mai, oh, mai, ricky carandang!

i have a good friend who used to be in mainstream media who is now with the malacanang news desk, coloma bloc, and the day he texted me the good news of his appointment was the last time we had a text exchange initiated by him.

a day or so after the august 23 bloodbath i texted him, fishing for info as to what else the president was up to that long afternoon and evening, just between him and me, just for my info, promise promise promise, and all i got was the official line, nothing more, nothing less.

needless to say, my respect for him has levelled up many notches, especially in the wake of the stupidly insolent irresponsible impertinent tweets of presidential speechwriter mai mislang, carandang bloc, while in vietnam with the president.

it bears pointing out that mislang was also in new york with the president last september and that we didn’t hearof any offensive tweets.   bakit kaya?   because the wine was great?   the traffic was painless?   the guys were guwapo?   tweetless as in speechless lang siya in america the beautiful?

or was it because she was the only one of the carandang group in new york, it was so soon after boss ricky’s major major aug23 booboos, so she was on her best behavior?   but what does this say about her bastos behavior in vietnam?   she was a different person because vietnam is third world, and maybe because boss ricky came too, hindi siya nag-iisa, and they were having a blast and maybe just maybe they brought out the bastos instead of the best in each other?

because, really, i’m amazed that carandang didnt have the sense to shut her up at “sucks”.   instead nakipagsagutan pa siya.   the same with ces drilon, who i’m surprised didn’t have the sense to shut them both up.   to top it all, carandang says he still has to figure out what to do about his tweeting darling, i mean, underlings, ano ba yan!   so he stops everyone from tweeting and/or blogging kahit wala namang nagkakalat kundi si mislang.

carandang must have loved john nery’s piece on the Unfortunate Case of the Wine that Sucked:

One journalist whose work I admire said Mislang should have resigned—as though the offense had led to a major diplomatic crisis. I don’t think I am being inaccurate when I say this journalist’s opinion was widely shared. Mislang has since apologized, and apparently the offending tweets have been removed. But I still see the occasional comment, tsk-tsking the blunder and asking for blunderer’s head.

When, I would like to know, did my profession adopt the one-strike policy? There is no question that Mislang’s tweets were bad diplomacy, but when did it reach the level of official policy, serious enough to merit expulsion from government? Mislang, whom I do not know from Eve, is not in the foreign service, where her kind of jejune comment would have had severe implications for her career; granted, she works for President Aquino’s communications group, where the cardinal rule ought to be not to become news. Perhaps the appropriate sanction would have been a reprimand, and a decision to leave her out of official delegations in the future. Butresignation? For expressing an opinion that the host government did not consider offensive?

tsk tsk, john nery, what makes you think that the host government did not find any of it offensive?   yes, we haven’t heard any reactions from the vietnamese but that doesn’t tell me they weren’t offended; more likely they’re just more civilized and sophisticated than we are — the french influence, no doubt — why stoop to our level?   big mistake to think that it hasn’t affected / deepened / sharpened, and negatively, their opinion of us as a people.   big mistake to think they don’t care if mislang is fired, or resigns, or not.   i bet they do care, and they’re watching, and waiting.   what goes around will come around.   one day, one way or another (as with hong kong / china) there will be repercussions, that could go from bad to worse, depending on whether or not they see a head or two rolling.

dapat lang, one mistake and you’re out.   no second chances.   the hell with learning curves for anyone who wasn’t elected.   learn the ropes elsewhere.   the presidency is the highest and most important office in the land.   the president needs, should have, professionals around him, not bumbling amateurs and overrated kids who have no sense of delicadeza and who are so full of themselves, they’ve become national embarrassments.

***

read too:

Propriety means never having to say you’re sorry / The internet is forever / The wine will always suck by karen cardenas.

The Mai Mislang Whinery by boo chanco.

Tweet made Carandang look like a twit by ilda.

Comments

  1. UP nn grad

    And at the top of the totem pole is Noynoy Aquino. If he feels that he is insulated from it all, he should wake up and blog the blogworld. If he believes that the spiteful comments are coming from the pro-Gordon or others and the Yellow Army remains intact…. again, Noynoy should blog the blogworld. A number of folks who were very rabid about the Noynoy campaign have turned very sour. One of the anti-Malacanang themes — “mukhang PNoy’s dramatics about accountability during the campaign eh hindi totoo. Mga rhetorics lang pala.

