NOTES ON THE NEW SOCIETY...
I must confess that last night I was once again on the blog of that poor disenfranchised Australian man (google whistleblower + Australian + Boracay). Ever since it came onto the scene two weeks ago, that blog has just been burrrning with vitriolic statements about Manila's supposed "upper" crust. Specifically, jabs were made about the apathy and insularity of Manila's "true" elites and the delusions and deviousness of Manila's "pseudo" elites. And truth be told, it's been riveting reading. Now, let me make it clear that I am not taking pleasure in watching these people being taken down a notch, but moreover, I'm only reading it because it's an insight into the travails and machinations of Manila's misbehaving "burgis" class. And what I gathered here is this: There is NO such thing as "high society" in a country that was built by the money of glorified farmers (hacienderos) and merchants (the Ilustrados). Period. The stark reality here is that the Philippines has NOT had royalty in over 3 centuries, so the concept of being "elite" in the Philippines is totally manufactured. Jeez, even the Zobels and Sys and Gokongweis had their beginnings as simple shopkeepers. So having said that, ANYBODY can be "High Society". In a good way, everything becomes quite democratic, the field is level when it comes to choosing who should be our society's "icons". But sadly, instead of choosing Filipinos of merit/morals to be our role models in defining the modern Philippine lifestyle, it seems that the mainstream media has chosen to glorify pretentiousness and choose posers as the ones the masses should emulate. And as I kept clicking through the blog, it was really shameful to see where this has all come to.But then again, ever the optimist and proactivist that I am, perhaps we should start looking at this situation in a different way. So how about this? In lieu of finding people to tear down, let's look for people that we can celebrate instead. Let's take a good look around us and find Filipinos out there who should really be our role models, our icons, our "High Society" so to speak. So please allow me to nominate people who I think should be considered as Philippine High Society to replace the ones that have failed us in oh so many ways.
My nominee for this month: Guillermo Ramos.Now, you guys might not know of this person from Adam but I think he has all the ideals of what Filipinos out there should emulate. I have known this man for years and can verify that he is a bonifide law abiding, non-littering, twice-a-day bathing, tax-paying Filipino citizen who has never nicked couture from anyone's collection nor cash from anyone's life savings. He is a cultured man in a committed interracial gay relationship, a graduate of University of St. Thomas in the district of Sampaloc, and runs his own design agency in Intramuros. Guillermo has never been known to beat his maid, leave any bar bill unpaid, nor laugh at anyone's shortcomings. He also lives in a lovely flat overlooking the Manila Bay sunset and travels the world once a year. And for the last few years, instead of throwing an ecstasy fuelled birthday party for some sorry set of snow moochers and parvenus, he celebrates his birthday with street children in Pasay City.
And he'll be doing it again this year as usual. I just recieved this in my mail:
Hi Carlos! You're invited to come help me celebrate my birthday at the Pangarap Shelter for Street Children. 2503 Taft Avenue corner Escobal Street, Pasay City (its about 150 meters from the Libertad LRT Station, direction: EDSA) on Sunday, 6 April 2008 at 4:00 pm. In lieu of gifts for me, please see the attached wish list for the boys (ages from 10-17). You will also have the opportunity to purchase some of the wonderful products made by the residents as part of their income-generating project.
Looking forward to seeing you there.
Please RSVP by April 3.
Wish list:
Toothpaste (sachets)
Toothbrushes
Bath Soap
Laundry Soap (powder or bars)
Shampoo (sachets)
Combs and hairbrushes
Nail cutters
Deodorant
Slippers
Tshirts
Shorts
Notebooks
Pens and school supplies
Basketballs
Books
Soy Sauce
Vinegar
Cooking oil
Catsup
Tomato and Fish sauce
Rice (the shelter consumes at least 1 sack of rice each day!)
Now that's what I call class. That's what I call "High Society". Take that as a lesson, Gucci Gang.
Now if anyone out there wishes to donate anything from Guillermo's wish list to the orphans on his birthday. Please just text me at the number on the top of my blog and I'll find a way to get it to them.
