Katrina Stuart Santiago

truth to tell i didn’t care much about this “expose” of Marites Danguilan Vitug because it was a non-Corona non-issue to me. non-Corona, because exposing the lack of a dissertation, the number of years he took to finish the phd, his ineligibility for the honors he was given, point to the fact that this was always a UST issue. the basic question being: why make corona an exemption to university rules?

and i didn’t care for that question because i knew without a doubt that Corona’s phd could easily fall under the purvey of academic freedom and autonomy (as the UST statement has said) — within which of course patronage politics and favoritism and everything horrid you can imagine actually exist. that this was UST’s prerogative is truth. this doesn’t make this an easier truth to swallow.

but maybe we should swallow our egos and admit that as with every other institution in this country, the academe is not one that we must comfortably equate with “academic rigor” or “quality and calibre.” if you are realistic about the academe here, and truthful even to yourself if you’re a member of it, then you’d know that patronage and politics are the invisible hands that put and keep people in power there, and in fact this can get you everything from the good raket outside of the academe to the positions of power within it, or just an easier time at an MA and/or a PhD. what we should be looking at in fact, is output: how many of our degree holders are actually relevant to nation? how many of those dissertations will hold up to scrutiny?

and what did the UST faculty and panel think of corona’s scholarly treatise in place of the dissertation? baka naman brilliant at hindi lang natin alam. for all we know he deserved that phd, because too, UST touches on something crucial to the discourse of the university in this country. UST says that they

can grant academic degrees to individuals “whose relevant work experiences, professional achievements and stature, as well as high-level, nonformal and informal training are deemed equivalent to the academic requirements for such degrees.”

i haven’t heard of this kind of freedom from and within the two universities i’ve been part of as student and teacher. ang galing that UST can award Naty Crame Rogers a doctorate degree because certainly she and many other literary and cultural stalwarts deserve it. not that they need a phd to be productive, but truth to tell Corona didn’t need this either: a phd is not even a requirement for becoming supreme court justice. go figure.

but Vitug insists questions are still unanswered:

“What UST is saying is that they can flout their own rules because they’re an ‘autonomous’ institution,” says Vitug.

well, yes. wouldn’t any independent private institution defend itself based on those grounds?

“There is no quarrel with academic freedom. UST should be clear with its rules and state in what instances do they give exemptions. In the case of cj [Chief Justice Renato Corona], a lecture was enough (instead of a dissertation) and the 5-year residency requirement, to qualify for honors, was disregarded,” Vitug also says.

well, yes. and i say, if you demand that UST be clear about the rules it bends, then i demand it of all universities in the country. accountability for all (count the number of faculty members who will be given tenure if we were to be transparent about these rules!). which is still to say this: even the bending of rules based on whether a person deserves something, is totally within the university’s prerogative. again, non-corona, non-issue.

if i were the one who had blogged about this, i would’ve already backtracked and told my readers i had barked up the wrong corona tree, and missed the university prerogative point. but that’s me. and i’m no journalist.

which is really what this has become about, yes? beyond corona, it has become about that UST statement which raises questions about credibility and online journalism, ones that on Twitter and Facebook it seems people would rather dismiss as the questions of the ignorant. ah, but Shakespeare always said ignorance is bliss.

and it is with bliss that UST in fact dismisses Vitug as journalist, because they ask:

“Does <sic> anyone claiming to be an online journalist given the same attention as one coming from the mainstream press?” the statement said. “We understand that while Miss Vitug used to be a print journalist, she’s part of an online magazine, Newsbreak, which has reportedly been subsumed into ‘www.rappler.com.’ What’s that?

i’m sorry, but this was funny to me both on the level of UST’s dismissal but also on the level of its utter refusal to acknowledge Vitug as a credible figure, period. because for UST where she writes is of utmost importance as they go on to ask:

“Is that a legitimate news organization? What individuals and entities fund Newsbreak and Rappler? Do these outfits have editors? Who challenged Miss Vitug’s article before it went online so as to establish its accuracy, objectivity and fairness? Why was there no prior disclosure made? What gate-keeping measures does online journalism practice?”

