I did an interview once as a requirement for one of my journalism classes in college. While I’d ask the usual questions of “What are the difficulties in your line of work?”, “What’s your most memorable interview?” and other pageant  questions, all those would lead up to “Have you ever received any death threats?” And the most interesting answer I received was that someone actually sent him a death wreath. Interesting, creepy, and very The Godfather.

I never got to interview Marites Vitug. I did, however, get to read her stuff. Marites Vitug is to Philippine journalism as Pavlov is to classical conditioning and salivating dogs.

***

Marites Vitug, author of the controversial Shadow of Doubt: Probing the Supreme Court, has received death threats, reports ABS-CBN News.

The veteran journalist reportedly received two intimidating text messages days after the successful release of her book.

The first message about the pen being mightier that the sword had added text which read: “But the sword kills faster than the pen.”

The second message coming from the number 09091348825 read: “Kaya pala maraming napapatay na journalists dahil katulad mo. May katwiran pala si Ampatuan na pagpapatayin ang mga journalists. Sana nakasama ka dun, malay mo malapit na. (Your kind is one of the reasons why journalists are being killed. Ampatuan has valid reason to kill those journalists. I hope you were one of them. You’ll never know, it could be sooner.)”

Vitug told ABS-CBN News that the threats came after the publication of her book Shadow of Doubt, which dissects the inner workings of the Philippine judiciary.

In an email to SPOT.ph, Vitug disclosed: “I did not expect a death threat. I expected those who were offended by the book [to launch] a campaign to discredit me. I expected criticism. But I am not surprised by this threat because the culture of accountability has not yet seeped into a number of our government institutions. Public officials don’t do the right thing and expect to get away with it. When journalists dig up the truth and write about these public figures, they intimidate and scare us off. They shouldn’t be bothered at all if they have nothing to hide.”

Vitug stated that she doesn’t know the identity of the person or groups that sent the messages, but she is certain that her book was what prompted them.

In any case, Vitug has the support of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) and the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP).

In a statement released to ABS-CBN News, the NUJP praised Vitug for her courage in unveiling what is considered one of the “most mysterious” branches of government in the country: the Supreme Court. “[This] is the role journalism plays in any genuine democracy—that of stripping away the mystique that often surrounds the way government and its instrumentalities work so that the people may judge whether that government is true to its mandate to serve them,” said the NUJP.

Meanwhile, Vitug said that she is simply “keeping her cool but staying alert.” “(A journalist’s) best protection is to bring the threat out in the open,” she explained.

To date, Shadow of Doubt’s first printing editions have been sold out. Newsbreak is currently reprinting the book. This Friday, March 26, 3,000 copies of its newsprint edition will be out. Then, on Monday, March 29, they expect 2,000 copies of its hardcover edition to be delivered.

FROM: Spot.ph

I’ve been so busy the past week that I completely forgot that my very first contributing writing job for FHM has been out for two weeks already. There is no greater thrill than opening an FHM magazine and seeing your name attached to an article, albeit short, and tame. It’s a definitely a start. I regret them not giving me a story that was more, how should I say it, scandalous.

Still, if I ever find myself shaking hands with someone I am to interview who has the capacity to breastfeed an army of babies with her mammary glands (note my use of politically-correct terms), at the back of my mind will be the scenario of my parents banishing me from home. So right now, I’m thinking of a unique pen name.

Photo to follow.

My week has been hell: three long stories to finish and the deadline was last week. I’m a rebel. But really, one can never be too busy for YouTube. Awesome ad.

They must have loved that plane very much.

The Philippine Senate never fails to amuse me. As a background, yesterday, the Senate Committee of the Whole met to discuss a fellow senator’s (Sen. Manny Villar) alleged unethical conduct for “inserting” an additional P200-million in the 2008 national budget. The budget was used for the construction of a road that would pass through his property which thereby hiked up the value of his real estate. Those supporting and against Villar met head-to-head.

This mudslinging is entertaining as it is exasperating. And to think that Sen. Miriam-Defensor Santiago was out sick. That woman can give a soundbite.

