Rain-related news: Despite heavy rains, water supply remains a concern.Put another way, 3 days of rain cooled Metro, but still not enough. Meanwhile, Palace wants P500m released for drought. News like this aimed at justifying such requests: Dry spell impacts on poverty; cost to rice up to P1B.
On the economic front, 38 Cebu firms close, lay off 13,000 (effect of the appreciation of the Peso). Inflation rate inched up to 2.6% in July, the World Bank to double loans to RP, and our Forex reserves hit $27.9b.
The Rich getting richer faster than the poor. A ray of hope is this: Migrant philanthropy slowly transforming provinces, study shows. In his column, Tony Lopez says the auto industry is almost back to 1997 levels.
As Palace keeps hands off on ZTE deal, the buck merrily gets passed along: Ermita: Broadband deal is Mendoza’s baby.
Palace goings-on: Palace bares new gov’t appointments, including Senator Santiago’s husband joins Arroyo Cabinet. Moves include Palace replaces insurance chief. More executive tinkering: GMA transfers Toll Body to DPWH.
New DND head bares plans: speaks in tough terms about the Abu Sayaff, and says he’ll continue Nonong Cruz’s reforms. Meanwhile, Three rebels, 1 soldier dead in fighting. Read Patricio Diaz’s suggestion that there’s confusion in Basilan.
As for the continuing investigation of the massacre of the Marines: Esperon debunks ‘miscom’ report. So what happened? And now, pilots get blame for not firing a shot in Basilan.
In the Senate, Villar faces yet another sticky issue.
The Speaker soothes his erstwhile foes: Garcia, other solons assigned House committees: Cynthia Villar, for one, is officially out of the doghouse, returning as chairman of the committee (education) she’d be deprived of when she signed on to the impeachment complaints against the President.
Speaking of the Speaker, he reminds everyone that his party doesn’t intend to die (to quote Marcos): De Venecia to LP, NP: It’s romantic but get real. John Nery had pointed to an embargoed survey on who the public really considers the presidential frontrunners. The results are still embargoed, but this might be a sign of news concerning that survey, to come: Legarda leads 2010 hopefuls in survey . The Speaker may be on to something.
UNO: Impeach poll execs but Bedol offers help to reform polls. Comelec seems more interested in punishing those that exposed its goings-on: Comelec eyes electoral sabotage raps vs 2 media personalities. Much speculation who the two are. Everyone assumes Ricky Carandang is one. He says he isn’t one of those mentioned.
Newsbreak explains why the Estrada camp has lost its oomph.
Wacky news: ‘Bangungot’ linked to Asian skull shape. Not wacky, but well…. Continue with your ministry, Pope tells Rosales.
Overseas: why hasn’t the US Attorney-General not been impeached yet? Dahlia Lithwick takes a look. Roger Simon ponders the weaknesses of debating as a means of figuring out if a candidate will be a good president or not. In History Unfolding, an update and analysis of the situation in Iraq:
The experience of Anbar province suggests something very important: that an American withdrawal will not, as the Administration argues, mean the ascendancy of Al Queda, whom Iraqi tribesmen have no reason to love. But meanwhile, there has been no rapprochement between Sunnis and Shi’ites. Our strategy appears to be to try to fight the extremists among both groups while supporting the moderates, and it is angering the Shi’ite government while failing to please the Sunnis, who just withdrew their ministers. The need for some kind of partition seems to get more obvious every day, but we are not moving in that direction yet.
An interesting article: Japan’s Democracy Comes of Age:
Last week the opposition Democratic Party of Japan returned the favor, handing the LDP an historic defeat in the election for half of the House of Councilors, Japan’s senate.
To understand what has happened, it is necessary to look back to the situation that prevailed from the founding of the LDP in 1955 to the 1990s. Japan’s Diet was essentially gerrymandered to ensure that the LDP maintained a firm grip on government. Parliamentarians were chosen from large, multi-member districts. That meant that successful candidates often won with only about 10 per cent of the vote, or less. This system put a premium on local connections and pork barrel politics. Issues? Who needs issues?
In Indonesia, the public proves the pollsters wrong, by enthusiastically participating in the country’s first-ever direct gubernatorial elections. In Asia has Jeremy Gross saying the Indonesians are proving to have a strong civic sense. And, is there a Malay malaise? Rot and More Rot in Malaysia’s Judicial System. The Thais are engaged in debating the pros and cons of their new constitution: August 19 referendum: key issue is ‘legitimacy’.
