Underage sex scandal in Singapore reveals its society's excellent character.

Singapore is the only country in southeast Asia where prostitution is legal yet continues to be regarded as a "prudish" and "squeaky clean" society.

A recent underage sex scandal may have embarrassed the government but has, ironically highlighted the excellent consistency with which the Singapore government applies the law.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/184073/under-age-call-girl-scandal-shakes-singapore-elite

Why Noynoy Aquino should complete his ENTIRE six-year term

[NB: Below is a copy of a comment posted on Get Real Post. Join the discussion in the only Filipino blog where insight trumps idiocy!]

@JoeAmerica: I don't know what your obssession is with this notion that GRP is out campaigning to "oust" Noynoy. I speak for myself when I say that I have always been for Noynoy serving his entire term. And I believe none of the GRP writers as far as I have seen have advocated removing him from Malacanang unconstitutionally. In fact, Filipinos should deserve to be subject to the Noynoy presidency for the full six year term. Filipinos deserve Noynoy, because they voted for him.

We remain exceedingly consistent not just in our focus on Noynoy's idiocracy but on the idiocracy of the broader society of Filipinos his presidency reflects. What I wrote back in June of 2010, for example, may as well have been written today...

Noynoy is just another bozo who just happened to have walked into our crosshairs and flashed his iconically moronic “L” sign once too often. These are crosshairs that have remained consistently focused on only one thing — aspects of Da Pinoy that account for our chronic inability to prosper as a society. So it’s nothing personal folks. Trabaho lang. Whether or not Noynoy stays within those crosshairs for the next six years is largely up to him.

As to how he is different from other Filipino politicians, well he isn't in a broad context. But narrow that context down to an evaluation within the set of politicians he is now part of (the rarefied set consisting of those who had served as Presidents) and Noynoy clearly comes up as a real chump...

I’ve always called politicians “bozos”. And for the record I personally consider Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III a bozo’s bozo. Add me to a box of “witchhunters” then, given this categorical declaration coming from me. Noynoy is in a class of politicians probably occupied by only two men — him and former President Joseph “Erap” Estrada. Between the two of them, they embody 99% of the renowned dysfunction of Filipino culture many of us here have been writing about for the past 10 years.

But whilst Erap represented that perverse machissmo that characterises the misguided aspirations of the average Pinoy male, Noynoy so effectively complements this “macho” persona by representing the emo wussy side of the Filipino — the side that predisposes us to an addiction to melodrama, telenovelas, nauseating romantically-charged ballads, and that world-renowned crybaby victim mentality that served as the bedrock upon which Noynoy’s campaign was mounted.

Indeed;

Noynoy is the Yang that completes Erap’s Yin.

You can't escape the reality of Noynoy's being a standout bozo, Joe. Perhaps, as another guy here said, you are among the more intelligent, articulate, and well-read among Noynoy's supporters. But that puts you in an even more tragic class of your own -- because time and again, it's been quite evident that exceptional intelligence is so obviously incompatible with being a Nonoyist. What does that make you? Simple. Inconsistent. And that ultimately is the source of your failure to earn the respect of people here... which is why you instead seek the comfort of people like yourself who comment on your blog -- articulate people but Noynoy supporters nonetheless: your partners in inconsistency and, as such, failed thought leader wannabes.

Kris Aquino on the Supreme Court ruling regarding Hacienda Luisita

A speculative storyboard on the evolution of presidential sister Kris Aquino's thoughts on the family jewels - Hacienda Luisita.

Image courtesy: PinoyExchange.com.

What Singapore Elder Statesman Lee Kuan Yew thinks of the Philippines

The following is an excerpt from the book From Third World to First (the Singapore Story written by Lee Kuan Yew. In this excerpt taken from a chapter on Singapore's efforts to develop relationships with other countries in the region in th 1970's the elder statesman provides some revealing insight into an outsider's take on the character of Philippine society.

