rocking with da reyna

quite interesting how manolo’s mistake spun off debates on academic credentials & credibility in the comment threads of filipino voices.com and reynaelena.com,  and quite quite yummy how fv blogger benignO’s entry that manolo’s apology empowers “dimwits” added fuel to da reyna’s war on yet another fv blogger with homophobic ethics, yes the ilusyonado one who claims more than 8 million readers a day, lol.

naturally the conflict finds me siding with da reyna, having myself (hindi ako nag-iisa) been viciously attacked not too long ago by yet yet another fv blogger across three blogs — in fv, in his personal blog, and in mine — one irrational accusatory insulting diatribe after another, castigating me for abetting the abu sayyaf, condoning terrorism, giving away territory, even torture, moral turpitude, stinking words, apalling, disgusting, lack of humanity and womanity (!) at kung ano-ano pang kalait-lait daw about my person and my morals and my intellect, when nothing in my entry warranted it.   the same fv blogger now gleefully claiming that manolo’s apology is “full of sarcastic, if hidden wit” but the reyna just doesn’t get it, and in the next breath talking “standards of civility.” talaga naman, ano ba yan.

worse, not a peep from editor-not-chief nick, as though the utter lack of tolerance for any deviation from an arrogantly opinionated one’s opinion is all right.   as though it’s perfectly acceptable for fv to be used as a platform for sensationalist writing and irresponsible labelling.

The Ca_t is right:

…sa isang blog na ang titulo ay Filipino Voices at ang mga ipinagmamalaking manunulat ay sinasabing siyang tinig ng bayan, hindi kaya nararapat na kilatisin ng mga magbabasa kung sino ang mga taong ito?

At kung ang mga taong ito na tumatawag sa mga nagbabasa at nagkukumento stupido, hindi kaya dapat malaman kung sino sila at bakit may karapatan silang mang-insulto ng kapwa nila?

and da reyna, too:

Some writers and bloggers at Filipino Voices are guilty of being pa-intellectual. Feeling ba. Some are so uber-napoleonic with their own opinions, think and believe in all their ass that they’re the only one that is all knowing, high and mighty and what they say and write sway the nation. They believe that whatever they say would help create national policies and every one in the tralala-land gets their piece of opinion!

unfortunately, ito ang attitude ni nick-not-chief:

Ipersonally believe that the readers should be able to discern for themselves with regards to many issues..

…which is like washing his hands of any responsibility for anything.   e ano kung walang karapatan ang ilang taga-fv to speak for filipinos.    e ano kung walang karapatan kahit sino na mang-insulto o mambastos.   wtf.   is this the same nick who stood up and accused malu fernandez of stuff that some of his bloggers are now accused of?   ah, but nick is not the chief, there is no chief.

filipino voices could use a leader who would value the collective as a whole and not be intimidated by the noisy know-it-alls, never mind if their pasaway ways bring in traffic.    the kind of leader who at the very least would impose standards of honesty and civility.   otherwise fv is suspect as a source of credible information and rational opinion, because how can anyone tell that the good ones have not been infected by the bad ones?   all it takes is one rotten apple to spoil the barrel.   three or four speeds up the process.

this is also to say that i don’t agree with the conventional blogging wisdom that values more the freedom to say anything than the rightness, correctness, of what is said in the context of nation-building, especially for a collective blog that claims to sway public opinion and shape government policy.    leaving it to readers to “discern for themselves” who’s right and who’s wrong is such a cop-out and just so mainstream media.

Comments

  1. The EQualizer

    Angela:

    My favorite French saying is ” plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose?”(The more things change, the more they remain the same).

    In our context, this is more than just a saying; this phrase aptly describes what has been taking place in so many aspects of our national political life.

    Even in Pinoy blogging,the self-proclaimed intellectuals are too judgmental and want to have the last word on every issue.

    Your favorite blogger talks as if he has the cloak of infallibility on any subject under the sun.If he doesn’t agree with you,he rants and rants…

    BTW,Happy Easter!

    EQ

    April 12, 2009 at 10:23 pm
    Reply
  4. reyna elena

    which is like washing his hands of any responsibility for anything.

    No worries Stuart. I questioned Nick with his principle and am sure you read it already and if he doesnt’ respond to my challenge to these FV writers? Baka me ibalandra akong ma-shock sila. Leche nila! Hmpt!

