Commentaries: How About A Virtual Miss World 2021

 One well-meaning friend is suggesting if Miss World 2021 could be done virtually just to wind up this lingering and long-drawn-out drama that has already annoyed a lot of fans around the world.  This saga-epic has already been delayed and dragged for months now and it has tested our patience and from the looks of it some quarters have dried up their endurance and equanimity and with this lawsuit looming on the horizon ... it is just like a Damocles sword waiting to fall.

Did Miss World at least have Plan B just in case problems come to surprise them ... or when things did not happen as planned. Miss World crisis management should look for possible scenarios just like what happened in Nigeria when violent protestors disrupted the proceedings that turned out gory and bloody in the end that the candidates need to be enplaned and diverted in London to finally hold its finals.  They need to be one step ahead before the actual problem can paralyze the whole process.

The sad thought about this is, somebody concocted again another last-minute challenge to drumbeat the March 16 coronation, and candidates pour their hearts out to make good and this lawsuit news is another punch in the gut for them, making them wonder if there will be another postponement?  Take for instance Miss World Philippines

Tracy Maureen Perez made good in last December's challenges, and now she is duplicating the feat by being number 1 again in this February challenge. And the other candidates too like Vietnam or India? What chances would there be that they will forget all this added premium Tracy or the other candidates have amassed to advance their Miss World journey?

Miss World has to act now.  Its experience with Covid, and now the lawsuits making up a bitter icing on the cake is totally ruining its name as one of the major four pageants. If the candidates need to embark on the next plane to London like what they did in that Nigeria debacle, so be it.  I know it is easier than done, but if they have done it before, there is no reason why they can't do it now.

If they think it is expensive,  then virtual finals are the best option.  The candidates are agonizing and so are the pageant fans.  We can't afford another postponement, and the wait has been tedious and wearisome.

Ways To Help a Depressed Person

There are some ways to help a depressed person.

1. One of them is listening.   The rule of thumb here is if you are the person assigned to take care of her, you should be a good and active listener.

It’s better to be interested than interesting. To do this, be quick to listen and slow to speak, and not interrupt her. You seek first to understand instead of to be understood.  This will create a safe environment for the other person to feel heard and valued. By becoming genuinely interested in the other person’s perspective, you help the other person trust you and share honestly what they believe and why they believe it.

2. Another proven tip to make you a good and active listener is not to judge. Be empathetic as empathy is the ability to understand the feeling of others.

Listening is empathy in action as you try to see a situation through another person’s eyes. If you see or consider something through another person's eyes, you consider it in the way that she does and share it from her point of view.

You can’t do this when you’re judging them as they open up to you. Remember that people will open up more when you’re not judging them. Extend respect, compassion, and grace following the dictum of the Golden Rule. Extend respect the way that you want respect extended to you.

3. Encourage the person to vent or talk. Sadly, the Pinoy culture doesn’t teach people to verbalize their emotional wounds. Our culture encourages people to contain and quash unwanted feelings. You heard your mom telling you not to complain about problems or not to reside or“dwell” on them. How often have you heard friends telling you to “get over it” and to “be robust and tough,” meaning “don’t feel anything—and if you do, tell nobody.  Don’t even talk about it or show it.

For men especially, emotions like sadness, loneliness, anxiety disappointment, guilt, and shame are treated as inappropriate. In a macho world, I can't forget my dad telling me when blue spells come,  "Be strong ... little man."

As a result, many people end up trying to hide their tears and vulnerability, thus creating more alienation and isolation. 

Ironically, suppressing our feelings and being deprived of warm contact actually makes us more susceptible to depression.

4. And the most practical way ... be with your family or friends and watch your favorite TV show even if they don't know that

you are dying inside.  You can also have the option of confiding to them. 

5. And also don't go out and drown your misery with alcohol.  Alcohol is never the answer to all our problems.  And by the way, if you forget this bit of information: Everyone has a problem, I don't know of anyone who is exempted from it.

