Split personality: Vlogger-Journalist

Una kong napanood ang Facts First ni Christian Esguerra back in 2024, soon after the SONA when PBBM boasted of more than 5,500 completed flood control projects nationwide and the very next night into the next morning, bumuhos ang katakutakot na ulan at bumaha nang bonggang bongga, waist- if not chest-deep, even in places that never used to flood, so reminiscent of Ondoy 2009. The following day a state of calamity was declared in all of Metro Manila, Bataan, Bulacan, Batangas, and Cavite.

Na-konfirm ang tsismis, nabuking, na walang epek ang flood control projects dahil puro substandard — halos kalahati kasi ng pondo ay luma-landing sa bulsa ng Congress proponents (Upper | Lower House),  DPWH district engineers atbp., at mga kontratista — o kaya’y “ghost” pala, as in, wala lang, kahit na-release ang pondo.

Miss na miss ko noon ang public affairs TV talk shows — yung tipong Tell the People ni Jullie Yap Daza, Viewpoint ni Dong Puno, Public Forum ni Randy David — na siguradong tatalakay sa krisis with resource persons capable of explaining  what’s going on and why.

Sa YouTube ako napadpad, and ran into “Facts and Fiction in President Marcos Jr.’s 2024 SONA” kung saan mga guest ni ni Esguerra sina Pulse Asia prez Ronnie Holmes,  PNoy political adviser Ronald Llamas now of Akbayan, UP econ prof and ex-Finance USec Cielo Magno, and PR strategist Alan German na anak ni PR OG Reli.

Napa-blog ako noon: “SONAkakaduda #FactsFirst“. At the time, I felt like nakahanap ako ng kakampi.

Holmes, Llamas, and Magno are better informed than most, with a sense of the true state of affairs, past to present, and who clearly care about nation. German is a glib PR  tactician who always seems to know more than he’s telling and teases with tips on how-to-sell politicians, among other powertrippers. Host Esguerra, once of ANC, steers the talk with a GenZ’s take on national concerns that tends to provoke discussion, though only up to a point.

Unlike public affairs TV talkshows of yore, there’s a lot of banter, chortling, private jokes, whatever, between Esguerra and German, Esguerra and Llamas, apparently to keep the talk from getting too serious,  or maybe his followers like his GenZ sense of humor, I’m not sure. Whatever, it’s medyo nakaka-put-off, but the serious exchanges were | are worth staying for.  https://stuartsantiago.com/sonakakaduda-2024-factsfirst/

TWO YEARS LATER. Hindi nakakagulat na pinuputakte si Esguerra ng pro-BBM vloggers for saying some two weeks ago, in no uncertain terms, that the prez is either “tanga” or “kasabwat” vis a vis budget insertions atbp. Siyempre hinanapan siya ng resibo nina USec Claire Castro and Atty Rene Bueno kasi kung walang resibo, para lang siyang DDS vlogger calling the president “bangag”.

The problem, methinks, is Esguerra’s split socmed personality. When he said that about the prez, he was on vlogger mode, opinionating like a columnist and like most other vloggers and “content creators”, with a dash of taray (or patawa or pakwela or pa-shock), the better to get liked, shared, and subscribed to.  When he is doing interviews with resource persons – experts, academics, economists, scientists, etc. — and asking “hard questions”, he is on pa-objective journalist mode, out to clarify the facts and discredit disinformation re current issues and events. But when it’s just him and Llamas on tag-team mode, he’s mostly vlogger na tuwang tuwa sa sarili at kay Llamas.

But, as he has always insisted that he is not the usual vlogger because he is also a Journalist! as a result, every other vlogger holds him to that higher standard, including USec Claire. Coming from one who insists na hindi siya “kung sino-sino lang,” of course, papatulan siya, idi-dispute, hahanapan ng resibo. Even if he also sometimes says, pa-deprecatingly, or sarcastically, na “walang kakwenta-kwenta” ang podcast niya.

This is why I’m not convinced that the blowback vs Esguerra was coordinated, orchestrated, may nagtimon. Seemed quite spontaneous to me, the synchronous dismay of BBM vloggers who were following his podcasts, considering him a possible, undeclared, ally vs the DDS in the run-up to 2028. That is, until he made tira the president.

