By all intents and purposes, people’s choice presidential candidate of the moment Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino Jr has kicked off his campaign to get his bum on that coveted seat in Malacanang in 2010. And he is backed by the most illustrious relics of the 1986 “revolution” upon which his popular appeal is built.
Indeed, Aquino’s biggest asset in his campaign is his being an Aquino. Contrary to what some may think, he does have a platform — a pedigree platform. This is a new concept that describes a very traditional campaign strategy that has an extensive track record of delivering brilliant results in backward feudal societies. Certainly the sort of approach that requires a bit of thinking applied simply will not fly in Philippine society — specially taking into account the full force of traditional thinking backing up this candidate.
Jim Paredes who recently concluded a successful campaign concert for the neo-Yellowists captures the essence of the concept of a pedigree platform quite well:
[The child in The Filipino] sees in Noynoy a person who will most likely not sully the memory of his parent’s legacy. He is honest. Let’s start from there.
Indeed, his parents’ legacy was burnt into the Filipino psyche 23 years ago in 1986 (26 years ago if we bring this back even further to his father’s assassination in 1983). Paredes’s suggestion that we “start from there” implies that we set ourselves back two decades in our efforts to face the challenges of the second decade of the 21st Century. Makes sense in that uniquely-Filipino framework of sensibilities, doesn’t it?
Insanity is aspiring for a change while doing the same thing yet again.
How do we reconcile the simple tenet above with what we see going on in the political landscape of the moment? Simple: We don’t.
Malacanang of 2010 to 2016 is going to lead a Philippines surrounded by circumstances vastly different from what beset the Philippines of 1986. In 1986, the Filipino people had only newly re-acquired their license to drive their politics. Today, Filipinos approach the 2010 elections as 23-year driving veterans. Unfortunately, whether that experience added any value to the national psyche is still debatable. Are we approaching 2010 bringing to bear the full force of what 23 years of “democracy” had so far taught us for a change? Or are we approaching 2010 with the kind of selective amnesia that gives us that warm fuzzy feeling yet again?
Celebrities earn their big bucks from the talent they wield around giving their fans their daily fixes of warm fuzzy feelings. My hope is that we as a people will no longer regard that ability to lead our emotions as license to lead our sensibilities.
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“Pilipino ba kayo sa isip, salita at sa gawa
Pilipino ba kayo na dada ng dada ng dada”
– Minamahal kong Pilipinas – by APO
Sure, Mr. Paredes. But then…
“Pilipino ba kayo sa isip, salita at sa gawa
Pilipino ba kayo na kanta lang nang kanta”
- Platform, plez™ – by benign0
We are the same whether you like it or not, Mr. Jim Paredes. We differ only in mode of delivery — you choose to sing, I choose to write — and in the substance of our respective messages — you appeal to the heart, I appeal to the intellect.
It’s up to us to now decide which of the two we choose to apply in facing the challenges of the 21st Century.
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What is the Aquino legacy? Why is Ninoy a hero and Cory a saint?
Here’s another set of gosh-darn interesting questions:
[1] How does Noynoy, thanks to his genes, become the living embodiment of what the late parents stood for without having earned said status?
[2] Can his hasty supporters prove that he is that embodiment?
[3] Are his supporters motivated by their gut or their intellect?
[4] Do you want to be led by someone else’s gut or intellect?
Re your first question – Looks like you know everything about Nonoy, prompting you to ask the question.Do this mean you know things about him that we ordinary people are not aware of. Please let us know so that we may be guided. On your second, third and fourth questions, don’t these questions apply also to other presidntial aspirants? Thanks in advance Filo for sharing with me what ever you about Noynoy.
This much is known, dong. Be guided accordingly.
Regarding 2nd to 4th questions: They do apply to other candidates.
You’re welcome.
Hhhmmm, benigs, I gotta give it to you for truly enriching the literature of the relaunched Pinoy-bashing movement.
