Magtatrabaho na sana ako, kaya lang hindi ko na kayang patagalin pang hindi isulat lahat ng nakuha ko mula sa pelikulang Heneral Luna ni Jerrold Tarog. Sa mga nakapanood na, malamang alam ninyo ang pakiramdam. Sana pareho tayo ng nararamdaman.

Una sa lahat, ang galing. Hindi ako isang batikang kritiko ng pelikula. Gusto ko lang sanang itanong sa inyo kung napansin ninyo rin ang napansin ko: bukod sa katapangan at kabayanihan ni Heneral Antonio Luna, alam kong napansin ninyo rin ang kabaluktutan ng pulitika natin noon pa man. 

Siguro may ilan sa inyo na nagsabing, "Matagal na pala tayong ganito?" o kaya naman, "Kaya pala ganito gobyerno natin ngayon eh!” May namumunong walang sariling desisyon, may mga maimpluwensyang kapitalista, may mga walang ginagawa, at may mga umiiyak na kinakawawa daw sila.

Ang bagong henerasyon

Pero napansin ninyo ba si Joven Hernando (Arron Villaflor)? Isa siya sa mga ginawang tauhan sa kwento, parang tagapagsalaysay. Hindi ko alam kung napansin ninyo ang bigat at laki ng karakter niya sa kwento.

Sa gitna ng pelikula kung saan nabaril si Joven sa kamay at tenga, at matapos makita ang reaksyon ni Heneral Luna, napatanong ako kung bakit ganoon na lang kahalaga sa kanya na maprotektahan ang batang ito. Mayroon pang solong kuha si Joven nang itinataas siya ng mga mediko. Bukod dito, sa huling bahagi ng pelikula ay ipinakitang binibigkas ng heneral ang tulang isinulat niya, at sa huli ay makikitang si Joven na ang nagbibigkas nito.

Para sa akin, ito ang pinakamakapangyarihang bahagi ng pelikula.

Baka hindi naman talaga sinasadya ng manunulat, pero sa tingin ko, ang karakter ni Joven ay kumakatawan sa bagong henerasyon. Ang bagong henerasyon na kailangang pangalagaan at protektahan. Ang bagong henerasyon na kailangang makinig at umaksyon. Ang bagong henerasyon ng mga Pilipino na nangangailangang matutunan ang kasaysayan upang malaman kung ano ang totoo at dapat ipaglaban.

Marami ang nalulungkot sa kabaluktutan ng sistema at pag-iisip ng mga namumuno noon. Mabigat sa puso ang isipin na trinatraydor ng Pilipino ang kapwa Pilipino. Mahirap hanapan ng solusyon, maging ang pinakamagaling na heneral ay muntik nang sumuko. 

Mas madaling sumuko. Pero sana napansin ninyo rin ang isa pang bagay. Ang pag-asa.

Sa kabila ng kadilimang bumabalot sa kwento, ipinakita sa huli na si Joven ang nagtapos ng tula ng heneral. Nakita niya ang layunin ng bayani. Higit sa lahat, makikita mo sa kanyang mga mata at maririnig sa kanyang pananalita ang isang malakas na determinasyong ipagpatuloy ang misyon ng mga nauna sa kanya. 

O baka sa akin lang iyon. Pero sana, makuha ninyo rin. Sana makita natin na tayo ang bagong henerasyon, at ang pelikulang ito ay isang paraan lang upang malaman natin ang kasaysayan na nagbubuklod sa ating lahat. 

Kailangan tayo ngayon, mga bagong Pilipino. At hindi lang sa pamamagitan ng digmaan maipaglalaban ang bayan. — Rappler.com

Kimberly Ante is an aspiring scientist, a poet wannabe, and an all-around curious person. Kim is a recent BS Biology graduate from The University of the Philippines Los Banos." Visit her blog here.

The part of the world that has the Internet takes what the Internet can do for granted.

If we think of the Internet as a provider of information – from updates on our loved ones to weather alerts and educational materials – and as an equalizer against the status quo – where everyone's voice can be heard for whatever reason on whatever contentious topic rules the day – then it is a powerful force indeed.

If we think of the Internet as a force that enhances our ability to act, then our own human powers are amplified by the creativity we hold with how we use the information we find.

Senator Bam Aquino himself said, "The facets of the Internet go beyond just communications. If we want to grow this country, we have to solve this Internet issue fast."

No less than Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, in her keynote at Rappler's 2015 Social Good Summit on September 26, did a "negative shoutout" to the Philippines' telco providers for the country's "outrageously slow" Internet.

Indeed, there is a problem with taking the power of the Internet for granted. The state of the Philippine Internet is not great, not only because it is slow, but because it is scarce. The Philippines ranks 106th out of 191 countries in terms of the percentage of individuals (39.7%) using the Internet.

According to the latest data, among 133 developing countries, we rank 59th with 26.9% of households having Internet. As of last count, the Philippines at 3.7 Mbps (megabits per second) lags behind the 24.2 Mbps global average.

Worse still, 57% of the world's population remains offline – a fact that you might only really know if you had Internet access to check the data.The Philippine Internet is scarce because of prohibitive pricing and metered plans that carry volume allowances. For instance, the price of 2Mbps of Internet in the Philippines is 2/3 around 2/3 the price of 300 Mbps Internet in Singapore. Meanwhile mobile plans – the primary method of gaining access in a country where fixed broadrand prices are prohibitive – are metered: go beyond its limits and your speed is throttled.

This needs to change.

There are a number of different ways in which we can potentially solve the issue of slow, costly Internet, and very little of it has to do with engaging social media managers on brand websites.

On one front, forcing companies to compete – and thus worry about their bottom line – would help foster growth and discourage complacency. If Australia's Telstra, for example, wants to shake things up in the Philippines and make the main two providers in the country work for their keep, then let them duke it out.

On another front, the government should also put its foot down when it comes to having a neutral local Internet exchange for IP peering. If a neutral IX were in place that was supported by telecommunications companies, Internet Service Providers, and foreign companies could peer with one another, it should translate to faster connectivity for sites across all networks in the country, with less overall cost to many companies who are part of the Internet exchange

Of course, this can only be done through an exercise of political will: our will as Filipinos.

Make the state of the Philippine Internet an issue that will affect political careers. Instead of going to an ISP to complain about their service, gently remind the members of the Senate, the House of Representatives, and our current and future president that we need more players in the Internet game and better development and monitoring of Internet services and pricing so as to maintain a high standard of quality that Filipinos can reliably use.

And this should be one other notch on their agenda of issues to tackle before and after the elections. A few hundred thousand messages to every senator on Facebook will likely do the trick.

More importantly, instead of defacing the National Telecommunications Commission, which is trying to do the job it's mandated for with regard to Internet connectivity, you can take the time to talk to the Deparment of Trade and Industry and report accusations of false advertising or any other deceptive claims.

The DTI also has a Facebook page, and you can ask them for the email address of their Fair Trade Enforcement Bureau, along with what's required to get a complaint off the ground. 

The change we deserve as a nation will not be immediate, but if we find the information we need to act properly as a people, then change will come. We just have to keep pushing for it. – Rappler.com

Last Monday, coincidentally on the anniversary of Martial Law, I finally got to watch Heneral Luna—the local film that’s been storming the Filipino social media world since its release in theaters. For over a week, my newsfeed has been filled with nothing but posts and statuses of how grand the movie was, shares and links of news articles that reviewed the film, and even a circulating petition to keep it in the cinema houses when threatened it would be stopped from being showed.

And, as if the consensus of the general public on social media on the film wasn’t enough, a few hours before the 8:30 pm show that I was scheduled to watch, news broke out that it just got accepted as the Philippine entry for the 2016 Oscars.

Given the series of events, I could not bring myself to have had higher expectations for a local film. It was for this reason that I was utterly worried that I was going to be disappointed. I was worried it wouldn’t live up to its hype.

I was wrong. Within just 5 minutes into the film, I was proven dead wrong. I spent days trying to process why the film struck a chord in me so strongly, and I ended up counting so many reasons why it did. 

But, out of all them, the one that seems to have hit me the hardest was this one: Heneral Luna made me experience something for the first time ever – it made me feel both proud and ashamed to be Filipino. And, I cannot recall any experience in my lifetime that’s allowed me to feel anything closely similar.

Filipino shame and pride

Now, I can easily imagine these two experiences when felt separately. I do, after all, find it so easy to be proud to be Filipino when Manny Pacquaio has an upcoming fight and he represents our country on a global stage. I feel the same pride when I bump into former schoolmates and they tell me their stories about working for the government, non-governmental organizations and foundations, corporations, or studying in medical school, law school and graduate school.

It’s difficult not to feel a sense or pride and hope for the country when you see your own generation—the millennial generation, eager to take on the challenge of making the Philippines better.

Like a double-edged sword, however, the experience of being ashamed to be Filipino is probably just as easy. I feel that consistently when I watch fellow countrymen and women break everything from basic traffic laws to simple rules on littering. I feel that constantly as I watch an ongoing culture of hate manifest itself in proud, uninformed Facebook comments. It still disgusts me when I remember the time that some Filipinos managed to hate the recent Summa Cum Laude of U.P. Diliman because she was Chinese – as if there was some greater responsibility for a student than to study hard.

I share these experiences because I felt the extremes of both these feelings at the same time while watching Heneral Luna. It was genuinely hard not to.

Just thinking about how the film made me proud to be Filipino, I just remembered how the cinematography was an outstanding sensual treat to the eyes. It blew me away that we were capable of producing a film like this locally, and everything came together perfectly from the shooting of the war scenes between the Americans and Filipinos to the display of majestic landscapes and flashbacks.

Moreover, I could only appreciate the intimate shots even more when they were coupled with a playful and hard-hitting dialogue. With much respect for the script, it seemed to hit the nail on the head perfectly with regard to what the timeless sense of Filipino humor is: the ability to laugh at anything and everything. 

Whether it’s shooting from trenches and fighting against a superpower, taking a cannonball to the head, swearing, or trying to speak in fluent English, Filipinos seem to be able to laugh at anything under the sun. It switched on a little light bulb in me when I thought to myself that much of my own positivity and hope for the country could possibly be rooted in actually being a Filipino. That made me very happy.

But, that happiness and pride could only go so far when the movie pointed out one very true and shaming reality: that things in our country have not changed since 1898. During the last few scenes of the film when Emilio Aguinaldo and Felipe Buencamino Sr were denying any claims that they were involved with what happened to General Luna, it was so easy for me to imagine some of our country folk in the highest positions mouthing the same words – something to the effect of: “Hindi ko iyan kasalanan (It's not my fault).”

As I watched General Mascardo acting on his misplaced Filipino pride, making the Cavite forces fight against General Luna, I remembered the crab mentality that remains rampant until this day. It seems as though the culture of hate – the kind that manifests itself in floods of social media comments, existed back in 1898 as well. Even in just the opening scene where everyone was fighting over what to do with the Americans coming in, respectable dialogue seems to be something we were incapable of even back then.

The pride and shame of these realizations and realities brought me to the questioning of the very foundation of my being Filipino – something, I have to add, that no other local film has done for me either.

The question of being Filipino

After dwelling on Heneral Luna, I still find myself left with many puzzling questions. It seems as though, at its core, the most pressing question I ask myself is: what does it even mean to be Filipino today?

