The "Body Spray" Video Brouhaha and Ghosts of "Desperate Housewives"

After being proud of the Filipino race with the emergence of ZTE scam whistle-blower Jun Lozada and Renaldo Lapus' unforgettable performance in the "American Idol" auditions, here comes another incident to drag down my euphoria.

Lately, a video on YouTube managed to once again destroy my belief that "the Filipino can." Yup, the Filipino really can...make a total fool of himself, that is.

The video I'm referring to is the one about an allegedly gay patient who had a body spray canister taken out of his rectum surgically following a sexual act with his partner. Unfortunately, the whole procedure was done amid cajoling by the team of doctors and nurses who were operating on him. A bevy of cellular phones with camera/video capabilities were also seen in the video taking closeup shots of the operation. The poor patient couldn't do anything about it, considering that he was in an...errrrr...compromising position.

This video soon found its way to YouTube where about two million hits registered in only a few days. But don't bother looking for it now: the person who posted it (said to be one of the interns there) already deleted it.

I simply have to take note of the hospital where this detestable incident occurred: the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) in Cebu City.

--------------------

The latest development regarding this relates to the public apology offered by the medical staff of the VSMMC to the patient whose rectum became an instant celebity.

Good Lord: a public apology?! Doesn't the poor guy deserve something better than that?

It's a good thing that the Office of the Ombudsman, as well as the Department of Health are stepping in to investigate and provide the necessary sanctions for these erring hospital staff. The VSMMC is a public hospital after all, and we poor taxpayers would like to see our money going to deserving public servants, not beasts like these VSMMC doctors and nurses.

I want to see heads rolling this time.

--------------------

Somehow, ghosts of the past are coming back to haunt us after this controversy. Remember the big fuss we made over that racial slur on medical schools in a recent episode of Desperate Housewives? (Read my earlier entry regarding this by clicking on this link.)

The producers of the said show must be laughing their heads off by now.

Geez, and we had the gall to demand for a public apology then...

--------------------

There are dire consequences stemming from this video brouhaha. First is the breach of ethics upon the public screening of this said video. A patient reserves the right to privacy in every surgical operation unless there is consent to have the said procedure documented on video or in pictures. The mere fact that the video was placed in YouTube of all places was already tantamount to robbing the patient of his vital right. To add more insult to injury, the patient was being openly ridiculed by so-called professionals whom he trusted to conduct the operation on him.

I could only imagine the utter shame this patient was feeling during the entire process.

His butt may be healing already, but I doubt it if his dignity is. And dignity isn't something you can buy either in the sari-sari store next door or in the glitziest mall in the city.

--------------------

Another can of worms opened by this video is the sorry state of public hospitals in the Philippines. The VSMMC isn't the only public hospital with crappy medical staff and horrible facilities. In fact, almost all public hospitals in the Philippines have personnel like these atrocious beings.

Many of these medical personnel apparently have this "rich-man-poor-man" syndrome that they use over their patients who mostly come from the poorer segment of society. Knowing fully well that most of these patients can only afford nothing more than charity, these monsters in white treat them shabbily with little or no regard for their welfare. In their minds, they think: "I'm just in this hellhole for the salary. Why go the extra mile for these smelly rats? Heck, I shouldn't be here in the first place!"

These medical personnel may argue that with the kind of compensation they are receiving in public hospitals, there really isn't much to hope for. However, this doesn't give them a license to be total boors to their indigent patients.

Example: in a maternity ward. One pregnant woman is already in labor and is screaming in pain from the contractions. Apparently bothered by the noise, the nurses shout at her to shut up. "Wala ka namang pambayad ng anaesthesia, kaya magdusa ka diyan (Since you don't have money to pay for anaesthesia, then just bear with the pain)!" says one of them. Another riles her and says, "Sisigaw-sigaw ka diyan, tapos wala pang isang taon, nandito ka na naman (You keep on shouting in pain and yet a year won't even pass and you'll be back here again)!"

Talk about being sterling examples of healthcare.

Probably these people have yet to be acquainted with the term, "public service."

---------------------

Another point raised here is the issue of gay acceptance in Philippine society. True, the deed of having a six-inch long body spray inserted in one's rectum during a sexual male-to-male act can be considered horrendous and downright kinky. (Honestly, just the thought of having something like that shoved up my own ass must be really, REALLY painful and totally unexciting -- but of course, different strokes for different folks.) However, this should not be a valid reason for the victim/patient to be ridiculed on the operating table, much less, for the entire act to be caught on video.

