tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8366930981744751650.post5780680921570345957..comments2008-10-07T05:50:09.255+02:00Cathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06448916220192935365noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8366930981744751650.post-12936295905730304212008-10-07T05:50:09.255+02:002008-10-07T05:50:09.255+02:00Hi Cathy - thanks for responding.<BR/><BR/>You are absolutely correct - folly exists alongside everything else, the world over, including that of turning a blind eye and apathetic inaction.<BR/>But I am sure that humankind is universally moral, adhering to a deep ethical sensibility which is never entirely masked by any superficial differences.<BR/><BR/>Cultural differences, national heritages are truly something to take great pride in - whereas any contemporary deviations, born out of a climate of poverty &amp; corruption should not really be referred to as such, no matter how excusable they may seem to some. <BR/><BR/>I have not read the book you mentioned, only your brief post describing it - but that is a scenario about which I cannot comment either, not knowing any of the people concerned.<BR/><BR/>The story I was involved in, however, reveals all the hallmarks of a plan, originally endorsed and corroborated by a few people (which is the single reason for it being publicised as a warning) who have since harvested considerable support, by way of attempts at covering the story up - purely as a business excercise. All of which I am sure, no amount of reading could have been adequate preparation for - and I am certain should not be explained away by the term &quot;cultural differences&quot; - unless, of course, in some way these deviations do reflect an innate national characteristic.<BR/><BR/>What culture, what nation would ever accept such practices as something to be proud of?ellumbrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11494469952232534729noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8366930981744751650.post-12644190668143086792008-10-06T13:53:46.581+02:002008-10-06T13:53:46.581+02:00Hi ellumbra,<BR/><BR/>I believe in every country there exists great intellect and unfortunately oftentimes even greater folly. That is just how the world works. I know your story...or the story that I have read about you. I cannot judge you or your story because I don't know you. Have you read the book "A long way to go for a date" by Henry Makow? http://www.catswalks.com/2008/07/<BR/>books-long-way-to-go-for-date.html<BR/>For me that is a guide of what not to do if you want to have a relationship with a Filipina.<BR/><BR/>Thanks for the comment.<BR/><BR/>Cheers!<BR/>CathyCathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06448916220192935365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8366930981744751650.post-60085096193537847002008-10-05T08:02:30.189+02:002008-10-05T08:02:30.189+02:00As if by magic - lo and behold - one of them appears here in an anonymous, cowardly disguise, dispensing their insidious propaganda.Ellumbrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04692032656434354445noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8366930981744751650.post-12546028423300007352008-10-04T07:22:34.688+02:002008-10-04T07:22:34.688+02:00Beware of Ellumbra, also known as Timothy Ellis Cumper:<BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://filipinaimages.com/mayen/" REL="nofollow">Mayen Betita, A Filipina Who Learned a Painful Lesson</A><BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://filamforumreport.com/2008/09/19/sincer-advice-for-the-philippine-hospital-scam-hoaxster/" REL="nofollow">Sincere advice for the Philippine Hospital Scam Hoaxster</A>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8366930981744751650.post-43764448870247654362008-10-04T04:52:06.454+02:002008-10-04T04:52:06.454+02:00(Sorry for the deletion - my bad - attrocious spelling!!!)<BR/><BR/>I loved the Philippines when I was there - I have also discovered (and it is no surprise) in the people a vast wealth of artistic sensibility and great intellect.<BR/>I still have a really soft spot inside me for the culture, the country - and share its hopes and dreams for the future.<BR/><BR/>But I have also discovered a vein of defensiveness in a few - so perverse in its hostlity - that it actually undermines the potential beauty of the very same country that these people are trying to support.<BR/>Instead of becoming ambassadors for the positive, these people become advertisements for the negative - adding strength to the already imbalanced perceptions held about their beloved country.<BR/>This is how stereotypes are perpetuated - when nobody has the integrity or the guts to speak the honest truth - the inner strength to resist an obviously tempting partiality.<BR/>It is folly to generalise - but my experiences certainly bear witness to how a spiritual illness can soon become a plague.ellumbrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11494469952232534729noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8366930981744751650.post-7002285218394920982008-09-30T17:44:04.584+02:002008-09-30T17:44:04.584+02:00kouji-Yes you are right! Locally made goods consume more energy. Another reason why we should buy Filipino made goods. Thanks for the comment!<BR/><BR/>E-souled-Thanks for the comment. Of course you are right about us being poor because we have no pride in being Filipinos. That said, if I would be given superpowers, I will try to educate all of our countrymen about being proud of our country. <BR/> <BR/>Unfortunately, all I can do is blog ,make theories and write essays about how rotten our system is. What I want to propose is a way of how you and me and other normal Filipinos can do something that doesn't involve superpowers. We can make our country better by doing as little as buying a Filipino-made sandal instead of a Birkenstock. <BR/><BR/>Jowell- bad, bad. You should make a conscious effort to buy Filipino made products. I don't mean that you go to work carrying a bayong or wear a bakya, there are lots of good Filipino-made products out there which are cool. <BR/><BR/>I will try to post a list of Philippine-made products here that we should all patronize.Cathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06448916220192935365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8366930981744751650.post-43186439787140420552008-09-26T03:47:38.315+02:002008-09-26T03:47:38.315+02:00Hey, Cathy! Really nice post. I admit. I'm kinda guilty pero I buy Filipino, too...sometimes.Jowellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06056203262757063614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8366930981744751650.post-68102175570854649022008-09-26T02:36:22.958+02:002008-09-26T02:36:22.958+02:00here's the link:<BR/><BR/><A HREF="www.esoularium.blogspot.com" REL="nofollow">www.esoularium.blogspot.com</A>.
