The Philippine Goldilocks problem
Analysis and Opinion
By Joe America
No, no, I don’t mean the Filipino bakery. I mean the 19th century fairy tale in which a girl named Goldilocks, like a thief in the daytime, enters the forest home of a bear family and tries the chairs, looking for the one that fits best (too big, too little, just right), then samples the porridge, seeking the one that is perfect temperature (too hot, too cold, just right), then moves to the bedroom in which she searches for the perfect bed (too hard, too soft, just right).
Wiki: “Author Christopher Booker characterises this as the ‘dialectical three’ where ‘the first is wrong in one way, the second in another or opposite way, and only the third, in the middle, is just right’. Booker continues: ‘This idea that the way forward lies in finding an exact middle path between opposites is of extraordinary importance in storytelling.'”
But in life, the center path is generally as imaginary as is the fairy tale. And demanding it is destructive. Michele Obama made this point in her speech to the US Democratic Convention recently. She was warning people at the extreme left that trying to move the center their direction by criticizing other Democrats would weaken the unity required to beat Donald Trump.
The goldilocks syndrome illustrates how people striving honorably for their own goals can be destructive to their own best interests. The discipline of “letting go of my interests” to achieve a bigger success is hard to grasp, and hard to do. Well, successful business executives have no trouble defining the feeling that attaches to letting go because they experience it every time they delegate. They must trust that others will succeed even if they do things differently. It’s hard to sit back and trust.
But it is necessary.
It is easy to see, here in the Philippines, how destructive it becomes when people can’t let go of their own interests to achieve a bigger goal. The Aquino presidency was a masterclass of people unable to let go, unable to trust, and unable to win, in the end.
They voted for Rodrigo Duterte over Mar Roxas.
They hurt themselves, in the end. They could not stand imperfection. It was easier for them to back a complete fiction, that of a decent Duterte, than a known but “flawed” truly decent man, Mar Roxas. They preferred a perfect gangster over a flawed good man.
Our petulant demands are a problem holding the Philippines back. It’s a universal mistake. It’s everywhere. Few people seem to have the removed and dispassionate ability to do the hard stuff. To let go. To accept mistakes made with good intent. To trust CHARACTER, not drive for the impossible ideal that a President is there to do it “just the way we want”..
Being president is the most complex job in the Philippines. The hardest job. And generally thankless.
The craziness is that every Filipino thinks they know how to do that job better.
No. No, they don’t.
They know how to whine. To be the crab. To pose that they have superior data.
This is endlessly destructive. It throws out good character for being imperfect, and it delivers bad character, guaranteed to be destructive.
Filipinos need to become less crabby and more circumspect.
Good will never be perfection. But it will always be good.
_________________________
Photograph from ABS-CBN article “Mar Roxas says to ‘learn, work, love some more’ after election loss“
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I totally agree Joeam. We Filipinos never learn from the past. Some of us prefer popular candidates over the good ones. Some are just blind, following someone who does not deserve their loyalty and cannot deliver. Pathetic lot.
Thanks, Arlene. We have to teach that imperfect good character is better for us than perfectly bad character.
Irineo and was it Fallows who used the Boiling Frog Analogy for Pinoys.
Now Irineo is already into Frogmatism rather than being dogmatic.
At least Goldilocks is not yet apathetic and numb and still knows when it’s too hot and escape when the big bad wolf arrives…wait there was no wolf involved and she slept and I wonder how Papa Bear and Mama Bear handled it, did they just let her go.
Better be Goldilocks than Kermit the Frog.But the Frog prince got the princess so maybe that’s good too.
Dropping a link.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/hennainam/2013/08/28/leadership-and-the-boiling-frog-experiment/
Goldilocks jumped out the window from the second floor bedroom. In this instance, the crab analogy works because the perfectly good and smart crabs get to the top of the bucket when the insecure cooking crabs drag them back down. The perfection looks like a flaw.
Thanks now I remember. Yes we are more crab than frogs.
I will tell Irineo that we are crabmatic and not frogmatic.
There was another, even more insidious, Goldilocks effect in 2016 and 2022.
There were those who found the good too good to be true and didn’t like the bad (Duterte) or the lazy (Marcos Jr.) either.
Grace Poe and Isko Moreno offered to be the just right to the crowd that didn’t believe there could be any saints in real life.
Atty. Leni also benefitted a bit in 2016 from those Duterte voters who wanted to balance good and bad somehow into just right.
There ARE Filipinos who feel that good people are a kind of reproach to them. One has to tone down goodness there at times. Andrew Lim wrote about this.
Actually, VP Leni did that well. She did NOT act “sanctified,” which is often confounded with “sanctimonious” over there. She does NOT seem judgemental at all.
She didn’t have the Atenean “habitus” of Mar and PNoy either, a kind of behavior that might remind some Filipinos of the kind of Ateneans that don’t give you the time of day.
Beh Buti Nga, the OPM classic, is about “serves you right for snubbing me just because I am not from La Salle,” but it also applies to Ateneans, I guess.
As we know, La Sallistas learn to wash their hands after using the urinal, Ateneans were taught by the Jesuits how to NOT get their hands dirty. Jesuits are almost Illuminati I guess. 😉
Atty. Leni still showed in 2022 that a camel can more easily pass through the eye of a needle nowadays than someone associated with The Color Yellow can win Filipinos’ hearts.
That is why Akbayan stands a chance in 2025, but LP might not.
Ah, Grace Poe, yes, the just right candidate. Populist, no positions on anything, maybe American or not, whichever is best. She gave us Duterte.
But even if Grace Poe seems to lack principle, I think the Philippines usually has principles.
Sen. Risa is obviously now the new Principal in the Senate.
I’m always impressed by institutional values that hold sound as all the looseness around them create conflict and chaos. They are the values expressed in the Constitution and laws, which are founded on religious values. Writing things down was a huge advancement of humankind.
Doesn’t Akbayan only have one Congressional seat at the moment? Akbayan was one of the smaller parties in the “Team PNoy” coalition. It seems like a “heavy lift” for a smaller party with less resources to get past the finish line in a few years.
Good question. In any case, Chel Diokno is with them now and, of course, Risa Hontiveros with her present popularity.
They might market themselves as red but not too red, and liberal but not the often reviled (for no good reason) yellow, at least implicitly, in line with “just right” as Joe defined it – though in the long run that may end in limbo, just like Grace Poe or Isko Moreno.
Perhaps Akbayan will change their colors to orange?
I had heard more than a few times from Filipinos during those election years that Grace Poe and Isko Moreno were too evasive and seemed insincere. Ironic that when Grace Poe lost the Philippines got a literal fraud. Well at least at the moment it’s just the lazy bum.
Orange is Villar color.
There will be a new UP campus in Villar City focusing on innovation.
Much Ado About nagpapaka baliw sa research. (Cynthia Villar)
another villar, camille villar, is said to be considering a senate seat.
She’s o TV too. (Earlier topic). Her mom used up all her term limit. Maybe they will swap positions. Mom will run for congress .
Orange was just a small jest towards being “just right” between the red and yellow factions. Of course Akbayan can choose new colors if they wish.
I wonder if the UP Villar City campus will focus on agriculture research, specifically corn productivity. That might drive Senator Villar crazy again.
Yeah mixture of red and yellow. Re UP. . The branch in Los Ban̈os ( so many bathrooms j/k) already specializes in Agrculture but we will see, they said will focus on innovation but innovation is so broad. Yeah that might drive her crazy.
Honestly, any innovation that can be implemented at scale is probably a good thing. One thing I wish Filipino leaders, scholars, and students would consider is that it is absolutely possible in today’s age to create new solutions on the cheap. I had previously shared about single-board computers, which can provide computing resources for a low price. Computer Science students can create a Linux distribution for the Philippines, which would increase knowledge, for example.
I was at the computer shop today and browsed the new 3D printers. I was so shocked that some models are as cheap as $150 for a medium-sized budget 3D printer by Creality or Bambu Lab, both good brands. Filament for 3D printers is very cheap per spool. Even the US military is getting into 3D printers now as it revolutionizes and makes famously expensive military components cheaper, after generals noticed soldiers 3D printing small parts to replace out of production replacement parts.
Hope many think and act like you do.
military general natin are from the old school, it will be hard to convince them to be modern.
maybe if it can be shown that parts of the ship that was rammed by the chinese, the replacement parts can be manufactured cheaply via 3d printer, the generals may see the good in them printer usage.
Ship hull damage probably can’t be fixed with 3D printing; that would be traditional sheet steel welding. There are 3D printers that can print metal now however instead of plastic filament.
US Air Force airmen are using 3D printers to make parts for B-52 bombers that are older than their grandfathers in some instances. I have friends in Ukraine and it’s amazing how Ukrainians have transformed their ingenuity to create cheap but effective solutions since they don’t have the resources of the Russians. Yes the US and NATO are helping a lot with high end defense weapons, but those are used strategically. Most fighting still involves low end weapons. The Taiwanese are noticing and talking with Ukrainians how to fight against a bigger bully. I think the Philippines can make new friends here too with Ukraine.
I remember a not so cordial debate of an academy and a retired Admiral about New Wars with the topic of mercenaries.
The academy basically told the admiral “What’s new about that?” (Use of mercenaries).
You confuse old war and new war and do more research…. the academy told the Admiral
I had to interject and said New wars was proposed by Mary Keldon among other proponents.
last time zelensky was here in philippines, dressed in his usual attire of military garb, pres marcos was summat lukewarm to him. apparently zelensky is not that bigger vip marcos is used to rubbing shoulders with like maybe biden and the german chancellor. when zelensky personally invited marcos to attend a summit in europe, marcos sent a minor delegate.
It would be great if Ukraine becomes part of NATO because article
If Ukraine becomes a member of NATO article 5 will oblige the rear volt in and come to the rescue officially.
I sm disappointed that we do not want US escorts in sending food and etc to our personnel.
Noting that same article 5 of NATO that if you attack one, you attack the rest. That is why Germany, Italian or even French presence in the Indo Pacific is worrisome to China.
This decision didn’t make sense to me too. Sometimes I wonder if it’s an expression of Filipino pridefulness, or the government being afraid of fragments of Far Left “anti-imperialist” ideology that over time had become common belief in less educated Filipinos. When US forces were ordered out in 1992, China set up shop in Mischief Reef by 1995. Even strong countries like Germany, Japan, South Korea understand the value of having allied forces stationed in their territory.
Zelenskyy taking the time to visit Manila, even though the Philippines doesn’t have that much in terms of tangibles to offer was a statement of respect in itself acknowledging the position of the Philippines as the oldest Asian democracy (by measure of continuity to the First Republic). I was disappointed when Zelenskyy’s gesture was not reciprocated, when it would’ve been politically cheap for Marcos Jr. to do so since the Philippines is no longer groveling to Putin and Xi. Perhaps Marcos Jr. is only starstuck by big stars just like K-pop fans are!
It was also a mistake since Ukraine was in fact the academic, technological and industrial heart of the former Soviet Union, though it doesn’t seem so due to Ukraine’s current misfortune. By making friends early, the Philippines could’ve had more chances to participate in technology transfers as Ukraine rebuilds its institutions and industry following the war. In addition not to mention the immense knowledge Ukraine paid for in blood to develop the future concept of asymmetric warfare that even the US has sent military and industry experts to learn from.
The Philippines often makes the mistake of thinking and acting in malakas/mahina, llamado/dehado, big time / small time categories. Like for instance being low key rude to West Germany when it still was a weak front state. Notable exceptions existed, but a lot of Filipino diplomats in Bonn in the 1980s preferred to hang out at the American Embassy club than spend more time learning German and meeting up with their German counterparts. That of course changed when in the time of Merkel, Germany was at a high point of international respectability. Possibly it is different now that Western Europe is again threatened, and I am far from those circles now, but will they scurry back once Russia doesn’t win after all? Act like that and wonder why certain countries don’t trust the Philippines.
Similarly, I recall how Duterte treated the South Korean ambassador when he first held court in Davao and invited foreign dignitaries. As if the Philippines already was of higher rank due to his presumed being “malakas sa China”.
