Robredo and Hontiveros
Analysis and Opinion
By Joe America
PART ONE
Let me repeat the article headline. It is “Robredo and Hontiveros”. It is not “Robredo versus Hontiveros”.
Where you look has a lot to do with what you see.
The pro democracy, pro-competence crowd is very very fortunate to have two such capable, principled senior stateswomen at the head of their advocacy. Not one but two. One plus one.
I suspect that those wishing to pit the two against each other, or try to compare them, are of tribal mindset, wanting to carve out something for themselves. You don’t win wars by dividing allies.
Ha, and if you will allow me a little literary license here . . . to compare Leni Robredo and Risa Hontiveros is as fruitless as trying to compare angels. You don’t have to. They are of such high character, such intelligence, such principle, such humanity . . . there is no distinction. They have had different issues to deal with because they’ve been on different paths in practical day-to-day work. And they’ll never do or say things exactly the way we would.
The real challenge is how to get these two awesome paths together, not to push one off the cliff because we can’t figure out how to add one plus one.
The pro-democracy, pro-competency advocacy is important.
There are people in government in addition to Robredo and Hontiveros who are of high character, intelligence, principle, and humanity. The Philippines has great upside potential because of them.
Democracy is peculiar. It forces contests between candidates. Loud populists do well in today’s media maelstrom. But democracy and competency can win if advocates build on strengths.
Robredo and Hontiveros have not earned our trust? My gosh, what excellent work they’ve done in the face of malcontents and scoundrels throwing mud, in the face of storms, diseases, corruption, and China. Persistent. Principled. Patriotic.
Democracy is healthy in the Philippines because of them, and others like them.
PART TWO
That is the optimistic view. The more realistic view at this point in time is that Sara Duterte will be elected President in 2028. Here are the reasons why this will happen:
- DDS retain strong social media influence channels. The opposition is weak online.
- Sara Duterte controls the DE voting block that relates well to her victimhood and is impressed by her strong voice (as with her father). China is not a big issue with them. They get nothing no matter who is in charge.
- The Supreme Court and Senate are squarely in Duterte’s power umbrella. The House will likely shift to her as 2028 draws near. They need their pork.
- Senator Trillanes threw a grenade into the pro-democracy group that has never gotten its act together in the first place.
- President Marcos seems not to care.
- A lot of Yellows simply gave up on the Philippines when Marcos was elected. Some seem to want to see Filipinos suffer for betraying them. They are weirdly boosting Sara Duterte.
If Sara Duterte is elected, US troops will likely get thrown out, corruption, incompetence, and thuggery will increase, and the nation will move towards China. The economy will plod on with its consumer foundation, and the Philippines will lose “agency” with allies. It will be a lot like Duterte I but with fewer murders and more tear-down of traditional democratic institutions and freedoms.
Everyone in the pro-democracy crowd will blame someone else.
________________________
Cover photo from Cover Story article “Risa, Leni Show the Way“.
The Society of Honor by Joe America 
I still believe that Sen Tri did not mean to pit them against the other, I might be wrong but I hope am not wrong.
This Senate is obviously Pro Sara and that is for the HOR and we the citizens to monitor.
Regardless of what he meant to do, FB is full of argument, and it is a sore DDS can pick at and make worse.
Yes, you are correct
trillanes has given dds a free ride, they must love him for it.
if trillanes wants hontiveros to win vs sara in the presidential race 2028, he ought to go after sara, not go after leni, and take a leaf from hontiveros who goes after much bigger fishes and make much bigger splashes, and is trusted for it.
trillanes should use all his creative resources (he seems to allude to magdalos often enough these days) and ensure hontiveros got the edge over sara. leni is not the enemy, trillanes’ compass should not be pointing at leni, but should point south to sara. really, if magdalos still have any sway, they ought to give trillanes a new compass, and give him re-orienting course, he needs one.
Good points
I did not know about this so it makes we wonder as well.
https://opinion.inquirer.net/185365/what-is-trillanes-thinking
Excellent article.
It coincides with what you have been saying and wondering.
Philippine history has enough examples of people ruining things by not holding in their tempers. I get that Trillanes is passionate which is a good thing.
He should try not to be Heneral Luna.
Indeed. You’d think people would tire of criticizing each other and decide to build something together.
trillanes must know what happened to heneral luna at the end.
trillanes is much like some commenters here, trying to uplift the fighting spirits of filipinos by uberly criticizing, how lacking filipinos are in grit, how passive, how tolerant, how forgiving, and voting filipinos being tired of the endless hows, have given trillanes the pitik, and he lost the mayoralty of caloocan city. bam aquino in the meantime hit the high and become the comeback kid at the senate, same with kiko pangilinan. others like de lima, chel diokno et al also made it.
trillanes is getting inward looking, so vocal about his opinions that oftentimes did not connect with voters. he ought to go after bad politicians, not good politicians, sell sound policies and what he is saying about leni is not sound policy to me. it is crabby of him to brings leni down just so hontiveros can gain points. funny though, instead of losing points, leni won the mayoralty of naga city, and that says a lot.
trillanes ought to stop being cringe worthy, his relevancy deprivation is showing!
Well said, k.
well said, we Filipinos need more thinking and discerning pundits to provide us insights to complex undertakings that would require unified action coming from unique, highly qualified, morally strong leaders pursuing different paths towards one goal, one vision.
Hi Fox, I agree with you, though having thinking and discerning pundits are only really necessary when a technocratic system has gotten so complicated that such pundits are needed to explain things. That’s where authoritarian populists like Duterte can attack by providing a simpler answer that people can latch onto — rage.
Personally I think the counter argument for a good populist is an easy one as well — give people a way to earn more money and live a dignified life. That would involve attracting the investment for better paying jobs, the most logical choice being preparing the ground for manufacturing supply chains fleeing China to take root in the Philippines. But that would clash with existing business and money interests which prefer technocratic government. If anti-authoritarian Filipino politicians want to win, they will need to choose from either the tycoons or the people. The tycoons need to be reassured that if the people have more money to spend, they will become richer as well.
the response of thinking, talented Filipinos with limited vision about the country ravaged by corrupt, inept, murderous leaders merely ends with their immediate family (go abroad, look for high paying jobs commensurate with their talents and eventually bring out their families from PI and finally immigrate to another country.) A few with higher talent try to join the status quo by forming their own family dynasties and try to lord it over their limited fief. The current political terrain and extremely fluid opposition base with aging, contrasting, confusing ideologies, political beliefs and loyalties would take decades to gain traction for a more unified, middle force type of political machinery capable of forming and overhauling the current moribund state machinery. Indeed there is a need for a new crop of Joshuas (with political savvy and strong moral, spiritual backbone) to bring back the derailed, lost Filipino nation in search of the Pearl of the Orient Seas.
From my reading of societal transformation across history, the conclusion seems to be that to change society it requires elite buy-in. Either by “good elites” making a calculated gamble to lead the change from top-down, or that change happens from the bottom-up through non-elites gaining new knowledge, skills, resources, etc., all components of what is sometimes referred to as “agency.” For the latter scenario, once non-elites gain agency the possibility of the Tocqueville effect may arise and the non-elites increase pressure on elites to act (aka “revolution of rising expectations” as introduced by Harlan Cleveland which was the US global pro-democracy policy from Truman to LBJ). My perplexity is the most logical group that would help other non-elites gain agency would be members of the large Filipino diaspora coming back to invest and introduce new knowledge, initially for the purposes of helping their own family who remain in the Philippines. What I’ve observed happening instead over the years is many returning diaspora don’t come back to invest, but to use their knowledge learned abroad to become new elites, which is a shame.
“My perplexity is the most logical group that would help other non-elites gain agency would be members of the large Filipino diaspora coming back to invest and introduce new knowledge, initially for the purposes of helping their own family who remain in the Philippines.” – Joey N.
You came from abroad with “new knowledge” and I believe you at least tried to share what you knew. Did you feel people were receptive?
For returning Filipinos with money to invest, they need to attend to their investment. If a retiring doctor returns, and has some money to invest, where should he invest it in? If it is a business of sorts, he is a doctor, not a businessman. How is that supposed to work?
I know a Filipino who retired to his beloved Philippines from being a nurse in Canada. He invested in a car wash business with a partner who I believe provided the “sweat equity.” After a year or so, he handed the business over to his partner. I suspect he did not enjoy working again, and the money was probably not worth it for him.
“What I’ve observed happening instead over the years is many returning diaspora don’t come back to invest, but to use their knowledge learned abroad to become new elites, which is a shame.” – Joey N.
New elites? Really? As in oligarchs, or just people who can afford a house in Ayala, Alabang?
1.) I am not some prophesied White God coming to Philippine shores. I initially taught friends I met, then others who they recommended to me. It doesn’t matter much if someone is receptive or not. If they are not receptive then I don’t have time to give.
2.) Investing in the mother country doesn’t mean building a business outside of one’s expertise. I’m using investing in the sense of investing in the people. A doctor may volunteer time to clinics and educate others. A businessman may teach younger Filipinos practical entrepreneurship.
3.) Providing capital for a “sweat equity” partner is a sure way to lose money, especially if one is not there to oversee the joint venture. A lot of Filipino abroads do this, and a lot of Filipino abroads become jaded when it inevitably falls apart. Even at a micro level like giving some capital for a relative to open a sari-sari or small scale piggery. The “can I ask for a puhanan” line is almost always a scam, and at best will lead to failure because by the time the friend/relative asks for puhanan to make a negosyo they are already late to the party. There is a strong bandwagon effect there. In the Zamboanga peninsula perhaps 25 years ago there was a big rubber boom, then crash. After that there was a big calamansi boom, then crash. To this day there are stubborn people out in those provinces who still tap the rubber trees and tend to the calamansi, having never repaid their relatives’ puhunan, like horses with blinders on.
4.) What would you call a let’s say, middle class Fil-Am returning is then, buying a house in Ayala Alabang, employ a kusinera, driver, possibly a helper/yaya, while just nearby while driving past New Bilibid Prison there are squatter communities living in near destitution?
re 2) Africans who have been in Europe seem to do that a lot, and based on the little I know of Africa that seems to have helped already.
re 4) there are indeed middle-class Filipinos from abroad who do not just that, they send their kids to private schools they might not have attended. Actually I can’t quite blame them as the society is what it is and few have the big picture of how it could transform into something different.
