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What was the Solicitor General thinking?

2009-09-20T12:25:00.043+08:00

Its just a scorecard, folks. A single battle may have been won but the war isn’t over. And how was that single battle lost? Through the fault and negligence of “concerned” artists who never collectively objected earlier (in 2006) when Caparas was already being awarded for his so-called excellence in movie-making and komiks writing.

From 2006, other award-giving bodies followed suit and yet, we still saw no howls of protest from the “art community” at large. Their silence and inaction for approximately 4 years practically led all, particularly the Office of the President, to believe (rightly or wrongly) that indeed, Magno Jose Carlo J. Caparas is “National Artist” award material. So what happens? In 2009, the massacre king finally gets annointed as a “National Artist for visual art and film” and it is only then, when the damage has already been done, that we see all this Dali-esque hee-haw performance protest from the community of “refined” artists; some of whom pompously and audaciously declare that they are the damaged party and (*gulp*) the “suffering light” who will lead the way. Clearly, these so-called (and self-proclaimed) “concerned” artists with messianic complexes are partly to blame for all this and not just the Office of the President.

And let's get another thing straight: just because we've found fault on BOTH the “concerned” artists and the Office of the President, doesn’t mean that this blog is necessarily siding with the latter. That is just plain dyslexic.

The net is dominated right now by plain “free speech protest” writings of komikeros and indies against Caparas and Malacanang with the single recycled theme that a B-movie massacre film director or has-been komiks novelist has no real artistic merit. Hey, we're there already. We know that. But why stop there? Unfortunately this kind of tunnel-vision never tries to consider any other point of view, especially one that’s contrary to, and even finds them partly to blame for this whole stinking mess.

And when that lone perspective, however unpopular, gets to be posted in the spirit of balance and fairplay, all sorts of accusations arise, particularly that this blog is really in favor of Caparas. Sta. Banana! PLEASE move on. That kind of comment we can do without. Please make like a tree and LEAVE. That’s what you get when have concerned artists following this blog.

But it doesn’t end there. You think this is the only thing these concerned artists have been guilty of? Let's consider the others.

One of the arguments put forth by the concerned artists is that in the selection process of nominees, Malacanang “bypassed” the artists committee at the NCCA (National Center for Culture and the Arts). In short, the NCCA was never consulted. The insertion of Caparas (et. al.) in the list of 2009 nominees for National Artist was unilaterally made by Malacanang, which is allegedly contrary to the procedure of first “consulting” with the NCCA artists committee.

Columnist Ducky Paredes of "Malaya" broadsheet newspaper puts it this way:

“Nominations are submitted to the National Artist Secretariat created by the National Artist Award Committee; experts from the different art fields then sit on a First Deliberation to prepare the short list of nominees. A Second Deliberation, which is a joint meeting of the NCCA and the Board of Trustees of the CCP, decides on the final list. The list is then forwarded to the President of the Philippines, who, by Presidential Proclamation, announces the final nominees as members of the Order of National Artists.

Emily Abrera, chair of the CCP Board of Trustees, says it very well:” Throughout the history of the National Artist Awards, Presidents of the Philippines have exercised the privilege of adding their choices to the final list of National Artist Awardees. And they have done so.

“But never was there an instance when the name of a person deemed truly deserving and who went through the rigorous process of selection, was struck off the list.

“While we respect the President’s prerogative to name her choices, we deplore the disregard of the established process whereby our National Artists are chosen. It was reported in the media (through Secretary Gabriel Claudio) that the President’s choices were a product of thorough consultations with the NCCA and CCP. We wish to clarify that we were never consulted about these final choices, nor have we been officially informed about them, to this day.”

The nominees of the CCP and the NCCA were Architect Francisco Manosa, Filmmaker Manuel Conde (Posthumous), Painter Federico Aguilar Alcuaz and Roman Santos for music. Gloria deleted Ramon Santos from the list."

Well, the above runs counter to the other Malaya newspaper report on the OSG’s comment that the NCCA and CCP’s list of nominees were indeed submitted to Malacanang BUT WERE ONLY TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION as Malacanang finally decided to follow the recommendation and nomination of its Honors Committee created in 2003 under Executive Order No. 236. So, its incorrect for Emily Abrera to claim that the NCCA and CCP were NEVER consulted. In truth, their “recommended” nominations were submitted but were unfortunately never approved. That’s consultation enough. And when it was disregarded by the higher Honors Committee in Malacanang, its “Tough luck, Chuck”. That's the procedure right now. After the CCP and NCCA, it next goes to the Honors Commitee in Malacanang as provided under E.O. 236 (as amended).

