Why can’t we have this stuff on TV?

By Nick J. Lizaso (The Philippine Star)

 1  1 googleplus0  0 

John Arcilla plays the title role in the box-office hit Heneral Luna

MANILA, Philippines - ‘The positive acceptance of Heneral Luna throws a gauntlet on the stage of the entertainment world. The Filipino audience is not intelligence-challenged. It’s time to raise the ante by offering them films and TV dramas that engage them emotionally and intelligently. And who knows, by igniting their brain synapses more frequently, they may start thinking and making decisions with greater discernment, such as in selecting our future leaders.’

When people I knew peppered me with glowing notices and exultant reviews about the film Heneral Luna, I was very skeptical. My past experience tells me that when a Filipino indie film is overly praised, it will turn out to be a big disappointment. I can’t recall how many times I have fidgeted in my seat and even walked out early in the movie. So finally, when I went to see Heneral Luna, I was prepared to be disappointed.

Lo and behold, I sat through the entire movie, without fidgeting. Not only that, I came out of the theater with my hopes raised high regarding the future of Filipino films. The last time I felt this way was when I saw English Only Please. But this time, I felt moved to root for Pinoy filmmakers.

This is a rare film by a Filipino team of filmmakers that knows how to tell its story visually. From script to characterization, production design, lighting, sound and cinematography, I tip my hat off to the director and his team. From the perspective of a film director like myself, I pronounce it as a superbly crafted work. I may quibble with minor details but they are minor and can be overlooked. In short, over all, it’s an unqualified success. Huwag sanang masayang ang talent niya sa pagtanggap na mag-direct ng mga teleseryes.

I am happy to learn from news reports that Heneral Luna has reached over the P200M mark in gate receipts. This should help the producers recover the cost of making it. I am happy for them and I only wish more producers will be encouraged to take risks on films with meaningful topics or subjects.

With the undeniable box-office success of Heneral Luna, who can now categorically say that the Filipino viewer is not ready to see works of this kind? It flies in the face of what major TV network programming executives in effect have been telling their creative teams: Dumb it down, cater it to the taste of themasa, the so-called “bakya” crowd. I have always believed that there are no “bakya” audiences, only “bakya” producers.

Entertainment ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1

Which brings me to my next point. Why can’t we have similar intelligent fare on television?

TV networks want to play it safe so their choice of content is limited to komik soap opera stories which they believe will maketeleseryes appealing to the masa, and sustain their audience ratings. So what televiewers get is more of the usual: A beautiful lass and her ugly alalay, fair-skinned protagonist versus dark-skinned rival, cliché plotting, sketchy caricaturing of characters, raising-an-eyebrow-and-pouting school of acting, the expected servings of slapping from time to time, sabunutan, the exchange of mahanghang na salita (all of which I am still seeing inteleseryes as recently as yesterday). I have also observed that problems are solved by the young, who seem to know better than their adult mature elders. Why rock the boat and raise the ante? Why try the untried? Why bother coming up with more intelligent fare and lose the ratings game? So let’s just continue feeding them the same old junk content.

Now, our political analysts and commentators don’t have to wonder why our electorate does not make intelligent choices in picking our leaders.

This is probably a long shot but I am hereby proposing another type of teleserye, wherein we dramatize selected and well-known Filipino classic literary works (novels and short stories) by famous Filipino writers such as Nick Joaquin, F. Sionil Jose, Bienvenido Santos, Wilfredo Nolledo, Kerima Polotan, Estrella Alfon, Edgardo Reyes, Rogelio Sikat, Efren Abueg, just to name a few who are at the top of my memory-challenged mind right now. So many great Filipino novels are languishing on shelves of libraries:Dugo sa Bukang Liwayway, Ang Mundong Ito Ay Lupa, The Pretenders, Villa Magdalena, Poon, Woman Who Had Two Navels, The Bamboo Dancers and more. And for crying out loud, why not adapt award-winning Palanca plays, many of which have never been staged or produced? 

Maybe we can dramatize each story to run for a few weeks or months, but let the program be flexible, basing it on the natural and logical progress of the adapted story.

I am sure having a drama program like this will go a long way in bringing these masterpieces to a wider audience, or the new generation, who I understand have been shunning reading these works in favor of handheld mobile devices.

