sawsaw pa more sa barretto brouhaha (in defense of tsismis)

no, it’s not just us pinoys who are tsismoso, as pat-p daza suggested (or is it opined) on dzmm teleradyo.  gossiping is a universal human predilection, we are wired to gossip and to be receptive to gossip, not just for distraction or entertainment but as a matter of survival.

read  in defense of tsismis” [below], a 1996 column I wrote for jarius bondoc’s radical all-opinion tabloid where I quote evolutionary psychologist robin wright [The Moral Animal 1994] at the height of the gabby concepcion – jenny syquia scandal.  read too the new york times’ Go ahead. Gossip may be virtuous. [2002], the guardian’s  In defence of gossip: no better way to navigate life’s flawed relationships [2015], and psychology today’s  Addicted to gossip?” [2016]

medyo level-up pa nga itong barretto bruhaha compared to the usual showbiz scandals involving sex videos, love triangles, broken marriages, adulterous relationships, abusive or two-timing partners, lgbtq+ closets and out-of-closets atbp. because this one is, above all, about FAMILY, and the sisters’ slaphappy showdown at their father’s wake–everyone (burgis and masa alike) agrees–was inappropriately wild and uncivilized, and because (beyond the juicy tidbits and sideswipes) the fact and context of family looms large and touches us all.

the reaction that most resonates with me is that of pinoys who are also members of big families, like the barretto’s seven sibs: nag-aaway din naman kaming magkakapatid, pero never naming dinadaan o pinapaabot sa sampalan at sabunutan, sipaan at sapakan.  

true.  family conflicts can, and should, be settled amicably, but every one concerned has to be willing to rise above self-interest for the good of the whole.  it’s also good for the soul, and good for the karma.

In defense of tsismis
Isyu 23 January 96

Natabunan nga ba ng Jenny-Gabby scandal ang EVAT, jueteng, at iba pang isyu? Dapat nga bang lubay-lubayan ng media ang katsitsismis about the private hells of the rich and famous dahil wala naman itong katututuran except as escapist fare for the poor and obscure?  read on…

Traffic planners elsewhere prepare for a post-car world

Marlen V. Ronquillo

Bill de Blasio’s New York City welcome, after his doomed presidential bid, was a court decision that sustained the car ban carried out by his city’s Department of
Transportation (DOT) on Manhattan’s busy 14th Street. De Blasio was the prime proponent of the car ban on one of the busiest streets of New York City and, probably, the entire US. Under his and the DOT’s proposal, only buses, delivery trucks and ambulances would have access to that road.

Some well-heeled residents of Greenwich Village, Chelsea and Flatiron, and other neighboring communities sued the New York City government for its supposed “arbitrary and capricious action.” Cars banned from the 14th would just create “gridlocks” in other parts of Manhattan, the court case stated. The court, which probably based its decision on solid transport science, green lighted the car ban.

Read on….

The tale of an online mob #NachoDomingo

Katrina S.S.

I happened upon the case of Nacho Domingo too late. It was Sunday, September 29. I asked a friend who had posted about social media responsibility and online mobs what he was talking about, and he told me to do a Twitter search for his name.

It yielded little, though the few tweets that came up were ones of mourning and condolences, a lot of regret. By later in the day more and more tweets surfaced that were turning defensive: this is about frat culture, they said. The system is to blame for his death, many others said.

The blame game on Twitter seeped through the rest of the week, with some accounts coming out with names of “people who killed Nacho,” which just continued the cycle of blaming and shaming, bullying and mob rule that brought upon us this death to begin with.

READ ON…

NACHO, 22

sharing here katrina’s facebook posts on ignacio “nacho” domingo.  we didn’t know him personally, had not heard of him (yet–what a waste), this UP scholar and student leader, apparently a most promising and gifted young man, whose untimely and tragic death so crushed us that we haven’t been able to get it, him, out of our minds, needing to figure out what it was all about, wanting to understand why and how and who and when events escalated so quickly, to a point of no return.  this is neither to sensationalize the loss nor to intrude on the family’s privacy, rather, to shed light on, the better to grasp, what went wrong, and to beg that we all guard against it happening ever again.  then nacho would not have died in vain.

Katrina Stuart Santiago

2 October at 12:43

Those screencaps were released ANONYMOUSLY by a new (now deleted) Twitter account, and dated from two years ago. It was released Sept 25 (11:00AM) by an account called @rhosigrambles. By the afternoon UP ALYANSA (4:31PM) and KALikha: Kasama Ka sa Paglikha ng Arte at Literatura Para sa Bayan (7:49PM) released statements of condemnation.

By early morning of Sept 26 (1:08AM) the UP College of Mass Communication Student Council released a condemnation, promising accountability for any form of “impunity.” By the afternoon, STAND UP (4:20PM) called out the “offenders” for “bastardizing principles.” Students’ Rights and Welfare Philippines (9:35PM) followed suit talking about the “safety of our educational institutions” and stating “UP Sigma Rho Fraternity, particularly its members <name 1>, <name 2>, and <name 3>, who were PROVEN VIA SCREENSHOTS and testimonies to be involved in hazing, as well as sexual and derogatory remarks made on and regarding certain women, to reassess its reasons for existence, present themselves in investigations, hold itself accountable, and thus face the consequences of their actions.” (all caps mine)

By Sept 27 (4:34PM), the University of the Philippines Administration had announced that they were “investigating allegations” and have placed “suspects on preventive suspension” and “will file formal charges where there is evidence to support such a move.” The UP Diliman University Student Council (5:58PM) followed suit with its own statement talking about disciplinary action.

These official statements are all based on screencaps of a conversation from TWO YEARS AGO, released anonymously. A conversation that involved students who were being called “suspects,” and already penalized by the university with preventive suspension, with not enough evidence to file formal charges.

This was NOT just about social media lynch mobs. This was about institutions quickly and swiftly and thoughtlessly making decisions given those mobs. No one’s hands are clean. Certainly NOT the University’s, and NOT its organizations.

October 3

I have 122 screencaps as we speak, mining whatever is still left of tweets that were posted from Wednesday, Sept 25, to Sept 28 when he died, to the post-narratives since. I have gone back to all the statements that were posted. I’m told that before his death, the Mass Comm Student Council FB comments sections were terrible, but I missed that completely.

In fact, I missed this whole thing as it was happening — my Twitter network is obviously removed from it. But there was still enough to go back to, and while it takes time to find the right key words, once you find it, it’s a very depressing blackhole that proves why and how we have come to this point.

I have no time as of yet to write about this at length. But here’s a thought: the noise of groups and the social media mob, demanding quick action and condemnation, there is a downside to that. There is a massive problem with that, especially when we’re talking about private individuals, about REAL PEOPLE. Not everyone is Duterte. Not everyone is just operating with impunity and is a product of the macho-fascist rule. I don’t know why we even have to remind ourselves that.

A question: Where was hunos-dili in this case? When even the institutions did not practice restraint, did not spend some time to put things in perspective, did not even ask questions about whether or not responses are commensurate, or did not wonder about the possibility that these kids don’t even believe what they believed 2 years ago. When institutions are at the mercy of mob rule — who then is in control? Whose responsibility is it to make sure the kids are okay?

#StateU #SocialMediaCrisis #SocialMediaPH 
#LynchMobs #MobRule #CallOutCulture