    These feeling intellectial bloggers at FV are just that – feeling. I posted my credentials in my blog, complete and they’re real para di na mahirapan ang lecheng yan. The ball is in their court. Now, either they have it or they don’t and if they have it – what would stop them from flaunting it – especially if they come from prestigious schools??? Eh leche barriotic punk lang tong binibira nang mga mokong! Haller!!!

    Hahahaha

    I say to these feeling FV Bloggers – this barriotic punk wanted to see their credentials. NOW na. hahahaha

    April 12, 2009 at 11:47 pm
    Reply
  5. Silver

    “Now, either they have it or they don’t and if they have it – what would stop them from flaunting it – especially if they come from prestigious schools??? Eh leche barriotic punk lang tong binibira nang mga mokong! Haller!!!”

    Simple lang yan. Barriotic punks like us ang kaya lang nilang birahin. Hahaha…

    Parang superiority complex…hahaha.. :P

    April 13, 2009 at 12:41 am
    Reply
  11. angela

    naku, gabbyd ;) bakit kailangang either or? both civility AND disclosure are valid demands to make of a collective blog that presumes to speak for the filipino. kung ayaw nila, o di nila kaya, call the blog something else na lang, something more appropriate, like maybe burgis filipino boses? ay, ang pangit ;)

    April 13, 2009 at 12:23 pm
    Reply
  12. GabbyD

    thats an interesting take, angela. i don’t know that they want to speak for the filipino (i.e. the average filipino).

    in fact i doubt it. on their roster is benign0, who i doubt will ever say he speaks for the average filipino. there is also mr. nichols, who may or may not be a filipino (but his blog posts are sensible!)

    i also don’t know what happened bet pat and reyna. people get heated when talking about stuff i guess.

    i concede this point: IF they want to say they are speaking on behalf of the filipino( kung sino man sya), then they should be more forthright about their credentials.

    also: if they don’t want to reveal who they are, then we need not to take any of what they seriously.

    to be honest, i’d hope u’d argue for more civility. i thought DJBs comments on your post were not civil at all. i confronted him about it, via a comment, 2 which he didn’t reply.

    civility, and good clear arguments are key. i think its possible for reasonable people to disagree, and the point to to flesh out point of agreement and move forward.

    if someone is being an a-hole, then we can ignore that person…

    regarding malou, i agree that the standard be higher for MSM journalists. we should hold them up to a civility AND a credentials standard, as you suggest. hence, i don’t have a problem with criticizing an MSM journalist for lack of credentials.

    happens all the time in US media. In the US for example, many people are prognosticating about the US economic crisis who wouldn’t be/shouldn’t be given airtime. So when a talking head goes up against an economic historian, the talking head usually gets schooled.

    we must be careful about who to give airtime to in MSM.

    sorry napahaba ata. happy easter! :)

    April 13, 2009 at 12:52 pm
    Reply
  13. reyna elena

    i say, it boils down to the leader and where is he by the way? he should have done some checking about who he invites to the roster of dimwits err, my bad… roster of intellectual dimwits… err sorry again, braggers pala! oppps again! ano baaa! keyboard not functioning hahaha

    for a blog that speaks for filipinos like me, although i could surely speak for myself, i want them to post their credentials. i paid my dues and i expect high standards for my speakers hahaha – but what bothers me was that – before me asking them about credentials, most of them were graduates of UP. University of Pantalan. what happened? hahaha! ba’t mortal na kasalanan nang reyna ang magtanong? hehehe!

    mag-ingat ang mga feelingera hehehe, marami akong tanung na dapat sagutin hehehe

    April 13, 2009 at 2:18 pm
    Reply
  14. angela

    kaya naman love kita, gabbyd ;) ikaw ang katangi-tangi sa comment thread na yon ng fv who dared ask whatshisname what i’d said to deserve his wild rantings. i mean, you know, silence isn’t always golden. with peeps like whatshisname, silence is not necessarily taken as a negative response, rather as a signal that no one’s protesting, no one’s expressly taking offense, so it must be okay. which is sooo not okay.

    this matter naman of speaking for the filipino. like the ca-t says, it’s the name of the blog that suggests it, there’s no getting away from it. and so yeah with benigno halimbawa and his penchant for putting down the masang pinoy, talaga, nakaka-offend — can’t he be more constructive? it’s almost like he ENJOYS putting down pinoys just to make himself feel good — and none of it belongs in a collective that, okay, expressly HOPES to sway public opinion and shape government policy.