  2. The speechwriter gal’s attitude reflects what I observe to be middle class, top-private-school-educated attitudes towards other Asian developing countries especially when they find themselves visiting. Those of that ilk show a remarkable superiority complex bolstered by their mastery of the English language, a mastery that none of our neighbors have. What is remarkable is the incredible inferiority complex they exhibit towards ‘first-world’ countries.

    She was just being herself.

  3. @Jeg, yes, you got it right. I graduated from the same public school she went to in college, and considering that high-mindedness and impossible sense of entitlement she’s displaying, I guess most educated Filipinos are doomed. I see it everyday since I work in a call center –that because we enunciate English better than other Asians (people in India, especially) then it translates to us being more intelligent, more sophisticated. It is really sickening how we create this illusion of superiority.

  4. @Kristine. My experiences with State U graduates abroad are rather limited, so I also limited my observations to private schools. Thanks.

    I only had an experience with one State U grad abroad, and she didnt have that schizophrenic attitude of superiority/inferiority. She pretty much felt consistently superior to everybody. :-D

  5. “For expressing an opinion that the host government did not consider offensive?”, writes John Nery.

    Good Lord, the man’s logic escapes me.

    Is this guy from Mars or Uranus? Did not consider the tweeting woman’s remarks offensive? How on earth would he know that they didn’t consider the disparaging remarks offensive? Has it occured to Nery that perhaps Vietnam’s officials have far more class than some people around Aquino and so preferred to keep silent about the offending remarks?

  6. “yes, we haven’t heard any reactions from the vietnamese but that doesn’t tell me they weren’t offended; more likely they’re just more civilized and sophisticated than we are ”

    this is an interesting assertion. lets test it:

    1) when has any govt been offended, but did NOT officially ask for an apology? any examples?

    2) when vietnam’s govt is offended, when did it NOT officially ask for an apology?

    i want to know the evidence behind this statement. does the govt of vietnam have a history of being reticent? shy? surely not –they are on record requesting an apology from China for invading her.

    perhaps, the govt of vietnam has a sense of proportion — perhaps it knows that the writer apologized and her statements are not a reflection on philippine-vietnamese relations?

    i agree 100% that mislang did a stupid thing. what i dont understand is why its a fireable offense.

  7. Hey! Thanks for the link to my blog! :)

    Carandang should not be off the hook! They only regretted their actions after the public uproar otherwise, they would have just laughed it off. They tried to act cool and sophisticated but unfortunately, it backfired.

    Cherio

  8. UP nn grad

    Different folks, different strokes. Put on the record that as of November 2/2010 GabbyD, like President Benigno Simeon “Noynoy” Aquino, does not believe that mislang’s “stupid thing” tweety-tweets were not offensive enough to constitute a fireable offense.

    I think that GabbyD (like Manuel Buencamino) also believes Rico Puno actions during Quirino grandstand murders also did not create enough damage to Pilipinas to be considered fireable offense.

    Different folks, different strokes. Ganuon lang ‘yon.

  9. @ UP

    i’m looking for an argument.

    it seems that the only argument is: she MUST have offended vietnam. she hurt the philippines. it doesnt MATTER if she apologized.

    but how did she hurt the philippines? was vietnam offended? how do we know? why doesnt it matter that she apologized for something that she said? why isnt it enough?

    i understand if this is a repeat offense — but its not.

    i also understand if people dont like her as a person. but why should it be that not being likeable a fireable offense?

  10. UP nn grad

    GabbyD: I work from this premise — there are many more Mislang’s just as skilled and just as able to do whatever she does for Pilipinas. The current Mislang is a commodity. Even you — GabbyD — may know another pretty face also able to do the speechwriting job that she does.

    Because she is a replaceable commodity (despite Lacierda saying the current Mislang can walk on water), but having embarassed Pilipinas, then fire the current Mislang and get another to replace her.

  11. UP nn grad

    Was Vietnam offended? One way to answer your question is this. Some Pinoys-in-Pinas would say that it is offensive had a Vietnamese young ‘un speechwriter tweeted about the lousy taste of Asia Beer and thatPinoys of Makati are ugly. My evidence — Claire Danes.

    So there is an assumption is that Vietnamese are no different than Pinoys. Now you may say that Pinoys in Pinas are stupid to make this assumption, but I am on the side of those Pinoys and I believe that Pinoys are not that stupid in thinking that Vietnamese would react to Mislang as Pinoys had reacted to Claire Danes.

    Think as you want…. different folks, different strokes.