The Philippines was a world apart from us, running a different style of politics and government under an American military umbrella. It was not until January 1974 that I visited President Marcos in Manila. When my Singapore Airlines plane flew into Philippine airspace, a small squadron of Philippine Air Force jet fighters escorted it to Manila Airport. There Marcos received me in great style – the Filipino way. I was put up at the guest wing of Malacañang Palace in lavishly furnished rooms, valuable objects of art bought in Europe strewn all over. Our hosts were gracious, extravagant in hospitality, flamboyant. Over a thousand miles of water separated us. There was no friction and little trade. We played golf, talked about the future of ASEAN, and promised to keep in touch.

His foreign minister, Carlos P. Romulo, was a small man of about five feet some 20 years my senior, with a ready wit and a self-deprecating manner about his size and other limitations. Romulo had a good sense of humor, an eloquent tongue, and a sharp pen, and was an excellent dinner companion because he was a wonderful raconteur, with a vast repertoire of anecdotes and witticisms. He did not hide his great admiration for the Americans. One of his favourite stories was about his return to the Philippines with General MacArthur. As MacArthur waded ashore at Leyte, the water reached his knees but came up to Romulo’s chest and he had to swim ashore. His good standing with ASEAN leaders and with Americans increased the prestige of the Marcos administration. Marcos had in Romulo a man of honor and integrity who helped give a gloss of respectability to his regime as it fell into disrepute in the 1980s.

In Bali in 1976, at the first ASEAN summit held after the fall of Saigon, I found Marcos keen to push for greater economic cooperation in ASEAN. But we could not go faster than the others. To set the pace, Marcos and I agreed to implement a bilateral Philippines-Singapore across-the-board 10 percent reduction of existing tariffs on all products and to promote intra-ASEAN trade. We also agreed to lay a Philippines-Singapore submarine cable. I was to discover that for him, the communiqué was the accomplishment itself; its implementation was secondary, an extra to be discussed at another conference.

We met every two to three years. He once took me on a tour of his library at Malacañang, its shelves filled with bound volumes of newspapers reporting his activities over the years since he first stood for elections. There were encyclopedia-size volumes on the history and culture of the Philippines with his name as the author. His campaign medals as an anti-Japanese guerrilla leader were displayed in glass cupboards. He was the undisputed boss of all Filipinos. Imelda, his wife, had a penchant for luxury and opulence. When they visited Singapore before the Bali summit they came in stye in two DC8’s, his and hers.

Marcos did not consider China a threat for the immediate future, unlike Japan. He did not rule out the possibility of an aggressive Japan, if circumstances changed. He had memories of the horrors the Imperial Army had inflicted on Manila. We had strongly divergent views on the Vietnamese invasion and occupation of Cambodia. While he, pro forma, condemned the Vietnamese occupation, he did not consider it a danger to the Philippines. There was the South China Sea separating them and the American navy guaranteed their security. As a result, Marcos was not active on the Cambodian question. Moreover, he was to become preoccupied with the deteriorating security in his country.

Read the rest of the excerpt here.

The one-trick PNoy

What is a broken record? It is a disparaging term for someone who repeats a statement over and over without any variation whatsoever. How about a one-trick pony? It describes a person, again disparagingly, who is really very good at doing only one thing. What happens if you put the two together? You get someone who keeps repeating a statement over and over, yet that is the only thing he knows how to do. 

We need not look far for an example of a one-trick pony who sounds like a broken record. President Benigno Aquino III (PNoy) demonstrated that he has been and will be that for a long time to come during his speech at the commencement exercises of the Philippine Military Academy’s class of 2012 last month.  You can read the full transcript in the following links in the original Filipino text, or in the translated English version

Once you get through the speech, you will realize that he just did the same thing over and over again; making references to his mother’s “saintly” qualities while taking potshots at his political enemies. The cadets, being respectful of the commander-in-chief, sat down quietly throughout the whole tirade. However, if the circumstances were a bit different, and if I were a part of the audience, I would have raised the following points:  

Excuse me, Mr. President. If it has to come to the situation that these AFP soldiers of ours have to take bribes from illegal loggers just to let them through, then it means that your people at the DENR were not doing their job properly in the first place!  

