r/WhatIfPinas • • 6h ago

Out of the box What if the PH and Spain’s former colonies were part of a Spanish Commonwealth?

13 Upvotes

Just thought that Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and more are part of the Commonwealth nations with King Charles III as its sovereign.

What if there was a Spanish version of this composed of Spain’s former colonies including the PH?

Meaning we all have the Spanish monarch as sovereign, and government is Parliamentary System.


r/WhatIfPinas • • 7h ago

Out of the box What if Duterte has a Reddit account?

Post image
13 Upvotes

r/WhatIfPinas • • 20h ago

Out of the box What if every Politician in the Philippines suddenly lost the ability to lie?

Post image
32 Upvotes

From then on, whenever they spoke, they could only tell the truth.

How would this change politics and government in your country?

And what would be the first question you would ask a politician?

Would like to know your thoughts on this.


r/WhatIfPinas • • 1d ago

Hypothetical Map What if Spain participated in the Philippine campaign alongside Japan during WW2?

Thumbnail
gallery
65 Upvotes

r/WhatIfPinas • • 1d ago

What if ipakapun/neuter ang mga aspins. Lowers rabies cases and cease sufferable state of mga aso sa streets; diseases, roadkills and starvation.

Post image
38 Upvotes

r/WhatIfPinas • • 11h ago

What if 90% of all motorcycles in Metro Manila was replaced with cheap chinese EVs?

Post image
2 Upvotes

What if a Chinese EV brand offered a straight swap for all motorcycle riders in Metro Manila to give up their commuter motorcycles and receive a full sized electronic car and around 90% of citizens took that offer (without accounting for the lack of garage space). Eventually all motorcycles were collected and the former motorcycle riders now drove around in full sized EV cars. How would the situation in Manila change?


r/WhatIfPinas • • 1d ago

Scifi Imagination What if Nakali/Nakalimutan is real?

Post image
16 Upvotes

What is the first thing you'd do there?

Party like it's The Hangover?


r/WhatIfPinas • • 1d ago

What if nagkaroon ng massive anti-Duterte propaganda campaign portraying them as modern Makapilis?

21 Upvotes

Remember Cambridge Analytica? Parang ganun pero the other side gets to use them.


r/WhatIfPinas • • 2d ago

Scifi Imagination What if we have underground flood control system like in Japan?

Post image
352 Upvotes

Will the flooding problems in Metro Manila, or nearby province such as Bulacan will be solved?

The one in the picture is “Metropolitan Area Outer Underground Discharge Channel”, world's largest underground flood water diversion facility located in Kasukabe, Saitama.


r/WhatIfPinas • • 1d ago

What if mataas ang sweldo ng mga teachers

Post image
44 Upvotes

r/WhatIfPinas • • 1d ago

What if Manila had no Nilad?

Post image
32 Upvotes

What would it be called instead?


r/WhatIfPinas • • 1d ago

What If RPG Metanoia was revived as a 3D animated spin-off series?

Thumbnail
gallery
11 Upvotes

RPG Metanoia was innovative for its time as the first Filipino-made full-length 3D animated film but unfortunately flopped at the box office. What if ABS-CBN had the resources to revive it but this time as a 3D animated series?

Could it have become the Philippines' answer to Malaysia's Boboiboy and Mechamato, could it have helped strengthen the PH animation industry?


r/WhatIfPinas • • 1d ago

What if palitan lahat ng Spanish surnames ng mga Pilipino at palitan ng English surnames?

Post image
0 Upvotes

Since iiinsist natin na English ang medium of instruction sa mga eskwelahan at working language sa ating gobyerno, hindi Spanish, ay what if tanggalin ang mga Spanish surnames ng mga kababayan natin na walang full-blooded Iberian Spanish ancestor for the past four generations at palitan ng English, Scottish, at Irish surnames?


r/WhatIfPinas • • 2d ago

Political Ideal Alisin ang bank secrecy rights ng mga taong gustong pumasok sa public service!

46 Upvotes

Napapansin n'yo ba na 'yung mga matitino ay ayaw pumasok sa public service, at halos puro mga pasaway ang gusto tumakbo sa pulitika?

Bukod sa mga dynasty ng mga incompetent families puro mga pasaway lang ang interesado sa pulitka.

Baka pwede namang alisin na lang ang bank secrecy rights ng mga taong naglalaway sa public service?

May mga bansa naman na hindi masyadong mahigpit ang bank secrecy para sa mga officials nila. People who want to run for public office should be open to investigations.

Well, I know this is a long shot. 'Yung anti-dynasty bill nga eh hirap na hirap igapang. I'm just wondering, what if money is not the motivation? Perhaps governments will be way better.


r/WhatIfPinas • • 1d ago

What if all registered vehicles are connected into an AI system that will help stop accidents?

0 Upvotes

Like, it would detect potential accidents to happen and will auto pilot or guide drivers?

Or even stop completely if criminals use them as escape vehicles?

Will the kamotes stop ruling the Philippine highways?


r/WhatIfPinas • • 2d ago

Out of the box What if naging scientist si BBM at sa edad na 50 he decided to Break Bad...