Oh, and there are some Filipinos who believe one shouldn’t ally with the rest of ASEAN to deal with China because there are issues with Malaysia re Sabah and BARMM, Vietnam also poached some islands from the Philippines decades ago, Indonesia also has business deals with China (actually, they got a speed train in Java, Duterte got no train in Mindanao, proving that sipsip diplomacy doesn’t gain respect) and all that. Oh well, go for it, walang sisihan.
We might as well be frank, since honesty is the best medicine: I don’t think any nations really trust the Philippines aside from the US due to security commitments and historical guilt over colonization. And even for Americans, there is a feeling of ambivalence to even outright disdain towards nations that don’t show basic appreciation and try to play both sides. Just ask the Afghans who suddenly realized how much the US had done for their country over 20 years when the Taliban overran their country. Zelenskyy understands this, even if he did make early blunders in making unreasonable demands and having feelings of privilege. He quickly changed his tune and rightly so once his advisors and diplomats advised him that this was a foolish way to proceed. Ukraine subsequently received billions in help with the majority of Americans rallying to the Ukrainian cause.
The nationalistic strain that runs through some Filipino politics is empty and useless as I previously observed. Nationalism is a vacuous ideology that has no strong beliefs besides malakas. As I have seen the Chinese “ghost cities” and stark economic divide in China, China’s shaky domestic economy has also caused the PRC to become more outwardly belligerent in order to soothe their populace and redirect citizen anger to foreign enemies. Historically, we can see many examples of nations engaging in wars of conquest when there is domestic discontent. Well, maybe the politicians who stir up Filipino nationalism are in a war of conquest for empty thoughts!
Re: Issues with SEA neighbors. Malakas is only useful if one is actually powerful. The Vietnamese side could also argue that the individual islands in the Spratlys chain in question had recorded history of Vietnamese and Cham fishermen using the islands prior to the Spanish claim. While in Sabah, the Sabahan themselves voted in a plebiscite to remain with Malaysia because why would they have wanted to rejoin Sulu given the poverty and issues during that time (and some that are still present now). My Tausug prinsipe friend does insist that Sulu will reconquer Sabah though, hah. Indonesia did well playing both sides during the Cold War, just like India did, but Indonesia is figuring things out faster than India now and running to the US-led alliance as fast as they can. All these above issues could be dealt with diplomatically once peace in the South China Sea is achieved. Politicians have a job to put things into perspective for the people, who don’t have the luxury of being experts in such issues. Splitting natural would-be allies over minor issues plays directly into China’s salami slicing strategy.
The reason why Marcos Jr’s snubbing of Zelenskyy annoyed me is one part due to having traveled through Ukraine (and Eastern Europe) in my youth and maintaining friends there, and also seeing how Ukraine could help teach the Philippines strategies for withstanding a much larger bully. For example Ukraine has no navy, yet decimated the Russian Black Sea Fleet with cruise missiles and what are basically improvised anti-ship Sea-Doos with big bombs strapped on. The Taiwanese are smart enough to start engaging with Ukraine to learn how to recapitalize their degraded Taiwanese military to prepare for an asymmetric war. Even the mighty US DoD has sent observers to learn lessons from Ukraine’s military innovations. If more powerful countries understand the usefulness of engagement, then why can’t Marcos Jr?
B4 I asked JP an ignoramus question of how 3d printed guns work? Those hulls can work, I am sure if I dig deeper, I could find an example.But knowing is just half the battle and implementation is always the universal problem.
An issue the Philippine government often has is spending too much time researching solutions rather than just “doing it.” For example in my industry the fight between detailed, linear development models like Waterfall vs more nimble, somewhat erratic models like Agile. I was trained by old industry hands so I prefer Waterfall, but I recognize the inaction the model can induce once too many issues arise from feature creep. Agile doesn’t have those inhibitions, but it can introduce many mistakes along the way especially in high complexity environments. Thankfully nowadays there’s a happy medium in the Hybrid model that attempts to take the strength of both models to minimize the downsides. The Philippines government often takes linear thinking to the extreme, causing inaction until the situation has evolved thus wasting time in needing to restart. Hence, “do something.”
On 3D printed guns, I’ve made a few myself. The more reliable open source models require traditional barrels and firing pins. So it’s not that different from modern gunsmithing where the upper receiver, action, and barrel are CNC machined while the other parts like stock, grip, lower receiver are injection mold polymer. That’s how it worked anyway when I made my US BATFE legal AR-15. Functionality-wise, my CNC made AR-15 worked exactly the same as commercial variants like the heirloom AR-15 that my father gave me.
The Philippine government and many big businesses there are super Waterfall, while the street Filipino is super Agile. In fact, if I look back at Mamasapano, it probably failed because it was planned too Waterfall, with too little flexibility to react to known unknowns and much less to unknown unknowns. Of course, very Agile diskarte has other weaknesses, but maybe the Philippines can do at many levels what Brazil did to achieve the Penta (5th World Cup win) back in 2002: channel the chaotic energy of spontaneity without stifling it.
I think you’re being too generous with regard to the Mamasapano incident. If I recall, the after action assessment basically had the PNP Special Action Force’s critical mistake being relying too much on scripted training, much like BPO agents rely on their scripts and tools and can’t think quickly when real world scenarios are not so rigid nor predictable.
In a war situation, I see Ukraine iterating so rapidly it’s almost unbelievable how many new lessons learned have come out in the conflict. It’s no wonder US DoD (as well as other NATO nations) has sent over observers to learn, being that the DoD is a famously rigid organization.
Outside of war, I see today’s African nations quickly adapting and accepting what limitations they have but finding ways around constraints. Just amazing innovation and entrepreneurship out of the African continent.
I beg to differ on your Monday Morning quarterbacking after thousands of Mondays have passed. As they say practice makes perfect. But there is diversity in their training like urban and jungle warfare, but usually they over lap with the SWAT and they also overlap with the Army and the Marines.
As an artist you should know that rehearsals are also repetitive and terally scripted.
Ps
In our new wars , cognitive warfare, cyber warfare is a must or else we are sitting ducks for target practice
In my line of work I deal with chaos and unpredictability. Usually my job is to create organization out of chaos created by careerist complacency, though I liken myself to a glorified secretary for the same reasons.
To be fair, my knowledge of AFP and PNP practices is more superficial compared to others. Both the AFP/PNP did get much better at anti-terrorism with training by the US and others on COIN tactics, something the US paid with blood to re-learn in the GWOT. American COIN and hostage rescue training emphasizes unknowns, with the breach and clear course being constantly changed in order to force soldiers to develop split-second decision making.
Tabula Rasa as Irineo pointed out. Thanks fir the 3D printing guns tutorial, I will make millions ….too many loose fire arms and many owners who won’t care of election gun bans specially during a road rage episode.
isnt that very apt! UP campus at villar city is going to do big on innovation just when senator cynthia villar is reaching the end of her senate term, I wont be surprised if said campus bagged up majority of DA research studies costing millions from DA budget. with almost always the same recommendations that more research is need just as one research finished but with open conclusion that more research is needed. ay, medyo naguguluhan ako!
Well that’s the nature of research. Sometimes the results of a study need more investigation, or it failed to reach the expected conclusions. The important part is that any conclusion is analyzed and used to fine tune further research to reach success. I hope the researchers and public-private partnership won’t be discouraged if they don’t get it right the first time. There is a worry though that research can be used as another vehicle for corruption and disappearing public funds.
ahem, I hope my ever beloved and darling senator, cyntia villar, will go crazy once more! and asked if similar researches have already been done like maybe by our neighboring countries like vietnam, indonesia, malaysia, thailand etc. whether we are duplicating what has been researched, or copying! philippines is member of asean and there has been much collaboration in researches, exchanges of ideas, and scholars too. we could gain from their researches, or participate or collaborate with them with less cost to us.
There’s no shame in copying as long as it’s within legal bounds of Philippine IP commitments. Imitation is often the best form of flattery. Oftentimes Filipino leaders insist on reinventing the wheel as a matter of national pride, even though there are many international lessons learned that can be applied.
omg! I think, researchers should be damn well ashamed to charge agri dept 150 millions from its 2023 budget! if they were only copying what has been already researched.
Wait… the researchers actually copied the results and still asked for their salary? Sounds like a lot of students in the Philippines hehe. We need to start thinking about all those poor trees that were cut down and turned into bond paper for printing, which has now been thrown into the landfill…
The key question is how to get visibility. The top 15 in early polls are all populists or old timers, politically. To get visibility, you probably need funding, and that is a huge hurdle. But again, the goal is not to give up, it is to do one’s best.
methink, visibility is probly not much of a problem as they are all visible, we know who they are, seen them, heard them, read about them, etc. the problem is when they get visible they became much bigger target of prolonged misinfo with paid trolls working tirelessly, having fun dismembering them, spreading rumors and falsehoods, and thrashing their good names and good deeds. and with the advent of deep fakes, bpo hubs will apparently be having feeding frenzy, their rates skyrocketing, uber busy with extracurricular works come election time.
not to be outdone, poll surveys are mayhap on the take and add fuel to the fire, so much so that citizens start to think perhaps poll surveys are complicit and made to order, the highest bidder got the highest billing. though once in a blue moon, and rarer than werewolf sighting, survey polls grudgingly let the opposition top the billing just so the credibility of their surveys cannot be questioned.
you are correct, joeam, it has more to do with funding, have money will win. will go far.
I see both Chel Diokno and Aquino the Young pushing hard on Twitter. So they know they’ve got to be seen. But that has zero reach, proportionately, with barangay voters. I’ll probably write about this so we can organize some thoughts about it.
In contrast ImeeSolusyon infomercials has reached the agricultural lands same with Abby better Binay who reached out to Barangay Forbes To Barangay Bankal.
While the picture of Diokno, Aquino, Hontiveros was ridiculed as poor marketing strategy. In this space the posts were noticed and highlighted.
How can we stop being crabs? i know crab mentality are not unique to Philippines and nothing is. It is fine to notice that the emperor has no clothes but all the crabby actions that come after is our malaise.
Crab mentality can not be stopped by Polyanna sydrome and definitely not by having an inferiority or superiority complex. all are illusions, delusions and the root of crab mentality: allusions.
I think the trick is to recognize the wholesomeness of the Philippines as it originates from the lifestyle, the generosity, the land and seas, of the people. The economic vibrance, consumer and remittance driven, and the freedoms that a functioning democracy provides. It is impressive. Then with that as the framing, it is possible to address problems as fine-tuning, or issues to be dealt with outside the core of goodness.
This is exactly what the article addresses. We tend to see problems as representing the whole of the nation. No. No, they are not. The nation is definitely good, and resolving a few issues can keep it that way. I think comparisons with Singapore are damaging. Let’s compare them to the Philippines and see how the Philippines is bigger, prettier, more dynamic and free, and a genuinely great place to live.
Good question, Karl.
No, crab mentality is universal. I think self-awareness and introspection lessen one’s crabbiness. We are all flawed. We all have triggers and buttons. We need to be aware of our flaws, triggers and buttons, how we react to all kinds of stimuli and think about them. What helps me most in controlling my emotion and reacting better in the future is reviewing my “mistakes” and asking myself questions like: What stuck in my craw about that interaction? Why? How could I have reacted differently? Did I offend someone? Is an apology needed? I think self awareness and introspection brings out social responsibility and accountability. No blame games. No gaslighting. No put downs. No drama. Too Pollyanna? It often works for me.
Many thanks JP. Thanks JP I will start my introspection. I am sure that is the “formula” that works.
I think that maybe 90% of Filipinos don’t practice introspection.
That is why they get so hung up on old mistakes of others, as they don’t have a growth mindset, instead “pinaninindigan kahit mali” is seen as strength.
And apologies.. saying sorry in the Philippines is the best way to make people come at you even more, like a horde of piranhas.
There is a reason why the USA is so great at constantly reinventing itself – something my father once noted, anti-American as he may seem at times.
It is a place of second chances, from its founding onwards.
The Philippines is a national village where everyone remembers and judges you by some minor stupid stuff you did in high school or college. (END OF RANT)
Nice rant. Shock wave truth.
