I love the message of this article. It is a laudable, cosntructive and positive regard of a Filipino personhood and soul. I hope this will inspire our Filipino people to look at themselves more positively. Our media people, who have the tendency if not proclivity to capitalize on what is negative and destructive, could learn much from Senator Kiko Pangilinan.

Ray Sabio, msc

isang mapagpalayang araw sa ating butihing senador, ito po ba ang 10point agenda niyo ngayong 2010 elections, alam ko po na tapat kayong naninilbihan sa ating sambayanan at walang bahid na anumang digta sa inyong pagkatao, ang iba kasi at tapat din…tapat sa pangungurakot po…hehehe, anyway gusto ko lang po malaman kung ano po ba talaga ang inyong tatakbuhan na posisyon ngayong darating na 2010 elections, alam ko tapat po kayo

Do we still have HOPE in The Philippines?

Beautiful land.Corrupt leaders.Decades of misrule. Let’s not give up! Our redemption is in our own hands.
Do we still have HOPE in The Philippines?Beautiful land.Corrupt leaders.Decades of misrule.

Let’s not give up! Our redemption is in our own hands.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBqbgM8gNwg

Mr. Pangilinan, why don’t you write an article about why there is no hope for the Philippines? One word, corruption. Everybody is doing it, from your President down to the local public officials and police officers.

All these in vain because of some of our corrupt politicians. Parang consuelo de bobo. Pardon sa cyncism…it’s the way it is.

I agree with Mr.Sabio. Based on the first few comments, I guess the commentators themselves have their own agenda of negativity (This reflects on the kind of person they are by the way). “Wala nang pag-asa” mentality will be the self fulfilling prophecy that will drive our country down. Irregardless whether Mr. Pangilinan will run or not, The message is good and lets stick to it.

I am sure after my post these people will have reactions like …”Eh, ganun naman talaga eh” or “Kasi yung presidente natin…” (Lahat nalang daw ng problema ng Pilipinas caused by the president?). These people will be our downfall.

Mr. Pangilinan through his article showed us 10 things we can capitalize on. I suggest we act on it.

More power to my Bayan.

10 reasons why Filipinos should despair. Let’s be real about it.

1. The relative lack of world-class infrastructure does not make us a desirable center for shipping or air transport. Our tourism facilities pale in comparison to the competition. Our culture and society prefers Western culture so it’s impossible to be a cultural center for Filipino or other East Asian performing arts.
2. Our ambivalence and aloofness to the protection, proper harvesting, and management of our aquamarine resources guarantee their ultimate destruction. Look at the condition of many of our lakes, rivers, and seas.
3. Tourism thrives only when facilities and services are world-class. Tourism grows when it is affordable for the country’s own citizens.
4. Becoming reliant on the BPO sector is short-sighted and misleading. Local BPO pay scales and benefits aren’t even close to the mimimum wage and benefit levels in the Western countries that place their BPO operations here.
5. We tolerate bikini bars and strip joints and karaoke bars that are fronts for prostitution. Foreign tourists often comment and remember these places along with the garbage and filth in our cities. These are perversions of our creative and artistic talents.
6. The new generation of public sector leaders is infected by previous and current generation of leaders. The fulminant cancer that needs to be destroyed are voters who succumb to the glitter and false promises of such leaders. Accountability and responsibility must be demanded by voters.
7. There are not enough local jobs to develop our ICT capabilities. The very best Filipino ICT professionals leave us because we are not competitive with other countries. The use of ICT is perverted by cybersex websites and operations that continue to flourish in the country.
8. Most OFWs return only to visit their families or when they lose their overeseas jobs. The majority of OFWs dream of building a new life abroad for themselves and their families. In other countries, the term OFW carries a negative connotation: exploitation and a new slavery.
9. Greater numbers if Filipino youth are under-educated, mal-educated, under-employed and unemployed. We breed millions of disgruntled and desperate citizens. Our fear should be when they abandon the vote and take up arms.
10. Uncontrolled population growth, poverty, power-hungry and money-grabbing public leaders do not result in resilience or love of family but in a nation spinning out of control towards destruction. These are not laughing matters.

It is wonderful to hope and to dream. It may even provide as an anaesthetic for our individual and collective pain. However, desperate times demand bold solutions. Sadly, it seems that Filipino leaders and their followers cannot find it within them to take the narrow and challenging path.

Poet Robert Frost wrote almost 100 years ago.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I–
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

The previous post proves my point…

The previous post by Mr. Jacinto just proved what I posted earlier…

The following is inscribed on the tomb of an Anglican Bishop in Westminster Abby (1100 A.D.) …

When I was young and free and my imagination had no limits, I dreamed of changing the world. As I grew older and wiser, I discovered the world would not change, so I shortened my sights somewhat and decided to change only my country.

But it, too, seemed immovable.

As I grew into my twilight years, in one last desperate attempt, I settled for changing only my family, those closest to me, but alas, they would have none of it.

And now, as I lie on my deathbed, I suddenly realize: If I had only changed myself first, then by example I would have changed my family.

From their inspiration and encouragement, I would then have been able to better my country, and who knows, I may have even changed the world.

I choose not to write about why there is no hope in the Philippines because unlike others, I do believe that there is hope. I have three children, all of whom shall inherit the future Philippines. For their sake I cannot give up on our country. To my mind, to say there is no hope is to give up on my children’s future as well and for their sake, I will die first before I allow that to happen.

While I cannot blame others for their anger, their bitterness, their frustration and their hopelessness arising from decades of betrayal and misrule, bitterness and despair will not solve the ills of our nation. Action, a vision for the future, optimism, a ‘can do’ attitude, courage and relentlessness will.

I choose to hope rather to despair. I choose courage and firm resolve over anger. I choose dogged determination over bitterness.

It is easy to complain. It is easy to point a finger and blame but all that will not make the problems go away. Facing the problems squarely, boldly making painful decisions, focusing on turning things around and acting and working tirelessly are the difficult yet necessary steps to take if we are to move the nation forward, finally.

I thank all those who have commented whether for or against.I may not agree with some of the views but i respect them nonetheless.

K

Actually, the main problem with the Philippines is the lack of love for country from its citizens. Seriously.

This seems to be a political propaganda. It is nice to hope but what is more important is what can he contribute just in case he will be elected President.

Of course. What else is there to do but hope? There’s a might long way from simply hoping to actually doing. Here’s the deal: let the guys in government stop talking about hoping and start doing something, and then maybe we’ll start actually hoping.

Before dreaming of hope let us wake up first to the reality that the number one source of hopelessness in our country are the politicians who do not know why they are elected and only wasting taxpayers money.

I almost did not want to read this article, after reading headlines of Jun Lozada’s arrest, Palparan’s ascension to Congress and lawmakers making a beeline to the airports to catch Pacman’s fight live in Las Vegas.

Parang ang hirap isipin na may pag-asa pa nga ang Pilipinas.

But like you Sen Kiko, I have 3 children who will inherit this land. I have no plans to migrate or uproot my family — I will live and die in the Philippines. So we must continue to hope, to strive to be better citizens, and go against the tide of corruption in whatever way we can. Our sphere of influence may be small, but it is there, and we must do all we can to move this nation forward, against the odds.

One step at a time.

God bless you, Sen Kiko and may your love of country be like a contagion of epidemic proportions!!!

Noted.

Let’s be frank Mr. Senator. When you go to work in government day by day and see all these corrupt men around you governing our dear Philippines, do you still envision hope? This is assuming you are not one of them. I wonder if this 10 items of yours is sincere or just worthless ideal thoughts to fool the public just like what our corrupt leaders do.

Show me how you can remove corrupt men form government and you’ll have my support.

All the things the good senator is saying are all good and dandy, but he keeps forgetting that the mindset of a typical Filipino is nowhere near any of the progressive countries. First and foremost is discipline, there is no way in hell that all of a sudden Pinoys will just become a discipline bunch. Just observe around you and see who ever gives in to anybody whether in traffic, grocery lines or any lines at all.

Then there are your typical politicians, who’s interest is solely to enrich themselves and their crony. You think for a moment a nobody Juan de la Cruz will get his justice if confronted by a powerful figure associated with government. Then there is the politician who uses his/her power to bypass everybody just to not get inconvinience particularly in traffic or lines.

Do’nt think that i’m too pesimistic but from experience of so many decades nothing has change. So i do’nt think anything will change unless the system changes. Look at all the Pinoys outside the PI, they ovserve and follow rules or else they will be in trouble. That is what is needed first to change the system where everybody has an equal opportunity to the basic necessity in life for all this hopes to bear fruits.

Lastly corruption has to end from the very top to the very bottom of the totem pole then and only then can we speak of all this good things thatwere affermentioned.

Ok Sen. Pangilinan, I agree with you on the fact that our country enjoys the potential to become great. I agree with you that there is hope, despite our government’s shortcomings, and that we should turn that hope into action.

The question: how will YOU concretely contribute to that reality. Give me concrete plans, figures, and timelines. Give me budgets, systems and goals. If you cannot, then that would be a terrible waste.

I know I’m contributing to my country by studying and working abroad to one day come back to teach and contribute what I have learned back home. What about you?

I always have HOPE for myself, for my family and for our country. So i agree with you Sen. Kiko that we still have hope because without it, our country will be doomed.

Two of my children now working are very idealistic and want to stay and help the country. I want them to migrate but since they love this country so much, then i’ll continue to hope - that our country will prosper and become a better place to live in.

There is genuine hope in the Philippines, not so much of the reasons enumerated but more so of my inner desire to do the best that I can do and be the best Filipino that I can be for the Philippines.

I can complain forever about corruption, power abuses, and excesses that abound around me and wallow in its misery endlessly. And sooner, make them my reality and acquire cancer in the process from all the stress it generates. But NO. I refuse this state of mind.

I choose to improve myself and the environment around me, where I have considerable control. I choose to align myself with like-minded people who wants to improve themselves and their society as a whole, and thereby effecting a better Philippines - NOW, not later, not tomorrow, not next month nor come next election.

Hope begins with me and to the rest who choose to make good things happen NOW. My little acts and thoughts of kindness, caring, and sharing go a long way more than I can imagine.

I am certain that all the positive deeds and thoughts I do today in the best way I can will find its way into making my country become the best it can be - today and well into the future.

Yes..Sen Pangilinan.You’re right, there’s still hope in our beloved country.The facts that you mentioned are real and by using our talents and apply it geniunely without thinking for our own benefits but for the whole filipinos.Set aside politics and self interest.Let’s not always look for our Govt to help us in our needs.We filipinos known for being resilient and hardworkers and i truly believed that one day both our aspiration for our country will benefits our children and the new generation to come.Let us dream, hope and pray for the Philipines..Mabuhay ang Pilipinas.

Why we are so obedient with the laws of other land? why not in our own?

What do we lack in our own land?

DISCIPLINE…you instill this trait with every Filipino and you will find out the results.

a taxi driver said what we need is discipline,
start the young once on the right track and get rid of the old people.i like him…..

Marcos cronies are merging their sequestered companies and acquiring new companies.

Corruption is almost the rule.

Which presidential candidate will swear in an affidavit that no campaign funds will come from Marcos cronies?

Another reason there should be genuine hope for the Philippines — we are better than most countries of the world. Think about it — name a country in Africa that is better off? Look around Asia, at Burma, East Timor, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Mongolia, Cambodia…none of these are better off than the Philippines. We may not be in the top but we are not at the bottom either. We are a middling country at the moment, far better off than many, not so good as a few. Which means we are doing something right. There is much that is good about the Philippines andon that we can build. If we have come this far, we can go farther.

Of course, there’s always HOPE! As long as we live, there is hope. We just need to change our state of mind to being positive about the Philippines. The article presents opportunities on how we could fly high and stand out from the other countries. We just need to MAKE things happen!

As they say, there are only three groups of people. There are people who MAKE things happen, others WAIT for things to happen while others WONDER why things happened.

If your are fan of whining about corruption, poverty, and all other negative perceptions about our country - you are just making things worse. You are one of those pests that loves to pull down our progress. Don’t just sit there and observe what’s happening. Start to BE RESPONSIBLE and MAKE THINGS HAPPEN!

1. We are politically dysfunctional. We have to empower our people the right way by improving our educational system.

2. We have to develop our communities by way of strengthening the basic values of our families. This can be done by calling on the Catholic Church, the Evangelicals, the Moslems, and other sects involve in the spiritual aspects of life of every person to contribute in this effort. Also, the different universities and colleges and schools,spearheaded by the Dept of Education, can embark on a massive educational drive for a moral revolution.

3. We are spending a lot for training nurses, only to be employed in other countries and to serve foreigners while a majority of our people could not afford basic health care and medicines.

4 We have to make peace with our brother Filipinos (NPA and MILF).

We have the most number of newspapers, opinion writers, presidential contenders and politicians per square inch in the archipelago Mr. Kiko. Every single one of them won’t bow down to another. Just being a freakin, flippin proud filipino is what they think they are.

Filipinos should tweak the be proud taas-noo sa mundo line “proud to be a Filipino..” to ” I’m an ordinary citizen of the world ..”

Hitler was so proud of his blood, extremist moslems won’t bow down to non-moslems which causes endless conflict anywhere.

We are happy of who we are as a people but please don’t overhype it. Learn from the Japs, they were humbled after the war and they self-corrected themsellves.

of course there’s hope for our country, in fact, we are leaving germany and moving for good in the philippines. our number one reason why there is a better future in the philippines? the attitude of the filipino people as stated in number 10.

After living in the U.S. almost 40 years and never giving up my Filipino citizenship, I chose to return to our beloved country to help out, even in small ways. Despite many frustrations and disappointments with the greed, selfishness, and inefficiencies that characterise much of our public and private systems, we will never give up the fight and will forge on with our efforts. Our children are fully aware of the desperate conditions in our country and the blind eye that many of our past and present leaders take towards problems that can be solved. The Philippines has the talent and enough money to turn things around for the better. Regretfully, that won’t happen if we continue with the same “crop” or “crap” of politicians. 2010 may be our last chance to be rid of these ravenous wolves. Protest marches and another EDSA are not the solution. Revolution and hoped for changes begin with a responsible and well-thought out vote at the ballot box. Another collective failure in 2010 will surely be the death knell for us.

of course,we have the most trapo and one of them is Kiko pangilinan who always comment about the VFA and the americans when in fact his wife sharon is always campaigning on TFC to watch her tv program Sharon to all filam, they are making money out of the filam and yet Kiko is anti-american how about we boycott her show calling all Filam KIko is anti american, lets show who we are.

The econo-political structure of the country is problematic. The political elite groups are concerned only of protecting their own interests. They control the economy and politics but don’t do things that could improve the plight of the common pinoy, and push the country forward. Some of these groups have shadow government, own financial centers (and real homes in other countries), and even private armies. These bozos want the pinoys to sell themselves abroad, but they cut funding for public education. It’s going to be long and sweaty way before Mang Juan can liberate himself.

I’ve been reading the previous posts and it actually was becoming more evident that “Filipinos always blame everything but themselves”. Read the comment thread from the start and you will notice a trend. Kasalanan natin (whether you would want to believe it or not) kung bakit nagkaganito ang Pilipinas.

Politicians are not the only one to blame (but it is the most convenient one). This comment thread has reflected the kind of people we are. Reflect on the negativity of all of the previous comments and compare it with the positive ones. I only wished that the latter would outnumber the former.

It would be nice if people started posting on WHAT they can do about individual problems for everyone to see than talk about how bad the problem is. “Alam mo na nga ang problema pero wala ka pa ring ginagawa or suhestion na binibigay” is a good line to say to these people.

Let me be the one to start. with regards to number 7. Not only can Information technology be the source of nationhood, it can also be a good asset in fighting corruption. An example: Our company has been implementing ERP and Audit systems (i will not mention the company name because some crab mentality crazed person most likely will post again na unsolicited advertisement and kayabangan ang ginagawa ko).

Our client companies also encounter the same level of “corruption type” activities like non remitting sales agents, Late reporting of sales, Entry Kiting of Accounting entries and Accountants stealing from the back office without checks and balances. Upon implementation, a lot of shenanigans were caught. To sum it up, We have to implement a successful Financial Management System in LGUs and Government agencies with a continuous monthly or quarterly audit by a different third party accounting/audit firm every time. I am sure this will straighten the noses of front level and middle management of these agencies and LGUs. Increasing efficiency and eliminating “Fixer” interference.

Sen. Pangilinan, It would be a good idea to start an audit of all financial systems set currently in place in LGUs and Agencies today and hold the ICT contractors and the BACs of these LGUs liable for projects not successfully implemented.

Well, anyway, its just my 2 cents worth as I say again “wala nang pagasa” mentality will be the self fulfilling prophecy of our demise.

Mabuhay ang bagong Pilipinas.

Let us talk about the track record of Mr. Pangilinan as a senator. I am here in the U.S. so I may miss something. But has he done something to help the the poor and the middle class ? I am not aware of any of his activities which has a huge impact to the lives of the common Filipino. My impresson of him is that he is still one of the “trapos”. My feeling is that if he will be elected president, he will not pursue the interest of the Filipino people but only of those powerful elites who helped him in the election.

Dear Sen. Pangilinan,

I do not disagree with your observations but I certainly see more potential than this. As I finished reading your list, one word poped in my head - pathetic.

I think your selling your fellowmen short.

By all means develop the tourism industry, but i hope it is not because you think that Filipinos are good servants, chaimber maids and bellhops.

Please do not ask your fellowmen to sing and dance for foreigners. I do not want talented Filipinos to just be performers, a dog can be a performer. I want Filipinos to be seen, heard and read as artist.

Also, if we target to be the call center of the world it would mean that we should always keep our per capita income lower than most of the other countries so that they will always give us their cheap work.

My point is that you are playing a game where you are aiming to be 4th place and you will end up last. Nobody works hard to be 4th place because it is not worth it. The people who end up 4th place are the ones who try to win.

