Proposed: The Maria Ressa Social Media Ethics Board of the Philippines
Analysis and Opinion
By Joe America
Bloggers and individuals on social media have no ethical standards by which to operate, and no monitoring agency other than the Legislature and a Cybercrime Law that was concocted by thin-skinned politicians to suppress criticism that demeaned them. The House has recently done fine work to reveal and rein in the biggest liars and manipulators in social media, mainly those empowered by the Duterte clan to win office back in 2016, and still doing damage today in a misguided effort to prop up a mass murderer.
The Philippines suffers when its citizens cannot distinguish between right and wrong, building and destroying, in public forums.
Therefore I propose that an official body be established that can impose ethical standards on bloggers and individual social media users: The Maria Ressa Social Media Ethics Board of the Philippines.
The name both honors the Nobel Peace Prize winner, and uses her knowledge base and standards to establish the principles by which the Board enforces ethical requirements for social media usage.
These requirements should develop new concepts to guide bloggers and individuals.
- First, the truth is a mandate. Falsehoods make for a dumb nation, and a failing one.
- Second, speaking/writing about one’s own acts, initiatives, and ideas has a broader range of acceptance than talking/ writing about the acts, initiatives, and ideas of others, the latter demanding intense scrutiny for possible damages.
- A sequential series of fines for repeated violations should step up sharply with the last step being jail time.
- Conspiracy theories are damaging when beliefs are accepted as truths; they must be properly tagged as beliefs and given small print that makes clear that spreading unproven beliefs is potentially damaging to the nation.
- Sanction and fine social media companies (Facebook, X, et al) that allow damaging content to prosper.
- Deploy AI in the Philippines to scan content and raise red flags when viewership is high and content is suspect, untrue, or unlawful. React quickly.
Additional steps will likely become apparent as the Ethics Board gains experience with its editorial work.
The Ethics Board should be held accountable for the quality of public commentary that flows through the Philippines. The Board should have no political infringement on its methods, findings, or fines.
Big brother risk in the Philippines these days is not a State that dominates a nation’s conversations. Big brother risk is conversations that undermine civility and honesty and the well-being of the nation.
_________________________
Cover photo from The Harvard Gazette’s article “Maria Ressa will speak her troubled mind“.
The Society of Honor by Joe America 
I agree Joeam. It will curb those fake news manipulating social media.
Yes, the cretins are readily identifiable.
at the inquiry, I heard that some of cretins have multiple fake personalities with one found using 16 fake names!
I think there is already a sign on check when one logs in the internet that not only verify if one is animal, beast or alien but states a disclaimer that may absolve the contents creator for wrongful entries. often the excuse is they have been hacked and overridden and therefore, not accountable for the mishaps. maybe one or two accidental hacks are acceptable but regular hacking occurrences – not so.
How Facebook used to be a communications tool, and it appealed to outwardly social Filipinos. There they not only came to play the games it offered but also opportunities to turn online socializing into face-to-face encounters, creating social clubs out of common interests.
Then came Cambridge Analytica, which was founded on the premise of destroying terrorist networks by tracking down their usage of social media and weaponizing that data for Western intelligence. It then also discovered the data they amassed on user behavior could be used for other purposes and sold to the highest bidder. So as a private entity with mercenary — and personal (as in dismantling international awareness for climate change) — intentions they did not only sold information and skills to the West but also to its opponents.
It just happened they came across a bunch of disaffected online activists and their content on either side of the ideological spectrum, anywhere from radical leftists seeking to take down the “oligarchy”, to radical right-wingers aiming to restore the Marcoses — seeing them as “victims” of Aquino’s “oligarchy” — at any cost. They do all have one thing in common: they see ordinary Filipinos as very interested in conspiracy theories, and have the allegations they are ruled by the “oligarchy” taking away their hard-earned money.
So by 2011… Facebook stopped being a playground, and started to become a battleground.
Exactly right. Nic Gabunada approached me asking to meet to discuss joining his team. That’s how he recruited the disaffected souls who saw easy money and the opportunity to be big shots. Horrible people, those liars and abusers.
I have grown a big dislike of entities like CSC, COA, Ombudsman.
This is from observation direct and indirect.
Accountability is theoretical and impracticable for these.
Hence, I am not inclined towards this.
So you would not support a social media ethics board. Would you let dialogue persist as it is, quite dirty and destructive in my view, or are there other ways to get rid of the lies and deceits to promote genuine and constructive conversations?
Social Media ethics board I fear would just be a magnet for people in love with power.
That’s a risk that could be addressed in the charter for the group, criteria for membership, sequential terms, etc. But the problem is, if you don’t change the social media landscape, you are assured of getting continued bad voting, hate, and extremism. So the question remains, do you accept this, or is there a different way?
ethics and morals are alike to me, nobody gets jailed for being unethical or amoral, but they can be jailed if there is harm done as consequences of unethical action or moral decision. our society is now big on litigation and courts of law are littered with it. though I’d rather settle out of court than make lawyers richer than they already are, and have permanent record in the public domain accessible for posterity.
ahem, one uber big shot lawyer just died, thank the lord! he can no longer ply his wicked and vicious legal tricks. now we shall have a field day, yay! there really is a god in heaven!
okay, there maybe checks and balances and power can be curtailed. many people are in love with power and sometimes, they died via natural selection: powerful people decimating and undoing each other, or hit a wall of unfavorable public opinion. they may have faces thicker than bunkers, but they cracked.
but if they merge and conglomerate like what the two most powerful in the country did, only to bicker faster than jello could set. and now they are up to pre selection again. lovely, just lovely.
and president bong marcos has resisted calls and not yet abolised nft elcac where some bad vloggers are.
Rule of law develops out of long struggles after which societies decide it is easier for everyone to have rules that most people live by willingly. Kahit pa matatapang sila.
Philippines sometimes reminds me of Pinoy street basketball: “hoy travelling ka” “gago hindi” tapos suntukan. During a baseball league I helped organize long ago, they didn’t accept German referrees, so we had to put a Manong with a referree license as a co-referee.
Similarities with present political events are totally coincidental.
Irineo, your basketball story made me smile. While still in college, my barkada and I used to play pick up games in the province when we could…usually we were introduced by a local etc. etc. One fundamental guide we had was no betting. Pinoys in the province want to bet. They say it is no fun w/o a bet. In Manila where we played often at school, we never needed bets to have fun. I remember one group suggested that we bet water, or tubig! Even that we declined. Pinoy personalities just change when betting is involved and because we were not on “home turf,” we just would not take the risk. That is probably why we are still alive today some 50 plus years later!
But my more serious point is that immaturity is what you are talking about when you spoke about the “travelling ka” followed by “gago, hindi!” You spoke about “long struggles”…yes, I agree…growing often requires time, especially, I imagine, if you talking about societies. For individuals, circumstances can force a person to grow up quickly. Boys can become men when survival depends upon it.
Thanks for your thoughts on this sensitive topic.
The province story you told reminds me of a convo between my father and one of his cousins from Albay, about how in the old days the friends one took along when going to serenade a romantic interest were also what is called resbak nowadays.
