Gabriel

Again, as always, this is a biased post.

How does Gabriel compare with his father Samuel so far? I don't know if Samuel's character flaw, that is falling for another woman when he was supposed to be destined for Isabelle, was intentional or was a product of cretaive adjustment to appeal to more following, but it surely allowed us a prolonged run of our favorite Primetime masterserye. Now well into part 2 with Gabriel keeping us hopeful that the alitaptaps will prevail, Ikaw Lamang and Coco Martin continue to make us tweet excitedly before, during and after each episode.

Samuel was memorable falling in love with Isabelle. He was a disappointment when his character was weakened by his decision to marry somebody else and appear happy with her. He lacked scenes that assured us he still had Isabelle in his heart. He was too upright to even show he still pined for her while married to Mona. Perhaps Coco Martin, known to have so much respect for what is morally and ethically right wouldn't want his character to exhibit a wayward yet common attitude of taking solemn vows for granted. We, SamBelle fans tried too hard to accept this and just looked forward to a promised second chance at love in the next generation. Gabriel it is and this time, the alitaptaps which initially hovered over Natalia, changed their preference and pointed to Andrea.

Part 2 started really happy with a perky Jacq literally colliding with a determined-looking Gabriel. Ikaw Lamang woke us all up to a greater display of chemistyr between Coco and Kim this time via rom-com, light, no tears but 110% kilig. Of course, when characters and events from the past start merging with the present, the laughter is again replaced with a nightly showcase of tears. Gabriel for a while there, kept us worried that he is not going to let go of the bitterness and will choose Natalia over Jacq just so he could satisfy his thirst for revenge.

I breathed a sigh of relief last night when after the initial outburst, Gabriel was able to gladly accept that Manong is actually Samuel, his long lost father. Apparently, among the present generation, Natalia will be the one to keep the bitterness in as she struggles to make things difficult for her mother and sister to win her back. Bahala siyang magkawrinkles sa inis. Gabriel is now reunited with his Papa (that was the best scene of Coco so far, when he uttered the word to Joel Torre's Samuel). There are two things left in Gabriel's sad list of things to settle: his revenge against Franco and his love for Andrea who is Franco's daughter.

It seems that it will take a while before Gabriel surrenders to his real feelings for Andrea but I trust the creative team to give us the twists and turns that make IL a must-see every night. Early enough in Part 2, Gabriel was given the opportunity to realize who he really loves and his interest in Natalia  has no signs of coming back. I hope so. The events now would center on Isabelle and Andrea escaping Franco (this was unsuccessful the first time around with mother and daughter getting separated by the bombing of the ship) and Gabriel finally getting his revenge with the help of Samuel. I would like to think it's going to be Samuel versus Franco to spare Gabriel from staining his hands lest he becomes less worthy of Andrea's love if he gets to kill her father. I wonder how the writers will make SamBelle possible as GabRea becomes a reality. Will SamBelle be official at all?

Happy 150th episode, TeamIL! I hope you will give us the most satisfactory ending with GabRea together, something we didn't get with SamBelle.

Must conflct be with tears?

Our kilig moments for JacqRiel were short-lived because Jacq, since falling in love with Gabriel, has been crying buckets again just like her mom, Isabelle, did in the first gen of Ikaw Lamang. This is because, our idea of teleseryes to keep going is to make sure the protagonists go through many major emotional upheavals before they live happily together in the end. I therefore ask why we associate that most important element of any story, the conflict, to pain and suffering, physical or otherwise? Why not a rom-com through and through so we could enjoy the unmistakable chemistry that the lead stars of Ikaw Lamang have? Apparently, with talents like Kim Chiu and Coco Martin, and stellar senior cast led by Joel Torre and Christopher De Leon, a rom-com is too easy and too light (of course) a project. Or is it because, we, Pinoys, like tearjerkers to spice our nightly viewing despite the many hardships and close-to-tears encounters we have day, in day out? Shades of masochism there , I don't know.

Anyway, this is not to say I do not enjoy the second gen Ikaw Lamang. I do, tremendously. I am so into it as much as I was with the first gen despite my complaining about the weakening of Samuel's 'napikot' character. My twitter buddies will attest to my perfect attendance weeknights at around 8:30 pm .