So he's gay. He's got a body spray canister up his rectum. He's in pain, so I guess he and his partner won't be trying anything like that again -- or at least in the near future. Can't these people be professional about it and just take the darn canister out without turning the entire spectacle into a Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus?

Or do these monsters in white think they can make fun of this person simply because he's gay?

Hypothetical question: would these people have been more professional toward the situation if the patient was a female?

The point here is that whether straight or gay, a person still has the right to preserve his/her dignity, whether on the operating table or anywhere else.

One doesn't need to look for that in any medical code of ethics because it is a basic human right -- as basic as free speech.

--------------------

Last case in point -- the effect of this latest spectacle on medical tourism. Lately, the Philippines has turned into a hub for medical tourism. In fact, note the spas, wellness centers, and the like opening all over the place. Private hospitals are investing in state-of-the-art facilities to accomodate the influx of people -- both local and foreign -- who want to experience the best of what the Philippine medical profession can offer. So much money is being invested so that we can be known as a center of wellness and professionalism in the medical sphere.

And now, this.

If I was a foreigner who stumbled upon the VSMMC video, I'd be shaking my head in disgust.

I am a Filipina, and I'm still shaking my head in disgust.

--------------------

Sigh, another deduction in points for the Filipino.

By the way, if you want to understand more about this issue, simply click on the link to this news article from Sun.Star Cebu online.

Website Watch 4: Stephanie Matthews' Photography Website

I have several adjectives to describe photos posted in the website of this very talented photographer named Stephanie Matthews: exquisite, poetic, visually-stimulating, and beautiful. Here are samples of photos from the said site:



















If you want to check out more of Stephanie Matthews' pictures, then simply click on this link to bring you there.

Allow Me to Gloat (again)

I just have to brag and show everyone the picture of my daughter, Ingrid Crystal, during her graduation exercises last March. She's proceeding to high school already.

Sigh...time does fly by so fast.

Gender and Housework

This is a very interesting article. In this day and age where gender awareness is being propagated on a global scale, it is still surprising that even in the United States, this trend among the sexes occurs. Try and digest this: in a University of Michigan survey of a nationally representative sampling of US families, it was found that having a husband creates an extra seven hours a week of housework for women. On the other hand, a wife saves men from about an hour of housework a week.

Imagine that.

Of course, having "been there, done that," in the concept of marriage, I could personally vouch for this.

Somebody should replicate this survey in the Philippines.

Anyway, to let you in on the details of the said survey, here's the article from the University of Michigan News Service. I then leave it to you so decide whether to regard it as hogwash or to form a temple dedicated to the makers of the survey.

--------------------

Exactly how much housework does a husband create?

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Having a husband creates an extra seven hours a week of housework for women, according to a University of Michigan study of a nationally representative sample of U.S. families.

For men, the picture is very different: A wife saves men from about an hour of housework a week.

The findings are part of a detailed study of housework trends, based on 2005 time-diary data from the federally-funded Panel Study of Income Dynamics, conducted since 1968 at the U-M Institute for Social Research (ISR).

"It's a well-known pattern," said ISR economist Frank Stafford, who directs the study. "There's still a significant reallocation of labor that occurs at marriage—men tend to work more outside the home, while women take on more of the household labor. Certainly there are all kinds of individual differences here, but in general, this is what happens after marriage. And the situation gets worse for women when they have children.

"Overall, the amount of housework done by U.S. women has dropped considerably since 1976, while the amount of housework done by men has increased, according to Stafford. In 1976, women did an average of 26 hours of housework a week, compared with about 17 hours in 2005. Men did about six hours of housework a week in 1976, compared with about 13 hours in 2005.

But when the researchers looked at just the last 10 years, comparing how much housework single men and women in their 20s did in 1996 with how much they did in 2005 if they stayed single versus if they got married, they found a slightly different pattern.

Both the men and the women who got married did more housework than those who stayed single, the analysis showed. "Marriage is no longer a man's path to less housework," said Stafford, a professor in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts.

For the study, researchers analyzed data from time diaries, considered the most accurate way to assess how people spend their time. They supplemented the analysis with data from questionnaires asking both men and women to recall how much time they spent on basic housework in an average week, including time spent cooking, cleaning and doing other basic work around the house. Excluded from these "core" housework hours were tasks like gardening, home repairs, or washing the car.

The researchers also examined how age and the number of children, as well as marital status and age, influenced time spent doing housework.