After 300 years in a convent and 50 years in Hollywood, as the Department of Tourism (DOT) put so eloquently back in their 2012 AVP, can a national identity even begin to exist? Is the ‘being Filipino’ we’ve grown up with even a valid representation of actual nationalism today? Can we even claim a Filipino identity to begin with? And, if we’re bold enough to do so, did we just somehow end up killing it off along with General Antonio Luna along the way?

Can a Filipino identity still exist? The answer I seem to be content with, for now, is that I believe it most certainly can. And, I feel I can say that with conviction because it is this personal sense of nationalism, that we all experience differently, that allows us to transcend what’s already written in our history books, and further us to be bold enough to write our own stories – our own kind of Philippine history.

I think Jerrold Tarog’s Heneral Luna did that perfectly. The film did not disregard the fact that much of our already written past involved having been colonized by Spain and America. The movie showed that part of our history but Tarog went beyond that and showed us a modern Filipino’s story on traditional and timeless nationalism. Tarog’s story showed us more than just a "what was," and "what is" – he showed us a "what can be" and "what more is there?"

The entire team that brought Heneral Luna to life seems to have given us more than just a film worth remembering – it’s given us the much-needed ink for our pens that have been empty for so long. It’s reminded us that the story of the Philippines goes on, and the only question that remains for us is: what kind of story are we now writing today? 

What kind of history are we making for tomorrow’s generation to read and see in the cinema in the future? When we hit 2098—200 years after what took place in the film, can we say we did what we could to teach the next generation to be more selfless because, at that time, hopefully that’s what it means to be Filipino? Can we sweep under the rug the culture of hate and selfishness that inspired the line "Bayan o sarili? (Country or self?)" in the first place? Will we see ourselves to grow up to be Lunas and bring pride to our country? Or will we live long enough to end up becoming the reason why we’re ashamed to be Filipino?

Whether we like it our not, this is the responsibility we’re left with after seeing something like Heneral Luna. It’s sparked and contributed to the story of our national identity, our being Filipino, and now it’s up to us to try and do the same. 

Will we manage to write just as great a story with our own lives to make the next people who read it be proud to call themselves Filipino, too? I genuinely hope so. I believe that would be something worth living for and dying for. And, I genuinely think that General Antonio Luna would think so, too. – Rappler.com

Serge Gabriel is a psychology graduate from the Ateneo de Manila University. He is an aspiring philosophy professor, triathlete, and restaurant owner. He currently juggles work in marketing, teaching, and writing while being a poet under Words Anonymous. He hopes that, whether within or after his lifetime, he can help make other people proud to call themselves Filipino.

Last Friday morning, September 25, I received a message from one of my Twitter followers in the United States, asking for my help. He said that his nephew, Lane White, had been arrested at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Manila, after airport security reportedly found ammunition in his luggage. The ammunition in question was a single .22 caliber bullet.

He also said that his nephew, who was traveling with his parents, was being pressured to sign a "confession" and pay "bail" in order to be released.

Details are still unclear, but it seems quite obvious that this is another case of extortion by law enforcers, something we hear about time and time again in the Philippines.

Being out of the country myself, I called friends who immediately reported the situation to the Philippine National Police (PNP) and other agencies. I'm sure that attention helped, but in the end, Lane, who is very likely an innocent victim, spent 5 days in the airport lockup, and was then taken to court, where he did pay bail through the legal process. The airport police of course deny that they asked for money.

To clarify, there are no law enforcement officers in this country who have the authority to set or collect bail. Bail is always set by a judge, in a courtroom hearing. And fines are likewise handled by a procedure above the level of the arresting officer. When a cop tells a detained person that he can be released upon payment of money, whether he calls it bail or a fine, what's really happening is nothing more than kidnapping and extortion. We should start calling it that.

It's worth noting that a second person reported an identical incident the same weekend. An American citizen (Filipina) traveling to the US, reported that NAIA security officials had extorted money from her after allegedly finding two bullets in her luggage. She paid out of fear. Fear of the government officials who were supposed to protect her.

There's simply no believable reason for a person to smuggle one, two, or even a handful of bullets. What purpose would it serve? That in itself makes the whole accusation ludicrous. But let's set that aside for now. Let's let the court decide the case, based on a rational evaluation of the evidence.

Sadly, this sort of thing happens way too often in the Philippines. Whether it's a case of evidence planted in luggage at the airport, or someone being "arrested" off the street by policemen, it's hard to read a newspaper without seeing at least one account of illegal detention and extortion by law enforcement officials. And we seem to place a great deal of trust in these officials, despite clear evidence that many are just plain crooked.

As a retired law enforcement officer myself, I have a few ideas that might help eliminate this problem.

Most importantly, we need to make the luggage screening process much more transparent. Allowing security officers to search a bag with any part of the process hidden, or even difficult to observe, is an open invitation to wrongdoing.

First, the x-ray machine. I believe all airport luggage scanners are capable of saving a screenshot at the push of a button. I don't know if this is standard practice at Philippine airports, but it should be required by law. A screenshot should be taken as the very first step whenever a scanner operator sees something suspicious, and that image should be submitted as part of the official report. This should happen even before the luggage is touched. No screenshot, no case!

Second, a supervisor should be summoned whenever a security officer has reason to physically search a piece of luggage, again, even before the bag is touched. This might require additional supervisors, but the current situation clearly calls for it. Again, no supervisor, no case!

And third, any physical search should be conducted in the open, in clear view of the bag owner, the supervisor, and bystanders. Place the bag on a table, and stand behind the table in a position where the bag owner can watch everything. In other words, go to great lengths to make the entire process highly visible. This should all be documented in the arresting officer's report, and included as evidence. If the cops can't show that these procedures were followed to the letter, no case!

Finally, although NAIA has a spotty record with CCTV cameras, the whole process should also be done under the watchful eye of a security camera.

This is not about mistrusting the security officer. It's about conducting a professional, legal search that will stand up in court, and about protecting the rights of accused persons. Under the current system, a crooked cop can ruin an innocent person's life, just by saying "I found something". And by virtue of his position, that cop is presumed to have done his job properly just because he said he did. In legal terms, that's called the "presumption of regularity."

In the Philippine environment though, where there are enough crooked cops to call the "presumption of regularity" into question, what we really need is "demonstration of regularity."

To paraphrase the late Jesse Robredo, what we need is a system that forces these officials to do their job the right way. - Rappler.com

Michael Brown is a retired member of the US Air Force, and has lived over 16 years in the Philippines. He writes on English, traffic management, law enforcement, and government. Follow him on Twitter at @M_i_c_h_a_e_l

Every September 28, we celebrate the International Right To Know Day. It is celebrated to encourage civil society, journalists, and citizens to exercise their right to access information and to push government institutions to create conditions for exercising these rights.  

The right of access to information is an important human right and is necessary for the full enjoyment of other human rights. It is essential for a transparent and accountable government.

The right of access to information makes public involvement possible in formulating policies and in the decision-making processes of governance, especially where it matters to them.

This is powerful. We, the public, have the right to know about what affects us and  the environment where we live. For us in the environmental movement, we want the government to act on its responsibility to provide citizens the right to a healthy ecology. 

The point of this is two-fold. 

First, we cannot underestimate the power we hold as voters and as constituents in policymaking and influencing our decision-makers. Second, we cannot assume that our government is aware of all legislations and initiatives that we would like them to support.  

While a legislator’s mandate is to make laws, which the executive will implement, it is the citizens’ job to ensure that they know about the problems we care about and want solved, and inform them of the policies we want enacted and implemented. 

Bypassing the constraints of partisan politics is a challenge, more so addressing the knotty and long-standing issues facing our nation. In order to agree on solutions to these problems, our government must first understand the urgency of the issue. This is only possible if citizens actively participate and make their voices heard. 

Knowing and solving

Solutions do not come easy, but Filipinos can attest to the power of the constituent voice as it happened during the People Power days. Without a doubt, for this election season and beyond, citizen engagement matters and will continue to move mountains. 

Greenpeace Philippines, together with different communities, has been calling on the government to implement effective policies that will curb and eliminate pollution, starting with a "Right To Know" policy that will make it mandatory for industries to report the chemical effluents that they discharge. 

With the launch of Detox Pilipinas, an interactive website that will feature maps and useful information on chemical pollution, Greenpeace hopes to empower local communities to proactively report and monitor industrial pollution and chemical- related incidents happening in their areas and municipalities, encouraging them to serve as local pollution patrols. 

To ensure its success, Detox Pilipinas will need citizens’ participation – to ask everyone to be involved, to be on the watch and to send in their exposés and reports on toxic pollution happening all around. 

Detox Pilipinas officially goes online on September 29, Tuesday. — Rappler.com

Abigail Aguilar is the Toxics Campaigner for Greenpeace Philippines.

Pollution image via Shutterstock

MELBOURNE, Australia – Say the word “brothel” and you are likely to think of a dark, rowdy, seedy place where women flow from customer to customer as freely as booze. That is unless you are at The Boardroom, a licensed brothel and escort agency in Melbourne.  

“Yes, we are really called a brothel,” said Nick Costello, who has been the manager of The Boardroom for more than a decade.

But this is not exactly a scene from The Game of Thrones. Don’t expect to be greeted by half-clothed women with provocative looks and feathery touches. Instead, a receptionist will assist and greet you with a smile. You can get almost anything you want and can pay for in the bedroom – except for your favorite cocktail or any alcoholic beverage. As a suitable alternative, you can guzzle up your energy drink of choice or a cup of coffee.

When a gentleman client comes into The Boardroom, he will choose his companion from the ladies who are available for the afternoon or evening. They will meet in the lounge area where they can chat over coffee before deciding to carry on their business to any one of The Boardroom’s limited number of rooms. The number of rooms is also regulated. 

Both the client and the escort can decline to proceed with their transaction after this initial chit-chat.

Sex work: legal and regulated

Sex work is legal and a highly regulated industry in Melbourne. Like any recognized business, getting a license to operate a brothel means complying with strict sanitation, building, and health guidelines.

Some of these guidelines include not serving alcoholic beverages – as selling and serving alcoholic beverages would require a different license.

All escorts must be 18 years old or older; if a foreigner, they must have a work permit and a medical certificate to show that they are fit to work. Given the nature of The Boardroom’s services, the sex worker’s clean bill of health must state that she is cleared of any sexually transmitted infections.

The sex work laws of the state of Victoria mandate sex workers to be screened for infection at a government clinic every 3 months. The results of their screening are confidential, but The Boardroom works in close collaboration with city health workers to make sure their escorts are regularly screened and treated, if necessary. 

Needless to say, condom use is also strictly enforced.

“The government requires all brothels to issue condoms to sex workers. By law, you are not allowed to have unprotected sex as a sex worker,” said Costello.

And that’s where the panic button comes in.

If you misbehave in the bedroom and that includes being unruly or violent or stubborn about wearing a condom, the sex worker can press the panic button.

The Boardroom’s well-appointed rooms come with a shower area or a hot tub and comfortably sized bed. The room’s soft lighting allows enough illumination for a physical inspection.

“If there are any physical signs that a client might have a sexually transmitted disease, the sex worker has the right to refuse to proceed with her services,” said Costello.