  12. “a day or so after the august 23 bloodbath i texted him, fishing for info as to what else the president was up to that long afternoon and evening, just between him and me, just for my info, promise promise promise, and all i got was the official line, nothing more, nothing less.”-angela

    sayang! naka-scoop sana tayo dito sa stuartsantiago blog. hindi bale, sa susunod na lang, ha, angela?

  13. jeg, matagal ko nang pinagmumunimunian kung bakit nga ba resigning after a major major shameful shameful palpak as public officials do in other countries never but never happens here. is it a problem with the wrongdoer — saying sorry is enough — or with the employer — what will i do without you?

  14. ok. lets talk about examples where public officials resign.

    is the tweet issue with mislang commensurate with these examples?

    Can we talk of specific examples? the land of public officials resigning is SoKor. Some of these people resigned under very specific, grievous circumstances. the most recent example is the foreign minister’s nepotism. nepotism is a big deal. is tweeting similarly a big deal? it is also a failure DIRECTLY attributable to the official.

  15. The Vietnamese have reasons to be offended by Mislang’s comments but weren’t seems to be offended.

    The Filipinos as it is showing in all media seems to be offended by Mislang’s comment but do the Filipinos have reason to be offended by Mislang’s comment?

  16. My former officemate in San Francisco is a Vietnamese. She was one of the boat people who made it to the shore of another Asian country. They were divested of whatever valuables they had brought in their journey and suffered for six months subsisting on whatever food they can find where they camped before their papers were processed as refugees in the US.

    Some of her relatives were luckier. Their boats brought them to the Philippine shores where they were welcomed and were assisted in preparation for their travel to the US.

    Karamihan sa kanila ay bumalik na sa Vietnam nang magbigay ng mga bagong reporma ang gobyerno katulad nang makabili ng sariling bahay.

    Sila ang nagdala rin ng mga investments sa Vietnam.

    Sila ang malaki ang respeto at pagtanaw ng utang na loob sa mga Filipino.

    My friend is very disappointed.

  17. is the tweet issue with mislang commensurate with these examples?

    Yes. She is a speechwriter so in the scheme of things, she doesnt amount to much, isnt too high in the govt totem pole. Her task is to present what the President wants to say in a manner appropriate to the audience, the message, the mood, etc. The Prez is not a dolt who’ll just mouth what she writes. In short, she aint much, really.

    But what she did with her irresponsible tweeting as a representative of the country far outweighs what her position is in the govt. That is, she couldve done a lot of damage. We’re fortunate that Vietnam didnt make a big deal out of this, but that if they did? This is a failure directly attributable to the official, a ‘resignable’ offense.

  18. hey cat, i missed you ;) thanks for reminding about our history with the vietnamese refugees,na medyo rare, ‘no. in a sense we have a good relationship with vietnam, but tenuous din because of our part in the vietnam war. which makes this ill-mannered presidential aide’s antics even more deplorable. we need to keep the few friends we have.

  19. Repercussions may not be felt right away. The grievance may not even be articulated in a country where there are certain restrictions in the freedom of speech. Vietnam has adopted a foreign policy of peace, cooperation and development to countries where it has established diplomatic relations including the US .

    The repercussion may be in the form of lost business opportunities, news of which may not published nor tweeted by the people involved.

  20. OR there will be no repercussions. That’s not the point. She could do whatever she likes on her own Twitter account or Facebook account. She’s free to do that as a Filipino whose rights are guaranteed. But the thing is she’s a government official. I seem to be exhibiting a bit of schizophrenia myself as I have high standards as to how a government official with her proximity to the president behaves –theyre supposed to be the best and the brightest — and at the same time expecting to be disappointed because I know govt officials are on the whole petty tyrants. This isnt about political correctness. It’s about getting the best people for the money that the govt confiscates from us. There are far worse people who ought to be fired than the speechwriter chick. I suppose I still hope for the day when government officials exhibit some kind of honor and delicadeza, enough to say, ‘I screwed up. I quit.’

  21. “There are far worse people who ought to be fired than the speechwriter chick. I suppose I still hope for the day when government officials exhibit some kind of honor and delicadeza, enough to say, ‘I screwed up. I quit.’”

    wouldn’t it be great if this speechwriter chick had it in her to say “i screwed up, i quit!” for a change?

