Mong Palatino

Blogging about the Philippines and the Asia-Pacific since 2004

About

@mongster is a Manila-based activist, former Philippine legislator, and blogger/analyst of Asia-Pacific affairs.

Archive for November, 2010

On campus strikes

Tuesday, November 30th, 2010

Thanks to @kabataancrew for helping me draft this speech. Delivered on November 30. My second privilege speech in the 15th Congress; my 5th as a legislator. Mr. Speaker, dear colleagues, a pleasant afternoon. I rise today to talk about the just demand of our public universities for a higher share in our national budget. I […]

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Slashing Scare in Singapore

Saturday, November 27th, 2010

Earlier this month, the Singaporean government released two National Education Surveys that showed more than 95 percent of young people are proud to be Singaporean. The authorities should be rejoicing—they can cite the survey results as proof that government programmes are successful in tapping into the support of young Singaporeans. But at the same time, […]

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Arroyo-Aquino infrastructure projects

Sunday, November 21st, 2010

1. The Public-Private-Partnership program of the Noynoy Aquino government is not an innovation since its framework is no different from the Build-Operate-Transfer model of previous governments. In fact, PNoy recently renamed the country’s BOT Center into PPP Center when he issued EO No.8 series of 2010. The name PPP is also misleading since many of […]

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Myanmar: New Flag, Same Country

Monday, November 8th, 2010

The Union of Myanmar (Burma) is now officially known as the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, and its new flag was unveiled for the first time last week. Is the change part of the so-called democratic reforms that the ruling junta promised to deliver in time for the widely anticipated November 7 elections? As […]

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From belfry to cell phone tower

Wednesday, November 3rd, 2010

The cathedral of the Catholic Church in Spanish Philippines was the central symbol of power in the community. The rich and the powerful preferred to establish their residences near the church. The aspiring rich wanted to live in strategic locations where they could see the church tower. The law-abiding and God-fearing poor lived very far […]

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