American Disses Filipinos

It feels good that I'm not "Too Busy to Blog" anymore, but I do have one more deadline to meet. So instead of replying to this blog's first troll, who appeared on the same day I started posting again, I decided that I would just let my readers judge his far-out opinions for themselves. It is ironic, though, that this American expat actually left his comments on "What Do Foreigners See That We Don't?" It just goes to show that not all foreigners staying in the Philippines see our country the same way.

I will address the issue that got him started in another post, but here are his comments, with the one comment I bothered to make in bold:

[In case you miss it, here's his most hilarious comment: "you got students with 4 year bachelor degrees... that can't even spell!" The pot called the kettle black.]

What??? You said Americans invaded Philippines? What history book did you read that in? Who told you such nonsense? In the 1940's Americans came here to SAVE your country and your people from Japanese invasion. We lost thousands of Americans to save your land and your people (many of our kids have no father, no brother, no uncle, no grandfater... and imagine how they feel when they read your comments about Americans "invading" Philips). It wasn't the first time Americans came here to save your people and your country and it may not be the last time, so do not ever insult the Americans.Your present and past government has taken advantage of your people, but it's not our fault. Your people wanted "independence" - and America gave you independence. Now look at you. Your culture is the way it is for a reason: Your crooked government can take advance of you because they brainwashed you for centuries and you were suckers for it. Change some of yr culture beliefs and maybe you'll have a better life. Start with changing the belief that a kid (girls) must go work for her family to support them. That's a foolish belief; only a lazy person can excuse that as a culture belief! Yr government snickers at you for that belief because it means less people yr government must worry about, so they brainwashed yr people (like the spaniards did). The spanish brainwashed yr mountain folks to believe there's monsters in the mountains. To this day, people in samar and other parts of the philips believe in asawang! Hey!!! ... there's no boogie man! It was the Spaniards way of fooling your people to get them out of the mountains, just as yr government has been fooling you stupid people for centuries to believe you MUST support yr family. Go get a job, support yrself! Tell yr family that; tell yr brothers, sisters and father get a job support yrself. In a short time, you'll see changes made by yr government to improve things here. Yr people are going to America because we have a decent govnmnt, good jobs and good pay. Why do you think we have all that? We're not stupid, that's why! So .. next time an American gives you some advice, why not listen? After all, we did save yr people and your country... twice! We're clever people. Pay attention. Change some of yr "culture beliefs" and you'll have a better life in yr own country.
joe | 04.26.08 - 11:22 pm | #


Your people (Filipinos) are lazy. Thats the main reason for poverty and the horrible, crooked government you have in Philips. Yr people are too lazy to get a job, so they stand on street corners duriing election to accept the small bribes politicians hand out for yr votes! Stop that foolish tradition and vote for changes! Show yr govrnment yr not going to tolerate their illegal conduct, even if you have to go hungry, and God knows NONE of you will go hungry if you refuse a small bribe once a year! Next, you need to start WALKINNG instead of getting on the jeepneys and trikes. This will eliminate a whole lot of pollution and clear up some of the traffic. It also means less money for yr government from the small business owners operating those trike and jeepney services. I see filipinos get on a jeepney or trike to go a few blocks. Yr spending money for this. Save yr money, walk the few blocks! Find ways to improve yr society. Listen to foreigners - we're not stupid. Instead of spending all day at the internet cafe chatting guys to scam them for money, utilize yr time and money to educate yrself and yr people about the many ways to remove crooked politicans. Start by REFUSING to accept their bribes. Refuse to attend their beer parties and dance parties. Refuse their offerings of any kind. When you see the politicians blasting into town with 6 police escorts, new cars, buses blowing horns and sirens... refuse to look at them, refuse to acknowledge them... turn yr heads (and yr hands) away. Refuse to vote for them and refuse to do busiiness with business owners who use their store fronts to advertise for these crooked politicians. AND STOP WATCHING WOW WOW WEE AND DEAL OR NO DEAL!!! or any other program backed by yr politicans. STOP DRINKING SAM MIG BEER AND STOP BUYINIG SAM MIG PRODUCTS!!! These shows are put on yr tv to "passify" yr people, esp those without jobs! It's yr govrnment brainwashing yr people. Dont you get it??? OMG! Rally and unite and speak out... make it clear to yr govrnment that yr not going to tolerate this crap from them. and show them by turning off yr tv, refusiing bribes, and any other way yr govrnment makes money... eliminate it. Yr people hold the key to fixing the problem - the key is in the number of people u have in this country. Unite. You might have to work a little harder and eat a little less for a short time, but you'll get changes if you unite and stand up for yr rights. And stop blaming foreigners for yr problems!
expat | 04.26.08 - 11:49 pm | #


hey joe and expat, i can see your IP address so don't think you can pretend to be different people.