The US is a place of second chances even before the founding, something that even the only other two Anglophone jus soli countries haven’t figured out. Australia even abolished jus soli in 1986 when they couldn’t figure out how to integrate immigrants. Despite a minority and vicious strain of American nativism, the US has figured out how to not only integrate immigrants, but to celebrate cultural differences while leveraging the strengths of the immigrant. Come to think about it, immigrants are usually the strongest, smartest, or most determined types of people. Often for future Americans, all three.
Interestingly, one of my first Filipino experiences before understanding the culture more was to strongly push back on someone mocking me. I still remember the shock in their faces, and their instant about face turning to groveling behavior. My first experience with malakas I reckon.
Reddit is full of Filipinos (mostly high school/college age) who rant on burner accounts lamenting about the socially acceptable bullying by others. Imagine all these kids who are inquisitive, smart and introspective, yet are crushed at an early age into a life of timidity and walking on eggshells. No matter that those who often bully and make accusations engage in the same behavior they hypocritically engage in. Some of these young folk even share stories of how free they felt when they migrated with their family or upon receiving a foreign work visa in their field. Big losses to the Philippines that could help build up the nation.
Hypocritically criticize on *
Money helps, for sure. Anyone on television is seen as important.
Correct. Thanks for the reply above that made me rethink the article I am writing, we often say that we are not defined by our shortcomings to fight any kind of bashing imagined or real, we should apply it with a positive out look rather than a defensive one, many thanks again.
I’m trying to teach myself how to do this better. It is easy to get captured by the negative.
Me too and I fully understand.
Are town hall meetings not popular in the Philippines? They are cost efficient and good vehicle to get close and personal with a target population. These are different that election rallies because they are more intimate and may need minimal organizational efforts. A tour of different localities not only can introduce a candidate to the people but can also open discussions about local specific needs and wants. It is time consuming but in the end, it will be enriching for the candidate as well as the constituency. Is this even possible in PH where patronage politics and clientelism still reign supreme?
I wrote two blogs about it or at least town halls are largely part of it, but Gian him self said direct democracy is very hard to implement.
I say just implement anything is already difficult. It is who owns the pockets.
Not just the money.
Karl, I think JP meant town hall meetings in the American sense of it. Here in the US, politicians use town hall meetings (similar to barangay meetings that captains sometimes hold) to share policy, answer questions asked directly by the constituents, and listen to constituent concerns.
Some politicians are good at giving speeches like Obama, while others are good at making connections with people by town halls and glad-handing like Biden, Harris and Walz. Americans really like politicians who they feel a personal connection with, and what better way to make personal connections with people than to meet them and answer questions. Even if not everyone can attend a town hall, those who attend spread what they heard and learned to their family and friends so voters start feeling the politician cares about the “regular guy.” Filipinos are used to being “talk down to” from a speech stage or a TV screen. With Filipinos generally being talkative and friendly, I’d imagine using this town hall strategy would be even more popular and effective in the Philippines. Shocked very few Filipino politicians have figured this out.
Presidential Town Hall Debates are the Closest thing to the US presidentisl Town Halls
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1172557
If I recall, both BBM and Inday Sara declined to attend all 3 “town hall” debates, yet still won. It pays to be the unserious candidates in the Philippines 😎
More recently, BBM apparently held a “town hall” to learn about Metro Manila traffic issues directly from residents, yet it turned out to be a government information drive with no input from affected groups.
I think these Filipino politicians don’t understand what a “town hall” is 😅
Hallway small talk mayhap. But Q and A is always limited so Online meetings have chatboxes can be more advantageous or phone in questions if the townhall is supported by a radio or tv station with a rich sponsor but still limited if no rich sponsor.
That’s one of the biggest downsides of Filipino politics I think, where to get anywhere in traditional politics one must submit to backer(s) for the purse strings to be opened. Here in the US, town halls (forums) derived from the pre-Revolution colonial practice of direct democracy through town hall meetings. The distinction between town hall forums and town hall meetings is that forums are for politicians to engage and collect comments from constituents, while town hall meetings vote on actual issues affecting the community. Nowadays town hall meetings have been replaced by direct democracy ballot measures, and the town hall forums are known colloquially just as “town halls.” Canada and Australia adopted some elements of US town halls, Canada more strongly so due to common historical connection to the original North American British Colonies. The Philippines has no such tradition, but I still think that adopting a US style town hall would work out great for politicians who want to engage outside of the backer system. In the age of a camera in everyone’s hand (smartphone) and social media, traditional media’s vise grip on political exposure is less.
I think turning the mic over to citizens here would be brilliant. It would be a living citizen engagement, just what is needed to free the people from their subtle oppressions. It might raise the murder rate though.
I would actually argue the opposite occurs. In a state of balkanization, people only see their differences and create enemies in their minds. When people are pushed together, they are forced to interact and moderate their views in relation to their would be foes. After all, in increased human interaction it’s very hard to take a permanent contrarian position when it’s easier to find ways to get on with each other.
I’m sure that you’ve also observed that Filipinos, especially those in lower socioeconomic classes, desire and even crave attention from others, leaders being among the subjects of the need for attention. Some who are too high-minded may think this is a crass view that diminishes the agency of people, but I think it’s a particular human need that existed before we humans even created permanent civilization. That’s probably why individual humans early on joined together to form bands, later tribes, collections of tribes, villages, city-states and so on.
The problem therein is Filipinos only receive intense attention from their leaders during election time, and even then only through one way pronouncements in the guise of rallies. Adapting American town halls first to local Filipino politics as a test case, then later nationalized might bring a revolutionary new way to engaging with the people that may engender a new, stronger loyalty to a political project that lasts longer than the typical 6 years.
That would be refreshing, for sure. If they were televised, I’d tune in. The questions would reveal a lot. And so would the answers.
Why not just live stream it simultaneously on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube like the American simulcasts of old? By going through televised venues, the politician is still at the whims of the producer. By using the social media platforms Filipinos already use, the constraints are bypassed. In any case I bet any Filipino who is watching TV or listening to radio nowadays has his/her phone in their hand at the same time. Answering viewer submitted questions also expands the physical town hall into a bigger virtual one to drives engagement. If a Filipino politician asked for my advice, this would be it.
The Biden, then Harris campaigns in their disdain of traditional media have reinvented the Presidential campaign. Biden’s social media team and online fans are top class, and only got better once Harris took it over. It’s the same exact team. Many lessons to be learned here, if politicians in the Philippines want to learn. Sadly, many in the Philippines insist on reinventing the wheel every single time, with predictable results.
Live streaming is common here. I peek in on hearings from time to time. So that would work
We should be honest, no average American or Filipino is going to be watching Congressional hearings. I watch C-SPAN though if I have time, so we here must be abnormal 😅 Political rallies where people can feel a part of on the other hand… Filipinos love fiestas so a smart politician should turn a rally or town hall into a fiesta.
Sure, but the point is streaming channels are common in the Philippines. If you broadcast a town hall meeting, reporters and others can engage nationally.
I realized we are thinking the same thing here Joe, just expressing it into words a bit differently. Yes, doing the rally or town hall on a streaming channel would work, but so would doing it in-shop. The Harris campaign’s very popular streams are all done using commercially available overlay software originally used by video game streamers and YouTubers.
I invested a minor amount in the campaign and now get 25 e-mails a day. Evidently the mailing list is shared with various governor, senate, and house candidates. I’m now friends with Barak Obama, Taylor Swift, and Barbara Streisand. Never felt so loved in my life.
What a coincidence since I also have many newfound politician friends, including my old friends from previous campaigns. Donation dollars are best used in battleground districts though, so side from donating to the Biden and Harris campaigns, I focus my efforts elsewhere. There’s no way a Republican can win statewide in California after what Pete Wilson did back in the 90s.
No, they are not common. Visits and speeches and introductions is the method. Leni worked it to exhaustion.
I wonder how well a small donor campaign would work in the Philippines. I had never talked to any DE Filipino who had donated a campaign, and very few C Filipinos. Small donors in the US provide a very effective counterbalance to candidates who have major backers. In the Philippines, of course this would also require an effective media campaign, which nowadays means social media, and that media campaign needs to translate into real world movement. I had noticed that while Leni Robredo had quite a few big rallies compared to previous election candidates, most of her energy remained online, just like Gilbert Teodoro’s early forays on Facebook back during the 2010 campaign.
Actually Robredo’s force was in person rallies supplemented by on-line cadres. She got good donations, I think, but not the hundreds of millions needed to advertise.
That was my observation as well. To her credit Leni Robredo did turn out bigger rallies than I remembered in recent history. But not enough to pass the bar. If the next “people’s candidate” can replicate then multiply Leni’s energy by a multiple factor, the regular people can overpower the dynastic slates.
I think, we can expect to see selfie of leni and sara when sara recently visited leni at home under the guise of the penafranca festival. trillanes is critical of their meeting as sara is not only wannabe impeachment target but the sheminet is also very disrespectful at house probe.
They only have Senator Risa in the Senate and their partylist lost on 2019 and 2022.
They are petitioning the seat vacated by AN Waray whose registration was nullified by the COMELEC.
For 2025 they are targeting more senators for their roster.
Despite sometimes high-minded ideals of what politics should be (of which I’m guilty of as well), I think that ultimately politics boils down to the allocation of resources first and feeling good about the state of the nation second. I don’t think most people, Filipinos included, have very strong immovable views. Political positions may be anchored in certain positions, but in reality people’s political positions can fluidly move quite a distance from the anchor point depending on what they feel will benefit them.
It’s probably beating a dead horse by now, but from my observations “on the ground,” most Filipino Duterte/BBM voters I interacted with had voted for Aquino previously. They felt disillusioned, voted for Duterte and then for BBM. They voted for the candidate because they believed they could both punish their enemies the boogeyman “elites,” while expecting more resources to be distributed to themselves.
But I don’t think that allocation of resources need to be a zero sum game. Attracting foreign investments to build factories with good salaries would probably go a long way with making voters feel better about resources being directed to their families. Japan at the moment is desperate to build production lines in other countries because their aging population can’t support the level of manufacturing Japan is used to have. The Philippines can benefit from that.
I’ll be dealing with those kinds of issues in future articles. The current blog recognizes a global problem. The demand for perfection from good people is hugely punitive to our best interests. How does one get past that? How does one get past the slanders of Yellows, who fielded one of the better presidents, who was not recognized as such when he was in office.
An old question in politics and voter behavior is “Why do people vote against their interests?” A few years back I listened to a fascinating talk by Prof. Joanne Ciulla (Rutgers Business School, Business and Leadership Ethics), who had developed a theory to explain the phenomenon.
In short, Prof. Joanne Ciulla described that in a society that is broken up into multiple groups (race, ethnicity, economic class, social class), some groups might be frustrated by the lack or the perception of lack in resources being directed towards them. Resources here may be social welfare, jobs, or financial opportunity. Resentment develops within these groups where they begin to view the world as one of “have-nots” vs “haves.” If the group feels that a candidate represents the “haves” or “elites,” that candidate is associated with the status quo the group resents. The group then is prone to gravitate towards candidates who claims to represent the “have-nots” and be able to change the status quo, even if the claim is baseless and not possible.
This would make populist candidates who offer vacuous plans attractive towards the group of resentment. Those who resent might not even ultimately care about being able to gain more resources, though they desire it; they desire *punishing* the “haves” even more than simple equality or seizing resources for themselves. Over time, the resentment might become so great that the group may develop a cult of personality around their avatar. This is what I think turned into the phenomenon of DDS and MAGA, where the intensity of support borders on religiousity.
Boy does that fit perfectly. So don’t be elite in demeanor, be one with Filipinos, and be popular or highly visible. Leni Robredo did the first two. Number three requires money, organization, and/or luck.
Sometimes I felt that Leni was a reluctant politician, who took her late husband’s place, somewhat like Cory Aquino before her. I had expected the Pinks to keep the momentum going after Leni’s loss, with all the comments I saw vowing to keep the movement, and was a bit frustrated that the “batteries” ran out quickly after. To find a way to let Filipinos who want a better future to know that it’s ok to take a loss then try again next time with more organization is a challenge. People are sometimes quick to feeling defeatism and despondency.
Agree completely. Her late entry into the candidacy was a reflection of her reluctance, and it was a killer.
@Joey
Remember recently I said I am no Polyanna in reply to you, what a coincidence Richard Heydarian wrote about this.
