On Carlo Caparas Being a National Artist

Carlo Caparas is not a visual artist. And certainly not a National Artist material.

Gerry Alanguilan has said it best in this online petition

When the highest award for artists in the Philippines can be dispensed through political patronage rather than merit, then it certainly says something about how we, as a nation, regard arts and culture in our country. GMA has committed an outrage that must be redressed. I do hope the Supreme Court rules against the insertion of undeserving National Artists by Malacañang.

On Looking For A Job and Selling Banana Que

With my separation pay from my previous job being almost depleted, I had no choice but to seriously look for a job these past few weeks.

This time with more desperation than ever.

Yup, desperate enough to consider selling banana-que...or eating my words.

A college professor once admonished us to take up masteral studies in Political Science because, otherwise, all we were good for, as BA undergraduates of the said course is "selling banana-que". The good professor, I believe, does not really denigrate those who sell banana-que---at least not consciously. But those who do sell them, she would say, are undergrad students, too. "Go ahead, ask them." We all laughed, of course, thinking how much a kidder the professor can be.

Well, after graduation, I sort of realize how true her words can be. Let me put it this way:

What's one sure way to turn up negative results in a job search engine? PUT IN THE WORDS "POLITICAL SCIENCE" THEN PRESS "ENTER".


If my said professor had low regard for banana-que vendors in UP, then she had a LOWER regard for call center agents. I didn't teach you political analysis just so you could all be "telephone operators", she would say.

"That wouldn't happen to me," I would mutter. After all, haven't I chosen factory work and labor service above and beyond the lure of easy money in a call center? Yes, I did. I even told a friend, half-jokingly that I might as well sell banana-que before I consider working for a call center.

I've always imagined myself working for an Non-Government Organization after graduation. I wanted to continue serving other people. I wanted to nurture my social advocacies while providing for my necessities. And so I submitted a few applications to certain NGOs just after graduation.

And then I waited. And waited. And waited. A friend from the labor sector told me to wait some more because there's definitely going to be a job opening in the labor advocacy center soon. So I waited some more.

Unfortunately, my funds are fast running out. I didn't get much separation pay to begin with, in the first place. And I had to provide for my needs in the meantime.

And so, suddenly, the prospect of getting a call center job didn't seem all that bad. After all, some of my friends are working as call center agents and they're doing mighty fine, aren't they? And didn't they say, getting a call center job would be a cinch?

In short, I ended up eating my banana-que laden words: I applied for a call center job.

I'm putting this in my blog to remind myself to always be humble. To not let the prejudices of some other people affect my future decisions. And to not let myself forget that whatever I achieve in life... I'll always be factory worker.

Which is about as decent a job can get---as decent as the banana-que seller. Which, in the end, is way better than a politician or congressman, right? (Oops, here I go again.)

The Mike Enriquez effect

I used to watch TV Patrol religiously but I became disgusted with it when the newscast featured longer and longer segments of crime or traffic accidents. When I tune in to my evening newscast, I want to watch news, dammit, not some neighborhood altercation somewhere in Metro Manila that gets to be broadcast on National TV just because some blockhead reporter hangs around police precincts too much and do not sniff out more news worthy stories.

Now, I’m starting to get incensed with GMA news, and I believe it’s because of Mike Enriquez and what he brought to the news and newscasting in general. It may be funny when an impersonator mimics Mike Enriquez in a comedy routine but alas, the real joke is on us.



Mike Enriquez doesn’t deliver the news: he shouts them. He treats his audience as if they are all hard of hearing. When somebody said he should be a hard-hittin’ newscaster, he took it to mean literally. He took it to mean aurally. Maybe one could forgive him in the beginning because his roots are from radio broadcasting, but he’s been on it for years on television and somebody should tell him to tone down his voice--- particularly his bosses from GMA 7.