these are valid questions to ask, aren’t they? and certainly those behind Rappler cannot claim credibility — or demand we give them that — on the basis of who’s behind it and their years of experience. because if there’s anything we know about writing online, it’s that no matter your history of writing (Angela’s got a CV that will put into question countless credibilities online and beyond, excuse me), you’re only as good as that last piece, your mistakes are for the world to see, your ability at humility and apology crucial.

in this sense it is important that Rappler respond to these questions properly and accordingly, and not brush it off by invoking Vitug’s years as journalist or by saying that they are ” journalists <who> have worked for global news organizations and top Filipino news groups.” certainly if they take pride in being “online journalists” who “promise uncompromised journalism that inspires smart conversations and ignites a thirst for change” they must begin by answering questions on legitimacy and credibility, banking as they do on the names that are on their roster.

of course this will mean drawing lines between online journalism and non-journalism, news reporting and opinion, blogging and tumblelogging and tweeting, but this is a discussion worth having, now better than later, if only because that UST statement is a challenge to make those definitions clear.

if only because given such unquestioning love for the Vitugs and Ressas of this world, we now see revealed the bubble of friendship and camaraderie and mutual-admiration that uncritically exists online.

maybe we all only hate UST for daring to pop that bubble and reveal us for what we are: no better than the mainstream.

or let’s begin 2012 by talking about oppression, shall we?

My issue with self-help books is that they are mostly American. And anyone who lives off of the Philippines’ contradictions and silences, crises and sadnesses would know that not much of American self-help applies to the every Pinay.

The 11 stupid things women do by Veronica Pulumbarit, based on the book by Dr. Laura Schlessinger Ten Stupid Things Women Do To Mess Up Their Lives among other sources, reeks of a universalizing and stereotyping of the woman that just fails to consider how differently women – and men – live in third world Philippines. Of course Dr. Schlessinger and every other self-help guru or magazine would have its own market in this impoverished nation, but that’s really the phenomenon of a first-world-pocket in the age of transnationalization, where social class differences are becoming more and more stark, and Pinays of a certain class can actually live believing in the ideologies of the first world.

But a majority of us live differently in a nation that’s more chaotic than we’d like to admit. And that whole list? Let me reconfigure it and tell the every Pinay how none of it is stupid, because much of it is totally different where we come from, maybe even totally right given where we stand and how we continue to be oppressed by stereotypes and archetypes that are everything and grounded in what’s here. In that sense those absolutes of self-help are also dangerous, because they make us imagine that being woman is the same across races and nations, and it universalizes womanhood in a way that keeps us exactly where we are, limiting the way we think, telling us to stick with the status quo. How does that even help the cause of liberating the Pinay from her contemporary shackles?

1. Having wrong ideas about courtship? Welcome to the Philippines, where good ol’ panliligaw is consistent – even when reconfigured – ritual, but which also allows kilig and magic to be had. It is kilig that carries us through the courtship, one that in these shores has its own set of rules and guidelines, its own steps towards the final decision to becoming an official couple. There is no “dating” so many men before deciding on one. In fact, where we come from the signals are clear: if we’re not interested in a guy, courtship doesn’t even happen. If I’m interested in you, then the ritual begins. There’s nothing desperate about it at all, and in fact it’s this time of kilig and ligaw that all the power is in the Pinay’s hands. And inappropriate men? Boo. Where we come from even a stretch of a courtship and seven years of a relationship can mean exactly that. Such is the nature of kilig that fizzles out. There’s no American self-help explanation for a word that doesn’t translate into English, yes?

