Respect for the two greatest basketball players: Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant....
Of course, MJ is MJ - my childhood and teenage hero!
But what I particularly like about Kobe is that he likes the Philippines and Filipino fans so much - the first time he came when he was 18 he promised he would come back, and he has done so several times, impressing us with his unique talent and showmanship in the flesh, live!
So, MJ, you're still welcome to come and visit the Philippines and feel how great we are as basketball fans!
Congratulations Smart Gilas (the Philippine Men's Basketball Team) for winning gold in the 34th Jones Cup! Beating the USA, Iran, Korea, Jordan, Japan, and Taiwan — teams that have always broken our hearts — is truly something, especially for our dream to reclaim our old basketball glory!
This so-called "Smart Gilas 2.0", as compared with the first team under Serbian Coach Rajko Toroman, does not have much training and system playing together for long, but their hearts have paid off. Kudos to Coach Chot Reyes, the mentor who has instilled in me also the importance of moving out of one's "comfort zone" to explore the "talent zone" of adventure, learning, and satisfaction.
Congrats and thanks also to Manny V. Pangilinan (MVP), the Philippines' most generous sports patron today. In the current relations and context of Philippine capitalism and (under)development, sports — like the arts — needs patrons among the wealthy to flourish.
Congratulations to Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, the first woman chief justice of the Philippines! I believe that her appointment is a triumph in itself for real reforms for the country — as such, it must be nurtured and sustained.
It is not because of her gender that has made me support her among the 'insider' nominees. I look more at her politics, moral values, and spirituality. (Among the 'outsider' nominees, I was rooting for Raul Pangalangan and Chel Diokno.)
Sereno will be Chief Justice for the next 18 years. Expect judicial reforms during her leadership. In the context of deep-seated structural and moral bankruptcy in the history of our judicial system, all reform efforts are (necessarily) conflict-ridden between the reactionary forces for the maintenance of existing power relations and the progressive social forces for change. Hence, Sereno's leadership must get all the principled and conscientious support that can be mustered.
Towards a truly democratic, developed, and just Philippines in 2030, Sereno's judicial reforms must be matched with political, economic, and moral reforms among our leaders and the resolute commitment of activists, social movements, civil society, and active citizens to social justice.
Indeed, "Kapag kayo'y gumagawa nang tama, darating ang gantimpala". So be it, CJ Sereno.Mabuhay po kayo! Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! Godspeed!
This story (i.e., the life of the poor Saturnino Fabros and his unfortunate encounter with the rich Robert Carabuena) is telling about a number of sad realities of Philippine society and social relations, including:
(a) the nature of class conflict in which there are incommensurable differences between the rich and the poor in material, psychological, and spiritual terms;
(b) the sorry state of our economic development structure that favours the rich but perpetuates social immobility of the poor - even the most hardworking and efficient among them - who do not get the income and social entitlements they need and deserve to lead a dignified life;
(c) the logic of the social structure of poverty that locks the poor in a system of exploitation (be it in personal, electoral, or labour relations) but, at the same time, locks them out of political decision-making and socio-economic progress.
I'm just happy to note that in this Fabros-Carabuena encounter, the Filipino 'middle class' (at least the overwhelming majority of 'netizens') have taken the point of view of 'the victim', seen through the eyes of 'the poor', and chosen the side of 'social justice'. May this class formation continue in the enduring struggle for real social change.
Mabuhay po kayo, Mang Saturnino Fabros, kasama ng puwersa ng mga mulat na mamamayan na may kamalayan para sa pakikipagkapwa-tao, katarungan, at pagbabago!
I love Southeast Asia so much — its peoples, cultures, and foods. But I detest its political and economic elites! The irony is that I have I spent my graduate and postgraduate life studying these elites and the ways they have forged, negotiated, or dictated the region's historical political economy and the very lives of Southeast Asians!
Anyway, a note for the Philippine Department of Tourism, it might be useful and strategic to reflect on, decide, and popularize a national landmark for the Philippines!