Escorts include college students, solo moms from a range of nationalities and ethnic backgrounds. Some are full time sex workers, some moonlight for extra income. They work on mostly a freelance basis. They apply, present the necessary documents, and come in when they are free to work.

Sex work is legal in Melbourne, but street prostitution is not.

“Sex workers work under the license of the brothel or escort service and do not need to register themselves as a sex worker individually. It is the brothel or escort agency that is required to register for a license,” said Sarah Rogan, a health officer from Inner South Community Health, a non-profit that offers health and community health services for areas in Melbourne. 

Sex workers who work privately or independently by advertising their services are exempt from securing a license. Known as an "exempt escort,” they still need to register for this exemption and get an SWA (Sex Worker Act) number.

A sex worker – male, female, or trans – who advertises their services must include their SWA number. Similarly, brothels or escort agencies must include their license number details in any advertisements. 

Australia has one of the lowest HIV infection rates in the world. When the country passed liberal laws that decriminalized sex work and the distribution of free needles to drug users back in the mid-80s, it was heavily criticized.

Today, it is these laws that health workers say saved the country from uncontrollable HIV infection rates. “Today, we are reaping the fruits of these laws,” Sue White, general manager of Inner South Community Health, said in an interview.

Legalization comes with regulation and Costello admits that there are a lot of laws to comply with, business licenses and permits to secure, but it is all for a good reason. 

“Regulation professionalizes the industry, lessens the stigma and protects the customer, the sex worker and the industry," he said. – Rappler.com

 Ana P. Santos writes about sex and gender issues. Seriously. She is a regular contributor for Rappler apart from her DASH of SAS column, which is a spin off of her website, www.SexAndSensibilities.com (SAS). Follow her on Twitter at @iamAnaSantos.

This is not a couples-counselling column for the lovelorn. It's just a whimsical attempt to answer the 10 frequently asked questions thrown at me wherever I go. The questions are serious, the answers not so. There’s time enough for somber consideration Certificates of Candidacy are filed from October 12-16. 

For now, while the slates are just firming up, let’s answer some of the questions with a smile. This could be the last time we will find anything amusing about the coming election.

Q1. Is Binay REALLY going to be the next President? Who will want to be his running mate with the corruption charges? Is Bongbong Marcos desperate enough to form JejoBong?

A1: It looks like the Jejobong alliance is indeed taking shape. The Binay free fall hasn’t hit rock bottom yet. He claims he has a core vote of 35%. But this was quickly exposed as wishful thinking when succeeding surveys placed him at 19%-20%.

My own fearless forecast is that his base vote will be anywhere from 12%-15%. Not enough to land the highest office. As it is, the hemmorrhage from the Binay camp hasn’t stop. That’s not surprising with “transactional alliances.” The minute the trapos no longer see how winnable their bet is, they jump from the sinking ship like rats.

Q2: Who has the heavier baggage between the Jejobongs? 

A2: The presumptuous (oops, presumptive) VP candidate Bongbong Marcos must first read up on the real Philippine history, not the Ilocos version. An apology to the Filipino people instead of fictionalizing Martial Law might win him more votes.

Advice: This alliance is founded on wobbly ground. Both are seemingly big on denial and low on truth. Even the most pragmatic relationships require an iota of mutual trust. Can they see themselves in each other’s arms until the end of their term? 

Q3: Is Leni Robredo going to accept the vice presidency? Will a MarLeni tandem propel Mar to victory? 

A3: As far as I know, if Leni Robredo only had the blessings of her children, she would have thrown her hat in the VP ring when offered the opportunity to serve. The girls have legitimate and emotional concerns for not wanting their mother to go through the viciousness of a campaign. But we pray they will see the big picture in time.

Advice: Leni would really be a big plus in Mar’s presidential bid. She has a proven track record for defending the marginalized, a heart for the less fortunate. Mar’s attempts at projecting a “maka-masa” image haven’t gained traction because he truly is an Illustrado. That’s not necessarily negative. His strengths lie more on national policies and macro economic issues, which are as important as human development. There is synergy in this combination.

Q4: Doesn’t the Erice faction prefer Alan Cayetano as Mar’s running mate? Mar-lan (hmmm)? 

A4: Congressman Erice is part of the mining group that has provided logistical support for Mar’s campaign from the onset. They are not shy in pointing out their contribution, like airplanes for sorties. They believe Chiz will target Mar and they need a pit-bull like Alan Cayetano to bark back at their nemesis. So Mar-lan are their men.

The cabal allegedly wanted the LP Bicol chapter headed by Robredo to recruit unsavory characters that claim they can make Mar win in their respective districts. This traditional thinking is aligned with political patronage. Robredo reportedly refused.

Q5: Isn’t Alan Cayetano offering to team up with Duterte to form the Du-Cay duo?

A5: Actually Cayetano seems eager to link up with anyone except Binay. Duterte has played the coy-card for too long. Those who have watched politics for sometime know that if it quacks like a duck, it’s a duck. Duterte’s TV ads and sorties are telltale signs. When he says he won’t run, what is most likely left unsaid is the challenge to his backers to put their money where their mouth is.  

Advice: Duterte plus Cayetano is explosive. Duterte, with alleged ties to death squads and sharp-tongued Alan who does not mince words are a tad too menacing. They should tone down the rhetoric and the bleeps! Du-cay might benefit from a gender sensitivity course. 

Q6: Is Grace Poe really qualified to be President? Is she ready for the highest post in the land? 

Grace is the FOI champion in the Senate. I can vouch for her intelligence and excellent communications skills. She has a good education and seems genuinely eager to serve the people. 

Q7. Is she a natural-born Filipino? Is she too ambitious? Is it too early in her novice career to aim for the highest post in the land?

A7: I’m not an election lawyer but it’s a stretch to think that she is not natural-born. It’s unlikely that she was born from two foreigners who left her at an Iloilo church. Renouncing her Filipino citizenship is another matter. 

Ambition per se is not bad. But confidence that exceeds competence is dangerous especially when mixed with power. 

Q8: Will it be Poe-dero in 2016? Who will call the shots? Will they pardon/release the jailed senators?

A8: In politics, no one is unbeatable. Although Poe-dero leads, there’s no telling if they can stay ahead in the race. History has shown that nothing is impossible in a game where sleeping with the enemy is par for the course.

There are fears that since Grace is a newbie, Chiz will lead her by the nose. She is surrounded by the trapos of the past as seen during her proclamation. But so far, there is little indication that Grace is not her own person.

And I doubt that the Filipino people will allow any leader to perpetuate impunity.

Q9: Can Chiz be trusted?

The Chiz I knew in 2009 could be given the benefit of the doubt. The Chiz of today…who knows?

Advice: Be authentic. The voters can smell showbiz a mile away. Popularity is fleeting. Study well and prepare to give the daunting job your best shot. 

Q10. What if only Leni wins? Will it be all-female Poe-bredo? Or heaven help us, Bi-Ro? 

Conventional wisdom says it’s better to vote for a team. After some thought, MarLeni seems to be the best tandem. 

Some believe a Poe-bredo victory could be a refreshing change. They said, “We’ve had all male leaders most of the time. Why not all female?”

Bi-Ro is just a joke, right? – Rappler.com

In the city, our close encounters with indigenous tribes happen only in exhibits or cultural shows when we appreciate their songs, dances, epic tales, and textiles weavings - superficial knowledge that should now be replaced by our empathy for the true sentiments of our brothers whose elders, tribal leaders, and datus have been brutally killed in full view of their families and communities. (TIMELINE: Attacks on the Lumad of Mindanao)  

The living witnesses courageously share their tragic stories, starting August this year. Thus far, under the Aquino administration, 52 Lumads have been murdered. According to their relatives, it’s our very own protectors of the nation, the military, who are responsible for these unspeakable killings. 

Oppressed tribes

There are about 100 to 110 tribal groups from the northern to southern Philippines, with a population of about 14 million.

The bigger groups are the Aetas of Zambales, the Mangyans of Mindoro and Palawan, the Igorots of Mountain Province, the Caraballos, the Dumagats of Southern Tagalog, the Atis and Tumandaks. Then, there are the smaller tribes such as the Badjaos, T’bolis, and Manobos of Mindanao.

There is also the emergence of the “Bago” tribe, Ilocano Christians from the lowlands, and ethnic mountain tribes – the Kankaneys, Igorots and Tingguians – who have settled in the Sugpon mountains of Ilocos Sur. 

All of them have preserved their traditional cultures and livelihood, seemingly undisturbed by the centuries of colonial rule, and continue to be unaware of modernity until today.

Pia Macliing Malayao, a Bontoc Igorot from the Mountain Province and Secretary General of the Katribu Kalipunan ng Mga Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas, said that the indigenous tribes’ strategy for escaping the colonizers was to keep receding to the hinterlands, to the interior vastnesses of their forests, and not to stay steadfast in the coastlines. That way, they knew that the foreign colonizers would cease pursuing them.

All these tribes have a deep and special connection to their lands. 

No single individual has a title to the land they till for their livelihood. They consider ownership of this as a collective, as belonging to the entire community, with the present generation as mere stewards of the soil.  A very biblical outlook - the idea of the Torrens Title System never reached their culture.

These days, however, the many years of languish and oppression are being made known to us through the help of the religious groups who volunteer in educating the tribal children. They have also helped evacuate the victimized communities to safer ground like in Tandag City, Bukidnon.  

Some Lumad leaders are now being taken cared of by some bishops and by the nuns of the Religious of The Virgin Mary, St Paul College University.

Malayao bemoans the fact that even in textbooks that have been used in our educational system, their peoples are being described stereotypically as short (pandak), dark-skinned, kinky-haired, with thick lips, and flat wide noses (sarat). That they have to be compelled to do their rituals or sing and dance for tourists — much like Edward Said’s Orientalism — so they could earn their keep.  

However, multi-awarded economics and social sciences teacher Ruby Denofra assures Malayao that this is being rectified now and that understanding the indigenous people’s (IP) culture and welfare are now being emphasized in the curriculum.

Governance

The deeper, graver wounds inflicted on our indigenous brothers are caused by the oppression on them since the passing of the Mining Act of 1995. But the national oppression against them have been felt way back in the Marcos regime, especially in the 1980s.

When mines, dams, and plantations were established, IPs were shoved away from their lands. Their farming areas are ruined; health and skin diseases are borne; and the soil that used to give them life and crops deteriorated. 

In one barangay, an entire schoolhouse submerged because the soil it stood on crumbled softly like cookies.

A Lumad's story

Pakibato District, probably the pinnacle area of Davao, overlooks the entire province. It is so beautiful that travellers attest that they can almost touch the heavens when they visit.  

Pakibato is where Aida hails from. In between sobs and unceasing tears, she narrates how she witnessed her own uncle being murdered by the military. Trumped up charges are now being filed against her to say that she and a datu have also been responsible for killings in their area and human trafficking.  

This remote area in Davao, though beautiful, has not been reached by the government’s social services. There are no schools, doctors, or hospitals.  

Through their own efforts and the volunteer missionaries and teachers — who go there to teach English, Math, basic agriculture and other subjects — they were able to put up an elementary school. In 2004, they built a specialized high school, guided by the tenets of the alternative learning system, with the men doing the carpentry work, and the women and children gathering wood from the trees.  

Aida’s house has been pockmarked with bullets. Her husband and children have been evacuated, without any belongings left. Aida is with the nuns now in Quezon City, with only 6 pieces of clothing that get her by every week. 