Mike Enriquez also points out what is already quite apparent. He treats everyone as if they were half-blind. For instance, just before the commercials are shown, he announces that in a small hick town, a bull went rampaging inside a supermarket as caught in a CCTV camera. He says: “O, ayun, nakita ninyo mga kapuso? O, ayun o, sumugod!”. He does this every time. He interjects his inane remarks into his news spiel. Somebody should tell him: “yes, everyone can see that, now stop pointing out the obvious!”.

Mike Enriquez, as the self-styled Imbestigador ng Bayan, also struts about like he’s Zorro: the defender of the poor and the oppressed. Yes, even in the newscast wherein he features himself. We want the news, we don’t want to see your adventures (or more likely, the adventures of your staff wherein you take all the credit as you narrate).

He ceased to be the dark knight of the oppressed for me years ago when I saw in one of the segments in his program the story of a supposedly abused student. This student was apparently being sexually propositioned by a superior in his school, so what the Imbestigador did was to equip that minor with a hidden camera and set-up a sting operation. The child met with the alleged sexual molester in a motel. Only then did they call the police. So when they tried to barge into the motel with cameras and police in tow, the motel management ran interference, fearing it would sow panic in their customers.

It was several hours later when they were finally allowed to secure the child. In the end, the molester was caught, the Imbestigador had good ratings but at what price? The child was molested under their own noses. Under the sting they had poorly planned. To my mind, they were as guilty as the child molester, perhaps even more so. To my mind, Mike Enriquez is also a child molester.

Of course, now, Mike Enriquez carries the Anak-Seal TV award as one of the most admired TV newscaster of children. Ay, if they only knew.

And this is what disturbs me most about this Mike Enriquez brand of newscasting: it’s being legitimized. It’s being accepted as good newscasting even by standard award –giving bodies. Gone are the days of no-frills newscasts from my youth from the likes of Ms. Tina Monzon-Palma and Ms. Cathy Santillan. The worse is, I can sense that the newscasters even from other channels are assimilating the Mike Enriquez Style.

When I watch the evening news, I want to watch more news. Not more newscaster quirks.

Walang Kinikilingan, Walang Pinoprotektahan

In a recent interview, Ms. Jessica Soho, vice-president for News programs of the GMA network’s News and Public Affairs’ Department said: “…ang branding sa amin, pag GMA news kilala yan na patas, nasa gitna talaga. Totoo yan sinasabi namin eh. Wala kaming interests to protect, therefore wala kaming kinikilingan, wala kaming pinuprotektahan. Ang baduy, noh? (Laughs). Serbisyong totoo lamang. Kung merong kaming pwedeng ipagmalaki, yun”.

I can’t believe she takes that seriously. Or expects anyone else to swallow it hook, line and sinker. The operative word in her reply, I believe is “Branding”. That is how they like to fashion themselves. But of course, we know better.

I do not believe that GMA news, or any news organization for that matter, can really be that objective to state “walang kinikilingan, walang pinoprotektahan”. Even the tenets of elementary journalism and broadcasting admits that we can’t really claim pure objectivity. Our political, religious, sexual and cultural upbringing will always color the way we see and interpret things and I don’t think the reporters from GMA-7 are exempt from this. Our political socialization affords us a unique lens in which we view---or in the case of newscasters---frame the stories.

GMA news is a business and like all businesses, they, who run them would move heaven and earth to protect their own. They have an interest to perpetuate: the credibility of their own broadcast.

Also, they have a television station with a stable of stars and shows. Even a cursory look at the showbiz news the evening broadcast carries will show that it is heavily focused--- on their own stars. For instance they feature such inane segments like “Sexbomb girls (the network’s patented version of dancing vixens popularized in a noontime show) teaches children to dance”. It had no real human interest to begin with. It wasn’t as if the children were dying of terminal diseases or something. Nope.

Why on earth would they feature that? Are they trying to promote the Sexbomb Girls as some group little Filipino children could emulate? “Mama, when I grow up, I wanna be a sexbomb girl!”. Mom: “now pout your lips, gyrate and say: Awwww!” The real reason: it was because the sexbomb girls has a new season in their afternoon soap.