Jump to 2:46.

Gloves come off in Senate session

Sen. Roxas: I say no. I had no insertion on any matter. In fact, I have no insertion, period. Because we’re in the minority! Let alone an insertion for a road to pass through any such property.

Sen. Pimentel: Well, well, I am sure that after your marriage, you had some insertions.

Pimentel FTW!

Jay Leno is an old hoot. I hope they release Conan’s seven months on The Tonight Show on DVD. It would be the fifth original DVD I would buy. If Triumph The Insult Comic Dog comes out with one, I’d definitely buy one…to poop on.

Conan’s Final Goodbye and a Look Back

On Conan’s last show last Friday (Saturday in Manila), one of his final guests, Tom Hanks, walked out into the show with the Beatle’s song Lovely Rita being played by The Tonight Show Band. According to Late Night with Jimmy Fallon house band leader Questlove, NBC paid $500,000 to play that song. It’s called royalties, or in this case, sticking it to the man.

“Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you’re kind, amazing things will happen.”

Just a year old, Manor Superclub has already gained a cult following in the metro’s party scene, with partyphiles, and until recently, call center agents, entering its glass doors three nights a week, from 10pm to five in the morning. According to Erik Cua, operations director, Manor is “the premiere dance club in the Philippines with three areas where people can go to unwind, meet new people, and dance the night away.”

Launched in January of 2009 from the people behind the metro’s top clubs, Manor Superclub has gained notoriety among the country’s club-hopping and music-loving elite. The conceptualization process took around six months, while the construction of the three main areas, the penthouse, basement, and the terrace, took five months, with each area having its own distinct ambiance and music.

The guys behind Manor did more than just your simple party-planning. “First [was] finding the location we really wanted, then finding the right partners to complement each other,” says Cua. Thanks to Stephen Ku, marketing director, and Bingo Manahan, promotions director, they were also able to choose the right promoters to partner with. Carlo Aquino, Manor’s entertainment director took care of the music. The result was a place deserving of its name.

With its posh interiors, pulsating dance music spun by Manila’s top DJs, as well as a wide selection of cocktails for your enjoyment, it isn’t unusual to see long lines of people snaking around the corner waiting to be let in. According to Cua, Manor’s guests are usually college students, yuppies, industry people, businessmen, as well as models and actors. However, with the recent surge of BPOs in the country, particularly in the Quezon City and Pasig area, they’ve also gained a new client base. “It has actually gotten stronger since some of the call center agencies have held their parties in Manor.”

Open every Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday night, many call center agents in the area actually choose to go to Manor during their “lunch break” sometime between midnight and 2am to relax and escape from the stress and pressure of work. While they’re service hasn’t changed with the emergence of this new market, the team behind Manor Superclub has begun thinking of ways to bring more of them in. According to Cua, “We give nothing but the best party for call center agents.”

At the end of the day, which in this case, is at six or seven in the morning, all everyone’s looking for is a place to relax with perhaps some booze on the side. And in Manor, it doesn’t matter if it’s during your lunch break.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Manor Superclub
www.manorsuperclub.com
F1 Big Kahuna Bldg., Eastwood Citywalk, Libis, Quezon City
(02) 421-3180, info@manorsuperclub.com

PHOTO CREDIT
Dairy Darilag

***

From Entrepreneur Philippines´ December 2009 issue.

I’ve always admired Anderson Cooper. While Katie Couric has some journalistic chops, I think she’s gone to the corporate dark side. Anderson Cooper has the classic hard-hitting journalist attitude, but as his appearances on shows like Regis and Kelly have proven, has some angst and biting sarcasm that the people of my generation thrive upon.

There’s a video of Anderson on YouTube covering the Hurricane Katrina from New Orleans where, in the middle of his interview with a government official, he cuts her off and begins chastising her for taking the advantage of the air time to make herself look good and place the blame on other people. While the media strive to be unbiased, in the face of events like Katrina, and now, Haiti, you have to take a side.