Why not? I’ve been there and I’ve done it decades ago, at ABS-CBN under the late Genny Lopez during the old pre-Martial Law days. The big guns of ABS-CBN then were Jun Hizon, Jimmy Navarro, Ben Aniceto and Frankie Evangelista. I was given the opportunity to direct a program called Obra Maestra, which served as a window or a vehicle for world masterpieces and Filipino literary classics adapted and made accessible to Filipino TV viewers. I remember we dramatized such works as Rashomon, Wuthering Heights, The Visit by Durenmatt, Medea and others. Our acting talents then included Charito Solis, Vic Silayan, Dindo Fernando, Ronald Remy, Nestor de Villa, Nida Blanca, Armando Goyena, Tony Santos Sr. and other greats.

Mind you, that program enjoyed high audience ratings. That was because we did not present them as literary masterpieces to be treated with awe and reverence. Rather, we focused on the stories. That was the key. Ignore the fact that they were written by literary serious artists. Just zero in on the fact that these works have the elements of great and compelling storytelling. Isn’t that what makes any work appealing?

So in conclusion, the positive acceptance of Heneral Luna throws a gauntlet on the stage of the entertainment world. The Filipino audience is not intelligence-challenged. It’s time to raise the ante by offering them films and TV dramas that engage them emotionally and intelligently. And who knows, by igniting their brain synapses more frequently, they may start thinking and making decisions with greater discernment, such as in selecting our future leaders. It could be the key to the bright future we’ve all been wishing for.

Refugees

Mindanao Daily Mirror:

Refugees

Jacob Benedicto Finds Career an 'Emotional Roller-Coaster"

By Amadis Ma. Guerrero (The Philippine Star)

 0  0 googleplus0  1 

Jacob Benedicto learned discipline in theater and coping with irregular hours from his TV work

MANILA, Philippines - The moment he appeared on stage, the screaming among his fans, mostly girl students, began. It was hard to follow the dialogue, although the plot was familiar.

The venue was SM Southmall in Las Piñas City, and the young singing actor was Jacob Benedicto, 23, ABS-CBN talent. The production was Gantimpala Theater’s Kanser the Musical by Jomar Fleras, a take-off on Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere. Jacob was playing Crisostomo Ibarra, the idealistic hero of the novel who sought to uplift his hometown through education and, in the process, rekindle his romance with Maria Clara (played by Myramae Meneses).

The love scenes were tame (remember this is the 19th century), but even these set the fans screaming. A dramatic highlight of the play had Ibarra, all alone on the stage, singing and emoting, down on one knee, agonizing on whether to continue with his reforms or to call for a revolution against the cancerous state (“reporma ba o rebolusyon”).

At the curtain call, all the cast members were applauded, of course, but Jacob was clearly the crowd favorite (along with the actors who played Sisa, Basilio and Crispin), maybe because there were more girls than boys or because they recognized him from his TV projects.

Finally, as they left the stage, Jacob let loose with a flying kiss; and pandemonium reigned.

The play was the singing actor’s first starring role in theater, and in classic Tagalog at that. He had to ask the help of colleague Michael Pangilinan (the other Ibarra) to improve his Tagalog, and the latter was happy to oblige. Thus, Jacob was able to acquit himself in the challenging role.

Entertainment ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1

“I really internalized my character, my role,” he recalls. “Ako talaga si Crisostomo Ibarra. I learned the message he was trying to convey. I really wanted to be authentic before the audience (no trace of a foreign accent) and give them my interpretation of the songs and the role of Ibarra. I really felt the character.”

Of Visayan-Tagalog parentage, Jacob (real name is Josemari Jacob Gayanelo) was born in Manila but at the age of five, his family moved to Jakarta, Indonesia because his father, a Unilab official, was assigned there.

He and his siblings studied at the International School in Jakarta. All their teachers were Americans and Europeans, so the young Gayanelos acquired an American accent. They stayed there for 10 years and Jacob returned to Manila a teenager, starting a career in theater with English-language companies like Trumpets and Repertory Philippines. “Michael Williams gave me my start in professional theater,” he says. “I owe a lot to him.”

A memorable experience for him was appearing for a year in Resorts World Manila’s The Sound of Music by Rodgers and Hammerstein, in which he was with the ensemble, playing a young Nazi, a dancer and even a baron.

