Category Archives: media

So what do you do on Friday nights?

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Photo by CallMeCreation.com

Well, I’m trying to save my own ass by attending a safety workshop for Filipino journalists because they’re killing us literally.

It’s supposed to be 5 days of safety training (physical, digital, and mental) but since we’re all working, we will have this staggered. There are so many important things to discuss, we couldn’t fit it into a one-night session. We arrived at a consensus that when one journo gets a death threat, we should all make noise and amplify it, write stories about it—for our own safety. Because we’re brushing off threats, one journo was just picked up at the airport in Mindanao by the police and got detained for the wrong reasons. 🤦‍♀️ Many violations were committed with her arrest and she wasn’t even given a chance to have a lawyer. 😤 Then Percy Lapid was killed and this government has turned it into a shitshow.

This is exactly the reason why we should all be on our toes.

I’ve met some former students there at the workshop and I’m glad that they’re very active in journalists’ causes. One of them wanted me to go back to teaching because only a few practitioners are mentoring new blood. I said I had to give up teaching because checking papers was a nightmare.

This morning I drove the girls to the airport.

We waited for their aunt to come out of immigration so we stayed at the parking area of Terminal 1 before picking her up at the arrival bay. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

Then we rushed to T2 because their flight to Cebu was moved two hours earlier. But then because of the typhoon, their flight got pushed back later than their original departure time 😑

After I dropped them off, I went to MC Home Depot at BGC, which was a futile exercise. My contractor was not happy with the water pressure pump and pressure tank there so I proceeded to Wilcon Depot along C5.

They say this is good enough pressure and tank size for a 2nd storey bathroom and kitchen sink.
I think this is too much. They said this is good enough pressure for a 3-4 storey house. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

Still, my contractor said he needs to check the specs. So I moved on to buying a range hood.

I bought this Rinnai range hood because its fan is metal, unlike the others which use plastic fans. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Plus it’s low maintenance. I only need to degrease the stainless steel filter. Others need carbon filters or papers. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

Even though it’s single motor, the thing is huge and the suction was strong. The air pushed out of the vent was equally powerful. There’s also a cup at next to the fan that will trap oil and grease. I only needed to wash it every now and then.

I paid 9k for this one even when the 4-5k ones are already decent. But this Rinnai is low-maintenance so I gladly forked out 5-4k more. I don’t want a plastic fan dying on me soon.

I also checked out Rinnai ranges as well.

I also stopped by Tiendesitas today for cat supplies. I bought my kitties a new toy that they’re enjoying now.

Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Photo by CallMeCreation.com

When I got home, my neighbor gave me some of the deliveries that they received on my behalf since no one was home. Some friends sent me boxes of charcuterie for my birthday. 🥰

Photo by CallMeCreation.com

Yum. Breakfast tomorrow 🤣

How many times are we going to get fucked over???

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This is how fucked up we are. We still do not have a Department of Health secretary. The rollout for the boosters for children has halted. My kids are partially vaccinated (still no boosters yet).

Then we have a secretary of justice who lacks delicadeza that he wouldn’t resign from his post even if his 38-year-old son was arrested and taken into custody for possessing kilograms of illegal drugs. And he is one of the instigators/staunch supporters of tokhang—the war on drugs in which a lot of poor innocent children like Kian delos Santos were killed without mercy because of baseless accusation that they were drug users. Remulla’s son is not going to use the kilos of drugs by himself, right? And yet they insist he is no drug pusher/runner. Calls for Remulla’s resignation went unheeded. How do we know he’s not using his power to influence the case of his overgrown baby?

Only the rich and the powerful can get due process and always get away scott-free. This tweet from a reporter-friend proves that.

The Remulla son was arrested on 11 Oct. The news came out 13 Oct. They deliberately withheld the information until the rumors could no longer contain the information. When the story went public, the Remullas—who had reigned over Cavite for a looooooooooooooooooooong time, initially denied any connection.

And journalist Atom Araullo, like the rest of the rest of us in the industry, called out this special treatment.

WTF are we supposed to do???

I’m so tired.

Then we have police–even in civilian clothes–knocking on the doors of journalists’ homes in the guise of “following orders from above to ensure we are safe” after the death of journalist who is a vocal critical of Marcos and Duterte.

