Payola, Padulas, Pabaon, Para-paraan Pilipinas.

PR : “It is not what you say, but how you say it.”

I learned about the “real word” at an early age, and this has kept me away from any kind of career in broadcast journalism. Fresh out of college, I joined a fledging PR agency in Manila as a copywriter where I wrote about all kinds of stuff, mostly travel and lifestyle oriented.

Public Relations (PR) I soon learned was not an easy job, especially in the Philippines, where you have to deal with limited media outlets, and an elite circle of seasoned journos who has hogged the top slots for as long as they can.

Quickly I learned that its not enough to just to state the facts. Its not enough to send well-written press releases about interesting places and products.  I learned how to enhance a story and how a simple title can mean the difference between getting snubbed and getting published. I learned to be extremely patient, to wait on the phone, while my calls get transferred from one assistant to another.  I learned about the term VIP and VIP treatment.

I learned that in some cases, your best will not be enough, and that often times the bigger the editorial space you want, the bigger you might have to pay. Monetary or otherwise. I learned that this has always been the case.

I was introduced into the system and there was no turning back.  They say that the only thing true about the newspapers is the date. As I earned my first few paychecks on writing press releases, I also began to accept this cynicism.

I know for a fact that certain writers, columnists, or even high profile editors are open to do “favors”. Given that we are not dealing with hard news, I can only imagine what it would be like for those who actually did, those who had access to the front page, those who had the primetime news slots.

Payola: Pay to Play

From PR, I then moved on to a Record Label, where I soon learned about “Payola” .  Again I learned that this has always been the case. 

More often than not, it is not enough to just have a good song. It was PR all over again. You need to know the right people, you need this people to listen to you, and again you need to be patient enough to wait for them to reply, when they feel like it. It would help if you send them the occasional gifts – limited edition Artist merchandise, CDs, and of course the wine and dine factor. That’s all good, that’s all part of the job.

If you want more plays on a radio station, you just gotta have to be ready to pay the price.Sure there are organic hits, those that are lucky enough to hit the mainstream, but more often than not, we had to “push” it, and “pushing” requires all necessary efforts, monetary or otherwise. Anyway, one could argue that there is essentially nothing wrong in selling a product or in this case, a hit song, especially if its really good. 

Again, I find that music is a more subtle field, compared to hardcore entertainment, such as the local film industry. If you’ve ever been to a press junket of a local film, you will know how upfront these Entertainment writers can get. Sometimes they don’t even care to use an envelope. It was the norm. People just accepted that that’s just the way it is. 

Pampadulas, lagay, thank you note.

Mam, Ser....The VIP-Star treatment

The VIP culture also continued, and the VIP treatment was done not just with media but also with artists, celebrities that we had to take care of.  In the Philippines the stars are not just actors or singers, they all seem to live in some kind of pedestal and many have convinced themselves of it. Blessed are those, and there are still those, who are humble enough not to fit into this stereotype.

In my 5 years in the music label, I did my job quietly and never interfered with these local celebs, except on occasion. Maybe I’ve met a few who didn’t have that air of “entitlement”. Don’t get me wrong I respect them as artists, I am essentially after all, only a fan, and will forever remain a fan. Music is my soul food and I’m eternally for good music, but this sense of “entitlement”, this sense of VIP culture never sat well with me. Until one day, I just decided to leave the old scene.  Like that scene in my favorite movie Almost Famous - I chose Morroco.

Quitting the Game

As I look back in the years I’ve spent working in the Philippines, I've met the best and the worst kind of people. I remember a lot of good times, and many fun, challenging times, but also, having spent most of it in PR & Entertainment I realized that corruption is endemic, and it is everywhere. The system will not change until people stop playing along with it.  Until people stop accepting it as that's just the way it is. 

Perhaps my story is just small scale, but let me tell you this,  after all those years working in the “biz
 if I got any valuable lesson, is that never to trust the mainstream media. The game is always rigged, but you can always, at any given point, refuse to play. 

