We beg to differ.
This is not meant to be a critical article but one that begs the question of just what is originality and why so much media in the Philippines is often branded “unoriginal”. I mean, just what does it mean to be “original” in this day and age and why does it have to be an…
Read More “Homages, Fanfics, Parodies and Ripoffs: Defining Plagiarism” »
Building a cult of personality. That is the last thing Pope Francis is likely to have wanted included in his agenda for his visit to the Philippines. The Pope said that his visit to the Philippines is about the poor and the victims of the two recent calamities that devastated the Philippines. To further punctuate…
Read More “Pope Francis’s over-the-top reception in the #Philippines” »
I once read an issue of Marvel’s Captain America and I saw a scene where the Red Skull (the villain of the piece) tries to justify the terrible atrocities he has committed over the years. He said something along the lines that “everyone secretly wants to bully and be bullied by others”. For those unfamiliar…
Read More “Bullying and Offensive Stereotypes in Our Society” »
Ladies and gentlemen, this is my first post for GRP so please bear with me at the moment as I am rather new to a lot of the stuff here… Okay, so before I begin, I would like to ask you the simple question: What does it mean to be “free”? Of course, with the…
Ok, just when the whole brouhaha over the grandiose wedding of Marian Rivera and Dingdong Dantes is simmering down, I came across this supposedly recently-completed painting by Dante Hipolito… Apparently Hipolito is known in art circles as a “hyper-realist” and his favorite subject involves depictions of scenes of traditional Filipino rural life. Well, the scenes…
Read More “Yikes! Pope Francis with Filipino celebrities in commemorative painting!” »
One thing I learned in language education is that, given time, geography and human development, a language would eventually change to suit the needs of communication. That is why I have ultimately very little problems with Tagalog speakers embellishing English into the former, creating a (current) form of portmanteau popularly known as “Taglish.” The premise…
Read More “Fluency in Regional Languages Can Improve the So-Called “Filipino Language”” »
If the saying is true that the character of the leader of a nation reflects the character of the people, then the character of Philippine President Benigno Simeon (BS) Aquino reflects the character of the Filipino people. BS Aquino’s recent guest appearance in the popular television show Gandang Gabi Vice gave everyone a clue about…
Read More “Vice Ganda interview of PNoy is proof of Filipinos’ obsession with celebrities” »
[The following is an article by Star columnist Don Pedero published in The Philippine Star 29 October 2000 and also featured in Get Real Philippines on the same year.] * * * Last July 23, I wrote about Nasty (short for Anastacio), a balikbayan from Los Angeles, who, while vacationing in Manila, had nothing to…
Read More “The #Philippines is a nation of starstruck ignoramuses” »