Kamote, Kalabaw

Last Thursday, Studio 23 (Philippines) aired the controversial "Desperate Housewives" episode. A program advisory said that it was the official international edition of the said show. The alleged "racial slur" was already omitted. I found the scene rather ordinary because it lacked the punchline that usually bring a good laugh. When I first heard about the alleged racial slur in the news, I, being a Filipino, sympathized with my fellow Pinoys who were offended by the controversial line of Susan Mayer (Teri Hatcher). The first question that entered my mind was "why did the writer thought of the med school in the Philippines and not of those other countries?" The first answer that came to my mind was, maybe, he heard about the falsification of documents along C.M. Recto avenue. Maybe, he heard this story from his Filipino friends or acquaintances. My second theory was, perhaps, he was aware of a news item in the Philippines where a leakage in the nursing boa...

In "Balakubak", a segment of Nuts Entertainment (aired 4 Aug 07), Joey de Leon, Janno Gibbs, and Anjo Yllana interviewed Ryan Agoncillo. The three men asked Ryan if he would allow Piolo Pascual to be his best man in his wedding or to be one of the godfathers of his child. Ryan answered "no" for the reason that he is Catholic and Piolo is a Christian. In that statement, Ryan made it sound that he is not a Christian, or in general, that Catholics are not Christians. Catholics are 100% Christians. In fact, the Catholics are the very first Christians. Christ's disciples, beginning from his apostles, were the early Christians. Years after, they called themselves Katolikos or Catholics. To correct Ryan, he should have said "I'm a Catholic Christian while Piolo is a non-Catholic Christian.