13 for 2013

Yolanda and the future

 MANILA, Philippines - It’s almost superfluous; asking what else needs to be done in the wake of typhoon Yolanda. People know what needs to be done, or at least, are doing what they think needs to be done. The solemnized festivities, the special Masses, the continuous outpour of donations, the frequent media updates—all are undertaken in the hope that these efforts would help speed up the long road to recovery.

And yet, to ask what else needs to be done is probably the most relevant question anyone can ask, the question pulsing at the back of everyone’s mind like some misplaced heartbeat, incessant yet unacknowledged.

Recent news reports have depicted survivors in various states of normalcy, mostly around the heaviest-hit area of Tacloban City: a man stands atop a pile of rubble, stringing together decorations for the makeshift Christmas tree beside him; two brothers sit down for a haircut along the dilapidated city streets; people form a queue in front of a temporary Robinson’s retail area, shopping items clutched tight to their chests.

The normalcy, however, is pervaded by a sense of disquiet. As if an axe is about to drop; or as if a fuse has blown, but with the fuse box nowhere to be found.

Yolanda barreled through the country’s midsection with a ferocity unlike anything ever seen before, and the super typhoon overturned countless lives in one fell swoop. But for all that, much of its damage has remained invisible to the eye.

* * *

Trauma manifests itself in different ways. In time, survivors either disconnect emotionally from the event, or else live in the shadow of a memory-in-limbo—the forced forgetfulness causing them pain without them being able to pinpoint its exact origins. The youth are the most vulnerable, their tentative plans for the future suddenly snuffed out like a match. Dreams of finishing school, of starting a family, of applying for a first job—all swept away with the storm surge. To pick up the broken pieces and rebuild their lives will take more than the kindness of strangers (well-meaning, but mere Band-Aid solutions at best) or the endless politicking of our nation’s leaders.

Analysts point to the ongoing feud between Department of Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas and Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romualdez as evidence of politics hampering any progress towards recovery. The power struggle and inefficient working relationship between the national government and its local counterpart is symbolic of just how much needs to be done on the structural level alone. But while the fact of the matter is that effective governance is key to getting survivors back on their feet, significant change in this department remains highly unlikely at this point (what with our lawmakers’ bitterness over the pork barrel still foremost on their minds).

That said, the more optimistic, viable and oft-overlooked perspective presents itself in the survivor-youth, who have been relegated to the sidelines amidst the greater furor over relief goods delivery and clan politics. By turning our attention to programs that address their mental and emotional well-being, supporting the various transitional schools that have slowly cropped up, bringing these programs to the more isolated barangays and facilitating the adoption of those orphaned by the storm, then, at least for now, we can aid the youth in coming to terms with what happened. To help them move on, even as we weave the memory of Yolanda into the hopeful, unfinished story of their lives.

—Samantha King

Charice comes out

Watching Charice come out conjures up the same feelings as watching Miley Cryrus twerk: it’s consoling to know that these bubblegum-pop-celebrities are humans too, something we knew all along anyway. Still, it’s surreal to see a projection as picture perfect as young Charice Pempengco, certified by Oprah, break out of her box, when she confirmed speculation on national television that she was a lesbian. We don’t mean to glorify Charice’s coming out, but we thought it was fantastic. Every coming-out story is reason to celebrate anyway.

But what we love about this event is that it said more about the society that had trouble accepting it, than it said about Charice at all. People were uneasy, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines called it an “identity crisis,” and noted that “while the Catholic Church in the Philippines does not condemn homosexuality, it does not tolerate homosexual acts.” Maybe they can reason this out with Ellen DeGeneres, an open homosexual herself, who was the first to showcase Charice’s talent to the American audience.

Charice put her career on the line for something she believed in. She could’ve lost everything (and she had a lot going). It was a gutsy move for a girl like her.  And although there are haters, shaking their heads and pouting their lips in disapproval, taking a look at both ends, it’s clear who won—Charice is the one who’s smiling, still making music, dressing the way she wants, and in a blissful relationship too. She is free.

