GUIMARAS OIL SPILL, Seven years later...

On August 11, 2006, M/T Solar 1, an oil tanker owned by Sunshine Maritime and Development Corp. (SMDC) sank off the island of Guimaras and spilled more than 2,000 tons of its oil cargo. At the time of the incident, the vessel was chartered by Petron Corp. (Petron) to deliver more than 2,000 metric tons of industrial fuel oil from its Bataan Refinery Plant to NPC Western Mindanao Corp. in Zamboanga City.  Due to the negligence and incompetence of SMDC through its Master, Capt. Norberto Aguro and crew, as well as of Petron for overloading the vessel, the sinking ofM/T Solar 1and resulting oil spill polluted the waters off the Municipalities of Nueva Valencia and Sibunag inGuimaras Province. 

The foregoing facts and the persons responsible therefor were confirmed by the Philippine Coast Guard (PSG), Special Board of Marine Inquiry (SBMI) which investigated the incident. 

The oil spill caused death, illness, property and economic loss and damage to the local inhabitants and the environment.

            Approximately about a thousand individuals who depended on the sea for their livelihood, like fisher folks, fish vendors, boat owners and similarly-situated local residents, and about a hundred more municipal employees filed their claims for pollution damage and clean-up and relief activities, respectively, with the International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund (IOPC).  IOPC which is based in London processes and settles claims for pollution damage and clean-up activities caused by oil spills.  The fisher folks claimed for damages based on a conservative calculation of 22months for the duration of the effects of the oil spill, while the municipal employees’ claim was based on actual time rendered for the clean-up and relief activities.  Unfortunately, the IOPC offered to compensate the fisher folks based on a 12-week damage assessment only and a lesser amount for the municipal employees.

          Pending negotiations with IOPC, and in order to avoid their claims from being time-barred after three (3) years based on IOPC guidelines, the claimants, suing as indigents, filed on August 6, 2009, two (2) civil cases with the Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Guimaras against SMDC and its Master, Petron and IOPC (i) for pollution damage; and (ii) for reimbursement for clean-up and relief activities.  These two cases are currently at their pretrial stage.  Attempts at amicable settlement before the court failed.

          Criminal cases were also filed for violation of the Marine Pollution Decree, P.D. No. 979 and Clean Water Act, R.A. No. 9275, but with pending issues, and without prejudice to the filing of additional case for criminal negligence resulting to death of at least one resident.

          The Guimaras Oil Spill is the biggest disaster of its kind so far in Philippine history.  To date, or after seven (7) years after the incident, however, the claimants have not reverted to their usual means of livelihood from the sea.  The sea continues to have traces of oil slick which severely affected the fish catch.  After the pollution of the sea, the marine life which was a source of livelihood to the local residents before are now gone.  The mangroves which used to flourish on the coast as natural habitat for marine life are gone, too.  They do not grow anymore.  The environment has not reverted to its normal state before the oil spill. The claimants continue to be economically dislocated while the environment continues to suffer the effects of the oil spill.  SMDC and Capt. Aguro are nowhere to be found to face liability.  The claimants feel that the Government has not taken an active role in protecting their rights a victims of this environmental disaster.   Ironically, the bigger players including Petron whose oil cargo was the source of the oil pollution have been settled of their claims for clean up activities by IOPC, and without them having to go to court.  In sharp contrast, the settlement of the claims of the hapless claimants does not seem to be in the immediate future.

August 6, 1945. the Hiroshima bombing.

 Dateline: August 6, 1945. the Hiroshima bombing. Hiroshima  is best known as the first city in history to be targeted by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) dropped an atomic bomb on it at 8:15 a.m. on August 6, 1945, near the end of World War II. Its name 広島 means "Wide Island".

