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Stress in SHS
The promise of K-to-12 was supposedly too nice to reject, and so the Aquino and Duterte regimes continued with it: “Mastery of concepts and skills, develop lifelong learners, and prepare graduates for tertiary education, middle-level skills development, employment, and entrepreneurship.” And it was stressed no end that the Philippines had “no choice” because it was…
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So what if there are Reds in schools?
If you’re a Filipino and you believe in freedom and democracy, you should be troubled by what the military, police, and the regime are saying about the more than 10 colleges and universities supposedly becoming hotbeds of communism. It should be troubling for all Filipinos that military authorities are allowed to say “May ongoing film…
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Byahilo’s Eric Dormido dies at 39
Eric Dormido, more popularly known as Byahilo, passed away today October 5, 2018. He was 39. His sister Gladys Dormido said Eric was pronounced dead at 5:40 pm due to cardiac arrest at a clinic where he had his regular dialysis session. Eric’s Byahilo.com is one of the country’s top travel blogs. He was one…
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The fictional ‘Red October’
LAST year, a whole slew of activists, academics, economists, political scientists and revolutionists marked the centennial of the Great October Socialist Revolution that gave birth to the world’s first socialist state. Events were held worldwide, as many people seek for answers to questions that liberalism and illiberalism (read: fascism) fail or refuse to answer. As…
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NutriAsia, PNP should apologize — and be held accountable
With the release of the 19 mostly-injured, detained and falsely-accused workers workers, advocates and journalists — NutriAsia and its cohorts in the Meycauayan PNP should be held accountable for the July 30 brutal dispersal. The issuance of release orders proves that the cases filed are very weak and without substantive evidence. We also have to…
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Gloria in excelsis Digong
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is now Speaker of the House of Representatives. It is said to be the outcome of three factors: Arroyo’s drive towards political rehabilitation; Sara Duterte’s vindictiveness; and the congressmen’s disenchantment with the former speaker Pantaleon Alvarez. This is at once both a positive and a negative to Duterte. Positive because Sara Duterte…
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Bloggers for freedom
We concerned Filipino bloggers stand for the rights to free expression and to free speech. And our first responsibility is to protect these rights. We thus stand with Rappler, its right to exist, the rights of its working journalists and contributors, and the rights of its community of readers. We stand against moves to silence…
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Facebook censors post on Duterte-Marcos dirty deals
At around 8:30 tonight, 2 Jan. 2018, I received an interesting notice from Facebook that it took down one of my post today, and restricted access to my account. The reason given was that I allegedly violated “Community Standards”. Sadly, I wasn’t able to take a screenshot of the notice. I can still see my…
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Justice for Kian, justice for all: Neither a statistic nor a pawn
I saw a Facebook post on Saturday, coming from a journalist covering the wake of Kian Loyd delos Santos. His father was supposedly asked whether he voted for Rodrigo Duterte and that he could only answer: “Mali ‘no?” Kian’s mother is an OFW, a voting bloc that is also pro-Duterte. Fortunately she wasn’t asked the…
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Bias against blogs: OVP infographic on “fake news” actually misinforms
In an infographic titled “how to recognize fake news”, the Office of the Vice President itself became an example of misinformation by making a sweeping generalization that blogs are akin to fake news sites. In the first of four tips, the OVP’s infographic stated: Check the source. Before reading an article, check if the news…
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Duterte comes out as No. 1 Marcos loyalist, triggers people’s outrage
A day after the Luneta rally, it came to me, like an epiphany. We exploded in anger not because we hated President Duterte himself, although some actually do. Regardless of political differences, our blood boils in fury because Duterte practically declared himself the country’s No. 1 Marcos loyalist. Duterte now speaks on behalf of the…
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#MarcosNoHero Reader
The hero’s burial for the remains of the ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos — a project of President Duterte, with the blessing of nine Supreme Court justices — has aroused national indignation and a national remembrance. UPDATE: The Campaign Against the Return of Marcoses to Malacanang (CARMMA) and the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) are calling for #MarcosNoHero mass…
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Enabling the trolls
Much is always said about politics being a total turn-off in this country, with politicians and their supporters acting like trolls or being trolls 24/7. Who wouldn’t be turned off if the President himself says one thing and does another? It turns us off whether it is the President of Daang Matuwid being exposed either…
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Duterte’s choice: His mother or the motherf*cker diktador she bravely fought
Meet Soledad Duterte and her son Rodrigo. Davaoeños knew her as Nanay Soling. She was one of the most outspoken, most respected and fearless critics of the Marcos dictatorship in Mindanao, and organizer of Davao City’s “Yellow Friday” mass actions. Sadly, there is no monument for Nanay Soling, as is the case for most of…
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Loose change: Duterte’s not-so-new economic plan
Have you seen the eight-point economic plan of new President Rodrigo Duterte? If you haven’t seen it, here it is, as announced by Duterte’s economic manager Carlos Dominguez: Continue and maintain current macroeconomic policies. Accelerate infrastructure spending by fixing bottlenecks in Public-Private Partnerships. Amend the economic provisions of the Constitution. Provide support services to small…
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The long story: My choices for 2016
FYI: The title is seriously true. Like 2,400 words. It tells you the story of how I arrived at my choices for 2016. I have written frequently about the elections as an opportunity for the country to start anew and take a new direction. I have no illusions that it could mean radical change, mind you.…
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4 ways ‘traditional politics’ corrupted and squandered social media in 2016
As the 2016 campaign enters the homestretch, let there be no doubt that social media, digital and technology didn’t change the system of “trapos” or traditional politics as the Philippines has always known it. It is a cause of frustration to the youth and the middle class who may have nursed expectations about social media,…
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2016 elections: Searching for stars, saints and superheroes
Many people’s hearts are heavy as we approach the elections, and for good reasons. The choices are not at all good, and there are lots of misinformation, hate, and fear that threaten to determine the decisions of many. For an exercise dubbed the “highest expression of the people’s will”, and endlessly bragged as the only…
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FYI: Identity thief/poser is misrepresenting me on Reddit
On Monday night, I discovered through a friend and a Twitter follower that I have been the victim of what seems to be politically-motivated identity theft over at Reddit for the past few days. Upon investigation, I saw that the identity thief and poser used my name “tonyocruz” as a username and pretended to be…
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No to posers this 2016
For a people who have been brought untold shame, disappointments and hardships by a self-styled superhero and saint for the past six years, the search for the next president and vice president should seem like a déjà vu. Some insist on doing it again, arguing that they are only choosing the “least evil,” or the…
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Secret Palace memo: How to handle Kidapawan farmers online
We just obtained a copy of a secret Palace memo immediately given to the Yellow Army’s bloggers, trolls deodorants, and apologists after the Kidapawan incident. This memo explains the Signal No. 4-levels of bullshit, mindfuck and unconscionable statements rained on everyone by the Yellow Army and even high government officials who we thought should know better. Here…
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Internet, social media, and PH elections
Social media is full of interesting and fantastic stuff, especially amid the 2016 election campaign. And we expect no let-up in efforts of campaigners and supporters to make full use of the Internet to “demolish” opponents. It is sad really. The promise of better politics, thanks to the Internet and social media, is lost on…
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