what is your opinion on the Philippines' People Power 1?
81972
http://www.philipdru.com\nhttp://weekendinterviewshow.com\nhttp://thestressblog.com\nhttp://www.un.org/\nhttp://www.antiwar.com\nhttp://www.kaos959.com
170176
For the last 300 years trouble never left the Philippines. And the Last time I checked mothers, grandma's and little girls-all 79 of them- were crushed to death by a stampede; somewhere in the south a mountain buried 1000 villagers alive, including 200 students; and the country's President is currently teasing the people with Martial Law, which has been one of the worn-out reason and escape of Filipinos when things fall apart in their country.\n\nIs there trouble in the Philippines? Yup. But what?\n\nThe Government? yeah, that's what the people usually would complain about. \nPoverty? yeah, that's what the people usually would meet in some busy street. But the deadliest trouble of all,Filipinos haven't noticed yet \n\n-You see the Philippines' like the movie Friday the 13th: the victim dies long before he finds out who slashed his throat. Same with Filipinos: scores of them have been dying from a Killer they hardly noticed was there: themselves
1177976
i think most filipinos think negative about spaniards & spain due to i the colonization era but i think its time to move on and appreciate the cultural heritage left by spain.\n\n\nspain & philippines share a lot of cultural similarities especially the roman catholic tradition, fiestas etc.\n\ni wish spanish was not abolished by the govenrment if it was not abolished then presently that is the 3rd official language of the country.
620583
the biggest problem of the philippines today is our lack of identity, our lack of knowledge about who we are and what we stand for as a people.  Without a clear stand on who we are as a nation, we would not have any clue on how to work together much less what we should work together on.  We havent the faintest idea about the goals we should have for our nation.  We are so busy just trying to survive with just the bare essentials. We are so caught up with how we can provide for our own families, just that. No clear national goals that the people truly embraces.  Kanya-kanya is the order of the day, especially in government! Its too overwhelming just thinking about this. We need a great leader who is capable of directing all our attention and energies on putting our act together. Really working together and sacrificing personal gains first.  That's another big problem, the absence of a truly capable honest to goodness ethical leader, and still another problem... a followership that would rally behind this great leader.  If we shall ever have both, that would certainly be the day for our beloved country, the Philippines!
653290
Power to the people!!! I myself am a lesbian and I don't like the fact that most epople in this society contradict themselves when they say that "WE" should be able to marry then turn around and call me a carpet muncher...\n\nI like to make the homophobes cringe when they see me and my mistress holding hands or kissing inpublic(even though i'm single), BUT i think it's about time that equal human rights be more established...again...\n\n..POWER TO THE PEOPLE!!!
960177
well, the philippines is the only pre-dominantly roman catholic country in asia.  it claims to be christian yet the population still dabbles in superstition and folklore.  as an example, many put much credence in faith healers.  but then again, it can be argued that faith healing (pagan or christian) is more affordable than traditional medicine so many believe in it.  also, filipinos are so catholic that they do not believe in birth control, thus the population, exacerbated by poverty, is out of control.\n\nevery township or district in the philippines has their own patron saint, whom they commemorate in festivals.  usually, these festivals coincide with the beginning of the monsoon season.  in the pre-christian era, these festivals were pagan traditions of the natives to invoke rain for their crops; catholicism simply took them over.  \n\nmany filipinos are devout catholics, yet i find most of them very uninformed about their religion.  those who are more knowledgable are usually the well to-do class, who are educated in the prestigious, private catholic schools in the country.  though poverty-stricken, the population of this country has a very strong faith in God to provide them a better life in the near future; to them, it's their only hope.\n\nbtw, if you are in a car with a filipino and you happen to drive by a church, don't be surprised if he/she crosses him/herself---it's a habit they've grown up with. \n\nhehehe...
765011
in any given situation, the power should reside in the hands of the people. however, in reality, the power from these people may sometimes being handed over to a few elites and thereby forfeiting their rights to decide.\n\nfor india's case, i believe the situation is exactly the one that i described above...
661386
People    Philippines Top of Page  \nPopulation:    \n89,468,677 (July 2006 est.)
860094
Why is your question in the immigration section? \nThe Philippines has too many people and a poor economy, but it is always growing with foreign companies coming in. There are many more very poor citizens than wealthy. The government has a bad reputation and many want the president impeached. Muslims are many in Mindanao especially with gorilla and explosive training terrorist camps. There are many Internet cafes where women lure or try to meet foreign men to ask for money, or try to marry to leave there and most do that for a better future for them an their family as well. There are many lady boys \n( transvestites) there doing the same thing. So this shows you the people there do what they can to survive. Many live in huts or shacks with no utilities and outside toilets and overcrowded. In general a very proud people that becomes more westernized every week. Water standards are poor and too few inoculations for disease, thus the outbreak of viruses is common. Chicken pox, yellow fever, bird flu is rampant in some areas now.
167332
For starters, the government should enforce law and order---and crush any disorder that disrupts civic life. The muslims in the south islands are acting like criminals, and no one is standing up to them. Most Filipinos, like other law-abiding people, want to live normally, take care of their families etc. I say not just muslims, any group that fans violence should be crushed.\n\nSecond problem is corruption. Unfortunately, Phillipines is like other 3rd-world countries in that respect. A real reform-minded parliament and executive branch would do wonders for the economy. Did you know that more than 30% of taxes are not collected?\n\nThese are just a couple of things they can do. But, it starts out with the voters. Phillipines (thank God) is still a democracy and voters have to live with the government they choose--so far they have not chosen well.