We should not be aiming to be the best of the Third World, we should be aiming to be the first.

i have thought of these 12 years ago, and till now nothing had happen knowing that we have an oppurtunity. It is a damb idea to think that politicians has not recognized this potential. But honestly, we’re just like a day dreamer: Proud to be a filipino; filipino are geniuses; filipino are survivor; a lot of theme there was i’ve heard a talked about but still few had trived to succeed and the success happen not in the phil- but somewhere else.
If chinese in the philippines was able to make it because they are a” dreamer “who are a doer, and we are a dreamer who hopes for blessings. Chinese are Entrepreneur who seeks oppurtunity in the midst of chaos but we seeks opputtunity from Red Cross and other international welfare provision I can write a lot of reasons why we can’t.
Hay hay hay But it is in our root that even in our education it is always being taught that we are failure, no union (union meron, ang pabagsakin ang negosyo) yong mga nakasabay ni Jose Rizal na mga bayani, parang yong mga politko natin ngayon. So, no wonder why chinese can make it in any angle and filipino can’t. So Taas noo lang tao paumiihi, tapos nyan nakyuko na……

We are known to be resilient to issues and problems around us. And yes there is always hope for us… yet we should not always rely on hope….

what everyone must do is to unite and take a stand. First thing we must do is change the people who run the system (if not the system per se); for most of them if not all are vile, selfish and corrupt. Second give importance to education and health services… Through high quality education we can be assured of genuine change.

As for being a young nation, let’s not make it an excuse to be over dependent to foreign aids and/or foreign debts.

I’m proud to be a Filipino… and I’ll always be…

I believe the primary reason for foreign investors and tourists not being wooed to invest and visit the country is the lack of security on top of the under-developed airports, highways and seaports. Indeed our country is very rich in natural resources, boasts highly of touristy spots and the people are genuinely hospitable. Palawan, Boracay are comparable to top Asian tourist destinations like Bali and Phuket. Of course, there’s always hope for our nation. Filipinos are good-natured. Let’s just hope it comes sooner..

The problem is we have a damaged culture. We always think America is number 1, white is right. We are politically corrupt. So easy for white knights to become servants of the dark (Joker Arroyo, Rene Saguisag, etc…). We are spiritually bankrupt. Priests and bishops totally out of touch with the masses, turning a blind eye to evil in exchange for “30 pieces of silver”. Will they pose with the devil for a picture? Most of them will as evidenced by the photo on the inquirer yesterday. The “devil” coming in the form of a dwarf with the initials GMA. We are mentally mediocre. Mediocrity is celebrated. Pwede na yan mentality. As Senator Pangilinan thinks - hanggang song and dance lang ang Pinoy. Menial jobs are enough. Servants and helpers. Not once did I hear “high-tech” from any of our politicians. You even see the dwarf begging other countries to take our workers like so much garbage. I agree that we’re blessed with a huge potential. Our country has all these resources. But failing to make the best of it makes us doubly cursed. Double karma. What’s the solution? Short of lobotomy, a complete restructuring of the system. That includes excising vermin (also called politicians, and anybody demanding to be addressed as “honourable”) from our midst. The MAYBE we’ll have hope.

To everyone saying “Don’t just complain, make things happen”. Not to rain on your parade but in this country right now - No good deed goes unpunished. Think Jun Lozada, Antonio Trillanes, the general who told the truth in the Hello Garci scandal, plus many others in jail or in limbo, or dead.

And evil men, convicted murderers and child-rapists? They’re all pardoned. Sprung out of jail by the evil dwarf. And there’s also the butcher, former General (ka)palpakan. Where is he now? Facing justice? In your dreams! He’s now in congress.

So cling to hope, because that is all we have. But discern - is it hope or fantasy?

Senator Kiko Pangilinan - will you be able to look at the widows, children with murdered parents, parents with murdered children - look them straight in the eye and swear on your soul that you will bring them justice? Or will power also make you corrupt, make compromises with the devil, and eventually become a devil’s minion yourself just like all the others before you?

To those who say that pinoys are all complain, you should look at the amount of remittances the Philippines received from it’s OFWs. Considering that these enterprising pinoys had almost nothing to start with and ended up being the earner for the country is no less than amazing. Those who claim their “race” makes them above anybody is fooling themselves. History tells that they used to be servants too, not too long ago. The problem is the typans only needs slave workers. And our trapos and their often ignorant decendants who run the country are too powerful but lack the know-how. They consider every pinoy who eats 3 times a day and able to read, potential competitions. So they exert every effort to stay on top by making sure that pinoy kids remain more ignorant than their own even if it means keeping the whole country from going forward.

There is no denying in these top ten reasons that there is really a hope for the Philippines. The problem is, these are all in the papers. How could we translate something good like these for the improvement of life of Pinoys? How can we use this to provide a quality education and quality jobs?

Focus on tax collection from big businesses…and stop corruption from there. I know, this is hard to achieve. But with belief and personal conviction, I know, there will be a better Philippines for all of us!

I am proud to be a Pinoy! Mabuhay tayo!

Yes indeed RP has all the potentials to grow and prosper as a nation. But how will we be able to do it if the persons responsible for promoting our assets are the ones ruing it?!?

Speak of tourism, the secretary of Tourism has been (and is) doing everything he can to bring tourist and/or future investors to our land by promoting the different wonderful spots of our Motherland…that’s a fact we cannot discount form our hardworking secretary!

For instance, he has recently been in Mt. Apo, “Boulders Face Climb” as a slogan in promoting Mt. Apo choosing Davao Del Sur as the jump off site. A wonderful project yet he fail to do what a tourism ambassador should always have in mind, “Take Care of Our Environment”.

His team left their garbage’s as if somebody was paid to clean their mess when they are gone! Not to mention a slogan in the site was left…..hmmm…is he politicking!? What a Shame!

Check out the blog:
http://www.yousaytoo.com/an-earth-day-post-trash-left-in-mt-apo/49097?open_div=1

Mr. Secretary, may I remind you of a climber’s creed “Take nothing but photos, leave nothing but footprints, kill nothing but time” Well so you must know…

there is hope. hope is just hope without proper actions. proper actions is needed to make it a reality.

@Jim

Stop ranting and just shut up!
You and your kind are truly the hopeless. Do us all a favor and take the soonest flight out of the Philippines and don’t come back!

Like so many things in our country, comments have polarized to either optimism or pessimism. Don’t we need good measures of both? Kiko Pangilinan’s hope is refreshing, if a bit like Pollyanna’s. Norrie Jacinto’s is largely true too – let’s face the truth for it will set us free. Ang hindi marunong lumingon sa pinanggalingan ay hindi makakarating sa paruroonan, ‘di ba?

My rural barangay is still struggling with poverty, so P1000 buys a vote. My own barangay chairman is reasonably honest and works for the common good but he’s beholden to our mayor who works mainly for his own good. Multiply that by thousands of barangays both rural and urban. There are so many poor voters for sale that they outnumber and stymie those who vote for genuinely good, non-corrupt politicians. We have enough honest, smart countrymen who could serve for the common good, but how many can afford – or would want — to compete with someone flooding the voters with cash that we know is going to get recovered from the public till?

The Church begs voters to not sell their vote. But hope and righteousness by themselves are naïve. What can OFW’s do to really put their insights and their forex to work? Can we buy elections for the common good, with what we might call “No-patronage no-payback pesos?” In principle this wouldn’t need to go on forever — eventually elections shouldn’t have to be bought — though at least there’s more direct benefit to the poor if we buy their vote directly rather than buy it through advertising time.

If you’re a concerned OFW or group of OFW’s and are willing to put your money where your mind is, do the numbers. # of voters needed to carry the election times the price per vote. In a typical barangay that might be about USD 10,000 if one had to buy every vote, but it would be less if one counts family and friends who will support the right candidate without selling their vote. It’s not bake-sale money, that’s for sure. But a surgical, clever combination of principle and pragmatism should be able to make a difference in many local elections. The people we elect can then use barangay and municipal funds for their intended purpose instead of for payback. And can speak out with personal integrity about what’s right and wrong. Even better, if you can afford to go home, become one of those candidates yourself!

At the presidential level, tama’ na, sobra pa! We OFW’s could be a pretty large block of voters and an even bigger block of donors. But only if we will channel those votes and donations to a few honest candidates. We know that initially, there will be pretty stiff competition from those who want to maintain the status quo, but surely some combination of integrity and no-patronage, no-payback money can eventually move the country up to a more mature level of politics. There are some promising candidates testing the waters as presidentiables.

I’m prepared to donate $10,000 toward no-patronage, no payback politics. It’s a drop in the bucket by itself but the bucket will fill up if several million of us do the same. We’ll be real “bayani” if we send money — not just to our own families — but also for the common good. Or, better yet, if we go home to and become another honest politician at whatever level we can afford. When it comes to politics, let’s admit it, money still speaks, especially when it is applied to a good cause. Until we put our money and time where our mouths are, and team up with like-minded kababayan at home, it’s going to be awfully hard to avoid the 10 disasters in Norrie Jacinto’s list, or to achieve the 10 hopes in Kiko Pangilinan’s.

Rich or poor ,, the fundemental principle in progress in any country is to follow the law of the land!The leaders of our country by now are the ones who violate the law and these politicians at large should send shrivers down the spine of any law abiding filipino citizens.
By contrast the Philippines has no standard of living,and no traction of progress. Filipino voters today are artificially low by emotion and these are indication of ignorance.
Mr.Kiko are you experiencing sleep deprivation?
It takes a lot of guts to be honest..Progress in our country will not happen not in this life.The Philippine is a bit lucky to have OFW saving the economy.
In summary Mr. Kiko maybe we can start something by investing education to our children.

these are encouraging details because these are all true. our country does possess such potentials. in fact, the 10 reasons listed are not new findings. they have been there all along and many have written or talked of them in various forums hundreds of times in many years. we have enough to make us a great nation.
unfortunately, our politicians in conjunction with some big businesses made self serving serving processes that served to exploit these potentials for their (and their own family’s next generations) benefits. consider for instance how politicians dole out relief goods for flood victims in far flung towns while it was their own family that cut the trees or shut the canals and caused the floods !
likewise, politicians deliver speeches that sweetly coat their true dynasty intentions. and these 10 good reasons become 10 good speeches.
but i must say that the senator happens to be one of the very very few worth the respect of the new generations of voters. he may be a little voice amongst wolves and crocodiles but he is certainly relighting a candle.

Hahay, still the same type of comments coming, but its good to hear some positive comments once in a while. I guess Jim (comment # 42) and his like na naglimpana will always be a challenge sa buong pilipinas.

Yang mga taong ganyan ang reason na parang walang pag-asa ang pilipinas “PURO COMPLAIN BUT NO SPECIFIC DETAILED PRACTICAL SOLUTION TO OFFER”. I offered one. (Comment # 35).

This is Optimism deliberately driven down by crabs…my msg to all the jim’s out there..change your narrow minded, personality driven thinking. (Blame blame blame and more blame, “kasalanan ni”, “kasi sila”..”presidente this presidente that..”, whine whine whine..”wala nang pag-asa”, “lets face reality…”).

Look and start with yourself and let it multiply, don’t be discouraged and offer PREVENTIVE suggestions to those problems you mention. and for the love of God—–”CHANGE DOES NOT COME IN AN INSTANT”—– When will Filipinos understand that? it will take years but it has to start….AND IT IS STARTING. I am not talking about the changing of the president or some band aid solution political transition bull@#$. Im talking about a healthy awareness of issues by a growing number of Filipinos ans small steps slowly being taken toward it. The positive comments being posted in this thread is already a testament to that start…the negative one’s are a reflection of what has to be changed.

The way the negative comments were posted were not constructive reflecting on the crab nature of the people posting them.

I do not want to say “When will we ever learn.” because we are already learning I will keep a positive viewpoint. I urge everybody to do the same.

this is absolutely awesome. I love to read it and meditate on it.

Filipino’s out there… wake up! lets all work together and be a big nation with love, joy and peace.

My Top 10 reasons:
1. Because Manny Pacquiao can beat any other boxer, and he brings in US$$$+some hope/inspiration. Kaya naman palang bugbugin mga Mexicans+Britons so we can beat other nationalities din sa ibang bagay-BAWAS COLONIAL MENTALITY;
2. Wala pa tayong swine flu: Mukhang malinis/maingat talaga tayong mga Pinoy di gaya ng ibang lahi;
3. Matatag pa rin ang piso, di pa rin nag-P60/US$: although malungkot yung mga OFW+exporters kung malakas ang piso-depends on whom you ask, di nila naisip PESO GASTUSIN sa palengke in the end;
4. May eleksyon next year: Magrehistro lalo na mga youth kasi andami nyo at kaya nyong baguhin ang tradpolitics. Wag lang puro dada, magbebenta ng boto din pala or boboto ng bobo;
5. Di sumadsad financial system natin di gaya sa abroad: kung di ka naniniwala eh di dalhin nyo mga pera nyo sa Wall St. at abroad at wag n kayong bumalik sa Pinas, AMIN NA ITONG PINAS!:
6. Andito Pinas halos lahat kaibigan at kamag-anak ko, may damayan: sa abroad wala kang makausap, pagtanda mo IM SURE UUWI KA DIN NG PINAS PARA MAMATAY SA TINUBUANG LUPA;
7. MAY GOBYERNO TAYONG KAYA NATING BATIKUSIN ARAW-ARAW: try mo sa ibang bansa, e.g. Singapore, kundi kulong ka na;
8. KARANIWAN NG PINOY NALILIGO ARAW-ARAW: self explanatory;
9. DAHIL MAY DUAL CITIZENSHIP TAYO: mahal ka pa rin ng Pinas kahit nagmamadali kayong mag-abroad, ikamuhi at iwan ito.pwedeng uwi RP pag masama ang economiya abroad; at panghuli;
10. KAHIT ANONG PAGPAPA-CUTE GAWIN NYO SA ABROAD, UUWI PA DIN KAYO DITO PARA IBAHAGI YUNG MGA PASALUBONG NYO sa KAMAG-ANAK+US$+SUCCESSES NYO DUN (e.g. Pacquiao, Salonga, Bata Reyes, Pempengco etc.)+DONT 4GET MAS HUMANE RP JAILS DITO, walang sabay kadena sa kamay at paa mga suspects dito di gaya sa US (WINK, WINK TO ATONG ANG, MICHAEL RAY AQUINO AND OTHERS EXTRADITED/TO BE EXTRADITED).

You want RP to be a top tourist attraction you need to tell Immigration to let people in like Americans. The 21 Day Stamp and all the Visas you require makes it difficult. I live in Naic, Cavite and have a large Piggery and Rice Fields. I employ more than 10 people full time and have invested millions of pesos into the Philippine economy but I still have to get stampings and visas, etc. Let me come to the Philippines and live there and not be hazzled by Immigration.

[...] Kiko Pangilinan created this top 10 reasons why there is hope in the Philippines. Go read about it and see how people reacted to it. The last item is one reason [...]

How blessed we are as Filipinos, and if each one of us will do our share to be good and excellent in what we do, then no wonder these hope will come true…Tayo mismo

And now the Top Ten reasons why the Philippines will be held back from its genuine potential:

1: Corruption
2: Corruption
3: Corruption
4: Corruption
5: Corruption
6: 1: Corruption
7: Corruption
8: Corruption
9: Corruption
10: Leaving it to someone else to deal with items 1 thru 9.

Hay alas! PABLO BLANKO - Yet another example of what I was trying to say in another example of the kind of person in my posts #35 and #51.

Let us analyze his post. What was he trying to achieve with his top 10? Help the country? Did he suggest anything to improve it? Did we learn anything? Was there a concrete solution offered to his 9 corruption numbers?

A lot has to be desired by the likes of him. I urge every Filipino to reject the example Mr. Blanko has just shown. this is exacltly what we should not become.

This is the absolute best rebuttal to the article by Kiko:
———————
Pablo Blanko Says:
May 4th, 2009 at 7:01 pm

And now the Top Ten reasons why the Philippines will be held back from its genuine potential:

1: Corruption
2: Corruption
3: Corruption
4: Corruption
5: Corruption
6: 1: Corruption
7: Corruption
8: Corruption
9: Corruption
10: Leaving it to someone else to deal with items 1 thru 9.
——————-

Until the culture of corruption is removed from government, where it happens at ALL LEVELS, from the barangay hall all the way to Malacañang, the Philippines will always just hobble along.

Bulls eye on # 10 reason, more than 8 million of Filipinos mostly women does domestic work abroad just to feed the family. We need more politician like gov. Panlilio of Pampanga & gov. Padaca of Isabela.

Congratulations Mr. Fried Neurons! - you and Mr. Blanko confirmed more my observations in posts 35 and 51 Another post focusing on the negative without giving any suggestions - “BASTA MAKA REBUTTAL LANG”. hahay, i didnt know that this article had to be rebutted.

His previous post:
——

This is the absolute best rebuttal to the article by Kiko:
———————
Pablo Blanko Says:
May 4th, 2009 at 7:01 pm

And now the Top Ten reasons why the Philippines will be held back from its genuine potential:

1: Corruption
2: Corruption
3: Corruption
4: Corruption
5: Corruption
6: 1: Corruption
7: Corruption
8: Corruption
9: Corruption
10: Leaving it to someone else to deal with items 1 thru 9.
——————-

Until the culture of corruption is removed from government, where it happens at ALL LEVELS, from the barangay hall all the way to Malacañang, the Philippines will always just hobble along.le.

—-
(end of his post)

So Ill ask again? What is Mr. Neurons and Mr.Blanco trying to accomplish by posting this message? You can see the motive and the intention.

To All filipinos reading this, IT WOULD BE GOOD IF IDEAS CAME OUT RATHER THAN PURO SATSAT KUNG ANO ANG PROBLEMA walang namang suhestion.

Its people like these we should not emulate. Somebody gives a hopeful message and a concrete platform to start from- THEN HERE COMES THE CRABS TO PUT HIM DOWN - Galing ano?

Refer to posts 35, 51 for my rundown on these types.

Mabuhay ang Bagong Pilipino.

Cow economics

TRADITIONAL ECONOMICS
You have two cows.
You sell one and buy a bull.
Your herd multiplies and the economy grows.
You retire on the income.

CHINESE ECONOMICS
You have two cows.
You have 300 people milking them.
You claim full employment, high bovine
productivity and arrest anyone
reporting the actual numbers.