 On Monday, August 6, 1945, at 8:15 a.m., the Atomic Bomb "Little Boy" was dropped on Hiroshima by an American B-29 bomber, the Enola Gay, flown by Paul Tibbets, directly killing an estimated 80,000 people. By the end of the year, injury and radiation brought total casualties to 90,000–140,000. The population before the bombing was around 340,000 to 350,000. Approximately 69% of the city's buildings were completely destroyed, and another 7% severely damaged.

 In a scene from the closing part of the movie "EMPIRE OF THE SUN" , Jim stays behind with Mrs. Victor, a woman who acted as his guardian way back in the interment camp at Soochow. Jim tells her to act dead so they can stay, however, Mrs. Victor actually dies. Jim is devastated. As he sits with her body he sees a gigantic flash of light to the east, one of the atomic bombs dropped by the United States on Japan. Jim believes it is Mrs. Victor's ascending soul. The radio broadcast later reports about the new weapon dropped on the city of Hiroshima. August 6, 1945.

Cinemalaya 2013 winners, agree or disagree?

  

Do you agree with the jury's choice of winners?

New Breed - Full Length Film Category
Best Film - TRANSIT
Best Director - Hannah Espia, TRANSIT
NETPAC Award - TRANSIT
Special Jury Citation Ensemble Acting - TRANSIT
Special Jury Prize - QUICK CHANGE
Best Actress - Irma Adlawan, TRANSIT
Best Actor - Mimi Juareza, QUICK CHANGE
Best Supporting Actress - Jasmine Curtis-Smith, TRANSIT
Best Supporting Actor - Joey Paras, BABAGWA
Best Production Design - Roy Red, REKORDER
Best Cinematography - Ber Cruz & Lyle Sacris, TRANSIT
Best Screenplay - Eduardo Roy, QUICK CHANGE
Best Editing - Benjamin Tolentino & Hannah Espia, TRANSIT
Best Original Musical Score - Mon Espia, TRANSIT
Best Sound - Michael Idioma, QUICK CHANGE
Audience Choice Award - TRANSIT

Director's Showcase Category
Best Film - SANA DATI
Best Director - Jerrold Tarog, SANA DATI
NETPAC Award - EKSTRA
Special Jury Prize - EKSTRA
Best Actress - Vilma Santos, EKSTRA
Best Actor - no winner
Best Supporting Actress - Ruby Ruiz, EKSTRA
Best Supporting Actor - TJ Trinidad, SANA DATI
Best Screenplay Zig Dulay, Antoinette Jadaone, & Jeffrey Jeturian, EKSTRA
Best Cinematography - Mackie Galvez, SANA DATI
Best Production Design - Erickson Navarro, SANA DATI
Best Editing - Pats Ranyo, SANA DATI
Best Original Musical Score- Jerrold Tarog, SANA DATI
Best Sound, Roger TJ Ladro, SANA DATI
Audience Choice Award - EKSTRA

New Breed - Short Film Category
Best Film - THE HOUSEBAND'S WIFE (New Breed Shorts)
Best Director - JE Tiglao, ONANG (New Breed Shorts)
Special Jury Prize - TAYA (New Breed Shorts)
Special Citation - SA WAKAS (New Breed Shorts)
Best Screenplay, Paulo O'Hara, THE HOUSEBAND'S WIFE (New Breed Shorts)
Audience Choice Award - TAYA (New Breed Shorts)

Sangdosenang Sapatos

Saw last weekend at CCP the SANGDOSENANG SAPATOS, a children’s musical based on a book by my good friend Dr. Luis Gatmaitan who is a Palanca Awards Hall of Famer, about a shoemaker’s love for his physically disabled daughter and his family.

 The play revolves around a middle class family in the Philippines, with a father who is an excellent shoemaker, his loving wife, and their two beautiful daughters. The father’s longtime dream is for their younger daughter to become a ballerina someday. He vows to make the best ballerina shoes for her. But his dream gets shattered when they find out that the baby’s feet are not and will not be developed as normal limbs. Hoping to help realize his father’s dream, the older daughter enrolls in a ballet class but fails to make it good in the art form. The father remains hopeful that someday he will have a ballerina for a daughter.

