benign0's blog

I recently got a load of Google's list of most "influential" Filipinas (Filipino women) for 2010. The list is utterly dominated by performers along with a handful of notable exceptions: Senator Miriam Santiago (no. 10), Doris Dumlao (journalist, no. 12), Monique Lhullier (designer, no. 17), and Korina Sanchez (journalist, no. 19). These 20 ladies supposedly "grabbed the greatest online mindshare in 2010". So presumably, they reflect the substance of the Filipino collective mind.

I read with bemusement the catty exchange between Jim Paredes and Gringo Honasan that was immortalised on Twitter.com last Friday, the 25th February. Imagine two senior citizens of the Republic -- both household names and key figures in a "revolution" touted as one that defines Filipinos' place in history at that -- engaged in a tiff of the sort that would draw cheers and hoots the way a mud wrestling match would. Hold that thought and draw a hard association between that and this "spirit" of Edsa that we are supposed to re-visit , and there you have what the whole exercise was really all about.

Valentines Day. This day always brings out the best and worst in people. It’s hard not to feel sorry for the rest of the population whether they be men or women, or boys or girls who feel left out on that day -- a day which in the cosmic scheme of things is really just another 24-hour segment in the Earth's journey through space and time as it orbits the sun.

Looks like the anemic Philippine showbiz industry and the economic aspirations of the broader Filipino public are on a collission course. While President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III and his henchmen in the "Communication" business scramble to re-direct blame to former President Gloria Arroyo's administration for the dismal showing of the Philippines in a global ranking of "economic freedom" (coming out 115th in a list of 117!), various local artists are calling for a further regulation of the performing arts industry to stem the entry of foreign acts into the country's concert circuit.

The 4th of February 2011 will mark the fifth anniversary of that monumental tragedy that happened in the PhilSports "ULTRA" Stadium in Pasig, Metro Manila where 78 people died in a stampede for tickets to see ABS-CBN's hit television show Wowowee . It ranks up there along with the same sort of mass-casualty disasters that happen onli in da Pinas , except that unlike tragedies involving killer Sulpicio Line ships, homicidal mud slides that bury entire towns in Leyte, and murderous floods caused by storm drains clogged by human refuse, the Wowowee massacre happened on a nice sunny day.

I read today that Sharon "The Megastar" Cuneta is going to be billed as " the Philippines' Martha Stewart " in the new "lifestyle" show Sharon at Home to be launched by the Lifestyle Network. Presumably, the Megastar's mass appeal is seen to be a guarantee that the new show will hit it big...

Funny, how a President whose campaign surfed upon a popularity wave powered by the awesome influence of his showbiz sister, the backing of a cadre of celebrities, and the Jedi mind tricks played on the public by the biggest media conglomerate in the country now appeals for more intellectual content to balance against mere entertainment. Observed by an Inquirer.net "reporter" at the end of an address given by President Benigno "P.Noy" Aquino III during GMA 7's 60th anniversary party on Friday at the Makati Shangri-La...

It is an address that encapsulated much of the collective character of Philippine society. It is a society where a complex of self-righteous religiosity, pompous displays of seniority, and presumptuousness in the delivery of unsolicited "advise" under a perverse sense of paternalism describes a palpable backwardness that stands out in a region of stoic stolidness and quiet achievement .

Word about Charice Pempengco's cosmetic "treatment" goes viral over the Web. Even celebrity blogger Perez Hilton weighs in giving this piece of advise presumably to Ms Pempengco: "Get some help, bb - or you're not gonna last very long". ABS CBN News called the whole episode The commercialization of Charice .

Cosmetic surgeon to the stars "Doctor" Vicki Belo went on record with her rationale behind the "thermage procedure" she performed on up-and-coming Filipino singer and actor Charice Pempengco...

It's fascinating how people nowadays rely on social networking and the instant publishing facilities within these to validate their respective personal realities. Back in the old days, no self-respecting clubber would be caught dead toting a camera in an in establishment, much less posing for photos.

Why does exiting from a failed relationship made to be so complicated? That's because this is the Philippines and its laws we are talking about. That plus the sorts of situations presidential sister Kris Aquino gets into, and we get a certified Pinoy-style spectacle .

Charice, born Charmaine Clarice Relucio Pempengco, is oozing with potential as she continues to gain stardom points in the United States. Hers is a story typical of Filipino home-grown resources in general -- whether they be our now-depleted fine mahogany trees or our best scientists and engineers. They all found mega-opportunities outside of the Philippines after being largely overlooked by a society renowned for its stunted faculties for setting apart the gems from the duds.

According to Noel Barcelona in a May 2009 American Chronicle article , the Philippines tied Canada in eighth place in terms of profits generated by the pornography industry in 2006. Presumably that data came from here . Pornography is illegal in the Philippines. But that does not seem to deter an undeground industry from raking in megabucks to the tune of $1 billion dollars annually in net profit . That's money that most likely goes to foreign producers, with Philippine operations found to be serving more as subcontractors to these enterprising multinational "investors". And because it is all underground, not a single cent of it goes into public coffers.