Category: Philippine politics

Smartphones and Philippine Elections

Bob Freking

Some people like Android, some people like iOS, and heck, some people like Windows & BlackBerry or their feature phone over a newer flagship smartphone. Sure, hardware specs and software design can make one phone better than the other, but at the end of the day, no single smartphone is perfect. It will always have its flaws and room for improvement, while the others may have it well and lack in some other parts.

smartphones

I stick to Android, and I have never stuck with an iOS device for more than a month as I cannot do away with the Apple system in general. I like how I am able to manage my files in Android; I like its Google-centric experience – but this doesn’t mean that iOS users are doing it the wrong way. In fact, it’s fine to like iOS over Android.

Android isn’t perfect either. Software updates significantly arrive slower than iOS, and there’s a lot more to count if we’re doing a heavy comparison here, but that’s not the point – iOS has a lot of flaws too, and other OSes have more flaws or less flaws depending on which you check out.

But the market is full of people with varying needs, and someone has to pick something. At the end of the day, it’s the bigger picture that moves the industry forward:

“What will people buy? Let’s do that.”

I think it’s very similar to real world politics if you look at it that way. We don’t have a perfect candidate for president; they all have strengths, they all have flaws – and each and every one of us have something that we look for in a leader, and we have specific compromises that we are willing to take. Sure, like hardware and software, there will be factual advantages and wrongs with choosing a specific candidate to vote for, but if you see all of them very close, then I think it’s just fitting for us to respect the decision of someone else. After all, it’s the bigger picture that moves the country forward. It’s how democracy works.

“Who will people vote for? Let’s do that.”

Politics is dirty and it involves a lot of people fighting over power, so it’s safe to say politicians will do everything to make you buy into them. Companies will also do the same with marketing – but I think this is where the good news come in: In these circumstances, we’re all pushed to do our research – to look into society on what’s wrong and what’s right, and to look into ourselves on what do we really want and what do we really need. If nothing fits your taste, you can always just wait for the next big innovation to buy – or you can just abstain. After all, if nothing’s good in the market, why buy anyway? Without any demand, they’ll have to push something better out, right? It becomes our job to tell other people of factual rights and wrongs so that the industry would improve. So that our country would improve.

We don’t have to fight others just because they have different priorities and they didn’t choose the same compromises that you did. I didn’t lose friends because they picked iOS, and I won’t lose friends just because they’re voting or not voting for a specific leader. I just hope everyone keeps an open mind on facts and make the right decisions. Don’t let cognitive bias get to you.

The post Smartphones and Philippine Elections appeared first on YugaTech | Philippines News & Tech Reviews.

Smartphones and Philippine Elections

Bob Freking

Some people like Android, some people like iOS, and heck, some people like Windows & BlackBerry or their feature phone over a newer flagship smartphone. Sure, hardware specs and software design can make one phone better than the other, but at the end of the day, no single smartphone is perfect. It will always have its flaws and room for improvement, while the others may have it well and lack in some other parts.

smartphones

I stick to Android, and I have never stuck with an iOS device for more than a month as I cannot do away with the Apple system in general. I like how I am able to manage my files in Android; I like its Google-centric experience – but this doesn’t mean that iOS users are doing it the wrong way. In fact, it’s fine to like iOS over Android.

Android isn’t perfect either. Software updates significantly arrive slower than iOS, and there’s a lot more to count if we’re doing a heavy comparison here, but that’s not the point – iOS has a lot of flaws too, and other OSes have more flaws or less flaws depending on which you check out.

But the market is full of people with varying needs, and someone has to pick something. At the end of the day, it’s the bigger picture that moves the industry forward:

“What will people buy? Let’s do that.”

I think it’s very similar to real world politics if you look at it that way. We don’t have a perfect candidate for president; they all have strengths, they all have flaws – and each and every one of us have something that we look for in a leader, and we have specific compromises that we are willing to take. Sure, like hardware and software, there will be factual advantages and wrongs with choosing a specific candidate to vote for, but if you see all of them very close, then I think it’s just fitting for us to respect the decision of someone else. After all, it’s the bigger picture that moves the country forward. It’s how democracy works.

“Who will people vote for? Let’s do that.”