Excuse me, Mr. President. Your mother may not have been involved in taking money from national coffers herself, but she idly stood by and did nothing while her buddies did. So much for being clean; she is complicit to that wrongdoing by allowing it to even happen.  

Excuse me, Mr. President. Maybe you should have told those cadets instead, that you’re sending them out to battle, and most likely to die, at the hands of the very enemies of the state that you have allegedly been sleeping with.  

Excuse me, Mr. President. The PMA has an honor code; your clan apparently does not. Maybe you should also be telling these cadets that you condone military adventurism among their ranks. Do try to remember Danilo Lim and Antonio Trillanes, who is now one of your most rabid attack dogs in the Senate.  

Excuse me, Mr. President. The military emphasizes results over excuses. Stop making them. You do not blame the lack of progress on the presence of your “enemies”. You march on in spite of it. This is what real men do.  

Excuse me, Mr. President. You may have made a bit of good on your promise to modernize the AFP and to give them housing, but have you asked whether the housing is really what they need? Now that military confrontations within the region are looming, do you actually think that we stand a chance?

On a side note, the PMA class of 2012 is called Bagwis.  By itself it refers to the eagle’s wings in Philippine folk tales.  However, in their context it also is an acronym:  “Bagong Kawal Nag-iisang Lakas” – a new force with united strength.  Will this ever apply to us as Filipinos in the future?

Now that it is graduation season in virtually the whole Philippines, some of them are sure to take on PNoy as their guest speaker.  I pity the poor souls who will have to sit down and listen to him rant.  They will undoubtedly be more mature than he ever has been.

Maybe PNoy, ever showcasing the grand unoriginality of the Pinoy, will be attempting to take a cue from John F. Kennedy but alter the message to suit his own whims:

“Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for my family!”

'Informal settlers' or squatters? Call a spade a spade

Unfortunately for the hapless landowner, the Philippines is a society that likes to play the "humanitarian" card when it comes to squatters. Even the use of the word "squatter" has for some time been routinely dropped in "polite" conversation in favour of the euphemism "informal settler." Indeed, "human rights" activists have been quick to side with Davao City mayor Sarah Duterte, in the process becoming apologists for a mayor who, in front of TV cameras, launched into an unprovoked assault against sheriff Abe Andres, an officer of the Judiciary who, apparently, was just out to implement a court order. That, plus the convenient downplaying of what was clearly criminal behaviour on the part of the "informal settlers" affected by the demolition order who were throwing rocks and sharp objects at Andres's team and the police officers who were escorting them, is typical of a society where impunity rules.

Bottom line is that the issue of evicting squatters from land they have no right to inhabit will not have been muddled into idiotic debates that invoke "humanitarian" appeal had laws on squatting and legal use of both public and private property been observed from the very start. The problem with the way things are done in the Philippines is that small misdemeanors get routinely tolerated. And then more and more of them get tolerated until the pile of little misdemeanors gets bigger and bigger. We no longer see the small misdemeanors but behold the big pile of impunity looming tall before us and wonder, how this came to be.

A Reminder to be Prudent

Recently, Social Security System (SSS) has announced what seems to be like good news; it has lowered interest rates to reach out more to people who badly need some loans to get by. Furthermore, it has increased its housing loan limits to cater to more Filipinos.

To read the actual figures regarding the new SSS policy, you can check out this link.

While Filipino citizens can more or less breathe a sigh of relief over the benevolence of SSS, there is still a pressing need for everyone to be prudent with their financial decisions. I must emphasize that most of the responsibility falls on SSS, the benefactor. Since it relaxed its policies, it must expect a sudden rise in the number of individuals borrowing from SSS. More importantly, it must be careful with managing its reserve ratio to avoid lending too much, and to withstand external blows should they arise (people refusing to pay debts or delaying them). The last thing Philippines needs is a bubble in the financial sector.

