What Muhammad Abouzizi did is shocking by itself but the circumstances behind why he had to do it is even more tragic! It is common knowledge already to everyone by now, what this desperate yet brave man had to do, but his act of self-immolation led to the the protests all over Tunisia, leading to the end of the long rule of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and the planting of the seeds of democratic reform in that country. That it took the act of a poor and desperate man to move a society in stupor, is like the David and Goliath story from the Bible. Sadly, Muhammad, died last December, from the wounds of his self-immolation, but his act will be forever remembered as selfless. I just hope none of us here in the Philippines would have to kill himself just so justice can be achieved, especially among the disadvantaged in our society.
Hurrah for our own Azkals team! After scoring 3-0 against Bangladesh, they assured themselves a place in the main draw of the 2012 Challenge Cup. So now, the next job for the coaching staff is to form a dream team for the World Cup qualifiers! How exciting is that - the Philippines vying for a slot in the World Cup! I think it's possible! We have the heart to win it. Now, we have to find the talent to lead us there!
I read an interesting article today by Jessica Zafra where she said, "Abandoned by their cinematic artists, Filipino audiences are doomed to watch the same movie over and over and over again." Well, I do watch Filipino movies, most of them, the indie ones, and most of them are not really interesting, I just watch them, to support them. It's even rare that any of these indie movies get into my year-end favorite lists too.
I do watch some mainstream Filipino movies but not that many. Last year, only Kimmy Dora was interesting to me. The rest, well, Jessica Zafra describes it eloquently. What makes it worse is that the popular actors are just products of a TV channel's publicity campaign. I don't think they're even good actors at all, but of course, that does not really mean anything to producers. They just need the bankability and the box-office draw.
I could cite some reasons why I don't watch too many Filipino movies, mainstream or otherwise -
1. I don't want to watch movies about our poverty unless it has a unique treatment. The "poverty porn" which Western audiences love does not interest us. I just have to open my window everyday and I see the poverty staring back at me. I don't need a movie to remind me of that reality.
2. The stories they are selling are just not interesting enough. If I can watch that on TV, why spend so much money going to a theatre to watch it! Shockingly, like Hollywood, our local producers are also running out of ideas! I don't know why they don't trust the younger generation enough.
3. They still use that love team as audience bait. I grew up with that as a marketing tool - they are still using it now.
4. I know we're just moving movies, but most of the local ones are not even intellectually stimulating. Most of them are just being made for adults with a Grade 4 educational level. So why waste my two hours on that type of writing?
I did watch My Amnesia Girl, the top box-office movie last year. I tried to enjoy it but it was tough to watch. The audience I was with were laughing with it. Something is wrong with me. For me, it was funny for the first ten minutes but they just repeated the same pattern of jokes until the movie ended. The jokes just kept repeating themselves, I wanted to puke midway into the movie.
I am so happy that I've decided to watch local theatre again. In a span of a few weeks, I saw Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah, Care Divas, The 39 Steps, Breakups and Breakdowns and Next to Normal - and I am very proud to say that the performers in these plays are my kababayans and I'm proud to be a Filipino! I have seen musical theatre abroad - in Hong Kong, Singapore and the West End in London - and I am really impressed with the talent we have here.
Lea Salonga may have been discovered 22 years ago but her legacy has continued to inspire many of our local actors to pursue a career in theatre.
All those plays have very diverse subjects yet they are performed to a world-class standard! I really had a fantastic time watching each of them, and props-wise, our stage, our sound and our lighting have improved immensely since I watched plays in college - and that was twenty years ago!! Frankly, our theatre output is immensely superior to our movies! Now, if only our local showbiz would do theatre to improve their acting!
The ASEAN is mulling the idea of offering one single tourist visa to everyone visiting the ASEAN! I think that's a very good idea since it can give a incentive for those in one ASEAN country to cross the border and visit the other countries! That way, we can get some visitors already visiting Thailand (I think this region's tourism superpower) or Malaysia or Singapore. The ASEAN has recorded 65 million foreign visitor arrivals in 2009! Actually, it's Malaysia who leads the region in tourism, then Thailand, Singapore then Indonesia. The Philippines is only sixth. Tsk tsk.....Well, let's see how this idea shapes up to be a reality.
With their points win over Mongolia, the Azkals are now in a totally different territory which will show whether they deserve to play with Asia's best or not. However, since the group is composed of Fil-'somethings', it has become a problem for their coach to form a cohesive and stable team to continue their exploits.
I guess, Weiss' biggest challenge now (the Azkal's coach) is where to find that homegrown batch of players who have the potential to play football at an international level of play! Yes, the presence of the Fil-'somethings' have placed the Philippines on the football map of this part of Asia, but Weiss has to find who of these guys have the commitment to stay here and be part of the Azkal experience.
