An article by Emmanuel de Dios, offering a look into the Philippine economy under the Marcos regime.
All of the “good times” the admirers of the regime fondly remember were built on a flimsy sand-mountain of debt that began to erode from around 1982, collapsing completely in 1984-1985 when the country could no longer pay its obligations, precipitating a debt crisis, loss of livelihood, extreme poverty, and ushering in two lost decades of development.
The economy’s record under Marcos is identical to that of a person who lives it up on credit briefly, becomes bankrupt, and then descends into extreme hardship indefinitely. It would then be foolish to say that person managed his affairs marvelously, citing as evidence the opulent lifestyle he enjoyed before the bankruptcy. But that is exactly what admirers of the Marcos regime are wont to do.
With no itinerary, I decided to stay in Siargao Island for a week and with a constant talking I made friends with the local surfers. It was my first visit and I had a glimpse of the different side of the island. Early mornings and late afternoons are usually spent at the sea as I recklessly sit in between my surfboard looking at the horizon waiting for the ‘unbroken green wave.’
No photograph can capture the moment and the amount of emotion we felt as we continue to share a couple of waves while it was drizzling. Sliding in wave after wave. It was a moment of pure bliss.
Though I’m not able to go hoard books at an actual and physical Manila International Book Fair (MIBF), I’m glad that I get to have the opportunity to know more Filipino writers and books that try to recover and reimagine the Filipino history and culture through webinars like this.
Charlie’s book, Children of the Postcolony, is a collection of essays about the Filipino intellectuals “who have contributed to the foundation of the cultural archive of decolonization“ namely Edith L. Tiempo, Fernando Zobel, Bienvenido L. Lumbera, E. San Juan, Jr, and Jose Maria Sison that raise a few concerns about the Filipino decolonization:
How would Filipinos be able to break free from the corruption of the American interference?
How was the interference affected the forgetting of the early history of the postcolony?
How do we go about the process of reconstruction when contamination is inevitable?
Is Filipinization a Filipino idea or an American one- is it a corrupted idea or a revolutionary idea?
Charlie said that the book wasn’t meant to criticize the past, but to provoke the scholars and students to “reconstruct those lost years in Filipino memory.”
Hoping to attend more webinars of this kind. There are two more events for the month of November which you can attend:
Hindi mo naabutan ang limited screening ng Dahling Nick sa opisyal na Youtube channel ng Cinema One? Mapapanuod na ang Dahling Nick sa Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino na gaganapin sa ika-31 ng Oktubre!
She’s Perfect is a 3D animated short film which centers a girl named Mahalia, who tries to fix the hole in her chest. No one can see the hole except her, and she can still see it transparent through her clothes, no matter what she wears.
Binakol Sa Dahon
by Gary Tabanera,
“Binakol sa Dahon” is the tale of Ester, a mother falsely accused of a crime she did not commit. Judged and unfairly tagged by her family and an overly superstitious rural community, she becomes the unwitting target of abuse, cruelty, and violence, but her spirit is kept alive by her resolve to survive the ordeal. Through it all, she discovers the meaning of the word ‘family’ and summons from within a version of herself that would have been wise to keep hidden, a woman, who, despite the viciousness of the world, and her unbridled power for vengeance, chooses love and the tenderness of a mother’s heart over all.
Hakab
by Mel Aguilar-Maestro,
What does it really take to breastfeed and sustain life in the Philippines? In spite of the key legislations on the protection, promotion and support of breastfeeding in the Philippines, it has remained one of the top nations with the least number of exclusively breastfed children, and still has a stigmatised breastfeeding culture. “Hakab"“ explores the narratives of mothers in the Philippines coming from different social, economic, and cultural backgrounds braving the challenges of a repressed breastfeeding culture in the Philippines.
Night Shift
by Mariel Ong,
While inside the car, a battered driver answers her ringing phone. On the way home, she picks up a passenger and drops her off. Troubled, she quietly follows the passenger until she reaches her own apartment. She begins to hear mysterious voices. These voices become louder until she goes outside to enter a different room.
