The recent Philippine Blog Awards drew hundred of bloggers to the wind-swept venue at the One Esplanade at the Mall of Asia complex last Sunday for an evening of celebrating the best in the Pinoy blogosphere. Food and drinks were good and plentiful. Senator Mar Roxas was the keynote speaker. Jayvee Fernandez gave an insightful closing speech on the transformative experience of blogging.

Despite technical glitches and other missteps common to events of this nature, a good time was had by all. Or so it appeared to me. I had a great time just people-watching and marveling at the variety of creatures who call themselves bloggers.

Congratulations to the winners and kudos to the organizers.

There will be detractors, of course, who will find fault in many aspects of the awards and the occasion itself. Much as Filipinos revel in awards-giving, an undertaking such as this would not be complete without one controversy or another to spice up post-event discussions. Read the rest of this entry »

The annual Philippine Blog Awards is set for this Sunday, 21 September 2008 (for those old enough to remember, the anniversary of Ferdinand Marcos’ declaration of Martial Law ) at the One Esplanade, Mall of Asia complex along Roxas Boulevard.

All bloggers are invited to attend and traipse down the red carpet in their show-stopping finery. Or better yet, just come as you are. All will be welcome, regardless of gender, age, creed or political persuasion (or lack thereof). It’ll be a blast. Registration starts at 5:00 p.m. and the awarding ceremonies start at exactly 6:00 p.m. Prizes and surprises await you, with a party afterwards. So get there early. Read the rest of this entry »

Continuation of :
Blog Ethics Part 1
Blog Ethics Part 2

Anyone who still has doubts about the influence of the blogosphere over real world events only has to look at the case of the columnist Malu Fernandez. Ms. Fernandez is (or was until her recent resignation) a lifestyle writer for the broadsheet Manila Standard. She wrote an article which, rightly or wrongly, was seen by many as insulting to Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) A blogger, Nick of Tingog.com (“Voice” in Cebuano), picked up the initial comments taking Ms. Fernandez to task for putting down Filipino workers abroad and initiated a call to action. He brought the issue to the attention of other bloggers. The internet was soon abuzz with posts denouncing Ms. Fernandez and calling for a boycott of the Manila Standard.

Things rapidly came to a head. As described in a news article in the Philippine Daily Inquirer datelined 25 August 2007:

“A Lifestyle writer has been hounded out of her job by death threats and hate mail after she wrote a travel piece many readers found insulting to millions of Filipinos abroad. Malu Fernandez told Agence France Presse she quit her job at the Manila Standard Today newspaper and People Asia magazine after her article “From Boracay to Greece provoked international outrage. The travel piece, which appeared in the June edition of the magazine and later in modified form in the newspaper, recounts her mock horror at finding herself in economy class surrounded by Filipino maids reeking of cheap cologne. “I wanted to slash my wrist at the thought of being trapped in a plane with all of them.”, she wrote.

However, Fernandez said she has since become the “target of death threats, hate blogs, and deeply personal insults” and felt the need to apologize and quit. “

The near universal ire near over her perceived insults, and the concerted action of thousands of bloggers, purportedly forced Ms. Fernandez to quit her job.

Truthfully, a few of the comments were indeed over the top and hurtful, labeling her “Ms. Piggy” and demanding that she be roasted on a spit (litsonin) and calling on Mang Tomas to prepare his famous lechon sauce. Read the rest of this entry »

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