Monday, December 08, 2025
9:30 AM |
Seeing Richard Brody Typing on an External Keyboard
I’m watching Marshall Curry’s documentary, The New Yorker at 100, and I see film critic Richard Brody working on an external keyboard because his MacAir keyboard has stopped working. I felt this, hahaha.Labels: criticism, documentaries, film, magazines, new york, people, writers, writing
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Monday, January 27, 2025
7:48 PM |
Gloria Romero [1933-2025]
She was probably the one movie legend familiar to most Filipinos, given that her career spanned decades, and she never left the industry, and her face was always up there on our silver screens, beguiling us with her presence. She was probably the first movie star I knew to be a movie star, from my introduction to her through grainy black and white movies shown on the regular on RPN 9 in the 1980s, to her elderly patrician figure in contemporary movies in the years since then. I genuinely wish I was more familiar with her filmography, but most of her earlier films are gone. Labels: film, obituary, people
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Friday, December 20, 2024
3:38 PM |
St. Luigi Patron Saint of Health Care as Human Right
Labels: health, human rights, humor, murder, people
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Wednesday, November 13, 2024
9:08 PM |
The Dumaguete Chill
Things non-Dumagueteños should learn about doing events in the city:
[1] No one will answer your emails. The best way to get in touch with anyone is through Messenger. [Not even Viber!]
[2] We live by doing everything last minute. If we plan too much ahead, things will not happen.
[3] It’s a small city but we rarely see each other.
[4] Don’t fret about only having three people register through your officials channels, and you’re scared about nobody showing up. A good audience, seemingly out of nowhere, will arrive on the very day itself. Same with ticket sales. Everyone buys tickets on the day itself.
[5] The event will almost always go well, nonetheless.
This is just how things go in Dumaguete.
Labels: dumaguete, life, people
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Sunday, November 03, 2024
Tonight, we celebrated Dessa Quesada-Palm's 60th birthday, in a lovely dinner and program with her friends of a lifetime at Essencia — and it was, to be honest, one of the most meaningful birthday celebrations I have ever come to witness. By the end of it, I was teary-eyed [and I never usually get teary-eyed at birthdays]. In occasions such as this, it's usual to have birthday greetings and speeches dedicated to the celebrator, but in the hands of a consummate theater artist like Dessa, each speech came at suitable intervals in a perfectly directed biographical narrative [with a good Powerpoint show to guide everyone]. And each speech was given by a perfectly handpicked friend or family representing an aspect or a major episode in Dessa's fruitful life — from her days as a member of the Quesada household [speech by sister Mae Quesada-Medina], from her life with PETA [speech by film director Avic Ilagan], from her days studying in New York [speech by composer Lerrick Santos], from early days in Dumaguete doing theatre workshops with the Divinity School [speech by Jean Cuanan-Nalam], from her almost two decades of mentoring YATTA [speech by Mellard Chiong Manogura], and from her love life [speech by her husband Colby Palm], interspersed with a monologue from Dessa's play Rape Buzz performed by Mayumi Maghuyop, improv comedy from the YATTA OGs Hope Tinambacan, Junsly Kitay, and Nikki Cimafranca, and music with the Quiz Family Singers, and the trio of Sharon Dadang-Rafols, Jean Nalam, and Dessa herself. At the end, she considered everyone in attendance and how each one has come to mean something significant in her life [it is at this point that I would finally break down and cry], and ended the evening with a song that she uses as her answer to the question: “What makes a meaningful life?”
Mother, you make 60 look fabulous. You have touched so many lives, and thank you for making Dumaguete your home, and the base of your theatrical gifts.
Labels: birthday, friends, people, theatre
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Monday, September 09, 2024
And I feel a bit sad. Yesterday was the last exhibition day of the
EDDIE ROMERO MEMORABILIA EXHIBIT, which I curated for the National Museum of the Philippines, with F Jordan Carnice.
It was an honor to work for this exhibit, and we have so many people to be thankful for: the
Romero family, especially,
Joey Romero; everyone at the
National Commission for Culture and the Arts, especially
Lou Izabelle Danganan; everyone at the
Robert and Metta Silliman University Library, especially
Sarah Angiela Ragay; everyone at the
Dumaguete City Tourism Office, especially
Katherine Aguilar; and last but not the least, everyone at the
National Museum of the Philippines Dumaguete, especially
Shi Mei Estimada [and a huge shoutout to
Mark Anthony Singson who assembled all the panels!].
Thank you to everybody who came to see the exhibit!
Labels: dumaguete, exhibits, film, people, thanksgiving
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Saturday, July 27, 2024
4:17 PM |
July's Most Hated
If you’re keeping count and are chronically online, socialite Cat Arambulo-Antonio’s merry excursion through the floods that has recently engulfed Manila is probably the third incident that has caused much Internet pile-up this July. This is not including the usual disdain we regularly dish out for our elected officials—including the Vice President’s ill-advised and quick-as-lightning departure for Germany in the throes of Typhoon Carina, which begged the question: was the trip for a “medical emergency,” or a Taylor Swift concert? All the while, the capital drowns in another devastating flood that has not seen any reprieve in the hundred years or so we’ve been a modern republic.
And in the immediate aftermath of that flood, we get a now-deleted TikTok video where Ms. Arambulo-Antonio films herself and her family, safe in the warmth and safety of their car as the vehicle wades through the murk. They look around and witness the flood, and she makes light of it by indulging her children’s imagination of the whole thing as a kind of thrill park ride, discusses making a “floaty,” and wondering aloud: “Safe kaya mag-floaty dyan, yaya?”—in a register so tone-deaf, it enraged almost everyone who saw that TikTok.
On the one hand, you cannot fault the socialite for what is perhaps her genuine thrill and wonderment at comprehending such a flood with her children, and indulging their imaginative takes. On the other hand, what transpired is a perfect example of how the privileged can be so tone-deaf to the devastations facing a country, marking once more the inevitable truth of our vast social divides. The truism is that the elites of this country simply live in a different world compared to the rest of us—which is why they cannot be bothered to see for real the depths of the problems that face us. Many online commenters were quick to draw a parallel to the Oscar-winning Korean film Parasite, specifically noting the scene where the rich wife rides at the back of her chauffeured car and talking to a friend on the phone about how wonderfully blue the sky was because of the heavy rain that happened the night before. Unbeknownst to her, her chauffeur, who is listening in with a tired face, had just gone through hell with his family, the rain having flooded out their basement home. In that immediate parallel, Parasite was savage in its messaging about how the rich and the poor truly live worlds apart—even if they share the same patch of earth. Ms. Arambulo-Antonio’s excursion through the flood was the real life version of that Parasite scene—and the Internet bit back. But this wasn’t Ms. Arambulo-Antonio’s first time at this rodeo: right at the very start of the pandemic, in March 2020, she was roundly castigated online for calling quarantine violators “motherfuckers,” and wondering aloud why they couldn’t just stay at home. She filmed herself saying this while enjoying her lavish garden at home—and the online world hit back by saying those “quarantine violators” did not have her privilege and luxury of surviving the lockdown, and they had to go out simply because they had to find ways to live. She subsequently apologized, and vanished from our consciousness—only to be vilified once more for this new flood video.
