Social Media has made waves in recent years and it’s about time that someone rewarded the people who have effectively used this new tool to make a difference in the way we think and pass the time. The Tatt Awards seeks to identify those who have excelled and led the way in innovating the way Filipino netizens have used the internet and social media towards creative and worthwhile ends.

There are ten categories and all are very compelling. Another good reason to want to nominate your favorite celebrities, close friends or even yourself is the reward that awaits the winner – aside from products and services from Globe, the one who would be named the best for 2011 will win 100,000 pesos! That’s not chump change and it’s definitely a good reward for being a moving force in social media.

Nominations are set to end tomorrow (July 14) so head to the Tatt Awards site to nominate. The council that would eventually decide a good chunk of the scoring is composed of very well-respected personalities who have made their mark in social media over the past years.

Be part of history. Nominate your bets to the first ever Tatt Awards!

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The idea that an entire nation of intelligent and opinionated individuals would stand side by side for common causes is certainly a dream that resides in the minds of the idealistic members of the blogging community. I’m a bit shocked though that is something that is considered by people whom I consider to be pragmatic and fairly reasonable individuals.

This point has been hammered home so many times already – the beauty of the blogging medium lies in how free it is and how personal of an experience it is to the person writing the posts and maintaining the sites. While blogging, a person is free to just express his thoughts and just allow himself to be at the mercy of an audience that is largely anonymous and at times appreciative or judgmental. The blog has become a soapbox that has allowed people of different interests, backgrounds and affiliations to spill their minds on a virtual space and engage the rest of the world in some form of correspondence or communication. 

I can wax poetic about these things because up to now, it blows my mind that thousands of people can potentially read what I write in a day. I have been on many blogging networks and each time I joined, it has always been for one reason – to quell the insatiable need to write and put my thoughts on record fearing that I might forget them in the future.

The formation of a gaudily named National Blogger Association would simply destroy or at least erode the very reasons why blogging is such a great thing. Marocharim has already said his piece in more eloquent words in his blog, but the point can not be highlighted enough. The diversity in the community stands to be threatened if a mega-body were to be instituted and would be somehow allowed to make standards for a group of people that it wrongly represents.

Bloggers are not sheep. Nobody joined blogging to be part of a big club – and that’s essentially what the National Blogger Association is. It’s going to be an organization that makes standards on what a blogger should do and outsiders will see it as the legitimate organization that all bloggers should join to gain recognition – even if ironically, at this point, most bloggers are averse to the idea of the establishment of such a group.

If the framers were to continue with organization with the same name in mind, it would really make me think that it puts them ALMOST in the same level as Ang Galing Pinoy (Mikey Arroyo’s party list). The numbers can never be scientific since no one will likely fund a real poll for this purpose but it seems like it’s hard to get someone who would support the National Blogger Association concept. A lot of people seem to think that preserving the dynamism and the status quo is still a better option than constructing a group with a pretentious name.

The current system is not perfect. There are people who may be considered to be part of the blogging elite and there are a lot of people who detest the people who are in that elite group. When those two groups come together to slam one new idea, you know that there’s a big consensus there – and they didn’t need to form an organization to come up with that coincidental stance. Consensus may seem like a good word in most settings but in blogging wherein reaching such an agreement is close to impossible, it is best to let things organically develop and grow on their own instead of coming from the high halls of the blogging hierarchy.

Blogging has grown so much in the past decade without the aid of an organization. If anything, organizations that were formed around blogging have dwarfed in comparison to greater movements that were spurred organically outside the context of an SEC registration. Yes, blogging organizations are still around; but the growth of the community has been so vast that the impact of these organizations (even the really big ones) have been reduced to a small trickle in the very rich and dynamic blogging community that the country has.

The organization can always try to set up shop and prove their worth to bloggers as soon as they grab the reins and try to make some moves but they give themselves a big disadvantage. Once you name yourself the leader of a demographic that doesn’t recognize your leadership and in some cases your credibility; it’s easy for people to be cynical and doubt your intentions. Perhaps tyranny would be a strong word, but that is somewhat close to what happens here. Hijacking the terms national and blogger is akin to snatching the crown from the king’s head and putting it on your own while trusting your personal benevolence to make the right call every single time.