Adira
by Jorzheema Hamid,
Adira is a 16-year-old Tausug girl who was forced by her parents to marry a man twice her age. Isolated and with limited freedom, Adira must find her voice as she escapes not just a tragic night but the manipulated beliefs she was fed with.
Noontime Drama
by Kim Timan and Sam Villa-Real,
In the confines of her own kitchen, single mother Sonia struggles to prepare the perfect Kare-Kare with her daughter Leslie.
Arjanmar Rebeta,Marites Burce, a victim of polio outbreak in 1970’s, is now a mother, a wife, an employee & a national para athlete who is preparing for her journey to represent Philippines in ASEAN Para Games to be held in her own country & to be qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics until the CoViD-19 pandemic happens.Oct 31 schedule: (7PM)
Ang Lakaran Ni Kabunyan: Kabunyan’s Journey to Liwanag
by Kidlat Tahimik,
Lakaran ni Kabunyan centers on Tahimik’s son Kabayan as he relocates from his hometown of Baguio to the southern metropolis of Davao in a vintage VW camper van. The film follows his journey as he meets and learns from different Artists and Culture bearers along the way. A kind of travelogue for the more uncharted roads of the Philippines, revealing the beauty and knowledge that s there if one is open to see it. The adventure evolves from a mere road trip, to a journey of finding Liwanag. It was originally part of the film trilogy Lakbayan, a collaboration between three legendary Philippine filmmakers that included Brillante Mendoza’s Desfocado (Defocused) and Lav Diaz’s Hugaw (Dirt).
Oct 31, 2020 schedule: CineMarya Set B (9PM)
Super Woman
by Angela Andres
Cheska is an 8-year-old girl with a wild imagination who would often tell people about the heroic battles her mom faces night after night against the forces of the evil dark lord and his ninjas. Littledoes she know who the real Dark Lord is, until one night when she discovers who was truly hurting her mother. Cheska is horrified and burdened knowing that the dark lord is actually her father; this triggers her determination to resolve the situation.
Dalaginding Na Si Isang
by Nigel Santos
The film follows the story of a young girl named Isang on her first day of menstruation.
Dad-aan Na
by Julius Lumiqued
An Igorot elderly woman, while cooking lunch on a Sunday, suddenly hears distant explosions triggering her to go out of her home.
Winged Dreams to the Blue Heavens
by Aimee Apostol-Escasa
This is a short film about the Ilonggo writer, Magdalena Jalandoni. She is shown as a six year old girl growing up in the province of Iloilo, and on the threshold of history. In one of her walks, she finds out about the death of Jose Rizal, inspiring the passion for writing that is growing inside of her each day. A passion she has to hide from her family.
Super Able
by Arjanmar Rebeta,
Marites Burce, a victim of polio outbreak in 1970’s, is now a mother, a wife, an employee & a national para athlete who is preparing for her journey to represent Philippines in ASEAN Para Games to be held in her own country & to be qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics until the CoViD-19 pandemic happens.
Ola
by Mijan Jumalon,
Five years after the death of her daughter, a still-grieving artist is visited by her departed child who asks her to build a boat. What happens next is an exploration of how art and madness can transform and transcend grief and tragedy.
Hindi mo naabutan ang limited screening ng Dahling Nick sa opisyal na Youtube channel ng Cinema One? Mapapanuod na ang Dahling Nick sa Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino na gaganapin sa ika-31 ng Oktubre!
She’s Perfect is a 3D animated short film which centers a girl named Mahalia, who tries to fix the hole in her chest. No one can see the hole except her, and she can still see it transparent through her clothes, no matter what she wears.
Binakol Sa Dahon
by Gary Tabanera,
“Binakol sa Dahon” is the tale of Ester, a mother falsely accused of a crime she did not commit. Judged and unfairly tagged by her family and an overly superstitious rural community, she becomes the unwitting target of abuse, cruelty, and violence, but her spirit is kept alive by her resolve to survive the ordeal. Through it all, she discovers the meaning of the word ‘family’ and summons from within a version of herself that would have been wise to keep hidden, a woman, who, despite the viciousness of the world, and her unbridled power for vengeance, chooses love and the tenderness of a mother’s heart over all.
