Chasing stories (in work, school, real life, on foot and by bus)

This week has been exhausting. Not only has the news been buzzing internationally (SOPA, Golden Globes) and locally (Corona trial), but my own personal life has been as well. It’s hard to keep up but I will try my best to write about everything because I learned so much.

Monday: I started my internship at Yahoo! Philippines (which includes chasing and writing last minute stories and emailing interviewees) and met with an old high school friend to talk about our lives and our classmates. I’m not into gossip but high school tsismis is much more interesting in college when your classmates get themselves caught up with crazier things.

Tuesday: Unintentionally posted a viral video about #OccupyJobFair which actually happened (more on that in a separate post.)

Wednesday:  Gave a talk about innovating projects for COA’s STEP up program for young leaders. Debated and discussed Philippine culture with two French girls I recently be-friended (and love! Again, more on that in a separate post.)

Thursday: Went through my first official job interview and got offered an option. Plus witnessed the #OccupyJobFair sentiments spread like wildfire in the online Ateneo community

Friday: Got involved in student politics, spoke up as a pseudo-activist and covered it as a an aspiring media representative.

Plus, add shuffling back and forth via mrt/lrt/foot/bus/cab to oritgas, katipunan, fort and Makati and getting lost and missing my stop along the way. I know. It doesn’t seem like I went to school at all. But somehow this week gave me not just a glimpse  but a feeling of what my future could be like — Tiring, yet exciting and most importantly fulfilling. I enjoy school but it’s getting in the way of what I really want to do already. Graduation please!

Anyways, this post is dedicated to shamelessly plugging my Yahoo! articles, which I’ll round up at the end of each week, and the story of my first week.

I go to work every Monday and Friday from 9AM-6PM. Beyond this glass door are pristine white walls with purple accents, Yahoo!’s signature color.

While waiting for the receptionist to buzz me in I noticed that the door handles were exclamation points! I love this. This is great branding for waiting clients and excited interns waiting to start their day.

Technically this is my third official internship (first with Status Magazine, second with Agatep Associates) but unlike any other first day my orientation was a long-distance conference call from Singapore. The reps were sharing their powerpoints over Adobe share. There was another intern from Indonesia who was also on their first day. Two interns from two different countries experiencing the same thing.  That’s globalization on a personal level haha. One thing you have to get used to though are the accents.

Although I’m primarily an intern under the lifestyle section, I was also given the chance by my accommodating boss to chase two stories on the Corona impeachment. I say chase because even if my day is technically over, the world doesn’t end at 6PM so you have to be tirelessly resourceful.  So worth it though.

I went back to work on Friday, but I left after lunch to cover the #OccupyJobFair story. To get to Katipunan from the Fort my sister drew up a map for me to the terminal so I could hop on a bus to Ayala. From what I know there are two routes, the other one being to Market Market.

I hope that I’ll be alive to see the day that Manila will develop an awesome public transportation system like the Fort Bus shuttle which is pretty cheap, effective, clean and most especially practical. I also wish to one day see more of the middle/upper-class Filipinos get over their aversion/fear of commuting. It’s not as bad, dirty or scary as people think. According to my French friends, in France everyone mingles in the “public space.”

Article plugging:

Hope for the year of the water dragon

Corona clobbers the Golden Globes as Trending Topic

Students hope for happy ending in ‘Corona-serye’

NAIA no longer world’s worst

The Communist Manifesto

A profile article I wrote for my News Writing Class about Arbie Baguios, my friend, the communist. Cue Sheryl Crow’s “Soak Up The Sun.”

The Communist Manifesto

By Rica S. Facundo

“Well, this is what a communist looks like – a normal person,” states Arbie Baguios, a Senior Development Studies major in Ateneo, responding to his recent self-proclamation as one on Facebook last November 15.

While his clothes seem plain – an unbuttoned black and white checkered polo, grey v-neck undershirt and a pair of washed out jeans – his laidback appearance is misleading. Infamous online for his sharp tongue, outspoken attitude and progressive ideology, Arbie’s communist manifesto is a twenty first century adaptation of Marxist beliefs.

From capitalist to communist

‘Communism’ or ‘communist’ is a phrase often thrown around by people who don’t fully understand what it means.  It’s a label with negative associations, easily given to anarchists with a penchant for stirring trouble. But neither completely radical nor rebel, activists like Arbie continually challenge people’s judgment, whether it’s on communism, himself or life.

By definition communism aims to establish a classless society structured upon common ownership. “It’s a belief that a community can rule itself even without the help of the state and that being in a community with other people is the best way to live,” says Arbie.

