For those who want to catch the replay of the Octofinals match between UP Manila and Ateneo de Manila, refer to the schedule below.

February 20 -Wednesday – 8:00 PM (LIVE)

February 21- Thursday – 1:00 PM

Feb23 -Saturday – 2:00 PM

Feb 24 -Sunday – 1:00 AM

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I went to a taping of Youth Voice (NBN) and that episode will be shown on March 1 at 7 PM.

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It’s probably the most contentious round since the very first octofinal, but the adjudicators have spoken and they have decided to award it to the underdogs – Ateneo de Zamboanga. I personally feel that the discussions of UP Manila were more nuanced and based in principle, but oh well, people have their reasons. By being a debater, you surrender your fate by allowing your debates to be judged by your peers.

This sets up Ateneo de Zamboanga’s quarterfinal date with the Polytechnic University of the Philippines.

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I am both grateful and relieved that people who appeared on the show had mastery of the English language (and the vernacular), the sense of clarity to crystallize and organize issues and the undeniable substantiation to be able to dispel any notion that the Philippine Blogging Community behaved like a lynch mob when the Malu Fernandez issue was at its fever pitch. The power to represent is one scary tool that some unscrupulous individuals would use to skew reality to their side. Certain people who believe in certain paradigms and models might use their position to forward hard line concepts and impose very undemocratic esoteric standards. I think all three bloggers on the show (Josel, Ricky and myself) reflected the voice of reason and logic, but even if bloggers for the large part are lauding the effort, some have been hypocrites in the sense that they have not really put this concept into practice.

credits to: Earl

As the various occurrences (i.e. the one that happened in the first half this year) in the Philippine Blogging Community has proven time and again, certain people are really capable of pointing out the pertinent issues of a particular discussion or debate. We’ve seen many people assert irrelevant and sometimes peripheral arguments that do not even fall in line with the general spirit of what is being discussed. And yes, due to the innate influence of certain people, other bloggers don’t even call them out for their bad logic and pathetic substantiation. *sigh* Even if the baaaaaad logic was so apparent, bloggers still gravitated to that person who simply resorted to cheap rhetoric and anecdotes. That’s why even if the mafia doesn’t exist in formality, the YES men who surround them continue to pander to them like crazy. It’s seriously emetic.

That being said, I would like to say that I misrepresented the Philippine Blogging Community as I know it. There are a considerable number of bloggers would’ve done as good as I did (or maybe slightly worse), but the vast majority will totally struggle to grapple with logic and substantiation. It has happened before and it continues to happen to this point. Hopefully, my efforts to clean up the image of bloggers – away from the militant, bigoted and stupid stereotype to one that actually thinks and one who chooses NOT to resort to petty rhetoric and salawikain.

That is why there is a need for a revolution – a truly democratized setup with no idiots to rattle off insane arguments. I don’t think Idiocy is a viable ideology for certain people to forward. Every fascicle in me still shakes in disdain at how stupid the reasoning was – it shivers twice more once I remember just how much people supported the stupidity.

If you decided to be corrupted to become a mere pawn and lapdog,
If you decided to be that person who didn’t say anything.
Shame on you.

If you didn’t volunteer, you have no right to complain.
HAHA. Idiot.

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I was interviewed with no less than the living legend of  Philippine Investigative Journalism, Ms. Cheche Lazaro. Woah. Together with Josel (AKA the guy who’s been getting tens and thousands of hits since this issue exploded), I was interrogated first regarding the Malu Fernandez issue. There was a bit of a mix up – they thought I had direct links to the content of Tinig.com — but I think I was able to address the issues well (well, I hope I didn’t misrepresent you guys in anyway). Also on hand were a magazine publisher  (whose name escapes me right now – she’s in no way related to People Asia), Alex Magno (a broadsheet columnist) and Ricky Carandang (blogger – and fresh from during the news from the other studio. Hehe. Bloggers weren’t exactly put in the good light (all the time – we were also under scrutiny) so I had to be on the defensive on certain issues that were hurled my way.

Here are the issues that were discussed.

1. Was the reaction to the issue fair? Didn’t the bloggers and internet denizens react to the issue in such a crass and rabid manner that it become a bit hypocritical at the end of the day? Did we act like a huge lynch mob?