At nights, she’s sleepless as she vividly recounts the very bloody scenes of the murders she has seen up close.  

Other houses in the beautiful Pakibato district have been turned into barracks by the military. Their presence is very visible in Mindanao.

More IPs will traverse the rugged terrains and rivers and seas to journey to Manila on foot, if need be. Maybe through some generous souls, some of they may board some transport vehicles.  

Some 700 of them are expected to arrive on October 26. They will stay here until November 19, a special APEC Summit no-work holiday. 

If our own government is welcoming the Syrian Refugees with welcoming and open arms and hearts, it should do the same for our tribal families. Their tragic fate and stories have to be honored and retold many times over until a concrete solution is reached and peace prevails. – Rappler.com

Yolanda L. Punsalan is the long-time executive secretary to the chairman/president of the Reliance Group of Companies. She is willing to devote time for advocacies such as environmental issues, women’s and children's rights.

Whether it's religious fanaticism, Manny Pacquiao idolatry, or the latest teleserye or kalyeserye craze, when the nation gets fixated on a particular interest, dogma, sports team, celebrity or celebrity love team, it shows an interesting side of the Filipino psyche.

Never known for our indifference to fads, we have always been passionate and led by our hearts. We are swayed by the latest gimmick or packaged idea of romance, prosperity, and beauty.

We are excellent subjects in the study of consumer behavior. Ever wonder why, in a country with a poverty rate of almost 20%, people around us still sport the latest iPhone or gadget? How come in a place where a bottle of shampoo costs as much as half the daily minimum wage, EDSA is plastered with billboards of cosmetic surgery ads, whitening creams, celebrity product testimonials, and designer clothing advertisements? Consumers buy these products whether or not they are within financial reach (we have a total credit card debt of P157.394 billion for this reason).

Our love for a good idea is never as evident as it is during election time when an unqualified candidate wins because he has the best narrative, he has made the people feel good, and he has managed to make majority of the population believe that he has their backs. 

It's because we love the story. We love the rags-to-riches and rich-boy-poor-girl plots that define our local TV and movie story lines. We identify with the carefully created characters and celebrity personas. We want their clothes, skin products, and laundry detergent. We want the brand of tuna they eat, the floor wax they use. We believe that using these products will transform us into our idols and give us their onscreen lives.  

We want to imitate their actions and gestures so we'll be in the know, and in with the crowd. 

When someone declares a day of unity, we believe we're part of some social movement that makes sense in our herded minds.

Herd mentality

Herd (or mob) mentality describes how people are influenced by their peers to follow trends, purchase items, or perform certain behaviors. Studies show that as the number of people in a crowd increases, the number of informed individuals decreases.

Psychologists call the process by which a person loses his or her self-awareness in groups as deindividuation. It is seen in sports gatherings, for example, when people yell and scream for their team or are rude to the other team's fans – actions that they wouldn't dare do if they were on their own. 

In the Philippine context, fandom and irrational loyal allegiance to a fictional story or persona often rules. When challenged, fanatics are inclined to insist their ideas are the correct ones, ignoring any facts or arguments that may conflict with their thoughts or beliefs. We see this often when a celebrity is criticized. His or her fans launch a venomous defense on his or her behalf. 

Lea Salonga was attacked for making a vague comment on the shallow pre-occupations of people, a statement which was taken as criticism by a popular teleserye's fans. Add to that the fact that anonymityfuels dangerous behaviors within a mob mentality and we can see how Aldub fans went on a free-for-all insulting Ms Salonga for something she didn't even say. 

When I see mob behavior for a celebrity or a show, it makes sense because such idols rarely disappoint. A fantasy life is created – one where followers can identify with stars and their shows' story lines. I instead look at its participants' need for a sense of belonging, a common interest that gives them joy and pleasure in its pursuit, as opposed to the other frustrations they may have in their own lives.

The recent Aldub Twitter craziness fed into the desire for visibility. By making a mark in the Twitterverse, the show's fans felt they were part of a movement. They felt their concerns were superior to any other topic of conversation at that time. It felt good to be part of something huge and influential, even if it was just about a television show. 

The trouble with fanaticism

When a large group acts in unison with only a few of its members being truly informed, such movements are easy to manipulate and abuse. Entertainment networks are aware of this and are only very eager to fuel the fire of fanaticism more because it increases ratings and sells more ad space, generating much more for them than the joy of fans in seeing their favorite stars. 

Corporations are quick to identify influential people and capitalize on their impact the way McDonald's recognized the Aldub phenomenon immediately and turned it into a commercial that sold the emotional ideas of romance and commitment, instead of just their food products. 

Politicians regularly take advantage of Filipino fanaticism when they employ celebrity endorsers to support their campaigns. Political consultant Art Garcia said that the value of a celebrity endorser depends on his or her closeness to the masses. This value can only be increased by the level of publicity surrounding that celebrity. In a sense, stoking the flames of fanaticism is actually a good thing – for those whose pockets will benefit from the fire.  

Katuwaan lang (Just for fun)

Of course, in the end we can all say that fads come and go, and are merely "katuwaan lang (just for fun)." Others even claim that celebrity obsessions and teleserye fandom provide our young citizens inspiration in their lives and keep them out of trouble. Fair enough. But we would be remiss if we didn't mention the attention fanaticism takes away from more critical concerns that are frequently forgotten because of their lack of glitter and connection to fame and popularity.

If we could use this passion, obsession, and personal stake in something at least worthwhile (like providing a few students a decent education, for example), then it would have such an amazing and sustainable effect on our nation. If each tweet sent during the Aldub craziness were equivalent to one peso, we could have built a small school in one barangay.

But we overlook that the addictive effect of these waves of fanaticism is to make us forget that it is our own families that need salvation (and our own children who need an education). It's easier and more rewarding to chase the development of a story, especially if it warms our hearts. It removes the focus from our financial challenges, the impossibility of city living, and the lack of change in our own lives' story lines.

It would be one thing if the same idols and celebrities we worship actually endorse ideas leading to social development, but it's difficult to reconcile the innocence of their fame when what they sell are commercial products or political campaigns in exchange for their fans' undying love. 

Yet the same audience buys all of it, year after year and fad after fad, with only the stars' faces changing every time. The one thing that doesn't change in all of this is who ends up with the last laugh. – Rappler.com

Videos of a group of women called the Playgirls dancing "mischievously"for Laguna Representative Benjamin Agarao Jr.’s birthday party has been spreading online like wildfire, and so are social media comments. The performance was believed to be sponsored by MMDA chairman Francis Tolentino, and despite his denial, popular opinion remains condemning.  

But more important than asking who brought the women to the party is asking why they were brought to the party in the first place.

Whether it was courtesy of Tolentino or not, the backlash in the political aquarium is secondary to the implications of twerking women seen as entertainment in Filipino morality. How such a lewd event could affect Tolentino’s chances for a senatorial seat cannot undermine how it became apparent that women dressed for a beach escapade are considered as carnival attraction by men who currently hold key posts in government.

If our supposedly learned statesmen think it is perfectly okay for women to wear literally strips of clothing and dance for them to their libido’s content, then it is frightening how the average Filipino perceives it to be.  

Nevertheless, the solon said it was an event after and not in any way a continuation to the Liberal Party's oath-taking. Thus, the event was not a political event. But, can decency and decorum be abraded even more if the Playgirls danced for Mar Roxas?

The issue transcends the political. The issue is now about women and how they continue to be exploited.

Women remain to be a discriminated and abused sector. Despite being 9th in the world’s most gender-fair countries since 2006 according to the World Economic Forum, women continue to suffer inferiority in health, representation, employment, and protection against violence and exploitation.

The solon is undaunted as he claims it was a gift and it took place in his private residence. The event could have even been more private as in a closed-door sound-proofed room in Antarctica, but the fact that it was filmed and brought to public attention slams his attempt for redemption. He cannot easily claim to be acting in the capacity of a testosterone-crazed average Juan.

He is, after all, still a statesman. His acts must be or at least appear to be consistent with the dignity and integrity of his office. He owes that to those who reposed their electoral trust in him. If a congressman perceives women in skimpy and scant clothing sensually dancing and simulating sexual intercourse as mere entertainment, what does it say for the constituents he represents?

As election day and the date of filing of the certificate of candidacies draws nearer, it is almost reflexive that every issue be politicized – how it would affect the surveys, how it may be a sucker punch attack of the rival or how stressed the publicity control team may be.

But during the election season, the country actually has other issues – bigger issues. The Filipinos are not just voters, they are also citizens who must consider other rights and duties than suffrage. May all these hullabaloos be seen more in the light of the protection and empowerment of women rather than a few men’s political careers.

Then again, all of these are notwithstanding Tolentino's persistent reminder that the women wear skirts. It is with fervent hope that the chairman intended below-the-knee ones. - Rappler.com

Maria Reylan Garcia is a 3rd Year Juris Doctor student from the University of St. La Salle, Bacolod City.

“Twerk It Like Miley” blared from the speakers, as multi-colored lights flashed against a scantily-clad woman wearing black underwear and silver sneakers. She twerked and grinded herself against the crotch of a man lying back on the floor enjoying the show.

“We are The Playgirls!” the woman proudly declared as they started another dance number. This scene is the kind you find in both the flashy red light districts catering to old retiring foreigners and among small-time beer houses serving sisig with beer. 

On Thursday, October 1, however, we found it in the most awkward of places: 2 in the afternoon at what appears to be an event for a congressman, his smiling face in the tarpaulin at the back, lauding his 40 years in service and wishing him a Happy Birthday. Who were the patrons? Local officials and some of the congressman’s constituents.

According to the emcee the women are gifts from embattled MMDA Chair and Senate hopeful Francis Tolentino.  

The spectacular cratering of the Shanghai stock market, which lost nearly 40 percent of its value in just 10 weeks, is a sign of a much bigger problem.

It is always amazing how the stock market pulls big surprises over those who should know better. The momentous rise in share prices in the Shanghai stock exchange from mid-2014 to the middle of this year, when the bourse’s composite index shot up by 150 percent, should have been a strong indication of what Alan Greenspan labeled “irrational exuberance,” of an impending collapse in stock prices owing to their severe deviation from the real value of assets being traded.

But, like Greenspan during the 2008 Wall Street crisis, neither the Chinese investors, nor foreign investors, nor the Chinese government seemed prepared when the market began to crater mid-June and the Shanghai composite index plunged by 40 percent in a few weeks’ time, triggering a global collapse of stock prices, forcing Beijing to intervene and buy up market shares, and when that failed, prompting it to devalue the yuan.

The Beijing stock market collapse marks the deepening of the third stage of the contemporary crisis of global capitalism. The first phase was the Wall Street financial bust in 2008. The second was the European sovereign debt crisis, which dovetailed into the Wall Street rout the following year. Massive stimulus programs, such as China’s US$585 billion package in 2009, enabled the so-called big emerging economies or BRICS (the acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) to stave off the depressive effects of the US and European recessions following the financial bust, leading analysts such as Nobel Prize laureate Michael Spence to think that they would replace the traditional economic hegemons as the new drivers of the world economy and herald a new wave of global growth.

But this optimism proved short-lived with the onset of the third phase of the global crisis as growth began to slow down in the BRICS beginning around 2012.

