In my daily perusals of Fiipino newspapers on the net, I read somewhere that since the 1980s, more than 50 journalists have been killed in the Philippines. Yet these deaths have all been hush-hush in the media nor were there criminal cases filed in court for any of these killlings. Why? It seems journalists have been muffled with fear. Reading various papers nowadays is different from reading newspapers when I was in high school in the 70s. Back then, news reports were more daring. Journalists were not cowed to bow before the powers that be. Fast-forward to 2008, no one would dare write about the real story on the various kidnap-for-ransom incidents, no one would dare type one word about the real story behind the festering boil of corruption entrnched in government. Isn't it puzzling that in the 70's the Marcoses were in power but there seemed to be braver journalists? It must be because it was easier to know who to be afraid of then than now. In the 70s there was one over-arching source of greed and corruption. Nowadays, this source of greed and corruption is a Medusa-like entity with inumerable tentacles.
I actually enjoy reading blogs nowadays more than reading the on-line Filipino newspapers because these blog writers provide me with the real picture....unlike the actual newspapers which seem to be "sanitized". There seems to be no such thing as press freedom anymore in the Philippines.
Here in North America, press freedom is alive and well. The problem is, North American journalists tend to be so nit-picky that even issues that to a discerning eye would be a trivial matter is blown-out of proportion and discussed to death. It must be the lack of "real" desperate issues like starvation or poverty that drives these journalists to be shallow.
No contentment for me? Yes, it seems that way....voracious reader that I am, I've been getting picky about what I read lately.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
July 1 and June 12
Today is Canada Day. Every 1st of July, Canada celebrates this day which is the anniversary of the formation of the union of a number of provinces here. People enjoy it with so much zest and a feeling of love for the country. Being a Canadian, I join in the festivities together with my kin and kith. However, being a Filipino by birth (and by heart), I can't help but be highly cognizant of how the celebration of June 12, the Philippines' Independence Day has more substance than Canada Day. This is in view of the fact that the June 12 celebration is all about a hard-fought independence earned through blood, sweat and tears. In counterpoint, the July 1 celebration is merely a commemoration of a day when it was declared that this and this and that province is now officially one country. There were no brave "Katipuneros" fighting the Spanish colonizers in the 18th Century, brandishing their swords, shouting their revolutionary cries. There was just a "declaration" by some officials, a stamp and a couple of signatures.
I want to make it clear that it is not my intention to minimize the greatness of this adopted country of mine. I am just being factual. I do recognize though that it seems like Canadians really show such intense love for their country, as opposed to a somewhat ingrained "colonial mentality" in the Philippines. One cannot judge a country by its history, and I for one am one person who definitely cannot lecture about nationalism as I am living overseas. Who am I to judge right?
I'm just typing out my thoughts...sharing it with anyone who has parallel concepts....So there...
I want to make it clear that it is not my intention to minimize the greatness of this adopted country of mine. I am just being factual. I do recognize though that it seems like Canadians really show such intense love for their country, as opposed to a somewhat ingrained "colonial mentality" in the Philippines. One cannot judge a country by its history, and I for one am one person who definitely cannot lecture about nationalism as I am living overseas. Who am I to judge right?
I'm just typing out my thoughts...sharing it with anyone who has parallel concepts....So there...
Friday, June 20, 2008
Thursday, June 19, 2008
An Inconvenient Truth
blo
Have you watched the documentary "An Inconvenient Truth"? I watched it the other day and I am still so affected by it until now.
I highly suggest that you watch it.
Global warming is a serious threat!! And the goal to reverse global warming is not a political issue. It is each and every individual's civic responsibility. If we, our children, and our children’s children want to continue living on Earth, it is imperative that we take action. And we have to start today!!!
I highly suggest that you watch it.
Global warming is a serious threat!! And the goal to reverse global warming is not a political issue. It is each and every individual's civic responsibility. If we, our children, and our children’s children want to continue living on Earth, it is imperative that we take action. And we have to start today!!!
Blogging Respite
I've had a brief respite from blogging as I had to attend to numerous "life travails" - a course (one last course to go to get my post-grad diploma...yippee!!), a home decorating plan (want to do some re-decorating at home), immersion into my one and only 3 year-old grandson's swim class, golf lessons, pre-school activities, etc..etc..
But I am back!!!! For good this time, and I would like to expand the topics here in my blog. Maybe I'll talk as well about more global topics and not just talk about the Philippines. This way no one can accuse me of having a set of "myopic" eyes....Ha-ha...
But I am back!!!! For good this time, and I would like to expand the topics here in my blog. Maybe I'll talk as well about more global topics and not just talk about the Philippines. This way no one can accuse me of having a set of "myopic" eyes....Ha-ha...
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Enough is Enough!!!!