but to answer your first question, yes, the americans invaded our country in 1898. just like vietnam. just like iraq.

the rest of your "points" do not merit a reply.
vonjobi | Homepage | 04.27.08 - 12:56 am | #


yes, i'm well aware you can "see" my ip address and note I am one in the same, and i surely did not "pretend" to be 2 different people, its clear form my posts i'm the same person, but came back to make more points because i wasn't sure your cheaply designed (free) blog could handle the entire text i wrote.

i really dont care whether you respond to anything i said. it wasn't put there for you to respond. its the truth, as i see it and as thousands (perhaps millions) of other foreingers see it.

as for american-filipino war, please go back and research this a bit more ok? the philips was american territory. the war was yr dictators and a handful of crusaders trying to gain complete indpendence. you lost, and americans continued to occupy this country BECAUSE YOU STUPID MORONS AND YR GOVERNMENT CANNOT DO A VERY GOOD JOB RUNNING THIS COUNTRY, AS EVIDENCED BY YOUR CURRENT STATE ... A PROBLEM YOU'VE HAD FOR HOW MANY DECADES? I would not refer to that 1898 war as an "invasion" - the americans already occupied this land... it was american territory! I thought you said yr a lib science student or something? dont insult me with yr 2-bit comments representing yr total ignorance of history of yr own country!

anyway... to this day.. america protects yr people and yr land. right now in oceans offshore of mindano waits american battle ships. thousands of our troops are in mindano helping your soliders protect people from muslim groups and terrorists. most of it is to "train" yr soliders... but more of it has to do with yr country being so far behind in technology. in 98 percent of the philips, yr about 20 years behind the US in technology. in other places, yr 30 to 50 years behind us. even in bigger cites, omg i went to a girl's house and the new telephone they just had installed is something we used in 1965!!! YR INTERNET SPEED IS SO DAMN SLOW I'M AFRAID THIS MSG WONT SEND, IT WILL TIME OUT BEFORE IT POSTS!! and this is "HIGH" Speed internet, from yr major ISP ("SMARTbro"). wow. hey i'm not attacking you personally. if you can't admit yr country is screwed because yr people are stupid and lazy, then hey that's up to you. any american coming to this country sees and agrees with what i've said. i know this because i speak to americans every day, many lives in philips 20 to 30 years. we know the difference; we lived in america, and we lived here. yr country is screwed dude. only good thing here is some cute chicks and a few nice beaches, bbut even the nice beaches are going downhill fast. yr country is so dambn polluted its discusting. everywhere. pollution, garbarge. yr people are too damn lazy to use a trash can, just throw garbage on the street, in the water, it's pure stupidity, lazy, and incompetence. you got students with 4 year bachelor degrees working at mcdo and jollybe that can't even spell! americans complain about yr HORRIBLE serivce in nearly every restro we visit. kids with bachelor degree can't ev
expat | 04.27.08 - 3:27 am | #


U NEED A DIFFERENT IP ADDRESS? IF I WAS TRYING TO "PRETEND" TO BE 2 DIFFERENT PEOPLE I'D CHANGE MY IP ADDRESS. AMERICANS ARENT SO STUPID! I CANT REMEMBER WALKING INTO ANY AMERICAN'S HOUSE AND NOT FINDING A COMPUTER AND INTERNET.. AND HIGH TECH SERVICES. HERE, MOST PEOPLE DONT EVEN HAVE A COMPUTER, AND WHAT YOU FIND IN THE INTERNET CAFE IS FROM THE 1980s, at least! All filipino studies is how to scam people. changing an ip address or scamming someone is simple. omg yr so retarded dude.
expat | 04.27.08 - 3:31 am | #


what you see is not MY ip, fool. omg. i'm not here to educate you ok?
expat | 04.27.08 - 3:31 am | #


lol, and dont 4get, not only are americans smart, we have money. lots of it! most americans have more than 1 computer (I have 6, and im not even at my home in america!!!). thats because i have money... because im smart. if you were smart, you would have 6 laptops, too. so if i was trying to fool anyone, i'd just use another computer, or change my ip address. right? you want different ip address? here's 6 different ips. count em.... here's 1
expat | 04.27.08 - 3:38 am | #


