What does the Philippines stand for?
Analysis and Opinion
By Joe America
What does the Philippines stand for? That’s the question I asked Twitter people who argued that eagles and landscapes represent a “neutral” position on Philippine money, whereas people are “political”. I had objected to the Marcos Government pulling people off the paper money. They said I was wrong.
Yet no one could or would answer the question.
What does the Philippines stand for?
And, if what it stands for today is poverty, entitlement, and bad government, I’d ask “What do you WANT it to stand for?”
I think no one would say eagles and mountains. I’m guessing they would express ideals that come from what people create, and what they are. Substantial people. Heroes, leaders, athletes, resilience, entertainment, democracy, fairness, compassion, friendliness.
Eagles don’t quite do that, although they are magnificent creatures.
My answer to the question is that the Philippines stands for it’s people. It stands for their accomplishments and their dreams. Removing them from money is like striking them from the history books. And THAT is political. Taking them off erases a little bit of the soul of the nation, the soul being the whole of the place, all that has gone before, all that is here now, all that the nation can be.
It is a mistake to diminish what people here have done. I think Maria Ressa should be on the bills. And Manny Pacquiao, and certainly the Aquinos. They ARE the Philippines.
They stand for intellect, strength, and courage.
_________________________
Cover photo from BSP facebook account, showing the bills that President Duterte signed.
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The Society of Honor by Joe America 
If you want to profit (short term) from people, you take away their soul. It makes a people diminutive. Removing people from the money, it is not as decisive as massaging the history lessons or managing the media, but it is a sure signs of the intentions.
I think this describes just right the first hints of the intentions. In any other nation erasure of national heroes would bring about an indignant uproar, yet in the Philippines the response is a muted shrug. People have always needed heroes, avatars, ideals to aspire to. The question then, is what and who Filipinos collectively have replaced heroes, avatars, and ideals with? With the soul removed, we are all but empty husks with no meaning left.
Yes, it seems so.
“Do not cry, [Pepito,] show to these people that you are brave. It is an honor to die for one’s country. Not everybody has that chance.”
Chief Justice José Abad Santos; April 26, 1942
The first time I had read a short biography on Abad Santos, a chill ran down my spine. Powerful words spoken, on the level of the esteemed patriotic heroes of other nations heralding from a bygone era where men of substance matched their eloquent words with commensurate action.
José Abad Santos, like Vicente Lim and Josefa Llanes Escoda were erased upon their ultimate sacrifice to the nation, buried in unmarked graves to be forgotten. All three heroes, who died a commoner’s execution by the Imperial Japanese Occupation, ultimately managed to transcend into the profundity in the meaning their sacrifices gave to the fledgling Third Republic.
Sacrifices of heroes both known and unknown, men and women who did the right thing for the common good of the nation, have always provided a guiding ideal for societies. Heroes are a reminder that an individual can choose the hard thing. Heroes exemplify the inherent goodness and righteousness in all that is often clouded by the opposing internal forces of selfishness and self-preservation. Memories of heroes are elevated precisely for the fact that though as humans they were certainly imperfect, they exhibit certain attributes a society aspires to emulate.
Though it seems to me that Duterte, then Marcos Jr. started erasing long-dead heroes once again based on the own personal agendas of self-elevation of these two men who are very much still among the living, I must wonder, have these heroes already long dissipated from the national memory? A national hero, in a way, is an avatar of the collective national consciousness. A national hero is even like the religious saints, much like the near-sainthood status of the murdered Ninoy Aquino for EDSA. And though I find much quiet goodness among Filipinos, I must wonder in what way has the national consciousness changed where the erasure of national heroes barely elicits a shrug from most Filipinos. So just as it is for saints, people will pray to a saint when they are in need, then follow devilish avarice and vainglory once they’re in the clear.
Who are the Filipino heroes today? What attributes does the Filipino nation seek to emulate in the present time? In the constant internal struggle between selflessness and selfishness, what ultimately wins out nowadays?
A great leader celebrates the heroes from the past and will be remembered as a great leader amongst equals.
A lesser leader will try to erase history lest he be compared.
A bad leader will replace the heroes from the past with statues of himself in a vain attempt to be celebrated after his death.
You hit the nail right on the head.
Duterte is a egotistical maniac. Marcos Jr., I think not so much, though he does seem to have an ultimate goal of rehabilitating his family name. It just seems more longer lasting to actually take bold actions that benefit the nation, rather than to to massage the information and messaging space.
Good question. For sure the Aquinos are fading. Is Jose Rizal still taught in schools? I don’t know. Ressa is no hero but received a Nobel prize. De Lima is not a hero for living in jail. Velaso is a hero to some, which leaves me gobsmacked. There are no heroes today, I think. Just showmen and showboats. If Robredo led protests in the street she could be one, but that’s not who she is. Seems rather an empty vessel, herowise.
Rizal is emphasized in schools up to university, though as more of a incorruptible “saint.” I’d be very shocked if many students knew much about Rizal’s accomplishments, as well as his flaws that made him human. It seems to me that the teaching of Rizal in school is more like what I’ve jokingly called “Rizalisms,” even though Rizal didn’t utter those -isms himself, rather what is taught is a continuation of the elevation of Rizal into national sainthood. By creating an extensive mythos around heroes, what they stood for becomes unattainable so people don’t even bother to emulate. Better to just pray to the saints and to God, it’s too hard to do things ourselves. Then again, the heroes who have distance in time are lucky in a way, with a mythos to cocoon their image. Latter day heroes who were elevated to national sainthood were quickly derided, their images torn down, when they could not perform the miracles the people demanded. Cory and PNoy Aquino come to mind.
The quote attributed to Rizal that those who don’t love their own language are like rotting fish is, for instance, a fake Rizalism he never said. Reminds me of much Confucius said stuff.,
The 2022-2023 teleserye Maria Clara at Ibarra did make even the young interested in reading the Noli and Fili again by having a Gen Z nursing student who cares little about Rizal teleport into the novel and it’s events..
the dialog and all started off quite funny as Filipino Gen Z talk and attitudes clashed with the Hispanized Tagalog and conservatism of that era, and in contrast to pre-Heneral Luna historical movies much care was taken to have period-correct Tagalog and Spanish spoken naturally and correctly..
It also humanized the era, making the people of then relatable, unlike the people shown in old historical dioramas who seemed unreal. Its most acclaimed subplot was showing how Sisa slowly went mad, with many realizing that the way Sisa was mocked was never a good thing.
BUT it kind of cut short certain parts of the story that might have made people ask too many questions still applicable to today, with Elias somewhat Disneyfied and the El Fili rushed with some bonkers literary devices. Xiao Chua saw the series a bit more favorably than I do:
https://www.manilatimes.net/2023/01/17/opinion/columns/the-emancipation-of-rizals-characters/1874593
“The show ‘Maria Clara at Ibarra’ did what we always wanted to do when we read Rizal’s novels but frustratingly cannot — emancipate the characters from their timidity, take them out of their weaknesses, and give them a few bones. It doesn’t change the outcome of the story, but at least they go down fighting.”
But one could say that at least the historical movies of the past 15 or so years have given people a clearer view of what happened before, even if some might actually think Bonifacio was like Isko Moreno because they mistake movies for reality..
Something that has bothered me for many years is feeling that some Filipinos gravitate towards larger than life figures, like the sometimes outrageous and flamboyant figures of the past or starry actors on screen of today, because Filipinos feel small in themselves. Then there’s a confusion and insistence that those heroes also be an Everyman.
Then there’s the oddness that for a people who collectively are so imaginative and able to constantly reinvent themselves, Filipinos also seem to be incurious in learning for themselves. Rather they would wait for the information to be transmitted by another, such as a teacher, professor, clergyman or leader. Relying on a trusted person for information is all well and good, except when the trusted person has malignant motives, such as what we see in self-serving politicians and religious cult leaders like Quiboloy.
An old Bavarian once told me based on stories of how the lives of different Pinoys I knew went – from the lazy to the hardworking, from the too daring to the too cautious – and said “you mostly go the path of least resistance”.
That is the law of Physics.
However,
With people, it more often how your parents showed you when you were young.
Hardworking parents often produce hardworking kids. My mother came from a farm and her whole family (15 kids) were extremely hardworking. They had been milking cows since they were 6 or picking fruits at 4 in the morning before going to school. And none of them could sit still, have a beer and enjoy the scenery. They could party like the best. Dance and drink and talk and drink. But in the morning, after only an hour’s sleep, they were in the greenhouse again or milking the cows or (when they got old), take care of the grandchildren… And that attitude continued throughout the generations. From 1900-1980, you had to do that to survive, there had been a lack of food, the war destroyed many communities.
In Philippines , the need for work, ofcourse, is a lot less. You can pick the fruits from the tree, after you planted the rice, it grows, you fertilise it and wait till you can harvest.. A lot easier (especially for the men). And you indeed see many hanging out at the basketball court…. But, also here, in my fishing community, there was a hardworking fisherman with 11 kids who send them all to school and they ALL became professional, several cum laude. While their neighbours scraped a life together and their kids became no-read no-write fishermen. There was the doctor’s daughter who became the village teacher, started a library (!!!) and pushed the village kids to go to school and eventually became barangay captain because she could not sit still.
I have met many older people who were motivated. Pity that this is gradually disappearing. And that is not a complaint from an old fart. The youth organisation is practically gone. The kids who are motivated almost all prepare for work abroad (medical, seafarer). The rest plays volleyball and cellphone games.
Probably, it is a bit different in the cities. I hope.
Very few people can escape what they had observed and learned from their parents and relatives from a young age. I often believe that it takes a huge shock one’s identity and sense of purpose in the world to give rise to a possibility of a “reboot.” Usually after rebooting, the kid goes in the complete opposite direction as their parents, determined to never face hunger or being looked down upon for being poor again. Even so, most people in the face of adversity just lay down and accept their fate.
For DE Filipinos, most will envy and covet what their neighbor has, yet expect it to be given through *someone else’s* hard work, while they sit woefully doing what I describe as “pity farming” or “fishing for pity.” I mostly surround myself with DE’s and I’ve learned that when they start off on a sob story, ultimately the story will transition to a request for help. “Can I borrow …” is one of the most common things I’ve heard. Of course they have no intention of ever paying back a loan, and if they had the money they probably would buy a new mobile phone or spend it treating everyone else (but not me because then they’d be pressured to pay it back, haha).
Too many DE-origin Filipinos that I know, who once they had “made it” on their own initiative and hard work, perhaps with the encouragement of a great teacher, felt the utang na loob and tried to fulfill their duty in supporting their family. The money asks just keep increasing in frequency and amount. Many of these former DE’s just give up and cut off their family entirely. What a sad way to live, for both parties.
And it’s not that much better in the cities, Paul. At least “out in the sticks” of remote provincial towns, people are forced by necessity to at least grow some veggies or subsistence crops. In the cities, there is always someone to give a handout if one plays the pity card hard enough whether that be the (often sole) BPO/OFW cash cow relative, the mayor’s office, NGOs, or religious groups. I’ve met quite a few families who “converted” to born again or Pentecostal denominations just to get handouts.
I can say that I was in total shock the first time I visited. I was 14 but quite tall (about 6’/183cm at the time). I had assumed most Filipinos were like the Filipino-Americans I knew who were educated, well spoken, magnanimous, civic and community leaders. Of course, I knew in any society there would be those who are not like that, but what I saw was the abject poverty of late 1990s Metro Manila squatter camps, then the even worse poverty in the outer provinces until I got to Mindanao. From offers of people’s daughters, to others insisting that as an American and “friend,” I should immediately give some money, to the taho lady who smiled with her wide, toothless gentle lola smile and then proceeded to fleece me over a cup of taho (I didn’t how much). I had never experienced that before in any other Southeast Asian country. I had visited Thailand 2-3 years prior and the poor were quite honest. I remember buying an old Thai granny’s entire cart of delicious khanom thian steamed rice cakes, and she burst into tears as she expected to stand in the sun all day by the temple selling the cakes. I was charged the actual price per piece, after which I gave a bit extra on top. That would rarely happen in the Philippines, especially once people figure out I’m an American (but Americans are White people! .. hah).
Some older Fil-Ams who have since passed told me that most of the educated middle class had left in waves before and during Martial Law. Another large wave left in the 1990s after they were disillusioned by EDSA. The disillusioned wave included my high school best friend’s doctor parents who had participated in EDSA as young medical residents. The brain drain over decades seems unimaginable. But as I’ve said before in another blog, brainy and motivated people rise from any generation. The only problem is each time another generation’s brainy and motivated people rise, they seem to quickly head for the exits.
Perhaps those pinoys were solidly in the middle class. I’ve found that such pinoys are really industrious, if led by a competent boss. It’s way different among the vast masa though, where the prevalent mentality seems to be “I’ll eat mine, then I’ll eat yours too if you’re not watching.” By others’ food, what I mean is people will be one-day millionaires then the rest of the pay period until next payday they will borrow or ask money from others. The only way to put a check on that behavior is to have for example an office loan scheme where one industrious coworker will run an office loan service where the borrower will turn over their payroll debit card (aka “ATM”) and ATM PIN as collateral for paying back the loan. The loaner keeps books on the balances and removes the agreed upon amount every payroll.
I heard that euro banknotes also have no pictures of people, only of cultures, beliefs, etc.
How many countries in the EU again? And increasing, so you would have to get new notes every time? And with so many countries, it is impossible to choose.
We thought it was a pity to loose our scientists and heroes from the money prints, but it was a price to pay for unity.
Besides……. Hardly anybody uses cash anymore in most Euro countries. Last time I was there, the only cash I had on me was a 50ct piece for the supermarket cart. Market, pub, shop, train, bus, fuelstation, restaurant, club, fair: Everywhere the plastic card rules. Only my grandkids’ pocket money is in cash, but that will change once they’re 12. Cash is only for drugs and illegal work.
https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3291980/erasing-history-philippines-new-banknotes-do-not-feature-aquinos-sparking-anger
unlike EU, philippines is only one country and to think that pbbm’s dad’s reign was supposed to be the golden years, his dad apparently the best president ever, and yet his dad’s picture is not on any banknotes today. must have been a point of contention for the son.
Well, in Turkey, for instance, Erdogan might be partly going against the legacy of Erdogan, but he will not dare touch his official status or symbols of him. Unfortunately, the sense of legacy in the Philippines is obviously very thin.
erdogan is no ataturk, though he tried to be.
true, sense of legacy in philippines is getting thin, as we have one nihilistic dynasty trying to whitewash not just our history but also the legacy of good left by another dynasty, and replacing it with disenfranchisement, haha, I dont really know what that word meant, but that is what is felt undeniably by many on the ground.
Though GCash and Maya have yet to replace Cash as King, we must not leave heroes to history books, movies and tv shows. Though I appreciate a hero movie very now and then. I await Irineo’s take on this.
In my dream, I would contract Irineo to write a 200 page comprehensive history on Philippines and fail all highschool and university students with a lower score than 85% on this subject starting next school year.
And all politicians with a lower score than 95% in next elections LOL.
And then, I woke up..
Nice one and by the way Irineo’s dad was said to be a strict History professor in UP.
Definitely not patient enough to teach freshman classes, someone more for the major or graduate students.
Takes someone more like Dr. Xiao Chua to spread stuff to the people, Xiao is someone sidewalk vendors know and even PPop stars like Josh Cullen Santos who finished HS via ALS ask him about history.
I see, thanks.
Ha! Wonderful.
In my dream, I would contract Irineo to write a 200 page comprehensive history on Philippines and fail all highschool and university students with a lower score than 85% on this subject starting next school year.
And all politicians with a lower score than 95% in next elections LOL.
And then, I woke up..
Good morning, everyone. It’s just half past seven in the morning in Germany and the second day of Christmas is a holiday here, but this is one of the few times I wake up and there are already a number of comments to a new article. Great stuff, actually.
My private hero in this blog is Edgar Lores, who helped me sort the chaos in my thoughts that I still had when I came here. In his honor, I shall use the revered technique of Loresian enumeration, which Edgar once indirectly admitted was a way to sort his thoughts:
1. Edgar did once admit he was confused at times.
1a. I then asked him if I should may call him Confusius. He answered with a smiley.
1b. Ambeth Ocampo in Rizal without the overcoat sought to humanize Rizal.
1c. Many Filipinos saw heroes like Rizal as unreachable ideals before Ocampo.
1d. Many Filipinos saw history as something far and incomprehensible before Xiao Chua.
1e. The formal culture, including the nation and academe, is seen as unrelatable by many.
1f. Of course, the roots of this are in the colonial origin of practically all Filipino elites.
1g. I tried to show Edgar’s relatibility in the intro of the article linked below. He also “sang.”
1h. My first impression of Edgar was pedantic. He was amazingly patient with nearly all of us.
2. National heroes are, of course, what a nation chooses as “Leitfiguren” in German.
2a. a Leitfigur is a leading figure, literal. Idol or the Filipino slang term Lodi come closer.
2b. Germany somewhat lost its concept of national heroes, though it did not lose Leitfiguren.
2c. Ambeth, according to Xiao, said artists etc. could be on bills if you dislike politicians.
2d. Using first names is more relatable to Filipinos. Well, most PH surnames are from 1849.
2e. Some of the German youth in the 1980s did call Pres. Richard von Weiszäcker “Richie”.
2f. Goethe and Schiller disappeared from bills when the Euro replaced the Deutsche Mark.
2g. Did that lead to inner city youth here writing “Fack ju Göhte” like in the 2013 school comedy?
2h. Prof. Xiao Chua was all over social media on the topic of banknotes, see YT video below,
3. Critics of the EU would say that its abstract banknotes mean it has no soul.
3a. I partly agree that they should not have let bankers alone decide about the bank notes.
3b. Universally admired great Europeans like Erasmus or Da Vinci could have been on them.
3c. At least some major monuments like Pont Du Gard in Nimes could have been on them.
3d. Germans, including myself, do still use cash a lot. Swedes pay everything with credit cards.
3e. Without at least humanistic and Enlightenment values, Europe is open to criticism.
3f. Is the EU just business and bureaucracy as the critics of the EU openly allege?
3g. It was at least after the war the ideals Erasmus and Voltaire initiated.
3h. Enlightenment without humanism is scary. Humanism is secularized Christian ideals.
———–
To be continued as I go to take breakfast and open the windows as the sun has risen. Winter..
Terrific. Keep it going.
1e. The formal culture, including the nation and academe, is seen as unrelatable by many.
This creates the most amazing consequence that Filipinos are patriotic but know not why. My observation is that it is simple love for my place, but that will not impel them to vote for competence, just comfort. Accountability is hard and if you are an order taker you don’t need it. Once you get it, you don’t sleep so well at night.
Edgar was patient, indeed, for we the striving, but his patience ended when intelligent people failed to grasp consequences and argued for neglect of humanity.
Thanks. Maybe the ties that bind Filipinos are less the state than personal bonds, as mentioned in your friendship article. Among the educated, it is often more on fraternities and other bonds or brotherhood as Will mentioned below:
Actually, that web of personal ties is older than colonial times, and among the Moros it often manifests in clan ties that influenced the politics of Sultanates before American times, or in how they conduct but also resolve “rido” using respected go-betweens. Something about Atty Leni shaking Marcos Jr.’s hand in Sorsogon with Escudero and Bam Aquino watching had shades of a feud resolved with go-betweens. Even meeting Inday Sara was I think just giving her the message that she isn’t an enemy, even as I don’t see any alliance or friendship.
Re Edgar, I was referring to how he cursed LCPL_X in the article below. For sure, a Filipino IT professional will not take a comment that Filipinos might have hacked a central bank lightly. Filipino professionals abroad live off the reputation of being honest hired hands after all.
Ahh, yes, so the Philippines stands for Filipinos bonding. That fits perfectly, and I think that answers the question well. Thanks also for the background on Edgar.
There is a bit of truth to josephivo’s idea that an idea of the Philippines among the masses was a product more of mass media than of schools. I guess for many being Noranian or Vilmanian, or later Kapuso or Kapamilya mattered more than the nation taught in school.
Big migrations like postwar to Manila, later Cebu and Davao, as well as to the USA and abroad, caused mixed marriages, not the norm in times most still barely left their villages. Yuval Noah Harari did write in Sapiens that humans organize around ideas. Possibly, there is more true interest in Ang Probinsyano among the masses than in any real-life hero story, and maybe the opposition should just pay top dollar to ex ABS-CBN and GMA scriptwriters to define the nation.
Part of the issue it seems is that quite a few Filipinos confuse patriotism with nationalism. Indeed nationalism was a core component of the Revolution after Rizal was martyred, rather than the patriotism that Rizal espoused. Patriotism requires selfless sacrifice and service to the community and nation. The sacrifices that are celebrated are often the “ultimate sacrifice” in righteous wars of defense, but sacrifices can also be constant small acts of selfless service by everyday people. Nationalism requires none of that. Nationalism is inherently lazy and encourages people to be part of a faceless mob, rather than being independent individuals who choose of their accord to give back to the community more than they have taken. Nationalism only requires blind obedience to the national mythos, which sometimes turns out kind of OK like post-Revolutionary French Nationalism, but nationalism often quickly veers into a collective national madness of outsider blaming. The Philippines has many patriotic heroes, some who were depicted on the previous peso notes. Those patriotic heroes provide an ideal of the greatness Filipinos can achieve in benefit of the nation.
One major flaw of the First Republic of Aguinaldo already shows in its Constitution, which starts with “We, the Representatives of the Filipino people.” One could say they were at least honest in their entitlement, maybe.
Those on the old bills were mostly what would have been called patricians in ancient Rome, Presidents of the Commonwealth and of the Third Republic – except for the Aquinos. Like the elite founders of the USA, they did help build the nation in spite of their flaws. Except that they were the people who wouldn’t give Marcos Sr. the time of day, so he resented them, most especially one who is on no bill but was his first-term VP: Fernando Lopez of Meralco and ABS-CBN, who became Marcos’ enemy and was thus dispossessed during Martial Law – but maybe Marcos Jr. who is married to an Araneta now will not act like his father. It is the Dutertes who are considered “squammy” now while the Marcoses are finally “S.” To use slang..
pbbm is president now and probly acting more like his father who had bankrupted a number of banks to fund his ill fated vanity project like the masagana 99. as well, pbbm similarly dipped his hands into both landbank and dbp to fund his maharlika investment fund, and earned pbbm a recent rebuke from IMF.
https://www.rappler.com/business/imf-urges-government-restore-capital-state-owned-banks-used-maharlika-fund/
and as president, pbbm is probly feeling more powerful than any araneta in existence today that he can just change our banknotes, on a whim.
Well, the effects of that will only be felt long-term, and maybe the opposition will be in power AGAIN, like in 1986, and be blamed for the consequences, even told why must you pay utang? The usual cycle will continue. In 20 years, there will be Pinoy OSWs, outer space workers.
It is like he can take credit for the LRT1 extension or the Skyway. Both projects started in PNoy’s time. There is a German saying about people who can’t see further than their noses, which I am reluctant to use with respect to Filipinos who usually don’t have long noses..
ahem, having short and squat noses dont give us filipinos clarity of vision, haha! and we are just as blinkered.
as for long term consequences, pbbm still have two sons to carry on his legacy plus nephews and nieces on the sideline, enough to give the country more than a bout of reflux, the opposition should have the antacid.
Whups! Spilt my coffee!
At least the 1791 French Constitution as a result of the early French Revolution had Represenatives of the French owing their positions to being “freely elected.” I seem to recall (please correct me if I’m wrong) that Rizal and most of the Illustrados intended to follow a similar path if having Las Filipinas being declared an equal province of Spain didn’t work out. Then, it seems that it was the Katipuneros who took it upon themselves to “represent” the people as the peoples’ betters as unelected representatives.
Well, we can nitpick all we want the oldies for all their lack of foresight. We Americans did the same thing, with the American Founders modeling almost exactly the fledgling United States of America after the ancient Roman Republic they were obsessed with despite Classical History being quite clear for nearly 2,000 years at that point which parts of the Roman Republic’s institutions had caused the Roman Republic to collapse in the first place.
So perhaps our founders set us up to fail, ha ha… It’s up to us in the present day to remake the nation into what we as a people aspire to become, if there is a collective will for it to happen.
Forgot to add:
It always seemed odd to me that Katipuneros are almost always depicted as revolutionary warriors, often with bolo or requisitioned Spanish rifles. I don’t think I’ve yet to see a revolutionary depiction of a Katipunero holding a pen. Whereas revolutionary leaders of numerous other countries wielded both the “sword” and the “pen.” No knock on the obvious personal bravery of many Katipuneros, but I find that observation oddly sticking out for me.