Another coincidence is he mentioned AFAM, which you use every now and then.
Lastly, population, self deprecation were also mentioned.
https://opinion.inquirer.net/176346/philippine-negative-exceptionalism
What is different is that Heydarian sees the USA, China, and Russia as similar. Joey doesn’t.
Heydarian also writes about the Global South and postcolonial studies. His view of Western liberal democracy is also extremely different from Joey’s. And this:
“..Self-deprecation is a national habit. I have lost count of Filipinos—especially those married to Westerns or with limited exposure to the rest of the Global South—constantly whining about how supposedly “hopeless” our country is. Not to mention, the coterie of pretentiously intellectual and haplessly self-assured expats bloviating about the supposed unique ills of Philippine society with Trump-like chutzpah..”
Joey probably doesn’t know we from TSOH had a bit of a collision with Heydarian on Twitter years ago. Edgar Lores even wrote about that I think. What comes below also very much differs from Joey’s opinion of the Philippines:
“Blessed with the 13th largest population on Earth, we are set to join the top 25 economies in the next decade. With greater national wealth, albeit yet to be equitably distributed, comes a more formidable armed forces and growing influence on the global stage. We are not a pushover nation.
We are, by all indications, a full-fledged “middle power” capable of charting our strategic destiny. But this would require dispensing with what film director Pepe Diokno has correctly identified as our stubborn “inferiority complex.””
I do see that Joey sees a bright future, but based on some people changing their mindset.
Heydarian seems to think population and positive thinking alone will fix stuff. It won’t.
I outlined how strategic mindset could change in my last article. Of course, confidence helps.
I also joked that the real life Blackthorne was named William Adams, not AFAM in https://joeam.com/2024/04/29/reflections-after-shogun/
I would add that Heydarian sees the present economic growth as sustainable – it probably only is if certain conditions are met like less dependency on remittances. All these predictions that the Philippines would be an upper middle income country by now were overconfident also.
filipino workers in philippines want to be paid like workers in singapore, apparently having more money in the pocket makes for happier work force. if filipinos are prepared to pay for goods and services similarly priced as in singapore, dearer and maybe of better quality and service, and then maybe pay higher taxes too, then filipinos can look forward to being paid like singaporeans.
of utmost credulity is the lament of raffy tulfo that there are filipino workers in dswd that are still casual employees even though they have been working there for 15yrs!
If Tulfo is lamenting that, I’m voting for him. Oh, wait. I’ll talk to my wife about voting for him.
Tulfo championing the seafarers is another plus points, I hope BBM does not veto the bill.
Another plus points are his concern for athletes.
I do read Heydarian (including that opinion piece a few weeks ago), mostly to see what he’s up to. He’s more left than I am; a bit too close to the Far Left for my comfort. As Irineo has noted, Heydarian tends to see the world through the lens of postcolonial studies and intersectionality in his criticisms and recommendations.
In my view the postcolonialism and intersectionality discourse has veered far off its original intention. Around the time I was attending university in the early 2000s was the point where scholars from the White elite started adopting both theories, which had previously been the realm of Leftist Black and African scholars. Today there is much evidence of the excesses of the “new” scholars, the current example being the extreme black and white rhetoric of pro-Hamas supporters in academia. I’m afraid they have completely lost the plot. Not everything is required to be connected to each other, which early postcolonial and intersectionality theory acknowledged.
I’m also cognizant of the many suspicious connections between old Soviet Cold War propaganda that have turned into modern talking points. Russia and China take advantage of these entry points into the discourse. The US has its flaws and shortcomings, but it’s beyond belief that Heydarian often equivocates and equalizes the level of damage done by Russia, China, and the US. The main difference to me is the US has the capacity to change and try to do good, while Russia and China are neo-imperialists who never modified their behavior despite hundreds or thousand of years.
Heydarian also has tendency to place the Philippines into the “third” bucket of countries between the battle of ideology of Russia/China vs US/US allies. Last time I checked, the Philippines is a US ally, and vice versa. If Heydarian hasn’t noticed, BRICS which professed a “third way,” has gotten no where in decades. The global third way was also originally a Soviet construct to diminish US leadership. Sure, nations can play “both sides” if they want, but I’d challenge Heydarian to show me one single example of a nation who played both sides and won. No country is perfect, but at least choose the better side.
Heydarian has been going on for quite some time (years actually) about how the Philippines is a step away from becoming a solid middle power, when the AFP as professsional as the servicemen/servicewomen are, often have old, obsolete equipment that is deteriorating more every year. Heydarian was a cheerleader of Duterte’s ROTC plan, yet when I walk among students they only begrudgingly attend since it’s a graduation requirement, and practice with rusted rifles or sticks (lol). But I guess marching and good vibes will solve everything, according to Heydarian’s asssessment!
I also see Heydarian as a magical thinker, which is a symptom elites who have rarely talked to the common people often have. The Philippines has tried magical thinking for years, and more magical thinking won’t solve anything. Has anyone in a position of power ever thought about just doing a “on the ground” tour among various groups of citizenry to poll their thoughts so that better policy can be crafted to address the people’s needs?
Correct that I don’t agree with Heydarian’s thinking that the population growth alone and the power of positive thinking will solve stuff. It won’t. What will happen is there will be more waves of OFWs and people going abroad, which Pablo and I pointed out in the previous blog consist of the top performers and intelligentsia. Then those who are behind are left in an often desperate situation. Even if it doesn’t seem that nice to point out, Filipino non-elites are reduced to nothing more than labor and consumers to drive profits for Filipino mega-corporations.
Heydarian is completely wrong that there will be an easy way to redistribute the collective wealth of the Philippines, which the lower socioeconomic classes have a very small share of. He often seems to think that there will be a sweeping change of heart among the politicians, who are also elites, and there will be legislation to redistribute wealth via some yet to be fleshed out plan that Heydarian never shared. How many times has that been promised in Filipino politics yet never happened? Even if there was some carried out plan that would redistribute the gains of the wealthy, they would just transfer their wealth to another country and migrate their family there. In fact many upper middle class and wealthy Filipinos already maintain properties and stashed wealth overseas. Then the lower classes would be stuck, with nothing solved. But the best way to “redistribute” wealth? Taxing the excess wealth of the rich, while also providing more opportunities for the poorer classes to create their own wealth through better jobs. This “lifting of all boats” is what will create more equity, and it begins with changing the mindset of Filipinos starting from the bottom.
Thanks for this view of Heydarian. He got all kinds of emotional with me years ago over something I said and I checked out. Your profile seems spot on to me.
Sometimes I’m not really sure why so many foreign media outlets invite him on, or why he’s a fellow in think tanks. I don’t think pontificating from a high perch really helps any Filipinos, besides the elites who already have a “first world country” in their enclaves. I prefer the opinions of those who actually interacted with normal people.
Yes. Well I suppose he needs to earn a living. 🙂
Thanks Joey
One of the things I catch myself at is criticizing others for criticizing. Well, that is a bit of hypocrisy. Heydarian’s piece is so loaded with opinion outside of context that I just set it aside and don’t bother.
I only enumerated some coincidences and you enumerated the difference of Joey and Heydarian as if Joey I implied Joey is Heydarian. Joke only.
I know Joey sees the positive outlook but he rightly pointed out that the bad things should also be pointed out which made me say I am no Polyanna, meaning I agree that the balance of both positive and negative must be pointed out and self deprecation is not good too like saying I am so stupid after every mistake for instance.
But we must not blame population as the root of all evil, the reproductive health arguments are all valid, the more mouths to feed are also valid, but if we can do something about what we have and turn a problem not by causing another problem like yolo living for even those who can not afford, to ejk aka killing the poor and this is no corny joke from me.
No worries Karl, I understood your joke hehe. Then I laughed a bit when I re-read Heydarian’s opinion piece since he as always misunderstands the fundamental truths about the situation he’s writing about.
In order to make beneficial changes, both good and bad things need to be acknowleged. The good, so we can build upon it, and the bad so we can learn strategies to avoid making the same mistakes. This is what Queen Dany (my wife) meant by “breaking the wheel.” Though let us not make the same mistake as Queen Daenerys by torching the foundations we already have with an army of dragons.
In a way, the root of evil is both the population and the bad politicians. The population since they keep voting for bad officials, and the politicians for not having the moral courage to make their constituents’ lives better. In this regard, a constant wheel of self-torture exists in the Philippines. That’s why I proposed that a strategy be made to start changing people’s mindset from the bottom up. This works well with the barangay strategy also. Elites who cling to power do so by intrigue, political tricks, sometimes lies and misinformation. They must do so because the Philippines is still actually a robust democracy where the voting system is secure, so they need to influence people’s minds to gain support. Well, somehow those who want the Philippines to become better must exert greater (and positive) influence.
intrigues, political tricks, sometimes lies and misinformation, and when all else failed, there is always killings! people can be made to change their minds via personal threats to their safety and to their lives. the wealthier ones disappear overseas, the unmoneyed ones stay and bear the consequences and often, they change their stance and conform, for their own safety. changing people’s mindset is easier said than done. so many filipinos put their hands up for chance to the better, and paid the consequences.
like in 2016 election in iloilo where rody duterte did poorly, the mayor there was threatened and his name added to narco list of those that must be purged, then the mayor escaped overseas and was given asylum in america.
de lima too stood up for what is right and suffered the consequences, she was jailed for 7yrs.
in 2016 even though leni won the vice presidency, she did not change her color and was severely ostracised. there was no seat reserved for her at cabinet meetings, and duterte kept her out of the loop. thanks to her personal guards, threats to her safety were kept at bay.
if there is going to be new threats this coming election, with paid henchmen doing their rounds again, more or less, it is easy to guess what’s the votes going to be.
I always enjoy your observations KB since it’s closer to what people in the real world are experiencing.
Bribes, then fear and threats can only go so far. Once there is a critical mass of people moving in one direction, no amount of bribes and threats can stop it. Even dynasties can’t stop pluralities. Since the Philippines, despite all her flaws, is still a democratic country with a secure voting system, those who try to bend power towards themselves always work in the margins much like those with money or power do in other countries like Hungary, Poland or even the US. Unlike the old days, I don’t think the AFP’s more professional stance will support coups which removes a major tool from those who have nefarious intentions.
The million dollar question is: How to create a movement that is a tsunami, towering above any antics those who wish to maintain their control might try to engage in?
Movements that are sustained cannot be stopped easily. In my observations, even PNoy’s tsunami 2010 plurality win ended up being ephemeral. Certain individuals and the voters at large gave up too easily when the task of governing was too hard, and results which did come came too slowly. Patience is something many Filipinos don’t seem to have, while those who want to keep their old power have plenty of patience.
Of course I don’t think it’s fair to blame everything on the voting population, since many are lurching on the edge. I can’t count how many times a family head or breadwinner told me that they are close to being broke, and need to survive a few more days until pasahod. People in such circumstances don’t have the bandwidth to dedicate more time to politics. They only know how to survive, and hope that the politician they vote for will keep his/her promises.
If I were a politician’s advisor, I would advise that campaigns keep things simple. A message of progress, broad over arching objectives that can be broken up into sub-goals to be tackled one by one, but most importantly to appoint advisors who can connect with the voters directly rather than going through sometimes self-appointed “representatives.” In the end, what people want for them and their family is to benefit from the government’s policies. High-minded ideals comes later after people feel secured and have time to think bigger, so I think it’s a big mistake to focus primarily on idealisms.
that’s wonderful, political advisers to keep campaign simple. already there is gun ban during election, alcohol ban as well, they might as well add no intimidation, no harassment, and no threats to voters, and to keep electioneering fair and civil. there will be discourse of course and even debates but it should not be at the expense of one’s life.
Nailed it again.
I would consider the various bans during elections and fiestas to be little more than safety theater. Philippine civil law already prohibits most of those things. In the end the bans become more of an incumbrance than creating a positive effect.
I don’t think an uber elite like Heydarian really understands how AFAM is used 😅 Personally I feel offended when Filipinas call me AFAM. The term has always been used to colloquially denote a foreigner who becomes an ATM and “saves” the girl’s family.