—Kara Ortiga

Volleyball spikes back

Every Catholic school girl knows that the most- awaited events on the school calendar are the annual intramurals. Aside from wanting to crush rival batches at cheer-dancing, everyone will swarm all over volleyball court to simultaneously cheer and drool over grunting players as they beat against their wrists to hurl the ball through the net. Sweat and short shorts never looked so good, apparently.

Look, it’s not as if it’s some shameful secret. No one is immune to it: all-girl Catholic schools are like prison: there isn’t much to choose from so you kind of have to go with the flow. And honestly, if guys get away with ogling at fit athletes, why can’t girls do the same? Feminism, equality, and all that jazz.

Strictly speaking, volleyball has never truly lost its place on the radar, but this year, it has left the strict confines of high school intrams and gained national attention. Local sports channels now make it a point to air matches, instead of using it as filler on slow days. Collegiate volleyball players are now becoming celebrities (such as former Ateneo Lady Eagles member Gretchen Ho) outside the court in the same way male basketball players from the UAAP often have.

It’s been said that the popularity of women’s volleyball in the Philippines increased after the success of the Shakey’s V-League, which brings together schools in the UAAP and non-university based teams. Suddenly, parking at the Filoil Flying V Arena became more and more difficult as the games attracted eager spectators.

As to why that is so, no one can be quite sure. Perhaps it’s the sight of sportsmanship and camaraderie shared among women. Or maybe people thought that there was nothing better than the lethal combination of pizza and hot chicks. (These people are right.)

Gretchen Ho, who finished with a degree in management engineering and communications, says that she really had to haul ass to meet the hectic demands of school and volleyball. “I’d stay up late to study after hours of practice,” she shares. “But I did it because I really love the sport.”

With volleyball pushing players to be the best they can be, is it any surprise to find all the passion it inspires its spectators? Thankfully, now that volleyball has truly spiked back into our consciousness, Catholic school girls need not to wait each year—there will be plenty of fun to be had all year round.

—Marga Buenaventura

Goodbye Cory

It started off as a novel idea. Popular and Nip/Tuck creator Ryan Murphy turned the tides around for a ragtag team of misfits who didn’t stand a fighting chance of making it past the bottom rung of the McKinley High social ladder. But five seasons into the hit show that had theaterati eating out of the palm of its jazz hands (and spirit fingers), Glee became this worldwide phenomenon — a de facto home for those who revel in the underside, making them feel a little less insecure and a little less alone.

At the heart of this operation was Fin-chel a.k.a. Finn Hudson and Rachel Berry who were the lead vocalists of the New Directions. Even as things got rocky for them last season (alas, Rachel’s move to New York took a toll on their relationship), we somehow knew they’d end up together like Ross and Rachel did in Friends. Even Ryan Murphy himself admitted to that fact in an interview. Sadly, that wasn’t the case for one of the actors who so lovingly and unassumingly played the role.

As filming wrapped up for season four, Cory Monteith who brought to life to Finn Hudson begged off the final few episodes to check into rehab because of his escalating drug abuse. His on- and off-screen flame Lea Michele had to personally escort him to the establishment. While fans never did get to see the end trajectory of his redemption story in Glee for wanting to be a teacher to the glee club, his redemption story in real life would only go as far as checking out before relapsing and ultimately sealing his own fate.
More than the loss of Cory though (one of many Hollywood stars to succumb to drug abuse), we are reminded that showbiz types are human too and equally susceptible to the many things that can make or break a person’s core, let alone, his career. At the very least, Cory “reached out,” as Lea Michele said in her speech at the Teen Choice Awards. “He had a beautiful, beautiful heart, and he became a part of all of our hearts. And that’s where he’ll stay forever.”

—Toff De Venecia

The year TV ate up the universe

Sure, Gravity was amazing and superhero movies raked in the millions but this year, our hearts belonged to TV. People were glued in every week to watch the last eight episodes of Breaking Bad. Olivia Pope and the rest of Scandal made everyone love and hate politics all over again. And the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who lit up the charts, Tumblr, and even the box office. 2013 also gave us new shows like the brilliant criminal drama, Top of the Lake, the Daniel Radcliffe and Jon Hamm starring A Young Doctor’s Notebook, and our new favorite cult show, Orphan Black. If those weren’t enough, the continued success of shows like The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, and Mad Men only proved that we really are in a new golden age of television. And just in case you were wondering, yes, we left out The Big Bang Theory on purpose. For the love of God, stop watching The Big Bang Theory.

