Analysis and Opinion By Joe America The decent candidates took a bath during last two Philippine elections. By decent, I mean honest, intelligent, patriotic, competent, and compassionate. Yellows and pinks and lefties. There are four huge barriers to success for decent people. They are weak at fund-raising, mistakenly thinking that being good is good enough. Voters sell their votes but good people by definition can’t buy them. Dynasties are in cahoots, strong at the local level, and favor the corrupt. Good people must be perfect or they are bad while bad people are good because everyone kno ..read more

Analysis and Opinion By Joe America This blog has always been for the Philippines. The basic distinction between here and elsewhere is a choice between building or whining. We choose to build. To build ideas. To build understandings. To build solutions to problems. As the principal writer here, I’m starting to focus on the 2028 election because the choice of Philippine president establishes the nation’s primary direction for six years. It’s a big deal. That said, the strength of this blog is not my articles. It is the discussion section. The robust discussion is truly unique within the Filip ..read more

Atty. Leila with her supporters before leaving RTC Muntinlupa Interview by Wilfredo Gatbonton Villanueva Did they just let out Leila de Lima as we know her, or am I interviewing an altogether new person brimming with poetic justice, an undying love of country, whipped up with a muted desire to make things right not only for herself but to the society at large, all these with a generous serving of God almighty’s zeal and guidance, with Jose Rizal genius, and Andres Bonifacio and General Antonio Luna’s old-school bravery? A novelist would have been awestruck with such a concept, pounding on the ..read more

Analysis and Opinion By Joe America I thought about entitling this article “Young Movers and Shakers in the Philippines” but I couldn’t really think of any, other than Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto III. The Philippines is led around by old people, in the main. Too many dynastic barons and snakes who couldn’t find food in a forest. Young Mark Villar is 45. Bong Go is 50. Robin the Hood is 54. President Marcos is 66. Even the good are old. Leni Robredo is 59. The Left is led by the same curmudgeons who were around when the dinosaurs were. Risa Hontiveros is 58. The youngest is Bam Aquino who is ..read more

Analysis and Opinion By Joe America The Philippines is run by populists. The Senate is full of them. The President is one, a haunt of history elected by hook or crook. The former President is also one, “just one of us, rough and ready”. Even the House reps are populists, locally. Dynastic barons who easily pull in votes from the fawning locals who don’t know any different. The problem with populists is that they are not business executives, or anything close. They are popular because they are good at currying favor from the powerful. Not running a great nation to benefit its citizens. Entitl ..read more

Analysis and Opinion By Joe America A nation is like an aircraft carrier with a banca engine. It moves and changes direction slowly. Or not at all if there are winds and waves like corruption, incompetence, and impunity. A lot of government officials in the Philippines seem to prefer little change because they are rich and powerful even if the nation goes nowhere. President Marcos has done little during his two years in office by my judgement. He’s traveled a lot, internationally and domestically in the Philippines, but it’s mostly been putting the shine on the deck. Removing a few barnacles ..read more

Analysis and opinion. By JoeAm By my definition, a leftist is a liberal with a pro-worker agenda. A liberal is a person who tilts in favor of government helping citizens to realize their potential rather than leaving this to the haphazard and self-dealing private sector. In the Philippines, leftists are 1950s holdovers, unable to adapt to changing Philippine conditions. They see US imperialism as a boogie man rather than point to the real bad guys, China, communism, socialism, and corruption. They work in opposition to the democratic system, without influence, rather than within it to better ..read more

Analysis and Opinion By Joe America A new ranking of American presidents is out based on a survey led by two US political science professors. Here’s an article about it: NEW SURVEY OF SCHOLARS FINDS LINCOLN REMAINS AMERICA’S GREATEST PRESIDENT This excerpt considers recent presidents: “The survey shows that while presidential scholars continue to consider Abraham Lincoln the nation’s greatest president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt has passed George Washington as the second-greatest president. President Biden enters the rankings at #14, behind recent Democrats Barack Obama (#7) and Bill Clinton ..read more

by Wilfredo G. Villanueva General Ely in brown shirt stands behind the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the left. Father Robert Reyes, the “running priest,” celebrates Holy Mass at Plaza Roma in the center of Intramuros, facing Comelec headquarters. Responding to observations that we are few, Gen. Ely is unperturbed. “It’s not the numbers; it’s the conviction and persistence in the right,” he said, “The people will come.” I see him all the time in our events with Father Robert Reyes and other members of Clergy for the Moral Choice, when we pray and celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass ..read more

Analysis and Opinion By Joe America The picture is by Bing (“create a scene in the Philippines of combat between dynastic forces and rebellious voters with the President to the side watching”), and the language is by Bard, who recites my prompt and writes: ________________ I can’t draw a poster, but I can describe it to you. The poster would have three circles, one for the President, one for the Dynasties, and one for the Voters. The President would be in the top center, the Dynasties would be on the left side, and the Voters would be on the bottom center. There would be three arrows. One ar ..read more