Making It Fun in the Philippines

Today is the "celebration" of the  Three "Martyrs" in China  where three Filipino drug mules were put to death last March 30, 2011. As part of the "celebration" -- I want to bring up the fact that CHR's current administration can be seen missing the point over  Spox Harry Roque's statement  concerning a possible link between drug syndicates and human rights activist groups. I just read from the PNoypine Daily Inquirer  that the Commission on Human Rights has just raised a reaction it's a pointless accusation -- even when Spox Roque has stated a SPECULATION. It has me thinking that Gascon is indeed a point misser. But what if Gascon is more than a point misser? I may not be a criminologist or lawyer but it doesn't mean I don't have the right to speculate. Do you remember the time when Gascon actually invited Agnes Callamard to the Philippines? I still can't forget about the article that Rigoberto Tiglao wrote in the  Manila Times ...

In economics, one of the ways that the government earns income is through citizens spending their money. It's not just spend it for the sake of spending it -- but spending it on registered institutions and get that income properly declared. When citizens spend their money and this income is declared and collected -- that means more money for the government. How do we increase the spending power of Filipinos so they can give income to the government? A stupid old fool mentioned that it will be through his beloved 4Ps as his solution to increase spending power . True it does increase the pocket money of people but how can he account for the spending? Also, isn't 4Ps just rotating the money? Government gives money to people, people spend and money returns to government but how sure are you the money returns to government? That's what those 4Ps advocates fail to account for -- where was the money spent? If the money was spent on shabu and gambling then that money doesn't ...

Part of the Philippines' plan to bolster its economy aside from the plan to liberate the economy is to get rid of the 4Ps program . Why is that? One needs to take a bit of history lessons and I would like to bring two people namely Lee Kuan Yew and Deng Xiao Ping. Did you know that Singapore and China were once MUCH POORER than the Philippines? Mao Zedong's faulty economic policies  brought China down to such a poor extent and Singapore was a crime infested, poverty ridden island.  So what did the two of them do? I can't imagine it if both Lee and Deng decided to simply say, "Fellow Chinese/Singaporeans our nation is so poor. In order to solve our crisis, we must increase our spending so here's free money for everyone!" Can you imagine what if Lee and Deng decided to hand out money to poor Singaporeans and Chinese at that time so their spending will increase? True, you need to spend to create jobs but not all spending creates jobs. What kind of spendin...

I just read something about Teddy Casino getting more epal as he finally throws some criticism at Spox Harry Roque -- here's what's being said from GMA News about Casino's statement concerning Roque: Former Bayan Muna Representative Teddy Casiño has given presidential spokesman Harry Roque the "F" word on Twitter after the secretary said on Monday that human rights groups were being used as "unwitting" tools by drug lords to undermine President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs. Casiño said Roque's statement has placed human rights advocates in danger of being targeted by assassins. "Fuck you @attyharryroque," Casiño tweeted. "You know this is not true. You also know that saying this expands the target of the drug war and brings your former colleagues in the human rights community in the cross hairs of Duterte’s death squads," he added. Let's face it that Casiño is missing the point AGAIN. If he really read throug...

I think about how much I actually enjoy dropping by Jollibee every now and then for some delicious varieties of their burgers -- cheesy bacon mushroom, TLC (tomato, lettuce and cheese) mushroom and any Filipino regardless of ethnicity can be proud to be Filipino for the reason that Jollibee is now going worldwide. I'm even excited to think of Jollibee is not only going to be Chinese (and Tan Caktiong is of Chinese descent but Filipino nonetheless) but also to the Japanese. But did you know that Tony Tan Caktiong wasn't born with a silver spoon? They started out poor, they started getting a little better, they were striving hard and the whole family rose up. But that's not just one success story. Some people were even far worse. At least Tancaktiong was soon able to have some relief where they went from poor to middle class. But did you know that huge men like John Gokongwei, Lucio Tan and Henry Sy used to be very poor? We could talk about the situations of how these m...

