MikeLigalig.com

in full hula regalia

hula dancer galing...

di sad paiwit ang catalisque uy...

shoot.  i have $500.  wa koy ambisyon mamilyonaryo.  gusto lang nakong bawion ang akong alkansi sa prudentialife, huhuhu.  mag-atang ko sa imong sage advice, okay?

unang pangutana, long.  pila may minimum nga puhonan sa stock market?  wa gyod koy alamag ani ug wa ko kasabot.

ikaduhang pangutana; mas sayon man tingali kun hinumdoman lang mi nimo dinhi sa tb inig kamilyonaryo nimo, uyon ka ba nga huwaton na lang ka namo?

another stiff neck

samot pa gyod kun naay pangagod, eeekkk!

According to Matson and McCurry, Sharbat Gula has returned to anonymity; the latest publicity about her name and face is unlikely to draw attention to her in Afghanistan. "She will not give another media interview and she wishes not to be contacted," Matson said. Her family has relocated to a different village in a remote part of Afghanistan, where she will continue to live her life in purdah, he added.

Asked if Sharbat would benefit financially from her famous image, Matson said she was "being looked after."

"Clearly she has become a symbol that National Geographic has used to illustrate the circumstances of refugees like her, and many people have inquired about her," he said. "She stood for an entire group of refugees, not just Afghan refugees. She has helped us with our mission of educating people about other cultures and regionsâ€"and she's helping us again by drawing attention to the lives of Afghan women and girls in general."


http://news.nationalgeographic.com/

Sharbat Tells Her Story

When Sharbat agreed to have her picture taken for the second time in her life, she came out from the secrecy of her veil to tell her story. She wanted the people around the world who knew her face to know that she survived the refugee camp in Pakistan.

She married and had four daughters, one of whom died in infancy. She lives in obscurity, according to the customs and traditions of her culture and religion.

A member of the Pashtun ethnic group in Afghanistan, Sharbat said she fared relatively well under Taliban rule, which, she feels, provided a measure of stability after the chaos and terror of the Soviet war.


http://news.nationalgeographic.com/

"She remembered me, primarily because she had never been photographed before I made the image of her in 1984, or since then," he said.

Sharbat Gula recalled the experience of being photographed as a child, she told McCurry, because she remembered how her head covering was full of holes after being scorched by a cooking fire.

When they met again, McCurry told Sharbat her image had become famous as a symbol of the Afghan people. "I don't think she was particularly interested in her personal fame," McCurry said. "But she was pleased when we said she had come to be a symbol of the dignity and resilience of her people."

The award-winning photographer said his original image of Sharbat had seized the imagination of so many people around the world because her face, particularly her eyes, expressed pain and resilience as well as strength and beauty.


http://news.nationalgeographic.com/

Because Sharbat Gula lives a traditional Muslim life behind the veil, she was not allowed to meet men outside her family. But the Geographic team was given permission to send a female associate producer to meet Sharbat and photograph her face.

Matson said that when he compared the photograph of the woman with that of the girl, he was certain it was the same person. "The irises of the eyes, the moles and scar on the faceâ€"all indicated this was the person we were looking for," he said.

Still, to make sure Sharbat Gula was the girl who had been photographed 17 years earlier, the EXPLORER team obtained verification through iris-scanning technology and face-recognition techniques used by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation.

After Sharbat's family granted permission for her to meet with the man who photographed her 17 years ago, McCurry knew immediately, even after so many years, that he had found her again. "Her eyes are as haunting now as they were then," he said.


http://news.nationalgeographic.com/

Final Search

National Geographic set out to make one last concerted effort to find the "Afghan girl" before the refugee camp in Pakistan where she had last been seen was demolished.

From the camp, the trail wound through several villages and into at least one dead end, until someone recognized the girl on the cover of National Geographic and said he knew her brother.

"The second I saw the color of her brother's eyes, I knew we had the right family," said Matson.


http://news.nationalgeographic.com/

Sharbat Gula in 1984 and in 2002

In January 2002, a National Geographic team returned to the Nasir Bagh refugee camp in Pakistan, where Sharbat Gula was originally photographed, to search for her. She was identified through a series of contacts that led to her brother and husband, who agreed to ask her if she was willing to be interviewed.

Sharbat has been photographed on only two occasions: in 1984 and at the reunion with Steve McCurry this year. She had never seen her famous portrait before it was shown to her in January.