Yes, I am not shocked that multiple African countries are rising, but I am surprised at the speed of transformation as I thought it’d take longer. To use the Romania example you’re more familiar with (I know a bit, but just in general), Romanians did not have access to easy capital nor large remittance inflow, and had to figure out things themselves. In the Philippines too often I find families where a handful of OFWs are supporting not only their immediate family, but the entire clan, who request things like (secondhand) iPhones or other luxury items rather than something that would increase their own financial independence. Romanians (and Africans) working abroad also went back home to build up their mother countries, which doesn’t really happen in the Philippines as much.
Kind of reminds me of LCpl as I’m about to bring up “gatekeeping,” though I’m using the term in a different way. There does seem to be a gatekeeping mentality in the Philippines, where opportunity is hoarded towards one’s family and allies. A natural thing to do, I suppose. But there is a point where contributing to the building of little terrestrial island enclaves with access to First World life only gets a family so far. The large excess of cheap labor probably contributes to the feeling that the model can be continued.
This reminds me of a group chat discussion where I told Giancarlo and Karl that the Philippines is not only an “anarchy of families” (that is a book by Prof. Alfred McCoy about Philippine politics from smalltime goons of the 1960s to warlord politicians to mogul politicians) but also a landscape of “castles”, telling them we all come from our respective “castles” (Giancarlo from INC, Karl from Camp Aguinaldo, me from UP Diliman which is almost an autonomous mini-republic) while most Filipinos live in communities outside those castles, this is BTW not something which started with Western colonialism, even the Bruneians built their own “kuta”, Kota Selurong, called Maynila by those outside its bamboo palisades. Understandable but there is NOT MUCH LARGER SENSE OF COMMUNITY over there. Actually I did once write an article about that in my old blog and when I shared it in Raissa Robles’ old blog, many said “we Filipinos want it that way”. There is someone like Leni Robredo whose Angat Buhay wants to help those outside the castles in a long-term way but I doubt even most Pinks from 2022 understand that. That a culture like that is unable to really compete or defend itself globally should be clear though. Well, but I guess as some of Raissa’s crowd (often journalists writing in aliases) implied, Filipinos don’t change unless there is an immediate impetus. That is probably why the Japanese invasion was such a lasting shock for the society back then. They could have know it was approaching but barely were prepared.
Even in the recent past there was little need to change in a “land of plenty.” There was enough food to eat and people just lived off their land. The pressures of the modern world probably hasn’t caught to the collective consciousness yet, especially when there are family members sending remittance home or some political benefactor giving handouts here and there. Somewhere along the line, something broke even for the poorer Filipinos, and that hasn’t caught up yet either, I guess. I recall the Butuanon lola during a trip through the mountain country of Caraga, how she lamented that she might be the last caretaker of her coffee plantation as none of the younger family knew how to tend to the coffee bushes nor wanted to put out the hard work during harvest. I’ve been to too many former farms where the land lay fallow because the relatives who still inhabit their land don’t even know how to plant root crops which almost need no care once planted. My guess is the mass internal migrations that occurred starting right before Marcos Sr.’s time contributed to a lot of passed down practical knowledge being lost. So Marcos Sr. probably shouldn’t get the full blame for the compounding woes as things seemed to start going downhill before him, though he certainly made it worse in all probability.
Speaking of the anarchy of families from the warlord politicians whose descendants became mogul politicians, I was thinking about your comment that the Senate is more like a senate of barangay captains. There is an apparent through line from the old datus and rajahs to the present day. Datus and rajahs just became the cabezas de barangay and gobernadorcillos of the principalia, and how many of those principalia families are still in power as the modern equivalent barangay captains and mayors? Just like rajahs were typically elected among the datus, and gobernadorcillos were elected among the cabezas de barangay, is it a stretch to draw a line to governors, presidents, congressmen and senators being elevated in the same way, often from the same group of political clans?
I forgot which book I had read it in (might have been one of William Henry Scott’s), but there was an anecdote about how the pre-Spanish Philippines natives would sometimes search out for a outside benefactor such as minor Bruneian princes and nobles to become their leaders due to perceiving the former raiders as potential benefactors and protectors. I imagine that if the Japanese Empire had treated the Philippines more gently, things would’ve been much different. Though maybe not, as the US treated the Philippines as gently as can be as a general practice, yet that still didn’t stop the constant clamor to eject the Americans.
“So Marcos Sr. probably shouldn’t get the full blame for the compounding woes as things seemed to start going downhill before him, though he certainly made it worse in all probability.” – Joey N.
I was in college in Quezon City when Marcos, Sr. declared Martial Law and promised a New Society for Filipinos. I recall being glad because I felt the Old Society was not good. I remember discussing it with my girlfriend’s father, who was one of the wealthier people in Philippine society. I remember him saying that Marcos would be bad for the country. I said in my naiveté that we should give Marcos, Sr. a chance because the Old Society was bad. So I agree with you that things started going downhill before him. I would say from July 4, 1946 things started going downhill.
“Though maybe not, as the US treated the Philippines as gently as can be as a general practice, yet that still didn’t stop the constant clamor to eject the Americans.” – Joey N.
The clamor to eject Americans was a good sound bite to get votes. I recall historian Stanley Karnow in his book “In Our Image” says that both Osmeña and Quezon knew that the Philippines was not ready for independence, but they dared not publicly admit it because that would be the death of their political careers. Early in the American period, T. H. Pardo de Tavera was of the opinion that we were not ready for independence and it effectively ended his political career. I’m a big fan of T.H. Pardo de Tavera and his family that fought for reforms in Spanish Philippines. Alfred McCoy talks about them a bit in the book you folks have mentioned “An Anarchy of Families.”
Filipinos chose Osmeña and Quezon over him. Decades later, Filipinos would choose Duterte over Pinoy Aquino’s choice of a successor (Mar Roxas), and then later Marcos, Jr. (the history revisionist, who picked Sarah Duterte as his VP) over Leni Robredo. There is plenty of blame that the Filipino people themselves can accept for the results that have turned out…or not, if they wish.
Greece of old was city-states apportioned out by kings/lords dividing the land among the kids. Very fractured and warring. Well, there are no kings here, just landlords, so there are a bazillion oft-warring family states.
“It doesn’t matter much if someone is receptive or not. If they are not receptive then I don’t have time to give.” – Joey
Well, remember, you are recommending that Filipinos in the diaspora come back and teach. If your experience was that the people were not receptive, are you prepared to share that experience with those who you are recommending to do the same?
If I were in your shoes, I would warn them of your experience of lack of receptivity. To be forewarned is to be forearmed. Now if your experience is that the people are receptive, then I would encourage the prospective balikbayan to be ready to teach.
“I’m using investing in the sense of investing in the people. A doctor may volunteer time to clinics and educate others. A businessman may teach younger Filipinos practical entrepreneurship.” – Joey
Thanks for clarifying what you mean by investing. I am on the email list of a Filipino doctor who got the bulk of his formal medical education in the Philippines (during its golden years in the 50s and 60s) and then got further training in Denmark and practiced there for a bit and eventually practiced in the US until he retired. I believe he is now in his 80s. He is a major advocate for major reform of the health care system in the Philippines and actually worked his advocacy when he was a little younger. Now he just writes about it. So I am familiar with a lot of the health care situation in the Philippines based on his frequent reports. One of his laments is, and I’ll quote him: “Doctors without borders is welcome in Gaza, but not in the Philippines (by the medical community).” I’ll leave it at that for now.
In a recent email of his, he referred to his now just email crusade as “mental farts” and basically said they “aren’t worth a whole lot of beans.” I believe that is his way of saying that after all these years (I would estimate around 10, give or take) he is discouraged by the results. He describes factions he deals with in the medical reform field as “kakampis” and “kalabans.”
“Providing capital for a “sweat equity” partner is a sure way to lose money, especially if one is not there to oversee the joint venture. “ – Joey
The example I gave you of the former nurse from Canada was active in the car wash business he started up. That is why I said I don’t think he liked the work enough to stick around. I don’t think the money was worth it for him, so he bequeathed it all to his partner.
“What would you call a let’s say, middle class Fil-Am returning is then, buying a house in Ayala Alabang, employ a kusinera, driver, possibly a helper/yaya, while just nearby while driving past New Bilibid Prison there are squatter communities living in near destitution?” – Joey
I would not call them “elite.” I would call them middle class.
Mr too glad to be clarified that investing may also.mean investing time talent and resources and not just entrepreneurship.
OT note related to prior discussions. President Marcos has signed a bill to upgrade 10 ports to modern capabilities to better support the Philippine fishing industry and help with food security. Excellent.
“OT note related to prior discussions. President Marcos has signed a bill to upgrade 10 ports to modern capabilities to better support the Philippine fishing industry and help with food security. Excellent.” – JoeAm
The idea or concept is excellent. But what a project approval means is that money will flow, and that creates opportunity for “kurakot.”
So you recommend that there be no infrastructure investments until kickback commissions are eliminated? That is likely to be never as corruption is how the entitled obtain first world goodies (houses, cars, education for kids) on a third world paycheck. Morally, your point is correct. Practically, it goes nowhere. Now you can propose ways to end the kickbacks and see where that leads. Mostly in deadends I suspect.
The improved ports are good for Filipinos. Corruption is a different topic.
Here is a briefing on Marcos anti-corruption efforts:
https://www.unodc.org/roseap/en/philippines/2024/12/anti-corruption/story.html
And that’s not the only constructive bill signed by Marcos yesterday.
https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/8/14/marcos-signs-law-giving-fiscal-autonomy-to-judiciary-1047
It’s been nearly 30 years now in and out of the Philippines, and I’m continually astounded that the only people who seem to care about the Philippines becoming a better place, rooted in reality, are usually “foreigners.” Just like the major historians and ethnologists who seriously studied the Philippine subject are almost all “foreigners” who somehow care about the Philippines as she is and how she can be better understood more than most Filipinos seem to care.
We can either remain in a world of idealized dreams never to wake up, or awaken to build a better reality starting with what we have now.
Foreigners see the pimples clearly is all, and bear no penalty for calling out bad deeds. There are many Filipinos who recognize the problems and advocate for sense. Many more today than 20 years ago. (See the article I published this morning.)
