Joshua Lipana, Filipino Objectivist and Free Marketer

A sad day for the free market movement in the Philippines. One of the youngest, most articulate, most promising leader among different shades of free marketers in the Philippines, Joshua Lipana, died today at age 21 or 22. He fought cancer for several months now.

His last postings in his facebook wall were:

154,000 WBC down to 13,970 WBC. Chemo is working. (April 13, 2013) 

Operations done. No more 2 litres in my right lung. I feel much better. No more drowning sensation. I want to live. (April 4, 2013)

I heard of him first sometime in 2010 then I started visiting his blog, http://joshualipana.com/. After several email exchanges, I requested for a meet up, along with Froilan, the owner of The Vincenton Post, http://fvdb.wordpress.com/ These two young men are among the prominent leaders in promoting Objectivism and Ayn Rand's philosophy in this country.

Last April 12, 2011, we met up at Starbucks, Shangrila Mall, Ortigas. When I saw him personally, I thought he was only a high school student. He said he was 19. We discussed lots of things -- from objectivism to libertarianism (anarchy, minarchy, other shades), intellectual property rights (IPR), RH bill (now a law). He was very articulate and passionate. He and Froilan are young guys with big, bright minds.

After Starbucks, we went down to a bar on one side of the same mall. And we discussed more until late evening. We should have been exchanging ideas for about 6 hours that day.

I told him and Froilan that I wanted a part 2 of our meeting and discussions. We tried several skeds but they never materialized. Until I learned that Joshua was fighting cancer.

At a young age, Joshua was the Assistant Editor of The Objective Standard (TOS) since October 2011 until he died. After high school, he did not go to college, deliberately, as he wanted to write more about objectivism and the free market, and he thought that pursuing a college degree might be a distraction from his passion.

His blog is not regularly updated as he was busy with TOS. But even if he was fighting cancer, he managed to publish several articles, below.

Subway Founder Fred Deluca Decries the Regulatory State, TOS Blog, March 6, 2013.

The Light Brigade Shines for Capitalism, TOS Blog,  February 24, 2013

Cheers to Bipartisan Support for Repealing the Medical-Device Tax, TOS Blog, February 19, 2013.

Iran’s Growing Influence in Latin America adds to the Already Definitive Reason to Destroy the Regime, TOS Blog, January 20, 2013.

Kudos to the 800 Companies Demanding a Repeal of the Medical-Device Tax, TOS Blog, January 7, 2013.

Peter Schiff: The Ability to Steal Doesn’t Make Theft Right, TOS Blog, December 30, 2012.

Paul Hsieh: “Speak out Against the Government Narrative” on ObamaCare, TOS Blog, December 30, 2012.

(LTE)Kerry’s past exploits are telling, The Washington Times, December 27, 2012.

Medical Device Tax: Immoral and Impractical, The Objective Standard Blog, December 10, 2012.

Rest in Peace, my friend. I am very sad.

There should be a big reason for us why you left early...

* See also Filipino free market blogs, part 3, April 14, 2011