INDIAN ECONOMICS
You have two cows.
You worship them.

PAKISTAN ECONOMICS
You don’t have any cows.
You claim that the Indian cows belong to you.
You ask the US for financial aid,
China for military aid,
Britain for warplanes,
Italy for machines,
Germany for technology,
France for submarines,
Switzerland for loans,
Russia for drugs and
Japan for equipment.
You buy the cows with all this and claim of
exploitation by the world.

AMERICAN ECONOMICS
You have two cows.
You sell one and force the other to produce the milk of four cows.
You profess surprise when the cow drops dead.
You put the blame on some nation with cows & naturally that nation will be a danger to mankind.
You wage a war to save the world and grab the cows.

FRENCH ECONOMICS
You have two cows.
You go on strike because you want three cows.

GERMAN ECONOMICS
You have two cows.
You re-engineer them so that they live for 100 years, eat once a month and milk themselves.

BRITISH ECONOMICS
You have two cows.
They are both mad.

ITALIAN ECONOMICS
You have two cows.
You don’t know where they are.
You break for lunch.

SWISS ECONOMICS
You have 5000 cows, none of which belong to you.
You charge others for storing them.

JAPANESE ECONOMICS
You have two cows.
You redesign them so that they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk.
You then create cute cartoon cow images called Cowkimon and market them worldwide.

RUSSIAN ECONOMICS
You have two cows.
You count them and learn you have five cows.
You count them again and learn you have 42 cows.
You count them again and learn you have 17 cows.
You give up counting and open another bottle of vodka.

MALAYSIAN ECONOMICS
You have two cows.
You slaughter one for Hari Raya Puasa and
the other for Hari Raya Haji. Just before that, both the cows were wondering along the PLUS Highways.

FILIPINO ECONOMICS
MARCOS: Noong baby pa ako, Ang gatas ko ay “LACTUM”
CORY: Ako iyung mahal, “ENFALAC”
RAMOS: Ako iyung “LACTOGEN”, kaya matalino ako.
ERAP: Ako yata iyung “LACTACYD” Kaya ganito ako eh.
GMA: Ako “LATAK NALANG” Kaya ako bansot eh. Pero puro CORRUPTION naman

12 Little Things Every Filipino Can Do To Help Our Country

THERE’S a booklet making the rounds in Metro Manila that every Filipino who loves his country should get hold of and read, and hopefully put the points it raises into practice, in order to help our nation…

“Twelve (12) Little Things Every Filipino Can Do To Help Our Country,” by Alexander Ledesma Lacson, may be a “voice in the wilderness”; but as Fr. Ruben Tanseco, S.J. puts it, what Alex proposes are “very concrete, practical and doable” actions for us ordinary Filipinos.

A simple enumeration of these “twelve little things” will not do justice to the work of Alex. You’ve got to read the whole text, but I shall try to compress a few lines for some of the items mentioned.

1. Follow traffic rules — Why is that the most important? The answer is simple. Traffic rules are the simplest of our laws. If we learn to follow them, it will be the lowest form of national discipline that we can develop. Since it is totally without monetary cost, it should be easy for us to comply with, and therefore should provide a good start.

2. Whenever you buy or pay for anything, always ask for an official receipt. — If a seller does not issue an official receipt (OR) when you buy a product, the seller may or may not remit the tax to the government. Without an OR, there is no record of the sale transaction, and the tax that you paid may not be remitted to the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

3. Do not buy smuggled goods. Buy local, buy Filipino. — It may not be good economics to buy 100 percent local products. What I suggest is for us to take a “50-50″ buying attitude. This means that we must develop the attitude of using 50 percent of our budget for local products and the other 50 percent for imported choices.

4. When you talk to others, especially foreigners, speak positively of our race and our country — this is best addressed to the rich and the middle class in our country, who have contact with the outside world. It is they who talk to, dine or deal with foreigners either here or abroad. It is what they say and do which creates impressions about us among foreigners.

5. Respect your traffic officer, policeman, soldier and other public servants — There is nothing like the power of respect. It makes a person proud. It makes one feel honorable. At the same time, courtesy to others is good manners. It is class and elegance and kindness. It is seeing the value and dignity in the other man. It is, in fact, a mark of a most profound education.

6. Do not litter. Dispose your garbage properly. Segregate. Recycle. Conserve. — As Louis Armstrong says in his song: “I see trees of green, red roses, too, I see them bloom for me and you and I think to myself, what a wonderful world.”

7. Support your church. (or charitable/ civic organizations)

8. During elections, do your solemn duty. — Honesty, more than a masteral or doctorate degree, is what gives credibility. And credibility is essential because it is a leader’s link to the people. It is what makes the people look to one direction, follow a common vision, and perform a uniform act. In short, credibility is what makes people follow the leader.

9. Pay your employees well. — No exercise is better for the human heart than to reach down and lift someone else up. This truly defines a successful life. For success is the sum, not of our earthly possessions, but of how many times we have shown love and kindness to others.

10. Pay your taxes. — In 2003, P83 billion was collected from individual income taxes. But 91 percent of this amount came from salaried workers from the government and private sector, people who had no choice since their income taxes were withheld mandatorily. Only P7 billion of the P83 billion came from businessmen and professionals like doctors, lawyers, accountants and architects, among others.

11. Adopt a scholar or adopt a poor child. — You can make a difference in the future of our country by making a difference in the world of children.

12. Be a good parent. Teach your kids to follow the law and to love our country. –Today’s children will someday rule and lead this world. But whether they will be bad rulers or good leaders will depend largely on how we raise them today. Our future is in the hearts and minds of our children.

These comments are all “we could have been this and that” but we are not sorry to say. Every time I visit the Philippines, I cry a little. The “ugali” of most Filipinos are really shocking. The government is so corrupt. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Philippines and that is the reason I keep coming back and each time hoping that things are improving. I say this because I have experienced the system in the Philippines. I have a piece of land in the philippines full of squatters. When no one could help me with this problem, I eventually agreed that the government buy the land for the squatters. YOu know what, its been 20 years since I have been going back and fort trying to fix this predicament and lo and behold till this very day, the case is still pending. This is just one example of the many legal problems that my family and I have in the Philippines among other things

Unless we filipinos recognize what is right and wrong will there be hope for our country. Filipinos should be re taught the ten commandments.

‘tayo mismo’-ha,ha parang yung isa,ganyan naman po yata talaga,hindi lahat o iba-iba ng diskarte at yun din ang tungo,iisa lang naman ang ating mga puso at nasa,at alam ko na yung mga nakiki-sali dito e ka-isa o kapwa natin na iisa lang ang adhikain,dahil yung mga wala pa sa kanila yung kaisipang ganito,yung tungkol sa pulitika,sa bayan e hindi mo talaga mapapasali sa usapang ganito,iba pa ang kanilang ini-isip,…shopping,o yung iba e talaga hindi nila abut o walang paki…talaga,kung bakit e ewan,ha,ha,at yan dapat ang ating MAKITA,isang malaking problema talaga, ng mga nakaraan,yung kinukulang ng taong magtataguyod ng pagbabago,mula sa itaas,hanggang sa barangay,at me mga magagaling na pwedeng-pwede,e aayaw o hindi pa handa na maglingkod,at yun namang mga payag e mukhang hindi naman handa sa ibang mga kailangang alam o katangian. At kahit saang grupo o samahan e parang yan nga ang isang problema,lumalaki,lumaki ang gawain,kukulangin ang mga taong dedikado,at mga handa na,maayos na at pwede ng maglaan ng sapat na oras,talino at yaman,…kaya lang o ok pa rin siguro basta maayos at patuloy ang pag-aaral at tamang pag-gabay. At lagi e syempre,kailangan ang mga ito,lalo na ang konting yaman,na pwedeng ialay habang naglilingkod,dahil bawat kilos at pakikisali e me-perang kailangan.’Eka nga e pang-gasolina’,pero,magaling nga tayo ah!,so magagawan ng paraan wag lang short cut at yung problema rin ang balik…at basta ganito at positibo at papalakas ang usapan e ,walang imposible.’Kaya aba!!!,natin’ at lagi…me pagdarasal.

We need a lot more people like Senator Kiko who thinks that there is still hope for this bedridden country. That is what we need right now, to open the Filipino’s minds of the future possibilities and opportunities that await us. God Bless the Philippines.

In order to solve problems you have to see both sides. You cannot be an optimist, nor a pessimist. You have to be a realist. So what is reality - people who do good are murdered, arrested, or discredited. I have listed my examples before. You can continue to live in la-la land with a khumbaya mind set and telling those with realistic minds to shut up just like a certain Cocoy and Minerva, but you cannot change the facts. Kaya nga nasa ganitong situwasyon ngayon ang Pinas it’s because of all the Cocoys and Minervas out there. Pretend it’s all good and tell critics to “Shut up” and go abroad. That’s very constructive. Let the dwarf run around and do anything she wants, just have a positive mind-set. Its a very grotesque way of thinking.

“We have enough reason to hope. We have, as a people, enough reason to act on these hopes and when we do, the genuine change we all seek will finally see the light of day and yes, by all means, in our lifetime”
We are not in my opinion a hopeless country just waiting to be eaten by sharks. All the facts, data, observation written by Senator Pangilinan are true… We do have all the resources, the capabilities, the man power for CHANGE, however, we tend to just rant about the defects of our country. We complain and complain and complain and complain and COMPLAIN! But are we actually doing anything for such transformation to happen? Think about it.
Senator Pangilinan is correct when he said that “Close to 30 million of our 45 million voters are 18 to 35 years old. Very young. If harnessed effectively, these young voters can usher in the political and electoral change that we need to happen for genuine political and economic reforms to take place” – We want corruption to end, and for this country to rise again but the simple action for change such as voting is usually placed in the back seat. We tend to not prioritize this huge responsibility given to us.
We have the POWER to place progressive and results-oriented public sector leaders in the “office”. As Filipinos we need to ACT, to vote for change…
I agree with you senator Pangilinan- there is still a genuine hope for RP
The change that we are looking for begins with us. We need to act and not be passive regarding these issues that are pulling our country down. You want the government to change, for quality education and jobs- register and vote or even suggest feasible solutions instead of just complaining…

My Top 10 reasons:
1. Because Manny Pacquiao can beat any other boxer, and he brings in US$$$+some hope/inspiration.

>> And so what? Will he give his money to the poor. He just formed his own political party. Guess how it will all end up. Money + fame + power. Asawa daw niya malaki na ang ulo.

2. Wala pa tayong swine flu: Mukhang malinis/maingat talaga tayong mga Pinoy di gaya ng ibang lahi;

>> Have you seen the filth and garbage on the streets? Have you seen our rivers? How many are dead or dying?

3. Matatag pa rin ang piso, di pa rin nag-P60/US$:

>> You hurt the exporters and OFW. While all other asian economies are striving to have a weaker currency to make their exports more competitive, tayo baligtad, we are proud to have a strong peso. Weird.

4. May eleksyon next year:

>> We are not sure yet. Eh yung last eleksyon ni-hijack ng dwarf.

5. Di sumadsad financial system natin di gaya sa abroad:

==> When you’re at the bottom of the barrel you cannot go lower.

6. Andito Pinas halos lahat kaibigan at kamag-anak ko, may damayan:

>> OK

7. MAY GOBYERNO TAYONG KAYA NATING BATIKUSIN ARAW-ARAW: try mo sa ibang bansa, e.g. Singapore, kundi kulong ka na;

>> Eh garapal na naman mga yun. Batikusin mo wa-epek. Small fry ka kasi. Look at Lozada, etc… Baka habulin ka ni Palparan.

8. KARANIWAN NG PINOY NALILIGO ARAW-ARAW: self explanatory;

>> It’s a bit pathetic if this is one of the reason why there is “hope” for the the country.

9. DAHIL MAY DUAL CITIZENSHIP TAYO:

>> Have you tried dealing with the bureau of immigration. “Fees” here and there. Some without receipt. Pinas do not love you. It loves your money.

10. DONT 4GET MAS HUMANE RP JAILS DITO,

>> Really. Try mo if you can survive a week with inmates at the Manila City Jail. Tip: Don’t bend over.

You don’t seem to have a lot of experience in life. Sorry.

“We have enough reason to hope. We have, as a people, enough reason to act on these hopes and when we do, the genuine change we all seek will finally see the light of day and yes, by all means, in our lifetime”
We are not in my opinion a hopeless country just waiting to be eaten by sharks. All the facts, data, observation written by Senator Pangilinan are true… We do have all the resources, the capabilities, the man power for CHANGE, however, we tend to just rant about the defects of our country. We complain and complain and complain and complain and COMPLAIN! But are we actually doing anything for such transformation to happen? Think about it.
Senator Pangilinan is correct when he said that “Close to 30 million of our 45 million voters are 18 to 35 years old. Very young. If harnessed effectively, these young voters can usher in the political and electoral change that we need to happen for genuine political and economic reforms to take place” – We want corruption to end, and for this country to rise again but the simple action for change such as voting is usually placed in the back seat. We tend to not prioritize this huge responsibility given to us.
We have the POWER to place progressive and results-oriented public sector leaders in the “office”. As Filipinos we need to ACT, to vote for change…
I agree with you senator Pangilinan- there is still a genuine hope for RP
The change that we are looking for begins with us. We need to act and not be passive regarding these issues that are pulling our country down. You want the government to change, for quality education and jobs- register and vote or even suggest feasible solutions instead of just complaining…
We should be more like senator Pangilinan and still have hope for our country..:)

A lot of good things has been said but not done about hopes and a lot of bad things had been done desperately. As it has always been, the country’ future is dependent on the political climate. Sad to say, no matter what good things we say, bad weather of politics is always a hindrance. Hopes, hopes, hopes… yes. pero kailan kaya darating ang tunay na pagbabago, until we picked-up by accident a new leader that will bring our country prosperously. In short, “dyempot” is our hope.

Anyway, as we proceed on towards public awareness, the country is bound for a long awaited reforms in our political prospective. He who wins in 2010 from the oppositions will surely give hopes for a new breed of leadership. Ito na siguro ang hudyat ng pagbabago. The only hopes that I can see from the adminstration is in the person of Bayani Fernando for he had shown guts and diligence in the performance of his duties and responsiblities.

Sana maka dyempot na tayo ng tunay na leader ng ating bansa.

Kiko is a nice talker…btw most of them are nice talkers….But all these will end up as a big chunks of crap if they don’t do anything about it….

Well then Mr. Jim, Since you claim that we, the optimistic are not realistic and ones are the driving our country down. What is your solution? See it only from your point of view?

I already offered my two cents in doing something about front level and mid-management corruption. Do not call me unrealistic. I am an optimist that sees the reality and does not lose hope. So alam mo naman pala ang problema diba? SO ano gagawin mo? I myself can say im helping in my own little way with my business and solutions offered. Yes, what you state is true and that is real but there are also good things in this country as Sen. Kiko said. And we must capitalize.

SO your mindset of “Realism” tends to put people down and leads towards hopelessness right? Anong gusto mo Mr. Realist? Stay put in your reality or make your reality a little bit more of the “La-La-Land” you so accuse us of living in.

How about a mindset of “Realism” that sees both sides and leans toward the one which is Solution Oriented and Full of Hope?

To critic is good but just to critic and not offer alternatives and concrete solutions even though they might be rejected (At least you tried diba?)- That’s just whining.

I am sure Mr. Jim you are an intelligent individual. Might as well put that into helping your country even just in small ways. Can I ask you Mr. Jim what can you do to help ease the corruption in the Philippines? What is the realists point of view? Maybe you can even offer a better or a breakthrough insight into a solution better than me.

That is if Mr. Jim likes to help right?

We are also a country who’s congress had to adjourn because there are only 20 out 242 congressmen are present. Where is this country going to when its elected officials won’t even go to work for four hours a day? The best way to improve your status in life in this country is to get elected and spend the next 3 years doing nothing but filling your coffers with money given to you and not earned.

For a certain “Jim”, pakipost mo naman full comments ko re: my Top 10 reasons, wag mo i-abbreviate kasi nawawala ang mga ibig kong sabihin, at kung ano-ano pang sinabi mo. Wala ka man lang originality: Seems you have lots of experience in stupidity. Or better yet come-up with your top reasons, wala ka man lang n-contribute dito sa discussion

Follow up… Please Read

This is how the realist “Jim” and his like wants us to think(his comments start with >>):

My Top 10 reasons:
1. Because Manny Pacquiao can beat any other boxer, and he brings in US$$$+some hope/inspiration.

>> And so what? Will he give his money to the poor. He just formed his own political party. Guess how it will all end up. Money + fame + power. Asawa daw niya malaki na ang ulo.

2. Wala pa tayong swine flu: Mukhang malinis/maingat talaga tayong mga Pinoy di gaya ng ibang lahi;

>> Have you seen the filth and garbage on the streets? Have you seen our rivers? How many are dead or dying?

3. Matatag pa rin ang piso, di pa rin nag-P60/US$:

>> You hurt the exporters and OFW. While all other asian economies are striving to have a weaker currency to make their exports more competitive, tayo baligtad, we are proud to have a strong peso. Weird.

4. May eleksyon next year:

>> We are not sure yet. Eh yung last eleksyon ni-hijack ng dwarf.

5. Di sumadsad financial system natin di gaya sa abroad:

==> When you’re at the bottom of the barrel you cannot go lower.

6. Andito Pinas halos lahat kaibigan at kamag-anak ko, may damayan:

>> OK

7. MAY GOBYERNO TAYONG KAYA NATING BATIKUSIN ARAW-ARAW: try mo sa ibang bansa, e.g. Singapore, kundi kulong ka na;

>> Eh garapal na naman mga yun. Batikusin mo wa-epek. Small fry ka kasi. Look at Lozada, etc… Baka habulin ka ni Palparan.

8. KARANIWAN NG PINOY NALILIGO ARAW-ARAW: self explanatory;

>> It’s a bit pathetic if this is one of the reason why there is “hope” for the the country.

9. DAHIL MAY DUAL CITIZENSHIP TAYO:

>> Have you tried dealing with the bureau of immigration. “Fees” here and there. Some without receipt. Pinas do not love you. It loves your money.

