Happy Independence Day Boxing Country

Today, I was able to watch a Manny Pacquiao documentary on ANC. It was fairly short, and in the short time it was aired, Manny Pacquiao's beginnings as a boxer was given attention, along with his latter wins, and intention to enter politics. The docu was supplemented by boxing analysis and an interview from Pacquiao himself. The video was simply made, and the facts were laid out with no other purpose but to inform viewers about our most successful sports champion to date, perhaps as part of the Independence Day Celebrations of the news channel.

Documentaries like these are normal to the Filipino eye, but what may be real eye candy for some is watching the HBO 24/7 pre-fight documentaries about Pacquiao and his upcoming opponents. This well-produced series covers Pacquiao's training process (along with his opponent), with the purpose of hyping up the upcoming competition. With this purpose, it is ordinary to see thousands of boxing and training clips, backed up by string music from an orchestra, and brave statements from each of the boxing camps. For anyone enthusiastic about boxing (or for anyone into making film), these documentaries are truly well-made, and have beautifully combined information with excitement.

My attention was caught by the beginning of each 24/7 documentary, wherein the each of the boxers' lands of origin are given attention. For Manny Pacquiao's homeland, our beloved Philippines, beautiful shots of General Santos City and Manila were made, pretty much composed of farmland, kids, and slums beneath the urban jungle. I felt pity (mostly because that was how the viewers were supposed to respond to the treatment of that segment) as it was implied by the voice-over narration that Pacquiao came from a really poor family, and that he had to struggle his way to success, and that there little chance of even entertaining the thought of international success as an ordinary Filipino, but Pacquiao was able to reach his present status; today, Pacquiao is worshipped like a god.

Lennox Lewis said the same thing in Pacquiao's Time 100 feature this year (http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1894410_1894289_1894356,00.html). "Manny has connected with the people of his home... where he's almost like a god." Truly, Manny Pacquiao's victories have brought national pride and happiness, but as a Filipino, I don't think I ever came to think about imagining him the way Lewis thinks Pacquiao has connected with us.

I understand that these may be statements made to glorify Manny Pacquiao's success through the years. However, when we read write-ups about him and watch different videos concerning his notable career, the 3rd world state of the Philippines, and how it is hard to succeed here, always seems to be the literary and artistic choice for emphasizing this success. It feels like comparing white against a dark shade, just to see how bright white can be. When reading these things from outside the Philippines, I just feel that somehow, these want to make me think that Manny Pacquiao is bigger than his own country.

There's nothing wrong with what's happening. It is perfectly alright for Manny Pacquiao to be where he is. I just feel we have to be aware that for this ebony-ivory device to work in the write-ups abroad, Manny Pacquiao's status has to remain larger than his country. It is important for us to be aware of this in order to note that Manny Pacquiao's success needs to be acknowledged not as the point of real salvation for our country, but only as a big step towards it. The reason most probably that Muhammad Ali's success before as a boxer was never glorified in a Pacquiao sort of way was that America already had so many other famous successes to speak of, and that Ali's was not entirely new, despite his numerous attempts at calling himself "The Greatest."

We have to thank Manny Pacquiao for giving us so much recognition abroad. But we have to be real and true and accept that while his success is also our success, he has every right to claim it, and people outside the Philippines are still free to think that the country is Pacquiao's ebony. Pacquiao's success is an open call to Filipinos to do what we never knew before was possible. With a good outlook for the Filipino future, these literary devices of contrasting great Filipinos against a pitiful Philippines may eventually be ineffective.

Nagkakaroon na ng Bagong Identidad ang Pilipinas

Alec Baldwin. Tama ba ang ispeling? Alam niyo ba, sa ngayon, hanggang picture na lang ang makikita natin sa kaniya, kasi, blacklisted siya dito sa ating mahal na Pilipinas? Nagbiro kasi siya nang masama ukol sa mga Filipina mail-order wives, na bawal daw. Nabawasan siya ng mapupuntahan sa mundo, ang Pilipinas. Kawawa naman siya, hindi niya mapupuntahan ang napakagandang bayan natin.

Sa sobrang kagandahan ng ating bansa, at ng mga nilalang dito, nang magkaroon dati ng isang linya sa palabas na Desperate Housewives na “Can I just check those diplomas because I just want to make sure that they are not from some med school in the Philippines,”  hiningi na naman ng maraming Pilipino (at siyempre, hindi nawala ang political grandstanding) na humingi ng paumanhin ang produksyon ng palabas na ito.  Nakasasakit kasi eh.

Sa totoo lang, ang pinakanakagawa ng ingay na may kinalaman sa pagkakakilala sa mga Pilipino sa mundo ay ang ginawa ni Chip Tsao, isang Tsino, na pagsusulat ukol sa pagiging land of servants ng Pilipinas. Natural, maraming diskusyon muli ang naganap, sa napakarilag na Pilipinas.  