Struggle over economic strategy

When then President Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao launched China’s massive stimulus program – at US$585 billion, the biggest in the world in relation to the size of the economy – their aim went beyond providing a temporary relief while awaiting the recovery of the country’s main export markets in the United States and Europe. The stimulus was intended to be the cutting edge of an ambitious drive to make domestic consumption instead of export production the center of gravity of the economy.

Shifting to stimulating domestic consumption made economic sense, not only because export markets were volatile but also because owing to overinvestment there was much unused capacity in the economy. Also, the stimulus made sense from an equity point of view since it would place more purchasing power in the hands of the vast majority of peasants and workers, who had been disadvantaged by the priority given to export-oriented industry and profits. Also, China’s leadership was becoming very sensitive to criticism about the massive trade surpluses the country was running with its export-led rapid growth strategy, with external voices demanding “rebalancing,” that is, that the country consume more imports from its main trading partners.

The problem was that the shift was not just a case of changing macroeconomic priorities; it would also entail transforming the composition of winners and losers.

The political economy of export-oriented rapid growth had created a set of political and economic interests that converged and congealed over the last 30 years. These included government planning bodies like the National Development Reform Commission and the Ministry of Finance, both of which had fathered the strategy of export-led industrialization; export-oriented state and private enterprises; local government and Communist Party bodies in the coastal provinces; and state-owned construction firms that built the infrastructure that undergirded the economic strategy. These elites were well entrenched in the leadership of the Communist Party. Though foreign investors were not represented in the party, their interests were well served by policies that favored their interests over those of local privately owned small and medium enterprises.

One key interest of this lobby has been the undervaluation of the yuan to make Chinese exports competitive. Another policy favored by this grouping has been keeping deposit rates low – in fact, negative, when inflation is taken into account – so that people’s savings could be relent at low rates to favor export-oriented firms and construction companies. Economists termed this policy one of “financial repression.”

As for the losers, these included small and medium entrepreneurs serving the local market, workers, peasants, and the general population in their roles as savers and consumers – in short, as the economist Hongying Wang put it, all those who have “suffered from the financial and public finance systems that have deprived them of their fair share of the national wealth.”

Hijacking stimulus, frustrating reform

Not only did the export-led rapid growth lobby manage to neutralize the plan to make domestic consumption the cutting edge of the economy. It was also able to hijack the massive stimulus program that had been intended to place money and resources in the hands of consumers. According to statistics from Caijing Magazine, some 70 percent of the 4 trillion yuan stimulus program went to infrastructure, while only 8 percent went to social welfare expenditures, that is, spending for affordable housing, health care, and education.

An anti-consumption, pro-investment, and pro-infrastructure bias is built into the current growth model, says Wang, “since infrastructure is essential for attracting investment and promoting local economic development. Given the emphasis on GDP growth rate as a major criterion for their political advancement, officials are highly motivated to pour money into various infrastructure projects.” In contrast, there are few near term material and career benefits in expanding social welfare programs.

Financial repression sparks speculation

Financial repression, that is, a policy of maintaining low rates for savers, has had particularly pernicious consequences.

With little money to be earned from their bank deposits, a great number of the Chinese public gravitated toward the real estate and property markets. This move was encouraged by the authorities, worried about the public’s discontent with the lack of profitable outlets for their savings. Encouragement included easing lending requirements at the state banks to allow people to invest not only their savings but also borrowed cash.

Speculation in property was the investment of choice for many years, but, as in the United States during the subprime property bubble, the market attracted too many investors, leading to a bust at the beginning of 2014, with the price collapse leading to thousands of unfinished skyscrapers, ghost cities, abandoned housing projects, and virtually deserted malls like the New South China Mall in Guangdong, which had been promoted as “Asia’s biggest mall.“ This was like Thailand during the Asian financial crisis in 1998, but on a much, much bigger scale.

With the real estate debacle, investors fled to the stock market. With China’s stock market value going above US$10 trillion and the Shanghai index rocketing by 150 percent between mid-2014 and mid-2015, the market seemed both a safe and highly rewarding bet, and hundreds of thousands of retail or small-time investors rushed into the casino, many betting with money borrowed from Chinese state banks.

When the Shanghai index reached its highest point in mid-June, a foreign analyst observed: “Companies with a primary listing in China are valued at US$10.05 trillion, an increase of US$6.7 trillion in 12 months. The gain alone is more than the US$5 trillion size of Japan’s entire stock market. No other stock market has grown as much in dollar terms over a 12-month period, as Chinese individuals piled into the nation’s equities using borrowed funds to bet gains will continue.”

With the steep 40 percent plunge in the Shanghai index following its high-water mark in mid-June, hundreds of thousands have posted huge losses and are now in debt. Many have lost all their savings, a personal tragedy in a country with a poorly developed social security system.

Political consequences of economic crisis

Anger at what many perceive as the government’s failure to take decisive steps to avoid the stock market rout is building.

Alert to the threat of stock market losers taking to the streets, like peasants and workers in recent years, the government has tried to deflect the blame towards stock market analysts or brokers it has accused of spreading rumors, making nearly 200 showcase arrests and staging a televised “confession” by one business writer.

With the economic crisis deepening, the anger and resentment of those who rushed into the property and stock markets only to be stripped bare of their savings are now joined to the fear of the unknown that is stalking many in the middle class that emerged and prospered in the last quarter century of constant rapid growth and have had no experience of a real economic downturn, with its grim prospect of joblessness.

Added ingredients to this volatile brew are increasing mass protests by peasants and workers over a variety of grievances, including environmental pollution, land-grabbing by local authorities, and lack of workers’ rights. According to the China Labor Bulletin, strikes have become the “new normal” in China: there were some 1378 workers’ strikes and protests in 2014, more than double the 2013 figure and three times that of 2012.

Over the last three decades, the Communist Party of China has replaced, as the basis of its legitimacy, the delivery of socialism with the delivery of rapid growth and a rich capitalist economy.

Indeed, one of the key reasons the party has found it so hard to give up the export-oriented growth model is that it regards this strategy as a tried and tested mechanism of achieving high growth.

How the current leadership led by Xi Jin Ping will manage citizens’ expectations in a period of much slower growth, increasing joblessness, greater inequality, and much greater discontent remains to be seen.

Will it continue to tread softly around the powerful set of interests that has dominated society for 30 years or will it muster the courage to break with the political economy of export-oriented rapid growth and lead the way to a new development paradigm based on domestic consumption underpinned by greater equity? – Rappler.com

This was first published by Telesur. We are republishing it with their permission.

It seems that Filipinos’ attention online is divided between two phenomena: #AlDub, the heavily orchestrated, un(?)requited love story played out between living Ken doll Alden Richards and Lucille Ball protegee Maine Mendoza; and Heneral Luna, the Little War Movie that Could, the film that sparked nationalistic fervor, birthed armchair historians, and convinced droves of the upper middle class to watch a local movie out in public.   

And the clamor makes perfect sense. The tension-filled, cocktease-type way Eat Bulaga choreographed the #AlDub story can be very addicting; and Heneral Luna’s blunt, unapologetic take on how Filipinos have been screwing each other over from the beginning is absolutely delicious to a people that need to feel justified for feeling bitter about their own country. Both are indulgent. Both are triumphs of viral marketing. The people behind them deserve to pat themselves on the back. 

However, there is another, more worrying thing these two have in common: they have become sacred cows. Tweet something bad about #AlDub and prepare for online annihilation by hundreds, if not thousands, of young folks brandishing lengthy hashtags like weapons. Write a less than sparkling critique of Heneral Luna on Facebook and expect to be accused of a) not being smart enough, b) not being pro-Filipino enough, and/or c) being anti-mainstream for its own sake/pa-cool/hipster hipster.

From fans to fanatics

True, the touchiness of some #AlDub fans may be par for the course at this point. Filipinos have long been hashtag brigadiers for many showbiz tandems, from #KathNiel to #DongYan, and have made Twitter’s trending topic box their sports arena of choice. 

But the level of some #AlDub fans’ self-absorption is still alarming, as in the case of Lea Salonga. The Broadway star's vague tweet on shallowness, devoid of any #AlDub reference, led to tons of #AlDub fans barraging her with snippy retorts. It’s one thing to get mad at direct criticism, and it’s another thing to assume the worst in people and attack them since everyone else is attacking. 

What this paranoia reveals is a very unhealthy aversion not just to differing opinions, but to the mere act of voicing these differing opinions. Salonga didn’t even mention #AlDub and already people were intent on letting her know that speaking anything remotely ill of their beloved couple was hurtful, was a damper on their happiness, was a clear infringement of their human rights. How dare she make thickly veiled passive aggressive vagaries…supposedly! If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all!

The Luna police state 

The Heneral Luna phenomenon is a little more interesting (and unnerving) to observe. For a film that centered on a man who stood up for what he believed in, a film that vilified people who readily murdered anyone who didn’t agree with them, it’s the ultimate irony that a lot of its fanbase gets very, very salty when they come across any talk of the film’s weaknesses, or do not wholly agree with the film’s brand of nationalism.

For the most part, the heart of the rabid Heneral Luna fan is in the right place. They want a better country, so they hope to get more people to watch this film so that they too can get incensed enough to incite change, whether on a personal or a national scale. The problem is that in some cases, this desire to get people to watch is also paired with the desire to prevent any discouraging talk that may counter their advocacy. 

This kind of activism could work if, say, the talk they’re countering is factually, unequivocally wrong. The Heneral Luna fans' battlefield, however, is mainly in the realm of opinion, and they are treating the opinions they don’t agree with as if they were bombs in need of diffusing. 

Yes, it’s true that some opinions can be dangerous (e.g. vaccination causes autism; artificial contraceptives cause cancer), but the question of nationalism that Heneral Luna revolves around, among many other themes, is something far more complex and abstract, a mixed bag that includes culture and history and politics and philosophy – all of which is always up for discussion. 

And it goes without saying that questioning the film's more technical aspects – dialogue, direction, plot, cinematography, etc – should also be freely done. (Come on, people! It's a film! Anyone should be free to criticize art! More to the point, anyone should be free to critcize anything!)

In other words, Heneral Luna– the film proper and its impact – can certainly be up for debate. You should police medical malpractice, but you shouldn’t police people for saying what they didn’t like about a movie.

In fact, a friend recently mentioned that he was afraid of posting about Heneral Luna on his Facebook timeline for fear of getting cyberbullied, and this thinking is not limited to him. Is this what progress looks like? Is the stifling of speech the price we have to pay to get people passionate about our country? 

Yes, Heneral Luna was a hard-ass, and using him to encourage others to be committed to what they believe in can be effective, but just because the film's protagonist was an unapologetic asshole still doesn’t give you license to be hateful and self-righteous.

Forever hold your peace?

All in all, this “you’re either with us or against us” attitude prevalent in both cases is troublesome. Ultimately, it grossly discourages others from expressing themselves. It creates a mindset where it would be far better off not to speak up if your opinion isn’t like everyone else’s. And in case you needed reminding, that is never a good thing. 

It’s honestly a little painful to have to write this essay, to feel compeled to explain something as basic as why it’s wrong to stifle different opinions. It’s also frightening to realize, especially in the case of Heneral Luna, how easy it is for people who are otherwise quite familiar with the intricacies of discourse to suddenly reduce themselves to cyberbullies. When has anything ever been strictly black and white? When has any phenomenon ever lacked in differing perspectives? When has it ever been healthy to rabidly insist on your opinion at the expense of someone else’s? 

