Saving Dying Dialects: Lessons from HULAGWAY

I took the lovely trip to Cinema 76 at Anonas in Quezon City to see Director Alvin Yapan's latest work called HULAGWAY: Dokyumentaryo ng mga Wika at Kulturang Filipino (A documentary of Filipino Language and Culture) a few days ago. Dr. Yapan was tapped by the National Commitee on Language amd Translation under the offices of NCCA (The National Comission for the Culture and the Arts) to direct this film. 

Hulagway means "a portrait" and this film lengthily has taken a look at the person, how one lives, how they communicate with their peers or the community. There are also a lot of metaphorical representation of their struggles, even if they're literally not working with a script, the conversations was molded off how language was used as a tool to enrich lives with stories, songs and poems deeply rooted in culture. 

 

Needless to say, he's a genius when it comes to really complex artsy topics like these and interpreting it for cinema must have been a tall task. His treatment in telling this one is like a documentary. He anchors it with two characters Consuelo (played by Sue Prado) and Robert (which is played by Kalil Almonte). They took the long hard trek to far flung communities in the eastern side of Isabela (up north) and islands off Palawan. 

Imagine, they started this in 2018 and had to work together with only 15 other crew carrying with them loads of equipment to capture unadulterated views, communities and the few men and women who still have a grasp of the dying languages Dupaninan Agta and Tandulanen Tagbanua. This is officially the most difficult film Alvin Yapan has ever made, he made mention of this during the talk we had after the screening. Initially, they had planned to include 6/7 of them (dialects/languages) but the material was too precious to cut off the block. It was also a little too tedious as it involved time consuming research, with little information from various universities (mostly from outside the country) who have conducted studies about them in previous years, they roughed the process of filming and took on talking to the few descendants left who still have a grasp of the language. My favorite scene was the boat traversing a line of mangroves in Palawan, they talked about that on the video.

 

Here's the press conference in two parts where they explained the film and the cause of saving the dialects from these two regions.

During the latter part of the press conference I asked about what concrete plans they have about saving the dying dialect, and they replied that this is just the first step, to become aware, educated, and acknowledge that there is something precious to save. 

The plan is to also have this film be viewed by educational institutions to not just prove its existence, but to formulate a way to find ways to have people teach these dialects and pass on to the next generation. To not lose their identity as IP, and celebrate their uniqueness, their differences, which makes them cool. If this sparks efforts to do so not just from the government, but the citizens of this country, then this film made its mark. Make sure to coordinate with NCCA if you want your school to be part of the film's tour in the coming months. There's more languages/dialects to save in the country, and telling their story is essential.

Make sure to watch it. It'll be life changing!

Villar Group's AMBS Prepares Broadcast Operations

Villar's Advanced Media Broadcasting System who now holds Channel 2's frequency has made significant moves this month. September 1st marks the day of two Sorianos joining the network's lineup of stars. Host, singer and actress Toni Gonzaga and her husband Director Paul Soriano formalized their ties with the new channel.

The event was witnessed by AMBS President Maribeth Tolentino, Manuel Paolo Villar of Prime Asset Ventures together with other celebrity guests at Mella Hotel in Las Piñas City. Villar says "We are reiterating our commitment to elevate TV viewing for pinoys starting with quality programs and even more exciting TV shows bringing entertainment to Filipino homes."

Ms. Tolentino added "We are ready to give our viewers worthy shows to look forward to. We are ecstatic about our plans with Toni Gonzaga and Paul Soriano." This includes a more in depth talk show which they say Toni will be hosting (probably much like Toni Talks which she does on YT but done on TV).

This is the Villar Group's foray into the broadcast industry. They have other businesses in housing, retail and utilities. They also have signed Willie Revillame who's doing Wowowin in the same station. This is just the tip of the iceberg, stand by for more information about talent acquisitions in the next few weeks. Heard they will also be calling it ALL TV as seen on some Wowowin socials as of publishing.