Sometimes I think Heydarian is so far removed from regular Filipinos, and his head has gotten so big from him becoming the “go to” talking head for foreign media, that his pronouncements and understanding of issues is completely off base. His views differ quite a bit from the common view we seem to share here on the blog.
OT: I read an inspiring story today about a Kenyan American who went back to her birth country to create a speciality coffee collective that was able to secure a partnership with Keurig while maintaining respect for traditional African coffee growing practices.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/sep/19/kahawa-1893-coffee-margaret-nyamumbo
I’m aware there are a few Filipino specialty coffee companies, but they are all on a very small scale. Most of the trendy new cafes I visited in Manila and Cebu carry imported coffee rather than local coffee beans. Then there’s the local affiliates of big chains like Starbucks, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf which import all their coffee, ironically some varietals of which are from neighboring Indonesia. But not the Philippines.
Coffee plantations and small holder coffee farms, especially the coffee farms I noted dotting the numerous misty mountains of Caraga in my various treks are dying out. I remember one such mountainside plantation in Butuan that was located in a romantic location, that probably will stop growing once the Lola passes. Family growers can’t make enough profits to keep production in the family, much less hire laborers. Small growers don’t have the capital to advertise their own products, while the middlemen who buy their coffee beans often sell it on the local market as a “cheap” alternative to imported coffee.
My first real job in high school was as a Starbucks barista back in the days when Starbucks was very serious about coffee quality. As a coffee aficionado it’s sad since Filipino coffee is generally of good quality, even if it can be improved somewhat.
The African diaspora has an entrepreneurial spirit that thinks big about how to improve their birth countries little by little. I find the discourse among the African diaspora I know personally to be active, engaged, intellectually curious, eager to learn lessons from their adopted country to apply “back home.” Where is the same spirit for the Philippines? Such spirit would bring new vigor and innovative thinking to a country that deserves better.
There are efforts to develop a coffee industry, but again I think it is small farms not major production. I’ve not kept up with it. Philippine coffee is in supermarkets here. It’s terrific.
I’m familiar with the coffee production and roasting process since in the old days Starbucks took care to develop leadership talent internally before there was a Starbucks on every corner. Took a few trips to coffee producing regions paid by Starbucks, so some farmers in Caraga Region were surprised when I helped out with roasting coffee once or a few times. Still, Philippines coffee is a small percentage even in the Philippines. At SM market the imported coffee selection is by far larger. I think besides lack of organization in production/distribution, possibly some of the problem is ingrained belief that imported products are “better.” Hopefully this will change.
My bias is that Philippine beans are best. I need to spread it around more.
Until 20 years ago Indonesian and African coffee beans were unknown in the US and Europe outside of specialty importers. Philippines can do it too if things become a bit more organized. Philippine coffee bean has a clean flavor, but from my direct experience the storage process before roasting isn’t quite right which makes the bean more acidic. Still there is much promise if someone can make a serious collective and then market the product to the west.
Some degree of local chauvinism can be good. The German car industry would be in far worse shape without chauvinism.
Having a strong local market was the way Japan ramped up its exports.
Also Germany, Japan and South Korea applied smart use of protectionism through tariffs to protect nascent localization of industry, just like the US did during its industrialization. At this stage though the pressure to remove tariffs is increasing, though cross-building factories in allied countries alleviated the pressure a bit.
I can’t wrap my head around Filipino tariffs most of the time. What are Philippine tariffs really protecting? It seems to be used as a tool to generate centavos, when the Philippines could be collecting pesos from localized industry, more and better jobs with higher wages. There is an overall lack of courage and imagination all around, from Filipino politicians, to business titans, and the people who place those leaders in power. A vicious cycle that doesn’t have an end in sight (as of yet).
It is a good thing that Joey had many views and is so darn agreeable even if I disagree with some of his views and am not as agreeable as he is.
But somethings I got to be beyond disagreeable and use my tanod power tripping (joke) and use a club or batton for a couple of LCX comments.
I know he can do better.
It’s clear I don’t agree with a lot of LCpl’s stances, but actually LCpl is very smart. Possibly needs a bit more focus in his lines of thinking, especially on extraneous issues.
I’m very much a generalist, a dabbler or this or that, a listener of stories and enjoy making human connections. I do have many views, but don’t mistake that for genius.
Yes, LCPL_X does go out of bounds with some stuff. It took Edgar Lores to inspire me in terms of structuring my thoughts as I used to be very chaotic.
LCPL_X did go out of bounds with Edgar once, making him swear, which is rare. Recently, I guess the Mango Avenue stuff went too far for some. The dose can make the poison.
As for generalist, I too seek the bigger picture, especially when it comes to the Philippines within Southeast Asia, because the first people one should know are one’s neighbors.
Well, some have said I have a lot of patience. Though personally, I think I’m a “high blood.” It depends on perception.
The bigger picture is a must. I often find that myopic views invite avoidable mistakes. Learn from the mistakes of others, lest we make our own.
“Though it was LCPL_X who did mention the idea of nudging here nearly a decade ago. It is up to each of us to know when we are getting makulit, which is what LCPL_X can be, or mayabang like Micha was.” Ha, nudging I remember that. And I do agree with Joey’s assessment above. most of the time when I introduce stances and extraneous issues, I actually wanna be proven wrong. Ireneo’s poison and dosage applies. this i think is dependent on time of day etc. how people perceive poison dosage. but am not necessarily married to these views. just mostly inviting push back like data gathering only its emotion gathering, eg. the feel. And I did write on the other thread, but i guess karl didn’t think it was appropriate (i dunno, probably the photo) that Joey’s title on here should be Chief Doctor. cuz he has healer energy, which I think is just what we need for the blog going to 2028. plus doctor in the sense of Doctor of the Church like thomas Aquinas et al to teach. and I even suggested we nickname him Bones as in Star Trek’s Dr. McCoy. as to makulit this is just part of my process and i’ll gladly go to the doghouse for it. but yeah mayabang only one subject makes me that. lol.
ps. Joey, I don’t think many here are familiar with UC Berkeley. i know caliphman bowed down to NH for having done PhD in Stanford in the 1960s. we all did. so you being here is kinda like that now. but UC Berkeley cuz Joe jr. was thinking where to apply should know about it , but UC Berkeley is a very big deal. only 1 out of 10 already qualified students get accepted there. I do bow down to you, Joey. but I also have to push back. since thats my process. no love lost intended I need to find certain truths, much of that is between the lines. Like I just saw MY THREE DAUGHTERS last night on Netflix. its about liminal. the threshold of things.
JoeJr has Berkeley on his list, pretty high I think. Maybe number 2. His stepsister in the US spent a year there. It’s an excellent university.
Terrific. Perfect in demeanor and administration of intellectual pills, none too hard to swallow, I herein appoint Joey as the Society of Honor’s Chief Doctor, or Doctor in Chief, depending on the rhythms of your discourse. Thank you, LCX.
My deletion of your comment turned out for the best , your explanation of Chief Doctor earlier was at the expense f another even though it was just a footnote. All is well that ended well.
I often see the world in terms of Occam’s Razor: “Occam’s razor, or the principle of parsimony, tells us that the simplest, most elegant explanation is usually the one closest to the truth.”
Actually LCpl what you share often has a decent amount of truth in it. It’s only when you introduce random connections that makes the water muddy. That’s what I meant by not everything needing to be connected to each other 😅 Rather, truths exist in systems of truths, and it’s larger systems of truths that connect to the other systems, not individual threads intertwined in a web that even a spider would get caught in hehe.
Now the other person mentioned, their conspiratorial thinking assumes that the world consists of bad actors pulling strings in a perfect conspiracy that only few know the truth of, though somehow the evil doers never get exposed. All I can say to that is I grew up surrounded by gangsters, and seeing that even two gangsters can’t keep their mouth shut, I highly doubt there is a national or even global conspiracy behind the scenes. Much less thousands of plotters successfully carrying their plan out flawlessly for hundreds, even thousands of years without detection.
Berkeley is just a school LCpl. At the time Berkeley was tied rank 2 with Stanford (Harvard was rank 1 of course). Not sure about ranking nowadays, I’m old. I’ve heard that even “low tier” UCs are extremely hard to get into now, and UC Irvine which I turned up my nose to back then is now a world class institution, so I imagine the Berkeley acceptance rate is even lower now. My father is proud I was admitted to all 3, among other good universities, though I remind him that I didn’t attend the other two schools (scholarship didn’t cover living costs) so there’s nothing to boast about. I was originally invited to enroll at Berkeley in the EECS program (early education is similar to Irineo’s semiconductor design background) which has a famously minuscule program acceptance rate, so imagine the department head’s facial expression when I notified that I’d be transferring to Liberal Arts 😅
No worries LCpl, I don’t offend easily. You remind me of high school classmates who joined up after 9/11, especially the guys who signed with the Marines. My Marine classmates are hard headed, a bit crazy, but ultimately endearing.
Joe, if JoeJr attends Berkeley he’s bound to have an interesting experience. It certainly was for me as a young conservative, though my politics have moved left since then. The most important part of college isn’t the rank of the institution, but the experiences and connections made during formative years. Berkeley/Oakland is in a great location too. San Francisco is just a BART ride away. Not sure how JoeJr is with making friends, but I had a lot of friends who drove me around everywhere in Northern California making ruckus until I bought another car.
JoeJr is a people person, very much out and about. The schools on his list all have character. For me, I don’t care much because he is far from formed as to goals and outcomes, and the dealing with it will give him what he needs. College is a path, not a destination, eh?
I had thought I had very developed views going into college back then, being a voracious consumer of information since the time I could read. I was wrong.
I did find the sciences to actually be more closed minded. Humanities and Liberal Arts opened up my worldview more. An open mind allows for more strategic thinking since it ingests more information even if that information may be discarded in the end. Interestingly the most successful people I know had a Liberal Arts background. We manage the STEM grads, hah.
Just add an A and it’s STEAM education
A sign of my age hehe. The “A” didn’t become more prominent in tertiary education until over a decade after I graduated 😅
I started my college life enrolled in Electronics Engineering then shifted to finance and ended up with Computer Science. I also ended up with a Computer science Graduate.
I am older than you by the way. No such thing as STEM but LIA COM was a thing. LIBERAL arts and Commerce double degree.
I was born in the early 1980s. I figured I’m probably one of the younger participants here seeing as some of the commenters have been around for over a decade. Well now we must call you kuya Karl 😬
It seems like our early trajectory was similar before I deviated to Liberal Arts. My original program was Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, Berkeley’s stand-in for Computer Engineering since that bachelors didn’t exist at Berkeley at the time (though it did for younger University of California branches). Berkeley being the mother university does things a bit differently. The other original course was Biosciences.
Ironically, I never officially used my two bachelors degrees in official capacity, and ended up working in tech after taking a winding path through investment banking, finance, sales, restaurateur, NGO, small business. Life’s complicated, hah. I’m no expert in anything like most everyone here in their fields. I’m just a generalist with a bit of life experience. My younger brother and cousins all have much higher levels of education than me.
Giancarlo is the “bunso” here, possibly the only millennial.
We used to have an even older crowd. Edgar Lores was in his 70s. His contemporary sonny must be approaching his 80s, but rarely posts, Karl has contact. NHerrera was already in his 80s, but went to Canada to visit his children, turned into a snowman there, and thawed in the spring, like Frozen. Joke of course, but he hasn’t posted in quite a while. That old generation still went to school in the Philippines of the 1950s to 1960s, when English was taught well.
Seriously, it would be great if more Filipino millenials came on board now that the blog is more active again after a relatively quiet 2023, and with more Filipinos in the Philippines. JPilipinas gives a great POV but is US-based, Sonny is in Chicago, I am in Munich.
Will Villanueva is in his early 70s and a true veteran of both the Diliman Commune of the early 1970s and of February 1986.
We had a Gen Z student here for a while, Karl might remember who that was.
Francis and the other guy who was as eloquent who goes by…. I forgot… Intutuiveperceiving or something like that.
Yes, Francis. Really cool guy.
Intuitive perceiving was a her, and an INTP.
Actually I’m also an (elder) Millennial though quite close to GenX, which I realized to my deep displeasure during the aughts when Millennials were still being dunked upon by GenX and Boomers. I look younger than my age, and the other day someone thought I was in my late 20s (bless her heart).
