| aparador ni lisa

Paalam, Ka Bel

2008-05-23T13:18:00.001+09:00

I was on my way back to Manila from Rapu-Rapu island, Albay last Tuesday when I received news of Ka Bel's death. We will be visiting his wake at the IFI later, an event I wish to delay as much possible. For seeing bluntly confirms with the mind what the heart yearns to evade. While he loved to talk about life, about the problems of the world and the country, his experiences, and everything else

Seven green and pro-people tips for GMA's removal

2008-02-17T01:26:00.001+09:00

In light of the current NBN ZTE scandal, environmental activists from Kalikasan PNE offer seven handy tips for the Filipino people to keep in mind. 1.SEGREGATE the truth from lies, especially in the cases of the NBN ZTE, 'Hello Garci' tapes, Jose Pidal, and North Rail scandals, electoral fraud in the 2004 and 2007 polls, the extrajudicial killings of activists, and Presidential Proclamation 1017

Going Green

2007-10-16T00:25:00.001+09:00

(Or my preachy Hallmarky-card contribution for this year's Blog Action Day for the Environment, October 15--it's still 11:26 p.m., so I still beat the deadline! hah!) Last year (or was it two years ago?), green was the new pink in fashion. now there's something green for everything that isn't: black is the new green for web surfers, smokers can rejoice with organic cigarettes. male voyeurs

The Agriculture Ministry is not in charge of Gundam and other random news

2007-10-06T09:55:00.001+09:00

Am sharing some amusing news bits I stumbled upon in the course of surfing for mining-related articles. Enjoy! Wikipedia's one of the best things about the web. I heart Wikipedia! But so did six employees from Japan's Department of Agriculture, who apparently hearted it so much that they spent more office hours on Wiki entries on billboard typos, movies, and Gundam than on administrative

Free Burma Day

2007-10-04T17:39:00.000+09:00

Crayola 101: A Green Philippines

2007-09-30T01:07:00.001+09:00

All the while the ZTE NBN deal was being threshed out in the Senate like it should be, Gloria Arroyo been attempting to pass herself off at the United Nations General Assembly as a topnotcher in three fields where her administration failed miserably: the economy, peace process, and the environment. According to Arroyo, her administration is making headway towards making the Philippines a healthy

Ten Things About Me and the ZTE

2007-09-27T13:33:00.001+09:00

1. Sec. Romulo Neri is making waves without rocking the boat at all! After all the suspense and drum-beating about being "ready to lose his job" on account of appearing before the Senate to testify on the NBN ZTE contract, it was quite lame of him to remain tight-lipped on Gloria Arroyo's involvement in the deal. Sure, Neri dropped a big, stinky pooper right smack on Abalos' head. But he flew

Damage Control, Diversionary Tactics and Dares

2007-09-23T01:12:00.001+09:00

Just when things were beginning to get really exciting, Gloria Arroyo (I refuse to address her as President in this blog. Pwede ba!) backtracks and suspends the national broadband network deal with ZTE. Even the most extreme of morons can see through this diversionary tactic and last-ditch attempt at damage control. By suspending the deal at the last minute, Arroyo and her co-conspirators

Cut the Censorship, Shatter the Silence

2007-09-21T00:49:00.001+09:00

The local Philippine censor's board, the MTRCB, has just given an X rating to a film project calling for the release of abducted (and still-missing) activist Jonas Burgos. Like a third-rate thespian, MTRCB Chairperson Consoliza Laguardia unconvincingly tries to justify this outrightly fascist gesture to the public by saying that the film was "unfair" and "undermining the faith" in the

Software Freedom Day in the Eyes of a Non-Geek

2007-09-20T00:24:00.001+09:00

Last weekend, no thanks to my husband's insistence, I tagged along the Philippine leg for Software Freedom Day in the ASTI Building of the University of the Philippines Diliman. The event was co-organized by the Computer Professionals Union (CPU) et al. I was apprehensive as we approached the ASTI building. Baka naman hindi ako maka-relate pag nandoon na? I'm not a computer geek, much less a

On Erotic Art and Intermittent Blogging

2007-09-16T11:35:00.001+09:00

OOOps. My last entry was over a month ago (bad, bad blogger!). Outside the deadlines and gawain -related schedules in the real world, I realized that most of little free post-dinner time I had last August was instead spent on watching back episodes of Eureka, Meteor Garden, and Rome (i.e. consuming hours of story lines premised on science and imperialism, capitalist conceptions of love, and

A tragic little story and a lesson

2007-07-25T00:19:00.001+09:00

I feel so sad. Our newly-adopted kitten, Neko, has been missing since this morning. Gani woke up to find Neko gone and the door of our laundry area ominously open. Apparently, we forgot to lock it after arriving home from an exhausting day at the SONA rally. While we were sound asleep, Neko must have ventured outside and slipped while navigating the window. The steep drop below runs up to several

Ka Bel freed!

