OPINION | Of ladies and gentlemen (chivalry must die!)

This story is so hot right now it’s like a jam-packed jeepney.

On Wednesday night, Top Gear Philippines posted on their Facebook page a photo of two female students piggybacking on a public utility jeepney (PUJ) in an unidentified street somewhere in Metro Manila. Top Gear Philippines captioned it as “Is Chivalry Dead?”

Upon its release, netizens were quick to pounce on the story, with most comments decrying the “death” of chivalry and the lack of “gentlemen” inside that jeep. Some have channeled traditional family values in the issue, by saying, “Would you let your mother, wife, or sister experience this?” Others have even resorted to homophobic remarks, calling the men inside the jeep, “gay”, or labeling male supporters of gender equality, as “more female the women.”

But there are those who saw empowerment in the photo. Several netizens cheered the subjects for doing what men can do. Some said it shouldn’t be uncommon to see scenes like this as we are living in the era of gender equality and women empowerment.

The uproar from the photo points to very obvious reasons.

The two subjects wore all-white uniforms composed of a blouse and skirt; one was wearing a pair of flats, the other, leather shoes. The fact that the photo exists obviously says that the driver had allowed the women to piggyback on the jeepney and that they willing did so. Since the two women were blocking the view from inside the jeepney, it cannot be said if there were other passengers in the jeep, whether men or women.

Being a conservative, traditional, quasi-patriarchal, quasi-matriarchal society, a large demographic of Filipinos would definitely decry this situation upon seeing even just the uniforms. Despite the possibility that these women have acted willingly, the initial response is that anyone wearing a skirt shouldn't be put through this kind of situation. For them, a woman should be innocent, prim, proper, elegant, poised, and demure—the archetypal Maria Clara.

Consequently, our society believes that men are like Crisostomo Ibarra: dashing, handsome, courteous, polite, respectful, and honorable—a chivalrous gentleman. As such, they must do all women a favor by giving up their seats inside public transportation, opening and holding doors for them, holding bags and umbrellas for them, among others, and be rewarded with “pogi points” for doing so.

With these rewards, it isn’t hard to see why this won’t be seen as sexism.

But it is sexism for the mere fact that being a gentleman ingratiates men to women, thereby, entitling themselves to a woman’s approval, desire, and love, while deducing that women cannot do such services for themselves. Perpetrating chivalry is to define women as needy, frail, incapable, and lacking in power.

With this reasoning, I do not see anything wrong with women piggybacking on jeepneys and men refusing to give up their seats to strong, equally capable women (if there were indeed men inside the jeepney).

In this era of gender equality and women empowerment, chivalry, as a male construct, must die. Men do not have a monopoly of strength and endurance, and therefore, do not have a monopoly of being courteous, polite, and respectful. And women do not have a monopoly of being at the receiving end of such noble actions. Chivalrous acts must be done by everyone to everyone, but most especially to the elderly, PWDs, pregnant women, children, and those suffering from physical pain, regardless of sex/gender.

In the end, what should be decried instead in this photo is the shabby state of public transportation in the Philippines. Nobody should be left to with just the choice of piggybacking on jeepneys, buses, and trains, whether men or women. We all deserve a safe, comfortable, and decent ride, which should have been Top Gear Philippines’ slant and caption.

Postscript: Top Gear Philippines responded to netizens with a comment, which says:

The catch here is: "We are 100 percent for gender equality, but we will definitely give up our seat for a lady. It's not being sexist. It's not implying that a woman is weak or that she needs to be helped at all times. It just feels right."

Talk about being selfless and self-serving at the same time! 

With that argument, if anyone from Top Gear Philippines, or even "chivalrous" men, were inside that jeep, these women wouldn't be hanging outside in the first place, which obviously proves that they chose to do it because they can. Such comments give us a glimpse of the understanding (and acceptance) Top Gear Philippines has of gender equality.

In a gender fair world, you need not offer your seat to a lady to feel right, nor feel guilty about not giving up your seat, because there is no harm done.

[ANALYSIS] HOW NANCY BINAY WON A SENATE SEAT

She’s the one who took a ride on her father’s popularity during campaign season. With her unfit educational background and bare political experience, we were quick to draw conclusions on how out of shape she is to become a senator of the republic. We lambasted her for her total absence in senatorial debates, questioned the cliches in her platform, ridiculed her intelligence and experience by pitting her against Risa Hontiveros, and teased her dark brown complexion.

As of writing, in 5^th place: Nancy Binay: 5,436,011 votes! (8:53 PM)

Early on in this race, it looks as if the woman we all hated will win a Senate seat much to our dismay. Soon, we will be scratching our heads and crying “Anyare?” (“What happened?”) How is it possible that the very person we all hated could likely win in this election?