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I’ve received a copy of a so-called manifesto that was being drafted by the framers of an organization that wishes to call itself the National Blogging Association. I’ve publicly responded to the parties who were trying to form this group via Twitter and my answer has always been an emphatic NO. Many people have been writing about it (Juned and Jayvee - two of my blogging idols) so I think it wouldn’t hurt if I threw in my two cents regarding the issue.

For all intents and purposes, I would like to believe that blogging as it stands now is free from regulation and no one person or party can claim that they have the mandate to directly influence it or somehow make resolutions or standards that would be the de facto conventions of an entire community. Blogging has become so big now in terms of breadth and reach that a club composed of the big guns in the scene couldn’t possibly organize and herd a large group of independent minds.

Bloggers are from very different backgrounds and the idea of homogenizing the way that one is supposed to blog (one of the main thrusts of the proposed group is to have a ‘code of ethics’) was a red flag for me – and yes, to anyone who believes in free speech; any attempt to curtail freedoms should be resisted with the strongest possible terms. Considering that the possibility of curtailment is coming from within the community, I would even suggest that such a move even triggers a chilling effect among those who support the right of people to self expression – caveat: the legal limits still apply regardless of how much freedom we have.

I also have an issue with the name. Calling your group the National Blogger Association can come across as a bit misleading.  There was no mandate to begin with – what essentially happened is a meeting of the minds of two relatively influential bloggers who also attempted to form a strong bloc by approaching bloggers who could somehow bolster the significance of the manifesto. I would have to give the organizers the benefit of the doubt that they really want to do something good in behalf of everybody else who blogs. Unfortunately, the perception of false representation in this context is really hard to ignore. I am very uncomfortable about the notion of being called a founding member of an organization like the National Blogger Association. It just feels wrong. It’s almost feels like the name “blogger” is being hijacked. I would like to think that that wasn’t the intention of the organizers but it’s really easy to make the connection if you don’t give them the benefit of the doubt.

On the other hand, if no one will do it, there’s a good chance that someone else will try to do it – a wily traditional politician perhaps, or another blogger who clearly is less qualified than the two people who are putting their necks on the line to lead a community (that isn’t exactly asking to be led). Should there be another party who dares to attempt what Janette and Tonyo are trying to do now, I’m pretty sure that they will face the same amount of resistance.

At the end of the day, this whole issue isn’t about Tonyo and Janette – it’s about whether or not we need an National Blogger Association. Those two people could’ve been other people and the result will still be the same. Perhaps the rebuke will even be stronger had it been other people, to be honest.

Homogenizing what is good from bad blogging under the umbrella of an organization just sets off alarm bells in my head and I’m sure that’s the case for a lot of bloggers as well.

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Wolfgang will be part of the Tanduay First Five lineup and I’m definitely excited! As always, the concert tour would snake through 30 cities from all over the country. The usual big cities are part of the tour but there are also locations that are off the beaten path – you’d probably have to use Google to know some towns on the tour schedule!

Wolfgang has not toured extensively for almost a decade so it’s going to be interesting to see the reception that they’ll get from the maniacal fans from the provinces. They’ve only played in Manila in Cebu in eight years so you can bet that people from Davao, Iloilo, Baguio and other places are raring to get their Wolfgang fix.

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Risto Eerola is now officially a blogger! You would probably remember him best for trying to kill many members of Couchsurfing Manila with Salmiakki Koskenkorva. When he’s not drinking copious amounts of alcohol or adding candies with ammonium chloride to drinks, Risto is actually a decent writer. Well, I hope so at least – the English translation of the current entries are quite interesting to say the least.All the entries are written in Finnish – a language that is only spoken in one country and roughly has around 5 million speakers worldwide. That’s a very narrow target audience so let’s throw this guy a bone and give him hits and link love.

The name of the blog was derived from an inside joke between Risto and his friends. He’s tried surfing before and made it his personal goal to surf in the Philippines, but two months into his one-year stay in the country, he has yet to even hold a surfboard. This blog “aaltojenkuningas” (didn’t just that roll off your tongue?!) chronicles Risto’s stay in the country. He doesn’t edit much out – all the good and bad sides of being a minority in the Philippines are mentioned here.

