blackshama's commentary on Philippine issues

Students plank at Palma Hall, University of the Philippines. Photo courtesy of the UPIO I have seen people plank but as Wikipedia says it is just fad , or even a prank, or even an art form that draws attention. Some commentators have called it idiotic , but now one Filipino lawmaker wants it banned for compromising public safety! Plankers want to plank in the most unusual of places . Then the photo is uploaded onto a social network platform like Facebook. But a few people have been killed in accidents for doing so. But lately, Filipino students have planked in a usual place like Espana Blvd in Manila as a protest against budget cuts to the higher education sector by the Noynoy administration. Lying on the pavement is not a novel way of peaceful and confrontational protesting. In Mike de Leon's film Sister Stella L, there was a scene on the picket line where the strikers and the nuns laid down to prevent scabs from entering the factory. But that was not planking. "Di...

In light of the protests over Beijing's crackdown on Tibetan protests and the protesters' attempts to extinguish or trip the Olympic torch bearer, Jacques Rogge, International Olympic Committee (IOC) chair has spoken out. Mr Rogge called on Beijing for a "rapid, peaceful resolution" of the Tibetan problem. The IOC has finally got sense in its head! I think everyone who has competed in sport would realize what the IOC belatedly realized and the Beijing government (as well as most governments) can never realize is that sport and liberty are inseparable. The athlete wants to be better than his/her best and that can only be achieved in total freedom. This is the same freedom that citizens in democratic countries enjoy. We can thank the protesters for waking us up on that truism. Olympic sport and probably all sport has become big business and of course the politicians benefit from it. Nation-states would use sporting events as a stage to demonstrate their superiority. An ...