<BR/><BR/>more power!e-souledhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149806836483987886noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8366930981744751650.post-17412163827420834142008-09-26T02:26:14.498+02:002008-09-26T02:26:14.498+02:00This physical poverty is really not as serious as the greater poverty that afflicts us and this is the poverty of the spirit. <BR/><BR/>Why then are we poor? More than ten years ago, James Fallows, editor of the Atlantic Monthly, came to the Philippines and wrote about our damaged culture which, he asserted, impeded our development. Many disagreed with him but I do find a great deal of truth in his analysis. <BR/><BR/>This is not to say that I blame our social and moral malaise on colonialism alone. But we did inherit from Spain a social system and elite that, on purpose, exploited the masses. Then, too, in the Iberian peninsula, to work with one's hands is frowned upon and we inherited that vice as well. Colonialism by foreigners may no longer be what it was, but we are now a colony of our own elite. <BR/><BR/>We are poor because we are poor -- this is not a tautology. The culture of poverty is self-perpetuating. We are poor because our people are lazy. I pass by a slum area every morning - dozens of adults do nothing but idle, gossip and drink. We do not save... <BR/><BR/>oh i'm sorry i almost forgot that this is Cathy's blog not mine!lol. this is a very long comment. Sorry Cath! Anyway i better post the whole comment (article) on my site.<BR/><BR/><BR/>Read the full comment/article here: www.esoularium.blogspot.come-souledhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07149806836483987886noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8366930981744751650.post-34304435530226040712008-09-25T15:48:47.046+02:002008-09-25T15:48:47.046+02:00some good points here. buying locally produced goods help with job creation. and aside from that, they could also be better for the environment because these are goods which don't need to be shipped in from other countries, so less fuel is consumed, and fewer emissions are released during the transport.koujihttp://haiku-poems-blog.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8366930981744751650.post-66607356942435047492008-09-25T09:39:15.663+02:002008-09-25T09:39:15.663+02:00Hi Jayred!<BR/><BR/>There are lots of marikina shoes in the malls as well. I think Janilyn shoes are made in Marikina. They are mainstream too. What I do is I really look where a product is made before I buy it even in the malls.<BR/><BR/>Even here in Switzerland you can buy Filipino produced products (hidden but it's there). I just read the 90% of the chips of Nokia phones are made in the Philippines (via Texas instruments in Baguio) and 60% of Erickson phones. So, I have a Nokia Phone! =)<BR/><BR/>I will be glad to buy some of the products you mentioned. I think they have wallets as well right? It should work because the concept is along the lines of Freitag bags (which is about 200chf a pop).<BR/><BR/>Cheers!<BR/>cathyCathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06448916220192935365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8366930981744751650.post-89880536203448354342008-09-25T09:30:50.929+02:002008-09-25T09:30:50.929+02:00Zherwin- Yeah, I know that price is important. Here in Switzerland what is strange and great is the Swiss will never buy an imported product over a Swiss one even if it is 10 times cheaper. Take eggs for example. A "swiss" egg costs about 2-3 chf for 4 and a "german" egg would cost 1- 1.5 chf for 10 and still people will always buy the swiss egg. That's how swiss farms survive inspite of being small compared to their European neighbors. I asked my colleages why they won't buy imported produce and they reply "because that's the only way the Swiss farmer can compete". This is the same for every swiss product. There are only about 7 million Swiss and yet their industries thrive. We are 80 million Filipinos. <BR/><BR/>JC- I didn't have the time to read through the forum but it's nice to see that the Marikina people are proactive. I still buy a lot of Marikina shoes by the way...Cathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06448916220192935365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8366930981744751650.post-14531265382941914762008-09-25T09:20:53.352+02:002008-09-25T09:20:53.352+02:00I've always wanted to buy shoes in Marikina and support the Philippine shoe industry, but never had the chance since we live in the south of Manila. (It must have been great to be part of it all.)<BR/><BR/>I think the problem boils down to colonial mentality. <BR/><BR/>*****<BR/><BR/>Here in our Swiss town, my husband and I tried to promote Philippine-made bags made of recycled juice foils. But the Filipinos who passed by our stand were not interested at all (I respect, of course, their preference). Only one Pinoy, a Filipino history teacher back home, bought a bag (she wanted to support the NGO that helps the urban poor rise from poverty).Jayrednoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8366930981744751650.post-79982127114119469042008-09-25T04:51:32.998+02:002008-09-25T04:51:32.998+02:00please visit www.marikinavalley.com for more information and to see how's marikina doing while the shoe industry is dying...JCwww.marikinavalley.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8366930981744751650.post-65097467915146062752008-09-25T04:50:24.059+02:002008-09-25T04:50:24.059+02:00please visit www.marikinavalley.com to know more about marikina and its peopleAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8366930981744751650.post-79685335453378690612008-09-25T03:35:51.925+02:002008-09-25T03:35:51.925+02:00if i remember it right, there was a "buy filipino" advocacy during the Ramos (or was that Aquino?) administration, i think it work for a while and then all of sudden, it dissappeared ironically when all these china/korean even thailand-made products found their way into our shores. you know the culprit/s? GATT, free trade and the high cost of labor associated with RP made products hence the higher selling price of our products.<BR/><BR/>in terms of quality, our products can compete with anyone in the world but what's hindering us from blooming into a fierce competitor was the other country's (specifically china and vietnam) cheaper labor cost.<BR/><BR/>i hate to admit it but people nowadays will consider first the cost before the quality. sad no?zherwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16685936497172486126noreply@blogger.com