SHRAPNEL OF IGNORANCE

Money makes the world go round. In many aspects of life it always entails a penny and a dime. In an industry where money is well spent and well formed, sometimes the quality of work comes questionable. The intention of doing something negates positive , truthful and meaningful works for the sake of being business wise which is inevitable and basically a corporate culture. We are talking about the media industry in general. Although there are many theories in communication that defines the two way process of media to audience and audience to media. Both actions have polarizing effects to each other and these may bring feedbacks to other things that connect the two forces. As the years pass by the question if the Philippine Media has been a meaningful message carrier is still a question given the fact that corruption has existed in the industry. We see it and feel it but we still choose to be silent on these matters. How? The product of the Philippine Media is peso wise and it is seen in the over-all agenda this industry brings us, In particular with the News and Current Affairs Division. Just like a medical practitioner, a media practitioner should observe honesty, integrity, truthfulness and should avoid MISTAKES at its highest level in delivering a particular message which a large group of people will consume. Let us review some of the mistakes the Philippine Media brought us. Some of these mistakes may be connected with being business wise, competitions for ratings but some are just shrapnel of IGNORANCE.

Probably one of the most stupid and hilarious events in the Philippine Media is this horrific FRONT PAGE NEWS of a very confident Philippine Daily Inquirer declaring the death of Mary Jane Veloso in Indonesia. Remember that last May 2015 Mary Jane soared the upper stage of the Philippine Media because of her death sentence in the said country.     Veloso was sentenced to death in October 2010 for attempting to smuggle 2.6 kilograms of heroin into Indonesia from Malaysia in April 2010. But it was in the middle of May 2015 wherein she graced the covers of different newspapers and tv programs asking for pardon or plea. It was also in May 2015 where in her death sentence was moved for a couple of months. But then again on the said month, the convict was still living on her quarters but a certain newspaper organization immediately killed her. For what purpose to be exact? I remember being an intern at The Philippine Broadcast Services back then when news of The Philippine Daily Inquirer  asking for apology aired radio and tv stations. This is basically the problem with the Philippine Media. Wrong calculations and wrong motives lead to panic and confusion. Imagine how many people consumed the stupidity of this news and it was all because the particular news organization was competing for information with other news organizations leading them to the pit of destruction and egocentrism. Ratings and Ads? Big Check!

Number two. Not a big fan of religion myself but it so obvious how the media wants to put color on the current issue and stand of the IGLESIA NI CRISTO crisis. People under the very influential religious group are crying of persecution. After the controversial expulsion of high officials of the said group. News of corruption has fled social media and news organizations but it is not only the Iglesia Ni Cristo who suffered controversy but on how the media handled the information. It was clear and all, I mean the intention of putting down this people through a series of news updates that clearly expound on the corruption and controversy. Funny how I think that media organizations tend to uplift corruption outside there compound but can’t even deny the fact that they are more corrupt. I was looking for opinions from real time media attackers like Mr. Anthony Taberna and the Tulfo brothers on the said issue. Are you also wondering why they were so silent as of now. I think you know the answer.

Lastly the visibility of the ignorance of the Philippine Media in covering typhoons and storms which is very crucial. Reporting for this genre involve lives and casualties and it should be precise and exact. PJR Reports criticized some of the Filipino media’s coverage of tropical storm Sendong, which hit the Philippines in December of last year, for being insensitive and unhelpful.  Sendong led to “more than 1,000 fatalities,” according to PJR Reports, which identifies itself as “the first and only media-monitoring publication in the Philippines. The media “focused on the stories of devastated and sobbing survivors…fixated on the death toll, and after the first stories on the human cost of the storm, paid little attention to the survivors’ current condition and how the government and the private sector could best help them.” They were basically begging for views therefore using a dramatized version of news making rather than the factual and informative type. Business wise.

Improvements? VERY POSSIBLE. Shrapnel will remain a shrapnel. But if we remove it, we can negate ignorance.