10. DONT 4GET MAS HUMANE RP JAILS DITO,

>> Really. Try mo if you can survive a week with inmates at the Manila City Jail. Tip: Don’t bend over.

You don’t seem to have a lot of experience in life. Sorry.

End of Post——————————–

So is this how we should frame our mindset? Were there any concrete solutions or alternatives given? What was the purpose of his answering the post? To help? What was accomplished with his answer?

At least people can see what kind of mindset these people have. Would you like to do something productive if this kind of mentality pervails?

Think….

For those who call themselves realist! Please naman. Don’t mislead people! Your realism is not realism. It is pessimism. The reality is, as what is said by the senator, that we have all the capitals and potentials to bring this country to progress and development.

Exploiting them is another question. It is not bad to exploit (for some narrow minded people, to exploit means to utilize/maximize).

To Mr Jim: What do you propose to at least minimize if not eradicate corruption in our country. You might have a better and more realistic suggestion or to make our country better as a nation.

I pity those people who see the problems amidst chaos; those who lost hope and do no longer believe in our nation. I admire those people who see solution and hope amidst chaos (the real realist). -non sense

Is there still hope for our country? Yes! There is still hope. There are hundreds of things we can capitalize for our country. We are the hope of our country.

Do you know why there are corrupt politicians in our country? It is because we allow them to practice such. We have this mindset that our participation in democracy starts and ends with our vote. Hell no! It is where our participation starts. The bigger part of it happens after the elected officials sworn to their office. Bantayan natin sila at siguraduhing hindi sila magkakaroon ng pagkakataon para mangurakot. If you won’t protect your vote and keep an eye to your official, you are giving them the space and all the chances to do illegal acts. Our nation is young, as what was said by the senator, if only we, as members of this young population, can do our share. We can at least minimize corruption.

Is being negative being realistic? We’ll reality is subjective. It changes constantly. Today’s reality might no longer be a reality tomorrow. I’d rather be a dreamer/idealistic/optimistic that a sore pessimist. There is nothing wrong with being idealistic. It is best to be an idealistic person! Idealism is the mother of development and progress. We can’t progress if we are contented with the status quo.

For those who disagree that there is still HOPE for our country, I pity you! You don’t feel a sense of nationhood, of belonging. You’re not a FILIPINO!

Sakit ng mga Pilipino: reklamo ng reklamo wala namang ginagawa para matuwid yung nirereklamo! Karamihan ng tao, hanggang salita lang they don’t even act on it. Let’s do our share!

Our good senator enumerated the capitals our nation has and suggested some ways to exploit it. It is good that someone who is in the government plagued by intrigues and accusations of corruption can still see the better side of reality, our potentials. Truly, an official like him is our bigger hope.

PS.
….By the way, we have a more disturbing problem than corruption! It is apathy! Apathy allows corruption! If and only if majority of our population are politically and socially active, there will be no room for corruption. Our young population will remain a potential, unless we are moved.

….sa mga pessimist. You should watch and be part of AKO MISMO…
Sabi sa commercial… ako mismo, hindi lang magrereklamo, hindi lang aasa sa iba, ako ang magsisimula…. AKO MISMO!
Para pessimist: IKAW mismo. Ayan ang sagot sa mga nawawalan ng pag-asa.
“ANG KAWALAN NG PAG-ASA at TIWALA ANG MAS MALAKING PROBLEMA NA KINAKAHARAP NATIN!”

What an eye opener. Wondering how can we make a difference?

My Fellow Filipinos,

When I was small, the Philippine peso was P2 to the $dollar. The president was Diosdado Macapagal. Life was simple. Life was easy. My father was a farmer. My mother kept a small sari-sari store where our neighbors bought sang-perang asin, sang-perang bagoong, sang-perang suka, sang-perang toyo at pahinging isang butil na bawang. Our backyard had kamatis, kalabasa, talong, ampalaya, upo, batao, and okra. Our silong had chicken. We had a pig, dog & cat. And of course, we lived on the farm. During rainy season, my father caught frogs at night which my mother made into batute (stuffed frog), or just plain fried. During the day, he caught hito and dalag from his rice paddies, which he would usually inihaw. During dry season, we relied on the chickens, vegetables, bangus, tuyo, and tinapa.

Every now and then, there was pork and beef from the town market. Life was so peaceful, so quiet, no electricity, no TV. Just the radio for Tia Dely, Roman Rapido, Tawag ng Tanghalan and Tang-tarang- tang. And who can forget Leila Benitez and Eddie Ilarde on Darigold Jamboree? On weekends, I played with my neighbors (who were all my cousins). Tumbang-preso, taguan, piko, luksong lubid, patintero, at iba pa.

I don’t know about you, but I miss those days.

These days, we face the TV, Internet, e-mail, newspaper, magazines, grocery catalog, or drive around. The peso is a staggering and incredible P44 to the $dollar. Most people can’t have fun anymore. Life has become a battle. We live to work. Work to live. Life is not easy.

I was in Saudi Arabia in 1983. It was lonely, difficult, & scary. It didn’t matter if you were a man or a woman. You were a target for rape. The salary was cheap & the vacation far between. If the boss didn’t want you to go on holiday, you didn’t. They had your passport. Oh, and the agency charged you almost 4-months of your salary (which, if you had to borrow on a “20% per month arrangement” meant your first year’s pay was all gone before you even earned it).

The Philippines used to be one of the most important countries in Asia. Before & during my college days, many students from neighboring Asian countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan and China went to the Philippines to get their diplomas. Like Thailand, they went to study agricultures in UP Los Banos and earned their bachelors in the Phils and now we import rice from them. It’s opposite now. Philippines used to be the exporter of any agriculture products but now it’s different. We import because not much land (farms) can be cultivated due to private sectors that focused on developing houses, buildings, supermarkets, mall and others.

What happened? What’s the government doing? Checking their own pocket, their own personal interest and pork barrels. Wow! Until 1972, like President Macapagal, President Marcos was one of the most admired presidents of the world. The Peso had kept its value of P7 to the $dollar until I finished college.

Today, the Philippines is famous as the “housemaid” capital of the world. It ranks very high as the “cheapest labor” capital of the world, too. We have maids in Hong Kong, laborers in Saudi Arabia, dancers in Japan, migrants and TNTs in Australia and the US, and all sorts of other “tricky” jobs in other parts of the globe. Quo Vadis, Pinoy? Is that a wonder or a worry? Are you proud to be a Filipino, or does it even matter anymore? When you see the Filipino flag and hear the Pambansang Awit, do you feel a sense of pride or a sense of defeat & uncertainty? If only things could change for the better…….Hang on for this is a job for Superman. Or whom do you call? Ghostbusters. Joke. Right?

This is one of our problems.

We say “I love the Philippines … I am proud to be a Filipino.” When I send you a joke, you send it to everyone in your address book even if it kills the Internet. But when I send you a note on how to save our country & ask you to forward it, what do you do? You chuck it in the bin.

I want to help the maids in Hong Kong… I want to help the laborers in Saudi Arabia…

I want to help the dancers in Japan… I want to help the TNTs in America and Australia.

I want to save the people of the Philippines… But I cannot do it alone. I need your help and everyone else’s.

So please forward this e-mail to your friends. If you say you love the Philippines, prove it. And if you don’t agree with me, say something anyway. Indifference is a crime on its own.

= Juan Dela Cruz =

Follow up to Cocoy’s Follow up… Please Read
(pang-epal sa nonsense na epal ni JiM)

My Top 10 reasons:
1. Because Manny Pacquiao can beat any other boxer, and he brings in US$$$+some hope/inspiration.
>> And so what? Will he give his money to the poor. He just formed his own political party. Guess how it will all end up. Money + fame + power. Asawa daw niya malaki na ang ulo.

>>>>>>>> still, he can bring in huge amount of money. We’ll ayaw ko din kay Manny he should not enter politics.

2. Wala pa tayong swine flu: Mukhang malinis/maingat talaga tayong mga Pinoy di gaya ng ibang lahi;
>> Have you seen the filth and garbage on the streets? Have you seen our rivers? How many are dead or dying?

>>>>>> swine flu nga my dear! Yes we’ve seen it. Have you done something to make the environment better?

3. Matatag pa rin ang piso, di pa rin nag-P60/US$:
>> You hurt the exporters and OFW. While all other asian economies are striving to have a weaker currency to make their exports more competitive, tayo baligtad, we are proud to have a strong peso. Weird.

>>>>>>>> You should study economics my dear! Mali ata ang alam mo kasi you will hurt the exporters if the currency is weak! US dollar kasi ang ginagamit sa pag-export so you change your peso to dollar. Aralin mo na lang. Logic lang yan.

4. May eleksyon next year:
>> We are not sure yet. Eh yung last eleksyon ni-hijack ng dwarf.

>>>>>what do you mean “ni-hijack” there was still an election last 2007 in case you do not know.

5. Di sumadsad financial system natin di gaya sa abroad:
==> When you’re at the bottom of the barrel you cannot go lower.

>>>>>>are we really at the bottom of the barrel? Any proof?

6. Andito Pinas halos lahat kaibigan at kamag-anak ko, may damayan:
>> OK

7. MAY GOBYERNO TAYONG KAYA NATING BATIKUSIN ARAW-ARAW: try mo sa ibang bansa, e.g. Singapore, kundi kulong ka na;
>> Eh garapal na naman mga yun. Batikusin mo wa-epek. Small fry ka kasi. Look at Lozada, etc… Baka habulin ka ni Palparan.

>>>>>>> The truth of the matter is nakakapagbatikos ka, we are still not so much restricted by the government. We still practice our freedom in expressing our opinion. Best proof, you’re still alive and you can post comments like this.

8. KARANIWAN NG PINOY NALILIGO ARAW-ARAW: self explanatory;
>> It’s a bit pathetic if this is one of the reason why there is “hope” for the the country.

9. DAHIL MAY DUAL CITIZENSHIP TAYO:
>> Have you tried dealing with the bureau of immigration. “Fees” here and there. Some without receipt. Pinas do not love you. It loves your money.

>>>>>>>may I ask you, why do you allow them not to issue receipts? You can say that Pinas do not love you because you your self do not love your country!

10. DONT 4GET MAS HUMANE RP JAILS DITO,
>> Really. Try mo if you can survive a week with inmates at the Manila City Jail. Tip: Don’t bend over.
You don’t seem to have a lot of experience in life. Sorry.

>>>>>> You seem to have too much experience and got fed up with them. Well, I pity you! Wala kang nakikitang pag-asa. Ang miserable ng life mo. I feel sorry. Kawawa k naman.
End of Post——————————–

Ika nga, shoot the messenger who brings bad news. The reality is disappointing. Masakit man pakinggan but that’s the way it is. Pretend a dog is a cat, but it’s still a dog.

So what some posters are saying is that, only those that sing khumbaya are those that can contribute to this discussion?

What makes you think I have not tried to contribute concrete solutions these past 30 years to make this country strong and proud again? But every single time it all comes to naught. How many of my friends and relatives who try to open a business and employ people are driven away by corruption (hello BIR - audit kayo ng audit gusto niyo lang pala ng lagay - mga buwaya). Hindi ko na mabilang. How many foreign guests come to this country on my invite only to leave with a very negative impression (Thank you Bureau of Immigration - your fat is dripping off your oily hide). I even have a couple of investor associates pull out because of a combination of government corruption and ineptitude. I’ve been to mass actions and have brought (strongly convinced) friends with me to participate. Yes I know the sting of tear gas. Ika nga eh parang cologne ko na.

So I have a right to complain. Kasi walang nangyayari. In fact things get worse. Why? People get more indifferent (What happened when Lozada was arrested - nothing! Lahat nasa isip eh si Pacquiao). I have seen politicians change colors faster than a chameleon. I’ve seen good politicians turn evil. Now we have Senator Pangilinan with his list. I think I have a right to be very doubtful about his sincerity. Prove it rather than giving us a list!

Despite the disappointments I have not given up hope, otherwise I would have left a long time ago. In fact all of my college barkada, lahat sila nasa abroad na.

Who is happy now with the current situation? Only the dwarf and her minions.

To Cocoy — I’m not asking you or anyone to think like me. I merely posted my thoughts. Saan sa post ko where I wrote that you should think like me? You think what you want. It’s your right. Yan naman ang pinaglalaban natin di ba - Human rights. Think free.

And to Mr. Raffy - walang personalan. Pero pathetic naman talaga ang points mo eh, especially the “naliligo araw-araw”. At least na-entertain mo mga students ko dito.

To stalker, salamat sa iyong follow-up. pero wag naman personalan. Follow-up ko naman:
- Pt 2. We do our part. Part of our heating right now is solar power. Dapat nga sa Pinas is to harness the sun’s energy. Pero undeveloped pa. We have to import ours.
- Pt. 3. My brother runs an export company, and I used to work there - first job. Then I went broad to work in an international firm, also exporting for a couple of years. Export companies quote in US$. So item A say costs 100 pesos to make. + 100% markup is 200 pesos. For the sake of argument, at 50:1, that’s US$ 4 (including your profit). So you quote your customer US$ 4. If the Peso is stronger by say 20% against the US$, then you’ll have to quote US$4.80. If other countries have weaker currency, they can quote their prices lower than what you can give to your customers. So stalker - aralin mo na lang. Logic lang yan.

Pt. 4: May sham eleksyon - eh binaboy nila boto mo, masaya ka pa. Or did you already forget “Hello Garci”. Yan nga ang is pang problema sa atin - amnesia.

Pt. 5: Look around you. There is nobody so blind as those who refuse to see.

Pt. 7: For now. Kaya nga dapat nakabantay ka lagi.

Pt. 8: Hanep agree tayo dyan.

Pt. 9: Tanong ko sa foreign friends ko. Not me.

If nothing change for the better, see if you still feel the same way 20 years down the road.

Hello Jim,

Glad you replied. That is a very astute observation and I am sorry If you feel that way. We too as a business have been victims of BAC rigging in biddings for ridiculous reasons just to satisfy the preferred bidder of a particular ICT contract. the sad thing is after nanalo na ang preferred bidder, the project failed and no accountability whatsover. Nakaka inis nga talaga and just like you we have had foreign guests but thankfully does not have as much negative comments about our country as you say but still meron parin.

But i still believe despite what happened to us that the system can still work and im happy to say at least its working better now than before. from the faster LTO applications to online Birth Certificate retrievals and the proposed automation of the election(I still believe this is better than manual counting). slowly but surely as I would say. There is still corruption and yes it is still a considerable part of the government but that will die out.

If you believe that your 30 years of contributions count as nothing, i would disagree with you. In fact, Im very happy that you voiced out your experience because this can be a starting ground of what you can contribute (again) to the country. You can tell in this forum how it can be prevented and what detailed steps have to be made. Id rather have a more fruitful discussion in details of offered solutions than mag bangayan nalang tayo ng bangayan.

Since napalabas mo na ang sama ng loob mo sa lahat ng tao. Then I guess this would be a good forum to discuss solutions. Do you agree that these 10 things are good things we can capitalize?

Disregard nalang natin ang personalities, whistleblowers,boxes,dwarves…etc..
Now, what specific detailed changes should be done?

I believe you have so many good things to contribute especially with your past experiences(Mag discarte ng middlemen of Customs, harassment/extortion techniques BIR agents used on Private Businesses, The SOP process of private bidders in bidding government contracts,Bureau of immigration tactics to delay processing..etc)

If you can at least tell the people about you specific experiences and what you think can be done, Then we have a lot to thank you for. Maybe change will not come in an instant but since tinulungan mo ang mga pilipino with knowledge, you will in fact be one of the better players in helping the country and speeding up that change we were waiting for

I’ve been away from our beloved country Philippines for about 8 years now. I love it’s beauty / greatness. This is the most unforgettable speech I will never forget that I recite in the class.

Let just look at Ninoy unread Arrival Speech:

“According to Gandhi, the willing sacrifice of the innocent is the most powerful answer to insolent tyranny that has yet been conceived by God and man.

“Yes, the Filipino is patient, but there is a limit to his patience. Must we wait until that patience snaps?

“On one of the long corridors of Harvard University are carved in granite the words of Archibald Macleish: ‘How shall freedom be defended? By arms when it is attacked by arms; by truth when it is attacked by lies; by democratic faith when it is attacked by authoritarian dogma. Always and in the final act, by determination and faith.’

“I return from exile and an uncertain future with only determination and faith to offer – faith in our people and faith in God.”

For Further Readig: Check the link below

http://www.librarylink.org.ph/featarticle.asp?articleid=65

http://www.milliontapsforpeace.org/writeups2.htm

I’m just wary of politicians dangling false hopes and promises. That is how they retain power: Impoverish the masses, make them hopeless, and dangle false hopes - they will then vote for you. I will try to dissect the ten list:

1. We are strategically located at the heart of East Asia.

Currently we cannot be the transport hub just because we do not have the manufacturing base to justify being a transport hub. Kaya nga umalis na ang DHL at FedEx to China. But what we can be is a top tourist destination. As the Senator say - we are near several countries, and even the busiest people need a vacation.

2. We are No. 1 in aquamarine resources worldwide.
We can develop the Philippines as a
“nautical” country. We have the world’s best seamen after all. The problem is our fishermen live on subsistence fishing. It is a dead-end for a lot of them. The government can find alternative use for the coastlines. Hindi lang fishing, which mostly only benefits the big fishing corporation - I know because my late uncle is one. An idea is to form cooperatives made up of fishermen to take care of a certain section of the coastline for tourists. The fishermen can organize activities for the tourists (with government or privately provided) training and earn more as a result. So the fishermen will have an incentive to protect their area, and we can also end destructive blast fishing as well.

