The Prodigal Mole Cricket

Cuyonons and Kapampangans / Kuyonons and Capampangans

2009-06-07T10:29:00.003+08:00

By Jason Paul Laxamana
Urban Kamaru
Central Luzon Daily
Sino manga tao nga Cuyonon?

There are many ethnolinguistic groups in the Philippines, but we know only the major ones such as the Tagalogs, Cebuanos, Ilonggos, Kapampangans, Ilocanos, Bicolanos, Pangasinenses, Warays, and to some extent, the Tausugs, Badjaos, Maranaos, and Maguindanaos. For us Luzonians, the Cuyonon people are most of the time unheard of. However, if we have seen the movie “Ploning” starring Judy Ann Santos, we might have an idea about the Cuyonon people of Cuyo Island of the Palawan province and the Western Visayan language that they usually speak.

Surprisingly, I actually knew people in Angeles City of Cuyonon descent. JC Lim, a high school classmate of mine at the Chevalier School, along with his big brother Vincent Lim, who became the Valedictorian of his batch in the same school, have a Cuyonon mother. Their identification of themselves back when I often encountered them in the city has always been either Chinese or Kapampangan though.

In our production trip to Puerto Princesa City weeks ago, we got to know more about the Cuyonons—although there is still much to know about them. But in a span of a week, we were able to discover things about them that might interest us Kapampangans, especially those engaged in cultural work and literature.

The Letter H

Dorong dagon den ang ag lolobas Ang adlao na ikaw mabagat ko Indi ko pa ra engued malipatan Imong matang midyo biton sa langit Imong mga ngirit indi agpakatorog Pirmi ko ing sasadyap imong mga arek

This is a stanza from the song “Ploning Adin Ka Ren” (Ploning, Where Art Thou) by Bulyaw Mariguen, a rock band that makes contemporary Cuyonon songs. The shooting of the music video of the song was our purpose in flying there. Do you notice anything about the stanzas and the Cuyonon language?

In one of our idle sessions, Engr. Johnny Fabello, who is the owner of the house were were lodging in and the father of the executive producer of the music video, told us, “Suwerte kayong mga Kapampangan, immune kayo sa swine flu.”

When we asked why, he comically replied, “Kasi wala kayong H!” referring to the presence of the letter H in H1N1. Apparently he knew about the infamous Kapampangan stereotype of H-deficiency in speech.

After laughing with his joke, I responded, “E di kayo rin po, immune din kayo? Wala rin po kasi kayong H.” He paused for a moment to think about it... no, they do not have the letter H either! And we found it amusing that they, despite being Cuyonon speaker, never noticed. Take for example the following Cuyonon words, their Tagalog counterparts, and their lack of H.

“Indi” for “hindi,” “arek” for “halik,” “kasiguraduan” for “kasiguraduhan,” and “kabui” for “buhay” (“buhi” in several Visayan languages).

But since Kapampangans are a major language group—the seventh biggest ethnolinguistic group in the country, with around two million native speakers, versus the Cuyonon speakers who are only approximately a hundred thousand—we have earned the dunce hat of H-deficiency in the world of stereotypes.

Enam, Anem, Anam, Anim

In Kapampangan, the rootword “atas” (height), when turned into an adjective, becomes “mátas,” because the prefix “ma-” is added. It's a general rule in Kapampangan to drop the 'a' from “ma-” (or “ka-”) thus making it “mátas,” not “maatas” or “mayatas.”

The same goes for the following words: “máyap/káyap” (not “maayap”), “maslam/kaslam” (not “maaslam”), “málimum” (not “maalimum”) and “málat” (not “mayalat” or “maalat”).

It's the same for Cuyonon. “Mayad” (good) is “ma-” and “ayad” combined, but the sum is only “mayad,” with stress on the last syllable.

Unlike Tagalog and Kapampangan, Cuyonon can have glottal stops in the middle of their sentences like the Cebuano speakers. This glottal stop is written in the symbol of an apostrophe. However, fast speech can conceal the glottal stop in the middle of Cuyonon sentences.

A last observation we had was regarding the way they pronounce the letter E. It's not like how we say the letter E in Kapampangan words like “sukle,” “betute,” and “eran.” It's more like the way Bahasa Indonesia/Melayu speakers pronounce the letter E—like an “uh” sound—making the Indonesian word “setelah” read as “suh-tuh-lá” and “lelaki” as “luh-lá-kee.” Therefore, in Cuyonon, “gegma” (love) is read as “guhg-má” and “aken” as “áh-kuhn.”

With this characteristic of Cuyonon, it makes some words sound like they're Kapampangan. The Kapampangan “anam” (six), even though it has two letter As written the same way, the first A is actually longer compared to the A in the second syllable. Its pronunciation is “ah-nuhm.” In Cuyonon, the number six is “anem.” With what we've discussed with the Cuyonon E sound, can you now try to read “anem”?

CQ vs K Dispute

Since Cuyonon is not a national or official language, no group or institution has the authority to dictate how the Cuyonon language should be written.

The older generation, like those from Cuyonon.org, are advocating for the use of the CQ orthography—just like how the older generation of Kapampangans insist on CQ—because, according to them, “the letter K is not Cuyonon,” just as how confused Kapampangan elders would reason, “the letter K is not Capampangan.”

The younger generation goes for the K orthography though, because of their Abakada education, and find it more efficient to write because instead of having two symbols for one sound such as C and Q for the “k” sound and C and S for the “s,” they only need one.

Pursuant to the Ordinances

In Pampanga, the Governor has declared an “Aldo Ning Amanung Sisuan” to be celebrated on the last Friday of August, the Languages Month, and had formed a Pampanga Provincial Language Council to spearhead events that would promote the use of the Kapampangan language. Language advocates rejoiced with the declaration, because they have begun to notice that Kapampangan children born to Kapampangan parents are gradually being turned into native Tagalog speakers with no knowledge or understanding of Kapampangan.

A similar case can be seen with the Cuyonons. Years ago, the Vice Governor of Palawan authored an ordinance they called the Cuyonon Provincial Dialect Ordinance (albeit they got it wrong calling Cuyonon a dialect instead of a language). Cuyonon was declared the “Official Dialect” of the Palawan province; a committee had been designated to work on its function of promoting Cuyonon language, literature, traditions, and culture, and institutions were encouraged to take part in the movement to counter the case of Tagalog-speaking Cuyonon children born to Cuyonon parents.

Because Palawan must be one of the most linguistically diverse provinces in the Philippines, Tagalog has often served as the lingua franca of the dwellers. Its reputation as tourist destination must also contribute to the interest of the natives in learning the outsiders' languages. However, hints of the struggling dominance of Cuyonon in Palawan is evident—aside from the provincial ordinance supporting its promotion—is evident in the penetration of the Cuyonon language in FM and AM radio stations such as DYPR and DYER and cable television. The Philippine Airlines also acknowledges Cuyonon as the dominant native language of Palawan, as it uses the Cuyonon language in some of its greetings and announcements in domestic flights taken in Puerto Princesa.

Pampanga, although diverse in its own right due to the in-migration of Visayans, Maranaos, Koreans, Aytas, Tagalogs, Ilocanos, Pangasinenses, and Ilocanos, is still acknowledged to be a Kapampangan-speaking area, and Kapampangan continuously penetrates various forms of mass and interactive media.

Now back to the ordinances—laudable declarations, I must say. But the question is: how well-implemented are these ordinances and the activities spearheaded by the designated councils? Are they even effective in promoting the local language especially to the modern youth?

Or do the celebrations just come and go, creating the illusion that the local language is being saved?

That we'll have to see.

Palawan Subterranean River National Park: A Global Wonder of Nature

2009-06-05T10:40:00.007+08:00

By Jason Paul Laxamana
Urban Kamaru
Central Luzon Daily

Last month, my Kamaru production team and I flew to Puerto Princesa City, Palawan to co-produce the music video of the carrier single of an upcoming Cuyonon rock album by a band called Bulyaw Mariguen.

During our stay, our producer Jocelyn Fabello of Matinlo Productions took us to one of country's pride in the realm of ecotourism—the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park (also called St. Paul Underground River National Park), a nominee in the “New Seven Wonders of Nature” competition and one of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites.

Trip to the Park

We woke up early in the morning and rode a van to reach the place. Even though we were staying in Puerto Princesa City, the barangay (Sabang) where the park is located is far from the heart of the city, and the trip can range from one hour to an hour and a half.

It's not all land transportation. Upon arrival to Sabang, we had to take a short banca ride at the Sabang Pier—about ten minutes—to reach the national park, which is on the other side of the beach. The water we had to travel across comes from the South China Sea already.

The trip is short but we were stunned with the beauty of the surrounding shores, forests, and mountains. Plus, the water is not murky compared to the waters of Pampanga Bay; the water is also greenish blue—probably a reflection of both the sky and the lush forests from nearby bodies of land—and best of all, clean.

Upon landing, we enter a safe forest that would lead us to the small port where the City Government of Puerto Princesa. In that short trek inside the forest, we encountered monkeys and monitor lizards (bayawak) freely roaming around.

The monkeys, like the ones in Subic, are infamous for snatching stuff from people, so we were advised to keep an eye on our things and to not leave our possessions unattended. Physically harming the monkeys, along with the lizards and the other animals that may be found in the forest, is unlawful.

The giant monitor lizards, especially for us urban people, were both fascinating and frightening due to their baby dragon-like appearance. Fear not though because they don't attack people.

In fact, according to the locals, they are afraid of people. Their seemingly casual behavior around humans is only because they have been used to their constant presence in the area. But if you try to shock one, it will run away fast like a shooed cat.

Into the Cave

After the short trek, we arrived at the port where tourists can avail of group boat rides—paddled by local employees—through the cave. A tour inside the cave, which can last from thirty to forty minutes, would have cost us money, but since our trip was sponsored by Mayor Joel Reyes of Puerto Princesa, we went in for free.

We enter the mouth of the cave where it's pitch-black all through. A spotlight is held by the passenger in front though, allowing everyone to scan the surroundings which is filled with stalactites, stalagmites, sleeping bats, and swiftlets that fly around the area. At first, we mistook the swiftlets as bats, but the boatman—who serves as tour guide and entertainer as well with his funny side comments and knowledge of greetings in several Philippine and world languages including Kapampangan and Niponggo—informed us that they were birds, swooping down on insects to dine.

The cave, while the lower part is submerged in approximately 30 feet of fresh water (the water at the entrance is somewhat salty though as evidenced by the seashells forming on the walls because the entrance is near the point where the river and sea meet) still had a huge dome space above, where water droplets were falling down mildly at random points.

The water was coming from the rainwater accumulated above the terrain, seeping down through soil and rocks, until it reaches the cave.

“The water dropping from above can be considered Holy Water,” the boatman comments. “But if what drops from above comes from the bats, it's Holy Shit.” We burst in laughter.

Various stone and rock formations inside have names like the Holy Family, LRT, the face of Jesus Christ, Bat Cave, the Pegasus, the T-Rex, and many more. They had been named as such because the formations appeared like them, especially the breath-taking face of Christ.

We couldn't help but wonder how such place was formed. The boatman said that the cave could have been water-free back in the centuries when sea levels were lower. While the documented discovery of the underground river is credited to a Spaniard, the natives of Palawan could have known the area as well, except that there hasn't been any piece of evidence found yet.

After a cozy tour inside, we reached the point where boats are supposed to return. No, it was not the edge of the tunnel yet. In fact, the edge was still far away, and we were even informed that a huge empty lot where a hundred people or so can camp was situated there.

“Gusto niyo bang puntahan?” the boatman asked. “Yes!” we all excitedly replied. “Sige, puntahan niyo, hihintayin ko kayo dito... promise!” he answered. Again, we laughed hard.

The reason they don't take tourists, or anyone for that matter—except if people with enough reason like geographers and scholars have permits from the proper authorities—to the far reaches is because it could be too dangerous and distant from the port, such that if emergency happened, rescue will take time to come.

Ecotourism VS Environmental Protection

One might wonder why there aren't many boats available to rent, causing people to wait long in line before experiencing the cave. Boats could be enlarged to accommodate more people per trip, but why is it not being done?

It's because it's not purely ecotourism for the national park. Concerned with the animals, like the nocturnal bats sleeping inside, they limit the number of people inside the cave to not cause too much noise. “Travel agencies keep on suggesting that we increase the number of boats, but we tell them we don't want to strongly disturb the dwellers inside.”

Puerto Princesa City is lucky to have such natural wonder, and the natural wonder is luck to have an understanding and sincerely passionate group of people looking out for its preservation. Even though the government keeps on promoting the place, it doesn't abuse and over-commercialize the whole idea, unlike what happens in other places.

For more information about the place, visit the official website of the management. www.puerto-undergroundriver.com

Photos care of Diego Marx Dobles, Kamaru Photography

I gave a lecture not in Pampanga but in PALAWAN!

2009-06-01T04:09:00.000+08:00

Last week, I was in Palawan to expand my cultural work to Cuyonons, who, like the Kapampangans and the other non-Tagalogs, and experiencing cultural decline. Aside from directing a Cuyonon rock music video in Puerto Princesa, I also delivered a lecture to Mass Communication students of PSU (Palawan State University). See news item below (taken from http://bulyawmariguen.multiply.com)

LOCAL EYES: CREATING WORKS OF ART WITH LOCAL CULTURAL CONTENT

As a means to entice young media practitioners in creating works of art or production works with local cultural content, Matinlo Productions in cooperation with Bulyaw Mariguen, Kamaru Productions and JCI Kiao conducted a lecture/workshop entitled Local Eyes: creating Works of Art with Local Cultural Content to 31 3rd & 4th year Mass Communication Students of the Palawan State University last May 27, 2009.

The lecture started with an exercise conducted by Jason Laxamana of Kamaru productions assessing how the students use their local environment in creating their own superhero. Jason Laxamana then proceeded to explaining the exercise and then to showing the students some of the works of Kamaru.

In his lecture, Jason laxamana emphasized the benefits of creating production works with local cultural content. His Kapampangan short film entitled Balangingi in Kapampangan or Nosebleed in English which won in the ETC First Philippine Digital Awards for best short film is living proof that using local cultural content in film can give filmmakers a competitive advantage in such competitions. The sense of pride such works bring to the local community was also mentioned.

Due to a scheduled radio guesting at DYPR Palawan Radyom, Jason Laxamana gave way for Bulyaw Mariguen to perform their carrier single, Ploning Adin Ka Ren. Matinlo productions chose to ask Bulyaw Mariguen to perform in this lecture to show the students the possibility of using the local language in Palawan, Cuyonon, in making songs that are appealling to the young generation of Palawenos and viable for mainstream broadcasting. Joey Fabello of Matinlo productions, also known as DJ Jojo of IFM 99.9 by some of the students, briefly explained the Bulyaw Mariguen project after the performance of the band to reiterate the value of using local content in works of art and production works.

Certificates were awarded and snacks were provided by Jci Kiao after the lecture.

Some feedback from the students can be seen below.

Nainspire po kami sa inyong shinare samin and we are hoping also na magkaron ng sariling version ang mga Palaweno to produce music, movies, telenovelas, etc of our own.

Thank you for inspiring me. Makakatulung po talaga ito sa lahat. Keep up the good work...May God Bless You...

Nakakainspire. Namulat ako sa dapat kong kamulatan. -Psydz

Marami po salamat sa mga binahagi niyong kaalaman sa amin, tama nga dapat din nating ipakita sa iba na pwede rin natin ibahagi sa kanila ang culture na mayroon tayo. tnx po. Sana makalat pa ito sa iba.- Rearitz

Very inspiring. It really gives indication that we have to uplift ones local culture through music and film. -Anna Lissa Magtibay

Marami po akong (kaming) natutunan. Now I realized na mahalaga maging maka local tayo para narin stain to. galing po ng speakers at nakakatuwa. - Jeric

Mahalaga po sa amin bilang Palaweno na ipagmalaki sa buong mundo ang katutubong kultura. Sa pamamagitan ng Seminar workshop na ito namulat ang aking isipan na maaari tayong kilalanin. maraming salamat- Anagyn Barrios

Matinlo productions would like to thank Ms. Faith Malacao of the Palawan State University for making this event possible.

Please save the youth from UNO

2009-05-30T22:51:00.002+08:00

By Jason Paul Laxamana
Urban Kamaru
Central Luzon Daily

If you ever pass by Balibago on your way to SM Clark, you certainly will not miss a certain area somewhere along the Pagcor building where a lot of people—most of them teenagers and young adults—are chatting with one another as if they are a newly founded religion. I used to think it was a new branch office of some call center or something opening itself to agent-wannabes; hence, the proliferation of people my age wanting to earn something. That was until a close friend became part of that cult and tried to lure me into its cleverly structured clutches.

Unlimited Network of Opportunities or UNO is the name of the company. To use a no-connotation term, we can say that it's all about MLM or Multi-Level Marketing—a more credible term than “networking” or worse, “pyramid scam.” When my friend was trying to introduce UNO to me, I at once asked if he's trying to recruit me in a networking company.

Bad college experience

I certainly had my inhibitions, because back in college, my fellow boarders and I were recruited by the son of our landlady to Legacy, which all also claimed to do Multi-Level Marketing business. We were taken to a confident adult who oriented us about how huge amounts of money could come to our grasps by merely investing Php14,000 and inviting others to do the same. The way the whole thing was presented was so believable and overwhelming, such that my big brother and I weren't able to sleep because we were so overjoyed, thinking “This is it! We're going to be filthy rich!”

My mother was KJ then though. When we excitedly told her about the financial opportunity, she quickly aired her protest and told us it was just one of those pyramid scams. Of course, we were offended. We argued back and harshly told her that she was close-minded, and she would definitely fail in life financially by being the skeptic that she was. No matter how hard we fought for it, my mother wouldn't lend us Php14,000.

Our co-boarders had some money though. They decided to volt in their money—seven thousand from one person, and the rest from the other person—so they were able to invest the required Php14,000. They began recruiting various people like their classmates and org-mates in UP Diliman, their high school batchmates, and even their relatives. Alas, not one was fazed with the so-called opportunity. After several failures, they gave up. Bye-bye Php14,000.

It was a good thing my mother didn't lend us money when we demanded for it. After a few weeks, the excitement resulting from the hypnotizing sweet-talk of the recruiter faded away and Koya and I came to our senses: it was a difficult job—too difficult for the average person, you'd think it's designed to be that way—disguised as a legal and easy-money business.

How I was reduced from friend to prospect

I admit—I am not in speaking terms with the friend I am talking about just because of this UNO thing. Let's call him Karl.

He used to work in a call center in Clark. One day, he texted me and other friends, begging for us to come to Pagcor. He also begged us to not ask why, because it was something very complicated. The way the message was constructed, I thought he was having some serious problem, probably related to his girlfriend or his family. Unfortunately, I was busy with other matters at that time so I didn't go.

Concerned and curious, I called him (from landline to cellphone) early in the morning to ask what his message was all about. He sounded very desperate, like he was receiving death threats from a certain gang, or he had accidentally killed someone and had no idea what to do. Unable to explain via phone his predicament, he asked if he could stay in my place for the night. “Sige,” I told him.

Before he even came to my place to sleep over, I found out from common friends that he didn't have the problem I was suspecting he had. Instead, he was recruiting people to try MLM because he joined UNO. To focus on MLM, he quit his call center job without informing his parents. Hence, he sleeps over in the houses of different people including me because he couldn't come home at night. Lest he'll be questioned by his parents about his call center resignation.

When Karl arrived in my place, we were trying to catch up with each other because it has been a long time since we chatted about our lives. After catching up, I asked him what the thing he texted me before was all about. Before him even answering, I emphasized, “Are you trying to recruit me?”

From the persona of a friend, his face turned vendor-like, and told me, “O di ba, ang sama kaagad ng pumapasok sa isip mo kapag nababanggit ang networking? Pero ito, iba ito. Ako rin noong una, talagang duda ako, pero ni-research ko talaga, pati sa Internet, wala akong mahanap na loophole.”

Karl even went as far as assessing my personality. He first flattered me by telling me I am an extraordinarily smart and creative person, but my weakness, he said, was in business; thus, my failure to earn money despite working very hard. “Kilala kita,” he even said. “May tendency kang mag-claim na alam mo na ang isang bagay, pero ang hinihingi ko lang, makinig ka muna. Isang oras lang naman.”

I was also touched by his sentence of emphasis: “Kaibigan kita; yayayain ba kita dito kung alam kong ikakapahamak mo?”

Yet with all that, he didn't even bother listening to my college experience.

The UNO recruitment experience

Fast forward. Despite setting my mind to “I will never join,” I allowed him to take me to the UNO office in Balibago, where I saw members trying to recruit innocent-looking people—probably their friends, co-workers, classmates, or relatives. I even saw a woman dressed like a teacher orienting what seemed like her students about the mechanics of the business.

Karl then introduced me to a person I met and befriended days before at SM Clark. Let's call him Tim. Back when I first met him, he was this shy-looking but cool teenager who knew a lot of people I knew—bands, DJs, and other people. On that night we encountered each other at SM Clark, we talked about plans in life and the difference of burgers from one burger joint to another (since he claimed to want to establish his own burger restaurant someday). I even told him about my friend Karl and his funny attempts of trying to attract me to MLM. With all the laughter and cigarette-smoking, he was a nice and sensible lad, I thought, and I certainly would want to work with him in future projects (he used to have a band, and I used to produce recorded music).

But when I saw him again at UNO, it was as if he was a different person! He spoke like those salespeople you see in department stores promoting state-of-the-art kitchen knives and convenient-to-use floor mops. He wasn't a shy kid after all. He explained MLM like a Master Showman host, joked around sometimes to not bore us, and confidently claimed that in spite of him being just a mere “tambay,” he was already earning as much as Php5,000 per week. He also showed us the products of their company, including strength-enhancing bio-magnetic bracelets worn by ancient royalties and contemporary celebrities, 8-in-1 coffee that boosted energy, and other healthcare and beauty products.

Tim, with the help of Karl, also showed us an AVP explaining UNO and showing the people who had become instantly rich by joining—people of my age having their own cars, lay people casually withdrawing loads of cash from Union Bank, and segments that tried hard to convince the audience that they were a legal business.

Familiar with what they were talking about, thanks to my college Legacy experience, I entertained my mind by identifying what kind of psychological convincing strategy they are using on me. My favorite was that one that used peer pressure (“Huwag niyong isiping pinagkakakitaan namin kayo; kasi, kahit hindi kayo sumama, sasama at sasama pa rin naman yung iba e; ang gusto lang namin, magtulungan tayo sa pag-pag-asenso”).

Trained parrots

In the middle of Tim's talking, a loud tricycle passed by. Unable to continue talking, he pretended to have a grenade in his hand and pretended to throw it to the noisy vehicle. It was the first time I saw someone to that kind of gesture, and I thought it was a cool way to express hatred to loud-engined automobiles.

Minutes after, another noisy tricycle passed by. I saw another recruiter from afar doing the grenade gesture, too. Listening to other recruiters, I heard them tell their prospects the exact words my friend Karl was telling me that morning—about open-mindedness, about financial success, about researching stuff on the Internet, and all that jazz. All of the recruiters know how to write upside down, too, to make their written lecture readable to the target prospect, who is usually seated opposite him.

I even heard someone else say, “Yayayain ba kita dito kung ikakapahamak mo?” That was when disappointment starting growing in my heart. My friend Karl reduced me into an MLM prospect. All the things he said to me, including his knowledge of my need of money to do my dream cultural projects, were all parrot-speak from his fellow UNO members. I would have preferred it if he just told me directly that if I joined, he will be earning. But no, he even used everything he knew about me as a friend just so he could convince me.

However, I didn't join. UNO members say that in case you join, you have to work hard to be successful. It's the same thing outside the MLM business. I am slowly working my way to reach my goals, and it was quite offending for both Tim and Karl to predict that I'll be a failure. “Maraming Pilipino,” they would say, “kayod ng kayod pero hindi pa rin umaasenso.”

My God! I am only 21 years old. Isn't it too early to determine whether I'm successful in life or not? Other people in the UNO office who gave their testimonials were hopeless people, whose last resort was MLM. I doubt though they were earning as much as what they claimed.

Not-so-obvious richness

If they were so rich, how come their office looks very peasant? How come there's no free snacks for the prospects? Why are recruiters dressed casually? How come there's no big promotional event to make their claims more credible? Why was it that when a beggar approached us, they didn't spare him some coins, just to showcase that they were easily earning, and giving a beggar a hundred pesos was no biggie (I, a non-UNO member, was kind enough to give the beggar five pesos)? Why did Tim not pay for our jeepney fare went we decided to go home from SM Clark if he was earning Php5,000 per week, just to show that he was indeed making money comfortably?

Another friend of mine—let's call him Franz—who is witty in his own way, was recruited on a separate session. He asked Tim and other UNO members if they were confident that if he joined, earning money would be a breeze. With big smiles, they said yes.

Franz then said, “Kung ganoon, pahiramin niyo muna ako ng Php7,000 na pang-invest. Pagkatapos, babayaran ko na lang kapag nakaipon na ako. Madali lang naman makapasok ang pera, hindi ba?”

None of the UNO members wanted to lend money. Or was it because they really didn't have money in the first place?

Save thy souls

With that, I call on people: let's save the youth from this legalized scam. Wanting money to sustain their needs and luxurious desires in a period of tough competition, unemployment, and rising prices, they are the easy preys of UNO. The senior members even go as far as discouraging prospects to tell their parents about it because parents will naturally be skeptical about the whole thing.

“Pero sino bang pakikinggan mo?” they would ask. “Silang mga wala naman talagang karanasan sa MLM, o kaming mga may karanasan talaga dito?”

I am not questioning the legality of the business. It could be legal, fine, but not everything legal is for the good. Why are cigarettes sold in spite of the government acknowledging its danger to the citizens' health? If it's dangerous, why is it not banned in the market?

It's the same thing for UNO. In any case, I think I'm really interested in buying one of those bio-magnetic bracelets. I certainly need it in my strength-draining and pressure-laden line of work. After all, I need to work very hard to become successful, right?

I texted Karl when I got home and told him about my disappointment with his treatment of me as a prospect instead of a friend. I told him that I'll be looking forth to the day when he's already rich with UNO. If he does indeed become rich, I told him I promise to blindly obey his every counsel and burn all the books that serve as my guiding principles in life.

Official Kamaru Video and Photography Multiply

2009-05-30T04:51:00.000+08:00

We opened a separate multiply account for our photography and video works. Please take time to visit http://kamaruprod.multiply.com

Kamaru photographs Palawan music video lead actors

2009-05-22T02:13:00.003+08:00

Kalalangan Kamaru is currently in Palawan and will be back the 27th!

MODELS: JR Payuyo, Febbie Sabbaluca
LOCATION: Balsahan, Puerto Princesa City, Palawan

PHOTOGRAPHER: Diego Marx Dobles
POST-PROCESSING: Jason Paul Laxamana
LOCATION MANAGER: Jocelyn Fabello

Models will be the lead actors in the upcoming music video of "PLONING, ADIN KA REN" (Ploning, Where Are You) by Bulyaw Mariguen, a Cuyonon rock band. To be directed by yours truly.

Another [controversial] Filipino film at the Cannes Film Festival!

2009-05-19T10:35:00.003+08:00

Brillante Mendoza: the “Love Him or Hate Him” Director
'Kinatay' stirs Cannes Film Festival
By Jason Paul Laxamana
Urban Kamaru
Central Luzon Daily

AFTER participating in the prestigious Cannes Film Festival last year with 'Serbis' -- a neorealist film about the Family Theater in Angeles City, San Fernando-born Brillante Ma. Mendoza is again vying for the main award, the Palm d'Or, in this year's festival with a violent film about the infamous “chop chop lady,” a grim character propagated by the news media in the late 90s. 'Kinatay' is also a co-production between Mendoza's Center Stage Productions and France' Swift Productions, the followup co-production after 'Serbis.'

The title of his latest work is 'Kinatay,' with English title 'The Execution of P.' Again written by Armando “Bing” Lao, 'Kinatay' is a story of a newly-married young police trainee who is need of more money to sustain his and his wife's education. To solve his problem, he goes with police officers to a clandestine mission of torturing a drug-addicted prostitute in Manila. Later on, the prostitute is mercilessly beaten, slaughtered, and chopped into bits, the parts wrapped in plastic, and thrown in various parts of Manila.

The movie, like in most Mendoza films, again stars Coco Martin. Mercedes Cabral, who played as the girl impregnated by Coco's character in 'Serbis,' is also back, along with Julio Diaz (also from 'Serbis'), and Lauren Novero (from 'Kaleldo'). The movie also stars Jhong Hilario, Maria Isabel Lopez, and John Regala.

Controversial again

As with last year's Philippine entry to the Cannes, 'Kinatay' has not failed to divide the audience and the film critics. There are those that brand the film as the worst entry in the festival, while others praise it for its unconventional style—no sensationalized scenes, slow rhythm, hand-held camera shots, absence of plot, lack of character development, and minimal lines. This is also partially thanks to the screenwriter, who is known to advocate for real-time scriptwriting.