From Anderson Cooper’s blog:

As things got really out of control, I saw a looter on the roof of the store they’d broken into throw what I think was part of a concrete block into the crowd. It hit a small boy in the head.

I saw him collapse. More chunks of concrete were being thrown at the looters on the roof. The injured boy couldn’t get up. He’d try and then collapse again. Blood was pouring from his head. He was conscious but had no control over his body. I was afraid someone on the roof would see him lying there and throw another cinder block piece onto him. I was afraid he’d get killed. No one seemed to be helping him.

I ran to where he was struggling, and picked him up off the ground. I brought him to a spot about a hundred feet away. I could feel his warm blood on my arms. I stood him up, but he was clearly unable to walk. He wiped his bloody face, and I tried to reassure him.

In journalism, there is such a thing as “off the record.” I first heard it when I was interviewing a member of the President’s cabinet for a requirement in one of my journ classes. We were talking for about half and hour, when I asked him how it was working for the government. He took my recorder on the table, looked at it, and pressed the stop button, saying, “This is off the record,” and continued talking. I was a bit peeved at the fact he took my recorder without asking me, but was excited at the fact I was going to get some juicy government gossip. As my current editor once said, “off the record” means “for your information only.” It will only serve as a background to the whole issue and cannot be credited to whoever said it.

I have never encountered a subject (yet) who has requested to remain anonymous, probably because I’m in a business magazine and not a hard-hitting broadsheet. The only thing entrepreneurs want to keep secret is their capital, which I still ask (for reference), but don’t publish. But really, when you’re talking to the press, expect everything to get published, even what you’re wearing–it’s a great intro device, clothes.

Meanwhile, this is a perfect example of failure to protect your source’s identity. See, even the BCC makes mistakes. Anonymous fail!

Sorry, Abu Ibrahim.

I haven’t been paying attention to the news lately because–and this excuse is true–I haven’t found the time. For someone working in the media, this is unacceptable. I understand that a magnitude 7 earthquake hit Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. I’ve seen the web reports on the lack of international aid, the rampant looting, the damaged buildings, but most of all, the dead, the dying, and the survivors. Local news hasn’t been that thorough as the focus has been on Filipinos working in the area, occasionally touching on the plight of the Haitians.

Perhaps being a third-world country ourselves prevents us from acting too altruistic, or at least feeling altruistic towards the people of Haiti. But that’s no excuse. I’m a visual person. It’s hard to imagine that on the other side of the world, this is going on. But it is.

Haitians survey the damage to a building that collapsed onto a road in downtown Port-au-Prince , Haiti (REUTERS/Hans Deryk)

A mob of Haitians reach out as goods are thrown from a nearby shop in the downtown business district on January 17, 2010 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. (Chris Hondros/Getty Images)

Georges Boutin of Fort Lauderdale, Florida (with hacksaw) and daughter (right) Pier Boutin of Lenox, Massachussets use a hacksaw to amputate a woman’s leg in Port Au Prince General Hospital. It was the first surgery at the country’s largest hospital since the earthquake. (Globe staff photo/Bill Greene)

A Haitian mass grave receives unclaimed, unidentified bodies in the suburbs of Port-au-Prince January 16, 2010. (Olivier Laban Mattei/AFP/Getty Images)

Men stand near a burning body left in the street in Port-au-Prince, Sunday, Jan. 17, 2010. U.N. peacekeepers patrolling the capital said popular anger is rising and warned authorities and aid organizations to increase security to guard against looting after Tuesday’s earthquake. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Looters steal a bag of another looter who lies dead, shot by the police on January 17, 2010 near the Hypolite Market in Port-au-Prince. (Olivier Laban Mattei/AFP/Getty Images)

A man pulls the body of an earthquake victim from a coffin in order to steal the coffin at the cemetery in Port-au-Prince, Friday, Jan. 15, 2010. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

People walk on a debris-covered street in Port-au-Prince January 17, 2010. (REUTERS/Daniel Aguilar)

PHOTO/CAPTION CREDIT
Boston.com

Rhoel Dinglasan, a Filipino entomologist and biologist at Johns Hopkins University Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland has discovered a new vaccine against malaria. I’m no med student or doctor, but for millions of people–children–in Africa, this could save their lives. As an aside, how can you not mistake the name Rhoel for Filipino? I’m just saying.