“There are many Filipinos who recognize the problems and advocate for sense.” – JoeAm
Growing up in the Philippines in the 60s and 70s, there were many of us who also saw all the “pimples” as you call them…and we talked about them. We used humor to carry us through the day and the years so we did not get depressed or discouraged. After all, as you said, we paid the penalties, or rather we suffered the consequences. I don’t think it was just the foreigners who saw the pimples. Also, we did not feel they were pimples; more like TUMORS or as my Filipino doctor acquaintance calls it – Stage 4 cancer.
The cancers were the colonists and Marcos Senior, I think. Today it is the corrupt dynasts. The Filipino people were and are merely the bloodstream passing nutrients to the cancers. We the engaged are the medicine.
“The cancers were the colonists and Marcos Senior, I think. Today it is the corrupt dynasts. The Filipino people were and are merely the bloodstream passing nutrients to the cancers. We the engaged are the medicine.” – JoeAm
JoeAm, I see the force of your cancer metaphor. But I prefer Rizal’s diagnosis which unfortunately, went deeper. He warned that the disease was not only in the colonizers or dynasts, but in the Filipino body itself—indolence, moral weakness, lack of national sentiment. His haunting line was: “With or without Spain we would be the same… perhaps worse.” In other words, the cancers thrive because the body allows it. Unless the people themselves undergo renewal, no medicine—whether engaged citizens or reforms—can cure the sickness.
Rizal was brilliant so I suppose one argues at great peril. In fact, I would say I’m not arguing to suggest that indolence, moral weakness, and lack of national sentiment are not inbred generation to generation but are imposed generation to generation by colonists who don’t inspire hard work, are moral cheaters and oppressors, and take at the national level rather than give, earning no great respect. I’ve seen unbelievably hard work, moral strength, and cheers for pacquiao, so I’m inclined to see those qualities as symptoms not disease. I wonder, do you consider yourself to be indolent, morally weak, and lacking national sentiment? If not, how did you fall so far from the tree?
“I wonder, do you consider yourself indolent, morally weak, and lacking national sentiment?” – JoeAm
Yes.
In Rizal’s introduction to Noli Me Tangere, he says: “I too suffer from thy defects and weaknesses.” Of course, I believe Rizal was being modest. I cannot be modest because I am as guilty as hell.
“If not, how did you fall so far from the tree?” – JoeAm
I obviously did not fall far from the tree. I am, however, trying to get Filipinos to take a close look at that tree which is themselves (including me). As Rizal put it in that same dedication: “…sacrificing to the truth everything, EVEN VANITY ITSELF….” If one is not good looking, one is not likely to spend much time looking at a mirror. It takes a lot of humility — and self-esteem — to admit one’s defects and weaknesses.
“I’ve seen unbelievably hard work, moral strength, and cheers for Pacquiao, so I’m inclined to see those qualities as symptoms, not disease.” – JoeAm
Yes, good point. Rizal saw something similar in the cockpit, as described in Chapter 18 of the Noli:
>>But there, indolence was unknown; everyone was in his place, attentive, eager, religiously keeping his word, for neither mockery nor deceit was tolerated there: a pledged word was kept, and whoever failed to keep it was disgraced. No one slept at his post or pretended distraction, for all were watchful of their own interests and those of others. If only the same order and activity prevailed elsewhere!<<
You mention the presence of national sentiment at a Pacquiao fight. Is that the sort of national sentiment that can serve as a foundation for nation-building? Or is it fleeting — something that evaporates after the event, or perhaps lasts only until the victory parade ends? Is it deep enough to carry through to the hard work required for the common good? These are rhetorical questions, of course.
I would have similar questions w/ respect to displays of industry and moral fortitude at a Pacquiao fight. Enough to build a nation on, or fleeting?
I would love for our people to be able to collectively look themselves in the mirror and say “We have to do better.” And then of course get to work.
Then you would have to look at yourself and say “we have to do better” and then get to work. You have admitted you are indolent, morally weak, and lacking national sentiment, and have humility and good self esteem for saying so. I suppose by commenting here and elsewhere you are in fact “getting to work”, so the contract with Rizal is fulfilled to some extent. But then, does going to church fulfill one’s contract with God? Hmmmmm.
Cheering for Pacquiao is my indolent attempt at providing an example, tending toward humor, when I could have gone with the EDSA uprising. I fear I lack a measure of perfection in my efforts, but my self esteem rating is fine. LOL
Thanks for the elaborate comment and quotes from Rizal. He is still teaching, even if he never recovered from the Church leaders and their lackey Spanish troops shooting him rather thoroughly.
“…and their lackey Spanish troops shooting him rather thoroughly.” – JoeAm
Just to clarify, the troops who executed Rizal were Filipinos under Spanish command. Spanish soldiers stood behind them as backup, in case any Filipino soldier hesitated.
“He is still teaching,…” – JoeAm
Yes, he is — but I worry that too few are truly learning. I was already in the U.S., and thanks to the internet, I realized it’s not enough to know simply that “Rizal was very smart and very brave.” Believe it or not, I actually heard that from a UP professor teaching the mandatory Rizal course — he said, “All you need to know about Rizal is that he was very smart and very brave.”
One of my best resources, though, was Cesar Adib Majul, also a UP professor. He pointed out a lot more that we can learn about Rizal than him being very smart and very brave.
Before studying Rizal as an adult and with access to broader sources, I too thought the cancer was mainly the Spaniards — that’s pretty much what most of us were taught, especially in Jesuit schools. The Jesuits, complicit in the Retraction Hoax, tended to avoid deeper discussion of Rizal’s critique of society. A secular institution like UP presented a fuller picture.
Again, there are exceptions. The dissertation by Jesuit Fr. Raul Bonoan on the Rizal-Pastells Correspondence is one of them. That book presents incredibly deep insights into Rizal and what he stood for. It does not touch on the Retraction.
“But then, does going to church fulfill one’s contract with God? Hmmmmm.” – JoeAm
Interesting analogy — and I’ll give it a serious reply: it depends on the terms of your contract with God.
If we ask why five times, to get to the root of Rizal’s execution, it is hard to conclude he was killed by Filipinos. Well, he was shot by Filipinos, but he was killed by priests and Spaniards, to my way of thinking. For sure Filipinos have studied Rizal a lot, everywhichway, but it’s hard to see any results.
“..but he was killed by priests and Spaniards, to my way of thinking. “ – JoeAm
True…but two things ate away at Rizal about our countrymen during his time: our SILENCE and APATHY.
He wrote two novels (and began work on a third) and countless other essays, letters, etc., but still too many of us stayed silent and apathetic about our condition. Against the advice/warnings of his family and friends, he left the safety of Hong Kong to face almost sure martyrdom. He thought that it would be worth it if it would wake his countrymen up. That was in 1892. He was executed in 1896.
So yes, the priests and Spaniards pulled the trigger. But the harder question Rizal would want us to wrestle with is this: what role did our silence and apathy play in making that moment possible?
That would be an excellent question, to which the living would respond, discretion is the better part of valor when racists, religious intolerance, or narcissists rule. The apathetic are not necessarily cowards. Sometimes they are better realists than the outspoken. Rebellion requires a significant critical mass AND militaristic might, as Gazans can attest.
“That would be an excellent question, to which the living would respond, discretion is the better part of valor when racists, religious intolerance, or narcissists rule. The apathetic are not necessarily cowards. Sometimes they are better realists than the outspoken. Rebellion requires a significant critical mass AND militaristic might, as Gazans can attest.” – JoeAm
Yes, I agree. But let’s stay, for the moment, with Rizal’s actual death: gunshot wounds at Bagumbayan. My question is not whether rebellion was realistic — but what role our own silence and apathy played in making that death possible.
In medical terms, I’m still on diagnosis. Were the Spanish and the friars the cancer — or, as Rizal speculated, was there something deeper in us as a people that allowed the disease to spread?
I look forward to your diagnosis.
“We can either remain in a world of idealized dreams never to wake up, or awaken to build a better reality starting with what we have now.” – Joey N.
Is this foreigner (Joey N.) speaking to foreigner (JoeAm)?
And Joey, did you mean “unrealized dreams” or “idealized dreams?”
What does it matter who he’s speaking to or why. Commenters are not the topic of the blog. This is the inquisition style that Joey commented on. The statement stands for itself. Give your reaction to it, or make your statement of substance reacting to it. Declarative. Put your own skin in the game.
For example, “I think some dreamers do succeed, and the problem in the Philippines is when realistic dreams go unfulfilled. Government shuts down the motivation to hope and aspire through its corrupt and incompetent acts. Dreaming is actually a good thing. Yes, it should be based in reality.”
Add to the discussion. Move it forward. The inquisition style comes across as grinding at people, like grammar policing, rather than discussing issues.
Good advice, JoeAm.
In this case, my reaction was simple confusion. Joey’s post said only foreigners seem to care—yet he is a foreigner himself, and you too are a foreigner in the Philippines (or perhaps a “foreigner” in quotes, as Joey used it). Then comes his statement: “We can either remain in a world of idealized dreams never to wake up, or awaken to build a better reality starting with what we have now.”
To me, this sounded like it might be coming from a local voice—or perhaps what he imagines a Filipino should be saying. My first reading was: “We foreigners build a better reality with what we have now.” That left me wondering: why would foreigners be expected to build a better Philippines?
Since Joey is in California, maybe he was speaking hypothetically, or channeling the thoughts of a Filipino friend. I didn’t want to assume—so rather than speculate, I asked for clarification.
As you’ve said before, the writer knows what he meant. I agree. I simply wanted to hear directly from him what he meant in this case, because I wasn’t sure. I’m hoping I get a response.
Once I cited the returnees en masses after the Iran Iraq war returned to a different world, Joey said my analogy was off the mark, I beg to differ, though vague there is a connect.
I reopened this because of your diaspora discussions.
“We who care about the Philippines” is obviously the context. Not “We foreigners”. Good grief man.
Here I recall Irineo’s remark about the fixation on the meaning of singular words (e.g. “forthwith”), missing the forest for the trees.
“Here I recall Irineo’s remark about the fixation on the meaning of singular words (e.g. “forthwith”), missing the forest for the trees.” – Joey N.
Yup… but there’s a difference between being fixated and genuinely seeking clarification. When someone asks me to explain, I actually take it as a compliment—it means they value understanding what I’m trying to say. Assuming and dismissing (which sometimes occurs here), on the other hand, isn’t healthy for constructive discussion.