Indeed, with your smart-ass(essment) of conditions in RP, only you could come up with these teeth of wisdom: OCHO-OCHO Politics, Jologs Central, and now, Pedigree Platform. Are you sure your firm is getting it’s money’s worth of what they’re paying you?
What’s next McElections?
http://sex-girl-15-18.abum.com/17374/Fake-McDonalds.html
Phil,
I thought you are not a googler.
platform ba kamo?
http://www.liberalparty.ph/platform/vision.htm
hope that helps.
A Vision Statement is only a small part of a complete platform. I would like to see concrete actions mentioned, such as “we will pass the RH bill and Magna Carta for Women to achieve our goals,” etc. This statement of the Liberal Party just says, “it should be like this and like that, we believe this and that, blah blah,” without any concrete action stated. Anyway, I hope they add these over time.
On the RH bill, Noynoy has categorically said that he’s for it — he’s actually a co-author. My personal take is that RH is such an easy issue — everyone’s for it except the bishops who have the unenviable task of defending a doctrinaire, if unmodern, position.
Vision statements are of course not meant to be a how-to manual; they actually form the party’s creed from which the organization supposedly derives inspiration.
The usual lament is that politicians just spout motherhood statements. Perhaps, one pedestrian reason why this is so is the way debates are organized and discussions framed. For example, discussions sponsored by business groups would eventually lead to assurances by Mr. Candidate that he’s for more business-friendly regulations, etc. A more neutral setting perhaps would introduce labor’s concerns into the discussion.
GMA as we all know has increased the use of English in public education. I thought I saw that the Liberal Party is for reducing the use of English in the school curriculum (and to use more of the local dialects when teaching elementary school).
All the political-parties are for making Pinas educational system more competitive. Noynoy (I think) is among the senators who propose to add two more years of required schooling.
Erap will probably increase military actions while Noynoy and Mar Roxas have not proposed anything differently from current GMA-administration policies with regards Mindanao.
The MILF, we already saw, has claimed chunks of Palawan as among its “historical land properties”. I do not know if Noynoy will surrender Palawan land-territories. I do not know if Noynoy will oppose or continue with current practice of selling large chunks of Mindanao land for Chinese and European farming projects.
I have not seen Noynoy address what he will do different for OFW’s and OCW’s or how to create more jobs in the Philippines. He does propose to raise income taxes on businesses.
Thus, the need to spell it out in black and white. So that all parties concerned can evaluate whether the candidate is talking BS or talking sense. For example, when the candidate talks about being pro-poor, cite are the specifics, how exactly was he pro-poor, how does he intend to sustain this. In the context of land reform, submit the candidate to the litmus test – will he retain or remove the SDO option? Now after he makes such pronouncement, listen to what he has to say to the landlord group – will he say he will come up with another loophole – or will he tell the landlords to suck it up, then provide incentives and compensation using a portfolio of instruments – cash, bonds, shares of stock – to the landlords that can be monetized and reinvested. Parallel to that would be a slew of marketing/credit/technical/management/educational assistance to the farmers so they may learn to fish and not beg for fish.
so what’s wrong with this, upn? there are copious scientific studies conducted to indicate that first language instruction is more effective for learning, including the teaching of sciences. look at the european models. of course, the bilingual program doesnt preclude the teaching of english, only it allows for the accommodation of mother tongue, which makes a lot of sense.
what, after all, is the primary function of the language of instruction but to enhance comprehension. show me a study in the philippine context that proves english has catapulted our intelligence, much less our economic competitive advantage. begin 50 years ago, when we’ve basked in our glory as the only english speaking country in asia, and the third largest in the world–however dubious this claim.
have you seen howie severino’s feature two weeks ago demonstrating the effectiveness of multilingual instruction in benguet? why, children there speak better english than their urban counterparts.
and they certainly will have no need for call center academies to tweak their tongues.
inodoro: Howie Severino should guide you, then, and your action should be quite straightforward come May2010—- you should vote for the candidate who pushes for more dialects in public school education. You can also think about convincing other Pinoy voters to vote your beliefs.