Now if anyone out there wishes to donate anything from Guillermo's wish list to the orphans on his birthday. Please just text me at the number on the top of my blog and I'll find a way to get it to them.
How about you? Anyone out there you wanna nominate as a member of Manila's New High Society?
Labels: gucci gang
posted by carlosceldran @ 2:12 PM
59 Comments:
bra-VO.
can i help spread the word? what would i need to say?
Say whatever you want. You know the gist.
Cheers man.
Hear, hear!
If only our society pages were filled with pictures and stories of people who actually earned the right to be admired and emulated (not to mention, their money), and who do more with their time than shop and party.
But then, that may be utopian. Where, after all, is there a true meritocracy? By those standards, even royalty shouldn't be high society. The ancestors of today's royals stole and killed their way to power, anyway, then proclaimed themselves "anointed by God." And historically, royals are known to be much more depraved than any member of the Gucci Gang. I'd rather look up to descendants of a shopkeeper than a land-grabber or even warrior.
So I applaud your idea to nominate those with REAL class, Carlos. I look forward to seeing who your other nominees will be. I'll try to think of my own, as well. :-)
I don't know the full tale of the Gucci gang, nor do I care to know but...
You said:
"...sadly, instead of choosing Filipinos of merit/morals to be our role models in defining the modern Philippine lifestyle, it seems that the mainstream media has chosen to glorify pretentiousness and choose posers as the ones the masses should emulate."
Wow. Dude. You rock. You just, nailed that one right on the head.
I suppose that was the thought that I was trying to expand on in this comment.
Unfortunately, I didn't have the eloquence and brevity to summarize my point in something as concise as that. Bravo.
I guess my old friends, cousins, and relatives who, upon meeting one of their own who's now almost purely just an English Speaker, assumed I'd be just like the ones dubbed ingliseros as popularized in Philippine pop culture. (hey, I still speak and write Tagalog as much as I can. And even if it's a tad spotty, I never try and make salita in Taglish naman.. hahaha. All or nothing.)
But I guess I can't blame them for basing these negative perceptions of a person's humanity all because of how and what they can (or can't) speak.
Why? Because I made that same mistake in that one comment I linked above. In there I wrote:
"...if you were to take the general consensus of the definition of a spoiled brat, I think you can find more of them in the ranks of the Philippine Elite's youth."
Although, I avoided the folly of making an all encompassing statement, I must confess, that was on my mind.
I now realize that just because someone is "High Society" or part of the upper crust social elite, doesn't necessarily follow that they'll be snobbish, will insulate themselves from the "rabble", and will only concern themselves with the pretentious fineries of life whilst completely avoiding the larger social picture.
I applaud you for making some effort to celebrate the more exemplary characters in Philippine High Society. Perhaps in time there will be a paradigm shift in the Philippine mass media. Perhaps someday we'll be celebrating a person's contribution to society as opposed to how they've lifted themselves above all the "riff raff" and insulated themselves from the human suffering that is all around
Sorry for the length. I really do have to start a subscription to brevity.
-R.
Here's to you Mr. Guillermo Ramos for being a decent person and sharing your day with those that need it the most. Manila needs people like you.
I would like to nominate you, Carlos Celdran for helping us re- discover the "Manila" that we thought we "lost" through your tours and blogs. You have been enlightening countless tourists and locals of what Manila truly is about. Kudos to you and your team!
I also want to comment that you have put mestizos in a positive light and thank you for this. It's time to do away with old colonial stereotypes and just enjoy each other's company.
Brian C
I nominate TOYM and Young Global Leader awardee Iliac Diaz for using his first-rate academic training to put up social entrepreneurship projects. Definitely a class act.
-T.S.
Oh my Bapor Tabo!
My lola equipped me how to read 'katon' style. In a short window of opportunity in one's developmental stage, kahit Pepe and Pilar pwede na basta makapagbasa ng maaga. I remember even those Thomasite hardbounds about American prairie stories, at least they were colored pictures.
I am alluding to strategize targeting education at a critical stage, so that we stop this bleeding in our society-teach kids how to read, appreciate, and pave the way to love learning. So, by the time they are adults they know which crap to bin and be confident to hold their own without these self proclaimed opinion leaders(at mas may ibabatbat pa!)
