Well because I am proud to be a Filipino I decided to make a new blog where I can post all the Pinoy things I find, experience and became fascinated with.
It's just fun to be a Filipino living in the Philippines. haha.
So I had a bad case of carpal tunnel syndrome for two days and then today it's finally better. What do I see upon checking Twitter with my now functioning right hand? PLDT got hacked!!!
Well of course if you're not in the Philippines, why would you care if it was hacked? You don't use their internet service so why bother reading this?
Hah! Well guess what I think about that hacking activity.
It is petty.
Hackers who call themselves Anonymous Philippines hacked PLDT's Twitter account because of poor or slow internet service? Are they for real?
My first reaction to this was one of outrage. I mean, if they are good hackers why hack just a Twitter account for slow or bad internet service? PLDT even offered a free speed boost since quarantine back in March and this is what they get?
Bakit hindi yung mga corrupt politicians ang i-hack nyo? Mga may ill gotten wealth n corrupt officials pati na POGOs n may utang na P50B in tax, un kunin nyo at ibalik nyo sa Philippine government hindi yung dahil lang mabagal yung internet ihahack nyo na. Sus.
Why not hack the corrupt politicians. Those corrupt official who have ill gotten wealth including POGOs that have 50 Billion Pesos unpaid tax, that's what you take and return back to the Philippine government. Don't do such just because the internet is slow. Jeezus.
Umayos kayo Anonymous utang n loob. D ung ganyan kababaw ginagawa nyo. (Pls do better Anonymous. Don't do petty stuff like what you did.)
If you really want change then do something good for the gov't, or even for the environment kung gusto nyo. Hanapin nyo ung mga head ng illegal logging. Or ung mga taong panay child trafficking. (Look for the heads of illegal logging. Or those involved in child trafficking.)
And because I was posting such comments on Twitter and Facebook. I saw an interesting Esquire PH interview article. Wow they were able to get ahold of someone from Anonymous huh?
So I found out from the 2017 article that they also did some hacking related to COMELEC/election and West PH sea dispute etc.
From what I read, yes I know it's not easy to hack but if they are indeed the good hackers they claim to be then they should find bigger ways to help unfortunate people & the environment. Hindi ung mabagal lng na internet ang pupuntiryahin. (Not just making the "slow internet" a target.)
Aside from that, there's the issue of violation of privacy. I'm sure they were able to see all the DMs sent to them. Especially something like this celebrity's concern.
Yeah I know that's another topic altogether, still it is a cause for concern. It would be better if they concerned themselves with the bigger things because they can do it.
If I knew how to hack and was interested in it, I'd do what I mentioned above. Unfortunately I can only comment on what those hackers did. Sad life.
How about you? What would you do for the greater good if you are a hacker?
One thing I love about this pandemic quarantine is the amount of free time one has to appreciate one's culture. We Filipinos are still so colonial minded that we cannot see the beauty of our own country, both past and present. Sometimes it saddens me but it's better to do something about it right?
No one should force others to love their own country and heritage. It is our right to like what brings us joy and appreciate anything we fancy. However, if one does not know how to love our own culture then one does not know this oft quoted statement supposedly by Jose Rizal. "Ang hindi magmahal sa kanyang salita, mahigit sa hayop at malansang isda." (One who does not treasure his own language is worse than a beast or a putrid fish.)
Rizal Park a.k.a. Luneta Park
Not only should we Filipinos appreciate our national language, we must also know how to love our country and culture. Often we only see the negative things in our life but why can't we see the goodness in life as well? We are too focused on trying to make a living that's why.
I would have loved to write this in Filipino too but I'm writing this for the educated Filipinos who prefer English and other cultures rather than our own. Heck perhaps even Filipino expats love our country and culture more than we who live here in the Philippines. Especially the Filipinos in the US. They always harp about being Filipino Americans or Filipinos are Asians too, discrimination and what not. Expat Pinoys still try to teach their children the language and culture to preserve their "Filipinoness". But the older generation of expats actually tried to hide themselves as Pacific Islanders due to discrimination back then. I know because I've read such stories in expat Pinoy groups on Facebook or the posts I see online.
Do you remember I even wrote about discovering the Filipino American Heritage Month in America? I never knew there's even such a thing because I live here in the Philippines. Apparently acceptance in a foreign land is a big thing in the US. (Hah! Most of them have never experienced how it is much harder to deal with acceptance in your own country when you don't look like the "natives". Only when they come here would they experience it, especially when they do not know how to speak Filipino. Also, having mixed blood/nationalities is never easy when you look different from most of the population. I want to laugh but okay, we all got our own issues.)
Anyway I'm getting too far off the topic at hand so let me just get right into it.