This recurring style in Mendoza's films is what gets on the nerves of film critics who are not fans of the internationally acclaimed director. They describe 'Kinatay' as something that causes the audience alienation, resentment, and a feeling of having wasted money to see the film. Like in 'Serbis,' these critics also complain about the terrible traffic background sound which they describe as too noisy. Mendoza and Angeles City-residing producer Ferdie Lapuz both defend however that they are only trying to show the reality of noise pollution in the urban Philippines, which I couldn't agree more with.

The boldness of 'Kinatay,' on the other hand, makes it a probable choice in emerging victorious in the festival. Match, a German film distribution company, has picked up the controversial Filipino artwork for international distribution.

No more box office

Mendoza already knows that the films he loves to make aren't the films Filipinos want to see in theaters. That is why he just plans to hop from school to school to screen his films like 'Kinatay' to students, and then talk about the issue featured after the film. Such style of screening makes movie-watching more interactive, and makes education much more exciting than just being stuck in the classroom.

I AM ALWAYS A CONTEST LOSER, WAAAH! But...

2009-05-17T08:19:00.007+08:00

For the past months, I have participated in a lot of contests both in the literary field and in the filmmaking field. Sadly, I have failed to become finalist in all of them, except one.

This is the great risk of writing and filmmaking -- you invest so much time, creativity, and even money (because you ship stuff to Manila, you buy DVD-Rs, print scripts and application forms, etc.) only to fail to become a finalist in the end.

Here are the contests I joined in:

Cinemalaya 2009 Short Film Category. My Asst. Director and I submitted two entries, Ing Bangkeru and Balangingi. We were torn between believing we can make it and conceding to the other filmmakers who have the money to produce technically good short films. But then in the end, we failed to penetrate the top 10.

Cinema One Originals 2009 Scriptwriting Contest. Unlike in the Cinemalaya Full-Length Category, where you have to submit only a synopsis of your film, in Cinema One, you have to submit a full-blown script -- which is what I did! I wrote a dramatic 80-page script about a male newbie in the Philippine literary scene and how the US financial crisis is indirectly affecting him. The title is Tagak at Tau (Egrets and People).

After my submission, I reviewed the finalists of the past year (finalists are given P1M to produce their scripts into films) and discovered that Cinema One is looking for out-of-the-box scripts, unlike Cinemalaya where their focus is realism and humanism. Cinema One welcomes experimental, science fiction, fantasy, and even horror. These are the genres I so love doing! Alas, I discovered that fact too late. And so, I lost again.

Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature. Alright, let me get this straight. I didn't join this year because I already conceded right even before I could start writing my entry to the short story category. I have joined for the past two years already -- first in the full-length Filipino stage play category, second in the English essay category -- and I lost, lost, lost! This year, I tried reading the entries of past winners, because the new Palanca website has made them available. The reading experience brings back memories of high school where you are required to read literary works which you barely understand, full of vocabulary words. I had no idea how my "dumbed down" works could fit in their roster. I decided not to join.

1st Philippine Digital Awards. This contest is very memorable to me because it's the first time I won an actual award/trophy. My entry was my Balangingi short film, which was classified under the ETC Short Film contest. The awarding was held at the World Trade Center in Manila, and it was the first time I delivered an acceptance speech on stage in front of the audience, composed of people I don't know and famous people like Gary V.

Ateneo Video Open 10. We joined in three categories: Short Narrative, Documentary, and Music Video. For short narrative, we submitted Ing Bangkeru and Balangingi. None of them made it to the top 5. For documentary, we submitted Sexmoan Adventures. It made it to the top 5! But when all the documentaries where screened at ADMU, Diego and I already conceded to Ang Pasko Ni Intoy. For music video, we submitted the music video of Oras by Mernuts and Alang Anggang Sugat by 5 Against The Wall. We can't figure out why none of those two became finalist, because honestly, the chosen finalists were blah. But hey, that's life. We got nothing in the end. At least our documentary was the funniest during the screening.

Most Outstanding Kapampangan Awards 2008. Lost in the Youth Category to a doctor who sortof like trained young people or something. Lost in the Culture and the Arts Category to a visual artist. Had I been entered in the Mass Media category, I would have also lost to internationally acclaimed filmmaker Brillante Mendoza. Oh well, another case for a 21-year old trying to compete in the contest of adults -- even in the Youth category.

Here are some more contests I joined, the results of which are still to be determined:

1st Flash Fiction Script Writing Contest by ACPI. ACPI stands for Animation Council of the Philippines, Inc. Yes! They (along with UNESCO) launched this contest that sought for scripts good for a 5-minute animation! Being a fan of anime and cartoons, I told myself I should join no matter what. I have been dreaming for the past few days of having a break in the young Pinoy animation (original content) industry by joining this contest and hoping to win! Not as an animator though; as a writer, because that's what the Pinoy animation industry needs.

I kinda like to think I have an advantage here. You see, scriptwriting for animation is a whole new discipline. It's not just any script. It's a very visual script. Try researching on it and you will understand. Are the literary giants to be feared here? Only if they are into animation and animation scriptwriting. Because no matter how good they are in writing, if they can't transform their works into an animations cript, it won't suffice. On the other side, we have the animators, or the animation students. They have long been exposed to this kind of skill, but the question now is--are they also good in creative writing?

Forgive me for sounding mayabang. I'd just like to think happy thoughts to save me from insanity in case I, again, lose in this contest. Anyway, I submitted Ang Mga Tagapangalaga Ng Bundok Arayat. I have often dreamed of making a comic book out of them, but since I can't draw much except for a couple of poses, I brushed off the idea. But I revived them for this contest.

The Farthest Shore: Fantasy From The Philippines. This is a literary contest seeking for Philippine secondary world-short stories (in English). What's a secondary world? Think Middle Earth of LOTR. Or the world in the Nick toon Avatar. Or the Mario World. Or, heck, even the Ibong Adarna world. In short, they were looking for stories written by Filipinos set in worlds that do not really exist, worlds only created by the writers. I wrote mine while I was having a vacation in the US. Title is The Destiny Twines of Makaru, set in a continent called Quemardican, in the country of Kasulipan. Fusion of local Kapampangan folklore and advanced psychic technology.

On the other hand, even though I often lose in contests, there is this thing I find weird. I may always be a contest loser, but how come I often get invited to screen my works? For instance, just last Friday, I was invited to deliver a talk on indie filmmaking at the Red Horze Muziklaban Rock Challenge, which now also embraces Indie Filmmaking, Tattooing, and Extreme Sports.

I had my own Indie Film booth at the kickoff party where I was able to screen all of my works to those interested to see. Shorts, docus, music videos, PSAs, and even the first episode of Kalam, I all screened! And then, when it was time for me to give a lecture, I also had two music videos shown (Alang Anggang Sugat and Kaplas) on the big screen on stage.

I'd like to think people were "amazed." After the event, I was even approached by this adult man named Bobby who so loved my work, he said he won't leave the party unless I give him a copy of my works.

Speaking of film, I also became the sole Pampanga participant in the Cinema Rehiyon Film Festival last February. Ing Bangkeru was screened at the CCP Dream Theater to represent Kapampangan indie cinema.

The music video of Oras by Mernuts which I directed has been accepted in the Tong Hits segment of MTV Pilipinas, making it the first ever Kapampangan music video to penetrate MTV. Two of my projects have been featured in Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho separately. First was RocKapampangan, in their feature on the regional-language rock scene in the provinces. Second was Kalam, in their feature on regional-language TV dramas and films.

Ing Bangkeru has also served as front-act film to Brillante Mendoza's internationall acclaimed films (Manoro, Kaleldo, and Foster Child) when they were screened at the Holy Angel Auditorium. Around two thousand pairs of eyes were watching, and it sent shivers down my spine when they applauded after watching Ing Bangkeru (after watching the arrogant student get mentally owned by the lowly boatman).

In the field of literature, I was also chosen by UP Pampanga to represent Kapampangan literary writing (Junior Category) in the 1st Taboan Philippine International Writers Festival held at Quezon City.

In the field of cultural work, I have been invited to speak in various lectures. Language-related. Film-related. Culture-related. In both Pampanga and Quezon City. I've often been interviewed for the theses of different people. Even postgrad theses.

This is what I find weird.

I often lose in contests.

But I often get invited in these non-competition stuff.

I should be proud, I know, but I don't know... Maybe I yearn to win in a competition because it will give me a sense of hard-earned victory, defeating all others who joined... which is more valuable than just being "chosen".

Oh well, Regine Velasquez will always be my constant reminder. How she lost in more than 50 contests, and now, look at her! She's lovers with Ogie! And, oh yeah, she's a Songbird.

Nievera's 'Lupang Hinirang' - another exaggerated issue, proof of Pinoy shallowness

2009-05-11T15:32:00.002+08:00

Conrado De Quiros wrote pretty well about the Martin Nievera issue. The brouhaha about the so-called "desecration" of the national anthem by proud nationalists is proof how insecure Filipinos are regarding their patriotism. They are superficial.

Theres The Rub
Footnote to a false note

By Conrado de Quiros
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 02:22:00 05/11/2009

I beg to disagree with some friends on this. “This” is the way Martin Nievera sang “Lupang Hinirang” in the Pacquiao-Hatton fight, which has brought him into a brawl with preservers of Filipino tradition.

The fight has so far been lopsided, with many authority figures, from congressmen to historians, knocking him down with a chorus of irate voices.

I myself have no problems with it. In fact I have a couple of reasons for liking it.

The first has to do with the barb that Nievera went the route of show biz by aping the American singers (mostly black) who make the “Star-Spangled Banner” sound like Motown each time an American boxer takes to the ring. Which, as the nastier remarks go, is probably because Nievera is an American at heart and on paper. I leave others to argue where Nievera’s loyalties lie, though given all the open and closet “statehooders” here—Filipinos who long for the country to become a state of the United States—not least among the congressmen, I wouldn’t advise pressing this point too loudly.

But even if Nievera went show biz, what of it? Boxing is pretty much show biz, of the loud and glittery type. And though Nievera did not sing “Lupang Hinirang” traditionally, he did not disrespect it either, to use a word much favored by African-Americans.

The reason Americans do not mind their National Anthem sung like gospel (or its modern reincarnations; I wouldn’t be surprised if it becomes hip-hop one day) is that they are secure in their patriotism. They are secure in their sense of country. They are secure in their loyalty to flag and country. Enough to withstand Jimi Hendrix’s “sacrilegious” interpretation of the “Star-Spangled Banner,” which he did in Woodstock, his awesome guitar blaring out the din of discord in protest against the Vietnam War. That version has since been elevated to iconic status by baby boomers.

Our prissiness with orthodoxy is in fact a symptom of an affliction as worrisome as swine flu. We like revering tradition because we prefer form over content, because we like showing our love of country in ritual rather than in practice. We like to build busts and monuments to the heroes without liking to follow their ideals and actions, which is really the best tribute to them. The religious equivalent of this is that we like to hear Mass and receive the sacraments without liking to live lives that are not given to lying, cheating, stealing and murdering.

It’s like that line in “Lupang Hinirang:” “Ang mamatay nang dahil say iyo” (“to die for you”). I’ve always said that was a perfect, if ironic, commentary on us. We’ve never had problems dying for country, we’ve always had problems living for it. I’ve always suggested—utter sacrilege!—changing it to, “Ang mabuhay ng dahil sa iyo” (“to live for you”).

My second point is: Why on earth should we regard tradition as intractable or unchangeable?

Even the Rock, or the Church, changes. I still remember the time when the Mass, which used to unfold with Latin incantations, gave way to idiomatic English. Or indeed, horror of horrors, when the Gregorian chant gave way to the “Guitar Mass.” Once things that threatened to make the faithful faithless, plain language and (middle-of-the- road) pop (if not rock) are rock-solid orthodoxy in Masses now.

In the case of historical tradition, I should think changes should not just be acceptable to us, they should be welcome to us. I say this because our lack of sense of history—truly notorious in that we can’t even remember the recent past—owes in great part to our tendency to embalm history. To treat it as something dead and gone and remembered only on the historical equivalents of All Saints’ Day. One natural consequence of this is to turn history into sacred text and the heroes into untouchable objects of worship.

I still remember how we used to look at Jose Rizal, Andres Bonifacio, Apolinario Mabini and the other heroes that way, courtesy of high school and college. Something the new wave of historians led by Renato Constantino corrected, turning them into ordinary folk who did extraordinary things in their time and place. No less, or more, than the activists did in their time and place. The process of demystification, or “humanization,” would culminate in historians like Ambeth Ocampo who would make Rizal et al. as contemporary as, well, Nievera’s rendition of the National Anthem.

Which makes me wonder why Ambeth in particular should disapprove of that rendition. I recall that when he was pilloried by purists for “watering down” history with his “pop” version of it, I wrote a column saying that far from detracting from the worth of history, he added to it. Specifically by making the past present, by making the dead living, by making history not history in the idiomatic sense of “we’re outta here” but history in the sense of current events. The power of history lies precisely in its being living history, or a “continuing past,” as Constantino put it. One would imagine that a continuing past uses the idioms or idiosyncrasies of the flowing present. That’s what makes the past worth remembering. That’s what makes the past worth living.

It’s not just that I don’t think Nievera has done any harm by his version, it is that I think he has done much good with it. Anything that hooks the youth in particular of this amnesiac country to their past, even if it feels like a right hook to those who take that past reverentially, is fine by me. History has been known to rock, history has been known to roll. Sometimes, history has even been known to OPM.

In any case, I have a lot of friends who’ve always thought the National Anthem wasn’t “Lupang Hinirang” but Juan de la Cruz’s “Ang Himig Natin.”

New Kapampangan rock music video - Happy Mother's Day!

2009-05-10T06:18:00.003+08:00

Happy Mothers' Day (Masayang Kayaldawan da ring Ima) to all of our dear mothers! Before I left for the US, we were able to shoot the band scenes of Mental Floss' music video for their RocKapampangan song "Ing Lugud Ning Indu" (Love of a Mother). We really intended to finish the video by Mothers' Day, but sadly, we didn't.

So I'll just say: Abangan! Here are some screen captures from the video. If you notice, the vocalist is pregnant, too! She's soon to become a mother! Congrats, Nicole!

Meanwhile, here is an old video of Mental Floss performing 'Ing Lugud Ning Indu.' Don't you think it's a nice Kapampangan song?

The Pacquiao Victory: Pop Icons and National Pride

2009-05-07T09:56:00.001+08:00

By Jason Paul Laxamana
Urban Kamaru
Central Luzon Daily

In a certain forum on the Internet, members are arguing on whether Manny Pacquiao's victory against Hampton should be given that much of a deal, to the point of labeling a boxing champ a national treasure. The thing is, in the Philippines, it's no longer a question of whether it should given that much of a deal because obviously, it already has for past years.

Named the “National Fist” of the country, everytime Pacquiao's match abroad arises, the Philippines—from the urban to the rural—is expected to lay still like it's celebrating a holiday. All eyes, regardless if they belong to Muslims, Christians, the poor, or the elite, are on his match, and the unofficial celebration rivals even Ramadan or Good Friday. Crime rate can go as far as zero percent and comes the time Pacquiao knocks out his opponent, we all jump together in triumph like winning a war against an invading country.

I am not here to judge whether this is bad or good. In the country of Barbados, RnB sensation Rihanna is very admired, in that the government decided to appoint a Rihanna Day in its calendar. It's a national holiday! In South Korea, international pop star BoA has been given an award by their President because her musical prominence in both South Korea and Japan is said to have contributed to the easing of the tension between the two countries (South Korea was invaded by Japan in the past).

However, it's slightly different in the Philippines because Pacquiao's victory, whenever it arises, seems to be the most important moment for the Filipinos. Pride rises from the heart to the head, and it makes the Filipinos think, “Damn, I so love being a Filipino.” In fact, I don't think our national hero Jose Rizal has ever causes current Filipinos to feel that way.

Manic with Pacquiao

The reason Filipinos are manic with what some intellectuals call “shallow” bases of pride—such as Charice Pempengco making waves in the US, Manny Pacquiao's winning in matches, or even Apl De Ap's inclusion in the Black Eyed Peas, is because we are a quasi-nation state.

A quasi nation-state is a community (like the Philippines) where the state was formed first before the nation. We know our Philippine history. The Spaniards forced us together into a country, not caring about our cultural diversity, linguistic dissimilarities, and regional competitions. Mindanao, they say, has never been conquered by the Spaniards; that is why they are asserting their “right” to secede from the Republic.

There were several ethnic groups that, in the past, formed several small “nations,” with their own specific languages, goals, songs, customs, etc. These small nations were forced together against their will. And so, trouble begins.

Now that the physical invaders are gone, and now that the Philippines is left to the hands of the natives, we are struggling to make ourselves a nation despite the long existence of the state. Difference is, the state was formerly in the hands of foreigners.

This quest for nationhood is the reason we have the National Bird, National Song, National Dance, National Language, etc. even though for example, the Northern Luzon people do not dance the tinikling, or even though majority of Visayas and Mindanao people used to not speak Tagalog at all.

Each ethnic group has its own precolonial gems of pride—local heroes, folklore, dances, literature, and cuisine—but since we are now one, these are usually dissolved. Lucky are those that get absorbed into the national scene, like the Barong Tagalog and the Sinawali style of arnis, to become Filipino property instead of, for example, Cebuano, Pampango, or Igorot properties.

Vacant positions

Since the Filipino nation is a new thing, we are desperate in finding other sources of Pinoy pride. Kapampangan pride, Ilonggo pride, Waray pride—these are all to be shut off because regionalism is said to be one of the major hindrances to national unity. “We need Filipino pride!” nationalists wail. The government and the educational institution solve this by trying to produce competent contemporary artists in the realm of high art: painting, ballet, classical music, cinema, etc. But honestly, do the masses look up to the high arts? Does even the middle class look up to the high arts? I think they look up more to pop icons.

So when popular cases like Pacquiao, Pempengco, Apl De Ap, or even the Filipino chefs in the White House, reach the consciousness of the masses through local mass media, they rejoice and claim they are proud to be Pinoy, because without them, we feel we are losers in the global arena, with all the bad news and reputations we have—corruption, unlawfulness, tax evasions, scandals, and poor waste management. Other countries like China, Korea, or the US don't care if any of their citizens or expatriates make it big in the Philippines because they appear to be not insecure.

We are insecure!

This artificial, fragile pride of ours is also the reason that whenever someone blasts the Filipinos, we whine like crybabies. Remember the so-called ethnic slur from Desperate Housewives? The 'Family Guy' cartoon and the 'Mr. and Mrs. Smith' movie also had made fun of Filipinos in one of their lines, but they're lucky Filipinos didn't pick them up. And let's not forget the Hong Kong-based columnist.

That's how fragile our national pride is. Atuan me mung bagya, kumiak ne. I am quite sure there are plenty more Filipinos who have wrote negatively about Americans, Koreans, or other nationalities, but I am also quite sure we never heard anything from them—nothing compared to how far we want to go to express our national disappointments. They never made petitions or rallies or whatever, asking for public apologies and stuff. American shows make fun of Koreans, Chinese, Frenchmen, Canadians, and Mexicans more but they don't act like crybabies like Filipinos.

Omitting the Quasi

The transition from being a quasi nation state to being a genuine state is a hard one. It's going against our nature because nationalizing ourselves means extinguishing some items that make up our diversity, as the less powerful ethnic groups are systematically forced to succumb to national policies (that are supposed to be democratic). Remember how Ramadan used to be NOT a holiday for non-Muslims in the Philippines, yet Muslims take a holiday during Christmas because government said so?

This is not unique to Filipinos though. China is undergoing the same process, trying to eliminate its diversity with its “Zonghua Minzhu” concept. “One China,” the People's Republic says. Rebels like the Tibetans are pacified and Taiwan is endlessly being wooed into unifying with China. Only Mandarin is the language in China and the others are systematically reduced to dialects (like in the Philippines). What makes them successful in their nationalizing actions is that they have an authoritarian government which has access to lots of resources.

The Filipino government cannot do that because it is poor and democracy is highly fought for.

East Versus West (Asians and Americans think differently)

2009-05-04T10:57:00.001+08:00

By Hana Alberts
Forbes.com

A psychology professor dares to compare how Asians and Americans think.

Richard Nisbett used to be a universalist. Like many cognitive scientists, the University of Michigan professor held that all people--from the Kung tribe that forages in southern Africa to programmers in Silicon Valley--process sensory information the same way. But after visiting Peking University in 1982 and partnering with an Asian researcher, Nisbett found his beliefs challenged.

He embarked on a project to probe the thought processes of East Asians and European Americans. His experiment presented subjects with a virtual aquarium on a computer screen.

"The Americans would say, 'I saw three big fish swimming off to the left. They had pink fins.' They went for the biggest, brightest moving object and focused on that and on its attributes," Nisbett explains. "The Japanese in that study would start by saying, 'Well, I saw what looked like a stream. The water was green. There were rocks and shells on the bottom. There were three big fish swimming off to the left.'"

In other studies Nisbett discovered that East Asians have an easier time remembering objects when they are presented with the same background against which they were first seen. By contrast, context doesn't seem to affect Western recognition of an object.

"I thought there wasn't going to be any difference, and then we kept coming up with these very large differences," says Nisbett, a stately, white-haired man of 67, as we sit in the Upper East Side headquarters of the Russell Sage Foundation. In lieu of his regular salary, he has a grant from Sage to research the nature of intelligence while on sabbatical from Michigan's psychology department, where he has taught since 1971.

Scientists now attach gizmos to people's heads that track eyeball movement; these experiments have confirmed Nisbett's findings, recording that Americans spend more time looking at the featured object in an array while Asians take in the entire scene, darting between background and foreground.

East Asians see things in context, while Westerners focus on the point at hand; the former are dependent, the latter independent; the former are holistic, the latter analytic. There's a social aspect to these differences: Asians are collectivistic, Westerners individualistic.

Even if cognition does differ across cultures, why should we care? For one thing, it might help explain why we're prone to bubbles. In Nisbett's 2003 book The Geography of Thought he describes a study in which students were shown a graph with a line snaking upward across it, representing a trend like world deaths from tuberculosis or the gdp of Brazil. Investigators asked subjects to indicate how they thought the trend would continue. Many Americans sketched a line that continued skyward, while most Chinese forecast a peak and then a decline. A colleague of Nisbett's also showed that while Canadians predict a stock whose value is rising will continue to rise, Chinese think what goes up will come down. An intriguing difference, although one wonders if 1998's pancontinental financial crisis in Asia or the real estate and stock market crash in Tokyo affected students; in the U.S. the Nasdaq crash of 2000--02 was not as memorable. Nisbett doubts the theory but admits "the Confucian idea that the future will resemble the past is deeply ingrained in the Asian mind."

He reasons that cross-cultural differences can also explain societal phenomena. Nisbett defines a nation's preference for lawyers over engineers as a ratio: the number of the former divided by the number of the latter. When he compared America's ratio to Japan's, he found that the U.S. preferred lawyers over engineers 41-to-1. The American system, he says, prizes win-or-lose judgments, while Japan's preference is for middlemen who draft compromises.

In his most recent book, Intelligence and How to Get It: Why Schools and Cultures Count, Nisbett asks why Asian-Americans score higher on the sat than other Americans and why students in Asian nations do so much better on international math and science exams than their U.S. counterparts. The answer is not, Nisbett says, that Asians are smarter. Rather, he writes, "Asian intellectual accomplishment is due more to sweat than to exceptional gray matter." The tests measure proficiency as much as innate skill, and the proficiency comes from cultural forces, such as the Asian sense of obligation to the family. Another factor is that math lessons in Asian schools have a student working out a problem on the board as classmates chime in. That kind of collectivism confirms the commonly held belief that learning by organic induction is more effective than rote memorization.

Why do you find, in a music conservatory, a lot of Asian would-be concert pianists but comparatively few Asian opera-singers-in-training? There's a physical limit to how many hours a day a person can sing, Nisbett says, but not to how many hours one can practice sonatas.

He attributes these differences to history. East Asian agriculture was a communal venture in which tasks like irrigation and crop rotation had citizens acting in concert. In contrast, Western food production led to more lone-operator farmers and herdsmen. Greek democratic philosophy emphasized the individual; the Reformation stressed a personal connection to God; the Industrial Revolution made heroes of entrepreneurs. But in Asia, Confucius said virtue hinged upon appropriate behavior for specific relationships, say, among siblings, neighbors or colleagues.

These tidy generalizations are not without critics. A San Francisco State University professor who edits the Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, David Matsumoto, holds that while Nisbett attaches his observations to fascinating raw data, he takes some conclusions too far.

"In cross-cultural work researchers are too quick to come up with some deep, dark, mysterious interpretation of a difference with no data to support it," Matsumoto says. "It's difficult to draw one conclusion [from] a snippet of behavior, and that's what this work tends to do."

Though Nisbett believes our behaviors are shaped by 2,500 years of history, he also thinks they are malleable.

"I got interested in whether you could make people better at reasoning and problem-solving by certain kinds of education, and it turns out you can," he says. If Americans are asked to think about how they are similar to other people they know, they view the aquarium scene more like Asians--and vice versa. "So these things aren't necessarily locked in."

When it comes to cross-cultural business, Nisbett observes, East Asians want to establish relationships, while Westerners tend to keep their business connections at arm's length. Westerners operate by the exact wording of a contract, while East Asians hold that if circumstances change, so should the agreement. Marketers, of course, are aware of cultural differences. For the same phone, Samsung emphasized contrasting messages: In the U.S. the message was "I march to the beat of my own drum," whereas in Korea the ad campaign focused on families staying connected.

But Nisbett noticed shifts within the Asian cohort last year, after he observed a group of Chinese students at a Procter & Gamble ( PG - news - people ) focus group.

"My goodness, they were as lively as any group of American graduate students I've ever had. If I said something they didn't agree with, they let me know. … I would never, ever feel that way with Japanese or Koreans, who are more concerned with harmony," he says. "I think the Chinese will be more successful than the Japanese have been because they have that sense of obligation to family, but they're also going to get this more Western attitude of wanting to succeed as individuals."

Perhaps, Nisbett speculates, the personal drive one sees in Chinese entrepreneurs is a consequence of China's one-child policy. Because two parents and four grandparents dote on an only child, individualism is emphasized more than it used to be. As a result, Chinese youth are moving in a Western direction.

In the last half-century Japan has undergone a huge shift toward democracy, but this hasn't been accompanied by an increase in individualism, Nisbett says: "Japan is evidence that nothing changes. China is evidence that things can change like mad."

Why is Nisbett something of a lone wolf in studying the role of geography in cognition? His answer: "A lot of politically correct academics can't stand to hear about differences. They automatically assume that if you're pointing to difference, you're assuming superiority of your own culture. Well, that's just nonsense."

The upshot of Nisbett's research is that differences are real. They might not always be for the better, but they matter. Perhaps Americans should temper their optimism, Asians their reluctance to take center stage. For it seems to Nisbett that those who will be most successful in the 21st century are the ones who grasp what's best about both worldviews.

Violin + Hip Hop Dance = Henry Lau

2009-05-03T00:08:00.004+08:00

There's this 13-member boy group (world's largest number of members for a boy group) managed by SM Entertainment, a Korean record company.

This boy group is called Super Junior and they have so-called subgroups, such as Super Junior M (Mandarin) for the Mandarin-speaking market, Super Junior Happy, Super Junior T (Trot) which capitalizes on the so-called trot music or pongjak of Korea, Super Junior Happy which specializes in happy/uplifting pop songs, and Super Junior KRY for the more mature fanbase of the boy group.

A Chinese Canadian boy named Henry Lau, although not an official member of Super Junior, was admitted as a guest member for the subgroup Super Junior M.

I find him very cool because he plays the violin while dancing hip hop! Ain't he enviable?! I sure wish I were him. Or something.

He guested in one of Super Junior's tracks titled Don't Don, where he also appeared on the video. You have to wait until the middle part of the video to see Lau in action.

Cooooooolness! And I learned he plays the piano, too. Now I'll just have to wait for him to come up with ways on combining hip hop dancing and hitting the keys.

Omegle.com: The Thrill of Chatting with Random Strangers

2009-05-01T08:18:00.001+08:00

By Jason Paul Laxamana
Urban Kamaru
Central Luzon Daily

There are a couple of reasons we chat with people we don’t know online. Back when I was still a Yahoo! Messenger chat addict, I went to chatrooms the name of which sparked my interest, like “Atheist VS Christian chatroom” and “Tambayan Kapampangan,” carrying the assumption that I would have the opportunity of chatting with people who shared the same interest.

Some who entered the chatroom merely lurked (an Internet term which means to be a member of a chatroom or forum, but not shouting out anything; an observer of the exchange of messages instead of a participant), while some debated with, or even flamed (an Internet term which means to debate with argumentum ad hominem) people who held beliefs different from theirs. A frequent case in many chatrooms though, regardless of their topic, is the abundance of perverts, meaning people who go online and try to pickup anyone, and probably invite him/her to some SEB (sex eyeball), or the so-called cam-to-cam (cybersex through webcam).