My column for today is Sandbagged opposition (unedifying headlines like this don’t help: Cayetano-Lacson feud erupts over Blue Ribbon). The move by Francis Pangilinan to block Adel Tamano’s designation as counsel for the Blue Ribbon committee’s reported here: Tamano blocked in Senate, tapped for PLM presidency. Incidentally, this makes for interesting reading: Senators of 13th Congress: Far too many hearings, very few reports. I agree that at the very least, the public is owed a report after hearings have been concluded.
An interesting column by Emil Jurado on “Operation Big Bird.” Jurado refers to a recent interview on Ricky Carandang’s show: the original’s disappeared, but the interview’s been cached. Fascinating reading:
Carandang: And how many accounts did you manage to release?
Almonte: I think at that time initial I think eight or ten with a total of 213 million US dollars.
Carandang: Was there more?
Almonte: Yes.
Carandang: How do you know?
Almonte: Because at that time there were already so much cooperation from the people there. I hope I’ll just say it this way because I don’t want to jeopardize them.
Carandang: So you had informants in the Swiss banking system?
Almonte: Of course and they are the ones who know.
Carandang: So they were feeding you this information?
Almonte: Yes.
Carandang: And in effect, the Swiss government was confirming it by releasing the money.
Almonte: yes. They release it if they confirmed that what we are saying is in their document.
Carandang: So why did you stop at $213 million?
Almonte: We did not stop, that was the initial release. After that, because we have to present the other accounts that we like to release, we have to present it when we already have the complete documentation. Now we don’t have the documentation of all the accounts. That is why after this $213 million what came in later was about $3.8 billion and this we have the documentation.
Carandang: So you had the knowledge of an additional $3.8 billion in the Swiss bank accounts.
Almonte: Yes after the $213 million…and after that we had more information and our people there were working on another $4 billion. That is why by that time we had about all in all 3.8 plus 4 plus 3 we had about 8 billion immediately although of course the 4 billion is identification is being… The documentation it means is being worked on.
Carandang: But this whole time Marcos and Mrs. Marcos still thought that the money was being transferred to another account of theirs?
Almonte: Ah no more. By this time I cannot recall anymore. But I think it was July, it’s in the records. But the following day, because I think it was Friday. Saturday…Sunday…Monday is supposed to be the release of the $213 million nothing happen, Ordoñez disappeared. We cannot locate him. Later we’re able to confirm that he left Manila by himself.
Carandang: This was before you actually had the money released?
Almonte: No, after the money was released, the 213 million was released by the Swiss government but they transfer actually to export is what we were waiting for. Before they transfer there, Ordoñez disappeared and he is the only one according to the arrangement and the Swiss law as a constitutional officer who can receive this money in behalf of the Philippine government not me or anybody else.
Carandang: So without Ordoñez’ signature the money could be transferred out of Marcoses account but could not be transferred to the Philippine government.
Almonte: Without the signature of Ordoñez.
Carandang: And Ordoñez signed for the $213 million but he disappeared after that.
Almonte: No he did not sign yet. He just left without receiving the $213 million because what happened was this, when the$213 million must release and this is in the record, Ordoñez and of course Salvione and for Salonga that this going to be released, in fact we didn’t know because they kept it from us already. Anyway what happened is when Ordoñez disappeared we came home. I decided to leave immediately for manila.
Carandang: And what the money was left in an escrow account?
Almonte: Not yet. The money was.. You know the order was there but there is no execution. There was a decision but the actual execution of the decision was held.
Carandang: Pending the signature…
Almonte: Well pending the receipt…because what happened was this, Salvione and Salonga approved it and this in the annex, in the document… That he believed, Salvione, this money will be lost to the Philippine government. The implication is that Mike and myself will run away with the money, that’s the implication.
So he was telling Salonga that they should not be transferred to the export financier’s bank but it should remain in Credit Suisse and the fellow who suppose to take care of this…ironically was the man of Marcos but anyway it’s under their control. Now because of this the Credit Suisse informed Marcos that they have…they are helpless that this money, his money in the bank will be returned to the Philippine government. Because of his authority to de Guzman to withdraw his money…
Carandang: And that is when Marcos knew that he had been scammed.
Almonte: Yes that was the time. Soon after they decide to release this money, so Marcos claimed that “I don’t know of any de Guzman,” “I did not give anybody authority to withdraw the money” and he did not have any account in Switzerland this is Marcos letter to the Swiss. However if there is a money under his name and there is such I think as de Guzman who is withdrawing on his authority, he is revoking all of that.
Carandang: In other words Marcos was trying to tell the banks that he had revoke the authority of Mike de Guzman to withdraw the money but he is also trying to say that you cannot claim that I own the money.
Almonte: That’s what he’s trying to say.