Parallel lives and stories. This seems to be the theme of the second gen Ikaw Lamang. We see characters and events from the first gen duplicated in the current one. Among them are:

1. The romance of Jacq and Gabriel which expectedly continues or should finally consummate the ill-fated love between their parents, SamBelle;
2. The bratty third wheel Natalia who is the female version of the younger Franco: to the manor born, secure but insecure, obsessively possessive, always the second best to another. Franco's  insecurity then was Samuel, Natalia's is Jacq/Andrea;
3. The sibling rivalry between Andrea and Natalia over wealth, their father's favor, the man they love. All these duplicating the conflict between Samuel and Franco then;
4. Tessa who I see as the new Miranda. She claims and assumes more than she should of Franco and uses Natalia to the hilt to advance her cause;
5. Franco of course has "improved" on his madness and sheer evilness and has become like his grandfather, Maximo;
6. Gabriel for his part, writers forbid, is showing some Samuel traits which I hope he would recover from especially the one about his very tentative and impressionable feelings for Jacq/Andrea . I hope this time he will always have a clear motivation for whatever he chooses to do unlike Samuel who was a disappointment in the love department during his time.

I still am hopeful for alitaptap moments to happen soon if only to lessen the teledrama texture to IL. I hope Andrea will not relive the miserable life her mother seemed to have endlessly lived now that she is in the mansion of her father.

What makes IL deserving of viewers' loyalty is the ability of the creative team to develop surprising scenes and memorable lines. Coco and Kim are a formidable tandem and the rest of the cast are perfect for their respective roles. I just hope the rom-com episodes will come back soon so that we can have a rest from all the intensity. Send the alitaptaps in please.

Key Metaphors

On my way to work this morning, I was thinking of Ikaw Lamang. Yes, that is my secret weapon against getting pissed in traffic, thinking of the previous night's episode of my favorite teleserye. I couldn't help but be amused at how the word KEY has evolved many metaphors in the said TV masterserye. Kim Chiu's character Jacq Sangalang shouts "key to your heart, key to your heart" while giving out flyers advertising their family business. Coco Martin's Gabriel's expertise among other things is to pry open luxury vehicles ala "Bukas Kotse" gang. The two meet and the key to each other's past and present lives begin to turn. Among the many "key metaphors" in the teleserye are the following:

1. Isabelle travels to the city in search for things and persons that will "turn/switch" open her memory. Of course, it turns out she was just faking the "amnesia" and actually has opened her self to the possibility of collecting back her past specifically her two daughters ;
2. The Sangalang couple holds the key to Jacqueline's true identity which they have guarded so tightly for years since Baby Andrea was given to them to save from the shipwreck two decades ago;
3. Franco kept Samuel in jail because the latter remains the key to finding Isabelle;
4. Samuel for his part stayed alive despite not holding the key to his freedom. The thought of seeing his son again kept him alive;
5. Dennis Padilla's character served as key to Samuel surviving those cruel decades of incarceration as well the latter's eventual escape;
6. Tessa holds the key to Franco's heart, or so she thinks, because she has loved and served him well as his COS. Tessa would time and again possessively keep the doors to Franco's past closed but recent events show she will not be able to do so conveniently anymore as keys and doors held by others open;
7. Calixto has also held the key to Gabriel's recovering from a tragic past by mistakenly leading him to a revengeful path. He wouldn't open the door to Gabriel realizing his father was not the bad father he grew up to hate which further distanced the two despite doors being open for them to finally reunite;
8. Lupe remains a door ajar because she knows only half of the truth of the life they lead as Gabriel's "family". The key to the truth of their real identity is held by Calixto who thinks he is doing Gabriel a favor by helping him avenge his past. Calixto is actually half-using Gabriel to avenge his own bitter past as a young obrero from Salvacion;
9. Cherry and Cindy as BFFs of the female leads are keys needed to open Jacq and Natalia to things they are wont to admit such as falling in love with Gabriel or getting insecure of the competiton;
10. Natalia is key to destroy Franco in many ways possible;
11. Jacq is key to many things: Gabriel's change of heart about revenge; Franco's remorse as he finds out eventually that she is HIS daughter; Isabelle becoming more aggressive at protecting her daughters from what seems to be a repeat of past mistakes;
12. Gabriel's as well as Jacq's faces are keys to Franco's past haunting him hopefully toward  his much sought-after comeuppance as the teleserye's formidable villain.

Meanwhile, Gabriel who breaks open cars in an illicit way to earn a living and credible cover for his plans, promises to break open hearts, Jacq's who he loves but does not heed and Natalia's who he pursues but only to tear apart. Gabriel will also break Samuel's heart when he refuses to open his own to welcome back his long-suffering father.