Now how about joining a chatroom that sets you up a session with a random stranger from anywhere in the world?

Introducing Omegle

One of my time-killers in my recent vacation in California was logging on to this website called Omegle (http://omegle.com), which my big brother introduced to me. The introductory message of the site says it all: “Omegle is a brand-new service for meeting new friends. When you use Omegle, we pick another user at random and let you have a one-on-one chat with each other. Chats are completely anonymous, although there is nothing to stop you from revealing personal details if you would like.”

I personally found the concept appealing. You know, being paired with a random person in cyberspace. Questions popped in my mind such as: What country will he/she come from? What age? What school level, course, or job? What interests? Will he/she be worth my time? Thinking of all these variables whenever Omegle paired me with a chat-mate gave me excitement, and I have chatted with a variety of people so far—from an interesting linguist from London who knew stuff about the Filipino language, to a Han Chinese university student who was forced to take up English.

I had a long chat with the linguist from London, who was not surprised with my proficiency in English, since he knew about the status of English in the Philippines, a country which, he said (and I agreed) had “stupidly big malls for a third world country.”

Sometimes, chats become very interesting in that I would chat with them until the wee hours of the morning, and we end up adding one another in some social network website like Facebook, like that Canadian French student whose ambition is to become a famous literary writer in Francais someday, the Mexican girl who is into spontaneous photography, and an independent grunge musician from Holland who hated his country’s wintry weather.

Despite the global accessibility of Omegle (even China allows it), the countries where participants usually come from are the United States, Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom, Holland, Brazil, and China. The only Filipinos I know who use Omegle are me, my big brother, and my cousins in the United States.

Disconnecting, Jerks, and Perverts

But not every stranger is fascinating. In fact, the chance of being paired with an interesting person is slimmer than being paired with a blah person. The good thing though is that you can disconnect with your current session, and Omegle will then pair you with a new stranger. (You can’t chat again with the previous person you’ve chatted with because contacts are not stored unlike in Yahoo! Messenger; unless serendipity is by your side and you get paired with the person among all other users online from all over the world).

Many times, the first thing you chat-mate would ask you would be your ASL (age, sex, location). A lot of times as well, if the person on the other line is a typical guy, and learns that you are also a dude, he would then disconnect without explanation. But the obvious explanation is that he is looking for someone from the opposite sex.

There are those who disconnect after learning what country you come from, or after learning about your age.

I’m not trying to be a jerk, but I usually disconnect without justification when the person on the other line answers briefly with questions. Like when I ask about how it is going with his/her country, and he/she answers with only a word, I disconnect. I yearn for more articulate people who just want to have a nice chat about anything under the sun. Some, usually high school students who are 12 to 14 years old, aren’t just very worthy of my time. Hey, I have the freedom to be a jerk, too.

Sometimes, I play pranks with people, too when I feel like it. I pretend to be someone else and make up my own fictional character description. I already have pretended to be a single mother from Japan addicted to communist ideas, an intelligent American male hustler wanting to commit suicide, and even an alien medium from India proclaiming the arrival of the aliens from a faraway galaxy.

It’s a nice exercise for fictional writers like me, hehehe.

About the Philippines

I have this habit of asking my chat-mate if he knew where the Philippines is, because I have encountered a lot who didn’t know where it is. Some didn’t even know it was a country. One stranger from Belgium thought it was one of the states of the US. One thought it was in Spain.

So what are you waiting for! Let’s add more Filipinos to the Omegle community! Log on to http://omegle.com

Send reactions to sisig_man@yahoo.com.ph

Calling all Pampanga-based models and wannabes

2009-04-29T10:49:00.005+08:00

Kalalangan Kamaru—known for making Kapampangan films, producing Kapampangan songs, spearheading Kapampangan projects like RocKapampangan, Kalam, Frequency K, and Cinekabalen—is branching out to Model Photography, with its subunit called "Kamaru Photography."

We are building our portfolio, and we are trying to fill it with different sets of our "dramatic character photography".

If you're a model (or model-wannabe, or model-material) based in Pampanga (male/female), and you want to add more creative photos in your set cards, then let's help each other out!

Just email sisig_man@yahoo.com.ph your FULL NAME, DATE OF BIRTH, HEIGHT, and please attach full body and close up pictures (preferrably no makeup). Indicate in your email, too, if you are willing to go sexy (creative sexy, not pornographic sexy).

For inquiries, 0918 699 2459

We don't just take pictures of you... We make you a part of an artwork...

Kalalangan Kamaru to participate in Cuyonon music video production

2009-04-21T01:15:00.005+08:00

(posting this from Joey Fabello's journal)

The Ploning Adin Ka Ren Music Video Auditions

PURPOSE

Bulyaw Mariguen’s Songs are rock and acoustic songs in the Cuyonon language having contemporary society as the setting of each story within the songs. The stories in their songs represent a reality seen through the eyes of urban Cuyonons who are exposed to both traditional Cuyonon practices and rituals and to the effects of a globalized world. Their songs are also the first Cuyonon rock songs broadcasted, promoted and made available in Palawan through one album, thereby making Bulyaw Mariguen innovators of Cuyonon music.

Bulyaw Mariguen’s songs are the first of their kind. Promoting them to the Filipino community thus shows the Filipino community of the existence of the Cuyonons and their drive to be heard in a country monopolized by creative outputs in Tagalog.

GOALS

As a means to have Bulyaw Mariguen's Cuyonon rock and acoustic songs heard by and promoted to a greater number of other Filipino cultural groups (through music video channels broadcasted nationwide), Cuyonons (since a lot of Cuyonons has migrated to different parts of the country already) and Palawenos (since most Palawenos patronize national television), a music video of one of Bulyaw Mariguen's Songs, PLONING ADIN KA REN, will be shot in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan this coming May 2009.

PARTNERSHIPS

Through the help of the Palawan Broadcasting Corporation (DYPR TV PATROL, DYPR PALAWAN RADYO and IFM 99.9), Kalalangan Kamaru, the Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm, cuyopress.com and different individuals (the list of which is ever-increasing as we come closer to the shooting dates of the music video), matinlo productions is able to produce this music video (Ploning Adin Ka Ren).

CASTING CALL/AUDITIONS

Auditions for the lead actor and the lead actress of the music video have already started last April 18 and 19, 2009 at the DYPR Dance Studio (Mabini cor Valencia Street, Puerto Princesa City). Second Batch of auditions starts tomorrow (April 20, 2009) 1 to 3 pm at DYPR.

Should you be interested to contribute your skills for the said project, we are also looking for other individuals to form part of the cast of the music video. Please check the characters needed in the succeeding paragraphs.

THE CONCEPT

The Ploning Adin Ka Ren Music Video is not the usual music video that you see in music television channels. For one, the music video will have English or Tagalog (depending on the market) subtitles to make the songs understandable to the viewers of the music video. At the same time, the concept behind the music video is highly symbolic of what is happening to the Cuyonon culture and the struggle of the music of Bulyaw Mariguen to be accepted by the public who seem to condemn than support such innovations in music.

THE CAST

LEAD:

The Young Modern Ploning
Young Looking (around 20s look)
Good at acting
Experience in TV production (not required)
As long as she is easy to direct

LEAD:

Ploning’s Lover
Young Looking (around 20s look)
Good at acting
Experience in TV production (not required)
As long as he is easy to direct
PLONING’S MOTHER
CORPORATE PEOPLE
MAN IN SUIT OR IN POLO
WOMAN IN SUIT
TEENAGE GIRL AND BOY (ANIME LOOK)
STUDENTS
1 COLLEGE STUDENT (BOY)
1 COLLEGE STUDENT (GIRL)
1 HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT (BOY)
1 HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT (GIRL)
1 TEACHER- WOMAN
RELIGIOUS FIGURE
NUN
BABAYLAN
MUSLIM WOMAN
CLOWN (can perform simple tricks)
MUSICIANS
FOLK GUITARIST
POP GUITARIST
INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
SOMEONE WEARING AN ALAKAYO MASK COVERED IN BLUE DYE (ANYEL)
TAO’T BATO
TAGBANUA (MOTHER AND CHILD)
TAUSUG- FEMALE

NOTES:

It must be noted that the production team took gender issues into consideration. See Religious figure and the attempt to represent girls and boys in most groups. It must also be noted that the indigenous groups chosen to be part of the INDIGENOUS PEOPLE cast are those who can be found in Palawan.

LOCATION

The location of the music video is at Balsahan managed by the Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm. (Thank you for letting us use the location for free...!)

THE PRODUCTION TEAM

The production team behind the music video is composed of people from different production teams such as matinlo productions and KALALANGAN KAMARU and different individuals who are interested to contribute their skills for the production of the music video.

Matinlo productions is owned by Joey Fabello and in this production absorbed the responsibilities of a Producer and a Production Manager. The director and the assistant director of the music video came from Kalalangan Kamaru.

The director of this music video is a multi-awarded Kapampangan director and cultural advocate. He bagged the First Philippine Digital Award in short film category from the Entertainment Channel (ETC) this year, is the director of the First Ever Kapampangan Telenovela in the Philippines (Kalam) and the director of the music video of Mernuts entitled Oras, seen at MTV Pilipinas. He was also the one who spearheaded the Rockapampangan Project together with Holy Angel University.

A detailed list of the cast and the production team will be made available in the succeeding pages. If you are reading this entry from a different site, please visit our official blog site at http://www.bulyawmariguen.blogspot.com/. Also, if you know someone who might be interested to be a part of the cast and or the production team, please contact Joey Fabello at 09276275554 or Mares Krishnaa Bajar at 09085421141 or please forward this entry to them.

MATAMANG SALAMAT, WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT! SEE YOU AT THE AUDITIONS!

Sandara Park: Jologs in the Phils, Kinda Cool in Korea

2009-04-18T02:37:00.001+08:00

So I was randomly watching East Asian music videos when I encountered a song called "Lollipop" by a popular Korean boy group called Big Bang (songs of which I have in my MP3 player currently), featuring a girl group called 2NE1.

I was watching the video, it was kinda bubblegum-pop/hiphop cool. But one of the members of 2NE1 was somewhat familiar in my brain. Then, in the middle of the music video, I had this thought:

She friggin' looks like Sandara Park (of Star Circle Quest fame, partnered with Hero Angeles and Joseph Bitangcol)!

So I researched on the girl group, and boom! It's Sandara "Dara" Park!

To like Sandara Park as a singer/dancer ('Sumusunod') in the Philippines is kinda jologs or uncool, but look at her under YG Entertainment (Korean label)! She's kinda cool.

Just goes to show that a lot of Philippine producers are baloney. I am nationalistic and all, and have always believed that Pinoy artists have what it takes, but our producers are just too mediocre to send a Philippine wave abroad. Sorry.

Pinoy X-Men and Street Fighter characters, anyone?

2009-04-06T16:20:00.003+08:00

By Jason Paul Laxamana
Urban Kamaru
Central Luzon Daily

There have actually been a lot of popular fiction titles—in TV, movies, video, and PC games—that offer racially diverse worlds. In these titles, the main characters are not just White Americans, albeit the setting could most of the time be in the United States.

Take for example the diverse universe of X-Men, where characters are not just from different countries—they are also from different times, from different dimensions, from different planets, galaxies, and even different universes. Let’s focus on planet Earth though. We have popular delegates from Canada, the most popular being Wolverine. Russia is highlighted by Colossus and the Soviet’s prime weapon Omega Red. Storm is Egypt’s proud mutant. We also have Gambit from France, Nightcrawler from Germany, the Jewish Magneto, and many more.

Then we have Street Fighter, which you probably had your first glimpse of with the movie ‘The Legend of Chun-Li.’ I, on the other hand, have known Street Fighter ever since I played Street Fighter 2 back in my Elementary days.

Being a world geek (in Elementary, I was able to literally memorize the capitals of all the countries in the world in whatever continent; Antananarivo, Ulaanbaatar, and Tegucigalpa were my favorite place names), I found the video game Street Fighter amusing, with each playable character representing a certain country, and at times, representing the martial arts and traditional fashion of that country. You can even choose a country to serve as your game’s location.

Ryu and Honda represented Japan; Ken, Balrog, and Guile represented USA. Dhalsim, a personal favorite, represented India while his skills revolve around the discipline of Yoga; Saggath, Adon, and Bison (albeit biologically Irish) of Thailand; Blanka of Brazil; Chun Li of China; Fei Long of Hong Kong; Dee Jay of Jamaica; Zangief of Russia, with Sambo-inspired brute skills, a popular sport in Moscow; Cammy of England; T. Hawk of Mexico; and Vega of Spain, among others.

Kiddie cartoons also have their share of diverse worlds, such as ‘Codename: Kids Next Door.’ Numbah 1, the leader, is a British boy. Numbah 2 is a blonde Australian kid. Numbah 3 is a happy and seemingly slow-minded girl from Japan. Numbah 4 is a techie stout kid from the United States. Last but not the least is Numbah 5, a black French girl. Together, they are known as the Kids Next Door.

Filipino, wer k?!

Having been concerned with the status of Kapampangan in the national setting, and of the Philippines in the global setting, I once included in a Kapampangan short story a boy who was wondering why there was no Filipino character in Street Fighter 2. Then, he began imagining how the Filipino fighter would look like and what his skills would be if ever Capcom decided to included Philippines in its roster of fighters and locations.

Now that you have read the first part of my article, it would be easy for you to tell that I am speaking through that kid, albeit I never thought of that as a kid.

But I still wonder: why is the Philippines often neglected in these fictional worlds of diversity. Is it our being a poor country? Is it our unpopular local culture, unlike those of Japan, Egypt, and China? Is it our cultural diversity, rendering other countries unable to figure out a single icon—or even a single audio-visual stereotype—that would represent a Filipino character?

Minute Moments of Glory

Filipinos have taken small parts in the world of fiction abroad.

Take for example the demon-possessed Filipina in the opening sequence of the religious fantasy Constantine, starring Keanu Reeves, where she even spoke a Tagalog line ("Papatayin natin siya"), albeit unnatural.

The original Starship Troopers storyline from the book had Juan Rico, the main protagonist, as a Filipino, accompanied by a multiracial training group.

Dante’s Peak spoke of the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in its lines.

Ashton Kutcher’s MTV Punk’d once used as accomplice a red carpet correspondent who spoke Tagalog to celebrities passing by.

A Tagalog-speaking ventriloquist can also be found in the Hollywood movie ‘Big Fish,’ starring Ewan McGregor, when his character was parachuting onto the Korean stage.

Sinawali, a fighting style credited to the Kapampangan warriors of Macabebe, is included in the Kali Silat martial arts DVD available in the United States.

We have also expressed our protest in several so-called "racial slurs," from the ‘Desperate Housewives’ to BBC’s ‘Harry and Paul’ show. The latest of course would be that "nation of servants" label from a Hong Kong columnist.

Filipinos also giggle in mirth upon seeing the name of their country included in global listings and popular world cultural products, such as Philippine English being recognized as a significant dialect of English, the Philippines being one of the most SMS-crazy country, our country being mentioned in one of Britney Spears’ songs ("Piece of Me"), and a lot more.

We are not alone

Of course, we are not the only country neglected in diversity-driven titles. We’ve never seen characters from Trinidad & Tobago, Bosnia & Herzegovinia, Vanuatu, Lesotho, Belarus, Luxembourg, Seychelles, Djibouti, Sao Tome & Principe, Malawi, and Azerbaijan except probably in Miss Universe pageants.

Despite having history with contemporary and former world superpowers such as USA, Spain, and Japan, we still don’t appear in their imaginations, in the shows and games they produce. And whenever we do, it’s either a pitiful bit or a derogatory portrayal.

We don’t even have to think global to notice our ethereal identity. Whenever the world speaks of Asia, or Asian culture, they are most probably referring to the Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, and to a great extent as well, the South Asians (Indians). Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia will come to mind on the other hand when we begin to talk about South East Asia.

A pity, isn’t it? Don’t get me wrong though. I wrote this article because I believe we have to know our place, our status, in the world before we can pinpoint how to work about things. Because for all we know, a lot of Filipinos are already complacent, living in the delusion that the Philippines is a very popular country in the world, with all the Manny Pacquiao victories, American Idol participations, foreign film festival engagements, and the Charice Pempengco citations. "Feeling sikat," as we often say.

It’s an effective source of pride for a lot of Filipinos whose world knowledge is limited to what free television can share; I just hope we can make Pinoy pride injected into the global consciousness, not just local.

Please email your reactions to sisig_man@yahoo.com.ph

ABS-CBN news on 'Balangingi' victory

2009-03-27T09:44:00.001+08:00

'Nosebleed' wins in digital film awards
abs-cbnNEWS.com

A Kapampangan independent film titled "Balangingi (Nosebleed)" won the [ETC] Best Short Film award from the recently concluded Philippine Digital Music and Short Film Festival held at the World Trade Center in Pasay City last March 12.

"Balangingi" is created by a group of young people calling themselves as Kamaru. The bilingual film, which uses English and the native Kapampangan [language], has a mix of intellectual humor and romance.

Jason Paul Laxamana, director and writer of a young group called Kamaru, said the film is about the romantic relationship of two philosophers and touches the Kapampangan culture.

"Pinaghalong intellectual at love story na may bearing sa kultura," Laxamana said.

The film's three characters Xoo, April and Jane were played by actors Jayvie Dizon, Frency Rodriguez and Raco del Rosario, respectively.

The three indie stars were thrilled by the award and look forward to making more Kapampangan digital films.

"Para sa iba, kung ano ang hilig nila, dapat linangin ang kanilang talento," says Diego Marx Dobles, assistant director of Kamaru, adding that they would encourage young Cabalens to develop their skills in digital film making.

Kamaru is now gearing up for the 1st Cine Kabalen Philippine Film Festival. With a report from Mylene Valencia, ABS-CBN News Pampanga

How to make the next gen of Kapampangans smarter

2009-03-19T11:18:00.005+08:00

Kapampangan as medium of instruction will produce Brighter Kapampangans
By Jason Paul Laxamana
Urban Kamaru
Central Luzon Daily

Are you aware of DepEd's Lubuagan experiment? If not, watch this first:

Weeks ago, I got this message in my YouTube Mail from a certain user called Pachungchung:

“I am a preschool teacher and I am so sad na king school a pituturuanan ku, bawal ing mag-Kapampangan; it's a mortal sin ada pin ding Supervisor mi. I don’t know why, pero siguru effect na ning modernization.”

I frowned at the idea that the Supervisor’s knowledge on the relationship between language and education is still obsolete. I am quite sure many teachers, principals, and even parents scattered all around Pampanga are still thinking that the best way to excel in school and later on in the professional world is to expose kids as early as preschool in English—a method discouraged by linguists and education scholars.

That being proficient in English is equal with being professionally viable is another contestable issue, but I want to share with you excerpts from a primer on MLE or Mother Tongue-based Multilingual Education written by Former KWF Chairman Ricardo Nolasco. The author is also an Associate Professor in the Department of Linguistics of UP Diliman and an Adviser on Multilingual Education Initiatives in the Foundation for Worldwide People Power.

Introduction

International and local research studies in the use of languages in education are conclusive—when the mother tongue is the medium in primary instruction, learners end up being better thinkers and better learners in both their first AND second language(s).

Sadly, legislators at the House of Representatives continue to ignore the studies and are in fact set to approve a bill “strengthening” English as the medium of instruction (MOI) from the elementary grades to the tertiary level.

This primer aims to clarify the issues related to language-in-education in the Philippines by addressing 21 frequently-asked questions about mother-tongue based multilingual education (MLE).

1. What is mother tongue-based multilingual education or MLE?

MLE is the use of more than two languages for literacy and instruction. It starts from where the learners are, and from what they already know. This means learning to read and write in their first language or L1, and also teaching subjects like mathematics, science, health and social studies in the L1.

2. When will children start learning Filipino and English?

As they develop a strong foundation in their L1, children are gradually introduced to the official languages, Filipino and English, as separate subjects, first orally, then in the written form.

3. Does MLE only involve changing the language of instruction and translating the materials into the local languages?

MLE is an innovative approach to learning. Apart from programming the use of several languages, it also involves the following: (a) the development of good curricula (i.e. cognitively demanding); (b) the training of good teachers in the required languages for content and methodology; (c) the production of good teaching materials (i.e., error-free and culturally relevant); (d) the empowerment of the community (i.e. school-based management). MLE will not work when one simply changes the language by translating existing materials into the local languages.

4. What kind of learners does MLE intend to produce?

MLE aims to produce learners who are: Multi-literate—they can read and write competently in the local language, the national language, and one or more languages of wider communication, such as English; Multi-lingual—they can use these languages in various situations; Multi-cultural—they can live and work harmoniously with people of culture backgrounds that are different from their own.

5. What specific weaknesses in the Philippine educational system does MLE seek to address?

MLE seeks to specifically address the high functional illiteracy of Filipinos where language plays a significant factor. As one educator, Professor Josefina Cortes, has observed, we have become “a nation of fifth graders.”

6. Why use the mother tongue or the first language (L1) in school?

One’s own language enables a child to express him/herself easily, as there is no fear of making mistakes. MLE encourages active participation by children in the learning process because they understand what is being discussed and what is being asked of them. They can immediately use the L1 to construct and explain their world, articulate their thoughts and add new concepts to what they already know.

7. But our children already know their language. Why still learn it in school?

What we and our children know is the conversational language or the everyday variety used for daily interaction. Success in school depends on the academic and intellectualized language needed to discuss more abstract concepts.

8. Why use the national language or Filipino in school?

The Philippines is a multilingual and multicultural nation with more than 150 languages. A national language is a powerful resource for inter-ethnic dialogue, political unity, and national identity.

9. Will the use of Filipino as medium of instruction and as a subject be advantageous to native Tagalog speakers?

It is partially true that native speakers of Tagalog enjoy a small advantage under the present bilingual education set-up in which some subjects are taught in their L1. But this is nothing compared to the overwhelming bias of the present system for English.

10. Will the use of the local and regional languages be detrimental to building one nation?

No, it won’t. On the contrary, it is the suppression of local languages that may lead to violent conflicts, disunity, and dissension.

11. Why use an international language like English in school?

Languages of wider communication like English should be part of the multilingual curriculum of a country. The graduates of this system should find relevance beyond their ethnic and national boundaries. Most world knowledge is accessible in English, and so, knowledge of English is certainly useful. It is not true, however, that students will not learn science and mathematics if they do not know English. The ideas of science are not bound by one language and one culture.

12. Will using the mother tongue as language of instruction hinder the learning of a second language like English?

No. Many studies indicate that students first taught to read in their L1, and then later in an L2, outperform those taught to read exclusively in an L2. Learning to read in one’s own language provides learners with a solid foundation for learning to read in any L2.

13. Will increasing the time for English or making it the exclusive medium of instruction improve our English?

No. This popular belief is increasingly being proven untrue. Large scale research during the last 30 years has provided compelling evidence that the critical variable in L2 development in children is not the amount of exposure, but the timing and the manner of exposure.

14. What is the best way to attain proficiency in English?

For non-native speakers of English, the best way is to teach it as an L2 and to teach it well. This depends on the proficiency of teachers, the availability of adequate models of the language in the learner’s social environment, and sufficient reading materials. Simply increasing the time for English will not work.

15. Are local languages capable of being used as languages of instruction?

Definitely yes. As far back as 1925, during the American colonial period, the Monroe Commission already recommended the use of the local languages in education.

Beginning 1957, the local languages, or vernaculars, became the medium of instruction in Grades 1 and 2. This vernacular education policy was abruptly abolished in 1974, when the bilingual education policy was launched by the Marcos government.

Languages grow and change in response to changes in the physical, social, political, spiritual and economic environments in which they are used. As a language is used for instruction, for example, it intrinsically evolves to adapt to the demands of its users.

16. Why not use an early exit program where the L1 is used from pre-school up to Grade 3 and English is used as the exclusive medium of instruction thereafter?

Early-exit programs can help but may not be enough. The international experience on the use of L1 and L2 in education, especially in Africa, reveals that children need at least 12 years to learn their L1. It takes six to eight years of strong L2 teaching before this can be successfully used as a medium of instruction.

The consolidated Gullas, Villafuerte and Del Mar Bill (or the “English-only” MOI Bill) pending in Congress appears to support the use of the local languages and also the national language in education, as it provides that “English, Filipino or the regional/native language may be used as the MOI in all subjects from preschool until Grade III.” However, the Declaration of Policy section betrays the Bill’s real intention and this is to strengthen English “as the medium of instruction in all levels of education, from the preschool to the tertiary level.” The optional use of L1 and the national language as MOI really means that they may not be used at all.

17. Don’t we need more English since the language will provide more jobs for our countrymen, such as in the call center industry?

Many believe that this is an extremely shortsighted view because not all Filipinos will become call center agents. The more important concern is how to solve the current mismatch between industry and the educational system. According to former Education Undersecretary Miguel Luz, the consensus among employers is that a high school diploma with its current coverage is inadequate for its purposes because Filipino high school graduates are weak in their ability to communicate, to think logically, and to solve problems. Luz adds: “It (the Gullas Bill) is a dangerous bill, however, because it places a misleading emphasis on English as the medium of learning. As such, the young learners and their teachers will concentrate on the language, not on Science and Math and literacy (that is more fundamental to learning).” The best way to learn basic science and math, problem solving skills, and reasoning skills is through the L1.

18. What is a better alternative to the English-only Bill?

A better alternative is House Bill No. 3719, filed by Congressman Magtanggol Gunigundo II of Valenzuela. The Bill is also known as the Multilingual Education and Literacy Bill, or the Gunigundo Bill, which is far superior to the English-only Bill in many respects.

19. Is it costly to practice MLE?

Contrary to popular belief, L1-based education may actually cost less than a system that is based on L2. If we consider the money wasted on drop-outs, repeaters, and failures, as well as other added costs, studies show that L2-based education systems are more costly than L1 systems.

20. What do Philippine stakeholders say about MLE?

• The Department of Education, through Secretary Jesli Lapus: “We find the bill (the Gunigundo bill) to be consistent with the Basic Education Sector Reform Agenda (BESRA) recommendations and the bridging model proposed by the Bureau of Elementary Education where pupils were found to comprehend better the lessons in class.”

• The National Economic Development Authority, through NEDA Director General Ralph Recto: “From the economic and financial vantage points, we believe that adopting this education policy (HB 3719), in the final analysis, is cost-effective...

• The Philippine Business for Education (PBED), one of the largest associations of businessmen in the country: “English and Filipino are languages `foreign’ to most children and legislating either as medium of instruction will do more harm to an already ailing system of education.”

• The Department of Foreign Affairs and UNESCO Philippines, through Secretary Alberto Romulo: “Multilingualism is the order of things in the UN and in the world. The unique richness of the world’s national identities draws on the many traditions that make up different countries and are expressed through local and indigenous languages. UNESCO supports mother tongue instruction as a means of improving educational quality by building upon the knowledge and experience of the learners and teachers.”

21. Do we have to wait for legislation to implement MLE?

No. The Lubuagan experience, the DepEd Lingua Franca Project, and other existing programs using the local languages tell us that it is already possible to undertake an MLE program without waiting for legislation.

Read the complete version here: http://mothertongue-based.blogspot.com

Below is a video by Rey Maniago documenting a certain Kapampangan class in San Fernando's Filbern school. Check it out:

Kapampangan art is not acclaimed in Pampanga

2009-03-17T09:31:00.002+08:00

‘Balangingi’ is ETC Best Short Film Awardee
Why are Kapampangan artworks awarded in other places but not in the province?
By Jason Paul Laxamana
Urban Kamaru
Central Luzon Daily

World Trade Center, Metro Manila—our Kapampangan short film ‘Balangingi’ (Nosebleed) wins the ETC Award for Best Short Film at the First Philippine Digital (Phil Digi) Music and Short Film Awards last March 12. Competing in a certainly Tagalog-dominated category, ‘Balangingi,’ in spite of being the only regional language entry, still impressed the Board of Judges from Entertainment Central (ETC), causing them to declare it the winner.

‘Balangingi’ tells the story of Xoo, who seems to be a standard teenager who lives boringly like everyone else, but unknown to people in his surroundings is what happens in his head—philosophizing about things average people would deem mundane, down to the minutest detail. One day, he is forced to attend a blind date. To avoid turning off his date, he struggles to suppress his intellectual side. The short film gives a peek to that minority in Philippine society who are unlikely to survive socially by being themselves—the Filipino intellectuals. Thus, the negative connotation of the local word “pilosopo” when it’s supposed to mean a lover of wisdom (philosopher).

According to the official website of the Phil Digi Awards: “There have been a lot of songs composed that are worth listening to. Quality short films are created even with low budget but are amazingly filled with art, ideas and moral values. Unfortunately, because of budget constraints, tough competition in getting radio airplays and film screens, and lack of knowledge, these great songs and films are being shelved. This is why iSYS Business Solutions and Blue Fish Asia came up with first Philippine Digital Music and Short Film Festival.”
Kapampangan Kompetes!

As usual, being a cultural worker seeking to empower the Kapampangan identity, I participated in the contest to “advertise” what Kapampangan can offer.