“We are the same whether you like it or not, Mr. Jim Paredes. We differ only in mode of delivery — you choose to sing, I choose to write — and in the substance of our respective messages — you appeal to the heart, I appeal to the intellect.”
With an “emotional” choice we ended up with Erap. With an “intelligent” choice, we ended up with Gloria. Whether you like it or not, we need both mind and heart to choose our country’s leader.
And Oh, maybe it would do everyone more good if you stop bashing Mr. Paredes and just respect his personal choice and advocacy. How about:
“Pilipino ba kayo sa isip, salita at sa gawa
Pilipino ba kayo na sulat lang nang sulat”
Roco partisans disagree that Arroyo was “the” intelligent choice. If intelligence was used, it wasn’t used enough.
I think we are all aware that GMA had to cheat during the elections so FPJ wouldn’t win. FPJ won the 2004 elections Mr. Pasia. Consequently, it would be fair to say that Pinoys have always been choosing presidents based on drama and emotions.
While I tend to agree with some of your points regarding this candidate, attacking Filipinos in general for this alleged “Yellow” choice – a choice which has not been substantially proven by anything other than a misleading survey and a jam-packed concert – is not really a very valid point to make right now.
The assumption that choosing Noynoy is an uneducated, ill-informed choice – in essence the choice of the stupid, as you are implying – is just so arrogant that even a person like me who has not joined the Noynoy bandwagon could not agree with it. There could a multitude of reasons for supporting Noynoy, whether it be self-serving, politically motivated, naive, sincere or emotional. To limit it to your narrow argument is a disservice both to the Filipino people and to your overall point that Noynoy is not the best candidate for the job. Unless, of course, that your only point is that your “platform, plez” framework is the most awesomest framework in the world and any other arguments you make just serve to promote that.
it is not just the most awesomest framework in the world, sinister, it is the most brilliant. ask benignO, ayayayehehehehe.
and if i were a presidentiable, and my platform says, “heck, let me do away with the fine prints of platforms to feed the oc behavior of those seeking for it but haven’t even made sincere efforts to register for the election”, this too will constitute a good overarching platform, doesn’t it?
That’s not an assumption – that’s a conclusion based on an observation on the manner by which the choice of noynoy was arrived at.
If it is based on a visceral emotional reaction devoid of any consideration of any material facts – would you say it is an informed choice?
BongV,
Material fact: emotion sometimes wins elections.
Joe
Joe there is no doubt about it. Noynoy will win because of his supporters emotional high but you can’t stop other people from appealing to their emotion :o)
Well, if people saw Ninoy/Cory vs. Marcos before, I would like to see Noynoy vs. Catholic Church. hahaha.
“kanta lang ng kanta” reminds me of my idol, Sarah Geronimo.
“dada ng dada ng dada” reminds me of my mother-in-law.
bless her soul.
The intellect is often suspect, the human brain being so outrageously under or wrongly utilized. The heart is 100% correct, always finding that which is good, though that which is good may not be returned in kind from the unknown darkness of other hearts, or from a future that diverges from the rational, usually due to intellects that blunder.
Put another way, you can not predict what Villar will do or accomplish from his platform . . . or Teodoro, or Aquino. Because you cannot see into their hearts or the future. We all go with a bit of faith now and then, even agnostics . . .
Joe
I agree with you 100%. So guys who are fond of intelectualizing and philosopizing read Joe Americas comments!!!
The head is still higher than the heart or the hand. Old wisdom, but it really rings true.
@ sinisterspark:
Let me clarify, dude.
I am not criticising who people support, nor do I condemn people for who they vote.
My issue is around:
(1) the approach we take to decide who to vote for;
(2) the way our celebrities and respected “experts” encourage and propagate the above approach; and,
(3) the very slack manner around how we take our politicians to task.
