blackshama's commentary on Philippine issues

Outgoing University of the Philippines (UP) President Professor Emerlinda Roman writes in the UP Forum on the need to revisit the university system's Revitalized General Education Program (RGEP).  Prof Roman's essay is based on a 2010 series of surveys and focus grouped discussions (FGD) on the problems and successes of the RGEP. For those old (and not so old) and "loyal to thee" alums and those who didn't attend UP, the RGEP was conceived under the presidency of Dodong Nemenzo. Nemenzo is probably the only Marxist to occupy Quezon Hall. One chapter of R Kwan Laurel's iconoclastic and larrikinous book "Philippine Cultural Disasters"   is all about Nemenzo, Randy David's motorcycle and the RGEP recipe with a dash (or is it deadly dose?) of Ayala Corporation!  The larrikin , academic heretic and "loose cannon" that I am, I would recommend readers to grab a copy at your friendly reputable and credible bookshop. I'm not plugging, but ...

Anyone who has attended the University of the Philippines would have met and interacted with the activist a.k.a "tibak" in UP parlance. One of the unique attributes of a UP education is whatever socio-economic class you belong, you will have to interact with the tibak in your RGEP classes or even in other fora. One of the heirs to the Gokongwei business empire, Robina Gokongwei (who gave one of the most memorable commencement speeches to the university) reminisced her time with the Collegian in which she enjoyed the debates with the Maoists but was still respected despite her social class origins. But Robina Gokongwei has something to say to all UP alums of what they should strive to, and this is consistency. Gokongwei to her credit has remained a consistent capitalist in the Philippines (and in doing so continues to provide employment to the masses!) unlike others who were once tibak but ended up as Washington DC beltway bandits or as corrupt politicians or members of the ...

The Philippines joins the list of human rights friendly countries such as Iran,Serbia and Russia in boycotting the Nobel Peace prize conferment on an Chinese pro-democracy dissident. Apparently the Noynoy administration has caved in to Beijing's pressure. The Philippines has had significant Chinese investment but many of these have been clouded by corruption allegations. And to shaft Ricky Carandang, the Philippines is no small country. It just has a small minded government! Noynoy Aquino is  a beneficiary of a democratic restoration. He seems not to realize the heat involved in defending liberty now that he is President! Dear old  mom and dad knew what the heat meant, but he sure has fallen short of living up to what his parents had to go through.

President-elect Alfredo Pascual. Photo courtesy of Prof. Judy Taguiwalo Former alumni regent of the University of the Philippines, Mr Alfredo E Pascual was elected by the UP Board of Regents as the university's next President on Dec 3, 2010. He was elected on a plurality vote by the Regents casting secret ballots. Mr Pascual's term starts on February 9, 2011 and he will serve a term of six years. The election of UP President does not need Congressional or Palace assent. Mr Pascual will be the 20th President of the country's oldest and largest public university. He takes over from Dr Emerlinda Roman. Mr Pascual was initially not considered  as a leading nominee since for many years all UP Presidents came from the ranks of the active professors. The last "outsider" or non-academic elected to the post was Edgardo Angara in 1981, who was a practicing attorney before assuming the university's top post. Angara went on to become Senator of the Philippines. The ...

The Philippine Catholic Church hierarchy says it will fight the RH bill to the very end. A church spokesman has publicly  said that the pollsters should stop polling on public support for the RH bill. I think this is a desperate move and the institutional Church should accept that the RH bill will be eventually passed with significant public support. The Church should have had a rude  awakening by now that Excommunication can't sway public views and that it should engage with Filipino secular society in a more constructive way. The Church should cut down its losses and stop trying to prevent the secular waves from wetting its feet! The problem is that the RH bill is seen more as a social, economic and political issue rather than a moral one. This is not to say that the RH bill has no moral dimension (all human acts have) but the Church should shift the battle from stopping the RH bill from being passed to catechizing Catholics even better on this issue. The best exemplar o...