Risto actually had fourteen pages worth of text before he started this blog so it’s great that he has decided to stop dragging his heels and finally sign up. I’m very proud of course to have influenced him to go with WordPress. I heard he’s been getting good traffic so hopefully it all continues in the coming months.

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Hey guys, I will be co-hosting quiz night this Wednesday at Capricciosa along Connecticut St. in Greenhills. It costs nothing to play – just show up and try out the good food that Capricciosa serves. They also serve great cocktails so you can also get your booze fix if that’s your thing.

If you’ve always wanted to check out quiz night, this would be the perfect opportunity. I’ve taken pains to make sure that my questions would be interesting and at the same time, fun enough to be appreciated by just about anyone. I’m not in liberty to share the categories right now I can share now that there will be at least two categories on pop culture.

Please call 744-0689  to reserve a table. The game starts at around 945. It’s an awesome time to spend the middle of the week. If you’re not doing anything, please consider coming to quiz night. Who knows, you might start a new Wednesday habit.

See you there.

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Sorry if I haven’t been blogging lately. Most of my new articles are posted at the following sections of The Philippine Online Chronicles.

Blogwatch

Sportacular

I’ve been writing on this web publication almost everyday for the past month.

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In an article published by the Philippine Star today (February 12, 2010), Manny Galvez wrote a piece entitled “Med student survived fire by an act of God, says mom“. It talks in length about Miguel Ramos’ (the sole survivor of the pre-dawn fire that claimed the lives of three others – medical clerks Jen Murillo, Cecile Quintos and my good friend Jessa Perez) links about the Philippine Star’s pioneers as well as how Ramos “survived by an act of god”.
This article is an embarrassing piece of journalism that trivializes the suffering and the hardships that those who died went through. It is also arrogant in the sense that people seemed to highlight the dichotomy of those who survived and those who didn’t. This was further emphasized by the attempt to come up with a reason as to why Ramos (who is still in the intensive care unit as of this moment and still hooked to a mechanical ventilator) made it through the fire alive. Really, a scapular? Maybe this article could have been written with a lot more heart and consideration for those who died, their families and friends who have been totally shocked with what had just happened. To choose this as a human interest story and emphasize some idolatrous detail comes across as a cheap and forced attempt to find some good in the already grim situation.

I hope the Philippine Star would know better and rectifies this mistake soon.

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A good friend of mine died today. She was trapped in the comfort room of a burning health center in Nueva Ecija along with her three other classmates. She was on special assignment for a Community Medicine immersion. I met her when she applied to be a member of the UP Manila Debate Circle. We went to many training days together and even experienced a couple of national tournaments with the Circle. Her passing was such a shock to all of us. She was a very intelligent and passionate debater as well as a  kind, bubbly, optimistic, thoughtful and uplifting friend and colleague.

I never had the chance to reconnect with her after she left the Circle to pursue medicine elsewhere but now I regret not doing so.

We love you Jessa. We miss you already.

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Sorry for the lull, but we’re back on!

De Lasalle University beat the odds and won the right to host the 2012 World Universities Debate Championship during the voting held at Koc University in Turkey just days in 2010. Despite catty remarks from DLSU’s main rival Hart House/ University of Toronto regarding the unsafe environment that Manila poses, DLSU won convincingly with a final tally of 72 to 28. The founding members have four votes each while each other participating country has one.

The Worlds are usually held days after Christmas until well into the first week of the following year. The DLSU Worlds will start on late December 2011. Congratulations to the De Lasalle debaters who made this happen! Special kudos to Dino and Victor who really worked hard for the bid.

DLSU Official Bid Website

The DLSU Worlds is set to be the 32nd annual WUDC. It is the second time that the tournament is coming to the Philippines. Ateneo de Manila University hosted it back in 1999.

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I opened a new blog at BenjEspina.com. I hope you could check it out. Add it to your blog rolls! The content would be mostly about travel, food, music and sports – pretty much all the non-political, atheist, debater-y (i.e. serious) things that used to be posted here at Atheista.

Cheers!

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I think it’s quite easy to find Chiz Escudero as one of the most grandstanding-prone politicians on television. While he may have a way with words, he does come across as someone who could easily smooth talk his way into spewing out ideas that are generally agreeable but not necessarily concrete or helpful – pretty much like Barack Obama. Of course that type of  charm works for a certain type of person and to be fair to Chiz, that type of person is the absolute majority once the greater scheme of things is considered.

