Free Wi-Fi is cool, but it is no game changer. We can help poor families survive by making sure they have food on the table, rather than simply giving them Wi-Fi access.
What our people need: Food, not free wi-fi
Category: Question Everything
Sikreto sa Tagumpay ng Kabataan Partylist
QUESTION EVERYTHING Mong Palatino *Mensaheng binigkas sa pambansang kumbensiyon ng Kabataan Partylist noong Setyembre 28, 2015 Natutuwa po ako at mukhang maraming bagong mukha sa araw na ito; ibig sabihin, bukod sa tumanda at gumradweyt na ang aming batch, ay patuloy ang pagdami ng kasapian ng Kabataan Partylist (KPL). Natutuwa din po ako na makita…
Huwag Maniwala sa Aldub: Ang Paglaban at Pag-ibig ay Laging Nasa Tamang Panahon
QUESTION EVERYTHING Mong Palatino (Talumpating binigkas sa rehiyunal na kongreso ng College Editors Guild Cagayan Valley sa Isabela State University Cauayan noong Setyembre 10, 2015) Una sa lahat, salamat at andito kayo kahit may Aldub ngayon. Huwag gawing obvious ang pagsilip sa Aldub hashtag. Pangalawa, salamat sa College Editors Guild para sa karangalan na maging…
A is for Anakbayan and other activist terms in the Philippines
QUESTION EVERYTHING Mong Palatino A – Anakbayan is a youth group established in 1998 which became prominent in Edsa Dos and during the campaign for the abolition of ROTC. Anakpawis is a partylist group which is at the forefront of the campaign to pass the Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill. Ang Bayan is the official paper…
What I think about rallies when I am marching in a rally
QUESTION EVERYTHING Mong Palatino The heat, of course. Is it going to be tolerable? Ah but the scorching summer temperature is like inferno on Earth. There’s also the humid air, succeeded by a brief but heavy rain, and then it’s sticky hot again. Rains are unpredictable but the heat is constant. Clouds deceive because behind…
The conscience of a radical or how the Left can join parliament and reject opportunism at the same time
QUESTION EVERYTHING Mong Palatino Some academics lauded a partylist legislator who resigned from Congress because of the latter’s inability to faithfully represent and defend the majority position of his political party. In particular, the legislator said he already disagrees with the stand of his party to remain a coalition partner of the president whom he…
In defense of negativity and rah-rah activism
QUESTION EVERYTHING Mong Palatino If you think activists are too negative, then would you rather prefer the silent optimism of the apathetic? If unimpressed by the political value of streetnoise activism, would you follow the uncritical collaborationism as exemplified by the politics of former activists in the yellow regime? It is doubtful if people are…
Dear kids, you are free to choose your life, but will you please try activism?
QUESTION EVERYTHING Mong Palatino These are precarious times. We live in a world plagued by mass poverty, chronic hunger, wealth inequality, and racism but we seem to lack the will to overcome these preventable miseries. The world order is already ripe for an overhaul yet many are reluctant to admit it. Worse, some of us…
Why I am not offended when somebody calls me a communist
QUESTION EVERYTHING Mong Palatino I keep silent every time I am tagged a communist. It’s not embarrassment but more of disbelief that in this day and age, a red baiter still thinks that this kind of witch hunt is politically legitimate or even persuasive. How dangerous it is to live in a society where people…
Maoism is the reason why the hills are alive in the Philippines
QUESTION EVERYTHING Mong Palatino How do you explain the presence of communist rebels in the country’s forest frontiers? Interestingly, the last remaining green spaces in the boondocks are strongholds of the New People’s Army. So who really should rejoice every time a province is declared NPA-free? The masses or the extractive industry? To preserve the…
How to write against the Left
QUESTION EVERYTHING By Mong Palatino Bulatlat.com Start by insinuating that it’s evil to be associated with the Left, for example ‘Beware of Left-leaning groups’. There’s no need to elaborate; simply insert the term ‘Left’ in a sentence to warn innocent minds about the threat posed by Leftist individuals, groups, institutions, and ideologies. To make it…