Hindi lang iyan, sa Baguio mismo, persona non grata na raw si Candy Pangilinan, isang Pilipina rin, sa kaniyang pagsabi na tao siya at hindi Igorot (at mukhang nagkamali lang naman siya sa pagsasabi ng gusto niya talagang sabihing 'di naman gaano kasakit). 

Nakikita ko na mula sa libel ng mga rehiyon hanggang sa pakikitungo sa ibang bansa (basta may kinalaman sa media), parang napaka-kritikal ng mga mamamayan sa ating bansa, lalo na ang mga may boses sa lipunan. Kaunting 'di umano'y pagyurak sa pagkatao ng Pilipino, umaaray na, nag-iingay, at humihingi ng paumanhin.

Pagkatapos mapanood ng mundo ang Slumdog Millionaire, siguradong mas maraming nasabing kababuyan na ikagagalit ng India ang nakararaming mamamayan ng mundo. Marami rin namang mail-order wives na hindi Pilipiino. Marami rin namang doktor na hindi magaling na hindi Pilipino. Sa mga servant o katulong, marami ring Espanyol, Amerikano, o hindi kaya'y mga Aprikano.  Totoo rin namang may istatwang Igorot.

Ang pipikon ng mga Pilipino. Iyan marahil ang sunod na maipipintas sa atin, at siguradong susulat na naman tayo para humingi sila ng paumanhin.

Relaks lang kasi. National identity is nourished INSIDE the nation.

Ang Panitikan, Jologs at Sosyal

Kagabi, nagbasa ako ng isang bahagi ng librong Katha ni Soledad Reyes ukol sa panitikang Filipino. May binanggit doon na may ilang uri ng kulturang popular na hindi agad tinanggap bilang bahagi ng sinasabing "panitikan." Kabilang sa mga nabanggit ang pelikula, ang komiks, mga dulang pangtelebisyon, at mga programa sa radyo. Isa sa mga unang nabanggit na dahilan ng hindi agarang pagtanggap sa mga ito bilang panitikan ay "walang puwang sa kurikulum ang pag-aaral ng kulturang popular." Kulang ang mga batayan para sa masusing pag-aaral noong mga panahong ito, kaya hindi natanggap ang mga ito bilang bahagi ng panitikang Filipino. Nabanggit din na sa elitistang pananaw ng marami, mababa ang tingin sa mga komiks at pelikula. Subalit hindi raw malinaw ang mga batayang "high-brow" at "low-brow" na ito, at napaka-subhetibo. May mga binanggit na ilang akda at likhang dati'y itinuring na pang-masa (sa negatibong konotasyon), na ngayon ay bahagi na ng "mas matalinong" kamalayang Pilipino.

Kahit ano naman ang mangyari, sapagkat ang panitikan ay maituturing na salamin ng buhay, gaano man ito ka-panget o ka-ganda sa ating paningin, ito ay may tunay na halagang magaggamit. Nakaiirita man o nakaaaliw na pakinggan para sa iba ang pagbirit ni Manny Pacquiao sa radyo ng "Filipino ang lahi ko!" sumasalamin ito sa kaniyang kasalukuyang kasikatan, at kung anu-ano pang maituturing na mapa ng panitikan at kulturang Pinoy sa kasalukuyan. Iba-iba ang pagtrato sa panitikan sa bawat panahon, at sa aking palagay, nagbibigay ang mga pagtratong ito ng magandang kulay sa ating lipunan.

Subalit, makulay man ang iba-ibang pananaw ukol sa kulturang popular, ang subhetibong elitistang pananaw ay nakakukulong. Karaniwan, iniisip ng elitista na kapag may taong mahilig sa Pinoy shobis, jologs siya, at hindi marunong tumingin ng tunay na art. May ilang taong matatawag na music snobs, sapagkat pinipilit nilang tanggalin sa kanilang mga buhay ang anumang musikang popular, at pinipiling makinig sa musikang tingin nila ay hindi kilala, mas trip ng kritiko, at mas aral. Sa kahit anong panahon, ang ganitong klaseng pag-iisip ay naging batayan ng katayuan sa lipunan. Kung jologs ka, Wowowee at mga mall show ng paboritong artista ang hilig mo. Kung sosyal ka, Gossip Girl ang hilig mo, Art Gallery ang lakaran mo, at Makati ang first or second home mo. Bawal maging sosyal ang taong walang alam sa tunay na 'culture.' Nakakukulong 'di ba? Upang makilala mo kung ano ka sa lipunan, parang may mga nakalathala nang mga dapat mong kahiligan at ayawan? Mahirap.