I’ve found that more liberal-minded Filipino Boomers are the most hopeful for a better Philippines, having come of age through the early years of the promising Third Republic. But they were outnumbered by the reactionaries in the end. Perhaps another echo of the old Ilustrados who saw a vision of a unified Philippines based on Enlightenment ideals. As these old liberals start leaving us, I often wonder who will carry the torch forward. My guess is it will be Filipino Millennials.
Reading through old posts and comments, I noticed that this blog was much more active in the past. I also wrote a semi-popular WordPress blog in the aughts until mid-2010s under an pseudonym (life reflections on social interactions and women, char), but stopped once readership waned. I guess Gen Z having grown up in an all-digital world that pushes passive consumption and reduced engagement to “like” buttons, just don’t have the mental patience to read long-form content or participate in threaded conversations. Seeing as many younger folks nowadays get anxiety when someone just says “hi” to them, I fear those who can hold deep conversation to be a dying breed.
You are exactly spot on. Reading and writing have lost out to quick hits and emotional jazz. A couple of years ago, I dropped off facebook as it was tiresome and toxic. Even there, the following was old, not young. But it ees what it ees, and like going for a walk or jog with no destination, it is exercise for the brain. I have much broader influence on Twitter than here, but here is where the ideas that go to Twitter are incubated.
JP had observed before that Twitter is the realm of Filipino intellectuals and serious minds (well, the odious Far Leftists also self-appoint themselves as “intellectuals”). Even Reddit which is populated by the Filipino new middle class is a bit removed from “the people.” Just like in the old days of scribes writing down popular anecdotes, I think it’s up to us as the educated to reach out to regular people in a way they understand as working people neither have the time nor energy to keep up with the discourse. My way of learning the discourse is to quietly listen in on people’s conversations, to be an engaged observer. The goal should be to become a bridge between immediate needs of people with more substantial policy.
Yes, good goals and method.
Yes, one of the first impressions I had especially of sonny and Edgar was that the former wrote like straight out of my father’s 1950s high school yearbook, whereas the latter reminded me of an Isaac Asimov scientist character. There was indeed a certain belief in the ideals of the Old Republic that already had become jaded among older Gen X like me. Both Far Left and Far Right had seen the Third Republic as “too Western,” the Fifth Republic was an attempt at Restoration, which failed at the latest between 1998 and 2001.
This blog was most active just after PNoy mentioned it in his last SONA, lost a BIT of readership in 2016 when Mar Roxas lost, but still had strong opposition presence until 2019, going into a bit of suspended animation in 2022. Malakas-mahina dynamics also played a role.
May 2019 had NYC-based Caliphman writing “What can we do if they choose to be carabaos,” May 2022 had me telling a friend in a chat that “the monkeys in Manila zoo now have a higher IQ than the Philippine Senate” after drinking a can of Jack Daniels with Coke. He tweeted it. Someone reported me for whatever on Twitter in June or July 2022, I decided not to push it and I am happy as it looks like the waves of excitement in the national village don’t really change anything and just waste my time and attention span. But well, here we are, and it is what it is.
You and Twitter were not made for one another. The conceptual depth of most tweets is between 3 and 6 with an occasional 8. You are 10 except when drunk, haha. I’m an 8 or 9 but can descend lower to poke and pick.
A lot of older diaspora Filipinos I met over the years are international in mindset and speak perfect English with a slight Tagalog or Ilokano accent. Not so many Visayans here until recently with foreign marriages or nurses. Even in the last quarter century I’ve been active in the Philippines, I noticed a marked decline in English proficiency aside from those who are high achievers in school or basically taught themselves.
I’ve always felt the biggest mistake the high-minded founders of the Third and Fifth Republics made was not finding a way to integrate the lower classes. In the absence of an ideal that regular people can relate to, they become susceptible to empty populist rhetoric from both the Far Left and Far Right, who promise easy solutions “if only given power.” I’d argue that the damage done by the Far Left is much more dangerous, since they hold in their sway voters who can otherwise be easier to convince. Filipino communism has always been a confused mess, and became even more of a mess once Maoist ideology was thrown into the mix. Always fun to argue with a Filipino communist when they realize I know more about the intricacies of the multitude of schools of communism compared to their shallow understanding, which is why I can’t take them seriously. They fail to even understand the ideology they push for. As always foreign ideas become convenient tools, elements of which are picked and chosen depending on how it furthers agendas.
I really believe the key to change is figuring out a way to translate the high level goals into small thought bites that are easily digested by the populace. After generations of Filipinos who want to make a better Philippines basically have kept trying the same thing, with same results, perhaps it’s time to try something new. The big radio and TV channels no longer hold as much power, and either do LGU heads if one were to take the message directly to the people via social media. Judging by how Ph socmed loves to repost viral memes, developing a way to general viral moments could be a start. Every huge oceanic wave starts off as small wind pushed ripples far out in the empty ocean before joining up and aligning their wavelengths with other ripples to create a massive force of energy.
Couldn’t hold a job, eh?
Now that sounds like something my disappointed father would say when he compares me to his friends’ children who are accomplished doctors and lawyers 😂 In truth I haven’t had a “real job” since my part time jobs to pay for college tuition. My entire career has consisted of mercenary consulting in various industries fixing things careerists effed up on. In my 20s to early 30s my average time with a client was 6-8 months then traveling the rest of the year. It has been said that the straight path is the most direct path. Well I guess I didn’t get that memo while zig zagging through the jungle with a bolo 😅
Life’s a path and yours is among the richer, I’d wager. We are alike in our ideas but different in our risk tolerance. I suppose my job was a lot like yours, but within the cocoon of the corporation. Projects and problems, covering a lot of territory. I have a math bachelors and an arts masters. The math fed the analytics into the reasoning, which was in writing and verbal. It worked well.
Well my original plan was to get into the nascent robotics assisted surgery niche (which would’ve made my father happy since his own dream interrupted by war was to become a doctor. My father in addition to being an old soldier is a genius Renaissance man which I begrudgingly acknowledge despite my many political disagreements with him.), hence Berkeley programming in EECS (Electrical Engineering & Computer Science) and Molecular Cell Biology. Berkeley still doesn’t have a Computer Engineering major nor Pre-Medical major. I hated being “boxed in” with hard sciences since as a child I’ve had a curious mind with far too many interests which can be observed by my rambling on disparate subjects here. English Literature and Linguistics both allowed for more freedom of thought, and I intended to get into Social Welfare Law. Family health circumstances put that on hold and I found myself taking over finances before I graduated college.
While I barely missed the “golden handcuff” years of IT and business that ended in the Dotcom bust, in those days a careerist could still earn a decent salary. Karl had observed the Gen Z penchant for “YOLO” due to their coddled nature, but I think it’s Millennials who were forced by successive recessions at critical life junctures to take risks. By necessity I needed flexibility that consulting afforded… ironically, careerist salaries have been stagnant for nearly 20 years while consultancy fees have only risen especially if one knows how to negotiate. Consulting in many industries gave an opportunity for out-of-the-box thinking with ever changing variables, which IT and business careerists don’t have the benefit of. I never managed to go back to school for the JD, though I had taken the LSAT years ago. I’ve done well enough compared to peers, even the doctors and lawyers my father loves to compare me to who are far behind. As I climb towards middle age, being content with the results maintains a bit of sanity and personal happiness. Maybe after I decide to retire, I’ll go back to school for the JD for fun.
You should do that, along with building an island retreat in the Philippines, of course.
I did joke about that long ago with the Cebuana ex, but I have commitments here in the US. It just wouldn’t be possible since I’d be abdicating leadership of the extended family… also need to manage the real estate and other assets here. There are always visits though, which started again after my hiatus mostly stemming from boycotting Duterte.
“Interestingly the most successful people I know had a Liberal Arts background”
I agree. I think the Liberal Arts and Social Sciences backgrounds do instill a certain emotional intelligence that is often lacking in hard and rigid STEM disciplines. I remember a bet placed by the hard sciences guys that the three graduate degree candidates with soft science backgrounds will not make it to the finish line of a STEM discipline. The cohort program started losing candidates right from the first term and ended up with less than a dozen graduates. All three snubbed candidates did not only complete the program but also made it to the honor roll!
We are in an age where former high school nerds were first lauded a little over a decade ago, to the very same people attempting a fascistic takeover of Western Democracy. I guess Daniel Goleman’s seminal 1998 “What Makes a Leader?” that kicked off the Harvard Business Review’s Emotional Intelligence series was completely misunderstood by industry giants. I remember at the time the booklet was much discussed by my peers, yet over 2 decades later the lessons failed to sink in. Most of those peers have taken a misogynistic turn.
“The most important part of college isn’t the rank of the institution, but the experiences and connections made during formative years.” This is a good point, Joey. and agreed on UC’s all becoming hard to get into now. I read somewhere that students are even all hot for UC Riverside ever since they got their medical school, their science engineering programs went up too.
Yeah. I have never had any prospective client or employer ask for my degree credentials, aside from a rare few which elicited offense in me. No one really cares about someone’s academic credentials, even in fields like medicine or law; rather the credentialed license by the government board matters more. My pinoy high school buddy who I accompanied for my first visits to the Philippines is a MD with the academic title of Doctor. But as he failed to pass his medical board exam, it ended up being useless and no one cares. He’s a bit of a bitter dude nowadays. The secret I tell young students is to get into the best college they can qualify for and afford, then enjoy the college experience. They’ll learn what they need for work on-the-job later.
A couple of Chat GPT links about my doodling again of past articles and thus time it is about the very difficult but easier said topic of development. I took to heart Joe’s advice of not comparing PH to Singapore and US so I did worse, I compared us to China. Don’t worry this will need a rewrite.
https://chatgpt.com/share/66ee0aba-c600-8012-89e7-4eae77df8ca1
https://chatgpt.com/share/66ee0c5a-6510-8012-9554-686f241bb690
Many of my old views should be re-written, but no bother. It just shows that the blog is working as we each get broader and deeper with our understandings, or they adjust to modern events and knowledge.
Now that’s fluidity.
Comparison to countries that are so far ahead only invites feeling defeat because the end goal seems insurmountable. Rather, the better way is to study how various countries improved themselves and adapt the lessons learned to be Philippine-specific. I have written about how the US went from being a backwater agrarian country to becoming a superpower. It didn’t happen overnight… the process took nearly a century of stable leadership. Thankfully things can be accelerated nowadays. Singapore received a helping hand from the US and other countries and used the help well. Whether the Philippines once again takes advantage of a helping hand from the US and like-minded countries will be up to Filipino leaders and her people. There is no shame in accepting help from friends.
Yes, learning from how others succeeded is instructive. It just has to be adapted to local conditions.
And one thing Filipinos have to learn is having been “behind” in 1521 and thus conquered for so long has nothing to do with “inferiority”. Countries with more contact to the rest of the world advanced quicker, it seems. I think it is no coincidence that the first civilizations started where three continents meet. Or that the most isolated human populations stayed at Neolithic “level”. Competition and contact motivates people. The Philippines was thrust from the edge of Asia into the middle of the Indo-Pacific in half a millenium, it can step up to that challenge.
Sadly, too many Filipino leaders squandered the Philippine’s post-independence on smug feelings of superiority towards Southeast Asian neighbors and losing the head start the US left behind, only to wake up decades later realizing the Philippines is behind. Most decided to just fall back to self-superiority or burying their heads in the sand, unwilling to face hard truths and move forward even inch by inch. Historians have often observed that a nation is a reflection of her people, but the reverse is true as well. Leaders’ smugness rubbed onto the population. It wasn’t so long ago that it was common for Filipinos to look down on Koreans, now more are waking up to the fact that Southeast Asian nations that were also looked down on are racing ahead without the Philippines. The Philippines needs to get moving. There is still time if the help of friends is requested.
Between the timidness of the “Indio” and the yabang of the ilustrado or the angas/tapang of the Katipunero, the Filipino needs to find a balance. The smugness of the Filipino is often hollow, though. It seems like compensation for an inferiority complex and is often indicative of a world view where one is either llamado or dehado to use cockfighting terminology. Or a headhunter mindset where you are either nang-abak or naabak, to use Heydarian’s Ilokano tongue. I like the duality of win or lose in that language. It is like effing or getting effed in English.