Single women in their 20s and 30s did the least housework—about 12 works a week on average, while married women in their 60s and 70s did the most—about 21 hours a week. Men showed a somewhat different pattern. Older men did more housework than younger men, but single men did more in all age groups than married men.

Married women with more than three kids did an average of about 28 hours of housework a week. Married men with more than three kids, by comparison, logged only about 10 hours of housework a week.

Established in 1948, the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research (ISR) is among the world's oldest academic survey research organizations, and a world leader in the development and application of social science methodology. ISR conducts some of the most widely-cited studies in the nation, including the Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers, the American National Election Studies, the Monitoring the Future Study, the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, the Health and Retirement Study, and the National Survey of Black Americans. ISR researchers also collaborate with social scientists in more than 60 nations on the World Values Surveys and other projects, and the Institute has established formal ties with universities in Poland, China and South Africa. ISR is also home to the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), the world's largest computerized social science data archive. Visit the ISR web site at www.isr.umich.edu for more information.

--------------------

If you want to read the article yourself, simply click on this link.

When Cheating becomes a Teacher's Fault

I found this very insightful article on the forum of www.up.edu.ph that tackles primarily on cheating. It's kinda long, but it drives home the point that at times, even teachers themselves are to blame for driving students to cheat.

Read on...

--------------------

Who really loses when a student cheats?
by Alicor L. Panao

In a country that cannot even hold a decent election, students cheating their way through college should be anything but surprising. But cheating has come a long way from the ingenious crib notes or codigo neatly tucked inside one’s pocket or discreetly scribbled on the desk. Nowadays, one can lift an entire paper off the Internet and pass it off as one’s own. With mobile phones and the Internet, technology is certainly giving students even more opportunities to cut corners.

In research, the most prevalent act of dishonesty is plagiarism, i.e., copying a work verbatim or misrepresenting it as one’s own. If a student downloads essays from various websites, cuts a paragraph or two from each of them, and comes up with a paper from the patchwork, that is cheating. If the student merely cites his or her sources yet maintains the patchwork without actually writing the paper himself or herself, that is still cheating.

Another form of cheating is the deliberate fabrication of data or information to suit one’s conclusions in a formal academic exercise. No doubt, the advent of multimedia and information technology has simply made this old practice more widespread and blatant.

However, some experts believe it is not just technology that is causing the epidemic.

Moral responsibility
“We even have graduate students who do not know how to take notes or conduct basic research,” says Dr. Zosimo Lee, Dean of the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy (CSSP) in UP Diliman. “How could they be expected to paraphrase materials, acknowledge their sources, or observe proper citations?”

Lee believes it is not just basic learning or research skills that are at issue, but the manner in which teachers have imparted learning through their methodologies. “Are we still teaching students to think for themselves? Or by sheer tolerance, are we, in fact, sending the wrong message that it is all right to simply rely on available online resources?”

He wonders whether professors are still teaching students to be critical and to question the veracity of ideas they encounter.

Lee, a philosophy professor, says the problem is not the lack of good professors but the way they pass learning on to students. A professor may be good in the sense that he is smart, knows a lot of things, and is frequently published, but he may not necessarily be effective in terms of sharing knowledge, inspiring students, and teaching them the value of scholarship. “We tend to teach by mere modeling—that is, we teach students to find the right answers, but not necessarily how to ask the right questions.” Although today’s common sources of information—television, videos, and the Internet—provide access to an overwhelming amount of knowledge, learning nevertheless remains passive. “In other words, there is learning but there is no inquiry,” says Lee.

Worse, some professors, especially in the social sciences where a lot of information is transmitted through multimedia channels, have themselves unconsciously become too dependent on these technologies.

This dependence has extended to the use of technology in the current wave of academic cheating. Nowadays, with just a click of a mouse, any student with an email account and a valid credit card can order term papers online on virtually any topic, complete with bibliography and citations. Crib sheets can now be sent either as images or SMS via mobile phones. Notes can be digitized as audio files and played on iPods or any other portable music players. And while academe has guidelines against academic dishonesty, these rules cannot keep up with the expanding use of tools and media in cyberspace.

Prof. Doi Rosete, former chair of the Department of Visual Communication and Industrial Design of the UP Diliman College of Fine Arts, explains that this is because the World Wide Web is changing the concept of authorship. Materials—which include written texts, stills, and moving images—are downloaded as fast as they are uploaded by online collaborators.

