Ms sect b 20170129 sunday

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SUNDAY, JANUARY 29, 2017

Opinion

Adelle Chua, Editor Joyce Pangco Pañares, Issue Editor

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EDITORIAL

POP GOES THE WORLD JENNY ORTUOSTE

PILIPINX POETRY ABOUT ’PUNYETANG’ POLITICS

PROPORTION

I

T’S a good thing the Palace shot down a Quezon City lawmaker’s proposal to declare tomorrow, January 30, a holiday so that Filipinos can stay home and watch the Miss Universe pageant from the comfort of their living room. People will probably be watching from anywhere they are because these days you don’t need to be seated in front of your television set at home to see anything, real-time. You can be at your office, in school, in a moving vehicle— anywhere. But that is not even the point. Rep. Winston Castelo’s proposal betrays a misplaced sense of what is important and what should be secondary. We do not dispute that the holding of the pageant here brings us some cheer. This

is sorely needed—at a time when we can no longer trust those who are mandated to protect us, and when it appears human life is a commodity with a value that varies depending on where one is on the social ladder. The pageant may also do something to convince the rest of the world that terror threats and killings notwithstanding, the Philippines remains a country worth visiting. But calling off work and school for the occasion is, at best, silly. Think of the lessons to be missed and productive work to be foregone—and for what? Then again, Castelo may just be taking a cue from his President who famously said he did not want his day to end when he was visited last week by the dozens of attractive women vying for the title. The same President also said he was envious of the just-inaugurated US President because the latter was a billionaire and had a statuesque woman for a wife. This obsession with pageants is understandable but must be tempered with proportion. When the winners are announced and when the candidates return to their respective homes, what we would be left with are the same ugly realities that we sought to forget for a while in our zeal to surround ourselves with beauty.

NORTHERN California-based poet and editor Eileen Tabios has released a spunky collection of verses that add to the literature of the Philippine diaspora. Titled “Puñeta: Political Pilipinx Poetry,” the 36-page chapbook gathers poems written by 16 USbased Filipinos about politics, race, identity, homeland, and other issues that concern immigrants and those born in the US of Philippine heritage. Thanks to Eileen for using my artwork “Salitang Makulay: Puñeta” as the cover illustration for this book. The artwork was an embroidered piece I created for the Chromatext Rebooted art show that ran from Nov. 6, 2015 to Jan. 15, 2016 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. The show, curated by Krip Yuson and Jean Marie Syjuco for the Philippine Literary Arts Council, featured the works of around 120 writers and artists. Eileen acquired my work immediately upon seeing it from a photo Krip posted on Facebook, and I am moved that she liked it enough to live with it, and now to use it as the cover of this anthology. Some of the poets whose works are in this book even want the design on t-shirts to wear to this year’s Association of Writers and Writing Programs event! Now that would be something interesting to see. From the poems in the collection, here’s Michelle Bautista’s “Flow.” It starts: “Hear playful moon in this sacred space. Our afflictions, its laughter of paradise, fire jutting out of a deep pulse. Crafted warriors, sliding, struck upon fire and water, earth and air. Hear guardians in corners split heavy hollow resonance. Touch earth and air. Red bamboo above flows…” It seems to me more a song, a mood piece with a narrative open to the reader’s interpretation. Jose Padua’s “Headhunters” tells of a “man in a barrel” wood carving from the Philippine highlands that he had in his home as a child. It’s a poem about negotiating one’s identity—of growing up Filipino in the US, and handling interactions with the country’s privileged race: “…we’re looking at you, we’re paying attention to your moves, your strange exotic speech and your skin / a color you can only see in our teeth and our eyes when we look / at you and smile. We’re nice and kind and polite and we like / to cook and entertain, but cross us and there’s no way for you / to know if it’s daytime or nighttime or heaven or hell and time for us to start collecting heads again.” In truth, this awareness of racism is a common feeling among Filipinos in the US, particularly for immigrants with their different accents, gestures, and other traits that set them apart as “not from around here,” “not one of us .” Why “Pilipinx”? This is a spin-off from the term “Latinx” (pronounced “lateen-ex”), which refers to people from

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TROPHIES LONG STORY SHORT ADELLE CHUA

THE Internet is abuzz with comparisons of how Barack and Michelle Obama behave differently from their successors Donald and Melania Trump. Whereas the Obamas appear to genuinely enjoy each other’s company and treat each other with respect and

trust—that, or they are such great actors—the first images of the current US President and First Lady point to anything but a loving, respectful relationship between husband and wife. Social media point to body language, using clips and GIFs to show the not-

so-subtle clues. For example, when the Trumps came to the White House to meet the Obamas, Mr. Trump got out of the car and proceeded to the shake hands with them, leaving his wife to get out on her side of the car, walk around the back of it and then ascend the steps on

her own. By the time she got to the top of the step, her husband was already on his way into the building. Both Obamas then welcomed her and put their hands on her back as if to prop her up. Mrs. Trump handed Mrs. Obama a Turn to B2

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