Hakab
by Mel Aguilar-Maestro,
What does it really take to breastfeed and sustain life in the Philippines? In spite of the key legislations on the protection, promotion and support of breastfeeding in the Philippines, it has remained one of the top nations with the least number of exclusively breastfed children, and still has a stigmatised breastfeeding culture. “Hakab"“ explores the narratives of mothers in the Philippines coming from different social, economic, and cultural backgrounds braving the challenges of a repressed breastfeeding culture in the Philippines.
Night Shift
by Mariel Ong,
While inside the car, a battered driver answers her ringing phone. On the way home, she picks up a passenger and drops her off. Troubled, she quietly follows the passenger until she reaches her own apartment. She begins to hear mysterious voices. These voices become louder until she goes outside to enter a different room.
Adira
by Jorzheema Hamid,
Adira is a 16-year-old Tausug girl who was forced by her parents to marry a man twice her age. Isolated and with limited freedom, Adira must find her voice as she escapes not just a tragic night but the manipulated beliefs she was fed with.
Noontime Drama
by Kim Timan and Sam Villa-Real,
In the confines of her own kitchen, single mother Sonia struggles to prepare the perfect Kare-Kare with her daughter Leslie.
PROMETHEUS UNBOUND ni Ruben Cuevas (alias ni Jose F. Lacaba)
“I shall never exchange my fetters for slavish servility. ’Tis better to be chained to the rock than be bound to the service of Zeus.” –Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound
Mars shall glow tonight, Artemis is out of sight. Rust in the twilight sky Colors a bloodshot eye, Or shall I say that dust Sunders the sleep of the just?
Hold fast to the gift of fire! I am rage! I am wrath! I am ire! The vulture sits on my rock, Licks at the chains that mock Emancipation’s breath, Reeks of death, death, death.
Death shall not unclench me. I am earth, wind, and sea! Kisses bestow on the brave That defy the damp of the grave And strike the chill hand of Death with the flaming sword of love.
Orion stirs. The vulture Retreats from the hard, pure Thrust of the spark that burns, Unbounds, departs, returns To pluck out of death’s fist A god who dared to resist.
***
Ang mga larawan ay kuha sa pelikulang Dahling Nick na mapapanuod sa Youtube chanel ng Cinema One.
So the House would like to pass this bill making September 11 a day to celebrate a dictator.
The Marcoses never waste time trying to revise the history and the truth.
FILIPINOS URGENTLY NEED YOUR HELP: A CALL TO ACTION
art by the wonderful @franshookie-art (DO NOT REPOST this image without their specific permission. check out more of their art on twitter.)
hi, all.. i know that a lot of our focus is on the BlackLivesMatter movement atm (which is wonderful and should’ve happened a long time ago), and i hate to distract you from that, but there’s something horrible happening in my country, the Philippines (yes, the one being lead by the so-called Filipino version of Donald Trump), right now.
our national government has passed a bill that’ll essentially take away our constitutional rights to freedom of speech and fair trial. it’s called the Anti-Terrorism Bill, but we’ve dubbed it Terror Bill. here’s a summary of what it entails:
if you want to read the actual bill in its entirety, here’s alinkto the official Senate of the Philippines website, where you can download a pdf copy. i’d like you to keep in mind the political climate in our country, though, and just how rampant corruption and police brutality are here.
it has already been passed by the Senate; all it needs is the House of Representatives’ approval, and it will be enforced. if you want to help stop this from happening, here are a few ways:
sign and share thispetition. we’re so close to 300,000 signatures!!!
send e-mails to the Office of the President and the Senate. there’s an e-mail protest currently going on. i have qualms about copy-pasting the message, but ultimately, this method is a lot more effective than petitions:
these posters were made and posted by @tentenyukkion twitter.
educate yourself about the bill and how it will affect us when it’s approved. here are some news articles, editorials, and thought pieces to get you started:
spread the word. on social media, our tags are #JunkTerrorBilland#JunkTerrorBillNow, but don’t stop there; tell your friends and family. please. people need to know this is happening.
your help could save the lives of millions of Filipinos, and we’d really, really appreciate it. i don’t usually ask for much, but when it comes to urgent issues like this, i can’t stay silent. unlike with BLM, i can speak my truth about this because i know personally what it’s like to be a Filipino citizen and to live in the Philippines. i hope it’s heard, and we keep an ounce of what little dignity we have as a “sovereign” country and rights as a “sovereign” people.
some of you might unfollow or get mad because this isn’t strictly studyblr content, but it’s not about aesthetic right now. i need your help. we need to hurry.
thank you for taking time to read! let’s uphold human rights together. #JunkTerrorBillNow!