Note: I said what Kapampangan can offer, not what Kapampangans can offer. There’s a difference. It’s easy to show the world that Kapampangans (by blood) can be excellent. But oftentimes, these Kapampangans drop their being a Kapampangan—either consciously or not—to command the spotlight unto them. This, in my opinion, doesn’t empower the Kapampangan identity much. Whenever this happens, I just shake my head and whisper, “We’ve lost another one.”

In the venue of the Phil Digi Awards, there were huge tarpaulins where participants and guests can write anything—a freedom wall. Amidst the Pinoy pride slogans, individual promotions, and indie artist empowerment statements, we decided to write a message: “Kapampangan Ku, Pagmaragul Ku.”

Hours passed, and messages became more cramped in the tarpaulins. Checking out the “Kapampangan Ku, Pagmaragul Ku” again, we were surprised to see a reply written by a certain Larry, saying, “Kapampangan ku mu rin!”

Fast forward. ‘Balangingi’ was declared winner in the ETC category. I went up the stage to nervously deliver the first acceptance speech of my life—which started with “Mayap a bengi pu” and ended with a message on promoting Philippine cultural diversity—before an audience of both indie and mainstream artists, while being covered by the media.

And then we left, but not before checking out again the tarpaulin. Another reply, written by someone else, was suddenly added: “Aliwa la talaga ring Kapampangan!”

Perhaps we need more of these, as I call them, contemporary sources of Kapampangan pride—those that genuinely bring elements of Kapampangan identity to a more prestigious ground. For if we keep on drawing pride from Kapampangans who are successful but don’t carry with them elements of our identity (such as language, heritage, etc.), then we’re perpetuating the idea that the path to being successful is to drop our Kapampangan identity, when it is very possible to stick with Kapampangan (or make it the foundation of our works) and still get national or even global recognition.

Ligligan Kilual

The very reason I join film, music, and other competitions outside Pampanga is because Pampanga doesn’t have these. Hence, if I depended on what the province has, then I would have no means of increasing the symbolic value of my works, in spite of some of them probably being valuable to a certain degree.

There are no renowned music awards in Pampanga that would honor the best of the locally produced original songs annually; only specialized areas like those Battle of the Bands and so-so solo and choral singing contests. There are no film festivals. There are no province-wide literary contests except for municipality-level poetry tilts that produce Poet Laureates irregularly.

In result, a lot of Kapampangan artists who wish to prove something, feast their eyes on Manila and other countries, where it is actually easier to get formal acclamation than in their own homeland, just for the sole reason that the province doesn’t care much about the artistic capabilities of its residents, as seen in the scarcity of serious award-giving bodies.

An unrelenting source of funds, a board of credible judges, sincere support from the government, and media hype—these are the key ingredients in carrying out annual contests which are supposed to be looked forward to by the community, and looked up to by the people. Emerging as a first-time victor in these contests should make one feel as if he has undergone a birth of fire. He should feel several notches prouder, being aligned with the past winners who are supposed to be icons of excellence, as well.

But we have none. Probably the highest award from the province that can be bestowed to a writer, musician, visual artist, photographer, filmmaker, or actor would be the Most Outstanding Kapampangan Award for Culture and the Arts. So all your life, you have to struggle with your craft, reap awards from anywhere but your homeland, and when you have enough nice foreign awards up your sleeve, that’s when the province honors you.

But the province itself doesn’t make impressive actions in encouraging the best in the various areas of art.

Sindi, Patda

Contests are often held because they serve significant purposes—to encourage the creation of excellent artworks amidst art being a financially unrewarding career path in the country (especially in the province), and to invite the participation of the community in a certain field of art.

In a seemingly robotic world where almost everyone is reduced to a mechanical being tasked to perform a dehumanizing routine to survive, sustainable development in the arts will remind people of their humanistic side. I believe that the acknowledgment and exploration of our humanistic side prevent us from being insane from routines; and permit us to choose wisely and embrace elegant world views that will guide us sensibly in our decisions in life.

I know for a fact though that fields of art like music and sculpture thrive both in rural and urban Pampanga, but as Phil Digi Awards mentioned, these are usually shelved. They are made, but not distributed. Not all of them are excellent, but I’m sure a couple are, and they deserve to be known.

Now I ask: What efforts does the province make to seek for these artworks that deserve attention? What steps does the province take to collect these pieces of consciousness, which in the far future will remind the people how the art scene—which reflects culture, too—in Pampanga used to be?

Pampanga is becoming more and more like a parent who doesn’t care much about the promising talent of his/her child. What will the child do? He will either suppress his talent out of discouragement and choose the “more practical ways of life” (read: be like everyone else, go where the flow is, don’t innovate, don’t lead, just follow); or he will seek for other people who will greatly acknowledge his skill—and stick with those people in spite of not having the same blood relation.

Or is Pampanga that poor for it to not think about these things? I thought we were boasting of economic progress for the past years. If indeed we are poor, doesn’t the Pampanga government bother to take advantage of national grants, like for example, those of the National Commission on Culture and the Arts, to organize decent tilts?

If this is how lifeless the Kapampangan region will be in the realm of arts, then let me have my second thoughts on federalism and having a separate state for Kapampangans.

BALANGINGI (Nosebleed) WINS @ PHIL DIGI AWARDS!

2009-03-13T02:00:00.003+08:00

1:30 am.

Just got home!

World Trade Center, Metro Manila—our Kapampangan short film Balangingi (Nosebleed) wins the ETC award for best short film at the 1st Philippine Digital Awards! Dakal a salamat pu!

I'd love to elaborate, but, sorry, I need to rest for now.Have to return to manila tomorrow/later for Cinema One Originals 2009. I'm submitting a screenplay there, too.

Para king Indung Kapampangan!

(L-R): Jason Paul Laxamana, Writer-Director-Editor of Balangingi, etc.; Jayvie Dizon, lead actor; Jeremy Cortez, dubbing assistant; Diego Marx Dobles, Asst. Director-Music Scorer-Location Manager, etc. Photo was NOT taken during the Awarding. Photo was taken backstage after the last run of Oedipus Rex at the Angeles University Foundation, where Dizon played the lead role as well.

'Balangingi' is Jack TV/ETC short film category finalist

2009-03-08T20:17:00.005+08:00

I was told just minutes ago that my Kapampangan short film Balangingi (Nosebleed) is a finalist in the Philippine Digital Music & Short Film Festival.

Jack TV and ETC have joined Isys business solution and Blue Fish Asia in the Phil Digi Awards. The Stylish and posh ETC and the Outrageous and Manly Jack TV channels launched their new categories in the Phil Digi Awards Short film competition. The Jack Short Film Category and ETC Short Film Category are the latest addition in the Phil Digi Awards Short film Competition.

Jack TV is looking for chic, witty and funny short films, may it be with a Live cast or better yet an Animated one as long as it can tickle the funny bones and can made a ton of laughs, it's a sure ball for the Jack TV Short film category. ETC on the other hand is looking for reality based Short films, so for those who has a keen and sassy eye for making reality based Short Films, the ETC Short film category is for you.

Since people love Balangingi (and it seems it's effective as comedy), we decided to make a 15-minute version of it and submitted it to the Jack TV category. I don't know how the screening committee reacted to it, especially since it's in Kapampangan, but, uyta, it's a finalist.

It will be a two-day event, but I might be attending just the second day (even though I also want to attend the first day, which has a series of discussions on artist management and other stuff about commercial music, an area I would love to know more about).

The second day, the program will be more of a film and business forum:

8:00 – 9:30 Registration
9:30 – 10:00 Opening Ceremony
Opening Remarks
10:00 – 10:30 Trends and Opportunities in animation
10:30 – 11:00 Producing an Original Content in Animation
11:00 - 11:30 Setting up your own Business in Animation
11:30 – 12:00 Animation Open Forum
12:00 – 1:00 Screening of Short Film Entries
1:00 – 1:30 Movie copyrights and Publishing Rights
1:30 -2:30 Producing an original film contents
2:30 - 3:00 Finding Grants
3:00 – 3:30 E Commerce
3:30 – 4:00 Broadcasting and Marketing your Content
4:00 – 4:30 Film Business Outsourcing through the internet
4:30 – 5:00 Trends and Technologies in Film Making

At 8PM of March 12, it will be the awarding of the winning entries of PhilDigi Awards. The event will be graced by the presence and performances of Heber Bartolome, Dulce, Hilera, Typecast, Session Road, Zelle, Moonstar 88, Yosha, DJ Benjo and more.

I'm after the screening of the finalists, because I enjoy observing the reactions of people. Balangingi proved to be effective to Kapampangans; now let's see it fare in Manila. I'm not sure though if many people will be watching, but nonetheless, it's something I'd like to see.

Cinema One Originals 2009: Fantasy is welcome

2009-03-06T10:23:00.001+08:00

Of the very few cash-granting film festivals present in the Philippines, the Cinema One Originals Movie Festival seems to be the boldest when it comes to picking up screenplays from the many aspirants vying for the now-one million peso grant for the production of their films.

While Cinemalaya does a good job producing ten feature films a year which can serve as alternatives to the mainstream, it seems as though—some Pinoy film enthusiasts would agree—it is beginning to box itself in a certain type of genre others would call “the mainstream indie,” or the “typical indie.” That is to say, realistic stories that give emphasis on humanity.

This used to be a good thing because most of the mainstream films produced back then by gigantic studios were purely imagined, ranging from formulaic romantic flicks to slapstick comedies.

Wanted: Creative Imagination

Then came the next problem—the marginalization of creative imagination. Addicted to seemingly true-to-life stories, we have forgotten that humanistic issues can also be artistically expressed in genres like science fiction, fantasy, horror, and even experimental, whatever this genre is.

My favorite “political film” for instance is not a period film or a docu-drama type of work that boasts of a true-story basis. It’s “V For Vendetta,” a cult action-thriller film. It’s social science fiction set in Britain in the year 2038 where the country has come under totalitarian rule. The lead character, V, is a seemingly superhuman anarchist wearing a Guy Fawkes mask attempting to end the fascist dictatorship.

With lines that get quoted even in my Sociology 10 class in UP Diliman, such as “We are told to remember the idea, not the man, because a man can fail; he can be caught, he can be killed and forgotten, but 400 years later, an idea can still change the world,” and “...artists use lies to tell the truth, while politicians use them to cover the truth up,” the movie has found its way in my Favorite Movies in both Friendster and Facebook.

Enter the Gothic

It is fascinating how films like “Dilim” and “Yanggaw” have made it to the list of finalists in the past Cinema One Originals. The official synopsis of “Dilim” goes: Dilim is an enigmatic creature that roams the streets at night and does vigilante work, saving innocent victims by literally devouring the villains. Conflict ensues when a do-good policeman goes hot on his trail.

I personally haven’t watched “Dilim,” but the synopsis itself proves that it’s not your typical indie film boxed in the world of realism. Whether “Dilim” has literary and philosophical strengths or not is another issue, but Cinema One’s willingness to produce such type of film is laudable.

“Yanggaw,” a Hiligaynon word for ‘infected,’ is an Ilonggo horror film exploring the life of a family with one member, the daughter, mysteriously becoming sick—she uncontrollably transforms into an aswang crunching on random people in the village every night. Under this dark and fantastic packaging is the screenplay’s tackling of Filipino issues of kinship and community. I was able to watch “Yanggaw” weeks ago at the Cinema Rehiyon Film Festival in the Cultural Center of the Philippines, and “Yanggaw” was an impressive alternative to the “mainstream indies.”

Struggle of new fantasy and sci-fi

Our ancestors used to have a lot of interesting stories to tell—from celestial gods that warred in the heavens to a mighty deity that wove the universe like a net, and from a fire-breathing monster tortoise burrowed under Mt. Pinatubo to witches that can burst into flames at will. Even “Ibong Adarna,” which was a required reading back in High School, is of the fantasy genre.

With the risen popularity of socio-realism in literature, the biggest propagator probably being Jose Rizal (although at closer look, Rizal’s novels can be categorized as social science fiction), fantastic fiction has been pushed to the kiddie world, comic books, mainstream television, and that endless series of True Philippine Ghost Stories. Queer works have even become “more mainstream” than fantastic or science fiction. Fantasy that is as praiseworthy as “Lord of the Rings,” or science fiction like “The Matrix” are lacking in bookstores and literary celebrations.

Literary fantasy is slowly being explored in the country though, albeit some have the tendency to go neo-colonial by pretending to be anime fan fiction writers instead of creating new local fantasy. But while speculative fiction is a genre slowly being popularized in certain literary circles, the annual Palanca Awards chose to remove science fiction from its categories, with reasons I am clueless of.

Literary fantasy is showing signs of penetrating movies, mostly alternative ones, as seen in some entries to the Cinema One Originals Movie Festival, but an almost impressive attempt was “Nieves, The Engkanto Slayer,” the third act in “Shake, Rattle, & Roll X.”

Currently, Pinoy science fiction and urban fantasies are rare, and I look forward to seeing films and literary pieces under these genres.

March 13

The deadline in submitting screenplays to the Cinema One Originals 2009 has been extended up until March 13. See cinemaone.tv for details.

Korean Singers attempt to conquer US market!

2009-03-04T08:51:00.004+08:00

I wrote before a blog entry about Korean entertainers trying their luck in US—BoA, Rain, and Se7en.

BoA has already debuted with a fantastic music video, but I don't know how well-received she has been in the American market. With an obvious Asian accent when singing her English songs, BoA could have either irritated ears or she could marked her identity as an Asian in the US music scene. Nonetheless, "Eat You Up" has astounded people with BoA's dancing skills.

And then we have Se7en, my favorite among them all. He seems to be the most fluent in English, even though not a native speaker. A different accent can still be detected in his American English, but people perceive it positively, with girls falling in love with it, finding it sexy and cute.

Boasting of an album with popular American producers, the sound is very much like the typical American RnB and pop crooners like Justin Timberlake and Usher. Compared to BoA's "Eat You Up" though, Se7en's debut "Girls" is more lyrically creative.

Se7en's official debut video will be released March 10.

Both BoA and Se7en are obviously Americanizing their images though. Instead of bringing Korean heritage to the US, they are trying to immerse in the established American pop culture and seek to prove that Koreans are a wave to watch out for in the genres and styles the Americans are known for.

As regards Rain, I have no news about him.

Cinekabalen Call for Entries Poster

2009-03-03T00:02:00.002+08:00

Click to enlarge, baby.

Scarcity of Young Kapampangan Storytellers

2009-03-01T22:19:00.002+08:00

Scarcity of Young Kapampangan Storytellers
Kapampangans at the Taboan Philippine Int’l Writers Festival
By Jason Paul Laxamana
Urban Kamaru
Central Luzon Daily

Last February 11 to 13, literary writers from different provinces gathered in Quezon City to attend the first ever Taboan Philippine International Writers Festival. The gathering is the offering of the Committee on Literary Arts of the NCCA (National Commission on Culture and the Arts), which for the first time celebrated a non-Manilacentric National Arts Month.

‘Taboan’ is a Visayan word meaning assembly, marketplace, meeting place, or rendezvous. In the Kapampangan language, the closest translation is ‘tabnuan’ or ‘sasmuan.’

True to the title’s meaning, the festival gathered both young and old writers from the regions to attend various discussions on topics ranging from writing for a living, literature and publishing in the provinces, new forms of publishing, children’s literature, language and literature, building literary careers, emerging genres of fiction, to transforming literature to stage and screen plays, the non-reading youth, experimental poetry, feminism in literature, and writing for an international audience.

Delegates from the province were Kragi Garcia, representing the older generation, and yours truly, the younger generation, both accompanied by UP Pampanga Directress Prof. Juliet Mallari, who happens to be part of NCCA’s Literary Arts Committee.

Decentralizing Pinoy lit

Like Philippine Cinema, Philippine Literature has often been Manila/Tagalog-centric. The ongoing history of national literature has always put the spotlight on the writers from the center, not taking into account the developing—or perhaps, even the long-existing—literary scenes from the regions.

In my elementary and high school years, all the literary works we were required to read for our Filipino class were Tagalog pieces, rendering me ignorant of works from other provinces and even of Kapampangan literature. Only during my self-imposed literary journey have I been exposed to the works of Jose Gallardo, Juan Crisostomo Soto, and other Kapampangan luminaries.

English and Tagalog literature have for a long time occupied for themselves the box called Philippine or National Literature, that is why non-Tagalog and non-English works settled for their respective regional titles—Cebuano Literature, Waray Literature, Kapampangan Literature, Ilonggo Literature, etc.

If logic be applied, then it means Cebuano Literature is Cebuano Literature, not Philippine Literature, same way as having to coin the term Bisrock for Bisaya Rock, when there’s already Pinoy Rock. This is because Philippine Literature has always been associated with Tagalog and English.

With the organization of Taboan, however, this might begin to change eventually. Any Filipino work, regardless whether it is in Ilokano, Kankanaey, or Maranao, will be called Philippine Literature. If the language be needed to be emphasized, we’ll call a Kapampangan work “Philippine Literature in Kapampangan.”

The undocumented present

By listening to the stories of other people about their respective regions’ contemporary literature, I’ve realized that the Kapampangan literary scene is more endangered than I thought.

It’s not about the dispute over orthography—although this is still a problem. It’s probably not even about the illiteracy of young Kapampangans in their native language. For me, it’s the scarcity of this generation’s authentic storytellers—using whatever medium—that poses the biggest problem.

I was in the Angeles University Foundation last week delivering a lecture about contemporary Kapampangan culture to Communication students. I asked the audience if there were writers among them. No one was raising a hand—not until I complained about the pekat-pekat attitude of my fellow youth, which I said was a disgrace to our mighty ancestors.

So one girl raised her hand and I asked her what she writes. Fictional prose and poetry, she said. Then I asked her to recite the synopsis of her favorite among her own works. She told me the story of a Mindanao-residing boy affected by the war in the Middle East and in Mindanao—or something like that.

Then I asked her if she has ever written anything with a Kapampangan as a main character. She shook her head. “How about a story set in Pampanga?” I received the same answer. It didn’t surprise me though.

Of course she’s just one girl, and I know that to conclude based on the account of one person is illogical—but really, I have been encountering this case as if it’s the norm—a scary one—for the Kapampangan youth, even the supposedly bright ones. Aside from refusing to use their native language in literary writing, they write about stuff happening either nowhere or elsewhere, anywhere but never their homeland.

If one is to get a feel of the Kapampangan region through literature, the present decade and probably the 90s would be murky “mirrors of society.” Or probably, they would be “mirrors of society in the eyes of the elders.” The perspective of the young storyteller has gone missing.

Mystery of the rappers

This might come as a surprise, but, actually, local underground rappers are probably the only consistent homeland-rooted storytellers of my generation. Their rap tracks are available only through the web or through pirated CDs in Angeles City, but if you listen to their lyrics, albeit usually not in Kapampangan, you’ll get the impression that they are writing about their immediate surroundings—something not done even by most erudite college publication writers in the province.

The topics of their rap songs of course are not the type that would win Palancas or even the Buwan ng Wika writing contests, but you can somehow detect the local storyteller within them.

The mainstream example would have to be Apl De Ap’s “Bebot” song. Apl De Ap of the Black Eyed Peas is from Sapang Bato, Angeles City, and in spite of his international fame, some of his compositions still mirror his Kapampangan life. Take for example an excerpt from “The Apl Song.”

Listen closely yo, I got a story to tell
A version of my ghetto where life felt for real
Some would call it hell but to me it was heaven
God gave me the grace, amazin' ways of living
How would you feel if you had to catch your meal?
Build a hut to live and to eat and chill in.
Having to pump the water outta the ground
The way we put it down utilizing what is around
Like land for farming, river for fishing
Everyone helpin' each other whenever they can
We makin' it happen, from nothin' to somethin'
That's how we be survivin' back in my homeland

How to solve

I don’t have the antidote to this dilemma, but I can share my thoughts. First of all, schools play an important role in making students aware of the culture, history, and literature of the Kapampangans. I think if our young storytellers were exposed more to homeland-rooted literary works, they would be somehow swayed to that direction.

Being chained to the past would most likely be the next problem. If these storytellers only read works that speak of life in the peaceful meadows, Japanese period struggles, and other pieces where all female characters are Maria Claras, they might end up writing about the past, the way they imagine it, instead of writing about their own time.

We are a unique generation compared to our predecessors. We are the MTV generation, the DIY generation, the anime generation, the digital generation, the global village generation, and many other things, such that only we can probably write about directly from the heart. We are a generation addicted to social networking simultaneously having Friendster, Multiply, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, and probably even Xtube accounts, while keeping diverse contacts in our phone books—and to not include these things, along with other “strange” concepts that cause our fights with our parents, in our generation’s literature will be a great denial of reality. Literature then fails.

Also, perhaps we should promote Creative Writing more in our province. I wonder why we don’t have annual writing workshops like those of Cebu, Negros, and Baguio. And how come we don’t have a Kapampangan category for the Palanca Awards? Or better yet, why don’t we have local literary contests, aside from the oral poetry (pamigale) contests where elders dominate?

Creative Writing has always been limited to the school publications, making it seem as though it’s the grandest thing a young Kapampangan literary writer can achieve locally—to be published in the school paper.

Send reactions to sisig_man@yahoo.com.ph

10 Tips for Indie Filmmakers

2009-03-01T12:13:00.000+08:00

1. WORK WITH WHAT YOU’VE GOT. Don’t write that epic crowd scene unless you know there’s a festival happening next week that you can steal as a backdrop. Play to your strengths. There’s probably something unique that you or your family have access to that you can use in your movie. If your dad has a tractor, write a movie around that. If he doesn’t, don’t.

2. YOU CAN’T BEAT HOLLYWOOD. Tempting as it may be to try to imitate the style and gloss of your favourite blockbusters, let’s face it; the game is rigged in their favour. You can try, and your failure may be unique and interesting (or at least funny) in its own right—but you can also just do your own thing, and try something that the studios wouldn’t have the balls or the imagination to do in the first place.

3. STUDY FILMS. A lot of the mistakes that young filmmakers make could be avoided if teenagers actually just paid attention to their favourite films. Pick a movie you love and watch it with the sound down; look closely at the camera angles, the editing and the lighting. Watch short films on Youtube and see how an effective story can be told in five minutes. You won’t be able to match the production value of these films—and you don’t need to, anyway—but oftentimes the craft of good filmmaking doesn’t cost any money. You just have to actually watch films.

4. PUSH YOURSELF. Every film you make should teach you something you didn’t know before, and achieve something you didn’t know you were capable of. This doesn’t mean you have to go out every time and do something that you have no idea how to do. You should draw on the skills and techniques you’ve already learned—but if you’re not building on them, if you’re not pushing yourself further in some way, you’re playing it safe. It will show.

5. KEEP IT SHORT.

6. TEST SCREEN. Showing your film to an audience is one of the most important ways of figuring out what you’re doing right or wrong as a filmmaker—but that isn’t the same as saying that you always have to try to please the audience, or make a film that you think “they” will like. A lot of the time just seeing your film with other people in the room will help you see it more objectively. And if you’re still thinking your film has to be 20 minutes long, just imagine how long that 20 minutes is going to feel when 300 people are sitting beside you watching it…

7. DON’T NEGLECT THE BASICS. Audiences will forgive a lot of technical flaws in your film if your story is compelling, your actors are engaging or your jokes are funny—but there’s still a threshold point where the technical mistakes start to get in the way. That point is usually when they’re no longer able to clearly see, hear or follow what’s going on. So get to know your equipment, and practice with it. Learn the basics of shot composition. Do your best to record quality sound, and if that’s beyond your means, make a silent movie—there’s too much talking in most movies anyway.

8. EMBRACE LIMITS. The limitations of teenage filmmaking can often be discouraging. How the hell are you supposed to make a great film when all you’ve got is this crappy camera and your stupid friends? Well, the first step is to change your attitude. There’s an old French filmmaker named Robert Bresson who said, “Someone who can work with the minimum can work with the most. One who can with the most cannot, inevitably, with the minimum.” In other words, you should be celebrating the fact that all you’ve got is a crappy camera and some stupid friends: that means all your solutions to the problems you encounter are going to have to be creative ones, and as Robert Rodriguez wrote, “that can make all the difference between something fresh and different and something processed and stale.”

9. DON’T GIVE UP. If you haven’t failed at filmmaking yet, then you probably weren’t being ambitious enough. If you have, congratulations; you’re on way to becoming a great filmmaker. Just keep at it, and as Beckett put it, “fail better” next time.

Finally, the über-rule which contradicts all the other ones:

10. DON’T LISTEN TO ANYONE. Hollywood screenwriter William Goldman famously said of the film world that “nobody knows anything”; and it’s true. That doesn’t mean you should ignore everything anyone tells you, but if you’re really passionate about a project, don’t let anyone talk you out of it. Make the film that you want to make—not the film you think people want to see, or the film your teachers or your parents want you to make. Most of all, don’t listen to people who say that you can’t do something, or that what you’re aiming for isn’t possible. I’ve argued above that limitations are your friend, but the types of restrictions that really get in the way are the ones that you let get stuck inside your own head. Who says films have to cost a certain amount, look a certain way, be made a certain way, or contain this element or that one?

Hint: they don’t.

Call for Entries: Cinekabalen Short Film Competition

2009-02-28T16:41:00.000+08:00

Holy Angel University Center for Kapampangan Studies,
Kalalangan Kamaru, and
Circle of Young Angelenos

present

The 1st Cinekabalen Philippine Film Festival

The short film competition seeks to explore, criticize, promote, empower, and/or describe the Kapampangan experience through independent cinema.

We are looking for short narratives that tell the story and perspective of the Kapampangan people, who, since their pre-Hispanic participation in the affairs of Asia, have been leading diverse lives up to the contemporary times—from the humble rural folks of the riverbanks to the dehumanized drones of highly urban areas, from resilient survivors of the Pinatubo eruption to the aggressive players in national industries, from sun-worshipping dwellers of the mountainside to the strong devotees of Roman Catholicism, from the protesters of social inequality since ancient times to the culturally overloaded youth of the nation, from the migrants forced to live elsewhere for greener pastures to the politically maturing residents making waves in mass media, from the craftsmen who balance business and art to the brown tillers of the plains, etc....

Rules and mechanics of the short film competition:

- The contest is open to everyone, student or professional, Kapampangan or non-Kapampangan, living in the country or abroad, etc. except members of the core organizing committee

- any topic is allowed, as long as it expresses "The Kapampangan Experience"

- entry must be a narrative; no music videos or documentaries

- no limit of number of entries

- because promoting the Kapampangan language is one of the aims of the festival, the dialogues, if any, should predominantly be in Kapampangan. The occasional use of non-Kapampangan languages is allowed as long as used in proper linguistic context.

- setting of the story does not necessarily have to be in Pampanga or other Kapampangan-speaking regions like Tarlac and Bataan

- film must have readable English subtitles

- strictly 10-20 minutes in length; for animated entries, minimum of 5 minutes is allowed

- in digital format (submit final work in playable DVD)

- extreme violence and obscenity and unnecessary abuse of foul language are discouraged, but not prohibited

- use of copyrighted music is not allowed, unless permitted to by the owner of the material

- deadline of entries (final DVD, registration form) will be on July 31; they must be shipped or submitted in person to the Juan D. Nepomuceno Center for Kapampangan Studies, Holy Angel University, Angeles City; the registration form will be downloadable beginning mid-March

- 8 to 12 finalists will be chosen (depending on the quantity of submissions) to compete in the festival; cash prizes and trophies are at stake for the top three best short films, which will be selected by a Board of Judges consisting of experts from the industry; special awards (best male performer, best editing, best screenplay, etc.) will also be given; the competing films will be screened during the actual Cinekabalen Philippine Film Festival in August at the Holy Angel University Theater in Angeles City; an Awards Night will follow

Inquiries: text JASON @ 0918 699 2459 or email sisig_man@yahoo.com.ph

Amateur filmmakers are welcome to consult the organizers regarding their entries

"Ding Musa Ning Minalin" documentary

2009-02-24T08:02:00.000+08:00

Kalalangan Kamaru presents its second Kapampangan documentary titled Ding Musa Ning Minalin (The Muses of Minalin). Made in a non-traditional no-commentary format, the documentary seeks to present to the world this unique happening in the quiet town of Minalin every New Year's Day.

For Minalenyos, New Year's Day is not just about firecrackers and noise barrages. It's also about real men dressed in gowns. Watch the documentary here:

Director, Editor: Diego Marx Dobles
Exec Prod, Subtitles: Jason Paul Laxamana
Camera: Dobles, Laxamana
Prod Assts: Bevs Esguerra, Thea Lelay
Local Coordinator: Jon Juico

The Curious Case of Kapampangan Cinema

2009-02-22T14:20:00.003+08:00

A personal account of a Cinema Rehiyon participant
By Jason Paul Laxamana
Urban Kamaru
Central Luzon Daily

Cinema Rehiyon was held last week at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP). It is the NCCA’s (National Commission for Culture and the Arts) Cinema Committee’s event for the then-called National Arts Month, now Philippine International Arts Festival (PIAF).

