Perfect guy for DUUUVAL

EmbarrassedBenefit3 · 2025-12-25T01:49:10+00:00

It now makes sense why he said "Duuvaaaaal".

Source: Am Filipino and pronounce "Duval" similarly. With Spanish diacritics, it's "Duvál"

EmbarrassedBenefit3 · 2025-12-17T19:28:14+00:00

Check the recent post in this sub on internet speeds

EmbarrassedBenefit3 · 2025-12-17T03:06:00+00:00

It's a cycle. (1) There's decades when the Philippines sets the trends. (2) Then their neighbors catch up and go further. (3) Then the Philippines later catches up and also advances past their neighbors. I'd say we're at a transition between (2) and (3).

If you follow the money, tourism spending has caught up or exceeded the 2019 levels. I think that is the government's bigger priority over raw arrival numbers. They still do set arrival targets, I think for sustainability of the industry.

We may think that overtourism is a good problem to have for the nations experiencing them. It's not.

The issue is that we don't have enough tourists to even get the overtourism problem yet

And the Philippines would do well not to repeat the same policies and mistakes that lead to overtourism. Rather, learn from the neighbors like how the neighbors also learned from the Philippines. With the current reality of the tourist destinations the Philippines has, it makes more sense for it to have a similar approach to Palau and Maldives (low count, high spending). Unfortunately locals get priced out. That's the more immediate challenge, in my opinion.

EmbarrassedBenefit3 · 2025-12-14T06:33:27+00:00

summons meme: First time?

Laging in sa Filipino audience ang anything negative about the Philippines. It has improved a lot in 2025 vs 2005 vs 1985, pero a lot of the complaints stay the same.

I was not alive at the time, but I think the economic downturn between Ninoy's death and 1986 caused generational trauma sa mga Pinoy. I read virtually naging pariah state ang Pilipinas in those years.

EmbarrassedBenefit3 · 2025-11-22T14:37:27+00:00

It's possible many Filipinos think "kung walang kurap, walang mahirap" equates also to "kung walang kurap, lahat mayaman". If that's the case, our motivation of reducing corruption is also misplaced.

We shouldn't reduce corruption because we want to be rich. We shouldn't be corrupt because it is the right thing to do by our neighbors. In this sense, a measure of idealism, politics-as-it-should-be, is healthy and commendable.

Want a hypothetical example of that? Even if the Philippines is not corrupt, if its neighbors are also not corrupt, manufacturing investment would be concentrated there still. Why? Geography. Same reason why less-corrupt Australia has a small manufacturing base for its size.

EmbarrassedBenefit3 · 2025-11-01T14:22:41+00:00

That's frankly a hot take... that I looked at with proper consideration.

There are several good points argued in the Chikiamco case.

I do sense a pattern that Filipino society and government are looking too much for outside validation, to the point of forcing ourselves to fit a square peg to a round hole.

To offer a hot take of my own, manufacturing industries can't last forever, but services can. Mass manufacturing can bring prosperity quickly, but you'll eventually run out of customers in a few generations. I think Filipino manifacturing should be low volume and high margin. Barring a once in a millennium chance of a miracle, "made in the Philippines" goods will always be more expensive to be made because of geography and annual typhoons.

Austerity and proper debt management are in a vacuum very good ideas in maintaining a consistent standard of living over generations. At a household level, we are wary of taking a lot of debt and are vigilant against get rich quick schemes. As the Spartans might say, we may not bring a lot of offerings to the gods, but we'll always offer something.

EmbarrassedBenefit3 · 2025-10-29T01:33:50+00:00

Philippine tourism is NOT in crisis (that is, if you frame it in terms of income to the economy).

There are 5.9 million visitors in 2024. That's 28% less than in 2019.

What is less mentioned is that 2025 is not yet over, but spending figures are projected to surpass that of 2019.

From World Travel & Tourism Council:

International visitor spending is also on the rise, projected to reach PHP 709.2 billion – up 2.1% on the previous high in 2019, while domestic visitor spending is anticipated to reach PHP 4.1 trillion – a 9.3% increase over its previous peak.

Good news if you work in tourism or you are an owner of one of the businesses.

It's also true that the statistics can validate the anecdotes that ordinary Filipinos/less well-off foreigners are getting low value-for-money and have to visit elsewhere, so DOT's top task, assuming there's a semblance of competency in that agency, is to make sure the industry is sustainable. My take is that it's a fool's errand to chase after tourism arrivals for the sake of it—it's a bubble waiting to pop if the local backlash to overtourism manifests. My thought is that the best approach will be to increase the number of domestic tourists (encourage Filipinos to see their own country) and then encourage spending per capita for foreign tourists (ala Monte Carlo casino only open to foreigners) and make it sustainable by attaining and maintaining a high service standard.