Chiz Escudero in the flesh was not in any way pompous, arrogant or disagreeable. While it was not clear why he wanted to see bloggers for that day (other than to have small talk and probably feed a few undernourshed bloggers such as myself), it was nice to sit across him and have him answer off-the-cuff and unscripted questions from his obvious supporters, critics and skeptics.

The Good

- If everything where to be taken at face value – pretty much the same way that the good in me would like to see things — Francis “Chiz” Escudero seems to have his heart and head in the right place. He comes across as someone who can sleep soundly at night. I know that this is a very subjective comment that could further contradict the other things that I would write as this entry progresses, but at the basic visceral level, he seems like a guy who would be hard to hate. Either that or I’m just a naturally nice guy.

- He is  his own man – or so it seems. This is where the question of whether or not you trust him comes into play. With the words that he has in his arsenal, he could almost always pluck out a good set of words that would come off as something inspiring and rational enough. I asked him about his stand regarding the separation of church and state as well as his tenacity when it comes to resisting pressures from the church in case there is an appeal to have him change his mind on a certain issue. While he didn’t exactly qualify his support for the Reproductive Health bill itself, he did say that he advocates the responsible planning of one’s family and the availability and access to the necessary information that would bolster one’s reproductive health.

- He is against abortion but is willing to make leeway for certain cases – he mentioned something about ectopic pregnancies. As far as I know, it is legal to terminate these types of pregnancies so his point came across as moot to me. I really wanted to ask him, when does life begin? This is a key question in the pro-choice debates overseas but it seemed out of place in the meeting so I bit my tongue.

- He reiterated his reasons for leaving his now-former party - the Nationalist People’s Coalition. He stated that the terms of his departure was amicable and both sides understood where each was coming from.

- He is not easily intimidated by the bishops and the church. During the height of the Estrada cases, the bishops of Sorsogon tried to pin him down and shame him due to his loyalty to the former president. He easily didn’t back down and he clearly showed that he isn’t beholden to the church – nor is he trying to bend over backwards like most politicians just to accommodate the whims and desires of the clergy.

- He has the brains to offer revolutionary solutions that could promise great change. He can think outside of the box – but of course, not all things inside the box are bad and the things that lie outside of it are rightly kept outside the realm of possible options.

- He claimed to be a maverick in his own party. This is a cursed word in US politics of course, Sarah Palin and John McCain totally used this word to the high heavens just to prove a point. We all know what happened of course. Escudero sure tried to show that he was often taking stances that were opposite the official NPC position.

- He said he finds nothing wrong with same-sex marriage. It was interesting that he said this when the question that was fielded by one of the guests was just one regarding the anti-discrimination bill. He somehow qualified his position though by saying that the country is not ready for it. That somehow dilutes whatever “support” he has for the idea, right?

- He seems to have a sense of humor. When someone drew the parallelism between him and US President Barack Obama, Escudero jested that he was only like Barack “from the waist down”.

The Bad

- Just like 99% of politicians, it’s hard to fall for everything that he says. Trusting Chiz Escudero doesn’t come easy. Again, to be fair, this would apply to almost all politicians – and people in general.

- While he may be not beholden to the church, what he hasn’t proven is that he is not beholden to other powers – i.e. Erap and the rest of his ilk. The impact of standing up to the bishops was somehow diluted because he was standing next to Erap, Jinggoy and the other jabronis in that clique.

- He claimed that he was misquoted regarding the algebra issue. While I did try to hear him out, I was just left scratching my head in the end of his lengthy explanation. The basic idea behind his move to change the curriculum seems decent enough – the Department of Educations seems to be very non-flexible in changing the way things are taught to children and reviewing these lesson plans only twice per decade seems to be a tad too infrequent for comfort.

- He pushed this argument to it’s logical conclusion that we must somehow specialize the subjects in high school based on the abilities and potential future careers of the students. Of course, that supposedly logical conclusion would only fly if 1) children in high school already knew what type of career they wanted (hint: a vast majority don’t) and 2) high school students were better off specializing and choosing with subjects to choose as electives. Both premises are clearly not feasible since they are not the case by any stretch of the imagination – I guess in Chiz’s mind it is, but I didn’t feel compelled to buy into the logic of the statement. The rousing “aha!” moment in the venue surprised me though. It’s as if they really bought what he said.