I have not had the chance to upload a posting for over a month now. LIFE interfered with my blogging activities...Ha-ha! My reading addiction can never be satiated though and so I still try to squeeze in quick perusals of an article or two every now and then....The words I've typed as the blog title came from a document that I have just read. It is a document submitted by 54 past and current top government officials titled "Time to Go: A Call to our Colleagues in Government". As you may know by now, I am not enamoured with Jun Lozada, but I have to admit that I now realize how strongly his "heroic" deed has reverberated in the hearts of many. The widening ripple created by that single deed is still in action, and I am hoping that the ripple will soon become a wave, and that that wave will soon become a tsunami.
Please check out:
http://www.inquirer.net/verbatim/Time_to_Go.pdf
These 54 individuals have "seen-the-light" and are now encouraging other government officials who have witnessed these immoral acts of government to come forward and bask under the rays of TRUTH. They are requesting these officials to CUT CLEAN! They are declaring to the other officials that IT IS TIME TO GO! This is eeriely parallel to the time when Senator Armacost told Apo to "Cut and cut cleanly!"
Talaga namang panahon na....
Talaga namang sobra na...
TAMA NAMAN NA!!!
Monday, April 21, 2008
The Potency of a Gargantuan Cup of Espresso
Every now and then, articles that deliver exhilarating jolts (jolts that are way more potent than the type we get from caffeine-filled cups of espresso from the corner Starbucks). fall under our perusal. When that occurs, we either hit the jolt upfront and react with action or we let the jolt hit us unconscionably inert. I've chanced upon one such jolt and it has spurred me into (1) creating a new blog and (2) spreading the word to infect others with this wondrous germ of vision.
Please read on....
_______________________________
Wanted: A Few Good Men (and Women)
By Dr. Rusty Balderian
Most of us overseas Filipinos talk a lot about the problems in the Philippines with passion. We praise ourselves as modern day heroes. We think that we are better morally than those in the Philippines because they are corrupt, poor, and less educated. We think we have the best solutions to improve our country. We talk and write with highfalutin words to show others that we have the best verbal and written command of English. That’s all we are good at. But talk is cheap.
If we are really serious in our desire to help our nation, let’s go back to the Philippines and do the job right, the way we want it done. Let us stop complaining. Let us stop talking. Let's roll our sleeves and do it ourselves like the retired navy officer from Vallejo, California, Congressman Teodulo "Doloy" Coquilla of Eastern Samar, and businessmen from Los Angeles, California, Congressman Rosendo Labadlabad of the 2nd District of Zamboanga del Norte, Ronald Golez, Mayor of Dumangas, Ilo-Ilo, and myself Mayor of TabonTabon, Leyte, to name a few. Each one of us have been "successful" in our own way while living in the land of milk and honey. We decided to go back to the Philippines because like most of us, we believed that our nation needs help. We were newbies in the Philippine politics of the last May 2007 election. But we won. We surrendered our American Citizenship and Green Cards and left our comfortable homes and gas guzzling cars because we believe that we can make a difference in our respective communities. We plan to implement the best practices that we have seen and learned in our adopted countries.Before going back to the Philippines, we had our visions how we can help improve our nation. However, we are having a hard time because we are very few, a little voice that can not be heard in the hollowed halls of Congress. We need more people to run for elective offices so we can make an effective change. Alone, we will just be eaten by the corrupt system. We will be infected by the same deadly virus that we call graft and corruption. We are ineffective to make the change because we don't have the number. Politics is a numbers game. Good intentions doesn't mean a thing if we don't have the right number in the Municipal Council, Provincial Development Council or in Congress and Senate. We need more Congressmen who can not be bought by the President for Five Hundred Thousand Pesos to prevent her impeachment. We need more few good men and women. Let us stop criticizing the leaders running the country. Let us be the leaders running our nation,. Let us replace the "trapos", actors, and musicians in Congress and the Senate for an effective governance of our nation.
Stop dreaming for a better Philippines. Let us work for it."Kung hindi dito, saan? Kung hindi ngayon, kailan?, Kung hindi ako, sino ang gagawa nito para sa Filipino?"Let this be a challenge to all the leaders of the global Filipinos to go back to the Philippines and run an elective position in 2010 so we can solve the problems that beseech our nation. Let us stop talking about the problems. We need a concerted effort to get rid of the problems. We need to form a party whose candidates will all be coming from the overseas Filipinos. Idealistic, vibrant, educated, technologically savvy, full of good ideas, noble, morally upright and most of all, free from the deadly virus of graft and corruption. I'm sure we can find among the eight million Filipinos in diaspora, one thousand five hundred good men and women to run as Mayors in their respective towns, two hundred forty good men and women to run for Congress in their respective districts, Twelve good men and women to run for Senate, and one good man/woman that we can rally behind to run for President.It cannot be done on an individual effort as what some of us have done. Dr. Martin Bautista a successful medical practitioner from the East Coast had the same dream to help improve our country. He returned to the Philippines and ran for the Senate in the last election under the Kapatiran Party, a very noble organization, but lost. Individually, we are weak even if we have the best resume, good intentions and sizable personal resources to back us up when we run against the well entrenched traditional politicians.
