blackshama's commentary on Philippine issues

If we want to keep the EDSA spirit alive, we have to ensure she is victorious everywhere. Perhaps the President of the Philippines will consent to putting up a copy of this statue on EDSA. She is the real icon of People Power. If the President has enough moral courage, then once the statue is up, the Republic of the Philippines will no longer boycott a Nobel peace prize conferment. Also we will have to stop kowtowing to the political party that destroyed this statue's original.

The University of the Philippines high school department (now known as the UP Integrated School) will be moved from its Katipunan Road site on the periphery of the Diliman campus to near the UP College of Education. The move has been talked about for years. Katipunan Road over the decades has been turned into an extremely busy highway and students have been in real danger of being run over (and indeed some have and a few have been fatal). Just for this reason alone, moving the school nearer to the university academic core is most sensible. However the site has sentimental reasons to generations of old UPIS grads. But a cursory look at the campus would suggest that time has done its work and a new building on a new site is best. But the University of the Philippines had not much the funds to rehabilitate the buildings (the "new" building is 35 years old!) and so any talk of relocation or renovation was just that talk. And here comes Ayala Corporation, just fresh from put...

February 25, 1986, 10 AM Camp Crame. After spending the long night at arms. My dad took this photo of me with Mrs Luz Magsaysay at General Ramos' office The true spirit of EDSA 1986 does not really lie with those who politically benefited from the uprising. It lies with the people who were on the road, at the barricades or with like me with weapons at the ready, ready to fire at any armed group who would want to destroy the revolt . This photo with former first lady Mrs Luz Magsaysay remains memorable since in the morning of Feb 25, my dad at great risk to his safety pulled me out of that armed cadet outfit. An uprising like EDSA even though with noble intentions still is not worth the shedding of young people's blood. I was just 19 years old then. If you look closely at the lapel, I was wearing the badge of the UP ROTC marksmanship unit. The unit I was in were composed of UP ROTC cadets. Mrs Magsaysay I remember was greatly relieved that none of the cadets were shot at. At ...

Here are some reasons why the Philippines under any president be that may be The Great Apo Ferdie, Santa Corazon de Aquino, General "Daimos" Tabako, Asiong "Erap" Salonga,  the Gloria in Excelsis Arroyo and the Noynoy the PNoy, will never be another Singapore as long as we don't get out of our delusions. We have to remind Senator Bongbong Marcos that in Singapore They send people to jail or the gallows if convicted and the appeals process has run out. There is true Rule of Law in Singapore. In Flor Contemplacion's case there was no "consideration for a friend". Walang kai-kaibigan sa Singapore! And that is why Singapore is less corrupt than China! A "pasaway" American teen gets caned for vandalism and so does a Brit! And so Americans respect Singapore laws. If an American GI did a Corporal Smith there, he would have been detained not at the American Embassy but in the new Changi prison. They fine people who deserve to be fined, bubb...

None of the Marcoses have seen the view through the window of a jail cell but can look at the view from the Batasan and Senate office windows! The Cojuangcos still own a hacienda! There are still VALID reasons for Joma Sison to pontificate even after Communism has been thrown into the trash bin everywhere! Media, power and industry oligarchies are back. And they dupe their workers. Workers not getting their due. They also bleed the people in power rates! The 1987 Constitution Gloria Macapagal Arroyo takes the Presidency from Erap at the EDSA Shrine. The 1987 Constitution is thus stabbed fatally. Corrupt generals having "pabaon" while the AFP doesn't have decent air, naval and land forces assets. Congress Vietnam outpacing us economically. Remember they got pounded by the US of A.  Noynoy Aquino was elected on mom and dad's platform. And the government becomes like a badly run student council! BUT WAIT, WE STILL HAVE HOPE.

All set to bravely defend the Republic against its enemies! My father who was with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and retired as a general officer had a son and once he could walk did not put him into a Gucci but into a Philippine Army uniform! The only "pabaon" General Vallejo ever had upon retirement after 30 years of service was a pistol and a high powered automatic rifle (which he was entitled to after serving the Republic in its wars against enemies sworn to destroy it). However after the 1986 EDSA revolution, he donated these weapons to the Philippine Army museum so that young soldiers will have an idea of what it means to defend the Republic. Dad also spent countless hours training me to be a marksman and that began as soon as I first opened my eyes as a baby. By the time I was in high school, I was already trained to shoot and be deadly accurate at it! But I never had that weapons fetish. I never got the wind about using guns as a way to project one...

