Pinoy Blog Machine (Beta)

On October 15th, bloggers around the web will unite to put a single important issue on everyone’s mind - the environment. Every blogger will post about the environment in their own way and relating to their own topic. Our aim is to get everyone talking towards a better future.

• Post on your blog relating to the environment on Blog Action Day
• Donate your day’s earnings to an environmental charity
• Promote Blog Action Day around the web

We believe in unity in diversity, not uniformity.

About Dattebayo:

Dattebayo is the world’s most recognized fansubbing group, with over 500,000 unique views of its products per week.

About Philipines:

Third world country according to their own inhabitants. For more information, see http://pepper.idge.net/slashdot/philipinos.

This is the second part of the series.

* * * * *

Prejudice vs. Prejudice

Dismayed by the nature and the number of insults flung at Malu Fernandez, I’m more appalled by the justification some bloggers offered for continually assaulting this woman’s weight problem as an outlet for their hatred. They said that it isn’t bigotry or prejudice to criticize this woman for her obesity since it is a health problem and everybody should strive for a healthy size.

While it isn’t prejudice or bigotry to point out the growing problem of obesity in the country, to single out an individual and ridicule that person for being overweight is pretentious and unethical (if I know better, some of these people who made these remarks are obese too). Some tried to justify it some more by saying the word “pig” was not made in reference to her body size but in reference to her behavior which is “dirty” or “pig-like”.

Oh, did they really? Let’s take a sample of those comments:

eh kahit nga ako ng 50 kg lang halos
di na magkasya sa liit ng upuan emirates sya pa kaya
na mukhang balyena?

For everybody’s information, nag apply akong NANNY o DH before dito, hindi ako tinanggap, kasi mataas ang standards nila sa Domestic Helper. Yun bang mukhang mapagkakatiwalaan at maganda ang asal para maganda ang matutunan ng anak nila. Kaya I’m sure Malu Fernandez, hindi ka makakapasa bilang DH. Kasi ayaw nilang maging kasing taba mo ang anak nila. Yun lang.

If your rich and your ugly, its your fault, So kung eletista at mayaman sya, baket ganun ang face nya lalo na body nya?

Sabi ng classmate ko kaya daw nagsugat ang legs eh di kasya sa seat, ang taba taba nya, kakahiya syang itabi sa mga DH na sexy and beautiful.

sana ikaw nalang isang lahi sa lahi ninyo. sana dika na magkaanak baka magmana pa sa iyong masamang pagtanaw sa buhay. tingnan mu nga ang sarili mo sa salamin, palagay maganda ka?, hoy mataba ka para kang aparador kung sa muebles.

These are the tamer comments that I can find. Can you still tell me that this isn’t bigotry?

(This aspect of this issue is a foreboding that there’s still a problem in size acceptance in this country. While that we don’t ridicule our friends for being obese, anyone who’d say they haven’t enjoyed throwing out fat jokes involving strangers or someone hated is a hypocrite. I wonder what the International Size Acceptance Association or ISAA Philippines can say about this.)

Though most will say she deserve it because she’s insulted OFWs, I don’t think it will be necessary that we turn into bigots too just to extract justice from what she’s done. Why do you have to become the bigot which you’re accusing her of becoming when she wrote that article?

Again, most people will try to excuse themselves for throwing those invectives by saying they have become “emotional”. No, it isn’t a valid excuse. While we do know that we are human beings capable of emotions, we are also rational beings. Why go down to being deranged animals when you are a human being?

Should It Be Emotions Vs. Rationalization?

Somebody said that this Malu Fernandez issue is an emotional issue because what she said stirred emotions of anger and hate among the OFWs and other Filipinos and that this could not be settled logically because Malu did not have a logical case in the first place. Now there’s a great fallacy for you, folks. While I do think that those who’re irrational would not listen to the more reasonable thinking of those who’re clear-headed enough and that Malu Fernandez may have yet to straighten certain “facts” she harbor about OFWs, it must be considered that, like any other arguments, this can be settled by pointing out the fallacies to Malu and to those who may be clear-headed enough to do something about it. She may have become unreasonable in some aspects but she’s an educated adult. If many people will point out her mistakes decently, she would have come at the conclusion that she did wrong. That is the way adults should be dealing with the issue.

