BY our count, in the last month there have been 38 front-page stories, “in-depth analysis” and opinion columns from notable pundits about the Philippine election. These have come from all over the world, and have ranged from an “explanation” to “suggestions” as to whom the Philippine voters should choose as the next president through to strong criticisms of who Filipinos might vote for.
You would think in a world where international terrorism is killing innocents daily and when the financial markets are in chaos, our own “Halalan 2016” would be way down the list of global concerns. Maybe it is because of our Miss Universe victory that the Philippines is suddenly showing up on the radar screen.
However, it is nice to know that we are finally even worthy of discussion. These same experts are also telling Americans who they should choose as their next president. Perhaps, being a foreigner gives a better perspective on what is good for another country, like the in-depth analysis on whether the United Kingdom should vote to leave the European Union.
Besides, how can anyone really expect rather dark-skinned, strongly religious (by enlightened Western standards) and obviously uninformed island- dwelling Asians to be able to make these decisions on their own?
But this actually is all a good development. The Philippines is now fully part of the global dialogue, and we should have our turn.
Let’s begin with Singapore. For a country so economically advanced, it is somewhat disgraceful that it ignores basic human rights, like free speech. On May 12, 2015, a Singapore court sentenced Amos Yee, an outspoken 16-year-old video blogger, to four weeks in jail. His crime was making “remarks against Christianity, with the deliberate intention of wounding the religious feelings of Christians, in general.”
Another web site owner, Ai Takagi, who is eight weeks’ pregnant, is now going to prison for 14 months, because she published four articles likely to “promote feelings of ill-will and hostility between different groups of people in Singapore.” It is also too bad we could not weigh-in on the US elections in 2008 and 2012 that made Barack Obama president. We could have warned about his economic polices that created the worst economic growth for a president since the 1952 election of Dwight Eisenhower.
Because we have a potential problem with global Islamic terrorism, Australia should take note that we are concerned with their behavior. Even its government is aware that it has had the highest foreign per-capita contributor of citizens leaving to become members of State of Iraq and al-Sham in the Middle East.
And Switzerland made another list that worries us. The US global trade representative just said Switzerland is on the “black list” of countries “for protecting file-sharers and playing host to many pirate sites.”
But we appreciate all the unsolicited foreign advice. And the next time you are in the neighborhood, drop by and give us your thoughts on what the chairman of the Makati Business Club—Ramon R. del Rosario Jr.—pointed out. “Let us not vote out of despair or sheer disgust at an indecisive, slow-responding administration, or the infuriating traffic, or rampant crimes.”
Image credits: Jimbo Albano