Meanwhile, Filipinos shouldn't indiscriminately borrow from SSS, just because SSS has the bigger responsibility. Filipinos struggling through life via loans should abstain from needless buying and focus on securing financial stability and repaying their loans. Banking is a delicate system, which requires prudence from both parties. 

There is a growing doubt in me that the Philippines might not be prepared for more accessible loaning policies. There was no increase in the number of paper money; there was only a chance to borrow more. Filipinos should know the difference between the two before recklessly spending money, but I sincerely doubt they would even give it much thought; still I am prepared to give the benefit of the doubt. Needless to say, there are expectations that SSS has included the Filipino psyche in their calculations.

A case for why you should not vote

In the video below, although George Carlin refers to the American public, it is applicable to us Filipinos as well.

Keep in mind, this is stand-up comedy.   Take it with a grain of salt.

RIP, George Carlin.  One of the funniest American stand-up comedians ever.
 
George Carlin makes a case for why he does not vote

Form versus Function

I found this picture on Facebook, and I believe it applies to Filipinos who emphasize form rather than substance:

Composite image of 188 congressional impeachment railroaders!

Found on PinoyExchange.com posted by PEx netizen "tambay ng recto"...


(Click to enlarge)

One of Noynoy Aquino's more iconic Kodak moments

Just thought I'd share this gem of a photo of Philippine President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III which I swiped off Ben Kritz's article Powerless in Mindanao. The following was the caption to this photo in that article:

N/A demonstrates decisive leadership by providing a hands-on demonstration of the Administration's answer to Mindanao's power woes.

You can find more Noynoy Kodak moments here.

NoKor missile failed? Don't rejoice just yet.

News yesterday of the failure of the North Korean missile to launch has had many people within the region rejoicing and posting in Twitter and Facebook all over.  "That's why it's called rocket science."

Don't party just yet.  I can't say for a fact how smart North Koreans are, but they've shown cunning, and resourcefulness in dealing with the world.  While it's highly unlikely, they may have another rocket waiting to launch somewhere within their country.  After all, foreign inspectors have rarely been allowed in, who knows where all the launching sites are?

Let's try to think of things from their perspective.  Since it is the 100th birthday of their founder, Kim Il-Sung, on April 15, to have failed to launch the Unha (Galaxy) rocket is a big dishonor to their ancestors.  They couldn't care less what the world thinks; all that matters to them is to maintain what little face they think they have left with their dear leaders.  Worst case scenario, they cross the DMZ, and South Korea can only watch in shock as their neighbors trample over them.

If we, the rest of the world, want to rejoice at North Korea's failed attempts at showcasing their military might, we do it after we're sure all of their resources have run out.

No wonder war brings out the worst in men.  Take note of the shape of a missile and tell me what it reminds you of.  The bigger and more ordinance it carries, the better.

As for us, the Philippines, the only missile that we have in our arsenal to show is a limp one.  The North Koreans had no choice but to deal with a system that is very oppressive to its people: their brand of communism.  We had a choice, and we propagated a system which emphasized self-inflicted oppression: stupidity.

Filipinos least rude in the world my ass!

Am I being a crab if I thought that the Philippines as the least rude country in a recent survey is complete and utter bullsh*t?  If you think about it, maybe we are very polite and cordial, to foreigners, as long as we can keep milking money from them.  Actually, this isn't even being polite; it's being called sipsip and switik.  Once they run out of money or just stop spending it on us, and especially once they criticize us constructively and give us tips on how to improve, we immediately say that the Joes are stupid and that they should all go home.

Filipinos smile because they don't want the world to know that they're suffering.  If the world does know, Filipinos will only get more questions as to why, and the truth will eventually come out that most of the time, their suffering is the consequence of their own stupidity.   Filipinos go out of their way to help foreigners because most of the time, they're looking to get a sort of monetary reward or some sort of "favor" for their "troubles".