PAGOD LEN-LEN

Commentaries: BBM Jokes

I am apolitical, an outsider looking in.  I am a Filipino from America who just like the newly registered voters this year are barely educating ourselves with six or so candidates who are applying to be the next President of the Philippines.

Bongbong Marcos's absenteeism has already been the butt of jokes when he was a no show in a hearing with the Comelec regarding his disqualification case.  I have read in Manila and I am reprinting it in toto ...

Liberation from Guanzon vs liberation from Covid. This put some creative minds to work. One of the jokes was on Marcos Jr.'s campaign slogan. "Babangon Muli ang slogan pero hindi makabangon para mag-Zoom (The slogan is 'Will Rise Again' but [he] can't get up for Zoom meeting."

Others jested about a new Covid-19 variant that can be transmitted through visual tools and it's called "Bongbongicron," a play on Omicron, the currently dominant Covid-19 variant that has been infecting thousands of people with mild symptoms every day.

Yet another said the new variant may be termed "ZOOMicron," to refer to Marcos Jr.'s unavailability to join the proceedings via the videoconferencing application.

Some posted captioned photos showing the late president Elpidio Quirino on one side, saying that he delivered his second State of the Nation Address from his hospital bed in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1950, and Marcos Jr. on the other, saying he cannot be on Zoom because "he might cause the spread of the virus."

And with his non-participation in Jessica Soho's interview and his snubbing the Panata Sa Bayan forum of KBP similar jokes are mushrooming:

-Mabuti pa ang lugaw ... may itlog.

-Eh paano niya matulungan ang Pinas niyan ... interview pa lang nagtago na?

Your thoughts?

Pinoy Humor

 

Commentaries: BBM Absent in The Forum: Good Move or It Will Backfire?

Two important interviews/forums:  

First, the Interview of GMA's Jessica Soho last January 22, 2022, with all the presidentiables and everybody was invited to attend.  This was done to help Filipino citizens make an informed choice for Eleksyon 2022. In this must-see special, Soho boldly asks the presidential aspirants the questions that need to be asked – their intentions behind running for the position, the controversies thrown at them, their stand on pressing issues, and their concrete plans should they be elected.  Unexpected and revealing questions will also be asked for viewers to get to know the aspirants in-depth. Unfortunately, BBM declined to be a part of the show for personal reasons.

Second was the Kapisanan ng Broadcaster sa Pilipinas Prexy forum ("Panata sa Bayan) in cooperations with CNN Philippines last Fenruary 

4, 2022. It will be the first time for the five presidential candidates to appear together in live nationwide radio and television broadcasts. 

The event had given the candidates the chance to present their qualifications and platforms of government to the people. BBM also was a no-show due to a hectic schedule.

It seemed as though Bongbong Marcos was copying Joseph Estrada's strategy of snubbing the interviews/forum two decades back. That scheme worked in Estrada's favor when he won that year.  What makes people wonder why the frontrunner of the race kept on absenting himself from these opportunities to showcase himself and further cement his lead. As one analyst said being available for interviews or dodging the interviews will either reinforce or discredit a candidate's narrative and chances.

"it might even backfire" the analyst warned.

It looked like BBM abide and is loyal to the,  "less talk, less mistake; no talk, no mistake" doctrine.  However political pundits are worried, "This strategy can fall flat and misfire. 

Those who live on social media can perish on social media. It remains a question whether it is actually a good strategy at this point 

in time to actually skip these interviews and fora,"

Your thought guys?

Hibiscus of the Day: Fiji Hibiscus

Hibiscus ID: Fiji Hibiscus

Bought From Banate Iloilo

Can Be Seen at Main Street

Fiji Hibiscus Large dark mauve starry flowers with a deep eggplant center are born freely on this vigorous and large growing, and much sought after rare Hibiscus. Fiji Island Hibiscus is a vigorous and free-flowering Tropical Hibiscus producing a nearly continuous display of the rare purple Hibiscus flowers throughout the year making this a wonderful addition to the tropical garden or as a container plant.