Especially in another village you risked getting beaten up, it seems if you went alone to court a lass from there. Well, that I guess has been humanity even in the days of Helen of Troy.
BTW the league I helped organize was basketball, not baseball, I hate autocorrect.
Ah, but the astute sportsman would have figured that out, recognizing there are no referees in baseball. AI does not have such insights yet, a clear warning that humans are still smarter with respect to deductions.
Ireneo, that was another rule we had when traveling in the provinces: Don’t mess with the womenfolk. Don’t even give the appearance of being interested in them. The menfolk are possessive of their womenfolk. Might be different in the big city. I remember developing an interest in a lady from Cebu City and don’t recall getting any flack from any men folk, including from her immediate family.
That anti-commie committee is right up there with the anti-terrorism law as laws that punish the innocent by scaring the nation, an autocratic abridgment of freedoms. Well, AFP likes it, I suppose, because it gives them power to intimidate citizens who in some way allow domestic rebels to persist. Time and time again the courts have sided with the citizens over authoritarian abuses, so I don’t know why the President does not kill off the creature. Probably because his generals tell him it helps and they need it.
Ethics are self-imposed rules and Irineo describes the Filipino penchant to play street basketball with rules, so hilarious and true. I am rather a Lee Kuan Yew type of basketball player myself. Strict. And I imagine that a clean social media dialogue would have a singaporean result, that is, productive and rich.
NTF ELCAC should be abolished if not yet.
That office’s activities that go overboard should be included in the ICC cases.
The next wave of ICC arrests should go after Bato and his subordinates and successors who implemented EJK. If it stopped during Duterte then good if not then bad.
I hope so. That would move the nation a big step forward at ending impunity as a core value.
Your approach is top-down, not bottom-up, though what do you do if the man everyone took for Lee Kuan Yew is more like Charles Taylor of Liberia. No sub-Saharan shade intended here. A leader with no values himself can also be a Goth conquering Rome or a Viking raiding York. OLD York in Northern England. Though I do believe that Ragnar Lothbrok had his set of values, they were certainly different from the priests he killed. Ivar is a name for IKEA furniture today. The point being that Europeans developed a set of values guided by Roman law and Christian morality while East Asians like LKY based their values on Confucianism. Sarcastic tweeters in the Duterte era said that the Philippines might have neither Western guilt nor Eastern shame. Just retweeted that, but I also asked myself, how can people cremate someone they killed then flush him down the toilet, but hardly anyone seemed to care for the poor Korean? Respect for the dead should be the second consensus after agreeing not to eat people, but I am rambling..
You ramble insightfully. Bottom-up can be a powerful force for reconstructing a government and/or a people’s confidence or engagement with it. Perhaps it can cause social media users to see more clearly and follow sources of truth rather than lies, but I personally doubt it. As long as the dirtstreams have no ethical boundaries, scoundrels will make good use of them. Perhaps tweaking the cybercrime law can apply pressure.
I asked Gemini how many Facebook users have over 10,000 users. I was astounded by the numbers. In 2023 there were 13,600 influencers with between 10,000 and 50,000 followers. There were 1,284 influencers with over 1 million followers. If I were the ethics cop or the cybercrime cop, I’d have AI scanning messages put out by these influencers looking for malicious people. I’m one of the high follower accounts, and I would not feel that constrains my freedom of expression one iota.
In 2017 I got to read a bit of stuff about the Reformation 500 years after, including an analysis of I think declassified Vatican records that showed how the Italians saw Martin Luther, as a rude Saxon and a troll using new media. After all, they had lost control of manual book production due to Luther’s friend Gutenberg. I am sure Joey and Sonny can fill in, but I recall reading that the Jesuits were the counter of the Catholic Church towards the argumentative Protestants, similar to how Franciscans were the foil against Albingensian heretics. The latter had similar values of modesty as Franciscans and were founded as a protest against bishops living in pomp and getting free Mitsubishis from Arroyo. Oh, the latter was a time warp.
Catholicism before Vatican 2, I think, did not encourage self-interpretation of the Bible. If I read how many Filipinos interpret Bible verses as they wish on social media, I feel like preaching angrily from the pulpit like Padre Damaso. But that is just a temptation.
A boom in fake news between Catholics and Protestants in Germany due to pamphlets printed by opposing factions has made “lying like printed” a figure of speech over here until today. All that BTW led to a civil war joined by France and Sweden that laid Germany to waste for decades. Just wondering if humans never learn at least for long or need refresher lessons every now and then when things go too well and they forget old lessons. Haynaku.
Today it would by “lying like social media”, as scoundrels persist through the ages.
“I am sure Joey and Sonny can fill in, but I recall reading that the Jesuits were the counter of the Catholic Church towards the argumentative Protestants, …
… Catholicism before Vatican 2, I think, did not encourage self-interpretation of the Bible. …”
Bcoz no event happens in vacuum: so here goes. I think personal conversion narratives can best illustrate why people become Catholic.
Watch SR. JOHN DOMINIC RASMUSSEN, O.P. – FORMERLY SECULAR
Watch PHILIP SEEBERG – CONVERT FROM JUDAISM
If I recall, the Franciscans were founded independently of the Waldensians and Cathars (Albigensians). The latter two are related movements. The issue the Vatican had with the Waldensians and Cathars was not the asceticism, but that the aforementioned were heresies that incorporated elements of “Eastern religions,” via Bulgarian ascetics, including dualism similar to Zoroastrianism or Hinduism and reincarnation similar to the concept that was later developed in Buddhism. Interestingly all three movements were founded in mountainous regions where asceticism was popular.
The Jesuits were not initially formed to oppose Protestantism, but Jesuit zeal later served that purpose. Around that time there was a sprouting of then-new religious orders, including the Jesuits, Franciscans, Augustinians, and Dominicans. As many early Protestants were like the argumentative “nerds,” they met their match in the equally bookish Jesuits.
Every position is a temptation to be a position of power. Power is all good unless abused.
If being in love with power is a form of abuse, then this is a question of regulating the regulators.
Now with CSC and the Ombudsman plus the PRC, this is a matter of knowing roles and turfs.
Rules can only be imposed by the powerful, thus being the most powerful or building the most powerful coalition is paramount. An ethics board is downline the basic question what is in it for the powers that be.
SG PM was asked why is the anti corruption body reporting only to the PM and not to a board or something.
His answer was simple the people should elect an honest PM it doesn’t matter how many layers there are as long as the people do not elect honest people it would fail. So that is why I am negative additional layers. In the end it is downline what should be primary finding a way to build up correct leaders.
This is also why I have long advocated for LGU and up leadership. brgy, municipality, and city level is easily accountable as long as a city is in the goldilocks zone.
A national constituency is just a mob mentality.
@thesocietyofhonor still pondering the how
Ponder well, haha. Dictatorships are highly efficient but if the values are destructive, efficiency is a bad thing. Social media dirtflows are far “above” an LGU’s reach.