I order and command:
1. That peace and friendly relations with the Americans be broken and that the latter be treated as enemies, within the limits prescribed by the laws of war.

2. That the Americans captured be held as prisoners of war.

3. That this proclamation be communicated to the consuls and that congress order and accord a suspension of the constitutional guarantee, resulting from the declaration of war.

Thats what your government pronounced in a declaration. the "war" you mention was actually started by a drunken filipino who refused to "halt" when an american solider shouted at him to stop. the filipino was armed and refused to halt. he was shot. he was drunk, and so were the 3 filipinos he was with (according to yr own government reports). americans never came to philips to "invade" as you put it. omg yr so soooooo stupid.
expat | 04.27.08 - 3:49 am | #

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Deadline for Nominationsfor 2008 National Book Awards

The deadline for submission of nominations for the 2008 National Book Awards is 30 April 2008. Unfortunately, as far as I can tell, this information has not been widely disseminated. I am, therefore, reproducing the guidelines from the Manila Critics Circle (MCC) and the National Book Development Board (NBDB) below.

This is the first time that MCC and NBDB are teaming up, and there are a few things that must be noted:

1. Nominations must be submitted to the Accreditation and Incentives Division of the NBDB.
2. Only books published by NBDB-registered publishers or have ISBNs may be nominated.
3. Only those books with ISBNs may qualify for a National Book Award.

Based on my limited understanding of the guidelines, it seems that a book without an ISBN may be nominated as long as its publisher is registered with NBDB, but it will not be eligible for an award. It seems, therefore, that if you're planning to nominate a book, you better make sure it has an ISBN, otherwise, it will be a wasted effort even if its publisher is registered with the NBDB.

By the way, it seems strange that there is nothing in the guidelines that indicates that the book should have been published between 1 January and 31 December 2007. But I suppose that's what those who drafted the document meant.


National Book Awards

I. General rules

A. The Board of Judges

1. Every year, the Board of Judges (BOJ) of the National Book Awards shall be composed of:

a. Five (5) members of the Manila Critics Circle (MCC) to be designated by MCC; and
b. One (1) judge nominated by the National Book Development Board (NBDB).

2. There will be two divisions: literary and non-literary.

3. There shall be the same members of the BOJ from the MCC for both the literary and non-literary divisions. The NBDB, however, reserves the right to nominate a different judge for each category within any division, depending on the expertise of the chosen judge.

4. Books of members of the MCC are disqualified from winning any award for any category in any division. Likewise, the books of the NBDB-nominated judge shall be disqualified for the category s/he is judging.

5. Each member of the BOJ is entitled to one (1) vote. A vote must be explained verbally during the voting process, taking into consideration factors that determine the quality of the title.

6. A title in all categories of both divisions must be voted upon unanimously by every member of the BOJ to win.

7. Meetings of the BOJ shall be held at the NBDB Conference Room or at any designated place agreed upon beforehand by the members of the BOJ.

8. Minutes of every meeting by the BOJ shall be taken by a member of the NBDB Secretariat, who shall keep the minutes in a confidential file within the premises of the NBDB.

9. The BOJ shall make a list of finalists numbering five (5) titles at most per category, from which the winners of each category are determined. A winner for each category must be determined by September 30, 2008.

B. Submissions

1. A letter nominating the titles, accompanied by an initial two (2) copies of the books, must be submitted to the Accreditation and Incentives Division (AID) of the NBDB at the

2/F National Printing Office Building,
EDSA corner NIA Northside Road,
Diliman, Quezon City 1100

2. Only publishers registered with the NBDB will be allowed to nominate their titles. If the titles are nominated by a literary organization, a university department, or a professional organization, such titles must be published by an NBDB-registered publisher. Only those entities whose main activity is not publishing but publish books from time to time as an auxiliary activity to their main business or activity are exempt from registration requirement; provided, however, their published titles have an ISBN.