"This is the face that so captivated not only National Geographic readers but also anyone who saw her image around the world," said Boyd Matson, host of the National Geographic television show EXPLORER, who was with the group that met with Gula.

"We've known her face, but we've not known her story, not even her name," he said.


excerpts from http://news.nationalgeographic.com/

How They Found National Geographic's "Afghan Girl"

David Braun
National Geographic News
March 7, 2003

She was one of the world's most famous faces, yet no one knew who she was. Her image appeared on the front of magazines and books, posters, lapel pins, and even rugs, but she didn't know it. Now, after searching for 17 years, National Geographic has once again found the Afghan girl with the haunting green eyes.

The mysterious Afghan girl whose direct gaze has intrigued the West for so long is Sharbat Gula. She lives in a remote region of Afghanistan with her husband and three daughters.

Sharbat was located nearly two decades after her picture appeared on the cover of National Geographic magazine in 1985. She had no idea her face had become an icon, said Steve McCurry, the photographer who made the famous portrait for National Geographic in 1984, and who tried to find her again during many subsequent trips he made to Pakistan and Afghanistan.

McCurry's photo of the girl was selected as the cover of National Geographic 100 Best Pictures.


excerpts from http://news.nationalgeographic.com/

Covering Afghanistan

Debra Denker and photographer Steve McCurry were covering the war in Afghanistan in the 80's as Afghan Mujahideen ("holy warriors") fought the USSR's Soviet army. After sneaking into Afghanistan to witness the ongoing war, they also visited the sprawling refugee camps along the Afghan-Pakistan border. In this conservative Muslim environment Steve found it extremely difficult to talk to women who are not relatives, let alone get permission to photograph them. However, he was very determined to get a picture to have a visual representation of the Afghan refugee crisis from a female point of view.

"I was kind of walking through the refugee camp one morning and I happened across a tent. Which was being used as an elementary school and there were about 15 to 20 students in a Pakistani structure.

So i went and asked the teacher if I could, umm you know photograph some of the students, if I could stay there for a while and she agreed and I noticed this one student, one young Afghan girl about 12 who had this very kind of haunted look in her eye and I asked the teacher about her and she told me her story, that she had to walk for about 2 weeks through the mountains of Afghanistan because her village had been ahh helicoptered, you know attacked by helicopter gunships and that umm that many of her family members had been killed and so they had this perilous trip through the mountains to get to this refugee camp and she was real traumatized and kind of freaked out as you can imagine. A 12 year old first she is in a village and then suddenly in another country...

So I think this particular portrait kind of summed up for me the trauma and the plight and the whole situation of suddenly you know having to flee your home and ending up in a refugee camp, you know hundreds of miles away."
   

National Geographic's picture editor didn't want to use the picture as it was too disturbing but finally relented and put the Afghan girl on the cover. The cover was and is a huge success. Steve recalls that "Right away, we got thousands of letters from people wanting to help her, send her money, adopt her, marry her,". All these years later he still gets emails everyday wanting more information on the girl with the eyes.


http://www.famouspictures.org/

hoy, dakog mata, kana kun di man galing ka pikot nga insik, kay di ba diay ininsik nang lak soy?

here he comes!  hear ye, hear ye!

asa man tawon si robin?  ug why man nagkatawa nang usa ka polis?

wow!  viva, bohol!  pila kaha nga mga taga-tbtk ang mobilin sa ilang mga bana dinhi?

hehe, in two days' time, hapit nadoble ang nailad.

i understand why europeans dominate the 'not tipping' column.  tipping isn't much of a standard practice there.  it's an american thing and we filipinos followed it, at least in terms of expectations. 

siya tingali ang heaven ani nga ikebana, hahaha!

tumban-tumban kuno, ms. sw, ang ginamos aron mamawos.

haaayyy, salamat.  i hope di ni early sigh of relief.   

The Firefighter
2005


Police officer Sgt. John Avera
thrusting the Baylee Almon into the
arms of Chris Fields

Capt. Chris Fields knew he had to be careful with his newfound fame. He knew of a fireman who took it too far. One in Texas had his 15min when he saved a baby trapped in a Texas well but when the publicity faded he couldn’t take it and committed suicide. Even days after the picture was flashed around the world some of the men at his station started to grumble, "I did more rescues than he did". He could understand their attitude because of one picture; it was Chris, not them, who got to have breakfast with Tom Brokaw and Barbara Walters, and get free trips to New York and Los Angeles for TV interviews.