Another thing is that people have this misconception that rationalization is devoid of emotions. And that being emotional is not part of rationalization. This is false. When a rational human being reasons out, he acknowledges how an issue makes him feel and uses these emotions to make a decision on what to do with it and with the source of such emotions.

So, for people who likes using the “emotional excuse” to wriggle out of responsibility for what they have done or said, well, I’m not buying it. That’s just the result of too much TV drama, I’d say.

Was It Fair?

So, Malu Fernandez has finally resigned (only from People Asia Magazine, though). It was the goal of many bloggers and the OFW community that she had offended with her writings. But was the manner by which this goal was attained fair?

On one hand, it has been fair because both sides have been given the chance to air their concerns and sentiments. Malu was given the chance to air her side through her “apology” statement. The complainers were able to get their messages across by posting on blogs, forums, and through emails to the publishers and editors involved. On the other hand, I think, it has been quite unfair, too, because of the manner by which the lynch mob went after her. I do think the harassment she received in forms of blogs and comments that reek of hatred, curses, and violence (reportedly, she received death threats but nobody has verified this with evidence) was just a tad too much.

Yes, she hurt the pride of the Filipinos in the OFWs. But was that enough reason that we forget that we are human beings and we are dealing with another human being? Was that enough justification that we forget that we are rational beings and not animals? Does that justify our bigotry towards this woman?

Moving On

I think this Malu Fernandez issue has become one of the turning points in Philippine blogging history. Not that remarkable, though, in terms of the goal attained (resignation of a columnist) but, still notable, as to the process by which we arrived at the conclusion.

We have thrown a lot of hurtful words around and it is time to take control of the rage and see the problem for what it is. It is quite disappointing that, in an effort to fight for an injured pride, a lot of Malu Fernandezes sprung up.  And the rage exhibited by the mob reminded me much of the boys in Lord of the Flies. But like most things, this are not permanent and can still be changed. It is important that everybody take what we could learn from this and analyze how this issue has affected ourselves and the way we blog and live.

So, for now, we must move on to more important issues that we need to turn our attention to.

Tags: malu fernandez, malu fernandez article, prejudice, bigotry

Our neighbor Nong Tering raises turkeys which he allows to roam across the sprawling vacant lot behind his house. The turkeys actually love to parade around the lot and even lay eggs among the bushes. But Nong Tering has a mother cow and a calf as well, and that keeps him busy sourcing for banana peels or fruit peels and grasses which he gives to the cows as additional feeds. What he did not know was that he was not the only one watching over his turkeys, especially when he is not around.

One day, as he was coming home bringing a sack of banana and nangka peels, he chanced upon a man just a few meters from his house carrying a turkey in his arms. Now the turkey looked very very familiar, while the man of course was not! In our baranggay, nobody wants to get Nong Tering’s ire. He can be a good neighbor but a hell of an enemy. I guess the thief must have known this because he threw the turkey and ran as fast as he could before Nong Tering could react. Nong Tering was lucky. He got his turkey back.

Not all of us could be as lucky enough to get back what we may have lost. I know of a lady named Shirley, who trusted a man named Dan who promised a possible job in Canada for her daughter. Her story turned out to be the usual sob story.

Dan has credentials, a staffing agency in Maryland (which boasts of an infinite resources), and the trust of a friend of the family who happens to be a priest. Dan according to the priest-friend gave the assurance that if nothing will materialize with the application, the placement money will be returned. Of course, we all know how it ended. Pffftt…Shirley will never get her hard earned money back.

