Making It Fun in the Philippines

Well, happy new year or is it? I would say that saying "Happy new year!" to people can either be a compliment or a putdown. Why would it be both a compliment or a putdown? It's because some people still have money or got more money after the new year. Some people may be richer due to high revenues and due to keeping the Christmas bonuses and 13th monthly pay wisely. However, saying "Happy new year!" would be a putdown or insult if you've wasted all your money on the Christmas and New Year celebrations . Worse, if you ended up spending more than one saves because of stuff like  firecracker-related injuries . There's nothing wrong with celebrating Christmas and New Year. The problem is when one treats celebrations like recreational drugs . If you want to celebrate then celebrate within your means . It reminds me of how some people go home to their families, spend time together, have a simple celebration, cook fancy food, and the like. However, many Fil...

The list of stone-throwing incidents against trains in Binan, Laguna , is no surprise, really. Just looking at the damage done is no surprise. The incidents ran from December 2 to 21, 2019. What was no surprise that a TEENAGER was involved. I guess this is why the leftist groups are already objecting to lowering the age of criminal liability huh? The teenager involved was released due to his age. Some may say that let's just wait until everyone is behaved. Are you going to wait until people stop littering before you make a law against it or will you make a law against it so people will stop littering? While I won't have teenagers jailed with adults but teenagers who are held criminally liable still need to be arrested. I propose that teenagers arrested for criminal acts should be sent to a separate correctional facility to handle wayward minors instead. The incident that led to the vandalism done to the trains is obviously a LACK OF DISCIPLINE. One reason why Singapore has ...

I have made some observations about the Christmas season here in the Philippines. I could notice that there are many people who love Christmas for the wrong reasons. What reasons are there to love Christmas in the Philippines? Let's consider some reasons that make people like the holiday so much. You could consider that people just love receiving pinaskohans that they'd rather beg for it than wait for others to give it . When Christmas is near then it means one may be getting their 13th-month pay and Christmas bonuses . Then I observe how people can't wait for Christmas so they can go caroling to receive money rather than get a decent job. Worse, you can attribute it to the fiesta mentality that many Filipinos have . I really think about why I tend to dislike December a lot as an adult. I have nothing against celebrating Christmas or having a Christmas party though. Some people celebrate their Christmas parties with much decency and well-conduct. However, some Filipinos ...

Christmas and New Year would possibly excite children more than adults, right? I don't condemn celebrations themselves but the question is were they budgeted and planned for? I remembered I wrote the post talking about post-Christmas and post-New Year woes . One of the things I highlighted in that post was about not having money. Why is there no money? It's because there's no budget, right? You can think of the beginning of December. Why all the late or even last-minute Christmas shopping? Why the Christmas shopping craze on CHRISTMAS EVE? If you're planning to celebrate Christmas Eve then shouldn't everything be PREPARED for Christmas Eve? Some people would rather wait for their 13th-month pay  rather than learn to budget whole-year round. What do you expect from people who would rather have a lavish eat-out on payday rather than learn to budget it for necessities? I many not like Rappler (due to Maria Ressa) but they're actually speaking truth revealing tha...

As a 1990s child and a 1980s baby - I could remember watching the box office flop called Jingle All the Way . It was sort of a nice spin-off from the serious, action-packed Arnold Schwarzenegger who would be fighting the Snake Cult, Predators, and be the Terminator. Instead, he would be engaged in so much stupidity all for a Turboman. The whole plot is stupidly surrounded by ONE STUPID TOY that nearly got him (and the postman named Myron) into a lot of danger. It also showed the stupidity of peer pressure because Jaime feels left out if he doesn't get that toy. Looking back at it - I just felt that the film may not be so funny anymore as an adult. It's because I'm suddenly reminded of one bad trait many Filipinos have had for years namely the LAST MINUTE CHRISTMAS SHOPPING! Why is the bad habit of last-minute Christmas shopping so irritating? A lot of Christmas sales happen EARLY as NOVEMBER. Why aren't people actually deciding to take advantage of the EARLY CHRIST...

The very news that  Celeteque has had Sarah Elago (along with Yellow supporter Gretchen Ong Ho) as an endorser - it's time to take a U-Turn from Celeteque to Botanic Heal as endorsed by Shin Hye Sun. You can take a look at this commercial. I really think of how Hye Sun herself is humble. I still commend her for not minding comments about her being called "ugly" . If anything, I may not find her pretty but I feel like she has a very beautiful heart. Her endorsement for beauty products work like a charm that says, "You don't have to be super hot to be presentable."  Before you accuse me of "colonial mentality" then let me tell you this. Colonial mentality only happens when you think everything imported is better even when it isn't. I buy locally made Filipino products but only if they are of good quality. Trying to cry out colonial mentality should ask the question if everything Celeteque uses is Filipino-made. I'm sure that Celet...