I cannot help but wonder: maybe she should just stop filming herself?
What is this TikTok mentality that has become a disease for many of us? I know academically the answers of course—but the actual demonstration of this need to document ourselves in our panopticon of a world girded with social media is really something else. We are so inured to this predisposition to film or post everything we do online that we have lost the ability to distinguish what is right or wrong. We have become blind. Everything has been flattened to “content,” to engender likes and views, that we often post things without realizing they will show us in the most unflattering light.
Do you remember that person who posted on Facebook about wanting to buy bread at a certain store, and then upon finding that it was unmanned [the staff had to take a CR break], proceeded to take what she wanted, and posted on Facebook a promise to pay the vendor? Her intention for her post was to call out the vendor for leaving the store unmanned, and probably felt the public would recognize that and sympathize with her. But the Internet clapped back by telling her that what she did was actually theft.
Do you remember that theatregoer who wanted to demonize Lea Salonga for not being gracious in her reception of their visit to her dressing room, and posted about it online—only to be widely castigated for invading her much-needed privacy, and for dropping names to gain unwarranted access to backstage?
This is what I mean by blindness to what is right or wrong—as long as we are able to post about it online. Right around the beginning of July, in the aftermath of San Juan City’s Wattah Wattah Festival of June 24, a video of a certain Boy Dila—real name Lexter Castro—surfaced. He had filmed himself pranking passersby by dousing them heavily with water, all in the name of local tradition. The prankster in the video was clearly delighted in his misdeeds—the mischief in his eyes sparkled, the devil-may-care sneer taunted. He was showing off for content—and even when all of the Internet came after him, he was defiant, absolutely glowing in his newfound notoriety. Days later, taken into police custody, he would sport a different face, of course: broken, reprimanded, lost.
But there is also another side to this: the relentless online lynch mob that happens to people like Castro, or Arambulo-Antonio. In Castro’s case, the boy and his family received a flood of death threats. The online mob also castigated him with choice punishments—including inundating his address with food orders and packages amounting to thousands of pesos his family clearly could not pay.
This has become so much a part of our contemporary reality that we know have a term for this: “online public shaming” or OPS, which political philosophers Guy Aitchison and Saladin Meckled-Garcia have described as “a form of norm enforcement that involves collectively imposing reputational costs on a person for having a certain kind of moral character.”
Which brings me to a moral quandary: in online public shaming, whose sins are bigger? The original offender, or the lynch mob that calls for their total reputational annihilation? I have no answers.
This brings me to the latest object of online public shaming: the writer and host Jude Bacalso of Cebu City. Everyone by now knows the details of the scandalous story. On July 21 around 6 PM, according to original Facebook poster John Calderon, Bacalso—who identifies as a transgendered woman—had retaliated against a waiter in a restaurant in Ayala Center Cebu, simply because the staff had called Bacalso “sir.” According to Calderon, Bacalso made the waiter stand in front of him for two hours, caused distressed among the rest of the staff, and snidely deflected all efforts by Calderon and his mother to find out what exactly happened. By the time Calderon intervened, the waiter was in tears and Bacalso had left the premises.
The optics were not good. A person of privilege terrorizing a member of the working class. What’s worse: there were photos and videos taken of the standoff, with Bacalso seated firmly while the waiter stood in front of him, the very picture of class dynamics at play. Words are one thing; incriminating images are totally another thing—and the Internet went wild with memes, some funny, some approaching gutter sensibility.
Bacalso soon after released a statement signifying that communication has been established with the restaurant owners and that the matter has been settled. She also pointed out misconceptions in Calderon’s original post, but also voiced out an apology: “I … realized that in the impassioned pursuit of my advocacy, I could have done with a little measure of kindness, sadly quite absent in the ruckus this has all unnecessarily created when it was made public without our knowledge.” She has remained silent since then.
But in the hours and days that followed, the whole of the country, and not just Cebu, became an online lynch mob, even celebrities imparted their own two cents, from Ogie Diaz to MJ Lastimosa to Rosanna Roces, who called Bacalso “ugly.” Some, like KaladKaren, were more measured: “Oftentimes, people don’t mean to offend you,” KaladKaren wrote on Facebook. “Nalilito lang talaga sila. Tinawag kang ma’am or sir because they want to show respect. If you don’t agree with how you are addressed, it is up to you to correct it. If you show them respect, respeto din ang ibabalik sa iyo. Pero syempre, may iba rin naman talagang gustong mambastos at ibang usapan na iyon… Sadly, not everybody is 100% aware of how to use the right pronouns. As members of the community, I believe it is our responsibility to educate others about this. We have to let them understand the importance of using the right pronouns for every SOGIE. But educate properly. People commit mistakes; I do too.”
A dummy account was soon set up, impersonating a ravaged Bacalso calling out everyone spitefully for their attempts at her persecution. An FB events page was also set up to “schedule,” at the very restaurant the incident happened, the canonization of Bacalso as a “saint.” Videos of people singing variations of The Beatles’ “Hey Jude” sprang everywhere, the lyrics detailing their condemnation. In Paris, someone visited Disneyland and filmed themselves calling a mascot dressed as the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland, “Sir Jude.” In fact, “sir” became the byword for the lynch mob. The word repeated ad infinitum became the most popular comment made on Bacalso’s Facebook page and elsewhere.
Bacalso’s reputation, of course, is the foremost target. Suddenly, all that she has worked is at stake. She is a multi-hyphenate: a molecular biologist, a teacher, a radio and TV broadcaster, a stage actress, a writer, and a very popular host. She also runs a restaurant named Executive Restobar in Lahug. Most of these occupations rest on good reputation—thus the question now becomes: will Bacalso survive this? I’ve been the object of online lynch mobs twice in recent years: once in the early years of the Duterte regime, and once in the aftermath of the 2022 elections. All that I did in my life did not matter at all for the lynch mob. So I know what it feels like to be diminished. In the eyes of the mob, everything you have achieved in life does not matter at all.
But as a gay man myself, I was also horrified by the unleashing of such virulent homophobia and transphobia online—some even coming from my own friends, and some even coming from other gay men I know. What Bacalso did felt very much like a variation of the Streisand Effect, which Wikipedia defines as “an unintended consequence of attempts to hide, remove, or censor information, where the effort instead increases public awareness of the information.” (The effect is named for Barbra Streisand who attempted in 2003 to suppress the publication of a photograph showing her clifftop residence in Malibu, which was taken to document coastal erosion in California, citing privacy issues. But her desire to hide photos of her house instead made these even more popular and widely disseminated.) Here, in Bacalso’s case, we find her trying to educate people she encounters about trans issues (specifically in addressing her with what she considers as the proper gendered terms), but she has instead singlehandedly created a massive anti-trans movement among Filipinos instead. Truth, the bigotry was probably always there for sure, but hidden. But she awakened it.