2. Do bloggers have the responsibility to police the comments that their visitors leave? Should we prioritize the freedom of expression or should we be more compassionate?

3. Are people more brave when they post opinions online? Does the fact that they can do it anonymously and without repercussions (i.e. facing the other person) aid in giving people extra courage.

How were these issues tackled? Just watch it later at 6 PM. I’ll be posting the replay schedules as soon as I get them.

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I didn’t get to watch the round but I was told that Xavier University (formerly known as Ateneo de Cagayan) beat the University of the Philippines Baguio in the fifth octofinal round of the Square Off! Debate Championships. Xavier becomes the first provincial school to advance to the quarterfinals after schools like Western Mindanao State University, Mindanao State University – Marawi City and University of Baguio failed to secure a slot in the next round. This is an upset of sorts. UP Baguio was the fifth seed in the competition while Xavier was the twelfth seed.

Xavier will face De Lasalle University in the quarterfinals. This is the second upset in five rounds so I guess that shows that anything can really happen.

Octofinal#5: Xavier (12) def. UP Baguio (5), unanimous

Octofinal#4: DLSU (4) def. Univ. of Baguio (13), split

Octofinal#3: PUP (14) def. UST (3), unanimous

Octofinals#2: UP Diliman (2) def. MSU-Marawi City (15), unanimous

Octofinals #1: ADMU (1) def. WMSU (16), unanimous

Next week: Ateneo de Zamboanga vs. UP Manila

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The Primer: Media In Focus is a show that deals WITH the media – on how is a story being reported — and less about what the story is to begin with. But this is a special case. The issue probably fell under this show’s criteria because the person at the center of this commotion is herself a member of the media.

I didn’t exactly keep this as a secret (haha), but if you have been reading my tweets and posts this past week, you would know that I’ll be taping for this week’s episode of Media In Focus at the ABS-CBN News Channel Studios tomorrow afternoon. The topic of the hour-long talk show will be the now explosive Malu Fernandez controversy that stemmed from a) the rudely discriminatory tone of the lifestyle writer’s article on her encounters with Overseas Filipino Workers and b) the general public’s inability to appreciate her acerbic wit. The guests for the program will probably be the journalists from the daily broadsheets, some NGOs who look after OFWs, probably Malu herself and yes, bloggers! It must be noted that other bloggers like Nick of Tingog and Kapuso Ederic of Tinig were also asked to participate but both begged off due to different reasons. I was told that Sassy Lawyer and Josel (more than 1900+ comments!) will be there as well.

Here are the possible issues:

1. Did Malu Fernandez exercise proper discretion in writing the article (and corresponding follow-up) ? Is there really such a thing as target audiences? Are the rules of ethics blurred or relaxed when it comes to writing entertainment or lifestyle pieces compared to straight news and more high brow columns?
2. Is the writer’s publication culpable in anyway? Does the concept of command responsibility apply in cases of acerbic wit gone-out-of-hand/ distasteful writing devoid of wit?
3. How did the media deal with the issue? Was the media reaction late or was the story just not big enough for mainstream media to pick up before the actual explosion of the issue? How should the media cover such stories in the future? Should it wait until an issue reaches fever pitch before taking action?

Obviously, those issues are outside the realm of yours truly and I’ll let the journalists, lawyers and Malu to figure out those things for themselves. I was invited to be a guest for my suggestion to start a writing project. Therefore, I will have to verbalize my concerns as a blogger who in my own little way took part in this massive cyber-indignation rally we launched against Malu’s article.

1. Has blogging emerged as a legitimate and more importantly, significant avenue for people to voice out their dissent and opinions? It must be emphasized that this is the first time that bloggers are being cited as one of the bigger players in this developing story. Have we really gained enough cred to hold enough authority to somehow police the mainstream media by a)whistle-blowing on the incidents of unfair journalism and b)direct them into more news-worthy stories? (the story of Pyro comes to mind) Have we truly arrived as a new and emerging flank of Philippine media or is this a mere fluke?
2. What polices the blogging community from similarly hateful comments directed at people bloggers choose to crucify? Should there be a mechanism to also check the abuses that bloggers commit? A deluge of very personal attacks have come Malu Fernandez’ way and it’s clear that those comments do nothing as far as enhancing the degree of discussion is concerned.Do bloggers have the responsibility of policing their own commenters?

