QUESTION EVERYTHING Mong Palatino Bulatlat.com 1. Did the Left support Gloria Arroyo in 2001 and 2004? The Left was part of Edsa Dos uprising and support for Arroyo was incidental since she was at that time the Vice President who stood to benefit from Estrada’s ouster. In 2004, the Left didn’t openly endorse any presidential…
Mong Palatino
Information Fatigue
QUESTION EVERYTHING Mong Palatino Bulatlat.com If journalism is history in a hurry, can we describe social media as the hurrying of history? Because of mobile Internet, events are ‘instantiated’ in our timelines and webpages. We constantly access the Internet not simply to read the mirror images of this morning’s newspapers or videos of last night’s…
Invisible violence
QUESTION EVERYTHING Mong Palatino Bulatlat.com South Korea’s Tower Infinity will feature the world’s third highest observation deck. But the building’s main attraction cannot be seen, literally. Using an LED façade with optical cameras, the building will ‘disappear’ which would wake it the world’s first ‘invisible’ highrise. The trick works by displaying images of the building’s…
Protests and Alternatives
QUESTION EVERYTHING Mong Palatino Bulatlat.com Rallies are sometimes caricatured as noisy and irrelevant street spectacles. Dismissed as futile ranting of a mob obsessed and afflicted with negativity. They offer only problems not solutions. They are contrasted with other political acts that focus on providing so-called practical alternatives to everyday evils. A responsible protester is someone…
Anti-Americanism, anyone?
QUESTION EVERYTHING Mong Palatino Bulatlat.com I believe in America. This is the famous opening line of the Hollywood film The Godfather. Incidentally, I share the same sentiment and I’d like to believe that most of my activist friends have a similar high regard for what America stands for. So why are we called anti-Americans? First,…
Public space and resistance
QUESTION EVERYTHING Mong Palatino Bulatlat.com When Third Word dictators are ousted, many people celebrate the emergence of a democratic space in society. After years of repression, there is suddenly a micro explosion of multiple freedoms in the streets, in schools, in workplaces, and in the press. Interestingly, it proves that public space is not inherently…
Politics of helping
QUESTION EVERYTHING Mong Palatino Bulatlat.com Aside from being sexual and social animals, we are also ‘helping’ beings. Giving aid to a neighbor in need is considered an ethical duty. Volunteering in charity houses, community shelters, and churches once in a while is equated with doing good. We honor individuals and groups whose mission is to…
False Transparency
QUESTION EVERYTHING By Mong Palatino Bulatlat.com Beware of politicians who like to insert the keywords ‘transparency’ and ‘good governance’ in their speeches. They are the same people who also use deceptive slogans such as ‘sustainable economy’ and ‘inclusive growth’ to justify the imposition of anti-poor economic policies. These are agreeable political concepts – who would…
Rallies and timezones
QUESTION EVERYTHING Mong Palatino Bulatlat.com Because of varying time zones, it is almost impossible to organize synchronized global protests. Realtime uprisings in the global village are actually done in a continuum. Let us assume for example that today is the Global Day of Action Against Evil. It is 12 noon in Manila and 1pm in…
Beyond internet activism
QUESTION EVERYTHING Mong Palatino Bulatlat.com The opposite of internet activism is not street activism but no-activism. Online petitions and political hashtags are indispensable in the campaign for change while non-action is a convenient option that only serves the interest of status quo. Internet activism is sometimes equated with impotence but at least it exists. There…