3. Nominations without the accompanying initial 2 books will not be considered at all.

4. Only those books with ISBNs may qualify for a National Book Award.

5. The deadline for the submission of all nominations is at noon of April 30, 2008.

6. All books submitted to the NBDB for consideration in the National Book Awards become the property of the NBDB.

C. Announcement of finalists and winners

1. Winners shall be announced only during the awarding ceremonies.

2. All decisions of the BOJ are final.

3. Finalists in all categories will be invited to the awarding ceremonies to be scheduled on a date within Philippine Book Development Month, and at a place to be determined by the NBDB.

II. Literary Titles

A. Nomination and Judging

1. Any publisher registered with the National Book Development Board (NBDB) may nominate a literary title, published in the previous year, by sending a letter of nomination and by submitting an initial two (2) copies of that title for consideration of the judges in the following categories, in English, Filipino, or any other language:

a. Novel;
b. Poetry;
c. Essay;
d. Creative Non-Fiction;
e. Literary Criticism;
f. Short Fiction;
g. Drama;
h. Graphic Novel;
i. Children’s Fiction;
j. Children’s Poetry;
k. Other genres as may be determined by the Board of Judges (BOJ).

2. The NBDB will forward these nominations to a chosen literary organization registered with the National Commission for Culture and Arts (NCCA) for prescreening. Nominated titles for different categories may not necessarily be given to one literary organization. The NBDB reserves the right to choose the literary organizations for each category, subject to the approval of the Chair of the NBDB Governing Board. The literary organizations will be given thirty (30) days from receipt of the nominated titles to come up with a short list.

3. Literary organizations registered with the NCCA may nominate titles to the NBDB, which shall not go through a prescreening process as long as the nomination is signed by the head of the organization.

4. The members of the MCC also reserve the right to nominate titles for the consideration of the BOJ, provided none of the titles nominated by them, or by any publisher, or literary organization, are authored by any member of the MCC. Consequently, any title authored by any member of the MCC is automatically disqualified from winning.

5. Publishers of titles submitted for prescreening and short-listed by these literary organizations, or nominated by the MCC or by a NCCA- registered literary organization, shall be informed in writing that their titles have been short-listed, and shall be required to submit an additional six (6) copies of the books to the NBDB. Non-submission of the required copies will disqualify the title from consideration by the BOJ.

6. The chosen NCCA-registered literary organization shall submit to the NBDB a short list of the nominated titles, judging only the literary merits of the books without going into other aspects of the books, and without ranking them.

7. The literary organizations will be given thirty (30) days from receipt of the books to submit a short list of the titles to the NBDB. Should there be no short list given by the literary organization within the given period, all nominated books will be forwarded to the BOJ, unless otherwise disqualified.

8. The NBDB shall inform the BOJ no later than June 30, 2008, that the books to be the subject of final judging are ready for pick up at the NBDB office.

III. Non-literary Titles

A. Nomination and Judging

1. Any NBDB-registered publisher, professional organization, or university department may nominate a title published in the previous year, by submitting a letter of nomination. Publishers who nominate their titles must also submit two (2) initial copies of that title for consideration of the judges in the following categories:

a. Sciences;
b. Social Sciences;
c. Humanities;
d. Professions;
e. Reference;
f. Other categories as may be determined by the BOJ.

2. Non-literary titles nominated directly by an NBDB-registered publisher shall be submitted by the NBDB to a professional organization or a university department in the field the nominated title belongs to. Such professional organization or university department shall be approved by the Chair of the NBDB’s Governing Board.

3. The professional organization or university department shall short list the titles bearing in mind the following:

a. This prescreening is limited only to judging the soundness of the contents of the book;
b. They are given thirty (30) days to evaluate the book from the time of receipt of the books;
c. Upon passing the prescreening process, the title shall be passed on to the BOJ, for regular judging.

4. A title that has been rejected by the prescreening professional organization or university department shall no longer be submitted to the BOJ for judging. However, the BOJ will be notified in writing by the NBDB Secretariat that such a title was prescreened by a particular organization or university department, and did not pass the pre- screening process.