3. We have a huge tourism industry potential.
Needless to say, but what the Senator is proposing costs a lot of money. As a small initial step: Cut down traveling red tape and taxes. Drastically lower the visa fee. Waive the travel tax. Make it affordable for tourists to come to the Philippines instead of Thailand or Indonesia. When they’re here they will spend their money. That is when you make the money off them. Hindi sa fees or red tapes. Establish a strong tourist police in each area. Minsan ang nangho-holdup sa mga tourist eh mga pulis. And more importantly - be respectful of foreigners especially directed at the immigration officials at the NAIA counters. I have seen countless times Immigration officials being very disrespectful to visiting foreigners. In one instance a Korean tourist was shouted at by an official because he did not fill up an entry form. Hindi naman siya nakakaintindi ng ingles, eh ingles pa ng ingles si Ms. Official in an ever louder voice. It’s very unnecessary.

4. We are now No. 2 in the BPO industry worldwide and can become No. 1.

Good and all but I would be even more impressed if the good senator look beyond the obvious. Why not promote entrepreneurship instead of being an employee? Small and medium-sized businesses will power the Philippines out of poverty, and not the big industries (nor call centers). I would suggest all public officials earning more than the average Filipino household income cut their salary (and pork barrel) and establish a fund to provide low interest loans (in countries like Taiwan for example it can go to as low as 2.5% per annum) to small and medium sized entrepreneurs. Lower the taxes so entrepreneurs can re-invest into their business. Make it tax-free to import capital equipment. Too much taxes will kill off businesses.

5. We are extremely creative and artistic people.

That is true, but more important is to instill pride in one’s work, so you do your work to the highest level of quality. Now what you see in the filipino movies - di ba mediocrity. Some producers say its because people won’t go to see a high-quality film. That is an insult to all Filipinos. Hindi mo naman talaga kailangan sobrang artsy - just make a movie that doesn’t treat people like dummies.

Another idea is to establish “free areas” for street performers. The idea is somewhat like what is happening in Germany — any licensed artists (singers, mime, magicians, etc..) can perform on the street (or park) without being hassled by the police. They get paid by the public if they like what they see.

6. We have the emergence of a new generation of progressive and results-oriented public sector leaders.

But unless you root out the old corrupt leaders, these new-generation will also become the corrupt generation. Kailangan talaga kasi a total system overhaul. I’m going to mention the dirty ‘R” word - “Revolution” - if you succeed. “Rebellion” if you do not succeed.

7. Information and communication technology advancement is enhancing our sense of nationhood.

We need more competition. Establishment of “free” public WiFi areas so people can access information anytime and any place. But it’s difficult if telecommunications are controlled by only a couple of giant companies.

8. We have a re-emerging middle class mindset.

But first stem the flow of our best and brightest to foreign countries to work as maids and caregivers. Sayang talaga.

9. We are a young nation.

We should make it possible for the youth to dream of building a life here in the Philippines rather than dreaming about immigrating. This goes back to my argument about supporting entrepreneurs. Make it possible for them to start a business here. They have the talent, energy and imagination to make things happen (and solve unemployment). Instill in them the philosophy that it is better to work in your own one-man operation rather than working for a multi-zillion mega corporation.

10. We are a people who love to laugh, who love our families.

That is good, but sometimes we laugh too much even in the face of iniquities and evil when we should be raging.

I’m a bit disappointed that so far there is no mention of developing renewable energy. This is the future and the Philippines with all it’s resources can be on the leading edge. Currently Germany is leading the field. Invite these German companies to invest in the Philippines by providing attractive benefits. Look long term, hindi puro short term. Wag puro call-centers. These are dead-end industries.

Another area to explore is in the field of organic farming. Re-training of subsistence farmers to grow organic products which commands a higher product value.

- Last is to ban public officials from attending boxing matches in foreign lands. Hindi maganda tingnan. Foreigners will think the Philippines is really corrupt. It’s also morally revolting to go on a junket while millions of Filipinos do not even know where the next lunch will come from.

6. We have the emergence of a new generation of progressive and results-oriented public sector leaders.

Unfortunately, most places in the country still suffer from corrupt and atrocious political dynasties.

9. We are a young nation.

And how do you suggest we harness these young voters to be involved in the political and economic development of the country?

You know why we are in such a mess,and do you want to know why we will never be able to get out of it…ever? All the major problems we have today (corruption,unemployment,crime,insurgency,environmental destruction,poverty,high inflation,declining education,diminishing food production, massive migration,urban squatting,drugs,sex,violence,child labor,social inequity,etc.)–are only the symptoms of a terminally ill nation on the brink of impending death. What is causing these? Easy:it’s the rapid population growth in this country. Yes,people. Some may dismiss the Malthusian doctrine of population,but they better think twice in the case of the Philippines. Here is the perfect proof of the soundness of that principle. There is no time. All presidents from Macapagal to the present one didn’t,or isn’t doing anything to address this situation. There is no remedy either because the dominant Catholic church is still preaching the evils of contraception or pregnancy prevention. So the poor uneducated majority (urban squatters)who survive on less than $2.00 a day are multiplying like sewer rats to produce the next batch of hungry,impoverished,uneducated and unemployed Filipinos. Time will come when civil war or riots will erupt and we will kill each other for potable drinking water or food. Expect massive power outages in the next few years. This time,these will last for good because the government has been neglecting all its power plants for decades,and all the money intended for rehabilitation have been stolen by the powers-that-be. I love my country. But I don’t want to be alive when these things happen because I know it will happen in twenty years or less. How can we be such a happy,smiling people? You know that joke that the Philippine government likes to brag that this country is not as affected by the global financial meltdown like its Asian neighbors? Well,how can one say that a person is now poorer when he was never rich in the first place?

Follow up comment: No,Manny Pacquiao cannot solve these problems for us. He’s just a guy who just got very very lucky…in fact way too lucky, with his chosen career. I refuse to join the celebrations for his victory against Hatton, for two reasons: it has gotten way out of hand, and because in the end,I know that Manny has just gotten richer by several millions of dollars more, while the rest of this country’s citizenry are finding it harder and harder to survive everyday. To Manny: like a mega-lotto winner, please,please do not flaunt your riches to your poor countrymen because you are only making their lives miserable. Please disappear or lay low and enjoy your money because it is yours and you are not obliged to give these to the Filipinos. A little charity is good, but do not think that all Filipinos are beggars. Besides, can you give “balato” to all 90 million Filipinos? Don’t think so. And don’t,don’t,don’t ever go into politics or showbiz. To the local print and broadcast media:please do not show or feature Manny’s latest luxury vehicles or mansions or villas,or his lavish expenses at parties,or Aling Dionisia’s latest gem stones. We already get it,they are now verrry verrry rich. It’s like tempting concentration camp inmates with a truckload of Wagyu beef steak they can never have. And that is the highest form of abomination.

maraming ‘imbitasyon ngayon,’ na mga pang-kagalingan ng bayan at mamayan ang misyon, mamili tayo at gawin ng buong makakaya at lakas ang ating magagawa,at upang umandar pa lalo at sumulong pa lalo ang ang mga nasimulan na,marami at maganda rin yung sa ’spiritual’ ‘hanapin muna!!!,bilang proteksyon,…,para lalong ok at malakas,dahil matindi ang gawain. sige po at ‘tayo na nga’ marahil ang mga hinihintay,’maging katulong na taga-gabay.

I strongly agree with Jim(5-5-09 8:25pm)
To Jim, Please send more comments, and as the usual word used by some Koreans “Fighting!!” meaning, go on and win…. thank you…

we have almost complete in raw materials to manage our own technology ,but how can we start to handle without government cooperation. Many filipinos are skilled to compete in the world.

To “Jim”:
You have no right to repost my top 10 reasons in incomplete form, at least you should apologize in this blog, or else that’s pathetic of you. Who cares about your 30+ years of experience? Anyone of the posters here can have it but you are doing things wrong and mischief these past 30 or so years, and so you are part of the problem of Pinas. We can’t wait to have the likes of you move over into oblivion, in favor of the more optimistic and energetic next generations. Probably you will not be able to see a “better” Pinas at all, that’s your problem. Stop trying to educate some “students”, when you yourself should be learning: based on your description of things, you have failed…and likely your time is up with no real accomplishments to be proud of.

We can see countries all around us becoming more & more progressive (China, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, etc.)
The problem with the Philippines is that this country was cut-off from the rest of East Asia for many centuries and developed its own culture. Unfortunately this culture is of the rich becoming richer at the expense of the poor masses. The basic mentality instilled to the Filipinos is that if you are born to be poor, you can never become rich. It has always been a given fact that most Asian nations help their own people attain a better life. Wealth has always been shared by everyone. And the people for their part work very hard for their country. Whatever gains Asia has during the present time, the Philippines can never become a part of it. Greed, power and money are the only things that rule the Philippines now.

Philippines have no problems in natural resources and knwledge–the problem is CULTURE.The LAW of the country dont impose effectively to perpetraitors.Pilipino people dont have CONFIDENT enough to implement LAWS they are not confident because they are not HONEST and derfor not DIRECT.

Raffy. Salamat sa iyong post, even though you have resorted to personal attacks. We should support freedom of speech. “Move into oblivion?” You sound like General Palparan. “May hope ang Filipino kasi naliligo araw-araw” Ha-ha! Siguro elmentary boy ka no? “Anak maligo araw-araw para maging hope ka ng Pilipinas! Sabi ni Nanay!” Actually hit na hit yung post mo we’re thinking of making t-shirts. Sa harap: I am the hope of the Philippines. Sa likod: “Because we take a bath every day!”

By the way - I will apologize. Sorry Raffy Canlas for reposting your post in an incomplete form, but to do so will cause too much laughter and stomach pain. I also apologize for calling your “naliligo araw-araw” point pathetic. But it’s true. Sa dami ba naman ng pwede i-post if that is all you can come up with, well…self-explanatory na what it’s called.

And naturally hindi naman ako surprised that you do not care what others have done so you can enjoy your freedom today. People tend to take things for granted, until it is taken away from them. Failed? You’re free to post in this blog right? Hell you should be thankful you can even surf the internet. Kung nasa dictatorship pa ngayon ang Pinas do you think you’ll even have internet connection? If you have probably the only thing you can access is the KBL web site.

The problem is again, a lot of Filipinos take their freedom for granted. They do not care about those that were murdered, or jailed. Failure daw. So Ninoy died for nothing. Si Trillanes trouble-maker. Si Lozada publicity hound. Those that seek reform, mga communist daw, kaya isa-isa pinapatay.

But that’s okay, basta maligo araw-araw! Sabi ni nanay!

Comment to Franki’s post:
I strongly agree. The Catholic church’s family planing policy is one of the major contributors to poverty. The Catholic church is trying to impose 14th century ideology to 21st century reality. Abstinence daw. How will these bishops, priests and nuns who are “supposedly” unmarried know what it’s like to be married? How are these people qualified to give advice if they themselves do not have the relevant experience? We really need a strong leader who is not afraid to go against this unreasonable policy of the church (a Protestant or Buddhist perhaps?). People have to remember that even the Pope is human, so he’s also capable of making wrong decisions (as proven throughout history).

I suggest next time your local priest spouts this policy - ask him if he’s willing to give you money to feed your kids and provide them with proper education? See what he says.

it’s nice to know that the good senator finds himself and his political ilk irrelevant to what gives this country hope.

before we can achieve this we must focus first on reality, and we should correct it.

reality that always pushing our country down and negative impression to the world.

People who still believe that overpopulation is the cause of our poverty are indifferent to the reality of corruption.

Pagnanakaw sa gobyerno (ng mga kaibigan, kamag anak at kakilala natin) ang sanhi ng kahirapan. Hindi kasalanan ang magkaroon ng maraming anak kung responsable ka.

Jim: You should thank the Church ’cause it stands up for what is right. Thank the Bishops that are fighting against the condoms and pills that might end up in our children’s hands.

Salamat at may naniniwala pa sa pagbabago sa bayan.

Jim, Raffy: Discuss the issue. There’s no place for personal attacks in a simple argument.

This is great and positive article. People need this instead of negative comments or news. Eto ang article na katapat nung sinasabi ng aspiring politiko na wala ng pag-asa ang Pilipinas.

While some of Mr. Pangilinan’s arguments are true, it is completely overshadowed by the problem in the goverment and the Filipino culture in general. The Filipinos are a bunch of cowards who are letting their politicians steal their on broad daylight. Until we elect a true leader who is willing to stand up and throw this scumbugs in jail, not release them like what Arroyo did, the Philippines is going nowhere. Here are are reasons why we are not likely to succeed:
1. We are a culture that does not have any respect for the environment. We are raping the environment and not thinking about the next generation. Whale shark in coconut milk sound yummy!
2. A lot of people turns to politicians for help who in turns to corruption to sustain this kind of practice. It’s a cycle and it starts with the people.
3. We know that pur politicians our corrupt but we continue to put them in office. That’s why there is family dynasty and this families are ultra rich even if they don’t have any legitimate business. How will you amass money earning 50 thousan pesos monthly if you’re not stealing. Do the math, because it doesn’t add up.
4. There is no separation of Church and State. The catholic church is so influential that they are dictating all the policies of the government. Please, stop giving money to the Vatican and keep it in th Philippines.

Add no. 11
We are also a nation with massive corruption which can easily negate nos. 1-10

The Philippine is hopeful because of Sharon the mega-one and KC -the ultra mega. Seriously, I am impressed by your spouse Kiko since her song “high school”. I can’t blame her if people wants her in the senate and you in the VP seat. Take it easy Kiko, lighten up, Mar Roxas can do it in the no. 1 seat, you can probably help him.

Senator Pangilinan has thoughtfully enumerated 10 reasons to hope for the Philippines but as we all know we need good leaders to implement good policies, let’s say on how to make the best use of our natural resources.
We have so many talented, skilled and highly educated people who left the Philippines! There’s a brain drain in the country. On another issue of Inquirer online, Senator Pangilinan proposed to create jobs for these people. Will they do it? I can’t wait.

Jim,thanks. I wonder what it will take for the Catholic bishops to realize that they are living in a time warp,perhaps as far back as the time of the Inquisition. I also wonder what it will take for them to realize that there is no sin or crime in preventing irresponsible pregnancy. In as much as sex is a basic human need,and thus cannot be prohibited, the only way to approach the dilemma is to lessen the risk of irresponsible pregnancy before it happens. That’s where contraception and pills are effective. But the Church has condemned these in its pulpits,saying it is murder of an “unborn”. However,it is the highest form of sin,a sin worse than murder, to bring forth a human being into this world without assurance that one can provide love,care,food,clothing,shelter,education,guidance and other needs a decent human being deserves. Can the Church manage to adopt and care for ALL the children of irresponsible persons who can’t provide for their own flesh and blood? Does it take a high level of education to realize this? I don’t think so. Common sense will do. Apparently many Filipinos don’t have it. It may also be the reason why this nation has been biting the dust of its Asian neighbors (in terms of economic development). Remember,during the 1950’s, Japan was worried about us–in the sense that we might overtake them in economic growth. Back then, we had industries,we had resources,our exports were strong and we had less than 30 million educated population. So everything was manageable. For some reason,perhaps the air was fresher then,and our folks could afford to buy a house,American cars,send their kids to good schools and buy properties with their wages. Even the minimum wage earners could afford to live a decent life. Is it too hard to accept the fact that the less population a country has,the more manageable it will be to govern? The government will spend less for everything:schoolrooms,textbooks,medicines,social housing, job creation,public infrastructure,food production,power generation,utilities,social welfare,defense,etc. If only our leaders thought about this decades ago, then we will be a much better nation today. As I have said,it is hopeless. With our current population growth, things will get even more difficult for all of us. And with the kind of people we have in power, we should all be worried as hell. I know I am.

hhhmmmm.

pekeng pangulo
newsreader vice president

senate?
last time I checked, I saw 3 movie actors, 3 coup plotters (1, a cagayan smuggler and martial law initiator), cayetano siblings (only in the philippines), green faggot, kuratong, martial law hero (now, inutile from receiving dirty money from malacañang, BAD ka) and a mental patient.

congress?
Very rich people.

House and senate: When gas was P60+ to the liter, almost all where still parading in their SUVs as if gas was P20 per liter. You know where your taxes go.

3 AM Singapore: walk around. no problem.
3 AM Philippines: walk around. No, you cant walk, have to run. for your life.

My Korean boss once said: I love the philippines. Why? All illegal.

Wonder why the country was sold for $20M?

Genuine hope for the Filipinos, starts from the Word of God. Matthew 19:16-30;
Obedience to the 10 commandments and besides love of God; and love of others.
Implement the genuine and real agrarian reform. We have too many laws but no real implementation; reduce the number of lawmakers proportionate only to the total of provinces and only one legislative chamber; cdf or pork barrels cause of corruption; give more authority and power to COA, possibly another branch of the set-up of govt. No more immunity for all elected officials and no more pardons for those found guilty of corruptions. All rights and authority comes from God alone.

I don’t think he has a clue. These all sound nice but he really dowesn’t know what he is talking about. Many tourists are afraid to come to Philippines because of the high number of tourists that are robbed, beated, killed or simply harassed while they visit. The ride from NAIA goes through such an unsightly slum that is simply depressing. I mean urinals where men simply urinate on the street gutter, get real!

Does Frankie even understand English? What are aquamarine resources? Aquamarine is a gemstone and a color. It doesn’t mean underwater.

Vietnam and Cambodia are far better described as located in the “heart” of Asia. We are far out in the ocean on the periphery.

Our economy has become so dependent upon sucking off the OFWs that it can’t even stand on its own. Our politicians are so proud of how we have not been badly affected by the global economic crisis. That is mostly due to the fact that our economy is so badly in the trash bin that it is hard for it to get worse.

To Jim, How can you say “But first stem the flow of our best and brightest to foreign countries to work as maids and caregivers. Sayang talaga.”

What are we, slaves who you want to be prevented from going elsewhere to earn our bread??? Why shouldn’t the Filipino people be free to travel to locations where we can find jobs. I managed to escape our country by becoming a housemaid in the Middle East and have educated myself and have a good job now. That never would have happened if I was stopped from leaving and I may instead have had to become a prostitute or maid for some wealthy family in Manila instead - and making a fraction of what I made overseas. Shame on you and your suggestion.

I strongly agree with Kiko’s list. But #6 is the biggest challenge for all filipino’s. We need the majority (not even all) of our local and national leaders to have #6’s mindset. If we can’t overcome this “equation” ( mostly corrupt > few good) officials we currently have then - all on this list will just be a list.