There is no LAW saying that the NCCA and CCP’s “recommendations” are final and can never be amended or disregarded by the higher Honors Commitee.

To argue that it is a “custom and tradition” for the President to first consult with the NCCA and CCP on whose names are to be deleted and substituted anew in the nomination list, or worse, that such “recommendations” are final and not even the word of God can change it, is woefully INCORRECT.

Such “custom or tradition” does not amend, repeal or modify Art. VII of the 1987 Constitution and the procedure outlined by law in R.A. 7356, E.0. 236 and E.O. 451, the latter two having the force and effect of law. Only laws, not customs, traditions or other practices to the contrary, can repeal, amend or modify other laws. Significantly, the concerned artists, NCCA and CCP have not cited any clear, provision of law declaring otherwise. They staged a mock funeral of the “arts” at the CCP, but that will not reverse the petition in their favor.

This may come as a shock to the concerned artists but the National Artist award (from the beginning) is a recognition given NOT by a private group of “artists”, but is an award given by the government or incumbent administration as mandated by pertinent laws. What were they thinking? That men in government are “artistic” and will always side with them? Hokey smoke.

It began with dictator Marcos in 1973 when, having arrogated to himself law-making powers, enacted Presidential Decree No. 208, which declared for the first time the grant of “National Artist” awards and providing for their funding and selection process by the Cultural Center of the Philippines. The CCP at the time was staffed by Marcos appointees and cronies who appointed “national artists” within their social circle of co-cultural elitists.

After the EDSA revolution of February, 1986, P.D. 208 was partly repealed and modified due to the enactment in its place of Republic Act No. 7356, creating the National Commission on Culture and the Arts. This was signed into law on September, 1992 by the late Corazon Aquino, who was nearing the end of her term then as President. To stress, the grant and conferment of the national artist award under PD 208 was not totally repealed in that the CCP is not anymore the sole administrator of the award as before.

Rather, under Section 18 of R.A. 7356, the CCP had to now “coordinate”, “share” and “subordinate” that function with the NCCA under this new procedure under the Republic Act:

“Sec. 18. The National Cultural Agencies. — The Commission shall coordinate with the national cultural agencies including but not limited to the Cultural Center of the Philippines, the Institute of Philippine Languages, the National Historical Institute, the National Library, the National Museum, the Records Management and Archives Office, However, they shall continue operating under their respective charters or as provided by law where provisions therein are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act. They shall serve as the national repository and/or showcase, as the case may be of the best of Philippine culture and arts. For this purpose, these agencies shall submit periodic reports, including recommendations to the Commission.”

And under Section 9 of R.A. 7356, MOST of the people who comprised the NCCA are either presidential appointees, cabinet members and career government executives while only a few were private and individual “artists”, to wit:

“Sec. 9. Composition. — The Commission shall be composed of the following members;

(a) the Undersecretary of the Department of Education, Culture and Sports;

(b) the Undersecretary of the Department of Tourism;

(c) the Chairman of the House Committee on Culture;

(d) the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Culture;

(e) the President of the Cultural Center of the Philippines;

(f) the Executive Director of the National Historical Institute;

(g) the Director of the National Museum;

(h) the Director of the National Library;

(i) the Director of the Institute of Philippine Languages;

(j) the Director of the Records Management and Archives Office;

(k) the Executive Director of the Commission;

(l) the Head of the Subcommission on Cultural Communities and Traditional Arts;

(m) three (3) representatives from the private sector who shall be the elected heads of the three (3) Subcommission identified hereunder, namely: the Subcommission on Cultural Heritage, the Subcommission on the Arts and the Subcommission on Cultural Dissemination. They shall be elected by the chairpersons of the national committees under their respective Subcommissions.”

So really, the governing body of the NCCA is not entirely representative of the artist community at all. Note that from (a) to (l) above but with the notable exception of (c) and (d), these are not all private individuals but government officers under the control and supervision of the Executive branch of government. And who heads the executive branch of government? Answer: the President of the Philippines. Being mere subordinates, the President can always set aside their decisions by virtue of his/her control power.