Yes, it is natural to feel affronted hearing something negative about something you love. Part of loving something is feeling the need to protect it. But then again, if you truly love something, you’d also be confident enough to know that mere criticism wouldn't change how you feel. 

If you’re so afraid of criticism that you would go out of your way to call these critics stupid, or heartless, or selfish; or strongly chastise the website or paper that published the critique for giving that critic an outlet, then doesn’t that say much more about you than it does about them? Fear is borne out of insecurity. If you’re truly secure about your passions, then why not counter criticism with solid arguments instead of bullying and ridicule? 

Speak up, I can’t hear you

Admittedly, #AlDub and Heneral Luna are just the latest examples of the Filipinos’ childish struggle with criticism. From Pope Francis, to Manny Pacquiao, to whoever we’re voting for in 2016, we are a people who just love having sacred cows. Is it our constant need to have a savior instead of saving ourselves? Is it our tendency to handle our pride with kid gloves? Whatever the reason is, it’s evident that ending this habit will be good for us.

Filipinos keep complaining that we’re too complacent, that our country is going nowhere, that our history keeps repeating itself. That’s partly because we keep having the same conversations. We keep building echo chambers out of reinforced steel. And should there be a new topic to talk about, it only becomes valid if the opinion on it is one and the same.

The first step in progress is communication, in allowing for everyone to respectfully discuss a matter, and not shut down unfamiliar opinions. If we’re not brave enough to hear something we don’t want to hear, how can we be brave enough to change our lives for the better? If we can’t stomach our opinions getting shaken up, how can we stomach our world getting shaken up? Because one thing’s for certain: the path to a better Philippines is going to be hard and tortuous. Your comfort zone will have to be obliterated. Progress is not convenient. But stagnation is. 

Yes, it feels really good to belong to a large, self-congratulatory group. And it also feels good to defend that group; it creates a satisfying sense of purpose. But it’s when you try to scare people off from saying what they think that the line needs to be drawn. You need to ask yourself: Is your cow truly sacred, or is it your comfort and pride that you’ve placed on the altar? – Rappler.com

Whenever I pass by this man's office, I paint a picture of me strangling him, kicking his groin, and eventually stabbing him to death. I also imagine bumping into him inside a mall and asking him, while his wife is watching, "Kumusta ka na? Alam na ba ng asawa mo na nagsusugal ka at nambababae? Na nakabuntis ka ng di lang iisang babae bukod sa kaniya? (How are you? Does your wife know that you gamble and cheat on her? That you impregnated more than one woman that’s not her?)”

But I don't hate this man as much as I hate myself. All because I know I did something wrong and tried to change it by doing something that is even worse.

I engaged in casual sex with a married man – this man I wanted to strangle – whom I thought would fill the emptiness I used to feel. And because I was careless, I allowed myself to get pregnant. 

Scared of the consequences of unwanted pregnancy – having to tell my ailing parents, being banished and disowned, excommunicated by my church, rearing a human being by myself, setting aside my career which is about to take off — I decided to have an abortion.

I regret that decision. Moreover, I regret having casual sex in the first place. No excuses. I know I did something wrong. But more importantly, I resent every accolade and praise I received for almost everything after that. 

No, I'm not a good Christian. No, I'm not the best daughter. No, I'm not the most humane person in the world. 

This is how society wants every woman who committed abortion would like to think. We cannot hold our heads up high because we're constantly being judged. We cannot look in the mirror and be proud of our reflection because all we see are the words: Sin. Crime. Killer. (READ: Is it time to legalize abortion in the PH?)

Move on, move forward 

There are nights when I dream of a sonogram of a growing fetus with a beating heart. There are days when I fear that I would have blood gushing out of me and that I wouldn't know how to explain myself. There are times when I just want to be dead so that I don't have to go over and over the memory of what I did. 

I constantly and consciously have to be the best in everything I do, career-wise and all. I have had this idea that maybe, if I cover up this activity with success, that I would be able to offset my mistakes. But being successful isn't everything.

Somehow, in the deepest, deepest part of my being, I would like to be accepted. (READ: Death by stigma: Problems with post-abortion care)

I didn't want the abortion I had to become the reason for my lover to break up with me. I wanted to feel that the choices I make do not make me good or evil. And that I, like the others, have a right to be granted a second chance, a fresh start, an opportunity to improve myself.

Right now, I take comfort in knowing that I have friends who understand me fully. Among them are also women who have had abortions in the past. There's Nina, who is now in grad school; June, who is now a mother to a beautiful 4-year-old girl; and Annie, who just received a fellowship abroad.

A week ago, a Twitter hashtag went trending worldwide. It said, #ShoutYourAbortion. I kept thinking about whether I should come out and come forward with it. 

Abortion is a reality worldwide. Even if it is illegal in the Philippines, it happens every day, inside abortion "clinics", households, hotels, hospitals, among others. Worse, sometimes, it is the only option available for victims of rape, incest, and those women with problems with their reproductive health.

Are Nina, June, Annie and I the worst persons in the world? I don't think so. 

We all take responsibility for what we did and we all decided to move on and move forward. I don't want us to be regarded as victims and to blame it all on the men we slept with. 

Some of the women who had an abortion just weren't ready to become parents. Some of us just didn't think parenthood is something we could do that time, today, or maybe ever. Some of us aren't financially secure to let a human being live in risks of poverty. Some of us just cannot take the judgment the kid would experience if people knew that he or she was conceived out of wedlock, and his or her father has another family. And some were victims of sexual assault, rape, and domestic violence.

I didn't join the Twitter campaign. But I would like to write in behalf of those who have had an abortion in the Philippines. We're probably your sisters, daughters, nieces, aunts, lovers, or friends. 

Yes, we have had an abortion. We're trying to live like the rest of you, normally and in peace. But we don't deserve to be treated like outcasts of society. We have rights too. — Rappler.com

April Salazar* is an alias. The author chose not to disclose her real name for privacy reasons. She is a communication graduate student in Metro Manila.

In an event that exploded into a social media firestorm in a matter of hours, the ruling Liberal Party yesterday found itself at an ethical crossroads.

It's still not clear who hired the girls to perform what can only be described as a raunchy, VIP room-style act for the crowd attending an official party event, but many people feel like they have a pretty good idea.

To be fair, as far as I can tell no laws were broken. The performance, while offensive to many, was not illegal, and no one (so far) is suggesting any improper use of government funds. This is not an issue of corruption or legal wrongdoing. It's a simple issue of ethics. Right and wrong.

The show itself, performed at a government event and in front of an audience which included children, triggered a public outcry. But it was the response to that outcry that really infuriated people. 

The guy who had been repeatedly named by the emcee as the one who brought the dancers quickly denied any involvement. And another party member made things worse by saying he didn't see anything wrong with the whole thing. Some officials claimed they weren't present, but photos quickly appeared showing otherwise. Nobody is taking responsibility.

To be honest, it's not being handled very well. In fact, the whole thing has turned into a public attack on the Liberal Party's Daang Matuwid (Straight Path) slogan, a philosophy of governance that the party is using as the foundation upon which to build support for its candidate in the upcoming presidential election. An ethics-based philosophy that isn't looking very good in the face of an ethical problem.

The "Straight Path" philosophy is a noble one. In a country that has been plagued for decades with government corruption, cronyism, sweetheart deals, and every other kind of "crooked path" behavior, the current administration came to power on a promise of ethics — doing right because it is right. The Straight Path.

And therein lies the simple solution to this problem. In fact, this distasteful situation presents the Liberal Party with a golden opportunity to demonstrate to the whole country what Daang Matuwid really means.

The party says that its members follow the Straight Path. If that claim is anything more than just a PR sound bite, then the responsible member should come forward and admit his (or her) error in judgment, without needing to be ordered to do so. Again, nobody is going to jail over this. It's the political equivalent of "who broke the vase?”

If that doesn't happen quickly and without urging, the party needs to figure out who did it (which should only take about an hour of investigation), and then kick that guy out. Not because he hired girls to do a lewd show at a public event, but because he lacked the ethics to admit it. 

Daang Matuwid is all about ethics over loyalty. Honest governance over friendship. Anyone who can't abide by that has no place in an honest administration.

And any administration that tolerates an unethical member has no right to call itself a Straight Path government. Dealing with an unethical member, quickly and decisively, is the best thing this administration can do to show it's serious about Daang Matuwid. 

This is a stupid problem to have. In a country where people are starving, where crime is rampant, and where government corruption is through the roof, a truly straight administration should resolve this issue in a single afternoon and get on with the important things. – Rappler.com

Michael Brown is a retired member of the US Air Force, and has lived over 16 years in the Philippines. He writes on English, traffic management, law enforcement, and government. Follow him on Twitter at @M_i_c_h_a_e_l

Editor's note: When this opinion piece was first published, the author said the TV show "On the Wings of Love" had an amnesia arc. He has since made necessary corrections.‬

By now, I have lost count of how many relatives and friends – together with millions of other Filipinos – have raved about two of the hottest and most current love teams in Philippine media: AlDub (Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza aka Yaya Dub) from Eat Bulaga’s so-called KalyeSerye and JaDine (James Reid and Nadine Lustre) from On the Wings of Love.

As a recent Manila Times editorial cartoon illustrates, some of the country’s cultural elites lament such a phenomenon. For them, paying attention to showbiz love teams is a simultaneously silly and dangerous distraction from truly important national issues. 

Speaking as a media and communication scholar, I would say that AlDub and JaDine are actually worth thinking about. 

As the cultural historian Raymond Williams contends, examining these expressions of popular culture can tell us a lot about what he calls “the structure of feeling.” Here he is referring to those common sets of perceptions and values that predominate in a society at particular points in its history.

In the particular case of AlDub and JaDine, they can say a lot about what imaginaries of intimacy are shared by today’s mainstream Filipino society. 

A return to romance

To better appreciate the significance of the popularity of AlDub and JaDine, we need to look at both the content and form of the shows in which they star. In terms of content, we need to situate KalyeSerye and On The Wings of Love within the broader trends of how intimacy is portrayed by the Anglo-American and local TV programs that Filipinos watch. 

What is striking about the fever pitch popularity of AlDub and JaDine’s respective shows is that both seem to have bucked the recent trend as regards TV representations of relationships. 

Recall that for many years now, the Anglo-American programs that have gained popularity in the Philippines have been those that depict relationships as incredibly complex, scandalous, and even titillating. Take for instance The OC (2003-2007) and Gossip Girl (2007-2012).

In a move that parallels this, the last few years have also seen a slew of high-rating local primetime soap operas that present Filipino relationships in a more complicated and, arguably, realistic way. Examples of this would be Tayong Dalawa (2009) and My Husband’s Lover (2013).  

Amid this sea of complexities and complications, AlDub and JaDine both appear as a striking throwback to the older, more familiar portrayals of idealized intimate relationships: think Guy and Pip and Sharon and Gabby. Indeed, Aldub’s KalyeSerye and JaDine’s On the Wings of Love are, at their heart, classic stories of romance.