They’re really out there to intimidate us, to scare us.

My occupation in my insurance policies is WRITER. If I put JOURNALIST, my premiums would be higher.

EXHAUSTING

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Why Philippines? Why are you just accepting this? Why are you condoning the Marcoses’ and the Dutertes’ excesses and you let yourself suffer like this? Why??? My heart bleeds. I think I will die heartbroken because you let yourself be enslaved by your stupidity.

It’s really exhausting if I absorb everything that I see and read. I know it’s such a privilege to turn my head away and pretend these things don’t happen. But sometimes doing so is necessary for my mental health, especially today when I read that a former Supreme Court justice who is now the new Executive Secretary defending Marcos’ wastage of public funds (bringing along bloggers and other hangers on) to watch F1 in Singapore. I want to remind Mr. Bersamin that there is a law that prohibits government officials from using public funds or whatever from doing such thing/s. Singapore has been holding F1 for so many years but no sitting Philippine president has accepted the invitation of the Singapore government because 1) they know the law; 2) it is blasphemy to waste public funds (or even private money because the public perception is bad) on such frivolous things when the country has just emerged from a natural calamity and the citizens could barely eat , with the latest inflation rate is at 6.9%.

Oh yes, we’re back to Marcos-era macroeconomic situation = stagnant growth, high inflation (called stagflation), weak currency, and FDIs are disappearing.

I’m angry but I’m tired of being angry. Maybe living in my hometown will help me tame my anger. Maybe the trees and absence of air pollution will calm my very busy mind. Maybe regular cycling around my hometown and nearby towns would help ease the tension I often harbor because I get affected by macro and micro news, about things that I have no control over. More frequent visits to the sea to dive or Lake Caliraya to camp will remind me of the little things that make living here worthwhile.

I no longer know how to use my platform, my pen (keyboard) to help change the situation. They’re killing journalists like me and they will continue doing that. They have already killed ABS-CBN. Now they’re silencing individual media workers.

I don’t know how long I can take this with my sanity intact.

Let me just do my indoor exercises first so I can ruminate. Maybe my pent-up fury can be expended by dumb bell lifts.

I still have a long way to go. Long, long way to go.

Fighting back

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The peso fought back to close higher today but the stock market continued to slide and we are now in bear market territory. The next support level now is at 5,700, which spells disaster for me. I should pray for the market to fight back next week (with some good news that UK economy registered growth in 2Q22) because I need to withdraw some investments in the next two to three weeks. While I have cash so I can issue a check to my contractor by next week, I need to decide soon if I should draw down one fund now (with the outlook that it will not get any better until December) or wait for the corporate Christmas window-dressing. Or before the corporate earnings season around Nov 15.

Meanwhile, the social media universe has exploded when Shopee revealed that its new endorser is Toni Gonzaga, the hypocritical, Bible-quoting actress who blatantly endorsed lies and enabled the Marcoses and Duterte. To make matters worse, the announcement came on the heels of the news that Shopee axed a lot of jobs because it is losing money. People pushing back said, if they’re losing money, why are they even hiring an endorser who is known to charge millions upon millions of pesos at the expense of employees.

So people began uninstalling their Shopee app and deleting their accounts. The noise and the loss of accounts might have been a lot since Shopee started an impromptu survey about endorsers then they started issuing press statements. Then came the dummy accounts that claimed they were former Shopee employees, saying they were well taken care of by Shopee because they got a bonus pay—And we started pushing back against the crisis PR by saying under the law, Shopee is obligated to give retrenched employees separation pay and THOSE ARE NOT BONUSES. Caught their bullshit.

I’ve been calling out the other BS that the crisis PR team had been coming out with. Because I know how PR works and only a few here in the Philippines specialize in that. I’m friends with one crisis PR guy who is on the speed dial of many conglomerates in the Philippines and he has been telling me some tricks of the trade. One of these days I should have drinks with him again.

I should really finish packing now because I would be driving early morning tomorrow—about 5:30-ish???—to go to the beach. I hope it doesn’t rain much this weekend. ❤

LIan, Batangas

Cronyism Part 2

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This is the reward for cozying up with despots like Duterte and criminal families like the Marcoses. Manuel Villar acquired the franchise of ABS-CBN (after the latter was stripped off it by the demon Duterte) in a midnight deal with the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) that surprised us all.

