Category Archive for: sa kalye

komentaryo

#DearPopeFrancis*

Today you arrive in Manila.

Unlike Sri Lanka, there will be no elephants dressed in fancy garb to welcome you on our streets.

But I hear the President himself is set to welcome you at the airport, refusing as you have to do a State Dinner at Malacañang Palace. While he might invoke his Catholic upbringing, there have been many instances when he seemed to lack compassion and kindness, when often that is what this struggling and exhausted nation needs.

You might also meet his more famous sister. She will invoke her Catholic upbringing as well. But she has also single-handedly created a celebrity culture in this country that is about all things superficial, and she has made a career out of a shameless display of her wealth.

You will meet, too, the every-politician. In this country, religion can be a matter of convenience – if it can win them elections they will wear their Catholicism on their sleeve. It is not a measure of how well they serve the people.

Today you arrive in Manila and all the streets you pass will have been cleared of dirt and debris. You will see a Manila and later a Leyte Province that have no semblance of the cities we live in dangerously every day. That can only be a measure of how well our leaders have been able to hide what ails this nation. It’s a measure of how well they have silenced the people. (more…)

komentaryo

Criticism: not (fun) in the Philippines*

The world knows of the Philippines by now, for reasons other than a senator who refuses to admit to plagiarism, being the setting for the bustling Asian city in “Bourne Legacy,” and a cybercrime law that might be the worst piece of legislation against freedom of expression since the world wide web.

There was a time when we could call out the Western eye for gazing at us exotic: the ones who eat duck fetuses, the pretty brown-skinned girls with wide smiles and a fascination for, who fascinate the, white man. In these times of transnationalism and globalized cultures though, these assessments might be closer to being correct. (more…)

komentaryo

first #ScrapPork rally lessons

There are many things I learned in the course of helping out with an informal volunteer group that was formed for the August 26 Scrap Pork rally at the Quirino Grandstand in Luneta. (more…)

komentaryo

why should you go to the august 26 rally?

in the past week, i’ve been to two meetings for the august 26 rally. i was invited to these as an individual, with no organization or affiliation, who is but a blogger and writer, no matter that the latter happens in various publications.

i know few of the people in these meetings, and can hardly wrap my head around names. it seems irrelevant really, because the conversations are what’s important. these are conversations being had among people of different ideological leanings, of different groups and organizations, of different contexts. ultimately these are conversations being had among individuals who all think the pork barrel should be abolished.

at yesterday’s meeting it was clear that what PNoy did in that presscon was NOT an abolition, but a redefinition. PNoy heard the call, but he didn’t listen. we want the pork barrel abolished. we want accountability. everything that follows that is for the individuals to talk about in Luneta on Monday.

which is to say this: the August 26 Rally is on, it starts at 9:00AM. why should i see you there? (more…)

komentaryo

let us PLAN THIS MARCH!

that it is social media that has kicked off this call to rally on August 26 is not a surprise. that it has taken on a life of its own, should be a great thing: it forces us to catch up, it teaches us how we might take control, and when to cede control, too. it forces us to imagine what this will all look like in real life, beyond the internet and facebook, and out on the streets.

it tells us that we need a plan. (more…)