Won't Say Nothing

I’m no journalist. All the writing ethics know-how I have is from seminars and workshops that I attended, and from Carolyn Hizon,  Francis Itturalde, and Apolonia Soriano – my publication advisers in college and high school (and also because I actually bothered to listen to them). The rest of the cause and effect of bad writing, I found out by getting bashed non-too-gently because of how I express.

I’m no journalist, but I kind of know how they work. They have editors to cross out faulty grammar as well as libelous paragraphs. Their ethics are hammered into them by years of experience and study. When they mature into the profession, most of them know how to write without being dragged into court. The rest of us could only try and emulate how they do their job.

An ordinary yuppie who’s actually socially aware, who’s got opinions on the RH Bill, on Senator Sotto’s alleged plagiarism of epic proportions, on his chief-of-staff Villacorta’s seemingly less than professional apology, and on whatever else bullshit the Idiot Society of the Republic of the Philippines has presumably immersed itself into, however, would probably just go off and rant without the wonderful guidance of an ethics and editors. And post it on his blog or Facebook page or tweet it.

This little Facebook brouhaha can get him a maximum of 14 years in prison. His opinion may create only the tiniest ripple in cyberspace -heck, some people might just scroll past his FB status- but he can get jailed for posting it.

I’m not writing a Big Brother fan fiction, just case you’re wondering.

I was in Senator TG Guingona’s Cybercrime Forum at Ibarra’s Garden last September 27. To be honest, I felt out of place, especially when I saw media men and women flock the event. I was an ordinary girl, with a crazy-ass blog, who writes about things that I care about for the heck of it. It’s really awesome if people actually take time to read my rubbish, but the point is I write because I need catharsis. I’m sure most nonpro bloggers feel the same away.

From L-R: Atty JJ. Disini, Red Tani of Filipino Free Thinkers, Senator TG Guingona
and Carlo Ople talking about the cybercrime law.

So think of how horrified I was to find out that the cybercrime law would include my online rants on Codswallop. Think of the many “oh my god”s I blurted during the open forum when, Senator TG and panelists Atty. JJ Disini and Filipino Free Thinkers representative Red Tani confirmed netizens have been committing numerous acts that shatter what the Senate Journal reports as the Sotto Amendment. The libel provision, which an allegedly cyberbullied Senator denied inserting (but later admitted, how fickle is that?), is so utterly general that it is possible for each of us to convict one other simply because we liked a post. How flippant is that?

Here are some the things that can get netizens indicted for libel:

1.       Traditional libel: you actually authored the thing. “Sotto is an idiot plagiarist”, “Pro-RH Bill people are spawns of Satan and abortionists” and the like are grounds for libel.

2.       RE-posting something which you did not even right.

3.       Liking.

4.       Commenting. “Hehehe”, according to Senator Guingona, would be grounds for libel.

5.       Criticizing the ACTION even if you don’t mention the person. As long as the person feels slighted by whatever you post, then it can be grounds for libel. Although my co-worker who’s taking up law said that this would be a very stupid case.

The Sotto Amendment documented in the Senate's Journal

Oh well. I guess I’ll see you all in jail, then. We’ll all probably starve to death too, since I can’t imagine the government supplying food to more than a million prisoners.

Here’s the gist of what I learned: everybody’s freedom of online expression is at stake. EVERBODY’S FREEDOM.

Once upon a time, I posted a comment in a group that I was invited to. This comment was seen in a bad light by the members of the group. I got about 107 responses and for about three days, there were posts about me, all of which are about how fat, arrogant, and ugly I was (Boy, that escalated quickly XD). There was even a comment that said, "ay buhay pa pala yun?"

I'm not saying I'm okay with it.  After all, it did make my heart beat faster and my blood boil. What a person says (online or otherwise) is a manifestation of their success or folly. But these people, whoever they are and whatever they say, have THE FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT TO SAY WHAT THEY WANT TO SAY. It can be stupid or smart, but it is their RIGHT. Nakalagay po sa konstitusyon na may karapatan ang mga taong ito na icriticize ako. KAYO.

