kultura

tears for harry

it was the last full show, the one that began at 11:40 PM on a friday, when i watched harry potter and the half-blood prince. by 12:30, half of the people on my side of the theater were fast asleep, only waking up when the sounds became too muchto ignore, as with scenes of quidditch and spells being cast, and the run-of-the-mill wizard violence of harry’s world.

i wasn’t surprised really. the only way this would still be interesting to any audience is if they have read the books, or have a clear memory of all the movies before this. for half-blood prince in particular, the novel had too many silences about both protagonists and antagonists, about each and every character, that the movie couldn’t help but render as well. (more…)

komentaryo

the rich ba kamo?

nakita ko silang lahat.

all under one NBC tent, last thursday, stormy weather notwithstanding. apparently, art can bring all of  our alta sociadad together, given too that this was a first-of-its-kind art event: the Manila Art 2009. with most of  manila’s galleries bringing the paintings, sculptures and mixed-media works under their roofs, this was a free-for-all, really. a one-stop shop for anyone who’s interested in art in the philippines.

this apparently, is what the rich of this country have in common other than their money: art.

but of course being my middle class self, recently becoming familiar with the kind of market that continues to exist for art in this country, i had come in the fanciest of my public-school-teacher attires, flowy skirt, wedge heels, the most make-up i can bear. i failed to take into consideration the rich coming in black coats and barongs, long gowns and cocktail dresses.

my happy flowy beige-and-orange dress could only float above the din of black.

naisip ko: para silang nagluluksa.

but this was no sorrowful night. in fact, for the artists and the galleries, it seemed like the one affair they were thankful to be in. for art critics — and the wannabes like me — it was a rare chance to be in the company of all these artworks. for the rich, well, this was a time to hobnob, have pictures taken, smoke cigarettes outside because you know, it’s not allowed inside.

and it was there that i realized how justice exists in this world.

woman 1: you know, i love this event because we get to buy all this art! i think this is what will keep art alive in this country.

woman 2: yeah, the art world shouldn’t depend on governement, they should depend on the rich for support. that’s the only way.

woman 1: oh, look at that car, he’s in the way, nagta-traffic tuloy. filipinos talaga.

man (pointing at the traffic): now THAT, is art.

if the pinoy artist can depend on this rich to be their clients, and this rich can barely get themselves off of their perch, enough to really and truly understand what ails the filipino — artist and otherwise — then the art worldwill survive as a matter of course. it may remain inaccessible to the majority of filipinos, and it may be used against them by the rich, ah, but it will just fluggin’ exist.

in a tent with the tessa prietos and tim yaps of this world, buying art like there’s no tomorrow, i am reminded not just of how the rich can survive these times of crisis. they can afford to be alive and well, and spend money that can feed a poor family for a full half-year, for one piece of artwork.

such is the social crisis of our time.

kultura

on The Male Voice

a version of this was published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer yesterday, June 8 2009, Arts and Books Section.

It begins simply enough, with four chairs, four small tables, and two clothes racks onstage. The moment the actors begin the first monologue “I Am Man” though, it becomes clear that this is going to be more complex than that stage and its four actors.

Because there is more to making a powerful and revolutionary play than just being inspired by the Vagina Monologues, and reconfiguring it to highlight man’s “humanity”. There more to the project of New Voice Company’s The Male Voice than just telling the individual stories of countless men to pinpoint their existence as affected members of family and society. There must be more to this than that cliché of an ending: men will choose to be part of the solution, instead of the problem. (more…)

komentaryo

what party(list)?

the list of congressmen who voted yes to the ConAss has been making the rounds of egoups and email inboxes. but more than giving us the names of those we MUST NOT VOTE FOR, i have found it more interesting, the partylist representatives and therefore organizations, that are part of this ‘wag iboto list.

BRIONES, NICANOR M. AGAP Party list
ESTRELLA, ROBERT RAYMUND M. ABONO Party List
PABLO, ERNESTO C. APEC Party List
SANTIAGO, NARCISO D. (III) ARC Party List
VALDEZ, EDGAR L. APEC Party List

a look at AGAP Partylist‘s website doesn’t give much information, only that they are “coordinating with” government offices including GMA’s, to “protect and promote the welfare of the hog and poultry industry” in the country.

the three other partylist organization don’t have websites, and there is very little information on them. ARC stands for Alliance of Rural Concerns — which seems like a huge umbrella organization, yes? — but doesn’t seem to stand for a concrete constituency. according to this news article from 2007, ARC advocates for CARP: “We value CARP despite its acknowledged defects, and look to the DAR as a principled partner in the struggle of the rural people for reforms and better life.”