The bastards.

Meanwhile, ABS-CBN and PLDT had to call off the x-deal between them (PLDT’s acquisition of a stake in SkyCable and in return ABS-CBN gets to acquire TV5) because of political pressure from the House of Representatives.

This is to make sure there would be no opposition media.

I never thought I would live to see such things happening again.

I was set to attend Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR)’s meeting with journalists about “what next?” and how we can maneuver in these dangerous times. However, I was too busy that I forgot about it 😶 Geez.

On the brighter side of life, I was able to cook a dish in my Instant Pot this morning. Chicken curry (using an Ottogi curry mix) for 5 mins only in the Instant Pot. Five minutes. Perfect for very busy homemakers.

Chicken curry on rice. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

The potatoes and carrots were soft and easy to eat, as is the chicken. It was lovely to have lunch within minutes of putting all the ingredients.

I’ll just have to check my power consumption since this gadget consumes 1000 watts of power. 🥴🥴🥴

Finally issued a manager’s check to my contractor for the 50% down payment through my mom this morning. Construction materials will be arriving tomorrow and I’m scared and at the same time excited that this is finally happening.

I’m scared because I will be going back home and I’m afraid of shrinking my world again. My hometown is like a nice cocoon that is very comfortable that will also stifle my personal growth.

While I was walking from my apartment to UP yesterday, I felt melancholic that I would soon be leaving the scenes I had been seeing for the last 20 years or so of living here in QC. I felt a tug in my heart when I watched the sunset and the colors that painted the sky. I will be leaving the memories of walking there in the evenings holding hands with someone, as well as the heartaches I had whenever I remembered those times while I was already walking alone. I will be leaving the pain that tore through me when I biked or walked around the campus when I was trying to recover my lost self.

Biking along University Avenue, UP DIliman. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

UP Diliman was home to me, a substitute for my hometown, minus my nosy family. I started graduate school there in 2003 and it has always been my go-to place when I wanted some comfort. It was where I brought my girls when they were still babies until now, to spend the weekend running around the grassy fields because we don’t have enough open spaces here in the city.

I will miss the convenience of having two grocery stores within 100m-200m away from my house and the many restaurants/food kiosks that dot the village. I will miss having Grab delivery just within minutes of me. Lazada and Shopee deliveries are easy because the QC hub is probably just near here.

Suddenly I have an epiphany…

I’m sad because I will be exchanging my freedom for convenience of having family nearby so my girls will grow up in a village, with a male role model (my brother), with cousins, grandma and aunties. They will help keep an eye on them while I’m away. I’m scared that I will be forfeiting a chance to have someone new in my life because my family is nosy.

I’m exchanging my personal growth for what is best for my girls.

Because it’s no longer about me. I want them to have the best childhood and teenage years I could offer them with my meager resources. I want them to have the best education I could afford and manage.

So children, if you’re already reading this when I’m already dead, I hope you realize now that I gave up my life and personal growth for you so you can have the best.

In the open field near UP MassComm. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

And it aired

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I was so angry 🤣

I was driving on the way home with our Manila reporter, Kr, when I suddenly had a barrage of friend requests and private messages from strangers over at Facebook.

I thought maybe the ABS-CBN interview aired.

Yep, it aired. And I found that I was so angry and it radiated through the screen 🤣

I was able to put on makeup but my hair was a mess 🤣

In any case, my friend said this will be a series of news reports about this issue because she was able to open Pandora’s box. It was bigger than we initially thought.

Meanwhile, I was able to come back to Manila Peninsula to cover a conference so we can ambush interview some C-level execs.

The Manila Peninsula. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I think we have at least 4 stories from this event alone 👏

Plus we saw friends. Ex-journalists-turned-PR/corpcomm.

Selfie!

All in all, a very productive day with a touch of reunion on the side with many, many, many PR friends.

I just realized that my network is vast. From govt, to private sector, to corpcomm, and academe. From top-down. If I wanted, I can really pull serious strings.

Ah, the exes chose the wrong person to mess with. 😏