—Jiggy and Jonty Cruz

‘Have you tried [insert food craze here]?’

This year saw nothing more than our daydream recipes turn into our next foodstagram. The evil geniuses of the culinary industry decided to give us mash-ups of treats we never thought would occur. The biggest of the year was obviously the cronut, a Frankenstein monster of carbs and calories. While lines for cronuts weren’t as bad as other countries, it became all the rage for those looking for the next big bite.  So did it live up to the hype? We wanted to ask the cronut bakers but they were too busy counting their money to care. Another food crossover that caught everyone’s hunger was the ramen burger. Once only available in secret parts of the world, it finally reached our trend-obsessed metropolis in 2013. Eating one could only be described as a combination of decadence and a mild stroke. If the cronut and ramen burger weren’t enough, cookie butter became this year’s favorite add-on, being in everything from ice cream, pancakes, to even bacon. No word yet if anyone combined all three entrées to make a cro-kie-ra-nut-men-butt-burg-er-er.

—Jiggy and Jonty Cruz

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Medyobadboy Daniel Padilla

Dear Daniel Padilla,

The truth is that for a really long time, we had no bleeping idea who you are.

It’s not because we didn’t care, but perhaps you had flown under the radar. Because really, did the Philippines really need its own Justin Bieber?

So there we went about with our Daniel-free lives, not really caring for your deep- set eyes or your tendency to pronounce all vowels with the e-sound. We’d only watch episodes of Princess And I, your first teleserye as a leading man, when nothing else was on TV.

You had described your character Gino as a “swaggering rich kid who will sacrifice a lot for love”; while that sort of verbosity may shut down weaker ovaries, we knew that our relationship would never last. One could argue that your ridiculously thick fringe would just get in the way of any amorous intentions, so we kept our loins in check.

Don’t take it personally, homie. We just don’t see a good thing until it slips away.

And slip away you did. All of a sudden, you were everywhere and everyone wanted you. We couldn’t go to the supermarket and not see cutouts of you sweetly offering us a jar peanut butter. Our shameful KFC runs are now unsettled by humongous pictures of you and your puppy dog eyes nudging us to buy mashed potatoes for only 20 pesos. Dammit, Daniel! We were on a diet!

We bet you’re laughing now, huh? You are, after all, exactly like the Internet meme that spread like wildfire. #Medyobadboy perfectly described the balance between your boy-next-door looks and that inexplicable air of… dare we say danger?

We’ve pegged you as the type of guy who will charm his girl’s parents over dinner then take her out afterwards for ice cream on his motorcycle. Maybe not in the Harley of our dreams, but a modest Honda that really packs a punch.

Look what you’ve done: you’ve made us want you now that we can’t have you. Is this what you #medyobadboys do? Not gonna lie, Daniel. We dig it. We dig it a lot. Give us a call when you’ve decided to return our love. Then again, you have no bleeping idea who we are, do you?

—Marga Buenaventura

Bad girls do it well

It’s almost inconceivable now, but just a year ago, Miley Cyrus seemed destined to become the next Hilary Duff — just another former Disney teen star with a fat bank account but next to nothing in terms of career development. She was playing arm candy to a hot young actor (Liam Hemsworth), paying homage to her Nashville roots with her acclaimed but largely ignored “Backyard Sessions” (featuring her takes on songs by Jeff Buckley and Dolly Parton, her godmother), and starring in straight-to-video movies with ‘80s stars. It seemed like she had hit a stump, promises of a “country hip-hop” album adding insult to injury.

But what a difference a year makes. In 2013, Miley Cyrus pulverized those expectations. She grabbed Robin Thicke’s crotch with a foam finger at the MTV Video Music Awards. She twerked with the best of them in her We Can’t Stop video. And she broke off her engagement with considerable aplomb — her break-up anthem Wrecking Ball hitting number one upon release. She proved a canny media manipulator, inciting public conversation with her controversies and then flipping the switch and keeping them talking with strong performances and damn good pop songs.