In UP, the fact that the Revitalized General Education Program made basic communication subjects optional did not help either. In fact, Lee feels it only made matters a lot worse, because professors now even have to worry about their students’ grammatical skills instead of just concentrating on the content of their papers. “We spend more time editing the papers than analyzing the research value of their content.”

The CSSP dean also takes note of students’ lack of competence in any one language. “Maybe the reason behind students’ copying is simply that they have difficulty expressing themselves properly to begin with,” he says. Communication is supposedly a two-tiered process of oral and written expression. An alarming number of students—even in the graduate level—are wanting in both aspects. According to Lee, this may be due to the fact that they are no longer taught to be competent in any language, not even in their native language. “Since students lack mastery of any language, they simply resort to borrowing, if not outright copying of other people’s ideas.”

According to Lee, a national language is important if only to make sure that in teaching core academic courses, students will be afforded clear conceptual understanding. “I know of no developed country that teaches critical subjects like Science and Mathematics in a language other than their own.” This does not mean, of course, that English should be relegated to the sidelines. In the Netherlands, he says, children begin learning English as early as in their first grade. The Dutch study English along with other foreign languages for only about two or three years. “And yet they are among the world’s most literate and multilingual people.”

Misplaced altruism
UP Diliman Vice Chancellor for Research and Development Dr. Luis Sison agrees that professors are partly to blame for cheating in the University. Students respect teachers who lay down clear, consistent, and appropriate policies on intellectual dishonesty. A good set of policies, according to Sison, is one that states definite and unequivocal consequences for infractions.

Teachers who are lenient for one reason or another—what Sison calls misplaced altruism—are unwittingly giving their students license to cut corners. Similarly, teachers who place unreasonable demands without giving appropriate support are also indirectly pushing students to break the rules.

An ill-prepared student fearing a failing grade may be pressured to copy from a classmate simply to pass. There are also teachers who cram too many topics in a single semester “without realizing that they have gone past the point of diminishing returns.” There are also those who view themselves, not as mentors, but more as gatekeepers whose role is to prevent the unworthy from passing through. “In all cases,” says Sison, “it becomes more likely for the student to rationalize cheating.”

The intense pressure to earn good grades, or at least keep up in a competitive setting, also drives students to cheat. For some, the pressure to excel academically for the promise of future career opportunities is enough reason to resort to anything, including cheating. “Students form the greater part of the academic population, and they have to compete for the distinction of being the best in a particular field,” Rosete explains. “And grades are graphic records of a student’s intellectual development.”

The situation, according to Rosete, is a lot worse when they leave the University and compete in the labor market. In the corporate world, intellectual integrity does not matter as much as the pursuit of profit targets. “Only in academe is intellectual development a pursuit and an end in itself,” says Rosete.

Public responsibility
But what about the University’s accountability to the public? As the national university, UP must be beyond reproach in this respect. The credibility of the research it generates and the integrity of those it graduates every year must never be in question. Those trusted with the education of the country’s future teachers, doctors, policymakers, scientists and engineers fail the country by allowing widespread cheating.

There are dire consequences, according to Sison. In engineering for instance, fraudulent data that leads to an improperly designed building or electrical system can put lives at risk. And if improper practice of profession can ruin individual reputations, the damage to the University is greater. “When a student cheats or when a researcher fabricates data, he is not only gambling his own credibility,” says Lee. “He is putting into question the credibility of the entire UniversityThe credibility of the entire University is also put into question.”

But it may be reassuring to know that UP has always denounced academic dishonesty and has tried to implement a strict policy of prosecuting and penalizing offenders—students and faculty members alike.

In 1999, for instance, the Supreme Court upheld the UP Board of Regents’ decision to withdraw the degree granted to a Ph.D. student who was found to have plagiarized a great part of her dissertation (UP BOR v Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 134625, August 31, 1999). Apparently, Anthropology student Arokiaswamy William Margaret Celine, an Indian citizen, had borrowed extensively from various sources “word for word and, at times, paragraph by paragraph without any acknowledgment of the source, even by a mere quotation mark.” But the University did not immediately strip her of the degree. It actually came up with the resolution only after almost a year of hearings and largely because of her own deliberate failure to implement the suggested revisions.

