Author Archives: admin

What We Can Learn from the Music Videos of Lupang Hinirang

By admin | October 28, 2014

Published by Manila Today We grew up singing the Philippine national anthem; in fact we can only recite the beautiful prose of Lupang Hinirang if we quietly sing it. Today, when the use of LCD projectors is already common, we sing and watch the national anthem in schools, movie theaters, public halls, and government buildings. […]

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Are you dating an activist? Take the quiz

By admin | October 26, 2014

Written for Bulatlat He had you at “power to the people!” and then he said he wanted to “occupy” your heart, and that you are his 99 percent. Yet you find his world quite exotic, his vocabulary sometimes confusing, although he seems sincere given his passionate determination to fight for his beliefs. Indeed, it is […]

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Myanmar Insists Reforms Are Working

By admin | October 19, 2014

Written for The Diplomat Myanmar is changing and changing in the right direction. These were the exact words used by Myanmar’s Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin when he spoke at the United Nations General Assembly of world leaders in New York on September 29, 2014. He declared that “positive changes” and “winds of change” have […]

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Generation X: The Bridge Generation

By admin | October 1, 2014

Written for Manila Today Two generations have dominated and are still dominating the early years of the 21st century. To borrow a few terms from American pop sociology, these are the baby boomers (our parents) and the millennials (our children). We stand in between these two generations which are separated by half a century. We […]

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Jokowi’s First Week as Indonesia’s President-Elect

By admin | September 26, 2014

Written for The Diplomat Aside from reaching out to his political opponents, Joko “Jokowi” Widodo spent his first week as Indonesia’s president-elect thanking volunteers and asking netizens to choose the members of his Cabinet. Jokowi was proclaimed winner on July 22 by the Electoral Commission after he received 71 million votes, or 53 percent of […]

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Charter Reforms in Southeast Asia: The Good, The Bad, and The Half-Serious

By admin | September 15, 2014

Published by The Diplomat The good: Five million people in Myanmar signed a petition asking Parliament to remove the undemocratic provisions in the 2008 Constitution. The bad: Thai military authorities enacted an interim constitution that gives sweeping powers to the army. The half-serious: Philippine President Benigno Aquino III hinted that he is open to the […]

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10 myths destroyed by the People’s Initiative campaign

By admin | September 12, 2014

Published by Bulatlat 1. President Noynoy Aquino is sincere in abolishing the pork barrel system. PDAF (legislative pork) was abolished but the funds were embedded in the national budget. DAP (presidential pork) was discontinued but the unconstitutional principles that sustained it were maliciously inserted in the 2015 General Appropriations Bill. Aquino adopted and expanded the […]

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10 Things to Know About the World’s Longest Communist Revolution

By admin | September 9, 2014

1. The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) was reestablished on December 26, 1968 in Alaminos, Pangasinan. Its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA), was formed on March 29, 1969 in Capas, Tarlac. The revolutionary alliance, National Democratic Front (NDF), was founded on April 24, 1973. The CPP-NPA-NDF view armed revolution as the effective […]

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Malaysia Threatens to Block Facebook

By admin | September 2, 2014

Written for The Diplomat The Malaysian government revealed that it is studying a proposal to ban Facebook, in response to the rising number of abuses reported on the popular social network. Communication and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek made the announcement after a Facebook user posted a doctored photo of a road accident […]

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The Sona speeches of Macapagal and Marcos that will take you back to the future

By admin | August 31, 2014

Written for Bulatlat The annual state of the nation address is a must read for all citizens who are eager to know the president’s self-rated accomplishment report and priority programs. It is also relevant for what it fails to mention or what the president refuses to acknowledge. It is both a historical document and a […]

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