2009 was not exactly a good year for the Philippines, but we did have our shining moments thanks to great Filipinos whose names will forever be honored for proving to the world that we are a world-class people.
People like boxer guy, pushcart teacher guy, Snoopy-wearing singer girl, and that hip hop dance crew have helped prove that our nation is more than just one of servants.
Noche Buena, midnight masses, drunken fathers hurling invectives at scared children. Nobody does Christmas quite like Filipinos. We’ve elevated the annual celebration of Christ’s birth into an art form. There are, however, some things that Christmas 2010 could do without. They bring nothing to the table, after all, and all too often take something away.
From hinting at retiring into the academe a few months ago, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is now keeping us in suspense on whether she’ll go for a congressional seat in Pampanga, or turn into sea foam at the end of her term.
Wan Chai, Hong Kong
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That we Filipinos see the law as something that can be bent is a given. This mentality seems to extend to other, more immutable laws, though. The law of gravity, say.
Philippine air regulations prohibit the use of mobile phones and other devices with transmitters aboard airplanes. The rationale being mobile phones could interfere with the airplane’s navigation systems and its ability to stay in the sky.
This does not seem to matter much to Filipinos, though, as demonstrated by a chorus of Nokia tones and message alert beeps that accompany Philippine flights on their final approach to any airport.
The thinking, I suppose, is that since you’re almost there anyway, a sudden burst of cellular activity won’t really matter much. No way to go but down, right?
"o, kumusta ka na? anong oras na diyan?"
The warning to stay buckled in until the plane comes to a complete stop is likewise treated as a friendly suggestion. This shaves off precious seconds of deplaning time, but also increases the risk of baggage flying around.
No worries in case you get hit on the head by a suitcase, though. Medical assistance is just a call or text away.
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Yes, we lost at the Philippine Blog Awards 2009.
In 2002, GMA-7 relaunched itself as the Kapuso (roughly, “of the same heart”) network and started calling their talents and consumers kapuso. In 2003, ABS-CBN followed suit with their Kapamilya (roughly, “of the same family”).
Other stations and media outlets soon became ka-bandwagon and started calling their viewers and listeners kabarkada (“of the same gang”), kasambahay (“of the same household”) and kabagang (“of the same…you know what? They probably just made that up”).
God Help Us! Carlo J. Caparas has a point, or at least a talking point worth spinning into the age-old rich vs. poor rhetoric that political debate at any level always boils down to.
In a recent radio interview, Direk Carlo J., argued that other National Artists protesting his being awarded a National Artist are dry, old academics whose works are only read in college classrooms. He, on the other hand, is “a National Artist who came from the masses.â€
National Artists Virgilio Almario, F. Sionil Jose and Bienvenido Lumbera should be kissing his feet, he said, because finally, there is a national artist “who the masses can identify with—someone who walks beside them, someone who can inspire them.†Inspire them to massacre people, I suppose, or to put on superhero costumes. Or maybe the object lesson is to pray to God in the face of horrible crimes. Whatever. The point is the inspiration is right there for the taking. Whereas, of course, students have to slog through novels and short stories (and go to college, I guess) before picking up some sort of lesson from these old writer guys.
And, really, that’s it isn’t it? A National Artist should be someone who embodies the culture of his people. And if we happen to appreciate fantaseryes and komiks more than we do literature and films that make us think, then Carlo J. Caparas as national artist makes total sense. In the end, the main criterion is “having made significant contributions to the development of Philippine arts.†Nobody said that it should be a development we necessarily welcome.
And come on, guys. How can anyone argue with his wife Donna Villa who said “even Jesus Christ was criticized because of his boldness to save mankind from sins”? Do you know who else has used that defense? Cebu Rep. Pablo Garcia for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Also, and to much less success, Jesus.
I am Jesus. Christ!
It’s the same thing with Nazis and Godwin’s Law, I guess. As the list of someone’s critics in a Catholic third world country grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Jesus approaches 1. This is M‘s Law, and marks the end of rational discussion.
"Uy, daddy mo!"
There was a time when NU107 (107-dot-5 MHz in Pasig) was a religion. “Zach and Joey in the Morning” was the sermon and the music was, well, church music, I guess.
As with any religion, there were zealots. Kids who were obsessed with the DJs and struck up slightly awkward but slightly cool relationships with them. Sending food to the booths or stalking them or whatever. With a decidedly baduy showbiz scene, being sort of friends with a DJ was almost as cool as being in a band.
And NU107’s ads were psalms, or at least scripture that kids could quote for their own ends. The tagline of an ad for “In the Raw”–their show for undiscovered bands–became the catchphrase for having anything interrupted by your parents.
Whether it was half-hearted masturbation to fall asleep or cutting classes to go the the mall, “Uy, Daddy mo!” meant one thing: you’re nicked.
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There are few things that can titillate the Filipino quite like gossip. And when it’s gossip couched in a puzzle, well, you have the makings of one of the finest forms of Filipino pop literature: the blind item.
Equal parts bugtong, Katipunan-era codenames, current events and Tito, Vic and Joey (in unequal parts since Tito is not quite as funny,) blind items take subtle digs at politicians and public figures in the closest thing that we have to satire.
The format is pretty standard. It starts off with a litany of sins or blunders committed by the public figure. Source attribution is lax, with stories generally relying on reports “ayon sa ating bubwit (according to our mole.*)”
serious journalists
The meat of the blind item is in the reveal, where the identity of the target is hinted at through clever clues and wordplay.
Consider this gem that is, bar none, the best blind item ever according to our bubwits. The body of the article is about a senator who allegedly was a bit too touchy-feely with a female reporter, and the reveal:
Clue: Maliban sa pagiÂging political butterfly, kaÂsing-tulis din ng paru-paro ang matandang senador dahil maraming ‘bulaklak ang sinimsim’, mula sa dating propesyon hanggang sa kauri nito.
Ito’y napakahilig sa mestisahin at merong letrang ‘A’, sa kabuuan ng surname, as in Ang hirap ng buhay habang taga-broadsheet ang lady reporter.–Spy on the Job
First one to guess correctly wins an Internet.
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*strictly speaking , a bubwit is a baby mouse and is properly called a pup. But that wouldn’t have conveyed the same meaning.
An Anonymous tribute to Shaider and Michael Jackson, who are both dead.
Supposedly.