In the first story the thief was an ordinary man, probably hungry or lazy, and that probably propelled him to steal. But Dan on the other hand, gave the deed a more sophisticated touch which made it more grave. In the society that he moves around, he pretends to be this nice man who supports church projects and other good causes. How pathetic! Hey! Be a MAN and find a fair match, not old ladies who could not fend for themselves.

Author’s note: While composing the post, I realized that it has become too lengthy to be posted as one entry. So, I’ve decided to break this up into several posts. I guess there’s just so much brewing inside me, having held myself back from responding to those that I’ve read, waiting for the right time. Well, I think the time has arrived to let it all out.

For tonight, I give you the first part of the series.

* * * * *

For 2 weeks there has been an ongoing furor on the Malu Fernandez article published in People Asia Magazine and her supposed apology statement. Everyone who was been apalled, dismayed, or insulted by her statements and who has access to the Internet must have given their opinions and sentiments on the issue, of which some were raw, while others were more controlled. All of these happening online, of course. But it’s about time that the issue be tackled in the real world.

The Malu Fernandez Issue in ANC’s Media In Focus

The issue, I think, reached its height when it was picked up by mainstream media, which has brought it to the attention of those who’re not bloggers or those who’re not aware of the skirmishes happening online. The issue, then, became a topic in ANC’s Media in Focus last night, August 30, with Benj Espina (not Medina) of Atheista.net and Josel Gonzales of selvo.wordpress.com representing the bloggers and Alex Magno, Lorraine Belmonte, and Ricky Carandang representing the mainstream media (though Ricky Carandang can be said to represent bloggers as well because he is a blogger himself). Questions regarding internet culture, blogging responsibility, the impact of new media vs. traditional media, and a lot more were discussed, in the light of the awareness raised by the Malu Fernandez issue. The discussion closed with Che Che Lazaro saying that Malu Fernandez made a mistake in writing such crass and discriminatory remarks against the OFWs but those who were offended and retaliated should have acted more decently and responsibly and with less crass.

Overall, I liked how the discussion flowed. There are two things that I want to point out, though:

• It seems that the segment portrayed the entire blogging community as a lynch mob. I beg to disagree. While that there are those who obviously and undeniably behaved like they were part of a mob (I will try to discuss more about mob psychology in a later post), there are those who, even with different opinions, still held on to what reason tells them what is right. While almost all bloggers (except for one blogger who supposedly posted something in defense of Malu Fernandez) do have the opinion that Malu Fernandez did wrong, it is the manner of disagreement that spelled the difference between those who wanted to settle the issue in a more sensible and rational manner and those who simply wanted the issue to end by screaming that they were offended and that it was enough reason why the demand for Malu’s resignation and apology is outright fair. As I’ve said in one of my posts (or was it in the comments section of a post?), this issue indeed triggered a lot of emotions and these emotions tell us that something wrong was done to us. However, it is not enough that we succumb to “emotion reason” to settle this as rational human beings. We need to point out the flaws and the fallacies which are evidence why this issue must be settled by asking for Malu Fernandez to acknowledge her mistake.
• While that most of Ricky Carandang’s statements in the show are brilliant, I just have to disagree when he said that the difference between physically harming Malu Fernandez and insulting her with statements such as “she’s a pig!” is that being told the latter is better because “at least, she’s still alive”. I suppose in the sense of being criminally liable, yes, it could be said that the insult is way better than being physically harmed. However, I do believe that a psychological attack can indeed be as harmful as a physical attack, if not, more powerful. In this case, the pen can be mightier than the sword because it could condition some susceptible individuals to insurmountable anger which could cause them to actually carry out a particular violent act. For those who haven’t read much of the comments in numerous blogs, the “she’s a pig” comment is rather tame. It gets more murderous and disturbing as you go through the comments.

It is good that the issue got exposure in TV because more people realized that there is such power in the internet that the users can harness, which is blogging, and it can be used as a tool for both good and evil, depending upon the person who wields it.