Though I don’t believe in the Polyanna worldview that everything will be alright and there are no losers at all in this world, I don’t believe in the Highlander worldview either. Even the Pablonasid worldview that those without Olympic medals are all losers is a bit extreme, I believe. Though a sportive view of success as building on perseverance and determination is definitely better than the malakas/mahina view of the world. The Greeks graduated to Olympics and philosophy from being raiders like Filipinos before. Filipinos still often have just pasikatan and pilosopo.
I’m aware some Filipinos won’t agree with this. But to me the Ilustrados were well-meaning but detached elites with idealistic dreams of bringing Enlightenment to the Philippines, while Katipuneros were another form of elite, the ne’er-do-well braggadocio sons of the “new elite.” Ilustrados sought to guide and teach. Katipuneros, to indoctrinate illiterate kampesinos who already harbored resentment towards the treatment by hacienderos. Both failed to develop a coherent vision; the Ilustrados spent too much time thinking, while the Katipuneros “shot first, think later.”
But that was the past. Today there are more tools to organize with and ways to fund an organization. A new revolution doesn’t need to start and end with a bang. A modern revolution of societal change can be the silent incrementalism of making people’s lives better starting from the bottom. I think with even small progress initially, people will be more open to changing their mindset since they will start to hope again instead of just praying for a miracle to save them.
True, the ilustrados were well-meaning but mostly detached, even as Rizal made the most of his Dapitan exile by doing early „Angat Buhay“ work there. My father according to Dr. Xiao Chua says that Rizal acted like a haciendero there, but haven’t similar allegations been leveled against Mar Roxas. Even today, the Philippines is full of clichés, so much I once felt I had to write a counter opinion to a Rappler piece: https://joeam.com/2020/11/22/lenis-bayanihan/ –
I was really amazed how a top editor of that paper could write such total hogwash about VP Leni.
As for Katipuneros, yes the ones who joined later were, in fact, mostly less educated elites. Aguinaldo was the first trapo. Bonifacio was an interesting figure, somewhat like Elias from Rizal’s Noli, as he was of (minor) elite origin, but circumstances forced him into another life. The first members of the Katipunan around him mostly worked in the then burgeoning export trade of Manila, Bonifacio was chief warehouseman of a German firm. An early new middle class, MLQ3 wrote: https://www.quezon.ph/2017/11/30/bonifacio-is-your-cubicle-seatmate/
IF Rizal’s Liga Filipina had worked, melding learning and street level stuff, putting the efforts of Bonifacio and Jacinto to learn and Rizal’s wanting to get his hands dirty together, who knows? With someone like Mabini as a consigliere, an early Republic would have looked different. But what ifs are essentially useless. After accusing PNoy of analysis paralysis and seeing Duterte shoot first and talk later, Filipinos had similar extremes again, but rejected the Angat Buhay way of perseverance and patience for the promised sequel of a movie called Bagong Lipunan. Probably what was missing was the support of the new middle class, with success stories from those already helped put up businesses to show results. Possibly, Atty. Leni focused too much on the laylayan, which is good, but not what the CD crowd can truly identify with, I guess.
On Rappler: I appreciate Rappler’s existence, and respect Maria Ressa’s personal courage, but I am mindful under her guidance the editorial staff leans quite a bit left. I don’t agree with Ressa’s positions on a host of things, mainly Ressa’s views on postcolonialism and intersectionality, so I usually read Rappler with that in mind.
Thanks for referring MLQ3’s essay. Astounding how things haven’t really changed; only title changes to old roles. Certainly there have been multiple Filipino leaders in the last century plus who tried to take the nation forward, but many of their attempts seemed to end up being Sisyphean. When the hill’s crest is visible, everything seems to tumble downward once again.
I’ve been reflecting on this sub-thread while going about my errands today, and I thought: “why not just tunnel under the hill?” After all the admirable efforts throughout the last century, something has got to change to move the Philippines forward. It might be time for creative ideas and solutions to old problems.
One of my biggest concerns in regards to the Philippines is if one thinks about it, the Philippines actually has been remarkably fortunate, despite what things look like on the surface. Even if the state of democracy often feels shaky and unequally applied, a robust democracy does exist. For a long time the US provided a economic backstop, which today has been replaced by successive waves of OFWs and the burgeoning BPO industry. Possibly in the near future, BPO may be replaced largely by customer service “AI” as CSA work is largely repetative. If this does happen, a spigot of foreign investment into the Philippines would be reduced greatly, leaving Filipinos to be forced to once again pursue the OFW route. BPO work has also allowed options for would-be OFW to stay in-country and start the process of healing family and societal cohesion which I believe OFW work weakens. It would be a big mistake to not redirect efforts to some new industry to maintain the trajectory which BPO allowed. Joe is fond of saying the Philippines is one good President away from greatness, a sentiment which I share as well, but in my view the risk of being one calamity away from total disaster is also constantly present in the background.
If OFW work keeps E families out of starvation then BPO work, even if the salary is a bit lower than some OFW jobs, allowed for breadwinners to start raising their families out of E and into CD since they no longer need to dedicate part of their salary to living expenses separate from family living expenses. This is what quite a few BPO workers have shared with me, both in the Philippines and when CSA agents I talk to on the phone have extra time for kwentuhan.
Work with laylayan is good. This is largely my social work in the Philippines, so maybe Leni Robredo and I are like-minded, heh! But the issue here is there are only so many resources, and if one were to allocate limited resources to affect the most good, one ends up only being able to keep the recipient out of hunger for a short period. A lot of BPO workers even if they are not business owners, still have a bootstrap mentality. Many were actually high achievers during their time in elementary and high school. CD don’t need that much help. What they want to know is if they can maintain and perhaps increase the security of the small foothold they have gained. Whereas for E I think it’s important to develop skills so they can also rise up to CD, namely through factory work, perhaps BPO as well depending on their personal skills.
This is why I have suggested that any serious national political candidate needs to start hiring advisors who can tailor policy proposals towards the most important groups that constitute the majority, i.e. CDE. In a way, Filipinos have both a forgiving nature and an amnesiac one. Each election CDE Filipinos eagerly attend speeches to try to ascertain what’s in it for them and their family, but would it not be easier for politicians to just dedicate part of their campaign tours to speak directly to Filipinos about what their aspirations are rather than trying to divine others’ thoughts through polls? The constant shifting of lower socioeconomic Filipino political allegiance at the national level is a sign that vibes-based politics is not working.
Tomorrow’s blog article will key some thoughts I’d guess. That is known as a teaser, heh heh.
I am being teased…
Even if I am a spoiled brat I should be contented with being teased than being spoiled by an alert. (Spoiler alert)
I agreed with Pablo that time for not letting me get away with “at least we are above the world average”.
I admit that was a tad Polyanna.
Joey and KB,
I guess DOST is on the right track with partnering with nor just the Academe but also the private sector. Partnership not mendicantship ( not to be confused with priest’s vow of poverty, if we all have that vow what will happen to us?)
https://s4cp.dost.gov.ph/programs/cradle/cradle-projects/
Wow, that is excellent. It was published in 2021. I wonder how many projects have either soared, muddled around, or failed. Those that soared should be given an additional financial boost.
Hopefully there will be more of these public-private research initiatives.
Re: Coffee
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – The Department of Agriculture’s Philippine Rural Development Project (DA-PRDP) has invested PHP2.1 billion in infrastructure and enterprise subprojects to improve coffee production and quality in Mindanao.
In a statement Monday, PRDP said the move forms part of the 2021-2025 Philippine Coffee Industry Roadmap, which aims to ramp up coffee production in the country, especially in Mindanao.
According to the roadmap, the Philippines is only 15 percent self-sufficient in coffee, with Mindanao coffee production accounting for 83.6 percent of the national output. The highest-producing area within Mindanao is Soccsksargen Region (Region 12), contributing 35.6 percent, followed by Northern Mindanao (Region 10), with 9.2 percent.
Read more here
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1226114
Terrific again. Again, I wonder as to progress. Lessons learned, successes, failures.
I like this move.
https://www.philstar.com/business/2024/09/19/2386226/da-bid-out-17-port-projects
Also terrific. Also, I wonder how it’s going. Well, that was late 2023 so I’d guess not much. All these initiatives should have internet progress reports if they are serious about them. That’s the way President Aquino did his infrastructure projects. Transparent, purposeful.
I do not like this move at all.
Why do we refuse within MDT parameter offer of the US? For what?
https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/9/19/foreign-escort-for-ph-ships-kaya-pa-naman-natin-says-maritime-council-1503
They have confidence. We do not. They should give us confidence. Thanks for the idea for an article.
Welcome.
Filipino pride is both a positive, and a hindrance. The positives include being perseverance in the face of calamity I often admire; the negatives clouding a clarity of vision of what’s needed. There is no shame in accepting help from friends when offered. There is no shame in asking for help from friends either.
The framing of “foreign escort support” is completely wrong and is in a way an example of the negative side of Filipino pridefulness. A better way to describe what is needed to be done is “joint allied patrol” or “joint allied operation.”
“Joint” because it acknowledges that a Filipino contribution to such a mission is equal in respect and value given the resources available to the Philippines. The PCG sailors will be giving their all, just like American sailors will give their all.
“Allied” because such mission will be one of friends supporting each other in their time of need, which is the purpose of friendships in the first place.
Filipino fried chicken can be great, I heard, and the way KFC sucks these days, Jolibee could take a leap of faith and expand beyond the overseas barangays. Though there are foreign PPop fans now who want to try out Jolibee.
Filipino pride chicken can become stubborn, even tougher than Tagalog steak. Refusal to learn from the lessons others have learned or even from own mistakes can be one of the consequences.
On occasion I accompany the sabungeros to the tupada. Often there is a proud gamecock, chest puffed, feathers ruffled, head held high. He is oblivious to his rival approaching from behind until the tari digs deeply into his back.
As a friend might say after I’ve rambled on for a while, “ano connect?” Well, the Philippine political leadership had ordered the PCG to stand firm and arranged for the media (even foreign media) to record the injustices foisted upon Filipino fisherfolk and sailors by the neighborhood bully. By every measure, the bid for increased exposure was a success with more Western citizens are aware of the plight of Filipinos as Western media plays the videos on TVs as I saw a few times this week already on the evening news. But at a pivotal moment, the Philippine leadership has decided it may be better to continue to be a martyr and continue being punched, rather than teaming up with friends to punch back.
I kinda tone down my political opinions as I believe those in the Philippines should figure stuff out for themselves. BTW, Micha triggered me to the point of a major battle that finally got him or her banned by making snide remarks about Germany, Russia and Putin. My lesson learned is to be mindful of how I make Filipinos feel when someone from outside tells them what to do, as I deeply hated what seemed to me like Micha gloating at our momentary misfortune.
Though it was LCPL_X who did mention the idea of nudging here nearly a decade ago. It is up to each of us to know when we are getting makulit, which is what LCPL_X can be, or mayabang like Micha was. I, for instance, check my tendency to monologue and lecture, my heritage of being from an academic family. What I am hoping for is for more Filipinos from the Philippines to speak up here just like kasambahay does. She is of course a Cebuana, they don’t hold back. Juan Luna with his political realism is great as well. The silence of Pink here is deafening tho.
I went through those comments and I have concluded that Joe’s blood pressure is much better these days lol.
I was called a big, dumb American once by a Filipino Far Leftist. Guilty on both, hehe. Americans tend to be outspoken; myself more than most. I do try however to ground my dialectics in truths.
I disagree slightly as I believe people need to be given hard truths to allow them a chance to become better. In a way, taking the time to give constructive alternatives is a form of care and wanting the other side to be better.
Of all types of people, Far Leftists and Far Rightists need to be put in their place the most. In the case of Far Leftists as history has shown, they are coming from a position of the very privilege they rail against. It’s easier to criticize from a position of a comfortable life that is detached from reality. Perhaps they want to become the new revolutionary leader in the vein of Lenin, Mao, or Castro, who were all rich elites roleplaying the oppressed… and luckily won due to political instability being in their favor.