Aba! si Nick Joaquin, di naman yun ka-yaman , natambay lang sa National Library, pero ang laking pakinabang.
What's a possible tactic? Mag-tutor sa mga public school (exempted ka na Carlos you are a teacher in your own right, na). Is it possible/plausible, in the name of Corporate Social Responsibility to encourage your employers to sponsor this? Or amongst your co-workers, instead of a 'medical mission', a reading/writing mission?
Can you imagine the difference you can make to at least 10 skinny, yes smelly kids, in the slums of Metro Manila?
- Nining
this is good carlos.
Abscbn foundation does something like this annually. They award real heroes (Bayani) and eve broadcast the awards on primetime.
dop
Carlos, very good comments about the formation of what constitutes the high society of Manila, and where most of them actually came from. It's the same situation in Thailand with the "hi-so" crowd, as they call them, and I've always assumed that the same situation existed in the Philippines.
I had a quick look at the Aussie blog about his financial problems with his former boyfriend in Manila, and really couldn't find much that was scandalous. He's just pissed off that he got taken to the cleaners, and he's posted it on Blogger, and I guess that's something new. Not really.
But who are those other Manila people he talks about? Obviously, I don't recognize those names and so his posts don't really ring any bells here. Is this a major scandal, or just something that will go away in a few weeks?
Also, good to see you on Facebook. Not sure where that will lead, but whatever.
Spot on, Carlos! Bravo!!
A generation looking up to these losers with their gaudy parties and superficial delusions is a scary thought.
I also would like to give props to Joey Concepcion and the rest of the GoNegosyo team. Nothing like promoting entrepeneurship to the people to take us out of this rut. They are really doing the Lord's work.
Acid
Pucha, lalayo pa ba tayo? I nominate Carlos Celdran. Now if only he gets over his tolerance for GMA's mug. :-D
Youll be a very good representative for 'high society', sir. I mean that.
Marcos had a point when he, during Martial Law (1972-1981), forbade the publication of "society columns" or "society pages". None of the 3 newspapers then -- Bulletin, Daily Express, and Times Journal carried any. In 1984, Times Journal flirted with having a society columnist (Maurice Arcache) but he promptly got the boot. In 1985, the Inquirer picked up Mr. Arcache to boost its readership.
Too bad we can't ban "society pages" now.
Couldn't have said it better myself.
Pucha, lalayo pa ba tayo? I nominate Carlos Celdran.
Hear, hear!
Wag naman me. I came up with the idea. It's too luto. Hello.
I'm thinking of giving these people plaques. And I'm thinking of NORMAL people. The ABSCBN awards still choose people who are known.
I want unsung talaga. Even Illac is too... sung. I'm too SUNG.
I'm talking about the average Miss Tapia of a public school who is still fashion forward and spearheads a feeding program in her spare time type stuff. Or your neighbor who created a recycling program. I'm talking small people who can make big change. Quite the opposite of Big People who champion small issues. Or Big People who do...nothing.
But who are those other Manila people he talks about? Obviously, I don't recognize those names and so his posts don't really ring any bells here. Is this a major scandal, or just something that will go away in a few weeks?
My point exactly, there was a whole lotta people on that blog and really nobody there if you know what I mean.
I hope this is a wake up call for all the aspirational middle classes who might be considering following the blogname's footsteps.
Posing doesn't Pay apprently. Being true to oneself is way cheaper.
Eng-eng naman kasi 'tong Australianong 'to. Ibigay ba ang "lifesavings" niya sa foreigners?
At ngayon mag-ngangawa-ngawa siya diyan? He probably had intentions of using them too, knowing their statuses in the Filipen shushalan. He probably thought, he found a lucrative short cut.
Ang na-sasatisfy sa blog niya, tayong mga mahilig makitsismis at mang-hiyaw at makisawsaw. Ako rin, I was entertained by that blog but it still remains that those 'kids' still live on top of society and living it up to now say 'poor me'. Let them snort coke to self destruct.
