blackshama's commentary on Philippine issues

A lot of Pinoys (and many other people worldwide) had an adverse reaction when they learned that their Zodiac sign changed. Thanks to the Minnesota Planetarium Society, blurbs reported that there is a "new" Zodiac sign named Ophiucus or the Serpent bearer! According to the society, the Earth's precession or wobbling of its axis made the dates of the Zodiac signs move forward by a month. So some Pisceans like me became Aquarians, some Geminis became Taurus, some Scorpions became Librans etc. The worst cut was for the Scorpions whose time in the Gregorian calendar was cut to 7 days! This is as close what 21st century society will get to having people's religious affiliation changed without their consent! While many of us don't take astrology that seriously (take note of the word "that"), we still read those horoscopes! It is part of the Pinoy identity to identify oneself with a Zodiac sign. Filipino children are told their Zodiac sign at an early age. I ...

Yahoo Philippines has this news bit about the DSWCD requesting MTRCB to screen TV shows that make fun of the disabled. It's about time. We really have to develop more sensitivity about discrimination. But DSWCD should go further, not only the disabled should be protected from this abuse but the beauty-challenged (ugly), the height challenged (short people) and of course people with dark complexions. This should extend to the financially challenged (poor) sector of society. Racial,economic and gender stereotyping have been the staple of Pinoy comedy. Gays have been the subject of a zillion laughs. The irony is that many of the screenwriters who write these gags are themselves gay! How can society respect gays if gays can't respect themselves? We really need an anti-discrimination law that has teeth. But if these anti-discrimination proposals become law Joey de Leon would lose his comedy show. But seriously a culturally sensitive attitude will involve a sea change for Pinoy soc...

Anthropologists of religion say that once a religious ritual or practice becomes non functional, it dies. Sometimes it takes a war (the old religious rites of Intramuros died when the churches there were destroyed in 1945) or cultural changes (The Latin Mass is an example. When Vatican II closed, it signified a real religious cultural revolution. Very few lay today Catholics would trade in the vernacular Mass for the Latin Mass. Catholics today barely know a word of liturgical Latin.) Since Vatican II, priests have been creative enough to update lenten practices. A few diehards tried to preserve the pre-Vatican II rites and this resulted in a major international schism (the first since the Reformation). But it wasn't the Vatican II church that split into a zillion denominations. It was the conservatives. It was a sort of Protestantism in reverse. The Vatican II Catholic Church is one. So we see new updates to Good Friday practices especially in Manila. The "pasyon" has be...