Category Archives: sa kalye

Tuesday ∗ 07 Sep 2010

fete dela musique, elsewhere

You were dancing to music you couldn’t understand at all, but isn’t that what music should be able to do? You were there with a boy you barely knew now, but whose life seemed intertwined with yours. He says this is the real fete de la musique, and you smile. Here? In this park? It’s practically empty. Cue memory number 1: crowds at El Pueblo in Ortigas, to the sound of music overlapping with each other, sweat sweat sweat the name of the… Continue reading »

Sunday ∗ 01 Aug 2010

one month of P-Noy: notes of a Pinay

the irony should not be lost on any of them, really. after all they’re the newly-created, seemingly hi-tech, and youthful (!) aspect of the Noy government, and as the communications group, they should know of the contradictions inherent in their mere existence. they who are tasked with “communications” different and separate and new(?) from what we’ve seen as the office of the press secretary all these years. but save for putting up twitter and facebook accounts, and a website, we… Continue reading »

Wednesday ∗ 30 Sep 2009

let’s talk about those dams!

from stuartsantiago, after a lot of research, and yes, a lot of common sense. i understand the need to focus on relief, but please, let us be clear about who’s at fault here other than nature, other than the lack of urban planning, other than squatters (na tanging salarin, sabi ni Bayani Fernando). there were those dams, and there was someone responsible for releasing water from all two (or three!) at a time when yes, the rains were enough to… Continue reading »

Thursday ∗ 27 Aug 2009

Manila and the ghosts of directors past

The lady at the ticket booth asks me: “Ok lang po bang black and white yung movie?” When I say yes, she promptly informs me that they’ve received many complaints about the independent film Manila’s lack of color. Produced and starred in by commercial actor Piolo Pascual, this should’ve been expected. The world is in color after all. And all the films that Pascual has done so far have showed all his hunky glory in color. And yet, there is… Continue reading »

Wednesday ∗ 03 Jun 2009

HR1109, ConAss, ChaCha, GMA Forever? WTF!

It is everything and confusing, this whole enterprise of the Chacha or Charter Change. Because really, you listen to these congressmen and it seems like ChaCha isn’t related to a ConAss or Constituent Assembly isn’t related to GMA staying in power. And where is House Resolution 1109 – which was passed Tuesday night – in all of this? The ConAss is one of the ways through which changes to the 1987 charter or constitution may be made. The ConAss will… Continue reading »

Tuesday ∗ 10 Mar 2009

today: grieving for FrancisM

a version of this essay appears in the Philippine Daily Inquirer: Mourning for FrancisM I can imagine that this doesn’t apply to many Filipinos of a different social class and generation from mine. But for a particular sector who, in the 1990s, was enamored by American pop and rap, who were at an age in which they needed a sense of identity in the context of this country, there was Francis Magalona. And this is not to say that he… Continue reading »

Wednesday ∗ 25 Feb 2009

oh boy!!!

You know I was honestly pleasantly surprised at Vicky Belo for once, that Sunday when she dared say the unsaid, joke or otherwise, about competition and advertising. Because in recent years, since the whole beauty industry became all-powerful and all-encompassing, we have been bombarded with images that want to make us believe that everyone is equal where a cosmetic surgery and a beauty clinic are concerned. And while this all seems like the best thing to say, it is absolutely… Continue reading »

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