GAGAMBOY (The Significance of a Filipino Superhero)

Gagamboy is a 2004 filipino film directed by the well known Erik Matti. The film is a superhero science fiction action comedy, that is not something most Filipino films have. Gagamboy is often compared to the Spider-Man because it is a direct translation of  'Spider-Man'. But it doesn't mean that it is the same movie, Oh no.

It is said  that the film is underappreciated. Yes, it does not contain cheezy romantic one-liner super gwapo as the lead actor with the usual romantic Filipino film plot. Gagamboy is different in a lot of ways. It has been brought up some time ago that the whole movie was filmed in a set. The houses and the streets including the lights are made inside a warehouse set studio to portray a poor city. Production is off the charts!

Now about the film. At first, the protagonist had a romantic rival with the 'cool macho' guy. Later on the typical 'radio active' barrel gets trashed around into 2 insects, A spider and a Cockroach, which soon gets in the way of the protagonist and the antagonist. Now we all know how everything plays out. The writers of the story just introduced 2 new super powered individuals, they are original creations with origin stories. They are now a part of the Filipino Superheroes who nobody gives attention to.

Watching 'Gagamboy' is not just about what the story tells , but what the Filipino viewers missed to appreciate. Mars Ravelo's stories are well known because of how superpowers in the Philippines would work around normal Filipino lives. Not every body could relate to Captain America, but a lot of people could empathize on Darna, Captain Barbell, Rubber Boy, Lastikman and so on. These kinds of Filipino films (not series nor telenovelas) should be appreciated and given the support it deserves. They might be the childhood that the future generation might live with.

Leni For The Win

Leni Robredo is the Philippines new Vice President; but why is she the best person for the job ? Of course, the majority of the people saw Leni was fit for being the Vice President of the Philippines because if her political history. As a person who is not politically updated from time to time, Leni was the only realistic candidate who has somewhat realistic plans for the future of the country.


"Leni Robredo became the representative of the Third District of Camarines Sur in 2013 after she was persuaded to consider the political life, with a continuing commitment to her three daughters to remain the caring mother she set out to be at the start of her married life." - lenirobredo.com

Leni has the heart of a mother and the strength of a knowledgeable, honest politician. She would know how hard parents have to work for them to be able to feed their children, she would know how a family is reliant on government support. And so Mar Roxas and Leni Robredo focused on one idea, the Filipino Family. Of course their plans would have to break down and target smaller problems first to accomplish the tougher and larger ones. Even before the Roxas-Robredo team up, Leni has been on a mission to help those who are in need. She has been also pushing bills that would benefit most of the country. Leni's plans is pretty straight forward, which makes her ideas as well as herself to be the best person for the 2nd most important role in the government.

There are politicians who are selfish, demands power and abuses it 'under the table'. Like my mother said, most politicians just became politicians because of the immunity from imprisonment which is why as soon as a president has ended his/her terms, they are immediately imprisoned or trialed. There are only a few who we can sympathize on, where we can already tell that this person may have experienced the same things one has experienced. And by that note, one can trust someone to help.

The Day We Won

The Philippine Independence Day is celebrated on the 12th of June. The Philippines has celebrated it's 118th Independence Day last June 12th, 2016 commemorating the day The Philippines is free from the Spaniard colonists. But the Americans came and left years after the Republic of the Philippines has been declared independent from colonists. Manuel Roxas was the first president of the new republic after the Americans left the Philippines

In today's times, Only a few knew how it was like to achieve independence from colonists, how it feels to have the country back to it's natives. Movies, music, propaganda art, and all sorts of literature are being made to fully show people how it as back in the day. People are starting to understand but many still overlooks the film's main objective which is to show people how The Philippines has gained it's independence. Because of the influence of the Americans and other cultures around the world, some Filipinos are not as patriotic as they hope to be. And so, Professors, Literary Writers, Film makers, all hope to educate these people that the soil they live in has been fought for many years, thousands maybe millions have died trying to take the Philippines back.

The 21st century may be the time where most of the Philippine citizens would not know the correct history of the Philippines. Personally, it's quite okay; as a person who lives in the moment and only cares about the future. But then again, how could one be successful in the future if he does not know his own past.  Learning about the past is only as great as preparing for the future. There are a lot of sayings that invites people to look into the past so they could learn about what to expect in the future. A professor in history once told the class that history simply repeats itself so we have to learn about the mistakes of the past and make correct decisions for the future.

Ride a Bike. Save a Life, Save the World

Man has discovered a way to travel large distances in a very short period of time. Man has also found a way to travel in large numbers and still go the same distance at the same time. But Man did not think about how many would do the same, and how many more would want the benefits of commuting. And today, public transportation is the best way to get from point A to point B. Statistically, Yes, It is true because of the carbon emissions and by the amount of kilometers traveled by a single vehicle full of people vs 1 car and a driver.

Heavy traffic has been the number one problem in commuting. It has gotten people late for work and hateful of their co-commuters. The source of the problem is debatable; whether it would be the amount of cars, the small roads and highways, or the irresponsible drivers. Realistically speaking, it's all three; Because if the number of cars in the road is increased, so  will the number of irresponsible drivers will, and All of those cars wouldn't fit in a 5-lane highway that sometimes turn into a 2-lane highway because of  bad road planning.

Cyclists are the wind of the road, no matter how tight spaces can be, there is a much wider path. Because of the traffic, it's much faster to run to work than to sit in a vehicle. But nobody likes running , Cycling is much easier and more efficient. In metro-manila , there are what people call 'Rush hours' and at this time, the heavy, extremely slow paced traffic could last for hours. But bicycles could maneuver into the traffic since it's a compact mode of transportation, it doesn't need a lot of space. There is no such thing as heavy traffic for cyclists

The solution to avoid bad traffic is to prevent it. Road widening is almost impossible, that's why skyways are being made to compensate. Nobody would sell their cars to ride public transportation, comfort and privacy is one of the reasons why one should buy a car. If work is more important than comfort, get a bike. The solution to avoid traffic is to flow through the mess . It doesn't produce carbon emissions and it will be the biggest investment of anyone's life. Kill traffic, Ride a bike.

Finally, Dick is In (Richard Gordon)

As a person who isn't really politically updated, some campaigns are effective through people who are not politically updated as well. A few candidates try to slip in some jokes to further cater to those who are not as serious. To be honest, it is quite difficult to memorize each name , learn about them, and on top of that, know how each part of the government works. What does the senate do ? Who should be in the senate? Who is that ?

Richard Gordon went viral after his "Ipasok si Dick" move. The joke was perfect, people started to know him and everybody was saying "IPASOK SI DICK! IPASOK SI DICK".  This was years before he got in the senate; And as a newly registered voter, this is what made me remember his name. Quite frankly, after all of those "Ipasok si Dick" years, He deserved to win . And now that he won, the joke started to evolve once again and grew even funnier when people started merging other names with "Ipasok si Dick". It seems like a lot of people wanted see Dick in the senate.

Sometimes the senate isn't given much seriousness as it should be. Celebrities are there, athletes, maybe in the near future, YouTubers are running for senate. But maybe that's just how it is in politics. Having a lot of fans, making people laugh, being one of the best performers in sports, It's all there. That is the same principle, or a short cut to life as some people would say, is making people like you so one could get a promotion even though there is no skill and knowledge that is relevant to the position offered. But nonetheless, they have a responsibility and a reputation to hold. They wouldn't be able to mess this one up.