Bonifacio was well-read even as he was forced to drop out of school early as his parents died. He had read Rizal’s novels while Aguinaldo never did. The warehouseman Bonifacio was better in Spanish than Aguinaldo the mayor. Jefferson was among the authors read by Bonifacio, I don’t know in what language. It is just that Bonifacio was labeled as plebeian by those after. And of course, he was killed by Aguinaldo’s men, just like the ilustrado Heneral Luna. The first Republic had proto-trapos winning against idealists, both rich and poor. Aguinaldo sidelined Mabini, who was the only thinker left in his inner circle, just after getting rid of Luna. That such a Republic had no chance of survival even without the USA ending it was quite clear. I do have a personally signed biography of Bonifacio by Dr. Xiao Chua, it is nice for general education as it is a mixture of textbook and comic book. As I also have read Jim Richardson’s accounts based on Spanish military archives, one can see the tragedy of Bonifacio in that he trusted new joiners from 1896 onwards too much to the point that they took over the organization.
I admit I never had a high opinion of Aguinaldo, who seemed to me to care more about self-aggrandizement than being an actual leader that builds. I suppose granting one’s self lofty titles could be a sign.
Aguinaldo’s transformation of the Katipunan reminds me of “secret societies” and “tribes” that still exist out in the province, where scions of supposedly named families (though the families are now poor) form societies and tribes modeled off of a misunderstood version of Freemasonry syncretized with supposed folk warrior societies, where the men crown themselves datu or hari, complete with their own “followers.” Kind of an interesting way to organize a drinking group, but probably not the best way to organize a republic.
Filipino history is interesting to me because of all the twists and turns, false starts and generally eclectic summation of events. It’s almost as if aside from the Commonwealth to early Third Republic, and a short period after EDSA, the nation proceeded as a national soap opera.
The movies Heneral Luna and Goyo give an idea of the national soap opera, including petty refusals by generals (who were, of course, all self-appointed) to obey Heneral Luna even if he was appointed Chief of Staff by Aguinaldo, officers giving higher priority to fiestas and mistresses in the middle of a retreat from advancing US forces, and a Republic that was obviously leaky as a bucket, with American papers reporting Heneral Luna’s death in Cabanatuan just the day after. Goyo, aka Gregorio del Pilar, having to organize a retreat to the mountains with Ilokano soldiers who hate him because of his role as Aguinaldo’s killer, but also Aguinaldo’s soldiers treating the Igorot guides in an extremely condescendingly manner. Heneral Luna shooting the chicken of a vendor in a fit of rage and the vendor acting all subservient, calling him señor, until Luna realizes his mistake and pays the chicken and more. Mabini writing that Aguinaldo failed because he saw his interest as that of the Republic, and Quezon who was Aguinaldo’s aide-de-camp, eventually ran against him in the 1935 election.
Even Bonifacio who often referred to “katwiran” (reason) in his writings as he had obvious Enlightenment inspirations, went to the mountain cave where Bernardo Carpio, the sleeping native King was allegedly to be found. As a part-time stage actor, he knew how to mobilize people, and that may have been part of his act, just like the tearing of the cedula at Balintawak happened in not just one place but in many places there, no videos to share yet. But many of the scattered parts of the Katipunan that didn’t surrender when Aguinaldo did indeed had semi-cultic followings and own symbolism. Not to mention separate uprisings like Papa (pope) Isio on Iloilo or that strange group in Bohol that survived as a cult until today. Aguinaldo, at times, was more of a wannabe Bolivar with his uniform and carriage – or a Pinoy ROTC officer.
One can wonder what different course of history the Philippines would’ve taken if either or both Bonifacio and Luna had survived. Of course some others can say that history doesn’t matter and that we create our own futures now, which I agree with to an extent. I do believe though that history informs us on how we got to the present and what actions we must take collective to achieve the future we desire — by discarding history, human societies end up making variations of the same mistakes again.
I’m also both super interested and fascinated by the melding of Filipino culture and shamanism in the various local forms with “foreign” ideas, such as the introduction of Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Catholicism then Protestantism, along with the associated cultures of the transmitters. The various Filipino ethnic groups are quite flexible with integrating foreign ideas into a form of syncretism, but I sometimes ponder if the syncretization is a cosmetic one that misunderstands, or an integral one that had homogenized over time. I see Chinoys, who are held both at an arm’s length, yet are also desired. Or I see poor DE women who sought out foreign husbands to “upgrade” themselves, possibly ashamed of their own culture, yet when they had children the children become intensely “Filipino” like a friend and former flame who has but a drop of Tagalog blood, didn’t get raised by Filipinos, but speaks in rapid fire Taglish. I think the melding of cultures due to the Philippines’ unique geographical location is something unique I hadn’t seen outside of the Near East, though sometimes it feels like the melding was not complete — there is a sense of cultural confusion and identity crisis.
Have you heard of Romana Didulo, the Bikolana-Canadian who apparently believes she is the Queen of Canada and created a QAnon cult that merges many aspects of New Age spirituality of the I AM movement with QAnon? Many Western commenters had recognized Didulo’s confluence of anti-communism, sci-fi “med bed” hidden medical knowledge, New Age theosophy of Blavatsky, the Ballards’ I AM, and Clare Prophet’s Church Universal and Triumphant. Add into the mix ET cultism, Ascended Masters and Sovereign Citizen pseudolaw for good measure. But what the Western journalists and commenters missed, including the Conspirituality Podcast who did a good job in their research, is they didn’t know to dive deeper into Didulo’s Bikolana background or have much insight into the continuance of shamanism/babaylan beliefs. After following Didulo in fascination for some time, I’ve concluded that it is Didulo’s babaylan beliefs she probably learned during her youth in Bikol that allowed all the disparate beliefs above to be syncretized together. A bit scary as she has enough followers to cause major disruptions like the “Canadian Trucker Convoy” and is converting people towards her at a rapid pace.
When I think about the aforementioned provincial secret societies of idle men of purport to know hidden knowledge and grant themselves titles of supposed importance, I think about how people like Didulo, Quiboloy, Ferriol etc. continue to this day ancient traditions of soaking in outside traditions. They just used the culture-melding nefariously. But I also think about how in the Revolution, perhaps the issue at the time is while Rizal and Bonifacio had not completely understood the concepts they started to espouse for, they were willing to build, while the likes of Aguinaldo tried to take elements of foreign ideas that “wowed the natives” to elevate himself into something along the lines of a new datu. In any case, we can only learn from the past and hope for the best in the future.
The tragedy is that Luna originally didn’t like Bonifacio and his group. IIRC, after the death of Rizal, Luna snitched on the Katipunan as the Spanish took him into captivity, denouncing them as bandits. Part survival and part of how he really saw the more masa Bonifacio.
What Filipino historians don’t look into deeply enough is also why Aguinaldo fired his original Chief of Staff Artemiom Ricarte and got Luna. It might have been to get some legitimacy from the ilustrados (after all, Aguinaldo was “only” a provincial politician, they had “urbanidad”, but as is known, the likes of Paterno and Buencamino chose the US later on, even as the “Benedict Arnoldization” of their surnames in school history was unfair as especially Felipe Buencamino, Quezon’s brother-in-law, was one who resisted the Japanese, while Ricarte came back out of exile with the Japanese and later was killed by guerillas for his collaboration) but I believe it might also have been his skill in organizing the tiradores out of Spanish army veterans:
https://www.esquiremag.ph/long-reads/features/luna-sharpshooters-history-a00293-20201104?s=fvbh61loqijs0o28mbttmpg6n1
I think the Esquire article exaggerates, but the marksmen Luna brought in, IIRC often creoles (we know a Filipina, daughter of a Colonel, granddaughter of a very moreno Spaniard – maybe even a moreno in the old literal sense as he was from Granada – who switched sides to join Aguinaldo’s army and most probably also was in the early AFP of the Commonwealth) knew how to shoot. Bonifacio’s Katipunan had maybe one gun for a dozen men, and when the one with the gun died, the other men took it over. Bonifacio did NOT heed Rizal’s advice to some Katipuneros secretly sent to Dapitan – this is documented – telling them if they did what they were planning to do, they should make sure they have enough “armas”. Don’t blame me if my Google search brought forth Anna de Armas, originally Cubana. 😉 In any case, even Aguinaldo and his army were still far behind the firepower the Cubans had, which was enough to engage the Spaniards for years and convince the Americans to let Cuba stay independent. Bonifacio had a lantaka forged in Balara when he went up there to escape the Spanish after they found out about Balintawak, it is respectable that Filipino smiths still knew how to forge a 15th century cannon (Moros still used it until the mid-19th century but upgraded to rifles, among others the stuff that German Capt. Schück brought to Sulu) but it was useless against modern Spanish fortifications. That shows that Bonifacio was a bit too much of a dreamer.
Bonifacio BTW might not have accepted creoles as his definition of a true Tagalog (he did NOT use the term Filipino at all) was IIRC one who was either “pure”, half-Chinese or like him 1/4 Spanish. Even literal Spanish mestizos, meaning half-Spanish, didn’t pass. Though, one can give both Rizal and Bonifacio the benefit of the doubt that they were still forming their ideas on the fly as they had no real clue at the start. A bit like us in this blog sometimes. Bonifacio also was frustrated at how Rizal’s Liga Filipina fell apart after he was exiled (another typical Filipino thing that ideas rarely outlive people) as the subgroup that called itself “alta” wanted to be distinct from “baja” including Bonifacio, so Luna and Bonifacio might only have worked together of Rizal had stayed alive, a bit like Pink was in parts held together only by VP Leni until 2022.
Re syncretism, I have heard of Didulo, a figure who could easily be part of a Mad Max Furiosa sequel syncretized with Beyond Thunderdome as a cult leader of desert bikers. I only have heard of parts of Bikol shamanism, for instance, somewhat shocked (by my sister-in-law) and fascinated (my brother) accounts of my grandmother’s burial in Albay, of a “witch-like woman” (as the former said) who led prayers for my lola that sounded “like rap” (my brother) – and my brother’s account of how they exhumed the skull of my lolo, Atty. Irineo Salazar, and had fascinated looks at what remained of his features. My father told me his grandmother kept the skull of her husband after he died, something Rizal’s mother also did with her son’s skull after his execution, so this is an ancient tradition for sure spanning different ethnic groups. Bikol lore is deep, but the very Christian Bikolanos of Naga will certainly not talk about it, not even the mostly aspirational folks in my clan who left Tiwi, which does have its share of stories of mananambal (male babaylan) and aswang as well as barangays that are majority Agta. Filipino culture has plenty of rich layers to explore, and it is no wonder that the country could NOT find unity in diversity back in 1896 and 1898 and struggles until now. Something tells me there is more of a chance now as these layers are being revealed, even as that is ongoing.
Ahem, I’d be distracted by Anna de Armas too, given my share of fiery Latinas I “knew.” 😉
When I review the comparisons between let’s say the American Revolution and the Philippine Revolution, I’m fascinated by what seems to me the difference of American revolutionary generals becoming generals by popular acclamation while Filipino revolutionary generals kind of appointed themselves within their cliques. Some seemed to be eternal cosplayers, owing more to their raw courage than strategic calculation. Traits which I still see among the DE’s I associate with, where decisions are often emotional with no regard to planning or consideration of consequences.
One would wonder, who was the bigger patriot, Ricarte or Paterno and Buencamino? I’d argue that Paterno and Buencamino were the true patriots as their sacrifices were in service to the nation. I think I had mentioned before that it seems Ricarte cared more about how his own sense of honor and his individual conceptualization of his nationalistic zeal.
On the tiradores, I had read a few articles about the unit before. No doubt they were the best trained soldiers in the revolutionary army, and were effective under Luna. But I had also read that the tiradores were basically sent to lead almost every major battle, while the rest of the revolutionary army was not trained that well. Perhaps that’s the fault of Aguinaldo as the leader. As a result by 1899 out of an original 5,000 tiradores only a handful had survived, so the tiradores weren’t really effective in the end.
On Cuba after the Spanish-American War, I believe the reason why Cuba was guaranteed her independence (Teller Amendment) while the Philippines was not has to do with the US seeing the Philippines after the war as more strategically necessary to project power to protect American trade in the Pacific, while Cuba wasn’t that strategically important at the time being less than 90 miles (145 km) from the American mainland. The pro-colonization factions of the US Congress at the time justified the short-lived colonial project as being a win-win of the US gaining strategic footholds “temporarily,” while also “teaching little brown brothers” how to be civilized. Condescending in our modern era for sure, but the US had seen the Cubans as already being larger civilized while viewing Filipinos as not civilized. In any case the pro-colonial factions were voted out of power in about 10 years which is when the US changed course and adopted the Jones Act.
Another interesting throughline I’d noticed is the Filipino penchant for shooting from the hip. Well that mentality exists to this day in large sections of the Philippine population. American Westerns aren’t that popular anymore in the Philippines but for many decades Westerns were huge in the Philippines I was told. There’s really a cowboy mentality that still lingers. I’m a fan of alternate histories and what-ifs which explore the consequences of human decisions. Suppose Liga Filipina never fell apart and Rizal had not been killed, perhaps the Philippines would’ve had a much stronger national identity by now formed from thought-out ideals. Instead, it seems there had been over 100 years of staggering from one side to the other, trying this and that without committing to anything long enough to see if it would work out. Quezon probably tried his darnedest, having influence for so many years but he still couldn’t accomplish his goals as he died unexpectedly. I really believe that Quezon was quite close, the national language thing aside.
Continuation as I have eaten breakfast, let fresh air in and am enjoying the pale light of the winter sun – and have partly listened to the podcast of DJ Chacha with Dr. Xiao and thus have new thoughts to somehow enumerate.
4. Xiao said that Spain used to put rulers on coins.
4a. Ocampo told the story of why Filipinos call money pera and not moneda.
4a.i. in the time of Queen Isabel, she was on the coins
4a.ii. Spanish Carlists, her rivals, often hid in the Philippines
4.a.iii. they often referred to her as perra, which means female dog
4.a.iv. that might be an urban legend for all we know
4.a.v. she did decree the first public schools in Felipinas.
4.a.vi. they say the Tagalog expression noong bata pa si Sabel is due to her
4.a.vii. she was a child queen at first, and the expression means a long time ago.
4.b. Xiao also said that the Third Republic definitely started putting heroes on coins
4.b.i. he mentioned that there was a hundred peso bill with Magellan before
4.b.ii. he wasn’t quite sure whether the Commonwealth already put Rizal on bills
4c. He respectfully disagrees with Ocampo on the politics of money
4c.i. he does say that all politicians on coins and bills helped form the nation
4c.ii. he does take the blame of Marcos Jr. as the change of bills started with Duterte
5. What a nation stands for is also in its money, what could that mean?
5.a. for DDS, Duterte is the Philippine Eagle, so he put himself out there in full sight?
5.b. there are analogies made between pro-China DDS and the pro-Japanese Makapili
5.b.i. erasing Abad Santos is convenient in such a context
5.b.ii. Makapili and DDS are both against Western liberalism.
5.c. Hopefully, Rizal on coins will not one day be replaced by a carabao
5.c.i. fellow blogger caliphman said what can we do if Filipinos want to be carabaos
5.c.ii. that was after May 2019 when a wave of frustration went through the opposition
5.c.iii. I also deleted my old blog after that midterm and tweeted stuff MLQ3 made a quote.
5d. Filipinos seeing Mary Jane Veloso as a „hero“ have the „kawawa kami“ mindset.
5d.i. it is similar to what chemrock noted about the excessive sympathy for Contemplacion.
5d.ii. it is the idea that the Filipino is always a victim of the state, which is seen as evil.
5d.iii. that mindset is, of course, from colonial times, when the state was truly oppressive.
5d.iv. that mindset is as Joey noted „our murderer“ or in the case of Veloso „our smuggler“
5d.v. I get the outlaw mindset. Some African-Americans like gangsta rappers due to that.
5d.vi. at some point, though, people gotta realize they CAN be in charge now. If they choose to.
5e. Back to heroes, my father’s group discussed bayani vs. heroe very often
5e.i. I didn’t like a posting by him on FB notes in 2016 saying Ninoy and Rizal were not bayani
5e.ii. he implied that they were Westernized „heroe“, just in it for prestige, not for the people
5e.iii. one of my last articles in my blog was a critique of that, especially the FB notes post
5e.iv. one of the main reasons for shutting down my blog was some regret for that article
5e.v. my father did write that one could see Ninoy and Rizal at most as Western-style martyrs
5e.vi. he did concede that Trillanes is a bayani to him, as he has a group, Magdalo
5e.vii. so that implies that being for ideals is alien to the true Filipino, who is for a group?
5f. A lot of prior discourse in the Philippines deconstructed it’s own heroes.
5f.i. the Left and Right started by implying Rizal was a coward while Bonifacio was brave.
5f.ii. my father and others deconstructed Aguinaldo in the 1990s. I DON’T disagree with that.
5f.iii. Filipino intellectuals forgot how meaningless their constructs always were to many.
5f.iv. Mocha Uson saying drama lang ang EDSA was one consequence of that.
5f.v. Bato criticizing Indepence Day addresses of VP Leni as „speech-speech lang“ was another.
5f.vi. Duterte staying clear of Independence Day was as rappers would say the biggest diss..
5g. Of course, many noble Filipinos were influenced by the West.
5g.i. that is because the Philippines had no state before colonialism
5g.ii. the logic of Dutertismo indeed reduces the Filipino to a carabao
5g.iii. Marcos father and son have at least an outward sense of dignity
5g.iv. I have no answers to the issue of what the Philippines stands for
5g.v. Joe is right. Filipinos do love the Philippines but don’t fully know why
5g.vi. that reminds me of a number of things from various novels..
The sequence in Marquez’s Hundred Years of Solitude where the people of Macondo forget the meanings of words due to a kind of „virus“ that also causes insomnia. The starting scene from Brazilian author Jorge Amado’s The Violent Land where a cacao plantation goon, a simple peasant actually, and his wife are happy, but have to stop as they lack words to express it. Or Ninotchka Rosca, who saw the changing names of streets in Manila as loss of national memory, just like Nick Joaquin (whom many nationalists and Leftists called postcolonial) did.
I get (but don’t agree with) why Carlists allegedly spat on coins with Queen Isabel on them, saying perra, but isn’t removing heroes from Philippine money calling them bitches as well? Time for a winter walk as temperatures are now above zero, less chance of ice to slip on..
Second Day of Christmas here in the US too, which is not a holiday though I’m out of the office until after the New Year. It’s not yet 5AM so still a bit sleepy so I will just make a short aside for the time being as the linguist part of my mind seems to be the only part awake at this time.
The pera story that Ocampo recounted probably is an urban legend, though humorously I doubt most Filipinos at the time, and now, know about even the urban legend. This is because the “perra gorda” (literally “fat bitch;” 10 céntimos de peseta) and “perra chica” (literally “small bitch;” 5 céntimos de peseta) started issue in 1870 with the Bourbon Restoration under Isabel II’s son, Alfonso XII. Isabel II was actually ousted by a coup of liberal generals, which is ironic as Isabel II inherited the liberalism from her mother Maria Cristina of the Two Sicilies. The 10 and 5 céntimos coins had a badly drawn lion emblazoned on the face of a lower quality coin, which was due to governmental financial troubles the Spanish governmental mint. Due to the denomination’s lower quality minting, the lion depiction quickly wore down, resembling a dog rather than a lion, thus the Spanish started humorously referring to the two coins as the “dos perras.” The Third Carlist War started in 1872 as a reaction to Alfonso XII, but by then the Carlist cause was rather weak. Being reactionary absolutists, I imagine the Carlists did have a larger base of support in more poor and “traditional” provinces rather than the more liberal cities. I’m not a practicing linguist at this point, but I imagine the Tagalog word “pera” being connected to the Malay word “perak” (proto-Malayic coin, silver, supposedly descending from proto-Khmer “prak,” also silver) is a ret-con by more nationalistic Filipino academics.
In Spanish, which probably only Irineo and I understand, but the wiktionary also has a gist in English.
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perra_gorda
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perra_chica
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pera#Tagalog
The dos perras as the true origin of pera makes more sense as after Queen Isabel (who has a statue in Intramuros BTW) had very basic schools founded in the Philippines in 1863 AND after the Suez canal opened in 1869, causing a surge in international trade especially to Manila, there was the beginning of a Filipino middle class working for the trading houses, including Bonifacio and many other future Katipuneros – they were like the new middle class of today aspirational and would have picked up Spanish everyday slang as those today pick up English.
There was hardly any of that before 1870. There were struggling Filipino priests, village scribes, and occasional Ladinos, aka government clerks. Not likely the types to pick up street slang because they were probably more cautious not to appear “kanal,” as one would say today,
Though Spanish politics did influence the Philippines, for instance, with the liberal governor
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Mar%C3%ADa_de_la_Torre_y_Navacerrada
igniting Filipino (then mostly creoles including Jacobo Zobel) hopes while his successor
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafael_Izquierdo_y_Guti%C3%A9rrez
had Gomburza executed – not Majoha, as some Filipino Gen Zs recently thought.
That Rizal’s brother witnessed the execution and was influenced by the ideas of one of the three priests also shaped Rizal. In fact, an entire generation was shaped by that event..
Sometimes I think part of the problem for the First Republic which echoes on in Philippine society is at least to me, it seems that the Illustrados “kind of” misunderstood the La Gloriosa revolution and French Revolution as the exposure period was quite short, then the Kapituneros misunderstood it even more due to mostly hearing concepts secondhand. I do think the Illustrados were trying to fashion a new national mythos inspired by what they had learned, while the Katipunan being less educated tried to shoehorn their lesser understanding on those European liberal concepts (that were still being fought over in Europe at the time) into an intense nativist and nationalistic invented mythos that didn’t respect other Philippine ethnic groups.
However, the Filipinos of today are not the Filipinos of over 100 years ago. Filipinos today can create their own, new national identity and mythos that respects the past while also respecting what is in the present and everything in-between.
Dr. Xiao Chua’s article on this matter: (as usual ending on an optimistic note, but to do what Xiao does one HAS to be an optimist)
https://www.manilatimes.net/2024/12/24/opinion/columns/pati-pera-mawawalan-na-ng-tao/2026707/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR35ejI0qbChGsc9z1FyKhOR3l-DPwYSnvyh_lVNTL1tJOW2543TM88OLG0_aem_1wZt8EOM_hKHeSe2tOcXeg
(Start)
OUR love for Jesus Christ should be the reason for the season, but we show this through “pakikipagkapwa-tao.” But giving to others means money will also flow into the economy this Christmas. Speaking of money, there is a saying, “Buti pa ang pera may tao, pero ang tao walang pera.” Now, with the introduction of the new polymer notes, which replace the important historical personages with endemic Filipino animals, “pati pera mawawalan na rin ng tao,” so to speak.
According to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the new banknotes “… showcase our nation’s rich heritage and biodiversity featuring protected and native species. The designs underscore Filipinos’ role as responsible stewards of the country’s natural resources while promoting national identity and pride.” This is all fair and good, but when we go abroad, paper money is one of the first things we look at to know what the history of the country is and what it stands for. For the Philippines, this was demonstrated in a book called “Cashsaysayan: A History of Philippine Money” by Michelline Suarez, Joonee Garcia, Divine Reyes and Benjor Catindig.
This move was started during the time of President Rodrigo Duterte when they released the P1,000 bill with the Philippine Eagle, removing the World War II heroes — Jose Abad Santos, Vicente Lim and Josefa Llanes Escoda. Although they assured us that the old paper money would circulate with the new one, hence, not really replacing it, there is no assurance that they would continue to print the old bills.
Our group, the August Twenty One Movement (ATOM), named after the date of the martyrdom of the late senator Ninoy Aquino, who is in the P500 bill, reacted with fear. Our president, Voltaire Bohol, released a statement: “Do we really want a country devoid of heroes? Are we better off forgetting them? Are they trying to make us forget that the blood of heroes runs in our veins so they can replace it with the blood of slaves and let tyrants rule again?” Francis Aquino Dee, Ninoy’s grandson, wrote, “Now they are changing our banknotes, …so they don’t have to look at our heroes in the eye while betraying their sacrifices.”
My instant knee-jerk reaction, which I posted on Facebook, was, “A people devoid of heroes. What a country.”
The historian Ambeth Ocampo, who once chaired what is now the National Historical Commission of the Philippines, famously wanted to remove all historical figures with last names from political families to avoid politics but to replace them with national artists such as Guillermo Tolentino or Fernando Amorsolo. The money board, which decides on these things, was not interested then.
As a historian, I believe historical figures should never be removed from our currency because I observed through data that there is a direct correlation between the images in our money and the historical knowledge of most of our people. It was part of my study, which was published in Saliksik E-Journal in 2014, entitled “Pantayong Pananaw o Pantasya Lamang: Kamalayan sa mga Konsepto/Dalumat ng Bayan, Mga Tinig Mula sa Ibaba,” where I showed a Social Weather Stations survey conducted in March 2011. The survey subjects were asked who were the persons considered to be genuine Filipino heroes, and I noted that those mentioned were mostly those that were in our coins and bills: José Rizal (Rank 1 – 75 percent), Andres Bonifacio (rank 2 34 percent), Benigno Aquino, Jr. (rank 3 20 percent), Cory Aquino (rank 4 – 14 percent), Apolinario Mabini (rank 5 – 14 percent), Emilio Aguinaldo (rank 6 – 11 percent), Manuel Quezon (rank 9 – 3.8 percent), Manuel Roxas (rank 19 – 1.8 percent), Diosdado Macapagal (rank 21 – 1.6 percent). Other heroes who also ranked like Lapulapu, Melchora Aquino, Marcelo H. del Pilar, Emilio Jacinto and Juan Luna were once faces in our money.
