GRPundit

What do most Filipinos do when stopped by a policeman? Of course – lagay. And then they start screaming how incompetent and corrupt the leadership is! Not to excuse the corrupt, incompetent leadership but sometimes we get what we deserve. We have voters who haven't the slightest clue about any issue. We should only allow those with college degrees to vote! Unfortunately the only hope for a turnaround, Rodrigo Duterte is not running. So what are we suppose to do? Don't bribe a policeman, don't bribe a customs inspector, don't bribe a BIR examiner, don't bribe a LTO clerk, don't bribe anyone in City Hall, etc. If you ask any of the current candidate what their vision for the Philippines I bet you won't get any inspiring answers because they don't have any. ------------------ This is a GRP Featured Comment. Join the discussion! http://getrealphilippines.com/blog/2015/03/5-things-that-will-happen-when-mar-roxas-becomes-president-of-the-philippines/...

My sister-in-law who is 19, wanted to register as a first time voter..the COMELEC of course wanted to see an ID or her NSO issued birth certificate…since she graduated high school two years back, she has been staying with my family watching over my kids and of course her ID was of her senior year in high school…NOT ACCEPTABLE they say..get a birth certificate they say..no surprises at NSO either..NO ID NO BC..get a barangay clearance they say so they can issue a BC..off to the barangay hall…WTF..they will only issue clearance if you are a registered voter… Spoke to a councilor and all he can say is sorry but that's the protocol…fuck that, you just lost 4 votes you moron…no wonder why people resort to get ID's from Recto…round in circles we go in this fucked up country..damn..i never wanted to use my visa to the US because i wanted to stay here hoping things will changes for the better..but with this latest incident, i am seriously considering leaving this STUPID place.. -...

Just to share my experience earlier, as I was about to get to a bus near Shaw boulevard, I was surprised to see something unexpected: A line for boarding the bus. Though they were only 5-6 people, that made me smile as it really caught me off guard. Seldom will you see that in this country. I joined them. A while later, another person with his friend came and tried to cut through the line. One uttered that there was a line so those people backed off. but then, more people came… So of course, the line disappeared to my dismay. As we were boarding the bus, I heard the person earlier who tried to cut the line tell his friend in a sarcastic tone: "May pila daw kanina. Wala naman pala. Buysit" Well shit. Siya pa na-buysit. Meron naman talaga pila bago nun eh. Pasaway lang talaga tao. And I know what your thinking: Bakit hindi sinita yung mga sumingit? Well, may kalbo kasi na malaki na mukhang siga na dumire-diretso kahit kitang-kita naman na may pila na. Tapos marami na rin su...

[Filipinos live by flawed notions when it comes to] casting blame. It's practically saying let's punish the children or descendants of those people who did wrong in the past. Let us make the children answer/suffer for the shortcomings, real or imagined, of their elders. I don't think that is what Jose Rizal meant or thought when he made a statement about our youth as the future of the country. Pointing to the past crimes of the other party will not really prove the innocence of the accusing party. It will only prove that everybody is guilty of the same crimes. I don't think martial law is being use as a tool to frighten the people. Even if it is I don't think there will be people who will get scared because martial law is a non-starter at this time. It was a fad in the '70s and '80s. It was the trend in the past that will be hard to repeat in the present. What actually was happening was, for lack of a legitimate issue against, for example Bongbong [Marco...

It seems Filipinos are not really interested in solving problems. They are more interested in finding someone to blame. It's likely because blaming someone gives the illusion of moral high ground, and it feels like solving the problem when it really worsens it. In this case, for why the Philippines is so backward and dysfunctional, it is popular to blame Marcos. But that's actually the wrong answer. Blaming-addicted Filipinos fail to understand that the true reason behind the country's dysfunctions is the very attitude of Filipinos themselves. Indeed, a significant cause is their very culture, composed of their beliefs vis-a-vis their actions. The laziness, the "me-first" attitude, the parochiality, the victim mentality, the arrogance through "Pinoy Pride," and more. These are all part of what led to Marcos's regime after all. But when faced with the obvious solution, Filipinos refuse to do it. They refuse to admit their own faults and take res...

I think all countries, if they have the capability, have economic "hitmen". I have just learned, for example, from a friend in the UN that China seems to be today very busy in trying to influence anything and everything in the international body. From NY to Geneva, the wining and dining that is going and that the Chinese spend on the different and critical UN personnel is unprecedented and incredible, she says. The only reason we get hit by these US hitmen is because don't have strategic positioning, we are too inward looking, but that is because we don't approach things like business, and thus we don't nuanced. Business is always about gaining strenght, and strenght does not necessarily have to start with money and arms. It has to be founded on the right principles, values, and good foresight. Most people are rational, and they can be reason out. If only the Philippines just does this, I think we could have a lot of allies in the world in terms of countries, or...