Carandang: In other words Mike can’t withdraw but I don’t own it.
Almonte: Yes, that’s what his trying to say. “I don’t have anything but in the event there is something there in my name I am in control, Mike has no authority.”
Carandang ends by pointing out Almonte & Co. managed to get $213 million which was duly given to the government. By 2001, the money had grown to $680 million:
Under the law, all money recovered from the Marcos family is to be spent on agrarian reform.
In September 2005, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism reported that a portion of that $680 million was diverted to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s 2004 presidential campaign.
In March 2006, a Joint Senate Committee concluded that President Arroyo “be held accountable in the mismanagement of the fertilizer fund.”
Former agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn Bolante, who authorized the release of the fertilizer funds, is seeking political asylum in the United States.
(Brief backgrounder on Operation Big Bird, courtesy of the Manila Times). See Juan Mercado’s column today, which places the efforts of the Marcoses to recover their assets, in perspective.
In Inquirer Current, John Nery “impeaches” Francis Escudero. Gets a swarm of replies!
Words of wisdom, as he reminds us in a recent blog entry, from David Llorito, circa 2005:
All those who want to reform the Philippine politics and economy should therefore strive to remove the nexus between politics and the economy. This policy reform objective could be achieved through measures including low and neutral tariff rates (to discourage smuggling as well as the incentive to make deals with Customs officials), the removal of the pork barrel system, opening up entry and exit of all businesses including utilities and telecommunications without having to acquire franchise from Congress, and lowering of corporate taxes coupled with the removal of fiscal incentives, among many others. The central idea is to prevent political motivations to encroach in people’s economic decisions, subject to certain limited criteria such as environmental regulations and national security.
We should adopt the concept that doing business or engaging in entrepreneurship is an inalienable right on par with our freedom of assembly and speech as well as of pursuit of happiness. That way mayors, governors, and bureaucrats will not have any power to put barriers against people’s entrepreneurial energies. You remove political intervention in economic decisions and you can see that “public service” will only attract two types of persons, either statesmen or masochists, and that will be for the good of the country.
Agree? Disagree?
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Pasensya na..I really am trying to look at the brighter side of things.kahit ako na lang mag isa…wala talaga akong makita eh..
Buti sana kung kwentong barbero at am news na pamplalipas ng oras ang kinontra ni benigno..eh national debates na according daw to a Filipino economist in the US,that is plain and clear insulting us Filipinos,and this plain and simple crab mentality…
Sorry,sana within our lifetime crab mentality will be a thing of the past.
Acording to studies Koreans do love their country so much..tamo kahit dito sa Pinas ,Korean items pa din ang binibili nila.they still cater Korean hotels and the like.
kahity daw fake,they prefer Korean fakes than Hong Kong imitations.
I hope, we can love our country too,but not to that extent.
again hvrds, you’ve pointed out something which i’ve always had in my mind before. that all of the progressive countries of today, began by being extreme protectionists and only opened up their markets when it was already strong to withstand foreign competition. and even today, the big 8 still practice protectionism when their main industries are threatened.
sometimes, it isn’t really abt what kind of system we have. if you put a good manager there, he/she can work out something even with all the limitations he/she may encounter.
Devils: i think, the unimaginative people Benigno’s pointing out are those that deal in business, not in arts and literature. in that sense, he is somewhat right. our businessmen don’t innovate.
In the words of the sage benign0 (paraphrasing): It’s not really the businessmen’s fault. Theyre just going for ROI. Nothing personal. [Winky emoticon]
and if there are those who do, their products are not supported by the masa bec the common pinoy consumer lack imagination (tingi-tingi mentality) and unconventional innnovative products come off as snobbish for them
The genius businessman who invented the ‘tipid pack’ and the ‘value meal’ are unimaginatively shaking their heads all the way to the bank.
Give the agricultural sector more purchasing power, that is, give the largest sector of the Philippine economy support in terms of infrastructure, credit facilities, and marketing and organizational skills, then sit back and watch the economy take off on its own steam. Then we’ll see how creative the pinoy businessmen can be.
Kung susundan ninyo ang takbo ng utak ni Benigno, he is the “unFilipino” Filipino.
That is what happens to many people, not just Filipinos, who emigrate to foreign countries and who can’t cope with differences in skin color and cultural backgrounds.
They feel inferior so they disown their race and culture and portray themselves as the “other” kind. The enlightened ones. The ones who are better.
And they are angry. They blame those they left behind. They lay on our shoulders the responsibility of making them look good to those in their adopted country.
They think that if we behave the way they want us to behave, their inferiority problems will go away…NOT!