So there. Wish me luck. It will be shown tomorrow at 6.

Update: They just asked me on how I wanted to be introduced – I just told them to say that I’m Benj, a 22 year-old medical student, collegiate debater and blogger at Atheista.net. Hehe

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August has been one crazy month. Prior to this month, all my appearances on TV have been due to coincidence – the camera panning during a PBA game, having a camera crew covering a debate event I was in etc. This month, I’ve been invited to deliberately appear on shows not once, not twice, not thrice… but four times! But then again, I’m sure you’ve taped them all and I’m still waiting for you (all 24,992 of you), to upload it to Youtube.

August is not yet over and neither is my string of TV appearances. *fingers crossed*

I’ve been invited to be at the ABS-CBN studios this Thursday to talk about the Malu Fernandez issue. Why? Well, for one, I asked Ederic Eder of Tinig.com-fame to start a writing project. Ederic, being the nice and obedient person that he is decided to honor my request and formalize the commencement of a writing project about the now-controversial journalist. Due to the obvious conflict of interest – one look at Ederic’s personal blog will expose you to tons of hearty material – THE Ederic cannot guest on Media In Focus. Hopefully, Nick of Tingog.com can make it. To be fair to Nick, he has been an outspoken and passionate pundit for this issue and he has every right to be in a show that aims to discuss the crooks of the matter.

 I also need to find an OFW who will be willing to show up on TV. Given that criteria, make that former OFW. It would help if he’s/she’s a blogger as well. Haha, good luck to me!

Here are some notes that I have in my head:

• Mainstream media (well, at least the ABS-CBN News Network) is now paying attention to what bloggers have to say. Hopefully, this would enlighten other media outfits that the opinions in the blog community is also as valid as those found in newspapers and magazines. I think this bodes well as far as the objectives of the Blog and Soul Movement is concerned. For those who want to make blogging a prevalent and relevant facet of Philippine media, I think we should embrace every chance to get the word out with open arms. Lets all be TV-appearance whores and take one (or two) for the team.
• I will try to speak for myself. I will not speak for other people in this interview. I’ll bring cue cards to remind me of those things. You never know, I might slip and spin stuff like any debater would. Haha. I’m also trying to anticipate the questions that I will probably be asked… Hmmm…
• I don’t know the schedule yet! The taping will be on Thursday afternoon, but I don’t know when it will be shown.

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With a split decision of 2-1, the duo of Ryan Sebolino and Dino de Leon from De Lasalle University beat the pair from University of Baguio to advance to the quarterfinals of the Square Off! Debate Championships. DLSU entered the tournament as the fourth seed compared to UB who is seeded thirteenth out the sixteen debate institutions who chose to participate in the competition. Dino de Leon, DLSU’s veteran debater for six years running, was chosen as the Texter’s Choice and the unanimous pick by the adjudicators as the Best Speaker for the round.

With the win, DLSU now is awaiting the winner of the round between University of the Philippines Baguio and Xavier University . Those two schools will be squaring off next week as the fifth and twelfth seeded teams, respectively. The debaters from Taft are now in the same league of four with the other schools who secured a quarterfinals slot in the past weeks – Ateneo de Manila University, Polytechnic University of the Philippines and the University of the Philippines Diliman.

The University of Baguio is now out of the running for getting the competition’s top prize of a cash reward equal to the price of the registration fee for the 2008 Assumption University Worlds in Bangkok, Thailand (roughly $1100). The University of Santo Tomas, Western Mindanao State University and Mindanao State University – Marawi City have likewise been eliminated in the first three rounds of debates.

The three adjudicators for the round were Michael Chua (the chair adjudicator) from UP Diliman, Glen Tuason from Ateneo Law School and Benj Espina from UP Manila. Benj Espina dissented and decided to give the round to the University of Baguio.

Click the image to look at the draw.

