We beg to differ.
The more I hear people say that social media is going to be a “game-changer” for social good, or however they want to say it, the more I get convinced that it’s actually not going to happen. Social media is commonly delineated in scope to refer to Facebook, Twitter and in some cases Youtube, no…
Read More “Social media for social change? Think again, Philippines” »
Filipinos are infamous for their short attention spans and stunted mental faculties. As a form of entertainment, many Filipinos rely on television. However mass media giants use this medium, whether to educate the population or turn them into mindless, loyal, zombies, its power cannot be underestimated. If they do decide to show nothing but dancing…
Read More “Da Pilipino way: showbiz and government are inseparable” »
In a Facebook status which has garnered some attention, it was highlighted that Oscar Pineda, a journalist working for Sunstar Cebu, asked president Benigno Simeon “BS” Aquino during a press briefing about the apparently inadequate support for typhoon victims and the snail-paced rehabilitation efforts in northern Cebu. Two Thumbs up for Oscar Pineda of Sunstar…
Read More “President Noynoy Aquino shows discomfort with question from Sunstar’s Oscar Pineda” »
The Philippine province of Pangasinan continues to reel from the aftermath of a fatal scoop propagated by giant media conglomerate ABS-CBN through its tele-tabloid Bandila. The “scoop” involved reports that victims of a “terrible flesh-eating disease” were found in Pangasinan and that the disease as “prophesied” would engulf the rest of the planet and cause…
So the story goes like this: Sometime in April of last year, a self-styled “prophet” — an Indian man whose name is either “Sadhu Sundar Selvaraj” or “Vincent” — of a hiterto unheard-of religious organization called Jesus Ministries delivered a fire-and-brimstone sermon to a gathering in the Cuneta Astrodome, in which he prophesied, among other…
Read More “ABS-CBN’s “Flesh-Eating Disease” Hoax Takes a Sadly Predictable Turn” »
Outrage in the citizenry continues erupting over the recent ruling of the Supreme Court regarding the online libel clause in Republic Act 10175, A.K.A. the Cybercrime Law. Due to the online libel clause not being declared unconstitutional, social media is abuzz with discussion that the end of “freedom of speech” and “freedom of expression” draws…
Read More “Online libel, freedom of information, and what Filipinos have done with their freedom” »
It used to be that when it comes to what will be on the television on any given Sunday afternoon, the voting that goes on around my house has me beaten by three (the wife and two housemaids) in favor of watching a showbiz oriented and one (my kid) in favor of Baby TV or…
Read More “Absolute MUST READ: Can We Survive A Kris Aquino Vice Presidency?” »
It’s that time of the year again when we celebrate that supposedly seminal event in Philippine history when, according to the local lore, the forces of evil (porportedly the regime of former President Ferdinand E. Marcos) were vanquished by the forces of good (supposedly the Aquino-Cojuangco feudal clan). Marcos removed. Game over. The 1986 “People…