M.D | Conservative, Catholic, free market enjoyer | BizDev & Policy @cirrolytix | Editor-in-Chief @ChristNewsline | Host @SITREPph
Manila, Philippines
Joined September 2011
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It's amazing how so much of this play is still relevant. The idea of honor, dignity, culture and tradition being sold for profit by schemers in grey suits. Men who would squander the family's priceless heirlooms to satisfy their base desires.
Many of our politicians would rather sell this country's dignity for profit, folks. They would sell Don Lorenzo's house for self-serving interests as the Virgin Queen of these Islands watches in horror. You've seen such things just this week. They sell out our country to cheap warlords.
So much has been lost. So much has changed - for the worse. The nobility and virtues of Old Manila are long past us, mga kababayan.
Que horror!
🎶"Hindi pera ang problema
Bagaman iyon ang sabi nila
Nagtatapon sila ng pera
Sa mahjong, sa karera
Ikinakaila nila ang totoo kahit sa kanilang sarili
(Candida! Paula!)
Sinusumbatan sila ng bahay na ito
Nasisira ang kanilang pagsasaya
Habang nakikipagtsismisan
Habang nakikipagsugal
Habang nasa karerahan o jai-alai
O habang hindi sila makatulog." 🎶
If anyone wants to know my views on Philippine politics and culture, read Nick Joaquin's "A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino" and its adaptation on stage and on film, "Ang Larawan."
It's one of the most moving works of art I've ever encountered. I recall reading it out of curiosity when I was in high-school abroad, a way to connect with my Filipino identity, and it totally captivated me, Its haunting story still sticks with me to this day and I often find myself rereading or rewatching it.
The play touches on so many themes; loss, regret, change, idealism. It always gets me emotional reflecting on it, especially seen recent events in our country's history. So much has been lost.
For me, nothing encapsulates what it means to be "Filipino" more than the fate of Candida and Paula, the tragedy that befell their family and the loss of the dignity of their old city. My entire view of this country was shaped by it, my politics' guided by a desire to return of what was taken from the sisters by uncaring fate and wicked men.
I hope everyone can give it a read or at least watch since the full movie is on YouTube at the moment, with English subtitles. I hope it touches you the way it continues to touch me.
youtube.com/watch?v=9SW6pMJ6…
You may be surprised but I agree with Prof. Heydarian. 😂
A broad anti-Duterte bloc has a lot to learn from Lula's win in Brazil, including ensuring the Supreme Court remains ... cooperative if need be to ensure a smooth transition of power.
I suggest everyone on this side of Philippine politics, the broad pro-democracy wing, continue to practice hardball politics; aggressive, uncompromising, and ruthless methods when facing off against the maniacs from Davao.
Ivan 🇵🇭🇻🇦 retweeted
Wrong. Without the populist right the mainstream right in BC would still be scared of resisting the aboriginal land back and trans agendas
Ivan 🇵🇭🇻🇦 retweeted
Russia has started to massively recruit mercenaries from Africa to fill their massive losses on the frontlines in Ukraine according to intelligence they are luring workers in with promises for jobs in central Africa and then sending them to the frontline-Bloomberg
What…
Ivan 🇵🇭🇻🇦 retweeted
What is it with the Dutertes and always being linked to drugs. Two faced hypocrites, that's what they are. They killed tens of thousands over it but likely gained billions from the Chinese drug trade!
Anyone remotely paying attention to Philippine politics would not be surprised that the drug shipment from Laos is linked to Duterte allies from Mindanao.
Earlier this year, Ramil Madriaga, the alleged former bagman of Vice President Sara Duterte, claimed that the Vice President’s husband, Mans Carpio, sought his help over magnetic lifters filled with meth (shabu) that were seized in Cavite during the administration of Rodrigo Duterte.
Madriaga supposedly subsequently met with Carpio, and the latter allegedly asked him to “assist in facilitating the release of what he called a construction equipment which was flagged and confiscated by the BOC.”
“I learned that the construction equipment was actually magnetic lifters and the same were confiscated because it contained a large amount of shabu. However, the female lawyer informed me that it was difficult to release the same because it was a ‘hot item,'” Madriaga recalled before the House Justice Committee.
rappler.com/philippines/madr…
Ivan 🇵🇭🇻🇦 retweeted
The British lost the will to rule others and then they lost the will to rule themselves
A common historical story. Something for those who frivolously talk about America walking away from its dominant global position should think about
Wow, this is what Yemen looked like in the 1960s under British rule. That was over half a century ago, but it looked decades more advanced than Yemen does today.
It’s almost unbelievable compared to what the country has become. And it’s a testament to how quickly a country can collapse once Islam reigns supreme.
Ivan 🇵🇭🇻🇦 retweeted
Historically, internal threats to the church have come in 1 of 2 forms:
1) Unbelieving immoral clerics who scandalize the faithful seeking power, sex, or money.
2) Rigorists who schism for sincere but misguided reasons.
The second group usually does a lot more damage long term.
Ivan 🇵🇭🇻🇦 retweeted
Protestant David Wood and Orthodox Jay Dyer both admit that they both rely on Catholicism for the bible.
Ivan 🇵🇭🇻🇦 retweeted
🚨 BREAKING: The Trump Justice Department has just charged 48 foreign nationals with illegally registering and voting in American elections across five states — Daily Wire
The foreign nationals were charged across key battlegrounds and major states:
- Nevada
- Pennsylvania
- California
- Florida
- New York
47 of the accused are noncitizens and one is an illegal alien — 73-year-old Cuban national Alfredo Santiesteban, who cast a ballot in the 2024 general election 🤯
Democrats and the media spent years telling us that noncitizen voting "never happens"
YET WE KEEP ON SEEING IT HAPPEN.
h/t @JennieSTaer
Ivan 🇵🇭🇻🇦 retweeted
20 months in prison for a social media post.
6 months for killing a teen with a machete.
The UK has gone mad.
What is it with the Dutertes and always being linked to drugs. Two faced hypocrites, that's what they are. They killed tens of thousands over it but likely gained billions from the Chinese drug trade!
Anyone remotely paying attention to Philippine politics would not be surprised that the drug shipment from Laos is linked to Duterte allies from Mindanao.
Earlier this year, Ramil Madriaga, the alleged former bagman of Vice President Sara Duterte, claimed that the Vice President’s husband, Mans Carpio, sought his help over magnetic lifters filled with meth (shabu) that were seized in Cavite during the administration of Rodrigo Duterte.
Madriaga supposedly subsequently met with Carpio, and the latter allegedly asked him to “assist in facilitating the release of what he called a construction equipment which was flagged and confiscated by the BOC.”
“I learned that the construction equipment was actually magnetic lifters and the same were confiscated because it contained a large amount of shabu. However, the female lawyer informed me that it was difficult to release the same because it was a ‘hot item,'” Madriaga recalled before the House Justice Committee.
rappler.com/philippines/madr…
A reminder to 'Servant of God" Sen. Joel Villanueva that the Ombudsman has all the evidence needed to arrest him for plunder charges should he prove to be ... uncooperative with the upcoming impeachment trial.
Sen. Estrada already found out the hard way that there is a price for intransigence. Politics is a zero sum game and sides must be chosen in existential fights like the decapitation of the Duterte political machine.
philstar.com/headlines/2025/…
Every Potterhead knows how this scene ends and #Malfoid just makes it even better.
When Draco Malfoy gets blasted with Sectumsempra, meh whatever. 🤷♂️ If a hypothetical Dracaena gets blasted with it by the love of her life ... cinema ... 🥲