Hi Giancarlo, I like your thoughts. You speak of building up correct leaders at the ground level…LGU and up. I think that is pretty wise. In “Philippines A Century Hence,” Rizal wrote: “Government is not an independent machine separate from the general will, nor is it an entity spontaneously created that floats in the air without roots or connections to the facts and people surrounding it. A government is the expression of society, of its moral state and level of enlightenment; thus, in a corrupt and depraved society, the government will be corrupt and depraved. The existence of a despotic government implies a servile and cowardly society; otherwise, how could tyranny exist? On the other hand, in an upright and strong people, the government will also be upright and strong. As the people are, so are their governments.” I believe that aligns with your proposition. Agree?
Yes there is a power law to opinion and as long as the biggest influencer is someone close then fake news has no power over them. Fake news have made institutions weak thus any new org is suspicious
Yuval Noah Harari, in his recent book Nexus, wrote that information always had two clashing functions: truth and order. To some degree, it was always a clash between those who dominated the official channels versus those who created unofficial counter-channels.
The Egyptian elites versus Moses (whom my father speculated always was a member of the Egyptian elite as Ramses, Thutmosis, etc. all have Mses suffix in their names), the Sanhedrin versus Jesus, the Vatican versus Luther. What is the truth anyway? Time to meditate.
I generally make up my own definitions for articles to eliminate questions as to what I mean. Truth is a relative variable, the time-dependent validity of which is established by 29 scientists who belong to no religion or political group, are monetarily independent, do not drink or do drugs, and have never been known to tell a lie. Or by Maria Ressa, whichever is available at the time.
Since you are also familiar with soccer (football for most outside the USA and UK), players there might have their drama when fouled, while those fouling will raise both arms to indicate it was charging, but the referee’s decision is final. Arguing yellow with a referee can lead to another yellow, which adds up to red, and you’re out at least for the duration of the game. Full scale red can lead to no more chance to sub for the team, like Zidane’s infamous headbutt of Materazzi in the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany.
It is, therefore, a consensus between common values (in sports, it is easier to see what is a violation by some common sense) plus authority plus as cdvictory noted social maturity.
The bottom-up approach you are suggesting is almost like my favorite Swiss examples.
Switzerland was one of the few democracies that really grew bottom-up, with the same geographical advantage as Bhutan. But here some ideas as to how it stayed stable.
Communities are kept stable as even who is allowed to join is voted on at least by some. A Swiss man of Sicilian origin (Robert de Niro body language with a Swiss accent, great guy) told me how his father’s citizenship application for his family was voted on publicly by the village. Observed how, for instance, people from the Balkans had totally were part of Switzerland and spoke the respective local dialect. And of course, the “written language” taught in school.
Another stability factor is military service, basically what might have been the original intent of the 2nd Amendment in the USA. The Swiss Army started out as militia in fact. Pikemen who kept knights at bay and that depended on no one breaking ranks when they charged in full armor on horseback. I have seen how imposing cops on horses look in public parks and imagine a knight with a mace in armor charging at your formation. The units of Swiss pikemen were either from the same village or if from the town from the same guild, so like brothers.
Restraint is a final stability factor. A Pinoy Swiss I knew was proud of his having been through military service and made some yabang about having his rifle at home but NEVER showed it. Basically correct as they are to take out that rifle only when the literal call of duty happens. Every man knows where to report to when war happens. Tourists BTW are warned that any joke about the Swiss army can mean jail time. What a society takes seriously reflects its values.
How a society decides to punish also reflects its values. Dutch water boards which governed the most valuable and dangerous resource of the Netherlands executed people who dirtied the water used by farmers for fields and by villages to drink in the Middle Ages. That penalty doesn’t exist in Netherlands anymore, so what if DDS outside the Hague prison piss into Dutch backyards? Dutch society has evolved self-discipline, and could be they needed a certain phase, though that goes deeper into my old topic of social order evolving as an interplay between religious morality and state authority, two elites battling out a difficult consensus.
Maybe I should read Nietzsche’s stuff on how morality developed. LCPL_X, who has a yellow card again, might want to show up for this difficult topic. How societies grow up and regress.
the dutch may have nothing vs duterte’s global trolls. filipinos rallying in netherlands is just patikim, as of testing the water. piss now, tomorrow the trolls. already duterte trolls have gone global and targeted ICC judges, manipulating media coverage, sowing much misinformation as well as well orchestrated disinformation. this must really have cost the dutertes bigger money, feeding trolls, etc.
https://thediplomat.com/2025/03/the-globalization-of-philippine-political-trolling/
Maintaining troll presence will be easier than people presence. Migrants over here mostly have to work, and most Filipinos here will not cross certain lines. I doubt there will be that many still around in, let’s say, three months.
hakot crowd ng EU, they will come around in moments notice, many are probly waiting for it, planned, prepared and raring to go! there are many undocumented pinoys in europe, anonymity in numbers, afforded free travel, accommodation as well, maybe plus pocket money. hukbong ng mga hindi maisug and hopefully border security keeps eye on them.
money really is good motivator.
Given how much travel, lodging, and food costs over here, €120 per person per day is still a cheaper estimate, multiply that by months on end. Even ABS-CBN has only a few weeks of its premium teleseryes in Europe for good reason.
Not up to date on the TNTs over here but I suspect there are way less than in the 1980s and 1990s when it was easier to get a tourist visa and Germany didn’t even require any entry visa.
No border checks inside Schengen area in theory, but that depends on the refugee situation.
know what’s concerning? those illegals in EU who, for want to better things to do, may join the throng and boost the numbers of duterte supporters, and make trouble for dutch police.
https://globalnation.inquirer.net/271407/rights-watchdog-slams-online-dirty-tactics-vs-drug-war-victims-kin?utm_source=(direct)&utm_medium=gallery
The likely (and amusing) outcome out of this is that these malcontents will find out that in other countries, they have no power. Their loud bleating will be just that, bleating. Let’s hope that the Philippines also wises up to the fact that these people are only seemingly powerful, but in reality have no power at all.
Spanish during the colonial era noted that the “natives” tended to try to bring as many allies as possible to court proceedings.
In street basketball altercations or in Filipino overseas organizations, and the more recent Filipino politics, there is often the idea that what most agree with is correct. Well, that will not work in the Hague for sure.
I recall a fistfight I got into when I was a teen visiting the Philippines. Perhaps due to my height, the local boys who did not appreciate the girl of their eye paying attention to me decided to come as a group. Well, knocking down the leader caused his kabarkada to scatter. They were all sanganos after all. If these DDS groupies decided to do the same thing in an actual rule of law country (as opposed to a country that often uses “rule of law” as a slogan), they may find themselves locked up and charged themselves. Figuratively knock a couple down and the rest will scatter.
There ARE already DDS arrested for demonstrating in Qatar where foreigners aren’t allowed to, they might be in huge trouble.
As for Europe, anyone not bagong salta here knows how effective the police are, even or especially the sangganos. So far in the Hague, they just have stood on the lawns of Dutch neighbors or asked to use their bathrooms. Nobody has pissed on Dutch lots yet. Those who do that would for sure get taken to the precinct for ID, and a case would be filed. No TNT in his right mind will risk the immediate deportation that would result unless overly stoked by DDS propaganda. Nothing so far except occasional warnings from police to keep bike lanes free (priority in Netherlands) and not to video the ICC visitor entrance. I think it will fizzle out.