This is an old issue, but I was just cleaning out my inbox on a lazy Sunday morning.
Thanks, JoeAm…but this statement from Joey I guess threw me off: “It’s been nearly 30 years now in and out of the Philippines, and I’m continually astounded that the only people who seem to care about the Philippines becoming a better place, rooted in reality, are usually “foreigners.”
I stand by my statement.
You did say usually and not only if you say only you should sit on your statement.
Well, perhaps he’s wrong. But it is true than more people overseas than here in the Philippines comment here at the blog.
I meant “idealized dreams.” It’s easier to continue to believe in a self-constructed fantasy than to deal with real life. That is the story of most thinkers among the upper socioeconomic class since the political awakening of the Philippines before the revolution, who have all the privilege the Philippines of their time period can offer, yet choose to remain asleep in a dream of what perfect world they should construct. Yes, some of those who “escaped” are also guilty of doing the same. DEs live remarkably within reality. DEs are forced to live within a problematic Philippines, but they are not the symptom or the cause of the problem.
Okay, Joey… I think I understand you now. You’re a foreigner who cares about the Philippines—unlike many locals, in your view. And as such, you’re not stuck in a dreamlike state of idealized visions, but awake and working to build a better reality, starting with what’s here now.
From my own experience (both living and working in the Philippines), I’ve know there are many locals who also care deeply about the country and do what they can to make it better—people like Gina Lopez, Tony Meloto, and many, many others. They too are awake and trying to build that better reality with what they have.
So my reaction is to say: More power to the Gina Lopezes and Tony Melotos of our dear Philippines. They remain in my prayers.
BTW, are you familiar with this from Noli Me Tangere, Pilosopong Tasio speaking: “Not all were asleep in the night of our ancestors?” I think it is relevant to what we have been discussing of late. I actually think it is related to JoeAm’s essay “Robredo and Hontiveros.”
From AI: >>Here, “asleep” symbolizes intellectual slumber or complacency—those who are unaware or indifferent to their nation’s plight under colonial rule. Rizal, through Tasio, suggests that although many remained silent or passive (“asleep”), there were individuals who saw clearly, recorded the truth, and kept hope alive. Those who “wake up” ensure that the memory of resistance and awareness survives beyond oppression.<<
Unlike most locals who have privilege yet don’t use their agency for the betterment of other Filipinos. Those who have the privilege to do something about the situation start from the middle class BCs to the elite As. I am, and will always be sympathetic to the poor who do not have privilege and have too little agency, both at no fault of their own effort.
My (constructive) criticism is that those who have the more power in the Philippines often do not have a sense of altruism and moral responsibility towards others. In the squatter settlements and poor bukids I’m most familiar with, altruism, kindness, and helping hands are aplenty.
Related, but not directly, my wife at breakfast told me about a cousin who is pro-Duterte. He was a drug user until Duterte, as President. Duterte scared him with his killings so he stopped using drugs. Today he is thankful for that. That is a legitimate basis for his voting.
Often suffering people will vote for someone they think will alleviate their pain. That pain can manifest from many things like addictions which contribute to a sense of hopelessness and helplessness. A lot of Americans who voted for Trump are in deep pain, whether that pain is real such as economic fears or they had been brainwashed into believing it is real in the case of propaganda consumers.
Filipinos who support Duterte are also often in pain. They feel pain that no matter how hard they work their economic prospects don’t seem to improve. They feel pain of feeling disrespected somehow by those above them, though usually they can’t place a firm finger on who that is. People in pain become increasingly desperate, perfect targets for those who would weaponize the pain into a malicious force, causing the pain to increase. I reckon a policy of pain alleviating pain would convert many Filipinos.
Yes if there is medicine that delivers real relief. Call it opportunity.
“The improved ports are a good for Filipinos. Corruption is a different topic.” – JoeAm
While I agree that improved ports are good for Filipinos, if corruption affects the creation of improved ports, then I do not see it as a different topic. My apologies for disagreeing with you on this.
Congress cannot do much about law enforcement (specifically laws against “kurakot”). That is, however, within the president’s jurisdiction.
Now if the announcement was PBBM announces project approvals for port improvements AND beefs up the audit processes to ensure funds are not illegally diverted, THAT I WOULD GIVE THE LABEL “Excellent!” I’m assuming, of course, that PBBM has a reputation of following through on words he generates. If he is like Trump, who is a firehose of falsehoods, then I would be really skeptical even with some verbal assurance of “kurakot control” promises.
In three years it won’t be completed and the next president will handle corruption post completion and during operations. PBBM must address corruption during buildup.Corruption unfortunately is a given everywhere it is a “cancer” sometimes asymptomatic and sometimes glaringly symptomatic
For what it is worth.
https://opinion.inquirer.net/185361/how-open-secrets-promote-corruption/amp
Knowing is not even half the battle.
Ridiculous. Improving ports to modern standards is good for the Philippines. Period. There should be no attachment that presumes bad faith among those who will carry out the project.
I see your point, Joe—modern ports are a clear benefit for the Philippines. My concern isn’t meant to presume bad faith from everyone involved, but rather to recognize that in our context, corruption has too often compromised large projects. I think it’s wise to address that risk upfront, so the investment truly delivers its intended benefit.
I’ve recently been reading in some email exchanges from people in the Philippines about a flood control projects scandal where billions if not trillions of pesos cannot be accounted for.
But ’nuff said from me on that. You are closer to the action than I am.
The agencies that monitor corruption are hit and miss. COA (Audit) has done stellar work but peculiar decisions in the Senate and Supreme Court undermine the work when apparent thieves like the VP are let off the hook. The Pharmally scandal, three years running, is only at the plea stage. The Ombudsman is the agency that bizarrely allows SALN’s of public officials to be hidden from the public. The pork flows generously keeping the House loyal to Marcos for now. It’s a mess. But port construction is great.
Thanks for leading me to that article. Very good but my worry is for the longest time is if inequality loses source of income like trucking companies for instance or others caught by the cost cutting but efficient measures, like luddites, they will make some noise.
You cause me to think about the noise coming from a nearby generator powering a saw being used to cut steel bars to size for construction work. Noise comes with building.
Yes,
The jack hammer, the power saw,drills, etc all for building
I have a neighbor who complains daily about construction noise.
Not to over explain but one more mouse about the truckers is it will cut trucking activities by a notch because the logistics chain will be made efficient by port modernization. I guess the in port trucks will diminish
I think it may increase them as more ships bring in more fish.
Come to think of it yes, I was thinking ofwill be boxed out by efficiency, but they will be a major part of the process even with cranes and conveyors.
“The tycoons need to be reassured that if the people have more money to spend, they will become richer as well.” – Joey N.
That is right, and that is the formula that Bangladesh tycoons (or at least semi-tycoons) took. No sense of urgency at the moment for Philippine tycoons. The overseas remittances supply sufficient money to spend at the Malls which the tycoons own. They appear to be happy with that, for the moment. If they want more, easiest solution is to send more Filipinos abroad to work. Meanwhile they just enjoy the life they have created for themselves now.
ahem, maybe not lazy or just enjoying leisure time, or have no sense of urgency for our tycoons never rest. they are always on the look out for things and places to invest their money. and some of our tycoons are branching into politics and bagging very lucrative government contract.
richer man ramon ang has taken over the operation of naia airport and has made it better. travelers reported less hassles and almost seam free movement in and around naia. better organized too. no more scam taxis in naia charging excessive fares.
ramong ang et al have also proposed to take over the currently infamous and anomalous flood control projects at no cost to the government! we know it is investment and like any investment, ramon ang et al expect to get returns. maybe ang et al will build skyways with tolls later, no one knows. or build zip lines over the flood plains to cater to tourists with restaurants dotted at intervals, no one knows. yet.
as well, our malls are being updated and upgraded to make shopping competitive with the rest of asia. anything that can be bought overseas may now be bought locally or in the very very near future. filipinos love shopping! mall with hotels and with subways and trains underneath. easier access and less traffic. are we ready for these?
by the way, a famed bangladeshi tycoon is facing corruption charges and is not allowed to leave the country or travel overseas. maybe not all is rosy in bangladesh.
That was my thoughts before about Tycoons. Those were my thoughts… too lazy to edit.
But seeing RSA, Razon ,Pangilan’s principal, etc
they seem to make a dent. The Ayala scions have different ways of Generational thinking than their elders so does the Aboitiz scions.
I still believe the children are our future if not their heir by blood an heir apparently would suffice
Thank you fox. The brains exist, it seems to me. And the principles. But not the organization.
I agree with your observation, the brains are still present, though scarce and hard to tap considering that there is a need to reestablish a more coherent organization to launch a more lasting, capable and not so easily rattled opposition machinery.
My spirits were lifted after reading through Part One. Then they were smashed like the typhoon driven wind against the side of my house.
If President Marcos wants to leave a better lasting legacy than his dad, he’d better start acting like he cares.
I can hold down the roof with only so much twine…
You nailed that, Stephen. If he wants a better legacy, he can’t simply exit stage right.
Clearly no Marcos family member is ready yet to become an immediate heir. Marcos Jr. should make a pragmatic alliance with pro-democracy leaders in the meantime, both to cement his legacy and show he is correcting his father’s sin of not respecting the democracy. That way when a Marcos heir is ready, he/she might have a chance to run for a future presidency. Otherwise, Filipinos might as well need to start learning Beijing-dialect Mandarin.
Exactly right.
really, joey! even the chinese themselves could not understand mandarin, haha. see how chinese coastguard just recently ram the chinese navy ship, in the shoal while both were harassing our hapless but determined coastguard hellbent on keeping the chinese away from our own border.
pity, the chinese could not read each others signals, understand each others language, see each others direction, eh? too many characters in the mandarin language might have confused them. who knows, maybe if they have spoken and understand english proficiently like our coastguard, they might have avoided the collision of their own making. last I heard one of chinese vessels involved in the collision is made un-operational due to damage sustained.
Han culture has always been one of warlordism since time immemorial. My guess is the destroyer’s PLAN captain and the CCG patrol vessel *ahem frigate’s* captain were trying to see who gets more plus points for aggressiveness.
I really dislike that the CCP wraps itself in the image of the old esteemed commander philosophers, to claim some kind of higher culture, many who were actually not Han to begin with.
poor lao tzu, he must be puking on himself now! he should have written his treatise in hebrew, the art of how not to get rammed in one’s own flotilla, mandarin is getting to be such a language of the arrogant. the higher they are, the further they . . .