In 2004, the Department of Political Science in UP Diliman terminated the appointment of Gareth Api Richards as Associate Professor of Political Science due to his deliberate misrepresentation of academic credentials. In a statement, the department said that in his vita, Richards claimed to have a Ph.D. in Political Economy from the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom. An official verification made by the department chair, however, revealed that the prestigious British university had never conferred such a degree on Richards. When asked to explain in a meeting of the department’s tenured faculty members, Richards squarely admitted lying about his academic qualification.

Lee says that given all the measures the University has put in place to ensure academic integrity, it should not be difficult for professors to single out frauds. For instance, if a student who is not known for his writing talent suddenly comes up with an impeccable piece, a professor should be suspicious. The growing versatility of online search engines also suggests that professors can beat students in their own games. “In case of doubt, you can always google,” Lee says. Some commercial websites like Turnitin also offer instant verification services to determine how much of a document is “unoriginal” for a reasonable fee.

“Pero may nakakalusot talaga,” Lee admits. And this is largely due to professors’ tendency to be lenient in reading students’ papers. Moreover, the current system of evaluating theses—at least in the social sciences—leaves much to be desired. Typically, only the main adviser is apprised of the student’s progress and the rest of the panel members are able to read the work just a week or two before the oral defense. Lee suggests raising the financial incentive given to faculty members for advising dissertations and theses or sitting in defense panels. This will help to ensure greater commitment.

Caution to students
Sison shares Lee’s view. “The research adviser is in the best position to detect intellectual dishonesty,” he says. “Not only is the adviser frequently in touch with the student but as an expert in that particular field, he should be able to detect plagiarism or fraudulent data with ease.”

He suggests a “process-oriented” approach in evaluating students’ work to discourage cheating. Instead of basing the bulk of the grade on a single project like a final exam or a final paper, a teacher rates the student based on the latter’s progress throughout the semester. He insists that the approach is mutually advantageous, because it gives the teacher immediate feedback on the effectiveness of learning and provides the students with better mentoring. Asking for small but frequent “deliverables” also reduces the likelihood of cramming, which often leads to cheating.

Ideally, it is not just teachers but the entire academic community who must make it their duty to safeguard academic integrity. “But in the end, it boils down to how the student exercises his free will within an ethical framework,” says Sison, “And to how we, their teachers, penalize the lack of such ethics.”

--------------------

To see the article yourself, simply click on this link.

The Voice of the Philippine Conscience

Even if I normally get irritated just from looking at Kris Aquino on TV, for once, she had me glued onto the screen and I was taking in all she had to say. In between spurts of sobs that she was obviously trying to control, Kris announced to the Filipino nation that her mother, former president Corazon Aquino, has colon cancer.

I guess the only good side to this is that at least, she’s in good company. My favorite Roman Catholic icon, Pope John Paul II, also suffered from colon cancer before he moved on.

I read in one medical online journal that if diagnosed early, there’s a ninety percent chance that one can survive colon cancer – that is, if diagnosed early. Now this is the issue: Cory told her children not to divulge to media the stage of her cancer. Methinks that if she’s not willing to tell the people how far her cancer has progressed, then it must already be at its latter (and deadlier) stages already.

I’m still crossing my fingers that this isn’t so. Cory is among the last of a dying breed of Filipino statesmen. Another member of this elite circle is the honorable (in every sense of the word) Jovito Salonga. Alas, but this man is deaf and very old already, even if his mind is still sharp. Thus, the burden of becoming the vessel of morality in the dirty world of Philippine politics falls on Cory’s shoulders. If she moves on (God forbid), then what will we be left with?

--------------------

I was in high school when Cory’s husband, former Senator Ninoy Aquino was killed by still-unidentified men on the tarmac of the Manila International Airport in 1983. With the original hope of the Filipino nation dead, our countrymen decided to turn to Ninoy’s widow for deliverance from the clutches of the Marcos dictatorship. Cory was not a political figure – she was schooled in Economics. Nevertheless, she eventually emerged from grieving widow to political flagship of the Opposition.

It was in 1987 when all political skirmishes in the Philippines finally came to a head with the first and the most monumental People Power Revolution. It was at this time when the former president Ferdinand Marcos was finally ousted, and an era spanning more than a decade of atrocities, excesses, and corruption under his dictatorship finally came to an end.

Of course, leading the triumphant Filipinos toward victory was Cory Aquino: the first woman president of the Philippines.

--------------------

As a president, Cory Aquino was not one to use an iron hand – and this was probably so because she didn’t need to, except for those times when she was bombarded by coup attempts. Thank God she had then-Chief of Staff Fidel Ramos to quell these military adventurists.