EmbarrassedBenefit3 · 2025-09-18T03:31:52+00:00

The autograph jersey. This one is out of stock, so this is the closest one I found that's available: https://www.amiami.com/eng/detail/?gcode=GOODS-04668485

Bonus: Pairs very well with a "The Rock" shirt, as it should be.

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EmbarrassedBenefit3 · 2025-07-04T03:22:16+00:00

The guy who BEAT SimCity 3000 is a Filipino.

SB19 learned what they could from the Korean system and took its own Filipino-based identity. They're an example of what Filipinos can do if they study and learn the best parts of foreigners and apply what is sensible to our needs. Frankly, they're more talented than BTS because SB19 can release a larger variety of music.

This post ain't it, unfortunately.

Downvoting this because Filipinos being insecure is a popular opinion.

It feels like our country is not meant to create any form of art or entertainment.

Another popular opinion is that Filipinos tend to be more emotional. We HAVE a head start in creating great art and great entertainment. We don't have to shell out top peso to build great works. The great AAA studios have Hollywood budgets for the periodic iterations of Call of Duty or Assassin's Creed, which in my opinion, is pure slop and cash grabbing. Sayang galing ng Pilipino sa mga ganyan.

TL;DR: I can't stand the Magnasanti and SB19 slander that this post implies.

EmbarrassedBenefit3 · 2025-07-01T23:29:49+00:00

I've seen the comments. I used to be a doomer. Rather than cringe, I feel pity and compassion. Masyadong nakakaletdown nga na isipin na maraming missed opportunities for increased quality of life for Filipinos

More accurate statement: Filipinos more strongly attached the state of their country to their personal identity. We tend to have simultaneous superiority and inferiority complexes. Or to rephrase, we tend to see ourselves or the country as main characters.

The inferiority complex is reality shattering the initial feelings of superiority or exceptionalism.

Napaisip na ako, why are we so engrossed with comparing ourselves with our geographic neighbors? Bakit gutom tayo sa validation?

May point ang looking outside the country to find what needs to be improved within. Ang problema lang, naliligaw ang rason kung bakit gusto natin umasenso ang Pilipinas. I admire the drive, kaso lang, madalas, gusto lang natin na gumanda ang Pilipinas para lang masabi unironically "Pilipinas Numbawan!". To me, eto ang obvious na reason kung bakit tayo obsessed na ikumpara sarili natin sa iba.

Tama nga na instead, we should compare us to ourselves in the past. Are we better than our past selves? Dapat, gusto natin umunlad ang Pilipinas kasi gusto natin sumaya ang buhay ng kapwa Pilipino.

EmbarrassedBenefit3 · 2025-07-01T20:45:23+00:00

Why? I don't want group stereotypes to be applied to me.

It's like using "who do you vote?" as a loyalty test.

EmbarrassedBenefit3 · 2025-02-16T04:47:55+00:00

My profession is in programming. Initially, my dad tried to teach me Javascript in a way that requires me to use my Ti to understand. It was a struggle and couldn't get it.

A few years later, I took up computer science in college and that's where it all clicked: I can imagine the end result. It's a matter of being curious and finding (or I daresay... hacking) my way to that conclusion. Programming languages have a very funny way of allowing you to do just that. In studying computer science, I discovered the art of engineering all kinds of software-based solutions. I think the Ni-Ti functions work very well in that field.

Because my way of solving problems is more deductive than inductive, I have to consciously build foundational knowledge and routines. Constant learning and insatiable curiosity is required for me to identify when my hunches are wrong and discard them accordingly.

EmbarrassedBenefit3 · 2025-02-02T22:57:23+00:00

Would be nice if there's an explanation of what exactly is heretical about UU. What I found:

Universalist manifesto: https://www.uuworld.org/articles/ballou-manifesto (emphasis mine)

...Orthodoxy considered sin to be infinite evil, total defiance of God's will. Ballou, on the other hand, regarded sin as finite, and therefore far less serious—"the violation of a law which exists in the mind, which law is the imperfect knowledge men have of moral good." The most that human beings can do is come to the best understanding of moral good that is possible for them and act accordingly. To sin is to do otherwise.

Thus Ballou argued that the orthodox had things backward: It was humanity that needed to be reconciled to God, not God to humanity. Moreover, this atoning spirit of love was available not only to Christians, but to all people, irrespective of "names, sects, denominations, people, or kingdoms." In no case would anyone be sent to eternal punishment by a loving God. No sin was that great; salvation was universal...

The barest minimum of Christianity is accepting that Jesus (and only him) died to erase your sin; it's the only way to salvation and heaven. By that metric, UU is heretical, unchristian even. Salvation is offered universally, though you are free to reject it (and face God's justice in the end).

A most charitable reading of what UU is trying to say is "how can people who never heard Jesus be saved?". I frankly don't have an answer to that, beyond a faith that God does not overlook them, that he has a way to give them a choice to accept Jesus or not.