WTF is all I can say at the thought of Sarah Elago becoming one of Celeteque's endorsers . My reaction can be summarized above with the GIF of Shin Hye Sun who's obviously NOT Sarah. So, what really makes it really puzzling? Sarah is known to have her socialist, anti-capitalist mindset so why is Celeteque even getting her as an endorser? The very event should be a shock or what? The idea of getting a communist bitch like Sarah to endorse a capitalist product is just stupid. Free market capitalism and communism are two obviously contrasting forces. Capitalism focuses on private ownership to fill in the supply and demand gap. Communism is the idea of abolition of private property. Communism has proven itself to fail AGAIN and AGAIN yet why do people still follow it? What gave rise to better governments? It's not just a democratic society but a democracy that espouses free market capitalism with reasonable restrictions. Governments have their obligation to protect capitalis...

One of the biggest reasons why Christmas isn't really more fun in the Philippines is because of heavy, intense traffic during the season. I always find it crazy that some people would blame the president. Noynoy Aquino had some rather invalid blame for the traffic during his term. Now, President Rodrigo R. Duterte gets some blame too and some Yellowtards feel like they only experienced it "just now". Well, I'd like to really throw in some harsh reality on the faces of Filipinos this holiday season. It's just now I realized that many Filipinos may be the biggest contributor to Christmas traffic woes. Let's consider the bad habit of procrastination for the entire year. Is it me or is procrastination already been long ingrained into Filipino culture when it shouldn't? Worse, you may be having Filipinos who are very proud of their tardiness. I could always link procrastination to traffic woes. It may sound stupid but it isn't. Do you notice that some...

I'm not anti-American but man do I hate the American government. What they did in Iraq is just evidence of how arrogant the United States of America as a political entity became. Now, the same stupidity is still going on. It's just like a Filipino who's not anti-Chinese but man does he or she hate the Chinese government. Right now, I just want to throw in a bit of humor because of those annoying arrogant white men . We've got some stupid American and European Union (EU) officials who are acting like they are experts of the Philippines for the nth time . With this in mind - it looks like I "need" to go back to school and take a degree in Philippine Expertise . It's either in the USA or in any European Union country. Why I'm writing this mockery of a blog post because of previous and most recent events too. I'm amazed at the arrogance of people like Phelim Kine  and Agnes Callamard . A recent report has it that US Senate committee has passed reso...

It's time for that year called the Metro Manila Film Festival - better yet renamed as the Imperial Manila Film Festival , right? It's time for the event to face the naked truth that they have probably refused to even face. What's this naked truth that needs to be faced about the Metro Manila Film Festival ? It would be shown as a celebration of mediocrity or as termed in the Tagalog phrase, "Pwede Na Yan". Back then, I remembered there were some good Filipino films to watch. One of them was the film Anak which was about OFW families. The film Madrasta was also worthy of foreign nomination. Today, a lot of these films are just mediocre. In fact, back in 2011, Get Real Philippines did write an article that says  Filipino films just don't make us think . The title is a rude generalization BUT one can think of how it may become a generalization sooner or later. The film festival isn't really doing any good for Filipino films. Instead, the film festival ma...

Above is a picture from Toady Casino (Teddy actually) and Mark Lopez. I really agree with Mark calling Toady a thick-faced credit grabber. Now, this should encourage me to write exposing the hypocrisy of these Filipino communists or just communism in general. Right now, I see those Filipino communists hate the oligarchy (such as that now-empty Fliptards blog) and rant all types of anti-capitalism garbage. However, they are seen to be walking contradictions because they hate capitalism but love its products . Worse, they're trying to promote economic protectionism with the use of IMPORTED PRODUCTS .  I remembered seeing rallies going against local Filipino-owned businesses. A recent example has to be that of Regent Foods in Pasig . Vico Sotto should have not taken sides with those labor unions. If Regent Foods was indeed guilty they, by all means, do appropriate action! However, siding with leftist labor unions is just stupid. I always like to ask what good did those anti-cap...

Today is International Human Rights Day and I think I'm going to write another simple post. This time, I'm going to discuss how the protectionist policy violates their rights towards basic provisions. There's always the boogeymen saying that only foreigners will get rich  and that they're a threat to Philippine sovereignty . Such boogeymen would be very commonly used. There are those who promote them believing them. Others simply lie for their convenience in the guise of nationalism . It would be a good thing to talk about how the 60/40 policy is VIOLATING the rights to basic provisions of the citizens. You can talk about how economic protectionism "blessed" the citizens of Venezuela, North Korea, or the times of Mao Zedong. The Philippines may be nearing that state thanks to adhering to Carlos P. Garcia's Filipino First policy and the crony capitalism of Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr. Both of them deserved to be buried next near to each other. Now, how has i...

What makes a Filipino? Is it the quest for " Filipino racial purity " or one's love and devotion to the Philippines? Definitely, I'm really proud to have Filipino mixed breeds compete for the Philippines. Whether it'd be half-whites like Catriona Gray and Pia Wurtzbach - we also have Filipino with Chinese descent athlete Agatha Fernandez Wong representing the Philippines. At this point, pun intended, somehow the Filipina mestiza Wuxia champion Wong proves the quest for Filipino racial purity wrong. I remembered some rather unusual backlash against Catriona herself for her dual ethnicity. I don't care if Catriona was born in Australia or is half-white if her heart belongs to the Philippines. As for Agatha, I do feel like her father is already a natural-born Filipino and having married a Filipino woman from Dagupan cements her status as a FILIPINO. What flag did she carry during the #SeaGames2019? China? No, she carried the name of the FILIPINO PEOPLE when s...