So Benigno stop blaming us for your personal problems.
Like I asked you before, have you ever experienced discrimination?
“in terms of imagination, at least we haven’t had to endure national campaigns to teach imagination, the way singapore’s trying”
Yes. We just sat on our arses and watched history pass us by.
mlq3, On the contrary, I think you gotta give credit to that whole Singaporean effort to artificially engineer imagination into the fabric of their society.
My point is that they RECOGNISED the weakness and TOOK STEPS to rectify it.
Compare that to (as evident in a number of comments here) to our penchant to simply rationalise or (worse) deny the existence of the issue.
So say we find comfort in the knowledge that, just maybe, Singapore was just as unimaginative as we were AT THE START.
Yet the the DIFFERENCE is that they actually recognised this as a REAL issue (instead of going into a state of DENIAL) and actually ACTED upon it.
And the results speak for themselves.
Tom Peters observed in his rant piece in the summer of 2005:
——-
Senior Minister K.Y. Lee (former PM Lee), architect of Singapore’s awesome transformation, addressed our group, and acknowledged that Singapore had achieved its exalted status by becoming Southeast Asia’s hub of “operational excellence.†Singapore does it right! (Or some such.) But he also acknowledged, the reason for his invitation and presence at the conference, that Singapore, now, had to be … and he almost cringed as he said it … “COOL .†Thence “the†“Brand Singapore†conference.
——-
Where does that leave us?
Zilch as usual. Story of our history. 😉
Nice points,guys nice points..
Kahit na yung ke benigno me tama din kahit pano.(1 pt yata sa scorecard ko)
Cat,thanks for the demystification by explaining the practical side of it.
HVRDS,thank ever of those text book theories,made clearer to me by you,not my economics prof.
kung ganito ba usapan natin,palagi.
Let us drink to that,cheers!
benigno, no. it tells us singapore has a problem we don’t.
“But rego, our friend benign0 has set the bar really high for himself, and it is only fair that I expect more from him. Whining and complaining and pointing out faults, any unimaginative pinoy can do.
What is wrong with pointing out faults or character defects?
When somebody criticize Glorias pointing her faults is he setting the bar higher too? Does it follow that we have to expect more from oppsition too?
“Tingi will not work for the US…”
Tingi works perfectly well in the Philippines.
So, benignO, just because tingi doesn’t work in the US or Australia or Europe, it doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing.
Lack of scale? You call corruption in the Philippines lacking in scale? P700 million fertilizer fund scam, P3 billion Comelec automation scam, $329 million broadband contract, $460 million CyberEducation Project…
“the tact of benigno would only be apt if he is preaching to a choir. For now, at least, that choir would consist of you and him. Obviously, most people here do not share your views.”
But Jaxius, people here doesn’t always share views. And that is actually the beauty of this forum.
So If I dont share your views I shoudl tell you to go and preach to the choir.
And and people that share your views automatically became your choir member?
Divisive (another negative trait) naman yata?
“benigno, no. it tells us singapore has a problem we don’t”
Really?
Now I’m confused.
Between Singapore and the Philippines (just using common sense here, no need to approach this from a rocket scientist’s point of view), which country do you think has the bigger problems at the moment?
“My point is that they RECOGNISED the weakness and TOOK STEPS to rectify it.”
———————————————————
Korek!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
“Korek!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Unfortunately dude, not too many people think so. 😉
Anyways, the important thing is different people and, for that matter, entire societies are dealt different hands. Some hands suck and some are lucky enough to get fullhouses and straight flushes.
To be fair to the Philippines, I think we were dealt a straight flush. We had a well-educated workforce, topnotch public education, and relatively globally integrated economy (by 1950’s standards).
And we just flushed it all down the crapper (it’s no coincidence that Manila smells like one today).
Singapore, kung baga, (as mlq3 asserts) probably had just as unimaginative a population as ours had back when they were still a mosquito-infested colonial outpost.
But they DID SOMETHING ABOUT IT.
Rego: What is wrong with pointing out faults or character defects?
It gets annoying when you already know the faults and defects. Like you just want to say, “Oo na. Oo na.” And we’re talking about benign0 here. Not you. I expect more from him because he marketed himself that way. I dont think youve marketed yourself that way.
When somebody criticize Glorias pointing her faults is he setting the bar higher too? Does it follow that we have to expect more from oppsition too?
Of course it follows. The opposition has marketed themselves the same way as benign0. The difference is they have outlined what they plan to do and it’s up to us the citizens to make sure they deliver.
rego,
Precisely, rego. We always argue here.