Don’t let these people bully you into buying in to the system. They are no better than you. Seek out the truth by reading about it and asking questions.  Find your own hits, find your own heroes. Do it yourself.  Do not just consume, but create. Share it with your friends.  This is the reason why I love Social Media. It gives us a voice, and lets us create and participate.

We all just have to be smart, stubborn and confident enough to say – You know what,  I don’t need your shit, thank you very much.

 

Sex Scandals & Philippine Politics : The Dirty Nasty Truth

In the Philippines, we used to have that old idiom  don't wash your dirty laundry in public, but social media is now changing all of that. Now with Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, everyone else is playing with dirty laundry, and somehow I think its a good thing.

I'm a big fan of the series Gossip Girl, where one insider gets access to the lives and scandals of the upper elites and exposes them to unsuspecting masses. I think its a great idea, and it seems to be happening now in the Philippines.  I really don't care much about the recent Sex scandal of rockstar Chito Miranda and girlfriend Neri, or the boring family feuds like the Barretos, but there's a big bomb exploding daily on a small blog about a certain Napoles family, and its turning out to be the biggest scam so far that has been uncovered by investigative reporters – that of the P10 B scam that involved the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), better known as the pork barrel. 

Napoles and her Government offical friends spreading their Evil (i'm stealing from you all) grin. 

Comments by Anonymous on this blog post has revealed detailed information on how this super Elites and organized Crime lords, many of them holding government offices are stealing BILLIONS every year from our hardearned taxpayers money, while 70% of our country remain below poverty.

People are now talking about the sex tape of famous rockstar Chito Miranda, but the truth is this 10B peso Pork Barrel Scam, this obscene weath that this filthy opportunists have amassed through the years since the time of Diosdado Macapagal, to Marcos to the present, has put us all in the same hopeless boat, has put our kababayans in squalor while the tacky noveau riche like the Napoles gets to party in NYC and drown in champagne wearing Loubotins - THIS, This to me is the real OBSCENITY.  This is the real Dirty, Nasty Shit. This is what we should be talking about. Not some homemade video sex tape.

Actually this particular news is not new to me or to all of us Pinoys. We all know this. We each have our own "anak ni mayor", "kaibigan ni governor" stories enough to justify this. The culture of corruption in our country has come to point where people, all of us regular pinoys, have just come to accept that it is part of our daily lives. Thinking it is hopeless to fight, we became  helpless and lazy, that we have come to accept that our government officials are free to get away with it. Sometimes we even try to benefit from it, because come to think of it we like the idea of VVIP.

But this has to stop. Right now we have rays of hope. We are on the verge of change.  We are getting positive credit ratings world wide, our tourism sector is growing, our Filipino expats (OFWs) are making way for stronger middle class but yet this chain of corruption keeps dragging us down. THIS HAS TO STOP.

I urged you to sign the petition and take a stand against this widespread corruption. We need to pressure Broadcast media like the evil empire of ABS CBN (who has been mum about this issue) to support  this, we need to this by ourselves.

A group of concerned citizens and former government officials have filed a petition on Change.Org for the Office of the Ombudsman to investigate the misuse of the Pork Barrel Fund. There are a few good men. Let's support them. 


Mahal ko ang Pilipinas at nahihirapan ang mga tao taon taon, habang ang mga mismong government officials ang nagnanakaw sa kaban na dapat ay gamitin para umunlad ang bansa. Madami ang sangkot at talamak ang corruption sa Pilipinas pero naniniwala ako na hindi ako nagiisa, madami ang sawang-sawa na sa magsasamantala ng mga corrupt sa gobyerno. Nagpapakahirap kami dito sa ibang bansa for our families back home, to give them a better life and in turn improve our situation in the country, lahat ng mangagawa sa Pinas ay sapilitang nagbabayad ng buwis. 

That is HARD-EARNED taxpayers money that they are stealing from us and using to service their lavish lifestyles, and obscene wealth. I am just one person, but I still believe there are good people in government and in private institutions like our broadcast media who can turn this thing around. Let's do this together. This time around wag tayong maging bulag. Let's bring this system of corruption down and call for change!

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

Sincerely, 
Kristine Abante 
Dubai, UAE