Under our present system of government, executive power is vested in the President. The members of the Cabinet and other executive officials are merely alter egos. As such, they are subject to the power of control of the President, at whose will and behest they can be removed from office; or their actions and decisions changed, suspended or reversed. This can be gleaned from the following provisions of Art. VII of the 1987 Constitution:

"Section 1. The executive power shall be vested in the President of the Philippines."

"Section 17. The President shall have control of all the executive departments, bureaus and offices. He shall ensure that the laws be faithfully executed."

Not only this but under Section 13 (j) of R.A. 7356, it further gave the implication that since the NCCA's function was merely "advisory", that is, to merely give "advise" on matters relating to the grant of an award to deserving individuals, it follows that the grant and even "creation" of such an award is part of executive power of the President; that the next Presidents (Ramos and Macapagal-Arroyo) had the power to create new “national artist” award categories:

“Sec. 13. Powers and Functions. — To carry out its mandate, the Commission shall exercise the following powers and functions: xxx

(j) advise the President on matters pertaining to culture and the arts, including the creation of a special decoration or award, for persons who have significantly contributed to the development and promotion of Philippine culture and arts;”

When Fidel V. Ramos was elected President, he created new national artist award categories e.g. “visual arts”, “theater”, “cinema”, “music” and “historical literature” by way of his Executive Order Nos. 208 and 451, and under E.O. 208, created a new award for national artists in the form of granting state funerals in case of their deaths. Was Ramos first "advised" by the NCCA or CCP to make these new awards? There is none. It was all at Ramos' initiative.

After Ramos, came Joseph Ejercito Estrada and then at present, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Estrada, who did not last long because of EDSA 2, made no Executive Order affecting the national artist award. Macapagal-Arroyo however, did in the form of Executive Order no. 236, creating in 2003 the Honors Committee whose purpose, under Section 9 thereof, was to merely "assist" the President in evaluating nominations for Presidential awards such as the National Artist award, fortifying even more the mere "advisory" function of the NCCA under Section 13 of R.A. 7356, thus:

"Section 9. xxx The Committee shall assist the President in evaluating nominations for recipients of Honors hereunder, as well as of Presidential Awards. For this purpose the Committee may authorize relevant departments or government agencies to maintain Honors and/or Awards Committees to process nominations for Honors and/or Presidential Awards. xxx"

Arroyo was never advised by the CCP or NCCA to do this. It was her sole initiative as President and Chief Executive.

Under the same Section 9 of E.O. 236, the Honors Committee is composed of the Executive Secretary, Secretary of Foreign Affairs, head of the Presidential Management Staff, Presidential Assistant for Historical Affairs, Chief Presidential Protocol and State Visits – Department of Foreign Affairs. Again, all of these people are under the executive branch of government and the Office of the President. Whatever they say and do can always be reversed under the President’s executive control power.

With the creation of the Honors Committee, the procedure since 2003 is that after the CCP and NCCA make their nomination and selection, the same is submitted to a third body for further evaluation: the Honors Committee in Malacanang.

Now, suppose the Honors Committee gave a recommendation contrary to that of the CCP and NCCA’s recommendations. Can the President just consider the Honors Committee recommendation WITHOUT going back to the NCCA and CCP for a second “consultation”? We believe the answer is YES. Why? Because of her control power as Chief Executive of the land and that the NCCA, CCP and Honors Committee under her are staffed by her “alter-egos” whose acts she can always modify.

If the Honors Committee sided with the CCP and NCCA and the President does not agree, insisting that Caparas should be included in the nomination, can she again do this unilaterally? Once more, the answer is YES. That is her prerogative as Chief Executive under Philippine laws, the Constitution and jurisprudence. The national artist award is an award of the government, the administration, and under the 1987 Constitution, the President is the head of such government or administration; has control over all her “alter-ego’s” actions.

Let’s go to another issue raised by the concerned artists: Can the President award an entirely new category, that of fusing two categories into one: “national artist for visual arts and film” which is contrary to their treatment as separate awards by the CCP and NCCA? Again the answer is YES under the control powers of the President. Considering that these recommendations by the CCP and NCCA are merely advisory. This was made explicit in the following highlighted and underscored provision of E.O. 435 amending E.O. 236, to wit:

[Executive Order No. 435]
June 08, 2005

AMENDING SECTION 5 (IV) OF EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 236 ENTITLED "ESTABLISHING THE HONORS CODE OF THE PHILIPPINES TO CREATE AN ORDER OF PRECEDENCE OF HONORS CONFERRED AND FOR OTHERPURPOSE"

