Why Using CTTO Isn't a Valid Source at All

Right now, I'm having an argument with a certain old man (wearing a toga, presumably graduating from a doctorate degree) on Facebook. One thing I noticed in some of his Facebook posts is the use of CTTO more often than not. Maybe, I can start giving a sample of his arguments since there are many. One of his posts would go like this:

All nations have protectionist policies, its their inherent rights. It is the role of the business to use strategies to work within these policies.... ctto...

Back then, I remembered I erroneously used Yahoo as a source in my high school term paper. Later on, a college professor placed an X mark on Yahoo and Google as a source. It's because Google nad Yahoo are search engines. Now, we have CTTO which means Credit To The Owner. If we're to really credit the owner, why not post a link or acknowledge the site where it was taken from? For example, the meme above is by 8LIST.PH.

It's very eays to say CTTO to make myself look smart. However, I can say CTTO all I want and not have any valid sources at all. I can say all I want that "studies show" and CTTO and I never read any of the studies at all. It's like this old man can say, "Do you know Switzerland is a protectionist country? CTTO." I say, "Where are the source?" The person will just reply CTTO. So where are these "tons of studies" if all he cites is CTTO. That's just plain intellectual dishonesty.

Any proper usage such as citation or context needs the source. If I'm going to quote Kishore Mahbubani from a video, it'd be best for me to say that I got it from The Singapore Economic Model - VPRO Documentary 2009 to cite my source. Meanwhile, the old man seeking to back up Hilario Davide Jr and the Monsods up would probably give more CTTO than valid sources. If anything, CTTO might be better worked as a temporary accreditation especially if certain works are meant for free domain use. Quoting Mabhubani, Mohamad, and LKY will give me more credibility to my writing than just simply CTTO.

If I'm going to prove that Singapore never self-industrialized and other nations (rich in natural resources) learned from it, I could cite that it was from the late Lee Kuan Yew's book From Third World to First. As much as possible, I should cite the pages for easier reference to the readers. I could cite how LKY figured out what's wrong with the development economists of his day vs. what the late Albert Winsemius recommended.

Also, using a disclaimer should be done as much as possible. That is by saying, "This book isn't mine. It actually belongs to (insert author)." In the fair use policy, one can list the makers of the show, the documentary, etc. to give proper accreditation that it was all for fair use. CTTO just wouldn't help at all in contrast to citing every last author.

The usage of CTTO in excess might be an attempt to look brilliant. The person may want to give the illusion that he or she has "tons of studies". Yes, it's possible to say "studies show..." but the studies are either faulty or non-existent. That's why I really feel like that they're ridiculing Philippine Senator Robin Padilla--it's to cover their own insecurities.

The Three Drug Mules Executed in China Last January 30, 2011

Al Jazeera Today is March 30, 2026. It has been 15 years since the execution of the three drug mules. Their names are Sally Ordinario-Villanueva, Ramon Credo (who was cremated in China shortly after his execution), and Elizabeth Batain (whose face was never revealed, perhaps due to the loved ones requesting more privacy). Contrary to what one might think, the three drug mules weren't a trio. Instead, they were three separate cases that just happened to be scheduled to die on the same day. They weren't a trio. They had a temporary reprieve when former vice president Jejomar Binay tried to save them . Villanueva, together with Ramon Credo and Elizabeth Batain, was scheduled to be executed last month but got a reprieve after Vice President Jejomar Binay traveled to China and personally appealed to Chinese authorities. BBC News even gave such a short news report, that I felt compelled to copy/paste the whole time as a reference here: Philippine Vice-President Jejomar Bin...

Mahatma Gandhi's Use of Tax Evasion, as a Form of Protest?

The 40th anniversary of the 1986 EDSA Revolution came last month. Benigno Simeon "Ninoy" A. Aquino Jr. said these words: "According to Gandhi, the willing sacrifice of the innocent is the most powerful answer to insolent tyranny that has yet been conceived by God and man." Basically, EDSA 1986 can't claim to be all too unique. Ninoy had made Gandhi an inspiration. The dictatorship of the First Marcos Administration may be over . However, the Philippines is still stuck in another dictatorship called the dictatorship of the Filipino First Policy . It does sound stupid, but even without Marcos or foreign colonization (please stop mistaking foreign investment with foreign invasion ), there's still some oppression to fight. You can think about decades of overly high taxes and restrictions on foreign investments. Now, we need to look at the historical context in which Gandhi's "tax evasion" occurred. According to a Jagran Josh article written by ...

Facts vs. Gossip: The "Chona Mae" Incident is Proof You NEED to Verify What You Hear

It was in 2012 when the Chona Mae incident happened. I remember the panic when people were running the opposite direction while I was working at Downtown, Cebu. The traffic was bad. People were panikcing. But the real twist? It was actually a father looking for his daughter, whose identity we may never know. The Cebu Daily News said this last 2022, which was before entering the post-COVID world: CEBU CITY, Philippines — It has been a decade since the famous “Chona Mae” line was uttered by a father looking for her daughter after a 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck the island of Cebu, February 6, 2012 . From what was a simple call of a father to his daughter turned out to be the biggest tsunami scare in Cebu City. “Ang tubig naa na sa Colon!” ("The Water is already in Colon!") was the line that has gotten everyone running on the street of Cebu looking for shelters up in the mountain parts of Cebu. Today, we remember that frightful yet somehow funny day that w...

The EDSA Revolution of 1986 Would've Never Happened if People were Stuck in Nostalgia

It's something that I read crybaby comments online where people are saying, "Making EDSA a special working day is making us forget the glory of EDSA." Please, let me remind people that even 10 years later , neither the late Lee Kuan Yew's birthday nor his death anniversary has become a national holiday in Singapore! Singapore simply honored LKY's birthday by working on that day. I was laughing at the toxic Facebook page called We Are Millennials. What truly made me think that these people are stuck in nostalgia is that EDSA 1986 would never have been possible if the Filipinos were stuck in nostalgia . I remember talks about how the first Marcos administration was built on these two pillars. The first pillar was information control . The other pillar was toxic positivity. I remember back in 1995 when the social studies teacher talked about how he thought that Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr. was a "good president" due to the long holidays. However, the holidays ...

BRUTAL Truth: Stop HOPING for Another "PNoy-Like President" Because the Parliamentary System will Produce MUCH BETTER Leaders

Let me get this straight, I'm not here to totally dismiss the good that the late Benigno Simeon "Ninoy" C. Aquino III did. I'll try to be least biased when I'm writing this to "give a shock" to those who tend to treat his term as a "magical time". However, I'm going to have to warn people about the problem of looking for "another Messiah leader". Yesterday was the would've been 66th birthday of Noynoy if he were alive. One can talk good about Noynoy's legacy. However, we need to realize that relying on Noynoy's term is a violation of the Mahathir Mohamad principle of "Never stop learning." We need to think that there's only one Noynoy and when he died, he died . TV-5 reveals that Rep. Edgar Erice, a long-time friend of the late leader, also said the following: Caloocan City 2nd District Rep. Edgar Erice made the remark in a social media post marking Aquino’s 66th birth anniversary. In the post, he co...

A Business Graduate's Reviewing History Blog

Search This Blog