"Yan ang Pinay" is the de facto name of an informal campaign to change the top search engine results for the word "Filipina." This is being done because the top results do not reflect the many diverse facets of the modern Filipina. Incidentally, this movement is not limited to women. After all, the one who got the ball rolling (Milky Soft), the designer of the first logo (Jonas Diego) and this blogger are men.
Googlebombing is the method being employed because Google is the most visible search engine nowadays. However, it is hoped that if this effort is successful, then it will be easier to replicate with other search engines.
But it must be noted that search engines are not the enemy. These search engines, after all, only reflect the prevailing reality in cyberspace. The Filipina who is a mail-order bride, date seeker, or sex worker is not the enemy, either. They are every bit as worthy of being called Filipinas as other Filipinas.
The enemy, if you could call it that, is complacency. Many Filipinas do not identify themselves as Filipina—perhaps for fear of being told that "Filipina" is a non-word or that it's not a politically correct term. But another reason, I believe, is that the Filipina does not feel it is necessary to identify herself as a Filipina. And that, I think, is how those who "buy" or "sell" the Filipina online came to "own" the word "Filipina" in cyberspace. After all, if the only ones using the term are looking for sex, then we should not be surprised if the word "Filipina" and "sex" show up at the top of search engine results.
If you would like to join this movement, please do one or all of the following:
1. If you are a woman of Filipino descent, identify yourself as a Filipina—not just as a "Filipino" or "Filipino woman"—on your blog or website. Or, if you have neither, urge those with blogs or websites to join this campaign.
2. If you are not a woman or are not of Filipino descent, whenever you refer to female officemates and friends who are Filipino in your blog or website, please identify them as Filipina. Or, again, urge those who have blogs or websites to join this campaign.
3. Link. This is the most important thing you can do. If you have time, turn every mention of the word "Filipina" into a link. If you don't have time, just put a link anywhere on your blog or website, preferably on the sidebar. And it doesn't have to be the word itself. Any image or photo that represents a Filipina may be turned into a link. And no, being a non-techie is not an excuse because if you have a blog or website, then you can cut and paste the following code into your template:
Filipina: Wikipedia<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filipina" rel="tag">Filipina</a>: Wikipedia
Filipina: Merriam-Webster<a href="http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=Filipina" rel="tag">Filipina</a>: Merriam-Webster
Filipina: American Heritage<a href="http://www.bartleby.com/61/93/F0119350.html" rel="tag">Filipina</a>: American Heritage
Filipina: Filipina Women's Network<a href="http://www.ffwn.org/" rel="tag">Filipina</a>: Filipina Women's Network
Filipina: Gabriela Network<a href="http://www.gabnet.org/" rel="tag">Filipina</a>: Gabriela Network
Filipina: Bagong Pinay<a href="http://www.newfilipina.com/" rel="tag">Filipina</a>: Bagong Pinay
Filipina: Purple Rose Campaign<a href="http://www.purplerosecampaign.org/" rel="tag">Filipina</a>: Purple Rose Campaign
4. Tag. We need to know who has joined the campaign so we can link to one another. If you use the code above, then the links will automatically be tagged. But if you would like to tag previous posts, then just copy and paste the following into your blog or website:
Tags: Filipina, FilipinasTags: <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/Filipina" rel="tag">Filipina</a>, <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/Filipinas" rel="tag">Filipinas</a>
And finally, to understand why we need to do this—instead of just asking or pressuring search engines to ignore websites we don't like (there's a clue right there)—see Google's "An explanation of our search results."
Related posts:Filipina: The Filipina in Cyberspace
Filipina: Images of the Filipina Online
Filipina: Sacha Chua: Filipina
Filipina: Yan ang Pinay
The Filipina and "Yan ang Pinay"
Labels:
Filipina
The State of Public Schools
In "What needs to be done" (Philippine Daily Inquirer, 29 May 2005), Juan Miguel Luz, an undersecretary of the Department of Education, analyzes the problems ailing public school education:
Among the underlying causes are poorly trained teachers, inadequate funding, overcrowded classrooms and the lack of textbooks and other instructional materials. In short, the usual suspects. But if this were always the case, why do some schools and students do well even if they face the same constraints?His answer: there are other factors that influence the quality of education. In short, throwing money at the problem is not the only solution. There are other problems:
- Corruption: If a bigger budget is allotted for public schools, how can we be sure that the money will go where it's supposed to go? See "At DepEd, A Cleanup at the Top but Corruption in Field Offices" by Yvonne Chua (PCIJ, 9-10 June 2003).
- Lack of leadership: In "Congratulations and confessions" (Philippine Daily Inquirer, 3 April 2005), Edilberto de Jesus, a former education secretary, says that, "Improving the educational system requires leaders willing to take decisions that may initially appear unpopular." Why? The third problem:
- Lack of political will: The recent resignation of the chair of the Commission on Higher Education highlights the don't-walk-the-talk policy currently in place. Leadership on the lower levels cannot exist without leadership at the highest level. See "Editorial: Higher-education lows" (Philippine Daily Inquirer, 15 May 2005).