It's no secret that the Philippines, as well as other Asian countries, have been victimized by Chinese government bullying. The conflict over Scarborough Shoal had strained the relationships between the Chinese government and the Philippine government. There have been feelings of anti-Chinese paranoia which isn't helping the situation. Also, it's not like  the taho-throwing incident  was a declaration of war. Any Filipino who did something bad abroad isn't necessarily the Philippines declaring war either. It's because the Chinese people, in general, are not to blame for the bullying incidents. Also, all  Filipino-Chinese are already considered Filipino  by international law, get it? Why should the anger not be towards the Chinese people? Many Chinese today are victims of their idiotic tyrannical government. It's just like should we blame the Japanese for the sins of the long-dead Japanese Empire? Chinese tourists and businesses are welcome or should be wel...

There's always the boogeyman that says, " If you let foreigners invest in the Philippines - they're the only ones who will get rich. " This is coming from people who actually enjoy having vacations in first world countries that benefit greatly from foreign investors. It also has me getting concerned with bragging about Philippine democracy. I remembered writing about bragging that the Philippines is supposedly a shining example of democracy while it's a protectionist state . This has me considering that the oligarchy in itself is really a threat to democracy. I really laughed when Hilario Davide admitted that he thinks that the 1987 Constitution is the best in the world. Yes, it's the best in the world but only for the oligarchs that benefit from it . I'm amazed at how Davide himself even goes as far as to perpetuate the lie that foreign investors are a threat to Philippine sovereignty . Is the old man really in need of his medication like a certain 4Ps-...

Is this really even newsworthy to start with? Granted, it's ABS-CBN NEWS and not ABS-CBN entertainment. If the two are dating then it's THEIR LIFE and I'm happy for them. However, I've had issues with Gretchen Ho's partisanism (even if she's my fellow Tsinoy) and some issues with the Sottos (especially Tito Sotto's anti-cybercrime libel law is making Filipinos stupid). They were spotted together but why start the gossip of are they dating? This is a serious breach of privacy. If they were dating then shouldn't that be PERSONAL ISSUES for either which side? It would really go to show that the Philippine mainstream media would be shown for what it is. There's a quote that says, "Great minds discuss IDEAS, average minds discuss EVENTS, and SMALL MINDS DISCUSS PEOPLE!" It's not even newsworthy if Vico and Gretchen were dating or not. The event at Pasig with Vico is more newsworthy than asking if both Vico and Gretchen are dating. If AB...

I remembered writing years ago about how it's annoying that many Filipinos just don't bother to read posts properly  before they comment away. It's like certain people and a certain blog that has become a lobbyist for morons. It's stupid how such people can accuse so and so of such yet they can't even point out the specifics. Many of these commentators are ANONYMOUS yet they demand so and so to show up. You also have people who react without pointing out ANY SPECIFICS whatsoever. They don't care anyway because they think they're so smart when the evidence says otherwise. Why am I not even surprised that a recent report from the Philippine Star shows that Filipinos themselves the Philippine has the LOWEST reading comprehension among 79 countries ? I'm not a bit surprised at the recent report about Filipinos and low reading comprehension. After all, you can consider some situations where some bloggers get attacked by stupid Anonymous people who comment...

Democracy is a wonderful word and concept yet it's so often misused, misunderstood, and abused. I remembered a couple of times ago that I wrote a controversial post on the Philippines needing more democracy and not more discipline . I decided to update the post with newer content though I can't deny how the comments section became a warzone. I had to delete some comments, I stopped receiving Anonymous comments from "brave" netizens who have a high ego because of how the topic can be so controversial. Let's do a review of what in the world is a democracy? Democracy's most basic definition is a rule of the PEOPLE, by the PEOPLE, and for the PEOPLE. The majority may win but it doesn't mean they have the right to bully the minority. Democracy itself is set by rules and regulations to maintain its health. A democracy without rules or constraints should already be considered anarchy. Anarchy is well-defined as a state of disorder due to the absence of authorit...

It's no doubt that the 13th-month pay is just around the corner. It's mandatory by Filipino law and is somewhat practiced in other countries . It was mandated by the late Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr. in 1965 then further modified by Corazon C. Aquino. Now, with Christmas just being a few days away - it would be good to talk about the 13th-month pay. I decided to read through Get Real Philippines for some ideas and read about what it had to say about the practice of offering 13th-month pay  as mandated by the law. Is it me or is overspending almost become inseparable from the Filipino identity? Since when did learning to save for a rainy day and manage money properly make a Filipino well, less Filipino? I remembered getting health insurance and the like. I'm just amazed at how AXA does speak the truth that the majority of Filipinos are not prepared for the worse. It reminds me of how someone bought an air conditioner but didn't insure her vehicles and health. Others are mo...