Joshua's Page

Image Source Honestly, Philippine President elect Rodrigo Dutere was my most hated presidential candidate. Aside from his barbaric and infested mouth, I am not a fan of his economic platform because most of it is either unclear or very impossible to accomplish. During the campaign period, I am very vocal on campaigning against him. I had shared a dozen or so of anti-Duterte videos and articles and posting provoking comments showing my disgust over Rodrigo Duterte's capability to run our country. I was one with the "silent majority" (referring to the supporters of Mar Roxas) who will do everything to discredit him and sway undecided voters not to vote for Duterte. Unfortunately, supporters of "Digong" have become fiercer and fiercer and the attacks thrown at their presidential bet only made them stronger. At the end, they won the battle and they won it big time. This recent election , based on my observation, have caused so much divisiveness among F...

Image Source Philippine election is just around the corner and in a matter of few days we will have a new president. Never in my life that I have been this vocal on whom I will support for the presidency. This election is different for me maybe because I am already in my mid-life and I consider the remaining years of my life in this beloved country so precious that I do not want a lousy government to ruin it in the next six years. The Aquino administration did a great job stirring this country in its current economic status but in my opinion, half of the good harvest that this administration is currently enjoying is also a product of the economic reforms that the Arroyo administration imposed during her term. Some of those reforms like the imposition of new taxes are actually keeping our government's coffers very healthy. This on the other hand helped boost our credit rating, making our country attractive to creditors and ensures our interest rates from our borrowing...

 I am not really a fan of boxing. But as a Filipino, I have no choice but to listen to boxing updates every time there is an upcoming Manny Pacquiao boxing event. And during the actual fight, I am glued on my TV and I am one with the nation praying for Manny's success. The hype of every Pacquiao's fight is so intense that every Filipinos even in the remotest areas in the Philippines are tuned in to the live telecast of Manny's fight. Whether its from a free pay-per-view  set-up in a town hall sponsored by a local politician or simply in the comfort of their homes via delayed telecast from a local TV station, Filipinos from all walks of life are always cheering on every punch Manny gives to his opponent. And for every victorious fight, the nation celebrates with Manny. But his last fight with Tim Bradley was totally different, Filipinos were not excited anymore. Somehow, Pacman already lost some of his charms. Maybe it all started when he entered showbiz, he became an actor...

When we were young, we look at success at a different angle. We define it based on society's expectations and norms. Success for most of us is all about fortune, fame, and power.  We push our limits  to be ahead in our career. We devote most of our time working to earn money and end up sacrificing our time for ourselves and our family. We motivate ourselves to accumulate money and associate savings as security for our retirement and buffer for our children's future. We are successful in the eyes of others if we can afford luxury and comfort but the price that we have to pay for such is our exhausted physical bodies. In return of these material pleasures, we have no more time to pause and enjoy the air that we breath and we have no more energy to admire the beauty of every rays of the sunlight. We are already tired to embrace the cold evening breeze and our eyes are already weary to be mesmerized by the twinkling charms of the evening skies. Because of our addiction to succe...

Source Yolanda is a name that brings painful and tragic memories not only to the residents of Tacloban but also to all Filipinos around the globe. Typhoon Yolanda also called Typhoon Haiyan, was one of the strongest tropical cyclones ever recorded, which devastated the Visayan Region in the Philippines, on November 8, 2013. It is the deadliest Philippine typhoon on record, killing more than 6,000 Filipinos.  Yolanda is a direct effect of climate change. Because of the destruction of our ozone layer due to air pollution, planet Earth is warming up, melting our Arctic and extremely heating our ocean. This combination usually give birth to powerful typhoons. Since the Philippines is a group of tropical islands right at the edge of the Pacific Ocean, it is also favorite path of typhoons during the rainy season. Because of global warming, new typhoons visiting the Philippines are getting stronger and more destructive. After typhoon Yolanda in 2013, other destructive typhoo...

Another Filipino was found dead in Hong Kong just recently according to a report in Hong Kong News.  The victim according to the report is a 47-year old domestic Filipina helper from Leyte and it was believed that the Filipina committed suicide. The news report also said that this is the fifth suicide case of Filipino in Hong Kong for this year. Despite the Philippines' continuous economic growth, Filipinos are still flocking to unfriendly and dangerous working environment abroad just to earn a living. This makes me wonder if the economic growth being bragged by our economic leaders is really being felt by ordinary Filipinos. I myself is not convinced that there is really an economic boom in this country. Yes, I see a lot of new skycrapers here and there, and news of businesses booming in most parts of our country. Our government has been very generous in reporting economic data to prove that our country is indeed in the right track to industrialization. I believe in t...