I have no doubt in my mind that Leni Robredo would have been a great president who keeps Filipinos front of mind. With all the stuff going on in the US nowadays, and the old-guard Democrats who are rule-based being completely incapable of putting up a fight against political enemies while preferring to tear their own down, it’s clear at least in the US we need new leadership. The 4 decade undermining of education in the US by the Republican Party, a large percentage of Americans are functionally illiterate, similar to the PSA numbers that were released last year. Without literacy skills, there are no critical thinking skills, and humans fall back to emotion-based thinking.
The right leader for pro-democracy Filipinos might not be a calm and measured politician. Possibly being able to channel populism that plugs into emotion-based thinking is the only way at the current time we are in. Lower socio-economic Filipinos like fighters, they like pugilists, they like a bit of humor and drama mixed in. But who says a politician who can do the previous can’t also be competent and honest when it comes to the tasks of governing?
Let’s not forget that some of the best old school Filipino politicians were pugilists and humorists. Manuel Quezon is often underrated in that aspect maybe because he wore a suit, but in that era even gangsters wore suits. He swore “punyeta” at times and knew when to be aggressive.
Magsaysay was clearly a populist in getting votes, a former jeepney driver and guerilla leader, but also someone who believed that “those who have less in life should have more in law”. He ALSO was great at dancing the mambo. The song Mambo Magsaysay is a legacy of that.
Ninoy Aquino might seem dull if one looks at him superficially just from pictures, but he had the right kind of humor for his era, which was the time of Ford, Carter and Reagan in the USA.
The Philippines has different starting conditions. The 1907 Philippine Assembly election only allowed voters who had been on the register in the 1895 local elections, which was restricted to people with minimum property and/or land – PLUS those who had been elected in 1895.
By 1935 every man who was literate could vote, with literate women given suffrage some years later. But literacy in the Philippines then maybe was at 20% IIRC. The 1973 Constitution abolished the literacy requirement. I remember vividly how they allowed the illiterate to sign with thumbprint. Nowadays there are hardly any literal illiterates left (sic) but I suspect those who know what stuff is about are less than the literate back in 1935. That has many many reasons.
There might even have been good leaders among the illiterate Kings of the European Dark Ages, provided they knew when to consult the literate, mostly monks or priests. But the complexity of modern life from the 16th century onwards made more complex expertise necessary. So the gap between someone who is able to reach most Filipinos in their present state and someone who can fix the issues of the country might be too big. MIGHT. I don’t really have any answer.
Not only were the old school Commonwealth and early Third Republic politicians pugilists and humorists, but they spoke in a plain manner that people could understand and buy into. It’s been a while since I last listened to Quezon’s speeches, but he does sound quite FDR-like.
I do believe that today’s technocratic form of government in the West (and the Philippines) creates more and more distance between a government and her people. Reminds me of Arthur C. Clarke’s Third Law, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” When people no longer understand the fundamentals, they are less engaged. They just want stuff to *work.* Technocratic government might have started off as a good thing. Why not trust business experts and a professional bureaucrats to advise leaders in an increasingly complicated world? But at what point did leaders stop looking towards technocrats for advice, and rather tasked them with massaging the margins? I worry democracies have lost the fundamentals of life, liberty and equality. Giving people a chance to work and live a dignified life touches on all three fundamentals of democracy.
One of the major blunders of Filipino liberals and progressives imho is the same mistakes American liberals and progressives make. Too much swing has gone to technocratic policy that only the educated class will understand, and many instances even the educated don’t understand the intricacies. I may work in a technical area, but when it comes to politics every time I see an Democrat in the US or a liberal/progressive in the Philippines spew out political jargon I feel like I want to throw up a bit. Just get back to the basics.
There seemed to be a debate among Filipino liberals late last year and early this year about the dire state of “functional literacy” in the Philippines. Every article I read, and the comments attached therein, seemed to completely miss the point. I saw arguments about somewhere along the lines of how there is no critical thinking, yet by missing the point, the oped authors and commenters also don’t seem to have any critical thinking. The Philippines has a very high “basic literacy” rate. The problem from my understanding is that after the 1987 definition of basic literacy, the PSA has construed the definition to mean that a Filipino is considered to have basic literacy if they can identity and write *one* word in any language. Clearly that is a terrible measure and can’t be fixed anytime soon, at least until the next generation. The beauty of going back to the basics means that even the flawed definition of basic literacy can be bypassed if politicians can speak plainly in a way that elicits emotional response. Duterte and his ilk are already taking advantage of simple and emotional messaging, but for bad reasons. Liberals and progressives should do it, but for good reasons.
Whew, what you just wrote about this literacy debate shows me that my gut feeling that a lot of Philippine discussions go in circles and are useless isn’t wrong. That is why my decision to put a lot of political chatter on my timeline into the “C folder” is painful but probably the best thing for me. Though I now have a new favorite for President, and it would solve the issue of whether it should be a man or a woman, why not take someone who is somehow both? Vice Ganda’s recent joke about jetski travel to the WPS with free water cannons and final destination The Hague hit the mark and got people talking about a topic that probably until now was too abstract for most Filipinos. Maybe the Philippines needs someone who is both datu and babaylan. Sarcasm warning for casual readers, of course.
Yeah, Paul made the same remark in a conversation I had with him a few months back about the circular nature of Philippines discussion. A lot of theorizing and waiting for the perfect big moment, but not a lot of action. Like Paul, I’m more about the application of practicum (an English borrowing from German praktikum). Small actions might not seem much in the moment, but small actions add up to eventual change over the course of human history. That’s what Paul is doing in his community, and what I try to do when I have time to visit.
Well, as FOREIGNERS you both have the advantage of distance from the web of obligations and expectations a Filipino coming home would have. Paul being married to a Filipina probably has at least the INNER distance to all that my mother who is German fortunately has.
I know, practicum aka “suffer and work” as Padre Florentino told Simoun at the end of El Fili, what Rizal practiced in Dapitan (which I see as the third part of his trilogy, Noli being the distanced technocrat Ibarra, Fili the troublemaker Simoun as Rizal’s reflections) and what Angat Buhay is all about. Now Dapitan recently figured in news as being a home to a lot of “AFAM hunters” some proud of stringing 3-4 men for money. And CV mentioned American tutelage which has been cast off over the past decades, instead of indigenizing the useful aspects and casting off what is seen as patronizing, I mean just look at how the Philippine Senate mostly looks like a gathering of barangay captains nowadays. Angat Buhay might create lasting change though as it is long-term, and being liberal it provides cover from being red-tagged or used by the Far Left when doing something for communities, so maybe time will tell.
I do feel a bit uncomfortable with the default respect given to foreigners, though once the people I meet feel comfortable and seeing me do as a Filipino would do, they often start closing the distance to the web of obligations and expectations as well. I sometimes need to set strong boundaries and have been called “kuripot” more than a few times.
I think I had mentioned before that Jose Rizal Memorial State University in Dapitan is a locus of AFAM hunting. There’s almost like a subculture of female students there engaging in that “tirador” activity. On the occasion of visiting Jose Rizal MSU, I was the target of their rather brazen attempts to catch my attention as well. Often they teach their female relatives and friends back home in the province, where women who are barely literate in their own language somehow are experts in tirador. Search “tirador ng AFAM” on Facebook and prepare to be shocked.
Anyway that tirador thing is just a microcosm of a larger problem prevalent in DEs, and by DEs it means the Philippines majority. That problem is the excessive effort invested into the off chance of big paydays rather than consistent work towards a goal. Imagine if all that effort and energy was applied towards something more constructive and permanent. Btw not all tirador are successfully stringing along 3-4 guys. Most of the foreign guys are passport bros and know the game too, and spread out their “play money” across a few women. I do feel sorry for the genuine and sincere foreign guys though. A coworker here is a nice guy and he got fleeced by a tirador to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars.
I feel for those who felt like they had to escape Martial Law or leave after the EDSA reforms “failed.” I grew up knowing many of them who ended up in the US. But rather than blaming Marcos Sr.’s and the Marcos Sr. cronies’ theft of trillions hobbling the Philippines, what set the Philippines back is the immense brain drain that set off a cycle of brain drains of every subsequent generation from GenX, to Millennial, to GenZ, and probably Alpha next as well. At some point if Filipinos want to make the Philippines better they have to stay, or come back, to prepare the population to the point the system can be reformed. Angat Buhay, but multiplied.
good lord! joey dearest, have you listened to these expats and comebackers who have apparently made it quite big in united states and brimming with the best of status symbols of good education, phds, etc, who are now back to our apparently misbegotten country only to thrash what we have made of ourselves in their absence!
too poor and ill equip to run away, we stayed and bear the burden and did what we have to do under any circumstances: face multiple threats of deaths and loss of livelihood only to try and forage for anything survivable, any semblance of livelihood, meanwhile suffering heaps of indignities, scrounging hard to survive and lived through utter hardships, alive but weakened at the end, and now we are being judged by these almighty expats and comebackers to be uberly wanting, how we need to change to be like the progressives overseas. as though the progressives over there have no problems of their own!
no thanks, these expats can talk to the high heavens and postulate as much as they like till they turn black and blue in the face. they’d be lucky if they get the courtesy of a look see from the likes of us. aside from making us laugh so hard, our sides are hurting.
they were not here with us when we needed them them the most, so pardon if we turn our deafest ear to them. we no longer want their gasbags and empty words. but if they can put their money where their mouths are and help to finance and invest in our country’s infra, they are most welcome.
Classic. Terrific.
I’m not advocating for expats or returning abroads to come back to lecture or become new gods of progress and esoteric knowledge. I’m advocating for those who want to genuinely help and have the wherewithal to help to meet the people they want to help where those people are. One of my guiding principles is if time allows I will teach anyone what I know with the only precondition being they want to learn, because that’s what I’ve been lucky enough to have access to during my formative years. It seems to me that’s what Angat Buhay does, which is why I’m hopeful for the Angat Buhay model. I’m not in favor of the current “Western progressive” model as it is far removed from reality most of the time as it is bleated out by cloistered elites who are detached from the real lives of the working class. I do not consider current Western progressivism, which is also espoused by many Filipino progressive activists, to be true progressivism. Rather, a return to true progressivism such as the TR or FDR model provides the best balance imho in generating results from idealism. As for investment of money into the Philippines, no one deserves anything, but I’m sure a more forward thinking administration would see the utility in attracting investment that benefits both the foreign investing company and the Filipino partner company, ultimately to give better access to better jobs.