Guys, please take a look at this link >>> Declare these ambassadors personae non-grata, October 16, 2015 Manila Times >>  http://goo.gl/7epCdm Ambassadors of 18 countries signed a petition pushing for the passage of BBL. Imagine that. Sonamagan. Now, what are we going to do? Let's see, either PNoy organized this petition to pressure Congress and the public, or it was the US. We all know that the BBL idea came from the US. It started at the time of Amb Kristie Kenney, who shuttled back and forth between ARMM and Manila until they got the MOA-AD done. GMA signed it, but Supreme Court threw it out as unconstitutional. Immediately, GMA distanced herself away from the project, and we thought it was dead in the water. PNoy comes along and, most likely under the pressure of US, resurrects the idea, but this time under a different guise, so they call it BBL, and the US Ambassador stays in the background; Kenney's high profile effort being burned earlier. Most...

On the issue of asking Bongbong Marcos to apologize for his parents, I agree, it doesn't make sense. It doesn't not because we're Asians but because he has nothing to do with what his father did. Why apologize for something he has nothing to do with? Ramos and Enrile (and other remnants of the Marcos regime) who were Martial Law architects were not asked to apologize for the dictator. Why would the son who was even a toddler/teenager at the time his father ruled with an iron fist? Of course, he can apologize and that would still be within what being an Asian is. Admitting something that is a fact. But of course, he will not and should not because it will really do no good for him or his family except as a sound bite for those who wants to make him dance to their music. ---------------- This is a GRP Featured Comment. Join the discussion! http://getrealphilippines.com/blog/2015/10/revising-the-revisionist-philippine-history-as-told-by-the-victors/#comment-1373789 ...

The Philippines today is like a very poor version of late 19th century to early 20th century USA (minus the military power of course), complete with underpaid workers (factory workers in USA then, farmers in the Philippines now). What helped change USA at that time was a guy named Theodore Roosevelt. Teddy Roosevelt in my opinion is the best US president since Lincoln, since he regulated the really powerful big businesses at that time, and helped in preserving natural parks. Not only that, but during his political career, he fought against corruption even if it involved his own party, the Republican Party. From what I have read and watched, Teddy Roosevelt has a fiery personality, believed that he had a responsibility to his people, and acted upon it. He was also a determined man for he was a weak child and did what he can to strengthen himself. What was the point in knowing all that? My point is that as many have already said "Those who do not know history are doomed to r...

The Marcos Administration, during the 1972-81 martial law period tripled the country's road network, doubled the electrification of the country's homes, increased irrigated cropland eight-fold, and achieved rice and corn self-sufficiency. Minimum daily wage rates tripled, although inflation, driven by international oil price hikes and exploding U.S. interest rates, more than wiped out these wage increases. The oil price hike got Marcos thinking about Nuclear power. But the opponents of Marcos were soon being wined and dined in Washington, by both the right wing (Shultz and Wolfowitz) and the left wing (Rep. Stephen Solarz, Sen. Ted Kennedy, and Princeton's Richard Falk) of the "Project Democracy" apparatus, which performed the subversive tasks assigned by the synarchist banking institutions. Salvador Laurel, the son of the quisling President of the Philippines under the Japanese occupation, headed the opposition after Aquino's assassination, and in Februar...

There is no such thing as sacrifice. One of the common phrase I hear Filipino parents tell their children to make them feel guilty is, "Lahat ng sakripisyo ay ginagawa na namin para sainyo; ngayon ito ang isusukli ninyo sa amin?" (We are already making all these sacrifices for you, and this is what you give us in return?). Well, if parents stop and think about it, their kids did not ask to be borne into this world. Parents wanted to have children for one reason or another. It is the same thing when we get married. No one twisted our arms and said we have to marry the person we are with. If anything, "sacrifice" that we tends to overused, and abuse, to make someone feel guilty is an actually an 'investment' in our future. We marry for companionship, to have children, and to have someone there to help us in life. We have children because we want our own "flesh and blood" to continue our legacy after we are gone, and, hope someone will take care...

English is the lingua franca of business and travel worldwide. Yes, the spread of English was the result of colonialism, but not of the Americans, but of the British who at one time said, "The sun never sets on the British Empire." Regardless of how or why English came to The Philippines, it IS the language of international business and tourism. To ignore it and lose competence for the sake of some childish "national identity" is simply stupid. The English used here is abysmal & even for someone like myself who has been here for 12 years (I teach English), I often find myself trying to make myself understood. English is just a more varied and colorful language than almost any other. The possible exceptions would be Russian and Farsi, so learn English properly if you want to get ahead in life. This stands true for the entire nation, not just the "elite" or the children of politicians. Take a look at Manny Pacquiao for an example. When he first f...

Unfortunately the Philippines is a sexualized society, meaning that the only thing that matters is lust. Ika nga "sex sells" and it's very sad that Filipino society is indeed sexualized. From noontime shows to simple conversations, sex is the number one topic. I'm not saying sex is bad. It's actually a basic human need. But it has not to be perverted or making it an obsession. Sexualization reduces a person into a sex object meaning he or she is only worthy if she's oozing with sex appeal. Her intelligence and inner character become useless. The American Psychological Association defines sexualization as follows:"individuals are regarded as sex objects and evaluated in terms of their physical characteristics and sexiness" and unfortunately, this is what defines modern Philippine society thanks to Hollywood and moreover to prudish Christianity especially the Catholic Church. You can say Christians are prudes and repress sexuality, but actually the...