A Business Graduate's Reviewing History Blog

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...

It's easy to post an outrage on Facebook, whether it's on the Butthurt Philippines' Facebook page or Gerry Cacanindin's relatively open Facebook profile (except that only his friends can comment). I try to ignore the guy's page. I was wondering if Gerry has learned his lesson (that the Philippines badly needs a system upgrade) or if he still wants to believe that "It's just a matter if Leni Robredo or Vico Sotto." The latest Facebook post gives me something to think about: People often ask why some countries seem almost immune to corruption. As if their leaders are just magically more honest. But that’s not really it. The truth is actually simpler. These countries didn’t wait for good people. They built systems where doing something dirty is hard, risky, and usually not worth it. In the least corrupt countries, corruption isn’t just illegal but inconvenient. Paper trails are everywhere. Payments are digital. Contracts are public. Anyone can look up wh...

Gemini AI Art Some time ago, I wrote an essay that Filipinos can expect to lose more money betting that people will vote wisely . It's time for the truth,  and the  inconvenient truth hurts now, doesn't it? I had Gemini AI create this new AI art of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" R. Marcos Jr. and Atty. Maria Leonor "Leni" S. Gerona-Robredo, at the casino, just to make a point. Sure, Bongbong shook hands with Leni in Sorsogon as a step for political reconcilation . However, such events should be considered more like random variables, such as getting your ball to land on a certain color and a specific number in a game of roulette.  Let's define what a gamble means. The Cambridge Dictionary defines gamble as: to do something that involves risks that might result in loss of money or failure, hoping to get money or achieve success: The gamble of whether your candidate wins or not, because popularity is fickle It's effortless to say, "It's not rea...

Angat Buhay September 21 can always fill the mind with some thoughts. For Filipinos, it's the commemoration of when the late strongman, Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr., declared martial law , seemingly out of a whim . Martial law is still legal in the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines , provided that it has been studied accordingly by the legislature, whether or not it can be approved. For example, former president Rodrigo R. Duterte declared martial law in Mindanao when the Mautes attacked. Now, the rally against corruption in itself isn't inherently wrong . People need to do some peaceful protests , and it doesn't seem that the people were engaging in degrading behavior . Sometimes, we need to have a peaceful protest to be able to make a difference, as was what the late Martin Luther King Jr. did, to secure black rights , and how female rights activists fought to secure equal rights for men and women, such as Susan B. Anthony . Now, we need to think about how one must loo...

Still defending the 1987 Constitution? Some time ago, I wrote asking about the current vice president,  Sara Duterte-Carpio's impeachment . I tagged a certain someone, and all he did was hurl more insults at my face. Eventually, that certain someone blocked me. A recent development of impeachment against Sara herself. What's really not too surprising is that the Supreme Court of the Philippines deemed the move unconstitutional . Still a problem of who runs the system than the system itself?! The lower house of Congress had impeached Duterte in February, accusing her of misusing public funds, amassing unusual wealth and threatening to kill Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr , the First Lady, and the House Speaker. The problem with the impeachment trial is that it's really cumbersome . Who can remember the impeachment proceedings done against former president Joseph Marcelo Ejercito aka Joseph "Erap" Estrada ? Who can remember the impeachment trial against th...

Philippine Japanese Journal Some advocates against charter change often cite that some countries have an older constitution. One example is the USA. The other example, surprise for some, myself included, is Japan. Some may say that a new constitution isn't needed because some countries have an older constitution. However, reading through the Constitution of Japan and comparing it with the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines , one can think about quality over quantity. The Philippines had changed its constitution from 1935, to 1973 (which I believe was illegal), and the 1987 version (which sprang out of a desperate need). I recommend reading both links that I just sent, to understand my point! Can a shorter vs. longer constitution be the reason? As I read both, the Constitution of Japan is  surprisingly  not-so-complicated. The Constitution of Japan would only be composed of  16 pages  (printed on short bond paper). Meanwhile, the 1987 Constitution of the Philippine...

ABS CBN News Happy 100th birthday, Mahathir Mohamad! It's something that not so many people live up to 100, or more. The late Fidel V. Ramos passed away on July 31, 2022, at the age of 94. Ramos's advanced age may be the reason why the Omicron variant (which isn't supposedly fatal) ended his life. I'm posting this image of Ramos and Mahathir for one reason--Ramos wanted charter change back in the 1990s. However, plenty of anti-charter change commercials came in, the late Raul Roco said we only need a change in people, and we have Hilario G. Davide Jr. (who's in his late 80s but still active), and the idea that having a president who will rule for more than six years, is supposedly scary. Please, have they even thought that the late Pol Pot ruled Cambodia for just four years, but carried millions of deaths , that would make the late Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr.'s 20-year reign  look tame (read here )? I've read posts on Facebook saying the Philippines just needs l...