Riding Towards the Horizon - A Eulogy For Bert Timbol

During our better looking days. Mang Bert, Ed Roa, JJ Calero

When Raymond Timbol called me up the other day to tell me if I could be among those who would deliver a eulogy for his dad, Mang Bert, Isaid yes without hesitation. In fact if Raymond did not ask I would have volunteered to do so.

Bert has a special niche in my heart. We were together in Unilever, known as PRC then, for more than 15 years, he as boss and me, as a struggling young manager in the Marketing department.

Let me just limit my recollection to the early years in Mang Bert’s career in Unilever, I’m sure there would be a lot of eulogizers who can speak much more competently on the more recent years and talk about a successful Mang Bert in the media industry where he had become an iconic figure not only in the glamorous world of beauty pageants but also as the ultimate professional in the fun but raucous world of media.

I have chosen to talk about a Mang Bert whose star was on the rise suring the sixties.

I don’t know how many of you would know that he was a pioneering spirit in Marketing Research in the Philippines. Had he chosen to stay in this discipline he could have been acknowledged by industry peers as one of the founding fathers of modern Market Research in the Philippines. During his stint as the Market Research Manager of PRC he introduced a lot of innovative market research techniques which are still being used today by local research practitioners.

For media guys who are old enough to remember, Mang Bert was the first to start a monthly television ratings service which at that time was the only known tv audience measurement system done on a regular basis. In the absence of the more sophisticated and hi tech techniques now employed by Nielsen and others, this served as the buying guide for those advertisers who subscribed to it.

He did an outstanding job in PRC’s market research and was rewarded by a promotion to Marketing Services Manager. The services within his responsibility were composed of market research, promotions and advertising. It was such a comprehensive responsibility that found him involved in almost everything that concerned the brands.

What set him apart from most of the managers were his articulateness and his wide range of interests and knowledge. He was conversant about most topics dealing with humanities, politics and world history. The traditional perception of a researcher would be some sort of an egghead or a numbers whiz kid and nerd whose interests were caged in insipid narrow confines. He was completely the opposite of this. His incisive analysis of data and the sagacity of his interpretations lead to sound marketing decisions. Presentation was his forte. What made his presentations impressive was the way he embellished them with apt analogies and his flair for the dramatic that made the otherwise stark and boring data come alive with mind boggling possibilities and stimulating marketing breakthrough ideas.

You could say that he was a virtual Renaissance man and as such would be allowed some latitude for eccentricities which were not readily appreciated by some. What contributed to the perception of his being a larger than life personality was his penchant to share the highlights of his life story to anyone who was willing to listen. He gave a variety of accounts of himself being portrayed as characters of almost heroic proportions. He would be the boy courier in the resistance during the war, the working student doing cowboy chores in ranches in Denver, Colorado, a painter, art connoisseur and critic, a literary man and an orator with few equals.

Bert’s favourite character was that of a wrangler, an offshoot of his student years in Denver, Colorado as a Fulbright-Mundt scholar. He loved living the part down to the gaudy boots, blue denims, big ornate brass buckles and the cowboy hat. Even his preference for vehicles were for the rugged “off road” type long before SUVs became fashionable. This earned him the moniker “Cowboy Cabalen” in PRC. I am reminded of the time when he was accosted by the PRC chairman about his informal clothes choice to which he quipped “I believe the company took me in not for my sartorial preferences.”

Bert excelled in handling the demands of the job and became indispensable in marketing and no sooner was again rewarded by a promotion to General Marketing Manager, a position that extended itself as head of all marketing inclusive of brand groups and marketing Services which, to my mind, deserved a better recognition than what the title suggested from a Unilever hierarchical point of view. With the purview of his responsibilities he should have been a director as opposed to being just a manager. This is a sentiment that has been shared in whispers by many in Unilever but never aired openly. I am glad to have said it now.

My career seemed to have run parallel to his since my professional path traversed brand marketing, then as company media manager in PRC, as an advertising man with Lintas, an advertising agency erstwhile owned by Unilever, that later teamed up with Hemisphere and finally settling down as head of market research in PRC and later in ACNielsen. All through these, Bert leant me a helping hand not only with his influence but, more importantly, serving as a model by which I have patterned my work style throughout my career.

If there is anything that I would value the most as a legacy from this extraordinary man it is that of doing the job, any job for that matter, with unassailable honesty and foursquare integrity. Media work or the media buying profession to be specific, is replete with all sorts of temptations which try one’s resolve. It is not uncommon for one to hear of large scale venalities and other underhanded persuasions in media which many media buyers have, in their weak moments, succumbed to.

Unilever was indeed wise to have chosen a man like Bert to entrust its huge advertising war chest which consisted of billions of advertising money. Bert had been faithful to the trust that was given to him by Unilever and not a single centavo of that vast resource has been spent without the interest of Unilever at heart.

Bert has the comfort of having to leave Masscom to men and women close to him, Ed Cruz a long time partner of 42 years, two daughters, Lorraine and Elaine and son Raymond, to all of whom he has inculcated the virtues of constant Honesty and Integrity. He will live on every time his successors put to practice these inspiring qualities in the course of their work.

And to Tita, he bequeathed memories of a soul mate who shared with her a life well lived, a consolation befitting a dutiful and devoted wife.

In the fashion of legendary men, Bert, the Unilever Cowboy rides on towards the horizon leaving his imprint on a vast marketing and media landscape for other men and women to follow.