FO: The Presidents of the Philippines
Note: Today is the beginning of the "Flag Days," which, according to Section 26 of Republic Act 8491, are held "from May 28 to June 12 of each year... during which period all offices, agencies and instrumentalities of government, business establishments, institutions of learning and private homes are enjoined to display the flag."The Official Website of Joseph Ejercito Estrada was in the news recently. While it has its own value in terms of presenting a particular president's view of his presidency, it will not be the best source for objective views on what he was (not) able to accomplish.
There are other websites about Filipino presidents, including the one for the Office of the President, but the best online sources for information on the presidents of the Philippines are:
- The Wikipedia entry on "President of the Philippines," which contains links to biographical entries for the current and all previous presidents; and
- The Philippine Presidency Project, which does away with the biographical approach and, instead, focuses on providing facts (e.g., inaugural places and dates) and highlighting demographic and economic data at the beginning and end of each president's term. (Tip: Click on a president's portrait on the main page to go to his/her page and don't forget to check out official election results from 1935 onward in the Archives.)
Series: Filipiniana Online
The State of Public School Libraries
Labels:
Libraries: Public Schools
In elementary schools, there is no allocation for a librarian. In the secondary level, supposedly there should be one librarian for every 1,000 students in a school. Donated books and materials may be available, but there's no professional staff to man the library. There are purportedly satellite learning resource centers, but more often, they are poorly equipped, not functional, and good only during evaluation periods.The excerpt from the letter to the editor quoted above is correct—but not entirely. According to a little-known DECS Order (No. 6, signed by Ricardo Gloria on 22 January 1998) entitled "Policies and Programs for School Library Development," there should be one teacher-librarian for every school with a student population of 500 or less, one full-time and one part-time teacher-librarian for those with 501-2,000, and an additional full-time librarian for every 1,000 students for those that have more than 2,000 students (see Page 3).
—"Our teachers' poor comprehension" by Reuben Ramos (Philippine Daily Inquirer, 18 April 2005)
The same DECS Order also states that "Library funds shall be 5-10% of the school funds" (see Page 5). Unfortunately, the DECS Order cannot be enforced because a law—and not just an order from a long-gone department secretary—is needed to appropriate funds automatically in public schools in the Philippines.
DECS Order No. 6, s. 1998
If you would like to help public school libraries in the Philippines, forward this post to your congressman (so that a bill can be drafted allocating funds for libraries) or the higher-ups at the Department of Education (so they can review the order and issue an updated one).
Related posts:
Basic Education and Corruption
Librarians as Leaders
Hope for Public School Libraries
Public School Libraries
Yan ang Pinay
Labels:
Filipina
Please feel free to right-click on any of the "Yan ang Pinay" logos above, save it to your computer (preferably with the word "filipina" in the filename, e.g., filipina.jpg), and upload to your website or blog. (Logo by Jonas Diego.)
It all started with an email from Clair, who learned about it from Ramil's "Filipina," who got the idea from Ergoe's "Result-Oriented," who picked it up from Milky Soft's "Filipina and the Philippines," the one that started it all.
And now it has become a movement. With its own logo! Even Global Voices Online has taken note of the effort in its "Monday World Blog Roundup." The following are the blogs that I know of that have entries on the results that appear when the word "Filipina" is Googled:
- Blah!: "Google for the word “Filipina” and see what turns up" and "Thoughts on being a Filipina"
- Iblog: "The Google Zeitgeist on 'Filipina'"
W3O: "What is a Filipina?" - To the Tale: "Stereotypically Speaking..."
- Sassy Lawyer: "What is a Filipina?"
- Drakulita: "Filipina!"
- Jardine Davies' Every Other Rambling: "Google Keyword: Filipina"
- Tigastitig: "Filipina"
- Information Narcosis: "The Truth About the Filipina"
- Snarkmarket: "Electronic Wars of Self-Representation"
- Global Voices Online: "Thursday World Blog Roundup"
- Teacher Sol: "I am a Filipina teacher" and "Yan ang Pinay"
- Milky Soft: "Small Steps"
- Balay ni Bambit: See sidebar
- Beth's Blog: "Google Bombing Campaign: Filipina"
- The Ignatian Perspective: "Using 'Filipina' Not A Dilemma"
- Ergoe: "Yan ang Pinay!"
Please feel free to right-click on any of the "Pinay!" logos above, save it to your computer (preferably with the word "filipina" in the filename, e.g., filipina.jpg), and upload to your website or blog. (Logo by Drakulita.)
I have also written "The Filipina in Cyberspace," "Images of the Filipina Online," and "Sacha Chua: Filipina."
So why am I doing all of this? I owe a lot to Filipinas, especially Filipina librarians, and my mom!
Tags: Filipina, Filipinas
Update the National Anthem?