On a personal level, I’ve had my own encounter with Bacalso. We share a lot of common friends. We were introduced once, and I remember her just looking me at me, down and up, and then pretending I wasn’t there. I took that like water off a duck’s back, because I thought: “You can’t expect everyone to like you”—and her not liking me did not at all affect my life in any significant way. Later on, in the aftermath of July 21, there would be more stories unleashed about how Bacalso have treated a variety of people in the most “hampas lupa” way—and that’s when I decided that what was going on, especially at the very core of it, was beyond gender issue or class issue: it was about being a good human being.
Be kind.
Try to be good.
Be self-aware.
But above all, also remember that being a good human being also entails not being a transphobe or a homophobe. Just because somebody is an asshole doesn’t give you an excuse to be an asshole yourself.
Labels: internet, issues, people, psychology
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Sunday, July 14, 2024
9:00 AM |
Searching for Outstanding Dumagueteños
Twenty-five years ago, on 23 November 1998, sixteen individuals from all walks of life in Dumaguete City were recognized for their immense contributions to its history, culture, and heritage, in celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the charter of Dumaguete. This was the first and [until this year] the only time such a recognition was undertaken by the LGU.
The programme for that recognition night at the Claire Isabel McGill Luce Auditorium noted that “a span of fifty years is an indelible mark in [Dumaguete’s] history… an event we cannot ignore as a city and as a people.” It spoke of those fifty years as a time when Dumagueteños, as a people, “metamorphosed into a community of diverse talents, people desirous to break free from the clutches of economic difficulties, hopeful, patient, prayerful, peaceful, and persistent.”
The sixteen awardees of that Golden Anniversary celebration were divided into two categories: the Outstanding Dumagueteño Awardees, who were living recipients, and the Heritage Awardees, who were posthumous recipients—and all were chosen by the Awards Committee, led by Prof. Carlos Magtolis Jr., based on the criteria of personal qualities and character; demonstrated competence in their field and impact on the community; and professional or community involvement outside of their area of responsibility.
The Heritage Awardees included Canuto “Cate” V. Villariza, “for [being] the composer of ‘Dumaguete [Do You Hear Me Calling?],’ adopted as the official Dumaguete City Song in a Sangguniang Panglungsod Resolution dated January 1993”; Jose “Tatang” Garcia, “for [being] the doctor who rendered the best service to his country and to his people, with numerous residents of the city [becoming] recipients of his healing touch as he endeavored to uplift the quality of life of the people and the health care in hospitals”; Ma. Concepcion M. Roble, “for [being] the Dean of the [Silliman University] College of Nursing and Hospital Nursing Director, [who] nurtured her students into understanding the more humane aspects of nursing care, leaving behind her a brand of professionalism and commitment to service”; Vicente G. Sinco, “for [being] the founder and first President of Foundation University, [recognized] for his consuming vision and undaunted determination to reach out and provide the widest possible choice of career opportunities for the citizens of Dumaguete City and Negros Oriental”; Dioscoro S. Rabor, “for [being] known as ‘the living museum’ and ‘the bird man of the Philippines,’ and is best remembered in Dumaguete for his pioneering work with birds and mammals, prompting Silliman University to confer on him an honorary doctorate degree in Science”; Martin “Ting” Matiao, “for [opening] trade opportunities through his copra trading, and [for putting] up a transport business which facilitated the mobility of Dumagueteños, thereby easing travel within the island, [thus] because of his dedication to community service, he helped many families' dreams come true, and touched countless lives”; and Ramon Fernandez Ponce de Leon, “for [founding] the Philippine Red Cross Dumaguete City Chapter, where he was chair for more than forty years, performing exemplary service as medical director of the then Mission Hospital during the war, unmindful of the threats on lives posed by the Japanese invaders.”
The Outstanding Dumagueteño Awardees included Mariant Escaño Villegas for her contribution to arts and culture “as founder of MEV Dance Studio, where she provided the standard of excellence in classical ballet, placing Dumaguete in the art and culture map of the country”; Obdulia S. Tangente, for her contribution to civic affairs and “for her deep commitment to uplift the status of the less privileged, [which] prompted her to actively get involved with more meaningful activities of various socio-civic organizations”; Agapito L. Cang, for his contribution to economic development and “for being a truly homegrown Christian businessman, who lived his faith in his dealings with family, customers, employees, and friends”; Caridad Aldecoa-Rodriguez, for her contribution to education and “for pioneering the writing of the history of Dumaguete City and Negros Oriental and [providing] the present and future generations a clearer understanding of our past as a people”; Justice Venancio D. Aldecoa Jr., for his contribution to government service and “for [bringing] pride and joy to the community by being the first Justice of the Appellate Court coming from Dumaguete City, and observing the highest essence of integrity and morality in public service”; Angel C. Alcala, for his contribution to science and technology and “for [bringing] prestige and honor to Dumaguete City by being recognized as an international expert in marine biology, earning him the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award, and a seat in the cabinet of the President of the country”; Dionisio “Bob” R. Flores, for his contribution to sports and athletics and “for [making] an indelible contribution in the development of local athletes for them to reach national and international competitions, earning for them and for the city honor and glory for striving to reach the excellence in sports, particularly archery”; and Norma C. Ybañez, for her contribution to women and development and “for [helping] a great deal in stirring the consciousness of this community toward gender sensitivity, and the protection of women and children against domestic violence.”
Senator Lorenzo G. Teves was the recipient of a Special Golden Anniversary Award for “sponsoring the law which converted Dumaguete into a chartered city on 24 November 1948.”
The then living recipients and the families of the posthumous awardees were celebrated by then City Mayor Felipe Antonio Remollo.
This year, in time for Dumaguete’s Diamond Jubilee celebration of its city charter, Mayor Remollo once again helms the awards ceremony, slated on 23 November 2024—this time widening the net for consideration, and honoring 75 individuals and institutions—the number taking note of the 75th anniversary—who have, over the years, contributed to the greatness and progress of Dumaguete City.
The Diamond Jubilee Awards Committee is led by Atty. Mikhail Lee L. Maxino, with Vice-Chairs Dr. Earl Jude Paul Cleope [Silliman University], Dr. Noel Marjon E. Yasi [Negros Oriental State University], Dr. Charlotte V. Cariño [Foundation University], Sr. Helen Malubay, SPC [St. Paul University Dumaguete], and Dr. Juditha O. Mapue [Department of Education Dumaguete City Division]. Diamond Jubilee Executive Chair Dr. Dinno T. Depositario and Executive Vice-Chairs Ms. Katherine Therese N. Aguilar and Asst. Prof. Ian Rosales Casocot are ex-officio members of the committee.