Chris by all accounts didn’t let the attention go to his head; he didn’t even consider himself a hero. How could he when everyone he tried to save that day was dead or died later of their injuries. The one thing he could do was being there for Aren (Almon, Baylee's mother). He thought Aren would find it was important that as he was the last one to hold Baylee. He felt it was his duty to comfort and protect her.

When resentful bombing victims vilified her on the TV news, he defended her. When she needed help to stop the exploitation of Baylee’s photo, he gave her names of lawyers. As time went on he felt more of a friend to Aren rather than Aren being just another one of his duties as a fireman.

Ten years after the bombing Chris Fields has gone from Capt. to Major and is the acting battalion chief with the fire department. The memories don’t bother him but he dreads having to go through it again.


http://www.famouspictures.org/

At 9:02, on April 19, 1995, Gulf War vet Timothy McVeigh detonated 4,800 lbs of fertilizer and fuel oil. The resulting blast destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal government Building and killed 168 people. The bombing, largest act of domestic terrorism, in America, shattered pre-911 America’s innocence.

As the fires raged rescue services and bystanders rushed to pull victims out of the twisted wreckage. Sifting through the rubble, police officer Sgt. John Avera found a small half buried body. Shouting. "I have a critical infant! I have a critical infant!" he thrust the 1-year-old Baylee Almon into the arms of nearby firefighter Oklahoma City fire Capt. Chris Fields.


http://www.famouspictures.org/

Speechless

Wendel Hudson, who was the AP photo editor at Oklahoma City at the time, picked them out immediately and said: "We'd like to use these." And I thought: "Wow!"

It went out on the AP wire, and not knowing exactly what the AP wire is, I go home and I honestly went home and told my wife: "You know what, I just took some images and they might be in the Daily Oklahoma tomorrow."

I go home about 1300. About 1320 I get this phone call from this lady and she says: "Hi, I am so-and-so from the London Times and I want to know if you are Charles Porter."

I said: "Yes I am, but how do you know who I am?"

She said: "Well I just received your image over the AP wire..."

And she proceeded to explain to me what the Associated Press wire was.

I said that I didn't know how to respond and she said, "Well sir, can I ask you one question?" And this is where it hit home: "Could I get your reaction and response to what your feelings are going to be, knowing that your image is going to be over every newspaper and every magazine in the entire world tomorrow?"

I was silent and speechless, and chills go over me just to think about the magnitude and the enormity of where that picture went and the impact that picture had at that time.

It was beyond my scope of comprehension and understanding, way beyond.

Charles Porter gave this account to the BBC World Service programme, the World Today.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/

Spring morning

And these images are in such contrast with the day.

It was such a beautiful, crisp, bright spring morning. And at 0902 it was just amazing.

   
Charles Porter

Our building shook and I looked out the window and saw this huge brown cloud of dust and debris and papers just flying in the air, and as I ran across towards the debris cloud, I turned this corner at the building and the street was covered with glass.

There were people on the street that were injured and bleeding, and there was a gentleman that was walking towards me who had taken his dress shirt off from the office building that he was in and had it to his head, and blood was dripping from that.

I just took my camera out and instinctively started taking pictures.

I ran to the front of the building and took some images of that, and as I ran back down the side, I noticed this ambulance where these firefighters were working on these people that were wounded and mortally wounded, and I noticed something out of the corner of my eye that was running across my field of vision.

I didn't know what it was, but I trained my camera on it and it was this police officer.

And as this policeman handed this infant to the fireman, I took one frame and then as the fireman is cradling this infant I took the second frame and that is exactly how these images came to be on 19 April 1995.

After I left I got my film developed and called a friend who was the head of photography at a local university.

I called him, and he said: "If you have images that have just happened, you need to go to somebody that wants to see them, like the Associated Press or somebody like that."

I looked the address up in the phone book, I got in my car. I drove over there. I knocked on the door and I went in and said: "Hi, I've got some images of what you're seeing on TV and wanted to know if you would like to look at them?"


http://news.bbc.co.uk/

Picture power: Tragedy in Oklahoma

In the first of four pieces by photographers talking about their famous pictures, amateur Charles Porter describes how he captured the defining image of the Oklahoma City bombing in April 1995. His pictures won a Pulitzer Prize.

I am talking about two photographs that I took on 19 April 1995 from the Oklahoma City bombing.