AlDub’s story is said to have started off serendipitously, with the Eat Bulaga team deciding to pair up the two after catching Maine smile the first time she saw Alden on a split-screen. Building on this first virtual meeting, the narrative eventually develops into a half-fictional, half-reality TV story of a mestizo middle-class hunk and a pretty working-class “yaya” who find romance despite the economic divide that separates them. But because of various complications, they would for the longest time be only able to feel each other’s presence virtually, via split-screen. 

Meanwhile, the story of Clark and Leah, JaDine’s characters in On the Wings of Love, is one of second chances.

They start off as two people who marry for convenience, with Clark being the American husband who enables his sham wife Leah to legally stay in the United States. However, after various circumstances that transpire in their lives, they attempt to reboot their relationship and, this time, have a proper love affair (In the original version of this piece, I had mistakenly written that Leah suffered amnesia. It was not an attempt to add or suggest a further twist to the narrative, but an earlier error in retelling the synopsis that unfortunately crept into the final version of the manuscript).

Providing hope 

I would argue that, in terms of content, the reason why AlDub and JaDine are such popular love teams is because they offer the promise that couples can still live out traditional Filipino values. In contrast to other TV shows that tend to emphasize the disconnect between Filipinos’ conservative views on love and their often more liberal and complicated actual practice of it, these couples provide hope that this disconnect can be overcome.  

The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) recently tweeted its support for AlDub. It thanked the couple for “supporting the noble cause of spreading virtue, values, and morality.” 

To illustrate what the CBPC meant by this, take for example the recent episodes of KalyeSerye. They show AlDub going through the “proper” (and often patriarchal) rituals that potential partners should supposedly enact: keeping physical closeness to a minimum, having the boy seek the approval of the girl’s parents before formal courtship begins, and going out on a proper date to know each other better. 

Meanwhile, many people also praise JaDine for the “respectful” way they treat one another. Although they're on-screen characters, Clark and Leah are supposedly very much in love in On The Wings of Love. They also remain reserved about how they express affection for each other.  

This respectful reservedness is what drives the kilig that viewers feel. The exemplar for this is that when their much-awaited first kiss finally happened, it was portrayed in a saccharinely sanitized manner. After all the exciting build-up, this so-called “most approved kiss” turned out to be short but sweet kindergarten kisses.

What further intensifies the hopes surrounding what AlDub and JaDine offer is that they do an excellent job of playing around with the always already blurred line between showbiz fantasy and showbiz reality. These love teams tantalize audiences with the possibility of witnessing real couples finding and enacting ideal Filipino romantic love.

Elevating ‘kilig’

Of course, it has to be acknowledged that between the two love teams, AlDub has generated a much louder public buzz than JaDine. It is in relation to this that we find the importance of also talking about the form of the shows in which the two love teams star. 

JaDine’s vehicle, On the Wings of Love, is a conventional soap opera. As is par for the course for classic melodrama, JaDine’s onscreen characters, Clark and Leah, go through the genre’s usual episodic twists and turns and cliffhangers. 

AlDub’s KalyeSerye has a much more innovative form. This has enabled the show to further entrench the idealization of the couple’s romance, making it even more pure, innocent, and, above all, chaste. As a result, it elevates the audience’s “kilig” to a whole new level. 

Take, for example, the segment’s partly scripted, partly improvisational structure. This gives the show a distinctly spontaneous and open-ended feel. It also makes the distinction between the on-screen and off-screen personas of the Alden and Yaya Dub/Maine more blurred and, consequently, raises the possibility that their sweet affection for each other is genuine. 

The level of kilig is further amplified by the segment’s use of the split-screen and of the Dubsmash-inspired lip-syncing of cheesy pop love songs. Both of these presentational techniques heighten the idealized and romantic quality of Alden and Yaya Dub’s relationship. The distance the split screen creates and the lyrics that the pop songs convey both serve to emphasize the pure emotionality of the couple’s love for each other.

Filipino imaginaries of intimacy

From the content to the format of Eat Bulaga’s KalyeSerye and On the Wings of Love, it is clear that AlDub and JaDine’s popularity is premised on how their love teams are evocative of traditional mainstream Filipino values about intimacy. 

On one hand, this is something understandable. After all, couples who truly embody such values are rare gems, if they exist at all. It is just that our intimate lives are complicated by so many things. This is true for the poor Filipino who, hampered by economic realities, marries a “foreigner” out of practical necessity. This is also true for the young yuppie who, faced with rapidly transforming urban youth socialities, has to swipe right on so many Tinder profiles and still end up in seemingly unfulfilling relationships. 

On the other hand, it is also worth critically reflecting on the implications of the Filipino public’s seemingly increased interest in pining for this idealized, romantic, and ultimately, impossible vision of intimacy. Without a counterbalance, it might very well leave us disappointed about our relationships. 

Even more tragically, it might also prevent us from learning to appreciate our often fraught but nevertheless worthwhile human experiences of trying to love and be loved. – Rappler.com

Jason Cabañes is Lecturer in International Communication at the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom. One of his current research projects is on how the media shape Filipino imaginaries of intimacy.

As the election fever heats up, and the contending coalitions gather support wherever they think this is available and feasible, observers always get drawn to the personalities rather than the party programs.

This is quite expected, given that our political culture gives premium to the individual as the prime determinant on how power is attained, legitimized, and protected. Oddly this kind of analysis applies to both the Left and the Right.

Hence, here you have a Marcos whose rise to power was iginuhit ng tadhana (fate); there you have a Santa Corazon who brought us out of the authoritarian darkness into the democratic light. Here you have "Professor" Nur Misuari leading the march to a Bangsamoro Eden, there you have “Professor” Joema Sison wielding the baton as he leads a dwindling communist population to the Pulang Silangan (Red East).

Of course, this is not unique to our system. This fetish for the individual is what drives American politics these days too. The days of the machine politicians (Howard Taft, Huey Long, the Daleys of Chicago) and of the patrician presidents (Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Delano Roosevelt) are now faint memories. In their place is the ament Sarah Palin, the cretin Donald Trump and comrades Ted Cruz, Marc Rubio. And there are the political families: the Bushies and the Clintons.

How much the Plutonian world American politics has affected our own is a matter for scholars to resolve. For now it is enough to say that when it comes to personality-centered politics, hindi tayo nag-iisa (we are not alone)!

Poe and the presidency

Pushed to the margins, however, are those who want a smarter, much better explanation of the social forces behind our political games. These days, there is that need to explain the rise and popularity of Senator Grace Poe and her quest for the presidency. (READ: TIMELINE: Grace Poe's citizenship, residency)

A brief glance at what pundits, public intellectuals, and the professors have written about here exhibits a certain degree of crudeness. All that appears to matter for many is her national affiliations: did she renounce her American citizenship just in time to qualify for the presidential candidacy? A good number say she did not, making her ineligible to run.

She left the country, became an American, recited the Pledge of Allegiance, and lived there for a large portion of her life. Her mentality is American and in her soul, and so are her loyalties deep down. This is the spin that her critics have been putting out.

There is something disingenuous here, and it has to do with our schizophrenic view of elections. These commentators complain of how the elite manipulate elections and how, as a result, voting is not really an expression of the popular will. It is a circus where the botante are paid off by competing party operatives, depending on who offers the highest bid.

It is a spectacle where what matters most is how a candidate with a Sorbonne credential is good at hip-hop, or how the arthritic politico can sing like Bruno Mars. There is nothing to be had for any serious democrat in Philippine elections. The Filipino Ayatollah put it well when he described our parties as like Pepsi Cola and Coca Cola – hard to spot the difference.

So when Grace’s critics assail her for not being loyal to this national ritual and the post that she will hold if she wins, they are contradicting themselves with the message that voting is something sacred and serious. The people are trying to make fools out of us by making us believe that our ballot counts. 

Double standard

The moral outrage over Grace’s political infidelity does not extend to their manok (bet), the Vice, the dead dictator’s son, and the icon of Daang Matuwid 2. With these characters, nuance is the operative term: yes he may be corrupt, but look at what Vice has done to Makati; the son should not inherit the sins of the father even he continues to defend the latter’s repressive and patrimonial regime; and the heir to the presidential throne should not be judged negatively because his professionalism and corporate life have mitigated his oligarchic pedigree.

However, if these critics think elections are nothing but games of the elite, and, because Grace the American is one of them, why insist that their manoks are the exemption from the norm? Why are the Vice, Bongbong or Mar made to look different from the spoils of men and women who dominate the circus? Why not add them to the pool of clowns that had now expanded to include Senator Poe?

Alas, here is double standard at its best. Elections are serious if it involves your manok; it is nothing but a spectacle when the centerpiece is Grace Poe.

But, voters can see through what these anti-Poe social forces are broadcasting. The surveys by the two most credible polling groups (Pulse Asia and the Social Weather Stations) suggest that these political groups will be unable to draw the people away from the Senator’s muted charm.

So they might accept these politicians' bribes, but I doubt if they will then march to the polling booth and write down the names of the Vice, Bong, or Mar. They will accept the money and vote Poe.

***

Steve Rood of Asia Foundation and someone whose work with the Bangsamoro I most admire, sent this nice note correcting my comments about Churchill and conservatism in the last piece. Steve wrote: “It is often wrongly ascribed to Churchill. The phrase originated with Francois Guisot (1787-1874): ‘Not to be a republican at twenty is proof of want of heart; to be one at thirty is proof of want of head.’ It was revived by French Premier Georges Clemenceau (1841-1929): ‘Not to be a socialist at twenty is proof of want of heart; to be one at thirty is proof of want of head.’” Thanks Steve.

***

Patricio Abinales is an OFW

The Liberal Party (LP) is in trouble with women advocates from within the party, among its allies and in the general public.

It all began when, after the oath taking of 80 LP officials, the emcee announced that MMDA Chairperson and reputed LP senatorial candidate Francis Tolentino had a “gift” for Laguna 4th District Representative Benjamin Agarao, who was also celebrating his birthday.

The “gift” turned out to to be a performance by a dance troupe, the “Playgirls”, who proceeded to twerk in very sexually suggestive ways with some men volunteers from among the guests. Unfortunately, women and children were also present to watch the sexually suggestive performance.

Social media exploded in condemnation. In quick order, Tolentino denied he had invited the Playgirls saying the emcee was just confused. LP’s presidential bet Mar Roxas and the women of the LP issued statements distancing themselves from the event. A petition requesting President Aquino to launch an investigation and have the LP issue an apology gained the necessary 5,000 votes in less than 24 hours.

Cover-up

The statements from the LP failed to control the outrage because Tolentino failed to make a plausible denial. As it turned out, Tolentino and other LP leaders had been hiring the Playgirls to campaign. It turns out Tolentino's brother had hired the women for his own campaign in 2003.

Testimonies and pictures from those who attended the event noted that the emcee had repeatedly announced the performance as Tolentino’s gift and that he was close enough to the emcee to hear this and correct it. Also, despite repeated attempts by media, no one has admitted to being the person who hired the group. Not even the birthday celebrant himself could say.

Many felt that condemnation by the LP leadership and its women was not enough. Sanctions were necessary, some opined – this, to include Congressman Agarao, who defended the show with statements like, “I’m a man’s man and I like these things.”

He added that such acts were common in Manila with politicians watching these “until dawn”. In fact, Agarao went on to show his manly sophistication further by noting that in Manila the women dance “in cages”.