Tentative schedule:

August 29 – UP Baguio vs Xavier University

September 5 – UP Manila vs Ateneo de Zamboanga Univeristy

September 12 – Ateneo de Davao University vs Lyceum of the Philippines

September 19 – San Beda College vs College of Saint Benilde

THE ABS-CBN NEWS CHANNEL’S SQUARE OFF AIRS WEDNESDAY NIGHTS AT 8PM. Yes, it’s LIVE.

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Yes, NBN. You’re dead to me.

Thanks in large part to Typhoon Sepat (Egay to those with a heightened sense of nationalism), my much-anticipated, much-talked-about (wahaha) August 20 NBN taping for some debate show on the nation’s most watched network is no longer feasible due to conflicts in schedule.

For the benefit of the non-students (and those reading this abroad), classes have been canceled since Wednesday. The final examination for my first rotation – Internal Medicine – was initially move to Saturday morning. Due to another announcement on the suspension of classes today, the department has no choice but to give the exam on Monday morning (August 20). This was supposedly a holiday to commemorate the 24th year anniversary of Ninoy Aquino’s assassination. Of course, the real date of the anniversary is the 21st but being veterans of the Gloria prerogative to change the day of holidays from the actual date of occurrence, no one seems to question this anymore. Incidentally, our role for the debate would’ve been to protect the idea of this prerogative as a justified desecration.

The exam is 10AM to 12NN.

The call time for the debate is 12NN.

NBN’s studios are in Quezon City.

So clearly, even with the use of a helicopter, I wouldn’t make it in time for the taping.

Hold your horses! The exam got moved to Tuesday! It’s a go!

Oh well.

The silver lining for this of course is that I still get to be on Square Off this Wednesday. It’s going to be De Lasalle squaring off against University of Baguio for a chance to join the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Ateneo de Manila University and University of the Philippines Diliman in the quarterfinals.

Square Off airs LIVE every Wednesday night at 8.

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In line with my goal of hosting Wowowee by years end, I have once again committed to another debate-related TV appearance. After adjudicating for ANC’s Square Off! last week, I’ll be debating against students from De Lasalle University on Monday (August 20). Apparently, we’ll be doing two debates because they want to shoot for two episodes. Does this mean we have to wear different sets of clothes for the two debates? Darn. We all know that NBN4 is the most watched channel in the country according to the ratings and they’ll definitely notice if I use the same clothes for two episodes.

Unlike Square Off!, the NBN show will not be live. I still don’t know when it’s going to be shown.

We’re going to debate on motions regarding this whole make-Mondays-holidays-shtick (lame…lame…) and medical field-related motion (yay!). I still don’t know which side we’re going to take and we’re going to be using the utterly icky Oregon-Oxford format. I have never debated Or-Ox! Haha. I think I’m going with Lee and a still unnamed debater.

And oh, this Wednesday, I’ll be adjudicating for Square Off! again! It’s a round between DLSU and University of Baguio. It will be shown live from 8 PM to 9 PM at ANC.

So there, three TV appearances in a span of three days! Willie better watch his back!

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So my schedule will be like this next week:

August 20 – NBN for 2 debates

August 21 – The Mrs. Fields’ event at The Manila Pavilion

August 22 – SQUARE OFF! WATCH ME! LOL

August 23 – Taste Asia @ Mall of Asia

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I’d like to take this opportunity to congratulate the UP College of Medicine Class of 2007 for their stellar performance in the just concluded Medical Boards! Special kudos go out to the Debater Doctors! Good job Aloy, Pam and Adrian!

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The third round for ABS-CBN News Channel’s Square Off! aired live last night. Second seed University of Philippines Diliman squared off against fifteenth seed Mindanao State University – Marawi City to determine the next quarterfinalist. Diliman was represented by Melissa Sayoc and PIDC finalist Claire Jiao. After almost half an hour of intense debating on the topic of the efficacy of the party list system, the speakers from Quezon City emerged victorious.

As you can see, UP Diliman will now await the winner of the round between Ateneo de Davao and Lyceum of the Philippines.

During the first octofinals match, Ateneo de Manila won over the Western Mindanao State. They are now awaiting the survivor of the match between San Beda and College of Saint Benilde.

In the second round, the Polytechnic University of the Philippines beat the University of Santo Tomas. They will square off against the winner of the round between UP Manila and Ateneo de Zamboanga in the quarterfinals.