A well-reasoned response.
What does shock me about the Philippines today is how it seems to have lost many moral and cultural moorings.
I mean the USA has issues too but it seems there are people willing to stand up for stuff, and some common ground to come back to.
The Philippines of the 1950s had people cheering Magsaysay for putting the goon killers of Moises Padilla to trial, who do Filipinos today cheer?
I often stick by my criticism that the US is a quite decadent society, especially in more affluent areas, but that somehow like with paperwork and malls the Philippines takes it up to a whole next level of decadence. I had an intense argument about this with a UP guy way back probably 2 decades ago. He was very offended to what he thought was my insinuation that the Philippines is a decadent as in “decadent chocolate cake” rich place. Never mind what decadent actually means, which is moral decay — with the common usage for decadent desserts having connection to a Puritan belief that enjoying something a bit too much, like cake, is sinful. Words have meaning. In a place where the exercise of ultra-materialism, performative shows of luxury, and flaunting of real or imagined wealth is celebrated over steady effort, I’m not sure what else to call it but “decadent.” But so too is the performative piety and worship of poverty of those who can’t afford to hambog material things. It all leaves those in the middle compressed and voiceless.
One great thing about the US, is while the US had lost her way plenty of times in her short 249 year history, inevitably there is always a national rebirth and renewal that recalibrates the moral compass, updating it for a time before Americans forget, only for the process to repeat itself again. After Americans tire of decadence, they start looking to their better angels. The US has the great benefit of continually gaining new ideas and perspectives from successive generations of immigrants, something the Philippines doesn’t have much of.
Sometimes I contemplate if the recipe that might work for the Philippines might be a bit similar to what other Austronesian-majority countries like Indonesia and Malaysia did to evolve. I haven’t put much reading into that angle but might be interesting to explore. Or perhaps change needs to come from within, because after all the Spanish couldn’t change the fundamental nature of Filipinos, nor did the Americans’s much shorter time. Hell, even when the Bruneian and Javanese minor princes “conquered” certain pre-Spanish polities like Maynila, Sugbu, or Butuan, they only were ever able to control that particular territory and never could subjugate the natives outside of the barangay. One of the first things a tita told me during my first visit was “beware of hard headed people.” Well, to soften hard heads there needs to have a lot of patience, while showing them how doing something different would benefit them.
I tried not to think, but I got nagged into saying sumting, what malaysia did to evolve – was to get rid of its troublesome territory and granted independence to singapore, and now singapore is much much richer than malaysia. so, didnt malaysia summat devalue itself to what it is now! yeah, and I’ve been saying for a while now that philippines should also grant independence to troublesome mindanaw and we might just have another singapore in our own backyard!
My thoughts on Mindanao are that Mindanaoans are so starved of opportunity and attention from leaders as to their basic needs that they are easily swayed towards someone, anyone who “shows they care,” even if that show is just a show like what the Dutertes do so well. Nothing is easy when theory is attempted to be put into practice, but possibly it would not take very much effort in the grand scheme of things to sway Mindanaoans towards another direction. Not many people would say no to a chance of a better life for themselves, their family, and their community. If investment into factories ever gets done, planting a few in Mindanao may go a long way to breaking the grip of Duterte over even Davao.
I look at Mindanao as a tremendous resource for minerals and agriculture. The Dutertes (and other warlords) are hindering development and sucking off the wealth.
who knows, if the dutertes kept on standing in the way of progress and kept mindanawans backward, the mindanawans might just rise up to boogie and the dutertes might just find themselves dancing the mazurka not of their own liking.
at the moment, the dutertes are pointing the finger at emperial manila, when that finger should be pointing at the pointer. blaming emperial manila for all that ails mindanaw.
to me it is like a family, children who wants to live independent of their folks can well move out in good terms and strike it on their own. pay their own bills, find jobs, and live the life they want. free from their meddling parents, and no longer in shackles.
free willy! sorry, I forgot willy in the movie was a killer whale. free britney! maybe I got that wrong too. but britney spears did get free, was set free, and living her own life. and her parents did not get to waldas the 800 millions she earned singing her guts out!
I was thinking, maybe mindanaw should be free too. all mindanawans have to do is buy their own freedom or pay us bond! with a condition that if they find freedom to be downright scary few years own the track, they can always come back and be with us again.
I refuse to argue with your impeccable logic, haha.
“Everyone in the pro-democracy crowd will blame someone else.” – JoeAm
I recall that Sara Duterte was Marcos, Jr.’s choice for VP. Since he is limited to one term, she is a logical choice to run for president after a 6 year exposure as VP of the country.
You mistake Joe for being a Marcos Jr. superfan. He is not. If any commenter here should be blamed for urging Joe towards a more pragmatic view towards Marcos Jr., then the blame should be directly towards me. And I’m no Marcos Jr. superfan. I’m a fan of democracy, and what can be done to save democracy and sustain democracy, with the tools we have now, not the tools we wish to have.
I don’t understand why everyone gets so defensive when I post something. I’m not judging people for being super fans or what. I post a statement, and then make a comment on it. I’m not trying to establish blame. If anything, I am challenging whoever says something which I am quoting to show their conviction in what they said by defending it. Maybe that is what makes me annoying. It is interpreted as some sort of personal attack.
When someone challenges me on something that I said, I don’t get annoyed. I get flattered by the attention. It gives me an opportunity to examine my conviction and usually argue for it. If I find I was mistaken…then I acknowledge it and change my position. I see no shame in being wrong. It happens all the time. One of my favorite expressions is “Iron sharpens iron.” I’m sure you are familiar with that expression.
One thing I am a superfan of is owning up to one’s decisions/actions/choices etc. For many years I have been a critic of us Filipinos always finding someone to blame for the predicaments we find ourselves in. I know this fellow who constantly blames our ills on Hegemon USA. They guy blames the US for tricking us into accepting the democracy that the US “gave us” and it not working because it was all a trick! God bless. This fellow will not take ownership of anything. (I’m venting)
JoeAm is of course right that the pro-democracy will blame someone else. We Filipinos always blame someone else regardless of what we are for or against. If we did not get our way, someone else is to blame. Isn’t that a sign of immaturity?
While I can appreciate all the band-aids you folk are arguing for because it is the best we can do under the circumstances in the political landscape, I hope you will be patient with me when I try to bring up the cancer beneath the wound that you want to band-aid that is causing the wound in the first place. I’m accused about not caring about the wound because I keep talking about the cancer that causes the wound. Well just be patient with this old fogey and maybe just let me have my say as you go on back to treating the wound with band-aids. Pasensya na lang, po.
Okay, on to another topic which is something you, Joey, said. You said that you have no doubt that Leni Robredo would have been a great president. If she won, she would have inherited a swamp filled with crocodiles and alligators, many of them seasoned in dirty politics warfare and armed to the teeth, both literally and figuratively (as in a deep cash arsenal, etc.). Does she have the fortitude to deal with that as president?
Judging from how she handled the election campaign and later the loss, I have my doubts. But you folks know her better than I do. Give me your thoughts as to how convinced you are that she would have made a great president. And please I would appreciate it if you don’t take this as an attack on your person. I am merely challenging your position on something.
CV, if I may make a suggestion: Rather than replying in rhetorical questions, perhaps share some of your thoughts on how a particular problem may be solved. Everyone has experiences and skills from which the framework of solutions may be pulled out of.
On the “cancer” you alluded to, if there were ever a cancer on the Philippines then it is the cancer of ignorance. Note my choice of words here. Ignorance can be cured with sharing experience, knowledge, and providing guidance to the affected person. Willful stupidity on the other hand, cannot be cured because that person actively made a choice to choose stupidity. I do not believe even the poorest E Filipinos are stupid people, but many are ignorant at no fault to their own. If something is to change then “teachers” must reach DE Filipinos with respect and patience to impart the knowledge that pulls one out of ignorance. And yes, I do believe that the Marcos Family matter is largely a hindrance 40 years on, just like I told my dad that his obsession with the Vietcong is a hindrance to eventually bringing democracy to Vietnam, or like Cuban-Americans are so fixated on the Castros that they do not want to even lift a finger to lift up their old motherland. Same goes with Filipinos who are stuck in anger towards a past era, unwilling to move on to the future for the sake of the children of today.
I believe that if Leni Robredo had won, at least a certain percentage of Filipinos who were duped by Rodrigo Duterte would have recalled to how competent leadership may seem slow and a bit boring, but their lives would improve. I believe if Leni Robredo had won, she would’ve appointed competent advisors and secretaries to implement her vision of a better Philippines that the Filipino people deserve. Unfortunately, Leni Robredo joined the campaign too late in the election season. Leni Robredo has always seemed to me to be a reluctant politician. But here’s the thing. If not Leni Robredo, then eventually another will rise up to lead the Liberals and Left. We all should be thanking Leni Robredo for her service, starting with her dedication to supporting her late husband’s service, to serving as VP, and now as a mayor of a major city.
“Rather than replying in rhetorical questions, perhaps share some of your thoughts on how a particular problem may be solved.” – Joey N.
I hope you are not asking me for what band-aid I recommend for the visible wound caused by a cancer.
“If something is to change then ‘teachers’ must reach DE Filipinos with respect and patience to impart the knowledge that pulls one out of ignorance.” – Joey N.
Again I wonder…you were in the Philippines and did some “teaching.” You wouldn’t share with me the results. I guess you thought it was a rhetorical question. You said the results did not matter. If something is to change, I believe the results do matter.
I think the ignorance is with the A,B,C,D,E Filipinos. If the A and B were not ignorant but enlightened, I believe they would be the teachers to teach the rest. That is my hypothesis. Again, I would start with the upper classes…D and E can come later.
“Ignorance can be cured with sharing experience, knowledge, and providing guidance to the affected person.” – Joey N.
I believe that was the prevailing attitude of the American nation when they took over the Philippines in 1898. The American period was called “tutelage.”