Well sometimes I think of the Filipino trait of massing bodies over this or that concern, rightful or not, to be a neutral trait that can be used for either good or bad. EDSA is an example of how massing together was used for good, but it does seem that more often than not mobilization is more like part fiesta, part posse, part intimidation tactics. The negative side of the cultural expression may cow officials back in the home country but it won’t work elsewhere. I’m sure some DDS will try though, but these are probably the most hardcore DDS who have lost all sense of reality similar to hardcore MAGA. Some of these people have *become the meme* themselves, losing the plot and caricaturizing their own actions. Well, as we say here in America, some people insist on touching the hot stove even after being repeatedly warned and advised. The only way these hard headed types learn is by being punished severely.
Ungh, suffering Jack Reacher flashback . . .
Kiko Pangilian sued Meta Iand Google for allowing
his defamation. Correct me if wrong.
An economist sued Sassot for defamation too.
It’s hard to file cases, I think, for the costs and the need to compile evidence. But maybe the House is making progress with their current hearings. I am a critic of the Cybercrime Act because Sotto and Poe saw Cocoy as a culprit while TP sat in the committee blathering nonsense as a witness. Completely backward. I do think there is a place for AI to scan content for deceptive, hostile, or dangerous content. Rather like GROK can review content on X to identify untruths. Just make obvious deception or threats illegal, like bomb jokes at the airport.
Hope Cocoy is doing well.
Me too.
I suggest reading Maria Ressa’s speech at the Vatican. Quite a speech – received a standing ovation, I heard.
She’s become quite popular, globally, because she makes sense out of the nonsense.
Sonny,
Thanks for reminding us of Ressa’s excellent speech at the Vatican. In the past, she has been critical of the current administration’s use of social media during the campaign.
Here’s the New Yorker article that made the point as strongly as it can be made.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/dispatch/the-triumph-of-marcos-dynasty-disinformation-is-a-warning-to-the-us
She’s an interesting character and knows the science of social media influence better than most. I’ve been critical of Rappler on two points, their dumb mood meter that emotionalizes news and contributes to the problem of dirty data, and Rappler’s undermining of Roxas in some of their work, most notably on the siege at Zamboanga. It is also worth noting that she has been declared innocent on all eight of the specious court cases filed against her. President Marcos did not continue the harassment and let justice be just.
Thanks, Joe, for the link to the article by Sheila Coronel on the Triumph of the Marcos Dynasty Disinformation Campaign.
You’re welcome. I think the liberal/left opposition could apply some of the social media techniques used by Duterte and Marcos as to how to organize influence pyramids, but using a different (honest) value set.
it would most likely take a lot of manpower and resources to go head to head, the media techniques used by duterte and marcos is all encompassing, ruthless and take no prisoner. it will get worse during election time. but with duterte in the hague and his relatives back home facing reelection, duterte and marcos camp have split, there may well be a breach. any policiticos not aligned with them may now have a chance of winning.
duterte is seeking interim release prior to trial but since philippines in no longer ICC member, and president marcos is not keen of accepting ICC interim order, duterte may have to serve his interim release in other country member of ICC willing to take him.
I would be REALLY surprised if they grant him interim release, why should they?
I want him home! in a box, signed, sealed, and delivered. and I would not mind if he gets buried in libingan ng mga bayani next to makoy, his epitaph calamitous.
You’re welcome, cdvic-21. Glad to see you participate here at TSOH. 🙂
Ressa is awesome. I read her book “How to Stand Up to a Dictator.” I’ve also been reading up on the Bamboo Network and its impact in the Philippines and the Philippine economy. Learned about that from Joey Nguyen. Henry Sy’s Shoemart empire employs 140,000 people!
Sonny,
I watched your two videos on the Conversion stories. Thanks! Can’t say there was anything new to learn. The experiences of the nun AND the Jew are good. I’m happy for them and the Catholic Church is blessed to have them in the fold.
I’m a Cafeteria Catholic myself. 🙂 But I’m quite active in Church stuff, probably more for social purposes. I stay away from doctrine and dogma, like most Catholics, so I really am not out of place. I also stay away from any leadership roles, because then I cannot be myself. I would have to be a hypocrite regarding the doctrines that I disagree with.
love being in the catholic church, I am social member and in the choir. love those pantos at christmas and lent. I had wanted to play virgin mary but ended up being one of the damn three kings. I did not get the mary magdalene role and got roped in as a centurion, wore a mini skirt and really got to flog christ! out of frustration. catholics are not perfect, just forgiven.
If Catholics are forgiven, they should smile a little more in Church. So many long faces, heads bowed. Very few cheerful Catholics in the pews. In the testimony of the nun (Sr. John), shortly after she was baptized into the Catholic Church she was told to do her first confession. She asked why? Of course the Church was hard pressed to give an answer because it teaches that baptism wipes away all sins. It did manage an answer.
In obedience, she did her first confession even though intellectually it did not make sense. But if one needs to go to confession after participating in a sacrament that absolves ALL sins, well that is reason to have a long face and lower one’s head in sorrow.
they are smiling on the inside, morose on the outside. heads bowed in concentration and praying to god in silence. the blessed hostia is there in the sanctum and respected. after the mass is meet and greet usually outside the church, and there is much laughter, sharing of news, reading newsletters on noticeboards, etc.
Kasambahay,
The way I look at it, if you are going to smile on the inside, might as well smile on the outside too. They say it takes less muscles. Others will wonder what you are up to. It opens up an opportunity to share the reason for your joy. The joy may even be contagious.
Favorite arguments of Catholicism on difficulties of Church beliefs – Mystery, Supernatural, and Faith.
In my various visits to Catholic church services here, I’d say the mood is reverence, as it should be, not somber or morose. There are definitely smiles on entering, in greeting friends, or on leaving. The services themselves are respectful, ritualistic, and genuine. I always leave uplifted. My Lutheran and Baptist upbringing delivered me into cleancut routines with songs and sermons and occasional humor from the pulpit. I especially enjoyed our visit to a black Baptist church in South Los Angeles. The spirit was decidedly loud and passionate that day, and love was everywhere in the building.
“I’m a Cafeteria Catholic myself. “
CV, you might want to reconsider. The way commonly understood by the term “cafeteria-catholic” connotes you’re not interested in making it to heaven.
Sonny,
That is the beauty of Cafeteria Catholicism – you don’t have to believe or accept things that as they are “commonly understood.” Actually, technically, I don’t think I am Catholic anymore as some of my beliefs probably warrant automatic self-excommunication.
CV, that’s fair: we have a table of “interlocution” a secretariat of sorts (TSOH) 🙂 Irineo, CV, ksmbahay, sonny, JoeAm, Joey, brought up themes that cover a lot of ground; Mother Foundress (began as an American brought up secular & a Jewish convert (began as sectarian, Abrahamic), albeit electronic, completes the “panel” Just to start, table is open. JoeAm ipso facto is moderator.
CV, one of the items in the cafeteria is called perichoresis. It might be good.
