Self-dealing defeats humanity

Posted by JoeAm 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 JoeAm 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

‘We Must Focus on Leni’—Trillanes

Posted by Wilfredo G. Villanueva on August 22, 2019 · 165 Comments 

by Wilfredo G. Villanueva In jail, he repurposed himself. From someone fighting the system by force of arms calling bloody Katipunan to mind, he ventured into democratic discourse, softening his image, turning sword to ploughshare. He won a Senate seat campaigning from prison with his relaunched brand—dead-center message delivery almost in martial cadence, swoonworthy to … Continue reading →

Category Citizenship/Patriotism, Laws and Ethics, Philippine Government, Philippine Politics, Religion

‘I Will Be Here’ — Sen. de Lima 

Posted by JoeAm on August 14, 2019 · 94 Comments 

by Wilfredo G. Villanueva Duterte times started precisely at the time Sen. Leila de Lima was incarcerated in Camp Crame detention quarters for charges that wouldn’t stick. Her cases have been delayed; judges are unwilling to handle her cases, and witnesses are like Metro Manila traffic, dense and unmoving. We didn’t protest her arrest. We … Continue reading →

Category Citizenship/Patriotism, Laws and Ethics, Philippine Government

When people are smarter than their government

Posted by JoeAm on August 12, 2019 · 44 Comments 

By JoeAm People complain a lot about social media. I like the stuff myself. On Facebook, I can keep tabs with the life and adventures of my friends and acquaintances, know their activities, their successes, and their jokes. I can share my own. Still, I don’t use FB for news. It’s unreliable and hard to … Continue reading →

Category Blogging/Journalism, China, Education, Foreign Affairs and Defense, Philippine Government