They will select fifteen individuals and/or institutions to fall under the following categories: LEADERS AND STATESPERSONS [which includes politicians, diplomats, revolutionaries, community leaders, and civic reform leaders]; ARTISTS AND ENTERTAINERS [which includes literary writers, translators, painters and sculptors, designers and illustrators, dancers and choreographers, musicians and composers, actors, directors, filmmakers, singers and other performers, architects, fashion designers, game designers, gallerists, culinary artists, librarians, and culture and heritage workers]; BUILDERS AND TITANS [which includes businessmen, moguls, founders and creators and innovators of industry, labor leaders, and sports leaders]; SCIENTISTS AND THINKERS [which includes pure scientists and researchers, environmentalists, mathematicians, medical technologists, inventors, philosophers, anthropologists, sociologists, and historians]; and HEROES AND ICONS [which includes war veterans, athletes and sports personalities, clergy and evangelists and missionaries, community reformers, human rights and other social advocates, educators, farmers, and people of singular and unclassifiable achievements and renown]. The categories is for the sake of balance in the fields of specialization or area of responsibility, but the Awards Committee is free to interpret and to designate what category a nominee will fall into.
The nominees for the award must have brought honor and prestige to the City of Dumaguete through outstanding performance in one’s field of specialization or area of responsibility; unquestioned integrity; and exemplary lifestyle and conduct as evidenced by the respect and high regard of family, friends, associates, and the general public. The nominees need not be born in Dumaguete City, but they must have spent a considerable number of years in residence in the city, or have spent a good portion of their professional lives in the city. Post-humous nominations are accepted.
The deadline for nominations is 31 July 2024.
The nomination portfolio can be obtained from the Dumaguete City Tourism Office at the City Hall Compound along Calle Sta. Catalina, or requested via email at visitdumaguetecity@gmail.com. Nomination portfolios may be submitted via email.
The nomination portfolio must also include a consent form to be accomplished by living nominees for their names to be considered for the nomination. [Post-humous nominations require a consent form from the family of the deceased.] If there is no consent, the nomination will be withdrawn. All parts of the nomination portfolio must be completed.
The Awards Committee reserves the right to refuse a nomination based on incomplete forms. It also retains the right to consider individuals not nominated in the public call. Individuals nominated by members of the committee need not have nomination forms, but the Secretariat will endeavor to complete the same requirement in behalf of the committee.
A shortlist of 150 potential awardees will be considered by August 2024. From that shortlist, the Awards Committee will make the final list of 75 awardees before 1 October 2024. The announcement of the 75 Outstanding Dumagueteño Awardees will be posted by LGU Dumaguete on 1 October 2024.
All living awardees must be present on the awarding day, set on 23 November 2024, to be able to receive their award, except for those with compelling reasons not to be present. They will be given a medallion, a plaque, and P10,000, plus other special awards to be determined by LGU Dumaguete. The decision of the Awards Committee will be final, and sent to the Dumaguete City Mayor for approval.
Who will join the sixteen individuals honored in 1998?
Send in your nominations now.
Labels: awards, diamond jubilee, dumaguete, people
[0] This is Where You Bite the Sandwich
Sunday, July 07, 2024
9:00 AM |
Eddie Romero: A Life
Today, July 7, is the 100th birth anniversary of Dumaguete filmmaker and National Artist for Cinema and Broadcast Arts Eddie Romero. In celebration of this milestone, Dumaguete City has geared up for a series of events—including lectures and film screenings, and by the afternoon of Sunday, also an unveiling of his bust at the Old Presidencia grounds and an exhibit of his memorabilia. The commemoration is sponsored by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, together with the Dumaguete City Tourism Office, Silliman University Culture and Arts Council, Robert and Metta Silliman University Library, Foundation University, Society of Filipino Archivists for Film, FPJ Archives, ABS-CBN Sagip Pelikula, and the National Museum of the Philippines–Dumaguete.
Edgar Sinco Romero, better known as the filmmaker Eddie Romero, was born on 7 July 1924 in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental. He was the only child born to José E. Romero, a congressman, Secretary of Education, and the first Philippine Ambassador to the Court of St. James in the United Kingdom, to his first wife Pilar Guzman Sinco, a school teacher, who died in childbirth in 1927. His father would later have seven other children with his second wife Elisa Zuñiga Villanueva.
Romero grew up in a family that valued education, public service, and cultural enrichment, and in a city which provided a rich cultural environment that would deeply influence Romero’s artistic vision. Romero’s early education at the Dumaguete Elementary School and at Silliman University High School proved to be formative. Silliman University, known for fostering intellectual and artistic growth, was where Romero first encountered the diverse cultural influences that would shape his worldview. The vibrant academic and cultural community of Dumaguete, with its emphasis on literature, arts, and progressive ideas, left an indelible mark on the young Romero.
He began writing stories as early as seven or eight years old, and published his first short story at the age of twelve. One of his better-known short stories, “Oh, Johnny, Oh,” published in the 25 May 1940 issue of the Philippines Free Press, when he was only sixteen years old, revealed a young man reveling under the grit and thrill of film noir—and helped garner attention to his storytelling abilities by the film director Gerardo de Leon, who would also become National Artist for Cinema.
In his adult years, Romero’s life experiences instilled in him a profound understanding of conflict, resilience, and the human condition—themes that would later permeate his films, from the golden age of Philippine cinema in the 1940s and 1950s, to the Hollywood B-movie heydays in the 1960s and 1970s, and to the second golden age of Philippine cinema in the 1970s and 1980s.
According to IMDB, he directed 65 titles, wrote 49, and produced 23. His career spanned more than six decades, leaving an indelible mark on the Philippine and international cinema. His first foray into filmmaking was a script he wrote for the film Ang Maestra, directed by Gerardo de Leon in 1941. Anecdotally, he wrote the screenplay in English—considering his upbringing and education at Silliman University in Dumaguete—with the production translating his text to Tagalog.
After World War II, he helmed his first film, Ang Kamay ng Diyos in 1947, and soon emerged as a versatile filmmaker, adept at both commercial and critically acclaimed productions, and was particularly known for directing films starring the popular tandem of Pancho Magalona and Tita Duran, including Always: Kay Ganda Mo and Sa Piling Mo, both released in 1949.
That same year, his father was appointed as the first Philippine Ambassador to the Court of St. James in the United Kingdom by President Elpidio Quirino, and the young Eddie took the opportunity to join his family in London, apparently abandoning what was already a fast-rising career as a film director. In his recollections, he would consider these years as his “lost years,” when he grappled existentially with the possibility of pursuing further a career in the movie industry. But he also used these years in London to educate himself in world cinema, making acquaintances with such directors as David Lean, Karel Reisz, and Roberto Rossellini, and becoming familiar with the work of Yasujiro Ozu, whose film techniques he admired.