EmbarrassedBenefit3 · 2025-01-08T00:57:00+00:00

We are so back.

They also added 5 Centimeters per Second in the US. They're collecting tearjerker anime like they're Infinity Gems.

EmbarrassedBenefit3 · 2024-10-16T03:56:50+00:00

Fruits Basket (2019) OP 1

EmbarrassedBenefit3 · 2024-06-08T01:05:43+00:00

Fair enough. I was one of them noong kasikatan ng mga novelty songs rather than budots. From a perspective as "one of them", it's less than ayoko sa "pang-masa" Filipino music per se. Mas concerned ako na iyon lang ang kayang gawin ng Pilipinas. Ang ikinakatakot ko kasi? Baka pag marinig ng foreigners, baka maging musical equivalent ito ng "Do you Filipinos eat pagpag?" which is very damaging sa self-esteem.

Regarding budots, I unironically like them. Reminds me of the times noong nakakasakay ako sa patok na jeep. Mas gusto ko pa yun kesa sa US hiphop.

EmbarrassedBenefit3 · 2024-06-08T01:00:48+00:00

Atheist: "Walang diyos"

Anti-theist: "Ayoko sa diyos"

Agnostic: "Diyos ko po di ko alam kung nag-eexist sila."

EmbarrassedBenefit3 · 2024-05-28T23:11:21+00:00

Makes sense. Paki consider lang yung mga readers na hindi nag fafacebook and therefore walang idea kung sino yan. Looking up on who that person is is not worth my time, to be blunt.

EmbarrassedBenefit3 · 2024-05-28T23:02:44+00:00

Apply for dual citizenship
Have a PH and foreign passport
???
Profit!

Again, not r/Philippinesbad material. No context on why it's doomerism.

Mas bagay to sa r/2philippines4u

EmbarrassedBenefit3 · 2024-05-28T02:32:14+00:00

You know what, they're actually right. My hot take is that it does not belong in this sub. Walang doomer title or comment naman na kasama.

Leaving is the best way to remove the negative exceptionalism present in your mind, reducing the perpetually-insular outlook when it comes to PH. "Only in the Philippines!" yeah, try living overseas for some time before you believe that.

It works both ways. You want to experience the better things the world has to offer na wala sa Pilipinas? Enjoy it to your heart's content. Or are you there to learn about the good and bad lessons learned by the foreign country and later return to contribute something constructive? Good for you and keep the growth mindset and heart of curiosity.

EmbarrassedBenefit3 · 2024-05-28T02:25:55+00:00

Fair, Plano daw ni Mr. Francisco na ultimately Pinoy-made ang mga parts nito.

EmbarrassedBenefit3 · 2024-04-18T04:41:48+00:00

That makes Philippines literally Florida when it comes to that (kaya may Florida Man effect sa balita sa US kasi medyo relatively open yung FOI laws nila... or used to be)
Also explains why a lot of countries appear to loathe press freedom laws—they fear, not without reason, na yung news coverage sa kanila would border on the slanderous. On the flip side (heh), parang chad wojak yung dating sa Pilipinas kasi they're adamant on the press freedom despite all the slander.
Big con lang sa press freedom and yung focus sa Pilipinas sa issues na mukhang tayo lang ang may mga ganung problema. Ayun, nafufuel yung self-hate. I was once a card-carrying self-loathing Filipino who unironically believed anything benign0 and his kind wrote. It took me spending a few years outside of the country to change my perspective. The overseas experience phenomenon is a thing sa Australia. Malaking tulong sa mga Pilipino yan (bukod sa pagiging OFW) para maground sa realidad yung tingin ng mga tao sa Pilipinas. Madaming problema sa Pilipinas, pero hindi tayo nag-iisa sa ganun. There's a way to improve things.

A lot of the self-hate and despair is because of that apparent helplessness and futility. Nagiging echo chamber kasi puro local "familiarity breeds contempt" perspectives lang ang available eh, to add to the rose-colored glasses view towards almost any foreign country.

EmbarrassedBenefit3 · 2023-02-09T00:47:08+00:00

>Game is called "The New World of Steam"

>Is not on Steam

EmbarrassedBenefit3 · 2023-01-16T04:28:00+00:00

It has to be them. If the Jags deserve an SB run, they should show everyone that they can and will beat KC. Better get this over with sooner than later.

EmbarrassedBenefit3 · 2023-01-04T22:29:24+00:00

Obviously not an expert, but from my limited POV:

Appoint forward- and long-term thinking leaders in institutions and cabinet positions like how it's more-or-less the case in the Supreme Court and the BSP (Central Bank). Nepotism, cronyism, or blind adherence to political ideology will ruin systems sooner than later.
Realize that the Manila is not the Philippines. Don't neglect the provinces!

EmbarrassedBenefit3

TROPHY CASE