Pero siguro, puwede rin namang mamili mula sa dalawang mundo. Best of both worlds, ika nga. Hindi naman yata mahalaga ang iniisip ng iba, basta wala kang sinasaktan, at nananatili kang masaya. Minsan lang siguro talaga, sa ating pakikipagkapwa-tao, sunod lang tayo nang sunod sa daloy. Gaya ng isang likhang pampanitikan, kung trip mo ang 'jologs' ngayon at kamumuhian ka ng mga mayayaman na iyan, huwag mag-alala. Uunlad din ang pag-iisip ng marami balang araw, at magiging katanggap-tanggap ka rin. Iyon ay kung mahalaga pa iyon. 

Pulis Patola

Yes, the incident involving Ted Failon's family has reached epic proportions. But the policemen are as lamentable.

Recently, police representatives have been defending themselves against their bad, "pulis patola" image. They requested media practitioners to give more exposure to "good" policemen, with the hopes of improving their image, and hopefully, public trust.  They requested writers of teleseryes to avoid including pulis patolas (or even funny, or bad policemen) in their shows. I personally hated this, for I believe that these policemen have NEVER (or very rarely) done their part to improve their own images, aside from the fact that artistic expression is prevented from flourishing. Most are still bundat (or big-bellied, despite the existence of a "slimming down" project a few years back). Most are still kotong cops. Makati police wait at night for motorists to terrorize (they run in front of your car to block your path, then try to accuse you of a traffic violation. It happened to us. Good thing we evaded them. Balony.). I never felt they respected the good portrayal by media.

Today, as I watch the news, I see policemen arresting Ted Failon's housemates and his wife's family members. I see a lawyer shrieking for justice, as the househelpers' rights to a lawyer before anything happens should have happened. I see police officers in their desks more eloquent than usual, explaining crime progress. I see a policeman in glasses screaming at Ted Failon's brother in law, ordering arrest, for apparently "obstructing justice' by exerting force to stop the police from arresting his siblings. No warrants.  "Obstruction of Justice" has never sounded more like an excuse to go on an arresting spree. I heard a speculation that Ted Failon was a critic of that certain police branch (or maybe the police in general).

The pulis patolas are on live TV. The teleseryes did not have to do their part. 

Only in The Philippines?

On the way home from Ateneo, I was listening to the evening news through the car radio. The news that caught my attention involved that of a certain former government official who is now being called to testify in front of the senate regarding his alleged anomalous release of funds to government officials not necessarily involved with the goals of that fund. What really got me wondering was not the fact that there was news about possible committed corruption (What's new?), but the statement of a well-known senator (known to be corrupt, but bluntly proven) for the former government official;on TV, he advised the former government official to stop "prolonging the agony," and to start testifying already, as if he, the well-known senator, himself was a righteous man (He may actually be.).

That piece of news just got my attention, but I am not condemning that certain senator for saying that. It is his job to say that, since he is also tasked to do investigations. However, what keeps me bothered is the fact that politicians we usually carelessly brand as corrupt seem to investigate each other on a regular basis already. I wonder what comes to the minds of political investigators when they interview anomalous people. I mean, if they were corrupt too, then they would probably be laughing at the anomalous person they were interviewing for being stupid enough to be caught. We rarely end up proving that a lot of governement officials in the Philippines are corrupt, or have stolen a tremendous amount of money, but we always seem to know, based on rumors, and news of this and that person "allegedly" stealing this and that amount for this or that invalid project. Sometimes, we do not have to prove that someone is bad to know if a system is bad, or dangerous. 

But how the heck did our country end up to be like this? The government functions very much like a company, and we can think of it as the central company that takes care of all major transactions that will benefit the Filipino citizen, its customer and major shareholder. If this company alone is known to be corrupt in itself, then all other companies, or systems attached to it (like the different sectors), are bound to be corrupt in a degree equal to, or less than that of the central government. Therefore, we can say that in our own different work places, like show business or the simple common corporate set-up, different forms of corruption are already present, and they are not limited to stealing money by way of bent transactions. If you noticed, in the Philippines, only the powerful elite help their own kind, and most of the developing kind (those striving to improve their lives immensely) have to struggle against crab mentality, and having to meet the right people at the right time to help them out. Don't we all just wish that our own workplaces felt like school, wherein working hard almost usually meant getting the better grade, and hopefully the better future? PR was not the make or break skill then, but now, the motto seems to be "Who you know will best help you and your company."

As a student nearing the end of my student life, I keep praying not to be eaten up by the damaged culture in my own future workplace, if ever that damaged culture shows up. When we all end up having to decide against our own integrity for what may seem to look better for our own careers, do we succumb to temptation? Seeing that the damaged Filipino culture is an open secret, is being part and king of that system the only way to succeed? When the good people we see are limited to the "heroes" and those who are killed for fighting for what they believe in, can we still be courageous enough to do what's right, and what we love?

We may be afraid to pay the price of doing good, but if we do not do good now, whatever bad we do will eventually contribute to a system that will kill us in the end. I hope more people take the risk.