5. If a short-listed title was nominated by an NBDB-registered publisher, the NBDB shall inform such publisher accordingly, and shall be required to submit an additional six (6) copies to the NBDB for submission to the BOJ.

6. If a title was nominated by a professional organization or university department, the title shall no longer go through a prescreening process. However, the publisher of such title will be informed that its title has been nominated by a professional organization or university department, without naming the organization or department, and such publisher shall be required to submit seven (7) copies of that title for the BOJ: six (6) for the BOJ, and one extra copy for the NBDB library.

7. Professional organizations that submit titles for consideration must also submit a copy of their SEC registration to the NBDB.

8. Submissions by university departments must contain the signature of the head of the department, or an authorized department representative as designated by the dean of the college or the university president.

9. Only titles prescreened by a chosen professional organization or university department, when nominated by a publisher, or directly nominated by a professional organization or a university department may be considered by the BOJ.

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Too Busy to Blog

This blog will not be updated until 24 April 2008 at the earliest. Its owner is too busy to blog. Wish him luck.

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Promoting Libraries

The screenshot above, showing that there was "No event for the [sic] Wednesday, March 5 2008" is from the National Library's Events page. It doesn't seem to be fully functional yet, but it's actually encouraging that the website is even up and that the catalog is working, considering that I've noted in the past that it wasn't always up (see this and this). So why the screenshot? Well, according to "107th Anniversary of the National Library of the Philippines" (Manila Bulletin, 5 March 2008), March 5 was the National Library's anniversary. The editorial's writer could have been mistaken—after all, I did receive an announcement last year that the National Library was celebrating its 120th anniversary on 14 August 2007—but this only goes to show that the National Library needs to do a better job of communicating with the public, not to mention journalists.

Another article, "eLibrary offers 800,000 literary works" by Rizalene Acac (Philippine Daily Inquirer, 10 March 2008), indicates that the Philippine eLib has "800,000 items on Philippine literature [that] have not been explored fully by students and researchers, according to a top National Library official." Well, I think it's unreasonable to expect that people will go to the eLib so that they can read novels. And then there's the prepaid card factor. As another blogger wrote last year,

One would have to buy a prepaid card in the National Library and then use it to download one’s selected content. Which sort of defeats the purpose of an e-text website, since the reason why I visited it was precisely because I did not have the time to drop by the actual library.

In contrast, there's the FEATI University Library. It doesn't have a separate website with a searchable catalog (maybe because it's not necessary?), but it just finished its "FEATI U Library Week 2008," which featured movies, music and poetry at a "Riverview Cafe." It seems to have been well-received by the community and encouraged participation not only during, but even before the event. Pictures of the different events, available on the FEATI website, accompany the post-event article, which reports that suggestions have been made to turn the cafe into a permanent feature.

Different libraries have different problems, of course, but what I wrote in the misleadingly-titled "Sex in the Library" is applicable for most libraries, especially "Promotions" and "Positioning." You may also want to check out "Proactive Librarians," which has suggestions that can be used to promote libraries.

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Manny "Pac Man" Pacquiao vsJuan Manuel "Dinamita" Marquez

"Many people think Manny Pacquiao is a Mexican killer, I don't think so. And on March 15 I will demonstrate who's better."

That's what Juan Manuel Marquez says in the video above. In English. (Even though someone translates the questions for him into Spanish.) In contrast, Manny Pacquiao goes beyond talking or singing (!)—in Tagalog and English—and is now writing for a tabloid. The name of his twice-a-week column is Kumbinasyon, which actually reads more like it was dictated to someone =)

Marquez was, of course, referring to his fight with Pacquiao on Sunday, 16 March 2008, which will be shown in Manila starting at 9 am on GMA. (Note: Due to time zone differences, the fight actually takes place in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Saturday, 15 March 2008, 6 pm.)

Anyway, the usual go-to sites are HBO, if you're in North America; and GMA's Unfinished Business, if you're in the Philippines. But you should check out Pacquiao Video, where you can view the full 30-minute video of HBO's "Countdown to Marquez Pacquiao II," see the list of venues where the fight will be shown on a big screen for a fee or free (all over the Philippines!), and read tips on how you can watch the fight online for free!

