Muningerzee

One of the Jessica Soho’s stories last Sunday reminded me of a conversation I had with a driver. He said, apart from working as a taxi service for grab, he also sidelines as driver for a bahay-ampunan (adoption-house)based somewhere in the outskirts of Manila. This NGO is kinda successful in a way, he said, because it helped a lot of kids get new parents. I asked him what exactly was his role in the NGO. Just a driver ma’am. I drive those couples from the airport to the bahay-ampunan (adoption house). If they need ride somewhere else, I do that, too. Then, I also drive them to the airport with their adopted kid. So I asked him, paano po ba muna nangyayari, bakit napupunta sa bahay ampuanan ang mga kids, iniwan ba ng magulang? May iba daw ganun ang kwento (what usually happens, why do they end up in the adoption house, did the parents leave them there?  There are kids with that kind of story he said). Similar to those tagalog old movies. Babies end up in churches. But most of...

I realized I haven't been blogging :( so allow me to share something I have learned from the Digital Congress I attended recently. Gautam Talwar at the 2016 Power of X at the PICC Photo lifted from Facebook/adobomagazine Gautam Talwar, General Manager of Maker Studios, said one out of three millennials watch a video produced by Makers Studios.  That, he said, translates to 250 million video streams in the Philippines and about billions in Southeast Asia.  About 70% of that audience are in the 14-44 demographics. Those numbers gave them consumer insights about how content should be distributed, how long should it be, what genres should they prioritize and what kind of content is shareable online. A bit about  Makers Studios.  This company came out of Youtube about 6 years ago and was acquired by no less than Walt Disney 2 years ago.  It's primary function is to be the short form content house of Walt Disney.  But, they do more than that.  They b...

When you buy Magnolia ice cream, you are reminded of your childhood…those times when a trip to Magnolia House means sharing a peach melba or a banana split with your brother or sister and “hating kapatid” means the older sibling will be getting the biggest portion for having the bigger stomach….when birthdays mean your parents are going to give away cups of ube, vanilla, or chocolate flavors to your classmates while they greet you in unison “happy birthday classmate, praise be Jesus and Mary!” and you feel like a star for a day…when mid-play you stop on the sound of that kuliling and run back to pester your nanay for a pinipig crunch, ice drops or those twin popsicles which you never ever got because they were expensive and for throwing a tantrum you have to fold all the clothes in the aparador…those times when you actually watched a TV ad curious to know the next flavor of the month... or when you saved money to buy a pint of your favorite flavor (mine was Choco Marble) then locked y...

JANUARY While the world was being rocked by the terror of the Charlie Hebdo attack, signed and unsigned musicians in Manila were divided by HB 4218 or the OPM Development Act of 2014. Musicians young and old, from jazz, to rock, folk, hiphop and metal closed ranks to oppose the bill. Click this link to see the discussions: http://opposehb4218.blogspot.com/ FEBRUARY The Wuds, Pinkcow and the Ex-senadors joined the politically-charged album “Tayo Ang Boses: Mga Awit ng Paglaban sa Rehimeng Gahaman”. The album was an initiative of Pinoy Media Center and other progressive groups. Listen to all the tracks here: https://soundcloud.com/tayo-ang-bosses Nonentities took music fans by surprise with the release of not one, not two, but three songs online--all downloadable and for free via their website. The collection was from their first album ‘Bleakest Of Days, Saddest Of Ways’. Nonentities was formed by former The Beauty of Doubt vocalist Ron Schlander and Tame The T...

He grew up in Samar...the driver of the taxi cab I rode to work proudly told me…Eastern Samar…here in Manila, he said, if you own half an hectare of land, you are filthy rich…but in our place in Samar, he continued, no matter how big a parcel of land we own, we were still poor…the place was beautiful though…It has a rice field and we planted vegetables… it’s at the foot of the mountain with a forest so beautiful…only, rebel groups, particularly the New People’s Army (NPA) of the Philippines made that forest their base… their leader’s name—Efren   Martirez… he was related to that basketball player and comedian Yoyoy or Yoyong Martirez…bright kid that Efren and he was a professor of the University of the Philippines, I think…but he was a wanted man in Eastern Samar because he started the NPA in our province…I heard he had a nasty record…he killed 200 soldiers maybe more…Then the taxi driver paused…this was Marcos time…he even tried recruiting my father…but my mother tol...

Sometimes if you look hard enough, you'll find a gem the price of a value meal...Got this from an antique shop along Morato in Quezon City...a building torn by war…there’s a jeep on the lower left side of the photo …don't know who took this...but, there’s a memoir at the back of the photo. As stated, this was the Old Legislative Building or the National Museum we know today near Intramuros and Ermita in Manila. Some decades ago, picking up items like that picture gave me an excuse to go to the library and hit the books for information.   But now, I simply just google it.   And the stories I gathered glued me to the monitor.   The Legislative Building was initially designed in 1918 to be the country’s National Library.   However, due to its grandeur, influential personalities back in 1926 converted it to be the seat of Legislature.   Hence the name the Legislative Building.   Circa 1927 (photo credit: John T. Pilot's Photostream) ...