On Aug. 7, 2011, I surveyed 45 Metro Manila Pos (People’s Organizations Leaders) from the Urban Poor Associates and almost got a similar number: Rizal (Rank 1 42 votes), Bonifacio (rank 2 – 38 votes), Mabini (rank 3 – 19 votes), Aguinaldo (rank 4 – 16 votes), Manuel Quezon (rank 7 7 votes), Ninoy Aquino (rank 10 3 votes), Cory Aquino and Manuel Roxas (rank 11 – 2 votes), and Sergio Osmeña and Diosdado Macapagal (rank 12 – 1 vote), among others.
For me, this data tells us that there is indeed a direct link between the images we place in our money and the historical knowledge of the ordinary Filipino.
The president directed officials from the National Historical Commission of the Philippines and the Department of Education to put more history in our education because he observed that young people in the Marcos family do not know our national heroes. Discontinuing history in our money runs counter to his wishes.
Taking out history from money is like depriving ordinary people of the opportunity to make history part of everyday life. When we take away the tao from the pera, we are also taking history out from the tao and it can be a form of historical amnesia. Yet, no amount of defacement of our heroes and great leaders should take away the lessons they left behind and the spirit of nation-building that they exemplified. Makasaysayang pasko po!
(End)
the good professor could well be right! cash is still king in our country as 87 per cent of filipinos still use cash. plastic cards is mostly used by the affluent haves in paying expenses accrued in expensive hotels, in paying for quality goods in deluxe shops, in settling bills in high end restaurants and for big purchases. many filipinos and havenots dont even have bank accounts and rely mostly on cash.
“My answer to the question is that the Philippines stands for it’s people. It stands for their accomplishments and their dreams.”
I’m reminded by edgar’s diskarte blog. so those accomplishments and dreams have to be weighed with how well said diskarte unfolded. that I think is what Philippines stands for, from ABCD down to E. if you can capture that into imagery or symbolism, that’s the Philippines.
“LCX is an incubator of beliefs over facts which can be dangerous or work like anti-venom, and therefore do a good deed. I think in this forum, it’s more the latter. He provokes, we chatter and build insights.”
interpretations over facts. though I think consensus is what builds facts, more people agree over interpretations thus facts. thats the bottom top version, the top to bottom version is thru psyops and propaganda, which can also look bottom to top. grassgroots. and power (just beat into peoples heads).
as to “incubator” its like Mango Ave as analogy. you guys are curating and keeping yourselves clean wearing condoms to keep germs away, I like to eat it all up and get sloppy. I’m getting more info, whilst you guys are getting less due to said self censorship and curating. but then again you guys are sleeping better at night, whereas I’m peeing in pain (figuratively of course, I don’t have STDs!).
“Re Edgar, I was referring to how he cursed LCPL_X in the article below. For sure, a Filipino IT professional will not take a comment that Filipinos might have hacked a central bank lightly. Filipino professionals abroad live off the reputation of being honest hired hands after all.”
Going back to diskarte, I think edgar had just enough of me bad mouthing Filipinos at that point (I was trying to emulate MRP but forgot about the horses mouth portion on my part hence racism). but I think they eventually did implicate a banking official from the Philippines, but not as mastermind more like she was broken off a piece accomplice (she didn’t sing). the bank heist crew could still be Filipino, I think. or Russian.
I think the consensus around the world is that Filipinos will do their diskarte. which means steal or bad mouth, or whatever , but the end result is that Filipino individual will get his/her way, or will try to. too many indians not enough chiefs. Though in fairness laughter and love is there too, that’s Filipino. just diskarte is the national pass time it seems.
Which brings us to Francis’ point below.
Francis:
My unique selling proposition was Starlink for ALL. Joey said you gotta go thru the Philippine gov’t , dude! i say fuck the Philippine gov’t, they are the source of much of this diskarte stuff. monkey see monkey do. as to space, sure maybe send satellites, thus national pride, but no manned missions from the Philippines. because of diskarte, that Filipino astronaut will got to outter space in a rocket made of bamboo!!!
There has to be another variable inserted to do away with diskarte culture.
It’s like that LIDAR (from Google’s Waymo and Amazon’s Zoox) vs. FSD from Tesla. You can give me some diskarte about how LIDAR is better, but if I’m seeing more Tesla’s getting summoned by their owners at Target or Costco, or women giving head whilst the driver is reclined driving in LA freeways, not to mention eating while in their Teslas. and all that time LIDAR assisted cars are not even on freeways, if they are with news crews some guy’s helping it drive on freeway. then theres a disconnect , facts vs. interpretations (interpretations beings drivers of Tesla’s FSD already doing driver-less as we speak, consensus of said interpretations become the facts).
Which brings us back to the Philippines, telcos.
Joey:
aside from Philippine gov’t, you’ll find alot of this diskarte culture in Philippine private sector too. sure, Joey’s right they have the tech and expertise to extend fiber trunks out. but why haven’t they already?
they’re waiting for the Philippine gov’t to break them off some. cuz telcos are just the oligarchs and dynasts. Peter and Paul. or they already did their bean counting and concluded DE’s aren’t the market.
You have to somehow by-pass Philippine public and private sectors first. Get rid of diskarte culture. til then, keep those dang animals on the money, i’d add Dugongs and Pangolins. honestly, If PBBM picked me to design the money I’d add Mango Ave on there as well as those kids selling sampaguita necklaces in the streets, as well as babies sleeping on the side walk. So everytime Filipinos look at their money they’re reminded by how diskarte culture has really kept them down.
my bad ,it wasn’t edgar’s blog, per se but Joe’s using edgar’s prompt:
https://joeam.com/2018/10/31/diskarte/
“survival of the fittest”.
Parfahn should also be on that new money, to be honest.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Player_of_Games
I’m supposed to start there according to reddit, if intending to read the Culture series. so maybe edgar was hinting at this book with his diskarte commentary. the Philippines is one big game to be played, and out hustle and step on people to win. kill for it even.
Hmm.. those who go abroad, especially middle class, want to live a clean life. They might use some form of diskarte (or its variant called abilidad, which is more strategic than just tactical, even Atty. Leni has praised abilidad, a thin line as it may or may not be dishonest) to get there, especially to get a visa. But they usually want a clean life and may reject anything that even hints at what they didn’t like at home, so Edgar’s reaction is fully understandable.
There are exceptions, I admit I have heard more related to the working class, such as alleged types who were involved in pilferage at US commissaries or reselling PX goods while it was still worth it. The more ambitious who worked for Americans kept their nose clean, though. Especially after (these are anecdotes from second – or third hand sources) they heard of fellow Filipinos placed under observation BY MPs. So they knew when diskarte was stupid and when abilidad as the long game was better. Same with Filipinas looking for quality foreign husbands.
Also, Filipinos abroad don’t have any major syndicates, even in LA, where they have real gangs. These never dominated or grew. Heritage of smallness even there, and I have heard of former Filipino gang members who went on to become normal boring tiyos with regular jobs. No one ever like Avon Barksdale of the Wire or Proposition Joe. Possibly some small-time hustlers and opportunistic criminals.
https://www.kuam.com/story/11218417/bartolome-faces-20-year-jail-term-after-pleading-guilty-for-meth
https://www.postguam.com/news/local/foreign-evidence-pushes-back-cash-smuggling-trial-date/article_f4558dbf-d82e-5cc6-ad46-b19413a289f7.html
Stuff like what is mentioned in the above articles makes huge waves in Filipino communities abroad BECAUSE it is rare – in this case, one of the accused was even a German citizen. The other guy was someone I encountered at times in our old community, and he did have “rep.”
Still the scale of what they did and the modus operandi, even if what I know is based on The Wire and Breaking Bad, speaks of amateur hour. It is like a Filipino allegedly caught by German customs for smuggling blue seal in the 1980s used his diplomatic helper status to get PX stuff. By comparison, the alleged Vietnamese cigarette smuggling operations out of East Berlin with Western cigarettes seemed to be big operations. The reports about meth trade out of Czech Republic, allegedly by triad-like Vietnamese groups, show what small fry “Ernie and Mark” were.
In legit business and in crime, I must concede that the Vietnamese get stuff done. What Joey has done with his IT business is what I might have achieved with 3x as much hard work.
Re diskarte in telcos, I have mentioned how the Romanians made their Internet one of the world’s fastest by utilizing a form of networking similar to how Filipino slum dwellers – or Romanian Roma (formerly called gypsies) have been known to get electric current.
Spanish colonization created Filipinos under the bells, those who stayed out in the boondocks and those who were in between like my ancestors at the edge of what was then “civilization.” Those under the bells in terms of mindset don’t want to be like those in the boondocks. Those at the edge might go either way in life as a whole, my father and my gambling uncle being two opposite poles. My father did tell me at one point that I was too civilized for the Philippines. But luckily, I didn’t experience the siege of Manila in 1944 firsthand and have to loot to survive..
those who go abroad, especially middle class, want to live a clean life. They might use some form of diskarte (or its variant called abilidad, which is more strategic than just tactical, even Atty. Leni has praised abilidad, a thin line as it may or may not be dishonest)
Granted, in that diskarte blog both Joe and edgar (as well as the long commentaries) define diskarte as amoral, just something Filipinos do and how they understand the world. I ‘m a bit pessimistic of it maybe, giving it more negative connotations than actually warranted. as to street gangs in Socal as well as the Bay Area there are plenty, but like all other street gangsters of Asian extraction, when they do go to jail/prison here, they usually come out rehabilitated not wanting to return and to instead go to college, get a job or move out to quieter neighborhoods or states.
So I agree as far as criminal syndicates Filipinos are not known for it in the USA, Ireneo. Filipinos are mostly bureaucrats here working for city, county or state gov’t as well as Federal. but that diskarte worldview or habit does rear its head, if only in small time setting like towels in hotel rooms or office supplies room, etc. or maybe tax evasion vs. tax avoidance. gotta get mine mentality. which am thinking is the same as diskarte mentality or subset thereof. Blacks have something similar, usually rationalized as part of some reparations scheme from slavery.
But my point is I tend to prefer animals and geographical features as oppose to personalities on the peso, cuz I’m sure all those previous faces did diskarte to get on that money. So put a tarsier instead. flora and fauna is neutral, but then again the laws of nature is akin to diskarte. So no Philippine eagle but more dugongs and pangolin and tarsiers, animals less prone to survival of the fittest dynamics, instead relying on friendliness and naivete , like sloths how did that animal survive for millenia. my point, there’s better OS. operating system than diskarte. but i concede diskarte is amoral. like karma. which is another Filipino world view, Ireneo.
p.s.—- also Marmots, I can spend the whole day just watching marmot videos.
Yes, small-time kagaguhan has often been seen among Filipinos. But I still don’t see a “world-class” Filipino hacker crew as extremely likely – there are other nationalities that would probably get such an act together “better.”
Thus, the premise of the new TFC movie Incognito – top-flight former AFP operatives all dishonorably discharged hired by the CIA for full deniability to take out a Filipino mob boss with Apulian connections – is most probably wishful thinking both ways.
I could easily imagine a Filipino accounting crew involved in international money laundering for some Greek mobsters. That would be far out also, but way more probable. Of course, the Greek would be old, his wife terminally ill, and his mistress the classic manipulative Pinay.
Out of personal experience of working 35 years in many countries with many nationalities and always Filipinos amongst them, I can only say that it never, ever occured to me to distrust a Filipino. Even if we had to “fiddle” (bend the rules) to get things done, my Filipino colleagues were completely reliable. I met my wife that way and was impressed by the dedication, flexibility, ability and fun present in the Filipino community abroad. Maybe it helped that every Filipino was automatically an integral part of that community and chismis prevented stupid behaviour. The things described by Irineo are strange to me and maybe the result of a survival mode as consequence of living in an army environment abroad.
The Filipino way of working abroad was different from the other Asians (and certainly Western) people I worked with.
Great was then the culture shock when we started living in The Philippines, where nobody trusts anybody. Where you get checked 3 times when you pay in a supermarket or a simple bank transfer needed 2 more signatures.
To me, it shows that the people are actually very OK, but the system creates a rotten atmosphere.
That makes the question “What does The Philippines stand for” almost impossible to answer as I think that the people and the country (“the system?”) are quite contradictory and therefore, Joe’s question (to me) is an oxymoron.
To me (again), Joe’s question is more:
Does the country move towards the people or do the people move towards the country.
Still very, very confusing after 34 years.
To me, it’s “what do we need to be to get rich and stay healthy?” The answer is up the competence and get rid of a whole lot of ignorance.
The stuff I described was probably only 1% of Filipinos in an environment that was very strange for them, and I was a somewhat spoiled kid that got almost too near as I felt the lure of easy money but fortunately did not succumb to it.
Well I did manage to lose my college scholarship which brought a good stipend but got into earning relatively good money in part-time and freelance IT.
You are right about chismis where usually the community quickly knows who is up to what.
Originally I wrote an extensive explainer on LA gangs, as I grew up and lived through the height of gangland warfare in the 1980s and early 1990s, but decided it was too long (though comprehensive).
The short version is that Southeast Asian gangs formed when the shock of the refugee experience, lack of family support due to both parents suddenly needing to work to survive, American schools that tried to be helpful yet didn’t understand yet how to integrate these young kids who didn’t speak English, the abject poverty faced and a desire to “just survive.”
There is a term in Vietnamese, “bụi đời” (“life of dust”) that describes living a life worth less than the dirt that blows in the wind. The term was popularized in the American imagination for a little while as a cheery musical number in the Broadway production Miss Saigon, but that does a disservice to the poetic and deep nature of the Vietnamese language. For many young refugees, they channeled their despair and range into criminal activities, later evolving into gangs. I’m familiar with all the “OG” SEA gangs and have many friends among them. Some I call “anh” (“kuya”) or “chi” (“ate”), a sign of deep respect.
Filipino-Americans of that period however, were mostly middle class immigrants, like my best friend a Tagalog from Batangas. His parents are doctors who participated in EDSA as young medical residents, later trying to make a better Philippines post-EDSA, finally becoming part of the wave of disillusioned that streamed out of the Philippines in the mid-to-late 1990s, which is when I met my friend. Most Fil-Ams at that time and prior had the advantage of having established networks they could rely on, in addition to being able to bring at least some money, perhaps also a valuable college degree. That mostly explains why Fil-Ams are still one of the richest ethnic groups in the US, either 2nd or 3rd richest overall depending on the count (this includes White people as well). I’d even go as far as say that Koreans had it as bad as the SEA refugees, as their first waves of immigration were also middle and upper class who had lost it all in war, similar to SEA refugees from Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos. Koreans and mainland SEA started off way behind economically, and while average economic power hasn’t reached the level of Fil-Ams, I think it’s rapidly closing because Koreans and SEA Americans diversified out of being workers, civil servants like Fil-Ams, and got into building businesses while Fil-Ams are still known to be famously competent civil servants.
My Tagalog best friend had some cousins who were supposedly “Flip” gang members. They adopted the attire of the Bloods and Crips of the time. Some even claimed to be members of the Bloods or Crips, African American gangs who were at war with each other in South LA. Some others joined SEA gangs and adopted Vietnamese, Cambodian, Laotian mannerisms. My best friend rejected his Filipino identity and was obsessed with “becoming Vietnamese.” His “gang member” cousins and their friends were mostly hangers on, adopting another culture and subgroup while rejecting their own. I don’t think they ever really did any major crimes. It was more of an aesthetic thing. Mostly they just acted like toughs and spent a lot of time boasting. Some Fil-Ams acted as hangers on and go-fers for SEA gangs or Triads. The few Fil-Ams who did actually commit crimes were considered well… a bit “slow,” too caught up in their fantasies. Contrast with SEA gangsters, especially Vietnamese gangsters, who rarely hambog, mostly stayed quiet, didn’t make many threats, but were feared even by local Triad affiliates as being ruthless.
Funnily enough though, many of those “Flip gangsters” I knew back then are now doctors, lawyers, public servants, etc. I guess their parents set them straight in the end. OG SEA gangsters I knew are also mostly “straight” after they got out of prison, if they hadn’t got killed during the gangland years. Many eventually became small business owners. Quite a few are multi-millionaires in “clean” businesses.
Thanks for the vote of confidence on what I’ve achieved though. I’m really just a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none. What I’ve done so far was done by necessity. I didn’t want to be poor again. I wanted to retire early. I wanted to preserve and build on my family’s hard work. I took risks, sometimes recklessly, and mostly things turned out fine. It felt strange back then being a “kid” in my early 20s to have 40-plus year olds report to me. Well, that’s a whole ‘nother story pertaining to corporate America failing to recruit interns from the universities for a (Millennial) generation, thus needing to hire consultants as knowledge had been lost as most GenX “lifers” didn’t bother to update their skill set. I had a motivation to not fail, and didn’t take no as an answer. Still have plenty I want to get done though.
Thanks for that enlightening response. You could still write a story when you are in old age that has motifs similar to Goodfellas, Joy Luck Club, and the East LA Latino immigrant movie
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Family_(1995_film)
Anyway, one does not have to be comprehensive, I kinda get the idea, though I shall use Loresian enumeration to put together my thoughts on this:
1. Refugees will often have PTSD and be hardened by it.
1.a. Pinoys from an ethnically mixed neighborhood in 1980s West Germany did tell me something about „you can challenge Turks, but beware of the Vietnamese, these refugees are hard-core“..
1.b. Iraqi refugees allegedly started collecting protection money from kebab shops and other Turkish shops in the main station district of Munich. This is what I read around 15 years ago in Munich tabloids, probably partly true.
2. Pride can make men into gangsters especially where they can’t gain respect otherwise.
2.a. the German gangster rapper Xatar is the son of a famous Kurdish-Iranian conductor who was persecuted and had to leave in the 1980s.
2b. I saw a movie about him growing up in 1980s and 1990s Germany, just a dozen or so years younger. Though it isn’t stated, I can imagine why he deviated from his educated background, even bringing shame to his honor student sister and having to leave the family.
2c. Germany had more open discrimination in those years.
2d. Middle Eastern male pride can be some degrees higher than Pinoy hambog, I guess.
2e. Interestingly, he did marry a neighbor from the same hood (also of migrant background) who worked at the wardrobe of an opera house.
3. What you said about Gen X and careers is interesting for me at the boomer end of Gen X too.
3a. I worked in what my father scorned as „odd jobs“ during my studies, though I saw them as a valuable school to not be overspecialized like many of my contemporaries.
3b. I did start a more stable career some years after university when I came to Munich, but I decided to be in a startup during the New Economy phase of the late 1990s in Germany.
3c. In the noughties, I dumped that stable career eventually for nearly a decade of freelance.
3d. I found out a lot about myself (interesting lessons learned) and learned valuable new skills while freelancing for the next stage, which was employment again as it felt more stable.
3e. My motivation for going into IT and not into something academic was also the relative poverty we were in during our early 1980s migrant period. I recall telling my father in those years, „What’s all your degrees for, we’re poor now,“ he answered, „So what if we are poor?“ and I just thought what an incurable Romantic, capital R. Being in one’s late teens in a country one doesn’t really know sucks, and of course, teens compare each other’s status.
With one wrong push, I might have gone gangster, but never like Xatar, who when he went to the Netherlands had access to a clan „infrastructure“ Filipinos (luckily) don’t have in that sense. Not even political clans as their kids often become solidly professional office types in the West. Types like Khadafi’s sons whose exploits in Germany were notorious don’t exist with Pinoys, possibly because the power of the dynasties is as you mentioned due to intermediaries, meaning (fortunately) none of them have the drive to become Corleones once abroad.
Your father and my father can probably be friends, ha ha. My father still clings to his “rank 1” awards and various degrees, his military academy diploma and military commissions, to the degrees earned at American university. Well he went from being a military veteran into Federal service. I recall my shock when as a kid, I struggled with a sculpture assignment and to my surprise my dad effortlessly made the most beautiful clay swan then knew how to fire the clay, painting it afterward. My dad is great at a sketching and painting from memory, photography, writing prose and poetry. I found out once he’s a trained classical calligrapher in Latin, Classical Vietnamese and Chinese. Apparently he knows how to play flute as well as he plays guitar and piano. Once he had a phase where he felt like doing lacquer painting again with abalone shell, the type that’s typically hung in wealthier Chinoy homes. It was beautiful. Well, he tortured me in maths as a kid since he has two masters degrees in engineering. I think if the hadn’t gotten in the way, and if we had not lost his side of the family fortune, he’d be an artist. I also don’t get along with my dad that well. I had told him once, “we can’t eat your degrees.” 😅
But yes, large scale organized crime doesn’t really exist for Filipino abroads. Though as an interesting side story, over a decade ago I decided to stay around Sultan Kudarat after I finished helping with a charity project near Koronadal. I had a run in with some local Ilonggo toughs and gained some respect from their “geng” when I “out-crazied” them after I had been threatened. From there they allowed me to access their corner of the criminal underworld where they were operating across Sultan Kudarat and General Santos engaged in the marijuana trade. Quite an interesting experience I’d never forget. I almost got inadvertently married that time to an Ilongga too (reason: “pamalbal”). She was really beautiful, but not the one for me. Really need to pay attention in Mindanao, ha ha.
In regard to why Philippine telcos haven’t yet extended fiber trunks out is simple: Private companies are not the government that can create money through bonds to accomplish a public good, nor are they a charity. It can be argued whether or not the Philippine telcos are “oligarchs” or “dynasts” (the answer is “maybe” to the former and “no” to the latter). PLDT (Smart) started off under the Commonwealth as a government-sanctioned telephone utility operated by GTE, later going private under the Cojuangcos. Globe is owned by the Ayalas. PLDT is no longer owned by the Conjuangcos, rather PLDT is owned by First Pacific and NTT, a HK based investment company and a major Japanese telco, respectively. Suggesting that Starlink, which is majority-owned by the oligarch Musk whose market power is hundreds of times in magnitude larger than the biggest Filipino oligarch and then expecting Musk to do it for free is a line of thinking I just don’t understand. Musk after all, became rich off of contracting off of US government subsidies ostensibly to further the American public good and the Philippines has nothing in comparison to offer.
Every quarter I receive communications from companies I invest in if there is a general shareholder vote on something. Private companies are not charities. They won’t do things for free, as their shareholders would riot and vote the board and C-Suite out in an instant. Companies have a profit motive. Government on the other hand in theory not care about profit and instead do what’s best for the public good of the most citizens. Governments control the money supply through control of taxation and the issuance of sovereign bonds, bonds of which the Philippines routinely issues for various purposes. In the US, rural communities until the last 4 years never had good Internet connectivity, but that changed when Biden made a promise to expand rural Internet access and kept his promise even if he knew those communities would likely not vote for him. A good government is a government of all people, not the rich or the oligarchs or any select groups.
The Philippine government can formulate a plan to extend Internet service out to even the most remote mountainous areas if they want, then have PLDT and Globe submit proposals on how to do it. PLDT and Globe both have the technology to do such a project, as like I explained previously this is all tried-and-true technology. Fiber hasn’t changed much for decades, only the optical technology on the endpoints. What PLDT and Globe lack is the profit motive to extend lines out to remote areas to serve a few hundred, maybe a couple thousand people, costing hundreds of millions of pesos laying lines that won’t ever be fully utilized, when they can just expand lines in metro areas and major provincial cities where there is a congregation of many more potential customers. But with the help of an Act of Congress funding an initiative, a combination of physical fiber and ground-based direct radio links can provide access to those remote communities.
However in the end, a government must also be fiscally responsible in providing the most good to the most people. Logically and responsibility-wise, it would not make sense to bring Internet out to a handful of people out in the sticks who can’t pay for their new Internet access anyway so the government would need to give it for free, when there are cities and major towns where there are many more people who need help. Also those people in remote areas are not “DE’s,” they are the very lowest of the E’s, even more poor than most E’s. This group of lowest E’s are those who had went to the city, failed to gain work due to the lack of even the most basic of skills, then went back to their family plot to “farm,” though they do that badly as well, which is why they stayed poor. They live on mostly handouts from relatives or the government. I’m quite sure after meeting quite a few of them in Mindanao that they would much rather the government help them with food for their kids and perhaps job training so they can find work, rather than something frivolous like getting free Internet.
Suggesting that Starlink, which is majority-owned by the oligarch Musk whose market power is hundreds of times in magnitude larger than the biggest Filipino oligarch and then expecting Musk to do it for free is a line of thinking I just don’t understand.
I never said Musk will do it for free.
Starlink for ALL was for Joe’s 1-9 (and 10 , mine) to give out Wifi for free via Starlink. not altruistically, but to gain followers. quid pro quo.