Combine all of the above three and they together beg the question around our right to be annoyed with how our politicians behave once they are in office. How else do you expect them to behave if by being so slack in our demands for an intelligent campaign (compared to the traditional ones we see today), and a platform which could be used as a baseline for taking them to task, we so routinely give our politicians license to behave as they please and move the goalposts to suit their shifting agendas throughout their terms of office.
Just because Noynoy is the lesser evil among the lot does not mean he should be exempt from a proper thorough and intelligent once-over by the electorate, or at the very least, the most educated among them — like us for example.
Then again, is Noynoy really the best among them? That is what remains debatable here specially in light of the relative clarity of those he trumped in the popularity game. Unless of course you are using his pedigree as basis for such a claim.
relative clarity = internal reliability test conducted over and over again by the matrix designer alone. ergo, it passes consistency, but not validity.
I agree with you that trumping up his pedigree is a poor move. I compared his website with those of his peers, a lot of whom also
I have some so-called pedigree behind them, and they chose to focus on their work and achievements rather than trump up their family names. I get that. I am still waiting for something to convince me of his skill and his capabilities.
However, asking the Filipino people to change how they approach the choice of voting is a futile move, if you ask me. We are not alone in this – just look at the euphoria around Obama. This approach – criticizing the voting public’s inability to apply “platform plez” – is not going to convince anyone to change their vote. A more constructive exercise would be to bring up convincing arguments why he is not the best candidate. I at least have hope that Filipinos of TODAY, given the right information to make the decision from, can actually discern for themselves what they think is best. I mean, I have anecdotal evidence that the man on the street is not convinced of Noynoy yet. Who knows what the surveys will say in the next round?
I think the emergence of Noynoy and the discussions around him, whether positive or negative, shows a great deal about how we have moved past the politics of the past. The youth is more involved. We are examining legislation he and the others passed, for once, which I never even recognized was an issue before (maybe I was too young, I’m not sure). If anything, Noynoy has emerged as a catalyst for people to actually think a bit more of their choices. What we need now is more information from everyone involved, whether it be platform, credentials, vision, whathaveyou for the discussion to move past the inspirational crap. However, there are a multitude of ways to take a politician task other than by using your framework, which I would argue (as others did) is a bit premature to demand for at this point. Repeatedly shouting it out from the proverbial mountains (PLATFORM PLEZ!!!!!!) is turning people off, man. Just saying. I agree with a lot of what you’re saying but doing it this way is just not helping the discussion at all.
typos ick
“GMA as we all know has increased the use of English in public education. I thought I saw that the Liberal Party is for reducing the use of English in the school curriculum (and to use more of the local dialects when teaching elementary school)” – UP n grad
I really hope they do not pursue reducing the use of English in the school curriculum. It will be a tragedy if they do this. In this age of globalization, Filipinos will not be able to compete with countries like India for example. Multinational companies are already leaving the Philippines for one reason or another, let’s not add “not being able to speak English fluently” to the list.
The Liberal party is wrong if they think that the use of Tagalog will make Filipinos more patriotic. This will only highlight the divide between the rich and the poor. People with money will not stop talking to their kids in English and they will continue to enroll their kids in schools that have more exposure or use of the English language.
With the internet bringing the world closer using the English language, how will the new generation of Filipinos fair with the rest of the world if they are less articulate in English?
What they need to do is to give everyone access to good education by redirecting funds to the education system instead of spending it on other less important things like, let’ s say, sports which we are not even good at (with the exception of boxing, I guess. But that only makes people want to be a Manny Pacquia).
It’s ironic that people like Mar Roxas who benefited from a good education with use of the English language as a medium of instruction wants to reduce its use from Philippine schools.