Tame the Beast (the IIRC Report) with post scripts

The IIRC has completed its review and have come up with a list of those whom they deemed acted culpably and should be given penalties either by sanction, civil accountability or charged criminally. There are sectors in media who believe that they should be excluded from all these because they were just exercising a cherished freedom, press freedom. But, why only media? Were not the others also trying to do what they thought was proper to their perceived roles and to their appreciation of the situation? How could there be a criminal accountability when there was no premeditation and no ill intent. In the heat of the moment everyone acted irresponsibly like headless chickens propelled by reflex. At the worst it was an act of stupidity but there is no law against it. Even our senate and congress have enough sense not to enact a law against it, besides if there was one our penal institutions would be filled to the rafters (we’re almost there).

LOL, what does media expect, praises? Does media expect us all to turn a blind eye on their participation? The Filipino audience is not that optically and mentally challenged. The medium is the message.

Now they talk about this as having a chilling effect on media. Likewise, an irresponsible media has a chilling and even icier effect on the nation when they aggravate political situations, puts the national government in a bad light internationally, creates unfair negative images to personalities and institutions contrary to their interests and partisan leanings, engenders divisiveness among the citizenry, bullies opinion leaders, cows government authorities and so many other freedom curtailing pressures on parties outside their estate.

Are media practitioners naive enough not to recognize the power of their trade to intimidate?

No less than the senators, during the media hearings of the hostage incident, mention their hesitancy and pussyfooting when it comes to taking to steps to enact legislation concerning media.

Enrile said, addressing Ressa, “The problem, Maria, is this: Everybody is scared of the media. Let’s face it… You publish something unfavourable then we’re finished.”

“The point is, we hesitate because you are media. If you weren’t media, we would craft the law immediately,” he said.

The president, himself, mentioned that police negotiators had to wait in line to talk to the hostage taker just because some reporters were interviewing the hostage taker. Clearly our police always gave deference to media recognizing the power of media to get back at authorities for obstructing them from exercising their freedom to do their job.

Luchi Valdes of TV 5 said “You may fear us, as you profess you do, but we fear one thing-we fear the loss of credibility,” she said further, “If you ask us what sanctions are in place, it’s the vilification of the audience we serve. When we are vilified, which we currently are, this is a sanction for us.”

Now that’s a real fine sanction which seems to work and rely only upon the perception and in the conscience of the wrong doer.

Media mentioned that it does not bode well for the future of press freedom under the Aquino administration. Another spokesperson for media said that journalist will not hesitate to go to the streets “to express our sentiments.

I think the president should stick to his guns and do what has to be done notwithstanding overt and veiled threats coming from media sectors. I hope that the senate would enact laws to curb the overzealous practice of press freedom by our local practitioners. There is an opportunity to curb the excesses of a rowdy and rambunctious media which heretofore have gotten away sensationalist treatment of news, callousness to the need of uplifting audience taste sand moral values and the bamboozling and whipping of persons and institutions contrary to their self interests and political leanings. It does not bode well for the Aquino administration to be at odds with media but he’s gotta do what he’s gotta do.

It’s about time we tame the beast, not to become like meek and bleating ovine but to become eagles with courage and vigilance in their roles as purveyors of truth flying well above the pettiness of men.

Jay Lazaro’s (my nephew) comment:

As consumers of media in its many forms I think one obvious way to act against the misplaced ardor of organized news media is to stop patronizing it. Unfortunately I think it has become a vice shared by many of us (myself included) to immediately tune in to the best and most up-to-date (and even most daring) coverage of any newsworthy event. We have effectively transformed a need for information into a macabre fascination bordering on voyeurism. It is reality TV pushed to its logical, fanatical extreme. People can debate about which end is wagging which i.e. whether the networks are just giving their viewers what it is they are asking for and vice versa but the fact still remains that something has got to give.

(Ironically, the net effect is that the kind of media we "want" is the kind of media we get.) Either extreme position will have its patrons among the libertarians on the one hand and the closet fascists on the other; as is often the case, we end up with endless debates and not enough action. Rather than worry about what the government or the networks ought to do/not to do, maybe it is best to start with ourselves and the viewing habits and choices we have developed over the years.

A Rejoinder:

Media consumption is addictive and as you said, unfortunately, it has become a vice, a fascination that mesmerizes all of us. Media men have become experts at their craft and would know every trick to entice the audience to get ratings even at the expense of propriety and good taste.

To stop patronizing media is like throwing out the baby with the bath water. The essentials of media such as an information source, as an entertainment for all (masses and elite), as a didactic help, as a vehicle for expressing opinions or as a tool to enjoin the audience towards a worthwhile cause are truly useful to society and at this time we cannot do without.

Giving in completely to what the audience wants is an abdication of their responsibility towards their audience. I shudder at the thought of media taking a cavalier attitude towards the consequences that inadvertent media exposures can inflict on their audiences. Are they being naive about the power that they have in their hands?

Isn’t it a sordid situation that we find ourselves in? The kind of audience we have evolved into, whether libertarians or closet fascists, have been moulded by the kind of media fare that assault us daily and that we willingly take in. Media, especially television, is such a potent influence on our culture, moral values, social conventions, work ethics, ideals, aspirations. It also contributes to whatever pride that make us confident and the guilt that gives rise to self deprecation...a feeling of less worth which so characterizes many of our countrymen.