Cory ruled in a transitional government, so at that time the main thrust of her administration was to reach out and tell the world that the Philippines is finally free and open to investments. She travelled to different countries where she was welcomed with open arms by her foreign counterparts. Her speech before the US Congress was even much-applauded. Economics and foreign relations seemed to be at the top of her to-do list, and she implemented these with fervor.

Unfortunately, Cory’s foreign relations policies, especially with the United States, created some strain between her and her former supporters. Much of the hullabaloo dealt with the existence of US bases in Clark and Subic in Pampanga. Some people believed that the existence of these bases only showed the United States’ vice-like grip on the neck of the Philippines. Their presence was somehow proof of an “I-scratch-your-back-you-scratch-mine” understanding between the US and the Philippine government, thereby reinforcing the idea that the Philippines was still over-dependent on the US not only for products and services but also for recognition in the global community. This did not stand well among Filipinos who wanted true freedom without any strings attached – especially from America the Beautiful.

What began as a very triumphant installation to the highest seat in the land ended with nary a peep, as Cory Aquino quietly but gracefully concluded her leadership with an election for the next president. Despite her stand to let the US bases extend their already-extended stay in Philippine shores, she simply had to give in to the clamor by the Senate and in the streets to take the bases out.

Nevertheless, the positive long-term effects of Cory’s deeds in her term manifested themselves by the time Pres. Fidel Ramos took over after her. The Philippine economy soared to all-time highs, and we were highly respected in the global community. The Philippines was even considered as the “Sleeping Tiger of Asia.”

Alas, all of these are now just part of Philippine history…

--------------------

Next to the late Jaime Cardinal Sin, Cory Aquino became the conscience of freedom- and truth-loving Filipinos. I have yet to name another individual who can step in her shoes. And no, it’s definitely not Kris Aquino. I’ll change citizenship the moment she tries to do a Cory.

We still need someone – a voice of conscience – like Cory Aquino, especially in these times when corruption in government is rearing its ugly head again.

Thus, I urge everyone who manages to read this blog entry to please pray that Cory gets through this new and more formidable challenge. No people power rallies can topple this one – not even a new coup attempt.

At this point, prayers for Cory’s recovery from her colon cancer are all we can do – not just for her but also for the Philippines.

Lord knows the Philippines is in dire need of a conscience right now.

My Daughter's Graduating! AAAAAGGGHHH!

Need I say more?

Where did all those years go? It feels like just yesterday when I was giving birth to my Ingrid Crystal. Now she'll be graduating from her elementary grades come March 27.

I'll have a high school teenager already!

I'm not even sure where I'll be sending Ingrid for high school. Bringing her to Cebu is out of the question: my finances still can't afford it. I originally wanted her to study in Leyte High, but I'm not sure if she'll manage going to school very early in the morning. Assumption Academy in Tanauan is out of the question: that school is a mere suction pump of money. TSCHI? GOD FORBID! That school has more holidays than school days -- I don't know what the students there are learning! Tanauan National High School? In fairness to this school, I think it has more graduates who managed to pass the UPCAT than TSCHI and Assumption combined. However, I don't feel too comfortable with this school. It just has too many vacant spaces and shady corners. These may just be the perfect spots for teenagers with jumping hormones. *shiver*

Oh well, I guess I just have to deal with the fact that I already have a high school teenager in my hands.

Next thing I know, she'll be getting married.

Gaaaahhhh......

Marimar: a Comparative Analysis

Miss Lira Funda, be discombobulated! hehehe...

I actually watched Marimar! From start to finish, no less.

Yeah, I remember telling my former students that teledramas are a waste of time and brain cells.

So inspite of that, why did I watch Marimar?

Let me cite the following reasons:

• What's a girl to do when she's got a TV and nothing else to do when she gets home from work?
• The reception of ABS-CBN on my TV is crappy. Besides, any network that topbills Kris Aquino in their shows is nowhere near respectable, if I may say so.
• I managed to start watching it, so I guess I got hooked.
• Marian Rivera's quite a lovely kid who really managed to fit in the shoes of the original Marimar -- Thalia.
• Marian Rivera's teamup with Dingdog Dantes is S-I-Z-Z-L-I-N-G. Those two really look good together.
• I also watched the original Marimar with Thalia in it, and I wanted to see how Joyce Bernal would handle the Philippine version.

Now that Marimar is over, probably an assessment is due.