There’s also the Manila-centic news. You can hear about a neighborhood altercation among residents in Metro manila complete with slapping incidents inside the police stations but you don’t hear similar incidents in neighboring provinces. You hear about a motorcycle accident in Metro Manila involving one person but you don’t hear about vehicular accidents in Visayas or Mindanao unless it involves a certain threshold of fatalities preferably in the double digits. So yes, there’s bias because the bread-and-butter of GMA news derives from advertising revenues in Metro Manila so they would naturally pander to news about or in Metro Manila.

GMA also has newscasters doubling as product endorsers. One endorses a shampoo, the other a liquor brand, while some a laundry detergent and even a health supplement. Their credibility as news presentors suffer because GMA news allows this. Although I consider myself more of a GMA viewer (oh, please no “kapuso” shtick) than the other channel, I believe that the restriction on product endorsements by newscasters as imposed by ABS-CBN was a good call. Will the product endorsers report about labor disputes or labor issues in the companies whose product they espouse? How about if someone doesn’t get well from taking a health supplement that a famous newscaster endorses? If truly they have no bias, they would have to report such cases., but the question is: will they have credibility? Will the people believe in them?

There’s also the Atty. Gozon slant. Atty. Felipe Gozon (along with Mr. Gilberto Duavit, of the Duavit political clan in Rizal) owns the majority shares of the network. I feel that if a foundation wanted to have news coverage for its activities it will have to invite Atty. Gozon because there’s almost always an Atty. Gozon feature in every evening newscast. It doesn’t matter what the activity was, if they had invited Mr. Gozon to speak, that would most assuredly earn a few seconds spot on national television. Ah, what the powers-that-be at GMA news would do to suck up to their boss.

Every evening we hear “walang kinikilingan, walang pinoprotektahan, serbisyong totoo lamang” as the GMA 7 sign-off but the truth is, no matter how much they repeat this mantra, no matter how much they try to make themselves and others believe: it will never be self-fulfilling.

Because it’s patently false.

Bumped off by Aling Dionisia

On the Last week of April, I attended a Labor Center’s press conference on the upcoming Labor Day mobilizations.

The venue was a newly-opened restaurant in front of the ABS-CBN headquarters in Quezon City. I arrived half an hour early so I decided to help out in setting up the banners and what-not for that planned mid-morning press con.

There was a smattering of print journalists and one broadcast journalist from a giant TV network. When it was about 11 o’clock, the press con finally started. I was asked to pinch-hit for the leader of the Association for Displaced Filipino Workers who couldn’t make it to the said event.

I sat at the farthest end of the table. The cut-out cardboard name I sat in front of wasn’t even mine. I tried to look all serious and pensive---thinking that is what my whole participation that morning shall require. I will just sit there and somebody else will do all the talking.

Then they told me I should prepare a statement.

The press-con began. The Labor Center president started to read his prepared statement. Then, the TV reporter approached the table, not even bothering to listen to half of what he said and asked: “can you just get right on the part about your planned nationwide mobilization? It’s nationwide, right?”

“Uhm, yes.”

Apparently, he wasn't really after the story about the current travails of Philippine labor. What he needed was some quotable quotes, a soundbite. He doesn't need to listen, I rationalized to myself. Maybe he thinks everything we have to say is included in his press kit. The reporter then adds: “can you also raise your fists so we can take pictures?”

After taking the perfunctory pictures, the TV crew hurriedly left. Other reporters left as well. Only a couple of print journalists stayed long enough to listen to what we really have to say. (They were still eating, anyway.)

I was the last to say my piece. At that time there was only one tabloid reporter left. But it didn't matter. I simply stated what I felt as a worker displaced by the current economic crisis and how I view the palliative measures in which the government tries to solve the problem: by staging job fairs during Labor Day.

It was a pretty good speech, I believe, mostly because the words were wrenched from my gut. I did not talk about workers as an abstract group; I talked about what I felt and experienced.