Post Script:

The most recent news on the hostage crises is the action P'noy took on the IIRC recommendations. I think it was the right decision to sanctin those found culpable in the hostage fiasco. It would have been terribly unfair if P'noy heeded some of the recommendations to criminally prosecute some of the offenders as many were cheering and hoping for. The culpability of most had to do with inefficiency, grandstanding and stupidity but to categorize these as criminal offenses is going to the extreme. Even media who at first reaction was to cry curtailment of press freedom would get out of this with mere presidential scolding. Maria Ressa, who was very much in the fray and had panic reactions after recognizing the ill advised continuation of the coverage seem to have been much affected by the flak she received. I am not sure as to what prompted her to resign from ABS CBN. Was she chastised by her management after the shoddy handling of the coverage and the subsequent diatribes she hurled on the Aguinos (P'noy and Cory) as a kneejerk reaction to a the perception that media was very much at fault? There seems to be a lull. Media seemed to have gotten out of it easy at the same time they realize how vulnerable they are to strong criticisms all around and that the best stance to take is to keep a low profile and let this fiasco blow over. The beast is tamed...but for how long?

Pnoy and the Church - A Classic Stand-off

It looks like it’s going to be a classic stand-off between P’noy and the Catholic Church...an irresistible force meeting an immoveable object.

The church is resolute about their stand that the only acceptable form of contraception is Natural Family Planning. All other forms of contraception are sinful. The Magisterium, the authoritative and official voice of the church has said that it will not change its stand in the foreseeable future.

This is against Pnoy’s resolve to pursue what he refers to as providing “informed choice according to conscience” to the people.

As of now the church’s handling of the issues has been clumsy. They have been resorting to cheap shots and innuendoes.

Fr. Melvin Castro, speaking without evidence, accused the administration of selling out to the donors of the grant obtained by the President. “It’s just a small account compared to the moral values we are going to lose,” Castro said. “Apparently for that measly sum of money in the name of fighting poverty, here we are again, selling out the Filipino soul. It is sad.” Bishop Odchimar made mention of our being an agricultural society, referring to the archaic notion that hands are needed in the field. He then takes a pot shot at our inability to pursue the early gains of IRRI and that we now import rice from Vietnam. He continues by taking a dig at pharmaceutical companies speculating that they are lobbying for the passing of the bill as it serves their interests.

The church is losing poise and credibility by their tendency to grasp at straws and shooting at all moving objects, shadowy or real

Pnoy seems to be having an early lead with legislators picking up the cudgels for him in the senate and in the lower house. Although there was no poll taking as yet, it seems that a significant number of the people is giving their support as well, as shown in postings at Facebook, Twitter and responses to newspaper accounts. All these will give him a firmer resolve to stay the course.

I don’t think there are too many people practicing the Natural Planning Method. I wouldn’t even trust a research which says the contrary. The question is not only an emotional one but a threat to one’s salvation and therefore posturing by respondents is expected.

So what do all these leave us with? Pnoy will have the bill passed and the Church will continue to rail at the government and we will be threatened and humiliated by unending homilies from the pulpit.

Alas, poor Juan, he will be in an anguished state. A wretched and conscience stricken peasant practicing Catholic ways, but, always teetering at the edge of hellfire and eternal damnation.

Will P'noy Play A Nicolo?

Ruben Gomez, summa cum laude of Ateneo65, asks if there is a hidden hand who is masterminding the demolition program, marshalling megamillions to orchestrate public opinion against Aquino.

Aquino has set out for himself the crusade against corruption. This is the centrepiece of his administration’s mission with the slogan “kung walang corrupt walang mahirap”. It seems that demolition teams organized by the corrupt lords have started their dastardly handiwork and are bent on undermining the trust and belief behind the Aquino leadership.

In a graft ridden government and corrupt society there are many who have been seriously threatened by the anti-corruption program of Aquino. Singly, these personalities are formidable enough. They have a lot at stake and would react with forceful vehemence, would summon all the money and influence they can muster to diminish Aquino’s resolve. I think at the moment what we are seeing are kneejerk reactions, but sufficiently virulent, from individual efforts with some premeditation. These are just for starters. It’s scary to think that in time these efforts will escalate and the rashness and impudence will go to a higher level. Also, perhaps at a later stage, this disparate band of thieves, will unite into an unholy alliance under one common cause...then we will be witness to an Armageddon of sorts, the principalities of evil against the forces of light.

Machiavelli was right to say that it is difficult to institute radical reforms because those who profit from the status quo would resist while those who might profit from the changes would not be as enthusiastic as the latter. Machiavelli, in his book The Prince, tells us of ways of handling these but as far as the Prince’s solutions go they would require some amount of cunning, ruthlessness and duplicity. Would Aquino have the inclination and gumption to take on a Machiavellian response to the problem? As Christians we are taught that in the face of ravenous wolves we must be wise as serpents but harmless as doves. His mother advocated this with her reconciliation and justice policy as opposed to indignation and retribution against those who abused. This belief seems hard put to provide solutions because it does not finish the job and does not deliver the “coup de grace” against the enemy. As recent history shows the robber barons are still very much with us because they were not eradicated when we had a chance to.

Ressa – Hack and Slash Journalist

Ressa writes as if ABS CBN is lily white in the whole fiasco. Media is as guilty in what has transpired when the hostage taker was able to monitor the goings on outside the bus. In the interest of journalistic freedom ABS CBN inadvertently provided a monitor for the hostage taker to see the siege preparations, the taking into custody of his brother (which caused him to snap) in more detail and repetitiveness than a B movie, sent other media reporters into the scene trying to scoop each other in a frenzy, in some cases becoming more of an obstruction than help in the negotiations.

The manner in which she wrote went down to the level of movie hacks, perhaps a rung higher in style but having a similar paucity of substance in content and using the same cheap tricks of making plausible tales about the existence of factions in the cabinet, coining catch labels as "sablay" (referring to Samar and Balay). While "sablay" was not mentioned in her article, it does fit in as part an overall news effect. How ingenious! How masterful the use of squid tactics (an integral part of media's arsenal) to divert the attention away from media's culpability.