I was reading through Bloomberg and there's bad news -- the Philippine Peso is expected to be Asia's worst performing currency this 2018. From the same article, this should be a reminder that it's time to make economic liberalization a huge priority. Here's what it says: " The Philippines doesn’t get a lot of investor inflow , and this is one of the biggest problems and why it tends to weaken off more aggressively than its regional peers when sentiment dies," said Stephen Innes, head of trading for Asia Pacific at Oanda Corp. in Singapore. "It is still going to be the local whipping boy in the region." A forecast of 51 per dollar for year-end 2018 may be a bit optimistic if anything, he said. Philippine policy makers have been in no rush to raise rates even after the Federal Reserve increased its benchmark this month for the third time this year. Central bank officials have defended their position by saying annual economic growth in excess of 6...

I remembered some time ago where I wrote an article "celebrating" the feast days of the " Three Martyrs in China " where I speculated that maybe, just maybe Migraine International is working for big time syndicates . My article was based on some speculation based on the fact that Migraine seems to be care too much about Filipino drug mules who are about to be executed abroad. I don't think they just get "self-sustaining funds" but that they have to be paid by someone -- which could be linked to major drug organizations. I just read GMA News where it was reported Spokesperson Harry Roque has built the same speculation on possible links of human rights activists and drug lords in the Philippines. Since I'm no lawyer or political analyst then I leave the rest to him since he's a human right lawyer. Here's a couple of stuff where he did mention some stuff that Senator Alan Peter Cayetano had said earlier: "We therefore do not disc...

Anybody who keeps insisting that the 1987 Constitution is a success based on just one person (regardless who it may be) isn't seeing the bad effects or is just blind to it. Anybody who says that government frameworks or political structures won't matter much  is really living in Lala Land . Now it's time to talk about crucifying an extremely bad framework as part of the plan for Constitutional Reform. It's not just persons that matter but also political systems that matter Some people say that it's just a matter of changing people from incompetent to competent. I'd like to refute that idea with some common sense. If you've observed the current Philippine constitution it only allows six years -- no more and no less. Some people wanted another six more years for Noynoy Aquino while others think that it's enough. The problem is that the six years no more no less limit is that it's too long for incompetent people and too short for competent people...

It's no secret that Boracay's condition is worsening  (which makes it no longer feasible for one's next vacation spot) and many people in the Philippines have lost their right to be "shocked" at what's happening. It reminded me of my super disappointing trip to Boracay last 2012 -- not only was the trip expensive but the whole place was so full of garbage. I saw people throw garbage left and right. Some people just leave their garbage. Worse, people who are supposed to clean up garbage don't even do their job. This had me thinking of the big difference between Singapore and the Philippines. Some may go ahead and complain about "unjust policies" but here's what -- Singapore's strict discipline made the city a clean place to be. The fines may be somewhat excessive (considering it's a first world country and the fines may be considered little for its citizens) but guess what -- you can see how Singapore's cleanliness laws work lik...

Two days ago was the Philippine National Police Academy's grduation rites where both President Rodrigo R. Duterte and Vice President Leni Loud Robredo got their paintings. So how did they look like? First, here's President Duterte's portrait where it's drawn properly. Sure, I would have preferred him wearing a barong or business suit -- but it's a very good tribute. On the other hand, here's Vice President Leni Loud's painting which looks absolutely horrible. It almost looks like thermal vision or some kind of vision that a drug user or addict would have. It doesn't even look like the kind of portrait I'd hang in my office if I were in office. But she stands proud near her awful, discolored painting. What do you think of this scenario of the two paintings?

Does this picture of four ex-presidents and the current president drive something into your mind? It reminds me of the problem of the presidential system that six years is too short for a good leader and too long for a stupid leader. Not to mention, at least two out of five people in this picture could have been voted out by a vote of no confidence. A vote of no confidence is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as: : a formal vote by which the members of a legislature or similar deliberative body indicate that they no longer support a leader, government, etc.  This is where the parliamentary system would actually have better standing than the presidential in removing defective leaders. Let's just assume that both Jose Marcel Ejercito and Noynoy Aquino had passed through as former prime ministers. Let's take a look at former president Erap's situation. It's the first impeachment proceeding that happened in the Philippines. It also reminded me of t...