Dear legislators, I was cyberbullied too. A lot of us are. We may rant about if for a bit, but I don't see any of us (who've been called a bunch of colorful names) fussing about it like kids. So that law which protects ordinary citizens? Revise it, because it doesn’t help. What it does effectively do is scare people into keeping mum about the bullshit the Idiot Society of the Republic of the Philippines has presumably immersed itself into.

We don't need that kind of protection (but condoms are much appreciated). We can take the heat.

The question to our legislators and so-called public servants, perhaps, is can you?

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/video/134988/24oras/ilang-gov-t-websites-na-hack-ng-anonymous-bilang-protesta-raw-sa-cybercrime-law

Of History and Significance: 1st AYNLA National Elections

The new AYNLA Board Members and National Officers with Gloc9

August 20, 2012 is a monumental day for the Alliance of Young Nurse Leaders and Advocates. For a young organization, the events which occurred then were destined to go down in history. On this day, nurse leaders rose, and, with their collective voices, proclaimed who they wish to lead them in their advocacy.

August 20, 2012 marked the first national election of the Alliance of Young Nurse Leaders and Advocates. The organization opened positions for the Board of Trustees and the National Executive Council to qualified members, and this was met with amazing cooperation and participation by the Alliance. Two groups, the United Nurses Party and the Advocates Coalition, ran against each other, ending in both parties being able to secure national positions. In the end, instead of dividing the organization, fate seemed to have chosen to further strengthen its bonds.

Campaign stories may be good stories, but a better one is how the Alliance managed Election Day. Traditional voting with pens and paper ballots is a staple in any election, but AYNLA, if anything, is never traditional. Facebook became the new platform for election and votes were sent to respective local COMELECs.

Not merely historical, the first AYNLA National Elections is a symbolism the organization’s very essence.

In its advocacy, AYNLA has always considered the voice of the majority, and as nurses, we know that to identify our client’s needs, we must first always consider they believe they need. Giving our people a chance to have their say, and listening, respecting, and putting into action their collective responses are manifestations of how we take the principles of nursing into our own organization. We do not merely nurse those we advocate for; we nurse ourselves.

Ever since the Alliance has been founded, many have questioned its principles, one of which is the transcending roles of nurses in society. We have never been traditional – we are more than that. Resourcefulness comes with revolution, and this was exactly what occurred when the national elections took place in cyberspace. Our practices, as well as our solutions, are effective, and most of the time, out of the box.

AYNLA is democratic and innovative, and it is so much more. For such a young organization, our culture has already deeply ingrained itself in how we do things. Of how revolutionary we can be. Of how our actions and decisions have the power to catalyze change.

 The success of the first national election is a testament of this, and this is not the end.

August 20, 2012, the first AYNLA National Elections, is merely the beginning of what shall someday be the stuff of legends.#

Nr. Janina Santos was the former Secretary of Department of Publications and Media Relations of the Alliance of Young Nurse Leaders and Advocates, International. This article appeared in The Millennia, the annual special publications of AYNLA International Inc.

Where Stalking Karl de Mesa (and a Few Others) Got Me

Nope, I'm not blogging from jail, don't worry. I ended up in Visprint's Writers In Talk 2012 instead. 

WIT 2012 had many posters. This one
was designed by Carlo Vergara

I was there at 6:30 AM. A bit too early for a 9AM event, but some of my favorite writers were going to give talks, and I wanted excellent seats. When I got to the 6th floor, my first thought was, "Where the hell's everybody?" They came eventually, both fans and Visprint  staff. Visprint ladies were arranging the books when I had the fleeting to quite my job as a teacher and apply to Visprint instead. Imagine having access to all of those wonderful books ALL the time!

A couple of guys were with me during the event: my Visprint event buddy Gary, and Patrick, a classmate from Hilakbot and Visprint event virgin . I spent the first hour convincing Patrick which books to buy and I manage to make him get a couple of my faves, Naermyth and Craving. I swear, I'm like a super secret marketing associate for the publisher. 

My WIT buddies, Patrick and Gary (Spongebob?!)

It was just sad that we had to choose from the morning session: either Fiction Writing with Karen Francisco, Eros Atalia and Siege Malvar, or Comic Writing with Budjette Tan, Paolo Fabregas and Manix. Because we wanted to write stories, we went with fiction in the end.