Ressa spares no detail and included Cory’s ineffectiveness and P’noy’s minimal output as senator for good measure; more vicious than the attack of a killer dog.

Is this a reflection of the Lopezes’ regard for the Aquinos? If not, Gabby should call off his hounds to refrain from sniffing about for more scuttlebutt and other yarns to spin.

On one hand it may be that Ressa got so excited about the scoop. It was a rare media coup in the offing and went beyond what she claims media’s role is, as observers only. As we now know they contributed to the drama that unfolded in the eyes of millions of viewers, reason enough for her to remark “fantastic!”, as if saying to herself “now we are getting somewhere”. Perhaps after a while somebody must have told her or it may have dawned on her that they were treading on dangerous grounds and as a panic reaction started her unbridled cackle against all other parties involved with the exclusion of media. On hindsight she, as senior vice president of Asia’s premier media house should have been more circumspect and so there...

As the bald poet Will said “The lady doth protests too much, methinks” or in a less refined analogy “the hen that lays an egg cackles exceedingly loud”.

Rebuilding the Filipino

“To all of you my fellow Filipinos, let’s keep on building the Filipino as great and respectable in the eyes of our world – one story, two stories, three stories at a time – by your story, by my story, by your child’s story, by your story of excellence at work, by another Filipino’s honesty in dealing with others, by another Pinoy’s example of extreme sacrifice, by the faith in God we Filipinos are known for.”

Alex Lacson

Alex Lacson, understands the Filipino problem very well. There is a need to stem the growing bad reputation of the Filipino by accentuating the positive and the noble about being Filipino starting with our young. Let us not repeat the same mistake that led to a generational moral descent of our youth during the Marcos years...Martial Law babies growing up admiring the wrong kind of heroes in their midst. The corrupt rich, the robber barons, the abusive military, the tainted best and the brightest, all thrived under the munificence of the great Maharlika leader. Most of those who benefited from this largesse are still very much with us, enjoying ill gotten wealth and power, flaunting them with relish not only in the genteel side of media but also in the more sordid affairs of business news and the mockery of our justice system. The pernicious lesson goes on for as long as these are abetted by media. Crime pays.

As Lacson suggests, the work should start from the moulding of our youth’s minds. Let us tell our children and grandchildren about the nobility of the Filipino and how they should lead noble lives. Everyone can play a role in this effort. Let us do away with the attitude of self flagellation, false sense of humility, a complex of being inferior and undeserving which the recent hostage taking further exacerbates. Let us instil pride in the Filipino among our youth by talking positive about ourselves as a nation and as a people in front of our children. It is a long drawn process but it may be the only way to erase the stain in the Filipino psyche which took generations to embed.

Media should be enjoined in this endeavour. They should help out in making this nation great again but not in the context of the ill intentioned New Society.

Paid hacks create false images, kitschy entertainment fare entertains but plants wrong values, bad news sells newspapers and sensational news in broadcast media ensures ratings. While the wheels of the media industry are turned by these it does not elevate them from the insidious commerce, unwittingly or not, they currently engage in. Perhaps the Lopezes, the Gozons, the Lims, the Pangilinans and other owners of influential media houses should take it upon themselves to cooperate and be a part of the rebuilding of this nation. They should realize that it is not all about the selling of advertisements, but that it is also about the selling of an idealized image of the Filipino and the Philippines to our youth, a tandem effort with well meaning heads of every Filipino family.

The Night of the Diamond Lady

Our eldest sister, Andrea Roa Lazaro celebrated her 75th birthday four days ago. At about the same time last year her children brought up the idea of preparing for a special celebration since it was to be a milestone of a birthday, a diamond event. As she was wont to do she told her children not to make too much of a fuss about it and just celebrate it in the usual way, dinner with the family in some restaurant. And so it went, a year later the family set off to go to Tender Bob, a nice restaurant known for its steak offerings and other fine edibles. On the way somebody suggested that they stop by Teatrino, a dinner theater outlet in the Greenhills area because it was still early for dinner. It must have come as pleasant shock for her to see that the whole place has been dressed up especially for the occasion of her 75th birthday.

The event was an elaborately hatched conspiracy by her children and their spouses, the planning of which really had its start a year ago, in her last birthday. Master planner was Jay, the eldest son who probably did a CPM (critical path method) to progress the grand plan. It probably would not have been pulled off successfully without the assistance of the rest of brood together with willing participation of the in-laws. Bambi, Jobert and Mimi, Jet and Shelly, Gigi and Arnel and Jay summoning all his management skills to see to it that no snags will be encountered as they worked towards the big day. With all the myriad activities in the preparations it was a wonder how they were able to keep it a secret from their Mom for such a long duration.

The celebration opened its curtains as Jobert, the second to the youngest in the family, walked the boards of the Teatrino stage to announce the event and to lead the invocation as well as the saying of grace prior to the fun and the food to be partaken by all present. Jobert was the right choice to do this since he is a stalwart of the “Lingkod Ng Panginoon” congregation.

The celebrators included close relatives and guests who were of significance to the 75 years of Nits’ existence. Her only daughter, Gigi, flew in from LA together with her husband Arnel and the two boys Toby and Mark, Me and my brothers Tito and Dado, my wife Alma, our children Eric and Lyn who with husband Andy flew in from Saigon were in attendance. Sisters Patty and Angge had expressed their regrets but were there in spirit as they have sent their well wishes earlier on. Also present were Boots, son Joey, and daughter Chiqui with husband Congressman Robbie Puno. Nephews and nieces, including TV and radio host Ariel Ureta, husband of Lydia, the daughter of Dado. Other close relations Lulu Sarabia, Alma’s sisters Cely and Lot, La Escuela staffers and teachers, Pedrita, Romy and Hilda; the family of Iking, a close family friend, Sally Maranon, Gigi’s in-laws who flew in from the States were among those who came. Of special importance to Nits was the attendance of her batch mates in Maryknoll College from the forties in Pennsylvania St. in the Ermita district in Manila and through to the late fifties in Maryknoll of Loyola Heights, Quezon City. I am sure that I am guilty of having omitted scores of other guests but I am only relying on what I can remember of that heady night.