2. Being excessively devoted to the wrong person. We are being told here that women stay with the wrong men because women have low self-esteem. Wrong. Where we come from, the Pinay enters a relationship and is in it for the long haul. We are taught to stay. Here the Pinay is still made to believe that she must marry her first love, here she is still told that going from one boyfriend to the next is bad form not to mention bad for her reputation, here she is still questioned for ending a relationship for no reason other than that “it didn’t feel right.” The Pinay stays not because she’s got low self-esteem, but because she’s got so much of it: she is taught that she can work on a relationship because she can work her man. And when she finally lets go of this man, it’s because the Pinay has gotten tired of devotion, and walking away then becomes her brightest most self-assured moment, too.

3. Being too passionate. Seriously? Seriously. Where we come from women lack precisely this passion because Pinays are also taught to rein it in, hold your horses, not for anything else other than a guilt trip, if not a promise about the fires of hell: the heavens don’t like loose women. It’s the same rationale that keeps us only as good as our virginities. It’s the same religious conservatism that has kept every other Pinay stupid about sex and her own body. I say go find some passion and light that little fire, practice safe sex and go for that one night. Sex in and by itself is always possibly enjoyable; sex without strings attached is infinitely liberating for the Pinay in the context of closet conservative pretentious liberated Philippines. You only know to rein yourself in, when you’re actually the one in control of you – heart / mind / body included.

4. Not realizing one’s worth. Dr. Laura says, “It is your job as a woman, as a person, to become as fully realized as you can by having dreams, forging a purpose, building an identity, having courage, and making commitments to things outside yourself.” Right. Try telling a working class underemployed call center agent that. Or the barista who’s saving up so she can leave the Philippines to become a blue collar worker elsewhere in the world. Or even just talking to a Pinay about “commitments outside of herself” when she’s got a family to fend for. Who’s got time for dreams in the third world, really? What we’re worth is really only equivalent to what we do – that’s not even about being Pinay as it is just about the limits of social class, plain and simple.

5. Not taking care of oneself. Not only is it not cheap to be healthy where we come from, it’s also a question of who’s got the time to think / cook / be healthy? Don’t talk to me about not eating canned goods and cheap fastfood meals, when that’s all a majority of us can afford, literally and figuratively.

6. Not being courageous. Eh? Dr. Laura says that women have a hard time “expressing healthy and righteous anger.” She obviously hasn’t seen our stereotype of the crazy woman kontrabida. Or just the bungangera palengkera. And every Pinay has it in her, every Pinay after all has got her taray to back her up. Taray is the response to the notion that we have yet to learn to speak our minds. In fact when the Pinay doesn’t speak her mind, she is being practical: after all, if you’re going to lose your job by being assertive, your first question has to be will it be worth it? And if not, then we’ve got our pamewang and taas-kilay to reveal our taray. And yes, there are no direct translations for all those words, again because the Pinay is not even imagined by those self-help books.

7. Being jealous and insecure. But what of just being selosa as a matter of intuition? What of pakiramdam ng babae – the woman’s intuition – as the premise of an inexplicable insecurity? Truth to tell the Pinay would gain much by listening precisely to the impulses that are about jealousy and insecurity, not just because sometimes these are revealed to be based on things that turn out to be valid, but also because it balances out our katarayan. My advice? know to draw the line between intuition and paranoia, and you’ve got a handle on jealousy and insecurity, too.

8. Being careless and immodest. Which Pinay is unaware of “the danger of being sexually harassed when they dress immodestly”? Though the better question is, why would sexual harassment be blamed on the woman for wearing what she wants? This is exactly why we have not evolved in the direction of women’s liberation in this country. Because here we are being told that “When a woman dresses to fit into an evil and worldly society by choosing clothes that pleases the tastes of both men and women, she sins. When she dresses to entice or receive the admiring glances of the opposite sex, she defrauds and sins” (Pollard). And I can’t help but ask: in what century are we in exactly? And do we know that this is exactly the excuse men invoke when they harass and abuse women? That “She asked for it”? Que horror.

I’d tell the Pinay: wear what you want mindful of where you are going, who you will be with, and what you will be doing. Be responsible for your body, as you insist on your right to wear what you want, knowing full well that people’s reactions to how you look is a measure of who they are, not who you are.