Siege Malvar went first. The topic was about writing and falling in love, but his talk, for me, was a half-dare, full-scale encouragement to us wannabee writers to stop being pansies, and 

"JUST FUCKING DO IT."

To grow up and write about things that makes us uncomfortable. He pulled out a dirt box and asked us to anonymously spill our deepest, darkest secrets. I forgot to put in mine, and I have too many DDS anyway, despite the superlative. I did do the writing exercise he asked us, and here's what i came up with. It's a haiku and the theme is "a date turns bad":

Moonlit dinner ends

in roses, bedrooms.

Did the condom break?

Bad enough, I hope!

Sir Eros went next, and apart from his many "kaso", (which, apparently, ranged from child to animal abuse), I also learned about how he writes. How you understand the world, where you're coming from, these things, he said, are what comes out in a piece. But as writers, we must learn to integrate how we understand the world with how others understand it. Oo nga naman. How can people understand you when your story's completely schizo? Schizo is okay, I think, but if you want to be read then be readable; people still have to relate to what you're saying.

Ms. K related magic and writing, and shared to us some pretty cool photos of her working. It wasn't glamorous, but we love her just the same. I personally liked this part because it's like a super cool writing course lecture. I learned a lot, especially on how to make dialogues work for the plot and the character, and how the character's characteristics can be shown in the plot. I think I'm going to go OCD and make tables like her from now on.

It was all too fun, so, of course, we went overtime. Mid-morning sessions (Creative Non-fiction) was postponed until after we eat. We had a quick bite then the boys and I rushed back to the event. Before the morning talks, I had the chance to buy some books. This year's haul: Siege Malvar's "Roles", Eros Atalia's "It's Complicated", and Carlo Vergara's "ZsaZsa Zaturnnah sa kalakhang Maynila". And because Gary never got me Karl de Mesa's "Damaged People", he bought Eliza Victoria's "A Bottle of Storm Clouds" for me instead. Of course I wanted to get autographs, but even though I'm a total fan girl it would be a little too much to interrupt their lunch and have my books signed. I got to ambush my favorite authors after the event, though.

Patrick and I did annoy Ate Bebang for a bit. Bebang Siy was the guest speaker for the CNF talk. I met her during a horror-writing workshop called Hilakbot. I think she's crazy, thus I love her. Patrick, the bunso of our workshop, is her "student", but I got "kulitan" rights because I begged her for a very special favor. Chitchat followed, then we went to our seats for the CNF session.

Afternoon session meant business. Ate Bebang's presentation was, as expected, funny. She talked about writing a "sanaysay", or an essay. This one's helpful for two things: I teach essay writing for a living, and I want to write better essays for my blog. I also learned that menstruation in Tagalog is "abot-tubo". Cool. She gave tips on how to be a better essay writer, but left the number one tip to us. "Kayo dapat ang mag-bigay ng number one tip sa sarili ninyo," she said.

Here's mine: Walang hiya-hiya sa topic na trip ko isulat. 

Oh, and Ate Bebang gave us homework, which I shall send as soon as I finish writing. On a slightly embarrassing note, she did mention Patrick and I, telling everyone that we have yet to pass our Hilakbot homework. Now THAT got me inspired.

Sir Karl de Mesa was next, and he talked about Literary Journalism. Journalism was my favorite subject in high school, so I was eager to compare this kind of genre to the traditional forms, like feature and straight news. From what I understand, LitJourn is shattering the walls of traditional reportage and immersing- embedding - oneself into the topic at hand. Example: instead of simply reporting the 4W1H of a war, you actually have to be there, in the middle of the fucking battlefield, with a pen and a paper, writing about the experience. LitJourn is screwing being a passive observer. Cool. I would have wanted to ask what the connection is between gonzo journalist (which I came across once upon a time) with LitJourn, but Sir Karl answered it before I had the chance to ask. Turns out, gonzo is like a subcategory of LitJourn. Bite me, I'm a nerd.

Did I mention he gave me a cookie?

Alan Navarra, who wrote the story of my last job, Dumot, shared his passion for combiding art and words, weaving them together to create books and tell stories.