One being of a policeman handing an infant to a fireman and the other of a fireman gently cradling this lifeless infant.





I have these images in front of me here, looking at them now, and there are things that strike me.

One is that the fireman has taken the time to remove his gloves before receiving this infant from the policeman.

Anyone who knows anything about firefighters know that their gloves are very rough and abrasive and to remove these is like saying I want to make sure that I am as gentle and as compassionate as I can be with this infant that I don't know is dead or alive.

And the second image is of this fireman just cradling this infant with the utmost compassion and caring.

He is looking down at her with this longing, almost to say with his eyes: "It's going to be OK, if there's anything I can do I want to try to help you."

He doesn't know that she has already passed away.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/

Baylee Almon (1994-1995)


She had celebrated her first birthday the day before the blast.  It was the image of her limp body being tenderly cradled by a firefighter that brought the horror of the moment home to America. http://www.people.com/

the weeping jesus at the memorial

17 years after, though it had happened in a place far away, the thought still terrifies...

owned by shakespeare, naturalmente.

Quote from: Raquelproud boholana on March 31, 2012, 01:38:57 AM

dia ra

gadalag swerte.  no wonder you have a happy family. 

(now pa ko makakita ug ingon ani.)

Quote from: chicogon on March 26, 2012, 01:16:22 PM


Gipanag-iya ni Ms isles 

Quote from: hubag bohol on March 26, 2012, 07:45:14 PM
Hmm, giparehas sa kolor sa underwear?

sureness ko type ni nga mga kolor ni hubag for his bahag.

big adopted brother

the iconic photo of the oklahoma city bombing:


Her name is Baylee.  She died.

mora gyod hinoon ug korek mga kittena.  tan-aw pa sa camera, asows.

of course not, hubag.  no way.  naa pa ni ron, gihalog-halog ni putin.

now pa ko kahibawo nga naa diay drink nga laksoy...

yeheeey!  feeling better na ko after a bout with fever.  bati gyod ibiyahe kun "summer" sa ato kay kusog mag-usab-usab ang temperature.  init sa gawas, pagsulod sa mall o sa airport, puryang tugnawa.  da, give up lagi akong lawas.  hilanat sa colds nga puwerte. 

strained pa gyod among latest biyahe kay nag-wild sa banana republic kay giimbargo akong payong sa airport security (forgot about that, really).  and we had with us a live animal, our 5kg cat leo.  dudad-on na namo ning iringa in our cebu-manila-cebu trips.  he is the banana republic's solution to make me stop picking up more stray cats.  mora man sad ug addiction nga kinahanglan ug rehab, hahaha! 

kahoy nga morag baje, transgender nga lisod i-transplant.

tuba ba nang ilimnon nga way red coloring?

touching!

in tb, hubag and bugsay.

Analysis:

To date I've received several copies of this email from inquisitive readers, so it would appear there are people out there who actually think this really happened. It didn't.

It's true that there was a "tense" meeting between Obama and Congressional leaders in July 2011 during which the President "got very agitated" then "shoved back from the table" and abruptly left, according to those present. But he didn't kick a door open. Nor were there any video cameras present.

So where did the video come from? It's a cleverly-edited spoof created for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Several such spoofs have been presented on the show, including one of a "testy" Obama knocking over the podium after a press conference and another in which the President does multiple backflips after announcing the death of Osama bin Laden.

So next time you hear somebody say "seeing is believing," tell them it ain't necessarily so â€" especially on the Internet.


http://urbanlegends.about.com/

too curious for comfort i am; came across this:


Description: Viral video / Animated GIF image
Circulating since: Sep. 2011 (this version)
Status: Fake

Text example:
Email contributed by Yvonne S., Oct. 12, 2011:

    Fw: Very Un-Presidential Behavior

    WATCH THIS BEHAVIOR WHEN HE DOES NOT GET HIS WAY - SEE HOW HE OPENS THE DOOR --- Bet you won't see this on network TV?

    Very Un-Presidential Behavior

    Now this is mature...
    Oh my this must make the Obama lovers proud

    Obama abruptly stormed out of a meeting with Congressional leaders after Cantor told the president that Republicans would not vote for his proposed tax hikes.

    Obama picked up his toys and stormed out of the meeting, kicking the door open.

    what a kick!!!

    God Bless and Protect America !!


http://urbanlegends.about.com/

ngano man tuod ni?  whatchamatta here man diay?  hinoon, tawo ra pod ning presidente, but why man what happened here man diay?