And it was the perfect year for Miley Cyrus to do just that. She found willing comrades in fellow bad girls like teen washout-turned-model-turned legitimate artist Sky Ferreira (her excellent debut “Night Time, My Time” garnering music blogosphere buzz), Emma Watson and her gang in Sofia Coppola’s indie hit The Bling Ring, and Vanessa Hugens and Selena Gomez in Spring Breakers (who can forget Baby V making James Franco go down on her gun?). Even good girl Taylor Swift wanted in on the fun, her I Knew You Were Trouble proving the perfect soundtrack to butt-slapping antics at the Victoria’s Secret show.

Time will tell whether Miley and her antics can sustain career longevity. But for this year, at least, she’s all anyone talked about. She trended on Twitter, topped end-of-year polls, sold superstar numbers for her “Bangerz” album, and twerked with aplomb. And those Hilary Duff comparisons? So yesterday.

—Raymond Ang

Macklemore is an unlikely gay icon

And I can’t change, even if I try, even if I wanted to – my love, my love, my love.” The first time anyone hears the soothing chorus on this LSS-inducing track from Macklemore’s Same Love, one would automatically assume that the better half of this hip-hop duo, which includes producer-slash-DJ Ryan Lewis, is a leading LGBT proponent in a growing pantheon of rap artists advancing LGBT rights in music. To see him dressed in metrosexual wear — flashy suits, perfectly coiffed hair, and all — further advances this theory on his sexuality.

Upon further scrutiny, however, you will be surprised to find that Macklemore is actually the farthest thing from a homosexual (he is engaged to his girlfriend of seven years) though he does get off on singing about taboos, waxing puritanical, and trashing some of the hip-hop industry’s biggest players. The “indie rags-to-riches story,” according to Rolling Stone, even launched a tirade against record producer Jimmy Iovine and his infamous 360 deals through a track called Jimmy Iovine where he outrightly refuses the steady hand that made the careers of Dr. Dre and Lady Gaga. He says, “I’d rather be a starving artist than succeed in getting f**ked.”

So how exactly does a Caucasian rapper (not heard of since the slim shady days of Eminem) receive critical acclaim for Same Love with its outright support for same-sex marriage, find a number one hit in Thrift Shop, and then rack up Grammy nominations left and right for his independently-produced album “The Heist?” Balls, man! Huge effin’ balls. 

Deliciously subversive, everyone loves a good paradox. “We play (Same Love) regardless of what we think the response is going to be,” he tells OUT magazine. “There’s been such ground made in terms of acceptance in the hip-hop community. What Barack Obama did, and what Frank Ocean did, and what, hopefully, Same Love did is start a conversation.” Yes, Macklemore, you got us talkin.’

—Toff De Venecia

Jennifer Lawrence becomes our main BFF

In an A-list multiple choice game of who you’d rather have either a sleepover or a hangover brunch (or both!) with, here are your options: Kristen Stewart, reserved and mumbly and likely to steal your boyfriend; Anne Hathaway, beautiful yet earnest and inaccessible; or Jennifer Lawrence, self-mocking homegirl who will most probably still be drunk with you the next day?

No contest.

This is the year where Jennifer Lawrence could do no wrong. We’ve come to love her so much, we’ve forgotten how Hunger Games fans were unhappy (furious, actually) about her casting at first. Internet shrines have been assembled in her honor. We shared YouTube clips of her during press circuits, at talk shows, at red carpet interviews; but most of all, we have never loved Jennifer Lawrence more than we have when she tripped going up the stairs, in her Dior gown, to receive her Oscar.

Not only did she give us one of the most genuine awards show moments in years, she’s also cemented her spot as a respectable actress and America’s Sweetheart, by being The Everygirl. People respond well to her quips and over-shares because it surprisingly sounds like something we would say. We gush about her down-homeness, we perpetuate the memes and the GIFs.