The afternoon was mostly dedicated to book launches and performances. Master Eros was temporarily possessed by Intoy and he showed us how 14+14+14+14 can be equal to 25 (genius, man). Bart Coronel launched the part two of his Tragic Theater series (there WILL be part 3!) with a talk on the common literary devices used to add suspense to any genre of writing. Siege Malvar and his partner went full-scale modern Balagtas with a Balagtasan, trying to come to terms on sino nga ba ang mas tanga sa pag-ibig, babae o lalaki?  I think a bunch of broken-hearted boys sealed the faith of women's idiocy and love. Award-winning writer Eliza Victoria presented her first Visprint book, A Bottle or Storm Clouds, plus a database of publishers for speculative fiction.

Bob Ong wasn't in the event (or he was, but he's hiding somewhere watching us all fidget in our seats in anticipation of finding out who he is and how hot he is). He asked 3 people from the audience to read his prepared speech and my lucky arse friend Gary got the honor. After I volunteered him of course. BO also answered 10 questions posted by his fans. Apparently Bob Ong is attending Ate Bebang's wedding...as the groom. The three lucky souls who read the speech were rewarded old books owned by the mysterious man himself. Excellent. I can just borrow the book from Gary, get trace evidence like hair, skin cells, and fingerprint and go on CSI mode. With luck, I may be able to find out his true identity... so I can kiss him for the awesomeness of his work.

The event was great, and I learned a lot. Kind of makes me wish that there's a Visprint Academy of Arts or something. Since I am no longer a WIT virgin, though, I couldn't help but compare this year's event with WIT 2011. Here's a bit of what I love and what I miss:

The event was formally closed Ms. Nida, publication manager of Visprint. "Sabi nila walang reading public sa Pilipinas, pero andito tayo," she said, referring to us, to both fans and writers. She ended the speech with a little something that got me excited though.

Did you hear her say "cosplay"?#

RH Advocates: The "Mythbusting"

Just today, my mother showed me a couple of packs of pleasure lubes, which, I think she got from one of my bags when I sent them to be washed (note to self, re-check bags, just in case I leave something important in it before it gets tossed in the washing machine). With a controlled voice that I didn't know was possible, especially coming from a conservative mom asking her youngest daughter about any paraphernalia related to sex,, she asked me, "What is this?", to which I unflinchingly answered, "They were give-aways in RH events that I go to. They would always give stuff like those." After a moment's silence she asked again, "Who gave them to you?" I told her they were from sponsors. 

Kudos to my mom for not going crazy over it. I know other parents would have. 

I have two things to say to the people reading this blog before I go on: first, I was telling the truth; second, bitch please, I don't need lubes.

Being an RH advocate and an RH educator has exposed me to a lot of negative feed backs. Just the label itself (something I'm very proud of), the tendency to have the word "vagina" spilling from my mouth, and my personal campaign against victim-blaming in rape (a head-on challenge to the People of the Idiot Society) have gotten me to a lot of negative situations. I haven't had it bad, like some of my more popular colleagues (hurrah for being a social outcast!), but I have been accused of some pretty nasty stuff, some by people who I'm very close to. 

That's okay, I understand the stigma glued to the label "RH advocates". But these labels-to-labels are mostly myths blown up to epic proportions. Most myths have been answered by my fellow advocates (like we're ALL pro-abortion or we're all spawns of Satan), so it would be pointless to blog about it. In the spirit of one of my favorite Discovery Channel show, I'd like to go mythbusters on some of these misconceptions.

There are a lot of misconceptions about the RH Bill, but there
are also misconceptions about the people who rally beneath
the banner of the Purple Ribbon. 

For example:

Myth#1: To be an advocate means that you must have experienced in what you are advocating. Crux: RH advocates are all non-virgins and are knowledgeable in the use of contraceptives because they use it all the time.

Some advocate rape prevention and survival are rape victims, yes. On the other hand, I'm also an advocate against nurse "volunteerism", wherein nurses are asked to pay a certain hospital so that the said hospital can give them slots as volunteers, but I have never been a nurse volunteer myself (nor will I ever be). How do those of us with no experience in sex and contraception educate people, you ask? Well, for one thing, a significant number of us come from medical or paramedical backgrounds.