WHEREAS, Executive Order ("EO") No. 236 (s. 2003) nationalized the roster of civil awards and decorations of the Philippines to ensure consistency of criteria in conferring honors, preserve integrity and prestige thereof, clarify and definitively establish their order of precedence, in conformity with internationally-accepted traditional and protocular norms and practices;

WHEREAS, under EO 236, the Order of National Artists shall be conferred upon the recommendation of the Cultural Center of the Philippines ("CCP") and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts ("NCCA");

WHEREAS, there is a need to harmonize the procedure for awarding the Order of National Artists with the purpose and intent of existing laws, i.e. Proclamation No.1001, as amended by Proclamation No1144 and Presidential Decree No. 208, as well as Republic Act No 7356, in relation to Section 20, Chapter 7, Title I, Book III of Executive Order No. 292, otherwise known as the "Administrative Code of 1987";

WHEREAS, due recognition must be given to National Artists for their valuable contributions to the cultural heritage of the country, as well as in encouragement of the spirit of excellence in the arts and letters;

NOW, THEREFORE, I GLORIA MACAPAGAL-ARROYO, President of the Republic of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by law, do hereby amend Section 5 (IV) of EO No. 236, entitled "Establishing the Honors Code of the Philippines to create an Order of Precedence of Honor Conferred and for Other Purposes," on Order of the National Artists, to read as follows:

"IV. Order of National Artists (Order ng mga Pambansang Alagad ng Sining); Order of National Scientists (Order ng mga Pambansang Alagad ng Agham); Order of National Social Scientist (Order ng mga Pambansang Alagad ng Agham Panlipunan); Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan (Award for National Living Treasures)-Order of National Artists

Pursuant to Proclamation No. 1001 dated April 27, 1972 and Republic Act No. 7356, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts and the Cultural Center of the Philippines shall advise the President on the conferment of the Order of National Artists, the highest national recognition conferred upon Filipinos who have made distinct contributions to development and promotion of Philippine culture and the arts. (Emphasis Ours)

The National Artist for Historical Literature, created under Executive Order No. 451 dated October 9, 1997, is subsumed under the Order of National Artists."

This amendment shall take effect immediately.

DONE in the City of Manila on this 8th day of June in the year of Our Lord Two Thousand and Five.

(Sgd.) GLORIA MACAPAGAL – ARROYO”

Indeed, what could be higher than a national artist award for film and a national award for visual arts? Answer, a combination of the two as one: national artist for visual art and film. Can the President do this unilaterally despite the mere advise of her alter-egos in the CCP and NCCA to treat these awards separately? Again, the unfortunate answer is YES because of her control power over her alter-egos, and the procedure outlined in E.O. 236 and 435.

Which brings us to the other view that the concerned artists' petition for prohibition may again be dismissed on a serious technical error. Prohibition is a preventive remedy. It seeks to prevent the proceedings of any tribunal, corporation, board, officer or person, in this case the President of the Philippines and the Honors Committee (members of her cabinet) from performing the act sought to be prevented during pendency of the restraining order.

The Solicitor General appears to be correct in that, what is there to prevent when the President already made her choice earlier for 2009 national artists and that the awarding ceremony/conferment stage to follow is only a mere formality? Its too late. The purpose of the petition is absent. The act sought to be prevented is already fait accompli. It has to be denied.

To that, we can cite other reasons. The preventive remedy of prohibition lies only against judicial or ministerial functions. The Honors Committee is not a judicial body or court of law, nor is the President a judicial officer. As a general rule, prohibition will not lie against legislative and executive branches of government acting in the exercise of their official functions basically in consideration of the respect due from the judiciary (Supreme Court) to said departments of co-equal and coordinate ranks under the principle of separation of powers.

Worse if the acts to be impugned may be essentially political in nature and, as a rule, non-justiciable, since the remedy therefrom lies not in the courts but in the department in regard to which full discretionary authority is vested, (i.e., Office of the President and/or Honors Committee) or by the submission thereof to the judgment of the citizenry in the proper political forum. As was previously discussed the conferment of a national artist award is "political" in nature subject to the discretion of the executive branch of government. There is NO law explicitly declaring that such choices of the Honors Committee or the President, have to be subsumed to the nominations made by either the CCP or NCCA. There was a previous "custom" , "tradition" or contrary practice made before by former Presidents Aquino and Ramos. But this is just that: custom. It is not LAW.