  22. UP nn grad

    If Noynoy and Lacierda don’t want to fire Mislang, then get her out of the limelight and give her a special project. Like maybe she can focus on speechwriting so that the European Union relents on this ban affecting travel to Pilipinas from all countries of the European Union. Has been in place for a number of months already, and European tour groups wanting to go to Boracay and other Pilipinas dive sites cancel because they can not get travel insurance.
    ————
    The European Commission announced an operating ban on all air carriers certified in the Philippines from 1 April 2010. This follows an audit of the Philippines carried out by ICAO in October 2009. The EU ban has been imposed because the Philippine regulatory authority is unable :neutral: to verify that these airlines comply with international safety standards. More information can be obtained on the following website: http://ec.europa.eu/transport/air-ban/list_en.htm . We recommend that you avoid flying with Philippine-certified airlines subject to the EU operating ban. See Safety and Security – Local Travel – Air Travel

  23. “wouldn’t it be great if this speechwriter chick had it in her to say “i screwed up, i quit!” for a change?”

    would it also be valid for her to say/think “i made a mistake. i own up to it. i wont make that mistake again”?

    why is that a lesser option? isnt this what we teach our kids? how we treat ourselves?

    what am i missing?

  24. would it also be valid for her to say/think “i made a mistake. i own up to it. i wont make that mistake again”?

    Yes. It is also valid to say, ‘Screw you. It’s my Twitter account and I do what I want in it. I have rights.’

    Since we’re determining what is the ‘lesser’ or the ‘greater’ option, saying ‘I…am…sorry’ has a storied past in this country and it just isnt as satisfying as ‘I am tendering my resignation and it is up to the president to accept it or not.’, dont you think? So ‘Screw you’ is the least option, ‘I am sorry’ is better, and ‘I quit’ is best.

  25. Carmen Mislang is innocent because ill-bred people do not know any better

    No malicious intent in tweeting “Wine sucks” — or so Ms Carmen “Mai” Mislang thinks. The reason she (and most of President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III’s administration) thinks all’s good in the aftermath of this tragic gaffe comes down to breeding. When one sees no harm done in what is an obvious act of rudeness, that indicates the nature of one’s breeding.

    Ill-bred people do not know better. That is because they were brought up to not know any better.

    Ill-bred people are ill-mannered not because they have a conscious intent to be ill-mannered but because they cannot tell the difference between good and ill manners.

    Mai Mislang is innocent of any ill intent; that is, innocent by the standards of ill-bred people. Indeed, Noynoy’s Malacanang embodies the character of the society that put them in power.

    * * *

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  26. New media is public domain. Oh, how we love the internet…

    On her blog post “Batanes 2008 Day II (PM) – Fundacion Pacita,” Carmen “Mai” Mislang said:

    [“Wine was overflowing. The cheese was fantastic! Everyone was hammered after all that singing and drinking. The single malt whiskey was poison!!! Boss said the Batanes police could easily charge me with “improper waste disposal.” Wahahaha! Yeah, I went home happy :-D ”]

    Somewhere in her “Excess ain’t rebellion…” blog, Mislang (“hoochiecoochiegal” handle) also said she was formerly a Shangrila Makati employee doing “press releases, media relations, speaking engagements, interviews, etc.” She was recommended for a similar job in then Sen. Noynoy Aquino’s (the one referred to as “Boss” in the quote above) stable by Julia Abad (Butch Abad’s daughter and now PMS chief). Mislang got the job while still employed at DSWD, i.e., according to her (I’ll leave the judging to the reader if there was conflict here somehow.). Some of her pictures uploaded on her Multiply blog show some of the members of Hyatt 10.

    In short, she really has “connections.”

    I would expect she resigns out of propriety. This will definitely sever the ties.

    A bad manner committed can only be reversed by an equally measured good manner.

    Just taking down her twitter account (or whatever new media she got – FB or Multiply – btw, she also has “I’m Stoned” blog this time posing as “dopedeeva”) will not suffice. Besides, as Ellen Tordesillas’ recent blog post says…tweets are FOREVER!

    Here is the link where loads of pictures may be viewed:

    http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:fvsHJjD3-i0J:hoochiecoochiegal.multiply.com/photos/album/75+Excess+ain%27t+rebellion+hoochiecoochiegal&cd=113&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ph

  27. UP nn grad

    Fearless forecast (and the UP grad Mislang would know this, too). This tweety-tweet-issue will be “handled” like the deaths at Quirino grandstand. Noynoy’s loyalty to BFF’s and inner circle, coupled with inability to focus, will result in where soon enough (especially with Christmas around the corner) Mislang will be just another name and GabbyD will be happy.

  28. If I tasted a glass of wine and found the taste sucks and then I told some friends the wine sucks am I ill-mannered, am I rude, am I ill-bred?

