rituals and remembrances

It's not even All Souls' Day yet, but already the police are on heightened security, maintaining a presence at bus terminals and at the bigger cemeteries in Metro Manila where crowds have descended and are expected to continue to do so. Meanwhile, the news on TV earlier showed cars at a standstill on the expressway as Filipinos head for the provinces to remember the dead. The fact that this is a long weekend, on the heels of last weekend -- last Monday was a holiday, and so are tomorrow and Friday -- contributes to the traffic situation greatly.

It is interesting how deeply rooted in our culture the ritual of remembering those who have gone before is. It has a Christian origin, as the Church encourages the faithful to pray for the departed, especially those who are in purgatory. In fact, commemorating All Souls' Day with prayers and special rituals, after All Saints' Day on November 1, was begun by monastic orders. And with Christians comprising more than 80% of our population, the whole country is on a national holiday to observe All Souls' Day.

But I would think that even before the introduction of Christianity into our culture, the early Filipinos were already practising some sort of remembrance, as Asians. Ancestor worship is important to the Buddhists and the Taoists, and with the strong Chinese undertones in Filipino culture, I would say that our rituals of remembrance leans more towards this practice.

I'm not sure about early or indigenous Filipino practices of remembering the dead, nor about the practices of other faiths in the country (the Islamic community, for one). Definitely, we Filipinos have made these rituals of the East and West our very own -- and then some. We flock to the cemeteries with not just candles and flowers, or incense and offerings, as is applicable -- but also with tents, playing cards, mah jong sets, and karaoke machines. Our version of All Souls' Day has turned out to be not just a day to remember and honor the departed, but more so, an occasion to celebrate being alive, in true Pinoy fashion. I have no doubt that those going out of town are making the most of the trip, by visiting relatives. Or maybe even stopping by the beach.

Those in Manila who are unable to visit their loved ones' tombs in the provinces will have their own little rituals, lighting candles at home and offering prayers for their souls. In all this, we see how much of a melting pot the Philippines is. As with many things, we have integrated two influences -- the Christian practice of the West of remembering our departed loved ones, and the older Asian practice of ancestor worship. This makes us part of a larger community, the rituals of which continue to find expression in our culture.

let there be light!

Speaking of being earth friendly, I came across an interesting cartoon about the incandescent light bulb. Well, I must admit, I never knew there was anything wrong with these light bulbs. But, as the cartoon says, it's so 19th century!

See for yourself:



With thanks to Mike Adams for the illumining idea, and to NewsTarget for the use of the cartoon.

earth-friendly elections

I think we Filipinos have a tendency to overdo things. It's the pandesal mentality at work, the principle behind it being saturation. Take our business establishments, for example. A few years ago, it was pearl shakes -- when the pearl shake business was doing well, there was a pearl shake stall every few hundred meters near residential areas. Nowadays, it's coffee. On almost every street corner in middle- to upper middle-class neighborhoods, you're sure to find a coffee shop. Where there's a call center or commercial area, there will be more than one.

The same principle is at work during election season, when candidates compete for our attention in every possible way. Not an inch of approved space is wasted in hanging posters, streamers, and banners. Campaign jingles blare over and over from loudspeakers. Flyers, pocket calendars, cardboard fans and visors are given away. On election day itself, the precinct grounds get littered with discarded sample ballots.

Besides the stress on our well being from the visual and aural pollution -- because even just the sight of clutter and the noise, of course, do add to one's stress levels -- there is the stress on the environment. If each candidate were to produce some 5,000 (a low estimate) each of their flyers, posters, streamers, pocket calendars, stickers, and other printed campaign materials, how many kilos of newsprint, matte, or sticker paper would it all add up to? How many trees? How many cans of ink? Multiply that by the number of candidates, and you'll get a good idea of how much paper is consumed in the process -- and consequently, how much waste ends up in our landfills.

