November 2015

The First (1916) and Present Philippine Senators

September 3, 2020November 26, 2015

I came upon a graphic (actually my nephew posted it on his Facebook page) which showed the composition of the First Senate of the Philippines (1916), showing the occupations of this illustrious group of lawmakers:

Please click on graphic for a larger and clearer image.

The first senators were:

Jose Altavas	Mario Guarina	Manuel L. Quezon
Hadji Butu	Pedro Guevara	Celestino Rodriguez
Aquilino Calvo *	Vicente Ilustre	Esteban Singson
Nicolas Capistrano	Leoncio Imperial	Pedro Ma. Sison
Jose A. Clarin	Francisco Tongio Liongson	Filemon Sotto
Vicente Singson Encarnacion	Manuel Lopez	Jose Ma. Veloso
Isauro Gabaldon	Joaquin D. Luna	Juan Villamor
Espiridion Guanco	Rafael Palma	Francisco Villanueva

* Resigned on February 1, 1917. Replaced by Matias Gonzales who was elected in a special election held on May 5, 1917

Quite an impressive group for the foundation of our republic.

2016 Philippine Presidential Scorecard

September 3, 2020November 18, 2015

Here is my attempt to rate the top four Philippine presidential candidates in the 2016 elections. The ratings are based on facts as well as the opinion/analysis of the candidates’ background, track record, and policies/positions.

Here it is:

Please click on graphic for a larger and clearer image.

Planting Bullets Is Never Fun

September 3, 2020November 7, 2015

The “laglag bala” or “tanim bala” scam (dropping bullets in luggage of unsuspecting international travelers and extorting money from these travelers) has become a global embarrassment and a huge black-eye for the Philippines.

Imagine what it has done to our image. This is a setback to tourism (count the pesos and dollars lost), further reinforces the perception of lawlessness in the country (think third world and how we’re trying to get out of that), and sends shivers up the spine of potential investors (still the “sick man” in Asia; if you can’t safely travel to the Philippines to do business, then forget it).