- High school students have to trained to be good in just about everything since most aren’t probably sure which course or career they want. Some would even be basing their choices on the type of course that their first choice university would allow them to take. This is why you have to give all students the right amount of tools to take on whatever challenge. It also allows the student to have back up plans should the first choice of career or course turns out to be a bad fit.

- Chiz made an example regarding students who were dead set on being one thing and it would be shame if they were to fail or repeat a year in school because they missed the mark on a subject irrelevant to their future career. Aside from the ideas in the bullets preceding this one, “specialty” subjects (who to him are only helpful for those who will be going to engineering and similar disciplines) such as trigonometry and calculus are just mere subjects. He didn’t take into consideration these subjects’ potential to enrich the critical thinking of young students. Coming from an intelligent person such as Chiz who is obviously a sharp knife in the drawer, the logic is really suspect.

- The example of a prodigy who is dead set on doing one thing and committing to a train of subjects is a big risk. At the very least, these type of people are an absolute minority (arguably less than 10% of the typical high school class). Allowing students to be only good at certain subjects skews the grading systems and this could cause irregularities in college admissions. I think this is also a valid extension and conclusion to Chiz’s premise. And in the practical sense, there are also great minds who were primed to be one thing – take the example of Shaira Luna for example of Promil Gifted Child Fame — but ended up doing something entirely different. Imagine if she was bee-lined into a program that was just going to bombard her with life sciences lessons during her high school year.

- And lastly, he wanted to give a passing grade to everyone who was victimized by Ondoy. He said since there was barely a month left in the semester, it shouldn’t hurt to give a free pass to the second sem. This was his reaction to the idea that the first semester was to be extended to allow for make-up classes.

- I really don’t understand his aversion to make-up classes . This is a widely accepted practice that may cause inconveniece, but in the end, with all things considered, it is done to the benefit of the student. The student missed valuable hours of schooling in a classroom and this is addressed by replacing the hours and extending the semestral schedule.

-Giving a free pass to student does not in anyway prepare him or her to the challenges of the next semester. Chiz didn’t seem to take into account that lessons in school are often linear and that prerequisite knowledge of a core concept would have to taught first before progressing to the more advanced concepts and operations of the second semester.

- His main defense for his pass-them-idea? Well, the students need to pick up their lives since it is in shambles and the teachers are also having problems. If anything, going to school gives them a semblance of normalcy that life goes on and that there is a need to strive for greater success and achievement to rise up from the challenges. Going to school shouldn’t be a burden to these children – I’m sure their parents also want them to be in school and continue getting lessons to catch up with whatever learning gap the typhoon has caused.

- Also, how are you going to implement this? Is this a blanket policy or will it only apply to those who were flooded. Clearly, not all students would have been flooded and a selective and not-so-objective way of looking at storm damage would have to fall on the shoulders of the ones making the grades. Chiz also conceded that there would be multiple strong typhoons yearly. Does this mean that he would be willing to keep on giving out free passes every time there’s a big flood problem come October or September since the semester is ending anyway?

The Chiz-y
Ladies and gentlemen, Chiz Escudero tried to run this argument.

Don’t you think those children learned more with their experience during the typhoon and floods compared to what they could ever learn in a classroom?

That is not the quote exactly, but that was the main idea. While I agree and concede that yes, exposure to duress, disasters and calamities may bring out the best out of people and help build character… It doesn’t immediately follow that you should give students who were flooded a passing grade. It was an amazing logical fallacy if there ever was one. It’s a grand hybrid of ad misericordiam and non sequitur. To Chiz though, it was the logical conclusion of the argument. I’m really baffled. What he suggested was a bit patronizing and somehow irrational.

Maybe that sort of reasoning works for some people, but with all due respect to the Senator and all his supporters, that won’t work on me. Things were somehow on the upswing until he said these things right to my face (he was sitting across me – I think it was Noemi‘s idea to have me sit there!)

—

1) Thanks to Carlo Ople for the invitation. The photo also belongs to him.

2) Chiz didn’t say anything regarding his election plans. If you guys would remember, he has only been senator for less than three years – he is assured of a senate seat until 2013 whether or not he wins, loses or even sits pretty without filing his candidacy for 2010.