There are also political vloggers who really try to be neutral, airing both sides of an issue, and feeling free to be critical of both the VP and the President, depende sa isyu. Pero ang real revelation ay itong mga pro-BBM na bukás sana sa pakikipagkaisa sa mga PinkLawan vs. the DDS candidate in 2028. At tunay ang pagka-dismaya nila sa walang patumanggang hirit ni Esguerra vs the prez.

Bakit nga ba inihirit ni Esguerra yung “tanga… or… kasabwat” just then. Tracking back it seems (korek me if I’m wrong) that he was responding to criticism na he’s defending PBBM —  presumably from a pro-DDS troll or PinkLawan even? And it was his way of defending himself, using such absolute terms, no benefit of the doubt, as if to shout out, Anti-DDS ako! Anti-BBM ako!

Brave, yes, but not very bright. Because nagulantang ang mga pro-BBM: Ay, hindi pala kakampi! Ay, pinklawan kasi?! Whether spontaneous or orchestrated, damage has been done and Esguerra has only himself to blame. The OG sin was his choice of words. He laid himself wide open for that kuyog. Lalo na’t he refuses to apologize or take it back.

SAMANTALA his sparring pardner Llamas has been defending him — damage control kumbaga. In an exchange with Enzo Recto, he said Esguerra is a “significant journalist” who is not a member of any group:

LLAMAS: Na-a-identify lang siya dahil nga bumabanat siya sa mga Duterte. pero never siya naging miyembro ng kahit anong pink or yellow organization.

… Sa balanse ng puwersa, we are insignificant. wala tayong posisyon e. … Ako, puwede siguro ako ma-identify na pinklawan dahil chairman ako ng Akbayan. pero si Christian, wala namang organisasyon si Christian e. Bakit siya dinudumog. At bakit nila ire-reduce sa away between the reds and the pinks , the reds and the yellow …  Ang mahalaga dito, yung anti-Duterte.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFknIQVSZpY

Then at a gathering of vloggers to which Esguerra had not been invited because hindi naman siya personally kilalá ni birthday celebrant Marc Gamboa, kung saan umapir si Llamas, vlogger Batang Maynila Toits asked him about his frequent regular guesting on Facts First, what kind of talent fee is he getting, considering that Esguerra is raking in quite a fortune from You Tube.  Wala daw, no talent fee, so the pro-BBMs are scandalized. What!?! E kung hindi kay Llamas, makaka-700k subscribers ba si Esguerra?!? tanong nila, sabay shocked halakhak.

Why is Llamas doing it for nothing? Because it is NOT nothing, the free exposure he gets. Quits-quits lang sila. Esguerra gets Llamas as resource person on call for free. Llamas gets a platform to pontificate on politics, ideologies, corruption, dynasties, good governance, and everything else under the sun without paying for his own show.

To what end? Is he hoping to run for public office in ’28? Along with Esguerra, Cielo Magno, Barry Gutierrez, and Michael Mogato whom he has “endorsed” for the Senate not once or twice, hindi ko na alam kung nagbibiro lang siya. Nakakapagpatanong rin kung bakit, balita ng mga bubwit, si Leni pa rin ang kinukulit niyang tumakbo. Bakit ayaw niya kay Risa ng Akbayan mismo? Dahil ba hindi na siya makakaporma kung si Risa ang mapuwesto? Just asking.

And please, huwag naman tayo gawing tanga ni Llamas tungkol sa kulay ni Esguerra. Malinaw naman na magkakulay sila — dilaw at pink — at na okay lang kay Esguerra the vlogger-Journalist na hindi ungkatin o banatan ang dating boss ni Llamas na si PNoy. Obvious yan, pati sa BBM vloggers, na nagpipigil lang, alang-alang sa 2028.

Marra Lanot of the charmed literary circle (1944-2026)

Never met Marra or Pete Lacaba, but knew of them, of course. In ’99 our paths sort of crossed when Eggie Apostol asked for a copy of Himagsikan sa EDSA — Walang Himala! (2000) after it won an Honorable Mention in Erap’s 1998 Centennial Literary Contest. Her Tagalog wasn’t good, she said, so she was going to ask Pete to check it out first. She got back to me a few days later with the good news that Pete said yes to the People Power Foundation publishing it but that the manuscript needed editing, which Marra would be happy to do.