Yes, the offers abroad are far more lucrative so Weiss has the task to find who of these Fil-'somethings' want to really stay and play for the Philippines - and really be part of a team. Football is not an individual sport and although it has its own big individual superstars - it is still the team that makes you get that goal! Hope finds those local guys who have as much heart and potential to make us a football superstart!
Well, this is not the bamboo/rattan car Kenneth Cobonpue designed but since I could not find pics, yet, on the net, of what he designed, I came upon this picture of bamboo car, which ws designed in a Japanes technolohical center. It looks quaint and organic and is good for the environment! Will we see a slew of this in the near future? Why not? There should be roads available for cars like this!
Whoever you are, thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for laying your lives to make sure the rest of the world is saved from a nuclear crisis. Unlike you, laymen like us have almost zero IQs on what nuclear radiation is, so we are, in a way, afraid of what it can really do, and the memory of the Chernobyl radiation is still fresh in our memories.
I know you are still grieving for your co-workers who may have died in the tsunami. I know you are worried for your families - if they are still alive or dead or dying - and yet you stay to do your job. It's the ultimate sacrifice one can do at such a difficult period in your life and we will always remember your heroism. Your heroism has inspired us to be better persons, especially in uncertain times like this.
Free speech doesn't give you license to say hurtful things to people who are currently suffering from a natural disaster. It's just really in bad taste. The truth is, no place here on earth is safe from natural disasters. You may be in a desert, a mountain, a seaside - a natural disaster is something that will hit you when you're not ready for it.
So I was appalled with all the 'jokes' that floated around the media and the Internet following what happened in Japan. You know who you are! It's just really tasteless and callous! You should seriously look at yourself and see how f***ed up in the head you are if you feel good about these things. Gosh, you may actually be Hitler and see other people different from you as pests to just be crushed and killed.
Seriously, take a look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself if you'll feel happy when a cyclone or a twister or an earthquake flattens your neighborhood and the other side of the world makes fun of who you are. I pray you feel that you are still part of humanity whichever side of the world you are.
Well, I don't mind if the church opposes it. They are just doing their job so it's in their area of responsibility to be vigilant of this thing. But in a country where there is a supposed separation of church and state, I am more alarmed with how self-righteous take it upon themselves to impose their morality on everyone. They disappoint me because they think they're the only intelligent Filipinos here on earth.
Do they think that with the law - every Filipino will just go and have sex and breed like rabbits? I think each Juan dela Cruz is practical and only wants what is best for their respective families. So let's respect that. I haven't actually read what's really in the RH Bill but I believe that couples should have the choice on how they plan their families - whether they opt for the natural or artificial way. If their personal God thinks they will go to hell, then they will pay the price soon enough. But the truth is, right now, if you have five or more children, I am pretty sure your life is already hell! So hell here, and then hell again if you die (because really, it's very difficult to live an honest life when you have ten children to feed!) Thanks to these self-righteous people!
I know majority of our countrymen need not live in poverty. I read an interesting article in the Manila Bulletin today, which could provide impetus to our farmers or at least those who have agricultural properties planted to the coconut. The coconut tree, which is ubiquitous all over the country, actually has many by-products which can be a source of income for thos who produce them!
In the article, coconut coir and peat, both environmentally friendly products are needed by China since it's needed in making mattresses! China needs around 100 million mattresses per year. If we provide them the coconut coir, our countrymen can earn a lot from it! Now, it's up to the government for now, to disseminate this information to the provinces which produce the most coconut by-products. That way, development and progress can go to those places.
It is a nagging question at the back of my mind nowadays since that terrible earthquake hit Japan a few days ago, which caused that tsunami to tear into the northeastern part of that country. The earthquake in Indonesia happened in 2004, then it was Chile's turn last year, then New Zealand, earlier this year, and finally Japan last week. The Philippines is part of the Pacific region's Ring of Fire, so it's a fair question to ask - is the Philippines next?
Of course, no one has really predicted earthquakes, yet, but I guess it's time we prepare ourselves for that event to happen, knowing fully well that the plates underneath us are constantly moving! Are we prepared for it? I'm not sure. If it's the scale of that of Japan, I don't think we're ready. Even Japan, who is an economic power, and probably, the most earthquake prepared country in the world, is coping desperately to make all systems go to normal once again.
However, our country is used to natural disasters so if the big earthquake does happen, we would be able to cope with it to the best of our abilities. We are a very resilient people after all. Well, for now, we just have to trust God that we dodge a bullet this time around.