I recall that the Mexican Marimar took about three or four months of airing in local television. But in true Philippine fashion, our local Marimar lasted for a whopping seven months -- from August 2006 to March 2007.

From Ines Rodena's original story, local producers provided more twists and turns to the plot than Kennon Road. The local characterizations, meanwhile, were quite conformist in nature from the feisty Marimar Perez-cum-Bella Aldama to the sinister Angelica Santibañez/Aldama. But GMA 7 created an even bigger cast of characters to add to the original ones. To rationalize the addition of characters, more winding subplots were added to the already-knotted-up original plot, thereby creating what I'd like to refer to as "storyline indigestion."

The final episodes were also kinda frustrating to watch. It was obvious that GMA 7 was extending the story to unusual lengths just to keep up with the numerous commercials being aired with it. After all, Marimar was their best money-making machine to date.

If I remember right the circumstances on how the Mexican Marimar concluded, Angelica did die -- but in another way. In the Filipino version, Angelica died after Marimar gained the upper hand in a helicopter skirmish. The latter pushed Angelica out of the helicopter they were riding, and Sergio (who was dangling from one side of the heli) kicked her so she lost her grip and fell. Her head got bashed on a rock near a swamp full of crocs. She eventually ended as crocodile feed. The Mexican version had Marimar and Angelica battling it out inside a hut. The hut caught fire, and while Marimar managed to run away from the blaze unscathed (with Sergio's help, of course), Angelica met a fiery end. It was as simple as that.

Marimar was also Marian Rivera's debut to fame. She has suddenly skyrocketed from a nameless starlet to one of the most bankable stars in local television. If she keeps her funny-sometimes-naughty nature and continues to use her dancing talent, there's no telling how high she can go. Sorry na lang sa mga Angel Locsin fans, but I'll choose Marian over her anytime.

I never thought Dingdong Dantes would make a good Sergio Santibañez at first, but as the story went on, he definitely proved me wrong. I initially kept on comparing him kasi with the dreamy Eduardo Capetillo who played the Mexican Sergio. Capetillo was one certified hottie in his time, and his bare-chested scenes with Thalia were so steamy. Just check out his hairy chest that was just as furry as Fulgoso!

And speaking of Fulgoso, the local one may have been a breed better than the Mexican one, but the poor golden retriever with Michael V.'s voice was not given as much exposure as his Mexican counterpart. In one interview, Director Joyce Bernal admitted that the most difficult scenes in Marimar were the scenes with Fulgoso in them because it was hard to get the dog to display the "emotion" needed for the scenes. The Mexican Fulgoso, meanwhile, shared a lot of crucial scenes with the main cast of Marimar because the black terrier seemed to be a tad better-trained.

And speaking of better training, I kinda resent the inclusion of characters with totally foreign twangs in the story. Example No. 1: Bruno, the friend of Rodolfo San Jinez. Good Lord, that feller had no business getting some speaking lines there! Example No. 2: Atty. Adrian, Marimar's most-trusted lawyer who had a secret admiration for her. He plodded through each scene like a muscular robot with an American twang. I just found it too hard to believe that he was actually playing a lawyer. There are other better actors out there with no irritating accents, so what's the deal with these two?

The wedding of Sergio and Marimar proved to all that GMA considered the series its flagship program. I was very impressed with the well-prepared handling of the wedding -- as if it was the real thing, minus the real priest and the documents. It was held in the utterly-beautiful San Agustin Church in Intramuros, with Marian and her entourage wearing gowns made by top local designers. There were real "ninongs" and "ninangs," from the GMA 7 top executives to well-known personalities like German Moreno and Ricky Reyes. During the reception which was held live in the GMA Studios, there was even a fireworks display to conclude the series. Considering that Marimar toppled everyone else at the primetime ratings game, I guess that closing salvo was a fitting end to a monumental teleserye.

Now that Marian and Dingdong have a new series coming up, Marimar fans now have something to look forward to after the conclusion of their favorite teleserye. I hear that they're the lead stars in Mars Ravelo's classic story, Dyesebel. Since Marian's also a good swimmer, let's see how she fares as the new Filipina mermaid.

Abangan...

Allow Me to Gloat...

Yesterday, I surfed the Net looking for the whole name of the incumbent dean of UP Cebu. My search using the Almighty Google led me to the Wikipedia website (www.wiki.com) where I found his name under the page, "University of the Philippines, Visayas - Cebu College." When I scrolled down the said page, I found the name, "Tacloban" in very small fonts. Out of curiosity, I clicked on it. Lo and behold: Wiki.com also has a page dedicated to "University of the Philippines, Visayas - Tacloban College!" Click on this link and see it for yourself.