So we should abide by the rule that “he who asserts must prove”. Anyone who asserts something and asks others to disprove him should be ignored for being a shameless attention beggar. You just can’t ignore the question to back up your assertion by saying it is already obvious. It’s like saying, “Hey man, are you so stupid not to see what I am saying?”
“and you only have to survey the region (and the world) to see how much filipinos are relied on as creatives in advertising, graphic design, animation, etc.”
——————————————————–
I actually do some sort of surveys everytime I got clients that do set designs and scenic carpentry. And in two years and after 20 projects or I havent yet to meet Filipinos that working in this creative feild. Maybe I just missed them.
But if ever I find one, does that invalidate Nick Joaquin and Benigno’s observation?. Or should we take it by percentage?
My own experience and observations actually is that every one has its own creativity in them regardles of race. But in most cases ( Im not saying this happens all teh time), Filipinos doesn’t get the change to fully tap, explore and put to good use the crativenes in them.
If I may…
Between Singapore and the Philippines (just using common sense here, no need to approach this from a rocket scientist’s point of view), which country do you think has the bigger problems at the moment?
Benny, the question was specifically about creativity. What I think MLQ3 was saying is that we do not have a problem with creativity and imagination. Singapore does. Of course we have bigger problems than Singapore, but lack of creativity is not one of them. We just dont have a robust enough economy to allow that creativity to shine, or at least a robust enough economy to make the fruits of creativity profitable except overseas.
(A bit of advice, which you could take or leave: You really should assume that youre talking to intelligent people, especially in this forum.)
“It gets annoying when you already know the faults and defects. Like you just want to say, “Oo na. Oo na.†”
This sounds exactly like how the typical self-important teenager would react when told to do his homework and stop hanging around all day at the mall. I know. I was once a teenager myself.
Even the eminent Jim Paredes himself observed this adolescent archetype that characterises Pinoy society:
—
“Don’t we tend to excuse our foibles and say that we are still a young country to explain why we are in the mess we are in? From all indications, we seem to be ruled by the ‘child’ archetype who refuses to look at things in an adult manner.”
—
Above is an excerpt from his blog post “What child is this?”
http://www.haringliwanag.pansitan.net/2007/05/what-child-is-this.html
And that’s the beauty of all the reactions I get whenever I publish my brilliant assertions. The reactions merely highlight further the very points I make. 😉
benigno, apples and oranges. you were talking about imagination. if you lump all other problems together, you could argue we’re worse off, but that ignores the difference in population sizes, and the different circumstances the singaporeans and filipinos face. to start with, a city-state, a one-party dictatorship run according to pretty much fascist principles, compared to a multi-island, multi-million population non-dictatorship, etc. etc. incidentally, scrutiny and debate over here is possible to an extent impossible in singapore, which wouldn’t even allow scrutiny of the lee dynasty’s income or management of the island-nation.
“The genius businessman who invented the ‘tipid pack’ and the ‘value meal’ are unimaginatively shaking their heads all the way to the bank.”
jeg, they just capitalized on the filipino’s “tingi mentality.” which is what i was pointing out. even if there are businessmen who think big, their business strategy won’t work here with the kind of consumers we have.
“Give the agricultural sector more purchasing power, that is, give the largest sector of the Philippine economy support in terms of infrastructure, credit facilities, and marketing and organizational skills, then sit back and watch the economy take off on its own steam. Then we’ll see how creative the pinoy businessmen can be.”
well, you’ve just pointed out one solution. for me, i think it’s just giving the masa more purchasing power, and then educating them how to spend it bulk by bulk (and not by tingi, which is actually, much costlier) and on where to spend it, and growth would be driven up. we have enough people walking with MBAs as it is, and once there is a market for creative ideas, creative businessmen will come out.
Benny: This sounds exactly like how the typical self-important teenager would react when told to do his homework and stop hanging around all day at the mall. I know. I was once a teenager myself.
Apples and bananas this time, Benny. You marketed yourself as a sage. Impress me. Offer sage advice instead of issuing the same trite assertions from your holy mountain. I’ll acknowledge that youre right if I think you are.
The reactions merely highlight further the very points I make.
You dont know how right you are. It just highlights you lack imagination. Unless you show you dont of course.
(I was tempted to say ‘Put up or shut up,’ but I dont really want you to shut up. Youre too interesting.)
“once there is a market for creative ideas, creative businessmen will come out”
But then it could also be argued that truly creative ideas CREATE MARKETS for themselves.
That’s where imagination comes in. It’s thinking out of the square (not merely following others’ leads). It’s being able to imagine entirely new markets (as compared to merely being able to finding an existing one to compete in).