Laban Noypi! Panahon na naman ng bayanihan, pakikipagkapwa-tao, at diskarte. Pinoy tayo!
" Ang dami mong problema, nakuha mo pang ngumiti.Noypi ka nga, astig!
Saan ka man naroroon, huwag kang matatakot...
Sabi nila may anting-anting ako pero hindi ni alam na Diyos ang dahilan ko ...
Buo aking loob
May agimat ang dugo ko! "
Buhay Sampaloc Dito sa tapat ng USTe ako ipinanganak at lumaki! Sanay sa baha at sa marami pang iba. Sa 30 taon gumanda na rin ang ilaw at kalsada ng España, kaso sa 30 taon na ito pa-grabe nang pa-grabe naman ang baha. Ito ay sa kabila na kahit pa mula nung elementary ako ang mga sikat na proyekto ng mga pulitiko sa Manila City Hall man o barangay ay "clean and green" (kasama ng "peace and order"), at sa school naman ay ang mga sikat na organisasyon ay patungkol sa kalikasan gaya ng 'Earth Lovers' at 'Green Brigade' (kasama ng mga Boy and Girl Scouts).
Sana makita at mapagtanto natin bilang mga mamamayan, at ng mga namumuno sa mga komunidad at gobyerno, ang mensahe at oportunidad para sa pagbabago sa panahon nitong krisis. Makiramdam, at ibalik ang respeto, sa kalikasan. Paghusayan ang mga proyekto para sa kalikasan at kapaligiran, kasama na rito ang pagbubuo ng mga alternatibong pamamaraan ng pamumuhay at pag-organisa ng mga komunidad.
With all due respect to friends of faith, I believe that the natural tragedy we are in now is not at all an "act of God". It's by all means "man-made". It's a tragic manifestation of the worsening disrespectful, hostile, and alienated relationship of human beings with nature.
Our caring and loving sense of nature and the environment has long been missing. Respect for the natural environment is most urgently needed. We have to be reconciled with nature — personally, ideologically, technologically, and policy-wise.
Meanwhile, at this very moment, we have families, friends, kababayans, fellow human beings — the victims, evacuees, as well as the rescuers and volunteers — who need our help, support, and prayers in the worst flooding that has hit Metro Manila and Luzon in recent years. May this trying times bring out the best in human beings, and may nature show compassion and accord forgiveness to us.
Still having a holiday hangover.... Berlin, Pisa, Florence, and Venice are all uniquely beautiful. Each is legendary and has its own place in history. But Florence has charmed me the most at this time. Maybe it's because it was my first time in Florence, whereas it was my seventh visit in Berlin and the third in Venice. But there's something in Florence that has caught my curiosity, my worldview, my interest.
Wish I were an artist or an architect, but I'm just a student of history, a student of politics, a student of development, a student of science, a student of change. Florence has reminded me of the system of patronage crafted by the Medicis, the excesses of the clergy, as well as the viciousness of the church, the state, and the elite families whose accumulation drive for wealth and power entailed violence and the establishment of the regime of mendacity that took the name of 'God' in vain. At the same time, Florence has recalled to me the personal and professional lives, works, struggles, and tragedies of the greats Machiavelli, Galileo, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Donatello, Raphael, Giotto, Brunelleschi, Botticelli, et al. There must be this longing in me for the virtues, spirit, and lessons of the Renaissance — to begin anew, to question, to experiment, to think, to act, to imagine, to fight, to resist, to rebel, to change....
And then I thought of the Philippines and the Filipinos whose tragic political-economic-cultural development past and present have not been served well by the elites of the state, the church, and business. Brilliant ideas, creative initiatives, and talented people are often ignored, thwarted, or co-opted by these self-serving elites who have material and ideological interests in the protection, perpetuation, and expansion of their presumed hegemonic power over resources, nature, and human lives.
On Tuesday, 7 August, may the social forces of Renaissance for enlightenment, reform, and change overcome the Philippine Savonarolas and win (out) over the medieval forces of Inquisition.
God bless, the Philippines and the hopeful Filipinos.