Keys... to a most successful Primetime treat.

Mind-boggling

I try really hard to make sense of the following :

1. Why the first sisters would say on national TV that they are open to supporting the VP's presidential bid
2. Why some people even floated the idea that Aquino may seek a second term
3. Why the church and city hall allow pirated DVD stalls to operate right in front or near them @Malabon
4. Why people make drainage openings their garbage bin
5. Why college students leave their trash just about anywhere they please
6. Why students come to class and not show a desire to learn
7. Why people trend senseless hashtags
8. Why the Ampatuan massacre with really obvious suspects has not been resolved
9. Why some broadsheets and a TV network regularly tweet headlines quoting the VP
10. Why we are not angry enough at Israel for what it does to Gaza.

Random Thoughts 5

#BuwanNgWikaAtMgaDakila Agosto na naman. Hayaang makapagsulat ako sa wikang pambansa. Hintayin rin ang salin ko ng Random Thoughts . Kailangan ng kaunting riserts ng salin nito.

1. Unang linggo ng Agosto. Dalawang dakilang Pilipino agad ang ginugunita natin sa mga araw na ito. Parehong namatay sa buwang ito bagamat magkaibang taon sina Raul Roco at Cory Aquino. Natatandaan kong nag-eeksam sa UP ang aking panaganay na anak at habang hinihintay ko siya ay dumalaw muna ako sa burol ni Raul Roco sa Sta. Maria Dela Strada sa Katipunan. Agosto a-5 namatay si Raul Roco. Dalawang beses ko siyang ibinoto sa pagkapangulo, 1998 at 2004. Sayang nga lamang at iginupo siya ng sakit. Mahusay rin siyang kalihim ng Dep-Ed noon, bukod pa sa magaling na senador. Apat na taon ang nakalipas, nag-eeksam naman sa UP ang aking pangalawang anak. Agosto a-uno. Sabado. Natanggap ko sa text ang malungkot na balita ng pagpanaw ni Cory Aquino. Makasaysayan ang buwan ng Agosto sa ating mga Pilipino. Sa buwang ito ginugunita rin ang kaarawan ni Manuel L. Quezon, ang ama ng wikang pambansa. Sa buwan ding ito ginugunita ang kamatayan ni Ninoy Aquino. Agosto 21, 1983 nang siya's pinaslang sa tarmac ng noo'y Manila International Airport. Sa buwan rin ng Agosto sumiklab ang rebolusyon laban sa Espanya noong 1896.

 2. Buwan ng wika. Kung kinakailangang magtalaga ng linggo at ngayon nga'y buwan ng wika para bigyang pansin at pagpapahalaga ang wikang pambansa, nangangahulugan lang na di pa talaga ito ganoon kahalaga sa atin bagkus, isa lang itong bagay na sinusubukan nating alalahaning pahalagahan taun-taon. kasi naman lito pa tayo sa kung ano ang pambansang wika.

3. Nakaiinis isiping ang wika na tinuturing ng marami na pambansa ay naipagkakamali bilang Tagalog gayung magkaiba ang dalawang ito. Filipino ang pambansang wika na kinasasangkutan rin ng Tagalog na isa sa napakarami nating wika. Ayon sa sil.org, mayroon tayong higit sa 170 wika sa bansa. Sampu sa mga ito ay mga pangunahing wika. Kabilang sa mga pangunahing wika ang Tagalog gayundin ang mga banyagang wikang Tsino at Ingles na ginagamit ng higit sa isang milyong Pilipino. Ito ang dahilan kung bakit di mali ang gumamit ng mga katagang Ingles o Tsino halo sa Tagalog at iba pang wika. Ang magkahalong gamit na ito na pang-araw-araw nating naririnig sa isa't-isa ang wika nating mga Pilipino. Halimbawa ng isang Filipinong pangungusap ang " Magkita tayo sa mall" o "Manonood ka ba ng premiere?"

4. Wikang pambansa ang gamit ni Pangulong Noynoy Aquino sa kanyang SONA noong Lunes. Ngunit di pa rin siya naintindihan ng mga taong naging bisyo na yata ang tuligsain siya. Kasi naman, isang kahinaan nating mga Pinoy ang pakikinig. Marami sa atin ang imbes na matamang makinig ay may dala nang listahan ng gustong marinig. Kapag hindi narinig ang gustong marinig, sasabihing walang kwenta ang talumpati. Mahirap umunawa ang may sariling adyenda o sarado ang isip.