Next week, fourth seed De Lasalle University will face the thirteenth seed University of Baguio. The winner of that round will face either UP Baguio or Xavier University.

The champion will receive an all-expenses paid trip to the 2008 Worlds Universities Debate Championships in Bangkok, Thailand to be held later this year.

SQUARE OFF AIRS LIVE EVERY WEDNESDAY NIGHT 8 TO 9 PM!

I’ll be on TV again next week to adjudicate Lasalle vs University of Baguio. 

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Posing next to the Studio 6 sign. I was obviously taking instructions for this shot. This was shot after the show. While the debaters were asking for points of information from the Chair Adjudicator, I was busy fooling around. They did ask for my comments eventually.

The adjudicators were huddled up in a room in the office complex. This was post-make-up. Yes, we had to wear make-up. Wahaha

These pictures were taken by Patricia Evangelista and are being posted on this blog without her consent. Thank you for taking great shots Patricia. :p See you next time.

 And yes, I’m once again appealing to the generous people of the blogosphere to help me go to the World Universities Debate Championship. Thank you to those who have pledged their support. HELP ME!!!

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I’m not too sure if this holds, but assuming that Sir Martin Cortez and Patricia Evangelista gave me the correct information – and assuming I understood it correctly, here’s the draw for Square Off!

Again, this is UNOFFICIAL. I’ve already sent a copy of this draw to the producers to verify if I got it right.

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It was raining hard.

Manila was flooded.

My parents weren’t exactly helpful. They weren’t willing to take me to Quezon City.

I had to commute. And yes, commute I did. I had to go on a treacherous obstacle course to find the only remaining non-inundated patches of asphalt along Taft Avenue in hopes of catching a ride to the ABS-CBN Studios.

Buses were hard to come by. As expected España Avenue was flooded and a lot of public utility vehicles were deterred from going through the low-lying areas of Manila. Luckily, an aircon bus passed by and I was able to get on board.

It was crazy.

There were at least 25 people standing in the aisle. It was probably one of the longest 90 minute stretches of my life – it was a cacophony of acerbic remarks to the driver who kept on taking more passengers, the cries of whiny young women you couldn’t get through the sea of people standing on the aisle and insensitive grunts of a manly woman shoving the crying and already upset passengers out of the bus. These painful events were fortunately interrupted with a healthy helping of humorous happenings. While the bus was making its way through the knee-deep waters of Dimasalang, the driver animatedly screamed at pedestrians and other drivers in stereotypical Visayan flair. The bus made huge waves that totally caught people eating at roadside canteens and cafeterias.

After literally speeding through the flooded streets of Manila and backing off from insanely inundated thoroughfares over half a dozen times, I finally got to my stop near the ABS-CBN studios. The people in the bus thought I was joining Wowowee (ang aga ko naman atang pumila), never did they know that I’ll be appearing on the most watched show in Phillipine history – Square Off! hosted by Twink Macaraig.

It was a unanimous decision. On the motion that this House believes that democracy has failed in the Philippines, the three adjudicators gave the win to the Polytechnic University Of The Philippines (seeded 14th) over the third seed University of Santo Tomas.

Finally, thank you to Joe for letting me sleep over at his place. Thanks man, you’re a life saver!

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If seeing me for 3 seconds in this NBN telecast of the PIDC Finals left you wanting to see more of me, please leave a comment and I’ll have a restraining order furnished first thing in the morning.

If you would prefer something else other than that option, try this one for size. I (yes, Benj of Atheista.net) will be on the Square Off - that debate show on ABS-CBN News Network on August 8 and August 22. Both shows will be live. If you want to see how my 3 seconds of fame extends to about 45 seconds or so, watch it from 8 to 9 PM. Barring disability, death or an attack from a rabid groupie, I will be there to adjudicate two rounds of heart-stopping American Parliamentary debate.

Again, it’s going to be live. Benj on live TV does open the door to a lot of possibilities right? Haha. Of course, I’m haggling with the people behind the show to show my URL instead of my real name when they introduce me.

And oh, good luck to everyone who’s taking the Medical Board Exams starting today!

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