I explored the UPVTC page further and found the segment on student organizations. I think I almost cried from extreme joy when I read this:

"UPTC DebSoc is the most successful debating organization in Eastern Visayas, and the best in the Visayas."

Now, THIS really made my day!

So much to Blog about, so little Time (again)

Good Lord, I've been quite busy with my life the past few weeks, I've been neglecting my blogs already.

By the way, busy in the Book of Dinky-isms, means washing clothes, buying groceries, caring for my three cats, and office work. Those are basically what take up my time. Okay, okay...it also means watching Marimar (Yes, this is what happens when there is no cable on my TV in Cebu. Kinda pathetic, actually...) and looking for the cheapest buys in Colon (Certified cheapskate -- that's me!).

So, let me begin with my newest bitch alerts...

--------------------

Bwahaha...heard the news about DepEd banning Jun Lozada from conducting his campus tours in public elementary and high schools?

What in the world is DepEd so afraid of? That students in public schools will learn more from Jun Lozada than from their tired and obviously low-quality curriculum?

As a former educator, I always believe that learning doesn't only occur within the four walls of a classroom. It occurs everywhere, for as long as the student is trained to absorb and understand the world around him/her.

I also trained my students to ask questions because it is in asking well-formulated questions that one gets substantial answers to add to his/her treasure trove of knowledge.

All these things considered, the things Jun Lozada has to say can be of use to all students -- from those in the elementary grades to college.

Thus, I don't understand why DepEd is censoring this additional venue for our youth's learning.

Is it because the students may just learn too much?

--------------------

Ever since this ZTE scandal has been blown out into the open, Gloria Arroyo has already been called or described in so many colorful terms.

CHED Commissioner Romulo Neri was alleged to have described GMA as "evil."

Former House Speaker Jose de Venecia, smarting from the First Family's dropping him like a hot potato over his son's whistle-blowing, said that GMA is "ungrateful."

The most recent tag I heard given to the president was endowed on her -- albeit through a severe case of foot-in-mouth disease -- by none other than one of her most-trusted economic advisers, her former student, and now-Albay Governor Joey Salceda.

This was the situation. Salceda was recently invited to speak before a group of students and academicians about some economic chuvaloo. In that seminar of sorts, he mentioned something about GMA's economic policies. Let me quote verbatim how he summarized his discussion on that particular issue:

"President Arroyo may be a bitch, but she is one lucky bitch."

Only after he said what he had to say did he realize that there were some members of the media in the audience.

Salceda was so freakin' worried about his statement that he literally got sick that night. He texted the president, apologizing to the high heavens for his name-calling which he said was "uncalled for."

Hekhekhek...I got to know Salceda during his days as a topnotch stockbroker in the Tektite Stock Exchange, and he does have very flowery language. He wasn't liked much for it, but hey: at least he was downright honest with what he felt had to be said.

Knowing the kind of person Salceda is, I'm sure that there still is that part of him that isn't so apologetic about referring to GMA as a "lucky bitch."

And my take on that is -- my sentiments exactly!

--------------------

So much for politics...

Guess what: I am now the proud mother of an elementary graduate!

My daughter, Ingrid Crystal, is finally graduating from Tanauan 1 Central School. Heck, who cares about honors? All I know is that she did her best, and that she's going to be in high school next school year already.

Time really does fly. One moment, I was giving birth to Ingrid. Now, she's an eleven-year old teenager.

I'm getting old...

--------------------

And speaking of getting old, I remember what I said before that I'd like to die by the time I reach the age of 50. Considering that I'm already more than halfway there and I'm still as unstable (financially, that is) as ever, I think I can forego death at 50. Maybe 60 is a better age to bite the dust.

Besides, I'm going to be 38 this year already, but I don't feel my age.

I guess what they say about age being only a state of mind is true. You're only as old as you feel.

Well, I may be a little slower than I was when I competed in the 200-meter run in the 1983 Palarong Maynila (hahaha...bet you guys didn't know that!), but I'm still as strong as a horse. And my mind is still as sharp as ever -- with the few and far-between bouts of forgetfulness on the side.

Probably the only manifestation of my real age is seen in my hair. More white strands than ever before. But hey: some teenagers have whiter heads than me.

As I always say in my dialect: "Tagi hin chance."