Did I mention talent?
Because it’s true that the datedness of a text such as this, set in the 1970s, is wont to mean an amount of disengagement with its unfolding on a current stage. And yet, as with many things that are fiction(al) to us, there is the task of falling head first into an unfamiliar story’s telling, and finding that it can be absolutely enjoyable.The cast of ‘No Way To Treat A Lady’ reminds us that sometimes five is enough. (more…)
because as i try to wrap my head around this, the more urgent task has been to respond to what to me are the more unthinking and insensitive assertions about Kristel Tejada’s suicide, in relation to her unpaid tuition fees at the University of the Philippines Manila.
and because if there’s anything that is even sadder here, it’s that those who assert that this is no political issue, are those who fail to see that their mere articulation of such is the most useful assertion that this government can use in their political favor. yup, y’all are on the matuwid na daan. it’s got elitism and bourgeois ideology written all over it. you’ve also got blood on your hands.
In January, the Department of Tourism (DOT) celebrated the 6.09% rise in the number of tourists to the Philippines. That’s 25,000 more people who have come to visit this country where everything’s more fun. That’s 436,079 tourists who landed in good ol’ Pinas in January alone.
It gives me goosebumps. Far from the good kind.
Because it would take an amount of delusion to think this all good, and only the naïve would think those numbers equal to development or change. This is not to dispute those numbers, neither is it to question those online surveys that say Boracay is the Best Beach in Asia. This is to ask questions borne of actually traveling this country, and observing tourism on the ground.
This is to ask: have you heard of the “poor Filipino face?” (more…)
Over on Twitter, Teddy Boy Locsin claims credit for suggesting that actor Robin Padilla be brought to Sabah to help resolve the conflict. Locsin’s take on Robin of course is somewhat limited: he is charismatic, he is handsome, he can make people stop doing what they’re doing, Locsin says.
But in fact Robin’s iconography, his history as icon, reveals how while he might be all these adjectives, what is far larger than his charisma and looks is what he’s done, how he’s involved himself in issues political and religious, how these tie together to reveal a whole image that is in fact quite credible. He is after all one of the more sought after product endorsers of, wait for it, health products.
It’s easy to think that we’ve forgotten Robin’s younger more rebellious self. Of course in the landscape of popular culture in this country, it is highly probable that the Bad Boy title is what makes Robin even more credible. After all, how many of our icons can turn their lives around? (more…)
Bam Aquino promises to bring social entrepreneurship to the Senate. That he is running on that, and his last name (obviously!), is the most vulgar act of political ambition we might see since the Pacquiaos (in the plural!) decided they must all run for government in Gen San (Jinkee for Governor!). At least Jinggoy and JV went through years of being mayor. And yes, I am comparing the Aquinos (Kris included!) to the Estradas.
Such is local politics, and yes that’s a lot of ironic and disgusted exclamation points.
But Bam might be the biggest bummer of all. Check out his website and find that he has no platform – it is as empty as his CV. It’s in bright Cory yellow (because he is proud of the dynasty he is part of), and has as its main navigational tool a sari-sari store filled with objects you can click on. So click on the TV and you get a photo and video gallery, click on the radio and you get soundbites, click on the stack of newspapers and you get news and updates – all favorable of course.
Not surprisingly, you cannot click on any of the goods that are for sale in the sari-sari store. That which is the lifeblood of the space? Bam’s got nothing on there. (more…)