Neither was the Honors Committee or the President performing ministerial functions, that is, performing an act mandated by law requiring them to follow the "custom and tradition" of consulting first with the CCP and NCCA, or of unquestionably following their "recommended" nominees. There is no LAW cited by the concerned artists to support this, only a contrary "practice" that had gone before, which Arroyo and her Honors Committee shunned only now, based of course on the President's executive control power under the 1987 Constitution, R.A. 7356, E.O. 236 and E.O. 451.

Moreover, before you can avail of prohibition, you should first prove that you exhausted all administrative remedies available to rectify the situation. That is, the petitioning concerned artists should have first filed a motion for reconsideration before the President and Honors Committee and allow them the opportunity to first correct their mistakes or errors after they made their "new" choices for national artist nominees. This was not done. This was bypassed by the petitioners in favor of their mock "luksa ng sining" at the CCP on August 7, 2009. Later, the petition for prohibition was filed directly and immediately without any prior motion for reconsideration filed with the Office of the President. This is a FATAL legal blunder and the petition could be dismissed on this SERIOUS technicality.

Though it is a general rule that a petition for prohibition will not lie against an official act of the legislative or executive branch of government, the recognized exception is IF the legislative or executive act complained of, is patently illegal or contrary to law. This is so even if the act sought to be prevented has already occurred.

The awards for "fashion design" and "for visual art and film" are entirely new and were created solely by Arroyo. Despite this however, as was previously discussed and shown, the executive control powers of the President legally grants her the prerogative of making such choices. She has discretion on the matter, even when she deleted the nomination of Dr. Ramon Santos as national artist for music. It is political.

The judiciary or the Supreme Court, will not intervene in the matter because there is no clear provision of law violated when the choices were made. The concerned artists cite no such law in their petition or public interviews with media.

Ah, but the concerned artists counter, NCCA Director Cecille Guidote Alvarez is another matter entirely. Section 11 of R.A. 7356 (the 1992 law creating the NCCA) explicitly states that during his or her term as member of the Commission, an NCCA Commissioner shall not be eligible for any grant or such other financial aid from the Commission as an individual. So, her award as national artist for theater is ILLEGAL and the President has committed an illegal act when she nominated and chose her for the award. This too is faulty. There is a misreading of the law.

Clearly, when you read Section 11 of R.A. 7356, it defines the prohibited act as a grant or other financial aid made by the NCCA to a member of its Commission. Here, the act is by the Office of the President and Honors Committee who are not part of the NCCA.

Moreover, the national artist award is not per se, a financial grant or aid. As defined under Marcos' P.D. 208 of 1973, the national artist award is essentially a "special privilege" (not a financial aid or monetary grant) that does not only involve the grant of monetary aid, but also other non-monetary privileges such as a state funeral, forever retaining Filipino citizenship regardless of acts to the contrary, and a place of honor in state functions, national commemoration ceremonies and all other cultural presentations. Hence, on these counts, Section 11 of R.A. 7356 is inapplicable against Guidote-Alvarez and the President. The concerned artists' argument on this score have no merit.

Well, there you have it. In all probability that’s how the concerned artists’ arguments would be legally struck down by the Supreme Court. Its also a two-cent educated guess at what was probably going on in the mind of the Solicitor General when she made her 51 page Comment.

In parting, we still maintain the position that HAD these concerned artists collectively raised their voices against Caparas’ merits as an “artist” way back in 2006, this big cosmic joke would never have happened in the first place. But, sadly, you can't win them all. As Jimmy Santos would say: "That's the way the ball pen."

Jesus, save us!

Understanding the National Artist "AWARD"

2009-09-20T12:09:00.013+08:00

Past recipients of the presidential national artist award complain that having Carlo J. Caparas as a national artist unduly includes him within their roster, as if the national artist award created some "Order" or distinct club of truly exceptional and honored individuals. This is wrong.

As you read Executive Order No. 236, which is the basis of Caparas' declaration, you will find that the national artist award does NOT create an "Order" or exclusive association of honored and exceptional national artists. THANK GOD! Can you imagine calling Caparas, SIR Carlo or "Gat" Caparas? Heavens to mergatroid!

Executive Order No. 236 is entitled: "Establishing the Honors Code of the Philippines to create an Order of Precedence of Honors conferred and for other Purposes". The national artist award is indeed an honor BUT in the precedence, or "order", of presidential honors, it is probably a lower category meaning further, that individuals who are not totally exceptional can join this particular group. Hence, the nomination and conferment of a mere "award" to Caparas.