Quote from: hubag bohol on March 25, 2012, 05:49:44 PM



Bata, er, kitten pa, hanas na sa NOYNOYING...

super.  i wish i could do that... i mean, on top of a keyboard.

kun nganlan ang lizard haircut ug crocodile haircut, mosugot na tingali ka sa?

a tuareg exhibition

naa ni sumpay?  well, maybe it would be easy to look for robert kaplan on the web... tomorrow then, for the rest of this article.

i hope photo ops ra ni, pabilib sa facebook, kay makalagot kay mora baya ug atong resident doctor nang lalaki nga kusgan kunohay ug bukobuko. 

what does that make of those who think in terms of pesos and centavos, winners?

moling.  james ban-dong girl ko sa pelikula ni chiquito sa wa pa ka matawo, hihihi. 

hala, karon pa lagi ko nga naa diay vase nga unlan ang design...

Quote from: Lorenzo on April 11, 2012, 02:04:36 AM
No wonder why there are a lot of Pinoy Civil Engineers, Mechanical Engineers, here in the USA.

and there are a lot more here who have remained.

to be fair, lorenz, yes, the pay is certainly low in our country, if we convert to dollars.  but we don't use dollars here to purchase things.  a little comparison: a 700-dollar/month apartment in the u.s. (and i understand in some urban areas this is just a one-room affair or, worse, just a garage converted into a room) would mean at the very least a 29,000+/month mansion here.  the kind of lifestyle and standard of living one wants is certainly in the picture. 

some who have remained here have managed well while some of those who have left (and to their credit, have sacrificed a lot, foremost of which are scrimping and loneliness) were disappointed or have sadly failed.  to each his own coping with life's ups and downs then, wherever one chooses to be. 

entrance to hubag's office.

sure.  no sweat.

this is the entrance to bugsay's design room.  iyang drafting table naa sa luyo sa biombo/folding screen/room divider.

Ursula Andress (born 19 March 1936) is a Swiss actress and sex symbol of the 1960s.  She is known for her roles as Bond girl Honey Ryder in the first James Bond movie, Dr. No, in 1962, for which she won a Golden Globe, and as Vesper Lynd in the 1967 James Bond parody Casino Royale.

Andress was born in Ostermundigen, Canton of Bern, Switzerland, the daughter of Anna, who was Swiss, and Rolf Andress, a German diplomat who was expelled from Switzerland for political reasons.  He disappeared during World War II.  Andress has four sisters and one brother.  She is fluent in English, French, Italian, German and her native Swiss German (Schwizertütsch).

/wiki

Quote from: hubag bohol on April 11, 2012, 11:40:32 AM
Famous, that is, when younger...

Now
Ursula Andress went on to wed and divorce director John Derek, and later dated her famous co-stars Marlon Brando and James Dean. Her iconic bikini sold at auction in 2001 for around $56,000.




Photo by: United Artists
Then
Ursula Andress, 76, was original Bond girl in 1962's "Dr. No." As Honey Ryder she memorably emerged from the Caribbean sea with a knife strapped to her swimsuit.

tingali kun billionaire ka doubtless maayo gyod ka ug commerce, mao nga equivalent na tingali ug doctorate.

basta election time ra ba, nakamatikod ko nga modaghan ug ahat ang posters dinhi sa tb.  alegre na pod ta, in a weird kind of way.  lupig pay yamyam sa biyernes santo nang mang-post para sa ilang mga kandidatong gilabanan.  sometimes, i find it weird that bohol politics is so personalized to the point of nausea. 

doctor man na siya sa unsa diay?

so far, 45 readers ang nailad.

Quote from: hubag bohol on April 11, 2012, 09:37:03 AM
Naa puy mouli gikan sa abroad, lantaw-lantaw sa hacienda unya maghuwat nga di na buwanon aron makakilaw na...

di lang ang pagsawop sa buwan ang gihuwat ato no?  nagpalandong pod to sa purga human ug kinaon ug kinilaw.  and he's conceptualizing designs, take note.

Quote from: hubag bohol on April 11, 2012, 09:45:55 AM
Mao ba? Basin gisangonan to siya isip secret agent...

na, daghan na sila ni pierce brosnan...

entrance to fr chic's rectory.

minimalist, elegant.

kini angay sa rectory ni fr chic.