PASIG CITY LGU Starts Pet Microchip Service

Mayor Vico Sotto of Pasig City

It's such a good feeling if you feel the government is doing its job, you feel your taxes are all worth it not only for you, but the whole community. A few days ago, I've had the opportunity to witness the launch of Pasig City's Pet Identification Project (Pet i-Chip) using microchip technology. No less than the good looking Mayor Vico Sotto of Pasig City lead ceremonies together with the city Veterinary Services Department and Plaridel Products and Services Inc.

 

Mayor Vico says "This was presented to me during the pandemic and the delay was because of obvious reasons. We had to prioritize a few other things because of it. But now that we're slowly going back to normal, we are going forward with the programs of the city. I would like to thank Ortigas for letting us use Tiendesitas as venue for this event, our councilors who are also working hard to put measures on local government policies (RA 9482), our Barangay officials."

The program is also designed in conjunction with Pasig City's goal of being rabies free. Recent figures mentioned during the event that there are only a few cases (17) this last quarter which is already an improvement from previous numbers which reached hundreds. In the Philippines, there are lots of deaths resulting from animal bites. Aside from that, pet owners would be able to register, monitor temperature of their pets, health history and vaccinations in case they need to. This will be all administered by Veterinarians and will be FREE of charge in the city of Pasig. They will be also issued a Pet Passport that they get to keep for records. In case they lose their pets, it's easier to track ownership as registration requires owner information. This would be a huge change in the lives of pet owners, convenient too that roll out will commence in the next few months according to the city vet. They will be doing the activity together with their rabies shot which they have been doing on a weekly basis. Information will also be held confidential under the pet registration of the City of Pasig.

 

They also showed us the actual microchip and the process on how they implant it. It took a few minutes and much of it was double checking the chip which they scan before, and while it's already implanted. This will also be available in private vet clinics (with its usual cost). So if you're interested, all schedules will be posted at the Pasig City Facebook page and the city veterinary department's channels. If you need more information about the chip, visit plaridel.com.ph or animal-id.net.ph and it's all there!

GLOBE Treats You To #ExtraGDay on 917 Celebrations!

September is such an important month for Globe as they celebrate 917 (their usual prefix in the country) or September 17, known as GDAY. This time, they are making it even more special with Globe EXTRA GDAY EVERYDAY by giving you more than the usual perks and celebration all this month!

Mr. Jerome Patalud, Head of Globe Rewards says “GDAY EVERYDAY means rewards, use your rewards points for services, app access, load, online purchases, and ao much more! Since 2016 we have been rewarding our loyal subscribers. You will also get to join the G Battle Zone for mobile legends, Valorant, their respective inline playoffs and the grand finals. There’s also GChance the raffle for those who want shop credits, hundreds of thousands of cash, smartphones, a new notebook, and a new G Music Fest to be held at 9/17 at Ayala Malls Circuit open grounds from 1pm tp 12mn. There will be band performances (including local and international performers), monumental art installations, plus GUDI stickers in Viber. You can also mint exclusive NFT only during the festival. You can earn and enjoy while playing games, apply for scholarships and gain access to exclusive events of Globe."

G Music Fest will be huge. Artists like Phum Viphurit, Kpop artists BugABoo will be headlining the event. Aside from that, homegrown ones like The Juans, PPOP group Kaia, Matthaios, Unique, I Belong to the Zoo, JOEM, Lola Amour, Arthur MIguel and Paul Pablo will be there for those heartwrenching songs you've long to hear live in concert. Well known installation genius Leeroy New will also be displaying his work during the event so if you're an art junkie, you'll love what you'll see. You can also see the event on Globe VH Metaverse via GlobeVirtualHangouts.ph and enjoy it all at the comforts of your home. Tickets can be copped from the GlobeOne App for as low as 15 rewards points. If you're rich and want to buy tickets instead, you can get them from Tickelo.com for Php 1,500. All up to you!

See you at the grounds on 9/17!