Problems get no hearing beyond the TV sound bite

That we Filipinos are a happy people is well known—and much admired. Our boundless optimism contrasts with the pervading gloom of our East Asian neighbors, the prosperous South Koreans, who have the second-highest suicide rate in the world.

There are few communal activities we take seriously—least of all the way we choose our political leaders. But 130 candidates for president in 2016—in the COMELEC’s initial listing—may be carrying our personalist politics to a ridiculous extreme.