I have a wide range of interests and experiences. Some experiences are in the professional sphere, some others were in humanitarian/charity work. Mostly I give practical advice to those who want that advice. For example, I encourage young Filipinos I meet to pursue nursing, BPO, which are both practical fields. I have BPO contacts in Cebu which helps. Some are former mentees. I have also taught basic construction work, basic agricultural methods such as better irrigation. I almost never suggest making a business, but I have advised a few former mentees on small business strategies.
Leaving DE for last is a big mistake. D + E comprise 93%+ of the population, and ignoring them is exactly how the Philippines got Marcos Sr. before, and Duterte recently. AB have long had a chance to teach the others, but even the most well intentioned among them mostly prefer to live in their enclaves and pretend everything is great.
At the time the US “taught” the Philippines, yes it had good intentions despite the racist undertones. If you recall from Philippine history, Filipinos continually tried to throw the US out, while the US felt “stuck” with the Philippines being more responsible than certain European powers with their colonies, and also while the Filipinos clamoring the loudest for the US to give independence also recognized that the Philippines couldn’t stand on her own at the time. The Japanese invasion changed mentalities, for a while.
Btw, you are still interviewing me while I am entertaining your questions, and you have yet to share any of your own personal experiences that might give betterment to the Philippines. Even small ideas can be valuable. My ideas are certainly small in the grand scheme of things, so I’d like to hear your part.
“For example, I encourage young Filipinos I meet to pursue nursing, BPO, which are both practical fields. I have BPO contacts in Cebu which helps. Some are former mentees. I have also taught basic construction work, basic agricultural methods such as better irrigation. I almost never suggest making a business, but I have advised a few former mentees on small business strategies.” – Joey N.
These were DE people?
“Leaving DE for last is a big mistake. D + E comprise 93%+ of the population, and ignoring them is exactly how the Philippines got Marcos Sr. before, and Duterte recently. “ – Joey N.
My hypothesis was that even the ABC are ignorant. Do we have enough teachers to teach the D+E? I don’t believe so.
“AB have long had a chance to teach the others, but even the most well intentioned among them mostly prefer to live in their enclaves and pretend everything is great.” – Joey N.
To me, that is an example of their ignorance. So we seem to have had a case of the blind leading the blind all these years.
The University of the Philippines was founded in 1908. It has been educating Filipinos for over 100 years. What does this have to show for itself? With respect to nation building, not much, eh? Just people with college degrees who prefer to live in their enclaves and pretend everything is great.
What is the solution to the problem? Wait, do we even know what the problem is, let alone the solution? That to me is the problem – we do not KNOW what the problem is. Hence, we blame others…not just the pro-democracy folk blame others. ALL OF US FILIPINOS blame others. What do we blame them for – well everything!
You’ve heard the expression: “We have met the enemy, and it is us!”
To me, that is the problem, that is the cancer – we do not dare admit that the problem is us. That is why all these band-aids only help the sores we see on the outside that are symptomatic of the cancer underneath the skin…but the cancer continues.
What I am saying is nothing knew. People before me have said this. I just think they are right.
Aside from decades old AB friends I met years ago initially, most Filipinos I’m friends with or am acquainted to are CDEs, but mostly DE. When visiting I regularly stay in informal settlements (in the city) or bahay kubo/payag (in the province). Hotels are only when necessary.
I don’t think ABCs are ignorant, especially ABs, as they have the education and privilege to know better. An ignorant person literally doesn’t know (yet), and can be taught. Someone who does know, but willfully does the opposite would be described by another word, which starts with “s” and ends in “d.” It’s easier to teach an ignorant person, many of who retain a curiosity to learn something new, while a smug person even if they are educated already thinks they know everything and is incapable of learning. Check out what Angat Buhay is doing in teaching by hands on example. Frankly it’s great seeing DE people long ignored suddenly have the equivalent of a light bulb flashing on when they are shown something new by volunteers who care, and I wish more Filipinos who have privilege would replicate the Angat Buhay model.
Irineo or Giancarlo can probably speak more on the moral rot within the Big Four institutions, especially UP. Let’s just say that I didn’t meet many UP alumni that I found to be agreeable.
Well I might constructively criticize the Philippines, and some might even feel like I’m attacking Filipinos, but I generally keep my blaming if I do go there to the elites. And by elites I mean the 7% who are not the 93%. The gulf in material comfort and wealth between low-C and high-C is quite big, how much more so is the distance between E and A? We should not be blaming DEs for being bobotantes or whatever insult the elites usually hurl. I still think to this day that the quickest studies among Filipinos are the poorest. Just need to have a bit of patience and show them, hands on, in a way they can understand. Can’t say the same is possible with so many ABs who think they already know everything, yet change nothing — they are the problem, not the poor.
The reason I stay with the discussion is because the Philippines is so borderline helpless and hopeless. She is also right on the edge of being smart enough to figure it out, and the challenge is how to get to the doing part. It’s interesting to me. Fascinating at times. Frustrating. But it’s like living a novel being written. Better than getting drunk or gambling or fishing, no offenses to those who are fulfilled by spirits and losing money and sticking worms on hooks.
joeam, we are not exactly helpless! we have allies and friends who are always willing to help, in terms of education and whatnots. all we have to do is ask, but we can be summat defensive, stubborn as well, and a bit too proud to ask, though we always give give something in return like our cooperation and goodwill. and if push comes to shove, lots of filipinos these latter days now have boltholes and can easily escape to neighboring countries.
if anything else, instead of moping and moaning our lot in life, we can entertain ourselves and forgot all our problems even for a little while thanks to the likes of vice ganda and sara gerenimo et al.
and we are never really without hope, though my good friend told me, hope is not policy!
Totally agree.
Well there is a reason I find myself coming back again even after I had thrown my hands up in frustration the last time. There are so many fundamental blocks right there that are waiting to be used to build a better Philippines.
That’s it exactly.
True, results could be a success to some, or a fair one or could be a failure to some. Some will rise, some will be dreamers but will keep on going where destiny leads them. Unfortunately some will resign …it is what it is.
What is commendable to Joey’s narrative, he shared what he can to others…
yes! and you know what more we do with results? we evaluate them. all the time. may sound absurd, but. and we dont rest on our laurels, what is good result today may not be good enough tomorrow. time changes, people as well. goals move. and we make allowances. learning is lifelong. we just have to wade through all the pedants in the world and sometimes turn our backs on them, they are so full of themselves! they are best left to their own devices, haha. though sometimes, we find few good fit and that is priceless!
What we are doing is not band aids, a rather degrading assessment of the time and effort we put in, which gives you some idea of why we react badly to your snider inclinations.
Thank you, Joey, but the assessment is mine, in the end, and I started by thinking Marcos would be a loser and more like Duterte than Aquino. But he has been more like Aquino, multi-dimensional, and “normal”. He has earned my respect, appended with asterisks noting that his term is not done and politics here range from surprise to explosive.
president marcos has also earned my respect albeit grudgingly. he dont always have answers and had been castigated for his lack but he is trying hard to find and get the right answers even if answers are not forthright coming. his sona has been pulped and criticized, same with PNoy’s sonas, PNoy’s detractors were many and braying for his blood, his sonas also thrashed and declared lacking in context, as smoker PNoy coughed a lot and instead of giving him water to soothe his parched throats, indifferent journalist counted how many times he coughed all the while delivering the hours long sona! but sonas aside, PNoy surged on ahead and did what he thought was for the country best interest, even if that cost him his popularity.
PNoy was often accused of playing computer games instead of leading the country. well, in his spare time he might have found some time to play computer games with his nephews who have absentee father, and gave male presence in their lives. and despite all the criticism PNoy just put his head down and do his work best, went after kurakots and was rebuked vehemently by kurakots and their plentiful followers.
methink, PNoy’s lasting legacy is the unclos ruling denying china the nine dash line.
The arbitration win was historically profound and is becoming profoundly historical as nations cite it as the defining ruling of the laws of the seas. So you are spot on. I understand there is a young Aquino, a nephew or somesuch, gaining popularity. I hope there is a youth movement that moves nationally.
one such national movement is to include the teaching of the west phil sea in our school curricula. young ones have to know and must know the meaning of eez, our sovereignty and the extend of our border and how to protect them, among other things.
Kasambahay,
With respect to teaching about West Phil. Sea in our school curricula, I heard our schools’ teaching about Martial Law has been very watered down. Perfect for the revisionist history of Marcos, Jr. Will we be the same about politically sensitive topic like West Phil. Sea? Probably yes. But you are right about knowledge being important.
teaching will be age appropriate, we are not monsters and younger school kids will not be unnecessarily traumatized, but it will be taught, make no mistake. martial law hx was watered down, tried to, but not much success in that quarter. people rich and poor alike stick to what they know is true and defy the order from the palace. luckily president marcos was good sport and did not send in the cavalry or water cannon us, haha. and once again we got to celebrate edsa in all its guts and glory. after that, we got back to being normal again, were normal again, happy and smiling and trudging on ahead.
“teaching will be age appropriate, we are not monsters and younger school kids will not be unnecessarily traumatized, but it will be taught, make no mistake.” – Kasambahay
Love your optimism!
Optimism so long as it is within bounds of actionability is the way to go.
Pag ayaw may dahilan pag gusto may paraan.
“What we are doing is not band aids…” – JoeAm
Can you elaborate why they are not band aids?
They are band aids to someone who has given up on the Philippines. They are efforts to influence change by those who have not. People who write here put a good deal of thought and effort into their writings. It’s done for free, in good faith. Others read and gain ideas and think and act differently. It is being a part of the Philippines. They are neither cancer nor cure. They care. They have not given up.
“They are band aids to someone who has given up on the Philippines.” – JoeAm
Thanks for the clarification, JoeAm.
I have a different understanding of the figure of speech “band aid.”
When I describe an action as a “band aid,” I am looking at how much it addresses the ROOT CAUSE(S) OF THE PROBLEM. I am looking more at EFFECTIVENESS, not so much INTENT of the person performing the action. Opposite of a “band aid” solution I would say is a “root-cause solution” or “systemic reform” solution.
Band aid solutions are not to be disregarded. A good work is a good work. Many problems are so complex that you need band aid solutions AND root-cause solutions. Whether or not those dealing with the complex problem care or don’t care is another issue. Good critical thinking should make us realize the difference (whether band aid or root-cause solution) in order to achieve results that are lasting.