    re malu f. so it was okay what nick spearheaded vs. malu bec mainstream media siya, but it’s okay to ignore the same faults in some fv bloggers dahil di naman mainstream ang blogs? so the bar is lower lang talaga sa blogosphere? but who has the right to set such a low bar? nick himself? the bloggers? basta not the readers? akala ko ba, the readers make all the difference in the blogosphere, na sa kanila nanggagaling ang check-and-balance…

    re civility vs. disclosure: sa akin pareho ang weight nila, lalo na in a collective blog named filipino voices. ang pinagkaiba lang, civility is for all, while disclosure is only for those whose pronouncements raise questions of credibility and authority, and are called out.

    at the very least nick-not-chief should be more careful about who to give space to in a collective blog named filipino voices.

    and happy easter to you too ;)

    April 13, 2009 at 3:13 pm
    Reply
  17. Silver

    Again on GabbyD and Angela,

    You dont really know what happened. Anyway, take the liberty of reading Reyna’s posts. Especially the posts about Reyna and Patricio Mangubat.

    If you are interested, check this link first:

    http://reynaelena.com/2009/01/15/a-nightmarish-experience-with-an-elitist-and-homophobic-blogger-at-filipino-voices/

    This link I posted shows what really happened between Patricio and Reyna. Dugtong dugtongin nyo na lang. Hehe.

    April 13, 2009 at 3:43 pm
    Reply
  19. The Ca t

    this matter naman of speaking for the filipino. like the ca-t says, it’s the name of the blog that suggests it, there’s no getting away from it.

    thanks angela.

    dapat nga may disclaimer na ang opinion nng mga writers doon ay kanila lamang at hindi kaninuman.

    April 13, 2009 at 7:26 pm
    Reply
  20. Silver

    @angela…

    Precisely. No wonder Reyna has the balls to ask for credentials for these guys (given that Patricio Mangubat is in their roster)

    If I were in the shoes of these guys, its a simple question really. No defense needed. If Reyna asks for their credentials, then say something about it. Update na ang ABOUT PAGE para mapatahimik nila si Reyna. Simple as that. No more intellectualism needed.

    Its a direct challenge from Reyna so, obviously, kung ikaw ang isa sa mga na-challenge, then answer the challenge para tapos ang boxing. Hindi pa yung pinalalawig pa di ba?

    April 13, 2009 at 7:27 pm
    Reply
  24. reyna elena

    angela,

    i just find it uberly interesting that intellectual bloggers at FV are having kalbaryo days understanding what credentials are. i read sparks new entry (thanks for the link) and she is now actually singing my song hahaha let me quote her:

    “But then, taking into consideration the specific case of blogs like FV, we need to add another layer of complexity: even if you’re not an expert, but you have somehow achieved the status of shaper-of-opinion or information-resource, then a moral obligation is created to prove that you know whereof you speak. Otherwise, you might be leading people astray. When you are part of a collective like FV, or if as an individual you have reached that point where people actually care what you think, you can no longer hide behind the ‘anything-goes’ ethic of the blogosphere. Sure, people still remain free to swallow your crap or not, but that’s no longer relevant to you. Because there is the chance that someone will not be smart enough to discern whether you’re for real or just a bullshitter, you have the responsibility to put your bona fides up for everyone to see.” – Sparks

    April 13, 2009 at 8:32 pm
    Reply
  25. angela

    hey, reyna ;) galing, ‘no? but wait, haha, that’s not “sparks” now singing your song, that’s “smoke” of smoke.ph na dating blogger rin ng fv pero umexit some time ago, naimbiyerna about some rules yata that didn’t make sense, so fly ang beauty niya. big loss for fv, i thought.

    April 13, 2009 at 8:42 pm
    Reply
  26. Silver

    Sila sila din ang nagpapasakit ng ulo nila.

    Simple question cannot be answered. Tapos may mga hahalong eng-eng pa sa comments claiming his good friend (you know who na)did not mean his apology to reyna or what.

    Adik talaga. :P

    You have raised good points Angela. I applaud you for that. :)

    April 13, 2009 at 9:20 pm
    Reply
  29. manuelbuencamino

    angela,

    In fairness to Nick of FV, (someone I’ve never met) there are word wars between posters, between poster and commenters, and among commenters. In that sense, there is no collective voice in FV, no party line so to speak.

    I always understood FV as bloggers speaking out only for themselves, not the Filipino people. I wouldn’t post or read FV if it had a party line because the sight of goose stepping marchers and the sound of their bootheels in lock-step will make me want to mix cyanide with my daily cocktail of dangerous drugs.

