Masiu Mayor Allegedly Involved in Golf Course Altercation

I was shocked to see this on the news last night.

Regardless of whether this is true or not, I was glad that the media did not play the ethnicity/religion card this time. Could the media have matured already?

Maranaos, and other Filipino muslims in general, have worked long and hard for mainstream acceptance. Veiled women can now wear their headresses in public without fear of people giving them the stink-eye. Even recent advertisements on TV now try hard to include muslim minorities when the ads feature people of the Philippines.

It's good that there was no emphasis on the Pangandamans being muslims or Maranaos. I remember cringing and waiting for the mention of either 'M' words, and I was relieved that it did not happen. It was just a case of a mayor and his bodyguards allegedly beating up a father-son pair.

Here is the link: http://vicissitude-decidido.blogspot.com/2008/12/world-is-fucked-up.html

And read the comments here: http://www.ellentordesillas.com/?p=3700

And here: http://www.quezon.ph/2104/impunity-2/#comment-1006063

Here: http://pedestrianobserver.blogspot.com/2008/12/bully-foolitician-nasser-pangandaman-jr.html

Check out sultanoflanao.com!

Hey guys! Please check out the site I'm making for my uncle: http://www.sultanoflanao.com. It's a basic, static HTML site, but I'm planning to make it more dynamic as soon as traffic picks up

Team Philippines Chuck Taylor

Here are the Chucks that I made as a tribute to the Philippine Olympic Team for the Beijing Olympics. I made the shoes two weeks before the start of the Olympics, but I was so lazy to post this because the Philippine team kinda sucks right now. Maybe seeing this will give them inspiration or something. Philippine Olympic Team on Yahoo!

I used Kurecolor markers, since Copic markers are hard to find here in the Philippines. I sprayed it with a waterproof fixative for fabrics. I didn't use textile paint or acrylic paint because I didn't want to lose the texture of the canvas, plus it will look thicker. I recently acquired iron-on Pastel Dye Sticks for fabrics from Pentel, and I must say they hold up very well to frequent washing, so I might try it on my next shoe.

UPDATE: Fully Booked in Bonifacio High Street sells Copic markers for P175!

I can make you a pair for P1000 using Greenhills knockoffs or P2500 using genuine Chuck Taylors. Cost does not include shipping/delivery. I accept COD for Metro Manila buyers, and PayPal for international buyers.

Size	4241403938373635

Dags' Christmas Presentation

Here's Rashid's first program at Sacred Heart School Merville. We were very excited because the school puts together nice programs. Rashid first danced at Create, which is a very, very, very good school, but their programs are sh*tty.

Racism In The Philippines

Here's something I wrote which got published in Inquirer's Youngblood column. I wrote this about five years ago. It's been such a long time since I last posted here 'coz I don't have time to write new stuff, so I thought I'd start the year with a retrospect.

Racism in the Philippines
By Amiruddin Dianalan

YES, it's true. Most Filipinos hate Muslims, even if they don't know they do. Ever since I was a kid, I have seen and experienced the prejudice against Muslims. I guess I'm just lucky that I'm spared most of the discrimination that other Muslims are subjected to. I guess I'm lucky that I grew up in Manila, so I don't have that funny accent. I guess I'm lucky that I'm tall, light-skinned and that I have a face that's easy on the eyes. In the words of others, I don't look like a Muslim. That remark offends me. Just what is a Muslim supposed to look like? I always ask them. I never felt myself to be lucky because I "don't look like a Muslim." In fact, I feel what the other Muslims are going through. What if I looked like them? How would I feel? I have always felt that the racism here is analogous to what's going on in the US, where Muslims are the black people and the rest of the Filipinos are the white people.

Sometimes when I go out and I wear my tutub (Muslim skullcap), I feel that racism. Nobody could look me in the eye, and I could feel their eyes looking at me behind my back. I could feel them squirming in their seats, tension so thick in the air, as if I were a terrorist with a bomb. Most people are afraid to sit beside me. In the MRT, guards double-check my bag, and nobody wants to sit beside me. But minus the tutub and beard, the same guards just wave me through, and people make an opening in the seats so I could squeeze in. It's so sad.
I noticed the racism even when I was young. I was five years old, in first grade, and already I could feel the bigotry of my classmates. At that age, I couldn't help but feel bothered. Good thing it didn't have a traumatic effect on me, but it helped me understand why most Filipino Muslims suffer from an inferiority complex. Many a times, I would hear my classmates say to their friends, "Uy, 'wag ka makipaglaro d'yan, Muslim 'yan! Pupugutan ka n'yan!" (Hey, don't play with him, he's a Muslim. He'll cut your head off!)

When my sister was in third grade in her exclusive all-girl private Catholic school, her pencil rolled off her desk and she couldn't reach it. None of her classmates wanted to get it, or even touch her other things, for that matter. Why? Because she was Muslim. How would nine-year-old girls know how to hate Muslims if no one taught them? I guess education in racism starts early.

How about those taxi drivers who refuse to ferry women with headdresses? They don't even stop if those women flag them.

I think the media is largely at fault here. Why do the headlines always read "Muslim kills, steals, etc." when a Muslim commits a crime? But when people of other religions or sects commit a crime, it is never indicated. Have you ever seen a headline that said "Christian robs bank" or "Iglesia ni Cristo member kills wife" or "Born-again arrested for estafa"?

Filipinos brag to the world about their diverse culture, but are actually ashamed of it. Many will find it hard to admit, but deep down, they know. Like I've always said: The only time that the Philippines will have a Muslim president is the time that America will have a black president.