Art in the Time of Quarantine

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Communication students from Far Eastern University recently held an online exhibit to take on different pressing issues during the pandemic. The best creative media productions were also recognized in a virtual awards night last May and July 27.

As part of MULAT 2.0 and MULAT 2.1 exhibits (https://www.facebook.com/FEUMulat/), FEU Communication majors contributed short films, movie posters, photo and video essays, and advocacy print ads which deal with the theme “Visual Expressions of Quarantine.”

Prof. Herwin Cabasal noted that the exhibits are in line with the program’s mantra “may alam, may pakialam.” The MULAT adviser added that the works urge viewers to think critically. “It is not enough that we just merely appreciate the aesthetics, but to perceive what it is really trying to convey. Most of the time, we must see these artworks outside the frame. It is by seeing outside the frame that we become critical and responsive to the diverse issues of society.”

Since MULAT’s inception last year, FEU DepComm program chair Prof. Anansa Dijan has backed the exhibit. “Now more than ever, we find it very important that our students are aware of what’s happening around them. MULAT is one way where our students can showcase their creativity and more importantly how they see the value of their voices in the society,” she said.

In the July 27 awarding ceremonies, sophomore student Sophie Casasola bagged the Best Cineminuto Short Film, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Screenplay, Audience Choice and Best Application of Theories in Cinema for her work “Ang Sigaw sa Hardin ng Digma.”

Jillian Marie V. Bolayog took second prize and Best Editing for “Salingin,” while Ericka Insigne and Paula Navarro placed third for “Papel.” Best Production Design was awarded to “Aking Liyag” by Gene Sayson and Silas Hope Obien, and Best Acting went to “Ikaw ay Ikaw” by Carl Saliente and Carl Digno.

The Best Video Essay and Best Application of Theories in Cinema went to “Marxismo at Aktibismo sa Pelikulang Pilipino” while “Structuralism in Philippine Cinema” was hailed second.

Last May, Nickey Zacate’s “Blue Zone” topped the Cineminuto category. Marc Andrew Baldo’s “Kapalaran” got second place and Best Editing, while Neil Juliano’s “Ayuda-Me” won third, Best Screenplay and Audience Choice awards.

Imran John Aquino was adjudged Best Director for “Hirap sa Harap, Harap sa Hirap.” Nina Gonzalez’s “Makabagong Darna” won Best Acting and Best Application of Art Movement, sharing the award with Prince Rodriguez’s “Ika-4 na Estado” and Karl Magboo’s “Contrast.”

Meanwhile, in the Movie Poster category, Rosie Cerdiña’s “Tikom” topped the field, with Matthew Zach Quinto’s “Panik” placing second and Keziah Natividad’s “Quarantingz” at third. Drink Rivera’s “Tatay, Gusto Kong Tinapay” won the Audience Choice prize.

In the Photo Essay category, Mark Bryan Seño got first place for “2020 Calendar,” with Joanna Marie De Guzman bagging second for “No Safe Spaces” and Trixie Catindig taking the Audience Choice award for “No Escape From Reality.”

Sofia San Diego’s “Ang Bala ay Hindi Gamot” won the top and Audience Choice prizes in the Advocacy Print Ad category. “Lunas, Hindi Dahas” by Jay Cenzon and “Bigas, Hindi Dahas” by Lovely Baylosis placed second and third, respectively.

Selected participants from MULAT also guested in online talks “Kwentuhang May Alam, May Pakialam Episode 1: Quarantine Stories,” which was organized by FEU DepComm, and “KwaranSINE: Mga Kwento sa Gitna ng Pandemya,” which it co-hosted with the Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates and In Defense of Human Rights and Dignity Movement.

PAHRA Secretary General Rose Trajano moderated an online talkback with Cabasal and six student filmmakers after the screening of “Bantay” by Regina Atenas, “Ingay” by Melvin Rosetes, “555” by Edel Hembrador, “Ayuda-Me,” “Blue Zone,” and “Makabagong Darna.”

Cabasal believes that through the online visual arts page’s engagements, it has already attained its objective, “which is to serve as a platform for discourse and discussion about what matters in our society.” For him and MULAT artists, what Aldous Huxley wrote in “The Art of Seeing,” “the more you know, the more you see,” sums up their visual communication experience.

The Fifth State of the Nation Address (SONA) by President Rodrigo Duterte

Wazzup Pilipinas!

What do we want to hear when the President delivers his fifth State of the Nation Address (SONA) this Monday, July 27, 2020 at the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City.

The admin's plans for the sectors affected by COVID-19, especially our local government and business leaders who expect the President to lay out his recovery plan, not just for the economy, but also for all the classes of society.

Duterte should also recognize the weaknesses of the administration and ensure that steps are being taken to address them.

More than numbers and an alphabet soup of government programs, Filipinos want to hear a plan of action and assurance that, with or without a vaccine, President Duterte will lead the country out of the pandemic’s worst.