It is undeniable that the furor in the blogging community must have pushed Malu Fernandez to submit her voluntary resignation, though to know whether it was because her mistake finally dawned on her or because she find it hard to ignore the mudslinging is a question that needed an answer and only she can provide such.

Elitism vs. Reverse Elitism

I remember Josel saying that the OFWs are average people and we cannot blame them if only by name-calling and mudslinging are they able to express their dismay (which is an understatement) because not all of them have received education enough to be able to do so otherwise.

I beg to disagree with this statement.

Some people have accused me of snobbery and elitism just because I called for a more sensible approach to the situation. By being intellectually mean, one does not have to be a higher intellectual. It only requires one to be rational and reasonable. Aren’t high school graduates capable of this? I’m sure those who use the Internet aren’t complete illiterates because simply accessing the Internet requires some degree of competency in basic operation of the computer. So, am I wrong to expect that those who are using the Internet have that intellectual capacity to be reasonable?

It really makes me wonder why some would rather choose to be irrational when they have all the means to be rational. But then perhaps, this only proves one of my assumptions wrong: that we could trust people, especially bloggers, to choose to be rational when they can help it. We are not talking about “crimes of passion” here. This issue have gone on for weeks. It would have been understandable if the knee-jerk reactions consisted of name-callings and curses. But thereafter? Doesn’t this show the kind of breeding we have? That we cannot even manage our own anger?

Somebody in the comment thread said that nobody is born an intellectual (there, at least I have corrected the grammar somehow). And yes, I very much agree because, though we are born with the capacity to be intellectual, intellect is very much what has been gathered through years of existence. But it is the choice of the person if he/she will use what she have learned or if he/she will disregard it and fall back to his baser instincts, without regard to his more rational aspect.

What I’ve seen in the comment threads is that reverse-elitism has become a common strategy used by some to attack their opponent in debates. It is a technique by which you paint yourself a victim or you paint your opponent as being part of an exclusive group, therefore implying that his opinion is not reflective of the general opinion. Often those who use this strategy paint themselves as representative of the “masses”, wearing a mask of humility. This, of course, makes them perceive that they’re in the higher moral ground and the opponent is below them. Unfortunately, this approach has often been successful when used because, in some ways, we have come to value mediocrity over effort to improve ourselves.

* * * * *

In Part 2, I will discuss “Prejudice vs. Prejudice” in the light of this Malu Fernandez issue.

Tags: malu fernandez, ANC show, media in focus ANC, media in focus, malu fernandez article, elitism, reverse elitism

This is me looking like a dork, imagining im a scientist inside a laboratory wearing crisp white lab coat…"I shall rule the world with this substance!" ok I stop now. That dream didnt push through, im just mixing Gin and pomelo now. Anyhoo, I finally went to see Harry Potter 5 at IMAX. It was my first time there and boy was I astonished by the enormous white screen. I heard it was 8-storey high, I went there with my friend Mike and it was his first time as well. We were trying to catch the fish that was swimming towards us in 3D so we looked like total asses playing with the 3D glasses. We were asking each other if we have to put them on right away (note: the last 20mins of the movie is the only 3D part) So yeah. Asses.

My faayyverit part was when we ate tons right before going to the theater. I just got back from a team  building in Laguna and i was totally hungry. Pigging out! Yay! Seafood galore indeed. One thing i can never get tired of is eating, eating seafoods most especially. We ordered the best of seafood dishes evarrr,(or maybe) like baked oysters, grilled lapu lapu, crab in coco chili (this is teh shiznit!! i swear!!)  And the saddest part is...paying the bill, I think we spent like a thousand bucks each for this table. Which makes me think, why do i always have to eat a lot?? And I don't gain weight dammit!! Im like a walking stick person or something.

One of my friend wants to go to Siargao but she’s having second thoughts because of the possible hassles on going there through Butuan via PAL or Cebu Pacific. She doesn’t know that SEAIR flies directly to Siargao via Cebu.