9. Not being committed to a relationship. You’re telling the Pinay that? I’d tell you to see Number 2. In fact the Pinay is so made for commitment that I’d rather warn her about its by-product: the Pinay who’s got her wedding all mapped out after the good first date. Because much might be said about committing to a man, but even more might be said about knowing when to draw that line, between staying and leaving, between what’s in front of you and forever. The future is what keeps us working on something in the present yes, but the present is also a measure of whether we want to get to that future at all. There’s no point really in planning who the members of your entourage will be when all you’ve got in front of you is a man who’s only willing to spend today.

10. Being dishonest and unfaithful. Loyalty? Check! Devotion? Double check! We are told: “Whenever you are away from each other check in regularly to let them know you’re okay.” Again, you’re talking to the Pinay? We are the champions of clingy and togetherness, and if we were to decide we would be everywhere with our men. In fact the lesson for the Pinay should be about how to keep a life as an individual, separate from the man, without being paranoid about dishonesty and unfaithfulness. Also, there’s the even more important lesson: much might be said about honesty, but there are some questions that need not be asked, answers that we’d rather not hear. The Pinay is obsessed with knowing everything about her man, and sometimes we fuel precisely the dishonesty because we also demand a set of answers they cannot give. In truth: there’s value in letting some things go, especially those things that aren’t about you at all.

11. Not being caring and compassionate. For the Pinay this is precisely the kind of stereotype that keeps them in roles that are oppressive, that renders them immobile to some extent, that makes them think less than they actually are. Being caring and compassionate is our default, this is the way we are brought up, the only way we know to deal with the world. And this is what keeps us in the box labeled submissive / ideal / wife / mother. This is what makes it seem right that we should go beyond ourselves, and sometimes forget ourselves altogether. I say let’s learn to balance caring and compassion with the katarayan that’s in our lineage as women; let’s balance that with caring and compassion for ourselves first. Much might be said about selfishness when you’re a Pinay who’s brought up with an unflinching unthinking selflessness.

Looking at this list, it is clear to me that all those things that were deemed stupid, all those things that we were being told not to be, not to do, all those things don’t apply to the Pinay in this context. When you live and breathe this culture that contradicts itself with regards how to love and treat and trust its women, American self-help of any kind cannot help us any. To impose those rules on the Pinay might be the most tragic thing to happen to our struggle, not just for identity, but for our right to our own bodies.

Of course this anti-self-help-list, in its mere existence is a set of absolutes, too. But I’d like to think that these are only as absolute as they remain open to debate and discussion, as these remain to be practiced where we come from. I’d like to think that because we have yet to even imagine ourselves liberated and free, that we’re still working on lists such as this, versus seeing it as a set of rules. More than anything I’d like to imagine that this is a more truthful, because more particular, assessment of the things the Pinay should learn to do.

Those stupid things women do? We’re already bigger and brighter than all of that.

Ang tunay na lalake ay walang abs (At iba pang komento sa pelikulang Manila Kingpin: The Asiong Salonga Story) ni Yol Jamendang

Eto ang lagay – matagal na, matagal na matagal na akong hindi nakakakita ng trailer ng pelikulang Pilipino na may barilan, may tino-torture, at umuulan pero walang nag-iiyakan. Ang huli kong napanood na Pinoy action film sa sinehan mismo e yung Anak ng Kumander na starring, directed by, co-written by, theme song performed by at produced by Manny Pacquiao. Ang masasabi ko lang ay…magaling, napakagaling na boksingero ni Pacquiao. Yun lang. Di rin ako makarelate sa lalake sa mga recent na pelikulang Pinoy – lalakeng pinag-aagawan nina Christine Reyes at Anne Curtis dahil ang guwapo niya lang, o lalakeng kabisote na nakaengkanto ng babaeng nasa kalahati ng kanyang edad, o kaya lalakeng nagkaka-amnesia sa isang pelikulang pinamagatang My Amnesia Girl.