Ridiculous you say? That is the revision made in 2003 by President Arroyo when she issued Executive Order 236, Section 1 of which reads as follows:

"Section 1. The Honors Code. There is hereby established the "Honors Code of the Philippines" (hereinafter referred to as the 'Honors Code') as set out in this Executive Order.

The Honors Code emphasizes the exceptional prestige of the Honors conferred hereunder. Unless otherwise enumerated as Honors within the Order of Precedence established by this Executive Order, all other presidential awards, while tangible recognitions of merit and accomplishment, shall not be considered Honors for the purposes of this Honors Code." (Italics Ours)

In the enumeration of "Honors" in E.O. 236, the "national artist" award is NOT included. It is a mere presidential award and certainly, not the highest. E.O. 236 emphasizes this in its definition of terms, as follows:

"Section 2. DEFINITION OF TERMS. The following terms, as used in this Executive Order, shall be defined as follows:

2.a) An Order is an award that grants membership in an exclusive association of honored individuals, and which by tradition carries with it distinctive insignia to be worn by recipients.

b) Decoration. A decoration is a wearable award usually conferred for a specific act of meritorious service.

c) Medal. A Medal is a wearable award usually conferred to recognize service and/or achievement or to commemorate a significant event.

For purposes of this Executive Order, Orders, Decorations and Medals, which are awards of the highest prestige, are collectively referred to as Honors.

d) Award. An Award is a tangible means of recognizing accomplishment and/or merit, usually in the form of a citation, plaque, trophy or medallion." (Emphasis Ours)

So you see? The national artist "award" is not of the highest prestige or an "Honor" to begin with. It is not part of an "Order". It is a mere recognition of accomplishment. Past and present "national artists" do not belong to an exclusive club of exceptional individuals. There is no Order of national artists. Having won the national artist award for visual art and film does not confer an 'Honor" or real prestige to the massacre king. Doesn't that bring a tear in your eye and a sigh of relief? Isn't that Gloria one sly cookie?

Section 7 of the same E.O. 236, emphasizes the point even further:

"Section 7. Other Presidential Awards. The President may confer Presidential Awards not otherwise included in the Order of Precedence of the Honors Code, as set out in Section 3 of this Executive Order. For the avoidance of doubt, Presidential Awards not otherwise enumerated in Section 3 of this Executive Order are not considered Honors as defined herein." (Emphasis Ours)

Guess what? The national artist award is not part of the enumeration of Honors in Section 3 of E.O. 236. So, the national artist award is not really an "Honor". This is stressed under Section 11 (c) of this same Executive Order:

"Section 11. Discontinuance of Previous Awards.

a. Upon the effectivity of this Executive Order, only Honors enumerated under Section 3 hereof shall be awarded. Accordingly, the following civilian Awards shall no longer be conferred:
(i) Medal of Honor
(ii) Rizal Collegiate Palms
(iii) Mabini Teachers Medal
(iv) Rizal Pro Patria Award
(v) Presidential Citation for Honesty and Integrity
(vi) Order of the Grieving Heart
(vii) Presidential Award in Education
(viii) Order of Kalantiao
(ix) Republic Cultural Heritage Award
(x) Presidential Citation for Outstanding Humanitarian Services
(xi) International Artist
(xii) Bayani ng Bagong Republika
(xiii) Presidential Citation for Outstanding Service to Philippine
Democracy
(xiv) Presidential Award for Heroism in Times of Disaster
(xv) Sajid Bulig Presidential Award for Heroism
(xvi) Presidential Mineral Industry Environment Award

b. The above-mentioned civilian Awards shall remain extant during the lifetime of the last holder of the respective Awards, and the holders of said Awards shall continue to enjoy the rights and privileges thereof. Thereafter, the respective affected Awards shall cease to exist and be discontinued.

c. All other Awards which have not heretofore been mentioned may continue to be awarded as Presidential Awards, but such awards shall not be considered Honors for purposes of this Honors Code." (Emphasis Ours)

So there you have it. The "concerned" national artists can stop daydreaming that they are part of some exclusive and fraternal club of distinguished artists. Its not. This means that massacre kings like Caparas can join. April "Boy" Regino can join. Any "artist" who is really not that uber-distinguished can join.

That's the national artist "award" for you.