they forget that the DAR and the CARP are both already enemies of the farmers of this country, something that has been proven by the continued existence of the Hacienda Luisitas in our midst, and by even more current events such as Henry Sy’s takeover of 8,000 hectares of prime agricultural land. too, that there is an alternative, one that’s about REAL agrarian reform: the Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill or GARB.

there isn’t much on Abono Partylist online either, except for news reports that they were topping the COMELEC count in the elections, and that they are an agricultural-fertilizer partylist.

and then there’s APEC Partylist, which apparently has the richest of congressmen in its ranks. it stands for Association of Philippine Electric Cooperatives, which seems self-explanatory.

there is no information on the constituencies of these partylist organizations, a requirement for partylist registration with the COMELEC. and the one org that had a website, listed all of two members — TWO MEMBERS!

but too, what might be more obvious here is that there doesn’t seem to be a clear marginalized sector being representedby any of these congressmen who voted yes to the ConAss. if anything, we have congressmen who represent capitalists who sell fertilizer, hogs and poultry, and electricity.

this tells us that we shouldn’t be giving this vote away. NOT.AT.ALL.

komentaryo

HR1109, ConAss, ChaCha, GMA Forever? WTF!

It is everything and confusing, this whole enterprise of the Chacha or Charter Change. Because really, you listen to these congressmen and it seems like ChaCha isn’t related to a ConAss or Constituent Assembly isn’t related to GMA staying in power. And where is House Resolution 1109 – which was passed Tuesday night – in all of this?

The ConAss is one of the ways through which changes to the 1987 charter or constitution may be made. The ConAss will create a bicameral Philippine congress, which will bring together the Senate and Congress, to amend and revise the existing constitution. This process of changing the constitution we’ve come to call ChaCha.

BUT HR 1109 actually convenes a constitutional assembly that will be allowed to amend the constitution even without the Senate. To the proponents of this resolution — and the majority of Congress — this will only mean inviting the Senate to join in the ConAss. And yet, really, if the senators don’t need to vote, why the f*^! would they want/need to be there?

On the level of congress, the fact that HR 1109 was going to be discussed in the plenary – that is, to be debated on by the representatives – was problematic to begin with. HR 1109 was rejected by the committee on constitutional amendments two weeks ago, and yet on Monday (June 1), the committee wanted it to be discussed in the plenary.  When BayanMuna Rep Satur Ocampo raised the issue of rules, i.e., no resolution should be up for discussion in the plenary without being approved on the committee level they thought that it would take a while before HR 1109 would be brought up again.

But on Monday night, the committee on constitutional amendments suddenly has a positive vote for HR 1109 being brought to the plenary. By Tuesday afternoon, it was clear that they were going to railroad it – they after all have the numbers.

Now how will all this keep GMA in power?

Once the ConAss is convened, then the process of ChaCha will be underway. The goal is really to change our system of government from presidential to parliamentary, which will allow GMA to run – and obviously win – for congresswoman in her native Pampanga. Given that she has majority of the congressmen in her pockets, and these congressmen will necessarily win – by hook or by crook – in the 2010 elections (which Def. Sec. Puno has promised will happen, obvious ba kung bakit?), this will allow GMA to get elected as Prime Minister.

This was actually the headline of the Philippine Daily Inquirer on May 13: “GMA may run for PM. The use of “May” here isn’t “possibly run for PM”; instead it is “allowed to run for PM”.

Congress has said that having passed HR 1109, they are now aiming for a July 27 opening of the Constitutional Assembly, after GMA’s State of the Nation Address. Of course they also insist that there will be a referendum naman, to find out if the nation agrees with the amendments to the constitution. But really, diyan pa ba naman sila hindi mandadaya?

And as Sen. Pangilinan says, there is no money or time or capability for that referendum. The Comelec isn’t ready, which makes that referendum even more suspicious.

Besides, why the rush? Why the seeming desperation? As stuartsantiago says in “kon-ass (kokak)”, quoting from ellen tordesillas, this is because “Operation Gloria Forever” is “behind schedule.”

GMA and her cohorts insist that HR 1109, the ConAss and the ChaCha, are all about removing the 40% limit on foreign equity on land and businesses in the country.  But this is even more reason to fight the ChaCha. As it is, our farmers are fighting for land and life; as it is, the multinational/transnational corporations are oppressing our workers, controlling wage and benefits, disallowing unions, functioning autonomously from the State.

Using this as an excuse should get us even angrier. Salt on an open wound? Insult to injury? Or, what do they take us for? Stupid?

RAGE!  Today, June 3, in the streets of Congress. Come as individuals, as groups, as Filipinos who want to Oust GMA!

It is so fluggin’ time.