If none of these work for you, you'll just have to wait for Pinoy Rickey to upload clips in his usual uploaded-within-minutes style. And if you really can't watch the fight on TV or online, news updates will be available on Inquirer.net's "The Pacquiao Files," Google News, Yahoo! News, and Topix.net. Or you can check out what bloggers are saying on Technorati and Google Blog Search.

Finally, Pacland has the latest news about Pacquiao from different sources, plus information about all previous fights and a forum for his fans.

By the way, for the benefit of those with editor-itis—and search engines LOL!—PacqUIAO is not spelled PacqUAIO or PacqUIO.

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Of Budgets, Leadership and the National Library

Below are links to a few articles you may have missed, plus my comments.

Public libraries don't get enough funding. From "Public library gets budget for repair, new books" (Cebu Daily News, 20 February 2008)

For the first time, the Mandaue City Public Library is getting a budget to buy new reading materials and repair the building.

Acting librarian Marrieta Orque expressed relief that the government has allocated a budget for the purchase of new books for the library.

It's good news of course, but it's really sad that the fact that the library was allotted a budget, which is taken for granted elsewhere, is considered newsworthy. If Orque, as the article reports, has been with the library for 20 years, does this mean that the library has been operating without a budget all that time? Probably not... but I wouldn't be surprised, either, if the answer is "yes."

A town in Leyte seems to be in better shape. From "Poor town has modern library" by Joey Gabieta (Philippine Daily Inquirer, 21 January 2008):

This sleepy agricultural town has what other municipalities in the province lack—a modern and fully air-conditioned library.

Credit goes to its young mayor, Bernard Jonathan Remandaban, who said his "bias" for education was the main driver for the construction of a two-story library building on a one-hectare lot that was once a swampy area at the town center.

What's the difference? It's obvious that the town has a leader who thinks libraries are important. I don't really like the fact that no mention is made of the librarian (I certainly hope they hired one), but a new library building is certainly much more welcome news.

And then there's the National Library of the Philippines. From a column by Wilson Lee Flores (Philippine Star, 21 January 2008):

I urge the state to build more public libraries and to rebuild our National Library, instead of more waiting sheds, basketball courts or cock-fighting pits. Why is it that a private-sector bookstore like Fully Booked in The Fort is nicer than our republic’s so-called "National Library," which I believe should be renamed "National Disgrace"!

There is, of course, a simple answer: the private sector has more money than the state. And the state has never really considered libraries a priority. So I wouldn't really count on the government allotting a budget for libraries. My suggestion? Get the private sector involved (e.g., naming rights), but before that can be done, we need leaders!

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The Philippines: Singular and Plural

Today is the anniversary of the final day of the 1986 EDSA Revolution.

And since I've been reading too many Philippine history books lately—even though I'm not doing my PhD on Philippine history—I thought I'd share two of the best paragraphs written about the Philippines by non-Filipino historians.

The first, from David Joel Steinberg's The Philippines: A Singular and a Plural Place, reminded me of "The Philippines are or is?" and is probably the best description I have ever read of the Philippines:

The Philippines is a singular and plural noun. The name Philippines refers both to an island archipelago and to a country of over 75 million people. It identifies a unified nation with a single people, the Filipinos, and also a highly fragmented, plural society divided between Muslims and Christians, peasants and city dwellers, uplanders and lowlanders, rich and poor, and between the people of one ethnic, linguistic, or geographic region and those of another. To understand the Philippines, one must understand the conflict between the centripetal force of consensus and national identity and the centrifugal force of division and instability (4th ed., 2000, p. xiii).

The second, from Stanley Karnow's In Our Image: America's Empire in the Philippines, makes a very important point usually forgotten amid all the political and personal "issues" that plague Philippine society:

Filipinos readily accepted American styles and institutions. They learned to behave, dress and eat like Americans, sing American songs and speak Americanized English. Their lawyers familiarized themselves with American jurisprudence, and their politicians absorbed American democratic procedures, displaying unique skills in American parliamentary practices. But they never became the Americans that Americans sought to make them. To this day, they are trying to define their national identity (1989, p. 198).