That’s one thing to take our candidates to task on in their platforms. For all you know it, probably Roxas only wants to increase the use of local language for educational use rather than reduce English. However, if it does reduce English usage, that’s also my point against him. So here is a clear idea on what we don’t like to hear from our candidates.
We’re good at sports, it’s just that our sports resources are focused on a few (like Pacquiao) at the expense of many (our delegates to ASEAN and other games). That’s why Richard Gomez went into the Senatorial race, to improve the sports condition of the Philippines. Not the most important thing, some of you will say, but it still is an issue to consider.
Examples of platforms we’d like to hear? Probably something like, “we will reduce the influence of the Catholic church in the government and listen to other groups,” or “pass laws that are more in favor of small businesses,” or “pass laws that will introduce benefits for work-at-home workers.” It’s likely though that we won’t hear these, hehehe.
Will there be a May-2010 candidate who says “..when elected and to affirm my belief in separation of church and state, I will order the removal of religious icons — crucifixes, Star of David, Crescent and similar objects — out of the public reception areas of government offices” ?
again, let me reiterate my point. how loooooong has this country been basking under the glory as the only english language speaking country in asia? it’s been like, for a while already ha. and then correlate this with our current economic standing vis-a-vis, e.g., south korea and japan, which to this day are still struggling with their r’s and l’s.
dang! who set my google search engine in tagalog? i didn’t ask for it.
reset! reset!
inodoro:
I see two items. (i) Filipinos being able to obtain jobs overseas; and (ii) Filipinos having job-opportunities inside the country.
Pinas college graduates’ English-language skills help with (i).
Governance (less kurakot, better electricity/water/highway infrastructure) help with (ii).
English is the language of economic opportunity. Tagalog is the language of isolation.
You can’t stop change, and put the English toothpaste back into the tube. You might as well make the best of it and become highly skilled.
You know, compete on strength instead of weakness . . .
Joe
upn,
platform plez: (i) create meaningful jobs here, (ii) or seek them abroad?
or
(i) fluency on english first, or (ii) fluency on understanding first?
It’s not an either/or proposition. Nor is it a sequential task. It can both go in parallel as each task addressess separate audiences. Unless you stick kindergarten with masteral class.
dang! who set my google search engine in tagalog? i didn’t ask for it. reset! reset!- inodoro ni emilieie
Pardon me, but is that Filipino sense of humour or you just simply lack social skills? I don’t really recognize it. There is a better way of saying things when you disagree with someone else’s point of view you know and you don’t have to resort to making people look like a fool. We are simply exchanging ideas. You sound so frustrated and annoyed already.
You may take pride in being eloquent than the average Juan but you don’t have any class.
you mean the irony was lost? my bad.
I wish somebody can explain the real advantage of reducing the use of the English language in public schools.
I wonder if the remaining multi-national companies in the Phils will continue to place ads that say: “Only graduates of La Salle, Ateneo and Up should apply.
If it’s janitorial position, public school graduates can apply.
here’s what i suggest you do: gather all the ielts and toefl english average scores of all countries and correlate these with their individual economic ranking indices, and see if the correlation level at least 0.7, a scale which is considered mediocre for its effect size.
if not, conduct a random survey among public school children from grades 1 to 6 in english [oh well, that's a confounding factor; ok, you may conduct that in their first language], and ask a basic science question on a certain topic, then gauge their level of understanding. ask afterwards in what language what this explained to them. fair enough, right? [but you don't really need to do that. just ask gma7 for a replay of howie severino's tv feature two weeks ago].
remaining? what happened to the other mncs–not impressed anymore with arneow english?
so what’s wrong if remaining mncs if they stop placing discriminatory ads, limiting only the job placements to these 3 schools. but see, that was ages ago. inquirer and bulletin, nowadays, can hardly come up with a voluminous section for classified ads. other than the regular splashes coming from call centers, which has opened their gates to applicants from ALL schools. simple lang naman ang requirements: know how to read what’s on the screen and put on american accent.
now, let’s discuss the essence of what education and job matching should really all about, shall we?