Dinner was served immediately after Jobert announced the opening of the event.

The catering was done by the popular restaurateur, the Arce family, well known for their food preparations for special events as well as for their fame in ice cream confections and concoctions. The buffet was a carefully chosen array of sumptuous offerings which included a lengua dish, fish preparations, pasta, meat dishes, lechon de leche, and a delectable array of desserts. Truly a dinner fit for the occasion.

And then there was the after dinner entertainment!

Showtime consisted of special numbers rendered by the children, solo songs of specially written lyrics for the occasion by Jay, duets by the other children and their spouses, the violin pieces, with the encouragement of Bambi, their mom, were done by Timmy and Rain, lively hip hop dance number by Toby, Mark and a cousin, the special dance choreography presented with much enthusiasm and love by La Escuela teachers and staff. A trip down memory lane through an AV presentation showing Nit’s cute baby pictures, as a pretty young girl and as a blooming colegiala most of which were rendered in sepia (not true that these were unearthed with the Dead Sea scrolls), pictures with the then debonair Eng. Juanito Lazaro, and with the brood in their preteens. There were also two film clips with Nits and Ito dancing like the Keystone cops in a creatively done animation. Jay told me that they had prepared much more but he decided to edit out some of the more sentimental ones lest the affair turn into a sob session.

Beverly Salviejo, a popular comedienne, did a stand-up comedy act which set the guests rolling on aisles. She interspersed her gags with nicely rendered songs. Her jokes were sometimes a bit off color but, all in all, hilarious with everyone loving every minute of it. I guess the guests who brought along small children had a hard time muffing their ears to spare them from the naughty jokes. Beverly and Jay was a great team playing the role of emcees. Jay could easily have a lucrative night job doing the comedy circuit. Give up the stuffy suit and necktie and don the comic’s cap and the singer’s tees.

So after the end of the amateur hour the professionals were ushered in. The Rainmakers, a singing group “resurrected” from the early seventies sang a few Lettermen songs. Despite their slightly graying and slightly balding toppers they managed to shine and thrilled Nits senior guests no end while nephews and nieces looked on seemingly clueless as to what was being raved about. Kidding aside they have not lost the ability to blend their voices superbly and did justice to the Lettermen songs. The leader of the group is a certain Mr. Macanaya who happens to be the father-in-law of Andy Belmonte’s cousin Manuel and also Andy’s golf mate.

The last group to perform was the Replay band. The owner of the band is the husband of Arlene Arce, the one who prepared the sumptuous buffet dinner. The Arce’s are friends of Jay, Lyn and Andy.

The party evolved into a rollicking revelry from the start of the first drumbeat struck by the Replay band. Almost all the young folks gathered in front of the stage and started moving and gyrating at the rhythm of the beat. It also signaled the exodus of some of the older guests who made a beeline towards Nits to bid their goodbyes.

A few numbers later, all in good fun, Lotlot, the wife of Romy was coaxed into doing a number with the band. She did very well and received an ovation from her cousins and the other guests. Emboldened by the successful number of Lotlot Shelly Lazaro joined in and did a number herself with the band. I think that we probably have two newly born stars in the entertainment world using Nits 75th birthday party as their vehicle into glitz and glamour of showbiz. Actually, three if Jay, who also sang with the band later, decides to give up the drabness of the board room in favor of the glittering allure of the klieg lights and the sound stage.

Wow what a blast! It was something that one would least expect a “Nits happening” would be. But, then again, I may be wrong, as the party drew to a close I espied a satisfied, ecstatic, happy gleam in her eyes. It may very well be her kind of night and her children were spot on in gifting her with this kind celebration.

The First Lady Derby

Who knows what goes on in the mind of a Kris Aquino. I think she is afflicted by what most people in reel life is heir to...that is not being able to distinguish reality from the celluloid world. Klieg lights can be blinding and it seems that all that matters is to bask in its brightness unmindful of it being hazardous to one's health, one's mental and emotional health.

The recent separation tsismis with James Yap smacks of a scheme aided by no less than a willing cohort, Boy Abunda, who ostensibly made mention of it in a show that Kris cohosts. Kris' has had a weird love saga which included all sorts of characters, a motley group from villains to idols that one could find in a typical Tagalog movie.

With Kris the motivations for her actuations defy logic and convention. It is not farfetched to hazard a guess that the reason why Kris' wants to separate from James is that she has illusions of becoming the First Lady in her brother's administration, much like daughters of President Quirino and President Garcia during their time at Malacanang. Perhaps she thinks that being married disqualifies her from the desired role and that she will never graduate from the being a First Sister, a somewhat dubious title and less glorious than being First Lady. Another speculation and an intriguing one is if Ballsy has got similar aspirations in which case it becomes a two horse race. Poor Shalani is caught between Scylla and Charybdis.

Will P'noy be a Lee Kuan Yew?

