OPM is alive!

Katrina Stuart Santiago

Gusto kong sabihin ng simpleng-simple kung papaanong buhay ang OPM. Ang original Pinoy music, ang musikerong Pinoy, ang tugtugang Pinoy. Gusto kong ihagis lang, maglista ng mga pangalan ng mga musikerong patuloy na nagsusulat ng mga kantang original, mula kay Cynthia Alexander hanggang kay KC Concepcion, mula kay Barbie Almalbis hanggang kay Kitchie Nadal. Gusto kong basta ilista ang mga bandang gumagawa ng original na kanta, mga musikerong nag-gi-gig mula 70’s Bistro at Conspiracy sa Quezon City hanggang sa 19 East sa Las Pinas, umiikot sa mga probinsya para mag-promote ng CD, nagma-mall-show, nagtiya-tiyaga sa kakarampot na panahong nabibigay sa kanila ng iilang TV show, nagtiya-tiyagang kumanta kasama ang mga non-singers pero big stars ng bawat panahon. Gusto kong sabihin lang na kapag nakikinig ako ng radyo napapatigil ako sa boses ni Eric Santos, at memorized ko ang album ni Cathy Go, at gustong-gusto ko ang Q-York, at kanina lang may nag-revive na pala ng “Kay Palad Mo” na mabilis kong na-recognize bilang original na kinanta ni Lilet nung bata pa ‘ko.

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…the CBCP is not the Church…

In the raging controversy over RH, many commentators, including pro-RH ones, often miss the point that the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) is not the Church but merely an organization of its bishops. The Second Vatican Council has established that the Church consists of all baptized Catholics – lay and clergy, bishops, priests, nuns, and ordinary people. The anti-RH position definitely does not qualify as THE Church position because, despite the bishops and some institutions, the majority of Filipino Catholics support the enactment of a law that provides family planning services to all Filipinos especially the poor.

Dr. Alberto G. Romualdez

3 books

now available sa U.P. Press bookshop in Diliman!

Of love and other lemons (2012)
The Filipino is Worth Blogging For (2012)
Revolutionary Routes: Five Stories of Incarceration, Exile, Murder, and Betrayal in Tayabas Province 1891-1980 (2011)

Sotto’s scot-free (and why it’s our fault)

Katrina Stuart Santiago

Yes plagiarism might seem small and petty, it can seem like an academic thing, but it certainly isn’t moot, and I don’t know that making fun of Tito Sotto, in whatever way, will mean people taking this seriously. If at all, it reveals how we have inadvertently clouded the conversation on plagiarism with the fact of social class, i.e., pang-edukado naman ang issue na ‘yan, pang-kayo-kayo lang. Because really, who has spent time and effort talking about Sotto in light of this mistake? Who has started laughing at him, thinking jokes as weapons, too? Tayo-tayo nga.

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