After he returned to the Philippines in 1951, Romero went on to direct films for Sampaguita and Lebran. He began directing mainstream films once more, including several adaptations of popular komiks such as Barbaro (1952) and El Indio (1953). He helmed two more Pancho Magalona and Tita Duran films, Kasintahan sa Pangarap (1951) and Ang Ating Pag-ibig (1953), and then directed the first Filipino movie to win an award at the Asian Film Festival, Ang Asawa Kong Americana (1953). He also produced and directed Buhay Alamang (1952), which he adapted from a stage play by his mentor Gerardo de Leon.
By the end of the 1950s, he would enter his second chapter as a filmmaker. He set his eyes on international productions, sensing seismic changes in the local film industry that would see most of its major studios closing shop by the 1960s. He began directing B-movies, mostly action fares and World War II extravaganzas, for Hollywood. This includes Day of the Trumpet (1957), Man on the Run (1958), Terror is a Man (1959), Raiders of Leyte Gulf (1962), Lost Battalion (1961), The Walls of Hell (1964, co-directed with Gerardo de Leon), and Manila: Open City (1968).
Romero would later venture to the more profitable horror genre, starting in 1964 with Moro Witch Doctor, and continued with Mad Doctor of Blood Island (1968), Beast of Blood (1970), Beast of the Yellow Night (1971), The Twilight People (1972), and Savage Sisters (1974). He produced many of these for his own outfit, Hemisphere Pictures, including the “Blood Island” series, which he would later describe as “the worst things I ever did.” Some of these films were made in collaboration with Roger Corman’s New World Pictures, which was known for its commercially successful run of Hollywood B-movies. Romero’s Black Mama, White Mama (1973), a blaxtaploitation/women-in-chains film starring Pam Grier, has since become a cult classic favorite. He also worked with Jack Nicholson, who starred in the films Flight to Fury and Back Door to Hell, both of which he produced in 1964.
His 1966 film The Passionate Strangers, produced by the American actor Michael Parsons and co-written with fellow Sillimanians Cesar Jalandoni Amigo and Reuben Canoy, was Romero’s first film to use Negros Oriental as a backdrop. The film noir-tinged drama, about murder and labor unrest in a small Filipino town with an American-owned factory at the center of it all, uses Dumaguete and nearby towns as significant settings for the story. This experience would lead him to film the entirety of his pre-colonial epic fantasy Kamakalawa in Negros Oriental in 1981.
Kamakalawa would come after a string of critically-acclaimed films he made starting in the mid-1970s, when he transitioned once more from his focus on international productions to a new focus on Filipino stories, challenged by the cinematic fare that directors such as Lino Brocka and Ishmael Bernal were bringing to the world stage. He was also increasingly conscious of his legacy as a Filipino filmmaker, and thus made an effort to return to artier fare. He began this pivotal period by writing and directing Ganito Kami Noon...Paano Kayo Ngayon? (1976), following a young man confronted with the idea of being a Filipino, an epic that remains one of his most celebrated works. The film, set against the backdrop of the Philippine Revolution against Spain, showcased Romero’s ability to blend historical context with personal stories and national yearnings, earning him the prestigious FAMAS Award for Best Director.
While he would direct two more films for the B-market in Hollywood, and famously was part of the production of Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now in 1980, this part in his filmmaking career allowed him to pursue more serious and artistic fares, including such personal films as Sinong Kapiling? Sinong Kasiping? (1977), Banta ng Kahapon (1977), and Hari sa Hari, Lahi sa Lahi (1987). But many critics consider his crowning achievement to be Aguila (1980), an epic that traverses several generations of a Filipino family through several socio-political upheavals in the country, and starring the legendary Fernando Poe Jr. In the later years of his career, Romero turned to television and gave the world the critically-acclaimed adaptation of Jose Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere, a major television series that aired in 1993.
Romero’s immense contributions to Philippine cinema and broadcast arts have been recognized by many award-giving bodies, including the Luna Awards of the Film Academy of the Philippines (FAP), the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS), Gawad Urian, the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF), the Catholic Mass Media Awards (CMMA), among several others.
In 2003, Eddie Romero was conferred the award of the Order of National Artists, the highest national recognition given to Filipino individuals who have made significant contributions to the development of Philippine arts. This accolade was a fitting tribute to a career marked by innovation, dedication, and an unwavering commitment to storytelling. Romero’s films are characterized by their rich narratives, complex characters, and a profound understanding of the human condition. Throughout his career, Romero remained a visionary, constantly evolving and adapting to the changing cinematic landscape.
He married Carolina Gonzalez of Pangasinan in 1948. He had three children: Jose “Joey" Romero IV, Ancel Edgar, and Leo John. Joey Romero would later follow in his father’s footsteps, becoming a noted filmmaker in his own right.
His passing on 28 May 2013, at the age of 88, marked the end of an era in Philippine cinema, but his legacy continues to inspire. Romero was not just a filmmaker but a storyteller of unparalleled depth, whose life and work remain a testament not only to the entertainment industry but also to the rich cultural heritage of the Philippines. [With contribution from F. Jordan Carnice]
Labels: art and culture, dumaguete, film, people, philippine cinema
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Monday, March 04, 2024
1:21 AM |
Jaclyn Jose, 1964-2024.
What a loss. I hope she makes it to the Oscar In Memoriam, if only to commemorate her Cannes Best Actress win in 2016. [But that's not likely, sigh.]
Labels: film, obituary, people
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Saturday, March 02, 2024
11:58 AM |
David Bordwell, 1947-2024
All film enthusiasts/film students have their edition of
Film Art. This was mine in college, and I still have it. RIP, David Bordwell.
Labels: books, film, obituary, people
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Tuesday, April 25, 2023
10:33 PM |
Harry Belafonte [1927-2023]
The thing I most admire about Harry Belafonte was his capacity to walk away, even when movie stardom was at hand, and did not make movies in the 1960s for reasons that curtailed his principles, choosing only to come back in 1972. He was also a popular singer, but he soon chose not to make music either for similar reasons. But the one thing he never shied away from was his activism in the civil rights movement. He knew when to let go, and why to stay. Rest in peace, Harry Belafonte [1927-2023].
Labels: film, music, obituary, people
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Wednesday, February 01, 2023
11:32 PM |
National Scientist Angel C. Alcala, 1929~2023
He was many things to different people: teacher, researcher, biologist, university president, environmentalist, DENR head honcho, family man. For colleagues and mentees, he was a relentless driving force that compelled them to reach the highest aspirations in research and publication, and as Dr. Laurie Raymundo declared in her memories of the man: “He was difficult, demanding, and exacting and he taught me that nothing less than the best you can do is acceptable.” He was also an icon, and for many people in Dumaguete, where he lived since his student days in Silliman University, he was a figure of local pride: a National Scientist.
