The Philippines Opens Its Shores and Borders to 151 Nationalities

When many governments are restricting entry into their countries, the Philippines is collapsing its borders to allow more foreigners to enter the country.

Starting 1 August 2013, the Philippines will be visa-free for the nationals of 151 countries up to 30 days of stay on any of the 7,107 beautiful islands.

In coordination with concerned governmental agencies such as Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Department of Tourism, Department of Justice, and Bureau of Immigration, the initiative is aimed to attract more tourists and potential investors in the country.

If your country is listed below and you have a valid passport for at least six months, book your round-trip ticket because it is more fun in the Philippines:
Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Bahrain, Barbados, Belgium, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, 
Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Costa Rica, Cote d’Ivoire, Cyprus, Czech Republic,
Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador,
Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Germany, Ghana,
Gibraltar, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary,
Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kuwait, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Latvia, Lesotho, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar
Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia,
Monaco, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand,
Nicaragua, Niger, Norway, Oman, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Poland
Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia,
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia,
Senegal, Seychelles, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, Spain,
Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey,
Tuvalu, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland,
United Republic of Tanzania, United States of America, Uruguay, Venezuela, Vietnam, Zambia,
and Zimbabwe.

Welcome and see you in the Philippines!

What we know and don't know about the Philippine 2013 election results

The May 2013 produced both winners and losers among the candidates and voters. Yes, we won, and lost as well.

What we know are that the 12 new senators, members of the House of Representatives and party-lists, and local government officials have been proclaimed. There are interesting results that we will discuss briefly here.




1) Profile of the winners: A neophyte and woman, Senator Grace Poe, surprisingly took the top spot in the magic 12. She was one of the "independent" candidates (Chiz Escudero was the other one) adopted by Team PNoy in the campaign. She is also one of the four women who won seats in the Senate. Half of the seats were regained by the reelectionists. Among the six neophytes who won, only one is a lawyer. Among the twelve new senators, only one hails from Mindanao. Out of the 24 seats, we will have Estrada-Ejercito and Cayetano siblings. We will not miss an Angara and Villar. Fortunately, we prevented a father and son tandem in the senate.

2) Vote of religious groups - real or myth?: There have been debates and analyses on this topic. Because of the existence of collective identity, shared values, and strong identification with certain religious groups, YES, there exists a religious vote, be it Catholic, Muslim, INC, JIL, El Shaddai, Queboloy's group, etcetera. ( I will write further on this topic in the next blog entry on Catholic Vote). I argue that it is not the belief that shapes the political decision or preference, rather it is the perception of "threat" to one's in-group. As shown in the election results, these religious votes were not a guarantee that chosen candidates would win, but they affected the ranking of winners. For example, Chiz Escudero and Koko Pimentel who won were not endorsed by the INC, but their ranking of #4 and #8 respectively would have been higher had INC included them in its preferred slate.

3) Bailiwicks are slowly thinning out. The power of media, particularly social media, is breaking the barriers and punching holes in the walls of strong ethno-linguistic identification of peoples. Senators Grace Poe demonstrated this in 11 out of 15 regions.

4) Independent candidates can win in a national election. I think, even without the inclusion in the Team PNoy, Senators Grace Poe and Chiz Escudero would still win senate seats. However, in most of their campaign sorties, they organized their own schedules and, from time to time, synchronized their schedules with Team PNoy's. Aside from the strong showing of the two "independents," Ed Hagedorn's 18th finish with over 8 million votes, ahead of traditional politicians with political parties, shows this big possibility in what appears to be an emerging Philippine political reality.

5) Youthfulness wins big. Agedness loses. Nine (9) out of the 12 winners in the senatorial election are in the 40s. Veteran politician (e.g. Maceda, 78) and former presidential candidates such as Gordon (67), Madrigal (55), and Villanueva (66), lost. This election also put to office the youngest governor in the Philippine history at 23 years old. (This will be a topic soon in my Bicolano blog.)

6) There is something with the Bicolanos and Cebuanos who voted 10-2 in favor of Team PNoy and put Hontiveros in the magic 12. Remember that these were the same groups of people who gave Cory-Doy ticket in the 1986 snap election its greatest lead in actual votes and percentage votes.

7) It's all in the family names. Seven winners carry these family names. Poe, Cayetano, Binay, Angara, Pimentel, Villar, and Ejercito, these are the names that sound familiar, but they are not the ones we generally know. The winners are the daughters, sons, and wife of popular personalities in the Philippines.

And there are many things we do not know yet about the highlights and impacts of the 2013 senatorial and local election.