Pride month really hits different this year. On top of being the first pride without my gay friends who’ve been taken away from us by the AFP, we are also facing an impending regime built on lies, manipulation, tyranny and injustice. Queer Pinoys have always fought for everyone’s rights despite our own being continually sidelined or deprioritized by local progressive spaces, so fighting while grieving is nothing new to us. We’ll keep fighting, keep finding the rainbow through the storm. (Literally! June is the start of our monsoon season!) I believe in this community and I’m very grateful for all that we do for each other.
Kapit-bisig tayong lahat at makibaka para sa buong sangkabaklaan: sa mga chikiting na maaaring ngayon pa lamang namumulat sa kanilang pagkatao (maging sekswalidad man ‘yan o katauhang pangkasarian); sa mga nakatatanda —mga tito’t tita, mga lolo’t lola na nagpursigi at nagdala sa atin sa ating kinatatayuan; sa mga aktibista, mga guro, mga kaibigang nagmamahal lamang sa bayan ngunit ni-redtag at pinaslang ng estado… Huwag nating kalilimutan kung para kanino ang labang ito.
It’s okay to cry and mourn for a bit. Feel the anguish and the pain. Let it be your reminder of why we fight, and why we celebrate ourselves despite everything.
Happy 2022 Pride, mga bakla! Maki-beki! Huwag mashokot! Mahal na mahal ko kayo.
“China’s expansive assertion of sovereignty over the South China Sea suffered a major blow Tuesday when an international tribunal ruled that its claims have no legal or historical basis, throwing up the possibility of a new period of tension and confrontation in the region.Beijing fiercely rejected the decision by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, which sided unequivocally with the Philippines against China. The United States urged calm.“
Don’t commission me to draw real people, kids. The results are a hot mess.
Christmas gift for my grandparents in the Philippines, who I’m finally spending time with in their home for the first time in over a decade. It feels good to be back with the family in their element … I only wish I was better at drawing portraits!
Hey guys, I know I don’t post much in this blog anymore and I am not exactly sure who will see this but I’m posting this because today is the Philippine Presidential Elections and, just like what other people here are already saying, we’re fighting for our lives right now.
We are fighting against the return of dictatorship in the country. We are fighting against the continuation of corruption and injustice. We are fighting for a better future. We are fighting, so that we may finally know peace.
Today,multiple issues regarding the elections have come up. Vote-Counting Machines (VCMs) “malfunctioning”, SD cards missing, people getting PAID for voting for the dictator’s son and his party, and more. Even the commission in charge of ENSURING FAIR ELECTIONS is failing to fully understand the grasp said issues, wasting people’s time and votes.
If you do find this post and read it, all I ask is that you share the news about the Philippines. Anything about today (May 9, 2022), about Halalan 2022/PH Elections 2022, about BBM and the Marcos Family, about Leni Robredo, Kiko Pangilinan, Chel Diokno and the rest of Robredo’s senatorial slate (+ Neri Colmenares),
and if this inspires you to learn everything else, then please do.
We are asking for your help, not in votes, but in sharing what is happening here to the rest of the world. Whatever happens, whatever the results are, we want the whole world to see what is going on. (But thank you to the foreign news outlets who have been speaking on this).
All the Filipinos are asking for is a fair government, where lives are recognized and uplifted. We cannot be kept in the dark again, we have had enough.
And if we need to meet in EDSA once again, then so be it.
20 years of extreme poverty, abuse of power and human rights violations stemming from the authoritarian rule of a President my people bravely resisted.
Today, February 25, 2022, my country celebrates the 36th anniversary of Edsa People Power Revolution. A remarkable display of unity to reclaim the democracy taken away by power hungry leadership.
The characteristic feature of the shy and secretive Luzon Bleeding-heart, Gallicolumba luzonica (Columbiformes - Columbidae) is the deep red spot on its breast, which resembles a bleeding wound.
As its common name suggests, the Luzon bleeding-heart inhabits the island of Luzon in the Philippines, as well as two neighboring islands.
Like other pigeons and doves, this one feeds its young on nutritious ‘crop milk’, a secretion from a pouch near the adult’s throat.
This species is usually rather scarce or rare, and is classified as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List.
In the triumphant spirit of the Queen Elizabeth II’s #PlatinumJubilee.
The Order of Lakandula
(Established 2003, Honors Code of the Philippines).
To create a new symbol and meaning for the national government and the Republic that function as honorific (one of the highest), diplomatic, historic, and high-level protocol is a rarefied phenomenon.
I consider it good fortune and honor for my career as artist and designer. I hope it will be an enduring legacy and honor for the Filipino people and its worthy and notable recipients.
Images: Order of Lakandula (together with and in full royal regalia) for recipients then-King Juan Carlos I of Spain and then-Crown Prince Felipe Prince of Asturias, with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo, 2007.
Recipients His Imperial Majesty Emperor Akihito (2015) and US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton (2011) with President Benigno S. Aquino III.
I took this photo from the Julia Buencamino Project in the Philippines during our Mental Health Awareness trip. She was a great writer, thus I never get to meet her.
Scenes from our upcoming Netflix film Hayop Ka! Streaming on Oct 29. The very first animated Netfllix film from the Philippines available across Asia. Hope you folks check it out :)
Hey all! Penlab is an absolutely fantastic community resource ensuring Filipino comics are accessible online, with a plethora of titles from different Filipino creatives, and it NEEDS YOUR HELP to stay online!
Go check out Penlab and donate to help them renew the domain and keep everything running smoothly.
They announced a hiatus recently and need help to renew the domain for another year.
I’ll link the direct donate link in a reblog, so that this post isn’t hidden from searches.
Look at all these amazing titles!
Some of them are even in English, so you don’t have to speak the language to appreciate the excellent storytelling.
A Ubo girl intently examines the photographer, whose beard, fair skin, and six-foot-two frame evoked amazement among the small, lithe tribesmen (Philippines)