Devils: for me, i think it’s just giving the masa more purchasing power, and then educating them how to spend it bulk by bulk (and not by tingi, which is actually, much costlier) and on where to spend it, and growth would be driven up. we have enough people walking with MBAs as it is, and once there is a market for creative ideas, creative businessmen will come out.
By masa, are you talking about the workers in the urban poor sector? Developing the agri sector would take care of that as well. The opposite of trickle down. [winky emoticon]
But then it could also be argued that truly creative ideas CREATE MARKETS for themselves.
I would buy the products of the market created by creative ideas. Do they accept imaginary pesos?
mlq3, first of all I adhered to the apples-to-apples standard when I made this statement in response to an earlier one you made:
—-
“So say we find comfort in the knowledge that, just maybe, Singapore was just as unimaginative as we were AT THE START.
Yet the the DIFFERENCE is that they actually recognised this as a REAL issue (instead of going into a state of DENIAL) and actually ACTED upon it.”
—-
The starting point is where all things were equal — i.e. both the Philippines and Singapore were equally Third World not too long a time ago.
Second, I noticed you whipped out the old FREEDOM card again which is common in a comparison between the Philippines and Singapore. Fair enough. I doubt though whether a people imprisoned by mediocrity, ocho-ocho politics, and bickering politicians can truly be considered free.
The average Singaporean owns (or is paying off) his own home and has a future secured by a compulsory provident fund.
A Singaporean with a Singaporean passport is WELCOME with open arms at almost every port and airport in the world.
Who is TRULY free? Singaporeans? Or Filipinos?
Abangan ang susunod na kabanata… 😉
Sorry, arrived late at the discussion. I think the ‘pasa load‘ concept of one of the Telco’s is imaginative (aka innovative).
Re Singapore, just like us, it’s an adolescent nation. The difference is that it’s noveau riche and grew up under a strict parent (LKY). Anyone of you who grew up under a strict household will know that sometimes you feel envy for the neighbor’s kids who are given more freedoms. LKY’s polemic against democracy and the marketplace for ideas would be more understandable if seen in this light. He is just telling his kids “huwag niyong tularan ang kapitbahay“.
I have lived and worked in Singapore long enough to appreciate that they have their own sets of problems and insecurities that they have to sort out.
who can be considered free? ask the singaporeans who breathe a huge sigh of relief when they visit here or decide to live here. preaching the virtues of thorazine does not glorify the asylum.
besides which you assume that everyone goes along with your assumption, which is that mediocrity and a lack of imagination ruled the roost here and in singapore once upon a time. perhaps that may apply to singapore, but never here, not in terms of excellence in the arts, anyway. not even in terms of commerce, and perhaps not even in terms of science. i would insist in our excellence and high levels of achievement in all these things, and that while we may now be living on past glory in certain respects, we still collectively represent strong achievements in others up to now (even managerial ability in certain respects, ask the indonesians, etc.).
neither do our present difficulties diminish our past or future achievements, otherwise the italians or germans, living through centuries of violence, corruption and inefficiency, might as well have thrown in the towel too (and remember the exodus of italians and germans to the new world, too).
where you and i differ is your insisting on categorically denying any achievement whatsoever and then proclaiming it some sort of virtue that you have a low opinion of your former country. it does not make you a useful filipino or a credit to australia.
“tingi” culture did not come about because of the smallness of the mind of Filipinos.
When it became popular, freezers and refrigerators were unheard of.
People preserved their food by drying and salting.
They could not buy in big quantities. Even stores were limited in stocking merchandise.
As to the singkong-suka-and-isang kurot na asin at isang pirasong bawang, this is not a Filipino mentality but more of the Chinese-dummy-owned sari-sari stores strategy to compete with other stores in earlier decades.
Consumers would patronize Mr. Beho than Aling Sion’s Sari-sari store because you can buy tingi with lots of freebies. In marketing, that’s what we call promotion.
The tingi culture persists to selected market segments (sari-sari stores do not flourish inside subdivisions where people do their groceries regularly).
It is now more of strategy that emphasizes convenience and
thrift.
Students in the dorm, people who are always on the move and roomies would prefer products in “tingi” packs.
That in marketing is known as addressing a market niche.
“who can be considered free? ask the singaporeans who breathe a huge sigh of relief when they visit here or decide to live here. preaching the virtues of thorazine does not glorify the asylum”
Do they now.
How many of these Singaporean’s-who-decide-to-live-in-the-Philippines are we talking about here?
“i would insist in our excellence and high levels of achievement in all these things, and that while we may now be living on past glory in certain respects, we still collectively represent strong achievements in others up to now”
Such as what, for example? Can you cite specific examples?