Ilda,
Looking at it from the opposite direction, I understand that there are 114 dialects spoken in the Philippines. Should they not all be preserved? We don’t want to lose them, for if we did . . . um, . . . uh, we would no longer be Filipino???
I imagine a Philippines that, in three generations, will speak mainly English. It will be very prosperous.
The intellectuals will speak Tagalog, interestingly enough. The upwardly mobile middle class will work in English. The poor will be studying like crazy . . .
Joe
inodoro ni emilie,
Hang on a second, if the survey shows that the public school kids are not catching up in comprehension with the private school students, it only means that the standard in the public schools are not up to par. Why not increase funding in public schools and level the playing field? The government should prioritize education before anything else.
Would you consider yourself as having benefited from a good education? If so, why wouldn’t you want every kid in the Philippines to have the same privilege even if they are enrolled in the public school? As I said before, you cannot stop the elite from enrolling their children in schools that will give them a better edge in the workforce in the Phils or abroad. The great divide will just widen up, I can tell you now.
I know where you’re coming from when you cited countries like Korea and Japan having better economies despite them not being as proficient in English as Filipinos. But I think you are being too idealistic. It’s like you want to start the Philippines from zero just to get rid of English as medium of instruction. Do we have Philosophers, Physicist who we can turn to for their teachings? Look back to the history of the world and you will see that great societies took to studying Aristotle, Plato and appreciated their writings and benefited from it. Even if we translate these teachings in Tagalog, it will be at a great expense and why bother?
Joe is right; there are so many dialects in the Phils not just Tagalog, English is the common denominator in the country. I actually have a friend from Samar who is not fluent in Tagalog and since I’m not fluent in Visaya, we both speak in English so we can understand each other. But it doesn’t mean I forget my heritage and she forgets hers when we speak in English.
And BTW, I actually think that the classified Ads that say “Only graduates from La Salle, Ateneo, etc…” are discriminatory. I was wondering why people don’t call attention to that. And I was just trying to imagine a scenario when this reduction in English in public school pushes through and what will happen to the graduates of public schools. It’s hard to stop people from discriminating against people who are not fluent in English.
Note the number of Koreans in Manila? They’re risking their hides in this country to learn English, while our own politicians want to throw it away. When will we ever learn?
ilda,
the ecology of public education is a complicated one, made more complicated because we think that english as the sole medium of instruction will level the playing field. more on this later.
my take on matter is, begin first on the concept of instruction. what does instruction mean? and what is it for? basically, it is a tool to enhance comprehension. and european models have show that it does not hurt at all to begin with first language instruction at least for the first three years of schooling. which does not in any way imply that i am all for the abolition of english as the medium of instruction. there is a chasm of difference between advancing bilingualism versus promoting monolingualism alone, which this current government is advocating.
i’ve said this previously in this forum and i’ll say it again. who says bilingualism requires all english written textbooks be translated? an effective bilingual teacher can still make use of a textbook written in english, and then switch to first language for verbal instruction. nothing wrong with that, if this procedure hones better comprehension. besides there are several models of biligualism, linguistic swtiching is one just one of them. complementation is another. i just wish legislators keep their hands off educational matters where they haven’t got a clue about effective teaching.
i wish, too, you will not use the exchange in english between regional differences among friends as reason for your advocacy. for what you have is more a matter of linguistic historicity and convenience, but not a solution to effective educational instruction.
i’ve seen and mingled with public school students my generation who made it successfully through the elite schools you’ve mentioned. note that one of the driving forces for educational success is motivation. kahit baliktad ang dila, pero kung highly motivated, todo pa rin ang kayod. go to kalayaan dormitory in u.p. to validate this. you’ll find out that once the promdis have demonstrated academic excellence, their american twangs will follow. now that’s leveling the playing field, right.