As film director Maryo J. De Los Reyes said in an interview with ABS-CBN’s “Ang Tipo Kong Kandidato”, Filipinos have a penchant for drama. As in the soap operas we are hooked into every afternoon and on prime time, we tend to sympathize with the underdog—the oppressed and maligned character, usually from poor background and physical attributes.  Over the years, election candidates and their managers have learned to utilize this flaw in the Filipino psyche resulting in a type of social engineering we see every election season.

Turn a candidate into an underdog and s/he will have the sympathy vote s/he needs.

This is one trap most of us fell into early on in this election season. After all, there is another flaw in the Filipino psyche utilized by these candidates and their handlers—our penchant for criticism or (in Filipino) “pamumuna, pamumulà”. And the demographic most guilty of this crime against Nancy Binay during this election season are those belonging in classes A, B, and C or those from the educated, tech-savvy upper and middle classes that make up 7% of our society. From the day Binay announced her candidacy and campaign, this demographic was on the attack both in mainstream broadcast media and in emerging yet powerful social media.

Facebook and Twitter were the main platforms of cyber bullies against her, most notably through the use of parody accounts @IamNancyBinay and @DonyaAngelica (based on Angelica Santibañez, the famed and hated antagonist from the soap opera “Marimar” in the 90s). These two parody accounts were basically hook and sinker which baited us into the type of drama Binay’s handlers were expecting—to draw and encourage a large, educated demographic to push Binay to the ground. Some well known figures, such as comedian Vice Ganda, and even Liberal Party senatorial candidate and former Akbayan partylist representative Risa Hontiveros, joined the bandwagon—a step, I bet, she’d later regret.

As of writing, in 5^th place, Nancy Binay: 7,874,404 votes! (10:18 PM)

Just one of the many racial slurs against Nancy Binay.

Back in 2010, Vice President Jejomar Binay got the most votes from that other demographic of our society who can relate the most to soap operas: the uneducated masses from classes D and E or a whopping 93% of our society. They are the ones who have less access to social media or the Internet and rely only on TV, radio, print media, and campaign sorties itself to get to know a candidate. They aren't the ones who frequent Twitter or Facebook and see Nancy Binay being bullied, but they know very well what is happening there from word-of-mouth. Hence, it is no wonder she would get the sympathy vote from this sector just three years since her father won.

The masses related a lot to Nancy’s father: from his complexion, to his platform, down to his bearing and approach during campaign season. Being a vice presidential candidate, the elder Binay did show he was competent enough to do the bigger job by attending debates and granting interviews. After all, he has bullets to spare from his experience as Makati mayor. In the interest of expanding his political clout in preparation for 2016 Presidential Elections, VP Binay gambled that his strategy in 2010 would work for her inexperienced daughter. Before she was picked, we virtually heard nothing of Nancy Binay. If not for her complexion, people wouldn't believe that she’s related to the vice chief executive. This is the only characteristic father and daughter share and in order to win, the former would let the latter ride on his popularity and devise a strategy to win: to turn her daughter into an underdog in order to get the sympathy vote she needs.

Risa and Senyora: Alter-egos?

We never knew (and dared to inquire) who are these people behind the parody accounts against Nancy Binay. It could be her handlers or non-affiliated sympathizers  Or maybe it was indeed created by some savvy tweep disgruntled by Binay’s inclusion in the race. We will never know the truth behind it. Only one truth remains—the more the upper and middle classes bullied Nancy Binay, the more it endeared her to the lower classes. With every slur against her color and inexperience, it was a swipe against the lower classes. By turning Nancy Binay into the enemy, you turned against someone who is with the masses.

As of writing, in 5^th place, Nancy Binay: 8,594,831 votes! (11:10 PM)

It was a mistake bullying Nancy Binay no matter how legitimate our issues are against her. Now, with the inevitable about to happen, we just have to accept the fact that our own actions helped put a novice in public service. As of writing, there are sentiments in Twitter and Facebook about continuing the smear campaign against her in Senate. It wouldn't help in anyway as it would only solidify VP Binay and his family’s foothold in the presidency in 2016. What is the least we could do?

There are two things we can do: one, we can hold her accountable for her election promises by closely watching and criticizing her legislative work or we can encourage and help her accomplish the gargantuan task that awaits her novice hands. After all, she is an elected official and part of being in a democracy is accepting the results of democratic exercise. If we turn her into the senator we expect her to be, she could transform into the compelling legislator we don’t expect her to be. TSS

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Photos courtesy of Yahoo! Philippines, Liberal Party website, and Twitter.