Today’s Far Leftists still engage in the same ad hominem attacks their forebears did when their worldview is challenged in the slightest. But we are lucky since today’s Far Left are also the lazy, coddled, spoiled children of elites who only exist online hiding behind anonymous avatars engaging in roleplay. They are not capable of taking care of themselves, much less lead a revolution of the proletariat. This includes the Filipino Far Left which I have nothing but disdain for.
There’s nothing wrong with taking a more academic stance as long as we try to absorb what the views on the ground have to inform and teach us. The world needs the viewpoints of both the educated and the workers in order to try to make a better society together. That’s why I enjoy spending time among regular people in the Philippines a lot more than sitting inside of enclave walls. Regular people have a lot of interesting opinions, some wrong but mostly containing some truth from their experiences. Outside of cloistered learning, there are a lot of common truths in the world we may miss. As the “elites,” we have the responsibility to use our education to make society a better place, and to me that begins finding a way to affect change from the bottom up.
Age is medicine I suppose. I’m pretty proud of this blog, frankly. It’s been through presidents and typhoons, helped with the thinking and inspiration of others, I know. The idea is right. Civility and sense applied to the Philippines. But we are an emotional species as well, so it has not been dull. I’ve concocted two characters along the way who have been immensely helpful in preserving my sanity, my cousin Maude Garrison and my Bookie whose name escapes me at the moment. Italian fellow. And of course the main commenters flow in and out like administrations. Karl knows them all. They are lost in the fog of too many words for me. Can you believe, I once blocked Irineo? My, my. So much fun here.
Discourse helps to develop novel ideas and rediscover others. Too often I tell my more educated friends they are either arrogantly hiding behind their scholarly titles or hiding inside their institutions from accusation of elitism. Still, there is a lot of value in the educated to learn from the experiences of everyday Filipinos, provided that the “language barrier” can be bridged. Frankly, it’s easier to learn the colloquial experience of most Filipinos so it can be adapted into policy rather than attempting to translate academic-speak into the common understanding of things. I can appreciate well intentioned policy crafting, even effective ones, but that usually ends up being too convoluted. That was the difficulty I encountered in explaining to friends in informal settlements how Aquino’s policy agenda would make the Philippines better. People want to see improvements to their lives, no matter how minor, and ironically those are usually the easiest things to tackle first that would have the longest lasting effects.
Sal is your bookie. Salvatore? Just Sal.
Ah, yes. Sal it is, thanks. Drunk most of the time. I put a picture of him in the article I wrote. Edgar nailed the actor who it actually was.
Here was his introduction: https://joeam.com/2015/07/23/a-dislike-of-grace-poe-rolls-across-social-media/
I could not find Edgar’s naming so I tried Google Lens and Jean-Jeaque Maureau resulted.
That’s probably right. I have no idea.
Google Lens was wrong that is Geoffrey Rush…Marquis de Sade was one of his roles.
Got it!
that’s exactly what china is hoping for, philippines ship unescorted and easy prey to china’s machinations. too much amor propio for the bigwigs in national maritime council to see what filipino sailors really go through, the bigwigs are not the ones short on food supply and eating thin lugaw for days on end, getting sick at sea for lack of proper nourishment, on top of having to endure the constant chinese threats and harassment. no wonder filipino sailors look wan and deflated like their government has abandoned them, their ship the hapless teresa magbanua limping to dry dock. sailors reduced to eating lugaw while the president flew in overseas band for his birthday party. so how many of our sailors have scurvy and weakened that they have to be taken down the ship by stretchers?
as well, we have a first lady who is coast guard general with 3 stripes (auxiliary) and she’s not even there to see what in the name of the sausage-ma-gosh is she auxiliary-ing about.
ligaya ng china, kaya natin! ang magdurusa, kaya natin! ang mamatay ng dahil sa ‘yo, pls dont let that be due to starvation at sea!
The SONA is but once a year, but their gov.ph pages should be made visible I only know they exist only because of Google news. More avenues should be made available.
What’s your reading KB?
https://mb.com.ph/2024/9/21/a-master-stroke-guanzon-impressed-by-vp-duterte-s-publicized-visit-to-robredo
and this
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1985659/abalos-revilla-also-see-robredo-after-sara-visit
their visit complete with photogaphers, selfies apparently not good enough. had leni put donation box in her house, it might have been full and the diocese of naga might have been grateful for the donation.
had leni made declaration in her angat buhay web page that during penyafrancia festival she will be opening her home to all and sundry, not just politicos, so come one, come all; I would not be raising eyebrows, maybe same with trillanes, he would have been informed and not felt sprang upon, or let down.
All good points.
I am seeing anti Trillanes tweets explode on X.
Oh boy. But I marked Joe’s post with a like, Joe is as objective as anyone in my eyes. ( wait, that doesn’t mean average, right?)
I did an unfortunate tweet that suggested he unscrew his brain and screw it back in, because of his criticism of Leni Robredo. He responded. It kinda exploded outa control. Someone asked me why he was being so critical and I opined that he was probably obsessed with bringing down the Dutertes, was irritated at Robredo as too passive, and was trying to posture the Domagoso/Trillanes party as tough and action oriented. They are a “dynasty” in formation, I suppose. Feudal.
I got in trouble when I said we lost the Spratlys. I regretted that comment because he was in the right. But he did not spare Carpio and some retired Admiral’s, I messed up big time.At least they had a meeting afterwards, IIRC.
All in a day’s work. 🤣😂🤣
Yeah hahaha
It has long been my view of life that the greatest strength of any person tends to also contain his or her greatest weakness.
With Trillanes, it could be his passion. With Robredo, it could be her kindness.
Ah, that is excellent. Trillanes gets in trouble for being aggressive, Leni for not being aggressive. Bingo.
it’s guanzon’s way of saying na-master stroke ni sara si leni, and the bad apple came visiting; nameyesta raw, kaso leni is not the lady of penafrancia and for devotees to be visiting her and paying homage, smacks of heresy to me. I think, devotees ought to visit naga church, profess their faith and make donations there. the church can well make do with donations. maliban lang kung politicos yong visitiors and came visiting for political gains, bypassing the church and going for leni.
para bang my relevance deprivation tuloy si leni and opens her door to politicos she once happy to see the backs of.
Good point that she is not the Lady of Peña Francia. Touché
OT, especially for LCPL_X, the Oktoberfest has started:
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/tUGHQbL3VWuSVZw4/
There is a short glimpse of the Devil’s Wheel in the first FB video.
https://www.facebook.com/share/r/yzeQ4oM5qFg8b3dq/
This summer, we also had Taylor Swift, Adele, and Coldplay here.
Ed Sheeran and Nellie Furtado also in a concert related to Euro 2024.
The town is earning serious tax money again after hard pandemic years.
I cannot even click on that link , Ireneo. as I am in the dog house. but this Trillanes on VP Leni stuff is interesting. is he VP Leni’s yaya or something? is he still aspiring for a 2028 run and wants Pinks to vote for him? but my dream of a Leni/Sara run just got reinvigorated. I just don’t get his angle. VP Leni is untouchable, why’s he trying to touch her. (ps. I’ll probably click on it but close my eyes. thanks.)
I appreciate your discipline. Twitching much?
I wanna write a blog of VP Leni and Inday Sara 2.0 , Joe! Bring down Tulfo and all the dudes that wanna run. to include Trillanes. lol. but seriously its a yin and yang situation. I think the two will work well together. mutual respect is what this personal visit indicates.
Write it up. If it has no nude photos it’s likely to get published.
Just emailed it , Joe. hope you like it.
Like is possibly not the operative word, but I respect the out-of-the-box thinking. 🙂
Correction on that. In more detailed reading for edit, I do like it. “Have hammer, will whack.”
The article will publish at 10:00 Thursday Philippine time. If you’d like it earlier, I can set it for 6 or 8 am. Thanks for the refreshing rethink. Quite delightful!
Joe, which ever is convenient for you. but I really like this publish then drop on Twitter routine. i really wanna invite the Risa camp for this. so I’ll defend it on twitter too.
“Your last Inday Sara post got brickbbats on FB, oh well life goes on.” I didn’t know it was also posted on FB, karl. I would’ve defended it there too. although I’m not in FB. but Twitter during Elon Musk i really like. so if it gains traction there, I’ll be there too.
Nothing new I’m saying, but been inspired with what Joey and pablo said on Women in the Philippines. and Ireneo’s Devil’s Wheel as metaphor here though implied. then Joe vs. Trillanes posts. it just all came together.
I get what you’re saying , Joe, upon my 3rd reading of it after which i emailed it to you, I realized I was also in love with VP Leni equally. and that it kinda turned out to be that expression of it. “Quite delightful!” I felt the same re reading it.
Let me move it up to 8 am our time to give it a couple of extra hours, your time, and I’ll drop it on Twitter when it’s published.
LCX,
Joe mentioned he gave up on Facebook because of its toxicity. Your last Inday Sara post got brickbbats on FB, oh well life goes on.
Swig a beer and ogle around for me. Wear a costume, Lapu Lapu maybe. 🤣😂🤣
The rule of three (i.e. too big, too little, just right; to hot, to cold, just right; or too hard, too soft, just right) appears to favor the notorious and despicable Duterte clan if we follow the sequence and translate the story on the political landscape of the country.
We all know the Marcos and Aquino dynasties is on their final legs of their political rivalry. With the death of Noynoy on the Aquino side, the family has practically exhausted every single member who can hold and lead the traditional opposition. If she wants it, which I don’t think will happen, Kris Aquino would be the last credible Aquino to run for public office.
As to the Marcoses, we are now seeing the last of the Marcos clan, Bongbong, to occupy Malacanang. Nothing in the horizon gives an inkling that another Marcos would be contending for the highest position in the very near future. Imee has reached her potential and she seems contended to just be another political butterfly on the wall. Imelda, as we all know, has been in the pasture all this time that relevance is the last word we can think of when we talk about her.
The Marcos-Aquino rivalry is gasping for air. There’s no more warriors on both camps who can continue the fight. Both sides won and lost battles, both side’s influences are starting to wane. In other words, it’s just a matter of time.
That is the ‘too big, too little’, ‘too hot, too cold’, and ‘too hard, too soft’ part of the story.
Now comes the “just right” (Oh, my God!) part.
Enter the Dutertes of Davao. Rodrigo/Digong, like Macoy and Cory, has made his mark in our political life. And it’s not a pretty one, in fact, it’s horrible. The UN Human Rights Office estimated that deaths under Duterte’s war on drugs range between 12,000 to 30,000 or more. When one talks about Duterte, human rights violation and extra-judicial killings always follows.
And like the Marcos and Aquino families who have their two generations occupied Malacanang, the Duterte’s have their own ‘representative-in-waiting’ in Sara Duterte, the vice president.
At the moment, she is sucking all the air in the political room for displaying the family traits that endeared them to the people of Davao: arrogance, haughtiness and just pure egoism.
She wants to be president, and as sure as night follows day she’s going to run in 2028. That could have been the end of the ‘Rule of Three’ story of political dynasties but, unfortunately, it is not so.
Digong is still alive and active. And given the squeezing atmosphere that’s going on about his role in the extrajudicial killings under his watch, he might run for office again (some says as vice of Sara) to escape accountability.
Then there is brother Paulo, another Duterte who has a snake-like existence as shown by Sen. Trillanes during one of their committee meetings a couple of years ago. He was challenged by Trillanes to show if he has a tattoo symbolizing Triad membership and he refused. He was questioned about his questionable back accounts, again, he refused to testify.
To summarize, in terms of dynasty, we can say we experienced them all: the good, the bad and the just right. However, the “just right” part of our political story is really the most dangerous part. I’ve lived under the Marcos dictatorship and the Cory Aquino Administration, under PNoy and BBM and in between and I can say with certainty the Duterte presidency is the most egregious of them all.
PNoy and BBM, while not in the league with their fathers, intelligence-wise, are the better version of their fathers as persons. Will Sara Duterte be different from her father? Hell no! Digong is the worst president, so far. But she could break that record for being the worst Duterte of them all.
I agree with every single word. Perfect summary of the Philippine bear clans. Goldilocks voters best vote sharp in 2025 and 2028 or they’ll be lunch.
For now I wish Kris Aquino better health.