as well, visit the ateneo to hear some philo teachers teach the subject even more meaningfully in filipino. and don’t forget, philosophy began in greek language. besides, philosophy is not language dependent, it is experiential. as to physics, that too is not language dependent, it is observational.
joe,
i will not question where your views are coming from. in fact, we agree on one denominator: mother tongue knows best.
chino,
ever wondered when koreans and japanese, or chinese for that matter, started to take interest in english?
which is which:
english proficiency = f(economic progress)
or
economic progress =f(english proficiency)?
provided this country will increase is middle-class base.
only if the poor can study at all
indoro,
My view comes from seeing the Philippines isolated and poor in a time of worldwide global enrichment (the recent downtick excepted). I say that change is inevitable; you (the Philippines) might as well make the best of it and compete for wealth.
Chinese would be better than Tagalog. My view has nothing to do with being English-speaking.
Joe
inodoro ni emilie,
You say “philosophy is experiential not language dependent”, how come the Philippines doesn’t have great philosophers? And you say “physics is observational not language dependent”, how come the Philippines doesn’t have great physicists? Maybe the problem lies in the culture then not the language.
These students are more of an exception to the rule not the norm. What about students with average abilities? They will not be as highly motivated as the “promdis” you mentioned. If the standard of education in public schools is at par with Ateneo or La Salle for example, the average students will already have a head start. In reality at the moment, those Ateneas still get the managerial position in the workforce because of their communication skills.
Where are we going to find these teachers? How are we going to train them to be teachers and translators at the same time with their peanuts salary? I say just put the funds into elevating the standard in public school to the same level as private schools. In other western countries, even rich kids go to public schools. I actually don’t understand why UP being a public school has a very high standard and yet their model cannot seem to be applied across the public school systems.
With fluency in language comes fluency in comprehension. It follows in any language, Tagalog or English. It just so happens that we already started all our text books in English and English already equates to opening up of more opportunities here and abroad for an individual. If we stick to Tagalog, we will isolate the Filipinos even more.
You are not addressing the fact that you cannot stop the elite from enrolling their children in schools that will give them a better edge than their public student counter parts.
We live in the real world. Your ideas may or may not work but it is too costly and risky to implement.
Anyone seen this presentation – http://www.ioe.mmu.ac.uk/…/Delpont%20Manchester%20Lille%20Multilingua%2028-11-05.ppt
This is the age of the cross border generation. Where the Philippines attempts to go in to monolingualism – Western countries are adopting multilingualism. In my neighborhood elem school alone – Spanish, Mandarin, and Arabic are already part of the curriculum.
Language is money and jobs.
If you want a local crappy job – stick to Tagalog
If you are ready to be with the Global Fortune 500, use Tagalog when talking to Tagalog-speaking officemates – but you would rather have the best English at your disposal when you are in a teleconference with colleagues from UK, Poland, India, Australia, Germany, China, and USA on the same call – and no the Germans and Polish don’t speak Tagalog, but they do speak English.
“That’s one thing to take our candidates to task on in their platforms. For all you know it, probably Roxas only wants to increase the use of local language for educational use rather than reduce English. However, if it does reduce English usage, that’s also my point against him. So here is a clear idea on what we don’t like to hear from our candidates. ”
Without a platform its really difficult because we are speculating now on what they are going to do once they got elected.
While Upn is really doing a good job on discussing issues but the mode of discussion is based on specualtions. Not good to me.
Good point! That’s true.
One can just say “.. if your gut says…” and go with it,
especially on the May2010 election day. Already, people
know a few things about some candidates so there is a
Philippine bishop who questions Noynoy’s reproductive-health
stance as being against Catholic church teachings.
But what a few people can not ignore are three or four of
the gut-issues of this year and last year and the years before.
(1) JOBS-JOBS-JOBS. Ano nga ba ang sinabi ni Noynoy na gagawin niyang iba sa patakbo ni GMA? Will the candidate’s policy be
to create jobs in Pinas, or is it to continue to export Philippine
labor to Abu Dhabi, Singapore, Hongkong, others?