Old Filipino Counting Words
As I was saying, thanks to the quarantine I have discovered and found out a lot of interesting things about our culture. Four months ago I saw a post on Facebook and wrote a comment about it.
Yesterday the page owner finally replied to something I had completely forgot about. This caused me to be amazed at what I discovered all over again, so much so that I posted about it in all my social media accounts... (Ooops, I've yet to post it on Instagram though, haha.)
I was unaware of the words angaw and ati as counting number words in Tagalog (basis of Filipino, the national language). On tagaloglang.com you will see this entry for the word angaw.
A quick online search led me to a French site and book file(?) on these old or probably ancient Tagalog counting words.
It may not be fascinating to others but imagine if you are a business minded person and a nationalist then you discover something you never knew about your culture. Wow. It's just mindblowing. Count to million using angaw or billion using ati. Apat na ati for four billion or sampung angaw na piso for ten million pesos. Oh wow. I just love it.
And guess what else I learned about my country today?
The Beauty of Arroceros Park: The "Last Lung" of Manila
I live in Quezon City so I only know about several parks here like the famous Quezon City Memorial Circle, Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife Center and La Mesa Ecopark. The only park I am familiar with in Manila is Luneta Park. I lived along Taft Avenue in Manila in college but I never was able to travel much at the time. I was always studying and spent my free time on a computer outside of the university so I was never able to go out and about. My friends weren't the traveling kind nor the slacker types so I all I knew was home, school, school paper and going to the malls when I had to buy school stuff. Sad I know but hey I was such a good girl. Hahaha.
Eherm anyway so some years ago and last year, Arroceros Park was a hot topic because a certain president wanted to turn it into a gym or whatever. (Good lord. See how some people lack a sense of love for nature? They only know and think about money money money that they forget how nature nurtures humanity. Egads. Good thing COVID-19 and quarantine is here to make us more aware of taking care of the environment, among other things.) I think this why the people behind I-Witness created a documentary about the "suddenly famous" park. Frankly I've never even heard of it until I saw all the social media posts about it due to various hullabaloo.
I was once able to discover where it is simply by walking to find another place. Remember the time I posted about looking for the post office so I can send some One Opti Juice to London? Well apparently it was a different park, haha.
And so after watching an intriguing documentary about Juan Luna on YouTube, I found myself watching another one. (Sorry but this doesn't have any English subtitles mainly because it is a Filipino TV show episode. Just watch the visuals.)
This is how I finally discovered why it is worth saving. There's only one forest in Manila and that's Arroceros Park. If anyone would try to destroy it then where else would all the different bird species and other animals go? Where else will people go to relax and connect with nature inside the city of Manila? It's sad there are already walkways and buildings in it but what can you do when most people do not know the importance of having forests? This is why I love Mayor Isko Moreno. He officially declared it as a permanent forest park and even plans on expanding it. Hurray!
Did you know? Greeneries/Plants in the city help bring down crime rates. I read that from an online article several years ago. Well think about it, why would it not be true when seeing nature is so relaxing, right?
Anyway, from learning about city forests, I now present to you our centuries old bridges.
Old Spanish Colonial Bridges and the "Secret" Inscriptions
So hey, I'm on a roll watching local documentaries. I'm so happy they decided to release these documentaries to watch for free online. Perhaps I was just unaware they have this on YouTube but I'm glad to do a marathon on these than any other shows.
Unlike in the US it seems we are unable to monetize everything. Our TV shows do not have boxed sets for anyone to buy and enjoy at home. So many good old shows aren't shown on cable/TV anymore so how else will the younger generation know about our culture and history? Most educated people prefer to watch American or British shows plus anime and Korean Dramas.
I doubt if you will find majority of parents these days who enjoy showing their kids about Philippine stories or history lessons. We are so immersed in other countries' cultures that we do not know much about ours. How will we even share it to our children when most want their kids to learn English? Many parents prefer their kids to watch Sesame Street and Baby Shark or foreign nursery rhymes instead. Sad to be colonial minded eh? Not that it's wrong but I say it's just too much American culture instead of a balanced one.
This is why I'm spreading these documentaries for all Filipinos who can read this. At least more will discover about our own culture thru this post. A lot of people do not know about these because they do not have anyone in their circle sharing it for their awareness. Well here it is. Most Filipinos may not get to read this but at least more can be exposed to these as opposed to nothing.
An independent Philippines is such a young country compared to America and most especially first world countries that have never been conquered or occupied. However of course our history is rich in various cultures, thanks mostly to the Spaniards who named and occupied the Philippines for more than three centuries. This is why we have "ancient" bridges still existing today even if most were built in the Spanish eras.
I hope you enjoy reading this even if you are not a Filipino.
Okay so this was the next documentary I watched. The translated title says "The Secret of the Old Bridge." Sounds like a Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys book right? Haha.