I nominate Cecile Zamora Van Straten. Those who know her really well knew of allegations about her family's wealth. True or not, sins of the past cannot and should not be passed on to the present. And the present CZVS is a person with a good heart, albeit struggling to rid herself of the apathy that is all too common to ultra-rich people like her.
You think?
I mean, she might be a nice and all that but what has she done recently to make the world a better place?
Well, not really earth-shattering. If Ige Ramos has his recent projects for the poor in Pasay and other areas, Chuvaness is currently in the works for a major investment in the food industry that will ultimately EMPLOY working-class Filipinos. And she is excited to be able to give employment. That is certainly something to make the world a better place. But, really, being "nice and all" is enough if you go by the spirit of Carlos' proposal.
i think chuvaness as an icon is pretty lame. certainly there are more deserving unsung hero's that we should celebrate. certainly gawad kalinga deserves our collective praise.
enuff said.
Ige won't be earning money from what he gives those street children. I don't think Cecille will be giving food out for free t her store.
I don't think being "nice and all" is enough if we go by the spirit of Carlos' proposal.
Devil's advocate lang ako ha. Let's not have a war here.
Who's talking about war? We are for peace here. It's Cecile with a single L. And Carlos is not talking about icons here, is he? Nominate na lang kayo ng mga gusto nyong i-nominate. Pakialaman ba ang gusto ng iba?
KEBER to 10:44 and 10:48. Go Team Chuvaness!
team Chuva ako! :)
In reality, the Philippines does not glorify these ilks. It's them themselves who glorify themselves because they control the media.
Good point.
Paris Hilton and "The Simple Life" anyone?
Tongue in cheek it may be, but it makes me wonder: humans appear to have some sort of attraction to the tales of people born with a silver spoon in their mouth - and what sorts of things they can get away with.
I nominate Borgy Manotoc, Ornussa Cadness, Kris Aquino, Claudine Barretto, KC Concepcion, all those "elites" hanging at The Fort Embassy...God there are so many...I'll be back with more list.
Love your post...
KC qualifies, I guess. But if you're being sarcastic, I don't think those you mentioned are bad enough...
Could it be that Marcos banned the Society pages during his time because otherwise, they would only show the glorious Imelda and her children in various states of conspicuous consumption..
good luck on the nominations, i'm sure people like guillermo are legion...
and incidentally, what's up with the anonymity? we are not on the gucci gang blog....
"Jeez, even the Zobels and Sys and Gokongweis had their beginnings as simple shopkeepers. So having said that, ANYBODY can be "High Society". In a good way, everything becomes quite democratic, the field is level when it comes to choosing who should be our society's "icons"."
Really, and if there are o kings then why do politicians give themselves the freedom to take from government coffers. One rumor in that blog has it that Sen. Angara used government money to fund Anna Angara's shopping spree in London. And the oligarchy do count as "qualifiable" nobility.
i don't wanna be nominated for anything. I just want to clarify that my dad has never run for public office. he has always been in the mining business.
".. the Philippines has NOT had royalty in 3 centuries"
http://www.royalsulu.com/history.html
remember what we were before the spanish came.
remember Sabah.
oh yes, them.
thank god they are passe and nearly irrelevant. (as are most european royals)
thank god we are now a republic.
imagine if we did still have royalty..people born to be god-kings by default and a ridiculous sense of self-entitlement....
maybe sultan ek-ek kiram should crown loren legarda as empress of mindanao...(she's another princess i hear...)
Oh wow. 34 posts already? Yoiks..
I said this once, Ill say this again. Leave Cecile alone.
Someone is attacking you on Brian's blog. You were called gay. Care to reply?
Mr. Celdran:
Thank you for the post - I appreciate it very much.
Please give my regards to Guillermo on his birthday and more power to him for his work with the less-privileged than him. I hope that someday I can do the same thing that he's doing.
Best regards.
