If you've been driving along EDSA this past weekend, you wouldn't have missed them. There were a lot of banners touting Bongbong Marcos' first State of the Nation Address. Those banners were quite imposing, and not just because of the president's face: they were so big that they hung so close to the ground. One can imagine an unsuspecting driver have his car - or himself - swiped by that banner.
The impression, of course, is that this address is an Important Event, one that every Filipino should watch if they are to know where the government intends the country to move in the next year, at least, and in the next six years, ideally. Well, yes, it is an important event; it is most Filipinos' first indication of what the new president plans to do, especially after spending most of the campaign period avoiding debates and most policy pronouncements. We may have heard some inklings of those plans in recent weeks, as cabinet secretaries outlined their priorities, but it still hits differently when it comes from the man on the top himself.
But then, recent SONAs have also been an exercise in brand and reputation management. The Duterte administration made a big deal out of enlisting acclaimed film directors to be in charge of what most Filipinos see on their televisions, to mixed results. Brillante Mendoza utilized low angles that contributed nothing to our understanding of what the then president wanted to do (and his rambling style did not make things any easier). Joyce Bernal then did a much more conventional job, until the whole affair became just an excuse to slap a director's name to an otherwise drab, bureaucratic affair.
Read more »
I found myself at National Bookstore today, buying something I really shouldn't be buying considering the circumstances. But then, old habits are hard to break. Also, this really isn't the point of this perfunctory entry.
Again. I found myself at National Bookstore today. A Saturday, almost at the tail-end of July, smack in the middle of the lunch hour, and the lines at the cashiers are long. Like, really long.
It's not like I haven't been there for months and am surprised at the lengths of the queues. I found myself going there at least once a month lately, looking for construction paper, or craft-grade scissors, or any lanyard that will do. And in all those instances, there are queues, but none as long as the one I saw today. There were fifteen, perhaps twenty people in the queue. Why are this many people buying supplies at the bookstore at this time of the year?
Read more »
Facebook memories can come in pretty handy in connecting some dots and reminding you just how weird things can be. For instance, what's with July, and why is it the time when I end up having speaking engagements?
Yes, I've reached a point in my career when I am the one speaking, as a subject matter expert, to audiences of industry peers. Only it isn't exactly the case. In most of these instances, I am the substitute, because the guy originally invited - an invitation I most likely coordinated - ended up being unavailable. So, one July, I ended up speaking for a foreign chamber about supply chain. Another July, I ended up being a reactor for a government event about supply chain. You get the idea.
It's weird. Perhaps it's weird because of impostor syndrome. Like, what business do I have to speak about supply chain? I may have worked in the industry for... let me check... a decade now, but I am very much cognizant that I do not have operational experience. I was never in a position to make decisions about how and when the products you buy in stores are delivered.
Read more »
This entry has been redacted.
This entry has been redacted.