Caparas:One, Concerned Artists: ZERO, Part 2

2009-09-20T10:43:00.012+08:00

The following was retrieved from the online article of the "Malaya" newspaper dated, September 17, 2009. Its a more detailed account of the Solicitor General's arguments on why the "concerned artists" petition should be "legally" dismissed:
SC cannot overturn president’s power to appoint National Artists: Sol-Gen

GOVERNMENT lawyers yesterday insisted that the conferment of the rank and title of the Order of National Artist on movie director Carlo Caparas and six others is well within the powers of the President and cannot be overturned by the Supreme Court.

In a 51-page comment, the Office of the Solicitor General sought the dismissal of the petition for prohibition filed by several national artists and cultural workers for being moot and academic, with Malacañang’s conferment of the award being already final.

Solicitor general Agnes Devanadera said President Arroyo had already issued Proclamation Nos. 1823, 1824, 1825, 1826, 1827, 1828, and 1829 declaring as national artists Manuel Urbano (for film and broadcast) Lazaro Francisco (literature), Federico Aguilar Alcuaz (visual arts), Cecilia Guidote-Alvarez (theater), Caparas (visual arts and film), Francisco Mañosa (architecture), Jose "Pitoy" Moreno (fashion design).

Devanadera said the petition filed by several national artists called for a preventive remedy but since the act sought to be enjoined had already taken place, there was nothing more to restrain. "The issues raised in the petition are clearly moot and academic as private respondents have been declared national artists. No amount of melodramatic protests shall overturn this fact," she said.

Devanadera said the award of the order of national artist is the exclusive prerogative of the President. She said that while the joint letter of the boards of National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) recommending four artists for the award is persuasive, the same is not binding on the President.

"(President Arroyo) can affirm, disregard or modify the recommendation submitted by the two boards. Since the law clothes the President with the power to confer the award, such conferment must be understood as necessarily carrying with it ample discretion to decide who to award," she said.

The OSG further said the President did not disregard the selection process of the NCCA-CCP board but instead took it into consideration along with the recommendation of the Committee on Honors. Devanadera said it was the Committee on Honors which submitted the names of Caparas, Mañosa, Alvarez and Moreno for the 2009 Order of National Artists.

The Committee on Honors was created on Sept. 19, 2003 under Executive Order No. 236 to assist the President in evaluating nominations for recipient honors and presidential awards. It is composed of the Executive Secretary, Secretary of Foreign Affairs, head of the Presidential Management Staff, Presidential Assistant for Historical Affairs, Chief Presidential Protocol and State Visits – Department of Foreign Affairs.

Devanadera said the vetting process of the Committee on Honors "does not override but runs parallel" with the NCCA-CCP Board’s selection process. She said the Committee on Honors consulted experts and considered the nominations made by various organizations and persons from different sectors. – Evangeline C. de Vera

Caparas: One, Concerned National Artists: ZERO

2009-09-17T05:21:00.004+08:00

The Office of the Solicitor General has already filed its comment on the Supreme Court petition to annul the 2009 National Artist award to Carlo J. Caparas, and it does not look good. The following online article from "Business World" (http://www.bworldonline.com/) was retrieved this date (September 17, 2009) and reproduced herein as follows:

"NO MORE ISSUE BEHIND NATIONAL ARTISTS — OSG

THE RIGHT to choose and appoint National Artists resides in the President based on the art community’s recommendations, the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) said, thus there is nothing irregular in a recent proclamation relating to the controversial issue.

In a comment filed with the Supreme Court, the OSG said the court should dismiss the petition of National Artists seeking to stop the conferment of the award to National Commission on Culture and the Arts Executive Director Cecile Guidote-Alvarez (theater), film director Carlo J. Caparas (visual arts), designer Jose "Pitoy" R. Moreno (fashion design) and architect Francisco T. Mañosa (architecture). The court has issued a stay order on the conferment pending resolution of the case.

The OSG said there is no issue to resolve since the conferment has been formalized done through presidential proclamations issued in June, adding the awarding is only ceremonial.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo "embodies the mandate to mediate between the different, varying and even warring ideas of beauty, art and literature," it said, adding in no way did the President abuse her discretion in naming the new National Artists. — IPP"

See? This is what we mean by these "concerned" artists not protesting Caparas' lack of cinematic or komiks writing excellence way back in 2006 when he was being nominated for the National Artist award. Its called "estoppel" folks. Their earlier negligence and inaction has led others to believe then that Caparas is indeed National Artist material so they work on it (like Manuel Morato's "GUSI" Peace Prize). Now that Caparas bagged the mother of artist awards, can "concerned" artists also rise out of the woodwork and yell "Foul"? Of course not. Who's fault was it? Why have events led to this? Has the "concerned" artists' negligence and inaction in early 2006 have something to do with this? Many think so. Why lay the blame exclusively on these "concerned" artists? Because of their audacious claim that they are the so-called "light" leading the nation to artistic (and political?) enlightenment?