5. Ipinagkakapuri kong gagap ko pareho ang Filipino at Ingles. Masasabi ko ring bihasa ako sa Tagalog. Utang ko ito sa pagbabasa ko ng komiks na Tagalog noong bata ako, panonood ng mga palabas sa wikang Filipino sa aking paglaki, pagbabasa ko sa wikang Ingles habang nag-aaral. Ang wika ay nahahasa kasabay ng mga gusto o kinamihasnan na natin sa buhay . Kung anong gamit o exposure kaya, yung ang mahahasa.

6. Di ako sang-ayon sa "lip service" o pakitang taong paggamit ng wika sa mga program sa radyo at TV kapag Buwan ng Wika. Gayundin ang kalakaran sa mga programa sa paaralan. Pagsusuotin pa ng mga damit Filipiniana ang mga kasapi. Tulad ng wika, ang ating mga angking tela at kasuotan ay inaalayan lang ng panandaliang pagpapahalaga sa mga mangilan-ngilang okasyon o pagkilala.

7. Di nakapagtataka na di tayo magkaunawaan bilang isang bansa. Maging mga eksperto sa batas ay di maipaliwanag ang batas sa sariling wika gayong ang nakararami ay di rin naman matalinong nakapa-iisip o nakauunawa sa Ingles na paboritong wika ng mga nakaaangat na propesyonal. Marami pang isyu sa wika ang di natin napagtutuunan ng pansin. Marami pang maaring sabihin o pagdiskusyunan ukol dito. Sana ang pagpapahalaga sa wika ay maganap di lamang sa buwan ng Agosto. Maraming pangkaraniwang mamamayan ang bihasa na rito. di naman ito kailangang ituro pa sa kolehiyo. Bagkus paigtingin lang ang gamit nito sa iba't-ibang larangan ng pag-aaral. Intelektuwalisayon. Yan ang kailangan ng wikang Filipino.

Random Thoughts 4

"The difference between your generation and mine is..."

I often hear myself say this when I would like my students to realize how blessed or more privileged they are living a generation from mine. I also use this to take pride in my own generation which I regard as more brilliant despite the lack of technological advances we now have.

1. The Library- I have used the top three school libraries in the land: The UP Main Lib, The DLSU, Lib and ADMU's Rizal Lib. I have fond memories trying to look learned and in pursuit of further knowledge within the said edifices. Nowadays, my library is the world wide web which I share with my students. The difference is I use it really extensively while many students take it for granted that knowledge and information are at the click of their mouse and that they should be infinitely more informed than I am.
2. It was a good thing to have experienced both worlds: immediately before the PC and now. I get to appreciate better the wisdom behind many changes that have taken place in the world of information.
3. Admittedly, I talk a lot maybe too much for my own good. Twitter is the perfect venue for the opinionated me and I feel frustrated when I see it being wasted on nonsense talk and trending. Twitter is a discussion forum. Yet many tweeps don't bother to use even half of the 140 chars to drive home a point or join the convo on pressing issues and sensible concerns.
4. This past week was rather stressful with many of my OL friends taking sides on issues of two kinds: showbiz and politics. I must admit I could instigate some really vocal upheavals and for a while there, I thought I have offended enough tweeps with my tirades. I was frustrated and luckily, the tweeps that I care about understood.
5. I really don't care about how some sectors take to my tweets. There are two kinds of twitter people for me: those who are usually in agreement with me and those who I will never be on the same page with. I have some tweeps who I continue to follow despite differences in opinions and they're very few. Others, I immediately unfollow, block or mute. The difference between pizza and their opinion (as one tweet goes) is that I asked for pizza.
6. If you want to piss me right away, question my integrity as a teacher and connect it with something I said that you did not like. "Teacher ka pa naman". We don't say this to lawyers or doctors. We do hear this said of priests or nuns. "Pari ka pa naman." Madre ka pa naman."
7. There are many things I actually restrain my self from tweeting about lest I offend people. I am glad that I seem to have established some reputation online that my twitter friends do not anymore get surprised at the things I say OL. As another tweet says "If I do not react or say anything anymore, it means I have stopped caring."
8. There are two things I am quite passionate about as I tweet on them on a regularly basis: this government and the teleserye I watch every night. I cannot keep quiet on these two, I don't know why.
9. I may have said things I regret but I will never regret having the courage to speak my mind. I regret this about Pinoys in general. We are a passive, restrained lot. Students do not ask questions in class and even if I can talk and talk for hours, I'd appreciate it when someone interrupts me to contribute to the discussion or simply ask a question. Many of our problems as a nation could have been avoided if we were an inquisitive people from the start. I see the passivity not as politeness but a weakness.
10. To speak one's mind is not to be loud or nonsensical. Many comments OL are baseless, illogical and pure nonesense. Go to Instagram and get frustrated with how strangers dare comment on the lives of others as if they know their victims first hand. That's the worst of the opinionated kind. Socmed is so abused and wasted by these people.