Politics is dirty and it involves a lot of people fighting over power, so it’s safe to say politicians will do everything to make you buy into them. Companies will also do the same with marketing – but I think this is where the good news come in: In these circumstances, we’re all pushed to do our research – to look into society on what’s wrong and what’s right, and to look into ourselves on what do we really want and what do we really need. If nothing fits your taste, you can always just wait for the next big innovation to buy – or you can just abstain. After all, if nothing’s good in the market, why buy anyway? Without any demand, they’ll have to push something better out, right? It becomes our job to tell other people of factual rights and wrongs so that the industry would improve. So that our country would improve.

We don’t have to fight others just because they have different priorities and they didn’t choose the same compromises that you did. I didn’t lose friends because they picked iOS, and I won’t lose friends just because they’re voting or not voting for a specific leader. I just hope everyone keeps an open mind on facts and make the right decisions. Don’t let cognitive bias get to you.

The post Smartphones and Philippine Elections appeared first on YugaTech | Philippines News & Tech Reviews.

How to build a dynasty

Julius Mariveles Leave a comment

IN 2007, political scientist Julio Tehankee wrote that the two houses of the Philippine Congress have practically been home for at least 160 families over the last century.

“These families have had two or more members who have served in Congress, and they account for nearly 424 of the 2,407 men and women who have been elected to the national legislature from 1907 to 2004,” Tehankee wrote in the article “And the clans play on.”

More than 20 years after the People Power Revolution that toppled a dictatorship in 1986, the clans persist in the Philippines. In fact, Tehankee observed:

“Political clans have been an enduring feature of Philippine politics. In the upcoming local and congressional contests, that will remain to be so. Majority of these families or clans, in fact, take their roots from local politics. Generally considered as a grouping within the elites of society, the political clan is basically composed of a family and its network of relations that actively pursues elective or appointive political office at the local and/or national level. In many cases, the clan has also managed to maintain power through generations.”

But how are clans built?

Jejomar Binay

IT’S ALL in the family for the Binays. Philippine Vice-President Jejomar Binay and three of his children are in government. Nancy is a senator, Mar-Len Abigail is a representative, and Junjun is a city mayor| HLURB Photo

PCIJ founding executive director Sheila S. Coronel explored this issue in 2007 and came up with a summary of seven factors upon which dynasties are built.

Money, machine, media and/or movies, marriage, murder and mayhem, myth, and mergers are the seven Ms, the required elements for a dynasty to endure.

1. MONEY

The families that endure and survive political upheaval are more likely to be those that have a sustainable economic base to finance their participation in electoral battles. Philippine elections are costly — a congressional campaign in 2004, according to campaign insiders, could have cost up to P30 million in Metro Manila. In rural areas, the price tag is much less: P10 million on average, although campaigns can be run for P3 million or less in smaller districts where the competition is not too intense.

The investment may be worth it, as the rates of return can be high, depending on how well congressional office is exploited. Historically, families have been able to use their positions to expand their landholdings or their business empires, using their preferential access to privileges from the state — loans, franchises, monopolies, tax exemptions, cheap foreign exchange, subsidies, etc. These privileges have made political families wealthy, in turn allowing them to assemble formidable election machines that guarantee victory at the polls. The most successful families are those able to establish business empires not solely dependent on government largesse. They must also be competent enough to run these businesses well, allowing their members to survive electoral defeat and political ignominy.

In Landlords and Capitalists, political scientist Temario Rivera found that 87 families controlled the top 120 manufacturing companies from 1964-1986. Sixteen of these families — about 20 percent of the total — were involved in politics. Most of them were members of the landowning elite that emerged during the 19th century, including the Aranetas, the Cojuangcos, the Jacintos, the Madrigals, and the Yulos. “Through government influence,” writes Rivera, “landed capitalists caused the diversion of state resources to traditional elite economic activities like sugar and coconut milling, limiting further industrial diversification.”

Click on the photo to continue reading the article.

FORMER FIRST LADY IMELDA R. MARCOS. More than 20 years after the EDSA People Power that toppled his husband's rule, the Marcoses are still in power | Photo by Lilen Uy

FORMER FIRST LADY IMELDA R. MARCOS. More than 20 years after the EDSA People Power that toppled his husband’s rule, the Marcoses are still in power | Photo by Lilen Uy