The Mindanao provinces of Jolo and Tawi-Tawi are now very accessible for foreign or even local tourists from Luzon and Visayas also throughthe help of SEAIR or Asian Spirit Airlines via Zamboanga.

The promo fare of the two airlines for Siargao, Jolo and Tawi-Tawi starts at 1,019 pesos excluding taxes and fuel surcharge.

On Friday, August 17, 2007, the Board of Directors of the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy approved the invalidation of 20 candidates’ National Physical Therapy Exam (“NPTE”) test results. This decision resulted from an extensive forensic analysis of the test performances of all candidates who sat for the NPTE between March 1, 2005 and June 5, 2007.The forensic analysis, conducted by Caveon, a test security company, was commissioned in response to the unlawful trafficking of NPTE questions by Philippines-based exam prep centers. Through its own private investigation efforts, as well as Philippines government surveillance and raids of two Manila test centers in January 2007, FSBPT has confirmed that the centers have distributed to customers compilations of actual NPTE test questions memorized and shared by prior test takers (“recalled items”). In an effort to assess the potential effects of this practice of using recalled test items, Caveon analyzed approximately 23,512 test performances of all NPTE candidates, regardless of place of education.Caveon’s analysis conclusively establishes that at least twenty individuals benefited unfairly from advance access to recalled test items. All twenty candidates are Philippines-educated, some but not all of whom are already licensed to practice physical therapy. FSBPT’s assessment and review of the Caveon forensic analysis is continuing, so as to determine whether additional candidate score invalidation is appropriate.

Read more »

Oh dear, there goes our reputation once again. I’m sure all review centers have these practice exams for the NPTE but what’s surprising (and scary!) is that the FSBPT were able to pinpoint the Filipino test takers on this matter. What if those twenty candidates did not cheat but only used the practice exams as a guide in their review? Is that enough to invalidate their test scores? Alright enough questioning. Time to talk about this in our discussion board. I’m curious to find out what other test takers think of this recent outcome.

Lately, I’ve been checking my blog at Google a lot. To check my blog, I use this search query.

site:silkenhut.com/blog

I use this to check if All in One SEO Plug-in has taken effect and also to see which pages are indexed. When I saw my results, I noticed several pages that I don’t want to be indexed but are indexed by Google. Aside from my individual post pages, these are the other things that Google has indexed from the blog.

• My stats page was indexed and included with it are the links for every person who have commented. (http://silkenhut.com/blog/stats/?stats_author=Elizar)
• My feeds and comments are being indexed. (http://silkenhut.com/blog/2007/08/08/back-up-wordpress-using-a-plug-in/feed/)
• My archives and pages (http://silkenhut.com/blog/page/3/) are also being indexed.

This is not a major problem but personally, I want to make sure that the pages being indexed are the useful ones such as the blog articles and not the feeds, comments, archives etc…
I already have my robots.txt file but there must be something wrong with it if these problems are still present. So this morning, I spent my time researching about robots.txt files and made an improved robots.txt file that will address these problems.

I used Google Webmaster Tools to test out my robots.txt file. (I’ll make a blog post for Google Webmaster Tools soon but if you are curious, you are free to visit it. It’s very helpful!)

Now behold my latest robots.txt file which I think have solved the problems presented above!

sitemap: http://silkenhut.com/blog/sitemap.xml

User-agent: *
Disallow: /cgi-bin/
Disallow: /blog/wp-admin/
Disallow: /blog/wp-includes/
Disallow: /blog/author/
Disallow: */page/
Disallow: /blog/category/
Disallow: /blog/archives/
Disallow: */trackback/
Disallow: */feed/
Disallow: /blog/stats/

You are to copy this robots.txt file if you want since I just copied them from various sources and then customized them for my blog. I hope this can help. Google index my pages faster!!! hehe

Thanks to Elizar for his comment on my open problem last week. He taught me the idea that you can use robots.txt to disable indexing of specific post pages. ^_^

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