2007-07-18T00:38:00.001+09:00

Finally, something happy to blog about! This is a pathetically overdue post, something that I should have written the hour right after it happened, but didn't (fell asleep right upon reaching home). Anyway, Ka Bel, Crispin Beltran of Anakpawis, was released last July 10 after 16 months of illegal detention by the Arroyo administration. It's about time! Ka Bel, his family and colleagues have

2007-07-13T23:18:00.001+09:00

July 11: It was my father's birthday. And our 30th monthsary :) As with the past six years since Papa passed away, I found myself deliberately keeping busy on that day. I remember planning to write a blog entry the other evening but for some reason didn't. This evening I realized that, ever since putting up this blog two years ago, that I have never written at length about events deeply personal

Painting the Disappeared

2007-07-01T13:52:00.001+09:00

I'm posting a short write-up I did for Yasmin Sison's show The Punky Brewster Session held at mag:net gallery Katipunan from May 24 to June 11 this year (hope the artist and mag:net both don't mind) . In the course of freelance writing for galleries, I guess there are times when some art works are personally striking (and exciting) in a significant way: not only in terms of exquisite visuals

Yesterday's Roundup: Of Music and Mining

2007-06-26T12:02:00.001+09:00

Gans and I attended a professorial lecture by Dr. Jonas Baes of the UP College of Music yesterday. Normally, I don't get to drop by similar events due to our respective schedules at Kalikasan, but this one was different. It was about the life and music of Jonas' elder brother, Dr. Aloysius "Ochie" Baes. Ochie died last December. We knew him mostly as a scientist (AGHAM founding member!), an

Creativity in Context and an Experiment

2007-06-25T10:16:00.001+09:00

Here's something I wrote last week for an exhibit at the Intellectual Property (IP) Phils, a government office whose purpose for existence, correct me if I'm wrong, revolves around the processing of patents, copyrights, and trademarks. They set up a spacious gallery at the first floor of the IP building, called the Alab Art Space. Since its located at the lobby of the building, fronting the

Free Ka Bel NOW!

2007-06-02T12:43:00.001+09:00

It's about time! Yesterday the Supreme Court thumbed down the rebellion charges against the six progressive solons. In a strongly yet lucidly-worded 21-page decision, the SC finally affirmed what Atty. Romeo Capulong, Ka Bel, and the Batasan 5 have been saying all along, over and over again, for the past fifteen months: that the charges of rebellion by the Arroyo administration and the

Down Under For Sure

2007-05-29T04:19:00.001+09:00

As if one mining disaster by an Australian-owned firm in the Philippines weren't enough! This time, President Arroyo plans to woo bigger and more mining projects during her upcoming trip to Australia. Among the firms that she'll be meeting up with is BHP Billiton, the world's largest mining company whose main headquarters is located in Melbourne. Compared to Lafayette Mining, that junior

I'm A Bear

2007-05-27T23:47:00.001+09:00

PV of Boku wa Kuma (I'm a Bear) by Utada Hikaru. I am a bear bear bear bear I am not a car bear bear bear I can't walk but I can danceI can't talk but I can sing I am a bear bear bear bear.

Blurbs and Saving Sally

2007-05-23T00:27:00.001+09:00

I'm reposting excerpts from something I've written for a friend's thesis, which chronicles the production of an independent animated Filipino film Saving Sally. It has a simple but well thought-out story, wonderfully-rendered visuals, and an (ongoing) production period so bloody that all of the young artists involved in this collective project probably deserve a state citation for slugging it out

Birthing women artists

2007-05-13T15:02:00.001+09:00

(Published in Issue No. 6 of Ctrl+P. To access the entire contents, please visit http://www.hotlinkfiles.com/files/17531_lzsdc/Ctrl_P_AnniversaryIssue6.pdf) Birthing women artists: Norma Liongoren and the Walong Filipina exhibition For 17 years, the annual Walong Filipina (Eight Filipinas) exhibition of the Liongoren Gallery has collectively shown the works of close to a hundred women

Cinekalikasan 1.1. (The test run)

2007-04-04T19:41:00.000+09:00

In anticipation of Earth Day 2007 You are invited to CineKalikasan 1.1Environmental film screening at mag:net Katipunan April 10, 2007 (Tuesday) 5:30 – 7 PM Mag:net Gallery and Café AGCOR Building , 335 Katipunan Ave. (fronting Miriam and Ateneo), Quezon City Cinekalikasan is a project initiated by Kalikasan People's Network for the Environment (Kalikasan-PNE)

Starstruck by Satur

2007-04-04T17:12:00.000+09:00

Ka Satur is finally free! Albeit temporarily. But what the heck, it's still a victory. On the right is a snapshot of him taken a few hours after his release, during the solidarity night of the Week of Rice Action 2007 Philippines forum on the environmental, health, and economic effects of genetically-engineered rice. S.O. dropped by to thank the delegates, partake of the modest (rice-based)

The Volcano's Children

2007-04-04T17:00:00.000+09:00

Exhibit notes for Walong Filipina: Daragang Magayon March 30 - April 21, 2007 Liongoren Gallery There resides a devastating beauty in Mt. Mayon's gentle slopes and smouldering facade: how it possesses the capacity to evoke the most serene and picturesque scenery on one day and bring about wanton and terrible destruction on another. These intertwined realities make the will to