Later that night, I tried to catch the early evening news and the late night news, hoping to catch the few seconds they gave us to air our announcement regarding the Labor Day rallies.

Of course, there was no mention of it.

I tried to rationalize that maybe there are other more news worthy stories out there that night. That is until I saw the inordinately long series of feature stories on Manny Pacquiao's mom, Aling Dionisia on that day: Aling Dionisia arriving in the US; Aling Dionisia being welcomed by her cousin, Aling Dionisia going to the hotel where Manny stays; Aling Dionisia arriving at the hotel; and Aling Dionisia being welcomed by Manny with a kiss even if he was really tired and sleepy by the time she arrived.

It's a good thing Philippine TV newscast knows its priorities.



The next morning, I woke up late because of staying up late for the late evening newscast. I scanned the tabloids, but alas, I found no mention on the front page. Maybe it's on the inside pages, I reckoned or one of the tabloids that were already sold before I went there. Maybe.

What does Philippine media deem important? Isn't the plight of Filipino workers more newsworthy than the first trip to America of Manny Pacquiao's mom? It's only a few more days before May 1 but there's hardly any mention of the current condition Filipino workers being battered by the economic crisis.

I felt guilty for eating at that restaurant. It was supposed to be a breakfast buffet but it turned out to be a brunch for us, participants. That press con must have set back the already cash-strapped Labor Center and for what? Neglible media coverage. I have resolved, therefore, never to sit in front of press conferences in the future to face the media. Unless I can get drag Aling Dionisia to the same table, of course.

Jesus vs. the Pope

The Corrupt LGU of Morong, Rizal

Here is a blog from my friend, Kim. Please click on the link. He has stood against the corrupt practices of the LGU of Morong, Rizal and he has recently received some death threats in the process.

Here is the link for part 2

And here is my reaction/reply to him:

In the end, you stood up for the principles you believe in, and for that:I salute you. We need more people like you who are willing to stand up for their rights.

I have to add though, that you, standing up against corruption is a result of a confluence of factors and did not necessarily arise from you being a UP student---the fact that the mayor may have been a relative, your moral upbringing and political socialization and other external factors like the weather, I surmise, must have played some part in your decision to confront the ugly reality of local corruption at that particular time---so I admonish you to brandish being a UP student more judiciously in the future. Believe me, many UP graduates are quite ambivalent in divulging their being UP graduates because of various stereotypes the public have of them (for nurturing the likes of Marcos, Joma, Ninoy and ...heaven help us, Miriam).

Corruption takes many forms and it doesn't have to be as brazen as what you had experienced. When you start working you'll be faced with seemingly "victim-less" type of corruption like accepting gifts from suppliers during special events in the company. Or taking home some supplies the company would have disposed. These things silently chip away at the core of the very principles you espouse, if you are not aware of them. But I'm glad, young as you are, you already drew the line. You already know where you'll stand.

It's a good victory but the key to winning the battle is to sustain it hoping others do likewise. Or just change the the whole defective system (Sorry, I couldn't resist.)

Please spread his story. it's the best way to protect him from the nefarious cops of Morong. Thank you.

Letter to GMA 7 news

Last December, after watching SAKSI, the late evening newscast at GMA Channel 7, I wrote a letter to its editor, to wit:

I saw the SAKSI newscast yesterday ostensibly to view the UP Lantern parade which I had just attended, when I came across the news regarding the sinking of the ship off the coast of Antique.

The ship apparently was en route to San Jose, Occidental Mindoro but the computer graphics erroneously showed: SAN JOSE, ORIENTAL MINDORO.

Did your editors also err? Even a cursory knowledge of geography would reveal that the western side is usually referred as the Occidental side and not oriental.

I also take umbrage because I grew up in San Jose. Occidental Mindoro may not have the tourist haven called Puerto Galera but not every prosperous and beautiful town in Mindoro belongs to Oriental Mindoro---San Jose being a case in point.