I looked forward to Marra’s edit because it was a puzzle that only the Sanaysay category named no major prizes, just four (4) Honorable Mentions. Was our Tagalog, Pilipino, whatever, not good enough? I had dared ask the Judge at a post-awards party and he said, “Dapat nagpa-edit ka.” Eh di eto na nga, thanks to Eggie.

And thanks to Marra who didn’t touch my prose, what a relief. Pero marami akong natutunan tungkol sa pagsusulat sa Pilipino. Ipinaalala niya ang mga patakaran sa paggamit ng “rin-din” at “raw-daw,” gayon din ng “ng-nang” (that I thought I had down pat from HS Balarila days, though I did tend to play around with them, haha). Idiniin din niya ang mga bagong patakaran sa mga salitang inuulit, tulad ng “sunudsunod” at “libulibo” na “sunod-sunod” at “libo-libo” na, at wala na ring kudlit ang “ngunit subalit datapwat.”

And finally my spelling. Yes, my ispeling of certain words: “Coryista” not “Corysta,” “tsismis” not “chismis,” “taumbayan” not “taongbayan,” how was I to know, and what if I preferred “taongbayan”?  Matagal ko ring pinag-isipan ang “aksiyon” at “tensiyon” imbis na “aksyon” at “tensyon” until I saw my “leksiyon.” Sabi nga ni Marra, sanayan lang. Sa pagsulat ng Pilipino, hindi necessarily sa bigkas ibinabatay ang baybay.

Salamat uli, Marra. I remember the big smile you gave me as you rushed off to class (late ka na!) from an Ateneo tribute to Eggie. And I still have our FB chat back in 2018 when I invited you and Pete to an Ishmael Bernal exhibit sa UP Film Center. I so wanted to give you a copy of Pro Bernal Anti Bio (2017) that has marginal notes by Pete on the First Quarter Storm. You didn’t make it but messaged back with kuwentos of dancing the tango with Nick Joaquin in Ishma’s Grey November in the ’60s, and when Pete was arrested in ’74 for sneaking past Marcos censors the acrostic poem “Prometheus Unbound” — hiding in plain sight the bold phrase “MARCOS HITLER DIKTADOR TUTA” — how Ishma would visit you, even asked you for a script, and kept in touch, making sure you were okay. And when Mang Nick, upon accepting the National Artist  for Literature award in ’76, got Marcos to release Pete, it was kind of magical and awesome.

Marra Lanot of the “charmed literary circle,” I wrote of you in a 2017 EDSA essay. To my mind, “charmed,” for having survived martial law despite standing up to Marcos, even displaying, in Mang Nick’s words, “a most enjoyable recklessness” in a “climate of fear.”

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“Prometheus Unbound” by Pete Lacaba
https://ndfp.info/prometheus-unbound/

“The Writer in a Climate of Fear” by Nick Joaquin
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/640001/nick-joaquin

Around the World with Alex Eala

In 2026 alone, Alexandra Eala has competed in some 18 tournaments around the globe including Manila. Auckland in New Zealand. Melbourne in Australia. Abu Dhabi and Dubai in UAE. Doha in Qatar. Stuttgart and Berlin and Bad Homburg in Germany. Madrid in Spain. Rome in Italy. Strasbourg and Paris in France. Birmingham and Wimbledon in Great Britain. Miami and Washington DC in the USA. And Toronto in Canada. Across clay (3Wins 4Losses), grass (10W 5L), and hard (22W 9L) courts.

(Aug 3) Alexandra Eala captured her first career WTA Tour title at the 2026 Mubadala DC Open, becoming the first Filipina in history to win a WTA tournament. Eala’s title run included defeats of the tournament’s Top 3 seeds — Jessica Pegula, Elina Svitolina and Naomi Osaka — as well as defending champion Leylah Fernandez. https://www.wtatennis.com/

I had stopped watching men’s tennis ever since Federer and Nadal retired. I was never into women’s tennis as much, except in the time of Sharapova vs Serena, but I always kept an eye out for the Asians, and was thrilled for Mirza, then Osaka, and Zheng, and Raducanu who’s half-Chinese, and certainly for Leylah who is half-Pinay. Now we have Alex making a stunning debut on the global stage, and she’s wholly ours, and she’s so amazingly good, and super simpatika, one can’t help loving her and celebrating (with) her.

