Pinoy Blog Machine (Beta)

Blog Action Day is about MASS participation. That means we need you! Here are 3 ways to participate:

• 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

Does Blog Action Day have a specific agenda?

We believe in unity in diversity, not uniformity.

Does that answer your question?

Now I'm drifting. I can't think of anything to blog. Hahahhaa..

I might be on another hiatus next week. Is this to give way to my busy schedule. (hahahah). Nope. I will be again away from the modern civilization for three days starting Wednesday. My clas will be having a retreat. I am given no choice but to go. No computers. No internet (just my phone). No going home. That's one hell for my techy life.

What else? Hmmm.... Alleba Politics made a reaction regarding my previous post. Ate Ria asked for a copy of the recently released issue of the Atenews. It's a single sheet tabloid size special edition intended only for the issues on the injustices of the Ateneo OSA.

Lastly, don't forget to vote for the Pinoy Evil Blog Awards. You must register first before you can start casting your vote. My campaign manager, Kuya Andrew de la Serna, is already taking care on promoting my nomination. Hahahaa.. And Jehzeel too, who happened to be one of the organizers of the said award. You can check my poll at the Boy Bastos Category.





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sawadashin posted in her VOX about HYD 3’s plot. I wonder if this is true. If it is, DAMN… I’M NOW MORE EXCITED! I can’t wait to see F4 and Makino again. Kazuya will be in the movie too. But don’t you think it’s odd to have a new character and him being close with the F4 when we didn’t get to see him in the shows’s previous seasons?

Theodore Roosevelt stated, "You may worship God anywhere at any time, but the chances are that you will not do so unless you have first learned to worship Him in some particular place at some particular time." David said, "I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord" (psalm 122:1). Thomas Caryle said, "No greater calamity can befall a nation than loss of worship."

The title is from this. I found that after checking Dattebayo’s site after I saw the Naruto Shippuuden fanvideo-attempt on YouTube. (I don’t want to embed the video because it kind of ruins the xhtml validity of my site. )

This is DB’s news post about this matter. It’s funny that Dattebayo’s using an old slashdot entry about Filipinos. I don’t think I have downloaded any DB subs. I have no idea if their releases are good, so I can’t say they’re very un-professional in handling this. If they take their stuff seriously, they also have to take this thing seriously too. Whoever told DB about the video needs whacking… And DB should have, at least, researched whether the video is truly shown or not on Philippine television.

From their news post:

About Dattebayo:

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

Really??? I guess they’re only recognized to the Naruto fans considering how that anime is very famous.

After boasting, they added this:

About Philipines:

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

Hmm, they can’t even spell Philippines right. After seeing their site plus how they handle their group and releases based on their FAQ page, I could say they’re an alright group… But not after adding that link. The LOL @ FILIPINO TV is not even the slightest insulting or something that will get you angry compared to the link they posted. Where’s the public apology, btw? It’s not surprising to see angry comments being thrown in at the YouTube entry.

We’re Asian and it doesn’t mean we have to look Japanese or Chinese to like or appreciate their influences. An Asian doesn’t have to look like them to call themselves Asian even. Since the article seems to be mostly directed at Filipino-Americans, Anonymous Coward have generalized all Filipinos to be like that. His post lacks clarity. It’s funny how one sentence such as this — SuP Wit U RhEinA GuRL??? — suddenly means A LOT to him! The guy who posted that is, he says, masturbates frequently to hentai or Japanese porn. The rest becomes funny as you read it through because it shows that his brain cells have totally failed him. That kind of post isn’t supposed to be archived anymore.

It feels like months since the last time I posted here. Well, I mean a decent post. All I’ve been doing lately is plugging sites.

We had our defense last Friday. The panelists suddenly posted the schedule either the night before or that morning. We were hardly prepared for it. DAMN THEM! I went to school in a hurry because we had a band practice scheduled that afternoon. Our schedule was broken because of that damn defense. I was worried the panelists would hardly understand the idea of our thesis which happened in the end. One of the panelists who’s not even an engineer and the dean’s secretary started throwing questions at us without letting us finish our presentation. I was very, very pissed that I could hardly find the right words to fight back at her. That was kind of good because our thesis might end up rejected if I did. I apologize to Mac for semi-venting my anger on him and to my bandmates too. So, yeah, we had a gig last Saturday at Greenvine Bar, Malate. It’s too bad none of my friends came (yes, NONE!). Only Rolly, Randy, and Jackie’s friend and cousin watched. Oh, Jozen was there, but I didn’t invite him. He doesn’t count. His bandmates were there, so that’s why. Very much thanks to Rolly for taking pictures of us! I should have taught you how to record a video with the digicam. Haha~ But the pictures were extremely good. I will have to sort through them though before I upload.

The following day, Phoebe contacted me about the news of Princess’ sister, Venus, who just died that weekend. It was shocking, very shocking news. Venus is only 3 years older than me. I met and knew of her back in high school because she also attended the same school as her sister and I. She’s very cute and she looks so sweet. Thinking back on our high school days, it’s hard to believe that in just a few years this happened. She’s still so young.
I know we know this already, but I want to reiterate… We always have to live fully everyday. We should enjoy the things we have because we don’t know when our time’s up. Take care also of your health, everyone.

We had problems with our internet connection last Monday. It started around 2AM. The connection fluctuated twice until we were totally disconnected. I was in a hurry downloading stuff. I think Globe only let me finish tweaking most of the Blast’s site before they cut it off. I called their customer service the following morning. There was a record about having internet problems in the Makati area. I messaged Jhan since she lives in Makati and also a Globe subscriber. She said they didn’t have problems. GRRR~ Connection came back after a day. I was about to leave then for the dentist. I also had the laptop ready because I needed to do work and research. Plans changed again because of that. My scheduled plans always break for these kind of things. Oh, my dentist visit is for the continuation of my root canal. I don’t know how many ‘things’ (sorry, I don’t know what they’re called) they placed on my tooth. My tooth was really dead as I felt nothing at first. It only hurt when they accidentally hit something. Probably a nerve or my gums. *shrugs*

(more…)

I don't know what else to call them, so I'll just call them Rico Blanco shirts since he was the one who invented the concept. In case many of you didn't know, Rico Blanco, the vocalist from the famous band Rivermaya quit the band and is now designing these shirts for the clothing brand Human. I wonder what made him do such a drastic change in career. Perhaps he wanted to try something else.

Saw this blog called My Sari Sari Store: The Lost Children of Manila and my heart melted. It was a nice reality check for everyone of us.

Reviewing my past entries is very painful. I was writing about clothes and food when these children are naked with their bodies exposed to the harsh elements of the metro.

I promise if I get really really rich, I'd put up a factory or something. In that way, I'll get to give more people jobs, with the right compensation and decent working conditions of course.

I will really try to be more modest from now on. God, I have just realized how pretentious I was. It's a hard pill to swallow but that's the truth.

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

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

i never really liked stuffed toys. but when i saw these two, things went upside down... a stuffed domokun... and a travelling dodo..

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.

 

 

Just found this while looking at the old issues of the Philippine Journalism Review (PJR):

"Our society has become politicized more and faster, political relationships become increasingly complexed.... Everybody has become potentially both a news source and a news consumer."