Giving up the WPS is not a good look for the Philippines

By Joe America ”What can we do about it?” we hear as top government officials cede the West Philippine Sea to China. “They are so big and strong and we are small and poor. We can’t send Filipinos to war. They’d be slaughtered!” This ‘woe is me’ argument totally misses the point and substitutes emotionalism … Continue reading →

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

Buses, bridges, and trains

By Joe America If you live in the Philippines, you live on an island. You can’t get on a freeway and blast across the nation like you can on Interstate 10 in the US. Island living is delightful because there are so many beaches. It is problematic because everything from gasoline to mother-in-law coming to … Continue reading →

Filed under Economy, Philippine Government

The Philippines is a nation with no purpose

By Joe America We are overwhelmed with disturbing news, social media angers, dirty politics that we can’t control, irrational thinking from everywhere, and information that is so frustrating we can only think in short, angry key strokes. We are going nowhere. Spinning our wheels. We have eloquent documents that people never read, like, for instance, … Continue reading →

Filed under Citizenship/Patriotism, Economy, Philippine Government

Thinkers only: the limits of intelligence

Editor’s note: This article was originally a reader’s comment in response to my recent blog about NEDA. I am publishing it here because I believe it warrants a wider audience if we ever hope to put the days of being resilient but incompetent in the past. JA   By Francis Pardon for the excessive length … Continue reading →

Filed under Culture and Arts, Education

Mr. Chill

by Wilfredo G. Villanueva He prepared well for the Bar Exams in 1999, and when an acquaintance who called by mobile phone read his name from a list faxed by the Supreme Court to the Department of Justice, he knew from the pit of his stomach that he would be number one because he had … Continue reading →

Filed under Citizenship/Patriotism, Laws and Ethics, Philippine Government, Philippine Politics