, it’s your best post ever. I chuckled because I could not even get through “A Tale of Two Cities” in 9th grade, failed to submit the required book report, but got a “B” from the teacher because my brother, the year before, had been such an exceptional student that the teacher “knew I could do it if I set my mind to it.” Well, perhaps he had the compassion of Dickens, or just picked up on the depression I had entered into some time before and extracted myself from some four decades later. I am quite in awe of your literary escapades, although it for some reason reminds me of Cervantes and the book on my shelf some 100 pages short of my completing it. It was about novels, about book burning and whether fiction should be banned as fake news. Only they didn’t call it news in those days. I don’t know what they called it.
Hah, Hah, Mr. Joe. I sat once as a member of the same Masteral Admissions Committee which rejected my application to pursue masteral studies. I barely passed (pasang-awa daw) my comphre exam to earn my masters in the College where I later became college secretary. I return to teach in the university where my grades are not enough to enroll in the honors curriculum but barely pass for the general curriculum. Ah life, crazy but hopefully not insane. There is more, but less is best to avoid being deleted.
🙂 🙂 🙂
Mr. Wakatono, I sympathize, and I admire your wonderful handling of accusations of being a gibberish-maker.
I assure you, it is not gibberish. It is Saguisagish.
God bless! ☺
A Renito was my seatmate in Grade Four, when two pupils occupy a single desk. he went to San Beda to become a lawyer, I went to Los Banos to be a trainor of farmers. But still for the life of me I can’t figure our how a person who can’t finish a sentence when speaking can pass the Philippine Bar. Renito was in the top ten and could have been a magistrate of the SC, if he wanted to..
“… person who can’t finish a sentence when speaking … can pass the Philippine Bar. Renito was in the top ten … could have been a magistrate of the SC, if he wanted to.”
Yep. that’s the Saguisag we know. 🙂
Enlightening for those who understand English and well-educated. But for those who are less fortunate to finish high school and who are part of the the mass base of Filipinos as voters, the substantive message of this write up may hardly fall into one’s discernment. Social media alone (FB) may not claim that this write up can reach the considerable percentage of the Filipino masses. To enable, sustained awareness campaign through appropriate form of media (local radio, television, etc.) at all level of society in the language and dialect understood is advised. That may perhaps yield favorable results which be used as gauge for further improvement of applied approaches until the message of this write up tickles the heart & mind of most Filipinos.
The article is indeed for the educated who drive a lot of opinions and both social and mass media content. Reaching the masses is a challenge, and I think your ideas are good. The actual message would be tricky to write, I think.
I I could see it this way. The piece at bar (in contention) is not exactly like “You cannot eat your cake and have it too,” meaning You cannot eat your cake and bring it home too (outside your stomach). IMPOSSIBLE, but not for all Filipinos, only for some of them MAY BE — they can EAT kare-kare and litson at a party and bring them home too (to go) as accepted custom.
Filipinos want it perfect and complete for anything on offer. Some people do not realize that Hefner’s Playboy magazine is not for Nuns, but optional may be for priests and bishops. Filipinos have lots of NEWSPAPERS AND tabloids that’s almost complete, and can sensationalized everything. Filipinos have less numbers of magazines, eg. Entertainment mags for special audience like the bakya crowd (very slowly vanishing breed) or more sophiscated ones for the elite rich and intellectuals or the professionals.
Blogs are special too, more than Facebook, contrast it with the names of Ellen T. and Raissa Robles who cares and may be happier if they are read by the disadvantaged. A basket of complete fruits may not sell as fast as a pound of seedless grapes. Some readers look for and prefer TOTALS and less on SUB-TOTALS.
Ah, to be gibberish in substance is conducive to be nauseous.
Not an ounce of gibberish, this evening, Tweeto, all fine dissections of the human condition, such as it is wont to be. 🙂
Dako, Salamat guid. ’cause I don’t know how to say it in Waray.
Damo nga salamat, your phone could be your interpreter nowadays.
Karl, have you heard the joke which purportedly happened in a majestic desert tent when a Caliph opened his robe for a lady visitor who in surprised admiration exclaimed: Wow Kadako! to which His Majesty corrected: It is Khadafy, Madam, not Khadako. Heard it in Hiligaynon from an Upsilonian in Iloilo City.
It is funny, for it to remain funny, I must not reflect if I heard it before.
Roland’s comment is right, of course. And now I hope he and others here take my following comment in the spirit of the general exchange here. Part of the recurring idea is perfection or imperfection of things — “that is all well and good but…” If the blog article is three times longer and goes into more details and language that “suits, ” will the “but” at the end of the first quote disappear? In any case the Editor has explained his reason — which is: for the article to serve as a multiplier through those who understand and agree in the main on the points made in the article as it stands. [For those not sold yet, he promises more to come a week from now.]
I think it is up to the radio announcer who agrees with Joe to spread the word.
We do our part with our small talk with whomever wants to do small talk with us like cab drivers, barbers,etc.
I give this article one million 👍, thanks JoeAm, every pro democracy person should read this