Despite the tragedies that are currently making the headlines, pardon me for being so stuck with FPJ. I just can’t resist sharing with you this greeting from a friend of “Da King”:
Isang bagsak
Sa ikababagsak
ng salot na Pandak!
Isang mapagpalayang bagong taon sa inyong lahat!
Sama-sama nating harapin ang Bagong Umaga!
The National Geographic Channel has a story on the claim in Dan Brown’s novel Da Vinci Code that Mary Magdalene is Jesus’ wife. The story promises to separate the fact from fiction. It will air on Sunday, December 19, 9 pm in the United States. If my computation is correct, that ‘s around 1pm on Monday here in the Philippines.
Here is a collection of excerpts from a number of Filipino bloggers’ entries about Fernando Poe, Jr. and his death. These entries were chosen from visited blogs and from Technorati search results:
The Sassy Lawyer, Queen of Philippine Blog Scene:
I extend my sympathies to those he left behind.
I guess that means we’re stuck with Gloria Arroyo.
Erin, Philippine-born Chinese from the University of Asia and the Pacific:
I am SICK and tired of how good FPJ was and how he should be someone everyone should look up to and how much good he gave to Philippine society, because FPJ was good only when he was sober (which isn’t very often), the only good he gave to Philippine society was increasing revenues of the beer industry, and the only reason why I look up to him is because I’m shorter than he is.
Archbishop Oscar Cruz, Roman Catholic bishop and anti-jueteng advocate:
Among all the presidential candidates in the last national elections, it was only Fernando Po, Jr., who signed a covenant with the Krusadang Bayang Laban sa Jueteng. It was only him who committed his governance to free the country of jueteng when elected to the Office of the President.
He took the risk of getting the ire of the gambling lords. He decided not to accept jueteng payola for election purposes. He was a moral giant not only in the movie world but also before the appreciation of the Krusada.
Communist Party of the Philippines spokesperson Gregorio “Ka Roger” Rosal has expressed his “sincerest sympathies to the family, friends and supporters of Fernando Poe Jr. (Ronald Allan Poe), who passed away earlier this morning.” Poe became comatose and later died after suffering a stroke.
Rosal said “the Filipino people will always remember FPJ as an actor who chose to depict characters who were poor and downtrodden but dared to defend their rights and fight their oppressors.”
Now, while Fernando Poe, Jr., (Ronald Allan Kelley Poe in real life) –the 65-year old king of Philippine cinema–is in coma after a stroke, we are again seeing this temporary unity among Filipinos.
People from all classes–from old housewives to government officials to popular actors and actressess to taxi drivers– have been expressing their sadness at what happened to the King. Amid reports that FPJ’s condition is not getting better, they are all hoping and praying that FPJ would be given another chance to live.
(Below is a NUJP-initiated pooled statement on the killing of journalists. For those who would like to sign this statement, please email nujphil@gmail.com. The list of signatories is here. )
The Philippine Constitution lists press freedom as a basic right of Filipinos, on par with the right to life, the right to freedom of speech and expression, and freedom from involuntary detention and torture.
On the eve of the commemoration of the International Day of Human Rights, Filipino print, radio, television and web-based media practitioners join the lament of all compatriots whose rights have been violated in what is supposed to be one of Asia’s most vibrant democracies.
If you’re tired of comment spam flooding your blog and advertising Casino, viagra, sex and penis enlargement pills, among other unwanted things, you might want to check out Coffelius’s blog. He has created Trencaspammers, an anti-comment spam plugin for WordPress. The site is in Spanish, I think, but the instructions on the Read me file of the plugin is in English. It’s fast and easy to install, so you might want to give it a try.