Ironically, Arbie’s a turn coat owing his ideological conversion from “pro-capitalist” to “anti-capitalist” status to Capitalism: A Love Story, a documentary directed by Michael Moore about the financial crisis of 2001. In second year, during one of his development studies classes, he thought socialism “wouldn’t work” and that “everybody should be free to do whatever they wanted.”

 The ideal choice

Whether it’s witnessing his political tirades on Twitter and Facebook or conversing in intellectual discourse in person, an encounter with Arbie always leaves people with a hanging question: What ideal do you believe in?

Arbie asserts that “One person can commit to an idea when he understands it thoroughly,” claiming his authority to the vast amount he has read and studied on the topic. “If you knew Arbie you would know that his scope of knowledge is just far beyond the average,” affirms Keena Campos, close friend and fellow org mate in AIESEC.

With his search for knowledge reaching a saturation point where the recurring data re-affirms what Arbie already holds true, the next step is choosing to commit.  “Commitment to an ideal is a choice. I understand capitalism but I don’t commit to it. I chose my world view because it was self-evident to me,” he says.

The everyday communist

While identifying oneself as communist is bold, especially in a conservative culture like the Philippines, being a hypocritical-communist is more reckless.

Between the image a person projects and how that image is received by society, “Arbie makes more of an effort to make sure it’s aligned. If he calls himself a communist, then he acts like one too,” relays Keena.

“I’m not saying that I’m a super hardcore messianic communist who’s going to change the world so watch me. No naman—I want to but I will in the best capacity that I can,” Arbie insists.

An avid supporter of the Occupy Movements worldwide, Arbie tries to help out in the Philippine branch and is planning to attend future forums. During his internship in Salzburg, Austria last summer of 2011, he held workshops with high school kids about cultural awareness and globalization.

As Director for Projects Education in AISEC, in August he created Thoughtbox Sessions, which discussed topics such as AIDS/HIV Awareness and Cultural Anthropology. To his members his insights and examples are valuable because they force people to literally “think outside the box” recalls Keena. “It’s just something you’ve never heard of or never thought of.”

Spot the communist

Arbie jokes that “Marxism is like a religion.  Much like Catholicism, it has an ideal that is paradise but now it acknowledges that you have to struggle for it,” stressing on the conviction one needs to fight for one’s beliefs.

While Arbie’s manifesto is far from ‘normal’, one might mistake this communist for any other passion driven maverick. Regardless of the –ism, Arbie says, “The ideology isn’t the end. It’s the means. So, what’s the end you want?” For Arbie, his manifesto is just the beginning.

The truth, or something like it

Your job description as a journalist is to question and scrutinize critically -never to repeat claims uncritically, no matter how highly placed the sources in the bureaucracy. Don’t ever forget that. You’re a damn good writer but that talent is completely worthless if you forget your job description.” – (Erika Berger, The Girl who Kicked the Hornet’s nest)

To be an effecitve writer I believe one should know their shit. Since my tastes, much like my personality, are more breadth than depth, even though I intend to I don’t usually end up writing reviews about books I read, movies and plays I watch, news I follow and music I’m into.

Really, I’m not an expert enough in anything in particular to confidently make literary allusions, pop-culture references, political satire and philosophical understatements without sounding pretentious or presumptuous, which is the tone I never want to have. Of course I could research, but this is a blog, not a paper or an article.

As you can probably tell, personal stories are my forte with experience as my muse. But this time I’ll make an exception for a 3-part series I just recently finished this summer – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Swedish author and journalist Stieg Larrson, a crime novel of which I will allude to if and when I become interviewed as an upcoming broadcast journalist.

Although Larrson makes a thrilling and hard hitting commentary on corruption, bureaucracy, human rights, justice, sex, the theme that spoke to the journalist (and humanist) in me is that of truth, particularly those who are hell bent on not only uncovering it, but are willing to stubbornly stick by it even if they’re the only ones sticking their head out for it. That’s why the protagonists – Lisbeth Salander, Mikael Blomkivist, Erika Berger, Annika Giannini and police offices like Modig, despite their own shortcomings are my heroes. They do not compromise to save their name.

See, what they represent to me is simple. Truth is not only about life and death. Truth is about principle and not overstepping that line, despite the external factors pushing you to cross it. One doesn’t have to be caught up in the middle of some murder trial to fight or live for truth.

We’re confronted on so many simple everyday occasions to make a decision between telling/ fighting for the truth and to pick our battles and save the disclosure for another day.

