Ang kasaysayan ng pelikulang Filipino, dulot ng simulain at pabaong ng Amerikanong kolonialismo, ay kasaysayan ng politika at politikal na ideolohiya. Ang isa ring ginawa ng postwar na pamamayagpag at pagiging global na dominant ng Hollywood films ay dalawang bagay: una, panghinain ang lokal na industriya ng maraming bansa, kasama ang Pilipinas sa huling bahagi…
Category: Commentary
Migrants’ Assembly: Sorely Being Missed in Headlines
There are two important, parallel events concerning migrants happening in the country from October 28-30. One is the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) and the other is the International Assembly of Migrants and Refugees (IAMR). At the GFMD, migrants are the subject and not the center of discussion. At the IAMR, they are…
Karaoke Koersyon: Politikal na Protesta sa Kulturang Popular
Sa karaoke, dalawa ang isinasaad ng pagbabago ng kulay ng sinusundan titik—ang kapasidad umalinsabay, at ang pag-alinsabay na may lakas o tikas ng paninindigan (tandaan ang karaoke score ay nakabatay din sa lakas ng boses). Maging ang politikal na protesta ay itinalaga na lamang sa praxis ng pang-araw-araw at pagtanggap na nga sa pluralidad ng…
Greed at the Heart of Capitalism
Capitalism is built and thrives on, in fact requires and rewards greed–the more excessive the better. By greed we mean the relentless drive for the most profit–wealth appropriated from the labor of others–with the least scruples, in order to reinvest and gain even more profit in a continuing spiral of thievery and rapacity or, plainly…
Searching for Answers on the Financial Crisis
How did the world come to this point? Analysts are blaming Wall Street executives with their fat compensation packages and “golden parachutes” ( attractive severance packages). But is the deep economic and financial crisis the handiwork of a few executives? That seems hard to believe. Searching for answers, I came across an old book. And…
Melankolia ng Gitnang Uri
Ano pa ang kapasidad ng sarili na makapagtatwa ng kahirapan? Sa lente ng buhay ng gitnang uri, ang uring afiliasyon ay nagbabago. Nagkakaroon ng pagtratraidor (betrayal) sa uring pinagmulan (class origin) para ang identifikasyon ay pumanig sa abstraksyon at materialisasyon ng gitnang uri. Abstraksyon ito dahil nga sa mas maraming pagkakataon ay dinaranas lamang ito…
Capitalism’s Unsoundness
There is a large measure of truth to the observation of an increasing number of analysts that the fundamental reasons for the meltdown we are witnessing today–the fundamental and fatal “unsoundness” of the capitalist system–had long been rigorously and scientifically analyzed 120 years ago, just as it was about to enter its monopoly stage. BY…
Letter of Concern from Filipino Scholars in the US: On the Enforced
Letter of Concern from Filipino Scholars in the US: On the Enforced Disappearance of James Balao (Cordillera People’s Alliance) We are alarmed and disturbed with the enforced disappearance of Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) member James M. Balao since September 17, 2008. His family has no information regarding his whereabouts up to this moment. We urgently…
Sinking Deeper into Crisis
It is true that the financial crisis affecting the US and the other centers of capitalism, including Germany, UK and Japan, would not bring the country down into a recession and crisis. The Philippines is already in a state of crisis, in the first place. What it would do is to sink the country deeper…
Is President Arroyo Doing a Sarah Palin?
By Carlos H. Conde I ask this in light of the insistence by Press Secretary Jesus Dureza that the press conference that was to have taken place last Oct. 2 had to be limited to economic issues and that the members of the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (Focap) had to provide in advance…
Making the People Carry the Burden of the Crisis Caused by Greed
During its peak years, financial investment houses and banks reap profits at the expense of the “real economy” and the people. When they experience losses, history shows that it is the people, through their taxes, who carry the burden of rescuing them with the government’s bailout plans. BY BENJIE OLIVEROS ANALYSIS Bulatlat The rejection by…