Author Archives: admin

Southeast Asia: Half-Year of Protests

By admin | July 23, 2012

Malaysia’s electoral reform movement, known as Bersih (clean), succeeded in mobilizing tens of thousands of people in the streets last April. According to organizers, this year’s Bersih was the biggest political rally in the modern history of Malaysia. The government has disputed this claim, but the political impact of Bersih in terms of reinvigorating the […]

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State of the Nation Address 1954-1961

By admin | July 21, 2012

Part 1: SONA 1946 – 1953 This was the time when the number of carabaos and labor unions in the country were still being reported in the president’s state of the nation address. Magsaysay announced in 1956 the malaria will be eradicated in three years. He proposed the creation of a Department of Interior in […]

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Miseducation in the 21st Century

By admin | July 18, 2012

Part 1: K-12: Education reform for whom? Through K-12, the Noynoy Aquino government plans to equip Filipino students with ‘21st century skills’. This seems a lofty goal considering that majority of public schools are stuck in the 20th century twilight zone. Even the commendable plan to integrate ICT starting Grade 1 seems unrealistic given the […]

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More Pork, Doleouts, Bonuses in 2013 Budget

By admin | July 10, 2012

Initial review of the 2013 budget based on the DBM presentation The Noynoy Aquino government is calling the P2.006 trillion proposed budget an ‘empowerment budget’ that will benefit the people, especially the poor. But since the budget (based on the Department of Budget and Management presentation) is loaded with more pork, doleouts, and fat bonuses, […]

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Burma’s Surprising Protests

By admin | July 7, 2012

News about the protests that spread through several Burma towns last week over power shortages should be welcomed as a positive development in the country’s bid to achieve a full democratic transition. The series of peaceful protests started in Mandalay, where hundreds of residents gathered in front of a government electricity agency to condemn the […]

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Dead End and Deadened

By admin | July 5, 2012

The obligatory canned applause to celebrate President Noynoy Aquino’s second year in office will be delivered by the crazed Yellow Gang. They are expected to highlight the visible and quantifiable – though empty and boring – so-called achievements of the government like credit rating, GDP, and investor confidence. The hypnotized herd will probably echo Pnoy’s […]

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Poverty and Children

By admin | June 26, 2012

There are 27.6 million poor Filipinos in 2006, 12.8 million or 47 percent are children 15 years old and below. This was revealed in a study commissioned by the United Nations Children’s Fund and conducted by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies, a government agency. The results of the study were reported to the public […]

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Scarborough Shoal a Precursor?

By admin | June 25, 2012

French philosopher Voltaire once wrote a story about the mad behavior of men going to war over a “few lumps of earth.” In Southeast Asia, there are numerous small and midsize conflicts between countries over temples, borders, islets, reefs, shoals, and even puny rock formations that disappear during high tide. For example, Thailand and Cambodia […]

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Rallies and Marathons

By admin | June 22, 2012

Rallies and most marathons for a cause have many things in common. They both require a massive gathering of warm bodies in order to succeed. After converging at a certain point, the participants will soon march to reach the finish line, the target destination. The sheer number of the crowd is eclipsed only by the […]

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K-12: Education reform for whom?

By admin | June 13, 2012

Part 1: Politics of education reforms Everybody agrees that big reforms are necessary to reverse the decline of Philippine education. This consensus, however, was hijacked by the government to force the implementation of the so-called K-12 program despite the absence of an authoritative study that it will raise the quality of learning in the country. […]

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