Thanks Sonny, for your introduction the name “perichoresis” to describe the Trinity doctrine. In all my years of studying Catholicism, I’ve not seen the term used. But I looked it up and its concept of mutual indwelling by the 3 persons of the Godhead I have encountered in Catholicism’s attempts to “explain” the mystery. I put the word in quotes because Catholicism does acknowledge that mysteries are not explainable.
Over time, I have become more comfortable with the Jewish understanding of God in the Hebrew bible, who is of course the Father of Jesus, who is God in the New Testament, which for the Jews is not part of the Hebrew Bible…but it is part of the Christian bible.
Simply put, the Jewish understanding of Deuteronomy 6 (“Hear O Israel…the Lord is One.”) is that Yahweh “is One, not three in One.” I understand from some research that the Greek word used in the Septuagint was “heis” and not “perchoresis” which I am told is totally different. The verse from Deut. 6 is quoted in Mark 12:29 by Jesus and my research says that the same Greek word “heis” is used there too in the Septuagint.
That is all technical stuff, and I hate to argue technically because that usually involves language translations (Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic, English, etc.) and of those, the only one I am familiar with is English.
What I like to fall back on, and this is a personal thing, is my experience of the Scripture, or of the sacraments or what have you. My current pastor, a priest originally from Nigeria, articulated that approach for me recently. I found that refreshing. You might say he validated it for me. I am suspect that if I told him that by using “experience” as a foundation for preferring the Jewish understanding of “..the Lord is One” over the Catholic “mutual indwelling” approach, he would scold me. So I don’t tell him. I keep it between me and Yahweh. 🙂
I gather that your experience of the teaching of the doctrine of the Trinity helps you be a better person. I am all for that.
CV, I thank you likewise for engaging me on the theological explanation of the Blessed Trinity of Christians (Protestants & Catholics & Evangelicals). Their (Christianity) number approximately comprise 2.3 to 2.9 of the world population. The majority subscribes to the Trinitarian God (hence my choice to bring up perichoresis). Jews’ & Muslims’ & Christians’ belief in a monotheistic Abrahamic God in my estimations rounds to an additional 2 billion believers of The Abrahamic God. Some current studies of the Islamic Allah seem to point to a syncretist melding of Judaism, Christianity & the Nabatean Deity responsible for the civilization that built Petra in ancient Jordan.
erratum: “comprises 2.3 to 2.9 of the world population.”
comprises 2.3 to 2.9 billion of the world’s population
Noted, Sonny…but who is counting? 🙂
When I was a child, in matters of religion, I was impressed by numbers. I remember taking note of the number of Catholics vs. Muslims. As an adult, not anymore. For me it is quality and not quantity. What good is it being a Catholic or Muslim if you are a bad Catholic or Muslim? Take myself, for example….would bean counters count me, a cafeteria self-excommunicated Catholic as a Catholic? Probably yes. 🙂 Jesus words: “You will know them by their fruit” says it best for me.
Just to add, I asked the Oracle of Google, aka Gemini AI, what the differences between Catholicism and Orthodoxy are:
“The Catholic and Orthodox Churches, while sharing a common origin in early Christianity, have diverged over the centuries, leading to several key differences:
1. Papal Authority:
* Catholicism: The Pope, as the successor of Saint Peter, is considered the supreme head of the Church, possessing universal jurisdiction and infallibility in certain matters of faith and morals (defined in 1870 at the First Vatican Council).
* Orthodoxy: Rejects the universal authority and infallibility of the Pope. They believe in a conciliar model (collegiality of bishops), where decisions are made by synods of bishops, with the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople holding a primacy of honor but not authority.
2. The Filioque Clause:
* Catholicism: The Nicene Creed includes the “Filioque” clause, stating that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son.
* Orthodoxy: Maintains the original wording of the Nicene Creed, stating that the Holy Spirit proceeds only from the Father. This is seen as a major theological difference with implications for the understanding of the Trinity.
3. Purgatory:
* Catholicism: Believes in Purgatory, an intermediate state where souls of those who die in God’s grace must be purified before entering heaven.
* Orthodoxy: Does not accept the doctrine of Purgatory. While they believe in an intermediate state after death where souls are prepared for the final judgment, it is not the same as the Catholic Purgatory involving purification by fire.
4. The Immaculate Conception and Other Marian Doctrines:
* Catholicism: Holds the dogma of the Immaculate Conception (Mary was conceived without original sin) and the Assumption of Mary (Mary was bodily taken to heaven).
* Orthodoxy: While holding the Virgin Mary in very high esteem and believing she was sinless, they do not accept the Immaculate Conception as defined by the Catholic Church. They also believe in the Dormition (falling asleep) of Mary, followed by her bodily resurrection and assumption into heaven, but this is not a formally defined dogma in the same way as in Catholicism.
5. Sacraments and Practices:
* Eucharist:
* Catholicism: Uses unleavened bread for the Eucharist. Believes the bread and wine are transubstantiated into the actual body and blood of Christ.
* Orthodoxy: Uses leavened bread for the Eucharist. Believes the bread and wine become the actual body and blood of Christ, but typically avoids the specific term “transubstantiation,” preferring to speak of a “divine mystery.” They also administer both bread and wine to all communicants (laity and clergy).
* Baptism: Both recognize baptism by immersion, pouring, or sprinkling, but some practices and the timing of post-baptismal rites (like Confirmation/Chrismation) differ. Orthodox infants receive communion immediately after Chrismation.
* Clerical Celibacy:
* Catholicism: Priests in the Latin Rite are generally required to be celibate. Married men can be ordained as deacons.
* Orthodoxy: Married men can be ordained as priests, but priests cannot marry after ordination, and bishops are typically chosen from the monastic clergy (who are celibate).
* Icons and Statues:
* Orthodoxy: Highly values icons as windows into the divine and uses them extensively in worship. Statues are generally not used.
* Catholicism: Uses both icons and statues in worship, though the emphasis can vary regionally.
6. Church Governance:
* Catholicism: Hierarchical structure with the Pope at the top, followed by cardinals, archbishops, bishops, and priests.
* Orthodoxy: Decentralized structure with autocephalous (self-governing) local churches, each led by its own bishops and synods. The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople has a primacy of honor but no direct authority over other Orthodox Churches.
7. Emphasis and Spirituality:
* Orthodoxy: Often emphasizes the mystical and experiential aspects of faith, theosis (becoming more like God through grace), and the importance of liturgical tradition.
* Catholicism: While also valuing mysticism, it has historically placed a greater emphasis on scholastic theology, rational inquiry, and the juridical aspects of the Church.
Historical Context:
The formal separation between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches is traditionally dated to the Great Schism of 1054, although the estrangement was a long process with roots in cultural, political, and theological differences that developed over centuries.
Despite these differences, both traditions share fundamental Christian beliefs, including the Trinity, the divinity of Jesus Christ, the importance of Scripture and Tradition, and the sacraments. In recent decades, there have been increased efforts towards ecumenical dialogue and understanding between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches.”
The singing among the Orthodox is mesmerizing in its harmonies, BTW. As for Islam, I stopped to listen as the muezzins of two mosques near Hagia Sophia in Istanbul called to prayer, taking turns but also somehow competing like roosters.