After that, he was ready for showbiz, appearing on TV5’s Baker King and Kanta Pilipinas and then in a slew of ABS-CBN shows and teleseryes like Ningning, Dream Dad, Ipaglaban Mo’s Akin Ka Lang episode, Maalaala Mo Kaya’s Manika episode, the Pure Love series, Pinoy Big Brother: All in and The Voice of the Philippines.

Last year, he appeared in Star Cinema’s Past Tense with Daniel Matsunaga, and is now preparing for a role in an indie film. Jacob as a singer is into pop, soul and OPM, has cut an album Pagka’t Ikaw, with songs by Jeffrey Hidalgo and is a Star Records talent. In between these commitments, he managed to finish Communication Arts studies (TV production, films and radio) at De La Salle University. He is also an events host.

“I learned discipline in theater,” he says. “And in TV, I learned to cope with the irregular working hours. My life is an emotional roller-coaster!”

Greatest PINOY Love Songs Collection - by Rockstar 2

The Making of HENERAL LUNA

Philippines Among Most Vulnerable to Retail Systems Hacking

THE PHILIPPINES ranked among the countries in the region most vulnerable to hackers who target electronic retail systems, cyber security company Trend Micro’s Philippine unit said on Wednesday in a media briefing.

RELATED STORIES Apple’s iOS App Store suffers first major attack US considering sanctions over China cyber theft:Washington Post report Uber hires two computer engineers who remotely hacked into a jeep Smart gadgets ripe for hacking China’s former hackers turn cyber gatekeepers

Point-of-sale (POS) system malware incidents, affecting purchases made through a credit card or a debit card, are among the most prevalent cyber crimes in the Philippines.

In the Asia-Pacific, the Philippines had the fifth highest rate of POS attacks at 6% while the United States topped the list at 31%. Countries in second to fourth place were Australia (10%), Taiwan (9%), and Brazil (8%).

The study covers the first half of 2015.

POS systems are becoming increasingly available to even small to medium enterprises due to the influx of card-swiping devices employing cheap hardware, it sad.

“It’s not just the cards, but the system server where the data is stored or the gadget being used to swipe the card is also vulnerable,” said Myla V. Pilao, Trend Micro Philippines’ Director of Marketing Communications said.

Meanwhile, online banking was also an area of concern, as the Philippines had the fourth highest number of attacks in the region. There were over one million malware detections in the Philippines for the third quarter alone, Trend Micro said.

As Filipinos become more accustomed to make their purchases through e-commerce, Trend Micro noted that local banks still do not use the most modern security practices for their credit and debit cards.

Financial institutions in the Philippines still do not employ EMV cards that come with embedded chips as an added security feature to the personal identification number.

“Anything that is connected to the Internet, we have to assume that it is a target,” said Ms. Pilao.

“It would take us years to put up regulation (against cybersecurity threats), that is the biggest hurdle. We also need capacity building. Our law enforcement, they are used to investigating crimes on the street but to get them to investigate online won’t be easy because it’s not their habit,” she said.

The country’s e-commerce law, which Ms. Pilao pointed out, is outdated based on what is happening in real world attacks. -- Nicolo Paolo A. Pascual

Beauty Queens Are FHM's October 2015 Cover Girls

As seen in our last FHM Guess Who, this month's cover features a trio of trim head-turners...

Roll out the red carpet and bow down to the queenly grace of Danielle Castaño, Cindy Miranda, and Queenie Rehman!

And mind you, this is not your ordinary swimsuit competition...

Through the lens of Doc Marlon Pecjo, the former beauty queens set aside the tiara and sash, letting go of their regal inhibitions for this month's issue. Beauty pageants aren't really a man's thing; this time around though, we have enough—actually three—excuses to openly indulge in this female audience-dominated world of shapely curves and mile-long legs.

Of the three Cover Girls, you could consider Miss World 2008 representative Danielle, or Dani, as having the most experience when it comes to these things, appearing in our February 2012 issue and a number of times on the website.

She says in our cover story, "When I first did a cover for FHM, I felt like I wasn’t ready physically. I was more 'chubby cheeks' pa. Now, Ifeel like I’ve grown as a woman, and siyempre my features have changed. I first worked with you guys when I was 19! I’m 25 now, ha ha!"