The Idiot Box

Wiktionary has this entry for the phrase "idiot box" - "An allusion to the supposed mind-reducing nature of television programming or its lack of educational value." Television has also been referred to as the "boob tube". Both slang terms are pejorative in that they see TV as a device catering to idiots or fools. The two terms were first used in the 1950s, television's first decade.  Though no longer popularly used, the terms may be as relevant and truthful today as they are then. Unfortunately.

When asked if I have cable subscription, I usually reply " Do I look like I can afford cable?" Therefore it's still "free TV" for me and my family. Free TV in the Philippines means roughly nine channels to choose from. Free TV also means we only get to actually choose from three networks. Our weekday TV schedule starts at 7:00 pm when my youngest son is done using the monitor for computing (Yes, we use the same monitor for TV and PC)  or when his dad could convince him to let us watch the news. I do not care so much for primetime news as I get my news feed from Twitter. Primetime news in this country is tabloid reporting anyway with the anchors eternally confused about their job description- are they to just read the news or do their public expect them to opine on events and persons? This is a problem especially when anchors are also radio commentators, former politicians or simply personalities who are so full of themselves. Teleserye fare is what the two big networks offer after the tabloid newscasts. I skipped the 8:00 pm slot this past season because I am not into mermaids/men who spoke with a twang. So I wait patiently for 8:30 or 8:45 depending on the commercial load of the preceding programs.

Twitter and this blog have been my fora for how I feel towards Ikaw Lamang and so I do not need to repeat myself on this post. The last slot for teleserye, I rarely watch. I do support Bea Alonzo et al. in Sana Bukas Pa Ang Kahapon but I can't stay up late every night because my son will have to go back to his homework with the PC. I remember that the only time, I religiously watched the 9:15 timeslot was also for Bea and John Lloyd's A Beautiful Affair, which I stopped watching at one point because of script gone awry with kultos and lotto winnings. I think that was the time the leading man had problems with reporting to work or so I heard.

Anyway, PBB and A&A , I really don't care about. I just don't like them. Obviously, I don't bother to check the other channels. The other big network has had problems with creative ideas lately while the fledgling one is yet to make an impact on me. Rarely on weekdays though it was a happy discovery that  every now and then News Cafe over at Channel 9 could provide an intelligent alternative at 7 pm. Perhaps it is obvious at this point that only I watch TV in the family. The other members are pretty preoccupied and hypnotized by their respective smart phones and tablet. So to the rest of the brood, TV can disappear but not wi-fi.

On weekends, we enjoy watching but wouldn't suffer if we don't get to watch the likes of ASAP, MMK, The Voice, GGV. All again on Channel 2. My son has a cartoon fare on weekends and holidays and the shows are usually on Channels 5 or 7. Still to him, TV plays second only to PC.

I read somewhere that only the classes C, D and E watch TV regularly with the A and B crowd very much into the Internet. Is this the reason TV programming has not improved much judging from the stories and formats they offer day in day out? Is this also the reason why despite efforts to call attention to the many lapses TV programming is manifesting, the producers don't seem to budge?

I try to discuss plotlines and characters and I get mistaken for a hater. I try to express my opinion on a show or a personality and I risk getting blocked. It seems that people aren't ready to hear dissenting opinion on anything much less on their favorite show, character, story or personality. That is why I truly appreciate the ones who join in the conversation by RTing or favoriting or better yet by sharing their own take on the matter. As viewers who happen to watch and tweet about the same show, we owe it to ourselves that we keep the level up in terms of our definition of entertainment (free or subscribed to) and appreciation of the efforts and artistry( if any) involved in the making of the shows we follow.

There is a reason why the phrases "idiot box" and "boob tube" are no longer in popular use. TV has improved. I really hope so here, in our corner of the earth.