Dinglasan has found an antigen, called AnAPN1, that causes humans to create antibodies that prevent transmission of malaria by mosquitoes. Get enough of these antibodies into mosquitoes, and you lock the disease up there and prevent it from infecting us. Sounds good, but how do you implement such a strategy? You can hardly vaccinate the mosquitoes themselves. Instead, you put the AnAPN1 into their food source: us. A mosquito that bites an inoculated person would pick up the antibodies and then be sidelined from the malaria-transmission game.

Continue reading here.

A week before I started working, I was lucky enough to be given a free media pass to last year’s Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival at the Cultural Center. The only requirement was that I watch every movie. I was more than happy to oblige. I would trek to the CCP every morning, shuttle between screenings (sometimes run), and go home late at night satisfied and with a lingering headache from staring at a screen the whole day. That’s my version of a movie marathon. And I did that for six days. My finally tally was 22 movies.

The Ateneo Video Open, now on its eleventh year, is an annual nationwide film competition open to collegiate-level filmmakers. It’s organized by the Loyola Film Circle, the Ateneo de Manila University’s premiere film organization.

The event aims to highlight the effective use of aesthetically pleasing films as media for social discourse. There are four categories: short narrative, music video, documentary, and experimental.

Screenings of entries will be on the weekends of February and March. Venues will be announced. The competition will end in an awards night where cash prizes await the winners of each category judged by renowned persons in the field of film and art.

Visit the official website: http://ateneovideoopen11.multiply.com to view the rules, regulations and mechanics. Application forms are also available in the website. Deadline of entries is on January 22. 2010.

For inquiries, contact the AVO Team at ateneovideoopen11@yahoo.com and at ateneovideoopen11@gmail.com, 0916-228-45-67 or 0917-327-70-55.

In music, 2009 was the year of many artists. People were mesmerized by the show that was Lady Gaga (Thought she was an alien.), went viral and placed a ring on it with Beyonce, climbed with Miley Cyrus (although I still don’t understand why she wants to climb that damn mountain so badly), became Jason Mraz’s (I’m Yours was like crack. You hated it but every time it played you were secretly singing along.), got boom boom powed ( I still have no idea what that means. I just figure it means sex. ), and fell in love with Taylor Swift (Seriously gorgeous girl.).

Presenting Dj Earworm’s annual mashup of the top 25 most popular songs of  the past year, according to Billboard Magazine. I’m just a bit peeved that Empire State of Mind and The Man Who Can’t Be Moved didn’t make it. Then again, I relish in the fact that no Jonas Brothers song made it.

Listen in or watch the video.

DJ Earworm – United State of Pop 2009 (Blame It on the Pop) – Mashup of Top 25 Billboard Hits

• The Black Eyed Peas – Boom Boom Pow
• Lady Gaga – Poker Face
• Lady Gaga Featuring Colby O’Donis – Just Dance
• The Black Eyed Peas – I Gotta Feeling
• Taylor Swift – Love Story
• Flo Rida – Right Rond
• Jason Mraz – I’m Yours
• Beyonce – Single Ladies (Put a Ring On it)
• Kanye West – Heartless
• The All-American Rejects – Gives You Hell
• Taylor Swift – You Belong With Me
• T.I. Featuring Justin Timberlake – Dead and Gone
• The Fray – You Found Me
• Kings Of Leon – Use Somebody
• Keri Hilson Featuring Kanye West & Ne-Yo – Knock You Down
• Jamie Foxx Featuring T-Pain – Blame It
• Pitbull – I Know you Want Me (Calle Ocho)
• T.I. Featuring Rihanna – Live Your Life
• Soulja Boy Tell ‘em Featuring Sammie – Kiss Me Thru The Phone
• Jay Sean Featuring Lil Wayne – Down
• Miley Cyrus – The Climb
• Drake – Best I Ever Had
• Kelly Clarkson – My Life Would Suck Without You
• Beyonce – Halo
• Katy Perry – Hot N Cold

According to The Guardian, 2009 was the year of Facebook. Time Magazine echoed this in their annual top ten of everything where they called Facebook “the site that ate everything.”