Idagdag pa na sina Ely Buendia at Gloc9 ang gumawa ng theme song ng Asiong, tapos may awayan portion pa tungkol sa director’s cut at producer’s cut at may A rating mula sa Cinema Ratings Board – e di game, tara, panoorin natin ang Manila Kingpin: The Asiong Salonga Story.

Busy ka ba? Kung oo, sasabihin ko na lang sa yo na panget ang Asiong, pero pangako, magugustuhan mo siya. Kung hindi ka busy, upo ka muna. Ipapaliwanag ko sa yo kung bakit.

Maganda ang timing ng Asiong. Entry siya sa Metro Manila Film Festival, tapos ang mga kasabayan niya e same old same old – UnliShake Rattle and Roll, pelikulang may Kris Aquino at salitang “Mano” sa pamagat, pelikulang may Juday at Ryan Agoncillo, Panday of the Titans, pelikulang may “Enteng” at “Ina Mo” sa pamagat, at kung anu-ano pang shit. Tapos, isipin mo yung mga nagdaang lima, sampung taon. May naaalala ka bang Pinoy action film? May naaalala ka bang pelikulang Pinoy na trailer pa lang e alam mo nang panlalake siya?

Panlalakeng pelikula. Huwag na nating pag-usapan ang pene films nung 70s at ang titilating films gaya ng Talong, Anakan mo Ako at Tag-ulan Noon, Ang Bukid ay Basa. Wag ganun, baka masabihan pa tayong sexist. Isipin mo na lang si Derek Ramsey.

Oo, isipin mo si Derek Ramsey. Nasa tabing dagat siya, tinatanaw si Angelica Panganiban. Tapos tututok kay Derek yung camera, lalapit, malapit na malapit, parang hinihimas ang kanyang balikat, dibdib, abs. Hindi ka sigurado pero parang may nakita kang bumabakat sa suot niyang short.

O isipin mo si Gerald Anderson. Kausap niya si Sarah Geronimo. Sabi ni Sarah, bakit ka ganyan makatingin? Tapos sasabihin ni Gerald, ang ganda mo kasi e. Tapos ngingiti siya, parang biglang nag-slow mo ang camera, tapos tatambling sa kilig si Sarah Geronimo.

Hindi ganyan ang panlalakeng pelikula. Yang mga ganyang pelikula ay yung tipo ng pelikulang napanood mo kasi monthsary niyo ng girlfriend mo at gusto niyang manood ng sine tapos pumayag kang yun na lang ang panoorin kasi mahal mo siya and all that shit. Tapos after a few months, maghihiwalay kayo kasi nagalit siya dahil ayaw mong gamiting profile pic sa Facebook yung picture niyong dalawa na magkayakap nung minsang nagpunta kayo sa Enchanted Kingdom.

Ano na nga bang pinag-uusapan natin?

Sa Asiong, walang Derek Ramsey. Yung mga main characters, malaki ang tiyan. Pati nga si Carla Abellana, malaki ang tiyan dahil buntis. Alam mo na nilagay yung mga artistang yun sa Asiong hindi dahil sa kanilang good looks kundi dahil sa kanilang personality. Dahil dun, pag sinabi mo sa mga kaibigan mo na “Maganda ang Asiong!”, meron kang credibility, di tulad ng mga nagsasabing “Maganda ang Twilight kasi ang guwapo ni Edward Cullen! Like niyo to if you agree!”. Tanginang yan.

Totoo rin yung sinasabi ng ibang reviewers na ang gulo ng kuwento ng Asiong, na parang tumira ng katol yung nag-edit, ganun. Pero okey lang yun. Nagpunta ka sa sinehan para magtext, dumukot sa malalim na lalagyan ng popcorn, lumingon sa magsyotang naghahalikan, magdikit ng bubble gum sa upuan at tumingin sa screen paminsan-minsan kapag lumalakas ang volume kasi may nagbabarilan. Hindi ka nagsine para mabago ang buhay mo. Walang graded recitation pagkatapos ng pelikula. Gusto mo lang maging ikaw at alam mong hindi ikaw si Gerald Anderson at si Coco Martin.