These bridges can be found in Laguna and Quezon provinces. Based on the documentary, the "secret" is actually the masonic carvings found on the stone pieces used to build the bridges. It is probably a passive-aggressive act against the Spaniards who forced early Filipinos to build the bridges without pay.
Isn't it nice to know such things about Philippine history? We get to appreciate old things like bridges. We realize the importance of preserving old relics in order for each one to tell us all about a part of our history .
Out of everything I wrote, which one did you find most interesting? What do you think about all of these?
My gahd, this has been the funniest meme I have ever seen. Blame it on COVID-19, quarantine, ABS-CBN shutdown and Kim Chiu. π
So if you're not aware, this is how it goes. President Duterte had long expressed how he will shut down one of the two top TV networks in the Philippines due to not airing his campaign commercials back in 2016. On May 5, 2020, ABS-CBN was closed due to franchise and tax issues or what not. Nevermind if the TV company sacks irregular or contractual employees when they ask to be regularized. (Some cases are still ongoing even after a decade!) Of course the celebrities who work under said network will have something to say about not granting a franchise renewal to their mother company.
Now what does that have to do with Original Pilipino Music (OPM) you might ask? Well it's like this...
Say hello to Kim Chiu!
Let me introduce you to the winner of Pinoy Big Brother: Teen edition (2006).
Then and now
She has always been a well loved celebrity/actress here in the Philippines. She started from the bottom and is of course very famous. Kim currently has 8.5 million followers on Instagram as evidence of her popularity.
I'm not much of a fan but did you know her birthday was just last month? Check out her Instagram pic on her natal day.
Why Is She Trending Now?
It's all because of a simple mistake that everyone blew out of proportion. Her statement on the ABS-CBN shutdown issue has now become a meme.
PBB University Summa Cum Laude meaning she's the grand winner of the show.
"In the classroom there's a law. It's prohibited to go out, oh prohibited to go out. But if they say, if you complied to not go out but you did something that's not allowed... You fix the classroom law and then you submit it again. Oh it's already allowed you go out." - Kim Chiu
Some people are using the above to bash her because it absolutely does not make sense at all. On another point, I don't think making music out of her statement is any kind of bashing. Trolling maybe but not bashing like the rest of those who experienced such. I mean, she is an entertainer after all. π
See what people did and why she has now become the latest source of funny meme.
π Classroom Law Statement Parodies
Well you know, everybody's jumping on the meme bandwagon like crazy. Even known personalities are doing it. Look at these two fine examples.
1 . Finance related meme courtesy of Mr. Chinkee Tan, one of the popular motivational speakers of the country.
Translation: "It's prohibited to squander money"
"In the Philippines there are many squanderers. But if it's said, if you complied to your budget. And something is done and you fixed the way you spend, and you saved again, ohhh you won't be a squanderer anymore." - Chinkee Tan
2 . Journalist Arnold Clavio on cops violating the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) protocols during a major general's birthday celebration.
Translation:
"Under the ECQ there's a law, it's prohibited
to have a birthday party, oh it's prohibited
to have a birthday party. But if it's
said, if you comply that
public gatherings and social distancing is prohibited but you did something
that's prohibited, you fixed
the rules of your ECQ and then
you submit it again to your police chief oh
a simple birthday celebration (maΓ±anita) is already allowed." - Arnold Clavio
Good lord everything does not make sense that's why it's so funny. Hahaha.
π Bawal Lumabas: "OPM" Song covers
Thanks to Squammy Beats, we now have a better way to appreciate what she said. Haha.
I can't help but laugh everytime I watch this video. π And then I find out today there are various versions already. Omg hahaha. It's so funny but this meme is amazing really to have produced different song versions. Watch these!
There are other covers on YouTube being uploaded and reuploaded. I'm sure there's something on Facebook as well. π The tune is so catchy that I can't get it out of my head. Hahaha.
π Bawal Lumabas: Dance Challenge Videos
Look, there's even a dance challenge now. Haha. Too bad I don't have any TikTok.
Ah Filipino ingenuity in times of crisis. We make life fun even if it's not so fun right now. π
What do you think about the song and dance covers? Which one is your favorite among everything you have seen (here or elsewhere)? Are there any trending and popular funny memes in your area too?
Anyway, because of the popularity and the trending activities of Bawal Lumabas online, Kim Chiu eventually decided to do a vlog about it. Check it out! Watch the music video at 30:20 or watch the second vid below for the complete song.
This new and full song was created in collaboration with DJ Squammy via ABS-CBN Star Music.
I hope this reminds us that for every heartache and pain we encounter, there is always something good that will come out of it. Aside from being a better person, we can find the silver lining if we know how to look for it.
Ciao! I hope while staying quarantined you got a few laughs from my post. Keep safe!
