Making It More Fun in the Philippines

Here's a hypothetical scenario of what if we had Prime Minister Rodrigo R. Duterte and former prime minister turned Opposition Leader Noynoy Aquino in a head-on debate. While the president may serve as its unifying figure -- both the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader are set to be at competition and in toes against each other in the spirit of competition. A parliamentary could have put Noynoy as the Opposition Leader vs. Prime Minister Duterte in a more formal manner. 
The problem of the presidential system is that there's hardly any formal opposition and debate. This is not the case with a parliamentary -- the power is divided into three parts with the symbolic Head of State (President), the Head of Government (prime minister) and the Opposition for check and balance) which wouldn't give anyone absolute power plus there will be more room to correct any potential error in order to minimize error in the long run. Neither Prime Minister Duterte nor Opposition Leader Noyn…

There's always the same argument of just change the people but not change the system. The argument is usually rounded or based upon the "fear of the unknown" where one can argue that there's no need to change from parliamentary to presidential based on anecdotal evidence or argument based on experience. One can always say that the Philippines already had hundred years experience in presidential and none in parliamentary as an excuse not to shift saying it'd be "costly". But again, it's just like using band-aids and cheap medications on one's wounds to "save money" only to realize one has to spend more money because said infection got worse. Unlike if you spent more money now to get said wounds treated properly which results to less expenses later. The same can be said abotu Daang Matuwid -- Noynoy's succeeded in some way in spite of the faulty presidential system while his failures (together with people under him) are but symptoms…

Bravo to Maria Ressa and more bravo. It's no surprise that the clueless Western media is showering her with awards right now. She deserves all those awards because they think like her and have her kind of ideals. But there's one award that she deserves right now -- she could get an Oscar's Award for best acting!

I tried noticing her speeches right now are really that convincing to mislead people. She gets her acceptance award and I can understand why people can be misled by her. She knows how to make herself look like she's a victim of a dictatorship. She makes many heartfelt speeches and acts like she was bullied. For that, she manages to even get her awards one after the other. She's very convincing one way or another.

Right now, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences SHOULD consider giving her an Oscar's for best acting. This would be a big achievement for CRappler should their CEO get that award!

The problem isn't when foreigners express concern for the Philippines but when they do play selective concern. Canada's foreign minister Chrystia Freeland has given that tweet (above) where she gives her latest concern for Maria Ressa. While she is right in saying that harassment and intimidation of journalists is not part of a healthy democracy -- but does she know what Ressa is actually doing? I admit, Ressa's acting skills are indeed excellent that she too should receive an Oscar's for best acting -- she's deceived a foreign minister in her victim playing! Is Freeland herself aware of the Negative List in the Philippines concerning foreign investments? She better do some research right now because if she should realize this that no foreign equity for mass media (such as television and press) is ever allowed in the Philippines. Now don't tell me that's not a threat to Philippine media democracy?

Anyone can argue that the end of the Marcos regime toppled …

This is really comedy gold at it's finest, isn't it? Here's Congressman Gary Alejano's latest jingle. For non-Tagalog speakers -- allow me to give you translation of this Tagalog "cover" of the American World War 1 song called "The Caissons Go Rolling Over":
Soldier, soldier of every Filipino Alejano, Aleeejano Has the courage, has the heart Will save us Alejano, Aleeejano When the Motherland is being snatched Alejano will fight When the people of the land are hungry Alejano will fight Soldier, soldier of every Filipino Alejano, Aleeejano Has the courage, has the heart Will save us Alejano, Aleeejano When the land's coffers are being stolen Alejano will fight When the people of the land are being deceived Alejano will fight Alejano will fight
Gary Alejano, soldier of the Filipino
This campaign jingle made me laugh for several reasons. I don't have to be a Philippine Military Academy graduate or a political scientist to understand the absurdity. This brings bac…

One of the biggest fears of the parliamentary system was the whole idea of "Gloria forever" and "Duterte forever" which is not the case of a parliamentary Philippines -- it's more of the fear of the unknown than anything else. Do people really know who's who in a parliamentary? We have a monarchy-parliamentary and a presidential-parliamentary. South Korea may be mainly presidential but it has a prime minister appointed by the president to assist in running the state. The aim of a parliamentary Philippines is to have a duly-elected president and members of the parliament (including senators) together with a prime minister elected by the parliament. 
I remembered this scene from G.I.Joe cartoon when Serpentor was finally conceived as a replacement for Cobra Commander. Although Cobra Commander like most cartoon Big Bads (though he was demoted in Season Two in favor of a more entertaining stupid villain in Serpentor) -- he did come up with a plan that could ha…