All we have of Noynoy now is great expectations. For so long the Philippine political horizon has had no bright light which would promise an end to scores of years of corruption in government. What started as a flicker of hope when Noynoy announced his candidacy for the presidential post has now kindled into a real flame with his successful bid for the highest post in the land. We have high hopes that he truly is the one who would lead us out of the morass that we are in. Our belief is bolstered by Noynoy’s corruption-free track record in congress and the senate, his seeming resolve to pursue to fruition the advocacies of Ninoy and Cory, and the legacy of honesty and sincere concern for the Filipino bequeathed by heroic and legendary parents.

What may be in question are his capabilities and strength of character. He will have to rely on his capabilities of judiciousness and clarity of discernment in the inclusion of trusted and well meaning advisers. Should he exclude anyone with kinship to him (Kamaganak, Inc.) or those whom he feels beholden to due to favors and friendship (BFF, Inc. using showbiz jargon – Best Friends Forever) which include Mar Roxas, showbiz friends and funders of his campaign? Is he being suckered up to the ploy of some detractors so that his selection will be hamstrung by these restrictions? Perhaps he should have faith that his sincerity will carry him through and that he should not worry too much about the criticisms that Kamaganak, Inc. and BFF, Inc. will have influence on some decisions. Perhaps his uncle Peping is right when he said that those close to him would offer the best advice because they are allied to his cause and that they are sincere in wishing him well. It will just be up to his good judgment to separate the chaff from the grain.

What is suspect is his strength of will, the weakness of which might translate into a lack of political will at the trenches. While his tenures in office have been without blemish it was also marked by non-achievement or little achievement. Though it does not signify the lack of political will it somehow signals an indifference or even the turning of one’s back on the responsibility at hand which in a way is an abdication of will. Through what we know from background info about the family he seems to be dependent on what others in the family say, notably the sisters, headed by the eldest, Ballsy. There is nothing wrong with getting the consensus of family members for things of utmost importance but it seems that he is not assertive enough to prevail on the rest of the family. It doesn’t sit well in the mind to know that we will have governance that is heavily influenced by a “sisterhood” and not from the strength of a determined president. I hope I am wrong in this.

While Ballsy seems to be the strongest of the sisters because of the primacy her position in the family the one who wields the strongest outside influence is decidedly the youngest, Kris. She probably contributed a lot to Noynoy’s success at the polls knowing that we do have a “star struck” voting population. Her loud antics and memorable though silly pronouncements have kept the Noynoy effort above the din of election noise. Now that the cause is won she should start being more circumspect. The family is quick to defend her by saying that she has had the most traumatic childhood experience being deprived of a father during the family’s turbulent times after the assassination. This does not exacerbate the inanities that she has shown thus far. While Noynoy’s tolerance of these does not constitute an impeachable offense as they seem to be innocuous enough, their harm, at worst, is that they chisel away at the dignity of the Presidency.

No, I don’t think that we could compare Noynoy’s challenges to that of Lee Kuan Yew’s. Lee Kuan Yew was the astute politician who had a lot of political savvy and the strength of will and character to navigate the small city state to where it is now. The nature of the problems that faced Lee Kuan Yew in Singapore at the onset is not similar to the Philippine one.

Nonoy’s challenges are far more complex and at a bigger magnitude than those encountered by Lee Kuan Yew. Dismantling an entrenched system of corruption in the bureaucracy, putting a stop to political dynasties, going after the robber barons and warlords who control financial institutions and landholdings, disarming their private armies and spurring a moral regeneration to erase the ill effects inculcated on “martial law babies” who grew up with the wrong heroes through education and by example from the new dispensation are just a few of the things that need to be addressed urgently.

Should Noynoy succeed in his quest, as we all are praying for, then it would be a far bigger achievement than that of Lee Kuan Yew’s. It would take more than this legendary Singaporean leader to solve the problems of the Philippines. Let us hope that Noynoy is the man equal to the challenge.

Reflections



I heard the moan huffed by the sullen hills

The granite hardness of my core was untouched

Have seen too much to care, to show grief for ills.

Around me I saw a thousand clones or more

My eyes closed while others blinked for cues

Golgotha hid behind a leaden mirror

I rallied the rest to raise the gloomy panel

Just by us the screen seemed heavily set

Some unexpected force we sought to intervene

Wretches Abroad

From within, glowing in all directions

The pit of the mango pulses

Touching strange forests and alien strands

Self numbed into nothing, nothingness

All senses are divested from self

A wearisome travel to borderless regions

There the life nectar freezes still

Like hail stones roll, rolling

All the feelings and emotions are roused

A burning sunburst on bare heads

Searing a presence that will not be doused

From their infinite perch stars drop, dropping

Trapped like mangy wild beasts

Scurrying in every which way

Toil animals quivering at each whip snap

Waiting for the sun to die, dying

Sea Escape

My eyes pulled down the window shutters;

Flushed the bowl, turned off the high cool,

And shut the casita door with a slam

Summer now stored in a box of pixel images

Your watch says go now, the desk awaits the keys

Keep the cockles, half shells and dry kelp

Even as the tide wanted to take it back to sea

But soon these, too, will be lost in the shimmer

No goodbyes, go as you have come

I won’t be by the parasols nor the divers’ stand

Promises now as paper boats riding the waves

Crashing, dissipating into frothy crests

I walk alone by the fringe of a churlish sea

Midst the commotion of sea birds

Fighting over wide eyed crabs scurrying

As I gather precious shells washing in

Already I have forgotten you

Nothing but the soft whisper of waves

And the sparkle of bejeweled sand

Spoil me as I bask in the motherly sun

I cannot go home ‘cause I am home

My soul is imprinted on the white sands

The call of great whales sound my coming

Mermaids on dolphins wave in greeting

The sandy depths now my garden patch

With corals and the barnacles in bloom

I cling to driftwoods and wrecked derelicts

Happily counting seashells and chasing wee fish

Characterization In Fiction

How much do I know the next person? Do I know him well enough to anticipate his actions and reactions to any given stimulus? What do I know about him that would make me predict his response to an event, a remark, a sensing…touched, heard, seen or smelled?

