Can the Philippines attain economic recovery?

The reason China is bullying the Philippines is the glaring disparities in economic and military power. The bully was once called the 'Sick Man of Asia' because it had a huge population and so poor then. But it miraculously transformed into an economic giant by becoming the manufacturing hub of the world. Now the bullied is called the 'New Sick Man of Asia'. It was once the second vibrant economy in Asia, next to Japan. Why has the Philippines gone into abysmal economic performance? Here's some of the reasons written by Mathew Fisher... Can the Philippines be like China in the future?

Filipino kids scavenge over piles of garbage in Manila.

Since the Philippines values democracy and recognises human rights, its way to economic recovery will not be as fast as China. The Philippines still has Asia's strongest labour unions and enforceable labour laws. Unless the Philippines fully opens up to investment, control its population growth and clean-up the corrupt and nepotic system in government, it will remain as it is and sadly, will be bullied by China.

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The Filipino Diaspora Abroad: One Foot in Motherland

I was privileged to give a reaction during the book launch of DIASPORA JOURNEY: PHILIPPINE MIGRATION AND DIASPORA NARRATIVES last October 30. The authors are Filipinos from various parts of the world. A majority of them have lived most of their lives in the US. In light of the recent elections in the US where migration was one of the most pressing issues, and unfortunately the rightwing campaign of the Republicans has demonised certain migrant groups as criminals and opportunists, I am publishing the reaction I gave during the launch. Magandang hapon po, good afternoon to all of you! To Ambassador J. Eduardo Malaya, Consuls Jari, Nomer, Kay, friends at the embassy and the Filipino community, and the authors who are here – AVE RODRIGUEZ-BAXA, MYRLA DANAO, RUBY LANGEVELD-CUMBA, MALU PADILLA, JEFFREY MORALES, MAYA, AND CARLO BUTALID. It is my honor and pleasure to briefly react to this book, DIASPORA JOURNEY: PHILIPPINE MIGRATION AND DIASPORA NARRATIVES. When we propose a man...

Roads to Santiago de Compostela

When a pilgrim on the way to the burial site of the apostle Santiago or Saint James (Jacobo in other languages) sees a scallop shell in front of a house or monastery, he/she/they is welcome to stay. But of course pilgrimage tourism is huge these days and one can just choose a hotel or hostel along the way, with careful planning of course. Many years ago, when pilgrims completed their journey, they took scallop shells from the beach nearby as proof of completion, but now they just have to buy it from the shop and get a certificate from an office approved by the Catholic church. Jog or walk early morning around #santiagodecompostela and you see pilgrims just starting their walk or arriving from long arduous journey, and some crying after making it to their destination.

Voting Dutch Style

Are you going to vote today? The campaigning in the past months in the Netherlands has been intense with more new parties coming up, two big parties joined forces, one splintered from a big one to form another. What I like is how the parties encourage voters to go out there and vote and the platforms of debates. The party heads appeared in a small debate on Jeugjournaal, a news program for children, where children got to ask questions themselves. Questions like "what is your biggest fear", "what was your greatest dream when you were a kid and how did you follow up that dream" and "what can you do for us?" were posed by children. The politicos had to convince the children and they also had a quiz show where some questions were asked: "what does the expression 'ai-naa! mean'?' or "what is the favourite expression of Ronaldo when he scores?" The politicians also appeared on First Dates, a dating program, where they had to be on a...

Stories & Photographs by Jofelle Tesorio

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