But that's not all. That is just campaign material. Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez has this to say about the trash this election would generate on the side of the campaign workers alone:

There are 41,995 barangays all over the country. There will be 16 elective positions up for grabs, with each elective position attracting at least one candidate - most will be fought over by two or more. If each candidate - assuming each position will have two contenders (unlikely as some have as many as 5 or 6), and that each contender has 20 campaign workers (barangays have a minimum of 2 thousand inhabitants, and each candidate is allowed 1 campaign worker for every hundred) working for 9 days (campaign runs from the 19th to the 27th), and eating 3 squares out of one styro pack and one plastic bottle, by the 28th of October we will have 6,531,062,400 styro packs and 6,531,062,400 plastic water bottles to dispose of, all over the country. And that’s not even counting the candy wrappers and the plastic baggies (and drinking straws) used to sell soda in, and the torn up plastic packs of various junk food.

A different kind of campaign was launched by the EcoWaste Coalition before the May elections -- a campaign for waste-free elections. Undoubtedly, the May elections were dirtier -- I'm speaking in terms of waste here -- but it would be good to review the guidelines for the prevention and reduction of waste.

With climate change inevitable, we should start voting along the lines of which candidate has a sound platform for zero waste or otherwise earth-friendly policies.

Read Jimenez' post here. And read more about the EcoWaste Coalition's campaign for waste-free elections here.

pinoy, and proud

This is the winning entry in the Proudly Pinoy competition.

I had forgotten all about this until today. Reviewing the entries, it was interesting how the concepts of being Pinoy (Filipino) and of pride were translated as badges.

What makes a Filipino proud? What makes one proud to be a Filipino?

To all the participants, thank you for reminding us of our being Pinoy.

And to the organizers of the competition, thank you for the badge.

self, identity, existence

Everyone has a story to tell.

Maybe my college friend, poet Ralph Semino Galan, was right when he said -- with apologies to René Descartes -- "I write, therefore I am."

Now, millions of people find their own little nook in cyberspace to tell their stories, assert their identities, define their existence. Their mantra -- again, apologies to Descartes, and also now to Ralph -- "I blog, therefore I am."

Blogging is different things to different people: a liberating experience, an exercise in democracy, and for some, a ritual for healing and self-expression. But as all these -- by no means a definitive list, I'm sure -- does blogging define us? Has it become a measure of identity and existence?

I ask this each time I have the urge to blog. The precious minutes of downtime that can be used for rest or study, I blog away. Not necessarily here, as I have more than one blog, as many bloggers do. The point is that we have associated ourselves so much with our blogs and with the act (and art) of blogging that to some, it is utterly unthinkable not to blog.

Of course, we are bigger than our blogs, our blog topics, and even blogosphere in general. The snippets of life that we manage to capture and note down, recorded in cyberspace -- virtual air, a system of 1's and 0's -- are precious, fleeting, and almost ethereal. But that's all they are: snippets. Life is too big to be encapsulated in a blog. It is too simple to be rendered as code, and too complex to be confined to bytes.

Simply put, a blog may be proof of one's existence -- not unlike a composer being remembered for his music or a painter being known for her art. Seen in this way, we are not only what we blog -- we are when we blog. We are as good as our blogs, with blog stats as our yardstick. We measure our worth by the number of blogs and sites linked to us. Badges and widgets, we wear with pride.

What then, if we are unable to maintain our blogs? Abandoned blogs -- are they like the "old, abandoned shells" in Antoine de Saint-Exupery's The Little Prince? The prince said there's nothing sad about old, abandoned shells. Can the same be said for abandoned blogs?

What happens to a blog or a site when its owner passes away? Julia Campbell's blog and the MySpace and FaceBook sites of the Virginia Tech students killed last April -- these are indelible proof of lives now gone. They're all that's left of a measure of space-time once spent on this earth. And for us who never knew them, they're desperate ways of connecting, getting to know, and paying tribute.

All this is a long way of saying that this blog may end up like theirs -- abandoned, for a time, as I give up blogging. At least while I work on completing my Master's Project -- which, again, is just another piece of who I am, proof of a facet or phase of my life as MA student.