While some will probably argue that the authors are guilty of oversimplifying, it cannot be denied that there is a lot of truth in what they write. Ours is, in fact, a nation divided. We have an official national language that nobody really speaks (see "Buwan ng Wika 2007"), and students are forced to memorize countless "national" odds and ends (e.g., national bird, national tree), but what is it exactly that makes inhabitants of the Philippines truly Filipino? I would say that my identity as a Filipino lies in the numerous political, religious, and cultural influences that have shaped our history. Then again, I'm sure many other Filipinos will disagree.

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Filipino Librarian is Three Years Old!

Three years ago, I wrote that, "I am not really a blogger but I thought of setting up this blog as a way of establishing a presence for Filipino librarians on the Internet." Well, I've since become a real blogger (one symptom: feeling guilty if I don't blog) that now I always identify myself as the owner of the blog Filipino Librarian whenever I am asked for a short bio—in addition to saying that I am a Filipino librarian.

During past anniversaries, I have reviewed the "accomplishments" of this blog, but this time I will just take comfort in the fact that many more librarians and libraries are blogging than when I first started, and invite you to comment on the changes I finally got around to making. Perhaps the most noticeable will be the fact that I've decided to stop hiding behind the Philippine flag, and use my photo as a way to let people know that not all librarians are female, wear glasses and... have hair =)

By the way, this blog's design is still a work in progress. In the next few days, I hope to return all the bells and whistles that this blog used to have—especially the ones that I think are worth keeping.

For an overview of this blog's "journey" to its third anniversary, check out the following posts:

Mabuhay! (first post in 2005)
Six Months!
Filipino Librarian is One Year Old!
Filipino Librarian is Two Years Old!

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Singles' Awareness Day

The poster above by Alan V may be dated, but I say it's timeless. It used to be that I was just a member of Samahan ng Atenistang Walang Iniibig (SAWI), but now I think it's so much more comforting that there's actually an official Singles' Awareness Day (SAD).

For more information, see the "official" Singles' Awareness website and the Singles Awareness Day entry on Wikipedia. If you would like to celebrate it yourself, you may wish to attend some of the seminars listed below (based on another blogger's list):

1. The Basics of Cross-Stitching
2. Advanced Cross-Stitching (Single Since Birth Only)
3. Speed-Dating for Dummies
4. Surviving Weddings and Other Family Gatherings

I don't really know where I'll be on February 14, but I don't think I'll be blogging. So advanced Happy SAD! =)

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FO: Plays

Thanks to a comment left by Aurelio, I thought of looking for plays that are available online. The works listed below are available in their entirety on The United States and its Territories (USIT), Literatura and Pantas.

The following are some of the plays found on USIT (click on the link to see the rest). These were published between 1904 and 1938 in Tagalog, Cebuano and Hiligaynon. I don't know how good these plays are or how many people watched them, but I think that the fact that a publisher actually thought they were worth printing says something about their quality and/or popularity. I don't think many plays in Philippine languages ever make it into print nowadays, but I'd be very happy if someone can prove me wrong. Leave a comment =)


FLORENTINO BORROMEO
Ang kagawasan

FRUTO CRUZ
Pagcabunyi nang mahal na Sta. Cruz

E. DE LA RAMA
Ang basa-basa

GABRIEL BEATO FRANCISCO
Ang Katipunan

EMILIANO GABUYA
Tirana

ANGEL MAGAHUM
Ang gugma sang maluib

JOSE J. SANCHEZ
Kasingkasing sa babaye

PIO B. SEAN
Talikala

JOSE MARIA RIVERA
Cinematografo

VICENTE SOTTO
Ang dila sa babaye

The Palanca Award-winning one-act plays listed below, in contrast to the USIT plays, are the only ones on Literatura with their full text available online. Excerpts of other plays—including the authors' email addresses—may also be found in Literatura 8, 10, 12 and 13. Please note that permission from the authors must be obtained before any of the plays listed below are performed.

DEAN FRANCIS ALFAR
The Kite of Stars

ALFONSO DACANAY
First Snow of November

GLENN SEVILLA MAS
Her Father’s House

Two more plays are available as PDF fles on Pantas:

WILFRIDO MA. GUERRERO
The Condemned

JOSE RIZAL
Sanggunian ng mga Dios-Diosan

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