Shipbuilding Without Shipbuilders — and a Flag Without a Fleet

By Karl Garcia We boast that we are the world’s “fourth-largest shipbuilder,” a line lifted from an OECD report that counted repair yards and workforce size. But UNCTAD’s actual tonnage data tells a harsher truth: we produce barely 1% of global output, far behind China, Korea, and Japan. “Fourth” is not strength; it is statistical … Continue reading

From Limitation to Leverage: A Realistic Philippine Promise in Philippine Manufacturing

By Karl Garcia They say we don’t manufacture with optimal value-added — and for a long time, that was true. We built on what we had, and often that meant improvisation. The repurposed Army jeep became a Filipino icon in the 1950s, but it also became a metaphor: ingenuity locked in a comfort zone, innovation … Continue reading

Two Decades On: Did Get Real Philippines Get It Right About Filipino Dysfunction?

By Karl GarciaOriginally inspired by GetRealPhilippines.com’s essay, first published on August 20, 2002. In the early 2000s, Get Real Philippines (GRP) struck a nerve. At a time when political instability, corruption, and moral fatigue defined the national mood, GRP’s essays offered a bracing diagnosis: the Philippines was not merely suffering from bad leadership—it was crippled … Continue reading

Rising Waters in the Philippines

Literally and figuratively, the Philippines seems to be up to its neck in water nowadays. Somehow things have come to a point where even the most apolitical seem to have noticed that it can no longer continue the same way as before, even the way of many millenia.  Some modified form of the old social … Continue reading

De Lima vs Duterte, Round 8

Analysis and Opinion By Joe America Leila De Lima has always been for justice and human rights. Rodrigo Duterte has always been for himself, brutally. The two are like Batman and The Joker, a classic battle between good and evil. We have watched it play out like a time-lapse boxing match for 15 years now. … Continue reading