Ikebana's spiritual aspect

The spiritual aspect of ikebana is considered very important to its practitioners. Silence is a must during practices of ikebana. It is a time to appreciate things in nature that people often overlook because of their busy lives. One becomes more patient and tolerant of differences, not only in nature, but also in general. Ikebana can inspire one to identify with beauty in all art forms. This is also the time when one feels closeness to nature which provides relaxation for the mind, body, and soul. (wikipedia)

The container is a key element of the composition, and various styles of pottery may be used in their construction. (wikipedia)

Another aspect present in ikebana is its employment of minimalism. That is, an arrangement may consist of only a minimal number of blooms interspersed among stalks and leaves. The structure of a Japanese flower arrangement is based on a scalene triangle delineated by three main points, usually twigs, considered in some schools to symbolize heaven, earth, and man and in others sun, moon, and earth. (wikipedia)

Though ikebana is a creative expression, it has certain rules governing its form. The artist's intention behind each arrangement is shown through a piece's color combinations, natural shapes, graceful lines, and the usually implied meaning of the arrangement. (wikipedia)

The Ikebana Approach

More than simply putting flowers in a container, ikebana is a disciplined art form in which nature and humanity are brought together. Contrary to the idea of floral arrangement as a collection of particolored or multicolored arrangement of blooms, ikebana often emphasizes other areas of the plant, such as its stems and leaves, and draws emphasis toward shape, line, form. (wikipedia)

kaguwapa gyod sa arrangements.  type gyod ni nako nga trabaho.  given the chance, meaning i would know where it is and it would be easy to get there, mo-attend ko ug ikebana workshop unta.  di na lang ko magpa-member-member ug ikebana clubs kay kapoy na if i can't give my all.  sakto na ang animal rights passion that i wear like a badge, hehe.

oh, ikebana (naa ba kaha nato dinhiy bana nga ginganlan ug ike?)

Quote from: TUBAGBOHOL.com on April 11, 2012, 05:31:47 AM
The bill also expands the list of former and incumbent officials who can apply for diplomatic passports.

The expanded list would include former Senate presidents, former Speakers of the House of Representatives, associate justices of the Supreme Court, presiding justice of the Court of Appeals, secretary of the Senate, and secretary-general of the House.

The current law does not entitle these former and incumbent officials to diplomatic passports. Only former presidents and vice presidents are given such privilege.

Quote from: hubag bohol on April 11, 2012, 06:09:50 AM
Hmm, morag pantalya ra ang benefits sa 10-year validity. Ang giapas mao ang privilege...

asa kaha kutob ang privileges aning mga pakapin nga diplomats kintahay pero di diay diplomats, dugang pa nga private citizens na sila kay wa na sila sa gobyerno?  mogawas, unya pagbalik magdalag awto nga tax-free?  apil ba pod kaha ang mga anak, in-laws ug mga apo?  hinoon, na-issue man to sa una nga nag-diplomatic passport ug ahat si richard gomez sa panahon ni erap.   

some of his siblings look chinese (i must admit i don't really know them).  the mayor himself has a hint of chinese-ness, or so it seems.  does concepcion lim look chinese?

got to go.  goodnight/good morning, lorenz.  till tomorrow...

Quote from: Lorenzo on April 11, 2012, 01:53:52 AM
Some people do that.

As I was told by another fellow Valencianhon.

wise voters.

it looks like there are just too many lims everywhere. the lim on the 'list' is tagbilaran-based, as in dan lim whose nephew is a current councilor who wants to run for mayor but his uncle the current mayor prefers his own brother to take over.  uh-huh.  i don't know if they're related to aleckoy lim of bohol standard who happens to be a foe of dan lim.  so is it with the lims in valencia.  well, if we're not satisfied with their politics, we might as well be entertained.

Quote from: hubag bohol on April 03, 2012, 04:01:59 PM

by Hengki Koentjoro

bee-you-tea-full, wowie, whew!