As the physically-challenged younger child grows, she suffers from unfair and rude treatment from other children. Her entire family tries to protect and defend her from the unkindness of the people who make fun of her. The elder sister patiently and lovingly takes on the role of her only playmate and her constant protector. The entire family showers the younger girl with unconditional love, affection and special care.

Every time her birthday draws near, she tells her older sister her that she always dreams about certain pairs of shoes. Then, bad luck strikes the family. The father dies after the younger daughter’s twelfth birthday. After the burial of the good father, while arranging the personal items of the deceased, the older sister discovers an unopened box filled with the best shoes crafted by their father. The two sisters and their mother are surprised to see that the twelve pairs of shoes in the boxes look exactly the same as the shoes that the younger girl saw in her dreams.

How Do Court Reporters Keep Straight Faces?

TOO FUNNY NOT TO PASS ON!!

These are from a book called Disorder in the Courts and are things people actually said in court, word for word, taken down and published by court reporters that had the torment of staying calm while the exchanges were taking place.

ATTORNEY: What was the first thing your husband said to you that morning?
WITNESS: He said, 'Where am I, Cathy?'
ATTORNEY: And why did that upset you?
WITNESS: My name is Susan!
_______________________________
ATTORNEY: What gear were you in at the moment of the impact?
WITNESS: Gucci sweats and Reeboks.
____________________________________________
ATTORNEY: Are you sexually active?
WITNESS: No, I just lie there.
____________________________________________
ATTORNEY: What is your date of birth?
WITNESS: July 18th.
ATTORNEY: What year?
WITNESS: Every year.
_____________________________________
ATTORNEY: How old is your son, the one living with you?
WITNESS: Thirty-eight or thirty-five, I can't remember which.
ATTORNEY: How long has he lived with you?
WITNESS: Forty-five years.
_________________________________
ATTORNEY: This myasthenia gravis, does it affect your memory at all?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: And in what ways does it affect your memory?
WITNESS: I forget..
ATTORNEY: You forget? Can you give us an example of something you forgot?
___________________________________________
ATTORNEY: Now doctor, isn't it true that when a person dies in his sleep, he doesn't know about it until the next morning?
WITNESS: Did you actually pass the bar exam?
____________________________________

ATTORNEY: The youngest son, the 20-year-old, how old is he?
WITNESS: He's 20, much like your IQ.
___________________________________________
ATTORNEY: Were you present when your picture was taken?
WITNESS: Are you shitting me?
_________________________________________
ATTORNEY: So the date of conception (of the baby) was August 8th?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: And what were you doing at that time?
WITNESS: Getting laid
____________________________________________

ATTORNEY: She had three children , right?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: How many were boys?
WITNESS: None.
ATTORNEY: Were there any girls?
WITNESS: Your Honor, I think I need a different attorney. Can I get a new attorney?
____________________________________________
ATTORNEY: How was your first marriage terminated?
WITNESS: By death..
ATTORNEY: And by whose death was it terminated?
WITNESS: Take a guess.
___________________________________________

ATTORNEY: Can you describe the individual?
WITNESS: He was about medium height and had a beard
ATTORNEY: Was this a male or a female?
WITNESS: Unless the Circus was in town I'm going with male.
_____________________________________
ATTORNEY: Is your appearance here this morning pursuant to a deposition notice which I sent to your attorney?
WITNESS: No, this is how I dress when I go to work.
______________________________________
ATTORNEY: Doctor , how many of your autopsies have you performed on dead people?
WITNESS: All of them. The live ones put up too much of a fight.
_________________________________________
ATTORNEY: ALL your responses MUST be oral, OK? What school did you go to?
WITNESS: Oral...
_________________________________________
ATTORNEY: Do you recall the time that you examined the body?
WITNESS: The autopsy started around 8:30 PM
ATTORNEY: And Mr. Denton was dead at the time?
WITNESS: If not, he was by the time I finished.
____________________________________________
ATTORNEY: Are you qualified to give a urine sample?
WITNESS: Are you qualified to ask that question?