So that 1-10 Joe listed, pays for Starlink. then give free Wifi to DE Filipinos. that’s my business model. but I’m no businessman, so we can quibble on how to generate business thus followers. like Starbucks here have free Wifi.
Biden “gave” rural Americans broadband once and for all either for free or cheap, after years of promises from both Bush Jr. and Obama, by building out subsidized fiber to rural communities. Those rurals voted for Trump anyway, and used their new broadband to consume right-wing media. Then again, Biden did it for the public good, not to buy votes.
So I would not be so sure even giving free internet to buy votes would win many votes in the Philippines. Poor Filipinos who suddenly have Internet might just fry their brains on TikTok and FB, and vote for their local dynasty family anyway. Then again, the Philippines consistently ranks on one of the top Internet porn consuming countries in the world. So best case scenario even more people would just be hooked on porn and the status quo remains with no harm done.
Poor Filipinos who suddenly have Internet might just fry their brains on TikTok and FB,
This is what Francis said too, but I beg to differ. I think brains just want new information. and from said new information they’ll do something meaningful, beneficial, or profitable (or all three) with said new info. DE Filipinos will surprise you, Joey.
a sarcastic remark would be: like taking over the scam business from the Nigerians?
But, I am sure we all agree that FB and TT etc, will form the first wave of internet use, but inevitably, a wave of practical / intelligent use will follow when kids find out that you can actually teach yourself many skills.
Internet is nowadays a prerequisite for learning. Privately, I am sad that teacher-student contact is suffering as a consequence, but Internet is essential.
but inevitably, a wave of practical / intelligent use will follow when kids find out that you can actually teach yourself many skills.
Exactly, pablo, that’s how I understand this internet stuff too. it opens minds precisely cuz minds want to be opened, be it ABCDE minds. don’t matter.
Well I do know a thing or two about DE’s. Have attended plenty of drinking sessions, parties and I can cook the same food they eat. Surprising one can learn a lot more about people outside of bed.
Then why do you think , they’ll just waste their time when given unfettered internet access via Starlink?
Well, I hand out small loads from time to time to kids up to teens of friends in lieu of cash gifts when I visit. They promptly use up their load wasting their time, so yes.
A friend was exasperated and asked for my advice on how she can teach her daughter to stop playing Mobile Legends and watching TikTok all day as the kid’s grades were suffering. I suggested to not ban loads as she wanted, but to encourage through rewards that if the kid got better grades she would be rewarded with a new phone and a stack of loads. The daughter threw a tantrum, then shrugged. Her grades did not get better. Instead she got a “load” another way, by opening her legs, got even worse grades in school, and eventually dropped out because she got pregnant by one of her customers.
I mean, imagine what an average person would do if they got free money, free food, free everything. Some might use the benefits to improve their lives. But most would have no incentive to work or improve their lives. Then later they might actually demand more, and cause a disturbance if their demands are not met.
I don’t really think you understand DE’s that much. Let me give an example of an average provincial E family. The wife is a housewife with 4-6 children. The husband tops rubber once or twice a week, maybe participates in the rice or coffee harvest which is 2 weeks once a year for coffee and maybe twice for rice depending on the varietal. The rest of the time the husband will proudly claim he works hard as a laborer, yet is lounging around at home. I’d ask, “why not work as a tricycle driver or in the city?” Always there are excuses. The wife has not enough food to feed their children, who are growth stunted and missing teeth due to lack of calcium and no tooth brush/tooth paste. Ah the husband also drinks, smokes. They might convince a OFW relative to lend puhunan because they have a crazy surefire business idea… a sari-sari and bilyaran… OFW gives money, and the investment is wasted because friends and neighbors come over to “borrow” or play billiards for free… but then they ask for more puhunan because they really will succeed this time.
I’m pretty sure there are more ways to help these poor people than giving them yet another addictive drug in the form of internet and smartphones.
Some might use the benefits to improve their lives. But most would have no incentive to work or improve their lives.
This is where we differ, Joey. and the only way to test that is for Starlink to rain down on the Philippines with all sorts of information.
Well, what better man to lead this than you. We have determined the cost of Starlink Mini and the associated service. Now all you’d need to do is to collect the necessary funds for the experiment, and find a community that will accept the help. I’ve my hands busy helping the communities I can touch when I have time to visit. Paul seems to be doing amazing work too as he actually lives there nearby Ilo-Ilo. I’m rooting for your success brother!
And it certainly did not cost me starlink subscriptions.
And : the people pay for their private internet use.
Worries: in my place now, internet use seems to get priority. Food is getting less important. Even small kids sit on the beach with a phone instead of playing with sand, water and fish. Games and video, FB & TT, instead. Resources are wasted. Still they pay piso-WiFi. Imagine if it were for free.The parents are loosing it. I know all the excuses, the trend is no good.
I’d add that the less fortunate should be given help prioritized on what they *need,* not the frivolity that they *want.* Even an argument that the leftover funds should give some of the wants, but I’d argue that that money is better spent helping even more, yet identified people with what those people need. I hate to say it but the Philippines is a country where the majority seems to be quick to take advantage if they see a possibility in doing so, and those more aggressive people would vacuum up the limited funds available. Possibly, there can be a community terminal that offers free Internet for critical functions, but if people want to use the Internet for fun, they should pay on their own. Which brings me to another observation that most Filipinos would prioritize fun and wants over even basic necessity like food or paying the bills, exactly because they know someone can be guilt-tripped into paying for their own irresponsible actions. Let’s not scold people for being irresponsible as there is a complex interplay of human psychology in their actions, but let’s not also give the opportunities to be irresponsible if that’s possible to do. Would one give a proven drug user more free drugs, and add on top of that allowance so he/she doesn’t need to work? Of course not!
The area around Ilo-Ilo like Negros and the western side of Cebu Island are still so beautiful and largely environmentally intact. Making a short jaunt over the Cebu mountains to the beaches on the other side of the city is one of my prime joys when I’m “in town.” People think it’s humorous that the foreigner is stooping down to gather shells for dinner, catching crabs in the mangroves, and spearing fish along the shore, but there is peace and beauty while doing it. So much to see that will soon disappear, like the Cordova mud flats and salt marsh in Mactan where I previously spent many evenings and mornings gazing at the sea. Cordova is largely all filled in now, paved over with subdivision developments on top. A friend’s nephew is addicted to TikTok rather than running around playing in the rain getting hair lice like Filipino kids did just even half a decade ago. The boy is 4 years old. How sad is that?
We’ll see if I win this dang Mega Millions, Joey. But negritos in Negros (if theyre still there) would be my priority. set them up with Wifi via Starlink, then maybe another JEST school survival etc. and environmental stuff. and something like Santa Fe NM art scene. Huichol art, etc. not sure if Negritos do art, but for sure their survival flora fauna game is good so we’ll start there.
Well it’s just $300 a month, right? No need to win the Mega Millions and become bilyonaryo. Surely that money can be easily raised if not spent out of pocket. If not I know of a way one can earn quick cash on Mango Avenue 😉
$300 bucks a month Starlink can be done by groups, like theres always these fiestas by townsfolk in Socal, Filipinos of the same town. especially in San Diego. they have a virgin statue which they move from house to house, then fiesta comes and its a really big deal. say there s 500 of them if they all pitch in, just off the top of my head some give more some less but on average that’ll be like 5 bucks a month. then they can focus on their town either a barangay hall or in a school. boom, Starlink Wifi.
These groups do like scholarships too. also medical missions, etc.
You think you can share a single subscription with 500 people? All watching their soaps and TT and sending selfies of their family?
Get real.
It would be like that single TV in my village 20 years ago where everybody watches the soapie.
You know what that 300 per month gets me? A doctor. A kid at university who works her butt off to achieve her dreams.
My choice was simple.
Yours seems to be a Filipino speciality: give free handouts without proven results.
Sorry to be a bit rude, but the waste of resources all around is just maddening.
Sometimes we can rely on private charities to help people or provide services. Though too often, private charities exist to feed the wealthy donor’s ego further. They would not be nameless charities, like the ones I had participated in, where we dispensed aid first without question.
Money is just a way to obtain something. Hopefully if the intention is to help, the money should be used in a way that helps the most people with the available resources, which are not limitless. While processes to identify who can be helped the most with the limited resources are not perfect, such processes should be emphasized and refined with lessons learned.
But what entity has basically limitless resources? Governments do. Even there, where a government controls the sovereign bonds which create the fiat currency, sloppy plans not only waste public funds, but can endanger other responsibilities of the government such as monetary supply vs inflation. A government plan to increase educational funds for K-12 creates more good than money spent as such a plan increases positive outcomes for each individual affected. A government plan to improve transportation infrastructure if well thought out ultimately saves the economy time, and time is money, thus creating opportunities to expand the economy not to mention to connect people physically together. A targeted plan to increase the supply of graduate level professionals to serve the economy brings a net positive as those individuals move back into the community, their public service translating into the health of the public good.
What I don’t agree with are blanket programs which are not only poorly thought out, waste the public money, but also ultimately create a worse situation. For example PNoy’s “free tuition” scheme as implemented by Duterte and expanded by Marcos Jr., which has caused a rush of unqualified and unmotivated students from urban squatter communities and the provincial poor to flood universities. Cash was and still currently is being thrown at the problem, with private for-profit colleges now taking advantage of the “free” money as there are not enough student slots at public colleges. I have even seen evidence of for-profit colleges who by law must adhere to the “free tuition” scheme, yet still charge a tuition difference, force poor students to pay the usual useless “fees” and “supplies.” That’s all on top of having by now 8 years of students who are largely unmotivated and don’t even care about the course they are taking up. The students are only there due to family pressure from parents who don’t understand how education can improve family financial outcomes. I’ve observed the first batch of students who graduated 4 years ago on the free tuition scheme go abroad as OFW, using their degrees to secure maid or cashier positions. Still many others just failed out of college completely as they have no drive nor interest in the course. So how did the scheme help increase the supply of DepEd teachers, civil engineers, policemen, agriculturalists, and merchant marine officers? The program failed. Yet money is still being thrown at the program as once people get something for free, even if it doesn’t work out, they get really upset if it is taken away.
When I read about the roads and K2-12 adding value, I almost fell off my chair laughing.
30 years ago, it took me 2 1/2 hours from the city to the ferry. There was not a lot of traffic, the roads were only partially concreted. 15 years ago, everything was concreted and it took me 2 1/2 hours with the rented rotten jeepney. 9 years ago I got retired and bought a car and the trip took me 2 hours. Then the road projects started. The roads are widened and the rice drying areas, workshops, stores have encroached on the road and those …… keep driving on the left and it took me 2 1/2 hours. Now, the mall is converting the parking area to this for-profit school and the traffic on the road gets blocked and it took me 3 hours. In an medical emergency one night, I made the trip in 55 minutes. Instead of spending all this (loaned from China?) money, I would have hired some Aussie traffic cops and a D9 dozer and cleared the road and kept it clear, upgraded the footwalks for another 15% and we would have been able to keep the traffic going at reasonable speed. The road project (in Panay) was 100% waste. Then they build some overpasses and they are sinking and the contractor gets another bucket of money to ‘rectify’ the project instead of being court-marshalled for shoddy work and causing daily traffic jams.
On the K2-12, the situation is similar. Did the learning of the kids increase by 20%? Not in my area, there everybody seems to get a piece of paper at the end of the road and PPP while officially attending class. Did the curriculum change? Maybe, but it does not seem to reach the kids. It is really sad. In a 3rd world country where resources are limited, there has to be smart way of spending the available resources.
You were talking about motivation and performance. Yeah, I had several students and only half a student made something out of his chance. In other words, 90% of my money there was wasted.
I will wait for LCPL to come back in a year what the people have done with the Starlink connection he provided for the people, but I have limited resources and only 10% efficiency, I cannot afford. Hence, I am supporting a medical student fully and one partially, they are 3rd year both now with great academics results and already helping juniors with motivation and the university-shock and I hope that for the first time, I can attend a graduation of students I supported, alike the events from my kids. I just have to plan properly because it is not in Philippines and I need to travel. So sad.
and you were talking about nature etc being reasonably intact here in my area? Dream on, man. Erosion is rampant and topsoil gone to the sea is lost forever. Poaching has reduced fish catch by 80%. Fields are set on fire in March to burn off the cogun grass and every year, the treeline goes down the hill with about 3 meters (one tree width). The fertile fields are used as parking space, building area, plant the odd fruit tree.. instead of responsible agriculture. Roundup is used about 3 times more than absolutely needed because the farmers cannot coordinate their spraying patterns and my 18 beehives have gone missing in action (Varroa, the mad bee disease, and straight kills). Mangroves have reduced because we need boat parking. Explosives have killed a lot of fish. Illegal tree cutting meant that only ONE small island has indigenous hardwood trees. Talk to the old folks and you will see. I was in a meeting with the old governors of Iloilo and Negros about stopping poaching. They told beautiful stories about the times they were young and you could be sure that you got a meal at 12:00 when you went fishing at 11:00, there was so much fish. So, we needed to stop poaching. The DA, fisheries and DENR, police, coastguard…everybody was there and plans were made to stop poaching. Nothing happened effectively. Apart the great year-end parties of all these agencies ofcourse. Poaching is worse than ever in spite of the hallelujah messages I often see, but poaching will stop automatically when all the fish is gone.
The highrise buildings encroach on the coast. Have a look at the NAMRIA maps with the forecasts.for the coming 10, 20, 50 years and you know they will go swimming. I would really have liked to be able to paint a more positive picture, but come and we’ll drive around with car and boat and you tell me I am wrong and make me happy again. But, we’ve got to take care of our little areas entrusted to us to set the right example. And those new Mangkono seeds are exciting to see. Next year will be interesting when the 30 year mahogany will have to go by 50% and be replaced with Ipil, Mangkono, Narra, Molave and a few fruit trees. And more mangroves… Happy times ahead.
Happy New Year.
Glad to give you your laugh for the evening, Paul 🤣 perhaps since I’m still a bit younger than you, I still have more (cautious) optimism that things can become better.
You have a point though. No amount of road improvements and expansion can stop the pasaway mindset of breaking the law. When everyone breaks the law, the goody-two-shoes is disadvantaged so eventually often start following the crowd as well. LTO cops are totally incompetent and ineffective, except when they often indirectly extort bribes. Hell I’ll see LTO cops in broad daylight breaking the law they themselves are tasked to enforce. What really gets me about “Filipino” infrastructure projects is that they are often foreign financed and foreign led. No knowledge learned or retained natively in the end. I guess that’s the PRC’s “win win.”
When it comes to educational deficiencies, I think a combination of lack of good teachers, uninvested parents, and students who see no point in an education getting them ahead coalescing into a vicious cycle. I knew some great DepEd teachers, but they either were discouraged or were bullied out by paper pusher DepEd officials acting like feudal lords in their fief. Newly graduated young teachers can earn more teaching English in Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia if they qualify. That leaves the remaining teachers to mostly be incompetent people who seem to hate their job and take it out of their students. In a better managed DepEd, DepEd would use their oversight to promote good teachers and enforce curriculum. But that just doesn’t happen in the Philippines sadly. People care more about amassing and flaunting a bit of power in their personal fiefdom than caring about the core mission they had signed up for.
Don’t worry about the Starlink program taking off. It’s never gonna happen, haha!
Speaking of sponsorship, long ago I sponsored 2 children of a family in Laguna who held promise. I paid for their late elementary up to JHS education and supplies, as well as daily allowance. I found out that the parents had been diverting the support so they could stop working, so I had to cut off the support as my support wasn’t reaching the intended beneficiaries anyway. I felt bad for those two bright children. They must be in their late-20s by now. I sometimes wonder what had happened to them, and how their life could’ve been different if their parents used my generosity for its correct purpose.
Really sad to hear about the environmental state of Panay. Panay Island and Ilo-Ilo City are some of the more beautiful places I’d visited. I still cook a lot of Ilonggo food. I’d read your previous reports about poaching and mangrove loss but I had no idea it was that bad! On Cebu Island, after Cordova was paved over I often traversed the mountain range by motorcycle to visit Balamban or Asturias directly on the other side of the mountains. Both municipalities were like a dream, with clear sapphire waters and plenty of seafood to catch. Nowadays pollution from the unsanctioned resort building boom has reduced the quality of the water and fisheries by quite a bit… one would need to go to very remote areas in the far North or South Cebu island to find pristine nature, but even those are disappearing fast. Previously hidden falls that I’d need to hike half a day to get to have been converted into unregulated tourist destinations, complete with illegal roads. My favorite pastime of catching ulang and freshwater shrimp in Cebu’s mountain rivers is near impossible as ulang are highly sensitive to water quality affected by haphazardly discarded litter. Filipinos have always assumed that God will provide, and that the land/sea will give… apparently they didn’t read the next passage where God ordered humanity to be stewards of nature’s bounty…
Happy early New Year Paul!
When I read about the roads and K2-12 adding value, I almost fell off my chair laughing.
30 years ago, it took me 2 1/2 hours from the city to the ferry. There was not a lot of traffic, the roads were only partially concreted. 15 years ago, everything was concreted and it took me 2 1/2 hours with the rented rotten jeepney. 9 years ago I got retired and bought a car and the trip took me 2 hours. Then the road projects started. The roads are widened and the rice drying areas, workshops, stores have encroached on the road and those …… keep driving on the left and it took me 2 1/2 hours. Now, the mall is converting the parking area to this for-profit school and the traffic on the road gets blocked and it took me 3 hours. In an medical emergency one night, I made the trip in 55 minutes. Instead of spending all this (loaned from China?) money, I would have hired some Aussie traffic cops and a D9 dozer and cleared the road and kept it clear, upgraded the footwalks for another 15% and we would have been able to keep the traffic going at reasonable speed. The road project (in Panay) was 100% waste. Then they build some overpasses and they are sinking and the contractor gets another bucket of money to ‘rectify’ the project instead of being court-marshalled for shoddy work and causing daily traffic jams.
On the K2-12, the situation is similar. Did the learning of the kids increase by 20%? Not in my area, there everybody seems to get a piece of paper at the end of the road and PPP while officially attending class. Did the curriculum change? Maybe, but it does not seem to reach the kids. It is really sad. In a 3rd world country where resources are limited, there has to be smart way of spending the available resources.
You were talking about motivation and performance. Yeah, I had several students and only half a student made something out of his chance. In other words, 90% of my money there was wasted.
I will wait for LCPL to come back in a year what the people have done with the Starlink connection he provided for the people, but I have limited resources and only 10% efficiency, I cannot afford. Hence, I am supporting a medical student fully and one partially, they are 3rd year both now with great academics results and already helping juniors with motivation and the university-shock and I hope that for the first time, I can attend a graduation of students I supported, alike the events from my kids. I just have to plan properly because it is not in Philippines and I need to travel. So sad.
and you were talking about nature etc being reasonably intact here in my area? Dream on, man. Erosion is rampant and topsoil gone to the sea is lost forever. Poaching has reduced fish catch by 80%. Fields are set on fire in March to burn off the cogun grass and every year, the treeline goes down the hill with about 3 meters (one tree width). The fertile fields are used as parking space, building area, plant the odd fruit tree.. instead of responsible agriculture. Roundup is used about 3 times more than absolutely needed because the farmers cannot coordinate their spraying patterns and my 18 beehives have gone missing in action (Varroa, the mad bee disease, and straight kills). Mangroves have reduced because we need boat parking. Explosives have killed a lot of fish. Illegal tree cutting meant that only ONE small island has indigenous hardwood trees. Talk to the old folks and you will see. I was in a meeting with the old governors of Iloilo and Negros about stopping poaching. They told beautiful stories about the times they were young and you could be sure that you got a meal at 12:00 when you went fishing at 11:00, there was so much fish. So, we needed to stop poaching. The DA, fisheries and DENR, police, coastguard…everybody was there and plans were made to stop poaching. Nothing happened effectively. Apart the great year-end parties of all these agencies ofcourse. Poaching is worse than ever in spite of the hallelujah messages I often see, but poaching will stop automatically when all the fish is gone.
The highrise buildings encroach on the coast. Have a look at the NAMRIA maps with the forecasts.for the coming 10, 20, 50 years and you know they will go swimming. I would really have liked to be able to paint a more positive picture, but come and we’ll drive around with car and boat and you tell me I am wrong and make me happy again. But, we’ve got to take care of our little areas entrusted to us to set the right example. And those new Mangkono seeds are exciting to see. Next year will be interesting when the 30 year mahogany will have to go by 50% and be replaced with Ipil, Mangkono, Narra, Molave and a few fruit trees. And more mangroves… Happy times ahead.
Happy New Year.
No, what I’m saying is “put your money where your mouth is.” Bold suggestions should be matched with bold action. At least, that’s my personal philosophy in life. Otherwise, words are cheap. There’s no use in demanding *others* do what one wants, when one wouldn’t lift a finger. Ultimately $300 USD isn’t that much money to run a possibly noble experiment on Internet connectivity to provide opium to the masses, at least in that remote barangay. The data collected would be very valuable, I’d imagine to prove a concept that can encourage other generous people to replicate your good works. I’ve personally spent much more to help people, and have assisted in dispensing charity orders of magnitude greater. Charity which I had helped to gather in the first place. But of course, that required effort on my part.
So that 1-10 Joe listed, pays for Starlink. then give free Wifi to DE Filipinos. that’s my business model. but I’m no businessman, so we can quibble on how to generate business thus followers. like Starbucks here have free Wifi.
Those rurals voted for Trump anyway, and used their new broadband to consume right-wing media. Then again, Biden did it for the public good, not to buy votes.
I agree that’s not a quid pro quo situation, Joey. or maybe Biden didn’t advertise himself enough as the giver of said broadband. but rural America was seeing more illegals invading the country, it wasn’t just on FOX, Chicago and NYC and DC mayors also said enough is enough. So maybe rural folks did appreciate Biden’s broadband, but saw that illegal immigration would probably end up hurting them.
See that woman burnt to a crisp in the subway in NYC? stuff like that will make you vote for the other guy. i mean that was more recent, but the illegal immigration stuff on top of the free sex change operations, that’ll change votes. So i guess on top of the free Wifi, the issues have to be in line, Joey. but this is a good point about Biden’s broadband not necessarily equating to votes.
Often, there is a tendency to hold up your hand instead of getting in action.
Here, the fibre line goes from one municipality to the next one and connects only the centres of those 2 towns, 40km apart. Result: the communities in the mountains in between have only patchy internet via their phones. But, living on an island in the middle, I made a deal with a guy in town. I pickup his internet via microwave and bounce it into the mountains. Result: I have internet, the communities have Piso WiFi and the schools are connected in 3 barangays. And the cost? 2 batteries and a solar panel, zero labour, (just a lunch, coffee and beer)
Often, it is possible to solve a problem as a community. No need to hold up your hand. For sure, one of the Telco’s will see how many people started using internet and I expect my system to be obsolete in 3 more years when it will be obvious that it is profitable to extend the fibre line.
The concept that communities CAN do a lot of they provide manpower is just missing.. Various reasons, but there are huge opportunities with the (wo)manpower available.
Awesome real life story, Paul. I would absolutely love to see your setup if I’m visiting in the area. I mentioned before I did a similar setup in Mindanao, but connecting a much shorter distance. Still, the concept and most pieces of technology would be the same. That’s what I’m talking about in terms of community initiatives to connect communities together on something that will benefit all.
Leadership is also an important factor. Many Filipinos are too shy or not self-confident enough to stand up and raise their hand to be the leader. They either think they lack the knowledge, or they are afraid of blame in the event of failure. I’ve been called a genius many times over in the Philippines when I did something helpful for the communities I visited or did charity work in. Of course I believe in humility so I always smiled and declined their praise, explaining that I actually had not known the particulars of how to solve the problem at first. I had researched it to gain the knowledge, so therefore they can do the same. After all humans need to learn first before doing something.
Currently I’m working on a prototype for an auto-irrigation system. I’m aware commercial solutions exist but there’s no way the particular community can afford a commercial system. So instead, my design iterates a smaller, previous design that essentially has a battery, solar panel, pump, irrigation lines and solenoid valves, all controlled by a cheap single board computer that can be connected to mobile data to be monitored remotely if needed.
Then also looks at the RAMpump like this guy in Bacolod makes with his NGO. No electrical. power needed….
PM me if you want more info
I had looked into rampumps as I had built a few before. Specifically I was looking into a venturo rampump design but after napkin math concluded that a rampump wouldn’t be suitable due to the flow of that particular river being quite low as the incline of the local mountain is rather shallow. My understanding of rampumps is that the intake flow must be of higher volume and higher flow whereas the output is lower flow. An electrical pump seemed to work better in that case. I also had a time constraint at the time as it was a random project built on a whim after hearing about the friend’s problem.
Still I wished more Filipinos develop the self-confidence needed to become leaders. It’s nice and all to be regarded as a god or a genius, and if I had a different personality I probably would become big headed. But these things are not really that groundbreaking. I certainly didn’t invent anything I did. I was just able to analyze the problem, collect possible solutions and fashion those into a coherent plan. Filipinos can be taught to do that too, but the exploratory mindset must be integral to the education system and start at a young age.