Higher things are expressed in different ways, I guess. I have been in both Lutheran and Catholic masses. The former are more austere, and the latter can be a feast for the senses.
Thanks, Irineo. Years ago I used to listen to a protestant evangelist name Hank Hanegraaf. He had a radio show called “The Bible Answer Man.” I liked his clear explanations, etc. etc. Then I went on to another life. Got interested in Judaism and Jewish understanding of what we gentiles call the Old Testament. I recently thought of Hanegraaf and looked him up on the ‘net. Turns out he left Protestantism and joined a Christian Orthodox Church. I guess that is where his “sola scriptura” teachings led him.
My triangulation check as an immigrant in America:
A Foreigner’s (HONEST) Expectation Vs Reality In The PHILIPPINES
Righteous Brothers — nchained Melody (Live, 1965) (Picture and Sound Restored)
Our Maritime League had an off topic debate about putting the wrong people in power that is why there are dynasties to the non income tax paying voters.
Both have their pertinent points, qualification of both voters and candidates.
I too have my direct democracy advocacy, but it is a moon shot so it seems.
this is so f—-d up! voters education is good but targeting high school students as if the students have the sole burden of putting our democracy on tract! adults and grown ups and the mature among us have higher responsibility but are rarely addressed and barely called to accounts. they are voters too and can do a lot more damage, buying and selling votes, spreading misinformation, manipulating the media, etc.
https://mb.com.ph/2025/3/27/defensor-reiterates-voter-s-education-among-high-school-students
defensor should also addressed not just students but their parents as well as well as neighbors, and those around them, go 360 degrees. that those in public office not acting in the best interest of the community and nation may well be impeached and lose their jobs, punished if found misappropriating public funds. that being voted in not end all and be all, that once tru the gate, politicians cannot just disregard their mandate and do as they like, stay home as they like, or gang up with bent politicians and be disruptive.
Kasambahay, I clicked on the link and you can see that the group Defensor is speaking to are not high school students. What you say is correct about addressing all voters, but I can give him the benefit of the doubt that he does address other age groups. It is just that in this case he is approaching the high school group. On another day maybe he addresses another group, like League of Women Voters… 🙂
maximazing his exposure baga, defensor is running for 3rd term and final term as mayor of iloilo city, and running unopposed.
and thanks for reading the link.
K addressing all voters in terms of voter’s education is another must.
I was supposed to reply to Giancarlo but this comment has a life of its own.
aba, speaking in hindsight yata sila, just how many of those in maritime league are friends of bato and robin padilla and being close buddies with them as well as proud fist pumpers ni dating president duterte!
and if they were disgruntled with digong, they could have shown their displeasure instead of happily accepting awards from him, being his enablers, and having their pays indexed higher.
and if they were really really mindful of qualifications of candidates, they would have to add codicil to our constitution. coz anyone who is filipino citizen, can read and write and may only have primary education, can run for public office, get elected, and may even become president!
Correct.
Very diverse.
A segment is even with a Arroyo NGO with the aim of understanding China.
Giancarlo gave me a link to I guess what was supposed to be his blog. All I got was his resumé. Impressive, but not sure what to do with it… 🙂
Yeah had the same problem with Gian’s blog.
So I had to Google the link to its content.
http://onthe8spot.com/index.php/author/admin/
I think this proposal is good on face, but it may be a lot harder in implementation. My primary concern as it relates to the Philippines is that such an ethics board or commission can be weaponized against an opponent’s valid speech that threatens whoever controls such a body. The most famous recent case study is the Cybercrime Prevention Act, more popularly known as the “cyberlibel law,” vouched for and signed by PNoy then quickly used to dismantle LP and allies of democracy who opposed PNoy’s successor Duterte and used by those with money to crush dissenting voices or criticism.
In the Philippines VERA Files has existed since 2008, and in 2022 the #FactsFirstPH network of 120 plus organizations was set up by Maria Ressa. Aside from such organizations not having reliable funding (Facebook provided a lot of funding, which was pulled recently), as usual for the Philippines every organization wants to be separate and act in a loose alliance and therefore ultimately dilute their own effectiveness.
The problem therein is when one realizes that untruths can be manufactured and spread much faster than any fact checker can keep up. In the time spent responding to fake news, another dozen lies have already been disseminated. I think a better approach would be to criminalize certain narrow speech unwanted by society such as that promoting criminality or hate speech like European countries with a legacy of Nazi or Soviet domination have done, while having a government funded and sponsored program to educate the public at a young age on information cleanliness in consumption. Sunlight is the best disinfectant, as some say, but efforts should be targeted as well to the disinformation that is deemed to be the most dangerous as oftentimes giving oxygen to something (even untrue) will further popularize that idea, a pertinent problem in the Philippines where many Filipinos are gullible online due to an integral cultural trait of chismis.
I’ll use the example of Finland, which is a country with extensive free speech protections, minus hate speech and harmful speech. The Finnish government has a program, Faktabaari (English: Factbar), that combats disinformation (mainly spread by the Kremlin) by targeted action while placing most of the effort on educating the public at a young age. The Faktabaari program (and similar programs in former Soviet-sphere countries) are extremely effective.
https://www.faktabaari.fi/in-english/
Here’s an older article on Faktabaari’s effectiveness at countering Russian disinformation, but the effectiveness still stands in 2025. Quite a few lessons to learn for the Philippines from the Eastern Europeans and Northern Europeans, who never fell to Russian and PRC disinformation campaigns because they addressed the issue early on.
https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2019/05/europe/finland-fake-news-intl/
Thanks, Joey. That approach would be excellent, and may be what the House will get to when it finishes grilling Duterte’s red taggers and liars. The Cybercrime Law was poorly aimed and used to allow thin-skinned politicians to harass or jail critics. So your skepticism about an ethical body getting politicized is well founded. The key as you point out is defining the crimes. Hate speech, harmful speech, lies delivered through networks. It seems to me AI is the new breakthrough tool that can be used to read commentary and identify malicious networks and illegal messages. Whether it is deployed by police or an ethics board would not matter, as long as the crimes are narrowly defined. It would get rid of a whole lot of malicious content. Big brother only arises when politicians try to control speech that, in its criticism, is actually constructive.
What are crimes but actions that a society has defined as undesirable as relates to the public good? But crimes as defined also need consistency of enforcement from a dispassionate legal system… which is sometimes hard in very passionate Philippines. I think it would be a great start to start educating people at a younger age on digital hygiene, not only in terms of fake news, but also against becoming desensitized to stuff that can later fester into social ills. There seems to be very little actual regulation in the Philippines to this regard. But these actions should be tandemed with providing outlets for peoples’ passions that foster positive social interaction. Some ideas would be to encourage youth sports leagues, strengthen civic institutions, redoing the NTSP law to redirect the youth towards service in the civilian areas like CWTS and LTS rather than ROTC. When people are given outlets for fulfilling their passions, they might choose personal interaction rather than being always online living in unreality.