______________________________________
And last:

ATTORNEY: Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pulse?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: Did you check for blood pressure?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: Did you check for breathing?
WITNESS: No..
ATTORNEY: So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you began the autopsy?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: How can you be so sure, Doctor?
WITNESS: Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar.
ATTORNEY: I see, but could the patient have still been alive, nevertheless?
WITNESS: Yes, it is possible that he could have been alive and practicing law.

CINEMALAYA 2013 FILMS

CATEGORY:  NEW BREED

BABAGWA (Spider)
By Jason Paul Laxamana

An Internet scammer falls in love with a wealthy old maid while trying to swindle her using a fake Facebook profile.

DEBOSYON
By Alvin B. Yapan

Mando, a Bikolano devotee of Ina, Virgin of Peñafrancia, Patroness of Bikolandia, injures himself in the middle of the forest at the foot of the Mayon Volcano.  He will be nursed back to health by a mysterious woman, Salome, living there.  They will fall in love with each other.  But when Mando invites her to come with him to the plains, Salome refuses, saying a curse prohibits her from leaving the forest.  Salome holds a secret that will devastate Mando’s love for her.  Mando relies on his devotion to the Virgin of Peñafrancia to lift the curse, making him realize just how inextricably linked are the virtues of love and faith.

INSTANT MOMMY
By Leo Abaya

In order to solve a personal predicament, Bechayda, a wardrobe assistant in TV commercials, pretends to be pregnant.

The film is one summer’s journey with her as she reaches the fateful decision amidst a highly visualized world where the video screen not only reigns supreme but is also the frame within which a usually unsuspecting public accesses the content of image-makers.

NUWEBE
By Joseph Israel M. Laban

Inspired by the actual story of one of the youngest mothers in Philippine history, NUWEBE follows the story of Krista who at the tender age of 9 got pregnant from the sexual abuse perpetrated by her own father.  Her story is complex.  Krista refuses to see herself as a victim.  With an almost documentary style, NUWEBE follows Krista’s story as she demonstrates a level of resilience uncommon to her age.  Her mother on the other hand is torn between her love for her child and her love for her husband.

PUROK 7
By Carlo Obispo

A countryside dramedy (drama-comedy) that follows the story of 14-year-old Diana and her younger brother who live by themselves after their mother went abroad and their father lived with another woman.

QUICK CHANGE
By Eduardo Roy Jr.

Life of Dorina a middle-aged transsexual looking for his niche amidst the complexities of the world he is in.  This is a story of suffering, acceptance and hope.

REKORDER
By Mikhail Red

REKORDER tells the story of a former 1980's film cameraman who now currently works as a movie pirate operating in present day Manila.  He routinely smuggles a digital camcorder into movie theaters in order to illegally record films.  One night he records something else... And the footage goes viral.

THE DIPLOMAT HOTEL
By Christopher Ad Castillo

Victoria Lansang is a popular news reporter who has been requested to mediate a hostage crisis.  And in front of a national television audience, something horribly goes wrong and people are killed while Victoria suffers a mental breakdown.

A year later, she's eager to get back into the game but the only assignment she can get is to do a documentary on the last night of The Diplomat Hotel in Baguio City, a crumbling and abandoned building infamously known for its bloody past and its hauntings and has carved a place in Philippine ghost lore.

Looking for redemption, she arrives there with her crew and they start filming.  But as they get deeper into the night, the place starts to exert its will on them and they find out exactly what monstrous evil awaits at The Diplomat Hotel.

By daybreak, their lives will never be the same again.