How locals treat foreign visitors is not a definitive basis of how rude they are as a people.  Watch how they treat each other, and their environment, and you get a much better idea.  It's easy to put up a veneer of kindness and receptiveness because you want to make a good first impression, but after that, bahala ka na sa buhay mo.  This is called pakitang taoism, the prevalent philosophy of the pilosopo. 

The concept of real respect, that which is earned and given without expecting anything in return, is hard to grasp for a group of people who think they are entitled to it, those who think it is their birthright as Filipinos.

Monkey see, monkey do

News of STC defying the court TRO by not allowing those kids to join graduation rites may be so last month, but I can't help but think that what we have here is someone emulating a "grand" example. That they defied the court TRO merely imitates Secretary De Lima's defiance of the TRO during Arroyo's departure.

Oh well monkey see, monkey do.  Then again, STC has two excuses:  they can always say "De Lima made me do it!", or they can invoke possibly the most retarded excuse.  "The law of God is above the law of men".  Yeah, right.  The kids may have been irresponsible with their Facebook settings, but what business did the STC nuns have peeping on them?

Therein lies the dilemma of these self-righteous Catholic institutions.  In a world increasingly becoming more secular and more connected through technology, they've lost all relevance by maintaining archaic, irrelevant, and downright moronic stances on issues.  They are not the absolute authorities on morality anymore.

As for De Lima, she's simply following her boss' orders.  No one is above dilaw, according to Joey de Leon below:

Hunger Games, Philippine Edition

Coming home from watching the Hunger Games (although I haven't read the book yet),  I let my imagination run wild again.

Why don't we create the local version, except this time the contestants are the 188 congressmen who signed the impeachment complaint against Chief Justice Renato Corona?  We gather them all, let them loose in the Philippine forests (or what's left of them).  They need to fight each other, and for their survival, until only one of them remains.  The prize: pork barrel, to handed over by none other than President Benigno Aquino III himself!

Di pala sila nagbasa ng complaint ha.  Let's see how they do when their very survivals as human beings are on the line.  They will face the many dangers of "roughing it" in the wild, and they may end up seeing Red.

Happy Hunger Games congressmen, may the odds be ever in your favor...

Have issues? Contact your local government agency

Whether it is GMA or PNoy, we can’t blame them for everything that is wrong in our society. We all have a role to play in our communities. Like what I have said in the past, being a member is not just about enjoying the privileges of being a part of it. It is important that we perform our roles as community members by calling the attention of those concerned and make sure they are doing their part in fixing what is broken.

When was the last time you called the attention of the people who run your local municipality and told them to fix something in your community?

Start with the Department of Public Works and Highway. As stated in a news item in June 2011:

Mr. Aquino inaugurated the DPWH’s 24-7 hotline for those who want to report damaged roads and other public infrastructure, inquire about the completion and other matters regarding government projects, file complaints and make suggestions.

The DPWH’s 165-02 hotline is operated by Solutions People Innovation-Global Inc., a subsidiary of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co.

Don't hold your breath waiting for your public servants to see everything. They need your help too. Start calling and writing them now!

When the weeks stop being holy...

The Holy Week is, without a doubt, a very influential event for Filipinos. The Senate has declared a five-week break from the ongoing impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona just to pave way for the said event.

Prominent figures in the circus that is national politics laid down their arms for a while to remind Filipinos of the meaning of Holy Week and its significance to us as a Christian nation. It seems that in the duration of this annual celebration, Filipinos more or less get to enjoy a short period of peace from political turmoil.

But then, what do you think will happen after Easter Sunday, when Filipinos rejoice over the resurrection of Christ? What will happen when we're finished contemplating on how we lived our lives, confessing our sins and promising to become better people?