As the Dengvaxia fiasco is still going on -- this incident proves one thing that government frameworks do matter . It's time to consider first world countries and which countries do perform better. As much as I advocate for opening up the economy but I don't think it should stop there. Remaining in a unitary-presidential system may cause the Philippines to have a 14 day traffic or more in EDSA or any place in Imperial Manila. Now it's time to consider how a parliamentary system could have lessened the chances of the Dengvaxia fiasco.  According to  CNN Philippines  --   here's something that former president Noynoy Aquino said concerning Dengvaxia said that inadvertently showed why the presidential system is faulty: Aquino, who attended the joint hearing of the Senate Blue Ribbon, Health, and Finance panels into the Dengvaxia vaccine controversy as a resource person, said no questions were raised when the now-controversial vaccine was bought during his term....

I remembered writing an article on using that one has or we have  hundreds of years of experience  in something and zero experience in another as an excuse to embrace change whenever it's needed. I think the same can go for teleseryes and those who keep watching the same old idiotic shows called teleseryes. So what's wrong with teleseryes? The daily broadcast gives no room for improvement, overextension to the point of beating around the bush, one-sided stupidity and not to mention overacting is highly encouraged. I don't care how long people have been watching those idiotic teleseryes or those shows are always the way they are -- because it has never been about having loads of experience in one and having zero experience in another. Instead, it's all about whether something has better quality or not regardless whether one has experience in it or not. It's like you've had so much experience eating from the garbage can that you'll refuse to eat proper food...

I didn't watch it in whole considering how IDIOTIC this teleserye called Ika-6 Na Utos (Sixth Commandment) is but I could think about not offering some proper closure. So who's the main cause of all the problems? Let's take a look at this one... and take note that I didn't watch full episodes either but I got some bits and pieces of an otherwise idiotic show.  Much of Georgia's actions can be traced back to her idiotic mother Mildred. This scene makes me go WTF. As much as I hate Georgia for being such a bitch but the mother is the root cause. It's nature vs. nurture. You can see how Mildred only treats Georgia as ATM, wastes her money on a useless boyfriend and wants more money. I guess all that stupidity led to Georgia's homewrecking attitude and obsession with Rome. Shouldn't she get some punishment? I thought of how Mildred was even absent to where she should be -- at Georgia's death. As much as Georgia's actions are not right but I...

It's been a jeepney strike yesterday and I don't know how to react. Driving without much of those arrogant jeepney drivers is really a good thing. I can't count the number of times I was nearly hit by one. Yesterday, a strike happened because they are opposing President Duterte's plan to modernize the jeepneys because it won't come cheap. Plus, their other excuses may go from the usual argument of it's going to cost more (and if it's new, just expect it) or some may go and say, "But we've had hundreds of years experience with jeepneys and none with jeepney modernization." Take note that when I'm saying "hundreds of years" as a hyperbole.  The typical argument against any change may also include the hundreds of years experience  in one area and zero in another. I remembered running into an argument with some old fossil who said that unitary is better than federal because, "We've got a hundred years experience and ze...

These days, I think the problem is not the statement "Proud to be Pinoy!" or "Pinoy Pride!" itself but the wrong application of it. I don't think anything's wrong with saying "Pinoy Pride!" or "Proud to be Pinoy!" to events such as the Gilas wins or Beverly Caimen's career in Japan. Now another event where Filipinos should be proud of and maybe even shout louder "PINOY PRIDE!" and NOT "PNOY PRIDE!" is the withdrawal from the International Criminal Court . The  Manila Times  also reveal this one about the ICC which isn't too shocking and why I believe it's no longer President Duterte's right but his duty to withdraw the Philippines from such an organization: Usually, economic power translates to political control. The ICC is not an exception.  Yet, the ICC’s funding is not transparent . It is financed “primarily” by its member states. The contributions of each state are determined by the method u...