Cinema Rehiyon is the first ever film festival in Manila that puts the spotlight on independent films from the regions. Since the concept of Philippine Cinema has for long been Manila-centric, it is now time to decentralize it and take note of the more politically correct perception of Philippine Cinema—a collection of films from every corner of the archipelago, may they be indie or mainstream.

No Kapampangan participation

I make this personal joke—unfunny to some, probably—about Kapampangans naturally lacking the letter H in their speech. Despite this, it is ironic that they seem to be more involved with the Hearts’ Month during February instead of the Arts Month.

When the press release for the lineup of events for the PIAF was released, along with the focused provinces and cities of Cinema Rehiyon, I felt very bad because Kapampangan had zero participation.

“This is a showcase of nascent cinema from the regions. From the highlands in and around Baguio to the heart of Bicolandia that is Naga City; across the thriving Visayas cities of Cebu, Bacolod and Iloilo; and through Mindanao between Cagayan de Oro and Davao, a new generation of artists is telling stories of their own cultures and people in cinematic form.”

Being a Kapampangan indie filmmaker, I at once called the NCCA Cinema Committee and inquired whether the Kapampangan region can be represented by one of our short films—Ing Bangkeru (The Boatman).

No solid block

After more than a month of deliberation, they decided to include our film in the lineup, albeit categorized under the ambiguous “Short Films from Various Parts of Luzon” block. Our film shared space with a Laguna short film, a Batangas short film, and a Nueva Ecija short film—all Tagalog entries.

Enviable are the regions/provinces/cities that enjoyed a more definite block: Cebu short films, Bacolod short films, Cagayan De Oro short films, Central and Western Mindanao short films, Davao short films, Bicol short films, Baguio short films, and Iloilo full-length films.

Being the only Kapampangan during the festival, I actually felt lonely, seeing Cebuanos, Dabawenyos, Bicolanos, etc. come in numbers with lots of films to offer for the festival, speaking with one another in their respective languages.

It’s really tragic because Kapampangans have always played their part in national history (two sunrays in the Philippine flag are Kapampangan provinces), even in the field of arts. The CCP, where the festival was held, even has two areas named after two Kapampangan artists: Vicente Manansala and Aurelio Tolentino. Yet during Cinema Rehiyon—a historical event in the history of Philippine Cinema, I must say—we looked like a dying cultural minority, despite being one of the major ethnolinguistic groups of the country, and being one of the most progressive provinces in the country to date.

Alive after all...

Come to think of it though, an exclusive Kapampangan block could have been made. Aside from our “Ing Bangkeru” and our numerous other works (documentaries and music videos), there’s “Pupul” (Harvest) by Nicolette Henson, which bagged best narrative in her production class under Pam Miras at St. Scholastica’s College. It also made it to the Top 10 of the Short Narrative category of the Ateneo Video Open 10.

Then of course we have Mark Dela Cruz’ “Misteryo Ng Hapis” (Sorrowful Mystery), a full Kapampangan short film which enjoys several titles under its sleeve, including Best Picture in a recent year’s PBO Digitales, Best Thesis during its time at the UP Film Institute, Finalist in Cinemalaya 2007’s short film category, and Finalist in a recent Ateneo Video Open. It also competed in Cinemanila years ago. Following the trend is UP Film student Jacqueline Nakpil’s “Ke Lual Ning Kulambu” (Outside the Mosquito Net), her production thesis in 2007

Kapampangan full-length films are also existent. We have the internationally award-winning Kapampangan films of Brillante Mendoza like “Masahista” (The Masseur; City of San Fernando), “Kaleldo” (Summer Heat; Guagua), “Manoro” (The Aeta Teacher; Sapang Bato, Angeles City), and “Serbis” (Service; Angeles City). Although Mendoza’s Center Stage Productions is Manila-based, most of his actors and staff are his kabalen when he does Pampanga-based films. I should know; I have worked for him.

The Cinemalaya Best Picture of 2008 “Jay” (Bacolor), directed by Francis Xavier Pasion, can also be included. Even though the Manilenyos’ participation in the creation of the film was inevitable, most, if not all, actors actually hail from the province, as the auditions were held at DHVCAT in Bacolor. Even the lead actors, Baron Geisler (Angeles City) and Coco Martin (San Fernando), are Kapampangans.

But here’s the problem...

Despite the presence of these Kapampangan films, which are just as good as—or even better than—the other blocks I’ve seen during my three-day viewing of Cinema Rehiyon blocks, why have the organizers failed to detect us?

I know why. It’s because these Kapampangan films are not organized, unlike in Davao, Cebu, Bacolod, Iloilo, and other areas. Kapampangan productions sprout here and there, in various competitions, in various places, from Manila to Pampanga. They have all been individual efforts by various filmmakers who represent only themselves or their schools, not their homeland; filmmakers who are not yet well organized into a Kapampangan film community.

Most of the time, the people behind these Kapampangan films don’t even know the presence of other Kapampangan films, because each filmmaker is busy with his own career, flying solo either to Manila or abroad to propagate his/her own film, without thinking “I’m representing Kapampangan cinema.”

Is selfishness the root of this? I actually don’t think so.

The root

With conviction, I believe that the root of this is the deterioration of our people’s sense of being members of the Kapampangan community. The Kapampangans’ imagination of themselves as an equally distinct group like the Warays, Ilocanos, and Cebuanos is fading away, with Kapampangans, especially the talented ones, preferring to join the so-called Filipino community, which is actually just the Manila community.

While Kapampangan Cinema is a thing yet to be born, Kapampangans are actually not newbies in the industry. Manila has always employed the skills of Kapampangans—whose homeland is very near—in developing their film industry (and other industries as well): from Rogelio Dela Rosa to Gracita Dominguez; from Gregorio Fernandez (directed “Asahar at Kabaong,” “Senorita,” and “Higit Sa Lahat,” which won for him Best Director at the 1956 Asian Film Festival and also at the FAMAS) to Lea Salonga.

From Elwood Perez to Brillante Mendoza; from Patsy to Chuck Perez; from Lito Lapid to Liza Lorena; from Sharon Cuneta to Judy Ann Santos; from Paquito Diaz to Rodolpho “Dolphy” Quizon (born to Kapampangan parents in Pampanga but raised in Tondo); from Alma Moreno to Jaclyn Jose; from Hilda Koronel to Rosita Noble.

From Melanie Marquez to Dong Puno; from Dante Rivero to Rufa Mae Quinto; from Efren Bata Reyes to Lorna Tolentino; from Rudy Fernandez to Jean Garcia; from Nanette Inventor to Donita Rose; from Glydel Mercado to Rico Puno; from Ronnie Liang to Aljur Abrenica; and many more, and still progressing in number.

These are probably things not even national historians of Kapampangan descent like Ambeth Ocampo would be interested in tracing.

Local brain drain

While it seems nice that Manila has catapulted our kabalens to “national” status in the entertainment industry, what suffered actually is the Kapampangan community in general, as these Kapampangans who have been absorbed by Manila mostly have become assimilated to Tagalog culture, stripping away their “Kapampangan-ness” and their potential to represent the Kapampangan people.

A vivid example is probably Rogelio Dela Rosa, discovered by no less than the Father of Philippine Movies Jose Nepomuceno. Dela Rosa had a problem when the era of silent films was through—he had a very strong Kapampangan accent when delivering his Tagalog lines. But Dela Rosa worked so hard to master the Tagalog language, and later on, he was given a new break in the movie “Diwata sa Karagatan,” the first Filipino feature film sold outside the country.

It’s time for Cinekabalen

We have served the Manila film industry well and became instrumental in the propagation of Tagalog culture and language through cinema. Now, I guess it’s time to look back, even just a little, to our dear Kapampangan homeland and try to keep up with the rest of the country in producing local films—even just indie—that genuinely depict our native culture (both rural and urban) and imagination, using our own “de-Manila-tized” perspective. Because if Kapampangans won’t do this, no other region will do it for us.

This August, the first Cinekabalen Philippine Film Festival will be organized. It will not only exhibit existing Kapampangan works but also place in competition fresh Kapampangan works from participants, may they be students, professionals, mere enthusiasts, or ex-patriates. The mechanics can be found at http://cinekabalen.multiply.com.

To expose the Kapampangan audiences—most of whom believe that being assimilated to Manila’s pop culture is the way to go—to the impressive indie filmmaking efforts of other regions, Cinekabalen will also screen selected films from other regions in the Philippines, like Cebu, Davao, Bicol, Iloilo, Kalinga, Eastern Visayas, Bacolod, and Muslim Mindanao.

Actually, student short film competitions have been held in key colleges for the past years already, such as the Holy Angel University and Systems Plus College Foundation. Some have been technically competent. A major problem however is their “cultural confusion.” Their stories are not rooted to their homeland. They echo the stories of Manila, the way they see them on Manila and foreign TV shows and movies. The writers imagine too much melodramatic things and fail to see the beautiful local stories unfolding around the neighborhood.

All their characters speak Tagalog and English, and deliberately eliminate Kapampangan out of the picture because subconsciously Kapampangan is not as prestigious as the two official languages for them. Language is important in any cultural product that involves language. This is especially true for Kapampangan; anthropologist John Larkin mentioned in his book “The Pampangans” that Kapampangans share a lot of common culture with nearby ethnic groups, and their distinct language is one of the things that strongly sets them apart from the others.

Cultural farsightedness

I was chatting once with a college IT student, asking him to participate in the Cinekabalen short film competition this August. He said he would love to join, but told me he is not a good writer and does not know how to make stories.

So I chatted with him about life in general, until he casually revealed to me that he is a Muslim, converted from Christianity back when he was young. Within the Muslim community, however, “Muslims since birth” tend to regard themselves higher than “converted ones” or the so-called “Balik Islam.” Also, even though he was Muslim, he attended Catholic schools.

Then I told him—“There’s your story! You don’t have to imagine a lot of things in order to come up with a beautiful work.” I sounded sensible to him, and he got all excited about the concept (which came from him anyway), and told me that he WILL be participating. He got even more excited when I told him that the Muslims of Pampanga have never been tackled in any Kapampangan film.

This “cultural farsightedness” by budding writers and filmmakers is shared by many Kapampangans. For example, in the school paper of one university in Angeles City, a writer came up with the major highlights of the Year 2008. He cited the victory of Obama, the release of this Hollywood movie (“Twilight”), the end of season two of that TV show, the new album of this artist, the Eraserheads concert, Pacquiao’s victory over Dela Hoya, etc.

He didn’t consider the major happenings in Pampanga as highlights of 2008—the recall move against Governor Eddie Panlilio which has been getting national attention, the celebration of the first ever province-wide “Aldo Ning Amanung Sisuan” or Kapampangan language day, the release of the first ever Kapampangan rock album, the rise of Ara Muna (“O Jo, Kaluguran Da Ka”) to national fame, the production of the first ever Kapampangan TV drama (“Kalam”), the Cannes Film Festival participation of the Angeles City film “Serbis,” and the winning of “Jay” in Cinemalaya 2008, to name a few.

A reward-system shift

The question now is: how do we cure this illness? I believe it will take the introduction of a Kapampangan-glorifying trend to Kapampangans themselves for this to happen. Hopefully, Cinekabalen will contribute to the propagation of this trend.

Also, it would be highly appreciated if our public officials, academes, and successful entrepreneurs financially aid indie filmmakers who would knock on their doors for the production of their respective Kapampangan works. I believe part of the impressive output of Davao indie filmmaking community is due to the support of the more financially-blessed citizens of their place, like Mayors and businessmen.

Please email reactions to sisig_man@yahoo.com.ph

Old photos of Kapampangan stars care of Alex Castro.

The 1st Cinekabalen Philippine Film Festival

2009-02-17T22:03:00.002+08:00

Makiabe na ka!

It is time for the Kapampangans to participate in the next wave of Philippine Cinema by holding its first ever Kapampangan Film Festival! The Cinekabalen Philippine Film Festival will be an annual event that will aim:

• To make people, especially Kapampangans, aware of the existence of Philippine Kapampangan cinema and to celebrate the capability of Kapampangans to make films
• To encourage Kapampangans, especially students, to make films that tackle the Kapampangan experience
• To promote the patronization of the Kapampangan language for aspiring filmmakers
• To hone the skills of aspiring Kapampangan student filmmakers through seminars, lectures, and workshop
• Provide a venue for aspiring competent filmmakers to showcase their work/s
• To organize a cooperative film community or network among the Kapampangans, especially universities with communication courses

The highlights of the festival will be: 1) the screening of Philippine Kapampangan full-length films, short films, music videos, and documentaries; 2) panel discussions on indie filmmaking; and 3) a short film competition.

Rules and mechanics of the short film competition:

- everyone is allowed to join (no age limit), except members of the core organizing committee

- animated entries are also allowed

- no music videos, only narratives

- no limit of number of entries

- dialogues must mainly be in Kapampangan

- setting of the story does not necessarily have to be in Pampanga or other Kapampangan-speaking regions like Tarlac and Bataan

- film must have English subtitles

- strictly 10-20 minutes in length

- in digital format (submit final work in playable DVD)

- any topic is allowed

- extreme violence and obscenity and unnecessary abuse of foul language are discouraged

- use of copyrighted music is not allowed

- deadline of entries (final DVD, registration form) will be on July 31; they must be shipped or submitted in person to the Juan D. Nepomuceno Center for Kapampangan Studies, Holy Angel University, Angeles City

- 8 to 10 finalists will be chosen (depending on the quantity of submissions) to compete in the festival; prizes are at stake for the top three best short films; special awards (best male performer, best editing, best screenplay, etc.) will also be given

Inquiries: text JASON @ 0918 699 2459 or email sisig_man@yahoo.com.ph

Visit: http://cinekabalen.multiply.com

A review of the Filipino Kapampangan film “Jay”

2009-02-16T11:39:00.003+08:00

Exposing the Dark Side of Public Service TV Shows
By Jason Paul Laxamana
Urban Kamaru
Central Luzon Daily

Weeks ago, another independent film, directed by a Manila-raised Kapampangan, Francis Xavier Pasion, was screened in SM Cinemas. It can be remembered that the film “Jay” has been chosen as the best film of Cinemalaya 2008 Full-length Category for its interesting story and almost flawless execution. Recently, it has also participated in various film competitions abroad, making it one of the best Filipino films of 2008.

“Jay” tells the story of two Jays—one a high school teacher in Pampanga who was stabbed to death in Manila by a masseur (let’s call him Jay 1), and the other, played realistically by Baron Geisler, an aggressive and equally homosexual field reporter for a TV station called Channel 8 (Jay 2). Jay 2 works for a program that features people who have been slain unjustly, and in the film, that victim is the teacher Jay.

The impressive detail of the film can probably be greatly attributed to the director, who has been working in broadcast media before deciding to cross over to film. As an insider, he should know the dark side of public service TV shows.

The Kapampangan Setting

The film is set in the less progressive parts of Bacolor, Pampanga, and a few scenes in Manila, where Jay 2 resides. If one would see the film and take it as the sole representation of Pampanga in the world of Philippine cinema, we would think that the province is all throughout a poor town buried under lahar, with backward-minded people going crazy over the presence of Manila media people.

The San Guillermo Church of Bacolor makes another appearance, the first being in Brillante Mendoza’s ‘Kaleldo.’ A local school, the name of which I am not very sure of (I think it was DHVCAT), where Jay 1 was supposed to be teaching was shown as well.

There were a few main Kapampangan dialogues and ambient Kapampangan dialogues in scenes that featured public places such as the funeral. If we are to listen carefully, we would hear that the ambient Kapampangan dialogues are just being repeated over and over—which is fine. I only find it amusing because I noticed it.

Manila and Manipulation

Like ‘Masahista,’ ‘Jay’ is another film that shows how Manila does the bad “F” word to Pampanga. The catch of the film is that Jay 2, a media worker from Manila, manipulates the whole happening for it to be dramatic enough to be featured on television, in the disguise of public service.

The respondents of interviews, on the other hand, contribute to the dramatization of the whole crime, by exaggerating their emotions in front of the camera—a proof that Manila media have turned us into soap opera actor-wannabes feeling all sorts of pressure when a video camera is pointed at us, as if we are auditioning to another season of Pinoy Big Brother.

The film starts with a TV documentary that reminds us of shows like ‘Wish Ko Lang’ and ‘Lukso Ng Dugo.’ It tells the life and clean reputation of Jay 1 as a teacher, as a friend, as a lover, as a son, and other roles he animates in society. It also shows the painful expressions of sadness by people who hold Jay 1 dear, including a Mayor who mightily declares justice for the murderer.

After the documentary, we are actually exposed to how the documentary was produced. We are taken to scenes where Jay 2 adds and/or omits pieces of truth from the interviews in order to compose a good episode for his show.

For instance, the weeping of the mother when she first saw the dead body of her son was actually a third take. The first take—which was the genuine coverage—had some technical problems, so Jay 2 had to ask Nanay Luz to re-enact the weeping. Another omission of reality was the reason the masseur (played by JC Castro of Angeles University Foundation) stabbed Jay 1 to death—Jay 1 tried to sodomize him. We see Jay 2 telling his editor to take away that part because it’s not for general patronage.

We also see Jay 2 becoming close to his respondents, such as Nanay Luz, Jay 1’s sister, and the shy straight-acting secret lover of Jay 1, played believably by Coco Martin—only for us to realize in the long run that Jay 2’s motive is to extract more controversial pieces of information from them to sensationalize his story more.

It was shown at the end of the film that Jay 2 is not really concerned with the plight of the less fortunate—that his public servant image is just part of his profession. After work, he’s an ordinary person passive of the issues of society. Jay 2 is being begged for money by a street kid, whom he shoos away with bad temper. I believe this is a character that represents many of well-known personalities who project themselves as beacons of justice and public service on mass media, but in truth are mere self-centered laborers of society.

Pampanga Projected

‘Jay’ is another addition to the growing roster of Philippine Kapampangan films, and I am very proud that they have all been making waves in NCR and abroad. The only challenge now is for these films to make waves in their hometown: Pampanga. When I, along with two friends, watched the film at SM Clark, there were only five of us in the cinema.

Yet again, ‘Jay’ is another addition to the growing roster of Kapampangan films that project Pampanga as a hub of backwards people who have been living mundane and traditional lives ever since the 1991 Pinatubo eruption. So now, I am still waiting for the full-length Filipino Kapampangan film that would tackle the urban life of Kapampangans. It would sure diversify the collection, don’t you think?

Ferdie Lapuz, the distributor of the film (and the distributor of most of Mendoza’s films), told me that Pasion’s next film will be about the Malaya Lolas—that group of women raped in Mapaniqui during the Japanese occupation, but only came forward to tell their story recently. A Kapampangan period film—now that’s interesting!

Images care of Paolo Feliciano.

Kapampangan tries Ateneo Video Open 10

2009-02-09T22:09:00.006+08:00

Kalalangan Kamaru tried to join in the annual Ateneo Video Open (AVO), since I am still a college undergrad. We entered four of our Kapampangan works in three categories:

Balangingi (Nosebleed) - Short Narrative category
Ing Bangkeru (The Boatman) - Short Narrative category
Sexmoan Adventures - Documentary category
Alang Anggang Sugat - Music Video category

All these are viewable on YouTube.

Out of the four entries that we submitted, only one was fortunate enough to be deemed "finalist worthy" by the Loyola Film Circle of Ateneo De Manila University: Sexmoan Adventures.

I am not quite sure of what AVO is looking for, and I sometimes scratch my head thinking why some of our entries, especially the music video, didn't make it as finalist when you take a look via YouTube the chosen finalists. Maybe we just love our works too much, or maybe beauty is indeed in the eyes of the beholder. But sociologically speaking, since it's a contest and they're the screeners, we would have to accept their judgment—at least for the AVO. It's their contest anyway.

On the bright side, Sexmoan Adventures, a Kapampangan documentary, made it to the finals and we are delighted. However, knowing the entry An Pasko Ni Tinyo by a fellow Iskolar Ng Bayan, I have already told my fellow Kamaru members that I am personally seceding to that fine piece of craft, which has already garnered the Best Thesis title in UP, Best Student Docu in the Catholic Mass Media Awards, and second prize in CCP's Gawad Alternatibo.

Documentary and Experimental finalists will be screened on February 13 at ADMU. We'll try to be there just to live the spirit of friendly competition. Although really, we expect to come home empty-handed (in some other year, oh sweet cash prize and trophy!).

Never mind that we spent P400 for the reg fee of the four entries (P100 each). Never mind that we had two batches of shipping to Ateneo from Pampanga worth P450 (P225 each). Not to mention the DVDs (three copies per entry, so all in all, 12 DVDs were purchased). That's a total of about P1,000 in participating in this contest (an amount which I can earn in one week, thanks to my twice-a-week journalistic stint in a local newspaper)!

Our sole fulfillment is the capability of a Kapampangan work to stand side by side with other finalists.

Good luck to all the finalists!

Brillante Mendoza’s ‘Manoro’ and the Captive Audience

2009-02-08T09:02:00.007+08:00

Last January 31, despite the students of Holy Angel University celebrating their annual U-Days, many of them—about a thousand—were required to attend the screening of two of Brillante Mendoza’s alternative films, the first of which was ‘Manoro’ (The Aeta Teacher). I believe it is the first ever film that featured the aborigines of the Philippines and the first film to get Aytas as the main cast. Plus, the language is 95% in Ayta language (that type which is spoken in Sapang Bato, Angeles City, where the setting of the film is), 3% in Kapampangan, and 2% in English.

The story is set during the presidential election time which pitted Gloria Macapagal Arroyo against Fernando Poe, Jr. and Ping Lacson. Having graduated from elementary, a young Ayta girl named Jonalyn Ablong took the initiative to teach the elders of her tribe how to basically write the possible ballot entries—GMA, FPJ, or LACSON—to allow her people to participate in the democratic process.

In the end though, Jonalyn learned that it ain't as easy as it seems, as many of her tribesmen prefer to gather food than to “waste their time” voting. Enthusiastic ones didn’t find voting easy as well, as some of them are not in the list of registered voters, and some couldn’t recall properly how to write their ballot entries during the election itself.

I have first watched this film in Quezon City back when I was a college student year 2006. Checking out the cinemas to see what movie to watch, I came across the poster containing an Ayta girl holding out a blackboard like a teacher with elder Aytas surrounding her, listening intently like obedient grade school students. Upon seeing that it was a co-production with Holy Angel University and that it was part of the Digital Lokal competition of the Cinemanila Film Festival, I bought a ticket.

Oh, and let’s not forget that it was a Brillante Mendoza film after all, and knowing his excellence in filmmaking and impressive cultural detailing in his movies, it was impossible for me not to watch. Later on, ‘Manoro’ would win the Digital Lokal competition and the film, like Mendoza’s other films, would impress film fest audiences from around the world—from Rome to Torino.

Almost Empty Seats

There weren’t many of us inside the cinema at SM when I watched ‘Manoro,’ and we can expect this from alternative films, especially those which do not possess well-known actors in them. In my observation, the only films that can draw a relatively big audience in spite of casting unknown characters are films that have enough nudity in them—mostly male; films that objectify young and sexy studs to the delight of a rowdy gay and bisexual viewers.

The second time I watched ‘Manoro’ was in Robinson’s Indie Sine, a sanctuary for alternative film, with two friends whom I often speak with regarding culture and film as tool in empowering the marginalized. Also watching were Kidlat Tahimik—the Father of Philippine Independent Cinema—and his equally long-haired son, whom we are facially familiar with because he is an alumnus of our organization in the UP College of Mass Communication.

Even though Kidlat Tahimik was very impressed with the film like my friends, I couldn’t help notice the pitiful number of viewers inside a cinema which can cater to about 300 to 500 pairs of eyes. Evidently, Filipinos are not ready for these kind of films, especially because ‘Manoro’ is shot in neorealist treatment, making it seem like a documentary even though the whole thing is scripted. In one festival abroad, Mendoza even claimed that the organizers categorized ‘Manoro’ under the documentary category, not knowing that the film was actually a fictitious narrative but strongly based on actual research.

Captive Audience

This is no surprise even for Mendoza. Before the film was screened at the auditorium of HAU, the director admitted that he was expecting the film to probably bore the students. Robby Tantingco, Director of the school’s Kapampangan Center, had the same fear. Alas, both of their expectations were right, as the viewers began sinking in their seats like siesta-taking folks, as the film proceeded to the parts that showed Jonalyn and his father taking long treks in the mountains in search for Grandpa who went out to Apo-Namalyari-knows-where to hunt.

I was even hearing the students seated close to me asking, “Maluat ya pa kaya?” Being average students, I assume, they were not interested to follow the story at all and were just waiting for the film to end. After all, they were there as captive audience, a term which I heard from Jim Libiran, director of Cinemalaya 2007’s ‘Tribu,’ who was a panelist in Marilou Diaz Abaya Film Institute’s “Mainstream Loves Indie” at Antipolo.

In harsher words, they were forced to pay fifty pesos, watch the movie, and perhaps whip up a decent reaction paper that would fulfill their partial requirements in their respective classes.

Who’s at Fault?

In such situations, who is at fault? The audience, whom intellectual snobs would brand as people who need to be smarter in order to comprehend such wonderful pieces of art like ‘Manoro,’ or the director and/or producer, who is so eager to explore his neorealist style, forgetting the psychographics of the mainstream-dazed audience?

As a director, Mendoza stands by his artwork. Even though he expects a lot of people to not understand the point of his films, he believes that as long as he can touch one or two people from his audience and cause them to think and act upon going out from the theater house, he has already achieved something. But if he shifts to producer mentality, of course, the filmmaker can be blamed, because of his failure to communicate the idea interestingly to their target viewers. The producer then is also at fault because he allowed that to happen.

But who are the target viewers of ‘Manoro’ anyway? Is it the Filipinos? Is it the cinephiles of other countries? Is it the people with the same concept of art or film as the director? The success of the producer really depends on the answer to this question.

Don’t get me wrong, however. ‘Manoro’ is one of the best Philippine films for me, as one can see in the Favorite Movies section of my Friendster account. But things become dimmer upon taking into account the reaction of the masses, the opinion of whom I value so much in the film industry. After all, that's one of the subject matters of the Ayta film—democracy.

Ima the Musical: Old Women not in Sepia

2009-02-02T08:42:00.003+08:00

Mother’s Day in Pampanga just got earlier as last January 30 at the Holy Angel University Auditorium, Teatru Ima at Arti (Maarti) staged “Ima,” a Kapampangan musical. Lots of popular local figures—who can make up some percent of the province’s alta sociedad—were present during the show, dressed in their respective formal wear, mostly Filipiniana, along with some media coverers and cultural workers. And let’s not forget the amigos and amigas of the performers of Maarti, who come in seemingly complete families, along with English- and Tagalog-speaking children of Kapampangan descent.

It began with a Kapampangan prayer, followed by the national anthem in the Kapampangan (Lawiwing Pambansang Filipinu) and the Imnu Ning Kapampangan, both lyrics of which most of the audience really had no idea of. I myself haven’t memorized the lyrics of the national anthem in Kapampangan despite hearing it on several occasions already.

And then the show began with Kapampangan women aged 50 and above showcasing their thespian skills. They didn’t need much acting experience because they were acting as themselves—old Kapampangan women, albeit scattered in different roles: from wet market vendors to tailors and from elites to senile homemakers. Some lines namedrop pop culture icons during olden times, which the youth will not surely be able to relate to, but the show is a nice way to get to know a bit about our elders’ idols when they were young.

No Men on Stage

All throughout the musical, one will not see a phallic creature on stage—let’s call this creature a man. Names of husbands and male relatives are dropped in several occasions, but we do not see these guys. Why? Probably because most scenes are set at home, where the woman reigns supreme, and is exactly one of the goals of the musical: to explore the traditional world of old women.

The show could also delight some feminists, as some acts touch lightly on women’s issues such as unpaid home labor, the woman’s contested ability to earn money even while working at home, the disregard for elders, and the treatment of women as sex objects.

Ageism, the type that discriminates aged people, is also tackled in the musical. The matriarch of the group is all grumpy and disappointed with how life has been as an aging woman, because she feels as though she is being forgotten by her family, but she didn’t know that they were organizing a surprise birthday party for her—something rarely done nowadays.

Lastly, the musical emphatically asserts the honorable role of mothers in society and how their love for their children is distinct and seemingly unbreakable. With the tickets sold out, I have been informed that a re-staging is called for, and probably, it would fall on May, on Mother’s Day.

Arti Liberated

One thing different about “Ima” compared to the other musicals directed by Andy Alviz is its liberation from “ruralism” and linguistic purism, which could raise some eyebrows among cultural workers, but to me is just dandy and fine.

Even though the musical is said to be in Kapampangan, it was actually in three languages, as it had portions of Tagalog, English, and Taglish song numbers. Contemporary expressions like “you want,” “excuse me,” and “okay” also find their way in the Kapampangan dialogues, which in previous works like “Siwala the Musical,” weren’t welcome.

