Category Archive for: komentaryo

komentaryo

Against divorce #WomensMonth2015*

One can’t believe it sometimes, the way the patriarchy is so pervasive in this country, the way men get away with being pa-cute and being pa-witty when asked about something they can’t quite wrap their heads around.

And no, I’m not talking about the every man on the street. I’m talking Senators of the land, making a joke out of the question of divorce.

Welcome to the Philippines. Where it doesn’t matter that the latest SWS Survey on Divorce reveals that 60% of Filipinos are actually now for it. (Inquirer.net, 23 Mar) (more…)

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…)

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…)