Say Chiz #Eleksyon2016

Because for whatever reason the President and the Liberal Party have no shame in telling us all that they are trying very very hard to get Mar Roxas and Grace Poe to come together as one team for the 2016 Elections, it also seems imperative that we point out who’s the biggest free rider of all: Senator Chiz Escudero. (more…)

Success: #BuhayMedia

I had read about the stories of the members of the Talent Association of GMA (TAG) Network with sadness and frustration, compassion and anger. I could not believe that this institution, this high profile media network, could be so unkind to its workers of 5, 10, 15 years. I could not believe that the same space that I thought had treated me well enough for three years (or so) as a regular contributor for GMA News Online, had decided to treat its workers so badly.

Because being unfair to another, oppressing one’s workers, is a decision one makes. But also being silenced by fear — that makes us all complicit.   (more…)

Probably the one thing I am most thankful for having gone to UP Diliman for an undergraduate degree in Comparative Literature in the latter half of the 90s, were the set of literature teachers and minds available to me, the ones who were well-grounded in nation and how and where theories are limited in capturing where we are, what we think, where to go from here.  (more…)

NOTE: Urban Modifications is on exhibit at Vinyl on Vinyl at The Collective in Malugay.

Seize The Daze
Photography has always been embroiled in the question of impropriety: what is it that you seize, that you catch in a frozen frame, other than what is expected, if not what is obvious?

H

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Meloto meltdown

I was never sold on Gawad Kalinga. I’ve always equated it with a specific kind of religiosity that to me reeked of conservatism. I also always thought that it became a convenient way to do Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) for many-a-Pinoy company: go build houses, get a tax shield!

It might be why this meltdown with GK Head Tony Meloto did not surprise me. Certainly I took it with a grain of salt. At the same time, there are some jokes that are just difficult to forgive. Without a transcript or recording of the speech itself, we’ve got a she-said-he-said between the University of Hawaii-Center of Philippine Studies (UH-CPS) and Meloto. It’s reason enough to have this discussion on sexism and elitism. (more…)