A new thing with “Ima” too is the exploration of other settings other than Pampanga, as in the second half of the musical, we see the group of old (but strong) Kapampangan women taking a trip to downtown Manila—well-emphasized in a cute song which I assume is titled “Downtown”—unaccompanied by any man, while wearing colorful, exquisite clothes that remind me of Carmi Martin in high social class roles. In the story, they get naughty whistles from Manilenyo men (unseen on stage) and complain how ‘bastus’ they are. One of the characters, funnily played by the President of Maarti, challenges the whistlers to a sparring using hilarious Kapampanganized Tagalog, but retreats anyway. She is, for me, the best performer of the night.

For a cause

The finest thing about the musical is that the proceeds are bound to go to foundations that aid society in educational, cultural, spiritual, and women-related development. Aside from adding more color to the lives of the performers who are in their golden years, it is also good to know that the movement towards Kapampangan cultural development has made use of our senior citizens. This makes it a proof that everyone, regardless of class, age, religion, or town, can contribute to Kapampangan empowerment.

Congratulations to the director, staff, and of course, the beautiful cast: Ma. Frieda O. Hizon, Ma. Theresa “Tess” Laus, Marita “Rita” G. Villanueva, Agnes “Anette” Romero, Lina Francisco Velez, Roxanne Flor “Roxie” Gorospe, Macaria Teresita “Siobe” Co, Maria Amio “Maygold” Guintu, Theng Villaluna, Marilou “Malou” Bianzon Garbes, Agnes “Bondee” M. Dinio, Dita Dayrit Patawaran, Bess Tranquilino, Beth Masangcay, Josephine Gozun, Ma Czarina “Rina” O. Alarcon, Doren Tayag, Victoria “Vicky” C. Segundo, Ma. Lourdes “Des” Deang, Carmen “Meng” Mc Tavish, Leonor “Nor” S. Pineda, Maritess Ramos Punsalan, Germinia “Germie” C. Villanueva, Divina “Vina” O. Tayag, Corito Rose O. Tayag, Caridad Tanciangco, Marsha Nepomuceno, Cleofe Umlas, Evelyn “Leny” dela Cruz, and Let Panganiban.

My Kapampangan short film @ CCP this Feb!

2009-01-29T23:40:00.004+08:00

February is heralded the National Arts Month in the Philippines, and because of this, there is a huge Philippine International Arts Festival to happen in the whole month of Feb.

"The National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) is making an innovation in the usual National Arts Month (NAM) it has been organizing in the past 18 years. Beginning this year, the NCCA will start calling it the Philippine International Arts Festival. The talents of Filipino artists will be presented while at the same time promoted to the rest of the world. Artists from all over the Philippines will join the events of the PIAF. Local governments and arts groups will also take part with this event, thanks to funding from the NCCA. This year's theme is Ani ng Sining. Instead of celebrating only in Manila, numerous events are slated to happen in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao."

One of the events will be Sinerehiyon. This is a showcase of nascent cinema from the regions. From the highlands in and around Baguio to the heart of Bicolandia that is Naga City; across the thriving Visayas cities of Cebu, Bacolod and Iloilo; and through Mindanao between Cagayan de Oro and Davao, a new generation of artists is telling stories of their own cultures and people in cinematic form. This will be from February 17 to 19 at the CCP.

Representing Kapampangan cinema is this short film I wrote and directed Ing Bangkeru (The Boatman)! We're gonna go there to see our work screened at a national event! Glory be to the regions!

The Screening of Brillante Mendoza’s ‘Kaleldo’

2009-01-28T08:57:00.002+08:00

And the Surprising Kapampangan Alternative Cinema Audience

Last 23rd of January, the Holy Angel University screened ‘Kaleldo’ (Summer Heat), one of the internationally award-winning films of Kapampangan alternative filmmaker Brillante Mendoza (2008’s Most Outstanding Kapampangan awardee for Mass Media) which like his other films exhibit a great deal of Kapampangan culture.

Even though I have already watched ‘Kaleldo’ in several cinemas and have viewed it over and over through my VCD player (yes, I bought an original VCD), I still made it a point to be there during the screening to observe how the students of Holy Angel University would find the film. Being bombarded with Hollywood- and Manila-produced movies in our local cinemas, it may be concluded that Kapampangans in general are still unaware of this thing advocated by Mendoza called alternative cinema, which does not rely on formulaic plots and glossy factors.

Mendoza the Advocate

Alternative cinema most of the time slaps social truths right in front of our faces. Even though we are immersed in these truths, we get so absorbed in them such that we are eventually inclined to ignore them. Instead of promoting escapism among the audience, it seeks to remind the viewers that the presentation of truth—regardless whether saddening or to be proud of—is another important function of films. This Mendoza realized when his debut film ‘Masahista’ was shown in Switzerland (where it eventually won the Golden Leopard Award in the video category). As he stated in hi speech before the screening, “I have come to realize how powerful a film can be.”

Right now, Mendoza is more than a filmmaker and a producer; he’s an advocate. He shows his films to various universities in Pampanga and shares the beauty of alternative cinema, hoping to spread the ideology to Kapampangan students for them to eventually widen their taste in movies—something which I believe my fellow kabalen are still lacking.

I am hoping as well that through the screening of Mendoza’s films in Pampanga, aspiring indie filmmakers, especially students, would learn to localize their content and be observant of their immediate surroundings, instead of trying to mimic what they see on television and pirated CDs. One clear sign of this is the preference of student filmmakers to use Tagalog as the medium of their films, even though all the characters seem to be Kapampangans. Goodness, I even know of one film which used 100% English as medium!

The film ‘Kaleldo’

‘Kaleldo’—which in Kapampangan means summer, but the English title is ‘Summer Heat’—is the story of a family in Guagua ten years after the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo. The story focuses on the three sisters: Grace (Juliana Palermo), the youngest among the three who is freshly wed to a Mama’s boy type of guy; Lourdes (Angel Aquino), a career-oriented and aggressive woman who is having an affair with a bank manager; and Jess (Cherry Pie Picache), the butch-type lesbian maker of atchara, who is also the eldest among the sisters.

The film is divided into three chapters, depending on the character on focus: Angin (Wind) for Grace, Api (Fire) for Lourdes, and Danum (Water) for Jess. Each element artistically represents the personality of the character and the mood of the chapter.

Even though the film is, as Mendoza described, “audience-friendly” because of its dramatic treatment, ‘Kaleldo’ can still be classified as alternative because it is not the type that would entice an average moviegoer to buy a ticket to. The actors are not exactly stars that have blind fanatics patronizing them in any activity they pursue unlike Sharon Cuneta, Aga Muhlach, Richard Gutierrez, or John Lloyd Cruz. The topic of the movie is not really something that would tickle the average man’s senses unlike the usual love stories and sex comedies of Star Cinema, GMA Films, Regal, etc.

Strange Kapampangan Audience

Strange—this was the adjective that appeared in my mind after observing the general reaction of the audience to ‘Kaleldo.’ Was I too judgmental? Honestly, I thought the Kapampangan students, who are not very exposed to indie films, would get bored with ‘Kaleldo.’ Yes, their “mababong kaligayan” was still evident, in that they made big deals over what I consider insignificant things in films such as butt exposures, local bad words, sex scenes, and homosexuality, but they likewise enjoyed the other serious scenes as well.

Could it be because the film exposes Kapampangan culture and we could relate? Could it be that reality is charming after all, in that being reminded of it (reality is buried in our subconscious, thanks to the escapist effects of mainstream movies) sends us laughing while thinking “so true, so true,” unlike the slapstick and corny jokes of Tagalog comedies?

Actually, even our short film ‘Ing Bangkeru’ (The Boatman) was screened as a front act to ‘Kaleldo.’ It’s a 10-minute short film with an artsy and eerie treatment, and I was expecting it to bore the students. I was surprised that the students not only appreciated it—they enjoyed it, especially in the climactic sequence.

The version of ‘Kaleldo’ screened at the University Theater was, I believe, the director’s cut, as the sex scenes were shown in full, unlike when I first watched the movie at SM Pampanga. One problem with the Kapampangan audience is that they sometimes see sex as sex alone, along with its traditional effects to our pretending-to-be-conservative psyches—that sex is private and showing it in public, even through film, is either immoral, taboo, or humiliating.

The students, too overwhelmed with the graphic sex acts unfolding in front of them, failed to see the embedded messages in each sex scene. Upon closer look, Grace’s sex scene with her husband is an illustration of one of the gender-related problems which I first came to know in Albina Peczon Fernandez’ class in UP Diliman—the one-way sexual satisfaction between couples. In the movie, Grace and her husband have sex one night, but it was only the husband who was satisfied; he cummed quickly and ordered Grace to stop despite her not reaching orgasm yet. Lourdes’ sex scene on the other hand is for me an illustration of this phenomenon called marital rape, where the wife is forced to have sex with her husband even though she doesn’t feel like it; unfortunately, it’s hard for the woman to complain about it they’re married anyway. The sex scene of Jess, the lesbian, with her girlfriend (Criselda Volks) is more than a sex scene—it’s a genuine love scene, because she and her girlfriend performed intercourse because they loved each other. The only obstacle in their relationship was the conservatism of society, especially their father (Johnny Delgado), who still found girl-to-girl relationships strange.

In spite of the students not seeing these messages (probably because gender issues related to sex are not yet familiar to students), I believe only a few got “offended” with the explicit showing of bed scenes. The movie still went on and the majority still loved the film.

Could it be that alternative cinema has hope for the Kapampangans? We cannot conclude yet. Almost all the viewers present during the screening were students required by their respective professors to watch and to make reaction papers afterwards. Even though they enjoyed the film while watching it, I can’t help but to ask: if no student was forced to attend the screening, will films like ‘Kaleldo’ still entice a number of Kapampangan viewers to patronize? Like Mendoza, I doubt it. That is why an increase in awareness of alternative cinema and its beauty is needed in the province.

Upcoming

In the afternoon of January 31, HAU will be screening two more films by Brillante Mendoza—the Ayta-Kapampangan film ‘Manoro’ (The Aeta Teacher) and the equally cited ‘Foster Child’ starring Cherry Pie Picache. Tickets are sold at P50.

Kapampangan B/W short film 'Ing Bangkeru'

2009-01-26T00:58:00.001+08:00

Last Thursday and Friday, Kalalangan Kamaru screened Ing Bangkeru (The Boatman), directed by yours truly. It is a Kapampangan short film that is a screen adaptation of an anonymous Kapampangan ballad of the same title.

Having a lot of long takes, being in black and white, and having an unconventional (philosophical) story line, I was expecting the audiences to get bored by it.

Last Thursday, we went to Systems Plus College Foundation in Balibago, Angeles City and screened all of our works, including the first episode of Kalam, to all the 4th year high school students.

Surprisingly, Ing Bangkeru was able to keep up, as the students not only appreciated it -- they enjoyed it. They understood the story very well and cheered, hollered for the clever boatman when he was owning the arrogant student. There were two screenings, one in the morning and one in the afternoon; the reactions of both batches were just the same.

Then, Last Friday, Brillante Mendoza's award-winning Kapampangan film Kaleldo had two runs at the Holy Angel University Theater. Serving as front act was Ing Bangkeru. I watched (even paid a ticket), majorly only to check out the reactions of the audience to our short film.

Boy, were my assistant director Diego and I ecstatic with the audience reaction! They enjoyed it as well, and their reaction was like an exact copy of the reaction of the students from Systems Plus. The difference, the HAU Theater has 1000 seating capacity. That makes 2000 individuals (because it had two runs, and the theater was full in both runs), and to see them applaud for our short film in spite of its strange treatment, it was very heartwarming. As Diego stated: maybug kung gumaga (I want to cry).

Haven't watched it yet? Here:

YouTube: 'Kaplas' Kapampangan music video

2009-01-19T22:11:00.001+08:00

It's done! Please watch the official music video of Kaplas by the Nora Aunor Fans' Club band from Guagua. Song is part of the RocKapampangan album, the first ever Kapampangan rock album -- a compilation of 16 Kapampangan band songs from 16 Kapampangan bands from Pampanga and Tarlac

Another Kapampangan music video, comin' up!

2009-01-14T21:06:00.007+08:00

It's just January but we in Kalalangan Kamaru are already craving to produce lots and lots of Kapampangan films! May they be short films, music videos, PSAs, documentaries, or what have you.

After the completion of Balangingi, the thing to watch out for is a music video of one of the songs in the RocKapampangan album: Kaplas by Nora Aunor Fans' Club (a band from Guagua). The song was actually used in the Cannes-participating film by Brillante Mendoza, Serbis.

It's going to be a hilarious music video which will involve various vices, dirty dancing, and other comic insanities! Check out these behind-the-scenes photos:

Kamaru Kapampangan short films to be screened?

2009-01-13T20:26:00.007+08:00

Two of Brillante Mendoza's internationally acclaimed films will be screened at the Holy Angel University theater in Angeles City. Kaleldo (Summer Heat) will be screened on January 23 while Manoro (The Aeta Teacher) will be on January 31.

I asked Direk Dante and the Holy Angel University whether we could screen our Kapampangan short films as front act to the full-lengths. They agreed! But it's not yet certain. He said he will pick 3-4 short films to screen before his works.

I will be submitting the following for consideration:

If ever these or some of these get picked, they will be screened for the first time in a huge public venue! And as front act to an idol in the film industry. It'd really be an honor. It'd feel kinda like a starting band performing as front act to Eraserheads or something.

I have another Kapampangan short film -- my very first! But I am not very confident in showing it in public because I was still in my learning stage when I did it. Its title is Anak Ning Kapri (Son of the Kapri). How ironic that that film was produced with the highest budget among all of Kamaru's short film productions! Yet, for me, it's the ugliest, hehe.

5-day "Balangingi" full online screening

2009-01-11T00:03:00.003+08:00

For a period of five days, we will be screening Balangingi in YouTube. After that, we will already be taking it down.

Balangingi (Nosebleed) is a Kapampangan short film that takes a peek into the life of Xoo, a young Filipino "pilosopo" who is forced to attend a blind date set by his nephew. He attempts to suppress his intellectual side but gives in and shows his true color to his date.

Baler and Kapampangans

2009-01-09T09:29:00.005+08:00

By Jason Paul Laxamana
Urban Kamaru
Central Luzon Daily

After watching the animated fantasy film ‘Dayo: Sa Mundo Ng Elementalia’ last Christmas, I at once bought a ticket to the cinema featuring Viva Films’ period love story ‘Baler,’ starring Jericho Rosales and Anne Curtis. Interested in both the historical and the regional aspect of the movie, ‘Baler’ was among the Metro Manila Film Fest entries of 2008 that I ascertained myself to not miss.

My trip to Baler

The municipality of Baler is the kabisera of the province of Aurora, which, after being separated from Quezon Province, became an addition to Region III. Being in the north-easternmost part of Central Luzon, Aurora is not very known among the urban people of Region III. Thus, only a few know about its natural and cultural beauty, its economic promise as an agricultural hub and tourist attraction, and its history.

Together with a few members of the Advocacy for the Development of Central Luzon (ADCL), I went there and stayed for a night at one of the province’s state university. The season seems to be eternally wet, although rains do not get heavy; they are just limited from drizzles to slightly heavy downpours. Partnered with its lush green forests, the place makes respiration a psychologically uplifting experience. Given all these descriptions, one could conclude that the place is like a less urban Baguio, with a twist.

Imagine Baguio City with an ocean on its side—an ocean met with winds and waves strong enough to allow people to enjoy surfing. In Aurora’s case, this ocean is none other than Dagat Pasipiko, the Pacific Ocean, which one can read in the place’s souvenir shirts. Ilongots, Tagalogs, Ilocanos, Kapampangans, and Dumagats compose much of the population of the place.

Plant all year long

The wetness of the season all year long has been permitting the people of Aurora to turn any part of the year a planting season. Some people can plant rice in February, some in June, some in December. To add to the wetness of the season all year long, Baler is also abundant in free flowing fresh water.

The predicament however, in the aspect of rice, is the drying of the harvest. With little heat from the sun penetrating the gloomy clouds of Aurora, the “over-blesssed” rainy season has its share of toll.

But the government of Aurora, aided greatly by Sen. Edgardo Angara, started a very intelligent project that gives tangible evidence not only of the government’s good governance, but also wise governance. In partnership with a Korean firm, they have erected a facility that artificially dries the harvest. With this technology, farmers need not worry about the wet weather because they now have a huge facility that takes the role of the sun in drying using big machines. Further developments especially in the area of marketing present the potential of making Aurora an upcoming rice capital of the country.

Weeks ago, the Clark Development Corporation has given the province of Aurora a satellite office in Clark. In the coming months, it is becoming predictable that Pampanga and Aurora will be working closely with each other.

The film ‘Baler’

Dumagats and Ilongots, according to the Museo De Baler, are pointed to be the first inhabitants of the place. While some local and Kapampangan historians point to Kapampangans as early residents, a book published by Sen. Angara does not mention anything about this.

The name ‘Baler’ could have come from the word ‘balid,’ which in Kapampangan means tongue-twisted, but in another language spoken in the place, it means to return. According to the book, it could have also come from the old Tagalog word ‘balod,’ a certain mountain dove.

The Metro Manila Film Fest entry ‘Baler’ from Viva Films (Best Picture and a couple more awards) highlighted a romantic story during the siege of Baler in the Spanish-American transition. While the film did not mention anything about the residents of the place being Kapampangans, Kapampangans, to my surprise, were present in the story—in the form of Macabebe soldiers.

A friend and I, before the screening of the MMFF entries, were criticizing ‘Baler’ for getting Jericho Rosales as a Spaniard. “Anne Curtis looks more like a Spaniard compared to Echo,” my friend commented. Turned out, Rosales’ character, Celso, wasn’t pure Spanish. He was half-Spanish, half-Filipino. His Filipino blood came from his mother, whom Celso claimed was from Pampanga, making him a Spanish-Kapampangan.

But that’s not all. The other Filipino soldiers included in the Spanish army were always claiming that their homeland was Pampanga. Thus, they were Kapampangans.

While the film didn’t mention it directly, I have the best feeling that Celso, along with the other Filipino soldiers employed under the Spanish flag, were Macabebe warriors. The discourse whether Macabebe warriors were traitors was tackled shortly in the film, when the soldiers were conversing among themselves.

“Why are we treated as traitors to the country?” one soldier said. “We are just doing our duty—to keep peace and order.” This kind of sentiment really reminds me of disputes about the infamous brown soldiers from the riverbanks.

'Balangingi' short film official trailer

2009-01-06T22:21:00.003+08:00

Here is the official trailer of Balangingi. Kalalangan Kamaru presents another Kapampangan short film ('Nosebleed' in English). It is an "intellectual" romantic comedy following a mind-boggling and unstable relationship of two intellectuals (read: nerds).

written and directed by Jason Paul Laxamana
crew: Diego Dobles, Arn Lagazo
music: Diego Dobles
starring: Jayvie Dizon, Frency Rodriguez, Raco Del Rosario, Crystal Herrera, Menchi Dobles

Xoo seems to be a standard teenager who lives boringly like everyone else, but unknown to people in his surroundings is what happens in his head--philosophizing about things average people would deem mundane, down to the minutest detail. One day, he is forced to attend a blind date. To avoid turning off his date, he struggles to suppress his intellectual side.

This short film gives a peek to that minority in Philippine society who are unlikely to survive socially by being themselves--the Filipino intellectuals. Or as laymen would call them: Nerds! As parents call them: Pilosopo!

We will be submitting this to the Cinemalaya short film category. We hope it would be a finalist.

Kamaru Year-end Report

2008-12-28T19:21:00.005+08:00

2008 has been a very challenging yet fruitful year for Kalalangan Kamaru, which has spawned several Kapampangan works in the field of mass media. Even though composed only of a small number of young individuals, it did not let its pitiful size be an excuse for accomplishing big things for the Kapampangan homeland.

Before the year 2009 enters, allow me to make a review of 2008 by remembering the events Kalalangan Kamaru has been involved in.

RocKapampangan

February marked the launching of RocKapampangan, the first ever Kapampangan rock album in the history of Philippine music. Co-produced with Holy Angel University, the album featured 16 Kapampangan tracks by 16 Kapampangan bands from Pampanga and Tarlac. The project has been featured in GMA-7's "Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho" with its segment titled "Promdi Rock" and in several other local shows in Pampanga.

Ing Bangkeru

To contribute to the small number of Kapampangan films, Kamaru in cooperation with Holy Angel University, produced a 10-minute screen adaptation of the anonymous Kapampangan ballad titled "Ing Bangkeru." Starring Jim Paolo Salvador and Alexandre Tiotuico, the short digital film is available for free viewing on YouTube.

Frequency K

To promote modern Kapampangan music through radio, Kamaru approached GVFM 99.1 to propose the station's first ever Kapampangan FM musical talk show, hosted in the Kapampangan language. The management gave a free weekly one-hour slot to Kamaru, the title of the program being Frequency K: Kool Maging Kapampangan. For months now, it has been playing new Kapampangan songs, broadcasting news about Kapampangan culture, and featuring live acoustic Kapampangan performances from various Kapampangan musicians. The show is heard every Saturdays, 7 PM.

Kalam

Kamaru tied up with San Fernando-based cable station Infomax-8 to co-produce the first ever Kapampanganovela in Philippine broadcasting history. "Kalam" is a fantasy series in the Kapampangan language that explores Kapampangan folklore in an urban setting. Although the show is not yet running and wouldn't be running anytime soon, the project and the show altogether has astounded Kapampangans—from politicians to students, from cultural workers to linguists, and from non-Kapampangans to kabalens. The first public screening of the pilot episode was held at SM Pampanga in celebration of the first ever Aldo Ning Amanung Sisuan.

Kapampangan music videos

2008 has allowed Kamaru to spawn three official Kapampangan music videos: two from the Tarlac-based band Mernuts and one from Angeles City's 5 Against The Wall. "Oras" and "Alang Anggang Sugat" are the official theme songs of the Kapampanganovela "Kalam," while "Aliwa Kang Talaga" is Mernuts' contribution to the RocKapampangan album. Although the TV series soundtracks are regularly played via Infomax-8, "Oras" was also able to penetrate MTV Pilipinas in its morning OPM show "Tong Hits," making it the first ever Kapampangan music video to be aired regularly on the said channel.

EmoKapampangan

EmoKapampangan was a minor yet fairly-patronized project of Kamaru on the Internet. It is the first digital one-panel comic strip in Kapampangan which featured a young emo couple composed of Yubs and Clacla. They are often accompanied by the stray animals Karag and Damulag. Around 50 issues were released.

Kalam Campus Tour

Kamaru has rounded key schools in Pampanga such as Holy Angel University, Angeles University Foundation, Angeles City National High School Special Science Class, Holy Family Academy, Chevalier School, and UP Pampanga to not only screen the pilot episode of "Kalam" but also to discuss about the current state of Kapampangan culture and language and other related topics such as cultural diversity, regional media, and the global celebration of linguistic diversity. "Kalam" has also been screened twice in UP Diliman, first, in line with ACLE (Alternative Classroom Learning Experience) care of UP Aguman, and second, as invited by several organizations including a Linguistics organization and Stand UP. Kamaru is proud to say that the pilot episode has never failed to amaze every set of audience it encounters in different schools, may they be Kapampangan or non-Kapampangan.

Archipelago Music

Kamaru's first ever project that is not exclusively for the Kapampangans. Archipelago Music is a blog project that seeks to promote OPM from the regions, may they be in Cebuano, Ilocano, Waray Waray, Cuyonon, Ilonggo, Kapampangan, Maranao, Ifugao, etc. The project aims to make ethnolinguistic communities in the Philippines aware of the music scenes in several regions aside from Manila. Watch out for "hybrid regional songs" co-produced by Kamaru, such as an upcoming Hiligaynon-Kapampangan song.

Urban Kamaru

In the field of journalism, Kamaru has been granted a column on Central Luzon Daily under the Features section. Appearing every Monday and Wednesday, Urban Kamaru tackles Kapampangan, Filipino, and global issues regarding culture and language. The column is maintained by Jason Paul Laxamana, the head of Kamaru.

Kapampangan Environmental PSAs

To reconcile environmental and cultural awareness, Kamaru produced four Public Service Announcements for television, which tackled the importance of trees, planting as counter to global warming, water pollution, and air pollution. Astounded with the simple yet powerful PSAs, Councilor Jimmy Lazatin of the City of San Fernando acquired two of the PSAs for distribution in TV and cable stations within Central Luzon.

Sexmoan Adventures

Kamaru extends the use of the Kapampangan language to the field of documentary-making, as it produced "Sexmoan Adventures," a 22-minute light documentary exploring the attitude of Sasmuan residents toward the seemingly scandalous former spelling of their hometown: Sexmoan. The complete documentary is available on YouTube.

Balangingi

The year is wrapped up with another Kapampangan short film titled "Balangingi" (Nosebleed). Unlike the usual Kapampangan films that tackle the rural and poor life of the Kapampangans, "Balangingi" seeks to create a film featuring a fresh topic: the life of a Filipino intellectual immersed in a society of average-minded individuals. The film is currently in the phase of post-production.

These have been the major activities of Kamaru for the year 2008, aside from the participation of its members in other worthwhile events such as the mangrove-planting project of ADCL at Pampanga Bay, Kapampangan language and literature seminars in the Holy Angel University and UP Pampanga, and the filming of the Cannes Film Festival-finalist "Serbis" at the Family Theater of Angeles City.

2009

The members of Kamaru are praying for a more fruitful year of cultural service for 2009. These are the plans/activities (both tentative and set) of Kamaru for the coming year:

:: To wrap up the production of the first season of "Kalam" and have it aired regularly
:: The extension of "Frequency K" into either a two-hour radio program or a twice-a-week radio program
:: A production tie up with the Clark Development Corporation (CDC) to produce a mini-series on the Aytas of Clark
:: Production of Ara Muna's music video for "O Jo, Ika Ing Buri Ku"
:: Participation in film festivals in Manila and abroad
:: Participation again in UP Diliman's ACLE this February
:: The release of a Hiligaynon-Kapampangan song (Bronze P and Raco Del Rosario)
:: The release of a Waray-Kapampangan song (Exoduce and Mernuts)
:: Kamaru's trip to Palawan to present a lecture on pop culture as tool for cultural and linguistic revitalization, to screen "Kalam" and other Kamaru productions, and to produce a music video in HD for one of the songs of Bulyaw Mariguen, a Cuyonon band.
:: Production of more Kapampangan documentaries, particularly the followup to Sexmoan Adventures: Manibaug Adventures and Darabulbul Adventures.
:: Production of a full-length independent Kapampangan horror digital film
:: Help in the organization of the first ever Kapampangan student short film festival as an additional offering for either Sinukwan Festival or Aldo Ning Amanung Sisuan
:: Help in the organization of an event in UP Diliman in celebration of the International Mother Language Day (February)
:: Dubbing of Filipino animated content into Kapampangan
:: Release of a second set of EmoKapampangan

And many more to come! Miluid ya sa ing Balen Kapampangan!

An Honest Review of ‘Dayo’

2008-12-26T10:23:00.004+08:00

By Jason Paul Laxamana
Urban Kamaru
Central Luzon Daily

One of the offerings of the Christmas season, along with New Year, is the annual screening of entries to the Metro Manila Film Festival, a long-running showcase of what Filipinos can offer in the field of mainstream cinema.

With the trailers I have viewed through the Internet and the synopses I have read here and there, I have finally been enticed to watch two—only two—entries to the film fest, which I both watched last December 25th. They’re the historical war love story ‘Baler’ starring Jericho Rosales and Anne Curtis, and the animated fantasy film ‘Dayo: Sa Mundo Ng Elementalia,’ featuring the voice of Nash Aguas. The cinema featuring ‘Iskul Bukol’ had the most people lined up to watch though.

For this article, I would like to make a review of the Mark Quilao-directed ‘Dayo,’ which has received raves from various sources. In fact, the Cinema Evaluation Board, which was established “ to formulate and establish a set of standards and criteria and procedures for the Cinema Evaluation System, subject to the approval of the Council, primarily based on but not limited to the following: Direction, Screenplay, Cinematography, Editing, Production Design, Music Scoring, Sound, and Acting Performances...” has given it a Grade A rating, so I got really intrigued with this project that has made a battalion of nationalists prouder to be Pinoy.

Growth of Animation in RP

As people who have been used to watching imported cartoons both from the United States and Japan (with its plethora of animé), the thought of having animation with Pinoy content is truly revolutionary and another step toward what I would call “de-neo-colonization.”

The first time that I was truly impressed with animation was with the band Mojofly’s all-CGI 3D music video for its song ‘Tumatakbo,’ which told the cute story of friendship (that can turn into romance) between a circus-going hunchback (who was all along a winged man hiding his wings on his back like Alwina of ‘Mulawin’) and “The Amazing Luisa na Tumutulay sa Miswa.” The music video is actually the first of its kind in the local music video scene, and its quality, although basic compared to those of Pixar and Dreamworks, is what I would say “Puedi ne.”

Then of course we have the now defunct Culture Crash Comics, which although just a comic book, reminds readers of animé, but with all-Pinoy original content—‘One Day, Isang Diwa,’ ‘Pasig,’ ‘Cat’s Trail,’ ‘Solstice Butterfly,’ and ‘Kubori Kikiam.’ The comic book was gaining a fan base, and I was actually dreaming of the stories being turned into real 2D animation, but alas, after more than 10 issues, the creators decided to stop.