Kaya okey lang kahit sa simula ng pelikula sinuntok ni Roi Vinzon nang 48 times sa mukha si Jorge Ejercito (Asiong) tapos sa susunod na eksena listong-listo na siya at isinama ang tropa para rumesbak. Okey lang na kahit tirador at kutsilyo ang ipinantutok nila bago magsimula ang laban, naratrat ng bala ang mga kalaban nung pumalag sila. Wala tayong problema kahit na nung magkatutukan ng baril, walang hawak na baril yung isang tambay at kamao niya ang ipinantutok niya. Yaan mo na kung bakit hindi pa rin nakakalabas ng Bilibid si Jay Manalo kahit tropa niya lahat ng pulis. Pakelam ba natin kung bakit lumusob sa libing sina Totoy Golem tapos handa sa barilan ang buong pamilya tapos biglang may nakikipagbarilan habang nagbibisekleta.

Magandang panoorin ang Asiong sa sinehan kase maraming nanonood na tunay na lalake. Yun bang nakacargo pants at itim na t-shirt tapos maya’t maya sumisigaw ng “Asioooong!”. Tapos pag may tumunog na cellphone sisigawan nila ng “Pakisagot naman yung telepono o. Busy ako e.” Kapag sinabi ni Asiong na “Simple lang naman ang buhay mo, Fidela e. Alagaan mo ang anak natin, magpaganda ka pa lalo, lagi kang maging malambing…at hintayin mo akong umuwi,” papalakpak sila, tapos papalakpak ka rin, magpapalakpakan kayong lahat, tapos magmamadali kayong umuwi dahil kailangan niyo pang magsaing.

Maraming eksenang beri gud sa Asiong. Kung magaling lang umarte si Jorge at hindi timang yung pagka-edit, pang-first honor yung pelikula e. Halimbawa, ang gandang tingnan ng mga namamatay kapag may aksiyon. Di kagaya ng ibang Pinoy action films na muntanga lang yung mga nababaril (usually nasa mataas na lugar, mangingisay, tapos mahuhulog). Pinakagusto kong namatay yung driver ng kalesa. Bale ang nangyayari, binabaril nina Totoy Golem yung dati nilang tropa na kaaway na nila ngayon. Nakatago siya sa likod nung driver ng kalesa, tapos dahil kontrabida sina Totoy Golem, bumaril pa rin sila kahit may inosenteng matatamaan. E di nasapul yung driver ng kalesa. Tapos ang ganda niyang mamatay. Lumiyad siya nang nakapikit, parang nilalabasan, saka siya humandusay. Tangina, ganun mamatay, mehn. Kung may gagawa ng bagong pelikula tungkol kay Rizal, siya dapat ang kuning artista para maganda yung death scene.

Marami ring magaling umarte. Bilib na bilib ako kay Carla Abellana kasi nahalikan niya nang 48 times si Jorge Ejercito. Kalokohan kapag hindi siya nanalong Best Actress dahil dun. Solid ang supporting cast – as usual magaling si Baron Geisler as himself, mukha talagang kontrabidang masarap pagbabarilin si Jon Regala, at utang na loob naman, gawin niyo nang bida si Ronnie Lazaro. Ang galing-galing nung tao lagi na lang siyang supporting actor sa mga pelikula.

Ang bad news e R13 yung pelikula kaya hindi ka titigasan sa mga love scene. Namputsa naman, mga direktor ng sex scene sa pelikulang Pinoy, andaming nagkalat na sex scandal, panoorin niyo naman para matuto kayo kung paano bumuhay ng hibo ng kalupaan. O kaya hingi kayo ng tips kay Hayden.

Okey na siguro to. Kung di mo pa napapanood, panoorin mo na ang Asiong. “Trak trak na bigas pa ang kakainin” ng Pinoy action film, pero mabuti naman at buhay pa pala siya. Welcome back pare, long time no see.

-lil z