THE VICTORINA YEAREND REPORT
Last of A Series
These four areas are:
1. GMA's administration survived another year, despite Lozada, Jocjoc, Cha-cha, Impeachment, Eurogen, extrajudicial killings, and some Catholic bishops. Victorina posted entries about all these, and earned some flack for not offering some real solutions, and for calling Her Excellency midget. Still, the discussions were healthy, if not repetitive. We learned that when it comes to PGMA, the people have made up their minds. No rallies, CBCP pronouncements, Lozada tears, or punditry can change that. The fulcrum lies in the barber shop sentiment: yes, we know she is corrupt, but she is doing great things for the economy, and nobody with honesty and integrity can replace her, so why bother. Victorina stays with its aim: that PGMA honors the constitution and steps down in 2010, so that she can be subjected to a fair trial. For the moment, we have to be vigilant and expose more corruption. In the meantime, Amnesty International reported that 933 extrajudicial killings were committed under her administration, 43 of them during the first half of the year.
2. Public opinion earned a major victory when Christy Fermin was suspended by ABS-CBN, pressured by increasing demands from blogs, emails and text messages. It was a rare instance of consumer-victory. Victorina had a field day celebrating that moment, together with the rest of the Internet citizens who felt grossly offended that Christy used the powerful media company to win her personal fights, and earned millions just by being nasty. The other media-related entries: Wowowie, Supreme, Boy Abunda among others were wildly participated in by the "commenters". Victorina senses that pop culture as defined or dictated by traditional media, does not help in the development process. This makes the Philippines one of the rare countries where both public policy and popular culture are hindrances to nation building.
3. The icons of debauchery series remain to be Victorina bestsellers. The entries on Tim Yap, Bryanboy, Imelda and Ruffa combined for half of the blog's hits and visits. These were also very difficult moments, especially when violence and death threats began to appear in the comment boxes. Even the council was not prepared for such outrage. Bryanboy, for example, never planned to be a fashion icon; he merely set out to be a fashion blogger. Some of the comments made sense, some were just nasty, other reeked of homophobia, while others came from jealousy of what Tim and Bryanboy have achieved. The council had sleepless nights debating on what to do with those comments and what they actually meant in the overall scheme of things. It is becoming hard to distinguish what is PR and what is real, actual influence.
4. Perhaps, the articles that created so much rage and violence were those that were related to gays and the cause of gender equality. Obviously, homophobia has defined a greater chunk of the discussions, made prominent when the issue was pegged on high-profile individuals like Sam Milby and Piolo Pascual, or on institutions like the church and the military. Inday Garutay was trashed anew. Trixie was quick to point out that our readers were not ready for any discussion on gay advocacy, especially if it involves effeminate characters. But that is an issue we had to face squarely if we are true to our calling.
Four months may not be a mileage that defines a journey, but Victorina considered those months as a time of test-driving, of breaking-in. We saw the strengths and weaknesses of this engine, and we feel confident that we can drive this vehicle to its desired destination. So, short stop is over, everyone aboard. Fasten your seatbelt. It will be one heck of a ride.
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The Victorina Politics and Governance Section. Corruption and Cheating are our Concerns.
Our Manifesto
- Dona VICTORINA'S domain
- Our end is an egalitarian society where gaps due to class, age, sex, religion, and race hardly exist. Our foremost advocacy is to put key sectors of society under scrutiny to identify and denounce all forms of debauchery and pretensions. Our battleground is the internet and the ever expanding online community. Our weapon is the power of words fiercely protected by the freedom of speech. Our mode of engagement is the open forum where we welcome all opinions, arguments, expositions and presentation of facts towards a greater consensus, on which we stand together to render our collective judgment. Our fight is within the bounds of what is humane, moral and legal; we are here not to destroy but to transform. Our readership is a community of men and women from all sectors of society and from all walks of life. We are diverse, but are one in our quest for unity and progress. This is our world. This is DONA VICTORINA!
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BIO of Headwriter
Rain B. is currently Director for Content and Editorial of a Quezon City based communications company. He is a Jesuit-trained communications specialist and political researcher, having finished courses in Development Journalism and Political Education. He spent his first professional years as a volunteer in Africa for the Children with Aids, Paris, France for the Gypsy Integration Program and for the agrarian reform advocacy of Kaanib Foundation in Bukidnon. Rain is the author of a book called Abundance and founding editor of SacredSpace Magazine. He was research manager for a political mapping project for environmentalism and sustainable development.