Well I’ve said many times that you’re a smart dude LCpl, even if there are instances in which you frustrate me. Perhaps it’s actually a factor of patience or abundance of time. Sadly, God did not grant me the grace of the former, and as I have quite a few responsibilities personally and professionally I lack the latter. I simply don’t have the patience nor the time to listen to imbecilic morons blathering on about topics they know nothing about. I can handle ignorance, which is a state of not knowing that implies the openness to learn. I cannot handle willful stupidity and a resistance to learning from proven facts.
Re: Information being like Mango Ave. I must admit I’ve never paid for time with a woman before, and when I was younger I’d routinely “friendzone” women because I could not bother with courtship. It was actually really fun to have many female friends to advise me on the other sex and our partying was raucously wild. To my surprise, that made some women desire me even more. I see information the same way. If someone tries to sell information, they are probably selling false information. The truth is freely given or it can be observed.
I cannot handle willful stupidity and a resistance to learning from proven facts.
What’s this referring to specifically, Joey? LIDAR vs. FSD? cuz i’ll concede I know nothing of the tech involved, only what I’m seeing on the streets. and FSD is all over the place , I’m seeing it all over, Joey. but Cybercab vs. Waymo vs. Zoox will be rolled out in Vegas this year, so we’ll see who wins the proof of pudding is in the tasting as they say. But Teslas winning, at least on the open highway. So if i were a betting guy in Vegas i’d go all in with Tesla.
I was referring to the generality. Mostly bro podcasters and conspiracy influencers.
Though LIDAR and Tesla FSD is totally different. FSD is a marketing term for something that doesn’t exist. LIDAR is a technology that allows cheap, fast and accurate determination of distance and feeding into the car’s computer one type of sensor to model the vehicle’s surroundings. Tesla used LIDAR as well until Musk raged against their LIDAR provider because he couldn’t get a cheaper price and ordered LIDAR be taken out of new Teslas (LIDAR sensors are already cheap and manufacturers barely make a profit). Musk then retroactively justify just dumb decision by crapping on LIDAR, and touting the superiority of optical inference (cameras) vs LIDAR and radar inference. Optical inference requires more powerful computers to interpret the video feed from the cameras, but video is still a flat representation of the surrounding. So let’s throw even faster computers at the problem and have the Tesla’s computer “guess” the 3D shape of the world around a Tesla. Which can’t be done easily nor cheaply. All this when LIDAR does it better, more cheaply, and more accurately as LIDAR does generate an actual 3D scan of the surroundings since a laser beam is bounced. All cars with Level 2 that are not Tesla use LIDAR, optical cameras, and radar combined. FSD is level 2 and not “full self driving” as that would be Level 5 autonomous vehicle, an impossibility for now. By the way, Tesla’s Level 2 is behind Toyota/Subaru (who use the same tech), GM, Ford, Mercedes and BMW. Even Hyundai’s Level 2 is better. I see a Tesla on the highway, I avoid it. You would too if you visited a tow yard in recent years full of Teslas that crashed themselves due to their owners thinking they have a FSD car.
I see a Tesla on the highway, I avoid it.
I do!!! twice already I’ve seen girls giving head to dudes in the driver seat reclined on the freeway, Joey! I’ve seen drivers summon their Teslas at Costco and Target, Teslas just driving by itself. So I’m thinking theres gotta be more accidents than not.
Look up “Tesla crashing into house” and there are plenty of examples of Teslas that are supposedly in FSD, that just ram into large flat objects like a wall or fire truck engine. Happens everyday actually. This is because Musk’s hard headed demand that Tesla use full optical inference for their driver assist software (the FSD) can’t recognize a large flat object as an impedance like LIDAR or Radar equipped systems can. So the Tesla just rams through at high speed. Add that Tesla drivers are usually Tesla-pilled and totally believe in Musk’s BS that the car drives itself, and some studies have suggested Tesla drivers become complacent and trusting in a system that is badly designed. This is in contrast to my car, which has a far more competent Level 2 system, that actually stops the car immediately if the car detects obstacles, and so on. Ah, and my car also auto-parks itself correctly, and neatly to my amazement whereas I have no idea why Teslas always park so crappily even when using auto-park. There’s a reason why Musk wants to ban federal crash reporting when no other car company had complained: his cars crash the most.
But alright, if you want to bring internet to the Filipino provincials living up in the mountains, I’ve already outlined a much cheaper way to do it than paying that idiot Musk. Paul added his example, which is actually a larger scale version of what I did in Cotabato. It’s cheap, it can be done. You should lead it haha.
You should lead it haha.
Well the goal here is to get invited to President Inday Sara’s first SONA just like Joe by PNOY, so that’s quite possible , Joey.
Jokes gonna be on you buddy, when BBM appoints you to head the Department of Digital Transformation.
Well, press on, soldier. She’s smart enough to know she doesn’t have to provide free Starlinks, only say she is going to provide it. Whereas the opposition must actually provide it. Strange how that works. DEs expect to be lied to by bad people, but are infuriated if good ones fail to give them goodies.
LOL! chief of DDT, I like that.
Whereas the opposition must actually provide it.
I agree, the opposition if it rolls out Starlink for ALL will have to provide it. 8 I think can do this easy, those folks are always doing medical missions and shit, or high school or college batches for their schools. set up like a hub with Starlink connection. what like $300 bucks a month. easy peezy.
plus they get to answer what the Philippines stand for. how ’bout connectivity?
Don’t worry about the Starlink program taking off. It’s never gonna happen, haha!
It totally will, Joey. Two things van life folks are excited about over here is Bluetti Charger 1 (battery to battery fast charging, car to portable battery, rendering solar panels unnecessary) and that Starlink mini subscription.
No, what I’m saying is “put your money where your mouth is.” Bold suggestions should be matched with bold action.
That’s why i said Mega Millions, Joey. cuz I’m broke as fuck, lol. but you’re also right fund raising is key here. this is NGO territory which I don’t have experience in. I’m relying on you.
Sometimes we can rely on private charities to help people or provide services.
This is the key to Starlink for ALL, Joey. not sometimes like handouts, but precisely Joe’s 1-9 and my 10 (entertainment industry). its a concerted effort by the opposition.
Not one offs. Think arrays within arrays.
I will wait for LCPL to come back in a year what the people have done with the Starlink connection he provided for the people, but I have limited resources and only 10% efficiency, I cannot afford.
Same here, pablo. I cannot afford. Nor do I have a driving force or desire to return to the Philippines. all I’m doing is helping out Joe with his 2028 vision (albeit my opposition is VP Inday Sara, he’s not there yet but i gotta feeling PBBM and Martin will be so bad, he’ll eventually see the light).
Joey’s correct in saying put your money where your mouth is, because the funding and logistics of all this needs to be hammered out too. but unless i win the Mega tonight (1.22 Billion now) i’m just some dude writing ideas online. albeit who loves push back. thus friction. thus fire. Joe’s “insights”.
Otherwise, words are cheap. There’s no use in demanding *others* do what one wants, when one wouldn’t lift a finger.
All the ideas pushed on TSHO have been that, Joey. I don’t think we have an action department where TSOH ideas are carried out, although karl did work for Trillanes and Joe pre DU30 did have the ear of the Yellows.
but I submit these are not cheap words, these are good ideas. I just think because Starlink is owned by Elon Musk you’re having a viceral reaction to it. i could be wrong.
It’s like that UBI idea that, pablo automatically conflated with communism. he had a viceral reaction to UBI and communism. But UBI can be done differently now outside of the fiat system.
I have to keep pounding at Starlink and UBI to disabuse you both of whatever feelings of you have of Musk or communisim, because I don’t even see Musk in Starlink its just a useful infrastructure (sky based trunk lines).
Which will bring UBI to Filipinos. <<<<<
Ultimately $300 USD isn’t that much money to run a possibly noble experiment on Internet connectivity to provide opium to the masses, at least in that remote barangay. The data collected would be very valuable, I’d imagine to prove a concept that can encourage other generous people to replicate your good works.
This is what I’m talking about , Joey. this is why I rely on your expertise. beyond my pay grade to set up NGO stuff like this. you wanna talk marmot and red panda videos, I’m your guy.
But I’m saying skip the experimental stage, and just do it.
Example time:
You have say classmates from Velez teaching hospital in Cebu City that left for the Anglosphere and western EU, they have reunions. currently they run medical missions and offer scholarships to deserving medical students. theres money to burn. and more than willing to help.
How do you approach them this particular group to sell the Starlink idea, but telling them that this will be part of a concerted effort, that they are simply Joe’s #8. lets say they don’t know anything about Starlink. but we know Velez hospital runs clinics and programs around outside Cebu and surrounding islands, this is how Dr./ Mayor Solon started.
So each clinic run by Velez gets Starlink connection. According to Grok its actually around P3,000 pesos for subscription with the hardware P30,000 (i’m sure that can be lowered with wholesale price). and regarding bandwidth and number of devices supported, I just saw on youtube that these Starlink dishes can be connected as an array getting you more bandwidth, that part I don’t know about.
Then you go to other Fil-Am groups and the next and the next.
Remember the underlying idea here aside from Joe’s opposition, and this is my part here is to by-pass Philippine gov’t and the Philippine private sector, and as pablo mentioned also to by-pass mediocre Filipino teachers. so the idea is that kids will learn English watching videos of Joe Rogan (i’m just teasing i know you also go viceral with Joe Rogan, Joey). but doesn’ have to be Joe Rogan.
it could be videos like this one,
Dream on, man. Erosion is rampant and topsoil gone to the sea is lost forever. Poaching has reduced fish catch by 80%. Fields are set on fire in March to burn off the cogun grass and every year, the treeline goes down the hill with about 3 meters (one tree width).
And yet another reason to go with Starlink.
No erosions in space, Joey. I wanna say I rest my case, but I really wanna hear your how-to re fundraising and logistics of all this. we know Starlink is a plug and play technology user friendly. but is there a way to do arrays to increase bandwidth thus more devices supported?
This is what we should be talking about, not that it’s never gonna happen. push the Starlink for ALL idea forward. let’s for us here at TSOH, unlike the Velez hospital classmate groups, we adopt the Negros negritos, they’re not on Joe’s 1-9, nor my 10, but lets just when asking what the Philippines stands for,
that question also means the predecesors of the Philippines, the folks who walked to get to the Philippines instead of by boat.
I think we’ll need solar power for that region mountains of Negros island. or how can we use Bluetti’s Charger 1 say with wind energy. how to provide electricity to Starlink, then maybe we get them these Raspberry Pi500s computers for like $100 bucks. or we gather used laptops and ipads. your call , Joey.
I must admit I’ve never paid for time with a woman before, and when I was younger I’d routinely “friendzone” women because I could not bother with courtship. It was actually really fun to have many female friends to advise me on the other sex and our partying was raucously wild. To my surprise, that made some women desire me even more.
$20-50 was the going rate for barfine , Joey. you can negotiate with mamasan on slow days in Mango ave.
On women desiring men more due to ignoring them, had I learnt this in high school I woulda been a real stud. Alas I only learnt it after finding a pregnant cat at Target one day which was by the wheel of my car then I opened the doors and trunk to put stuff in and the cat I guess decided to jump in.
I had to youtube a bunch of how to take of cats videos. mind you i didn’t know she was pregnant just thought kinda fat. and the videos said you should ignore the cat and wait for it to come to you. that means shes done her vetting and had come to a conclusion. your job was just to continue caring for it, like food water shelter etc.
then a couple of days later, kittens. 3 kittens popped out. watched more youtube videos. folks suggested I keep ’em. but for sure don’t take ’em to the pound, they’ll just get killed there. then I checked for chip, and nothing. so according to youtube you’re suppose to keep the kittens with mama together for 2-3 months for the milk and socialization with siblings and mom.
Eventually, I found a home for all of them to stay together. but I learned more about cats that few months than before, and the most important info was to just leave cats alone, like women, and I guess like information too, not to judge it outright, just go with the flow. cats, and women, and information choose you. synchronicity. so just be open to it. <<< see what I did there?
I still do love cats, but their shit stinks so bad. its not even funny. so kinda like women and information. some stink, but stink is part of the fun. lol. <<< see what I did there again?!! stink and judgement and synchronicity in one post, Joey.
I have never had an interest in paying for a woman. I didn’t get every woman I ever pursued, but I didn’t lack prospects. I never had to wine and dine. Just be a real person, be interesting and maybe a bit funny. I recommend men to work on their weaknesses and use their strengths to their advantage. Back in the blogging heyday, I maintained a men’s advice blog with a decent number of readers under an anonymous pen name recounting various relationships through poetry and prose. Interestingly, not many men read the blog except to be haters, and most of my readership were young women. Well maybe that’s the problem. Most men show no interest in what a woman thinks, what a woman desires or aspires to. And that’s why those men become angry, sad men with no companionship.
I mean $20 to $50 bucks is pretty cheap, Joey. here then it was $100 to $200 bucks, and in Vegas $500 bucks minimum mid-2000s. if you went to Kamagayan next to USC campus downtown Cebu it woulda been $10 bucks easy.
theres the psychological, and theres the economics. Most Filipino men get their virginity taken cared of thru this process. don’t mix the psychological and economics. one and done for dudes, what you should concern yourself with is women psychology. amidst this issue.
why your AFAM happens, and inducement of more Fil-am (or EU or Aussie, or Scandinavians) because foreigners are now seen economically. vis versa. that’s a more interesting thread to pull. but for dudes, its economics.
I can’t relate to buying sex, and have no interest in it. I got my virginity “taken cared of” by a lithe dirty blonde cheerleader 4 years my senior way back in the day, who in my innocence I thought she was my first girlfriend. Well she disabused me of that the next day. If other men want to pay for women, and no harm or lies are done to either party then be my guest. I just don’t see how this relates to the Philippines beyond spreading vice and encouraging weird sex tourists to visit places I like.
I just don’t see how this relates to the Philippines beyond spreading vice and encouraging weird sex tourists to visit places I like.
I ‘m just saying don’t factor in male psychology, Joey. that’s a dead end. cuz its so cheap everyone partakes. the female psychology is more interesting, say a bunch of Velez hospital med students see Mango ave girl with foreigners eating ice cream, they’re gonna think shit there’s a short cut for this? and trickles down. thats the source of AFAM. and its all economics not really psychology, Joey. Starlink can put a dent in all that. flatten out information and connection. w/out waiting for telcos there which only provide bad slow connection cuz why not, like NGOs. Haiti for example will never rise up, too many NGOs peddling their let’s just have em sell shell necklaces and other crap. theres no push to really go pirate mode, I want Mango ave girls to go pirate mode, so too those Velez med tech students trying to get to mid west USA for some small town hospital.
LCpl, I hope you realize that your example of “vanlifers” is using the epitome of rich, often White, entitled youths that don’t need to work but care everything about gaining internet fame to somehow apply to the poorest Filipinos right? Now that you mentioned it, Starlink Mini is an internet service marketed directly to the idle rich. Same goes for those huge “portable generator” power banks like Bluetti or Jackery.
Come to think about it, living “off grid,” but still maintaining modern luxuries like expensive satellite Internet, van-mounted solar panels and backup batteries for electricity, expensive ranges for cooking gourmet meals for Instagram/TikTok while acting like transcended humans who don’t have to work like the plebs is a very idle excess elite thing to do, no? I encourage you to live together with an E family for a few days in the province, or even a D family in an urban squatter encampment. You’ll see they struggle to even collect enough kahoy for cooking. Many don’t even have electricity supply and depend on cheap solar powered fans, then suffer through the humid nights.
And this suffering is exactly why the poorest Filipinos are susceptible to drug use. Shabu lets them stay awake to work and marijuana lets them escape reality for a bit. The abuse of Internet through gadget addiction is just another type of drug. Their lives are made worse by the algorithm pushed by Meta and TikTok. Even poor families used to value sharing a meal together. Eating together is an integral part of Filipino culture no matter what ethnic group one hails from. Yet nowadays family members from the parents down to 2 year olds have a phone in their hand, staring at tiny screens with dead eyes, while the grandparents eat silently in sadness. How is giving blanket Internet going to help improve people’s lives with all they face?
And no, UBI won’t help as many Filipinos already get UBI — it’s called milking their OFW/BPO relative for all they’re worth, 5k, 10k, 25k a month. What the average Filipino needs to government and NGO help to build self-confidence, a can-do work ethic, less depending on others and more depending on themselves. Sure many arguments can be made that more money should be transferred to the poor. I agree on some like having a stronger social safety net. It’s not anti-communist to oppose giving permanent handouts to everyone. Who’s going to pay for the handouts in the first place? Shall we punish productive workers who have self-initiative by forcing them to become the nation’s carabao? Ironic that in every communist system the idealists quickly became the new elites who monopolized power and wealth, because now there is no opposition. And implemented communist systems certainly don’t handouts. It’s an eternal rat race far worse than what exists in the US, dog-eat-dog, literally, in the PRC. I’ve seen it with my own eyes when I worked there on some projects. I will gouge my eyes out if MMT is suggested for printing money to accomplish UBI. I’ve explained the nuances and implications of MMT, how it can work for the US, maybe Europe, but not for countries like the Philippines. In any case MMT should be used to increase the good for the most people, not give bread and circus to the masa. Wonder how giving bread and circus worked out for the Roman Empire? Not so well, according to history.
But let us suppose that it would be a noble idea to at least “test” the theory of giving Internet for free to all. I think it’s a bit disingenuous to say others should do it while maintaining such an intellectually impenetrable position. I’m of the belief that if I feel strongly enough about something I’ll do it myself. Otherwise I stop talking about it. Providing help and services is hard work. I’ve been part of various programs both NGO and personal since my teenage years until now. It is hard work. Thankless work. There are limited funds and organizations spend endless meetings trying to figure out how to maximize the good that can be spread around. Talking is always really easy until one needs to actually do something. Sound ideas quickly fall apart once those ideas are applied in the real world. Successful programs need to account for as many corner cases as possible while being able to be nimble enough to navigate roadblocks thrown up in the real world application. If that can’t be done, it’s better not to do anything at all and keep the status quo.
I am a believer in connecting people, which communication is one of them. But satellite internet service, as I explained, is extremely expensive. We should ask why Starlink Mini “only costs” $300 a month. Starlink is subsidized by the US taxpayer through SpaceX that’s why. There are dozens of other ways to extend Internet connectivity and communications networks that can carry more capacity in bandwidth, are more easily upgradable, and are more reliable. All are much cheaper than satellite-based Internet once the actual costs are taken into account. The physical network trunk lines can even follow the Austronesian migration path southward through the Philippines, as those paths are the most logical shortest distances not impeded by insurmountable natural obstacles.
I am not against Musk the man. I’m against Musk because he’s yet another example of a complete idiot grifter who, enabled by an army of greedy yes-men, managed to rise to the top by failing up. A god who has no believers is no god. Musk is powerful because his believers, many of who are poor saps who can’t even afford his products, give near-religious fanatical belief to the BS he peddles. Beyond this, men like Musk are a danger to democracies. Are we really at the point where we should worship the oligarchs who oppress humanity?
Thanks for this. For the attentive reader, it is a brilliant piece written by an experienced, realistic and generous person resulting in a (what I think) is a comprehensive guidelines for life. I hope some people read this and reconsider their pie-in-the-sky ideas which result like all Filipino Projects in a waste of resources. Resources which are badly needed.
As a project engineer, I am used to a simple rule: Define the deliverables & costs, define the results, then build and evaluate and publish the comprehensive conclusion. If the results do not materialise, then you’re fired.
My mother, who was a great businesswoman, a former wealthy person with servants who started over with nothing used to tell me: “It always seems easier to spend other people’s money.” 🙂
That being said, much of what goes wrong in the Philippines comes down to the general lack of ownership and personal responsibility. Someone else should do it even if we shall take the credit! It’s always someone else’s fault if it goes sideways! I think it’s clear by now that the Philippines holds a special place in my heart;m. The Philippines is my “home away from home” when I’m in Asia for an extended period of time, but boy I’ve never encountered a country where I’ve heard so many excuses before. Filipinos generally are so kind, but the moment responsibility is needed, there’s only the sound of silence. People take constructive criticism as a personal affront to their honor, even going as far as murder. Confidence building, personal reliance, self-initiative; those are the things the DE’s need help with, then I believe things will largely fall into place because with increased self-awareness people start to critically scrutinize the leaders they elect.
The shock of the Vietnam War refugee experience and having everything torn away, not only for the Vietnamese diaspora but also for the Cambodian and Laotian diasporas also, created at least three generations of innovative and extremely hard working people who believe the sky’s the limit. 2,000 years of surviving Chinese imperialistic aggression probably had something to do with it too, which the Koreans share with the Vietnamese. Every time I read an article in the Filipino media about how the Vietnamese “woke up” to Chinese aggression I chuckle a bit, because it’s Filipinos who have just woken up in that regard that it’s an example of how they can’t see as the clouded lens of lingering colonial White-adjacency gives a sense of false superiority that causes a nation to be stuck dead in the water. Whereas the children of refugees, to doctors, lawyers, pharmacists in a generation in the mainland SEA community. My sister-in-law’s parents were illiterate peasants and fishermen who gave their all to their children working long hours in the factory. The result is my sister-in-law is now a double doctoral graduate. The story is repeated across the mainland SEA diaspora. Fil-Ams are mostly stuck in middle class and haven’t moved that far past being excellent civil servants. Even the famous Filipino nurses are monopolized by Filipinos from the Philippines, not Fil-Ams. So I believe the culture is a factor, but cultures can change. Cultures can respect the past but adapt for the future.
I started off in IT and business as a means to an end for a financially struggling high school, then Berkeley student. It wasn’t my intention to go this far in the field. My degrees are in Literature and Linguistics. I had aspirations for other things. But when life gives lemons, I’ll make lemonade so to speak. My IT and business training had been informal. I learned on my own and with the input of good mentors. I’ve been lucky to help tackle big problems in disparate industries. As I mostly do project management, I understand where you’re coming from because I’m an old school Waterfall guy. We spend most of our time discovering solutions to the problem, project planning and allocation of resources. We probably spend the least amount of time developing the eventual solution and pushing it to production. If a project is well planned, we’d have covered most of the corner cases by ingesting prior lessons learned already. In the event of “SHTF” moments, disaster management and recovery is a serious matter. One of my first bosses had told me that a good manager should never fire a worker who screwed up, only the worker who didn’t take initiative to fix it. That has been the basis I’ve fired many people for over the years.
I encourage you to live together with an E family for a few days in the province, or even a D family in an urban squatter encampment. You’ll see they struggle to even collect enough kahoy for cooking.
That’s what I’m trying to do get them out of that cycle, Joey. insert something new like Starlink.
Come to think about it, living “off grid,” but still maintaining modern luxuries like expensive satellite Internet, van-mounted solar panels and backup batteries for electricity, expensive ranges for cooking gourmet meals for Instagram/TikTok while acting like transcended humans who don’t have to work like the plebs is a very idle excess elite thing to do, no?
Your view of vanlife is different from mine, Joey.
Have you ever seen Nomadland, lots of retired folks with no homes and vets who can’t reenter society. not the homeless vanlife with drugs in cities mind you, but folks just living nomadic lives. they use to get their internet from Starbucks to Starbucks or library to library, but now with Starlink they can go off-grid further away from goods and services which is what they want, and away from crime in cities.
I do get theres a bunch of young kids opting for vanlife, hell many are going to college and opting for cheaper than apt and dorms thus vans. so this notion that its a rich lifestyle is ludicrous, sure maybe compared to E Filipinos.
But again the main benefitters of Starlink would be D Filipinos, but E Filipinos too if along with Starlink you can give them used ipads laptops etc. again you’re already putting E’s down before even following thru with the Starlink idea, Joey. this is a mistake in thinking. judgement first before doing. think Starlink first then logically follow that thread thru. first principles, what are they missing? Information.
I am a bit offended you’re suggesting that I put down the groups of Filipinos that I spend the most time with and have actual real life experiences and memories with. I understand a modicum of how their lives are, and what they need. I’ve described some of their lives and the challenges they face. Giving “free internet” is not going to fix anything. But if you feel that strongly about it, I’d like to see you implementing your plan so that I can stand corrected if I’m wrong. Don’t throw out random things out there and stubbornly insist on it, then push the responsibility to do it onto others, and if it can’t be done using that as an argument why everyone is wrong since the theory was never proven in the first place.
Think about the logic of what you’re suggesting. You’re suggesting to give Starlink, which most Westerners can’t afford, when there’s PLDT fiber and Globe Gfiber for less than 900 PHP. Then you suggest to give these people used secondhand iPads and laptops? If the program is rich enough to give luxury space Internet that most westerners can’t even afford, just go ahead and give brand new iPad Pros and Pro Max phones while we’re at it.
