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?
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…)
I was never sold on the idea of the Davao Death Squads executing and salvaging “criminals.” The notion that it is the failure of the legal process that has encouraged the existence of the DDS, the idea that it is the failure of the law to bring these criminals to justice that justifies these extrajudicial killings, just does not fly with me. (more…)
There are at least a hundred more Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) on death row in different parts of the world. Mary Jane Veloso is still in jail. But newspapers and programs are now filled with other issues, edging out the plight of these OFWs, and the crisis of the bagong bayani in general.
Here, so that we might not forget:
Where lies hope, April 29.
Mary Jane and government spin, May 3.
Taking credit, timelines, injustice, May 6.