Ambeth Ocampo, a historian and chair of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, wrote the following in his column today:
Can our youth still identify with a tune that is over a century old? Or do we reinvent or repackage that same tune to make our youth sit up, rap, or dance, as they revisit the past? ...Nobody seems to care that the Flag Code prescribes that the anthem be sung the way Julian Felipe composed it in 1898. Is this possible?It seems that he would like to update the National Anthem but is constrained by Section 37 of Republic Act 8491 ("The rendition of the National Anthem, whether played or sung, shall be in accordance with the musical arrangement and composition of Julian Felipe") to keep it as it is.—"The right way to sing the National Anthem" (Philippine Daily Inquirer, 25 May 2005)
To echo his question, is it possible to update the National Anthem and still retain its patriotic feel? My answer: not only possible, but necessary. We do not speak now the way Filipinos spoke during the time of the Philippine Revolution. And we should not be expected to sing the way they sang.
Boring--Addresses, essays, lectures
This is not a joke. There is, in fact, a book in the Library of Congress with this subject heading. Beth Dunning, in "Newsflash! Subject Headings not boring!" (Marginal Librarian 12:2), suggests that "someone at the Library of Congress has a sense of humour, and is taking advantage of the fact that no one is watching." But in this particular case, the subject heading may be argued to have been correctly assigned because the book is a collection of papers read at a conference on drilling and rock mechanics.
Check out the article for more hilarious subject headings. And if you have any of your own (preferably available through an online catalog), please share them by clicking on "Add a comment" below.
"Intriguingly Named"
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About Filipino Librarian
You need a master's degree to be a librarian?The answers are "Yes," "Yes," and "Work as a librarian, of course." I've had to deal with these questions because of my not-so-common desire to become a librarian. But lately, especially at i blog, I've been surprised at some of the reactions I've been getting after introducing myself as a librarian. Rei, a Filipina foreign service officer, wrote the following in Synesthetique:
There's a licensure exam for librarians?
What will you do with your degree and license?
Aside from picking up some shiny new tips and information snippets on blogging, I met a few fellow bloggers... there was the guy with the intriguingly named Filipino Librarian blog.
I was so intrigued by her comment that I conducted the following conversation with her on her TagBoard:
vonjobi: "intriguingly named" - thanks for the reference. i wonder what you found intriguing about the name. it sounds very plain vanilla to me =)Unstated conclusion: bloggers are usually voracious readers. Taking it one step further: bloggers, therefore, tend to appreciate libraries and librarians more than non-readers. And if you just happen to be reading this—I hope you'll forgive any lapses in logic—maybe you're not a writer, blogger or librarian, but you're definitely a reader =)
rei: Intriguing because I've always wanted to be a librarian. I've always thought the work holds a certain mystique - imagine being around all those books!
vonjobi: ha! one more reason to be happy that i went to the summit. i usually get blank stares when i tell people that i'm a librarian. could it be that bloggers tend to [be] book lovers?
rei: I think we *do* tend to be book lovers. Bloggers tend to identify themselves as writers, and writers are usually voracious readers
Sacha Chua: Filipina
Labels:
Filipina
Sacha Chua at i blog
(Photo by Jon Lao)
Sacha Chua, Filipina, is the "girl with an instruction manual," according to her boyfriend, Dominique Cimafranca, who wrote about how he got to know her in "Cupid is a geek" (Philippine Daily Inquirer, 4 May 2005). She just came back from Japan on a scholarship and recently got accepted for another one in Canada. If you want to check out her "instruction manual," see "A tongue-in-cheek guide to going after or making friends with Sacha Chua."
Notes:
- This is the third in a series of posts. Please see "The Filipina in Cyberspace" and "Images of the Filipina Online" to understand the objective of this series.
- If you would like to contribute to the effort to project a more wholesome image of the Filipina online, please put a photo of a Filipina (whom you think best represents the Filipina today) on your website or blog, make sure the word "Filipina" appears in the caption or as close as possible to the photo, and that the same word is also in the photo's file names (e.g., filipina.jpg) or URL (e.g., www.filipina.com).
- Part of the problem we have now, in my opinion, is that it is mostly those engaged in the trafficking of Filipinas who put the word "Filipina" on their websites. And so, henceforth, females of Filipino descent will be identified in this blog as "Filipina" (and not just the generic "Filipino").
- Flickr is still relatively new, but if you look for photos tagged Filipina, you will see that the same problem is also prevalent. What can we do? If you're a Flickr user, make sure you use "Filipina" as a tag, when appropriate, for your photos.
Tags: Filipina, Filipinas
Images of the Filipina Online
Labels:
Filipina
The problem is worse. Check out Google Images and Yahoo! Images.
It is not entirely clear to me what kind of algorithm the search engines use for images, but Google's Image Search Help provides some clues:
How does image search work?Yahoo!, on the other hand, seems to rely on the presence of the word "Filipina" in file names (e.g., filipina.jpg) and URLs (e.g., www.filipina.com) to come up with its results.Google analyzes the text on the page adjacent to the image, the image caption and dozens of other factors to determine the image content. Google also uses sophisticated algorithms to remove duplicates and ensure that the highest quality images are presented first in your results.
No, I don't have an answer similar to the one presented in "The Filipina in Cyberspace." I hope someone can take over from here because it's close to midnight ("Thriller?!"), I'm sleepy, I have lots of work to do tomorrow (yes, on a Sunday), and my mind isn't working anymore...
Tags: Filipina, Filipinas
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