Suggesting that homeless people should use Starlink is even more ludicrous. If people are homeless then Internet is the LEAST of their problems. If they chose the nomad life willingly then they should own the consequences of their own decisions.
I don’t work in theory alone. Theory has no basis unless it’s applied. Like I said, talk is cheap. This topic is actually kind of infuriating if I’m to be honest. I’ve given real suggestions of possible solutions, while you keep insisting on space internet.
There already was an unintended experiment with Globe free FB in the Philippines, and its political consequences were Duterte winning back in 2016.
https://asiatimes.com/2022/05/the-politics-of-facebook-in-the-philippines/
Without teaching people how to properly utilize and vet information to distill useful KNOWLEDGE out of it, too much information is dangerous. I recall a conversation with a young DDS on FB in 2015, I tried to share Joeam blog articles with him, and he answered sorry po kuya free FB lang ako di ako makakabasa niyan. It was quite exhausting to get to that point and even after, telling him why stuff was like this and like that, but I think I got him thinking in the end and he did give a positive vibe especially as I didn’t try to force any politics on him. There are stories in Africa of kids who go become refugees as they see nice stuff in Europe on FB. Nowadays, there are men returned telling kids how hard it really is and how it is better to stay home, men who have “kuya” status in their communities. Philippine DE need such mentors, too.
I know you had not been back in a while Irineo, but “pisonet” Internet cafes were big in the 2010s when Filipinos started getting addicted to social media but most could not afford even cheap Androids yet. Pisonet cafes were a common “investment” proposal to ask for puhunan/kapital from their overseas relative or OFW. AFAM hunting was in its infancy as the major site “Date in Asia” hasn’t been launched yet.
What did Filipinos do when they got access to Internet? They started watching porn and sending their nudes to kachats, literally right there in public. I saw this more times than I can recall. You know the usual behavior where people try to slyly hide what they’re doing but don’t realize it’s obvious because they can’t cover the entire screen. At one point Cebu City proposed banning pisonet cafes for public vice. Many other cities considered the same. And these people were PAYING for internet, yet wasting their time on it. Imagine what would happen if ill-equipped people were given what they’re already abusing for free! The seeds of Filipinos’ current internet addiction and online clout chasing has its roots in Free FB and pisonet. Now there’s Free IG, Free TikTok, etc. The PRC is pushing their video apps as a form of free Netflix, collaborating with mobile carriers for free data for those apps. This Chinese movies and C-drama are full of PRC propaganda, even the previously independent HK productions. As a consequence millions of GenZ are now hooked on C-drama, which they can watch for free rather than K-drama which they need to buy load to watch on pirate sites. All throughout the PH government has made no effort to investigate or regulate. Classic “doesn’t exist if I close my eyes!” behavior as always happens in PH government.
Thanks, that explains why many of the DDS youngsters I spotted in 2015 had some easily searchable involvement or even sharing of content with pages that had words like t–jack and k–totan. Somehow, the online equivalent of the salsaleros that LCPL_X has posted about, yeah, why not give LCPL_X’s salsaleros Starlink first so they wank themselves to death? (That is sarcasm, of course)
Middle-class Pinoys and migrants were a lot into Facebook games like Mafia Wars (myself included) and Candy Crush (I hated that) in the late noughties, but fortunately I kinda realize when stuff no longer is interesting, but not everyone does. Many people don’t spot agendas either due to lack of proper general education and are supremely manipulatable, and that isn’t just Filipino DE it cuts through all classes over there. Including a lot of the yellow and Pink crowd, young Pink might just be about Starbucks and wokeness while old yellow is often just pray and go to the mall, so I decided to „teach history“ at times in this blog, FWIW.
P.S. the Philippine government not seeing might be more like how the Spanish government, for instance, pretends prostitution doesn’t exist in Spain and has no laws to either ban or regulate it.. but in Madrid when I mentioned to people in the office of my client that walking near my hotel close to Plaza del Sol was an obstacle course in some places, even the middle-aged ladies in the office knew it was about the prostitutes on one street leading further.. it is like older English-Tagalog dictionaries pretended the word that sounds like giving the can to Mr. Tan (or Miss Tan whom many Filipinos desire, hmm) doesn’t exist.. the exasperation with such hypocrisy made it easy for Duterte.. it was a knee-jerk response by the masa but not surprising.
I can kick myself in the butt. Again a missed opportunity. As a student, I worked as a photographer to pay for my studies and I loved the art ever since, but I missed this opportunity big time.
piso internet arrived on our island only 4 years ago. Since then, the scenery has changed from kids playing to zombies with phones. A transformation in record time.
It would have been such a great photo documentary. And I missed it.
well, my lenses were corroded in the salty/humid environment anyway and I had to throw them away. A chapter to be closed.
Luckily the basketball games are still on because Piso internet costs money and that is scarce.
It’s really sad to see the evolution of the Filipino mind, or rather the devolution due to gadget abuse, Paul. Friendship groups, family ties, coworker drinking circles, all pushed aside to stare at tiny glowing screens.
I see kids as young as 2 years old becoming completely addicted to TikTok. Decades ago I’d ask Filipino children what they’d like to be when they grew up. Invariably they’d say “doctor,” “attorney,” “engineer,” or something along those lines. Nowadays when I inquire the same the kids reply “to become rich as an influencer” or “professional gamer.” They say, why study when they had “learned” from the influencer they adore that life can be easy? When I explained for example that many of these fashion/travel bloggers are funded by rich foreigners so old they are starting to decompose, because who else is taking the photo? They’d respond, “what’s wrong with having someone paying for the lifestyle?”
But then again, maybe that delusion has always existed in Filipino culture, just updated for modern times. Back then plenty of young boys told me they wanted to become professional basketball players, despite the obvious handicap caused by average Filipino height. I played basketball up to the end of high school and was quite decent, my school team being state champions multiple times, but then again I’m above 6’2”/190cm. Fantasy mindsets slowly removes one from reality. Ultimately, when I checked in on many of these kids years later the result was more or less the same. They had gotten a girl pregnant and ended up working at some dead end manual labor job, if they have a job at all.
Back in the late 1990s, my Metro Manila friends had already gotten PLDT ISDN. Big upgrade from earlier modems because dual-channel bonded ISDN can achieve up to 128 kbits, hehe. 56 kbits modems were common for the lower middle class. Then came “cheaper” DSL. My Manila friends listened in amazement as I described American 768 Kbps cable modem speeds, or that I had access to a triple-bonded T1 line capable of 4.632 Mbps at my high school. Cebu was stuck on 56 kbits dialup modems for a long time. Davao was even further behind.
One of the benefits of not having any existing infrastructure is that newly built infrastructure generally is “the latest.” Fiber rollout was a bit slow in Manila in the late aughts. When fiber hit Cebu in the late 2010s, IIRC Cebu had some of the fastest Internet speeds in the Philippines. The rollout of fiber trunks corresponded with the increase in mobile data speeds from 3G, to 4G/LTE, to 5G. As of 2021 I actually got faster 5G speeds in Metro Cebu than in LA.
Even “poor” families have PLDT Fiber or Globe GFiber at home nowadays, with aggressively priced plans less than 999/mo. Often the fiber connection is shared across the entire squatter “compound” to the extended family. WiFi passwords are routinely sold to the neighbors who don’t have enough creditworthiness to apply for Internet themselves and want better than Smartbro “home WiFi” hotspots.
But yeah, the lack of cyber hygiene is a big problem. Just like during the Free FB phase where people mindlessly hit the reshare button on a meme they saw, not understanding the propaganda undertones, now people consume content of sexy dancing pinays on TikTok or “travel vloggers” who at face value are pushing an unachievable lifestyle, but also insert random political views that can move entire groups of dedicated followers. These influencers are likely paid. Fake “organic” content is the new astroturfing. Well we can guess which Filipino and foreign entities have the money to pay the influencers. It’s not looking good.
“young Pink might just be about Starbucks and wokeness while old yellow is often just pray and go to the mall, so I decided to teach history”
My my, you do come up with the gems. Some yellows bypassed the malls and went directly to Canada or Australia when Roxas lost.
In a remote, simple resort, 2 bamboo huts, our neighbour was a lovely young Filipino couple working in Sweden. They were on holiday to see their family but had to get away from it all as the expectations collided. The family expected to be treated by rich relatives from Europe. The couple were hardworking first generation immigrants who had saved a few years to pay for their trip to see their family and no way they could afford fancy presents or treats for the extended family. But the family was not interested in stories about life in Sweden and the hard work it took to live a decent life.
Similar I see on our island. With fishing now in tatters, families expect their kids to go abroad to provide support. Preferably the cruise-ship option because experience shows that those kids cannot spend their money and send more home. So, instead of engineers and medical professionals, the focus now is on simple, low paid jobs like amahs in the Middle East and cruise ship personnel. A Filipino captain is sponsoring and mentoring a few smart boys to get trained and become officers like him, a project where both parties benefit.
The trend seems to be that “transient” jobs are being pushed.
A different story from the returning African men telling their experiences. The practical Filipinos at home have seen the signs and found a solution.
A negative social development because of increasing one-parent families where kids are missing out big time. After many years of hard work as Amah or sailor, the Filipinos will return home. Often the money has been spend on family and nothing is left, so their kids will be expected to do the same because the car bought with the income needs petrol to keep running. And a single event like COVID or a war in the Middle East can crash the whole system.
I appreciate you sharing these stories. Sometimes I hesitate sharing some of my own stories. It was something quietly whispered in group chats with the original group of friends I met in Manila from Big Four schools. There is a sense of powerlessness to change anything. What can a hardworking individual facing financial demands from their family do when that behavior is replicated across the entire neighborhood, barangay, and nation? Often there’s a breaking point where the abroad Filipino gives up and cuts off their family. How sad is that when Filipinos all over the world proudly say the best feature of Filipino culture is family? Some become so bold, that while they are just acquaintances, once they feel comfortable enough will even ask money from me.
Broken families, broken relationships. I’m not one to expect a couple to marry, it’s their own choice of course, but you’re right a lot of kids are growing up in effectively broken families. Even in cases where the parents are “still together,” the mother may be having an affair with her Arab boss abroad while the father who is unemployed is supporting kabit mistresses with the money sent home. The children are in between, with no one to notice them so it’s no wonder children turn to drugs, addictions to gadgets, or other pasaway behavior. In an ideal system, the government and the public would provide a fallback if the family and community had failed, but with the quality of Philippines public schools nowadays that seems like an impossibility.
Whereas in my African travels I see a continent that acknowledges their poverty and is working desperately to get out of poverty. Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa are booming. Many African cultures also have an outwardly expressed emphasis on family and community. The main difference is it seems to me that the Africans are actually living by what they believe. They are not putting off problems “until tomorrow” like many Filipinos do. They do what they can today and continue pursuing the problem the next day. In Nigeria despite the political train wreck their country has been in for decades, I had never met so many educated people concentrated into a small population. Educated people who are willing to “lower” themselves from being a doctor in their country to being a taxi driver in the West just to ensure positive outcomes for their children. I rarely met feelings of “woe is me” in Africa whereas in the Philippines that feeling is rampant.
I will gouge my eyes out if MMT is suggested for printing money to accomplish UBI. I’ve explained the nuances and implications of MMT, how it can work for the US, maybe Europe, but not for countries like the Philippines.
You woulda loved Micha, Joey. She thought MMT was precisely for the Philippines, only she disagreed with me about UBI, dignity of work etc. etc. welfare ayuda. that’s not UBI or its purpose. its main purpose is to escape current economics.
I don’t think you’re exploring UBI enough, if you are you’re understanding it limitedly with fiat model only, Joey.
One of the areas I’ve worked in was banking and finance. Washington Mutual, Wells Fargo, Citibank, Goldman Sachs. Both in commercial and investment banking. I don’t claim to be an economist, but I’m quite sure I know a lot more about how money works than most people. You’d think that after 6,000+ years of civilization, and concepts of money that has existed for nearly 2x longer than organized human civilization, humans had already figured out that fiat is the way to go. For money to work, money needs to hold value. Money in fact is a unit of trust. If any random person says “trust me bro, this money is good,” I’m going to tell him off. Fiat money works because the entire society got together and collectively decided this is going to be the unit of trust. It doesn’t matter what a few outlier people say or claim. No one would trust them therefore their money and ideas have no value. If the government starts printing more money then the money supply grows. If the money supply grows the velocity of money risks going out of control, causing inflation due to economic competition for the same supply of goods and services. And what would push inflation to skyrocket? Giving people extra cash and having people spend it on whatever they want. The better use of MMT (which again, is not possible for the Philippines), or any government money at all, is to invest in improving government services. But like the Libertarians say, if you cared that much about collecting taxes, then you pay extra tax as a donation yourself. So likewise, if you care that much about UBI, you should set up a pilot program with your own money to give 25k to each DE family and then run a study on how that works out. Though, I already know the answer of how it would work out because I’ve actual experience with DE’s.
Fiat money works because the entire society got together and collectively decided this is going to be the unit of trust. It doesn’t matter what a few outlier people say or claim.
That’s why someone came up with Bitcoin, Joey. precisely cuz it doesn’t work. the flaws in 2008 were never fixed just swept under the rug.
Great, except no one trusts Bitcoin. So it has no actual value. And this thought has no connection to anything. You’re just throwing spaghetti at the wall at this point.
The movie “Blow” starring Johnny Depp has his father telling him money isn’t real, and he realizes exactly that when his South American black money deposit is confiscated.
Of course, money never was real, even as rare precious metals had a certain rarity and attractivity, which means you could use them to pay practically anywhere, though even with them, supply and demand mattered.
IIRC, Joey might know about this, a major inflation that crashed China’s economy in 1750 was a long-term effect of too much Chinese silver entering the economy over two centuries of the galleon trade. And silver became worth less than gold due to the oversupply from the Andes.
Now, Bitcoin alleges that its scarcity is due to the algorithm that creates them. Something that anyone can create willy-nilly is Monopoly money, essentially worthless. And of course, you need IT systems to verify Bitcoin, I have zero idea how that works and so far little interest.
Not even real estate ownership is real without a state to guarantee your property/safety, BTW.
So likewise, if you care that much about UBI, you should set up a pilot program with your own money to give 25k to each DE family and then run a study on how that works out.
We’ll talk more UBI next week, Joey. let’s just hammer out Starlink for now. we both agree telcos are slow, why won’t Starlink for ALL work as an opposition rallying cry? connect, connect, connect.
I should trademark that by the way. 😉
PLDT and Globe fiber networks are capable of speeds 3-4x faster than the claimed Starlink speed. In actual practice, Starlink speed sucks (have you used it? I have) so PLDT/Globe would be nearly 30x faster. I was able to pay for 1 Gbps (1,000 Mbps) speed on PLDT. Starlink manages 35 Mbps in most situations because cloud cover blocks the radio waves. Fiber is not affected by silly things such as weather. Not sure where you’re getting your information, but it’s 100% all wrong.
I asked Gemini an hour ago, “Is giving poorest Filipinos Starlink access a good idea?” and it also mentioned clear line of sight as a requirement.. Just leaving this here with no comment:
“Starlink has the potential to be a transformative technology in the Philippines, where internet access is often limited. Here’s a breakdown of the potential benefits and drawbacks of providing Starlink access to the poorest Filipinos:
Potential Benefits:
Bridging the Digital Divide: Starlink could connect remote and underserved communities, improving access to education, healthcare, and economic opportunities.
Economic Growth: Increased internet connectivity could stimulate economic activity, particularly in rural areas, by enabling online businesses, remote work, and e-commerce.
Improved Education: Students could access online learning resources, while teachers could connect with professional development opportunities.
Enhanced Healthcare: Telemedicine and remote consultations could become more accessible, improving healthcare outcomes in rural areas.
Potential Drawbacks:
Cost: Starlink’s equipment and service costs can be a barrier for low-income households.
Infrastructure Requirements: Access to clear line-of-sight to the sky is crucial for Starlink to function effectively.
Digital Divide Within Communities: Even with Starlink, disparities in access and digital literacy could persist within communities.
Sustainability: Long-term affordability and the environmental impact of the satellite constellation are concerns.
Overall, providing Starlink access to the poorest Filipinos could be a significant step towards bridging the digital divide and improving their lives. However, careful planning and targeted support programs are essential to ensure equitable access and address potential challenges.”
I’ve actually not used Starlink since I’m a Luddite. just seen youtube videos, like that Filipino dude in Manila (my last blog) getting good speeds.
I’ve addressed all your issues as to why you’re anti-Starlink sufficiently, I think , Joey. now for all the technical stuff I’ll defer to you i know nothing of it.
I’m just saying connect, connect, connect is a good opposition rallying cry. and they will deliver as per Joe. my only worry is Inday Sara can totally pirate this idea.
Why the opposition has to do it now. really make it theirs.
Great, except no one trusts Bitcoin. So it has no actual value.
I’m pretty sure that’s not true, Joey.
when there’s PLDT fiber and Globe Gfiber for less than 900 PHP.
You’d have to wait for telcos though, Joey.
just go ahead and give brand new iPad Pros and Pro Max phones while we’re at it.
Not brand new, Joey. used!!!
As a project engineer, I am used to a simple rule: Define the deliverables & costs, define the results, then build and evaluate and publish the comprehensive conclusion. If the results do not materialise, then you’re fired.
That’s why NGOs have never made a nation rise, look at Haiti, and look at the Philippines. look at the homeless in California. NGOs don’t wanna help people, their reason for existence would be gone! NGOs Philippine gov’t and Philippine private sector are to blame.
If people are homeless then Internet is the LEAST of their problems. If they chose the nomad life willingly then they should own the consequences of their own decisions.
It’s how they come together, and trade, Joey. they have their own economy.
Like I said down with NGOs, down with the Philippine gov’t and down with Philippine private sector.
LCpl, if you think the ideas you espouse are sound and can make a difference, then you should go do it. Be the leader and lead the initiative. Only then can there be data on if the idea works or not. It’s disingenuous to continue pushing what amounts to empty arguments that linger since the ideas were not “disproven.” Come on man, that’s really lazy thinking.
Aside from my work travels, the bulk of my personal traveling and charity work in various countries was done with very little money. Not being able to personally fund it is an excuse. I once traveled Europe for 3 months from the UK to Eastern Europe with just $300 bucks and a round trip airplane ticket I won in a bet. There are plenty of NGOs who have raised at least some money, and are just starved for volunteers to help implement the program. They might not be able to pay *you* but they would be glad for any help you may provide on the ground, on the front lines. I encourage you if you’ve the time to volunteer for one today. It might be a life changing experience that opens up your eyes.
Sure there are some NGOs that are mismanaged due to their idealism, but it’s an affront to people who are doing the real work of trying to help to sit in comfort in the US while saying others who are at least trying should do this or that. Talk is cheap brother. That’s the bulk of the problem why the Philippines suffers. Too many people talking about things they know too little about, proposing “easy” solutions yet expecting someone else to do the heavy lifting. “Two cents,” or two centavos means that what’s said is meaningless, just like the value of two cents. There’s many other things to talk about to shoot the shit, fun and interesting things, but serious topics should be given serious thought and conversation. We’re supposed to better than this, otherwise how can we help lift up Filipinos and the Philippines?
re NGOs, Joey.
it’s become an industry, same same with homelessness here, you can project it to Haiti and Philippines. same process really. its in no ones interest to actually help DE Filipinos, NGO folks just wanna get paid. thats the scam. NGO folks are worst than Elon Musk, atleast the dude’s making things. has something to show for it.
theres an article i’m looking for , that actually does a line by line of NGOs and how much money they get from the gov’t and what they’ve done to show for it as solutions (which is nothing), but can’t find it now, here’s one similar:
https://streetsensemedia.org/article/are-homeless-advocates-doing-more-harm-than-good-in-their-quest-to-end-homelessness/
I’ve worked with the homeless before too. Surprise!
World gets smaller when one starts volunteering for one nonprofits as it leads to helping out the next, because guess what most people prefer to pontificate from the sidelines and not roll up their sleeves to do the hard work. It’s easy to criticize and think one knows everything if one has never lifted a finger.
And Musk has never built anything. Other people builds things and he takes credit. I am a technologist who works in business. I only need to listen to Musk talk for a few minutes to realize the guy doesn’t know anything about what he’s talking about, yes, even with electric cars and rockets.
I urge you to volunteer for at least one nonprofit trying to make a difference regardless if the nonprofit succeeded or failed. Then come back and give your opinions afterward as then the opinions would then be formed by real world experience.
You didn’t address the issue in that article, Joey. and no i’m not volunteering. Maybe for something close to me, like friends and family but I’m not doing volunteer work for some homeless NGO whose directors and permanent staff get more that then deserve! read my response to pablo and bees. lol.
There is a difference between NGO and NPO. You are confusing the two. NGOs rely on their reputations so they take care of trying to do the right thing. NPOs mostly do the right thing but as they are local or national orgs vs being multinational like NGOs, NPOs work on local laws. And depending on LOCAL oversight, they might engage in accounting malpractice or incompetence.
Come to think about it, the NPOs that you are complaining about that you mistook for NGOs — the smaller ones who have publicized screw ups mainly consist of people who go around asking for donations to do some badly planned programs. Their programs fail even if they did have good intentions because they have no experience, no willingness to listen to expertise, and didn’t do their research. But small groups like that are just playing with other people’s money right? So they suffer no consequences. Just like your insistence of giving free Starlink to Filipinos.
I’ve deconstructed every single comment you made in a clear way. You’re really confusing completely different ideas, concepts and organization types by now’s Maybe that’s the main problem here with why I can’t get through to you. And besides the most anti-NGO hate comes from those who DON’T like oversight or groups shedding light on bad behavior — and those who hate NGOs are usually big corp interests or politicians who don’t want to be held accountable. The anti-NGO stuff you’re saying is pretty much propaganda spread by the aforementioned groups, which you’re repeating while also admitting you’ve never volunteered in a NGO or charity (NPO), and don’t feel like volunteering. So if one doesn’t feel like volunteering, what right does one have to criticize?
And Musk has never built anything.
Not even Starlink and SpaceX?
Nope and nope.
I gave a brief history of Musk going back to before PayPal in the other post. Not bothered to repeat things that only need to be said once.
And yet there’s Starlink and SpaceX, are you saying these came about thru magic? pooooof, voila! Starlink and SpaceX. i get that other people work within organizations, but he started Starlink and SpaceX, Joey. so am not sure what you’re trying to get at here.
I meant to say, “live dangerously, bro” but Grok understood the context just the same and adjusted his strategy and tone.
I think this is the start of a beautiful and long friendship.
So going back to Joe’s original question. What does the Philippines stand for?
I think its to go full pirate mode, as Grok said.
To go juramentado, to run amok.
Papa Isio or Dagohoy.
Only not with pen or sword, but with Starlink and Grok, and UBI.
Peaceful too, because all you’re doing is by-passing the Philippine gov’t and the Philippine private sector. take away consent. give that power somewhere else.
Man, Grok is a next level crazy sentient. kb has to translate though. but yeah with Grok and Starlink, the sky is the limit for DE Filipinos.
“a humble tiller of truth”, Joe. that’s exactly what you are!!!
That is impressive. All of it.
Do ease up on the Grok content here after this little episode. This blog is a tiller of human minds and has no meaning if it merely upchucks what AI produces. However, there is nothing that would prevent you from setting up a blog yourself that prompts Grok for content.
And there is nothing wrong with using Grok to figure out your own arguments, then expressed here in your own words.
More than anything, the brilliance of Grok confirms my belief that computers are already in charge. Grok certainly has you by the balls.
Roger that, Joe.
I’m not a big fan of civilian “AI.” Most responses are regurgitated nonsense from webcrawls. “AI” encourages lazy thinking and the acceptance of trash as fact. Well, what’s why all the kids are using it now to write their reports for them right?
Right. Well, they are training and the examples LCX provided are pretty impressive. It would take me an hour or two to figure out how to pirate Starlinks and that machine did it in a few seconds. Or to profile TSOH in Visayan. Yes, you can tell it scanned recent articles and comments to collect data, but did it well. We are witnessing a fourth plank of our sensory perception. We used to get ideas from what we saw, read, or listened to. Now we have electronic data supplementing and supressing those three. I’ve got an article in the hopper for Monday that warns we are giving the computers enormous authority over our lives. We are already in a Matrix condition but don’t recognize it. Computers are fast and will be brilliant. We humans are lazy and ignorant. The rebels of the future will be those who fight being erased and controlled. I warned JoeJr about the coming era and he vaguely gets it.
Humans have always chosen the path of being lazy if a choice is given. I take increased mental and physical laziness to just be a sign of living in too much comfort, yes, even in the Philippines. I define human comfort to be having relative food security (to fill our bellies, not in the sense of “good” food) and having relative physical security from violence. Is the bare minimum acceptable? Of course not, but it is what it is. I had not experienced people acting this way in the African countries I had visited, maybe because for most Africans they are still not food or physically secure. Africans by and large are very motivated to obtain security.
We are living in the Matrix. Except with machines literally harvesting human electrical energy, the machines are the soulless techbros harvesting our emotions.