TRANSIT
By Hannah Espia

TRANSIT begins and ends in an airport during a father and son's transit flight from Tel Aviv to Manila.  It tells the story of Moises, a Filipino single-dad working as a caregiver in Herzliya, Israel, who comes home to his son Joshua's 4th birthday.  It was on that day that Moises, together with their Filipino neighbors, Janet and her daughter Yael, find out that the Israeli government is going to deport children of foreign workers.  Afraid of the new law, Moises and Janet decide to hide their children from the immigration police by making them stay inside the house.

DAVID F.
By Manny Palo

Black is scientifically the absence of color, but not all who see it are color-blind, figuratively.

David F. weaves three stories that take a look at the lineage of African Americans in the Philippines – from American soldiers in the Fil-Am war to the Amboys in the former Clark Airfield, and how we Pinoys take to them.                                                                                                     

It begins with the Philippine-American war in the early 1900’s when two Filipinos want to get the reward money for capturing David Fagan, the African-American soldier who deserted the U.S. army to join the Filipino revolutionaries against the new colonizers.  Another thread of the film takes a look at the life of a Filipina during the Japanese occupation before the return of General Douglas MacArthur in 1944 who gives birth to a baby that turns out to be black-skinned.

And then in contemporary times, a black gay impersonator in a comedy bar, whose father is an African American soldier based in Clark Air Base in Angeles City, tries to find his father who abandoned them.

In the course of history, the “F” in “David F.” may spell different levels of discrimination. But would we also admit that we Filipinos are bigots ourselves?   

CATEGORY:  DIRECTORS SHOWCASE

AMOR y MUERTE
By Ces Evangelista

AMOR y MUERTE is an erotic 16th Century period drama; an examination of the initial encounter between the Indios (natives) and their colonizers (Spaniards) and their conflicting views on love, passion, religion and sexuality.

EXTRA
By Jeffrey Jeturian

EXTRA (A Bit Player) is a socio-realist drama-comedy film, which follows a seemingly usual day in the life of LOIDA MALABANAN (Vilma Santos) as she embarks on yet another shooting day of a soap opera as an extra. As the shoot goes on, we get a glimpse of the truth in the ruling system of the production as well as the exploitation on the marginalized laborers like her.

PORNO
By Adolfo B. Alix Jr.

Three souls, one explicit illusion. To find the ultimate joy in their empty lives.  A safe haven, where passion and love mean humanity, ecstasy means enlightenment; and the soul is the ultimate arbiter of the truth.

SANA DATI
By Jerrold Tarog

Andrea Gonzaga has accepted her fate by agreeing to marry a man she does not love.  But a few hours before her wedding, someone arrives to remind her of the true love she once had and lost.  SANA DATI is a love story about bittersweet compromises and real- life decisions.  It is the third part of Jerrold Tarog's Camera Trilogy after CONFESSIONAL and MANGATYANAN.

THE LIARS
By Gil M. Portes

The Liars is the story of a journalist (Eloisa) whose expose' of the truth results in life-changing consequences to a baseball team of poor boys.  Inspired by a true story.


SHORT FILMS:
 

Bakaw is a day in the life of a child who steals at the Navotas fishport.

Katapusang Labok depicts the struggles of fishermen who must deal with environmental abuse and the effects of coral harvesting on their livelihood.

Missing tackles the subject of forced disappearances.

Onang is the classic tale of a young probinsyana who seeks her fortune in the big city.

Para kay Ama is about a young Chinese-Filipino girl who discovers she has a half-brother when she meets him on the last day of her father’s wake.

Pukpok is one adolescent’s transition to manhood as he hurdles a case characterized by excessive blood, superstition and a man with failing eyesight.

Sa Wakas is a reflection on the bond of a father and daughter tested by cultural, political and religious hypocrisy.

Taya is about a 12-year-old boy who learns to play the game of life with a new set of friends. The film highlights how traditional Filipino games reflect the realities and disparities of our society.

The Houseband's Wife is an essay about a typical OFW family, with the OFW wife as breadwinner and the husband left in the Philippines to care for the children.  Technology and the internet bridges the physical distance but shatters domestic harmony when the wife, on a Skype video call, sees a bra, not hers, hanging in the marital closet.