    Would it reflect my good breeding if having tasted a glass of wine that sucks and I would say, “Uhhm, that’s heavenly!”?

  29. UP nn grad

    Bert: if you can’t say anything nice, then don’t say anything at all, especially if you still :neutral: are at the dining table eating the food prepared by the host.… drinking the drinks prepared by the host. Come on, bert!!

    But President Benigno Simeon “Noynoy” Aquino holds BFF’s and close ‘uns of his inner circle in very high regard. Such is Malacanang.

    So maybe a number of elections-2010 pro-Gordon and pro-Villar have been won over by Noynoy Aquino stellar demonstration of the Filipino giving high value to friendship and pakikisama, because he will need new converts. I know at least one who was rabidly pro-Noynoy during elections-2010, and now her blogposts have the anti-Malacanang theme — “mukhang PNoy’s dramatics about accountability during the campaign eh hindi totoo. Mga rhetorics lang pala.“

  30. @ ricky carandang – have you forgotten so soon? you said this just last april (has malacanang changed you so? BI ba?):

    “When I was studying in Ateneo, I was taught that punishing someone when they do wrong not only serves as a disincentive for bad behavior, but it also reflects the broader values that a society believes in. When you let someone off the hook after they have admitted wrongdoing, you trivialize the wrongdoing and send a message to your community that there are no negative consequences for bad behavior.” http://www.rickycarandang.com/?p=506

    via karen cardenas http://www.karencardenas.com/apps/blog/show/5236452-ricky-carandang-have-you-forgotten-

  31. You mean, UP n, that you’re projecting the Mislangs of the world, the Ricky Carandangs, the Rico Punos and other such underlings in the administration, will give Pres. Noynoy a GMA popularity and approval ratings of NEGATIVE, repeat negative, 139% popularity and approval ratings in the surveys? Guess again.

    It took the Abaloses of the world, the Garcillanos, the Jocjoc Bolantes, the Mike Arroyos , the Ampatuans, the Pidals, the Neris, the Palparans of the world, and other such underlings and partners to give that to her. Do you remember?

  32. UP nn grad

    there you go, bert. You’d out-Lacierda Lacierda himself, because really, Lacierda should have thought of that one. When Noynoy’s Malacanang is getting in trouble, wave the red flag of “GMA Talsik Diyan!”, heh heh heh.

  33. UP nn grad

    bert: you hear the latest? President “Noynoy: had instructed Rico Puno to tell the Emerald Restaurant to have TV sets, at least until the Australia- and UK-alert about terrorists striking in Manila gets lifted.

  34. UP nn grad

    And someone who wants to be Mislang-replacement proposed this press-release: In response to Australia- and UK-terrorist alerts, President “Noynoy” Aquino requested Rico Puno to use $3,000 of money saved from sidewalk-“Hot Dogs” lunch in Manhattan to buy TV sets for Emerald Restaurant.

  35. UP nn grad

    Now this is interesting because the PNP is right in the middle.

    For past 3 days, Noynoy Aquino and Lacierda and others of Malacanang (plus AFP) say that Pilipinas has not received any intelligence on a terrorist threat. And now this :
    The Philippine National Police’s Aviation Security Group (PNP-ASG) had admitted receiving the intelligence report in August.

    “A terrorist group from Sulu is planning to deploy in San Juan, Metro Manila this coming September to conduct bombing operations against a still unidentified target,” the report warned.

    […. apologies, Angela, when some of my post/comments are out-of-context” to Mislang-thread…]

  36. UP nn grad

    What does Malacanang want Pinoys-in-Manila to believe? Malacanang better get its communications straight. Because:

    PH calls for terror warnings to be downgraded
    Agence France-Presse
    First Posted 17:49:00 11/04/2010
    MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines on Thursday urged the United States and other allies to downgrade travel warnings about an imminent terrorist attack in Manila, saying it had not monitored any such threat. …. But Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Ed Malaya said local security authorities disagreed with the advisories. “They are not really seeing any imminent threat,” Malaya said on dzBB radio.