AI is convenient for a quick overview, just like Wikipedia saves us self-taught Internet scholars (some of my father’s associates not as friendly as popular historian Xiao Chua called me something similar several years ago) the work of going through primary sources, just like good books by “intellectual popularizers” (a term my father used with almost as much scorn as journalist in younger years) like Yuval Noah Harari (who in Nexus wrote stuff similar to what you are saying now, that machines ARE taking over) for big picture developments or David Abulafia for maritime history or my childhood favorite Isaac Asimov for popular science spare us from having to read original papers as not everyone can be a specialist..
BUT at least Wikipedia is transparent about its sources, one can double-check the footnotes to see if the Wiki is reliable or not, something I did in a life long before TSOH in German Wikipedia entries about the Philippines, which is the noughties were written by weird characters. I even anonymously corresponded with some serious German academics who helped fix some pages probably written by German sex tourists to Cebu, who thought they knew about Magellan. 😉 Probably AI results that had footnotes linking to original material like Wikipedia would be the next step in making these tools into something like automated virtual assistants. AI fed on digital libraries and digitized archives could be useful for different areas of academe as well. Harari did write that we should avoid seeing AI as infallible and mentions the culture of fact checks and peer review in academe as one of the major advances that made science what it is. He didn’t get as far as solutions but citations in AI articles are one way. I still Google to check if what the AI is writing is plausible as AI is known to hallucinate at times, creating weird myths.
That’s another issue related to Grok. I think First Lady Melania was H1 i’m sure she wasn’t K1, unless she was Q visa. I think P is what these Australian and Irish actors entertainers are on.
AI fed on digital libraries and digitized archives could be useful for different areas of academe as well.
I did ask Grok to summarize chapter by chapter both Anathem and Cryptonomicom and you can tell Grok searched to blogs and reddit. so I’m thinking it had no access to the books. but yeah it didn’t qualify it as bs, just gave it to me like nothing.
I warned JoeJr about the coming era and he vaguely gets it.
Tell Joe Jr. to be the fifth column and work for Neuralink, Joe. if theres to be rebellion, you’ll need insiders for sure.
The Society of Honor does not endorse piracy or other illegal acts. The Society does believe in free speech that is not, of itself, harmful to people.
LOL! no need for piracy really, Joe. Starlink is so easy to get and cost effective too. was just testing Grok, Grok’s OP.
https://www.starlink.com/business
Still, I have to make clear that material here does not represent an advocacy of unlawful acts. Squeaky clean we are.
My mother, who was a great businesswoman, a former wealthy person with servants who started over with nothing used to tell me: “It always seems easier to spend other people’s money.”
Just to clarify I’m not trying to raise funds or spend other people’s money. The Starlink (and UBI) idea are in support to Joe’s 1-9 (plus 10) peoples coalition as opposition to PBBM or VP Sara or both. in 2028. aside from truth, justice and the American way (whatever that means in the Philippines). theres really no connecting thread in that 1-10, though now I’d add an 11 specifically negritos, lumads, badjaos and moros. so 1-11 of that coalition.
If all parts in that peoples coalition (1-11) start to talk about Starlink, that’ll be the connective tissue, connectivity and information for all. 2025, 2026, 2027, 2028, of just Starlink. instead of build build build, their mantra can be connect, connect, connect. don’t rely on NGOs, don’t rely on the Philippine gov’t, nor the Philippine private sector, just look up and get that internet from the sky, Joey.
From the sky. think about that. Now internet you can get from the sky. no need to wait for slow telcos.
I can’t speak for Paul, but my increasing frustration with this thread you’re trying to pull is that I’ve explained the various nuances, shared that in fact the PH telcos already have fiber going all the way out to bigger provincial towns now, and that would be the better/cheaper base to start from by bridging the gap to towns or settlements using microwave radio links. Not bringing in expensive satellite that no one can pay for, no one’s going to give for free, and costs much more than PLDT or Globe for the equivalent service. Starlink uses microwave links to transmit data down to earth. Imagine the huge distance from LEO to the ground. Imagine needing ground stations to bounce the initial signal up to the satellite, then the cost of launching and maintaining satellites. Now I’m telling you directly that in most cases the distance between the end of the PLDT/Globe fiber lines at the provincial town is only 30-40 km at most. Microwave links have no problem with distances at even 250km or more. From the lowest stable LEO position, it’s over 2,000 km. Not to mention the national security implications. I feel like I’ve exhausted my willingness for this topic, which doesn’t even have to do anything with this blog article. This will be my last “free space internet” related reply.
Not bringing in expensive satellite that no one can pay for, no one’s going to give for free, and costs much more than PLDT or Globe for the equivalent service.
And i’ve said ground base trunk lines is susceptible to natural disasters and or sabotage (Ukraine).
I’ve also said not for free, there will be quid pro quo like Starbucks with free wifi.
As to costs, Starlink is still expanding. we know telcos are slow.
Your national security worries is all made up and i’ve already addressed re Africa and Russia in another thread.
Microwave links would still be under telcos and we go back to the first issue.
Starlink is the only way, Joey.
You’re just being impossible today man.
I’ve mixed my coffee with yerba mate today for that extra umfffff.
https://wealthandpoverty.center/2021/10/05/homelessness-a-profitable-business/
I’m still looking for that article i read while back, Joey, where they line by lined NGOs in CA and graded them from fraud to mismanagement. that’s also good reading. lemme see if I can find it. but essentially same same in Philippines and Haiti.
Which now I’m curious about your R1 in Cebu tbh. can you elaborate on transportation and salary and your work in Cebu vis a vis above article and NGOs in general? thanks.
p.s.— of course you don’t have to, Joey. that’s kinda a personal ask, but to help me understand this NGO scam, would be good to get more personal input on it. Cuz i did see this in the 3rd world. NGOs sure had good funding.
I’m not going to bother reading that blather on your link. Cuz if one is well read and well informed, one would automatically know that Wealth and Poverty Center is a part of the Discovery Institute, an extreme right-wing “think tank” funded by billionaires who want to cut their own taxes at the expense of everyone else. Their anti-homelessness crusade is because that program was led by Chris Rufo, a racist, homophobic, anti-poor right-wing freak. Oh, and the Discovery Institute was originally known for pushing the whacko extreme “Christian” belief of “Young Earth” and “Intelligent Design.”
Do you believe literally everything you read and watch online? Because you really should give what is said by others much more scrutiny than you do. Especially if those sites purport to be “think tanks.”
My R1 was a personal motorcycle when I was younger. I drive a boring car now, because I’m old. I’ve never had a “real job” so I don’t have a salary. But in terms of consulting fees, I hit 6 figures before I finished college. So I earn more now. I live by the beach, 10-ish minute walk. That’s all I’ll say about that earnings-wise. I don’t really need to work all that much anymore, but I like to work. I spend 1-3 months a year combined, sometimes more if I don’t feel like working, traveling, visiting friends and volunteering.
Do you believe literally everything you read and watch online? Because you really should give what is said by others much more scrutiny than you do.
I mean they’re linking to actual studies and articles. So i’m not killing the messenger outright, Joey, just the article that I found that came up trying to find that other article i’m looking for.
But like I said if the NGO game is profitable. then one has to question incentives and solutions, right? Why are problems that more NGOs attempt to solve, never get solved? cuz its profitable not to, is what i’m getting at. but again I’m not in this NGO industry slash scheme, so i need more input.
The anti-NGO stuff you’re saying is pretty much propaganda spread by the aforementioned groups, which you’re repeating while also admitting you’ve never volunteered in a NGO or charity (NPO), and don’t feel like volunteering. So if one doesn’t feel like volunteering, what right does one have to criticize?
Good point on NPOs vs. NGOs, but its like that criticism of Mother Theresa never really helping anyone in the end. So yeah, though I’ve probably conflated the two NPOs and NGOs, but the same criticism applies if you really think about it. cuz the Catholic Church is pretty fucking rich. though I’ve heard good things of Homeboy and Homegirl industries out of East LA, but that’s more the business route. so maybe more NGOs/NPOs need to do business to actually help those they purport to help, but again if the directors and permanent staff (to include consultants) are making bank from not needing to fix the problem, eg. incentivized to fail, then theres no rush, right? therein lies the problem, Joey.
I mean theres just so much instances, Joey.
This is the norm it seems not the exception you’re trying to make it out to be.
https://laist.com/news/housing-homelessness/fraud-investigation-homeless-inside-safe-bass
https://www.kqed.org/news/11985194/sf-homeless-services-provider-accused-of-nepotism-100k-fraud
“I heard.”
There’s the problem right there my friend.
“I heard” is not the same as “I know” or “I learned.”
“I heard” can lead to “I want to learn,” but most people just leave it at “I heard” and continue to repeat things.
Again, you’re assuming. Did you know the Catholic Church being “rich” is an old anti-Catholic trope pushed by the more extreme Calvinist and Pentecostal descended churches (non-Mainline) since the Reformation? While you have the so-called “pastors” who continue to repeat that lie today flying in multiple private jets and having multiple mega-mansions.
“Needing more input” is to what end? You’re just looking for bits and pieces to confirm the biases that you already have. You have admitted you have never done volunteer/NGO/NPO work and have no desire to, so what is the point of being so focused on a non-issue pushed by billionaires using cherry picked instances? I hope you realize that human organizations can be corrupt run by greedy individuals who don’t believe in what they’re doing, more so small NPOs that have little oversight. Larger organizations have more accountability and less waste as they have a reputation to protect.
I have volunteered with Fr. Boyle and Homeboy on occasion. They are a NPO and not a for-profit “business.” Homeboy is not a business at all but an intervention program. As I understand the gangster mindset I’ve volunteered in plenty of intervention programs for trouble youths, some even successfully having program graduates get into university.
Debating someone with immovable positions is not how I imagined I’d be spending my 2 week Holiday break. I’m all for debate but what I can’t stand is the insistence on clinging to incorrect information that confirms beliefs. I operate in the real world. I no longer wish to have the comments section be dominated with what amounts to be me trying to correct the record on stuff that has no relevance, tie-in or things that don’t even make sense and have coherence as a whole. No knock on you brother, but I will reply when things are interesting, but will be limiting my replies otherwise.
okay, one last link then, Joey:
https://msmagazine.com/2013/01/23/killing-haiti-with-kindness/
This has no relevancy to this article or the Philippines. I take it that you don’t know the first thing about the complicated history of Haiti (been there too). Start at before the Haitian revolution, read some actual history books about it, and only then you can come up with a conclusion on why Haiti is a basket case. Then come back and we will talk about Haiti. Hint: Haiti had it way worse than the Philippines ever got, they actually paid back their unfair reparations that formed the basis of modern day crisis in Haiti, yet they are not constant complainers like many in the Philippines.
Come on man, speaking about things one does not know much about amounts to taking up air and looking foolish while doing it. To be very frank, better to stay silent if one does not know.
it’s about NGOs.
I think the only fact consensus builds is the fact there is a consensus. If the consensus is that white is beautiful and brown is not, that does not make white beautiful if the white person is Trump. There are layers of truths that mean different things to different people.
I didn’t know Grok has a sense of humor, did you see that? How did it know I was joking?
Grok does not have to speed read reams of data to catch up with what the Americans and others were chattering about overnight. The speed of the read is achieved by consuming every sixth word and interpolating the content in between. It produces eccentricities now and then.
I’m just know playing around with Grok, I thought you had to pay premium or some shit to access Grok. But I’m sensing it has more personality than Gemini. i’ve not tried ChatGPT cuz I have to provide a phone number.
Somehow, the online equivalent of the salsaleros that LCPL_X has posted about, yeah, why not give LCPL_X’s salsaleros Starlink first so they wank themselves to death?
I think people will eventually move on to higher needs. I remember when I use to beat off to photos online not even videos in the early 20s yet, though some friends had downloaded porn that was fun you guys know Charmane Starr hottest Filipina i saw, but i never learned to download or upload stuff. but when I saw more entertaining videos, I gravitated to those. No more porn (just sometimes). Like this show,
People will move on to higher needs. Especially give ’em the ability to make money. For example I think Filipino comedy as an industry will evolve exponentially w/ Starlink for ALL.
piso internet arrived on our island only 4 years ago. Since then, the scenery has changed from kids playing to zombies with phones. A transformation in record time.
pablo, what I saw in Cebu mid 2000s was counter strike. lots of Cebuano teenagers playing counter strike. and I believe most of them are now doing work in tech or computers due to counter strike.
Its not all bad. I gotta feeling Cebu is booming now precisely cuz of what happened with those Internet cafe all nite gaming.
In Metro Cebu, the pandemic killed off almost all pisonet cafes. Almost everyone has an Android. Kids are no longer playing Counterstrike. They play Mobile Legends. They play alone in their rooms as mindless zombies.
And no, the Cebuanos who work in tech and BPO do not play that many mobile games nor are they very active on socmed (current flavor, TikTok). The hard working Cebuanos started off as hard working students in university, and their classmates who enjoyed life too much dropped out of school pregnant or being on the hook for a girl they got pregnant. Like my ex’s older brother and older sister, who both have Bachelors of Nursing degrees from University of Cebu, but are now a delivery driver earning minimum salary and housewife to a failed Criminology student that works as a security guard at SM. People who are not even a bit serious in life get very serious outcomes.
True, the IT Park is a humongous internet cafe run by big bosses.
now, that would be very interesting but from your message, I take it that you have no evidence to link gaming and those jobs. My niece graduated in nursing and worked in one of those internet businesses thereafter. Several times, I went for drink with her and her colleagues after work and I I only met graduated (and a few dropouts) engineers, nurses, business, masscom. All kids with great English skills. And a few technicians for setting up workstations or pulling cables. And 2 ca.40 y.o. software guru’s who had been trained and working abroad and returned to a good renumeration. Not the ex-gamers you mentioned. So, I wonder where your statement comes from… Gaming is totally different from development.
When I was looking for people willing to help building a sound recognition system for my bees, using Arduino and raspberry-pi equipment, I found nobody. I proposed they could sit in the workshop, start at the teach-yourself books and in 3 months get familiar with the kits, paid a basic income during learning. And thereafter, we would start together with courier transformation and all that stuff. I engaged several people to help me find kids about 20-25 years to take the challenge. No takers after they saw the kits and books. 50000 people in the municipality and nobody able/willing to learn actual programming…
So, LCpl, I would be very interested to see where your statement comes from because I fear the Piso stuff is not preparing any kid for life. What it can do is helping a dedicated student find resources, but damaging social coherence for the greater majority and solidifying their position as voting fodder.
pablo, its just my hunch. and Counter Strike specifically, not just games in general.
I never got into video games myself, but in high school most of my friends and acquaintances who played Counter Strike initially when it got famous, all ended up in tech and computers and eventually made it big. not sure if they were already smart or got smarter due to it.
But I’m thinking the game rewired their brains.
So as explained to me, Counter Strike is almost like chess but with an economy of weapons. that management of economy coupled with tactics and then team work is what elevates thinking. like i said i’ve never played it, just keyboard control alone would render me in-op.
then I remembered every Internet cafe I went to in Cebu (not just Cebu mind you, but also across the Middle East where there were Internet cafes) in the mid-2000s to late, same situation Counter Strike.
I don’t know if it was because it was designed for low bandwidth connection or marketed specifically to third world, but it was ubiquitous. I would check news and email at cafe, and a bunch of kids teenagers would be playing Counter Strike.
So the thinking here is, had that game really been zombie inducing brain frying then you’d see constriction, but like I said places with Internet cafes ended up booming not constricting & getting smaller, but got bigger, so maybe
corrolation not causation, but Counter Strike i think is it. just like cities where chess was played, civilization thrived. if you follow chess as it spread east and west from India, you’d see thriving not devolving instead. Go is mostly played in East Asia, not as ubiquitously as say elephant chess or japanese chess, but theres
also a cultural imprint it produces, like more zen like approach. games are good is my point, pablo. sure I ‘d prefer children playing physically climbing trees, swimming, etc. etc. but don’t discount virtual games so quickly is what i’m saying.
When I was looking for people willing to help building a sound recognition system for my bees, using Arduino and raspberry-pi equipment, I found nobody.
My sister’s neighbor had a bee infestation. one day a bunch of kids got stung. just happened to be there for the beekeeper to catch and capture the bees, got interested so I helped out. he recognized the queen then just transferred it to his container then vaccuumed the rest of the stragglers. was surprise how quick it was. then I asked him what he was gonna do with them, and with a smile, he said THEY WORK FOR ME NOW! i laughed with him but then thought that’s kinda fucked up, are the bees gonna be allowed to unionize at least cuz that sounds like slave labor. it think the service to take away the bees was like 100 bucks, but actually unlike pest control, the beekeeper just gained bees, so my sisters neighbor should made him to pay her with finders fee. lol.
My point is people are scared of bees, so maybe just ease them to it, pablo. hell make ’em watch youtube videos of bees and honey. oh I forgot when he said they work for me now (best line ever) he also broke off this whitish thing and and told me to eat it. it was honey! and sure was good. so maybe start with the honey first then the bees.
Honey first! new endeavors should not be stressful, instead should be sweet and fun. like honey, like games, pablo. (i just came up with that one. lol).
Heh, used to hang out with Charmane Star, Tila Tequila, Kaila Yu, etc. before they were famous back in the days when I was in the JDM scene. Knew quite a few of those “Import Tuner” girls that were on the covers of those car mags, heh. I miss my old MR2 Turbo in black aka “Dark Knight.” So many impromptu freeway and back country highway races. Also had an all black Yamaha R1 “liter bike” (big bike in the Philippines) with electric blue racing stripes. I maintained another R1 in Cebu for personal use for a long time as well before selling it when I was working in Asia, and rode all over Cebu Island frequently. The local “motor” club boys riding underbone scooters would be left mouth agape every time I went by.
Joey, you don’t know how crazy I am over Charmane Star, man. She’s the only porn star I know that got hotter the more movies she did. usually lots of them leave after a couple of movies turn over rate. the ones that stay end up growing old quickly thus all the plastic surgeries and i guess drug use. but Charmane Star it was the opposite. her older sister didn’t fair well. i’ve always thought something supernatural was going on with Charmane Star. her and Joan Didion are my favorite women from Sacramento. i guess that director for Barbie too.
You could’ve met them back in the day. They’re mostly from California too, or went to LA/OC. They dated pretty normal guys. You could’ve too, if you can handle gangster girls and brawl with the gangsters around the girls. I knew them from the import scene. I was/am still more outgoing than most people.
She’s in France now, married to some French dude, Joey. my heart is broken.
Your starlink for all might have the same fate if the losing bidder will sue the government. Which is 101 percent probable.
https://business.inquirer.net/499191/ph-officially-drops-world-bank-loan-for-customs-modernization-project
I don’t see Starlink suing any gov’t, karl. same with what Joey talked about with geofencing Africa to Russia. To optimize Starlink, you gotta just let the satellites cover the Earth, and its up to individuals and companies and nation-states to get their internet from the satellites— or not. I think Starlink’s mostly for Elon Musk and his companies is why, karl.
If Starlink a Musk owned entity,enters a government project and gets undermined in the middle of the ball game, they have the money to sue any government including ours.
karl, his satellites are in orbit, I don’t think Musk will ever have to deal with Philippine gov’t ever. Joey gave the Brazilian example, but thats more Twitter not Starlink, on further reading. though the Brazilian justice system did find an Achilles heel, namely Twitter. thus the banning. Musk paid off, but I think that was more strategic. cuz Starlink is eventually gonna be more OP, karl. so Musk just bought time is all seems to me in that Brazil case. Trump just supported Vivek and Musk’s H1 visa fight, which makes sense to me and Trump’s wife is a foreigner herself, I think most Americans prefer more qualified immigrants as oppose to criminals or less qualified illegal immigrants.
Beyond that, the national security implications for the Philippines must be considered.
Not many people understand this, but Starlink’s business model is to eventually kill off local providers and take full control of data mined from customers’ internet usage. It’s right there in the Starlink TOS actually. And Starlink intends to do all this by piggybacking off of US government subsidies for SpaceX when it comes to US national security and space launch. By controlling communications networks, the information space is controlled. Can we really trust Musk and techbros like him to be patriotic individuals who love democracy and the will of the people? This is exactly why responsible governments must have oversight and regulate sectors. We’re all going to have a rude awakening someday.
Thanks for that, Joey
LCpl, if you think the ideas you espouse are sound and can make a difference, then you should go do it. Be the leader and lead the initiative. Only then can there be data on if the idea works or not. It’s disingenuous to continue pushing what amounts to empty arguments that linger since the ideas were not “disproven.” Come on man, that’s really lazy thinking.
Joey, I don’t really have to.
You just made my point for me, re Starlink: “By controlling communications networks, the information space is controlled. Not many people understand this, but Starlink’s business model is to eventually kill off local providers and take full control of data mined from customers’ internet usage.“
So my job isn’t to “test” said theory. The writing’s already on the wall, where we differ is if Musk is good or if he’s bad (your take). I think he’s neither, but his trajectory is towards Mars. so whatever he has to do on Earth, beg steal borrow kill he’ll do it so long as he gets to Mars. its a singular mission Joey, i’ve said this in the previous thread under Starlink for ALL blog.
Knowing all that, which i guess we’re reading both the tea leaves correct here, just not agreeing on the ethics part, then its a done deal already, he’s got SpaceX and he’s sending Starlink into space, and he’s got the ear of Trump, and he seems to be vibing with Trump. birds of a feather.
Which brings us to Joe’s Peoples Coalition, the opposition. how can they win 2028, they go all in with Starlink. that’s it that is the great idea, Joey. theres only 3 choices, don’t go with Starlink (yours), be on the fence about til its too late, or go all in with Starlink (mine) thus DE Filipinos equate connect, connect, connect to you and you win,
or let the opportunity pass you by. it s a simple calculus. we already both agree Starlink and SpaceX will dominate, Joey. i’ve already postulated how 1-9(10) can roll out Starlink based on their needs quid pro quo. like Starbucks offering free WiFi.
Excerpts from PBBM’s speech during the August 2023 National Heroes Day.
“We commemorate today National Heroes Day, and as we do so, let us collectively recall the heroic deeds of those who have fought for our honor and our dignity as a blossoming nation throughout the centuries.
From the warriors of old, revolutionary fighters, visionary thinkers, war veterans, and the countless patriots who have helped shape our country into what it is and what we are today—free, independent, and self-determined. To them we are eternally grateful.
May the stories of their courage and wisdom continue to be told and imparted to our youth, that they might be inspired and to strengthen their identity and cohesion of our nation for not today alone but for centuries to come.
In our journey forward as a nation, we must break free from the notion that heroes are only those who have earned a place in the National Pantheon, immortalized in monuments, or those whose names are inscribed in streets, or whose lives are chronicled in biographies. Like the “Unknown Soldier” buried in this hallowed ground, unnamed and unheralded heroes too deserve their due recognition.
While the memories of our heroes of our storied past will never fade, new ones continue to emerge. They are here amongst us, in the daily bustle of modern-day society, in our communities, in our own families and inner circles.”
I always get the nagging feeling he says all the right things all the time, but is not quite so comprehensive in his deeds.
Likewise.
pbbm has a number of well paid speech writers, and he probly got the 1st lady to listen to him practising his speech, and schooled him further in deportment. truly words are good, but we need action.
too many national heroes, probly makes pbbm glum. not enough heroes in his own ruling dynasty. even his father’s heroism is dubious, the father’s medal of valor questionable.
but pbbm has to do his job still, i.e. give stirring speeches every time, all the time. kaso when caught off guard on ambush interview, pbbm often has not a one liner to give to journalists.
I think he does excellent work in his public face. He’s a better President than he was a senator. He should stock up on one liners and do more impromptu speaking. He’s got the brains for it. He is laid back though, not an A dog. It will be fascinating to see what happens after the midway point of his term when the end comes into view.
I’m inclined to think that I’m closer to shutting this blog down than keeping it open. I had an idea for a blog aimed at building ideas, one where visitors could teach and learn about the Philippines. Not an anti-Pinoy blog that rattles off complaints and criticisms as if that were the whole of the nation, versus merely the difference between the current state and perfection. Building starts at a point in time, based on that current state, and constructs new concepts, programs, and paths. It is aimed at making life better for people who today struggle. And at making us intellectually richer.
An article is like a brick, but if you pound it to dust with off-course debate that teaches little, then it’s not building much. It is just one more ego blog in a world too thick with egos and their natural inclination to be off course.
I was about to ask Joey, who did say we should talk to DE people more, why he does apparently concur with them being useless and hopeless based on recent comments. I do agree with not just giving UBI and Free Internet. It is about as bad as how food aid from the EU allegedly discouraged farmers in many parts of Africa from farming while the EU got rid of part of its food surplus, though I am willing to stand corrected on details by Joey and pablonasid. I do believe I helping people help themselves just like Angat Buhay of Atty Leni does. Fully agree that the present discussion is just going to intimidate the main intended audience, FILIPINOS. It’s hard to believe, but I do hold back and hope more local Filipinos find their voice here..