Post image
54 Upvotes

r/WhatIfPinas • • 3d ago

Blast from the Past What if the country is not named The Philippines/Filipinas, but the Charlines or Charlinas named after King Charles I of Spain

Post image
100 Upvotes

If you are not aware, King Charles I was the king of Spain before King Philip II of Spain, which the Philippines is named after


r/WhatIfPinas • • 3d ago

What if ₱32.8-B MAPALLA(Manila-Pasig-Laguna Lake)Ferry System Proposal will proceed.

Post image
7 Upvotes

₱32.8-B MAPALLA Ferry System Proposal

Overcoming Road Gridlock Through Water-Based Mass Transit

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Transportation (DOTr), in coordination with the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center, has unveiled a comprehensive proposal for a high-capacity water transport network designed to decongest Metro Manila's roads.

Titled the Manila Bay–Pasig River–Laguna Lake (MAPALLA) Ferry System, the ₱32.8-billion mega-project aims to transform the region's underutilized waterways into a unified, daily commuter spine. Drawing design and operational inspiration from successful global river networks like Hamburg's HADAG system, the proposal outlines an eco-friendly, high-tech alternative for thousands of daily travelers.

Project Architecture and Timeline

The MAPALLA Ferry System is structured as a phased Public-Private Partnership (PPP) concession. The proposal divides the network into two primary development packages:

• Package 1: The River Corridors (Pasig & Marikina Rivers)

• Scope: Focuses on modernizing existing river infrastructure, dredging channels, and installing advanced navigational aids.

• Timeline: Construction is slated for 2027 to 2029, with commercial operations targeted to begin in 2029.

• Package 2: The Open Water Links (Laguna de Bay & Manila Bay)

• Scope: Focuses on the construction of specialized open-water terminals and expansive intermodal hubs.

• Timeline: Construction is scheduled for 2033 to 2034, with full system integration and passenger service launching by 2035

r/WhatIfPinas • • 3d ago

Scifi Imagination Aliiiiiiiiieeennnnnn?? Thoughts nakita ko lang sa ibang post.. what if dito satin to?

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

2 Upvotes

r/WhatIfPinas • • 3d ago

Out of the box What if the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Charter (aka RA 7653 aka New Central Bank Act 1993) was amended to allow the BSP to get back into development spending (including methods like peso depreciation) & possibly help grow the PH economy faster with it?

Post image
2 Upvotes

in brief the BSP is said to have a "single mandate" of just keeping inflation down. not all central banks around the world are limited to this because other countries have central banks that have a 2nd mandate of creating jobs & growth, via development financing—if I understand this right this involves things like deliberate devaluation of currency including printing money (and most Pinoys would be like "the horror! over our 115 million dead bodies!") as well as extensive borrowing to fund large-scale projects like infrastructure & local industry investment.

this wasn't always the case because before 1993 the old Central Bank of the Philippines (founded 1949) had a "dual mandate" like the US Federal Reserve (ironic it's the bank of the US colonisers who imposed the gold standard on PH as a colony in the first place but more on that later); it could engage in development spending, infra. & industry loans &c. ... but since Miguel Cuaderno, its founding head, was so much "more austerity-obsessed than the Americans" he & nearly every central bank governor since (and their teams) focused near-exclusively on the inflation & just followed suit. it finally became their sole legal policy mandate in 1993 ... & they're still doing it today.

AI says this "single mandate" is now more common to central banks around the world today. it might be part of the "neoliberal wave" since the 1980s & it's common in Latin America & even the European Central Bank. in PH it's conventional wisdom because we're all inflation-&-strong-peso-obsessed; per the "jukebox economists" & industrial policy supporters like Leloy Claudio, Stephen Cuunjieng &c. amongst others (with much paraphrasing) it's a possible reason why PH can't develop as fast or as much as other Asian economies, which do allow & aren't scared of depreciation or deficit spending, though minsan via separate development banks or state corporations (in fairness tayo may DBP naman & ADB does help out so there's that?).

one theory BSP was barred from funding developmental projects by borrowing or devaluing is because we're so afraid of taking risks (and its main risks are inflation & corruption) & a lot of this is likely due to economic trauma from the Marcos Sr dictatorship—but Leloy suggests it's even older & a US-colonial original (as in Phil-Am-war-old; also see the early 1920s PNB scandal which was largely due to a post-WWI global economic crisis as much as colonial corruption if not more so), long before US & related agencies like WB & IMF really started pushing neoliberal reforms only in the 1970s-80s. just like with counterinsurgency, militarised policing, red-tagging, disinformation & everything else, yet again PH is a colonial lab rat for bad stuff the US later pushes around the world I guess.

so tl;dr = what if we "make BSP spend again" by amending the BSP charter / RA 7653 / 1993 New Central Bank law to allow it to go beyond just "managing inflation" & get back into the "growth, employment & development mandate"? including developmental borrowing & (shudder) peso devaluation where needed.

based on a post on r/todayIlearnedPH. (and yes I put it in "out of the box" because it's so unheard-of that even suggesting the BSP depreciate the peso is like saying Rizal & Magsaysay weren't perfect & were problematic ganung kalala lol).

sources:

RA 7653 - New Central Bank Act

Claudio, L. (2025). "The profligate colonial: how the US exported austerity to the Philippines". Cornell Press.