Angel Chua Alcala was born on 1 March 1929 in Cauayan, Negros Occidental to Crescenciana Chua and Porfirio Alcala, and grew up in the small coastal barrio of Caliling, working alongside his father who worked as a fisherman at the nearby agricultural fish ponds, supplying milkfish to the local community. Regarding the sea as refuge and resource was a huge part of his upbringing, and probably fostered a lifelong passion for biology. He attended Kabankalan Academy, and moved to Dumaguete to earn a degree in biology from Silliman University from where he graduated, magna cum laude, in 1951. He then declined acceptance to the University of the Philippines College of Medicine in order to assist his family financially by going to work. He began teaching at his alma mater not long after, and occasionally assisted in biological fieldwork for Sidney Dillon Ripley and Dioscoro Rabor. In 1953, they collected the only known specimen of the Negros fruit dove.
While teaching at the Biology Department, Alcala would meet Walter C. Brown, a professor at Stanford University who came to Silliman University on a Fulbright fellowship. Brown took Acala under his wing, and they worked together on several biology publications, went on numerous field trips, and collected data for research. Brown helped Alcala begin his groundbreaking work on herpetology, which is concerned with the study of amphibians and reptiles. Together, they became the authors of “Observations on the Amphibians of the Mount Halcon and Mount Canlaon Areas,” a paper published in the 1955 edition of the Silliman Journal.
Alcala was granted a Fulbright/Smith-Mundt Fellowship to study at Stanford University, where he earned his master’s degree in biology in 1959. It was in Stanford where he found the need to apply his expertise in biology to the larger needs of his country: “My fellow graduate students were all supportive of the application of theoretical knowledge to practical problems in the country. My faculty advisers of the Graduate School were working on Philippine biodiversity and some of the graduate students were working on similar topics… They inspired me to consider for further studies the marine fauna of the Philippines,” he told Rappler in 2014.
In 1964, Alcala returned to Stanford for doctoral studies and two years later, he became an associate professor at Silliman University. He was also accorded an honor doctorate from both the Xavier University and the University of Southeastern Philippines. He soon became Vice President for Research at Silliman, but resigned in 1988. Three years later, he returned to the university to serve as President. After two years, he also resigned that post to serve as Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources from 1992 to 1995, and later as Chairman of the Commission on Higher Education from 1995 to 1999. He also served as consultant on marine and aquatic projects under the United Nations Environment Programme, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank Global Environment Facility, the Pew Fellowship in Marine Conservation, and the University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute. He served the Philippine Council for Aquatic and Marine Research and Development as an executive director.
He was the principal Filipino scientist in a research program regarded as an outstanding contribution to Philippine biological sciences which comprised studies on local land vertebrates and the marine biodiversity of the country, which involved ecology systematics and conservation biology based in Silliman University since 1955. The program produced empirical scientific data put to practical use in terms of special development and academic programs at the university level. The research collaboration resulted to substantial publication outputs of 169 scientific papers as well as books. Alcala authored either by himself or as first author of 86 [51%] of the articles and books on the program. He is also the first Filipino to put together the most comprehensive studies on Philippine amphibians and reptiles, with minor contributions to birds and mammals. His fieldwork from 1954 to 1999 resulted to the identification of 50 more species from the 400 already known species of reptiles and amphibians. Because of his work, conservation programs in the Philippines are now well established.
Alcala also participated in the Australian-ASEAN marine project in the mid-1980s to the early 1990s. The Silliman Marine Laboratory, which he founded in 1973-74, has been active in research on marine protected areas, fisheries and marine biodiversity, mariculture, and conservation of Philippine plant and animal species. His marine science publications consist of about 80 papers on coral reef fish, marine reserves, long-term effects of protection on marine biodiversity such as corals and top predatory fish. Most of these papers have been published in refereed, international journals and books. In 1977, he set up the first artificial reef in the Philippines in Dumaguete, and then, seeing the degradation of coral reefs all over the country, he began to set up a series of marine protected areas [MPAs], first in Sumilon Island off southern Cebu, and then in Apo Island.
The establishments of MPAs is now considered one of Alcala’s greatest legacies. As marine biologist Rene Abesamis once wrote: “Alcala has studied MPAs since 1973. He was the first biologist to establish an experimental MPA in the Philippines, at Sumilon Island, with the idea of increasing the fish catch of small-scale fishers. This occurred at a time when reef fisheries resources were beginning to decline due to unsustainable fishing practices and increasing human pressures. His pioneering work involved monitoring the daily fish catch of about 100 fishers that fished the coral reef surrounding Sumilon. He demonstrated that as long as the MPA (25% of total reef area) was protected from fishing, fishers had sustainable fish yields outside the MPA (75% of total reef area). However, protection of the Sumilon MPA failed after 10 years, which resulted in dramatic declines in fish catch. This led him to hypothesize that sustainable fish yields during the period of protection occurred because of ‘spillover’ or net export of adult fishes from the MPA to reef areas open to fishing. Further studies at Apo Island (not far from Sumilon), where he helped set up the first community-managed MPA in the Philippines in 1982, confirmed this hypothesis.”
For all these hard work, he was amply rewarded with recognitions and accolades. He received the Outstanding Sillimanian Award for Biology in 1988, and was also recipient of other honors, including the Outstanding Oriental Negrense Award in Science and Technology by the Province of Negros Oriental in 1991, the Gregorio Y. Zara Award in Applied Science by the Department of Science and Technology in 1991, the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service by the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation in 1992, the Field Museum Founders’ Council Award of Merit in 1994, the Outstanding Fulbright Award in Ecology by the Philippine American Educational Foundation in 1996, the Outstanding Dumagueteño in Science and Technology by the Dumaguete City Government in 1998, Honorary Fellow by the California Academy of Sciences in 1999, and Professor Emeritus for Biological and Marine Sciences by Silliman University in 2007.
In 2014, he was named a National Scientist of the Philippines.
Even in his twilight years, he continued to be of service to the community. He was a member of the Board of Trustees of Silliman University and was Director of the Silliman University-Angelo King Center for Research and Environmental Management. He was also Director of the Commission on Higher Education Zonal Research Center at Silliman University. But he was fully aware of the specific mark he made in his years of passionate work for biology and the environment: “Work on the conservation and management of the unique biodiversity, for which the Philippines is known, has given me a feeling of satisfaction that my academic degrees have been useful not only to me and my family but also to the country,” he once said.
Alcala married Naomi Lusoc in 1952, with whom he had six children. He died in Dumaguete City on 1 February 2023.