Other small-time animations came and passed, including those of Tuldok Animation, until earlier this year, we had an animated movie about Pangasinan’s legendary princess. ‘Urduja’ was produced by APT Entertainment, Seventoon, and Imaginary Friends, featuring the voice of Regine Velasquez as the warrior princess.

And now, the latest, ‘Dayo,’ which featured impressive animation from Cutting Edge Productions and creative and entertaining renditions of Pinoy folklore characters such as the manananggal, tikbalang, kapre, nuno, sirena, and syokoy. We used to only see foreign culture in our TV and movie screens, but now, we get to see sorbeteros, sari-sari stores, capiz windows, bamboo foliages, billboards of local products, the Last Supper hung somewhere in the dining room, Catholic figures, mean trannies, and elementary school uniforms, Pinoy style.

However, I found something untrue—that the film will be enjoyed both by the young and the old. It turned out, when I watched the film, it was, for me, just bound to entertain the kids. For a story-conscious and film-critiquing person like me, I have found two areas of the film which I found, well, “not to be proud of”—story and direction.

The usual flaw

Before I proceed with my critique, I would like to make a disclaimer for fanatic nationalists who can’t distinguish critiquing from criticizing.

Don’t get me wrong: I am delighted with the gradual emergence of original Pinoy animation, but as a moviegoer, I have the right to comment about what I have seen. Before anyone brands me a perpetuator of crab mentality, know that I am allergic to crab and other seafood, causing my lips to swell upon gorging. By all means, I recommend Pinoys to watch ‘Dayo’ and be one with the rest of the country in rejoicing with the fact that we now have a growing animation industry, but then again, there’s still room for improvement, and allow me to be the first (?) media practitioner to be honest (with good intentions though).

‘Dayo’ suffers from one of the usual flaws of most mainstream Pinoy movies—poor story. Or could the story have been nice, but not the plot? Or could the plot have been pleasant, but not the script? Or is it in the direction?

I’ve read from one blog the comment of one person saying that ‘Dayo’ is at par with the Walt Disney cartoons that our generation grew up with. You know, ‘Pocahontas,’ ‘The Lion King,’ ‘Mulan,’ and ‘Aladdin,’ to name a few. The animation can keep up, yes, but story-wise, I would beg to disagree.

First of all, the main protagonist, Bubuy, is confused with his goal in the story (I’m using creative writing lingo here). Is it to fly? Is it to save his grandparents? In fact, the minds behind the film are not very decided on what message they would like to focus on—is it being brave for the people you love? Is it taking care of the environment? Is it being friendly even to those who are not like us, or as the title suggests, to ‘dayos’?
What I was also looking for as an adult moviegoer is the bigger picture of the story. Small picture is not evil, but the lack of a bigger picture and the missing problematic sketch of the society makes ‘Dayo’ fit for television, like High School Musical, but not for cinema.

Some might counter-argue that it’s for the kids; why should it be ‘deep’? Well, it needs not be deep. But it shouldn’t be shallow either, i.e., if non-kids are also being catered. Kids loved Walt Disney cartoons in spite of them having big topics like racism, war, political turmoil, and sexism, while not forgetting those that would make Christian Living teachers happy—friendship, the prevalence of good over evil, respect, bravery, and other virtues, which flicks like ‘Enteng Kabisote’ and ‘Exodus: Tales of the Enchanted Kingdom’ would also possess.

‘Pocahontas’ is set during the time when Englishmen set their foot in America. While the main focus of the story was the romance between a native American girl and a white-skinned soldier, it also tackled history, the perspective of native Americans versus those of whites (“you think you own whatever land you land on / the earth is just a dead thing you can claim / but I know every rock and tree and creature / has a life, has a spirit, has a name”), and the war between the two nations.

‘The Lion King’ on the other hand is about a lion prince named Simba deceived to abandon the pride after his uncle Scar, with the help of the hyenas, conspired against King Mufasa. After learning about the truth, Simba sought to dethrone his uncle and lead Pride Rock properly again like his father. The movie also offers classic African philosophies as embedded in the songs ‘Circle of Life’ and ‘Hakuna Matata,’ an actual Swahili song originating from Kenya.

No, I’m not a perpetuator of colonial mentality, but I know a good story when I see one. Not even nationalism can impair my judgment of a good story. ‘Dayo’ on the other hand suffered from a shallow story which chose to focus on a small picture when in fact, the big picture is already there, just unexplored—the humans’ destruction of Kalikasan. We only learned about this after past half of the movie, and the sole sequence that established this motivation of the giant antagonist, was when Bubuy performed a harmless ‘kaingin’ in the forest by bully force.

A lot of scenes don’t have momentum, too, like that ‘Lipad’ Lea Salonga song which just emerged out of the blue, when Bubuy was worrying about his missing grandparents.

Regional Content

As an advocate of additional regional presence in things perceived to be “national” or “Pinoy,” I am happy that the makers of ‘Dayo’ had a wee bit of regional consciousness, as manifested through that Tinguian song Salidummay (which turned Sexbomb Dancers-esque after Ana sneezes), provincial Tagalog accents, and the Binisaya-speaking kapre.
I was reminded of last year’s racial fiasco in the ‘Sakal, Sakali, Saklolo’ movie where Rafa was criticized for learning Binisaya from his yaya, which time and again, was made to be Bisaya. At least, in ‘Dayo,’ I saw no ethnic slur; just an abuse of unfunny Taglish lines by the manananggirl, in my opinion.

‘Dayo’ though could have used less invented folklore characters and adapted into screen folklore characters from other ethnolinguistic communities.

Conclusion

When it comes to story matters, it is not an excuse that we are a developing country, because coming up with a good story (and directing it properly) does not require huge loads of money, unlike technology.

With that said, I congratulate Cutting Edge Productions for contributing to the growing set of Pinoy animated content. My article may or may not reach them, but for those who will be able to read this, I’m not a big-time expert, but I beg you to avail of any teensy weensy wisdom that my writing may offer. Kudos to the animation, but not yet on the story. I believe it takes both to come up with a classic movie.

And, yes, the Filipino, indeed, can!

Please write me at sisig_man@yahoo.com.ph

Something to learn from the Koreans

2008-12-24T22:22:00.002+08:00

It was in fourth year high school that Koreans began making its appearance in my consciousness. Today, I’m a fan of the Korean people and I dream of the day when the Philippines can mimic the framework of South Korea in its path toward global progress.

After the successful Taiwanese TV drama ‘Meteor Garden’ of ABS-CBN and the not-so-successful ‘My MVP Valentine’ of GMA-7, the latter network put the first Koreanovela (how Korean TV dramas are called in the Philippines) on primetime: ‘Lavender.’ From then on, Koreanovelas have penetrated Pinoy culture well—from ‘Jewel in the Palace’ to ‘Lovers in Paris,’ ‘from ‘Winter Sonata’ to ‘My Name is Kim Sam Soon.’

I was able to try Korean food when we went to the US in Summer 2005. We went there through Asiana Airlines, the stewardess of which served either Korean food or Western food for their meals. My mother and big brother would choose “itang balu da na,” while I, the hard-headed and adventurous Laxamana boy, insisted on trying what Koreans had to offer when it comes to dining. After all, it’s not everyday that you get to try Korean food. If it tastes awful, then charge it to experience. But fortunately, I loved it! Kimchi didn’t taste good at first but I have learned to love it, in spite of my mother wanting to puke at the smell of it.

Our stopover was in Incheon, South Korea, and we were to stay there for 10 hours. I liked the place. It was cold. It was clean. I couldn’t get over the idea that South Korea used to be poorer than the Philippines. It was hard conversing using English with the natives working at the airport, but they were friendly enough.

The airline company offered two choices for us to spend our 10 hours: take a short Korean tour, or take a rest at a Korean hotel. I wanted a tour, but my company wanted to rest. What a waste of opportunity! It’s not everyday that we get to stay for 10 hours in South Korea.

In college, I was introduced to Korean films in my Film 100 class, where the professor recounted how the film industry of South Korea developed, to the point of making a global wave in a decade’s span. I then grabbed hold of Korean war films like ‘Taegukci’ and romance films like ‘Il Mare,’ and I must say kudos. The unpretentious support of the government contributed highly to the development of Korean entertainment, so said my professor.

In one of my Broadcast Communication class, Music in Media, we had one Korean classmate. I already forgot his name, but I still remember our encounters with him. He was always bringing with him an electronic Korean-English dictionary which he would consult often when he couldn’t remember the appropriate English words to express his remarks. It was amusing, really. I had the chance to have him as a group mate, and his linguistic and cultural struggles didn’t make him less participative. He was indispensable in class. In fact, when deciding for the photo theme of our CD project inlay, he came up with this very artistic idea of fusing classical music flavor with stinking toilets, which to me was very fresh, but to my conservative professor was, well, stinking.

In my college life, more and more students were trying to enlist in Korean language subjects, learning how to write Hanggul and learning basic Korean sentences, phrases, and expressions. Angeles City nowadays also celebrate Choo-Seok festival for the people in that Korean avenue called Friendship, the Korean signboards of which, I think, outnumber the Kapampangan signboards present in the city. In Cebu, they have this Cebuanovela titled ‘Saranghe’ (‘Kaluguran Da Ka’ in Korean), which features a love triangle—two boys and a girl. One of the boys is Korean.

Evidently, Koreans, as well as other Asians, own this decade, and the future is teeming with grander Asian possibilities. I just wonder when the Philippines and other Austronesians will take part.

Korean Singers in the US

Three big Korean entertainers are attempting to conquer US after conquering much of Asia. They are none other than Rain, famous in the Philippines for the Koreanovela ‘Full House’ and that shampoo commercial with a popular line ‘My name is Rain’; Se7en, another Justin Timberlake-like South Korean RnB crooner who is not yet known in the Philippines but is celebrated throughout Asia; and BoA, a multitalented girl who can sing, dance, sing in many languages, and who has a beautiful face and body to flaunt.

BoA has already debuted in the US, but I haven’t heard whether she’s successful. Her debut US debut music video looked like the typical Britney Spears or Beyonce music videos, only with the English lyrics being sung with Asian accent.

Rain’s debut and a lot of concerts have been postponed due to trademark conflicts, while Se7en’s debut is, in my opinion, the most watched out for, as the production team of his US debut album consists of big people who contributed to the success of big US names like Beyonce, Black Eyed Peas, Madonna, Fergie, etc. His first single would be ‘Girls’ featuring Lil’ Kim. The song was produced by Darkchild.

In a newspaper article, Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas opined that he sees no reason as to why Korean entertainers couldn’t make it big in the US. If American singers can make it big in other places, why not the other way around?

Kapampangans and Mindanao Cinema

2008-12-16T10:55:00.004+08:00

December 14 marked the beginning of the 4th Mindanao Film Festival, the organization of which contributes to the sign that, as one blogger put it, “the Art and Culture movements in the regions are gaining momentum and covering more ground.”

The Mindanao Film Festival began five years ago. Originally, it featured short films made by Dabawenyo artists (from the Guerrilla Filmmaking Workshops). In its fourth year, not only shall it feature short films in competition, it will also exhibit full-length Mindanaon films such as ‘Concerto: Davao War Diary,’ which was screened on the opening day.

‘Concerto: Davao War Diary’ is a period digital film set during the time after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, when Davao was attacked by the Imperial Army of Japan. Due to the circumstances, one wealthy family leaves behind their properties and takes refuge in the forest where they befriend some Japanese while holding support for the guerrilla movement. Before the end of the war, they hold a special piano concert.

Charliebebs Gohetia, a colleague of mine in the UP College of Mass Communication and one of Brillante Mendoza’s trusted editors for his films, has his own contribution to Mindanao Cinema, too. His full-length debut, ‘The Thank You Girls,’ which failed to be a finalist twice in the Cinemalaya full-length category, but was independently produced nonetheless, is also part of the festival.

‘The Thank You Girls’ is a film in Bisaya with a gay lingo twist. The official synopsis reads: “Tired of losing in all the beauty competitions in Davao City, five dysfunctional gay beauty pageant veterans decide to travel north to Cagayan de Oro City, in the island of Mindanao. Their mission: to conquer the grandest competition of beauty, personality and brains in the whole province. They believe that being city dwellers, gays in the province will never stand a chance against them.”

Included in the festival as well is Cinema One Originals Best Picture ‘Ang Huling Balyan Ng Buhi’ (English title is ‘The Woven Stories of the Other,’ but the title literally translates to “the last priestess of life”) by Sherad Anthony Sanchez. Set in the forest village of Napalico in the Arakan Valley of North Cotabato, it mainly features a seemingly insane local priestess (balyan or tagbawian) named Manay who communes with the river, who one night performs her last miracle—a stigmata. NPA communist rebels, government soldiers, and children also take roles in the story.

War and peace situations in Mindanao is tackled in the advocacy film ‘Hunghong Sa Yuta’ (‘Earth’s Whisper’), directed by Arnel Mardoquio. The film is about deaf mute children in a community in the mountains. The children are a mixture of Christians, Muslims, and Lumads, and are introduced to the alphabets and numerals by a teacher from the city. “War between rebels and the military has devastated the community of Hinyok, its most telling casualty being children born without the ability to speak and hear whose fathers are now intent on training them to become fighters to defend their land. Vigo Cruz, artist and toy-maker, answers a posted notice about Hinyok’s need for a teacher, and his work with the children brings joy and hope to the young war victims and their mothers.”

An upcoming Chabacano-Bisaya film was also announced during the festival. It will be shot in Davao and Zamboanga next year.

Kapampangan Cinema

The emergence of Mindanao Cinema, as well as film scenes in other regions, especially the Visayan and Cordilleran region, is inspiring, and I keep on dreaming of the day when this idea called “Kapampangan Cinema” would take corporeal form in Central Luzon and in the long run, prove to be a powerful branch of Philippine cinema.

The production of several award-winning Kapampangan films such as 2008’s Most Outstanding Kapampangan for Mass Media Brillante Mendoza’s ‘Masahista,’ ‘Kaleldo,’ ‘Manoro,’ and ‘Serbis’ and Francis Xavier Pasion’s ‘Jay’ is a good sign, as their presence may cause a domino effect to other aspiring Kapampangan filmmakers.

The Mindanao Film Festival is a joint effort among the Mindanao Film and Television Development Foundation, the National Commission on Culture and the Arts, the City Government and City Tourism Office of Davao, the Museo Dabawenyo, plus some admirable support from the private sector.

If not only for the chaos in the Pampanga Capitol, I believe the Tourism Office of Pampanga would have spearheaded the first ever Kapampangan interschool short film competition this Aldo Ning Kapampangan. Sadly, it did not push through.

Will 2009 mark the conception of Kapampangan Cinema and the introduction of its concept to universities in the Kapampangan region?

Student Filmmakers

Students (especially college ones) are often seen as the hope of emerging film scenes. A problem—a curable, minor one at that—with the students in the Kapampangan region is that they are still more or less ignorant of independent cinema.

Ask them to do a short film and you’d see that they’re trying to poorly mimic Hollywood and the stuff they see on free TV. Worse, the Kapampangan reality/experience is seldom or never featured in the stories.

Kapampangan student filmmakers studying in Manila, however, have made Kapampangan-themed works, and it makes me wonder—why do they arise in Manila? Perhaps it’s because when one studies in Manila, he/she is dipped in a ocean of diverse races. To project a unique identity in his/her film, who else to consult but the dear homeland? After all, only you know the stories of the Kapampangan region. Why waste time competing using Manila-themed films?

Thus, I take this opportunity to inform the Kapampangans about Kapampangan short films done in Manila.

First is Mark Dela Cruz’ ‘Misteryo Ng Hapis’ (‘The Sorrowful Mystery’) which bagged the Best Thesis title during its time at the UP Film Institute. It’s about a young gay who confronts his painful memories with his homophobic father during the wake of the latter. The film is like a rosary prayer narration.

Watch the whole film by searching ‘Misteryo Ng Hapis’ at Google Video.

Another is Jacqueline Nakpil’s ‘Lual Kulambu’ (‘Outside the Mosquito Net’), also from the UP Film Institute. It’s about a young boy from Bacolor who lives with his grandmother in the barrio. However, when his grandmother dies, he is forced to live in his uncle’s house in Manila. In there, he struggles to adapt to his new home.

Lastly is ‘Pupul’ (‘Harvest’) by Nicolette Henson, a Mutya Ning Kapampangan and a Kapampanganovela actor who currently takes up Mass Communication at St. Scholastica’s Academy Manila. In her AVP class, ‘Pupul’ was branded the best narrative. It tells the story of a single mother who tries to keep her son from seeing his real father in the farm due to personal reasons.

It will be uploaded soon through the Internet.

Shameless Plug

Allow me to plug our own contribution to this Kapampangan Cinema dream. Our group Kalalangan Kamaru, in cooperation with the Holy Angel University Center for Kapampangan Studies, presents ‘Ing Bangkeru’ (‘The Boatman’), a 10-minute screen adaptation of the anonymous Kapampangan ballad of the same title. Shot in the Pampanga River, it tells an anecdote about an arrogant student from Manila intellectually challenging a young, lowly boatman about the philosophies the student had learned in his Spanish school.

We also have our very first Kapampangan documentary called ‘Sexmoan Adventures.’ Its synopsis: “A town in the Philippine province of Pampanga has for long been known as Sexmoan. One day, the municipal government decided to dump its scandalous spelling and replaced it with how residents traditionally call their homeland: Sasmuan.” The documentary lightly interviews residents of Sasmuan about their attitude toward Sexmoan and their current lifestyle.

Lastly, we are making a new digital short film titled ‘Balangingi’ (‘Nosebleed’ in English; ‘Balinguyngoy’ in Tagalog). It’s a Kapampangan romantic comedy about two discriminating intellectuals forced to attend a blind date. This short film gives a peek to that minority in Philippine society who are unlikely to survive socially by being themselves-- the Filipino intellectuals. Or as laymen would call them: Nerds! As parents call them: Pilosopo.

Kabalen Ash Castro: Fashion Photographer

2008-12-10T19:38:00.000+08:00

Kabalen Ash Castro: Self-Taught Professional Fashion Photographer

Even though I am not a photographer, I have always been fond of photography. If not only for my busy schedule and unfinished commitments, I would save money for a high-end camera and try to develop whatever skill I have in photography, like what my now-US-based brother did post graduation. This sleeping interest is the reason that from time to time I surf the net and take a look at the works of local photographers, model or scenery.

With the thousands of photographers circulating their works in cyberspace, can one photographer’s work stand out from the rest? For me, one sure did, with his excellent style and signature identity. The best thing for me is that he is a Kapampangan like you and me, and, consciously or not, the stereotyped perfectionist and elegantly lavish attitude of our people manifests in his works. Gaining name in a short span of time, he has been featured several times in photography magazines and a lot of nice model pictures are scattered all over the Internet (to the point of some people grabbing his works and putting their names on them!) bearing his name as the mind behind.

Ash Castro is a 26 year old photographer from Arayat, Pampanga, but is doing his work in Manila, where models, agencies, and fashion-related events come in plethora. He graduated last 2005 at Holy Angel University with a degree in AB Communication Arts. To get to know this young, pleasant master of the camera more, I did a casual interview with him.

Q&Ash

Q: When did your interest in photography arise? Was it self-decided, or were you influenced/inspired by certain people?

ASH: My interest in photography started when I was just in college. I have been taking pictures of my friends using my point and shoot cam or camera phone and when bored at home, I was doing some digital manipulation. It was self-decided and I was inspired by friends I met along the way who are also photographers.

Q: Tell me about the initial stage of your learning photography. What pictures did you take? What frustrated you? Whom did you look up to, that person which you secretly said in your mind: “I have to be like him or surpass him.”

ASH: My early engagement in photography was very exciting. At first, when I wasn’t yet doing fashion photography, I’ve been shooting sceneries to expand my portfolio and learn the basics. I look up to Gaelle Morand and Chris Zwirner because their works are stunning and surreal.

Q: Did you take any special courses on photography? Were there any items you learned that caused you to think: “Aha! So that’s the secret!” or “Aha! So that’s how it’s done!” because formerly you didn’t know how to do that?

ASH: I did not take any photography classes. It was all self-taught. I learned some techniques in post processing photos through online tutorials. I also learned the value of good lighting to produce a quality output.

Q: When did you decide to pursue photography as a professional career? Who is the subject of your first professional shoot?

ASH: I have decided to pursue photography as my professional career just last July right after I celebrated my first year in photography. My first subjects during my professional shoot were Long Mejia and Brod Pete. I did the poster and publicity shots for their concert at Music Museum.

Q: Tell me about the evolution of your equipment. During the wee stages of your interest in photography, what camera did you use? As time went by, how did you come to acquire your own photography camera? Where did you buy it and why did you choose that? Do you have your own studio, lights, and editing PC?

ASH: I started shooting using a Sony point and shoot camera which was only 4 megapixels. The photos it produced already made me happy. Before I dabbled into photography, I used to work in a call center for more than three years. With my salary, I saved enough money for a DSLR, which I purchased in Singapore. Before I bought my camera, I read reviews through forums over the Internet so as to make sure that it was worth buying. Comments from other users were positive; thus, I decided to get it.

I don’t have my own studio but I already have my own strobe lights. I’m still enjoying outdoor shoots because I don’t want to be stuck in a studio. I also have my own PC which I use for editing. It is very important for photographers to have a good calibrated monitor in post processing to make sure that colors are correct when printed.

Q: How is the process of your art from conceptualization to the finished product? Before you go to the shoot, do you already have an idea in mind or do you figure out things on the spot? How do you motivate your models for you to get that emotion/expression you want? How intervening is photo enhancement via computer to you?

ASH: Before I go to the shoot, I make sure that I already have conceptualized. I talk to my makeup artist, designers, and models whom I will be working with ahead of time to make sure that the shoot on the date itself will be fast and smooth. It’s hard to shoot without any concept in mind as it is very time consuming. Computer enhancement could be of help in color and light adjustments, but facial expressions of models do not come out as good when just edited.

Q: A lot of your pictures are sexy—both from the male and female gender. How do you motivate a model for her to have a facial/bodily expression of sexiness?

ASH: Are they sexy? LOL. I make sure that I build rapport with the models I will work with. Sometimes, when I am assigned to shoot a model, I research a bit on his/her background so that on the day of the shoot, I’ll know how to ignite a conversation.

Being sexy on photos doesn’t require being nude. I coach my models what to do and how to stare in the camera. You see, I am such a perfectionist. I believe that even if the model’s pose is simple, it can be very sexy in the eye of the audience as long as the model made love with camera during the shoot.

Q: Some photographers merely take and take pictures, and if you look at their portfolios, they don’t have a binding signature factor that will tell people “these pictures were definitely taken by Mr. X.” Honestly, your pictures have an identity which when I encounter I at once know they were your photos. Are you aware of this? If yes, what is it in your pictures that you always make sure to be there? What is your “subtle pattern” in your pictures? What is your signature style?

ASH: Thank you. I am very happy when people somehow appreciate my humble works and when I hear them say, “Oh, that’s Ash Castro’s work” even if my name is not present. Colors have always been my signature. I also make sure that my work is clean and that the model looks good on photo, not sacrificing the make up and clothes in editing.

Q: At the beginning of your career, what did you have to do to be known by models/agencies? Currently, are you the one being sought for by models, or do you still “sell” yourself to them?

ASH: My photo from the recently held Rayban Rockstar was one of the five grand winners among the thousands of entries submitted. From then on, I gained more friends and networks from other modeling agencies. I have also met various people in fashion events I attended and built connection with them. Currently, I am the one being sought for by models. Aside from contributing to magazines and newspaper I also do model’s portfolios.

Q: Who/What is your dream subject? What is your dream project (e.g. 100 Naked Pictures of Celebrities; the Religions of the Philippines ; coffee table book on present heroes; etc.)?

ASH: I don’t have a dream subject but my I do have a dream project. I want to do a fashion shoot showcasing interesting places in the Philippines and have the pictures exhibited.

Q: If you were to do a project for Pampanga/Kapampangan as your contribution to its culture/history/identity, what would it be about?

ASH: Since I am fashion photographer, I will still add a touch of fashion on my work if ever I will contribute to Kapampangan. Maybe I would do an editorial shoot showcasing historical places and the talented people of Pampanga. I will collaborate with different Kapampangan artists for the whole production.

Q: Is it possible to have photography as one’s sole career? Are you able to sustain your living or even earn extra with your income in photography?

ASH: Yes, it’s possible. I never imagined myself having photography as my professional career. It isn’t easy though because when you’re in the office, money is much easier to earn. When doing photography as full-time work, you have to manage well your shooting schedules and make sure the clients you have are satisfied with your work to make them patronize you and refer you to their friends. Thank God I still manage to send money back home and pay my bills through my earnings while earning extra for my personal needs and wants.

Q: Your word with photography enthusiasts?

ASH: First, have a motivation factor. My priorities are my parents and my younger brother. We are nine in the family and all my siblings are married except for me and my younger brother who is still in high school. I work hard not just because I love my job but also because I need to earn, hahaha.

Second, do not burn bridges. It is very important to maintain good relationships with people. We meet them because of a certain purpose. They could be our future colleagues or future co-workers. Respect is always important.

And lastly, always believe in your potential. I admire and support young talents because I was also once a newbie in this industry. I have also experienced a lot of humiliation and have encountered criticisms when I was just starting. Believe in your style, but make sure to find time to improve it. Learning should not end. Also bear in mind that criticisms are made for us to do better next time.

Q: What is your personal definition of photography?

ASH: For me, photography is about beauty. It is about capturing beautiful moments, places, and faces. It’s also a worthy alternative for people engaging drugs, because it is just as addictive. (Right! —Laxamana). END

You may visit Ash Castro’s Multiply account and view his vast number of pictures (in color) by going to http://ashcastro.multiply.com.

Kapampanganovela returns to UP Diliman

2008-11-25T19:36:00.000+08:00

Forum on language problems to be held
By Jason Paul Laxamana
Urban Kamaru
Central Luzon Daily

Last semester, a Kapampangan organization in the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman called UP Aguman invited Kalalangan Kamaru and Infomax-8 to talk about regional broadcast media and screen the pilot episode of “Kalam,” the first Kapampanganovela. In spite of the heated debate between so-called nationalists and so-called regionalists, after the screening of “Kalam,” the audience unanimously found the project and the show itself worthy of praise.

This semester, four UP-based organizations—Saligan sa CSSP, UP Aguman, UP Samahang Linggwistika, and STAND UP—team up to hold a bigger forum entitled “Ing Kalam ning Amanung Sisuan” (The Blessing of the Mother Tongue). It will be held on December 9, 2008 from 1 PM to 4 PM at Palma Hall 400. Unlike before, the forum will also feature linguists, experts, and other concerned people to speak about the phenomenon of language shift, language death, and language revitalization

A Closer Look at Philippine Language Problems
(Original Tagalog text by Peter Sengson; English Translation by Laxamana)

At present, there are more than a hundred languages spoken in the Philippines. A number of these are in the brink of being wiped out and it is said that some of the languages of the country of the world are about to die without even being studied or documented. Just what are the conditions that cause language death?

In the Philippines, the Kapampangan language, which is one of the major languages of the archipelago, has been experiencing a decline in its number of speakers. Current speakers of the language are also gradually abandoning it and it is feared that death would be its fate. What are the internal problems that led to this situation? What is being done by the Kapampangans to salvage their mother tongue? What kind of Kapampangan are they trying to revitalize: purist or liberal?

According to some language advocacy groups, the appointment of Filipino as national language is a major cause in the hazard faced by other languages in the Philippines. How did the Filipino language affect the perception of Kapampangans in their own tongue? Is there really a conflict between Filipino and the languages of the regions? What is the possible future of the Philippine languages given the government's campaign for using English as medium of instruction?

These are the questions to be answered in this forum. It aims to introduce linguists, as well as scholars from other disciplines of social science, to the country’s language predicaments. Professors in the field of linguistics, Filipino, and Kapampangan will share their analyses in this issue. Resource speakers from groups attempting to revitalize Kapampangan will also be invited to share their experiences.

The highlight of the program is the screening of the first Kapampanganovela, “Kalam.” After the discussions, an open forum will follow. Linguistics students, especially those enlisted in Sociolinguistics, are expected to attend, as well as other students from the college, professors, and other organizations. The forum is open to everyone who is willing to take part.

Please send reactions to sisig_man@yahoo.com.ph

Sta Rita's Joseph Bitangcol strips and turns gay!

2008-11-21T19:29:00.000+08:00

Joseph Bitangcol strips his clothes and turns homosexual
Career Overview of the Kapampangan teen star from Sta. Rita

On June 15, 1991, lahar buried a great deal of Central Luzon, especially Pampanga where the volcanic titan Mt. Pinatubo lies beside it, along with the rest of the Zambales mountain range. Lots of properties were destroyed, causing Kapampangan families to flee for their lives and make a choice between returning to their ash-slammed homeland after the catastrophe and finding residence somewhere else.