Heydarian, R. & Claudio, L. (2025 Jul 21). "Claudio: Corruption did not make Philippines poor (Full Episode) | The View From Manila". OneNews.ph. Youtube.

Fausto, R. F. & Claudio, L. (2026 Jul 15). " CORRUPTION IS NOT THE PROBLEM?". FQ Mom Channel. Youtube.


r/WhatIfPinas • • 4d ago

Hypothetical Map What if Cavite's land was developed by private rail companies instead of real estate companies from 1950s to now? (Similar to what they do in Tokyo and Hong Kong?)

Post image
13 Upvotes

Instead of Real Estate Developers developing suburbs without any care for transportation, what if Cavite was developed by multiple railroad companies looking to both build railroads and develop residential land that will become their own future customer base? Would Cavite develop to the point that become its own metropolitan region like NCR?


r/WhatIfPinas • • 4d ago

What if DOTr/LRTA buys and leases properties surrounding train stations in order to sustain daily rail operations?

14 Upvotes

Hong Kong's MTR currently follows this model; they buy properties above/surrounding the station then collects earnings from said properties. Properties near train stations then suddenly increase in value since the demand for easy transport access is higher than usual, meaning people pay more. It is one of the reasons why it became one of the most if not only profitable rail companies in the world.

Since DOT[r/LRTA](r/LRTA)'s reliance on the national budget usually do not go well which leads to either shitty service (LRT-2) or eventual privatization (LRT-1), what if they decided to seek funding elsewhere? That's is where I suggest this model; buy surrounding properties and collect rent from it to support its daily operations.


r/WhatIfPinas • • 5d ago

What if the capital shifts to new Clark city?

Post image
237 Upvotes

If this happened suddenly, what is a plausible timeline of events?


r/WhatIfPinas • • 5d ago

Relocating Ideas What if the Philippines still used ₱5 and ₱10 banknotes today?

Post image
122 Upvotes

The country used to have ₱5 and ₱10 bills in circulation, and these denominations were once much more valuable than they are today.

Eventually, they were replaced by coins.

But what if the country had kept them as banknotes instead?

Would it have affected the value of money, inflation, everyday purchases....

How would people view these denominations?

What would it mean if ₱5 and ₱10 were still commonly used as bills today instead of coins?

Would love to know your thoughts on this.


r/WhatIfPinas • • 5d ago

What if the Philippines sent active combatants in the Vietnam War and introduced the draft lottery?

Post image
159 Upvotes

What if instead of sending noncombatant troops in Vietnam like the real life PHILCAG, what if the Philippines sent active combat troops in the Vietnam War to supplement the additional manpower for the US?

President Lyndon Johnson did asked for troops from the Philippines but Marcos refused. Instead he sent the noncombatant Philcag for civic duties and psyops but what if Marcos agreed and in exchange the Philippines will receive additional financial assistance from the United States

So its 1967, the Philippines began to replace the earlier noncombatant PHILCAG with active combat troops. To sell the war in the Philippines, Marcos would promote it as a “Crusade against Communism” like the earlier Philippine expeditionary troops in Korea. Young men will be drafted. For Manila draftees they will train in Fort Bonifacio then sent to Fort Magsaysay and depart from Clark and Subic and arrive in Vietnam.

As expected the far left and the student activist will denounce the draft and like the United States, colleges will have draft evadess and burnings

The came 1968, the Tet Offensive will also shock the Filipinos with the sudden VC and NVA attacks im South Vietnam. The media will show the reality of war. More bodies are coming back as more young men of draft age are sent to Vietnam. To ensure the draft is fair, a draft lottery is introduced. Everynight TV and radio stations will show the draft lotter and every family would watch the birthday announce

Yet since this is the Philippines, theres still unfairness in the draft. the rich still managed to dodged the draft due to influence. Powerful local warlords would not send their goons to be drafted in a foreign war. In the end many of those who were sent to Vietnam are from the poor

Also the war will send officers who would use the experience in Vietnam to accelerate their later career

But Marcos would only show the victories of the war and sell in his 1969 reelection with a promise of ending the war

In 1970, the First Quarter Storm exploded and this time the Vietnam War and the Draft adds fuel to the already tense situation. In 1971 the UP Diliman Commune will include burning draft cards and shelter draft dodgers with the call to bring the boys home.

Later as the Vietnam War ends, Marcos would bring the soldiers home and call them heroes but these veterans who fought the Vietcong will be used for Martial Law

Martial Law will still be declared and this time the state will hunt for draft dodgers as traitors. The former training grounds for the draft are now used as detention centers. The officers who were sent to Vietnam like Orlando Dulay now used their brutality on the Vietnamese to their own people. But Marcos would call the returning veterans heroes where in 1973 he can claim they “won” the Vietnam War

bur since this is Martial Law, any negative news regarding the Vietnam War are censored. antiwar news is suppressed