Friday, December 26, 2008

Let us wear our barong

Filipinos, especially the celebrities and politicians may not be aware of this, but every time they wear their tuxedo and appear in public, they are insulting our culture and indirectly, our country.

Watch Congress deliberate and you see congressmen and senators flaunting their tuxedo. We can also see artists perform on stage or for television audience wearing tuxedo when the part they play or the program as a whole does not call for it. Manny Pacquiao wore a tuxedo during his press conferences for his fight with Oscar De la Hoya, and during his birthday.

Surely, these people know that Barong Tagalog is our national costume. That fact is taught in school during the elementary years.

Why do we wear the costume of other people when we have our own? A barong made of piña designed by one of our country's reputable designers is as expensive as the expensive tuxedo.

We should wear our barong instead of the tuxedo because: 1. barong is suited for our climate; 2. barong is elegant, unique, graceful, and beautiful; 3. wearing barong is an expression of our love for our country and culture; 4. buying barong helps the Philippine barong industry.

Although this practice must not necessarily start with the "important" people, they should lead it.

Let us make it our new year's resolution to wear our barong.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Marian Rivera's alleged pregnancy and Jobert Sucaldito's abuse of power

Marian Rivera replaced Angel Locsin as the soap opera queen when Angel left for ABS-CBN. But it was not easy for Marian who debuted as Marimar in prime time telecast. She had to duck and dodge criticisms thrown against her: that she does not dance as well as Thalia, and that she possesses a plastic, and therefore, insincere smile.

When you think it is over for her, think again. Just yesterday in The Buzz, the ex-girlfriend of his leading man, Ding-dong Dantes, was interviewed by Kuya Boy Abunda. Was Marian the cause of the break-up of Karylle and Ding-dong? Was Ding-dong ever unfaithful to Karylle? And the exclusibo and explosibong tanong was, is Marian pregnant (with the child of Ding-dong)? As if on cue, Karylle just looked at Kuya Boy when asked the last question. She did not say a word, but with the way she looked at Kuya Boy, and the way her body twisted to the side, she did not have to say a word.

First, let me comment on the way Karylle handled the difficult questions: She was calm, dignified, and impressive. She won a fan in me. But I doubt the authenticity of her answer to the last question. I mean, was she really not informed about the questions, at least the last? And if she was informed, was she coached on how to answer or not to answer it? In short, was it not staged?

I do not know. But the way Marian Rivera reacted to that interview makes me think that Marian indeed is pregnant for the simple reason that she is very emotional. Are not pregnant woman emotional, even over sensitive sometimes? That is what I see in the Marian I saw on TV. She was crying when she was supposed to be smiling as part of the promotion of her new movie.

It could be that as an artista, Marian is indeed sensitive. It is a necessity in her chosen profession so that she can empathize with the character she plays on cue. Whatever the reason for her sensitivity, she had it at the wrong place, at the wrong time, at the wrong audience, and for a wrong reason. She could have easily shrugged it off and said, "if indeed I am pregnant, as Karylle would like to impute, you will know soon as my stomach will grow larger," or anything to that effect. Instead, she sobbed that I could not almost understand what she was saying.

Or maybe, she was coached. Marian was coached to sob when asked about the issue to draw sympathy from the people. To make it look that she is a victim of bad publicity by a rival network, and hope that it back fires.

Well, her sobbing did not help her. It had the effect exactly as the opposite as she wants it to have, at least in me.

***

Also in The Buzz yesterday, prior to the question and answer with Karylle, Jennylyn Mercado was a topic. She was shown in a video clip as saying even if Patrick Garcia, the father of her child shed tears of blood, she is not going to show her child to Patrick. Now, the program moved to other issues: that of Baron Giesler, Ruffa Gutierrez... and finally, that of Karylle. Right before the advertisement, after the interview with Karylle was over, the camera focused on Jobert Sucaldito and his co-host Phoemela Baranda. After saying their piece, out of nowhere Jobert addressed Jennylyn Mercado, saying that Jennylyn should rather shut up, or something to that effect. I find it weird, off handed and offensive that Jobert Sucaldito should do that: return to Jennylyn to force his grievance against the actress to the public. The program had moved on, as in fact, the segment was no longer about Jennylyn. His co-host was offended too as he was scolded by Phoemela.

With the way he talked against Jennylyn, it is safe to assume Jobert Sucaldito has a personal grudge against the actress. What Jobert Sucaldito did was an example how people in the media abuse their power. He was a complete turn off. With his antics, he dragged the prestige of the program to the ground.