860687
The islands have been known to be part of the Philippines Islands... and nobody cared. Now however, there is the possibility there maybe oil over there. Bringing China and Vietnam into the picture. In fact a few Filipinos actually lived there subsisting mostly by fishing. \n\nHistory has shown again and again that regardless of International Law, possession and power decides ownership. Witness Brunei, a possession of the Sultanate of Sulu and by extension the Philippines. This terrritory was rented in perpetuity by Great Britain for something like $30,000 Malaysian a year. The Philippines tried unsuccessfully to assert ownership thru the International Court. \n\nIf the pattern continues, then China will most likely prevail, unless the Philippines could creatively checkmate it.
221814
In the sixteenth century, Spaniards arrived on Philippine shores. One of their expressed aims for colonizing our islands was to Christianize the pagan natives. Many university students of today, however, no longer accept this. They believe that Spanish missionaries were instruments of a merchant empire with designs on cheap raw materials and the strategic ports of a Pacific archipelago.\n\nVarious consequences stem from the manner in which Christianity entered Filipino life. First, priests, nuns and church workers occupied social positions of power, as they were simultaneously loved, feared and revered by the local population. Second, the Spanish Catholic Church attempted to expand very rapidly throughout the archipelago. This resulted in the physical presence of church buildings and church networks even in farflung rural areas.\n\nWhen the Marcos regime became extremely abusive, the only other social counterbalance to the power and physical presence of the dictatorship was the Catholic Church. This occupied positions of influence not only in urban centers, but also in the countryside as well. More so, its physical presence throughout the country became convenient ad hoc centers of dissemination for information regarding political activities.\n\nThe politico-cultural impact of Christianity on Filipino liberation movements runs through history. What has come to life in our society is an integration of Western Christianity with the more deeply set spiritual orientations of an Asian people. As one psychologist writes, "During Spanish times, he (the Filipino) accepted Roman Catholicism whose saints fused beautifully with his belief in a spirit world . . ." (Bulatao, 1986).\n\nDuring four centuries of Spanish rule, pockets of peasant uprisings challenged the colonial authorities. Cultural themes in the popular religious book called the Pasyon inspired Filipino revolutionary activity (Ileto, 1979). Peasant leaders strongly identified with the image of the suffering Christ, whose death on the Cross was the ultimate sacrifice for the common good.\n\nWhen Marcos declared Martial Law in 1972, the ideas if the theology of liberation had begun to take root in the Philippines. Throughout the dictatorship, various liberation movements weaved in and out of a political worldview that combined transcendental ideas of man with more pragmatic Marxist-style outlooks. (Human Development Research and Documentation, 1982).\n\nCatholic bishops took longer than Church grassroots movements to respond to Marcos' regime (Quevedo, 1986). In the first ten years of Martial Rule, pastoral letters by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) remained relatively non-committal. Later, a significant change took place. For example, its 1983 statements touch the most sensitive social issues of that year (Hardy, 1984).\n\nThe February Revolution of 1986 highlighted the marriage of religion with politics. Thousands of Filipinos faced the regime's tanks unarmed. The street revolutionaries had nothing but prayers and whispered calls to their Mother Mary to protect them from harm. Eventual victory was not only a historical moment of political change, but also "a profoundly religious experience" (Nebres, 1986).\n\nIn those momentous February days, faith-expression was a mixture  of Western Catholicism and folk culture. The Filipino's highly personalistic culture demanded that leadership emanate from persons physically present during the crisis. Throughout the four days at EDSA, there was the "personal participation of the Sto. Niño or the Blessed Mother leading the procession. It was all very Filipino" (Bulatao, 1986)\n\nThe Filipino concept of power blended well with Christian orientations to produce the EDSA victory. In our culture, there are two sources of social strength: lakas and awa. The first is possessed by the powerful; it is their capacity to get what they want because of politico-economic-military re
694661
Your questiom is vagued. Just, the same, let me try to answer-\n\nPolitics in the philippines (1945-2006) has not changed. It is still a regime of one set of traditional politicians versus another in competition for the control of the wealth of our nation at the expense of the majority Filipino people.\n\nTry to get hold of a certain Prof Emanuel Yap - founder of the People's Patriotic Movement (PPM) he has a more learned and indepth analysis of the Philippine Political Situation vis-a-vis china, the usa and the world.
636040
I think there is a whole country full of Filipinos that live in the Philippines.........
818827
If what you mean by unity is that of the Philippines as an "imagined community" then i can tell you filipinos can very well identify themselves as one. As you may see filipinos have close ties and even when in other countries they form so called "Filipino Communities". But then if you speak of unity as having a particular culture that you can pinpoint, well, Filipinos are not like that. The Philippines has rich and diverse culture and history. The Philippines is is politically divided in several regions, and sometimes they tend to be regionalistic. Teodoro Agoncillo's History of the Filipino People would be a big help. (:
163061
President Arroyo is much smarter than Estrada, and she is not a dictator like Marcos.\nI think she will finish her term in office without being forced out.\nThere are many political problems left to be solved in the Philippines.  Even though I am not a Filipino, I admire President Arroyo for her brains, toughness, and dedication to cleaning up government corruption.
103874
Since the ouster of Ferdinand Marcos the Philipines political landscape has been marked with instability -- i.e. coups and potential coups -- so this current episode seems par for the course.  Furthermore, martial law is never the "answer" when it comes to governance.  Democracy depends upon government respecting the will of the people, and unless the Philipine's armed forces get THAT message then instability will be all that that nation knows, at least for the foreseeable future.