Cindy, Binibining Pilipinas-Tourism 2013 and among the Top 10 in that year's Miss Tourism Queen International, meanwhile, is relishing the chance of being able to flaunt what she believes is an oft-ignored facet of a beauty queen (Well, not for us...): "When you’re a beauty queen kasi, people train you to be even more refined. You can’t really project sexy kasi laging big smiles lang. Ngayon naipakita ko 'yung isa pang side ng beauty queen na hindi masyadong nakikita ng ibang tao."

Showing off overlooked qualities—and in this woman's case, unexpected talents—is not new to Miss World Philippines 2012 Queenie, who beatboxed her way into the hearts of all those present during Miss World 2012's talent portion. "I'm very competitive," she explains. "I also play basketball, so dun pa lang I’ve developed a competitive instinct na no matter what it takes, I’ll do my best to win."

That is also why we gave you, our dear readers, only the best, with not just one, but THREE sultry ladies—queens at that!—for a single cover! You know you can't go wrong with that. Go on, bask and revel in their presence...

Aside from Dani, Cindy and Queenie, this month's issue also assures a hefty serving of man-knowledge: the real deal with current trends (and why they trend, save the hashtags); a scoring guide on the hottestlandian dating apps (Tinder, OkCupid and Snapchat); the manhood test, taken by master comedianWally Bayola (AKA Lola Nidora, Dra. The Explorer, and a whole bunch of other Kalyeserye characters); and why we shouldn't have mocked MMDA's #ShakeDrill.

FHM's October 2015 issue will be available in supermarkets, newsstands, and bookstores starting tomorrow, October 3! You can score digital copies in the following days through the FHM app on Apple App Store (http://bit.ly/fhmphapple) and on Google Play (http://bit.ly/FhmPHandroid) and the Summit Media Newsstand (http://bit.ly/fhmmagph)!

Philippines Losing 300B Pesos to Disasters Yearly

By Prinz Magtulis (The Philippine Star)

    googleplus   

The Philippines is prone to natural disasters like earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. On average, 20 typhoons visit the country every year. File photo

MANILA, Philippines – Losing more than P300 billion from natural disasters and calamities every year, the Philippines is at the forefront of a new global cooperation seeking to reduce financial vulnerabilities to natural catastrophes.

Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima leads 19 other nations in Lima, Peru this week in the establishment and inaugural meeting of the “Vulnerable 20” (V20) finance ministers group, according to the Department of Finance (DOF).

“Climate change is real,” Purisima was quoted as saying.

“There’s simply no debate about it. Its devastating effects reach deeply, jeopardizing sustainable economic growth, threatening food security and worsening the quality of life in many climate-vulnerable countries. What is even more unfortunate is that least developed, low-income, and middle-income countries that contribute the least to climate change are the ones that suffer the most from its adverse effects.”

Climate vulnerable nations suffer economic losses amounting to 2.5 percent of their gross domestic product (GDP) every year, according to estimates from the DOF.

GDP is the sum of all products and services created in an economy.

Headlines ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1

With P12 trillion in nominal GDP by end 2014, 2.5 percent translates to more than P300 billion every year in the Philippines.

For context, P300 billion accounts for a tenth of next year’s proposed P3.002-trillion national budget.

The Philippines is prone to natural disasters like earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

On average, 20 typhoons visit the country every year.

“The losses are expected to escalate if no significant action against climate change is implemented,” the DOF said.

The V20 group is looking at crafting an “action plan” to outline efforts to be taken to mitigate the impact of climate change, particularly through the mobilization of funds.

“Technical support” for susceptible nations will also be studied.

V20 also hopes to draft its inputs to the bigger gathering of nations against climate change at the Conference of Parties in Paris, France in December.

Along with the Philippines, the V20 is comprised of mainly small island countries in Asia-Pacific like Madagascar, Maldives, Timor-Leste, Vanuatu and Tuvalu.

Other members are Saint Lucia, Bhutan, Kiribati, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Barbados, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nepal, Rwanda and Vietnam.

Attending the inaugural meeting are representatives from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

France, Germany, Japan and the US will represent the advanced economies.

The V20 was established pursuant to the Costa Rica Action Plan 2013-2015, which laid out its priorities when it first met informally in Warsaw, Poland two years ago. 

The plan also vowed to tackle the impact of climate change on health, human rights, labor, migration and science.