Personally, my vote goes to Twitter. It was from Twitter that Michael Jackson’s death rippled around the world, and let’s not forget the Iran elections, the woman they called Neda, and the tweets of protest, help, and indignation. It would suffice to say that 2009 was the year of social media–a term that barely existed a decade ago.

Still, I can understand why Farmville and Mafia Wars addicts genuflect in the presence of Facebook. Started by 25-year-old Harvard drop-out Mark Zuckerberg, the social network started the year with 150 million members. By April, that number rose to 200 million, and by September it had amassed 300 million — an average growth rate this year of about 550,000 new members a day. Facebook’s current net worth has been estimated by analysts to be at $15 billion

There is little doubt that 2009 was the moment that the site truly exploded. In January, Zuckerberg announced the “milestone” of 150 million users worldwide. Less than a year later, the social network has more than doubled and now boasts that more than 350 million people log on each month.

Remember Friendster? They’re still doing fine at close to 110 million members worldwide. But early this month news circulated that the newly-lay-outed social networking site (it’s green now) is looking to be sold to an Asian company for more than $100 million.

As a side note, in late 2008, Facebook approached Twitter about a potential merger. Zuckerberg offered company stock worth about $500 million but Twitter turned down the offer. Still, if there’s something we’ve learned from the internet, it’s that things, no matter how big or great, don’t last.

However unassailable Facebook’s position may appear today, history suggests that even the largest websites can fall spectacularly from grace in just a few years. A decade ago AOL was one of the most powerful companies in the world, worth so much money that it was able to force a $162bn merger with media giant Time Warner – the biggest ever seen

I think it was Conan O’Brien who said that in the event Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube merge, a gigantic new social media tool would emerge. It would be called You TwitFace.

Happy new year everyone. Make new friends.

Held at The Loft @ Manansala in Rockwell, Makati City, the country’s top ten entrepreneurs of the past year were recognized in Entrepreneur Philippines annual Entrepreneur 10 Awards Night 2009 last December 15.

In what has been—to say the least—a challenging year not only for business-owners but for all Filipinos, the night was a farewell to the year that was and a glimpse of hope into the next year. While to have survived the past year is an achievement in itself, to have gone way and above the rest deserves a very classy AVP with a kick-ass soundtrack–not a business term, but that succinctly sums everything up.

10 Outstanding Entrepreneurs of 2009

The seventh batch of Entrepreneur 10 winners are Patricia Besinga of Prestige Labels Co., they provide affordable R&D for start-up businesses; Junie del Mundo of EON Stakeholder Relations Firm, he has managed to transform the PR scene with his “stakeholder” concept; Benjamin Liuson of The Generics Pharmacy, he has over 600 outlets all over the country; Roberto Locsin of Locsin International, am uber-successful furniture exporter; Jerry Perez de Tagle of Integrative Learning International Inc., a genius; Jovita Romero, co-owner of Danilyn’s Enterprises, also exports furniture; Dr. Vivian Sarabia of Vivian Sarabia Optical, eyewear outfitter to the stars; Edgar Injap Sia of Mang Inasal, `nuff said; Carson Tan of Aquabest, `nuff said; and Kerwin Tansekiao of Jimini Foods and Pizza Pedrico’s, ’nuff said.

Before the night ended, Entrepreneur 10 awardee, Jerry Perez de Tagle spoke on behalf of his fellow winners, summing it up succinctly, “We all followed our DAD: pursued our dream, took action, and had discipline.”

Check out www.entrepreneur.com.ph for more on the event.

Entrepreneur 10 Awards Night 2009 was co-presented by Globe Business, Nokia, and Western Union.