    National police chief Director General Raul Bacalzo also insisted there was no increased danger. “There is no specific area [of attack], no specific plan, no specific group,” Bacalzo told reporters. . . . . “So far, we have not validated any specific threat information,” he said.

    http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20101104-301432/PH-calls-for-terror-warnings-to-be-downgraded

  37. The ridicule of people in the Pinoy online community is punishment enough, I reckon. And it is perilously close to going overboard. (Ive just been to Ellen Tordesillas’s blog and she has two posts about this.) What she is is a way for those still bitter about the results of the last presidential election to get back at Aquino. Let’s put things in the proper perspective. She is a speechwriter. She doesnt amount to much. Sure we would have been satisfied if she quit and put her fate in the hands of her boss, but that’s not going to happen so let’s move on. Like I said there are far worse people who ought to have quit for doing far worse things than her silly remarks on Twitter. If youll recall, none of those responsible for the hostage fiasco quit. None! And that actually cost lives. Hammer Aquino on something else. This non-issue of the speechwriter chick is done, in my opinion.

  38. according to reports, there was internal discipline applied, in addition to bawal nang mag tweet and the written apology (internally and on facebook)

    the question is: is this appropriate(punishment)?

    if you want her fired, your answer would be no. but why isnt it appropriate?

  39. maybe so, jeg, that the online community is close to going overboard — grabe sa facebook — but i suppose it’s kind of compensating for the leniency of her bosses. the president is so forgiving yet again. this is small compared to the hostage fiasco, but it’s almost like she’s as important to him as rico puno.

  40. “tsk tsk, john nery, what makes you think that the host government did not find any of it offensive? yes, we haven’t heard any reactions from the vietnamese but that doesn’t tell me they weren’t offended; more likely they’re just more civilized and sophisticated than we are — the french influence, no doubt — why stoop to our level?”

    Angela, not only that. They don’t have the same freedom that we have. Just take a look at this link: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/infotech/view/20101102-301117/Another-Vietnam-blogger-

    So, I don’t think they can just freely tweet back and/or blog back about Mislang.

  41. Thought About Commenting for a Long time

    Don’t get me wrong, I agree with every implications and statements of this article and the commentaries. But if she is a Latin Lettered grad, I am sure she has some sensibilities within her, even if “some” is the key word. If my hunch is right, she might be a good presidential communicator, hence mirroring the very attitudes that the delegation brought with them to the dinner and meet. She was just vocal about it, thus the public scrutiny. If her boss does not see any reason of firing her, then they are actually commending her for communicating the very narcissistic attitudes within the delegation. If we look at the very root of this, it is not the loss of face we are all worried about, it is not the repercussions really, what we are all innately hoping is that this superficial act of a government representative is not the mindset that this present administration exposes.

  42. “upnn : hmm suddenly i’m missing maria ressa”

    my deep-throat source informed me she’s now with chan. 5. expect more opinions from her in the wall street journal attacking the president of the Philippines.

  43. Moving on…

    Mislang (and most likely, even Carandang) tweets on official time (like when she tweeted through the government Twitter account the In-and-Out Burger feast of P.Noy in U.S.) and on unofficial time (like when she tweeted through her own Twitter account how the suck wined in Vietnam).

    Where to draw the line between official time and unofficial time? I guess, only by what specific social media account she uses. Other than that, the line is obscured. Same thing with her personal life and being a public servant, the distinction is not clear cut.

    I think it’s safe to assume that there was free Wi-Fi available then during the Vietnam gala dinner. So, pretty sure no government fund was spent for the internet use. Nonetheless, the President’s fund that brought her to Vietnam as a delegate made her presence there an official one. She was tweeting, therefore, on government time.

    Now comes the matter of coming up with guidelines on social media ( Guidelines for social media set)…not only for public officials in general…but particularly for public officials concerned with Communications. Former blogger Dawin (Lacierda) was confused on how to act in certain situations when he said, “Just like me, we tweet and use FB but you don’t realize that you are a government official.

    NBA restricts players from tweeting during a game and 45 minutes before and after the game. It’s a harsh restriction to some, I read. However, the good thing about it is that it’s a limited restriction because players don’t play all day!

    What then will be the rule for Mislang (and Carandang) whose “game” is 24/7 and yet needs social media to communicate whatever she needs to communicate…officially and unofficially?

  44. come to think of it…

    part of guidelines for people in government may be: thou shall not post “dirty” pictures on facebook or other online social media…

    a warning also to would-be public servants (or those dreaming for a government post) not to upload compromising photos on the internet.

  45. Pa speaks up for controversial Mai

    http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/letterstotheeditor/view/20101115-303315/Pa-speaks-up-for-controversial-Mai

    [“As a parent, I am concerned more with the negative comments it generated, both from media personalities and private bloggers. What pained me was the comment that she was raised wrongly by us, her parents. Before saying this, they should have checked first. Isn’t that the practice in media?”]