No wonder Filipino communities everywhere are filling stadiums whenever wherever she plays, waving our flag, screaming LABAN ALEX! like our lives depended on it, LOL. I think it was in Dubai when I first heard the commentators wondering where all the Pinoys were coming from. One thought they had flown in from Manila just to watch Alex. It took a while before they got it: that there are Filipinos everywhere in the millions — OFWs, migrants, expats.  Advantage Eala, sabi nga! — and the WTA and commercial sponsors are having to rethink their traditional preferential treatment for the top 10 because there’s no ignoring this young Pinay and her massive following of Pinoys and Pinays basking in the heat of her passion for, and success in, professional tennis.

The timing is most ironic, kung kailan ang gulo-gulo ng mundo, at pahirap nang pahirap ang buhay dito sa atin. So nakakagitla at nakakasigla, this one bright spot, itong dalagang Pinay na umeeksena sa mundo and acquitting herself quite superbly and doing the Philippines proud, on and off court — like, may maganda ring nangyayari, what a relief! Mabuhay, Alex!

SONA. Systems Loss. Sara.

May all of PBBM‘s promises come true, except Pax Silica and nuclear power. Pax Silica dahil napaka-major-major move pero hindi malinaw kung makikinabang talaga tayo o pinagsasamantalahan at pagkakakitaan lang tayo as usual. Nuclear power dahil lumang tugtugin na, may Bataan Nuclear Power Plant na noong 1984, 1985 na pinagkagastusan natin nang katakut-takot, pero kahit si Marcos Sr. ay nag-atubiling i-switch on ito, balikan natin kung bakit nga ba!

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Winner! ang pangakong hindi niya poprotektahan ang mga kamag-anak at kaibigan na may kaso sa Ombdusman. Winner! din ang pro-Pinoy rhetoric re sovereignty and the West Philippine Sea without naming da mang-aagaw. Pinaka-Winner! ang utos, demand, ng Presidente na itigil ang pagsingil ng Systems Loss (at VAT nito) sa mga consumer ng koryente.

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Systems Loss. Komplikadong usapin dahil sinong magbabayad, tanong ng mga kapitalista. Hindi pala obvious na sila mismo ang dapat mag-absorb, lalo na yung mga kumikita ng bilyonbilyon taontaon. Ano ba naman yung mabawasan ng kaunti ang tubò nila, moderate the greed, ika nga ni Jun Lozada, lalo na’t electricity is an essential necessity. At huwag sabihing business isn’t good with the oil crisis and Middle East war auguring a global recession atbp. Kung hindi good for you guys, can you please try and imagine how bad, how much worse, it is for the masses who have made you rich? Maybe think of it as pay-back time? Good for the soul. Good for the karma.

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Sara. Senado. Hindi naman totoo ang say ni Amy Pamintuan ng PhilStar at Storycon na “people are bored out of their skulls and tuning out of the impeachment trial.” We do mute the sound haha, pag paulit-ulit o paikot-ikot ang balitaktakan o di namin type ang senator-judge na nagdradramang defense attorney ng VP, but it’s only to take a break, and bumabalik-balik pag umuusad na uli. Otherwise there’s no tuning out of this impeachment trial, no way.

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Selective justice nga ba ang nagpakulong kina Marcoleta at Defensor, Estrada at Revilla? Parang hindi naman. Yung mga kaso nina Estrada at Revilla, Napoles scam pa, PNoy admin pa, and it’s about time. Mas bago yung kina Marcoleta at Defensor, pero napabilis ang gulong dahil umamin na si Marcoleta (which he now denies, though I’m not sure what exactly he’s denying).

Coincidence ba, nagkataon lang ba, na puro sila DDS? Teka, DDS ba si Revilla? Hindi ko sure, ika nga, pero kahit pa sabihing hindi coincidence — sinadya silang unahing patulan ng Ombudsman kung kailan merong impeachment trial vs the VP — it doesn’t make them innocent of the crimes alleged against them. And it wouldn’t mean that they deserve to serve as senator-judges.

Besides, what difference would it make kung papayagan sina Marcoleta at Estrada na mag-attend ng impeachment trial bilang senator-judges. Sigurado naman that they would vote to acquit anyway, so what would be the point? Pahahabain lang nila ang proceedings, dadagdag pa sa mga atungal ng DDS bloc. Spare us, please.

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