More imporantly:
Where are the results? 😉
What is wrong with pointing out faults or character defects?
It gets annoying when you already know the faults and defects.
———————————————————
And yet we dont want to face these faults and defects so we wont be aggravated by it…
benign0, matanong kita, ano ba talaga ang gusto mong palabasin? Bano ang pinoy, exercise ng debate, matinik si bengn0, asungot si benign0? Ano?
Sa tingin ko tulad ng maraming nadiasporang pinoy ay may tanging galing ka rin. Ngunit sa isip mo e nag-iisa ka. Nahihiya ka sa mga kasamahan mong kapwa pinoy na sa tingin mo e mga siyano, hehehe.
Ano ka ba american pinoy, canadian pinoy, british pinoy, french pinoy, etc? Yan, mapapansin mo na ano mang naging ka laging may kadikit na pinoy.
So, to generalize, ano man ang gawain mo, sa isip mo you will always be a small tinker, no magination at kung ano pa.
Sana hinde mo ginagawa yan sa mag-anak mo: na ikaw ang unang-unang magsasabi na ang mag-anak mo e walang imagination at maliit mag-isip!
Huwag naman sana! Huwag mong itakwil ang pinangaligan mo. Iyang gusto mong palabsing galing. i-channel mo sa ikabubuti ng ating lahi.
Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people.~Hyman Rickover
I Am A Beautiful Old Person
by Eleanor Roosevelt
Many people will walk in and out of your life,
But only true friends will leave
footprints in your heart.
To handle yourself, use your head;
To handle others, use your heart.
Anger is only one letter short of danger.
If someone betrays you once, it is their fault;
If they betray you twice, it is your fault.
Great minds discuss ideas;
Average minds discuss events;
Small minds discuss people.
He who loses money, loses much;
He who loses a friend, loses much more;
He who loses faith, loses all
Beautiful young people are accidents of nature,
But beautiful old people are works of art.
Learn from the mistakes of others.
You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself.
Friends, you and me….
You brought another friend….
And then there were 3….
We started our group….
Our circle of friends….
And like that circle….
There is no beginning or end….
Yesterday is history.
Tomorrow is mystery.
Today is a gift.
“preaching the virtues of thorazine does not glorify the asylum.”
nice.
and jeg, yes to your masa question, and yes i agree with you abt developing agriculture (and fishing as well).
tagakotta, and to discuss history is to discuss all these things: ideas, events, people. historians are gods.
would you agree Manolo? aren’t you the consummate historian? *wink*
Ok Cat,t, I stand corrected The the ingenious tingi system was proudly Filipino. But it evolved to something convenient,I know mathematically lumping them up would cost more,but we are thinking of now,not the end of the month.
A slight correction,or addendum it’s not just promotion…we are now 4cs not 4ps anymore my dear academic and I think it’s more on competition.
Our multinationals doesn’t only have a niche in the people on the move even households for some reason buy in tingi nowadays,they buy sachets instead of the big stuff,don’t ask me why?
Benigno,you have been in Australia too long,I have worked with Australians and they think too much of themselves.
Suggestion:VISIT THE PHILIPPINES.
Cat,
Pardon the grammar.
benigno,why do you hate your former nation,was it a bad childhood…?
Where is your originality,you even lifted something from my cousin Jim Paredes,where is your imagination?
Kidding, kesa naman ma plagiarize mo.
At the end of the day, you will see folks that Benigno has “made” his Point.
All Filipinos are stupid
Benigno is no longer a Filipino
and therefore he is not stupid.
At the end of the day,
Benigno can jump from one topic to another but ne’er would he answer your questions. It is his strategy of
not showing that he really does not know what he’s talking about.
So Benigno, answer their questions, what’s your recommendations?
Promise, I am not going to laugh.
If I remember his story, he never get promoted in his job here in the Philippines. So he moved to the Oz.
When he moved to Australia, he suffered discrimination that he has to deny he’s a Filipino by painting himself white and dyeing his hair blonde.
Originality for Benigno is copying articles in full and posting them in his website without permission. Made us to think that these are contributors of the getreal.
Some forumers were lead to believe that he was Teddy Benigno.
Guess what, he did not correct the wrong impression.
I think he was also banned by Jim in his blog some months back. He did not use his alternick Benigno but the style is definitely his.
