Perspectives Archives

Dec302018 No Comments

Filipino Jokes Vol. 5

By ALI IAN MARCELINO V. BIONG In Aristotle’s Rhetoric, he says one way a speaker can make an audience laugh is by violating their expectations in telling a story. Philosophers such as Soren Kierkegaard and Immanuel Kant later took on this approach, which is now called the Incongruity Theory: a theory saying laughter is caused by the violation of our mental patterns, by seeing the incongruous. We Filipinos may see this theory on humor transcend into our own jokes: “Anong tawag sa asong tumalon sa ilog? Aso pa rin.” “Anong tawag sa maliit na unan? Unano.” This manner of joking may earn a good laugh or two, but when a president says during a speech that he uses marijuana to cope with his “killing” meetings and duties while leading a drug war that has taken thousands of lives—r

Nov272018 No Comments

The red-faced theory

Perspectives

By LUIS MIGUEL B. ARUCAN CALOOCAN CITY College was one of the 18 schools that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) claimed to be hotbeds for communist recruitment for the rumored ‘Red October’ ouster plot. The military cannot fulfill its role without the knowledge and intelligence-gathering skills of experts. When the military claims something, one can rest assured that it is true. But Caloocan City College does not exist The AFP later admitted in a statement that their list was “subject to continuing validation.” They seem to want to follow in the administration’s footsteps and throw around allegations before or without presenting evidence. In retrospect, the military’s plans and actions seem more red-faced than Red October. Step one was to make up a conspiracy out

Feb82018 No Comments

Running after an enemy

Perspectives

PEOPLE WHO know only the surface of Rappler’s case would say he/she supports freedom of speech, but since the media entity allegedly violated the law, it must face the consequences. Smart and relevant people, on the other hand, would not focus on this aspect; they would analyze what messages this issue convey. In a decision dated Jan. 11, the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) revoked the registration of online news site Rappler for “violating the constitutional and statutory Foreign Equity Restrictions in Mass Media enforceable through rules and laws within the mandate of the Commission.” Mass media, SEC upholds, is any medium of communication designed to reach a mass of people—print media, such as newspapers and magazines, broadcast media such as radio and television, and electron

Feb82018 No Comments

Bittersweet Mocha

Perspectives

IN THIS day and age, everything we say and do is observed, analyzed, and critiqued. When President Rodrigo Duterte appointed Mocha Uson as Presidential Communications Assistant Secretary, all eyes (and ears) were on her. Uson has been very vocal about her support and loyalty toward the Duterte administration. She continues to defy the public through condemning all the anti-Duterte spills and defending and patronizing all the questionable and controversial decisions of the current administration. Her loyalty to Duterte proves to go beyond all the issues that haunt his administration. When Duterte decided to give her a Malacañang post, no one was surprised. Uson continues to influence and drag the people into a spiral of lies and fake news. It is ironic that a Presidential Commun

Feb82018 No Comments

Turning the tides against sex offenders

Perspectives

LAST YEAR, numerous women took to social media to narrate their experiences of sexual harassment in Hollywood and to call out those who have harassed them. The Weinstein effect eventually reached the local scene; some notable figures, including prominent artists and indie band members, were proven to be sexual predators. Movements against sexual misconduct were launched, including the #MeToo and the Time’s Up movement. It is undeniable that social media played an important role in jumpstarting the conversation on sexual harassment. The women who came forward through social media with their accounts of harassment led to the condemnation of powerful but sexually abusive men. It also drew attention to the worsening problem of sexual harassment. So why are some people criticizing this

Feb82018 No Comments

That One Stereotype

Perspectives

“Bakla ba ‘yun? Paano ba siya gumalaw?” my high school friend asked as he talks about our Christian Living Education teacher. I could not help but squint my eyes at him for a moment, initially showing judgement. I, however, began to ask myself who or what exposed him to this kind of perception: sexual orientation being synonymous to gender expression; how the effeminate movements of a man can reflect his attraction to the same gender. After careful reflection and research, what avenue would largely impose such stigma to society than the mass media? Developmental psychologists Jerel P. Calzo and Monique Ward state how regular consumption of media like the television and Internet leads its users to develop beliefs about certain ideas—among which is homosexuality—that coexist with what med

Feb82018 No Comments

Commodifying Culture for Survival

Perspectives

OCTOBER OF the previous year, a photo of 90-year-old Apo Whang-Od Oggay sleeping at a press conference in the recent Manila FAME trade show circulated online. Many netizens were outraged and expressed their concern towards the Kalinga tattoo artist. The Center for International Trade Expositions and Mission (CITEM) invited Whang-Od for the 66th Manila FAME with the primary purpose of showing Philippine art in its most uninfluenced form, and to promote Whang-Od’s nomination in Gawad ng Manililikha ng Bayan. Netizens, however, were quick to associate the words “exploitation” and “cultural appropriation” after viewing the viral photo of Whang-Od. These words of assumption and contempt have opened the discussion of power dynamics behind culture and tradition. Cultural appropriation seems to

Feb82018 No Comments

The last straw

Perspectives

I HAVE been used to the sight of a small tube accompanied by the purchase of a Gulp beverage at 7-Eleven. Expected to be given one, I guiltlessly asked for a straw. To my surprise, the convenience store no longer offered that “convenient” option. Although some establishments still offer plastic straws, a customer would need to ask for one. Have you ever wondered about its trip right after using it? Most of these tubes end up in the ocean, and that turtle that has a straw being pulled out from its nose is one of the consequences of dumping these plastics. Data show that the United States consumes an estimate of 500 million straws daily. Straws undergo breakdown and decomposition which takes up to 200 years, then they turn to microplastics which can go to streams, rivers, and oceans af

Oct212017 No Comments

Crippled country and its justice system

Perspectives

MORE FILIPINOS are becoming uneasy over the current administration’s “war against illegal drugs.” In a survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations from June 23 to 26, 41 percent of the 1,200 respondents said they were “very worried” that they or someone they know would be a victim of summary executions. This percentage rose from 37 percent in March. Likewise, 32 percent—a decrease from 36 percent in March—said they were “somewhat worried” of the same situation. Majority of the respondents, 90 percent to be exact, said it was important to capture drug suspects alive. The survey was done before the unjust killing of 17-year-old Kian delos Santos by Philippine National Police (PNP) officers on August. Yet, Filipinos are starting even before to express their concerns over the bloodie

Oct212017 No Comments

Setting the bar higher

Perspectives

DISSATISFACTION WITH a candidate’s platforms is just one of the factors that would make a voter consider other options in a ballot. But what if the other candidates still seem unfit for the position they are running for in the student council? The voters would rather opt to abstain or rendering ballots void for a certain position might be the answer. This was the exact scenario that happened in the previous polls that led to the mass abstention not only in the Central Student Council (CSC) but also in the Arts and Letters Student Council (ABSC), where only four out of the seven positions were filled. In the ABSC, the candidates for vice president-internal, secretary, and auditor lost to 678, 766, and 671 abstentions, respectively. With the issue that arose after former CSC pres