I may use this blog to take note of my research... but only if time will allow it.

Everyone has a story to tell. And I have a story to write.

faith in media

One night last week, I was chatting with my friend when he said, "Minsan iniisip ko... may naniniwala pa ba sa news? (Sometimes I think... does anyone still believe the news?)"

This intrigued me, so I asked him if it meant he doesn't read/watch/listen to the news anymore -- or if he knows anyone who doesn't.

He thought about it for a while, and said no.

But I knew what he meant -- and I knew he wasn't alone in his sentiment. It wasn't the news he doubted. It was those who report it.

various reactions, one thread
People's distrust for and disenchantment with media are rooted in many things. The feeling that traditional or mainstream media "just don't get it" is one. Sensationalized news is another. "Envelopmental" journalism and other corrupt media practices are yet another.

Filipinos' reactions to media are varied. We are enamored by media personalities -- thus those huge billboards with newscasters advertising the latest product or service -- or distrustful and wary of them. There are Filipinos who applaud journalists and media practitioners, and those who think that anyone with a press card is "dirty." Some have taken advantage of the media to gain mileage and influence. And others, regrettably, have gone as far as to silence members of the press to keep the truth from coming out.

In all these reactions, however, lies a common thread: the recognition that journalists and media practitioners function in the public sphere. Whatever information the media receive, whatever news they gather, is meant for the public. It goes out in the form of a news report or feature that is published or broadcast. The media act as our eyes and ears. They report to us a world that is beyond our immediate sphere of existence.

the need to know
The need to know what's going on in the world or even in our immediate circle is basic. We express this need whenever we greet one another by saying, "What's up?" or "Ano'ng balita?" -- roughly, "What's new?"

The mass media fulfill this need -- or are supposed to, at least. But if we are dissatisfied with the media, then we will increasingly turn to other sources of information and news. With the Internet, we can get news and information from more sources now than we had ever dreamed. And with mobile phones, we can get it much faster than we had ever imagined.

If my friend's sentiment is indicative of how majority of young Filipinos today regard the media, I wonder if faith can be restored. Maybe it's time to reexamine how the media do their job -- and even what job it is they're supposed to do. Otherwise, the mainstream media could lose their audience to the Internet and mobile technology.

news?

Over a million people watched this particular video on YouTube.



What a statement this reporter made. I can't quite imagine this happening on Philippine television, though.

pinoys on the web

My "Proudly Pinoy Blog" badge (to the right of the screen) will soon get a replacement.

A competition to design a "Proudly Pinoy" logo to be used without charge on Filipino-owned web sites and blogs was recently launched.

The organizers of this competition, which ends on 11 July, no doubt realize the importance of establishing a distinct Pinoy identity on the web.

Displaying this badge on your site or blog is the virtual equivalent of planting the country's flag atop a mountain. But more than being a symbol of Pinoy pride, the badge identifies you as a member of the community of online Filipinos.

How many Filipinos own web sites? How many are bloggers? The number can't be that big, considering that as of last year, there were only a little over seven million Internet users in the Philippines. That's about nine percent of our total population.

But consider this: for such a small nation, we are on the Internet map. Pinoys are on the Internet and not just as consumers, but more importantly, as producers -- whether as web designers outsourced by foreign companies, or as bloggers whose hits come from all over the world.

So a "Proudly Pinoy" badge makes sense.

The winning designer will get P10,000 (a little more than $200). As of this post, 71 entries have been submitted and can be seen on the site.

she loves me, she loves me not...

As I write this, Asia News Network associate editor and former Bandillo ng Palawan editor-in-chief Jofelle Tesorio is free again.

She was released after some 10 hours in prison. Why was she even there, to begin with, considering that she had already posted bail?

love-hate relationship
This happened just a day after the newspaper headlines screamed that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was seeking the media's help in the last leg of her presidency. It makes one wonder about her relationship with the Philippine press -- a love-hate relationship, to my mind.