Labels: dumaguete, obituary, people, science
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Friday, January 07, 2022
12:15 AM |
Manong Frankie
To paraphrase a famous quote from Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight, he lived long enough to find himself become a villain.
I’ve always steered clear of the National Artist at local lit events, even during those at his bookstore. I think my reservation came from the fact that I was there that one notorious Palanca night when he tore apart the winning play — in front of the young playwright and hundreds of people.
I never introduced myself to him for years, nor sought his company. But during my last visit to Manila before COVID hit [in January 2020], I answered his invitation to be his lunch guest at his house in Quezon City.
It was a great meal, to be honest. He was charming and accommodating — and that was my last living memory of him. But I had to sigh several times over the succeeding months every time he opened his mouth to opine — and out came things I disagreed with in vehemence. [Sigh.]
And now he’s gone, unfortunately remembered more as the cantankerous senior writer who kowtowed to a strongman than for his stories, some of which I genuinely liked. [I love “Progress.”] And I guess he’ll never win his coveted Nobel Prize for Literature ever.Labels: obituary, people, philippine literature
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Monday, July 26, 2021
10:23 AM |
Bliss in Heaven
I’ve been rethinking the idea of bliss in Heaven a lot these days. Many of the people who are sure they’re doing all they can to be there ... are exactly the same people I don’t want to spend eternity with. Labels: life, people, religion
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Friday, July 09, 2021
11:32 AM |
Writing the Artistic Dearly Departed
This opportunity for obit writing for the Cultural Center of the Philippines is such a humbling task. I’m learning so much about fantastic artists and cultural workers I didn’t even know before. [Like Rey Paz Contreras, who should be a National Artist for Sculpture.] And gaining huge respect for those I know only superficially. [Like the comedian Shalala Reyes.] I’m regularly kicking myself for being ignorant about them before they died. You also sense the struggles they went through just to do their work, often with the paltriest of recognition. Sometimes, in our research, the obits one finds online, if any, are so shallow [mostly consisting of embeds of social media posts by friends] — and one sadly realizes there really is no tradition of comprehensive obituary writing in the country. I’m glad CCP saw fit to devote an entire project to this.
You can find the Hanggang sa Muli website here. Labels: art and culture, artists, death, obituary, people, philippine culture, pop culture, writing
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Saturday, July 03, 2021
12:17 PM |
Vico Sotto is a Sapiosexual Dreamboat
I cannot help but have scandalous thoughts about Vico Sotto. His forthrightness is so goddamn sexy.
From Pablo A. Tariman’s interview with Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto: “I don’t believe in the concept of a leader as savior. As far as I’m concerned, there is only one Messiah, and he didn’t even want to serve in government. Because we are a democracy, our leaders will ultimately reflect us as an entire society. Yes, having good leaders is good, obviously. But this is just superficial. If we as members of society accept corrupt practices, we will end up with corrupt leaders. Conversely, if more people demand good governance, then eventually we will get better leaders, too.”
The full interview here.
[ Fangirling post with permission from the s.o. ]
Labels: people, politics
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Wednesday, June 09, 2021
9:13 AM |
Anthony Bourdain, Other People, and Coping with Mental Health
The funniest and most disturbing thing I’ve ever heard about people commenting on my mental health struggles shows a lack of knowledge, understanding, and empathy: “How can Ian be depressed? He’s always writing and posting on Facebook.” [Sigh.] We all have weird coping mechanisms. Anthony Bourdain struggled with his mental health for years—but he was also doing three TV shows for three different networks, was writing books, was dining with people like Obama, was becoming famous. In 2016 in Buenos Aires, he held an on-camera therapy session and confessed: “I will find myself in an airport, for instance, and I’ll order an airport hamburger. It’s an insignificant thing, it’s a small thing, it’s a hamburger, but it’s not a good one. Suddenly, I look at the hamburger and I find myself in a spiral of depression that can last for days.”
He died of suicide in 2018.
Read Helen Rosner’s beautiful profile on Bourdain at the New Yorker here.Labels: life, mental health, people
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Sunday, May 30, 2021
4:49 PM |
Sayang Kaayo Uy
Gaguol ko nga gisapot ko nga wala ko kasabot nganong ang mga but-an sa atong politiko maoy mawala, human katong mga walay tarong ug pa-gimik ra sige mao nooy asenso kaayo—og buhi pa gyud, Enrile-style. Naay nisulti nako katong Domingo nga nikalit ra og nipanaw si Vice Mayor Alan Gel Cordova, paghuman nako’g yawyaw sa kasayang: “Ang daotan nga sagbot lisud mamatay.” Tinuod baya pud—pero unta dili. Asa ang hustisya sa kapalaran? Makasapot.
Perteng sapota, maka-Binisaya na lang ko ahat para lalum ang kaladmon sa kaguol.
Wala’y tawo sa Dumaguete makatuo nga mawala ra kalit kanato ang atong Bise Mayor. Kung imo syang lantawon katong buhi pa sya, kusgan man sya, baskog—makita gihapon ang iyang pagka-sundalo sa iyang lihok og sa iyang panagway. Kabalo ko nga grabe sya mo ehersisyo—tig-boksing sya, tig-wrestle, tig-gym, tig-biseklita. Molantaw ka niya, og hayag pa gyud ang iyang kaugma-on.
Sa katuohan, nakita na nako siya sukad pa sa una nga posibleng mahimo sya nga umaabot nga mayor sa atong syudad. Daghang pa syang mahimo para kanato, makatarongan ang iyahang bisyon sa Dumaguete—interesado sa maayong pamalakad, mapahinunguron sa mando sa mga tawo, gadumot sa mga kinaraang pamaagi sa mga tradisyonal nga mga politiko. Usa sya ka “breath of fresh air” sa atong politika, mao nang independente sya, walay vested interests, lisud makorakot.
Kasayang kaayo.
Dili na nako mahinumduman kanus-a mi nagka-amigo ni Bise Mayor. Dugay na. Bag-ong konsehal pa sya ato, pero dili nako malimot ang iyang kamahigalaon—kanang mura’g dugay namong kaila bisa’g bag-o pa mo nagkita. Daghan na kong nadungog sa iyang maayong reputasyon pagka-konsehal. Sa tinuod pa, ang mga tawo dili man kaayo ilado nila ang mga konsehal, pero ilado kaayo si Alan.