Unlike other well-developed countries, our outside show of religiosity sometimes becomes a source of curiousity for many foreigners, basically because, if we get an A+ for it, we get a dismal D for the actual practice of what is really being preached. In a country where corruption is rife and an extreme gap of wealth and power exists - it just shows that maybe all of us just love to show the world how religious we are - but in reality, we don't give a hoot about what happens to the least of our neighbors. Worse, we think God will solve all our problems while we just sit down and do nothing.
Yesterday was Ash Wednesday and the churches were full of people again. I just sometimes wish that we can translate our outward religiosity into concrete actions. I have been to countries like Norway, Sweden and Denmark, whose people are the least religious in Europe, but are the most progressive especially in social welfare - health, education, maternal health, etc.! If you go there, you can really see that they care about each other and the welfare of everyone. Something is really wrong with the picture here. It's as if we are just showing off to God that we love Him, when all He really wants is for us to take care of each other. Beyond each and our own families, I don't think we do.
My own gym has increased their rates to around P2,888 (US$66.77) per month, another round of increases which join other more important items like bread and gasoline. It is not surprising since in a country very dependent on oil, an increase in the price of oil often leads to increases in many basic items - a reality which I have lived with since I've learned the basics of the economics of the marketplace. Frankly, I did feel a bit depressed about the price increase but we just have to find ways to go with the flow - either increase income or save on other items.
The continuous cases of OFWs getting life sentences or death penalties for being drug mules is quite alarming. In today's news, another batch of OFWs in Indonesia have just been meted those sentences. For one thing, the media coverage about this problem should alert our fellowmen from people or syndicates who work in this kind of 'business'. The solution to dissuading them is actually simple. Anything that is too good to be true - usually is. So they have to use their common sense and run away from those 'unbelievable offers'! Easy money usually comes with grave consequences - like a lifetime in prison in some foreign country! The amounts dangled before them (US$1500 = PhP64,200) is not even enough to compensate them once they get caught! So better to use their common sense at all times!
It's funny how people who suddenly become celebrities complain that the media is painting them as kontrabidas or making up stories about them! Once you are in the eye of the media, you are fair game! I am proud of what Nonito Donaire has accomplished for our country but he should really hire a PR person fast! Feuding with his family? Yikes! In a country where family ties are very important - nakakaturn-off! Fighting with the media? You need them Nonito so find a common ground and kiss their ass. You need them as much as they need you. And try to be more humble. Manny is so self-effacing that it's not very difficult to like him. And maybe your wife should just lie low and disappear into the background. I know she's important in your life but she's not very good media copy. She's too abrasive for the Filipino taste. That way, you can focus on your hunt for more championship trophies!
I, too, am one of those excited to see the next chapter of the voyage of our Azkals. Their next game with Mongolia in Ulan Bator is very crucial since it will open doors to them in the bigger league of Asian football! Even though we will still be grouped with the kulelats of Asia, at least, it opens the door for us to meet the real football powerhouses of Asia, like Japan, China and South Korea. One way to really test how good we are is if we play these giants. That way, we can learn how the best in the world really play the beautiful game!
Good luck to the Azkals and I hope they acclimatize well to the cold, cold weather of Japan so that they can survive the hostile cold of Mongolia.
I have been observing closely how our government officials have been handling our OFWs in Libya. The next president I am going to vote is someone who rises to challenges like this - especially that these OFWs are supposedly the heroes of our country. Heroes they really are, bringing in now so much cash that our country needs to survive. However, the way the government agencies are treating them is still poor to dismal. Just today, many of them want to change their Libyan dinars to peso, but still there are so many limitations like limiting it to 10,000 pesos only and a 7-day deadline. How can a family survive on 10000 pesos only till their breadwinners find another work? Everything now has just been reactionary. I hope next time they have systems in place when emergencies like this happen. It's time they put emphasis on calling our fellowmen, 'heroes'!
I know it's easy for me to pontificate since I am not Angelo Reyes and I have never been given one hundred million pesos to shut up and be quiet. That's apparently how the system works in the higher echelons of the Philippine military and to go against that system may mean risking my own life and the safety of my family.
Anyhow, if I did get 100 million pesos (US$2,311,550.91) as pasalubong by my very generous posse of general-friends, I will have to accept it or risk their fury. However, instead of giving it to my family and feel guilty about it - I'd just find a way that the money reaches the poor soldiers under me - maybe set up a foundation - which can help them and their families. It really feels like Robin Hood but in the system that I'm in, getting me killed and making me a hero is not an option. See what happened to Ninoy. He offered his life to us and all we got is her nauseous daughter Kris - who has reduced our entertainment news to shiite!
Nope, if I were Angie Reyes, I'd go the quiet route, and even if my wife protests and demands her Hermes bag, I would shut her up and go my own way. That goes for the kids too. I am a general after all! That way, I also wouldn't have to shoot myself.