One motto I was taught in high school (yes, maybe by a lesser Humpty Dumpty) is that “From those who have more, more is expected.” Also, “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” We can discuss a proper label or name for a certain action (band aid vs. root-cause solution) and call each other names (like bastard) or what have you. Or we can have a good discussion where opposing views are tolerated without “personalan at pikunan.”
Just sharing a different understanding with respect to band aid solutions vs. root-cause solutions. I hope you do not take it as a personal attack.
The last sentence is a personal attack but the rest is working the Humpty line to explain what words mean, as you use them. Root causes are well discussed here. The Society of Honor is probably one of the best forums in the Philippines for that outside of some university classrooms that may dig deep. The brainpower, the history, the memories, the writing ability are all top notch. The challenge is not understanding the root causes, it is getting people to unify and organize to implement programs that drive the Philippines assertively toward more productive acts with the goal of enriching the lives of Filipinos. The “deep state” here, or the administrative, social, and political inertia opposing such productive acts, is wrapped up in weak values, self-dealing over nation, and rudimentary incompetence.
You are a smart man, and an emotional man, who has stated explicitly that you don’t care about Sara Duterte. I am wary of your views that seem to denigrate those who do care, to drag them down to your level of apparent malaise. My job as editor is to build a machine that builds good ideas, so I don’t welcome wrenches in the machinery.
Offer your ideas to build a better Philippines freely. Don’t worry so much about the personal lives, style, and expressions of contributors. Figure out how to help, or move on down the road to other places.
Thanks for clarifying, Joe. I get that the aim here is to generate good ideas and keep them moving toward action. My point about “band-aid” solutions was really about the scale of impact — some actions help right now, others tackle root causes for lasting change. I think the best path is when we can connect the two, so the short-term steps feed into the long-term fixes. That’s where I’d like to contribute in discussions here.
Agree entirely. That’s constructive.
Despite me disagreeing with there being a “cancer,” yes, band-aids are appropriate sometimes as a temporary fix for bumps and scrapes. I just disagree on how systemic change might come out and what should be done to get there.
I’m in favor of organizations and individuals teaching DEs new knowledge to start preparing them to the point where they would start to apply pressure on the AB decision makers in LGUs, governors, Congress and the president to be a champion of positive change. Are DEs currently capable of pushing for change? Absolutely and it happens quite often. But without being more focused, because the DEs don’t yet know how to be focused, too often the change pushed for either plays into the hands of the powerful or it is a big negative reaction like the DDS movement. The individual teachers can be foreigners who care, like Joe, Paul, and I, but shouldn’t some of the diaspora come back to teach also? Organizations that teach can’t start to form unless individuals show up to begin with. While everyone is waiting for something to move, nothing ever happens; it takes one person to move first and put one foot in front as an example.
So I would not characterize there being a rot or cancer, unless that is addressed to those who have privilege and power yet do too little. Meanwhile DEs are battered and bruised by the crappy daily stuff they need to put up with to live outside of enclaves, but they are still standing, they are still walking forward in the small way they know how, and are open to learning how to do things better. So let us all who are lucky to have a life of knowledge and the privilege of time become teachers.
Wow, that last line is a humdinger. That should be the motto of the blog, rather a method statement on the current motto, “O rise ye land of happy fools!”
“So let us all who are lucky to have a life of knowledge and the privilege of time become teachers.”
This is what I meant here
Partylists are supposed to be the voice of the marginalized, but that is not the case
Thanks Karl
Pleasure
‘Despite me disagreeing with there being a “cancer,”…’ – Joey N.
Earlier you spoke of a moral decadence in the Philippines. I believe that would be the cancer I am speaking of, not ignorance. (“I often stick by my criticism that the US is a quite decadent society, especially in more affluent areas, but that somehow like with paperwork and malls the Philippines takes it up to a whole next level of decadence.”)
If moral decadence is the cancer, we should be lambasting the Catholic and other Churches for failing in their mission. I remember the Catholic Church wanted to excommunicate President Aquino for advocating a health bill that included contraceptives. We’re not on the same moral page.
I view ignorance as the main cancer, a gap in knowledge promoted by colonizers and a dictator, deeply rooted, with moral weakness a part of that. Church is rituals and supplication, colonizers of a different dimension. It isn’t deep knowledge-based thinking.
A lot of the moral decay in the US is due to increasing economic pressures that many Americans don’t know a way out of. Those economic pressures are applied by forces singular people feel hopelessly against, and there hasn’t emerged a strong leader in at least 2 generations to mold singular hopeless Americans into a movement of hopeful Americans. Hopelessness breeds apathy and nihilism. Decadence and hyper-materialism are like drugs hopeless people consume to temporarily alleviate their pain, always needing more when the pain returns.
So when I say the Philippines is like the US in this regard, but more extreme, the fix to hopelessness is simple. Actions however small are the cure for apathy. Actions towards a goal creates meaning, banishing nihilism. The best way to give Filipinos access to movement is to increase agency. The best way to increase agency is to increase personal independence away from dependence the traditional power structures that confine the Filipino. The best way to increase personal independence is to increase the opportunity to earn a dignified salary. That should be the only goal of a good governance administration, and I believe such a paradigm change would cause DEs to move away from their patrons in droves.
“The best way to increase personal independence is to increase the opportunity to earn a dignified salary. That should be the only goal of a good governance administration, and I believe such a paradigm change would cause DEs to move away from their patrons in droves.” – Joey N.
“The best way to increase personal independence is to increase the opportunity to earn a dignified salary. That should be the only goal of a good governance administration, and I believe such a paradigm change would cause DEs to move away from their patrons in droves.” – Joey N.
I agree.
It reminds me of how I used to joke about the Philippine National Basketball Team: the surest way to win a gold medal in the Olympics is to outscore the opponent in every game—or at least enough to reach the finals, then score more points than your opponent in the finals. Simple in principle, but as history shows, the challenge is always in the execution.
Possibility requires action. Then recalibration. Then action again. Challenges remain impossibilities when players remain on the sidelines. We are all players in the game of creating our own futures.
I follow James Fallows on Blue Sky. He is getting aged but still pops out his insights and observations. He popularly defined the Philippines as a damaged culture, observing the corruption, failures, and nonsense. I’m fascinated by the self-perpetuation of favor and bad results. It is the culture, deeply steeped in taking care of oneself and no concept of patriotic giving or the importance of community principles, and little future vision and drive. You and I have different starting points. You want a lot of people (returning Filipinos, Angat Buhay) to teach DE to demand better and I want to get elected someone who will teach DE and organize the resourcefulness of ABC, that is, lead better. Either or both would help.
I do think the Philippines has a lot of brains and principle and the nation is only damaged to outsiders, not those of us who wend our way through the nonsense and spend the rest of our time under the mango tree laughing.
I’m not sure I would characterize the Philippines as having a damaged culture. There are many remnants of datu-ism without the accompanying balance of babaylan-ism. Clinging to that datu-ism which Filipinos now understand as patronage is the limiting factor. Rather than a “damaged culture” there are the echoes of the prior pre-colonial culture dressed up with increasingly superficial accoutrements of modernity, which is why I personally characterize the behavior as a form of cargo cultism.
Ideally we would want a subset of the ABC to emerge to lead and teach the DEs akin to the Roman tribunes of old, but it would require DEs to become sufficiently upgraded through osmosis or other organic means. So getting DEs to the point where they awaken their thinking to how government affects them outside of their barangay or town is a prerequisite before DEs are open to being taught by anyone at all. People tend to awaken their thinking towards a more broad context when they have something to protect. In simplest terms that would be the financial security of themselves and their family once small wins have been made. Presently most DEs only think in a very narrow context of themselves, their family, and perhaps their immediate neighborhood or barangay.
The stream of cash flowing in from OFWs, while it is keeping many families alive in a literal sense, also keeps DEs held down and constantly with a feeling of borderline hopelessness. Hopelessness breeds apathy, and worse breeds nihilism. I’ve also met and spoken with many OFWs over the years both in the Philippines and during travels abroad. Many OFWs feel an inappropriate level of duty to their family to the point of their own detriment, and on the opposite end other OFWs feel stuck as a sort of slave to the family. When asked if they were given a chance to work for slightly lower salary but be closer to home, many OFWs replied affirmatively. It costs a big chunk of their OFW salary to simply maintain basic needs while working abroad, aside from the mental toll of being separated from family and friends. I will continually be perplexed as to why a possible way to fix a large part of the problem of agency is staring the Philippines right in the face, that of attracting manufacturing, yet is not taken up on by successive governments and congresses.
Spot on.
I haven’t read the Fallows article in years. What does Fallows say about our culture that you folks disagree with, other than the use of the adjective “damaged?”
I don’t disagree with what Fallows said. He said what he saw in considerable depth. Dan Brown wasn’t so elaborate. I haven’t read anything from him recently about the Philippines.
After Dan Brown said that Manila is the gates of hell a certain pundit opined that we are even worse.
https://opinion.inquirer.net/53985/not-the-gates-of-hell-but-worse
Thanks, Karl. I liked that opinion piece, and I agree. No need to get bothered by folk like Dan Brown or James Fallows. Just do the right thing when it comes to other fellow human beings.
Thanks, that IS good advice
“I will continually be perplexed as to why a possible way to fix a large part of the problem of agency is staring the Philippines right in the face, that of attracting manufacturing, yet is not taken up on by successive governments and congresses.” – Joey N.
Yes, Karl Garcia recently posted a YouTube video of a Filipino architect Jun P. who gives a specific, i.e. we have those floods in Metro Manila because the government wouldn’t implement the solutions architects like himself proposed. He even pointed out how one administration would approve it, and the next administration would cancel the work. The end result, continuing floods. Perplexing. The late Fr. Reuter is credited with saying of the Philippine situation: “All we can do is pray.”
Call it band aid holes in the dike plugging until overwhelmed, tackling the symptoms and not the disease.
You still need a diagnostician like Gregory House,
Before the team fixes and treats the leader diagnoses it may be right or wrong and the results could be fatal, but one must be ready to move on and rectify.
Cancer treatment usually destroys healthy cells
Now there is precision targeting called cyber knife that targets only the affected cells
Fill in the metaphor
Modern cancer immunotherapy causes cancer cells to unmask and open themselves up so a body’s natural immunity can get through. If we view ignorance as the cancer, we need to figure out how to get Filipinos broadly to lay down their emotionalism and understand how smart voting helps them.
Yes without having to discriminate on the educational qualifications of the voters as proposed by some quarters