3) Chiz WILL NOT be Erap’s running mate. I asked this question just to get it out of the way.

4) Chiz will make his decision on the days leading up to the deadline for filing of candidacy (Dec 1)

5) I don’t think I will ever vote for Chiz Escudero.

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When discussing climate change, it’s almost impossible to evade the concept of global warming. To this day. global warming continues to be a contentious topic so it’s best to be skeptical about it. While it may be true, saying that it is the only thing driving the changes in the climate can be counter intuitive in mitigating the effects of stronger hurricanes and sea level rise.

While cutting emissions could be a good idea as a long-term plan to quell the effects of global warming, it doesn’t address the problems that people are already facing now. There has to be more proactive solutions to the effects of climate change and not just the cutting of emissions. If anthropologic global warming isn’t really the cause of the changes when all is said and done, we would just be left dead in the water.

The solutions to climate change need to be more revolutionary – both in terms of intellectual approach as well as  in the financial conventions that cities and countries are used to. Unless man does something to fortify settlements, floods would always happen and the human cost would always be great.

Here are some solutions that would be more apt in my opinion:

1. Conduct topographical studies that would map out areas with an immense risk of flooding – both permanently and temporarily – by using models for sea level rise and super typhoons. Advice the people of these areas regarding the risks and if possible, give suggestions on either how to fortift buildings in the area or suggest a possible re-settlement site.

2. Hire experts that would look at the ways to construct dams and dikes that could serve as protection should the seas encroach unto our shores. This would be very costly, but if the city of Manila is to survive sea level rise, big moves would have to be made.

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I am fortunate enough to be tapped as a presenter for the 2009 Philippine Blog Awards. I shared the podium with fellow Bloggers Kapihan member and 2008 Philippine Blog Awards Best News And Media Blog winner Tonyo Cruz. We decided to not go with a script and just wing it. I may not be the best judge, but I think we pulled it off quite well. *giggles* (watch the video by Flippish, you’ll get it).

We presented four major awards. Tonyo’s successor for the Best News and Media blog was revealed to be Virtual Journals. The first winner of this award was the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism. Alecks Pabico, the tech wizard behind the PCIJ’s online presence recently died after a battle with liver cancer. Tonyo Cruz egged the crowd to give Mr. Pabico a round of applause in honor of his memory.

In one of the most predictable moments of the awards night, Marck Rimorin (The Marocharim Experiment) won for the Best Commentary category. This category was only started last year where Creature Lover won.

The judges gave the bragging rights to be the best Photo Blog in the country to Estan Cabigas (I Am A Documentary Photographer). He was easily the night’s biggest winner as he was also the recipient of the trophy for the Travel Blog category for Langyaw. This makes Cabigas one of the most winningest Filipino Bloggers in PBA history – he also won an award for this post “How I Broke A Ritual Taboo In Batad” last year.

And lastly, Jim Paredes (Writing On Air) – yes, THAT Jim Paredes of the APO Hiking Society — won for the Personal Blog category. You would probably recall that I won this category last year. Shari of Misteryosa was the first winner back in 2007. The Personal category is one of the most competitive blocks since most of the nominees were entered under this niche.

The other winners were painstakingly collated and live-blogged by Tonyo.

Congratulations to everyone who were able to take home the jeepney trophies. I’ll be checking out the Cebu leg next week! The awards night will be on October 18 (Saturday) at the Ayala Sports Club.

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As you guys would know, I consider the town of Sagada, Moutain Province as my second home. Despite the lack of coverage by major news outfits regarding the terrible ordeal that Northern Luzon has had to endure, many people (mostly in the new media) have gone out of their way to really help out and keep people up to date with what’s happening. I’ve contacted my aunt in Sagada and she told me that they’re relatively okay.

Not all areas are as lucky though – as of this posting, Pangasinan is 90% flooded and parts of Baguio City is underwater. The town of Aparri in Cagayan Valley is likewise inundated. While you may not have a personal stake in these areas, bear in mind that most of the farms have already been destroyed in Central Luzon due to Ondoy and Pepeng probably wreaked havoc in the farms further North.

Google has come up with a good map to help those who may be needing to travel to these areas.

Be safe.

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