Tag: Philippines
-
We Are Not Filipinos
We Are Not Filipino . “The term “Filipino” originally refers to an individual born in the archipelago by Spanish parents. Currently, many of us regard Filipino as our superior identity that is upheld by many groups, tribes, ethnolinguistic identity and geographical affiliation in the archipelago. This goes for basically everyone except tribes that remain isolated…
-
Who Picks Who Dies?
On paper, states like the Philippines and Israel are “democracies”. On paper only. Because beneath the surface of these two artificially created states rest deep contradictions in how governance is administered and how democracy is technically supposed to work. Putting aside our belief that all modern states are artificial constructs manufactured for the purpose of…
-
Cultural Hijacking
Imagine any given advertisement used around this time of year and you most certainly arrive at one where the faceless, soulless corporation infamous for overworking its staff while refusing livable wages manages to utilize traditional Filipino values to sell ChickenJoy. The parasitic Bee uses every single aspect of how Filipinos identify with our collective culture,…
-
Enrile: The Blood Sucking Parasite
“Marela looked around and saw an infant who had been grabbed by an Special Forces man and then flung to the ground. She tried to nurse the crying baby, whose elder sister Elsa came and told Marela to put the baby down for it was already dying.” —from “The Las Navas Incident: A Village Weeps…
-
The Philippines vs Jesus
When asked to define what it means to be Filipino there is inevitably a sizable portion of pinoys who will reference a belief of in god or an adherence to Catholicism/Christianity as a defining trait of Filipino culture and identity. While only subjectively true in the context of their own identity and the construction of…
-
Why Didn’t Pre-Malay Migration Languages Survive Among Negrito Tribes?
Etymology studies during the 1900s routinely attempted to tackle the puzzling consequences of migration upon the language and culture of the Negrito tribes. Having been in the archipelago long before the Malay ethnic groups began migrating into the Philippine Islands, the Negritos had largely, though not entirely if you knew where to look, lost language…
-
From Bullets To Germs
From bullets to germs – the transformation of the American war to occupy the Philippines due to the 1902 cholera epidemic..In March of 1902 a vessel from Hong Kong arrived in Manila carrying the bacteria that causes cholera. The disease arrived with a vengeance as it rapidly spread across social, racial and economic classes; cholera…
-
What If The Philippines Legalized Marijuana?
What if cannabis were legal?.5,000 years ago human beings all along the coast of what is now China began actively using cannabis (marijuana). With evidence suggesting that crop cultivation of marijuana beginning right alongside the beginning of agriculture in East Asia, the plant was most certainly seen as highly valuable to ancient cultures. It was…
-
Adjacency, Toxic Masculinity and Vice
When Makati police decided to use excessive force against Awra at the end of Pride Month they did so with intent to belittle a person they viewed as lesser than any cis-male Filipino. We know this because the police have refused to apologize, they released evidence to sympathetic troll networks to back their behavior, and…