THAT ONE COMPLICATED RIDE

                             

It was about two years ago. I enjoy mostly my rides. Like when I go home or go to some places, maybe near or far. I enjoy the idea that I travel and that I pay for my ride, I figure out where to go or where to ride to reach my destination. Asides from the complications of figuring out how to get there is the ride itself. Here in the Philippines riding is all about surviving it’s about who’s the strongest and who is the son of God. It’s a thinking game out there that most or I mean almost all of us experience. Students, Young Professionals and many more, deals with this culture. Unless you have your own car then you are one lucky Pinoy. Now going back (lol my professor required us 200 words only well I missed that part anyway), It was about two years ago. I was exhausted trying to mend my dreams, I so wanted to be a figure skater back then so I used to go back and forth in Mall of Asia to y’know watch the skaters glide and do daydreaming that one day I’ll be one of them. Little did I know that my dreams will stop because of going home. It was about 3:00 pm. I was riding the MRT train from Taft Ave. Station going back to North Edsa. I was in GMA- Kamuning Station, train stopped, and my head was banging to the loud music coming from my mp3. Then I saw the people around me panicking like what?, they look retarded. Then I looked at the window and I saw down the rail that there are people motioning for us to get out of the train. I wasn’t aware of what’s happening until I looked at them and saw around me that people are starting to get down the train IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FREAKING TRAIN RAIL!! Then all of a sudden I saw electric currents glittering like fireworks on top of me, a few strokes from small fires and that eerie “ZZZZZZZZ” sound as if Electro Boy is fighting Astro Boy (the sound you hear when Storm from X-men calls upon the skies to ask for electricity). That moment my body started to push the other bodies and all I know that time is to survive and to pray that I still want to live and see the people I love, emotional I swear to you! I was so scared that time I promised myself not to ride the MRT again!

Well I used to be a huge fan of Metro Railway Transit or popularly known in my country as the MRT. For almost years this government owned transport system has caused a spark in the middle of controversy and limelight. Starting with the minor mishaps that everybody thought as simple problems, like the train stopping in the middle of nowhere while carrying passengers. Train stopping coz it was pouring rain, train stopping coz systems failed due to thunderstorms, train not working coz they’re too old, train stopping in the middle of a busy day with busy passengers stopping coz of engine problems, MRT doors not closing…. and many more to think of. Luckily the hearts of the passengers didn’t stop, but their patience, I doubt. The said train station has also caused major and violent errors in the transport industry, starting with last year’s big MRT accident in Pasay area, Taft Avenue where in LITERALLY , like literally the train went out of control and went out of its lane and got derailed.

An elderly being rush to a nearby Hospital bt the rescue vounteers Wednesday after a MRT train over run the railways on Wednesday. Passengers being rush to nearby Hospitals as of press time.Photo by: Photo by: Joel Leporada

It was devastating and caused panic and traffic. You don’t normally see a MRT “bagon” outside its rail system and singing HALLELUIAH in the streets of Pasay City. Fortunate enough the management should be thankful that there were ZERO major casualties, but I think the trauma of riding the train is a stigma and a casualty that is something not worth their money and apologies. They needed big machineries and strong cranes to lift up the said train and get it out of the place. Took them like forever. Just imagine what if there are lives taken by that incident? Surely our officials will be getting a big face palm. My incident is also something you need to take account of. Remember when Sen. Grace Poe tried to fit in with us? Hell yeah, that is what you call “FALLING IN LINE in PINOY STYLE”. You see, the Philippines is the only country that offers this kind of /coughs/ /coughs/ sh*tty service. Comparing our train system to countries such as Singapore, Hongkong and Japan, (third world country argument invalid) you’ll be thinking twice on how our leaders truly deal with our transport system. As to what I know Sen. Grace Poe never rode the train again, like ever, why would she try it again, it’s a pain in the ass anyway! Well don’t ask me about the 6am and 6pm crises in the MRT station, I tell you this if you want to be transported into hell for a couple of hours, I mean a tour in hell, ride the MRT between those times.

The MRT management is a celebrity in human form. I always see them on TV, like just this week July 22-23, 2015. The MRT system failed once again like not just once but countless of hundreds of times. Southbound, Santolan Station, train stopped coz … okay don’t ask again. Many people were bitterly late, coz of ….. okay never mind. It was a busy morning and I think the MRT management forgot to sleep the night before their shift. Now the people are asking “WHERE IS THE EXTRA AMOUNT WE ARE GIVING YOU?!”.

