Philippines

When I am in Philippines I feel hope that things will get better because of the nature of the culture there. I see unique strengths that are rare elsewhere -

• Humorous - always ready to joke and laugh
• Hard workers - people work long hours in difficult conditions
• Warm - it's easy to catch a smile and make a connection
• Family - strong bonds and support

I don't think it will be the right president or leader that will make a difference. It will be many many people, at every level of government and in the private sector working together.

There are an array of big problems facing the country (and the world). It feels overwhelming. But around us there are smaller problems where we can make a difference. Try to find those opportunities.

I thought he was going to be an inutile president at best, but he's alright so far. Parang P-Noy days lang wherein you can generally ride out the term peacefully, save for a few hiccups. Duterte era lang talaga yung so bad you have your butt cheeks clenched every day. Of course andyan pa rin yung mga hihirit na gusto daw "isanitize" yung memories ng Marcoses (as if naman what BBM does isn't independent of his father's transgressions) or calm before the storm daw, lmao.

Then again, I'm not one to lionize politicians. I give them props if they do something good and chastise them if there's anything bad, and I don't care what the name on the plaque says. That's why it's much easier for me to objectively look at Robin Padilla (who says a lot of stupid shit that doesn't endear him to an already hostile crowd) instead of saying intellectually dishonest sweeping statements like "WaLa NaMaN SiLbi" which isn't true at all. I like that JV Ejercito is willing to look at small scale nuclear reactors for alternative energy while Risa Hontiveros (who usually isn't wrong) gets a thumbs down from me for not even looking at the proposal and going "hurr durr meltdown bataan". Villar is correct that we should be putting as much attention to the ASF outbreak as the Guo circus.

Leni/Kiko voter here as well, but I can't complain much about the BBM presidency as much as I loathe the Marcoses.

Biggest stain is the Maharlika Fund signed into law, which obviously reeks of corruption. Other than that, it could've been worse.

I don’t know if I have become jaded, or just got too old. It’s starting to become harder to imagine how it could be better. It’s not so bad. I still work, pay taxes, and just live.

imo like alot of us we just became pissed at how blind we are to the truth and facts and that burnout is totally justified maybe someday another will come along pero until that day comes that's all one can do hold out hope that things will be better and for the most part things are realistically better but not ideal

I don’t know how Leni would handle the issue with China. I don’t know how Leni will deal with the sinking value of the peso. Will she be able to improve education? What about the businesses that died during the pandemic? Or the movie industry? I walk around and see cinema houses a mere shadow of their former selves.

I gather na you're focusing on things that were and are out of your control if you let those thoughts consume you then you will only spiral further seems like you're really passionate about the film industry why not devote some time to visit the MMFF and try promoting some gems in the rough via yt film reviews or try auditioning for a theater troupe

With the pandemic, everything changed. I don’t know how a good leader will turn things around. Is BBM not doing the best he can? While I still prefer Leni and Kiko to be president and vice president, I don’t know what a better future looks like anymore. Are we just going through the motions and just want to live another day? There are no magic bullets to solve our problems. What does a REALISTIC better world supposed to look like?

the Pink movement winning was the idealist vision of the future but reality is often a cruel mistress as people have said numerous times

The dutertes dragged the bar into the dirt that macoy doing the bare minimum is seen as a direct upgrade at this point if one cannot learn to face the fact na we let another marcos rule over us then one is no better than the generic apologist/loyalist as for the future and what you might do to impact it is tantamount na duterte lapdog candidates not be given seats in the upcoming 2025 senatorial race whether or not you will answer the call to action again is up to you

If it's an consollation the dutertes are getting their comeuppance with making a deal the marcoses instead of campaigning on their own "platform" with the POGO money being cut

The bad, Maharlika will bite us back in the future, it's a huge scandal waiting to happen. Philhealth is still shit and the attempt to remove money from it because it's unutilized, makes my blood boil. I personally think this is much bigger issue than the Guo, Quiboloy and POGOs. Floods are still a thing, what happened to the plans that were brought up. I bet we will be talking about this again in the near future. Education has gone down, DepEd corruption is all time high, too be fair it already was before but now it's ramped up. Ingat signs.

The good, banning of POGOs, cults being put into the limelight, hope that other big one is next, you probably know what I'm talking about. Our approach in dealing with China's incursion, it seems bad but I think it's better compared to the previous one, were doing a proactive approach within our capabilities, kudos to our military and our coast guard who's being professional, which is good especially to the international community. Recognition of our athletes. Finally there is a huge push for digitalization in this current administration which I think is a huge step to reducing corruption.