I was not able to see the earlier newscast, 24 Oras, but I hope you did not repeat such faux. I hope you could rectify this error. Thank you for your time.

The editor never replied. When I checked back on the story in their website, I found out that the ship actually sank in SAN JOSE, ANTIQUE and not SAN JOSE, OCCIDENTAL MINDORO. Well how about that, eh? They even showed a computer-generated map of its location in Mindoro but it turns out to be in a completely different island several hundred miles away.

Of course, GMA 7 would never admit to such faux pas. Who would have noticed anyway? The newscast was aired almost at midnight. Everyone watching would have been half-asleep by then. Nobody would care. Maybe just some nutcase who happens to hail from San Jose, Occidental Mindoro and who was watching the news to see some fireworks. But then, he's a nobody.

Well, I care for the truth. And for a station that bills itself as the "tahanan ng katotohanan"("house of truth"), GMA 7 should also be very careful in dispensing factual truths in its newscast.

The Call for Moral Renewal

I would like to begin the year for this blog by talking about the call for moral renewal issued by the esteemed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Reynato Puno. Specifically, this was my reaction to an earlier post in my alma mater's yahoogroup (former students of Divine Word college of San Jose) on the same topic.

This is what the original post written by besprenjames said:

From: besprenjames
Subject: DWCsjom Morality Issue
To: dwcsjom@yahoogroups.com
Date: Saturday, January 17, 2009, 9:50 AM

Chief Justice Reynato Puno is talking now moral regeneration,
after someone leaked a document about an electoral issue,
stirring for his ouster through impeachment.

The problem with morality is that it is subjective. What is
moral to a group could be immoral to another sector. What
an impressionist classic painting for Jawo could be porno to
the eyes of Jowa. It is immoral by larger segment to drink
wine, but for the Germans and look-at-me, drinking wine
relaxes reflexes and can induce literati juice. Iglesia ni
Cristo, vampires, and the aswangs hate the cross, but the
Catholics use it, sign themselves with it, at every moment
of low-bat.

What is actually Filipino brand of morality ? Well,
morality changes color at the knock of compromise. Let me
tell a parable:

There is an earthworm looking to the sky where a bird is
gliding gracefully. The earthworm wished: "If I have that
wings, I can be happy and free up to high heavens."

Up in the sky, the bird saw the earthworm, and decided to
approach the latter.

The bird said: "I am hungry and hunting for lunch."

The earthworm answered: "I wish to have wings like you."

Being with different intention, the two decided to compromise,
find the acceptable half way.

In the end, the bird has its lunch and the earthworm is
inside a body with wings.

And this was my reply:

This post by Mr. James or besprenjames---who has a predilection for starting several threads of discussion in this group at a single time that I am tempted to appeal for some moderation---deserves more than a passing thought. He attempted to use the current issue on the call for "moral regeneration" by the current Chief Justice as a springboard of discussion, flippantly dismisses the same by saying morality is subjective, and goes on to relate a "parable" that made me wonder whether it is still related to his main topic of morality or he has wandered off to another topic (for instance, the Filipino's apparent knack for compromise.)

As an aside: I have to say that drinking wine was never considered an immoral issue unless you were in the US during the time of the Prohibition; in which case the morality issue stems more from flouting the law, not on the mere act itself (unless the moralists could overturn the events of the Miracle at the wedding in Cana first). And although I can't speak in behalf of aswangs and vampires, I wouldn't be so quick to conclude that our Iglesia ni Cristo brethrens actually "hate the cross". It's just that they regard the holy Cross not in the same manner we Catholics do. Also, I have to point out that when you say Catholics "sign themselves with a cross" it comes across(no pun intended) as Catholics signing their names with a mark of the cross---in which case that only happens in two instances:when one is a prelate or a priest or when one is dead(in which case, somebody has to sign for you, of course). A better turn of the phrase to avoid confusion therefore is "making the Sign of the Cross". But I quibble.