Si Alan Gel S. Cordova usa ka abogado, propesor sa law, opisyal sa militar, army scout ranger, alagad sa publiko, ug nagsilbing Bise Mayor karon sa Dumaguete City. Natawo sya sa 12 Hunyo 1967 sa Dumaguete, og ni-eskwela sa St. Louis School, benepisaryo sya sa usa ka scholarship program, og ni-gradwar nga salutatorian sa elementarya og valedictorian sa hayskol. Nagpadayon sya og eskwela sa Philippine Military Academy [PMA] sa dili pa sya na-rekrut sa United States Military Academy sa West Point, New York. Didto sya ni-gradwar sa 1989, nakahuman og degree sa Economics. Nagpadayon sya og Law sa Silliman University, nahuman niya sa 2003, og nagsugod sya og pagka-abogado sa Dumaguete. Didto nagsugod ang iyang pangandoy nga makatabang sa mga tawo sa Dumaguete. Daklit syang ni-trabaho sa Bureau of Immigration, pero giamuma na niya ang iyang pangandoy nga maka-serbisyo sya sa syudad sa lain og mahagiton nga kapasidad. Shoestring budget ra ang iyang kaya, pero nilansar gihapon sya para mahimong konsehal sa 2007, usa ka independente nga kandidato—og nakadaog sya, naabot ang 8th nga puwesto gawas sa pulo. Napamatud-an dayon niya nga usa sya ka revolutionary force sa konseho.
Sa usa ka sinulat ni Siegfred Bueno Mison para sa Business Mirror katong 2018, mabasa nato ang binuhat ni Cordova: “As a new member of the city council in 2007, Alan worked long hours, engaged all the people in the city, and introduced game-changing ordinances. For instance, Alan turned representatives of POs NGOs, CSOs and other marginalized sectors as quasi-members of City Council standing committees. This simple yet unique innovation of allowing these sectors to debate on the floor, propose ordinances and author resolutions gives them an active voice in policy-making. The presence of these sectors theoretically made city ordinances more reasonable, more proactive, and genuinely responsive. In Alan’s words, their presence also 'provided accountability for councilors who otherwise are too lazy to think of solutions or even attend committee meetings.' The concept is so revolutionary that other local governments in the province are in fact introducing the same thing—sectoral representation although without voting rights.”
Tungod sa iyang maayong pamalakad, si Cordova nahimong ilado sa mga tawo, usa ka “man-of-the-people” ang iyang dungog sa masa, gidayeg sya sa iyang propesyonalismo, makinaugalingon nga huna-huna, ug tinuud nga pag-higugma para sa Dumaguete.
Padayong sulat ni Mison: “When asked what [was] his secret in winning elections despite the obvious lack of funds, he shared that there [was] no substitute for hard work. He did not take any short cuts for him to be known in the community. His passion to make things better [was] what [drove] him to serve... [He had] the charisma to be able to talk to all kinds of people. He [had] the boyish smile that [could] disarm the harshest critic. When he decided to run for public office, he wanted to be very different from the usual politicians who Alan consider[ed] as virtually indifferent to the plight of the ordinary Dumagueteño. Prior to entering government service, Alan felt that he and the ordinary mortals in his city were mere statistics in the eyes of the traditional politicians, something to be exploited come election time by way of dole-outs and political gimmicks. Alan neither belong[ed] to a powerful political family nor [did] he have vast financial resources to run a campaign using guns, goons, and gold. Alan simply worked hard.”
Sa 2010, nidalagan sya og pagka Bise Mayor. Nidaog sya sa edad nga 43, ang pinakabata nga napili sa eleksyon sa anang posisyon. Matud pa sa Negros Chronicle atong tuiga nga nakadaog sya: “Cordova [was] up against the old tradition of mediocre practices, like coming unprepared during sessions, deploying dilatory tactics if ordinances [were] against vested interests, appropriating money in a zippy if it concern[ed] their political supporters, absenteeism, tardiness, and downright ignorance of the basic law and rules. [He] was junked by political parties saying that 'he was not winnable,' thus like a lone ranger, he battled his way as an independent, thus proving that Dumagueteños do not care about political parties but the quality of the candidates.”
Sa 2013, naghandom sya nga mahimong Mayor, pero napildi. Kani nga kapakyasan wala nitarog niya. Nidalagan na pud sya para sa konseho sa 2016, og karon iyang nadakpan ang pinakataas nga puwesto, og gipadayon ra gihapon niya ang iyang kusgan nga kadasig para sa serbisyong pampubliko. Sa 2019, nidagan na pud sya pagka-Bise Mayor nga independente nga kandidato, og nidaog. Gipangutana sya sa MetroPost giunsa nya pag-balanse sa tanan niyang bulohaton og responsabilidad. Matud niya: “I try my best to be self-disciplined, and to persevere, especially when things get rough; the mind is much stronger than we give it credit for.”
Gikan sa nahaunang konsehal nga si Manuel Arbon: “In an unexpected turn of events, we suddenly lost Alan, our ever active Vice Mayor. I had known him as a fellow Louisian since my elementary days. I knew him even before he became an accomplished man and public servant, in his own right. I knew him even before politics. And though we may not have been always on the same side of local politics of late, Alan and I remained civil. I pray that we found a spot in our hearts to forgive each other for our respective differences. He will surely be missed by all those who admired him for who he was and for what he stood for. I will miss him, too.”
Gikan ni Konsehal Joe Kenneth Arbas: “To all of us who believe in a better Dumaguete, it’s very painful to lose Alan Cordova. I am proud to have served with him. In him I have realized that our hope for honest, sincere, and committed public service is not merely a dream. We all saw how he served us.”
Gasubo ang Dumaguete karon sa pagpanaw sa usa ka maayong tawo og sa usa ka bantogan nga alagad sa publiko.
Labels: dumaguete, obituary, people, politics
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Tuesday, March 16, 2021
12:00 PM |
Two Great Men on Making a Mark
Steven Yeun: “From my perspective, I’m just doing me. I’m very fortunate that I’ve been able to do work that feels pulled from my place. I carry with me so many things — including being Korean and Asian American. I’m glad and happy that I might be contributing to a larger, deeper understanding of who we are to each other. But I’m really just trying to play my part as well as I can. I’m still processing what this is. That’s literally where I’m at: What is this? Especially with the backdrop of this last year. I’m still figuring out what’s happened to us and where we’re at. [The year] has torn a veil off for all of us — removed a layer. In some ways, I’m thankful for that. But I recognize how scary that is. A lot of institutions got seen for what they were — the brokenness for what they were. I’m glad for it, because I think we can rebuild. But I recognize a lot of people are scared, because the safety we thought was there is also revealed to not be what we thought it was. It’s a super f—ed up year. So these are cool things — this nomination — I’m thrilled and I’m so blessed that I get to experience this. But I’m trying to hold both things at once, and it’s difficult.”
Riz Ahmed: “To be honest, I just feel like however people can find themselves in this moment, however they can find a connection to this moment, is beautiful to me. Some people may connect to the fact that it’s the first Muslim, some people might say British-Pakistani, some people might say first person from Wembley in London. What matters to me is that these moments of celebration, these moments of collective recognition, are actually moments where as many people as possible can recognize themselves in it. And so that’s all that really matters to me. And I’m really pleased if this is an opportunity for more people than ever before to connect to a moment like this.”
Labels: film, oscar, people, quotes
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