my friend ly in new york just emailed me a youtube clip of her latest work which was shown daw in bridges tv about the lebanon humanitarian crisis. i forgot her exact job designation but part of her work involves covering the UN with a special focus on middle eastern concerns (as that is her focus of study rin kasi in columbia) and of course, the human rights violations going on there, especially with the ongoing war concerning hezbollah, israel and all those things you see on cnn or bbc. she is also part of a group they call "media for human rights" or something to that effect wherein they use their skills and talents as media practitioners to produce work about human rights concerns, tapos may special focus rin siya sa gender.
such a very ideal job. i've always wanted to do something like that: to link my media work to produce awareness and possibly action regarding my own human rights concerns and advocacies, namely women's and lgbt rights. well, i kinda did that a bit when i was in PINOY TIMES eons ago and i didn't hear a peep from mam eggie our boss when i created specific columns to talk about lgbt rights and women's rights chorva. so that was cool while it lasted. and i also tried it out rin pala with ISIS, but then a feminist media NGO could only do so much rin, especially if the focus is more global than local.
aside from these efforts, i just try to contribute as much as i can to help na lang, especially now. this kind of work doesn't pay the bills kasi if you do it full time. still somehow, in our own little ways, we try to help, especially when the rights of people we know get trampled and violated.
such is what happened recently to a friend of mine, si teta tulay. she was part of the group that got "arrested" sa quezon for being human rights volunteers to help the family of a victim of, well, recent human rights killings. we have a lot of that lately, grabe lang.
teta's a musician (formerly with agaw agimat, now with carol bello bandidas) and also a visual artist/animator. together with another friend, they make up the trio of the komikera people, mga indie women comics creators. she also was my lighting designer sa butanding music video shoot i did for pinikpikan last year where her other group, the anino shadowplay collective, also helped out. imagine the uproar from these varied art communities if something untoward happened to her. isama pa natin diyan na we are of the same persuasion and i'm sure makakakuha pa ng ibang uproar iyan sa lgbt community.
this inquirer article got her name wrong but somehow, it paints the picture of what happened (albeit one-sided).
helluva week. their team got abducted last tuesday morning and i received the advisory that afternoon. til wednesday, they were detained in a military camp somewhere in quezon. her group Arrest Gloria (artists for the removal of gloria) and karapatan, the human rights org kung saan member ang ibang na-abduct arranged a press conference wednesday morning. i had prior commitments so i wasn't able to come but i alerted my media friends in the networks to cover the event, which they did naman. that was the help i can do at the time.
as i write this now, i heard they made bail already and are now back in manila since yesterday. buti naman. we still don't know what case will be filed against them but whatever it is, it will surely be as laughable as this government's frigging antics of late.
injustice. napakarami lang nito talaga. tangina.
segue tayo sa pinagkakaabalahan namin lately, itong isagani debacle pa rin, ano pa? mabuti pa si jim paredes nakakuha ng full apology mula sa inquirer. baket? na-offend siya ng isang section editor dahil sa title na binigay nito sa artik that talks about his migration to australia chenes. basahin niyo na lang blog ni jim para malinawan kayo.
bakit yung rights niya bilang human na na-offend ay naremedyuhan agad ng apology samantalang ang sandamakmak na rights ng lgbt community na na-offend nitong injustice cruz na to ay wala tayong narinig na sorry man lang. oo nga't nagsulat sila ng editorial about it but aside from saying na oo nga, na-offend nga ang rights niyo, wala nang iba pang narinig na bago ang lgbts kundi yung mga chenes na nilagay nila about the old "nurture vs. nature" ek of being homosexual tapos sasabihin pang merong something good that will come out of all this at yan ay ang mapokusan ang plight ng lgbt against discrimination.
iyon ang malaking WHAT THE FUCK!?!@#$ obvious ulit na ayaw nilang ma-slight ang ex-justice sa editorial habang nais nilang i-appease ang community. wala. wtf ever. and yet again, nawalan na naman ako ng gana sa isang media institution...
hay buhay...
THIS JUST IN:
from a text by a friend.
"case of rebellion against teta et al was dismissed. afp presented a witness who alleged that teta tulay, bong de leon et al were npas they encountered in a battle last week. teta et al have 10 days to file counter-charges. they were made to sign a document stating nothing was taken from them and that their rights not violated. binugbog si bong and equipment forcibly taken."
rebellion????????? nyemas talaga. mga phantom menace ang treatment nila sa mga rebellious people when in fact, phantom thoughts lang ito of very paranoid minds. sino kaya ang real menace?
parang nung isang gabi, was watching the impeachment chorva sa congress at anc. na-lost ako dahil si edcel (tama ba ispeling?) lagman was belittling that cayetano dude who was pushing for the impeachment of ate glow. um, nasaan ang sanlakas sa scenariong ito? may nakain ba ako at ibang dimension na itong napanood ko sa tv? si lagman against sa impeachment ni ate glow? wow. glow in da dark na ang mood ko...
hay naku. to quote princess leia: "help me obi wan kenobi; you're our only hope." sana may mga at-at na dumating at apakan ang mukha ng mga hinayupak na injustice-mongers... grrrr.
my poor country. :(
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