blackshama's commentary on Philippine issues

Driving along Gil Puyat Avenue a.k.a. Buendia Avenue, I came across a small group of leftist protesters opposed to increased Australian military assistance to the Philippines. One of the protest banners had the title of this blog post. This is an instance of wry irony and humour. There is nothing so antithetical to the Australian ethos as imperialism. Australia was once a colony of Britain and was part of the Empire and was not The Empire. The Brits from the Bondi tourists to the occasional visitor, Her Majesty are still the object of colonial angst. Australians were among the first to die in England's wars. Australia is much as a victim of imperialism as any other colony. The key difference with other colonies is that Terra Australis was colonised by whites (even if it was of the convict kind) and England defined the land as Terra Nullius even if there were people living there for over 40K years! When Britain cast off its colonies in the South Pacific, Australia naturally as a in...

The government of Her Excellency will have no choice but to read the writing on the wall. We are in a transition and our President PhD I think is smart enough to navigate what could be choppier waters for her. The 2007 Philippine midterm elections seems to show the failure of political machineries to deliver guaranteed winnings. The elections showed seems to have brought down the curtain on cinematocracy or celebritocracy, or what we can call government by illusion. Almost all of showbiz candidates lost. The most notable exception is Vilma Santos, who by the way had no longer been an actress but a politician. And as a pollie she has quite delivered to her constituents. Richard Gomez?.... He did fencing, rowing, taekwondo etc didn't win and the electorate saw through all of that. An example that you cannot govern a constituency by the illusion you can knock out foes is the sad tale of Manny Pacquiao. His electorate had tried to warn him beforehand. It does not surprise me why a Cat...

We birders are going to run in the next elections. First we try the partylist route. We call our party "Ang Bird" Our party president is the Great Tit, the treasurer is the Dollarbird and the Secretary is you guessed it The Secretary Bird. Our PRO is the Flowerpecker! Our platform is to make the Philippines a bird friendly place. We will ban slingshots and guns and bird cages. We support the right of citizens to flock together as long as they have the same feathers. Our youth wing is called "Ang maliit na Bird" We will support Pied Trillanes if he runs for Prez !

Geography The casting of ballots ended at 3:00 PM and now the antiquated way of counting the votes begin. Manolo Quezon blogs about the geography of cheating and electoral fraud. When I was enrolled in some higher statistics courses at the UP School of Statistics, I was enrolled in a probability course and the professor required us to listen to a lecture on vote irregularities and the probability of that happening. It was Gloria's time to be elected in her own right as queen regnant and not just as a heir to the throne who took over under constitutionally questionable circumstances. But as history unfolded Gloria Regina's crown of winning votes has "Hello Garci" written over it. Filipino citizens everywhere until this election are not convinced that she was truly elected as President. Thus the geography of cheating and probability of that happening was interesting to put it mildly. Yes there were areas that the probability of cheating was highest. But those were in...

Sometimes good intentions turn awry. The 1987 Philippine Constitution instituted the party list system to give chances for marginalized sectors to be represented in Congress. But years later, it seems that it has neither empowered the marginalized but gave a non-marginalized a cheap way to get elected! While the Left have always won their seats, without a wider (geographical) constituency they are condemned forever to say their time worn cliches in Congress. I don't know if the Leftists read their history. Of course they want to gain power, but they will never do that as a Party List party. If Weimar Germany had a party list system and the National Socialists limited themselves to that forum, it is unlikely that they would have seized power. Hitler was more sophisticated. He gained power through a parliamentary majority and Hindenburg had no choice but to appoint him as Chancellor. I am not espousing Nazi ideology. In fact Nazism has a lot of lessons to teach us. We should not all...

While Helen Mirren may have been able to essay her role and win an Oscar to boot, the real life role of Her Majesty Elizabeth II is definitely a hard one. After all there isn't any curtain closers and she can't get off the stage. It is hard to be a constitutional monarch. She can't express her private opinions except to her family, or perhaps to her Prime Minister and of course to her Royal Diary. There are still quite a few constitutional monarchs around but Elizabeth II is the best admired. She understands the need for reform and updating Britain's institution but she won't compromise her identity. While her relations in Scandinavia may have taken riding on bicycles, she still rides her limos and the occasional carriage when her duties require it. While she has done away with the royal jet (flying to the US to meet the Bush on a chartered BA jet), she makes sure that she represents her nation well. So when she met the President of the United States on the White Ho...

Manila, The Philippines I saw and heard the much talked about "gago" campaign ditty while jet lagged. I know politics involves muckraking but this takes the cake. In a democracy, the electorate shouldn't be taken for idiots. We know what this campaign ad will come to. The ditty has some catchy lyrics Gago, gago ang oposisyon Ang lider ay nagnakaw kaya nakakulong The opposition are all idiots, idiots Its leader did steal and that's why he's in jail. There is such a law called Karma for which one Indian religious scholar explained that the Law is like a credit card, it bills with much interest. Fate has the last laugh. Who knows those libeled now may be singing. Gago, gago ang _________. Ang lider nandaya kaya makukulong Dear blog readers please fill in the blank.

Farewell Louisiana. I hope to be able come back and visit. There is probably no state in the whole of the United States where I felt almost completely at home. The hospitality of your resilient people, and their warmth are what makes you weather the storms. Of course I'll miss everything Southern. But it is likely we'll meet again sometime. English again.... Now that I am in Memphis airport, Tennessee I just read about the trade of barbs between Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay and Senator Lito Lapid. And the whole thing is about English competency. Binay says that being poor isn't an excuse for not being able to express oneself. Binay is may be correct. Lapid belongs to the 'silent committee" in the Senate. Well, a senator can express anything in the senate in any language! Have we heard anything from Lito Lapid? We'll if he can't say much in the Senate. I don't think he can say much in Filipino.