A united overseas Filipinos is a very strong force to reckon with. Imagine the 8 million Filipinos in Diaspora who send 12 Billion dollars annually to the Philippines can dictate their dependents in the Philippines who to vote for in this coming 2010 election. At an average of 5 voters under his sphere of influence, that is a whopping 40 million votes. Candidates of the United OFW will no longer have to buy votes to be elected.If the 8 million OFW donates Fifty Dollars to the United OFW Party, that is Four Hundred million dollars as party funds. This can be used as a counterpart to the amount of campaign funds that a candidate can raise through donation only. Elected government officials will no longer have to take the ten percent "SOP" in all infrastructure projects since they have no massive campaign expenses to recoup. Graft and corruption will be history. There will be no political debts to pay except to the Filipino people.
Please read on....
_______________________________
Wanted: A Few Good Men (and Women)
By Dr. Rusty Balderian
Most of us overseas Filipinos talk a lot about the problems in the Philippines with passion. We praise ourselves as modern day heroes. We think that we are better morally than those in the Philippines because they are corrupt, poor, and less educated. We think we have the best solutions to improve our country. We talk and write with highfalutin words to show others that we have the best verbal and written command of English. That’s all we are good at. But talk is cheap.
If we are really serious in our desire to help our nation, let’s go back to the Philippines and do the job right, the way we want it done. Let us stop complaining. Let us stop talking. Let's roll our sleeves and do it ourselves like the retired navy officer from Vallejo, California, Congressman Teodulo "Doloy" Coquilla of Eastern Samar, and businessmen from Los Angeles, California, Congressman Rosendo Labadlabad of the 2nd District of Zamboanga del Norte, Ronald Golez, Mayor of Dumangas, Ilo-Ilo, and myself Mayor of TabonTabon, Leyte, to name a few. Each one of us have been "successful" in our own way while living in the land of milk and honey. We decided to go back to the Philippines because like most of us, we believed that our nation needs help. We were newbies in the Philippine politics of the last May 2007 election. But we won. We surrendered our American Citizenship and Green Cards and left our comfortable homes and gas guzzling cars because we believe that we can make a difference in our respective communities. We plan to implement the best practices that we have seen and learned in our adopted countries.Before going back to the Philippines, we had our visions how we can help improve our nation. However, we are having a hard time because we are very few, a little voice that can not be heard in the hollowed halls of Congress. We need more people to run for elective offices so we can make an effective change. Alone, we will just be eaten by the corrupt system. We will be infected by the same deadly virus that we call graft and corruption. We are ineffective to make the change because we don't have the number. Politics is a numbers game. Good intentions doesn't mean a thing if we don't have the right number in the Municipal Council, Provincial Development Council or in Congress and Senate. We need more Congressmen who can not be bought by the President for Five Hundred Thousand Pesos to prevent her impeachment. We need more few good men and women. Let us stop criticizing the leaders running the country. Let us be the leaders running our nation,. Let us replace the "trapos", actors, and musicians in Congress and the Senate for an effective governance of our nation.
Stop dreaming for a better Philippines. Let us work for it."Kung hindi dito, saan? Kung hindi ngayon, kailan?, Kung hindi ako, sino ang gagawa nito para sa Filipino?"Let this be a challenge to all the leaders of the global Filipinos to go back to the Philippines and run an elective position in 2010 so we can solve the problems that beseech our nation. Let us stop talking about the problems. We need a concerted effort to get rid of the problems. We need to form a party whose candidates will all be coming from the overseas Filipinos. Idealistic, vibrant, educated, technologically savvy, full of good ideas, noble, morally upright and most of all, free from the deadly virus of graft and corruption. I'm sure we can find among the eight million Filipinos in diaspora, one thousand five hundred good men and women to run as Mayors in their respective towns, two hundred forty good men and women to run for Congress in their respective districts, Twelve good men and women to run for Senate, and one good man/woman that we can rally behind to run for President.It cannot be done on an individual effort as what some of us have done. Dr. Martin Bautista a successful medical practitioner from the East Coast had the same dream to help improve our country. He returned to the Philippines and ran for the Senate in the last election under the Kapatiran Party, a very noble organization, but lost. Individually, we are weak even if we have the best resume, good intentions and sizable personal resources to back us up when we run against the well entrenched traditional politicians.
A united overseas Filipinos is a very strong force to reckon with. Imagine the 8 million Filipinos in Diaspora who send 12 Billion dollars annually to the Philippines can dictate their dependents in the Philippines who to vote for in this coming 2010 election. At an average of 5 voters under his sphere of influence, that is a whopping 40 million votes. Candidates of the United OFW will no longer have to buy votes to be elected.If the 8 million OFW donates Fifty Dollars to the United OFW Party, that is Four Hundred million dollars as party funds. This can be used as a counterpart to the amount of campaign funds that a candidate can raise through donation only. Elected government officials will no longer have to take the ten percent "SOP" in all infrastructure projects since they have no massive campaign expenses to recoup. Graft and corruption will be history. There will be no political debts to pay except to the Filipino people.
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