We all hope for the better but it all starts with each one of us. Be a better person and be genuinely concern about your countrymen. It’s not about what others do but what you can do. Just like Kiko I always hope that Philippines can be a better country someday and I wish it happens in my lifetime.

If you’re a senator and you have a famous actress for a wife (who’s earning millions from commercial endorsements alone), then you certainly have hope.

Ten cheers for this Kiko but, if you can give up your Pork-barrel to the poor to allocate shelter and Infrastructure to our nation that currently struggling that might be enlighten our hope for RP to uplift the people and investor will start coming with confidence. Since, you are the one beneficiary of Pork-barrel did you expend it wisely that will benefits the RP people? if not this is considering a legal corruptions.

Yes there’s hope. Because we still have the opportunity to leave this country and get away from you useless piles of bovine fertilizer in the government, in congress and in the senate.

`6. We have the emergence of a new generation of progressive and results-oriented public sector leaders.’

Really? In what way are these so-called public sector leaders different? They’re the same breed of dung as their predecessors, who very likely are their parents! They will just carry on the tradition of shitting on the faces of the Filipino people.

To Sasa,

Real is what we make real. In other words, we can change our reality. Just as you have. You certainly came out victorious. Don’t you think that that is a product of your being Filipino? Couldn’t some of the credit go to the culture that created you? Many of our fellow Filipinos who have gone to other countries to work can boast of the same success story. And it is true that OFWs are a great boon to the economy.

So it is possible to effect change in our reality, to change our destiny. And if more of us could be as resilient as you have been, as single-minded in our pursuit of a collective goal, then there’s no telling the distances we can go. But not if we are jaded, disillusioned or hopeless. Our country, sadly, has an abundance of people who are jaded, disillusioned and hopeless. And when we recite a litany of all that we hate about the Philippines, all our dissatisfactions, we influence people into thinking the same way. Dissatisfaction breeds more dissatisfaction. It is a vicious cycle.

What I believe we need now is more optimism— the belief that there is a better Philippines waiting to happen. And we can help in bringing her about by seeing beyond all we perceive to be evil in our country to all that is innately good. It is that same goodness that has helped you emerge into the life you now have. This life was not given to you by the Middle East. You made it happen because you are Filipino and Filipinos are resilient.

Hey Sasa - Thank you for your comment. Ang hirap sa iyo is you attack without understanding. I did not say hold all Filipinos hostage. What I meant was to make the environment in the Philippines conducive to growth and entrepreneurship so people are not forced to work abroad. Read the entire post and put it in context. Of course if you want to work abroad then more power to you. But right now there are a lot of people who are “forced” to work abroad kasi walang opportunity dito. You used the word “escape”. That means desperate ka rin to work abroad due to lack of opportunities in the Philippines. We should focus on changing the current situation so teachers, engineers, doctors and other professionals are willing to stay and apply their skills in their homeland instead of Ms. Dwarf going on junkets and pimping her country. This will also mitigate the social cost of families being torn apart as well as have these talents contribute to the growth of the economy. Imagine an engineer who should have been engineering but is instead somewhere in a foreign land cleaning toilets. Di ba sayang ang training?

I believe before the Filipino nation can ever be prosperous, you first have to figure out what the Filipino nation is all about. True prosperity doesn’t come from merely “fixing” the current problems of the Philippines, it comes from knowing yourself and being confident in who you are. This applies especially to nations. As a nation, Filipinos have no idea who they are. When you ask an American, what is an American? He/she can most probably answer. If you notice, successful countries have a true sense of nationhood, unlike that of the Philippines. As seen by the fact that many Filipinos are pining to leave the Philippines for “greener pastures”. If you apply that in gardening. Iif your garden is unsuccessful, you don’t leave your garden. You work hard to make that same garden prosper through hard work. But i return to my point. How can a gardener help his garden blossom and grow if he doesn’t know what it is he wants or how to go about doing anything. An inept gardener would look at other gardens and try to emulate them, a true gardener would look at other gardens and try to find elements in those gardens that will help his own personal, unique garden will grow. As of now, the Filipino nation is that “Filipino gardener”. Not knowing what he wants, what to do and only trying to copy the “westernized gardener”.

It is not the “corrupt” government that is letting the nation down. Remember, the government are simply other members of the Filipino society. In essence, it is not the government letting the country down. It is the Filipino society itself that is keeping the Filipino down.

The Philippines is no real country. It is not a nation with its own real identity nor confidence in the ideals of its society. We are simply a land legalized by a piece of paper with people living within it. A real nation, a nation that will prosper is something that knows who it is and truly believes in the ideals of its society.

On analyzing the behavior of the people in rich & developed countries, we find that the great majority follow the following principles in their lives:

1. Ethics, as a basic principle.
2. Integrity.
3. Responsibility.
4. Respect to the laws & rules.
5. Respect to the rights of other citizens.
6. Work loving.
7. Strive for savings & investment.
8. Will of super action.
9. Discipline.
10. Future foresight.

Sadly, all these things we don’t see in our society.

The problem is that some Filipino’s does not want to give this country a chance to grow and prosper… We blame a lot of people, situations and events but honestly it is actually us as individuals who we need to blame. We cannot just sit at home and blame all the people around us because that wouldn’t change a thing. You want transformation, you want prosperity, you want positive changes—then have hope for our country, believe in it like what Senator Pangilinan is doing for a start and stop being a pessimist.
This negativity will just corrupt the minds of other people who are still hopeful and willing to act for change.

To everyone who, like myself, took the time to go through the thread of comments and opinions and posted their own thoughts relative to the article by Senator Pangilinan. Magandang araw sa inyong lahat…kahit may bagyo, magandang araw pa rin po.

Based on my greeting na kahit may bagyo ay maganda pa rin ang pagbati ko… allow me to hubly share my thoughts.

1. It is a fact and a reality which is validated by the strong sentiments of some of those who posted their comments that our country is in need of help, i.e. corruption issues, poverty, cultural diversity and a foreboding clout of helplessness. However, help will not come from Heaven nor from other countries…help must come from within…from each and eveery Filipino who wants to secure the present and future geeneration….kaya po… Tulungan natin ang sarili natin by doing what is right and doing things right. let us be a good citizen exampel to others - remebmer the article about changing the world, let us apply it to ourselves and cascade the influence to others.

2. It is your absolute right to post your comment to the article…that is understandable…but let us just focus on the issues and not on the personalities of author and those who concur with his views. Instead, let us learn from his point of view, absorb the merits of those issues which we can apply in our lives and try to correct changes on those issues needing remedial measures. The good and patriotic little things we need to do…we must do PERIOD Let what good you do influence others based on its merits and not for you to impose these to others. It is a slow process but it would live a lasting impression and promote advocacy to good citizenship.

3. What good we do…we just do. We may rant forever over things but as long as we don’t do anything about it…it will always remain and issue for continued ranting. Let us then be Pro-active.

4. Let us be thankful for our blessings…let us be blessings to others and for those issues which need corrections, we try to correct in our own way…and as we believe in the goodness of others, allow such example to snowball the good influence.

5. Hope springs enternal…let us pray and have faith that in all things good will prevail for our country.

God bless everyone…every filipino across the Globe. Mabuhay ang nag-iisang bansa natin.

Sincerely,
Kenneth

All these hopes, optimism, plans, good intentions and what have you will all come to naught if we do not have honest and competent leaders. In other words, bale wala. Corruption, greed and immorality will always ALWAYS sabotage whatever good works people try to do for their country. So the next election is very important because if the right person is elected, it will be a huge step in ensuring that we have a rock-solid foundation to implement change that will enable progress.

1. Make sure that there is an election next year. A power-hungry President / Senator / Congressman is inherently evil.
2. Ensure that the elections is clean. Maintain vigilance. Report anomalies. Make sure na hindi nila ibaboy ang boto mo.
3. Educate everyone you know on voting based on platform, not on personalities. Discuss each candidates’ platform in your local community. It’s always tragic that people vote kasi artista yung kandidato, kasi cute, kasi gwapo.
4. Vote for a leader that is both honest AND competent. Hindi pwede honest lang. Hindi rin pwede competent lang. Dapat both!
5. Do not believe in hope peddlers. Scrutinize their record - they are far more accurate than what the candidates will say.
6. Realize that at the end of the day, responsibility lies with us because we voted for these mokongs.
7. If they’re underperforming - fire them by impeachment (or whatever it takes to get them to leave - as long as legal of course). Remember we pay for their salaries via our taxes.

If we have the right officials in place, then maybe we can start with real change.

common. stop dreaming. This is a nation of opportunists - from the street snatchers all the way to malacañang. This nation is hopeless. Ninoy was wrong. this nation is never worth dying for.

look at your president, senate, congress down to the local officials, mga magnanakaw.

its always a shame to bring family and friends back to this country. who hasn’t had a negative experience with airport immigration officials. The dirty streets, the undisciplined drivers, the never ending repair of highways (which were really meant not to withstand the elements of nature; was always wondering before why DPWH officials were inspecting roads in their SUVs, wow), politician’s posters all over the place with over 2 years before election and so many others.

It was such a relief to renounce the filipino citizenship, as if shackles were removed from my neck.

Now continue to defend this country and hallucinate about its worthiness.

Jim, nice post at #85. That’s what we need here, positive suggestions.

Yes, I agree. Those were really good suggestions. I urge everybody to read post #85. great Suggestions from Jim

jim! wow. you’re such an all knowing person. Andami mong alam! kaso, tama ba naman yung mga alam mo?

nag-aral k muna sana bago nagpost ng kung ano-ano.
First, the article focused on the things that our contry can capitalize to achive progress and development. I believe you know that an article/thesis for that matter has its scope and limitation. and the article had its scope and limitation (there’s nothing wrong with it, maybe the good senator can give us his plans on how to maximize the potentials of the philippines on another blog)

Wow ha, ang galing mo andami mong alm sa economics, tourism at marami pang iba. With regard to the issue na wierd tayo kasi we want to have a strong currency. Mag-aral k nga ng economics. Anu ba work mo dun? kargador? SO you think matalino ka and all of the economist of this country did not even think of that? FYI may proposal na nyan but it was scrapped because yung effects nya sa economy. Please lang Jim. Anu ka ba talaga? Professor? Employee ng exporting firm? mag-aral k munang mabuti before you post your comments/own article. (sorry if i may sound offensive.)

To all those who lost their faith for this country. Please leave this country na. You will not be of great help if you’ll think that way. If you consider our country as trash, might as well call your selves TRASH!!!

In times like this where our patriotism/love for country is challenged, we dont need pest (read:pessimists). Pest can’t bring us to development. It can’t bring us to prosperity and will never bring solidarity and unity amongst us. More than the corruption issues you are talking about, there are bigger problems we need to face. First is the growing apathy among the poeple. Second, lost of faith to our own countrymen and to our nation.

We can. We can. We can. Never. Never. Never say that this country is hopeless. Huwag nyo igeneralize. If you consider your self na hopeless, abay wag mong isali ang lahat ng tao sa pilipinas sa kawalang pag-asa mo.
May pag-asa pa ang pilipinas pero ikaw, wala ka na nga sigurong pag-asa!
Talagang wala kang pag-asa kung ganyan ang pananaw mo sa buhay.
Ikaw lang ang desperado.
Ikaw lang ang nawalan ng pag-asa para sa pilipinas, dahil marami pa ring tao ang hindi nawawalan ng pag-asa para sa pilipinas. Dahil Kami ay PILIPINO. Nagmamahal sa PILIPINAS. NAGMAMAHAL sa BAYAN.

PS. Hindi lang ang mga government officials ang bumubuo sa pilipinas. Ikaw bahagi ka rin ng Pilipinas. Walang pilipinas kung wala tayo, kung wala sila at kung wala ka Kaya don’t give up for the philippines!

to galing ng pinoy:
Congrats and we are happy that you renounced your citizenship. Keep dreaming that you’ll be one of them Dream on!

“but will also ensure that we will triumph in the end”

Wrong, deadly wrong.

1. “We are strategically located at the heart of East Asia. If the Philippines were a real estate venture in a commercial area, ours is a location to die for.”

Come on, foreigners are not allowed to invest in real estate in the Philippines. It’s forbidden by the constitution. This must be one of the few nations in the world that have such a regulation. What do you think? We’ll sneak out and take the rocks in our bags home, leaving empty holes in the ocean?

“We can be the top tourist destination of the region.”

If you only had some tropical rainforest and nature spots left that dwindled from 60 to 3% in 60 years by illegal logging and silencing the environmental activists by the proverbial bullet.

2. “We are No. 1 in aquamarine resources worldwide.”

You _were_. I have been diving at a few marine sanctuaries, just to find small fish. I found out why. At night the fishermen sneak in and share the bribes with the officials that are supposed to guard the sanctuary. Egypt is much better, and at almost the same price.

“if managed properly”

Nothing is managed properly in the Philippines, and it won’t till politicians with an official income of 60Kphp/month drive around 3Mphp cars and buy the votes from “the poor people” at 1000php/head. Ask the mayor of Ozamis.

3. “We have a huge tourism industry potential.”

Sure, especially when you ask tourists 3030p for a stay that exceeds 21 days. Thailand asks 500p per year.

“Our people are by nature extremely friendly and hospitable. We only have some 3 million tourist visits every year, while our neighbors are doing 4 or 5 times more with 12 to 15 million tourist visits annually.”

You’ve got the reasons why.

“With the right infrastructure such as highways and airports and seaports in place, we can be the number one tourist destination in ASEAN if not Asia.”

Airports are fine. Roads are fine and picturesque. What’s not so fine are the taxi drivers that ask 10x as much for a ride at arrivals from people with a white skin than from locals. Everywhere else, airport taxes are included in the ticket. Only in the Philippines, you have to pay an obscure extra government tax of 750php when you’re near the gates.

4. “We are, I am told, currently second to India in the business process outsourcing industry.”

As long as you can keep the wages low. With a spiraling inflation last year of over 10% compared to 3% in the outsourcing countries, that won’t last.

5. “We are extremely creative and artistic people.”

Many years in the Philippines in the “provinces” have learned me that people drool on American Bronx rap crap and old American mellow mu-sick like Sinatra. It’s almost impossible to find authentic Filipino tribal music, dances and art. The Phils became a copycat, street markets over fled with illegal movies/music/software.

“We can be the center of performing arts in Asia wherein millions would visit the country annually to marvel at our cultural performances and our artistic productions.”

Rap music is better performed by the orginal performers. Unless of course you mean the “boom-tara” thing mixed with 50% mind-sickening “no drandruft” commercials. Are you still “dreaming of a White Christmas”?

6. “We have the emergence of a new generation of progressive and results-oriented public sector leaders.”

Trying to do business in the Philippines is awful. I lost a lot of money on it before. Yes = no, maybe = no, let’s see = no, ‘when I’m not busy’ = no.

Government offices close too early and take every possible day off. Don’t dare to come in after 3pm since their clock is advanced to 4pm so they can stop ‘working’ (checking their friendster accounts) at 5pm.

The Filipino appointments are always too late. They start to move only the moment you’re already at the meeting point, and then they first have to eat (skipping a meal is the worst disaster that ever can happen) and shower. And of course, white guys can afford to lose money, because they sh@t it.

“Today a new generation of public sector leaders is emerging, one that is empowered, that is vision driven and results-oriented.”

Sounds so pathetic. If they are good, they beg you at the first meeting to help with a visa to flee abroad.

“integrity, with proactive leadership, and with a commitment to reform and genuine change.”

Never underestimate the power of self-denial.

7. “Information and communication technology advancement is enhancing our sense of nationhood.”

Do you mean the obnoxious txting habit that they even do during diners and - no kidding - in bed?

“Today an entire generation of Filipinos fully understands, and can connect with, the Filipino language because of two decades of television news in Filipino (all TV news used to be English until 1986).”

Yes, I guess “boom-tara” is universal.

8. “We have a re-emerging middle class mindset.”

Middle class is very limited. You have a small upper class that got its wealth from fraud and corruption, and a large fraction of “poor people” that keeps on voting for the same kind of politicians (I wouldn’t call them leaders). Who’s next? An empty-headed boxer as president?

9. “We are a young nation.”

Too young. Population growth is too high to be sustainable. Women aren’t able to work since they have to raise children all the time. Basic food has to be imported.

10. “We are a people who love to laugh, who love our families.”

That is certainly true. But you can’t run an economy on friendliness and as long ‘resiliency’ prevents the people from kicking an abusive class of politicians out, it won’t go any better.

Anybody threatening the abusive lifestyle of these parasites, be it a trade union leader, a human rights activist, a journalist or an ecologist will hit their anonymous bullets sooner or later and the investigation will be burried.

The Philippines missed a socialist phase, like China and Europe, because you can only build a transparent and productive economy on justice for all. For a start, stop killing all those brave trade union leaders, critical journalists, priests, ecology activists, social workers, and let public funding be handled by open objective administrations, not by popular individuals with huge pork barrels.

@Kenneth (121): praying won’t help. Try acting yourself. From the heavens only pours rain.

thats nice stalker. and while you’re at it, continue to pay your taxes, which will just surely go to the arroyos, pork barrels, the nograles, the defensors, the villafuertes, contractors, tongpats down to your local kagawads.

Im a million percent sure, this country will be just the same if not so much worse in a thousand years.

to all the pessimists,

if you really think that our country is hopeless, you better go to hell kasi baka doon makikita nyo ang hinahanap nyong pagasa!

MAHIYA NAMAN KAYO SA BALAT NYONG KAYUMANGGI ANG KULAY

lalo na yung mga nagsasabing:

” It was such a relief to renounce the filipino citizenship, as if shackles were removed from my neck.

WE WERE MUCH RELIEVED THAT YOU ARE NO LONGER A FILIPINO! you are pathetic!

It is also unfair to sayl that our
“ president, senate, congress down to the local officials ay mga magnanakaw”
Hirap kasi sa inyo you always brand them as such without having your own evidence! Hindi naman lahat ng politicians ay evil!

@Jim (85): remarkable: we have the same diagnosis and remedies (if my reaction isn’t moderated away).