Let us educate ourselves. Support us to junk this Philippine Terror Bill.
the real martial law: 70,000 illegal detentions/ wrongly imprisoned, 34,000 were tortured, at least 3,200 innocent people were killed.
Shared by Sydney Lopez in Anyone by Bongbong: Remastered , illustrations by Rappler
Electric shock – Electric wires are attached to the victim’s fingers, arms, head and in some cases, genitalia.
San Juanico Bridge – The victim lies between two beds and if his/her body falls, he/she will be beaten.
Truth serum – An injection administered in hospitals and used for interrogation, making a victim “talk drunkenly.”
Russian roulette – Loading a bullet into one chamber of a revolver, spinning the cylinder, and then forcing the victim to pull the trigger while pointing the gun at his/her own head.
Beating – Victim is beaten by a group of soldiers.
Pistol-whipping – The victim is beaten with a rifle butt.
Water cure – Water is forced through the victim’s mouth and then forced out by beating.
Strangulation – Constriction of the victim’s neck done by hand, electric wire, or steel bar.
Cigar and flat iron burns – Victims of torture are inflicted with burns using cigarettes, and even a flat iron.
Pepper torture – A “concentrated pepper substance” is put on the victim’s lips or rubbed on his/her genitalia.
I am a public school elementary teacher and one of my students’ parent joked on our group chat:
“Ma'am, hindi ko na lang paaralin si ***** kasi yung susunod nga na presidente, hindi nakatapos pero successful naman.”
I knew it was a joke and patutsada sa ibang mga magulang na bumoto ng tax evader at anak ng diktador. Still, it was humiliating.
As I type these words, I can’t help but cry while remembering all the hardships I had to go through para lang makapagtapos—para lang matawag na isang Licensed Professional teacher. It was very personal for me, and just like many of my colleagues, feeling namin failure kami.
A lot of filipinos may not feel it but despite the education system’s flaws and the lack of the government’s support, we, the teachers, are all giving our very best.
Ilagay niyo kami sa face to face class, maga-adjust kami.
Ilagay niyo kami sa online class, gagawan pa rin namin ng paraan.
Ilagay niyo kami sa hybrid setup, gagawan pa rin namin yan ng paraan.
Patungan niyo man kami ng napakaraming administrative work, hindi rin namin yan pababayaan.
Saan ba kami nagkulang?
It still blows my mind that a lot of other supporters took it as a competition between Leni and BBM. Hindi po kasi ganon. Kakampinks were aggressive kasi uhaw kami sa good governance while other supporters are aggressive kasi they want to prove us wrong.
Kung “kabutihan” ang basehan ng nakararami at nakikita yun kay Bongbong Marcos, siguro masamang tao talaga ako.
Gusto kong radikal na magmahal pero patuloy na ginagawang puta ng nakararami ang Pilipinas.
We at UP Underground will be launching the 6th LoFi! LoFi is an annual compilation of different songs from different artists from different genres. This will be, obviously, the sixth one we’re releasing, and what’s cool is LoFi songs are ALL LOCAL, ALL INDIE, ALL FOR FREE! We’ll be giving out physical copies at the gig, so be at Mow’s on December 5 at exactly 9pm. (Yes, exactly 9pm, because we always start on time.)
BONUS:This time around, we’re holding the super special Mixtape Madness. You just create a mixtape, upload it and send the shortened URL online, and bring a note with the link to the gig. If you do it before the deadline, you get in for free! The mixtape submission has been extended to DECEMBER 4!The mixtapes will be exchanged between people who have never ever met, so that’s kinda cool, too.