HZ
hmmm, i think this is a novel idea worth getting into.
i would like to nominate ERIC a.k.a. SENOR ENRIQUE for being a true class act. He maintains his photoblog at http://senorenrique.blogspot.com.
his blog first came to my notice when i was looking for pictures of street scenes online, and it was one of the sites that popped out in my google search. immediately, i was hooked on to his pictures, showing how things are seen through the eyes a pedestrian.
as i went on going through his entries, i discovered that he's a filipino who's built a corporate life in new york and has chosen to leave it - to go back to this country and be with family. in the process, he's rediscovering again the culture he's left decades ago.
a class act? in my dictionary, yes. to leave a comfortable life behind and go back for family in a much more difficult environment as ours, that already is a classy move. BUT that really is not the main classy thing he's done.
i and a lot of people who have been following his photoblog have been left with this impression each time one passes his mouse on his pages: that one can see beautiful things in the mundane. he looks at things with a pedestrian's point of view, captures it, puts it in his blog... and makes everyday people like me remember. Thoughts invariably come to mind like "i always passed by that siopao stall and never tried it but now i think i will since senor enrique suggested it," or "i didn't know that Mamon Luk is still serving that mami soup I used to have when i was a kid, i wanna go there this sunday".
Senor Enrique, through his blog, gives that gift without a fee and without asking for anything in return. it's a gift of memory. a memory that can put a smile on a filipino in toronto when he saw pictures of hidalgo and MLQU and remember his old haunts in his younger days. it is the same gift of memory that makes a filipino engineer in the u.s. to ache for home when he saw eric's photos of children holding palm fronds. it is also that same memory that a person like me who thinks that i've seen it all, but looking again at eric's pictures would make me realize i need to open my eyes a little bit, well, bigger.
senor enrique might not know it or might not even have a smidgen of awareness about it, but his pictures and what he's doing are certainly a whole class act on its own.
cheers!
Yes. Yes. That's it. That's what I'm talking about. People like Senor Enrique.
Hmmm.. How about Isa Lorenzo? Is she too sung? Fernando Afable of Foto Baryo is also another possibility.
We can even think of Filipinos abroad.
I nominate myself. No one has sung even half a note for me.
Hold on, that Aussie's blog beckons....
There is NO such thing as "high society" in a country that was built by the money of glorified farmers (hacienderos) and merchants (the Ilustrados). Period.
Make that exclamation point. Anyone who claims or "poses" to be elite is the opposite.
Like you Carlos I am riveted by that blog--my greatest guilty pleasure next to leche flan. But your post just legitimized this guilty pleasure as a study in sociology. Thank you!
And yes... let's look up to the right people. Go Guillermo Ramos!
Hi Carlos, simula ngayong araw na ito lagi ko ng bubuksan ang blog mo. Go go GUILLERMO RAMOS!
I nominate Dean Alfar for bringing Philippine literature to the forefront again via his anthology publications featuring new Filipino writers.
How about businessman Anthony Pangilinan? Or Joel Santos of Entrepreneurs School of Asia / Teenpreneur Challenge?
Hi Carlos. I so totally agree and this concept was at the heart of the Karangalan Festival two years ago. I nominate Nicanor Perlas!! Alternative Nobel Prize awardee. Check out or work with him now at www.pagasa.net.ph. I know him personally and have worked with him for years--his integrity is unquestionable. On another note, do you have tours for kids ? :)
Oh yes, I definitely agree on Nicanor Perlas!
Thanks for sharing about Mr. Ramos. Your insights about the new elites of Manila is interesting and uplifting.
I do hope I can run into one of your tour walks.
You are related to David and Ana Celdran, right? How's Ana? I have interviewed her once. ;-)
God bless you!
Hi Carlos,
I came across your blog after reading an article in Melbourne's The Age newspaper. Kudos to you for doing your bit in promoting Manila as the wonderful city it is - I think it's a metropolis that does get under one's skin in more ways than one, good and bad.
More kudos to you for featuring Guillermo Ramos (we're not related - at least not that I know of). High time someone turned the spotlight on truly deserving Filipino role models. I'm seriously considering taking his lead and celebrating my big 3-0 in a similar fashion. Any suggestions from you and your readers on how I can go about doing it when I'm in Melbourne would be appreciated! :)
Peace,
Ivy
How 'bout Viviene Tan? She does a good job with Thames Int'l Business School...And she's really not out there in the limelight...
Hi Mr. Celdran!
