Category Archive for: gobyerno

komentaryo

#IAmNotMyShoes Redux #WomensMonth2015

shoes

I am in awe of this National Youth Commission campaign In Her Shoes because it is so wrong, so offensive, so sexist, and is being sold to us by the male commissioners, including actor Dingdong Dantes in bright red high heels.

Oh yes, at 1;27AM on March 12, I have the privilege of seeing him on 9News, in a replay of Pia Hontiveros’s News.Ph show. He and NYC commissioner Perci Cendaña have brought the heels they’ve been wearing for this campaign; Hontiveros has them put it on the table (lest we don’t believe these shoes to exist?), and even has the two guests put a shoe on. She then asks them: so how does it feel?

I’d like to give Hontiveros the benefit of the doubt and imagine that I heard some sarcasm in her voice. I could of course be mistaken.

This campaign though, this campaign that imagines that the valid symbol for woman power is a high-heeled shoe — this is absolutely a mistake. (more…)

kultura

I Am Not My Shoes #WomensMonth2015

It was with an amount of dismay, and then disgust, that I read about “In Her Shoes,” the National Youth Commission (NYC) campaign for Women’s Month, one that they started last year and which they continue in 2015.

Because apparently a year hence no one in that commission thought there was anything wrong with using the high-heeled shoe as a symbol of woman power. No one reassessed the notion that walking in women’s shoes literally would be akin to experiencing figuratively what women go through every day. No one asked: are we being sexist by imagining that uniting with women, that paying tribute to our mothers, wives, sisters, daughters for Women’s Month is about wearing high-heels for fun?

You know the answer to that one, gentlemen.

The (non-)challenge of heels
According to NYC Chairperson Gio Tingson: “To walk in women’s shoes is a challenge for men to understand and reflect on the daily plight of women, rethink attitudes toward them and to realize the bias against women that is inherent in our culture, practices and values” (NYC Website, 6 March). Tingson, along with NYC Commisioner actor Dingdong Dantes, walked with a hundred Filipino men in high heels “to celebrate Pinay Power” on March 6. They called “In Her Shoes” a “fun walk.”

The point being this, according to Commissioner Perci Cendaña: “For a man to truly understand how it is to be a woman in our society, he should walk a mile in her shoes. We aim to call attention to the plight of women which normally men, consciously or unconsciously, do not take notice of. We hope that through this event men would reflect on the plight of women in our country. We encourage Filipino men to take a few moments to put themselves literally and, more importantly, figuratively in the shoes of women.”

The questions of course are multiple: Will a man wearing high heeled shoes for an hour or two mean any understanding at all of the daily plight of women in this country? Will this “fun walk” in heels force a man to think about his attitudes and biases against women? Will a pair of wedges or stilettos change a man’s mind about the role his mother or his wife plays in the home? Will it make him think, ah, how difficult a life the women in my life are living, playing multiple roles, and living with oppressive expectations, whatever shoes they might be wearing? (more…)

komentaryo

the President’s confidence level: the Mamasapano clash

sometimes one becomes unclear about whether or not the presidential spokespersons are actually on the President’s side, painting as they do some of the more unstable images of PNoy.

with regard the question of the President seeking and listening to advice of a suspended official like ex-PNP Chief Alan Purisima, for something as critical as the Mamasapano operation at a time of peace negotiations with the MILF, Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda is quoted to have said:

“No law prohibits the President from exercising his discretion to get the views of a suspended official on a particular matter, if this would raise the confidence level of the President’s executive decision-making,” Lacierda told reporters. 

(more…)

komentaryo

the tale of the absent President: the Mamasapano clash (updated)

today, the nation watched and cried and grieved as the 42 slain police commandos of the Special Action Force of the Philippine National Police arrived in Manila in coffins.

the members of the cabinet were present, as were Senators Bongbong Marcos and Nancy Binay, former First Lady Imelda Marcos, former President Fidel Ramos, and Vice President Jejomar Binay.

President Noynoy Aquino was nowhere in sight. there was no member of the Aquino family representing him. there is no valid reason for this absence.

(more…)

komentaryo

taking stock: Mamasapano clash

yes, a statement, not a question. because there’s just too much not being said, or being spun? about the Mamasapano clash that has killed 50 policemen (as of last count) 44 police commandos of the Philippine National Police’s Special Action Force and an unreported number of MILF and / or BIFF fighters. and yet there is also an overload of information — such is the nature of social and online media in this country — and some of the more basic questions and answers get lost in the noise.

and so this is me, trying to make sense of it all. (more…)