Jun 26 2009
As the whole world is coming to grips with the shocking news of Jackson’s death on Friday, the Cebu’s Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center inmates deeply mourned the superstar's death.
In 2007, the whole world tuned in on Youtube to watch more than 1,400 Cebu inmates moonwalk to Jackson’s iconic “Thriller" song.
Feb 22 2009
Oct 13 2008
Blog Action Day is an annual nonprofit event that aims to unite the world’s bloggers, podcasters and videocasters, to post about the same issue on the same day. Our aim is to raise awareness and trigger a global discussion.
Last year, the discussion was about the environment. On October 15, 2008, the people at Blog Action Day will focus on the issue of poverty. The organization’s aim is to raise awareness and trigger a global discussion.
Blog Action Day 2008 Poverty from Blog Action Day on Vimeo.
Global issues like poverty are extremely complex. There’s no easy solution. What can one person do? Most of us feel stuck when it comes to taking action. Two days from now, let’s join the discussion, and from there, get ideas.
Oct 07 2008
Last year it was ABC, now the BBC, who is getting the IRK of Filipinos.
The British Broadcasting Company’s comedy show “Harry and Paul” showed a woman in a traditional maid’s uniform gyrating in front of a man to coax him to have sex with her, under the orders of her employers.
The Harry Enfield character explains to a passing postman: “Our chums up the road wanted to see if we could mate their Filipina maid with our Northerner but he’s not having any of it.”
He orders the maid, “You, you, present your rear!’ She then shakes her behind at the man, who looked so uninterested. Finally Enfield gives up and orders her to return to the neighbour’s house where she works. “You, you – go home scram,” he says.
Filipinos did not see the funny side of this skit, as the Philippine Embassy in London sent a letter to the BBC and to the Secretary of State for Women and the Press Complaints Commission to protest “this slur on our domestic workers” in Britain, as well women activist groups demanding an apology from the broadcaster.
Last year, the same thing happened when an episode of the American Broadcasting Company’s “Desperate Housewives” used Filipino’s medical education as a punch line.
The BBC show was totally tasteless, insensitive and racist - not funny at all. Yes, there are a lot of Filipino domestic workers in Britain. It’s nothing to be ashamed of, nor something to laugh at. These workers earn an honest living, and even help the country’s economy through the remittances they send home.
If the show’s writers had some decency, they would have showed more sensitivity and respect. They could have just written “maid”, omitting the word “Filipina”. Then maybe, just maybe, I would have laughed.
*Bastos - rude, vulgar, crude