Recently I was talking with my friend about her entry on her crappy Globe customer experience. She said that her mom didn’t want her to write the entry because what if my friend worked for Globe one day? I’ve found myself in similar situations too and I’m sure most of us have.  But that makes me ask: How many times have we with held, screened or sugar coated the truth in order to make sure that the truth won’t bite us back in the ass one day or to quell some authority figure?

In the past years I”ve been subjected to my own bureaucratic and political injustices  and I’ll admit, in some of those cases I’ve held back my tongue in the face of that fear. After all the world is filled with sharks swimming above this hierarchy of which I’m in no position to challenge just yet.

I know truth is not black and white, but now I’m wondering whether the trade off between telling and saving the truth is just, and if it is what are the acceptable circumstances for it. Sure there’s a time and place for everything but how long are we supposed to put it off?  And this isn’t just about journalism.

I wish I could Kalle Blomkivist and ask him myself. (Read the book to get the pun.)

10 Things I Hate About Sembreak

4 more days till school starts. How many of these 10 things I hate about sembreak list have you already ticked off? My article on g.

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Sorry to burst your sembreak bubble, but sometimes that much needed vacation sounds a lot better in our heads than in real life. Thanks to months of constant hell weeks and futile all-nighters to improve our grades, the truth is that we tend to build it up too much. In the end, we feel cheated and disappointed when our glorious sembreak doesn’t go according to plan.

But because g wants you to have a blast this October, to get your much needed R&R, we’ve come up with 10 annoying sembreak woes and surefire ways to bust them. This is the year when your sembreak expectations actually align with reality. Read more here.

Cover Over Coffee

Cover Over Coffee. September 17. Friday. Seattles Best Katipunan

A little over 3 months ago I remember sitting in Fruit Magic, Katipunan with my wonderful Projects Dept. ladies, pitching to Stef (my uberly talented VP) why we should still keep Cover Over Coffee in ACOMM’s roster this year. Despite being born and raised out of unfavorable conditions in the past, I saw its potential.

Perhaps it was my penchant for coffee and interest in journalism that made me take on the responsibility, but I believed that it could be great, and it was! It’s such a good feeling to see a belief actualized into something tangible. As long as you think something is good enough, then you’re the only one who can make sure it actually is.

And the same notion applies to my pair of project managers. They were freshmen who were inexperienced yet ambitious and brimming with all kinds of potential. And that excites me! Because asides from our obvious age difference (I refused to be called ate or miss), I felt like a mother who wanted nothing more than to see her babies grow.  And through them so did I. I am so proud!

Although it’s a pain in the ass to learn from, experience really is the best teacher (for them and myself) and this project gave us a fair share of that.

Anyways, excuse my overly mushy sentiments. I’ve headed projects before but this is the first one that was entirely my responsibility so I’m a little bit more than attached. The project turned out exactly the way I wanted it to be: intimate, engaging, and intellectual.

I sound like a broken record already but thank you to our speakers Jed Segovia, Raymond Ang and Mico Halili as well as those who attended and enjoyed more than the free cups of coffee.  :)

Click to see pics and quotable quotes!

The write perspective

A friend recently told me that everyone can write, but not everyone can write stories.  Personally, writing may be my hobby but stories are my life which is why I try my best to integrate both.

Frankly, I know that I’m not the best writer out there. All I have to do is read the blogs and articles of  my talented orgmates,  friends and block mates to remind myself of how powerful words can be when used cleverly and masterfully.

As for me, well, I write the way I speak which tends to translate into long run on sentences that pretty much reflects my never ending and often all over the place train of thought.  Insert my penchant for metaphors and smilies with with its underlying hint of exaggeration then you’ve got Rica’s indigestion splattered all over this blog. Over time I’ve learned and am still learning how to hone it into something a little bit more comprehensible.

But despite this I try my best to get the story out, whether they’re mine or of my friends. At the end of the day as I stare (blankly) into my computer screen, sharing is the number one reason why I bother in the first place. Because regardless of the plot, stories, whether they’re mine or of my friends, are what I feel makes life interesting. You can live vicariously through the tales of other people and hopefully learn something from their experiences.

That’s why I get excited to write, not only here but on g, the Guidon’s online magazine, whose awesome faces you can see above. As journalists it’s our job to be story tellers and write as if we’re telling the best story in the world.

Personally, it’s the kind of perspective I believe enables people to eventually close and move on to each chapter in their life with a smile. One day it’s going to become a good story to laugh about with your friends. Because despite all the shit in this world, there can be light at the end of a writer’s pen, or in this case on the blogger’s computer screen.