Reality check: RH and sexuality is a significant part of our curriculum. We have been trained to look at sex and sexuality in logical, non-giggling-like-idiots manner. One reason why people welcomed to come to us about safely doing the deed. 

As a nurse, I've studied, looked at, and handled my fair share of penises and vagina during my days learning about Maternal and Child Nursing and Psychiatric Nursing. I've also touched my fair share of organs during my clinical days - with gloves, of course. Heck, we even talk about sexual deviations like fetishes, voyeurism, and bestiality during my college days. Malice has been practically trained out of us. Those who don't believe me, kindly comment so I can scan and present our book on MCN and Psych Nursing. 

So if someone would want to blame my outlook as an advocate about sex, please feel free to blame my nursing education, as well as my liberated personality.

We don't have to experience it to advocate it; we simply have to know about it, understand it, realize how vital it is to society, and ACT upon that wisdom.

Myth#2: To be an RH advocate, one must be quite cool in dealing with all things sexual. Or its opposite: Being an RH advocate means you must immediately have a slutty personality.

Let me address the second one first: "Porket kayang sabihin ang vagina, pokpok agad? Di ba pwedeng liberated muna?"

Being liberated - being free - is generally a good thing, especially to RH advocates. To be an advocate of reproductive health means having the guts to break out of society's bonds and talk about the human body - along with its many functions - in ways that has been deemed taboo by society. You have to be able to say, "Kapag po nilabasan ang sexual partner sa loob ng ari ng babae, maari pong mabuntis, kaya importante po na alamin kung kelan ang huling regla dahil malalaman natin dito kung safe o hindi safe ang babae na makipagtalik. O kaya pwede rin naman pong gumamit ng condom na ilalagay sa ari ng lalaki para hindi mapunta ang similya sa ari ng babae." And you have to be able to say this with a straight face, or else the person you're educating would either smirk at you knowingly (if the person is a perv), or get scared of talking to you (because you look like a perv).

How else can we teach reproductive health and safe sex practices, sign language? Educators are professionals - this is what sets us apart from the internet porn teaching girls and boys about sex. 

On the other hand, RH advocates are far from frigid - not just in bed, but in their other passions. I've met people who feel strongly not just about RH and its other components. One of my idols, Ana Santos, sassy editorial director of sexandsensibilities.com, is equally supportive of bettering the lives of single parents. Nr. Alvin Dakis of the Alliance of Young Nurse Leaders and Advocates is always at the business end of online bashing because of his advocacy for LGBT rights as well as reproductive health. And, of course, isn't Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago always fiery about her campaigns against idiocy?

Myth#3: Pro-RH Advocates are unwilling to listen to the arguments of Anti-RH advocates.

Not true. If it is then why did writer Miguel Syjuco and Leloy Claudio recently invited Anti-RH Senator Tito Sotto to a debate? We want proper discourse, wherein we can answer the questions of the Anti-RH camp sans throwing crap and "satanista" accusations around. Most of us would be happy to know your opposition to the bill, and present our side as to why we are for it. We would like to listen to you and explain our side. Although seriously, our arguments (like the opposite camp's) is quite available online. Feel free to Google them.

It does get tiring, though, that some people would hide behind the pretense of wanting to understand our points of view when in fact all they want to do is troll. And if someone is trolling, then we'll have you know that we have better things to do than rise to your bait.

Which brings me to the next RH advocate myth.

Myth#4: RH advocates are idiots and are only following a popular choice.

Providing accessible, universal reproductive health care to people is a popular notion. RH advocates are supporting a popular notion. In fact, a survey conducted by the Social Weather Station concluded that majority are in favor of the provisions of the RH Bill (http://www.sws.org.ph/pr20110811.htm), so I guess the second part of the myth is confirmed.

Our support, however, is not about popularity. Most of the RH advocates I've met are for the bill because they've read the bill. They took time to digest its contents and formulate their opinions. Which is why I have respect for those who've read the bill before they become Anti-RH, and still have the brains to not believe some of the more ludicrous stuff being thrown around. 


Any other myths you want busted?