    I don’t think there should be an editor/moderator in FV to sort out what’s being said by whom. Let shit, stupidity, wisdom, wit and whatever fly together and leave the reader to decide what to believe. Huwag na tayong maglagay ng Parental Controls or Parental Guidance advisory kasi hindi natin kailangan ng isa pang consoliza la guardia o manoling morato sa mundong ito.

    I don’t buy credentialing. Either one is making sense or he is not, one is lying or he is not, resume notwithstanding.

    Yun lang at patuloy ang batok sa mga blogger na unggoy. The sound of their hollow heads resonating from your blows reminds me of conga music and makes me want to mambo while washing down drugs with tequila and rum.

    MB

    April 14, 2009 at 11:19 am
    Reply
  30. reyna elena

    “I don’t buy credentialing. Either one is making sense or he is not, one is lying or he is not, resume notwithstanding.”

    I think you’re missing the whole point of it all manuelbuencamino. I’ll forgive you because it’s a long story to tell. You need to read where this all started. It’s codified with presidential decrees in my blog.

    Essentially, this is about a challenge put on my face by Filipino Voice bloggers with an “s”. I returned the favor. Repeat – I checked their credentials and returned the favor. I put my credentials down. Now, where are theirs? Who are they? Why hide from anonymosity? Why all the fake claims? Why the embellished credentials? All these has been denials after denials. Alibis after alibis. Why? They got nothing to show, and if they have it, those were prolly dwarfed by what they saw from me. Would that be a fair assessment? If it’s wrong, then I need to see theirs.

    My credentials are for real. My readers knows it. I worked on it like one hungry barriotic punk wishing to get out of poverty and damn shit! I am proud of what I have and what I worked for and I’m always ready to slap it to anybody. I was able to get passed poverty shit, that I could spend a weekend in London if I wanted to. Which I did. And in Paris too. You can asked my friend chuvachienes.com, that’s not air, it’s called accomplishment by one barriotic punk that did not have the luxuries of connections in the government.

    The problem with FV writers was they judged me based on my barriotic punkness. Got me? They have no clue that one like me could have some real credentials. Lessons learned sa mga feeling intellectual. No matter how much you fake it, se-semplang at sesemplang yan because it’s not based on good foundation.

    Filipino Voices will never be able to rise up to my challenge. None of them have any balls to show theirs. Not even Nick. That’s my contribution to Pinoy Blogosphere, uncovering the fakes out there.

    April 14, 2009 at 11:35 am
    Reply
  31. manuelbuencamino

    reyna elena,

    I was not attacking you. But why get into a war over credentials? A simple “fuck you” to those people would have sufficed. You know who you are, a self-made man. Debate and defend your POV not your CV. Don’t waste your time on those whose only self-made accomplishment is making themselves come by their own hands. Just share your thoughts and experiences and say fuck you to anyone who questions whether you have the credentials to opine on any subject you fancy.

    MB

    April 14, 2009 at 12:25 pm
    Reply
  32. angela

    manuel ;) got this from an anonymous pinoy blogosphere commenter sa http://donavictorina.blogspot.com/2009/04/am-i-illiterate.html

    “There is room for all sorts of bigotry and prejudice in this world: nobody denies anyone a chance to laugh at a farting man who ate his fill of sarciadong kamote. We really can’t tie ourselves down to a frame of ethics that prevents us from mocking people, from discriminating, from drinking deep from the bottle of Hate-a-rade. But the least we expect from all of this discrimination, prejudice, bigotry, and hatred is honest disclosure.” https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=6068383873159996693&postID=4567726363951003112&isPopup=true&pli=1

    which reminded me of this restyo entry “fave blogs” last month:

    “For me, the best blogs are like road accidents: What I might see could be ugly, even gruesome, but I often check them out (at least once a week) nonetheless. As though these blogs were patients who had figured in a nasty head-on collision, I keep coming back for a hospital visit if only for another voyeuristic look.” http://restyo.blogspot.com/2009/03/on-fave-blogs.html

    except for the “best blogs” part, which i’d replace with “saddest blogs”, it sorta describes why i still check out fv ;)

    April 14, 2009 at 4:13 pm
    Reply
  33. manuelbuencamino

    angela,

    OFF TOPIC :do you watch Chelsea Lately on cable? Chelsea reads a news item and then she and three guest comedians make comments about it. It’s hilarious and it works like a blog, except that it’s done by witty and bitchy people. And it’s all ad hominem.

