Making It Fun in the Philippines

Just because it's Inquirer, CRappler or whatever doesn't mean it's always wrong. Sometimes, it's best to use their own Yellow Media against them. Unfortunately, Inquirer is right where Jover Laurio is wrong. It turns out to be that according to Inquirer -- there are more Korean businesses than Chinese businesses with the following statement: “There was no such reactions when the Koreans came . . . three to four years ago,” said the businessman, who spoke on condition of anonymity to protect his business. The Koreans have actually “ more establishments here and are diversified, ” he said. “Koreans are not only into restaurants but are also into hotels, health spas and massage parlors, bars, coffee shops, groceries, dive shops and other water sports and activities, and there are a lot of (Korean-owned) travel agencies,” the businessman said. Well, I wonder did Jover even bother to analyze anything? It's really funny how she got the " Filipino of the Ye...

It's amazing how "intelligent" Jover Laurio can really be. I didn't want to immediately write this common sense post as an indirect reply to her blog post where she compared Boracay to Chinatown . The stupidity is so amazing and here's a bit of stupidity that she posted: Ginawa mo na siyang Chinatown. 300 hotels and resorts were given notice to vacate, pero yung mga Chinese nagsusulputan. Pag sa Chinese ang luwag niyo no? Mula sa pag-agaw teritoryo natin hanggang sa mga Chinese drug lord. May nahuli na ba? (Translation) The place is turned into Chinatown. There are 300 hotels and resorts that were given notice to vacate but the Chinese were uncooperative.  So you are lenient with the Chinese? From the Chinese seizing territory to Chinese drug lords. Have you caught any? This makes me laugh for this reason. One, is Jover really even sure that the 300 hotels and resorts were illegal Chinese as she claims? Such an accusation could lead her to getting...

It's been a day after Boracay was opened and six months since its closure. I remembered how some of President Duterte's invalid critics were always criticizing the move to close and rehabilitate Boracay saying that potential revenue would be lost. Others were raising false alarms that Boracay would be sold to China which is also not true. Now it's time to witness the rehabilitation of Boracay. While I'm no solid Duterte supporter myself (he should consider not shooting his mouth off such as his dirty jokes and bad words) and you don't need to be a Duterte supporter to actually agree with the right he does. It's possible to dislike President Duterte while agreeing with whatever right he does such as the no public smoking policy or curfew laws for minors. This post is not to address people who dislike President Duterte but those who want to discredit him for the right he does. I may not like Noynoy Aquino but I can still agree that his important 29 economic ame...

This image came from ironeXplores It's been several months since Boracay was closed for rehabilitation. It was a planned six month rehabilitation project which the island will have a soft opening by October 26, 2018. So what was going on after some time? The island is now starting to recover its natural pristine beauty. I'm amazed at how this long overdue project (which should have been done during Noynoy Aquino's administration but was presumably shut down out of spite for Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ) was finally done. The results are not instantaneous but it's amazing how much was done by doing the long overdue project. I may not be a fan of the current House Speaker but at least I'm in favor of some of her projects -- which should have been carried by Noynoy during the last term. Now this is one thing I'd like to stress -- tourism is part of good economics but not too much tourism. It's like having the goose who lays the golden eggs and why you shouldn...

This is one of the latest tweets of ABiaS-CBN reporter Karen Davila. Fortunately, it's written in English so non-Filipino speakers can at least understand it without the need for me (or anyone) to translate it for them. I wrote about why shutting down Boracay for the moment (and maybe six months isn't enough) would be a good long-term decision . Her latest tweet is a microcosm of one thing -- the prevalence of short-term thinking and hardly having other alternatives. Why is it short-term thinking? She refuses to see the long-term of what could happen if Boracay isn't rehabilitated then how much revenues will be lost in the future. Heck, Boracay may have to be nuked if that's the case. Spending for necessary compliance is part of business. It sickens me to think how people care more about money than the environment. I understand money is needed but if you don't spend money on proper waste disposal (and innovate to find new ways of proper waste disposal) then consi...

I'm already hearing Boracay-natics whine about, "Kapag isara ang Boracay, paano ang tourism?" which means "If we close down Boracay, what about tourism?" or stuff like that. Well here's a bit of a businessman's view to at least ask, "If we're not innovating to save the environment then what's the use of innovating if all you destroy is what innovation could have saved?" In short, business shouldn't only be focused on earning money and innovating to keep it running in the short run. In fact, what's the use of having money if the whole island is drop dead polluted? You can surely still earn money but later -- the tourist sport would be good as dead that it may have to be nuked. That's something I wish wouldn't happen. Innovative thinking should be long term and sustainable -- not short-term and just thinking about getting easy money.  Here's what GMA-News has to say about President Duterte's decision to clo...

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...

It's obvious that the Anti-Duterte group (and I don't want to lump them together with people who are critical of President Duterte while staying logical by approving of the good he does and criticizes him of some of his actions) are making up nonsense again. Some say that shutting down Boracay for now is going to weaken the economy (HUH?!) or that President Duterte will "sell Boracay to China" (HUH?!) need to see what has happened to the once wonderful island and tourist spot known as Boracay. Nothing could help me but still feel disgusted to what happened to the island. I remembered how I heard of Boracay was a nice place to be -- but I went there last 2012 and found out how it's not the best place to be. I simply couldn't help but feel disgusted and even regret why I even went there. It was so filthy! President Duterte is right -- it's a pool of feces or sh*t . I'd like to say nakakadiri which means disgusting. If I'm using my income to pa...