The impeachment trial will resume, and the vindictive President will once again join forces with the flimsy prosecution to persecute the defendant. People will once again barrage GMA with countless expletives and insults as they happily march on the "daang matuwid" their beloved president laid down for them. The killings and torment in Hacienda Luisita will resume, the blood of the farmers serving as capital for the oligarchs. The Philippines will once again face an abundance of economic crises that will tear more and more families apart as workers leave the country for greener pastures. As soon as the Holy Week ends, Philippines will forget about God, and will once again immerse themselves in a society of vindictiveness, subservience and mediocrity.

Observing the Holy Week... it's more fun in the Philippines.

The Filipino obsession with suffering, and other thoughts

As the Lenten season

comes to a close, we see yet another opportunity to highlight reflection on our lives, and how to become better persons.  Yet we do not need to limit this to just the Lenten season.  We should always take note continuously of what we want to improve not just in ourselves, but in our environment.

I find it disturbing that Filipinos are obsessed with self-inflicted pain, and suffering in general.  Every Lenten season we never fail to hear about Filipinos who practice gory rituals, as if to experience for themselves the suffering that Jesus Christ endured on his way to dying on Good Friday. 

Why do Filipinos view suffering as normal?  Why do many of us brandish our crab mentality at people who are better off then we are?  We never run out of excuses as a people to blame everyone else but ourselves for our pathetic condition today. If only Filipinos were more resourceful, actually did the hard work, and used our kokote a little bit more, we would be able to figure out how to make the best out of our surroundings, and finally pick the right people for our government officials.

Finally, I think that Noynoy Aquino's message to be selfless this Lent falls short. He should be leading by example on how to be selfless: distribute Hacienda Luisita to the farmers. Uncle Peping, however, may just whip him in the back and crucify him upside-down if he does that.

Bonchon Chicken reminds me of the typical Filipino

I just ate at a

Bonchon Chicken branch this afternoon, after a long time. The skin is very delicious. Yet when I started eating the meat, I suddenly realized that it was rather bland.

Why does this remind me of a typical Filipino? A typical Filipino will give you the impression that he/she is very noteworthy and astig ang dating with his/her braggadocio. In short, he/she likes to brag. However, if you go past that and start dissecting him/her, he/she usually has nothing to show for it. In short, he/she is all hot air, and mediocre at best underneath.

I'm not telling you guys to stop eating at Bonchon Chicken. Yet the success of this product has proven yet again that Filipinos are all too quick to ride on the bandwagon of a product. Plus, they've shown themselves once again as suckers for a product that is, at the surface enticing, yet in the end is, in my opinion, rather mediocre.

Yes, that's the Pinoy for you. A piece of Bonchon chicken.

What if Filipinos were run like PMA Plebes?

I've entertained the idea

that maybe President Noynoy Aquino (PNoy) first, then Filipinos in general, should be handled similar to the way PMA plebes are handled. The Filipinos should be forced to hold their chin-up similar to the exaggerated attention stance. They should be forced to be on double time all the time. They should be forced to be at the beck and call of their “upperclassmen”. They deserve to be treated roughly and forced into the proper carriage so that they can grow a backbone.

It’s an enticing idea that the Filipino citizens be run military style. I may not agree with the entire method the military uses to inculcate discipline, but I have to agree it works. Filipinos are predisposed to being submissive, obedient, mindless flunkies anyway. This is possibly a thing that can finally get Filipinos to be orderly and to work as a team. If, as a people, we don't develop discipline, teamwork, and order, we all deserve to get shot at.

Inquirer.net editor hits Noynoy for Noynoying on Joel Reyes arrest!

It must be really bad when the Inquirer.net editor himself slams President Noynoy Aquino for yet another instance of his now renowned penchant for Noynoying on really important matters.

"It's bad enough that the grant of an extension for the surrender of Reyes et al. had the effect of blindsiding the warrant, rendering it defanged and invalidated—something Malacañang had no right, much less power, to do. Worse was Lacierda's justification for it: because Reyes is 'a former governor'."

Full article:
http://opinion.inquirer.net/26219/star-fugitives