Renewable energy is certainly a missing point. Denmark gets most of its electricity now from windmills, and even from the sun at such a northern latitude.

If you have a water tube of just 10m in the sun in the Phils, you can take a hot shower. Yet, I see family-sized solar boilers nowhere, even the cheap ones based on convection. Solar voltaic panels would easily break even at locations 9 degrees away from the tropics. Yet, they are nowhere.

Production costs of these items in the Phils would be very low. You’ve got an opportunity here!

Item 8 is a double edged sword. The filipino diaspora means the common filipino is losing his sense of filipino identity and heritage especially for those second generations abroad and are of mixed blood.

I disagree with 9. We are a young nation.
Being young does not mean progress. Moreover, how many of those you have valuable skills? Many are probably poorly, if not at all, educated.

what evidence do you want santino?

andaya, the budget secretary, has already confirmed that no less 20% of the entire budget goes to corruption.

go to your senate and congress and look at the luxury vehicles park outside. Their snacks are even funded by taxpayers money.

go to pampanga and see what ramos has spent on before his term ended.

these crooks are better than you think santino. they know what paper trail is, they’re sophisticated in hiding their loot. Not even the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission can trace this kind sophistication. have you not even wondered why at the height of the gas prices, your politicians still drive around in their expeditions and what not?

how blind can you get?

yan ang pinoy! we love to call each other names. pathetic, pessimist and everything else. so much name calling, so little work is done.

go to any city hall or municipal hall or any government office in the country. look at how the employees are like. tsismosas are all over the place. SO inefficient. I pity my parents who pay their taxes religiously just so politicians and government officials can have something to steal from.

I passed along the QC circle, I saw a huge building with a name something like “sugar regulation commission”. wow. a whole building for that one? i love it. I have a sweet tooth but it never crossed my mind that we have something as stupid as that.

the LTFRB has a text hotline that is unfunctional for months or maybe even years now. whew.

lets call each other names once more.
let it roll. go.

Alakdan,
I am inviting you to observe the difference of how Marikina City Hall’s system works.This is the reason why i want Bayani Fernando to become our next President of the Philippines becaise he is a great administrator.Also , in Mkna Cty Hall zero corruption.Hahanggaan mo kung paano nagawa ni BF ito.Sa Marikina ako nag karoon ng idea na may pagasa pala naman ang ating bansa na makaahon kung ang magpapatakbo ay kagaya ni BAYANI FERnAnDO.If you have time Pls everyone is invited.b4 I migrated to USA ,

rico, I would have to agree with you. we lived in zenaida, marikina before . but to replicate marikina’s emergence is like asking celebrity singers to respect the national anthem. its next to impossibility from happening.

See my bloggname, I try to see things from the perspectives of different foreigners because I travel a lot. I hear what the foreigners say about us. Their impressions may serve as mirrors to us.

Hindi ako believe sa what Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan said. He is just trying to win the favor of us Pinoy by saying all the nice things about the Philippines. A typical politician indeed, obviously another trapo.
I think one who really cares for the country should point out first the weaknesses of our people and try to correct them. He is not, his observations are too shallow. I think he is just being shrewd trying to flatter us Pinoy, ignoring the real ills of the country, parang nagkakampanya na sya!

Sabi nya:”We have a huge tourism industry potential”. What is the use of having a huge tourism potential if foreigners would not come because we can not control peace and order situation. That is why I said he is just being superficial in many aspects. Everytime I am out of the country when I mention I am from the Philippines, you know what is their first reaction: “A lot of kidnapping there”, “police are thieves there”, so how can you attract tourists to come despite we have the best beaches and white sands in the world?
So I said Kiko is just a bolero!

We are a young nation. Close to 30 million of our 45 million voters are 18 to 35 years old”. What’s the use of having many young people who do not care for the welfare of the country, who do not have sense of history, who are not patriotic! What one blogger pointed out is really right. Ninoy was wrong in saying “Filipinos are worth dying for”, especially young people. They don’t even care why and how Ninoy was killed, What they know is Ninoy is worth P500. The only Filipino hero they know is Pacquiao! That is why I said Jun Lozada was stupid to having an illusion that fellow Pinoy will stand by his side when he exposed all those dirty things. See what happened, only a few nuns are with him, and only 100 supporters went to show support outside of his jail.

Because of greediness & overpopulation, the Philippines will soon be drained of all the resources it still has.

1 topic
135 mostly differing comments
10+ presidential candidates for 2010
86+ million pinoys ( 30M voters?)
a no brainer
what we need is an (honest+results oriented+strong) dictator for the next 15 years. (election not required if possible) - with these qualities “not popular” very slim chance of winning
too much democracy, too many people, infrastructure (systems & physical) not coping - breeds corruption and is causing the downward spiral we are currently in.

OFF TOPIC SIRS,

please view PAF CORRUPTION VIDEOS at http://www.captainpogoy.blogspot.com

So South Korea is wrong, Taiwan is wrong, China is wrong. Thailand is wrong, everybody is wrong. Ikaw lang ang tama. Ikaw lang ang magaling. Ikaw lang ang matalino. May tawag dyan (at sakit din ng maraming tao - both Filipinos and not) - Ang tawag dyan eh: “Arrogance of the ignorant.”

Sorry stalker that I exposed your ineptness and ignorance. I’m sure na napahiya ka. But okay lang yan that’s how you learn. Huwag ka naman crab mentality. Just admit your mistakes and move on. Hanep post mo. You can expound extensively on nothingness. When you dissect it - it’s so empty in substance parang black hole.

Ito quote ko sa post mo: “More than the corruption issues you are talking about, there are bigger problems we need to face. First is the growing apathy among the poeple. Second, lost of faith to our own countrymen and to our nation.”

>> Bigger problem than corruption is growing apathy? Kung walang corruption we probably won’t even be talking about apathy. Kung walang apathy siguro mababawasan ang corruption. So they’re both important. Lost (Loss) of faith? Di ba those that do not agree with you are pest? Those that are experiencing pessimism are pest? So you never experienced pessimism sometimes? That proves that you have not done anything substantial kasi if you actually do something important you will experience failure, you will experience pessimism, you will experience frustration. But you pick yourself up and try again. That is why it’s called a “struggle”. So that proves wala kang experience. And that is what we do not need, hanggang salita lang walang gawa. Build up your credibility by actually doing something, not pulling people down. Do not be a crab.

Sa haba ng post mo I have not seen a single concrete or practical suggestion or program that we can implement. To break it down:

1/3: Attack me to defend your weird la-la-land financial theory (and your ego).
1/3: Attack “pests” - kasi you expect all Filipinos to think like you.
1/3: Parang cheerleader pero incoherent. Long-winded pero hindi alam saan ang patutunguhan

Anyway, you are what you write. At least you tried really hard. Pinawisan ka siguro no?

ang isa lang mahirap e yung tila maiiwan na naman dito yung mga ‘pinaka-marami sa bansa’ yung maliliit at mahihirap at hindi nakapag-aral,ngunit ang iba e me mga karanasan naman,hindi baga’t ang buhay at kaalaman e ayon din naman sa karanasan ng bawat isa,…so sana naman po e huwag silang maiiwan, baka hindi maka-agapay kung sa sectoral rep lang sila aasa.Maganda rin na makasalamuha ng mga lider ang nakakaraming bilang ng bayan,upang tutuo nilang makita ang sitwasyon,at kung paanong tatrabho na sila ang ini-isip at ka-agapay.At sa ganoon e tutuong maging-tapat at kaisa nila.

This is all good and nice - but reality is - its all wishful thinking by Senator Pangilinan - there was really no discussion on how to achieve these things. Anyone can come up with their own list of 10 good reasons - but without realistic and achievable action items - these reasons are all useless.

its high time that we focus on actions rather than talk - talk is cheap!

ang mga sinabi ni kiko ang palatandaan lamang na siya ay hindi pa matured ang pag-iisip. Bakit hanggang ngayon ay lalong pahirap ang bansa natin kong nandiyan ang mga resources at kaalaman? Saan ang mali, sa management? Sa government? nasa ating mga pinoy ang mali? hindi pa matured minded ang mga pinoy, mula sa pinaka mataas nating opisyal hannggang sa ordinaryong mamayan. ang halimbawa lang ay ang isang pamilya, kong mahirap ang isang pamilya, magulo, ay dahil sa padre de pamilya at mga membro ng pamilya. pagdating sa election kahit na criminal ay nanalo pa rin sa election, mga korakot at mga walang moralidad, bakit? dahil ang mga pinoy ay binibinta nila ang kanilang mga kaluluwa pagdating sa election. hindi pa matured ang pag-iisip ng mga pinoy kasama doon si kiko. si kiko ay politiko, ang kanyang self interest ang kanyang priority.

I think we belong to the very lucky educated few who can grasp the message and can argue intelligently these issues. But I feel our intelligence is wasted with all these personal attacks, I guess we should have a “Point the problem then give a solution” type of discussion.

Mr. Lasquite struck a nerve when he said naiiwan ang karamihan sa bansa which is actually true. We, the educated few cannot change the country without influencing the masses. I actually admire the idea of the roving classroom which is being done by a foundation in some parts of manila to bring basic education to the street children and masses. It would be good to post a basic list of materials and capital/personnel requirements to start a similar activity.

I think this one of the best solutions we can offer the county, leading the masses away from value priorities of “Showbiz, basketbol and politika”.

I think we should start airing shows like Mr. Shooli’s Mongolian BBQ in the 80’s. or Watch his M.O.N.A.Y.(Mistakes of the Nation Address) Movie (I’m having a terrible trouble finding it. I actually want to do a free screening of this movie in squatter areas around the country).

To nodandruft…

I am not only praying but I am also acting. I do my share…by paying taxes, by ensuring that I do not practice corruption in my personal and professional life, by throwing my trash properly even doing recycling, by obeying simple traffic rules, by leading by example among my fellow workers and by living a simple life.

To those who love to criticize…it is your right…but if you want to help restore hope in government, then run for public office and do the right thing (be sure you do what you preach and correct what you complain about.

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas at ang sambayanang Pilipino.

ONE VERY BIG REASON WHY THERE IS NO MORE HOPE IN THE PHILIPPINES:

1.All these TEN GENUINE HOPE will only be used to the advantage of the corrupt government officials and the rich industrialists of our country.

Yan sinabi na ni Kiko yung mga genuine hope–at hindi mga pangkaraniwang Pilipino ang makikinabang diyan.

To PINOYDABEST

there may be corruption in the government but my point is that you should not equate each and every politician to a crook or whatsoever because not all of them are like that!

ANG KULANG KASI SA ATING MGA PILIPINO ay “tiwala”

Nagsisimula pa lang ang ating mga leaders sa paggawa ng mabuti,

inuunahan na kaagad natin sila

tinatawag na corrupt!
magnanakaw etc.

Why dont we trust and give them a chance?

kaya lalong wala silang nagagawa kasi kontra tayo ng kontra

matuto naman tayong maki-cooperate at hind puro na lang reklamo!

mas wala tayong naitutulong sa bayan kung puro yan na lang ang dahilan natin!

to mamer rencas,

kung si senator kiko ay hindi pa “matured ang pagiisip” gaya ng sinabi mo,

ano pa kaya ang tawag sa iyo:-)

Kiko Pangilinana is a reflection of what’s wrong with our country. He’s just addressing the surface, he doesn’t know or ignoring the real reason why the Philippines will self-destruct if our leaders cannot put their act together. The problem in the Philippines is that we always define ourselves according to how ‘others’ see us and copy Western methods that cannot and will never take root on Philippine soil. The problem in the Philippines is cultural and social. China, Japan and Korea became first world countries, not because they spoke English, but because they advanced traditions from the past and made it relevant to the present. We must think in a way that is both Filipino and International. What are we moving forward if we just keep adopting Western methods in an ancient Southeast Asian country overflowing with a rich natural and cultural resources. Just look at SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE. US Colonialism is the worst thing to ever happen to our beloved Republic. Rizal’s Noli is still reflected in Filipino society today, because the generation of 1898’s achievement in creating a fortress against tyrants, was undone by generations of whitewashed Filipino politicians such as Kiko Pangilinan.

Thanks Jim for that wonderful post. You just described your self. Ako nga ba ang napahiya o ikaw kaya kung ano ano ang pinost mo?

Thailand? Really? Since when? Taiwan is a different story. China is another story. Mag-aral ka muna JIM. Don’t compare apples with oranges. Aroganteng Ignorante? Baka ikaw un. Ikaw ang mag-aacept na mali ang pinagbabanat mo regarding your export thing.

Crab mentality? Ok assuming that your crab mentality is right? Sino ang dinadrag ko pababa? Ikaw? Bakit nasaan ka ba? FYI. Mali ang crab mentality thing. I search mo n lang sa net ha? Crabs does not realty drag each other down. It is the other way around; they form a ladder to help each other get out of the basket. I Pity you. Hindi mo rin alam itong bagay na ito.

Ganda ng logic mo. So for you, may apathy dahil sa corruption. Sorry Jim. Mali ang premise mo, baligtad. Kung walang apathy, Walang Corruption. Anu ba nauna? Corruption o apathy? Well it is apathy. Nagkaroon ng corruption kasi naging apathetic ang mga tao. Hindi binantayan ang mga pulitiko that is why they were able to do those illegal acts. If people are not apathetic, would thay allow their officials to waste their hard earned money? Think.

May I quote you, “Di ba those that do not agree with you are pest? Those that are experiencing pessimism are pest?” —- Ganito ka ka- narrow minded. Hay nako Jim, sirang sira ang ego mo no? Professor/teacher ka pa naman at pinagmayabang mo pa na pinagtatawanan ng students mo ung dating post… Un siguro dahilan kaya balubaluktot ka magreason out. Lahat ng walang tiwala sa pilipinas, lahat ng nagsasabi na wala ng pag-asa ang pilipinas ang pest (read: pessimist). Those who disagree with me are pest?Anu ung points of disagreement? ANdaming topic na nabrought up. Napakavague naman nun. Kasing vague mo.
Let me throw back to you ung sinulat mo: YOU ARE WHAT YOU WRITE.

I congratulate you for posting wonderful suggestions on how to maximize the Philippine potential. But, is it feasible? Alam mo kasi, pinag-aaralan ang mga bagay na yan. Hindi lang basta banat ng banat. Tanong: anong magyayari dyan sa post mo? Pinadala mo n ba yang mga suggestion mu sa mga officials so that they can RESEARCH if it is feasible and plan on it? Nakapagsulat ka n ba ever to your local and national officials to air your concerns and suggestions as well as sending position papers? Ako nagawa ko na un. And I always try to make sure that I am part of the solution. At wag mong sasabihin na kaya nga pinost ko dito yung suggestions ko, mind you this is not the proper venue for that.

I will no longer rebut you Jim. This is my last post. This is not about you and me. This is about our country and its people. This is a battle between HOPE and despair, OPTIMISM and pessimism. The arguments will never end.

Last, To pinoydabest and sa mga nagsasabi na “I pity those who pay their taxes religiously” That’s bullshit. I pity you for not paying your tax. At Pinagmalaki mo pa yun. You should be in JAIL! I don’t fucking care if my taxes go to the pocket of some greedy politicians. What matters is that I pay my tax. And I will make sure that my tax won’t go to waste. Better leave this country if you will not pay your tax. And if you’re a million percent sure that the country is going to be worse, then get out of the country.

I rest my case.

To stalker - As everyone can see - a long-winded post of inconsequence. Shallow and mind-numbing. Full of ego-induced criticisms and literary tantrums but absolutely lacking substance and offering zero concrete suggestions. Keep it coming, ginagamit namin ngayon post mo as material for psychoanalysis. So far we have huge doubts you even graduated from elementary, with an Emotional Quotient of a nine-year-old. Based on your profile we also doubt you pay your taxes as you claim.

We’re currently making a profile of a typical Gen X and Y Filipino based on the the prevailing economic and social condition. Unfortunately (or rather fortunately), you are not typical.

If you want I can give you the result of our (rough) psychoanalysis of you based on your posts. It’ll help you improve as a human being by making you understand yourself better. It’ll help you deal with your emotional immaturity and inferiority complex too.

me-hope talaga,…naalala ko nung last election,volunteer ako,PPCRV,e tapos na lahat sa pagbibilang me naiwang isang presinto,mag-uumaga na,iilan na kami,pagod na lahat e,sa kahihintay namin e halos nalinis na namin ang eskwelahang ginamit,e hindi pa rin tapos yung isang presinto,syempre kilala at mga hindi pa iba sa akin yung mga naroon,’ngunit ng tinanong namin e me konting problema sa bilang ng ,o hindi sila mag-tugma kaya inulit nila kung saan nagkamali, at natiyaga nila, ( at napa-wow ako,talaga,biro nyo konting diperensya e inayos nila,kahit na inumaga,…kaya sabi ko me pag-asa,me mga tapat pa rin,…sa awa namin e tinulungan na namin,maglinis ng room,mag-empake at syempre maghakot ng gamit nila,…sa plaza yung mga batang volunteers PPcrv pa rin e maayos naman at isang malaking billboard ang ginawa nila upang ilagay ang lahat ng boto,bawat presinto ng lahat ng kandidato,from konsehal to senador, at handa sila me mga flashlights,computer,me konting music,para malibang ang tao habang naghihintay ng ibang resulta, ng matapos,syempre pagod sila,…at yung ginawa nila after a week e naroon pa rin,,,inulan na at nabasa na at dapat ng alisin,e syempre,mga employees sa Manila at kung saan-saan,…so kami uli na nakakaunawa ang linis at kalas ng lahat ng ginamit nila,’ na dapat lang naman,matapos ang mga pagsisikap nilang magawa ang sa isip nila e maganda at upang makita ng mga tao na pwedeng kumilos at ipakita na,me mga handang gumawa at maki-alam,lalo na kung para sa bayan. Kaya kung kahit ito ay nakakapagalala rin,baka mawalan na ng volunteers,kung sa iba naman sila kikilos, e kaya lang yun nga ang sabi lagi’ hindi tayo dapat matakot,pag-nariyan na marami ang sumisipot at tumutulong,pagkain,konting pera at mismong sila.’kaya me pag-asa’ walang bayad,ang iba,gastos pa at pagod e masaya at naglilingkod. ‘tayong lahat ang pag-asa!!!