New UP President Alfredo Pascual last Feb 10 took over the reins of the University of the Philippines in a simple ceremony in Quezon Hall.  Mr Pascual served until Feb 9, 2017.His speech is here . The theme of Mr Pascual's  speech focused on the never ending effort to raise the standards of the university, modernize its infrastructure, turn it into a competitive research university without compromising the university's reputation for teaching excellence. However Mr Pascual, a chemistry graduate but development banker by profession, spilled out the necessary numbers. It is no secret that the salaries of professors are abysmally low and definitely uncompetitive. The same is true for the loyal staff which are even more disadvantaged. The numbers include that to make the salaries really competitive (professors on average should get 100,000 pesos a month from the measly 25,000 or so at present), the UP should have an endowment of at least 8 billion pesos (that is about 181 mill...

After 18 days, President for 30 years, Hosni Mubarak of Egypt was forced to quit by massive demonstrations of Egyptians fed up with autocratic rule. Mubarak who is a general in Egypt's armed forces is considered as a hero in Egypt's war against Israel. Egypt and Israel have since signed a peace treaty. The protests occurred in all major Egyptian cities. Mubarak tried to give concessions but eventually this was a little too late. Nonetheless, the regime tried to shut off Egypt from the rest of the cyberuniverse. But that failed, Egyptians found a way to tweet! Shutting off Egypt also resulted in massive economic losses in a nation with high unemployment. This popular uprising is most significant (even more significant than EDSA in 1986) for it proves that no regime can effectively shut the flow of social networking. Thus dictatorships and unelected rulers in the world and in the Forbidden City are now shell shocked. They know that they cannot hold on for long and give in to ...

The death of General Angelo Reyes should be viewed within the context of the EDSA phenomenon which spawned the current political system we have. This system is showing the inherent decay of this system. General Reyes has been truly eaten by EDSA II. The moment he stepped on the platform of the EDSA shrine and guaranteed the ascendancy of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, he sealed his destiny. But I wonder if he had foreseen that the EDSA II 'revolution" will eventually digest him? The Macapagal-Arroyo years while it brought improvements in Philippine society has sealed its place in history as probably the most corrupt government Filipinos ever had. The tragedy is that a then promising young and competent officer like Angelo Reyes was eventually digested by the corrupting  and digestive acids of the EDSA constitutional system. Thus it is a about time we cease celebrating EDSA and work for a revolutionary arrangement in which we have a new constitution and a new political settleme...

The unfortunate death of ex AFP Chief of Staff, Angelo Reyes has sparked a discussion of suicide in Pinoy society. I think the discussion is good since Pinoy society has to face up to the problem of suicide aside from the religious aspects of this. In a sense suicide is a taboo topic in Pinoy society and this is a reflection of the  generally conservative Roman Catholic culture of the country. But economic and social pressures have driven many to take their own lives. Just last December, a couple hanged themselves on the MRT pylon at EDSA Mandaluyong, snarling traffic for hours. We read about financially desperate breadwinners committing suicide, but aside from the reports, this isn't really news! When a student of Ateneo tried to commit suicide, this became news. What drives people to suicide are many but medical science considers this as a mental health concern. Suicides are considered as "cries for help" or attention and is linked with lack of coping mechanisms for...

The now famous  Porsche spiel had me laughing and wincing at the same time. But that was before former UP Law dean Raul Pangalangan dissected the whole issue in the Philippine Daily Inquirer. I agree with many of the points raised by Dean Pangalangan especially that the Noynoy presidency for all intents and purposes is a "symbol presidency". The Porsche spiel is a cruise missile that is targeted with smart accuracy at the center of the Noynoy symbol. And I have no one to blame but the bachelor president himself. The fact is that there are several nations that are headed by symbols. For example, Queen Elizabeth II reigns as a symbol of unity over Great Britain. And like Noynoy, she has lots of untainted money and can afford to buy what her heart desires. But to the surprise of non-Britons, in the 1970s she was reported to have gone around Buckingham Palace, switching off the lights. She wanted to save on electric bills. And her kids spent their babyhood days in nurseries...