WHY FILIPINOS LOVE CITYVILLE

LET'S FACE IT: Filipinos love gaming in social networking. It's primarily one of the reasons why Facebook became so popular suddenly in the Philippines (and sealed Friendster's fate forever in cyberhell). In fact, I'd bet that of 10 people reading this post right now, 9 are gamers in Facebook. Whatcha playin'? We played it all, right? We couldn't agree more -- Friends for Sale, Pet Society, FarmTown, YoVille, Farmville, Mafia Wars, Texas Hold 'Em Poker, Cafe World -- we've been there, done that. But one game that's been taking over the gaming world in Facebook is Cityville.

Yes. Since it was launched in December 2010, Cityville skyrocketed in popularity with 100,000 users worldwide in its premiere day and 84.2 million users in just one month. Included in this number are millions of Filipinos who operate and maintain their own community in Cityville. I admit being addicted to Cityville since December last year but for good reasons. Somehow, it's popularity has some societal implications which interested me that's why I kept on playing the game to find out what these implications are.

Cityville allows you to create and supervise your own city like a mayor. You get to be in charge of the means of production such as farms and factories. You get to control trade through trains and shipping. As mayor, you can also decide which business establishments to establish and operate so that you can have continuous source of income for your community. You get to approve new housing units and where they will be built and how they will look like. Of course, are bad characters too. There's the Meowing Marauder and Billy the Bandit; but as mayor, you can take them down by providing security courtesy of the police. You get to keep your city safe and attract visitors and tourists to spend their coins in many of your city's sites and shops. Amazing isn't it? Indeed.

FILIPINOS: Ditching these scenes for Cityville.

Which is contrary to what Filipinos face in their daily lives.

Everyday, Filipinos put up with bad news in the community: rampant crime, high prices of commodities, corruption of government officials, etc. We look around and see the grim reality of the life in our locality -- people living in shanties, crowded schools, squalid surroundings. These are things that are being courageously faced and resolved by a few, brave Filipinos. However, I could say that most of us would like to live a fantasy rather than face the harsh realities of life. That's why after a day's work, we log on to our computer and make ourselves the mayor of our own fantasy world in Cityville. Here, we are our own boss. Here, where strawberries grow in 5 minutes and traffic is almost a myth, we could savor a few ours of good community living and forget about how hard our own lives are. I wonder if this is a good thing? Could it be?

I'd hate to say this being a Cityville gamer myself, but this is the truth. We'd rather spend our time living a fantasy than pour the rest of our day to things bigger than ourselves. In this day and age where we need more active citizens than passive ones, we need to be doing the opposite. For a change, let's keep our hands off the PC and read a storybook to our child about heroes of the past, or pick up the broom and sweep the trash on our sidewalks. How about calling or visiting our neighbors and organizing a potluck on Labor Day? Is it really that hard? I don't think so.

Don't get me wrong -- I'm not forcing everyone to quit playing Cityville. All I'm pointing out here is that it shouldn't be our life. While we waste 12 or 24 hours of our time asking for donuts, harvesting corn or collecting goods, our whole life is passing by behind us. In the end, you may have reached level 80 of Cityville but you'll never reach a higher level in your life being a sociopath, Cityville addict. An hour or a half would be enough. Being a citizen in real life requires even more. TSS

State TV: A Call for an Evolution

We live in times saturated by so much news and information.

This generation of Filipinos' insatiable need for news and information has made this country a record-setter in terms of the number of newspapers, the number of news websites circulating in the Internet, the number of radio stations and now, even the number of all news and information channels.

ABS-CBN led the way in all news and information channels in the Philippines with its launch of ANC in 1996. Fifteen years later, its rivals GMA Network and TV5 is providing competition to ANC's monopoly of the industry by launching their own all news channels -- all in free TV. Last February 21, TV5 launched Aksyon TV which is just one of the milestones made by this rapidly developing media conglomerate. GMA Network, meanwhile, is cementing its position as the country's most respected news and public affairs network with the launch of GMA News TV (replacing its lifestyle channel QTV) on February 28.

Citizen Journalism: An Intensive Look

Media platforms in Facebook. Fishing for comments?

Is Citizen Journalism an empowering tool or a forum for divisive talk and political tirades?

I am forced to ponder this question after observing my fellow participants in various citizen journalism groups in Facebook. I’ve been a member of TV5’s TEN: The Evening News Facebook group, and now of GMA News’ Facebook page, where ordinary Filipinos can comment and give their views about current national and international issues, as well as report on news events unfolding in their own neighborhood.

I am a person who is always thrilled with the experience of debate and exchanging ideas and convictions with other, especially in person. But Facebook is a different playing field. In these forums, there are no moderators, no time limits, and no control. I should have expected that people will always be the worst versions of themselves in this kind of environment, but somehow my naive faith that people will be decent participants prevailed. I was proven wrong.