Tutob begins when recent bombings in the region put authorities on alert. A mysterious, strange-looking native Maranao man dressed up in Muslim attire shows up.  He is tasked to fetch a package from his boss' contact.  From a rural area in the mountains, he rides his motorcycle to the city to get the package.  On his way back, he is stopped at an army checkpoint.  Speaking Maranao, he says he doesn’t know what’s in the package, but the Visayan-speaking soldiers don’t understand him and insist on opening it.

Dapat Ka Bang Mahalin?

 

"Kung saan, kailan, at paanong labanan, magpasabi ka lang. Hindi kita uurungan!"– Sharon Cuneta, Dapat Ka Bang Mahalin?

Myrna and Lito plunge into marriage at a very young age. Both unprepared and still immature. But their relationship suddenly collapses when Lito gets into an illicit relationship with an older woman, Glacilda. Leaving Myrna alone and pregnant. But still, Myrna remained strong and moved on with her life.. 

World UFO Day and UP Chapel

Dateline: July 2.  World UFO Day. World UFO day is the day dedicated to the existence of Undentified Flying Object to mark  the Roswell incident in 1947 when an airborne object (believed UFO)  crashed on a ranch near Roswell, New Mexico, The most popular theory of what happened is that the object was a spacecraft containing extraterrestrial life. Since the late 1970s, the Roswell incident has been the subject of much controversy, and conspiracy theories have arisen about the event.The first World UFO Day was celebrated in 2001. The organizers say that they "see a future in which UFOs aren’t speculations anymore, but part of daily life."

Eight years later. a UFO landed in UP Diliman. In 1955, Father Delaney commissioned Locsin to design a chapel that was open and could easily accommodate 1,000 people.Mass was first celebrated in the church on December 20, 1955.

 The Church of Holy Sacrifice became the first circular chapel with the altar in its center in the country, and the first to have a thin shell concrete dome.

The dome of the church is supported by pillars located along its rim; no supports block the space inside. The unique design of the dome allows natural lighting and ventilation. At the middle of the dome is a circular skylight, which supports the triangular bell tower. The bell tower, then extends to the interior, supporting the crucifix. The arrangement of the interior of the church is concentric, with the altar in the middle.

The floor of the church was designed by Arturo Luz, the Stations of the Cross by Vicente Manansala and Ang Kiukok, and the double-sided crucifix and altar base by Napoleon Abueva, all of whom are now National Artists. Since then, there have been modifications to the church and its surroundings; the altar base was changed from wood to marble, still by Napoleon Abueva and it is now fenced off, and the once open grounds that surrounded the church are now landscaped.

Plastic ban in Makati City

Makati became the ninth out of the 17 areas to issue the plastics ban, meaning 6.7 million of Metro Manila’s population of 13 million people are covered by the restrictions. Starting June 30, 2013 , it has banned the bags that shops and restaurants traditionally issue for free. Styrofoam food containers and plastic cups are also banned. Consumers are given the option of paper alternatives or not using any bags, with supermarkets encouraging shoppers to bring their own.There will be fines of ₱5,000 to shops and supermarkets caught distributing the items.

Superman: Red Son

 

Dapat nung Cold War Era, dinaan na lang sa movies.. sino mas sikat, si superman USA or si superman russia? Superman: Red Son was released in 2003 by DC Comics with the premise "what if Superman had been raised in the Soviet Union?" Superman's rocket ship lands on a Ukrainian collective farm rather than in Kansas, an implied reason being a small time difference (a handful of hours) from the original timeline, meaning Earth's rotation placed Ukraine in the ship's path instead of Kansas. Instead of fighting for "...truth, justice, and the American Way", Superman is described in Soviet radio broadcasts "...as the Champion of the common worker who fights a never-ending battle for Stalin, socialism, and the international expansion of the Warsaw Pact."http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superman:_Red_Son