"Di ko na maalala, your honor"—Alice Guo kept saying these words over and over again during the Senate hearing about her supposed connections to POGOs, and it's a scary reminder of how blindly we trust. As suspicions of her true identity and allegiance swirled, President Bongbong Marcos himself questioned her background, yet a wave of unwavering support for Marcos quickly followed. One netizen's declaration, " I will trust what MY president said ," sent shivers down my spine. This blind faith in political figures, this unquestioning loyalty even in the face of glaring red flags, is a festering wound on our nation's soul. It is the Achilles' heel that keeps us shackled to a cycle of misery, hindering progress and perpetuating the very problems we so desperately yearn to escape. This blog is not about Alice Guo or Bongbong Marcos; it's about the dangerous allure of political fandom and how it blinds us to the truth. It's about the urgency of

Let's face it, Filipinos have a thing for migration. It's practically woven into the national DNA. We've got relatives in California, cousins in Canada, and titas dominating the nursing scene in every major hospital across the globe. There's even a running joke: "Japan, Japan, sagot sa kahirapan" (Japan, Japan, the answer to poverty) or the ever-pragmatic, "Kung gusto mong umasenso ang iyong buhay, mag-asawa ng AFAM" (If you want to succeed in life, marry a foreigner). I get it. The Philippines is a beautiful country, overflowing with talented, resilient people. But let's be honest, sometimes it feels like paradise with a hefty "but" attached. The allure of better opportunities, higher salaries, and a perceived escape from the daily grind beckons strongly. We see it everywhere: families uprooting themselves, leaving behind not just jobs but entire support systems – parents, siblings, even those adorable little pamangkins who call you &q