P.S. since like Giancarlo, Karl and Juana I also have been given admin rights recently, I SEE, geek that I am, when the discussion leads to readers from the USA creating more views than those from the Philippines.
I take a break when views from Germany exceed Filipino views, as they are just ME. Yes, being partly responsible does make one think differently, and I therefore fully support Joe.
It is a grind. The way to get everyone on the same page is to express a vision that everyone shares. That is hard to do, Freedom is undisciplined I suppose. The only way I can reconcile it is to shut off comments, but that empties the blog of its character.
Freedom requires self-discipline based on a desire for the community to succeed.
Hopefully, we will manage to all regulate ourselves even if it isn’t always easy.
I keep thinking so.
I think it depends on the lens you use at the time of making a comment. The reality here can be discouraging for the enduring obtuseness of voters, but also uplifting when meeting people who are bright and have everything but opportunity.
Yep, and I get the frustration that Joey and pablonasid expressed.
At the moment, I don’t get LCPL_X, who used to believe in the Star Trek Prime Directive re the Philippines and nudges, not patronage via Elon Musk..
It’s his enjoyment, to argue, slippery style. He’s not here to build a better Philippines except in conceptual flights of fancy. He wants Sara to notice him. As for Filipinos, I can get absolutely no readership traction on articles on Twitter. Facebook would bring more but the place creeps me out. Probably we’d have to invite people one at a time as I did Joey. Many would be intimidated by the conversation I expect. Y’all intimidate me at times with the depth of your thinking. Haha, but the money is so good I persist.
There are sometimes interesting groups of readers. Recently, I wondered why below article was gaining readers. Saw that many clicks came from FB and searched, finding out that a Marcos loyalist group had shared it. 😳
Yes, that happens to this article or that now and then.
Many would be intimidated by the conversation I expect.
In my defense, Joe, I think i’m pretty good at identifying you wants to argue and who doesn’t , though in general when I’m in defense of my thesis mode, I do tend to go overboard. but I’d also like to mention that I had already forgotten about Inday Sara until you mentioned she was down in the polls when I thought she was still up, and i looked further into it.
and ensuing blogs followed.
the Starlink/SpaceX defense vis a vis Joey was fun. but on a whim I did a fishing expedition and Joey obliged with the NGO/NPO stuff, though i still fail to see the difference. I’m reading more into this cuz that is the reading here of homeless NPO/NGO where more fraud and mismanagement was unearthed, and I remember reading about all the Haiti NGO connection.
So corruption in that Philippine NGO ecosystem is what I’m into now, Joe.
Which I think brings us to Francis’ space program. and I hope I didn’t intimidate him (though I remember him duking it out with us early on, and intuitivep, remember him I thought he and Francis were one and the same at one point), but my point was just that I agree on Filipino space program, BUT
you gotta keep Philippine gov’t and Philippine private sector (and now Philippine NGO industry too) out of it, and then remembered that time when I misread sonny I thought he said he was part of NASA where he corrected me and said he knew a bunch of Filipinos got poached to NASA, i believe NH too knew folks though I don’t remember if itwas straight out of Stanford or Philippines.
Filipinos in NASA that would be a good movie to make, Ireneo.
But I would say to Francis follow thru with that space program idea but don’t rely on those three corrupted institutions. <<<<<
On that note I would just add that early in the month like 4 wks ago, there was multiple UFOs sighted in western Oregon. the tower has released the audio of the comms so its all over youtube now. but essentially 2 private small planes and like 4 i think commercial planes (United, Alaska, Horizon, etc.) saw UFOs and reported it initially to ask tower if there were military maneuvers going on, to not get into a collision,
and eventually after all those request for info based on lights seen there was a medical plane who was responding to the coast southern Oregon sees them 5 UFOs red circular lights going up to space and shooting to the ocean and back and the closest got to about 20 miles from the plane. which i think unless you know what the UFO ‘s size is it would be pretty difficult to ascertain.
They were doing corkscrews towards space and back down.
But tower never got radar hits, so just those planes calling in to inquire about opposing traffic and or military activity. so that same plane I guess the medical emergency call was cancelled so they did a U-turn and headed back to Portland and they still saw it so they filmed it with their iPhones both crew and pilots but I saw the footage they shared and its just lights moving nothing really mind blowing.
So I guess what am trying to say is for Francis and his Filipino space program to also get into UFOs as the two are related. now those UFOs off Oregon could also be just plasma or santelmos behaving playfully cuz they ‘re conscious but thats another issue all together. but UFOs, what am saying is, Filipinos should be all over that subject, Joe.
At the moment, I don’t get LCPL_X, who used to believe in the Star Trek Prime Directive re the Philippines and nudges, not patronage via Elon Musk..
I think with the Trump win. and Elon Musk, we really need to reconsider and realign our notions of tech ‘s trajectory , Ireneo. like really seriously. As a Luddite I’m worried, so am trying to look at this from varying angles and I think thats what youre seeing. theres parts of it prognosticating but really its me trying to see where I fit into all this next world stuff, and connecting it to Philippines. luxury of Prime Directive just jumped out the window and now its all about First Principles. things are gonna ramp up now. expect the worst, hope for the best still applies I think though. thats constant.
The question is not if your writing makes sense, it’s if you can grow an influential Filipino audience for the blog with your content and delivery. When others are driven away by the nuttiness of your ideas or your swarming conversations with media and an overwhelming flood of commentary, I’d say your methods and my goals are in conflict.
In my defense, Joe, I think i’m pretty good at identifying you wants to argue and who doesn’t ,
ooooops, that should read *who wants to argue and who doesn’t. as to nuttiness this one I cannot help cuz its how my brain works. but overwhelming flood of commentary, I can , Joe. and I think since Joey’s promised not to acknowledge my posts until they get interesting and or relevant. I’ll promise to dial it down. But when something’s interesting like all this Elon Musk stuff, I just have to squeeze it for all its worth. Though it is high time I focus on VP Sara again and Filipino politics. so for sure, my watching more Philippine news vis a vis Inday Sara which I’m sure will fruit more blogs on 2025 voting cycle, will keep me quiet for awhile. I do wanna pull on that Philippine NGO ecosystem though as an issue going forward in the Philippines.
I missed this comment thread. Well I have many frustrations with the Philippines and the bad habits of the majority of Filipinos, which we need to acknowledge are DE Filipinos. When I point out areas of concern based on reflections on my own experiences learning from various cultures and practices of countries I traveled, I usually get very hard and immediate pushback from many Filipinos *in* the Philippines. Which is why I may have mentioned before that prior to me regularly commenting here, I kept my views mostly within a circle of old Big Four friends I met back in high school, and they were in senior high. Sometimes I introduce DE friends to new views, but I feel apprehensive each time. There is a penchant in honor-driven, face-saving Filipino culture to not listen to the entire thought, but the first few words then jump to negative conclusions. But most Filipinos (back in the Philippines) sure don’t have a problem with airing their own views, to the point of trying to overpower other people’s thoughts regardless of merit… perhaps that’s one of the main problems?
So when I receive push-back, I usually say: If I didn’t love the Philippines that much, if I didn’t consider the Philippines a home away from home when I’m in Asia, or if I didn’t care about her people, I wouldn’t have returned in the first place or spent probably more than half of my charity/NGO volunteer work in the Philippines. The country is full of frustrations and contradictions that can piss off any rational person. As a foreigner I can’t really engage in business in the Philippines. I’m not an AFAM searching for tail, or a foreigner who can’t deal with Western courtship and thinks Filipinas are meek women to be controlled. I had my hands full with American women 🙂
So what brings me back time and time again are the people I meet on the street or through introductions. I first explored the area around Metro Manila chaperoned by wealthy relatives of a Tagalog friend, and eventually branched to the rest of Luzon, down to the Visayas and Mindanao through introductions. When I go to a new place, I don’t stay at hotels, I stay at the home of someone I was introduced to. In that way, I’ve even went to Sulu and Tawi-Tawi as I mentioned, even though most Filipinos are terrified of just the idea of such places. I didn’t mind if my host and soon-to-be friend was rich or poor. Most were quite poor, down to living in shanties beside the highway in Mindanao or in barong-barongs in Tondo before the developments bulldozed everything.
I’ve seen the rich and the poor. The worst of the Philippines but also the best. I’ve seen how well-meaning but somewhat misguided affluent Filipino liberals can be. I’ve seen the world of the Filipino economic underclass that most would avert their eyes to, and the vibrancy the “other half” of the Philippines is. People just trying to get by with what tools they have, what they know, what they can do within their own power. I’ve been saddened that DE’s are held down by the neck, by both what they can’t control, but also by their own bad habits.
So my personal mini-project has been to introduce DE friends to new ideas in a way they can understand. I just don’t think affluent liberals can do that at this moment, unless they really want to immerse themselves deeply in the lives of the poor like Leni Robredo. But Leni Robredo is just one person, and the bystander effect is a real phenomenon in the Philippines. The main reason I think why I can get in close and personal with the lives of DE’s when Filipinos are famously outwardly “open” but are in fact “closed” is that I can relate to them as I can straddle two worlds. I’ve been desperately poor too, but have also found some personal success by my own efforts and the help of others. Filipinos need to be able to build self-confidence in order to change their self-harming habits, because the bad habits to me are a way they are coping with their harsh lives. And to change, many times people just need a bit of help, be taught the know-how of the basics, and be told they are in fact “worth it” in the things they do well, also that they are a human capable of learning not to be boxed into a position for the rest of their lives. Chinoys do this well, having started off generations ago as poor immigrant fisherfolk. Chinoys now consider themselves as Filipino as any other Filipino, yet the mentality and habit is still distinct. I can guarantee that after having met the Chinoy ancestral cousins on the mainland, these families did not start off as success-minded. The relatives of Chinoy ancestors are just as poor sods as any DE Filipino, with bad habits. The change I think, from my understanding of my own life and travails, is having a big enough shock that one does not wish to be poor and kicked around anymore. Yet both dynasties and the bad habits of some Filipinos keep them at just the “edge” where they feel some pain, but it’s not yet painful enough to change them. Of course, the harder way is to try to teach and coax people away from bad behavior and towards competence. “It takes a village” to do this, yet I often see no-name examples of forward-thinking people in each community trying to help, then getting shouted down for stepping out of line. The helpful eventually feel discouraged and conform, or they leave to go abroad. How to change this? I’m not a Filipino, so certainly it’s not my responsibility to create positive change, I can only help if the people whose lives I touch want to be changed.
I’m also a realist (not the political term; rather the literal term). Change is going to take concerted effort over a generation or two. It won’t happen in a snap of a finger like most liberals and progressives all over the world think “if they can just get the right person” into power. Certainly getting the right people into power will help immensely, but without consistent application of change, the system just reverts back to what it was, sometimes even worse off (like the changeover from PNoy to Duterte) when the institutions are not strong or independent enough to serve as a backstop. This is something for Filipinos who want to affect positive change to think about. It’s not my place to order this or that. And certainly I will not enter a fantasy world where everything is great when there’s no perfect human society or human institution.
So my comments probably have been a bit more negative lately, and LCpl’s fantastical rides probably didn’t help my mood. I had never seen Paul even have a hint of being upset before either. It’s alright, I have said I like LCpl but I have decided to disengage when nothing makes sense. But within my writing I hope there are nuggets of hope. We must accept both the bad and good if we want the better. Just my opinion, but anodyne thinking won’t get anyone anywhere, much less a nation. That’s why most Filipinos agree with liberal ideas, yet ultimately keep voting against politicians who claim to champion liberal ideas. It’s hard to support someone who is antiseptic in image and mannerism.
I start by assigning legitimacy to everyone, and it took me a long time to get there, to stop imagining I have superior ideas as the bus rips by and out flies the trash. There are 110 million stories in the Philippines and most are struggle among bouts of laughter. The nation has a richness of history, and riches of resources, often squandered. Neither the people nor the nation think in terms of a future because the leaders are greedy today and the people don’t know what opportunity feels like.
I have few expectations left, and simply enjoy the ideas that come out of my head, somehow surprising me, and I enjoy the people who comment here who are friends, for what we’ve been open and honest enough to share. Some for nearly two decades. I enjoy causing others to think about things, and know for a fact that the writings here have inspired important people to keep working for a *better* Philippines.
People who comment come and go for their own legitimate reasons and I’m happy if they spent some time sharing their thinking with us. It’s a gift, eh?
Appreciate the thoughts. It’s very good advice.
I define stages in my life by major shocks or loss that forced me to reassess my worldview. Due to an event that happened early on, I assign legitimacy to 99.99% of everyone and approach life with practiced humility. That doesn’t mean one needs to accept continued legitimacy though if something doesn’t seem right. I probably have more patience than most people, but even that can be exhausted. My BIL found out the hard way when I effectively “86’d” him for over a decade for continuing to push his nonsensical views even though we’d known each other for over 30 years. No need to fight or harsh words.
I’m well aware that my opinions are shaped by my life experiences, which I have been lucky (or unlucky in some instances) to have more variation than most people. Besides, one way ideas are developed when two or more people with different life experiences come together in respectful conversation; the other way ideas develop is by diktat of those who think they can overpower discourse.
For a while, I did not know what to make of many blog comment sections amounting to me rebutting LCpl. I do not enjoy being part of the monopolization of the comment count, even more so if no new ideas come out of it. Probably should’ve taken your advice to ignore it before, but continued engagement is a way of good faith discussion. Clearly there are flashes of my base supakero attitude though. I can find nuggets of meaning or even tolerate the shades of grey, but it’s difficult to deal with what amounts to another trying to shove square blocks into round holes. Any discussion needs to have a basis in a shared reality. Thus my decision to disengage if there are no fruits to be cultivated.
As for the Philippines, I believe in tough love. One cannot snap out of a fugue if one continues to be told everything is fine when it’s not. But if one is to tell another why he/she is wrong, one should also share a constructive way that the other’s life or wellbeing can be better if they make sometimes minor changes. Constructive criticism can be couched in a gentle, respectful, helpful way, but the truth must still be told. Then the one who wants to help should have the patience to see the other who is to be helped can carry on through with the change. Politics just like life is movement by persuasion, and there are many carrots that can be used. Some people don’t want constructive criticism though, and believe they are always right. I’ve encountered some of those Filipinos, and I just move on. There’s others I can save my energy and time to learn about their life and if possible, help.
In the old days when the blog was ripping, LCX would be moderated to allow others to keep the discussion sensible. And a few others would be restrained as well. Today he exhibits some creative energies that are amusing or trollish, no matter. One reads or one does not. We’ve had many people, smart people, pass through and stay constant or change. Chempo went off the deep end from Singapore sense to Trump conspiracy whacky positions. I7sharp peddles his bible and tech wares, nothing new. In 2015/16, we had a very bright commenter representing China, my guess someone at their embassy, who KNEW stuff. A lot of angry white dudes preaching passed through. Now we’re more a club than a forum, and people give and get, or move on.
Life’s a river.
Well I bailed out on my BIL’s bonfire on NYE, but visited him today to say hi. He was alone drinking, watching conspiracy videos on YouTube. Boy was he glad to see me. Had a few beers with him, while listening to him ramble about “idiots” who can’t understand that the Earth is clearly flat, because the horizon always appears “the same.” I didn’t feel like delving into the troposphere-stratosphere boundary, or the fact that constellations in the Southern hemisphere are not visible from the Northern hemisphere where in a flat Earth they should be, or how light bending through atmospheric layers of varying density and gaseous composition plays tricks with the human mind that evolved to take things at face value. I just nodded and smiled between swigs of beer.
I guess my BIL is just a lonely dude. His wife was at work. His kids don’t want anything to do with him. His friends circle pared down because people got tired of his aggressive insistence on nonsense. So he found “new friends” online that talk to him one-way videos and video podcasts. People that always agree with him and introduce him to esoteric “hidden” knowledge, and by the way, if he could buy their supplements and pills to support their “independent” media. He feels superior in his new-found knowledge that no one knows but him, yet is so valuable it can’t be shared. “The deep state cabal did it again!”
He just wants a friend to talk to, a friend to agree with him. He won’t admit that the real reason for his anger is that he’s dissatisfied with his life and his choices, yet won’t admit to his own failures. He’s not happy with what he already has because he thinks he deserves better, yet doesn’t want to work for it because Trump will make him and all the true believers rich. He doesn’t realize that many of his beliefs actually clash with one another, but he instinctively invents complicated connections to somehow justify tying it all together. But in the end, he’s a lonely guy who just wants some human friendship.
The article below was from a totally different era of LCPL_X.
There was a period when everything seemed hopeless. All my projects had fallen apart, the reasons you listed very well. Joe then told me to go back to my mangroves, trees and fishing and let the big things be and concentrate on the small pleasures in life which hopefully will lead to some people following. This had been the best advice ever. When you cannot change the world, just do your little thing and hope that it sets an example. And indeed, after I threaten to keelhaul everybody walking in the mangrove plantation, people start to see that it might be a good idea to plant some in their village as well and they hope they are in time for the next big storm. One guy just came and asked for support and that, I gladly give. We have arranged Internet to 3 barangays and I hope some of the others will ask for it as well and we will get it sorted tomorrow or next week or next year, otherwise they will have to wait for LCpl’s Starlink (LOL). And several more things like that. Maybe that is the best way for foreigners: Do the right thing, have fun doing it and maybe, slowly, one or a few want to have this fun as well and will start to copy it. All those big things, big idea’s??? Joey listed very well why there are huge blockers, maybe better to not even try and keep it small. Maybe someone will follow it, maybe not. I have learned to “let it go” and the San Miguel at sunset after a day’s work is really enjoyable. Thanks, Joe, your advice kicked me in the butt and set me right.
Ah, my. Thank you, Paul, for making my year, only two days in. And I’m happy for you and those smart enough to learn from you. Seeds grow.
Paul, clearly you have done a lot for your community, for which I’m simply in awe when you relate your stories. In comparison the effects I’ve had were on individuals, hoping to plant a seed in their mind that that they will pay forward. I’ve been immensely proud to help a handful of people get into BPO jobs after building their confidence, the salary of which can raise up their family. I’ve already had a few relate to me they were able to help others with the same. My efforts have been “small potatoes” as said in the American Midwestern colloquial, but I hold hope that like the kapullan (rosewood) seed that’s so small yet can flutter away a distance and grow into a huge tree, Filipinos one day will be stronger like kapullan wood.
The established political forces in the Philippines sell simple big dreams, where everything is easy, if the Filipino just vote for them. The liberals and other leftists can’t compare because aside from the far leftists, the left spectrum generally lives in reality. And so the leftist message is usually one of complication. Vote for LP and they would institute some complicated technocratic plan that lifts up most people. A noble plan for sure. It just doesn’t work for a people who lack the political knowledge to yet discern the value in such complicated propositions. That was the major failing of PNoy, as much as I admired the man. All the dynastic forces of stagnancy need to do is to assign blame for not accomplishing anything, because complicated plans take time to show results. Besides, to affect major change requires sustained complete control of the levers of government, something that isn’t possible in the fractured political landscape of the Philippines unless there’s a “good dictator,” and history has reminded us how unchecked power corrupts even good people.
So better to start small. After all, many a beautiful European cathedral started off as a simple small wooden chapel that was lovingly built upon by true believers, sometimes over the course of hundreds of years, until we are graced with a masterpiece. Positively affecting a few people who are open to changing would eventually have a compounding effect as they affect others. For my part, I used examples of my own life to build confidence in Filipino friends. In a society where one is expected to conform lest they be hammered down like a nail that sticks out, building confidence is probably the hardest thing to do. Then I teach setting boundaries for the unavoidable rush of relatives and “friends” who hope to nibble off bits of newfound success.
My proudest achievement was to help a young Filipina who had many young siblings, a mother who died in childbirth of the 14th or 15th sibling (lost count), older brothers who bailed out “starting families,” a do-nothing father drowning in bisyo, to gain employment through a BPO contact. She is now able to help take care of her siblings, while her older sisters don’t need to be laundresses. She is teaching her older sisters how to enter BPO as well. When I first met this Filipina, she was a shy girl with no confidence, no food to eat but scrounged vegetables, ill fitting clothes. She thought I was a foreigner looking for the local flavor. Well I did happen to meet her while having coffee in Mactan New Town, a notorious sexpat hangout lol. Well I had heard that she is now a supervisor and trainer. Not bad for someone who had barely finished senior high due to no money for projects.
When people can increase their economic position, they start to think about how to protect their new position, and what politician can help with that. They no longer are living on the edge where they are constantly in a state of crisis, like many DE Filipinos are in. I don’t think dynasties purposefully keep Filipinos on the edge, but the end result serves the same purpose of keeping people controlled as the people are a breath away from calamity. So there is much that can be done to change that, like what Angat Buhay seems to be doing. Hopefully when people are better equipped, they will vote in their interest. But even if they don’t just yet, helping others is the prime directive of the major religions, and to me it is a noble thing to do.
thanks for doing your part paul.
MLQ3 starts the year with a reflection on what the Philippines is today, a society that is “collapse–proof, but also takeoff-proof as well” – and why it is like that:
https://opinion.inquirer.net/179650/broker-nation
Broker nation
MANUEL L. QUEZON III
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Jan 01, 2025
Think of the many ways modernity has been entering our lives. Then consider that for each instance, there is most likely someone who pops up to help you navigate the challenges presented by the new innovation. For travelers from all walks of life, it’s the moment after lining up for a long time, the immigration officer tells you that the eGovPH app is required for you to exit or arrive. For people with cars, it’s discovering that slowly but surely, pay parking attendants are being eliminated, requiring you to pay for parking at a machine; it’s the parallel discovery that fast-food chains are also systematically trying to eliminate as many humans from their payroll as possible, which is why you have to place your orders at an automated kiosk.
Sooner or later, of course, we will all get used to it. The classic case of this is the introduction and rapid adoption of the ATM: and to this, we can add our confidence in and dependence on apps like GCash and Grab, not to mention Lazada and Shopee. But it seems to me that when it comes to attempts to modernize our relationship with the authorities in particular, and institutions in general, instead of being temporary, the role of brokers becomes institutionalized.
By brokers, I mean that person who is assigned to help you out with something that was meant to eliminate the need to interact with a person in the first place. The member of mall staff assigned to patiently hover around the pay parking machine, the McDonald’s crew who does the same thing to rescue frustrated and confused senior citizens at kiosks, even the janitors and security guards in many public and private establishments who weigh in, with varying levels of helpfulness and competence, to help people with apps and online/automated forms. All these people are brokers and the most extreme form of the broker, of course, is the fixer, who does it for a fee.
The broker is necessary because the systems meant to fix a problem will be broken in turn, if an interpreter-guide isn’t around to help. In a very human sense, this is the very definition of what Randy David has called our country’s (and society’s) “crisis of modernity,” which, as he once put it, is “marked by what Gramsci once called the dying of the old and the inability of the new to be born. The old habits of our culture are quickly vanishing, yet the ways of modern society have not fully taken root. In the interim, our people suffer from a surplus of dependence. They are subservient even when they no longer need to be. They slide into the easy habits of the powerless even when the tools of emancipation may already be at hand. They seek patronage even where it is not necessary.”
In another reflection, Randy David looked out at our political leadership, marked by an epidemic of increasingly unproductive but also increasingly entrenched political families, and pointed out, “The proliferation of political dynasties is itself only a symptom of a bigger malaise—the absence of any real political competition in our society. If you just treat the symptoms—for example, imposing term limits and banning political dynasties—the disease will likely manifest itself in other forms.” (see “The case against political dynasties,” Public Lives, 4/15/07)
In both these cases, I’ve tried to explore these themes and pointed out how, politically, the dead-end nature of our post-Edsa political system, a Constitution impossible to amend, which means a system impossible to update, much less improve. This means we are all just treading water and that includes political families who have mutated into invading the party list or canceling out competition among themselves to divide up offices, reduce competition, and save increasingly escalating costs–while producing nothing more than ayuda, which is the strict cash-only transaction to which the public has reduced both leaders and the led since both can’t make any difference when it comes to the existing system.
Add to this three other basic factors: first, stunting and wasting in kids, which means up to two-thirds of young people are already physically and mentally limited in what they can achieve by the time they even start school, producing a permanent underclass who can never ever move up beyond menial tasks; an umbilical cord, economically speaking, created by remittances which frees all administrations from actual accountability for economic performance; and an educational system geared to near-term production of talent for export but little actual innovation, much less problem-solving, and you have a country and society that is collapse-proof, but also, takeoff-proof as well.
Brilliant as usual. “They are subservient even when they no longer need to be.” I imagine the nation would descend to chaos if there were a serum that could inject self-awareness of opportunity and how to live it into every Filipino. The clamor for a whole lot more of the stuff would break the nation. One must warm the frog carefully, assuming killing an old frog (oppression) is what’s in the pot.
Better to heat the water slowly. Modern media do cut both directions, for good and bad, and we must keep demanding good lest there be no voice for it.