Sexy isn’t lewd

The silver lining in the whole affair is the unity among feminists and many netizens that the Playgirls themselves should not be condemned.

I find nothing wrong with the Playgirls. They are professionals who, from the looks of it, are paid properly and properly protected from the usual hazards that “sexy” entertainers face. It is important also to consider their views, and a look at their Facebook page shows that they do not see themselves as exploited victims.

They are not even hypocrites who pretend that what they do is innocent or wholesome, though I would imagine that some of their clients would demand such hypocrisy of them.

Apart from this, many, myself included, see nothing wrong in erotic portrayals as long as mature adults choose to perform and watch these portrayals willingly.

As an advocate of sexual and reproductive rights, I am irritated by moralistic condemnations of erotica by the conservative sex-is-dirty-unless you’re-married-and-reproductive camp. I was genuinely concerned that the Playgirls would experience a backlash.

Feminist dilemmas and macho perversity

But this surfaces an underlying dilemma in Philippine feminism, something that is also faced by women’s groups in other countries: if the Playgirls performance is not to be condemned, then what was exploitative about hiring and watching them?

Part of the answer is that there were children in the audience for whom this “sex education” would have horrified even a half-competent child development expert. There were also women in the audience upon whom this was imposed and who expressed their dismay.

I would have been appalled should I have had the misfortune of being there. It would not have been the performance that would have sickened me but being in the presence of men like Tolentino and Agarao as they gaped. 

A long time ago, when I first began working with rape survivors I would ask my men friends (who, because they are my friends, are decent) why men raped women. Of course the universal answer at first was, “Dunno, boss. Wasn’t me, boss!” 

Until one of them took the time to think about it so I would stop asking and infecting him with my angst. I cannot forget his rather insightful and unexpected answer, “You know how when I am in a beer garden and we are drinking and watching the women dance, gyrate and seduce us, I feel so powerful. It is as if I can have anything I want, any woman. All that I need is money or even just to reach out and take. And it isn’t even as if I really desire that woman.”

And it is this, this reinforcement of male sexual privilege and power that I decry. Not the sexual portrayal in itself, but the context in which it is taken. In our culture, women are not “treated” to the seductive gyrations of men whose job is to titillate them and play to their fantasies that they are so desirable that they can have any man.

Few men are available to fulfill women’s infantile fantasies that our power makes us desirable to young, hot bodies no matter how old, paunchy and undeserving we are. Men do not become “gifts” or “toys” to congresswomen or governors, at least not in the brazen light of the public gaze. It is this that we decry when we talk about how women are commodified and disrespected. 

As I said to a friend, at least the Playgirls get paid for their subservience. What about the rest of us women who get painted with some brush of “collectible” because society allows these macho scumbags such self-indulgent arrogance? These men think that only the women they pay to seduce them are affected, failing to realize that their daughters, sisters, wives, and mothers are even more demeaned by their attitudes because they do not invite it nor gain from it and yet are subject to it nonetheless.

As I said yet to another friend: it is not the women who are lewd in this situation. It is men like Tolentino and Agarao who are lewd. Lewd, self-indulgent, and deluded.

Women, and the many decent men who advocate for gender equality, need to demand for the dismantling of the machismo that pervades our politics. I am sorry for the LP, but the hour of their test is upon them. – Rappler.com

In the Philippines there’s a saying that basketball fans use to summarize the ups and downs of hoops: Bilog ang bola, or “the ball is round.”

But when the Philippine national men’s team, known as Gilas Pilipinas, loses an important match, it’s as if that round ball is covered in spikes.

The popularity of the team is such that whether or not a top player accepts the call to play is viewed as a measure of his patriotism. When the team loses, a nation mourns.

The recently concluded FIBA Asia Championship ended in heartbreak for the Philippines as China reclaimed its spot atop the continental basketball tournament with a 78-67 victory of Gilas in the final on Saturday, October 3, grabbing the one guaranteed spot in the 2016 Rio Olympics that was at stake.

If the Philippines’ silver medal in Manila two years ago “shined like gold” because it earned the country an invite to the 2014 FIBA World Cup, this year’s second place finish served as a reminder for the need to continue rebuilding, just as China did during Iran’s run of 3 Asia golds in 4 meets.

Instead of wallowing over officiating or a depleted talent pool, take stock of the many positives that were revealed about the Philippine basketball team.

Like Jayson Castro, who reasserted his position as the best point guard in Asia by averaging 16.7 points per game and once again earning a spot in the FIBA Asia Mythical 5. May his level of public appreciation and celebrity one day catch up with his accomplishments.

Or Andray Blatche, the Philippines’ naturalized center who demystified Iran’s Hamed Haddadi in Gilas’ first victory over the Middle Eastern powerhouse at the Asian Championships since 1973.

There was also the gutsy play of “The Cebuano Hotshot” Dondon Hontiveros, 37, and Asi Taulava, 42, who bucked detractors by proving their ages were just stats on a trading card. 

You also must mention Calvin Abueva, who went from being the PBA player you loved to hate to the compatriot whose doggedness on the court makes him someone you want on your team, and Terrence Romeo, the man who Castro will one day turn the keys to the team over to.

All of the men who answered the Gilas call are worthy of admiration, as is Tab Baldwin, serving in his first FIBA tournament as head coach.

After Gilas overcame a life-and-death struggle with Japan in their semifinal match, Baldwin took note of a disconsolate Makoto Hiejima crying as he addressed Japanese media. Leaving his podium, Baldwin walked over to console Hiejima, who had just played his heart out in an attempt to topple Gilas.

The Philippines earned the respect of their peers with their skill, determination and class.

The Philippines still has a chance – albeit a slight one – to earn passage to the Rio Games through a qualifying tournament next July. These are the kinds of long-odds chances which the team often finds itself in, and which seem to bring out the best in them.

Hold your heads up, Gilas Pilipinas and Gilas Pilipinas fans. Have a beer to console yourself, then have a beer to celebrate. This team has done their country proud.– Rappler.com

The recently released figures by the Department of Health (DOH) about the prevalence of dengue infections in the country show a rising incidence of the dreaded disease this year.

Compared to last year's figures, there has been a 16.5% increase in the number of cases or a total of 78,808 persons suspected of contracting the dengue virus this year, within the same period from January 1 to September 5.

So far, the dengue virus has reportedly claimed 233 lives in 2015, and affected thousands more with symptoms that range from mild to severe. These numbers continue to grow every passing day.

The declaration of a state of calamity in the provinces of Bulacan and Cavite are indications that the spread of dengue fever is continuing to rise. 

Alarming outbreak

During my visit to the General Emilio Aguinaldo Memorial Hospital in Trece Martires City, where their facilities have been overwhelmed by the massive number of patients, I witnessed firsthand just how significant the increase in the number of cases has become.

The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) is now partnering with the Provincial Health Office and its Epidemiology Unit there to conduct joint dengue dissemination campaigns.

We also deployed 16 nurses, health and welfare services staff and volunteers, who set up an extension of the hospital ward to manage the overflow of patients there. We also brought one Rub Hall which can shelter 100 beds for patients, along with 60 cot beds, 2 power generators, and other items. 

I also conferred with the PHO's Dr. George Repique Jr. and his management staff to assess needs that the PRC can fill, and ensure the delivery of safe blood and other blood components for those patients who need a transfusion. At the PRC National Headquarters, our Blood Center has already augmented its own supplies to address the needs in the field.

We are conducting similar support efforts, in coordination with PRC's local chapters, in all the other dengue hotspots in the country. 

But what's even more alarming about this outbreak is that all four varieties or serotypes of the dengue virus seem to be present in the areas where the DOH conducted tests, which could mean an even greater number of at-risk segments of the population being exposed to the vector-borne disease. Infection with one dengue serotype may give lifelong immunity to that specific variety of the virus, or sometimes there will be partial immunity to the other varieties of the virus. But each individual can eventually be infected by all 4 serotypes in their lifetime. Several serotypes can be in circulation during an epidemic, as is the case now.

Who are vulnerable? 

The most vulnerable of these, of course, are children. But all members of the family can be infected in 24 to 48 hours.  One Aedes mosquito may bite all family members in a matter of minutes as this species is known to be easily disturbed during a blood meal. Even if they are not yet finished with one host, they may go to another.

However, since the immune systems of children are not as developed as adults, their risk of contracting dengue is higher, and once infected, the potential of serious illness or even death is also greater for them.

Luckily, those of us who care for the most vulnerable in our society, including the parents of these children, are not helpless in the face of the dengue virus' spread. 

At the Philippine Red Cross, we urge our chapters and volunteers to combat the dengue virus by encouraging schools and barangays to implement preventive measures such as defogging. 

How to fight dengue 

In our experience, the best way to eliminate the threat of dengue is to disrupt or remove the natural breeding grounds of the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which is the primary vector of dengue. Stagnant water is the most common breeding ground of the dengue mosquito, and so wherever water puddles, or water containers are present, there is a possibility of mosquitoes using them to lay eggs.

In areas where we have a presence, our chapters and volunteers urge everyone to combat the dengue virus by encouraging schools and barangays to implement preventive measures such as defogging, which kills the adult mosquito. But the most effective method is to dispose of stagnant water or sanitize their containers.

We have to ensure that the places where we and our children spend most of our time are safe, and this means focusing our efforts in our households, workplaces and their schools.

It used to be that the dengue virus outbreaks happen most during the rainy season, but we are now seeing similar trends even when it's hot, due to changing weather patterns.

This should teach us that what's important in the fight against dengue is to disrupt the mosquitoes' egg-laying habitats, whether man-made or natural.

We must also be aware that even simple measures such as putting up window screens and wearing long sleeved clothes are very effective in preventing the deadly bite of the dengue mosquitoes. The same can also be said of using mosquito repellents, planting eucalyptus trees, placing citronella inside every room, and using permethrin treated clothing.

Even the humble “kulambo” or mosquito net is a very effective weapon against mosquito carrying the dengue virus.

But once symptoms of dengue fever are suspected or observed, like fever, headache, muscle and joint pains, we must be proactive and go to a doctor to have it officially diagnosed and treated, if necessary. 

This is crucial because infected persons are the main carriers and multipliers of the virus, serving as unwitting sources of the virus for uninfected mosquitoes. The virus is then transmitted to people through the bites of infected female mosquitoes. 

And while recovery from infection provides lifelong immunity against that particular serotype, it doesn't protect any of us from being infected by the other three serotypes of the dengue virus, which means that we should be eternally vigilant against this dreaded disease.

Recently, the province of Bulacan declared a state of emergency due to an increase in the number of dengue cases in that area. While we hope that this can be addressed adequately by the government, the PRC stands ready to assist anywhere we can make a difference.

The public can rest assured that the PRC has the capability to put up extension hospitals anywhere in the country to address congestion problems in a particular area. 

We also have enough blood supply in our 27 blood centers and 82 blood banks nationwide to fill any gap in supply. 

But more than anything, we hope that the public realizes that the best way to fight the spread of the dengue virus is personally addressing the problem where we live, study, and work. - Rappler.com 

For blood requests and blood donations, please contact Philippine Red Cross National Blood Center at (02) 7902383 or (02) 7902300 local 116 and 151.

Dr. Gwendolyn Pang is the current Secretary General of the Philippine Red Cross