Where did he grow up? It would make a difference if he grew up in the maze of alleys in the slum clusters as opposed to a childhood lived behind cloistered walls of a swanky residential enclave.
Did he ever have to take a public transport or was he always driving a car or being driven around by a uniformed chauffer?

A person’s make up is composed of the physical, the social, the psychological as well as the mental. These are the factors that define his persona. Corporeal features define whether a person is beautiful or ugly, majestic or plain, amiable or quarrelsome, tough or puny...he is, also, defined by the milieu that he revolves in, his relatives, close friends, mere associates and the way he interacts with them. This will include the institutions he is affiliated with like school, social clubs, religious congregations and political groupings.

He may adhere to the etiquette required like table manners, manner of addressing other persons and other social graces imposed by class conventions. This would apply to the elegant set and to the pedestrian end of the spectrum. Boorish behavior in corner store drinking is as appropriate as using the correct silvers in a formal dinner.

Is he selective with his favors…to whom, to which group? Does he follow conventions and when does he defy them? Is he elitist or is he populist? Why does he favor one class over others? The adage “tell me who your friends are and I will tell you who you are” may apply.

Genetic factors may be an influence that could not be helped. He could have good genes or poor ones. People are sometimes born with innate superior intelligence, good physique, healthy constitution and a propensity for leadership.

Regional differences exist because of unique environmental factors such as dialect, culture, diet, climate, and presence of sophisticated institutions and relative affluence of the region. Environment impacts in a strong way on an individual’s personality.

However, knowing all these is not sufficient to anticipate another person’s reaction and response to a situation or to the kind of judgment he would make on vital and even on day to day issues confronting him. One can work with a set of possible reactions which would narrow down to a few given the interplay of other factors that make up the character.

On top of all the knowledge that could be had on a person one has to know the reasons behind all the aspects of his physiognomy, his social propensities and his environment. To answer these one has to pull together all these aspects as they tend to be interwoven. He is in the company of riff raff because he grew up in the slums of Tondo or he could be fascinated by low life because he grew up in a protected, antiseptic and boring neighborhood. A vain and pretty girl creates a circle of plain looking friends to make her all the more attractive because of the contrast provided by the homeliness of the rest of the gang. A young boy contemplates a religious vocation because he was in the company of priests in school who became his role models or his anxiety about his harbored homosexuality finds escape and protection from social rejection.

Characters will always be complex. But they do conform to certain parameters although some would have a narrower range than others. Behavioral aberrations have been identified by psychologists and while volumes have been written about them, they represent only a small segment of society and may be considered as outliers straying from the normal trends. In the normality of things they are not supposed to happen.

Character is such an important component in literature and its development in fiction demands craft. A very demanding one because it only allows one to work within the parameters of validated scientific cases in psychology. Consistency of behavior, manners of speaking, value priorities, lifestyle preferences, physical and mental quirks are required to make a character believable and relatable to the reader.

Sometimes stories are interesting because they do not conform to convention. It is definitely a challenge to the ingenuity of the writer to create pivotal and fascinating individuals in his story who in present knowledge do not exist in real life. An excursion from these necessarily brings us to fantasy writing and science fiction. They become special denizens that reside only in the artist’s realm of imagination and this could challenge credibility. The reader is confronted by the plausibility of the character created. It may end in the complete distraction of the reader leading to his losing interest or, happily, the reader may suspend disbelief and enjoy the fiction.

Political Surveys - How Reliable Are They?

“I gather, young man, that you wish to be a Member of Parliament. The first lesson that you must learn is, when I call for statistics about the rate of infant mortality, what I want is proof that fewer babies died when I was Prime Minister than when anyone else was Prime Minister. That is a political statistic.” (Winston Spencer Churchill)

The use of research whether applied to marketing or scientific endeavors that better the human condition is a vital and noble occupation. Advancements in most of the things that people now enjoy have been, in one way or the other, helped out by research. It is a very powerful tool in the pursuit of new knowledge and the improvement of existing wisdom.

Like most effective scientific methods with wide practical utility, research is easily subjected to misuse though, sometimes, unwittingly by one or two of the parties involved in the research.

My own personal view is that it becomes suspect when used in politics, especially in the local context, where the motive of the fact finding is often ill intended

Is it research when the intention is to corroborate a preconception that puts in a good light the advocate? Is it research if all that it wanted was to bring out a set of results which would be beneficial to specific interest groups? Is it research if the goal was to discredit and besmirch personalities and institutions? Is it research if it falsely tries to create impressions of irreversible trends to sway constituent preferences? Is it research if it is used to help in the deception and in the cover up the ugly truth of personalities and institutions?

Of course there are legitimate political researches. You can include those researches whose results have been used to improve strategies whether logistical and or image related (although a debatable ethical area). Other legitimate uses of research are exit poll surveys (if done properly) who serve a beneficial purpose in that it establishes results in the soonest possible time so that manipulations may be preempted and the early settlement of the outcomes of the election eases the tension and allays the fears of the voting public. Political research is useful to political scientists in the study of electoral choices of different groups and the underlying reasons for their preferences. Sociologists are able to trace the evolution of social issues by studying their shifts. And for the citizen, it allows his voice to be heard and it gives him an idea of how he differs with other individuals and against sectoral aggrupations other than his own.