Remember the MRT fare went from Class C to Class B, with almost ten pesos added fare. Imagine from North to Taft fifteen pesos now almost 25 pesos. It’s not fair! Especially when you don’t feel the results of that added amount. Repair the system or give us back our money! In the afternoon another mishap happened, the reason why they closed the station from Shaw Blvd. to Taft Ave. Like I could imagine those people working in areas near the station, y’know happy to be going home but feel devastated of not seeing their families on time. In an interview by Mr. Cesar Apolinario GMA News, the management of the train station said that they are open for criticism and it’s boosting their work efficiency. Well right now Mister no need to say that, just do your job. I am not blaming every one under the management of the MRT I sympathize with their efforts and I also know that they are working indeed hard. This is for the management on top of the MRT station! Hey guys! Wake up! Where are the things that you promised? After that incident I still ride the MRT but on a minimal basis and limited choice. This is getting longer somehow. Not my paper and my opinion okay I mean the list of the damages and mishaps of the MRT station.

Like wake up! Seriously?

Don’t give us another complicated ride for goodness sake.

Photo credits to: Ms. Jezz Contarciego of UE- Manila

-Rappler.com

-Fifth column

-Interaksyon.com

-Manila bulletin

-Inquirer.net

CONFECTIONS OF PAIN

It’s weird like when you try to do something productive in the four corners of your space but instead you end up staring in a corner and then you start to taste the flavors of HOW, WHEN, WHY, WHAT, WHERE,WHO. Then you try to figure out the recipe of these mental flavors. At some point you realize that all of these flavors lead to one ultimate chef. The name is PAIN.

                                

Why do we feel pained?

What does the heart and brain look like when we feel PAIN?

How do we find it? When is the beginning and end? , exact time if possible.

Where do we find it, where do we lose it?

Who can stop it? Someone please save me.

The legend of PAIN begins in one single event but it takes away thousands of worthy emotion, people, lives, properties, investment, trust, risks, determinations and LOVE. There are certain scientific frameworks that you can look into. Maybe to find out the answers and descriptions of the flavors being raised above. But even if you give descriptions sometimes it’s just not enough. Pain will always be a legend, but it is constant, it can be abstract, it can be concrete. The greatest kind of PAIN is the one we do not see; it comes like a thief in the night and steals what we have. It is a revolution of thought translated into majestic colors and escapades.

After the main flavors, the mental sub-flavors.

Is it Black and white?

Do we bleed when someone hurts us, mentally? Physically?

Why is it that the one we love the most is the one capable of hurting us? Can I save someone?

I’m so pained, can I kill myself?

Pain is the ultimate chef. It stimulates many flavors inside us. And sometimes all these flavors are unbearable.

Pain is picturesque. Usually we would see colors, lines, shapes like different sizes and figures. It’s how we combine red and blue, like how a horizontal line overlaps a curvy line. Sometimes it consumes the whole frame until you see nothing but the war of colors and images.

Pain is lust.  Why is it that this isn’t included in the seven major sins? If it’s addicting and too much, it’s sin. If it’s divine and holy, it should be a star on the halo of Mother Mary. Like lust it is not given and another one you don’t force it. It crawls down to your hands and feet, makes you warm for a couple of minutes then take your virginity away. No it’s not rape! Not violence! You like it and you feel it.

Pain is a prayer. You aim for it. Sometimes it comes in many litanies of life and once you get the prayer, you accept it. You just accept it even if it’s less or more.

Pain is a gift wrapped in Gold. Once you open it you realize that there is a bomb inside and you only have ten seconds or less to move out or throw the box, once it blows up, baby you’re dead. The only difference you have with a cadaver is that you’re dead inside but you’re still living or maybe you receive the bomb inside you and explodes every day, literally.

Pain is a conclusion. Just be ready for that conclusion it might kill you or it might make you a better sinner, maybe a saint once again. It’s always at the last part, like a scientific research, or maybe at the beginning coz after a few conclusions you tend to open new possibilities. No “there for’s”. That’s just it.

It’s weird like when you try to do something productive, but instead you taste all these flavors and realize PAIN is the chef. You end up killing yourself ……. every day.

– DAN IAN PAULO B. MARIPOSQUE –  #pain #wordporn #thoughts #art