Philippine political dynasties:

Aquino, Binay, Cayetano, Cojuangco, Dominguez, Escudero, Estrada (aka Ejercito), Lacson, Lopez- Romualdez, Marcos, Macapagal, Rama, Revilla, Roxas, Rufino, Ty, Villarreal

Bohol version, offhand (note: meaning with more than one family member in politics, past or current.  for those in the know, please add):

Borja, Cajes, Chatto, Imboy, Jala, Lim, Relampagos, Tirol, Torralba

Quote from: Lorenzo on April 11, 2012, 01:28:25 AM
Philippines is not a democracy, but a oligarchy. Politicians are not elected based on their merit, but on how much money they have to bribe the poor people.

sadly, yes, and too bad the oligarchs enrich themselves while in office.  personally, i never understood why people can't simply accept the money, if they must, and still vote for their choice, which could be the opposing side.

now we know why we keep voting for the same family names; they're either fathers, mothers, husbands, wives, sons, daughters and siblings.  and now we know why legislators never attempted to come up with an enabling law for article II, section 26 of the 1987 philippine constitution (The State shall guarantee equal access to opportunities for public service, and prohibit political dynasties as may be defined by law).  congress never did define political dynasties by law.

Many have called for the Congress to pass the Anti-Dynasty Law, but this bill has been passed over by each Congress since 1987. (wikipedia)

6. The vast majority of the population is either totally frozen out of the system or has little opportunity to influence politics or policy

7. The Philippines lags (in economic growth compared to Thailand) and any effective challenge to the existing order may require a broader, more nationwide middle class, and the emergence of a somewhat disenfranchised nouveau riche

8. Anti-democratic forces can hijack mass movements for exclusive ends

9. [The Catholic church] failed to make any official statement about the Arroyo government's corruption

10. Arroyo was perceived to have attempted to potentially subvert the Philippine constitution and perpetuate her elite rule

in summary:

political power (aka elected officials) in the philippines, like thailand...

1. Has powerful traditional elites who have established political institutions that are seen as protecting their interests over those of the broader electorate

2. The political class is unwilling to accommodate popular desire for change and hence feels its privileged position is under threat

3. The promise the poor see in “people power” movements in the two countries has often been ridiculed as the attempt of an unruly mob to impose the arrogant demands of the minority over the will of the majority

4. Political parties in both countries are merely tools for advancing those interests

5. Political competition is less about ideology than it is various dynasties attempting to regain or retain access to political power 

Meanwhile, the church in the Philippines is divided when it comes to political issues, with the usually vocal Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, which was highly-critical of presidents Fidel Ramos and Joseph Estrada, failing to make any official statement about the Arroyo government's corruption.

Individual priests and bishops have spoken out, but have not generated sufficient critical mass to sway either the rest of the hierarchy, some of whom are confirmed Arroyo allies, or to get enough feet on the street to generate a third people's power movement in response to Arroyo's attempt to potentially subvert the Philippine constitution and perpetuate her elite rule.


Ava Patricia C Avila is a Research Analyst at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University. Simon Roughneen is a journalist currently based in Southeast Asia.

The monarchy in Thailand is by law non-partisan, but long-term political survival is difficult without the broad institution's tacit backing - as Thaksin found out. The palace has been perceived by some as supportive of the PAD, which has mobilized royal symbolism in its street campaigns. But that analysis assumes a monolithic or static royal institution, which history shows clearly is seldom the case.

Perhaps key for both countries is whether the moral authority held by the king and church can hold their nations together during these challenging times. Conservative institutions may end up as a bulwark for stability in both countries, given that anti-democratic forces can hijack mass movements for exclusive ends.

Conversely, economic growth and development in Thailand has added momentum to those seeking to challenge the old-school elites and some of the political changes sought are perhaps the outcome of rising living standards. The Philippines may lag in this regard, and any effective challenge to the existing order may require a broader, more nationwide middle class, and the emergence of a somewhat disenfranchised nouveau riche.

That disenfranchisement eventually leads to mass movements. The people power movement and Thaksin's various political parties temporarily changed this dynamic. However neither has to date offered substantive long-term change. The entrenched elites retain legal tools embedded in years of organizational experience. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's current attempt to retain power by amending the Philippine constitution is a prime example of undermining or reversing the demands of popular protest.

Political parties in both countries are merely tools for advancing those interests and political competition is less about ideology than it is various dynasties attempting to regain or retain access to political power. A tool to measure the differences between the two countries is not important; the outcome is the same in both. The vast majority of the population is either totally frozen out of the system or has little opportunity to influence politics or policy.

Evolving elites

In both countries real power is concentrated in political elites. Thailand draws from the monarchy, military and urban middle class, who use sectoral political parties to protect their positions. They were already entrenched and equipped with ample resources ready for electoral competition when democratic institutions were first introduced. In the Philippines, political power is in the hands of family dynasties, created from the wealth gained through access to political power.