Now the main issue is the call for Moral regeneration by the Chief Justice. I am no particular fan of Chief Justice Puno but he has earned my utmost respect for leading an independent Supreme Court under his stewardship. Aside from the Church, he is in the best position to call for such a campaign, having an untarnished reputation. Here is a decent man, having no ulterior motives sounding the alarm for the rest of us. Joe de Venecia may have called for the same a few months back but the people naturally did not listen. They know he's as rotten as the rest of them. Also, it is quite unfair to say that CJ Puno only gave this call after he was besieged by the electoral issue since he was essentially saying the same in many of his previous speeches(for instance when he called for a human rights convention that eventually led to the decision for the issuance of the Writ of Amparo).

Impeachment is an extraordinary means to remove a constitutionally-protected public officer. It is the people's last resort against flagrant abuse of public office. What's particularly galling about this rumored impeachment call by former Congressman Paras, a stooge and the usual attack dogs of GMA in Congress is that Puno's supposedly heinous "crime" is just sitting on an unpromulgated Supreme Court decision on the citizenship of Paras' erstwhile political nemesis. It's a flimsy excuse for such an extraordinary constitutional measure as impeachment. More likely it is designed to ensure a favorable decision from a Puno-less Supreme Court on the the proposed cha-cha to extend the terms of the sitting officials as some pundits contend.

And to think that just months before, these same benighted Congressmen junked another impeachment complaint aganst GMA whose supposed crimes against public office run the gamut from the Hello, Garci scandal, to the ZTE scam, the Fertilizer fund scam, the forced disappearances and summary executions of journalists and dissidents, etc. It certainly helped that GMA has the power of the purse to entice Congressmen to look the other way.

But what are we teaching the next generation of children here? That a man who pilfers telephone cables can rot in jail but those who are convicted plunderers like Erap get pardoned; or in the case of Imelda, gets a government contract to have sharing of the loot? PDEA's Marcelino sounds the alarm that bribery maybe afoot in the DOJ, and our DOJ Secretary gets to question the constitutionality of Marcelino assuming his position as PDEA chief, thus jeopardizing all other drug cases filed by PDEA? How did we, as a nation, come to this pass?

I think Chief Justice Puno is challenging us to be ever more vigilant. We must guard against abuses of power by public officials. We need to maintain the integrity of our Courts. We need to re-assert our age-old values...well, despite having to live under the increasing amoral administration of the current illegitimate president.

Yes, what is 'art' to Jawo may be 'porno' to Jowa, but we are not talking about art or aesthetics here. The concept of morality may be culturally and temporally-bound but change does not happen overnight or as the writer puts it "changes color at the knock of compromise". You see, the "morality" CJ Puno was talking about is entirely different from the nebulous morality of what self-appointed moralist of art and literature the writer may be talking about. To refer to such "morality" after using the call of Puno as springboard is intellectually misleading and dishonest. And to dismiss the talk of morality on the account that it is subjective is missing the point entirely.

As far as I know: I was taught by my parents (not to mention my teachers at DWC) that CHEATING IS WRONG, so when I hear that the sitting president may have influenced an election commisioner to make her win by a margin of 1 million votes, I am certain that that is morally wrong. I can't compromise on that. I was taught that LYING IS WRONG so when the sitting president tries to deny knowledge of the ZTE scam and later admits flying in the middle of the night to sign the ZTE agreement, then I know she was dishonest. I was taught that KILLING YOUR NEIGHBOR IS WRONG so when I hear about journalists being killed I know that is wrong and that any government that ostensibly permits the same is wrong. No compromises. When somebody like Chief Justice Puno calls for the moral renewal: he was certainly not talking about our taste in art. He was talking about our values as a society living in this day and age.

And come to think of it, those were the same values Moses advocated when he came down from the mountain.


To know more about the facts of the Puno impeachment issue I suggest you follow this link:

http://newsbreak.com.ph/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5764&Itemid=88889051