blackshama's commentary on Philippine issues

Former UP Law dean Raul Pangalangan wrote probably the most sane comment on the "Poleteismo" brouhaha at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP).  He exposes Philippine society's "grave misconceptions on why we offer communal protection for expressive freedoms".  The law dean notes the hate mail and messages sent the CCP which threatened the safety of CCP employees and so the center shut down the exhibit. For starters following Thomas Jefferson, I swear to be"in eternal enmity over any tyranny over the mind of man". I am against any entity that censors and/or vandalizes art. Rightly so because the Nazi Holocaust started by vandalizing "degenerate art", then burning books which then led to burning people! However not all art is uplifting, some are offensive. For me the only way to deal with offensive art is not to look at them. Another example: offensive literature cannot be banned without shooting liberty and democracy in the foot....

Manila is one of the few megapolises in the world which is dependent on one water catchment or dam for its water needs. The city depends almost solely from Angat Dam for water and power generation. The Philippine Daily Inquirer reports that 50% of the city is under water rationing. The worrisome story here is that this rationing is implemented in the rainy season. While the rains have been falling, only two tropical cyclones have passed and people observed that they were more windy than rainy. The last one raised Angat's water level by 0.2 m. The dam's water level is 15 m from the normal. The rain bearing "habagat" winds have not yet blown. August is historically the wettest month. Unless weather patterns change, next month may be the driest August. September is the last month of the wet season and then the dry begins. The only thing to be done is to lessen water use. Renowned painter Joey Velasco passed away yesterday from a lingering illness. He was 43 and is su...

Yesterday was a blustery day with Typhoon Frank coming to town (In fact he blew through Manila at around 4 AM the next day). It was also the centennial alumni bash of the University of the Philippines at the Araneta Coliseum. After the usual awards had been given to outstanding alums, we decided to go to the 100 nudes/100 years exhibit sponsored by the UP Alumni Association. All the nudes exhibited were made by UP alums and students. These included works by National Artists Amorsolo, Tolentino, Francisco, Abueva, Manansala, Legaspi, Joya, Bencab and Imao. The exhibit organizers said that there was an enthusiastic reception of the exhibit from UP alums and students. The artists contributed 116 nudes to the exhibit. Of course the nude theme was inspired by the UP Oblation, the icon for everything the university stands for; academic freedom, nonconformity, daringness and of course, the willingness to sacrifice for noble causes. The nudes drive home things we have missed out so often. 1) T...