Good research, bad research. It all depends on the motives of those commissioning the research and the willingness of the researcher to go along with them. There is also the media who may abet the ill intentions of the research by completing the disgraceful cycle when they make the results public.

There is no arguing the right of the research to be published as the constitution guarantees press freedom and freedom of speech, but as in any of the freedoms, it carries with it the responsibility of publicizing only those that are not inimical to the public interest. The harm of malicious research cannot be underestimated as it has the power to sway people’s opinions and create strong emotions that could be injurious to a person or to a state.

Research is too complicated to be fully appreciated by laymen or even from those a rung higher. Statistics has the unfortunate association to lies. Great thinkers and statesmen have remarked about their discomfort with statistics because it has been often used by their detractors and by themselves to make vague the issues that are indefensible in plain terms.

The obvious solution to the problems of political polling is to educate the masses about research so that they may understand the full extent of the information as well as the limitations of the data being shown. They should be able to understand the limits of the inference that can be made of the data and to know the difference between data that may be confidently considered as reliable against those that show a tendency towards an outcome but cannot be relied on. This, of course, presupposes that the research is truly objective and that the methodology is the most appropriate to arrive at the research objectives and that it is free from bias in the design, the sampling, wordings of the questions, the order of questions, the fieldwork’s operations and personnel. The approach to the analyses of the data should ensure that it is exhaustive and no omissions or commissions in the analysis should favor a particular result. It should also make sure that the statistical tests and the advanced statistical methods, when employed, are the appropriate ones.

The education of the electorate is a good thing but it may take a long time in progressing. I would favor the creation of a group made up of professional researchers, political scientists and those in media responsible for the publication of the results of surveys who would scrutinize all research projects that are to be commissioned and those non-commissioned but subscriber supported surveys(syndicated researches) before they are allowd to go on field. This is not censorship of the content of the survey. It endeavors to make the surveys fair to affected parties and personalities by ensuring that it has undergone a rigorous check that will result in findings that are with integrity.

Quackery and Hucksterism

“What is the difference between unethical and ethical advertising? Unethical advertising uses falsehoods to deceive the public; ethical advertising uses truth to deceive the public.” ~Vilhjalmur Stefansson, 1964


There has been a preponderance of products claiming to aid vital organs from harm caused by lifestyles that are characterized by excessive indulgence in eating, bohemian living and other unsafe and immoderate diversions. So now we have products that address renal problems, cardiac diseases, diabetic ailments, optical deficiencies and a few more dubious cures that are probably in the drawing boards or pending applications to the BFAD by wellness (pharmaceutical?) companies and advertising agencies. I would think that there would be multinational pharmaceutical companies who would be more responsible and circumspect in this regard. I could only surmise that their parent companies abroad would not allow products with spurious claims be identified with their company, also, the legislation in the more advanced countries would be more stringent on products of this nature. The products that are in the market offer no proof at all to back up their claims. A nebulous caution said and flashed in a millisecond; “No approved therapeutic claim” seems to be the only absolution needed to free them from any blame arising from the products’ non-function, the misperception that it is all they need to cure their illnesses and the possible dire effects arising from this belief.
The frequencies of the advertisements by which these products are now aired are just a little less intense than those applied in detergents and shampoos advertising. With this kind of incessant repetitions I would presume that the claimed and speculated medicinal efficacy of these products have been drummed in effectively in the audiences’ minds. They are now happy in the belief that they can indulge just a bit more on things that are high cholesterol, carcinogen suspect, high sodium, and the overly sweet. Worst, they may even think that these products would be sufficient to substitute for the physician prescribed expensive maintenance medicines. While some of them may not be as blatant as to promise overtly a cure for sickness, they create through masterful advertising, the perception that they are truly efficacious. I think we should be on guard about perceptions because perceptions are most often mistaken for truths. By all appearances the ads, in spirit, are designed to make the consumer believe that the products being touted are truly effective despite the hurried caution that it is unproved.
Note that at the end of these advertisements a phrase is flashed in a split second saying “No approved therapeutic claims”. Does it mean that whatever is claimed or what has been the intended perception of the advertisement did not pass the scrutiny of the vettors and is meant to be a caveat to prospective buyers?
I do not understand why there is a need for such a caution. If there is a need to caution the consumers about certain products why allow them to be marketed at all. Sin products like cigarettes and alcoholic beverages are more responsible because they do not hide the fact that their products are harmful and that the consumers should consume them moderately, as in the case of alcoholic drinks and an outright admission to their being hazardous to health, as in the case of cigarettes. Sin products are more truthful than the products bearing “no approved therapeutic claim” blurb.
It seems that the early marketers of these easy cures tested the waters and when they were not rebuffed by the authorized guardians of consumer rights they became emboldened to invest on media intensive campaigns. Many products of the same ilk and bearing the same caution followed soon after.
We now have what I would call snake oil cures for ailments for every known ailment. Our poor consumers are predisposed to believe these dubious panaceas because of the prohibitive cost of conventional medicines. The penurious state of most of our consumers makes them easy prey to these unscrupulous merchants.
Shouldn’t the Food and Drug Administration and/or the Ad Board (self regulatory body of the ad industry screening advertisements prior to airing) have disallowed the airing of advertisements of products with unsubstantiated claims in an area that is potentially harmful to people? All they did to protect consumers was to put an intentionally indistinguishable blurb at the end of the ads saying “no approved therapeutic value”. I think consumers deserve more serious protection than that.
But then, who is to complain? The wheels of industry turn exceedingly well; the companies’ get their sales, media and ad agencies get their revenues from services rendered, government get higher tax yields. Happy days! More than usual, it’s only us, the consumers who get the shorter end of the stick.