I still remember that infamous press conference that members of the Foreign Correspondents' Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) were banned from attending. FOCAP members observed that not even the late President Marcos did such a thing.

Then came Proclamation 1017, which placed the country under a state of emergency. Though it lasted for just a week, it was enough to create a chilling effect. The office of The Daily Tribune was raided, and a military presence was established in other media organizations.

change of heart
And of course who can forget the First Gentleman's libel suits against some 40 journalists last year? These were all magnanimously dropped after Mr. Arroyo's successful heart surgery in April this year. Looks like he had a sudden change of heart (sorry, I couldn't resist the pun).

But he wasn't the only one. On 15 June, the Philippine Daily Inquirer carried a story about the President promising "to end the killing of journalists and protect them from libel suits and arbitrary arrest." She also called upon all journalists to join hands with her administration "in mutual trust and common purpose so that all the violence will be stopped."

Since Ms. Arroyo assumed office in 2001, 51 journalists have been killed.

ask not what the media can do...
This is undoubtedly a president who knows what the media can do for her and her administration.

She is aware that the media can play a huge role in the downfall of a president, as it did in the case of her predecessor. She knows how relentlessly the press can pursue a story to uncover the truth, as what happened in the "Hello, Garci" affair. And she feels the watchful gaze of international media and human rights organization who are determined to make her administration accountable for infringements on the freedom of the press.

Is she now eager to show what she can do for the media?

relief
The Philippine press heaved a collective sigh of relief as Jofelle walked out of detention in Quezon City. Whether this relief is temporary and short-lived will depend on whether the President makes good her promise to put a stop to the killing, suing, and arresting of journalists.

Read more about Jofelle's arrest here.

the bugo-bugo in the senado

Along with Sen. Rodolfo Biazon, there are three newly elected retired or otherwise former military officers and graduates of the Philippine Military Academy in our Senate: Panfilo Lacson and Gregorio Honasan (PMA '71) and Antonio Trillanes (PMA '95).

I was able to catch the first part of the recent edition of ANC's "Strictly Politics" with all of these cavaliers (as PMA'ers are called) as guests, except for Trillanes. The fact that there are four of them in the Senate has become a cause for recent concern and discomfort. The presence of former military officers in the Cabinet and other areas of public service, and now in the Senate -- what is this, some kind of club? Unfortunately, the proverbial fuel was added to the fire with the statement of one of them, editorialized in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, a few days ago, that essentially -- yes, there is some sort of club.

My interest is the commonality among the four. What binds them together is the PMA experience -- the discipline, the values, and the lessons learned within the walls of Fort del Pilar as well as out on the field. It is not necessarily the same experience, but the bond exists, forged by a code of conduct we can only wonder about. Yet, is this bond enough for them not to go head to head over matters that may arise in the future?

Belongingness, as I mentioned in my previous post, stems from such commonalities. They all are PMA graduates, and so we can assume that to some extent, they shared one community. But years after the PMA, and with years apart among them (except for Honasan and Lacson, who were classmates) -- were their communities still the same? Was Biazon's cadet life the same or at least comparable to Trillanes'? What about Lacson and Honasan, mistahs though they are, did they experience the same military experiences after leaving the PMA?

I wanted to see where the discussion was going, but didn't have much time to watch. I stayed long enough to hear Sen. Honasan say that in the Senate, it's the national agenda they are pushing, not the agenda of the bugo-bugo -- a term of endearment used at first for plebes, and later, for fellow PMA'ers. Can we trust their definitions of the national agenda, considering the very different personalities and alignments of the four? All of them were involved in their own different interpretations of service to the nation at some point in their careers -- whether mutiny, coup d'etat, or defense.

Commonalities or not, their first duty -- as well as that of the other senators, for that matter -- is in the exercise of their responsibilities as elected senators. It is to the public, the people that elected them, that they must prove themselves and be accountable. Not to the PMA, as institution and community, and certainly not to the bugo-bugo.