Democracy in the Philippines will be run by power families forever

Posted by The Society of Honor on October 7, 2019 · 166 Comments 

By JoeAm I ran a little poll on Twitter to get a sense of how those who inhabit the place and follow me, generally well-read people, see the Philippines developing in the future. There were four choices as shown in the results profile to the right. The fourth choice, translated, read “A Chinese Province”. The … Continue reading →

Category China, Citizenship/Patriotism, Crime/Corruption, Culture and Arts, Laws and Ethics, Philippine Government

Can Filipinos use a “People’s Initiative” to take government back from the corrupt?

Posted by The Society of Honor on October 3, 2019 · 14 Comments 

By JoeAm The Problem The Philippines is a corrupt land. It is corrupt in matters of finance and in matters of deed. It is corrupt of values. Legislators plaster their annual budget with lavish funds they can use to gain kickbacks. Local governments hold local construction projects hostage to commissions. Corrupt officials are not fired … Continue reading →

Category Citizenship/Patriotism, Laws and Ethics, Philippine Government

US senators speak. Philippine senators and DDS have apoplexy.

Posted by The Society of Honor on September 30, 2019 · 14 Comments 

By JoeAm A few US senators have been critical of the Philippines for keeping Senator De Lima in jail. They proposed legislation banning from the US those responsible for her jailing. The law may never see the light of day but the reaction in the Philippines offers a striking lesson. It does not take much … Continue reading →

Category China, Citizenship/Patriotism, Foreign Affairs and Defense, Laws and Ethics, Philippine Government, USA/Americans

Self-dealing defeats humanity

Posted by The Society of Honor on September 2, 2019 · 51 Comments 

By JoeAm Democracy has proved to be rough going. It is a political process. Politics is agenda pushing, agenda-pushing becomes self-dealing, and self-dealing defeats democratic values. Human rights then get in the way. We see it in the US and UK. We are living it in the Philippines. Actually, the Philippines has had a self-dealing … Continue reading →

Category China, Citizenship/Patriotism, Crime/Corruption, Culture and Arts, Ecology/Global Warming, Economy, Philippine Government

Rubba dub dub, three men in a tub: Albayalde, Lorenzana, and Locsin

Posted by The Society of Honor on August 26, 2019 · 81 Comments 

By JoeAm There are any number of secretaries I could pick for this little lesson, I suppose. But I chose three whose characters and acts help frame the discussion. There are three forces that define the men and women of government high offices: (1) the people and institutions that shaped them as younger people, (2) … Continue reading →

Category China, Citizenship/Patriotism, Foreign Affairs and Defense, Laws and Ethics, Philippine Government