As expected, Vice President Leni Robredo has not been invited to attend the SONA. The VP has been against this administration from the start. Her office holds no real political power nor function other than to be a spare tire meant to be kept under the trunk. She will just watch the SONA livestream.

Commuter, transportation, and labor groups called on the President to stop the implementation of the public utility vehicle (PUV) modernization program, as the country continued to reel on the effects of the pandemic. In a statement signed by 25 groups and unions, they strongly urged the President to slam the brakes on the PUV modernization program and instead work on a more comprehensive plan together with stakeholders.

Farmer and fisherfolk groups stressed how their struggles continue to be "ignored" under the present administration.

Artists are also exploring different ways to express their dissent. They've thrown criticisms over the government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic and the threat of the anti-terror law.

Opposition groups slammed a move by the government to ban rallies, but which the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said was in accordance with health and quarantine protocols against the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

With the quarantine restrictions, protesters will veer away from the traditional burning of effigy as the centerpiece of this year’s SONA protests.

"Why does Duterte's SONA need an expensive movie director like filmmaker Joyce Bernal to set up?

Maybe to create an illusion, like all movies do.

Because, let's be honest: there never was any real substance in all of Duterte's SONA. Same thing this year, it's still not gonna be of any substance.

As always, this SONA will be hinged entirely on "illusion".


What are your expectations in today's #SONA2020? #WeHealAsOne #WeRecoverAsOne

Ang Saging, Bow!: How We Rot As A Nation

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Lahat ng perfectly good fruits katulad nitong saging na ito ay magiging over-ripe at tutungo rin sa pagkabulok...hanggang sa hindi na maging edible, tapos itatapon na lang natin at bibili ng bago.

Ganoon din ang gobyerno. Lahat naman yata ng mga tunay na dating maganda ang intensyon para sa bayan ay bumigay sa temptation ng authority and greed. "With great power comes great responsibility". Kaya naging corrupt na rin sila eventually dahil our mortal bodies are incapable of handling too much power, thus we we fail to be responsible. O kinulang lang tayo sa pag motivate sa kanila to be better public servants?

Sa bahay kasi, you'll notice that kapag panay puna o alinlangin at walang tiwala tayo sa isat-isa ay lalo lang tayo nagrerebelde. Baka ganoon din ang mga namumuno sa atin. It doesn't really matter what age we are, lahat tayo madalas pasaway and always challenging the system. There are indeed pros in doing that, but there are also cons.

Lahat tayo, in one way or another, misused or abused, in a liitle or big way, our power. Mag-uwi ka lang ng isang pirasong pencil from the office dahil gusto mong gamitin ng anak mo para hindi ka na bibili ay mali na. Yung mga bloggers na nagpapasok ng mga friendships nilang hindi naman qualified sa campaign requirements pero malakas sa PR ay guilty rin sa pag-abuso ng kanilang influence.

Wala naman kasing perpektong gobyerno pero ang perception kasi ay mas malala itong ngayon dahil walang gaanong transparency at accountability. Panay joke time pa daw si Tatay, minsan feeling clueless, minsan parang nakainom, kung ano-ano ang kinukuwento eh problemado na nga karamihan ng Pilipino kung paano makaka survive ng Covid-19 pandemic ng walang sapat na ayuda o tulong. Datingalit sa Diyos, ngayon Doon umaasa. Tinanggalan pa ng trabaho ang ilan mula sa isang TV network. May mga high-profile criminals pa ang mysteriously namatay daw sa veerus.

Pag-iisipan mo talaga ng masama kapag tila may itinatago at walang konkretong plano. Lalo na kung tila ang priority nila ay patahimikin ang mga kritiko at maniguro sa pansarili lamang nilang kaligtasan at kasaganahan. Double standard pa sa pag implement ng quarantine at health protocols.

Pero kahit gaano kagaling, kabait, kadisente at katalino ang umupong mamumuno sa atin, mabubulok rin siya lalo na kung ang nakapaligid ay mga nabulok na rin. Hawa-hawa na ang peg.

So the cycle repeats itself. Ganoon uli mangyayari sa susunod. Mayroon tayong bagong iboboto, uupo sa pwesto, malululong sa tawag ng kapangyarihan, magwawaldas Ng pera ng bayan, then papalitan uli sa next election.

Ibang usapan na iyong mga datinng bulok pero naibalik sa gobyerno. Baka dahil uto-uto talaga most of us Filipinos.

Lahat ay may naging pagpuna, kamalian, sangkatutak na detractors, mga kaso ng corruption, at kung ano-ano pang issues laban sa kanila.

Kaya kung tayo mismo ay nabubulok rin, at wala ng inasahan kundi isang perpektong gobyerno, wala talagang patutunguhan ang ating bayan kundi sa babuyan o basurahan.

Kahit man lang sana ay maagapan na kagaya ng saging na pwedeng fertilizer para sa halaman at lupa, sana ay mahanap rin natin ang tamang paraan kung paano tayo magiging kapaki-pakinabang at hindi sanhi ng lalong kabulukan ng ating sarlinat bayan.