All good ideas. I would note that President Marcos is in sync with you. https://pco.gov.ph/presidential-speech/speech-by-president-ferdinand-r-marcos-jr-at-the-ceremonial-signing-of-the-joint-circular-on-the-establishment-of-child-development-centers-by-the-local-government-units/
The Cybercrime Law is the primary vehicle for managing internet content. It gets abused and used to file individual libel accusations rather than cleaning out trolls and lies. But it can be shaped, as the House hearings on red tagging may do.
Here is an overview of sports and laws supporting it.
Click to access ProgramsandProjects.pdf
Sounds great. More of this is sorely needed.
Almost everybody in the Philippines has a double standard when it comes to their own political grouping, college fraternity, showbiz fandom, family, or fellow Filipinos jailed abroad, whether right or wrong.
Add the passionate aka OA aspect, and you have the running drama of Senate hearings over there, the madness of Filipino social media, and more. For sure that OA was somewhat kept down when rooted in reality and in the small communities of yore.
It seems that in societies that have lower educational attainment, politics can end up being reduced to a horse race or a form of team sports, complete with betting behavior occurring. Well, the US which used to boast a great primary and secondary education across all states now has an average reading level of grade 6 according to the Literacy Project in many “red” states. Voting behavior in those red states is a lot more similar to the Filipino “masa” than American “blue” states. There is a reason why politicians who want to maintain minority control attack education first, then social institutions next. If education and institutions are not attacked, lack of care such as what usually happens in the Philippines seems to inadvertently achieve the same result.
It seems to me that a bulwark needs to be set up against the encroaching foul water. Sometimes we need to be reminded that prior to government patronage of areas deemed “good” such as education and services, people collectively came together to create their own institutions (institutions that often were subsumed into, or inspired government services).
I don’t think things are gone that far in the US, nor in the Philippines. There is still room for whatever remaining mechanisms of national and local governments in these two countries to make a change. But to do so needs buy-in and consistency.
„Maybe I should read Nietzsche’s stuff on how morality developed. LCPL_X, who has a yellow card again, might want to show up for this difficult topic. How societies grow up and regress.“
Nietzsche would say theres no facts, just interpretation. And I know Ramadan just ended but , Muslims are really into „intention“ niyyah in Arabic. so long as your intentions were good then the actual act or actions can be forgiven if theres „negative“ results. „negative“ though is also just interpretation. So theres really no way to map morality in real time or even after generations have come to pass. and this is where Spinoza (which I see both Nietzsche and him as the same ) comes in. You have to see into eternity to discern good and bad. and that’s where God’s at. God doesn’t care about the Hegelian process. or Maybe its exactly what Hegel was talking about. I need to get into Hegel more. basically whats at the end of time. only then can you parse out all this axiology, ethics & aesthetics stuff. til then we as mere humans only have niyyah. Intention.
Hope that helps. but then again Hellraiser and cynobites (monks from hell) might also be correct, that its all about pain. and fear. but Monsters Inc. (Pixar) went from scaring kids to making them laugh to get power into their realm. so am more towards that side though (mostly cuz the possibility of Hellraiser scares me, Ireneo), so laughter as the other component to all this. like seeing the Hegelian process as divine comedy. theres wisdom in that I think. focus there, which the Philippines is already light years of everyone I think. so no worries. even EJKs were fun there. just keep laughing. but Wowoweeee is more like Hellraiser though, so discernment in what to laugh at or who to laugh with applies here. which again is niyyah. But who knows… interpretation and niyyah. Nietszche and Spinoza, all about the cosmic meaning. just pan out.
I don’t quite believe there are NO facts at all. It is springtime in Germany, that’s a fact. And hot season in the Philippines, that is also clear.
How people see the AfD here or Duterte in the Philippines is interpretation. That Duterte instigated at least 43 killings is something the ICC is going to fact check. Whether he did bad or good is indeed in another realm altogether.
The judgment call the US President has to make in The Rock (1996) whether to air strike Alcatraz to save San Francisco from a chemical weapons attack is another example of a moral dilemma, though in that movie there is also stuff to be covered up that both General Hummel and James Mason aka Sean Connery know, meaning way too much, which is why there is one FBI boss who won’t abort even if the Nicholas Cafe character has put up the flares..
BTW, RIP Val Kilmer. My favorite movies with him are Heat and The Saint.
As for Nietzsche, I am reminded of the postmodernist take that every discourse is finally about power. At least, that is the gist I got. So foe them there is no truth either. Though Umberto Eco in Foucault’s Pendelum warns of conspiracy theories. Name of the Rose by him was also cool.
“BTW, RIP Val Kilmer. My favorite movies with him are Heat and The Saint.”
I think apropos to Hegelian progress, up and down etc. would be his movie Thunderheart, where he played a half-Sioux FBI agent sent to the reservation. his dad was Sioux and was a drunkard so he’s always denied that part of himself, until he got assigned this case wherein he discovers he is reincarnation of Thunderheart from Wounded Knee theres also Ghost Dance visions, but in essence he’s suppose to be the antithesis to his own thesis (FBI agent or American hegemony) and film concludes as synthesis.
The Philippines is like Thunderheart in many ways. American, Filipino, Spanish, push pull in 3 or 4 or 5 different directions, then synthesis. but that synthesizing process is messy. so just wait and see. i guess.
“That Duterte instigated at least 43 killings is something the ICC is going to fact check. Whether he did bad or good is indeed in another realm altogether.”
I believe the official PNP count was like 10,000 and 30,000 EJK’ed total from unofficial NGO numbers. so its kinda like the dragnet of illegals here of late, Ireneo, to El Salvador. broad sword vs. scalpel stuff. but when weighing bad vs. good theres gotta be statistics considered. like the possibility of 90 or 80 percent bad actors done away with may be good in the long run. by long run i mean generational. and that’s always been my line of reasoning re EJKs which always irked everyone. but I think The Hague will have a difficult time determining DU30’s direct hand in all this. unless they’ve changed the threshold to rhetoric, cuz policy-wise EJKs seem legit.
I gotta feeling most Filipinos still greatly support EJKs.
“But his dialectics aren’t that hard to grasp. Every nation has its dialectics, and maybe the oscillation between Woke and MAGA is part of the US dialectic. Let’s not get too deep into that, though, as you are still in county jail.
The Philippines’ dialectics I don’t quite get as of now, I admit.”
Just went to Vegas recently, lots of Visayans and Mindanaoans there. and seems like DU30 has considerable support there. i read Filipinos were also responsible for Trump winning in Nevada. so am thinking lots can be divined where the Philippine dialectics trajectory is going based on stuff you pick up in Filipino groceries and restaurants in CA and Nevada alone.
ps. I got into Hegel (just lightly) cuz Philosophy and PhD twitter is really into him. I’ve never really covered him, preferring Nietzsche and Spinoza as my go to dudes. but let me read up more on Hegel and see if it connects to Philippines. cuz his metaphysics as foundation is really looking interesting to me, Ireneo. this Hegel’s no joke.
RIP Iceman
Yes, the synthesis is messy and ongoing. Add the “native” aspect to the mix, and the halo-halo gets interesting, or the weave out of different strands of cloth. Luzon is pretty synthesized now with its main Tagalog and Ilocano components. Yes, even the Bikolanos and Pampangans go under a bit. VisMin with its de facto Cebuano dominance and dynamics versus Ilonggos and Warays in the Mediterranean, I mean Visayas, and complex in “Africa” aka Mindanao. Is Butuan Egypt and Siargao Hurghada? OK, enough of those Heydarianisms.