(2) Corruption in government services. Ano nga ba ang sinabi ni Noynoy na gagawin niyang iba sa patakbo ni GMA? Old music this
“go after Marcos wealth” — presidents have been working on this
since Cory.
(3) Rice-self-sufficiency and land-reform. Ano nga ba ang sinabi ni Noynoy na gagawin niyang iba sa patakbo ni GMA?
Will the candidate continue to sell Philippine land to China
and Europe for their farms or ethanol projects?
(4) Public school education. Ano nga ba ang sinabi ni Noynoy na gagawin niyang iba sa patakbo ni GMA?
(5) Mindanao.
(6) Health coverage for 15-years and younger.
(7) Health coverage for 55-years and older.
How will the candidate’s policies differ from GMA-policies?
Ano nga ba ang gagawing iba ni Erap? Ni Villar?
good point. i meant the last set of questions.
so why the heavy focus only on noynoy?
Noynoy not special. I’ll ask them, too, of GMA (cabinet members she’ll replacel or what she’ll do different if elected to accelerate progress on Mindanao or against corruption at LTO, Public Works, Education and other offices where her efforts have been stalemated), but GMA is not running for President May-2010.
U.S. President Obama had the Youth Vote. He inspired the young.
So, he got elected. Japan new Prime Minister Hotoyama had the Youth
Vote. The Japanese Youth were tired of the old japanese Traditional
Politics. They informed fellowed Japanese about their candidate.
So, they won by landslide. The Filipino Youth vote will be the deciding factor of this election. Work for the information of fellow
Filipino Voters, like the Japanese did. You can win against any political machinery.
benigs seems to think governing a country of 90 million souls is like completing a term paper to pass a course.
Abe:
you mean you would rather have the 90 millions souls governed based on gut?
“For example, when the candidate talks about being pro-poor, cite are the specifics, how exactly was he pro-poor, how does he intend to sustain this. In the context of land reform, submit the candidate to the litmus test – will he retain or remove the SDO option?”-BongV
BongV, I very much agree with you on this. Much, much better than begging for Platform Plez registered here in FV.
Btw, Noynoy was in your place the other day? Did you asked him that? If ‘yes’, that’s better than “dada ng dada ng dada”, if ‘no’, “kanta na lang tayo” is better.
Bert:
I read Noynoy was in Davao Sur – just about that.
Been on weekend hiatus on anything related to PI. Spent the weekend in Daytona Beach, blue skies, fluffy clouds, hanging out with friends, emptying the Glenfiddich 18 y.o whiskey by the pool, with the halabos na hipon, grilled pork chops, steamed grouper.
Topped it with ice cream at the marble slab creamery – had the piña coilada flavored ice cream, then the staff dropped it in the minced fresh pinapple bits and strawberries.
***
Actually, when the candidate does not have a platform, the voter can assemble a matrix of key pronouncements made by the candidate on key issues – essentially it is still a watered-down platform. That’s okay for some voters – but wouldn’t that be doing the same selection process that was already used before – an approach that led to the Philippines dumpster status.
Hmmmn, parang masarap mga sinabi mo, BongV. Dito, pritong tilapia, mayroon ngang nahalo na native gurami at pritong hito. Masarap din.
“Note the number of Koreans in Manila? They’re risking their hides in this country to learn English, while our own politicians want to throw it away. When will we ever learn?”-Chino F
The Koreans are fattening their hides here in this country and learning Tagalog as well, not English. When will you ever learn? Hehehehe.
Bert:
It’s not an EITHER OR Proposition. When will you pinoys get over this false dichotomies. :D
I don’t think its even a “pedigree” platform. I think its purely motivated by “popular” platform. I remember when they decided to push Noynoy to run (its not even his idea!) when the popularity of Corazon was relived because of her death.