So Benigno, answer the questions.
in the defense of Benigno (no, seriously) he does have a point. his only problem is that he’s applying his ideas in a sweeping manner. Filipino character faults is a trite idea (we all concede), but it is not the end-all, be-all of causes holding us back. Benigno thinks it is his duty to hammer down this point to everyone of us, but I think everyone of us recognizes this even if we disagree with him abt it. the challenge to everyone (and not just to Benigno) is to accept that there is indeed a truth behind what he (or Nick J) says. that truth is not by itself sweeping or binding on every Filipino (I dnt have the tingi-mentality, nor do i have a small mind, thank u Benigno). once we’re past this self-flagellation period can we only move forward and think of solutions. dwelling on the problem solves nothing.
by how benigno talks, we can all assume he’s still not over the “dwelling” period. give him ten or twenty more years to brood over our char faults.
meanwhile, i have accepted this long ago (that we are not perfect) and i have learned that no amount of blaming, or brooding, or preaching abt it will change anything. when it comes to ideas, Rizal is my hero. but when it comes to actions, Bonifacio is. when we merge the best of their qualities, we get an uberpinoy. i think nietzsche thought of something like this…
“All we wanted was to be heard, to be able to ask if she cheated.â€Â
Alan Peter Cayetano quote
Will you pursue this in the blue ribbon committee?or part of the deal or no deal in your coalition with the majority?
Karl,
my discussion about the tingi system as a culture is to point out that it was not conceived by small minds.
Thanks for the addendum of four c’s.
Is it being taught now as “in lieu of the four p’s, we have now four c’s.
Tell me, which four c’s are they referring to:
the four c’s used to assess one of the four p’s–place which refers to marker, geographic and demographic?
to wit, context, company and competitor analysis?
Last time I heard my dear is there’s really no four p’s anymore. They are already.
Place, Product, Promotion, Price and PEOPLE.
correction: there are already five.
“If I remember his story, he never get promoted in his job here in the Philippines. So he moved to the Oz.
When he moved to Australia, he suffered discrimination that he has to deny he’s a Filipino by painting himself white and dyeing his hair blonde.”
Uy, MLQ3, walang personalan, db? Hehehe.
Ah basta.
All Filipinos, 86 million and counting, as Judge Pimentel would say, have to behave para naman meron mukhang maihaharap si Benigno sa mga Australians.
So stop cutting him down and start behaving like he thinks the Australians want you to behave.
His happiness rests on your shoulders. Don’t let him down.
Australian na pala si binign0. alam niyo yung pamangkin ko e nagtrabaho diyan sa australia. maraming bigot dito tito, ang sabi niya. minamana mo e napakaitim pa naman nitong nephew ko, pwedeng mapagkamalang native doon.
Anyway, nung bago siya doon, lumapit siya sa isang kababayan upang humingi ng tulong. E bigla daw hinde marunong mag tagalog at ehy ng ehy, samantalang narinig niya itong nagta- tagalog ilang sandali lamang nakaraan.
Ikaw ba yun benign0?
I love my country but I think it’s been stolen…
there you go again, buencamino, with your sweeping generalizations of filipinos who left the philippines. more often than not, one sees the bigger picture from a distance, a panoramic, rather than myopic, perspective of the nation’s problems.
it is only when one lives in a foreign soil that he realizes something amiss in being a filipino. when the philipines is mentioned in international news only in connection with disasters,i.e., volcanic eruptions, mudslides, moonsoons, kidnapping and beheading of foreigners by homegrown terrorists, etc.; when the philipine stock exchange is hardly mentioned in the business sections of major newspapers; when hardly a glimpse of the “token” contingent of filipino athletes in the olympics is flashed momentarily on national tv; when expatriates pinoys (with active participation of the philipine consulate) parade on major avenues before a sparse crowds of curious onlookers and zero coverage by mainstream media; when pinoy entertainers attract virtually no attention from other than the usual “wowowee” pinoy fans; when philippines is usually bypassed (especially in western countries) as tourist destination in asia; one wonders why the filipinos (in the words of the late roger dangerfield) “don’t get no respect”.
junketing pinoy politicians, used to royal treatment back home, finds out they are just another joe blow in new york.
The error in Benigno’s thinking is that he mistakes symptoms for causes and engages in fuzzy wuzzy term use. For example, tingi buying is used to criticize us as culturally deficient. Well, tingi buying is a result of an economic truth — people can’t afford the larger thing. If they had enough money, they would buy the larger product. Therefore the problem is that they don’t have enough income, which leads us to the question of poverty and its causes in the Philippines.
To be honest, I found Nick Joaquin’s whole essay full of this act of categorizing symptoms as the problem, rather than looking for the root cause. He may write well, but his essay is very weak.
duck, i think benigno has stated the problem – the filipino culture of medocrity, a.k.a., the “smallness” of the filipino mind. as i see it, the “symptoms” he cited were meant to support that thesis.