    Anyway I visit your blog because I like it.

    April 14, 2009 at 5:34 pm
    Reply
  35. reyna elena

    @manuelbuencamino,

    nah, i don’t think for a bit that you’re attacking me. i wonder how you feel with rotten apples around you? shouldn’t you demand better to be at least on par with your quality?

    i’m not going to simply “fuck” those at FV with the challenge, i know that the best move was to turn the tables around and ask for theirs and challenge them for the same challenge presented upon me. look – some of these FV writers are now having such a terrible time defending what they have. didn’t you notice?

    one of these days – NICK and the clean guys at FV – will be thankful for what i have done – cleaning up FV because he doesnt’ have the balls to do that.

    April 14, 2009 at 8:18 pm
    Reply
  38. Teo

    Grabe, Angela. Ganoon pala ang ginawa sa iyo sa FV? Hindi ko alam. Nakakakuha lang kasi ako ng balita sa blogosphere dito sa site mo. Hehe. Pasensya na, hindi nakapagkomento man lang sa buong isyu.

    Parang lumalabas na kailangan talaga nating tanggapin na may mga kung anu-anong klaseng komentarista sa blogosphere. Na ang magagawa talaga natin — este ninyo — ay magbigay ng responsableng kritisismo para makitang responsable rin ang mga bloggers sa sariling hanay.

    Sa totoo lang, hindi ko napo-profile ang mga manunulat ng FV. Ang alam ko lang, latak si DJB at mahusay si Marck. Okey naman dati sa akin si G. Patricio Mangubat. Pero bakit naman dumausdos ang mga banat niya kay Reyna Elena sa ganyang antas? Parang Che Guevarra sa ibang usapin, pero Fulgencio Batista sa mga usapin ng kabaklaan at elitismo sa pagkokomentaryong pampulitika.

    Kaugnay ng mga ganitong banat at sa usaping Chip Tsao na rin, iyun kasing satire sa tingin ko ay dapat gamitin laban sa mga makapangyarihan at mayayaman, hindi sa mga api na nga’t binabasura pa ng lipunan at daigdig. Ano’ng mapapala natin, eh ang dali-dali namang gawin noon?

    Iyun lang po.

    April 15, 2009 at 1:38 am
    Reply
  39. jepoy

    Teka teka… naka-basa ba ako ng nanlalait na Filipino Voices blogger? Eto siguro agree si Reyna Elena, bukod sa mga manlalait na blogger, may isang blogger sa Filipino Voices na napaka sinungaling…

    Itago nalang natin ang napaka sinungaling na blogger sa pangalang Jester-in-Exile or PTG (PaTay Gutom daw sabi ng isa namning reader…)

    A few reads about FV’s PTG:

    http://jepoy.bengero.com/2008/12/truth-will-set-you-free.html
    http://www.bibiduck.com/2008/12/clearing-my-name-and-gameops-of-false.html

    April 15, 2009 at 11:57 am
    Reply
  46. reyna elena

    GURL! tumambay ako sa blog mo! i read the very leche i mean, lengthy pala na comments err kalmutan dun ninyo nang sintunadong bragger err blabber na si CryJB hahahaha UBERRR~! (sorry old keyburd) hahahaha sukat kasi mga walang credentials – napangalanan lang ang street at isang avenida credentials na hahaha but i learned a lot in that discussion err awayan pala kung sinetchiwariwang CryJB hahaha

    April 16, 2009 at 9:50 am
    Reply
  48. angela

    reyna GURL! napatambay din ako sa blog mo! my first “immersion” in a blog like yours and i must thank mlq3 for pointing you out ;) i love how you sashay around the blogosphere and make asar/taranta the feeling-intellectual uberrr machos ;))

    April 16, 2009 at 4:36 pm
    Reply
  51. Anna

    Hah!

    Welcome to the club, Angela. I’ve had my share of “run-ins” with Dean; started some 5 years ago (over the invasion of Iraq).

    DJB could be one veritable pompous lil fart but I genuinely like him — he’s a good man despite his tendency to lump all those who don’t go his way of thinking as helpless fools. He’s actually one of those who could be boringly good when he doesn’t go about spewing his unqualified, unequivocal, take it or leave it pro-Uncle Sam rhetorics.

    Don’t let him get to you. Trick is to give him his own dose of tit-for-tat.

    I do believe he’s open to “new” ideas, i.e., that not everything he says or writes is biblical truth.

    April 19, 2009 at 7:50 pm
    Reply

Comment