Hegel is strong, even though dialectics pretty much was claimed by Marx, and many think one is a Leftist when you talk of dialectics. Though probably Hegel, just like Jung or even more Hermann Hesse, looked into East Asian stuff. Jung looked into the Chinese I Ching or Book of Changes, which is pure dialectics. Force that is in full strength decays to its opposite, etc. and of course, Jung understood the Dark Side of the Force way before Obi Wan Kenobi did.
Letting Filipino dialectics play out, as in Star Trek, they are close to inventing the Warp Drive.
Ireneo,
What i noticed with Vegas Filipinos was that most worked for the hospitality business, whilst CA Filipinos tend to be gov’t workers, eg. local and state, but some in federal gov’t (like the VA). both are in health care though. same same. so as far as dialectics go, both NV and CA Filipinos i noticed were pro-Trump thru and thru. but CA Filipinos only talked about maybe (maybe ) retiring back in the Philippines or vacationing,
whilst the Nevada Filipinos mostly in hospitality, are currently sending money or actively involved in setting up businesses back in the Philippines. so unlike CA Filipinos (and am generalizing here), Nevada Filipinos i think are a better sample to keep an eye on, re DU30 but also this Warp Drive possibility you’ve indicated. I do think this chaos in trade will fruit some interesting developments. but i’ll refrain from talking more on that. 😉
Only that Nevada Filipinos i’ve found to be a gold mine of information. Connecting it back to Hegel, Geist/Spirit is the engine that moves towards „Freedom“ but its passion that drives the dialectic forward (i guess again niyyah ). and I’m seeing more passion in Vegas re Philippines and DU30, which kinda makes sense cuz if you’ve just opened a resort or business in the Philippines you’ll want criminals in general to be quelled. which DU30 did.
I’m watching the Overthink Podcast on youtube covering Hegel, but if you ‚ve got more resource on Hegel. i’m in the market for more Hegel , Ireneo. as caveat and part of Hegel, these up s and downs , sometimes the downs are really deep too (like Dark Ages). so theres that. takes generations to get back up. and why Hegel put so much importance on historians (your dad) as archivists of past knowledge just like the Foundation’s psychohistories to preserve progress so as to inoculate from the ups and downs of this dialectics process.
Hey, the links between the Philippines and Socal are as old as the 1930s. The links of Filipino music to LA are as old as Pilita Corrales performing with Sammy Davis Jr., all that. My music industry research has already shown me a few Pinoys who are connecting nodes in certain networks, a bit like in The Wire, but this is about producers, promoters, what not. Seems the focus is North American West Coast. I feel this could be the start of more, so let’s see.
Warp Drive, of course, means new mindset. For sure, historians play an important role there.
For sure also the practical experience gained through different ventures will help level up.
Hehe are those Vegas Pinoys planning Mango Avenue ventures. I don’t really need to know. 😉
The Benedictines were a kind of Foundation that preserved knowledge when Rome was falling. Nowadays, one might want to commit knowledge to an AI. I half-jokingly suggested to Gian to create a “Holy Oracle” for the INC, an AI to survive whatever cataclysm might come.
“Seems the focus is North American West Coast. I feel this could be the start of more, so let’s see.”
Pilita Corrales is like royalty in Cebu, its like every karaoke is always singing Usahay, Ireneo. didn’t know she was here (and with Sammy Davis Jr. to boot, was it in Vegas?). your music industry and Socal seem to converge also with Filipino first lady’s visit in Hollywood, wondering if that was all just film industry or connected to Ppop as well. too bad Rustan’s scion didn’t make it home though.
I’m surprised that Jabbawockeez are still alive and kicking still, like two or more of those dudes are product of US Navy Philippine recruitment. i’m sure their corporate structure along with Cirque de Soleil corporate model of performance artists are or will rub off towards Ppop as well. But you’re right in focusing in the entertainment industry from US vis a vis informing developments in the Philippines. investments as well as ideas, and corporate structures.
Going back to Hegel, and Joe’s original ask on White liberals and Malcolm X, liberalism i just realized is boring. too much dependence on institutions. sometimes when things get tooo boring and quiet , the masses want passion and emotions, like roller coaster rides. So Hegel is correct i think Geist is just consciousness (or God) attempting to know itself, thus dialectics, and passion is what drives it, at the individual level, meaning a sense of adventure is needed. so not in boring institutions,
But in the push and pull of passions, thesis, anti-thesis. like love triangles or free love of the 60s, things get hairy (no pun intended) and all that is more found in film and music (and art) industries. Filipino passion. not really in liberal high falutin stuff.
“I half-jokingly suggested to Gian to create a “Holy Oracle” for the INC, an AI to survive whatever cataclysm might come.”
Its weird how Hegel’s Geist and AI converge, consciousness being conscious of itself. or the Philippines for that matter, Ireneo. but its a very good model from which to understand developments. Shoulda gotten into Hegel sooner.
Pilita was in Vegas with Sammy Davis Jr. Here is a recent interview with her by YouTube reactors Waleska and Efra Herrera from London:
Jabawockeez have a Nguyen in them BTW from Socal but not Joey.
There is a recent PPop video by a new group that has many South Asian and some South American listeners. Turns out the media company Viva that owns Viva Records and Vivamax, a streaming service mainly for Filipino men alone at sea or in the Middle East, now has a family friendly streaming channel Viva One and its recent high school series Ang Mutya ng Section E has many fans in India etc., so the theme song was an instant hit.
The ABS-CBN run girl group BINI is in several North American locations in June, while the boy group SB19 is in the USA in July but has a stronger focus on Japan, Singapore, and even China.
PPop seems to be really going global on many fronts now.
I totally missed HEAT & I did like THE SAINT a lot. I suffered thru Roger Moore as Simon Templar series. VKilmer nailed Simon Templar portrayal. I suspect his films will have cult following now that he’s passed on.
I’ve been watching Dick Cavett reruns and will have to see if he ever did Kilmer. Kilmer was Christian Science member and might still be alive if he weren’t. He’d get hot and cold reviews no matter what he did in a movie. His singing in The Doors was so good that some Doors members couldn’t tell if a song was done by Morrison or Kilmer. The best Cavett rerun so far is Katherine Hepburn. Wow, what a firecracker. Marlon Brando was good, too. A bit tense. Salvador Dali was hilarious. What a character. I aspire to have the same.
Here’s a good article on Hegel vis a vis the above discussion, Ireneo:
https://www.psychofuturia.com/hegels-philosophy-geist-dialectics-history/
here’s his foundation:
Hegel has a similar reputable in Germany as my father in the Philippines, that of being long-winded to the point of incomprehensibility.
But his dialectics aren’t that hard to grasp. Every nation has its dialectics, and maybe the oscillation between Woke and MAGA is part of the US dialectic. Let’s not get too deep into that, though, as you are still in county jail.
The Philippines’ dialectics I don’t quite get as of now, I admit.