Years ago, I participated as one of the production assistants of the TV show ‘Maalaala Mo Kaya’. While Joross Gamboa was the lead actor of the episode, I was delighted to hear that a Kapampangan teen star was also in the cast: Joseph Bitangcol.

Ninu ya?

Joseph Mabalay Bitangcol is one of the top ten finalists of the ABS-CBN’s reality hit Star Circle Quest years ago. While many of the young Star Circle Questors freely admit that they entered the contest with the hope of eventually being able to help their families, compared to most, Bitangcol’s story stands out as one of the hardest struggles in the group.

Hailing from Sta. Rita, Pampanga, Joseph never really planned to enter show business, but the Mt. Pinatubo explosion changed his life forever. Fleeing from Pampanga and Pinatubo's wrath in a tricycle driven by their father, the Bitangcol family landed in Pasig with nothing but what they had in their tricycle.

While living his post-eruption life in the Metro, he joined in ABS-CBN's acting workshops, where he developed his performing skills and took further interest in acting. For a time, he became one of ABS-CBN's valued teen stars and was also linked with fellow Questor Sandara Park, who has abandoned the country and went to seek for stardom in her homeland Korea.

When I encountered Joseph face to face at the set of ‘Maalaala Mo Kaya,’ I waited for the right time to approach him and throw some questions. Both he and I were Kapampangan, and I was certain that that would be enough to establish some connection between the two of us. After shooting a certain scene which was sort of distant from the waiting area of actors, I was given the task by the Assistant Director of walking Joseph back to the waiting area.

While walking, I wasn't the one who started conversation. Probably to break the ice, he friendlily asked me what my business was in the production. After knowing that I was just there as an unpaid volunteer production assistant for the sake of practical learning, I segued into telling him my plans of devoting my filmmaking career to stuff with Kapampangan content. From then on, we began talking casually in our good old Amanung Sisuan, Kapampangan.

He speaks the language very well, in spite of not living anymore in Sta. Rita. He also was delighted to hear that I was making Kapampangan productions. By that, I hope he means he could be tapped one day to participate in our activities where his skill would be of definitely great use – being a fairly talented and good-looking actor (looks like an actor in one of those Chinovelas or J-Doramas), an above average hip hop dancer, and, most importantly, a fluent Kapampangan speaker.

Actually, he had this statement which made my eyebrows secretly raise. He told me that the Pinatubo eruption was like a blessing in disguise, for if it did not happen, he couldn't have been the star that he is now.

In my head, I was asking: “How could you consider something tragic – families blown away from their motherland, infrastructure and farms swallowed by lahar, and provincial economy restarted from scratch – a blessing?”

Yes, he became a star because of that, but should you think only of yourself? However, I understand his train of thought. If I became rich myself after the lahar, I would be considering the catastrophe an intervention of my personal fairy mother. But looking at the lives lost, I, too, would be thinking, “In return, I have to help them rise from the volcanic ashes.”

Joseph, judging from our short encounter in the set of a TV show, honestly seems to be a nice, humble guy. I'm sure if tapped by his kabalen to help out in a cause devoted to the re-fortification of his homeland, he would definitely say Wa, sige! (after making it through the manager, of course.)

Latest News

It seems like a pattern for Kapampangan teen stars who are products of reality searches. Film enthusiasts will remember the sexy debut of Tyron Perez, a Kapampangan teen star from Tarlac, through Mel Chionglo’s “Twilight Dancers.” More projects were seen to come to Perez after the film where he flaunted his flesh and performed a torrid kissing scene with William Martinez. Sadly, he disappeared from showbiz after that.

Joseph Bitangcol this time takes the same route. In the rising popularity of gay-themed films, both in the mainstream and indie category, Bitangcol was cast along with Polo Ravales in the film “Walang Kawala.” Bitangcol and Ravales fall in love with each other, kiss, make love, and all, and become victim of a bisexual sex slave syndicate. The film is Bitangcol’s sexy debut (and he had to be a homo), and is getting decent reviews from audiences. Directed by Joel Lamangan, the film also features a part of the story where Bitangcol resorted to being a macho dancer, kinda like Tyron.

Will Bitangcol suffer the same fate as Tyron Perez?

ASLAG Kapampangan 2008

2008-11-20T19:25:00.000+08:00

The day right after the first of November, Artists Supporting Local Artists Guild or ASLAG Kapampangan held the Grand Finals of their second Kapampangan Pop Music Festival at Robinson’s San Fernando. This year, in contribution to environmental awareness campaigns, the theme was Indung Labuad a Santungan, Pakamalan Ya’t Lingapan (Value and Take Care of Mother Earth Sanctuary).

Songwriting Styles

The song, intentionally or not, aimed to produce Kapampangan songs that can stand as counterparts to popular Tagalog environmental songs such as Geneva Cruz’ “Anak Ng Pasig” and Asin’s “Masdan Mo Ang Kapaligiran.”

While songs don’t directly inspire people to act, especially if it’s about conservation of Mother Nature, they serve a function similar to that of national anthems, of wedding theme songs, of praise songs, of Alma Mater songs, of graduation songs, and of campaign jingles. What that function is, I can’t exactly pinpoint.

To make a song that can to some degree cause people to go out there and do environmental work is quite challenging and a test of a songwriter’s artistry. Of course, the music also aids greatly in the fulfillment of the goal.

A popular approach is playing the logic game where the songwriter assumes people to be for self-preservation. By establishing the connection between environment and the self and how one affects the other, the lyrics attempts to infiltrate the mind of the listeners by whispering: “If we do this or if we don’t stop doing that, this is what will happen, and it’s going to be really bad. You don’t want that.” This is the approach of the famous environmental song by Asin, as can be seen in the following sample lyrics:

Ang mga batang ngayon lang isinilang
May hangin pa kayang matitikman?
May mga puno pa kaya silang aakyatin
May mga ilog pa kayang lalanguyan?

Another approach is something close to ad misericordia, which even though categorized in communication books as a logical fallacy, works most of the time to a country that has bottomless affection toward everything melodramatic. The lyrics shouts: “Because of what you’re doing, this is what’s happening to me [or them]; have mercy on me/us/them!” This is exhibited well in “Anak Ng Pasig.”

Anak nang Pasig naman kayo
tapon doon, tapon dito
Di niyo alam ang tinatapon niyo
Ay bukas ko at ng buong mundo

Subject Picking

A first-time songwriter will usually write a song spontaneously—not necessarily a bad a bad thing—with no central, specific subject but the theme itself. If he is asked to write a song about the youth, he’ll write everything he can think of about the youth, not minding the organization of thoughts in his work.

One technique in choosing a subject is to pick an everyday experience which the masses can generally relate with, and upon listening to the song, they would to themselves say something like “Wa pin, ne!” This is the technique employed by young singer-songwriter Mark Jedh Yutuc, the winner of the recently concluded Kapampangan Pop Music Festival, with his entry “Balat Kendi.”

The message of “Balat Kendi,” performed by the songwriter himself together with K4ad member Jomar Dela Pena, is perfect for the busy people of Pampanga who have no interest or time to get involved in tree-planting activities and big waste management projects. The songs proposes that each average person can help in environmental concerns if altogether they cease throwing off candy wrappers anywhere they please.

Of course, waste management is more than that. But actually, if we did that, it would be nice. But let’s not limit ourselves to candy wrappers. I have seen a woman, who seems to be educated, who threw an empty tetrapack juice container while riding a jeepney in front of her child. Clearly a bad example. Last month, I scolded a friend who wanted to throw a plastic of garbage out of the van’s window while we were cruising down McArthur Hiway.

Why do Filipinos treat their surroundings a big trash can? We often talk about cultural preservation. If you ask me, this is certainly one aspect of Pinoy and Pampango culture which never in my wildest ambitions will I participate in conserving.

Congratulations

I’d like to applaud the other finalists of the tilt. “Uling Keka” (words by Nerian Miranda and Kenneth Macapugay, interpreted by Kate Ibanez), “Kanta Ning Indung Labuad” (words by Wilfredo Cunanan, interpreted by Anne Valerie Vital), “Berding Yatu” (words by Jun Gatbonton, interpreted by Lemuel Paras), “’Me Ko Keni, Tara Na” (words by Benny Guinto, interpreted by Bea Austria), “Misasanmetung” (words by Arnie Zablan, interpreted by Bin Bondoc), and “Pakamalan Ta Ya” (words by Ver Orquia, interpreted by Ana Nicolette Kho).

Except for “Uling Keka,” all songs were arranged by Aslag’s very own “Big Ben,” Mr. Ben Escasa. Fr. Ronnie Cao and Ms. Deng Escasa served as Kapampangan vocal dubbing supervisors.

K4ad is currently K3ad

A noticeable thing in the event is the K4ad’s temporary reduction to K3ad, as one of their members, Mark Jedh Yutuc, who happens to be the winner of the contest, can no longer participate due to, according to him, his busy schedule with other matters. Fr. Ronnie Cao told me they are currently in search for a replacement to Yutuc.

Archipelago Music Blog Project

2008-11-17T19:20:00.000+08:00

Wikipedia provides us a pretty fair definition of what OPM is. “Original Pilipino Music, now more commonly termed Original Pinoy Music or Original Philippine Music, (frequently abbreviated to OPM) originally referred only to Filipino pop songs, especially those in the ballad form, such as songs popularized in the 1970s through the mid-1990s by major commercial Filipino pop artists like Ryan Cayabyab, Kuh Ledesma, Zsa Zsa Padilla, Martin Nievera, Basil Valdez, Rey Valera, Regine Velasquez, Ogie Alcasid, Lani Misalucha, Lea Salonga, and APO Hiking Society.

In the passage of time as well as the development of many diverse and alternative musical styles in the Philippines, however, the term OPM now refers to any type of Original Philippine Music created in the Philippines or composed by individuals of Philippine extraction, regardless of location at the time when composed. The lyrics, in fact, may be in any language or dialect.

Although most of it are written either in Filipino/Tagalog, English or Taglish, OPMs written in foreign languages (eg. in Japanese), though handful, do exist.”

Monstrosity of Radio

I once asked a senior DJ from a renowned and Golden Dove Award-winning FM radio station in Manila if they are open to playing OPM (Original Pilipino Music) sung in neither Tagalog nor English. With cold honesty, he told me a two-letter but painful word: NO.

“Even if they’re really good?” I asked.

“Uh-huh,” he replied.

Trying to prick his conscience, I questioned, “Isn’t that a form of racial discrimination? Aren’t songs sung in other languages like Kapampangan, Waray-Waray, and Bisaya also Filipino, and thus, should be welcomed in your Original PILIPINO Music segments?”

“Sorry, dude, but that’s just how the business is,” he answered with finality. “It’s nothing personal.”

MTV Pilipinas

MTV Pilipinas is more mature and racially sensitive. Proud of our work on the music video of “Oras” by Mernuts and “Alang Anggang Sugat” by 5 Against The Wall, we contacted MTV Pilipinas and asked them if they are willing to incorporate in their OPM playlists our Kapampangan music videos, “since we’re Pilipino din naman.”

Surprisingly, they said yes and claimed that they are supportive of OPM regardless of the language being used. They even said they’re happy that movements to develop OPM in regional languages are occurring, citing the Visayan music scene, led by Bisrock or Bisaya Rock, as a good example.

The catch, however—which to me is just fair—is that the music videos should be at par with other music videos we see on TV. We had no problems with that, as we made sure that our music videos were in one way or another worth the attention.

And, thus, the first Kapampangan music video to air on MTV Pilipinas (in its OPM show called “Tong Hits”), “Oras” by Mernuts.

MYX on the other hand is an unfinished story, and we are still working on it.

Music of the Archipelago

Although there are some groups like MTV Pilipinas that support OPM from the regions, majority of the mass media still marginalize non-Tagalog and non-English OPM. It is for this reason that our group decided to attempt to make a change by creating our newest blog project: Archipelago Music: Philippine Music Without Borders.

Launched recently, it is a blog that will serve to promote new Philippine music (OPM) from the regions. It attempts to empower regional music, especially those sung in the various regional languages of the archipelago like Ilokano, Bikol, Kapampangan, Waray-Waray, Meranaw, etc., amidst the dominance of Tagalog and Pinoy English songs and music videos in the world of OPM.

This is one of the advocacy projects of Kalalangan Kamaru, a multidisciplinary team of Kapampangan youth seeking to develop and propagate Kapampangan pride, culture, and language to the Kapampangan youth. This time, it extends its ideologies to the other ethnolinguistic groups to empower the regions more and make the Philippines a truly multicultural yet unified nation, submitting proof to the infamous query: How can you love others [regions] if you don’t first love yourself [Kapampangan]?

The issue of a Tagalog- and English-centric OPM was first raised in GMA-7's “Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho” in their segment “Promdi Rock.” It was Kalalangan Kamaru actually who fed them the idea of making a feature on that topic, including another segment that featured TV dramas from the regions.

We believe that if regions unite, Manila the capital will open its doors to regional OPM and thus, elevating regional OPM into national status, and thereby inspiring some sense of healthy competitiveness among the OPM artists from the regions, instead of aspiring for nothing beyond “Puwede na.”

Sample Artists

The blog in its November launching has already featured three artists. First is Bronze P, the son of Ilonggo undergroup hiphop. Bronze P of La Paz, Iloilo City is an independent Ilonggo artist under his own production label, Bronze Beats, who makes urban beats and tunes in the Hiligaynon language.

Next is a Bisaya duo that has already received a national award, albeit in the regional category—the 2006 Awit Awards Best Regional Recording. As their homepage says, “Out of everyday-life ghettos and the ever changing urbanity, from what Dabawenyos call home hails a tandem that will conquer your senses and ravish you to your seats. Brandishing their acts to the hip hop and RnB groove, they're breaking into your audio waves to bring you their message that rightfully speaks of their collective name: Thavawenyoz.”

Also featured is the first Cuyonon band to make rock songs in the Cuyonon language, Bulyaw Mariguen. Hailing from the little island of Cuyo, Palawan, Bulyaw Mariguen are planning to launch an independent Cuyonon album this December.

More OPM artists, songs, and music videos from the regions will be featured in the future! A diverse music playlist of songs from different Philippine languages is also available in the blog. Archipelago Music will also post some essays and industry assessments that will certainly aid regional artists in their quest for empowerment.

In the words of an Ilokano blogger, “Adtoy pay ti maysa nga barbaro a website a natakuatak. Ti Archipelago Music ket mangipakpakita ken mangipadpadengngeg kadagiti kankanta nga naggapu kadagiti rehiyones ti Pilipinas. Adda man nangngegko idiay nga rap version ti Manang Biday! Mayat met! Agtultuloy koma dagiti kastoy a proyekto. Nagbayagen a Tagalog ti kankanayon a mangmangngeg kadagiti FM stations iti pagiliantayo. Rumbeng met ita nga selebrarantayo ti nadumaduma a kultura ti Filipino!”

Come and visit http://archipelago-music.blogspot.com

Ing Sakondu

2008-11-15T19:17:00.001+08:00

The Unknown Kapampangan Laman Labuad

Writing about Apung Monang or Simeona “Monang” Calma-Matsdairo—the zarzuela-acting sister of my maternal grandfather and she who got married with a Japanese man (an actual heir to a Japanese royalty of the Matsdairo clan) at the age of 14 during the Japanese occupation—in my previous article about Teatru Ima at Arti, I was reminded that she’s to some degree psychic, so said my Ima.

Apung Monang as a lady demonstrated her psychic skills by casually addressing creatures of otherworldly dimensions. She would point to fairies and elves in a very relaxed manner, as if just pointing at ants lined on the wall. Of course, she would freak out people around her, including Ima, whose fear of the unknown is amplified by her typical Catholic senses—anything paranormal should be diabolic in nature.

My Limited Memory

Apung Monang and her little brother, Apung Marcial (Marciano Lansang Calma), who is my maternal grandfather and a former soldier during the American-Japanese War, slept in the same room when they grew up, along with my grandmother, Apung Ines (Ines Lagman-Calma). We were already living in Angeles then and by the time I was growing up as a toddler, Apung Monang and Apung Marcial were already somewhat senile.

Apung Marcial often rested beneath our thorny anahaw plant in the middle of our garden. Wounds would line up on his skin and he wouldn’t care, thanks to his senility. Having attachment to his hometown Porac where he became tinyente in one of the barangays, he occasionally walked out from the house without warning and kept on proclaiming he wanted to return to Porac. As a mischievous kid, I would offer him a medium-sized block of Lego and tell him it’s bread. He would try to eat it only to discern it’s as hard as rock. I then would laugh at his conclusion: “E la tinape reni, kendi la.”

Apung Monang was more of the silent type, as even though she was already senile, she just laid still in her bedroom. In fact, I have no special memory of her; all the tales about her, including her marriage with an heir to some royal Japanese family, are all thanks to Ima’s storytelling.

When Apung Marcial died, the family didn’t want to tell Apung Monang at once because she might grieve a great deal, and it could be jeopardous to her health. But when my aunt came to visit her—surprise!—she was already grieving because she already knew what occurred. How? According to Apung Monang, a certain white figure—an angel or something—approached her and delivered the report. My aunt’s hair raised.

The Sakondu

One of the laman labuad (elementals) that Apung Monang used to claim to be seeing is an elemental she and a lot of my Poraqueño relatives call the sakondu. How it looks like, I still have no idea. I consulted several sources, including Kapampangan historians, folklorists, and other authorities of so-called Kapampangan culture, but none of them could shed light on what a sakondu is.

In one of my recent visits to the spiritists of Jalung, Porac, I asked a relative, Apung Asing, about the sakondu. She knew that it was an elemental, but she couldn’t characterize it for me. All she knew was that, like the popular kapri, duendi, and magkukutud, the sakondu was also used by folk elders to scare children to submission. “Oyan na ing sakondo!” elders would threat.

Out of curiosity, I tried to play researcher for a bit. Sakondu actually sounds like a Spanish word. I searched its possible origin—sacondo or secondo—through the Internet and it (secondo) appears to actually be an Italian word, and it has a very interesting meaning.

Indigenized

According to a short definition from Wikipedia, secondo is a term of Italian origin used in the German speaking areas of Switzerland to denote someone who is the child of immigrants. Because of conservative Swiss citizenship law, these children are often unable to become citizens and may feel marginalized.

In an article by N. D. Schäfer at www.italianrap.com, he reports that people of foreign descent born in Switzerland don’t automatically get a Swiss passport; they are still seen as different from the Swiss natives. The author further explains, “There’s even a term for them: secondo (for females: seconda), a term used only in the German-speaking part of Switzerland even though clearly Italian. The sons and daughters of secondos and secondas are called terceros and terceras (from Spanish).”

I am reminded of the theory about the origin of the term kapri, a more popular local folklore character. Some say that it could have been from kaffir, a word brought by the Europeans in our archipelago which they use to address black southern Africans. From the Arabic word kafir, it originally means heathen, infidel, or non-believer. To further demonize the concept, the Spaniards could have propagated a more monstrous image of a kaffir, and hence, our paranormal fear of the kapri, which physically speaking resembles the general physique of a tall African man, only ornamented with frightening features like inflicting harm or sickness on people, tobacco-smoking, tree-dwelling, and others.

Now, could it be possible that the idea of the sakondu came from the Europeans’ secondo as well? That the concept was flavored with horror in our lands for them to institutionalize in our virgin minds this ethnic slur toward what they consider “second-class citizens” or secondos in their part of the world?

It could be. Devout Kapampangan researchers may look into this theory more.

A meaningful All Souls’ Day to everyone!

Pampanga the Prostitute, Manila the Customer

2008-11-12T19:10:00.000+08:00

Pampanga the Prostitute, Manila the Customer
A Review of Brillante Mendoza's 'Masahista'

The first time I heard about the Kapampangan digital film Masahista by Brillante Mendoza, I quickly searched for a DVD copy of it. Yes, even a pirated copy, just to be able to watch it. Thank Ápung Sinukuan, I got an original copy at SM.

My thesis proposal during my stay in the Broadcast Communication Department of the UP College of Mass Communication was about halting the deterioration of the Kapampangan language in Angeles City through the use of broadcast media, particularly TV, by giving people media content (soap operas, talk shows, teen-oriented shows, etc.) in the Kapampangan language.

But that topic was a trimmed down version of what I originally would like to make a study of. I wanted to cover all forms of mass media: print, film, radio, and even theater.

In the area of film, with 100% confidence, I hail Brillante “Dante” Mendoza the father of Kapampangan films. While there is no evident Kapampangan film industry yet, ever since his series of films, young Kapampangan filmmakers have been inspired to write screenplays using their Ámanung Sisuan. If I know, other non-Tagalog filmmakers have been influenced by Mendoza’s films, which I love to describe as “culturally detailed” and “colorfully realistic.”

Although not entirely Kapampangan when it comes to the language used, they offer a great deal of Kapampangan stuff, like festivals, traditions, superstitions, and comic relief only Kapampangans (by land of birth and language spoken) would be able to relate and give significance to.

Transition

Mendoza is a renowned production designer in many films. Famous in his lineup is the 1986 film ‘Private Show’ by Chito Roño, where he bagged an award; ‘Takaw Tukso’ by William Pascual; and 1985’s ‘Virgin Forest’ by Peque Gallaga, where he became Art Director.

Then one day, he decided to make his own film, thanks for being acquainted with Angeles City’s Ferdie Lapuz, a known international film distributor who has brought several Filipino films like Maryo Delos Reyes’ ‘Magnifico’ and Francis Xavier Pasion’s ‘Jay’ outside the country.

Who knew that in spite of Mendoza’s fame in Production Design, he would get greater honor as a Director, since his debut directorial film ‘Masahista’ (The Masseur) won the Golden Leopard Award in the video competition of the 58th Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland, which brought artistic pride to both the Filipino and Kapampangan community.

‘Masahista’

Center Stage Productions. Starring Coco Martin, Jaclyn Jose, Katherine Luna, and Alan Paule. Synopsis: Iliac is a young masseur who went home to Pampanga to find out that his bedridden father is dead. Iliac assists in the preparation of his father's burial including dressing his dead father up inside the morgue (Source: Wikipedia).

It’s not entirely a Kapampangan film (the Internet Movie Database even states that the language of the film is just Tagalog), because the story takes place both in Manila and Pampanga. In Pampanga, the characters speak Kapampangan. When Iliac goes to Manila, he speaks Tagalog, because his customer Marina Hidalgo (Alan Paule) was Caviteño and his raunchy girlfriend (Katherine Luna) was Tagalog-speaking. Some of his co-masseurs are Kapampangan though and they speak the language even though working in Manila.

In Mendoza’s visit to the Holy Angel University where we both delivered workshops to young film aspirants, he stated that his main goal in filmmaking is to show truth. Hence, the cultural detail, the scenes that would raise the eyebrows of censors and conservative families, and his unpopularity among the masses, who always go for the mainstream, escapist movies.

Truthful Cinema

A line I can never forget from the Hollywood film ‘V For Vendetta’ goes something like this: “Politicians use lies to hide the truth while artists use lies to tell the truth.” Mendoza is an illustration of this statement as even though his films appear to be fictitious, they are largely based on reality.

There is really no beginning-climax-end to look out for in ‘Masahista.’ A lot of critics say the story is flat; I couldn’t agree more. However, such sincerity is what makes me like most of Mendoza’s films. They are the show-don’t-tell type. Plus the culture and realistic happenings foster a sense of reality and sophistication. Of course, Mendoza can’t expect to be patronized by the average Filipino, since it takes some high level of art appreciation and intellect to enjoy his works.

The Kapampangan Experience

Culture, which manifests materially (through crafts, shelters, clothes, language, physical activities) and immaterially (beliefs, values, judgments, norms, laws), is presented in detail in ‘Masahista.’ Since a lot of scenes are in Pampanga, present Kapampangan culture enjoys much highlighting.

In ‘Masahista,’ Coco Martin (who is of Kapampangan descent himself) plays the role of a Kapampangan masseur. Asked why Mendoza (and Lapuz) chose the masseur to be Kapampangan, they said it’s because a lot of Kapampangan boys really work as masseurs in Manila, which they attribute to the average Kapampangan male’s tendency to be lazy and wanting of quick money.

The opening scene of the movie was enough to make me relate it to my life as a Kapampangan who used to study in Quezon City going home every weekend to Pampanga: the view of the plains and rice fields along the North Luzon Expressway under the vast firmament.
Then we are taken to sites and objects such as the kalésa (horse-driven carriage), pedicabs (public transport tricycles that house no motors), and the parul (giant lantern)—all of which would be more familiar to a Fernandino, since the setting of the film is specifically in the City of San Fernando.

I live in Angeles City and don’t go beyond the Intersection to the center of San Fernando so those objects didn’t really ring a bell. However, when I, for the first time, paid a visit to the City Hall of San Fernando to deliver a lecture on the state of the Kapampangan language for the city’s Heritage Week, I was given familiarity to the stuff I saw in ‘Masahista.’ I even rode a kalésa and a pedicab for the first time in Pampanga!

Cultural Detail

More cultural detail involves masseurs speaking their native tongues (Kapampangan, Bisaya), Iliac washing his feet the way Pinoys usually do, the continuous operation of prostitution houses, the palengki-like tawaran between prostitutes and customers, the forbidding of sweeping after the death of one person, the Kapampangan’s habit of criticizing people who accidentally trip (“Mulala!”), the feast-like funeral activities of people like playing cards, gossiping, and indulging on food, making a big deal out of a power failure, and many more.

Then, of course, the wonderful giant lanterns only Kapampangan craftsmen can erect beautifully. They are made for the annual Liglígan Parul (Giant Lantern Festival). The behind-the-scenes footages of the DVD show the technical side of the giant lantern and how the lights are controlled.

Beautiful Obscurity

I’m not really sure if the director/writer is trying to say something about life being like the magnificence of the giant lanterns and how people marvel at their beauty, but you are free to associate Iliac’s life with them. Mendoza’s films have the tendency to be unclear, but that is what makes artsy people intrigued; is the director trying to say something deep? Hence, the birth of the viewer’s thinking. Hence, Mendoza’s films can make you exercise your mind.

An interpretation I made, being a federalist and an Imperial Manila decentralist, involves the masseurs being provincianos and the customers and pimps Manila Tagalogs. I won’t discuss it in detail, since it will take a new set of pages to elaborate, but people familiar with the “Imperial Manila” discourse will get what I mean.

A Balid Film

Speaking of a sense of reality, on the bad side, it is obvious that the lead actors who have a number of Kapampangan lines are not Kapampangan-proficient, and the fact that they are not reeks in the way they deliver their Kapampangan lines.

Coco Martin is obvious in trying to adopt the sort of singsong accent of Kapampangan. Foreign and non-Kapampangan viewers have the slightest probability to detect such flaw, but for a Kapampangan like me, I can only cringe or laugh at the mispronunciations the actors make, the same way I roll in laughter at the trying-hard English of some Manila starlets.

Worse, in some lines, Coco mixed Tagalog grammar/words and Kapampangan. For instance, in an apparently fake accent, he said, “Sori pu, na-lowbatt ako nabengi.” (Sorry, my cell phone ran out of battery last night. / Sorry po, na-lowbatt ako kagabi.)

A native would find the line funny, because it should have been “Sóri pû, mé-lowbatt ku nabéngi.” Kapampangan verb tenses don’t sport the use of na- and the word ako is basically Tagalog.

Jaclyn Jose, who played Natty, the tocino-making mother of Iliac, was good. Almost. In some scenes, I was convinced that she indeed spoke the language. But it’s no surprise, as Jaclyn Jose is an Angeleño from Brgy. Sto Rosario. In the shooting of the controversial Pinoy film that made it to the main competition of the Cannes Film Festival ‘Serbis’ (where I worked as local coordinator and script continuity supervisor), we spoke to Jaclyn in Kapampangan, and even though she is balid, one can speak to her in Kapampangan and expect her to understand fully.

All of the extras in the Pampanga scenes, plus the siblings of Iliac (Lakan ning San Fernando 2008 Aaron Rivera and his younger sister) and one or two of the masseurs, are genuine Kapampangans. I can tell by the way they speak. Also, seeing their minor characters behave the way I perceive Kapampangans to behave in some occasions—such as the brutal gossiping behind people’s backs, silent criticizing upon another’s misfortune, and overreaction to actually-no-big-deal stimuli—makes the film closer to home.

It’s a great, even though simple and plain, film. In fact, it has earned a spot in my ‘Favorite Movies’ section in my Friendster profile. What taints it is the broken Kapampangan of the lead actors.

I’d like to believe that film is audio-visual and it is its innate goal to give the audience a sense of reality, not make them pretend to believe. With linguistic imperfections, reaching the goal is about 25% hindered. Sadly, even in Mendoza’s follow-up film ‘Káleldo’ (‘Summer Heat’), the lead actors speak Kapampangan as if with twisted tongues.

But then again, I understand. There aren’t many Kapampangan-speaking actors. I just hope that in the future, this language thing would be fixed in Mendoza’s (and every Kapampangan filmmaker’s) films. I believe we’re on our way there.

Please email reactions to sisig_man@yahoo.com.ph. Photo of Mendoza by Laura Irvine.