Survey says, Family is No. 1 Source of Happiness for Filipinos

According to a recent survey conducted by the NSCB, both Filipino men and women ranked families as their primary source of happiness. Health ranked second and religion ranked third. Income or financial security only ranked 9th and politics, technology, sports, community and cultural activities made it to the bottom five (see embedded video below and survey results here).

RP no more: The Philippines is now PH or PHL

The Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila today formally announced that it would start using PH or PHL as the official acronyms to refer to the Republic of the Philippines.

The Lecture Every Filipino Must Watch

I'm from UP so I was very inspired and proud to hear this lecture from UP Economic Professor Winnie Monsod. But I'm also living in the US so the speech also made me think (malaki na pala utang ko sa UP kasi full scholar ako).

Reproductive Health (RH) Bill Debate in the Philippines

Many believe that economic and social problems in the Philippines are caused by the country's high population rate. Current census indicates that the country has over 90 million people and estimated to grow exponentially in the coming years. This is why lawmakers formulated the Reproductive Health (RH) Bill that will provide reproductive health care programs aimed to slow down the population rate and distribute proper social services to everyone.

Is the Philippines Hopeless?

Thanks to my friend Vicki, I came across the article below by political analyst Daniel Wagner who finds the Philippines "hopeless." Interesting enough is the mixed reaction the article has generated from Filipinos around the world. See the comment section here and you'll see na mukhang mas madami yatang Pinoy ang napikon o na-offend. The article has some honest analysis of the Philippines, it's harsh and painful and it's up to you to decide whether you'll take it as an insult or a constructive criticism. I think going back to the creator and source of hope is the best solution to this "hopelessness" - considering the Philippines as a Christian nation, Filipinos should easily know who I'm talking about.

Are Filipinos too Critical of Each Other?

An observation I made about the Philippines regarding last weeks events, the hostage drama at the Quirino Grandstand and the 4th place win of Ma. Venus Raj at the Miss Universe Pageant was how critical and borderline unforgiving Filipinos are of each other. The Philippines worse critic are Filipinos.

Manila Hostage Crisis - Where Was God?

Sad and frightening news greeted my Monday morning with the hostage crisis in downtown Manila by former policeman Rolando Mendoza. Demanding to get his old job back, Mendoza held 22 Chinese tourists hostage inside a tour bus for more than 10-hours and fatally shooting several of them.

Rebirth of Ninoy Aquino

Today, August 21st is Ninoy Aquino's death anniversary. It was 27 years ago when the news of Ninoy's assassination at the Manila International Airport shocked many Filipinos and sparked a united revolt that will eventually put his widowed wife Corazon Aquino to be the next president of the Philippines ending the 20-year regime of dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

First 50 days of President Noynoy Aquino

Today is President Benigno Aquino III’s 50th day in office, mid-way through the so-called “honeymoon period” with the public and the media.The questions now are these:

President Aquino Rejects Divorce in the Philippines

President Noynoy said divorce is a no-no and a Las-Vegas type marraige- married in the morning and divorce in the afternoon has no place in the Philippines. He made this remark while her very own sister, controversial actress and TV host Kris Aquino is going through a very public separation with husband James Yap. (Complete article embedded below or click here. BTW - please pardon the image I chose for this blog post I just thought its humorous).