At this point we’ve all essentially been wrapped around her little finger, but it somehow feels like we’re being cuddled by 1,000-thread count sheets. That’s her exceedingly potent charisma for you. She’s become a breath of fresh air to Hollywood’s usual skirmish with their fame, because her antidote is having a sense of humor about it. So buckle up, 2014. We have a feeling it’s still going to be a Jennifer Lawrence doozy.

—Karen Bolilia

Trainers and snapbacks are a thing

It started in 2012, and arguably, with Cara Delevingne. Her overnight rise in social media as fashion’s new It model coincided with a new decree in street style: streetwear. Sneaker wedges were the informal kickoff, thanks to Isabel Marant—and soon the high street labels followed suit with a version of their own. This is not to say that there hasn’t always been a sizable sphere of people who have owned this look for years, but the subculture lent itself well to a certain trajectory in fashion—at that time and now—that informs us that people just wanted to chuck their heels and have a little fun. And Cara, with her brand of cheekiness and devil-may-care schtick, was both its disciple and ambassador. So in with the five-panels and the New Era and Supreme caps, the designer parody shirts, the sneaker collabs (APC x Nike, Kenzo x Vans etc), the New Balances, and lest we forget, the startling Instagram presence of the Flyknit, rainbow-brite and apparently insanely comfortable. We’ve never seen so many hashtags describe a running shoe.

—Karen Bolilia

Justin and Beyonce show us how it’s done

Five years ago, superstars of the era Beyonce and Justin Timberlake did their best Marvin Gaye and Tami Terrell routine at VH1’s Fashion Rocks concert, singing the Motown classic Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing with grit and dazzle. There was obvious chemistry between the two, their natural talents, larger-than-life charisma, and palpable passion for music breaking the television’s fourth wall.

This year, they lived up to those words. In a year went pop stars exploded upon impact and then fizzled out minutes later, two icons from our childhood took it upon themselves to prove that, when all is said and done, there’s no replacing real, honest-to-goodness talent.

Justin Timberlake was first up, coming out of his self-imposed musical exile with “The 20/20 Experience,” the zeitgeist’s welcome return to R&B and the biggest album of the year. The hits Suit & Tie and Mirrors were a welcome respite to the overcooked EDM beats we’ve been subjected to lately — and it didn’t hurt that he performed those songs at awards shows with elegant Gene Kelly-like showmanship largely absent from this crop of pop stars. Things culminated in a medley of hits past and present — not to mention a surprise N’Sync reunion — at the MTV Video Music Awards. That night, he received the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award, the network’s equivalent of a lifetime achievement award.

Beyoncé, of course, is no slacker. She opened the year in a big way, with a powerhouse Super Bowl halftime performance that was a testament to her increasingly robust body of work and her status as this generation’s greatest performer. She followed that up with a sold-out tour (The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour) and high-profile deals with Pepsi and H&M, but conspicuously, no album. As the last few months of 2013 went by, her fans—the Beyhive (then again, as Anderson Cooper famously said, who isn’t a Beyoncé fan?)—grew agitated.

Where was the album she was teasing us with the whole year? What was she promoting with her tour? What was she shilling through the Pepsi ad, aside from soda? What was she pushing with the H&M ad, aside from the clothes? Two weeks ago, she answered all that, by suddenly dropping an album on iTunes with nary a single or pre-release promotion—she just Instagrammed.

“Now people only listen to a few seconds of a song on their iPods and they don’t really invest in the whole experience,” she said. “It’s all about the single, and the hype. I felt like, ‘I don’t want anybody to get the message when my record is coming out.’” The Queen’s gamble proved successful—in its first sales week, the self-titled album sold 828,773 copies.

In a marketplace that has grown increasingly reliant on hype and an ostentatious amount of self-promotion, Justin and Beyoncé are teaching us that at the end of the day, it’s substance, hard work, and talent that really matters.

“I felt like I wanted to follow in the footsteps of Madonna and be a powerhouse and have my own empire,” Beyoncé said in an album release party. And in 2013, the two superstars did just that. They’re standing beside their idols now, moonwalking on the road to greatness.

—Raymond Ang