Eliseo Silva summed up what was wrong with Pangilinan’s post and Pangilinan himself. There’s nothing wrong with having hopes but it should be anchored in reality and proper research and understanding of our nation’s history. Such a shameful post that reeks of ignorance from points 1 to 10. He started with stating the obvious, the Philippines has not moved from its original location since hundreds of years ago and that geographic advantage he mentioned was the main reason why the Spanish and the US colonised us, the problem is that we have failed to take advantage of this, thus we are now at the bottom amongst the ASEAN countries in terms of development. Genuine development that is not based on superficial ‘wealth’ created by BPOs nor remittances of OFWs, but rather on the redistribution of land and wealth, access to basic social services, and the political will to say no to the manipulations of the IMF-WB (i.e., ‘new governance templates’, privatisation, deregulation). It is a blatant lie to say that OFWs who have gone to ‘highly’ developed nations come back to the Philippines enlightened because they have seen a ‘greater sense of accountability and a greater sense of justice and fair play’ — the US masterminding Iraq, enriching itself from the deprivation of many countries in Africa and Latin America, the same with the UK with its shameful colonialist past that until now reverberates in the institutional structures of colonised nations especially in Africa (i.e., civil wars) and tighter and discriminatory laws on migrants and non-British citisens– both suffering the most from this global economic recession — justice, accountability and fairplay? That’s a lot of bull. I’m sure Pangilinan’s staff at the Senate follows his articles, I hope they do, and I hope they print out all the comments here. It’s not yet too late to learn history, you’ll love your country more and maybe genuinely serve the people. If not, oh well, the Filipinos would still vote for you and shrug off your incompetence, after all, we all love a good laugh.

give me a break. you must be dreaming. the only thing keeping the philippines afloat is the billions of dollars sent back by OFWs. hope for the future maybe. the key to a better future is education. but an educated people is the enemy of a corrupt government. thus they care very little in improving the educational standards.

talaga itong si kiko nakakainsulto. kala niya siguro para tayong mga bata na walang muwang. mabubulaklak ang mga sinasabi pero wala rin namang saysay. pag galing sa bibig ng pulitiko, asahan nyo wala itong saysay. sinong maniniwala dito kay kiko eh pulitiko rin ito. aba teka, oo meron yung mga fans ni sharon. kung ako dito kay kiko mag-duet na lang kayo ni sharon. marami pang matutuwa. o, di ba?

Ano ba itong pinagsasabi ni Kiko? Kung magsalita parang napakaganda ng dating at puno ng pag-asa pero siya mismo hindi ko maintindihan kung anong papel sa buhay. Di ba galit na galit ito sa Amerika? Anti-VFA kuno, pero tingnan mo, pinagmamalaki niya na nag-pakadalubhasa siya sa Harvard at JF Kennedys School of Government. Nasan ba ang Harvard? Kung galit ka sa Amerika eh sa UP ka na lang mag-aral ng higher education kung saan ka nanggaling. Yung asawa nyang si Sharon eh panay rin ang punta at promote ng TFC sa Amerika. Mga ipokrito talaga. Kayong mga pulitiko at artista wala na kayong alam gawin kundi bolahin ang ignoranteng masa.

I think Kiko Pangilinan should just concentrate on educating the youth, if he wants to rekindle hope. This is the only way to harness them effectively. The youth is the hope of the fatherland. The youth of today will be the decision makers of tomorrow. If they lack the education that they need to become an effective and functional members of the society, the clever, greedy and power hungry politicians will just constantly use them for the wrong purpose. Have you noticed the youths who joined those wannabe reformists and change agents in most political rallies? Those who create trouble but the media justifies it because they hate the administration? They look like bunch of “shabu” addicts and solvent sniffing kids wasting their precious time on the streets for a trip.

matangdayuhan, i love your comments, they might seem funny but i agree. they are true. i traveled a lot too like you. in addition, tourists would love to see clean public rest rooms and clean environment. e-mail me-you make me laugh…

nodandruft, love your comments too.

Give me one reason why Filipinos are so left behind by our neighbors despite the GREAT 10 REASONS

10 Reasons why we have genuiine hope:

1. Our Senators and congressmen and bureaucrats are foreign-educated-ivy-school graduate. Thanks to their parents money that got sucked from taxpayers to send their future-senators to America to study.
2. Another great reason is despite their ivy-school foreign-education lawmakers f*u*cked up the ZTE invistigation. Better for NYPD rookie cops knows more about invistigation than our foreign-educated lawmakers
3. We have idiot pekeng-peryodistas all over. Who cannot know when to shut up
4. We have corrupt Filipino people who blames the government of all their personal corrutpion
5. We have low-IQ pekeng-peryodistas that imposed Ces Drilon kidnapping news blackout. HOW LOW IQ

CON’T TEN GREAT REASONS WHY WE HAVE GUINE HOPE

6. We speakengese goot country club englischtzes
7. We have impeccable spellengers
8. We have new economic paradigm shift. Terrorism is good for the economy. Ask pyrotechnic expert Ayala
9. We have the most degreed people in the whole of south east asia
10. We are Roman CAtholic

THEN WHY IN THE WORLD WE ARE SO LEFT BEHIND???? WHAT HAVE WE CONTRIBUTED TO THE WORLD ASIDE FROM BECOMING THE MOST POPULOUS AND DENSEST (Physically and mentally) COUNTRY?

The blogger is out of his mind. Clueless, oblivious and ignorant. WHO VOTED HIM IN OFFICE?

Nice wish, but not very strong arguments. Without intending too much offense, it is because of foolhardy politicians such as Sen. Pangilinan and the foolhardy Filipino population (in general) who keep voting such inept politicians to power each electoral cycle, that the Philippines is in the decrepit position it is today. Some rebuttals of Pangilinan’s points.

“1. We are strategically located at the heart of East Asia.”

The Philippines is located in between Northeast and Southeast Asia, but so to are Vietnam, Taiwan, and especially China. All of these are currently more desirable economic locations than the Philippines. The senator’s listing of Northeast and Southeast Asia is also poignant. Northeast Asians tend to look down on Southeast Asians, often to the point of removing them from ‘East Asia’. Yet Northeast Asia is listed before Southeast Asia, the region to which the Philippines belongs. To some extent, this is rational, as Northeast Asia is a better source of investors than Southeast Asia. Still, the Philippines could engage with its own region as well as all East Asia a bit more, and try to become less dependent on the United States.

“2. We are No. 1 in aquamarine resources worldwide.”

How long will this last with climate change, pollution, and the death of the coral reefs around the Philippines. Additionally, the Philippines has not been able to translate its marine wealth into better economic conditions. The Philippines is not as much a leader in producing shrimp as Vietnam; the Philippines is not a major fishing nation. So far, Philippine marine resources have not turned the Philippines into an aquacultural powerhouse, and in the near future I doubt it will.

“3. We have a huge tourism industry potential.”

Really, does the Philippines? The Philippines is considerably behind Thailand in the tourism sector, an economic area with limited growth potential. Westerners find Thailand to be a more exotic (Buddhism, rich and ’strange’ foreign culture) and desirable travel destination. The Philippines does not have many authentic ‘Asian’ landmarks such as Boroburdur or Angkor Wat; and the pseudo-Chinese buildings in Manila and Cebu are just a tacky embarrassment. Asian tourists might be drawn to the exotic (Roman Catholic, Latin-influenced culture) Philippines a bit more, but if any Asian tourists have a hankering for Latin culture (I personally have a low opinion of Hispanic culture) they could fairly easily book a trip for Latin America or Spain, which are far more Latin than the Philippines. And there are plenty of tropical islands in the world looking for tropics-loving tourists.

“4. We are now the No. 2 in the BPO industry worldwide and can become No. 1″

Even if the Philippines could overtake India (no small feat since India’s educational system now almost matches the Philippines’ and they have 1.1 billion people to the Philippines 100 million), there are only so many jobs to be gained–even indirectly–from BPO. BPO alone cannot make the Philippine economy thrive considering how far behind the Philippines is, and how fast the population is growing.

“5. We are extremely creative and artistic people.”

This remark makes me angry. Filipinos should in theory be creative. But they aren’t. Latin America’s primary redeeming feature is its artistry and creativity. The Philippines has the worst of Asian and Latin cultures (not to mention American): all the uncreativity and copycatting of East Asia, and all the economic ineptitude and slow growth of Latin America. Filipinos ‘perform’ abroad by singing songs written and first sung by foreigners. They do not sing Filipino songs to foreign audiences, and from what I have listened to, Filipino rock is crud, arguably even beating out French rock–and the French don’t even try to be good at ‘Anglo-Saxon’ music. The Philippines has output no artistic wave. Foreigners do not listen to Filipino music or avidly flock to Filipino art galleries. Even East Asians beat out the Philippines in this regard (think J-Pop, K-Pop, and Chinese modern art is currently very trendy in the West).

“6. We have the emergence of a new generation of progressive and results-oriented public sector leaders.”

Is that so? I’d never guess. Corruption sure seems to still be rife in the Philippines. Any results are short-term, as politicians seek to placate the mob rather than set long-lasting projects that would lead to prosperity in the long-term even if they seem undesirable now. Any results-orientation and progressiveness on the part of Filipinos seems to be to try to oust corrupt, incompetent politicians before their terms are up, via protests rather than the ballot box where such ousters should be done, making the Philippines appear even more unstable and unattractive to potential foreign investors.

“7. Information and communication technology advancement is enhancing our sense of nationhood.”

I agree. However, the Philippines needs to work much harder to form a common identity and ethnicity. Many may find it sad, or disapprove, but the Filipino tribes (Tagalogs, Cebuanos, Ilocanos, Pampangans, also ‘Chinese/Tsinoys’ and Korean-Filipinos and white Filipinos if they exist, etc.) have to go, and be replaced by Filipinos. A single, standardized language has to be the language of the entire country. I would even approve of the government creating a list of 100 or so ‘Filipino’ surnames, and assigning them randomly to every citizen household in the Philippines. No Chinese or European family names, at least in public. All Filipinos should have a ‘Filipino’ name. This goes for given names as well. Those Spanish-style and ‘American/English’ names don’t mean squat in Filipino. Most peoples’, especially in Asia, names actually mean something. Stop going foreign; stop giving undue adulation to foreign things; stop denigrating the indigenous. Have more respect for your country and people.

“8. We have a re-emerging middle class mindset.”

I wasn’t aware the Philippines ever had a ‘middle class mindset’. As far as I can tell, income distribution in the Philippines continues to be be appalling and far behind most of its neighbors, if not all. This hurts the economy of the entire country. Land reform is necessary to knock the landholding elite from power. Business reform is necessary to knock the bribing, business elite from power and encourage more competition and investment. Unfortunately, the landholding and business elite has a stranglehold on the Philippine government, economy, and culture (via the media). When Filipino actors drawn from the elite (Aquinos, Ongpaucos, etc.) and act as poor Filipinos in movies, that is infuriating. Their families are the very ones responsible for all those poor ‘ordinary’ Filipinos in the first place, and here they are pretending to be those whom they and their families keep in poverty!

“9. We are a young nation.”

This is also India’s argument about why it will one day supposedly surpass China. The Philippines large population is a double-edged sword. The population will make it so there are plenty of available laborers in the future. However, the Philippines can’t even create enough jobs for the number of Filipinos there are now, which is why Filipinos are forced to look abroad for better business opportunities. A young nation is horrible if you do not have any jobs for those children when they grow up, or for their parents now. The cost of educating an ever-larger pool of children is increasing faster than the Philippines is developing, and so educational quality is in decline. The average Filipino’s English is sub-par, to say the least. That the Philippines is a young nation does not work in its favor with the current Philippine economic condition.

“10. We are a people who love to laugh, who love our families.”

This is a huge part of the problem with the Philippines. There is not enough discontent among Filipinos to truly push for meaningful change. Filipinos are too easygoing to be sufficiently embarrassed and angered by their nation’s very poor status in the world. The senator’s comments here reflect this Filipino self-delusion that things aren’t that bad. Filipinos’ love of their families leads overseas Filipino workers to support leaching family members who don’t work, but instead just continually receive and spend remittances sent by their few diligent, loving family members who work in often abusive conditions in foreign lands.

Senator Francis ‘Kiko’ Pangilinan’s comments here are weak arguments. Mr. Pangilinan might also consider dropping the ‘Kiko’; mature adults usually should avoid nicknames especially when they are representatives of a sovereign nation.

KAYA NGA HOPE. at least we all have something to look forward to. Ano ba gusto natin wala man lang tayong tingalain? Ang akin lang sana hindi lang HOPE sana ma-achieve natin lahat ito

Hope is the wrong word. Genuine hope is another loose term.
Hope is in the mind. The good senator has just enumerated what we are, what the Philippines is…. then what we should do is do it.
We always say something hopeful, we always boost of what filipinos can do, we always talk of our potentials as a race and nation.
If we will just say, talk, boast of what we are without doing it, then it is hopeless case.
Hope is only for the hopeless, Can is what we can do.
Let’s do it…

this assessment by the good senator is very elementary.
besides, it is a general view of every country in the world trying to progress.
there is nothing new on what he enumerated. these are all basics.
and the assessment is a desperate as if we, the country and people are hopeless.
if our senators are like senator pangilinan, there is no progress as a country and people.
we need to hear his platform of government, what he is doing and his accomplishments being a two term senators.
we want to see the bills he introduced, we need to see the law he championed, and not a generall view which we as a people know and feel.
we don’t need hope, we need action, that is reality.
we need an innovator, a visionary and a prayer.

10 reason why…….by senator pangilinan needs further scrutiny under a microscope.

ginuine hope for R.P.==thats speaking for the whole country.

not for the like of aling felisa who sells camoteng kahoy, the everyday people who walks the streets trying to earn a living for the day. mang teban a farmer who sends his son or daughter to college hoping that upon graduation they can find a promising job so as to be free from the bondage of the soil.

theres nothing specific on this genuine hope that a poor man can cling on.

HOPE… We have been hoping for a very long time…. Still Hoping.

Drastic Changes for the Philippines. Treat the country like a business

1. All our Politicians must be a Lawyer or at least a political Science graduate. (a clerk or a bank teller must be a college graduate)
2. There should be no relatives in office up to the 3rd degree (banks disallow relatives working together)
3. Liquidate your expenses. (sales people are required to submit receipts on their expenses)
4. Function must be delegated. I still do not understand why congress and senate are given “pork barrel.” All I see are billboards stating e.g. “2km road with a budget of 12M was thru the initiative of Cong. Juan dela Cruz” Isn’t congress and senate under legislative work?? And Public works for fixing roads?

What the problem with you people, the first thing that you do is be negative and counter the arguments of one another. You hate others and their wrong doings yet you do not offer cooperation and change. reform yourself, it may be a steep climb for change but the philippines is all we’ve got we cannot build and dream for a better future if all of us think of it as a worthless cause.

“We have a re-emerging middle class mindset.”

“Think out of the box”, my previous boss says. We’ve been out of the box-our country. We are freed. Free from politicians and their schemes. Free from their old promises. Free from waiting. Free from hearing that there is always hope. We do not need hope.

Now, as free people we must share this freedom! Let us stop the slavery. Let us return and save our fellow countrymen.

But before that, let us arm ourselves. We can not battle against any enemy without shield. Knowledge is our weapon and shield! Our love for the country will carry us back to her. Let be love our strength. Courage be our wings! May God bless us.

We will return soon!

Hay naku hindi na yata mawawala ang corruption sa pilipinas, maraming daan ang hindi ginagawa kahit naibigay na ang budget… saan napupunta ang binabayad sa buwis?

10 Reasons why there is no hope for RP:
1. Political Clans are still existing and there is no sign of them going away. Si Tatay mayor, si Nanay vice mayor, si Kuya congressman, etc.
2. Poverty is still a big problem. Dumadami ang mahirap. Ang mayaman lalong yumayaman.
3. A lot of poor people = A lot of uneducated voters.
5. Incompetent people can still run for office. Basta may pera ka puwede kang tumakbo kahit bobo ka.
6. The law favors the wealthy.
7. After all the revolutions since 1986, very little has been changed in the constitution.
8. Filipino values are gone. Filipinos have no sense of self-discipline.
9. The lower and middle class has no representation in the government. Puro mayaman na inu-una ang kanilang personal agenda.
10. No separation of church and state. Bakit parating nakikialam ang simbahan sa mga issue sa pulitika o gobyerno.
What the Philippines need is a “real revolution”. Not just a drastic change in the government but also a drastic change in the constitution. Eliminate and stop the political clans. Better education for the poor.

My 13 reasons why there is no hope for RP:

1.) 336,000 Bgy. Councilors
2.) 42,000 Bgy. Chairman
3.) 1,360 City Councilors
4.) 136 Mayors
5.) 136 Vice mayors
6.) 1,494 Municipal Mayors
7.) 250 Congressmen
8.) 79 Governors
9.) 316 Vice Governors
10.) 316 Board Members
11.) 24 Senators
12.) A Vice President, and;
13.) A President

But kailangan pa ang hope. Ang hope ay sa walang pag asa.
Masyadong general ang topic ni Senador, no specific, no data.

Kung anu ano pa ang rason sa problema, isa lang ang problema at isa lang ang solution… population… sobra sobra na.
dumadami ang tao, kinukulang na tayo sa spasyo at pagkain.
Ang bansang mauunland gaya ng europa,america, tama lang population.
Kayang pagsilbihan ang kanyang mamamayan.

Ang pilipinas, kulang sa budget kaya servicio kulang, dumami ang mahirap.
Kung ang population ng pilipinas ay 19-29 million lang, kayang pakainin ng gobyerno ang pilipino, kaso 100 million na and counting…saan kukuha ng budget.

Para rin sa pamilya, ang dalawang anak,sagana ang bata ang 10 ang anak walang maipakain, walang pangeskwela.
Yan ang problema, sobra na ang pilipino sa kapiranggot na pilipinas.