You are exactly right. We need to glorify the Guillermo Ramoses of this world instead of those pretentious posers who brand themselves as Philippines' elite.
Proactivism! I like that! Cheers to you, dear!
Anna
I nominate MarketMan, who wishes to remain anonymous (find out about him through his food blog, www.marketmanila.com) - a foodie through and through, he launched feeding programs in public schools in Manila and Cebu, with the help of his blog followers. Not only that, he shouldered all tax-related expenses himself (something like 30 centavos to the peso) so that all of his readers' donations would go straight to the program. And the man has great recipes!
Joel Santos of ESA? ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!!! Anthony Pangilinan Yes! but JOEL SANTOS? dude! do your homework! ask his former students/employees, he is one of the most dodgiest characters iv ever come across in all my years!!!! and the ESA idea ask him where he got it from. They stole it from one of the hardworking proffesors who never got paid and never got credit, it's common knowledge amongst the pioneer batch.
Because I'm all for this idea of yours, I've been thinking for days about who to nominate. (Love the Senor Enrique nom, by the way!)While going through the comments, I thought of someone...only to see towards the end that Foodette has beaten me to it! Hahaha! That's a good thing, though, because it means that more than one person thinks Marketman deserves to be lauded.
Now, I know he's no saint. Some might protest that he can be -- how shall we say -- too outspoken? Overly opinionated? Arrogant and antagonistic, even? Those people might say the same about you and me. But, just as being nice isn't qualification enough, being...um...difficult shouldn't necessarily disqualify a person. Besides, say what you want about his rants, but we need people like him in a country where most are content to accept mediocrity. I've had the chance to spend time with him several times, and I can say that he's a delight to get to know -- intelligent, worldly, funny, with an endless supply of interesting stories.
Marketman's actions, largely unknown outside his blog's readers, speak for themselves. Apart from the school feeding program (for which he spent a lot of his own money, not to mention time and effort), he has other charitable works such as giving away books and even gingerbread houses every Christmas (which might seem frivolous, until one realizes how the children who receive them would react). He may not suffer fools gladly, but he is a wonderfully generous man when it comes to helping those in need. He's also a giving and fair boss to his "crew," as he calls them.
Like Senor Enrique, Marketman also studied and worked for many years in other countries, but chose to settle and raise his child here. Really, he could live and work anywhere he pleases. But he returned, and thus, he does his part in helping the Philippine economy. On top of that, he and his wife are involved in a school that works to raise the standard and quality of education locally. Granted, it's an expensive school (though, take note, non-profit); but in the end, the sort of education they provide benefits the country through the sort of graduates they produce.
Finally, Marketman has done so much for Filipino cuisine through his blog. I've learned countless things from him about local produce and dishes, thereby awakening my curiosity about my native food. Before MarketManila, I had thought that I didn't like or was interested in Pinoy fare all that much...that has since changed. And his blog is invaluable to many Filipinos living abroad who miss the country and its food!
I hope I don't sound like a raving fan, but I have great respect and admiration for this man.
I also want to echo the nomination of Dean Alfar. For someone who's still quite young, his accomplishments are incredible.(What is it, seven Palancas now?!) He works tirelessly to advance Phil. literature, runs his own businesses (thus, again, contributing to the economy), he is a doting and passionate husband to his wife Nikki (herself a Palanca awardee), and an amazing dad to his daughter, who seems to have inherited her parents' wit. And again, Dean in person is a clever and hilarious conversationalist (an important quality, in my book).
YAY for the amazing Pinoys and Pinays! :-) I look forward to reading who else gets nominated.
i adore marketmanila.com when it sticks to blogging about food and places of interest in the country. however, am a bit turned off by MM's 'high style' and implied 'i am elite' burgis attitude and his political posturing.
i do laud his efforts to promote school lunches by selling shirts, bags etc.
hi CArlos... 1) you are right about uplifting instead of tearing down... 2) thanks for talking about brian's blog - now i am getting all these juicy stuff. grabe... unbelievable...
i nominate all the GK people
I nominate Carlos Celdran.
whats the name of this aussie guys blog? would love to read it .
regards ,
Mark .
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