And then we have the OSG comment affirming the awards procedure; upholding the exercise of sound discretion by the President to make such conferment. Well, if anything, everybody knows that the OSG is generally pro-administration. But that's beside the point. Its how you argue and defend your position matters. Here's hoping that the petitioners (concerned national artists) have a more persuasive counter-argument.

CARLO J. CAPARAS AND THE POLITICS OF "ART"

2009-09-05T22:51:00.014+08:00

Jesus save us!

We’ve seen a lot of anger and resentment these past few days on Caparas’ bagging the 2009 National Artist award for visual art and film. Most of it coming from the so-called “artist community” of arthouse actors, directors, musicians, writers, and yes, “refined” komiks artists and writers (whatever that means); the so-called educated or “cultural” elite of the country.

You’re all too familiar with the weak pros and strong cons against Caparas’ non-worthiness for the “visual arts” category. We’ll not get into that. Its been looped to death all over the internet by now that you’re probably on the verge of vomit.

No, we’re here to look at this emotionally charged tragi-comedy from another angle. And that is, IF Caparas’ films and komiks writing had no real artistic merit, IF it was never celebratory or influential in the first place, then WHERE were these “concerned artists” when Caparas’ nomination for National Artist was announced way back in 2006? Why only now in 2009, a good four years after, when the damage has already been done? WHERE were these “concerned artists” during the intervening years from 2006 to 2009? Were they just smirking on the sidelines, making snide remarks to themselves saying it will never happen? Are these “concerned artists” to blame for something in all this? Has their inaction and apathy in the past led them to cry over spilt milk in the present? Is this instant karma?

“Former President Fidel Valdez Ramos joins mega director Carlo J. Caparas and former Prime Minister Mahathir Mahamad of Malaysia in the elite list of Gusi Peace Prize Awardees slated on November 22.

This developed amid the resounding clamor for Caparas to be conferred the National Artist Award next year for his cinematic excellence, as well as for his komiks novellas numbering over 800, 200 of which were made into box-office hit flicks.

xxx xxx xxx

The Gusi Peace award is at par with Sweden’s prestigious Nobel Peace Prize Award given to individuals or institutions adjudged as having given the “greatest benefit to mankind”.

Caparas will be conferred the Gusi award for his vital contribution in advocating peace and justice with his cinematic excellence as a scriptwriter and novelist.

xxx xxx xxx

The Gusi Peace foundation is a non profit charitable foundation envisioned by its founder, the late Capt. Germeniano Javier Gusi, in 1910 to give proper recognition by conferring awards of excellence and distinction to eminent individuals or groups who have distinguished themselves as exemplars of society in scientific discoveries, medicine or physiology, physics, chemistry, performing arts, business and philanthropy, economics, humanitarianism, politics, academe, literature, religion, visual arts, internationalism, and other fields of endeavors with respect to human life and contribution to peace worldwide. Xxx “ (“Carlo J. Caparas for National Artist” by Efren Montano, appearing in the October 17, 2006 issue of “People’s Tonight” tabloid newspaper)

Former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Chairman, MANUEL MORATO, is the President of the GUSI Peace Prize Foundation. Morato, as is well known, is supportive of Caparas who makes regular guest appearances in his television show.

So where were these “concerned artists” then?

After 2006, what followed was the 2007 Caparas “komiks caravan” and his much ballyhooed attempt to revive the local komiks industry. No howls of collective protest were made then of his dubious “cinematic excellence and distinction in the “visual arts”, especially from the “traditional” komiks people who were gainfully employed (or exploited depending on whose side of the fence you’re on) under Caparas and Sterling Paper Products. In fact, even after Caparas’ komiks line were cancelled, NONE of these traditional “komiks” people were protesting in large numbers over the internet or in other media questioning the "artistic merits" of his movies and komiks works.

It is only now, when the cultural elite's whole artistic world has finally crumbled, that we see this symbolic overflowing of "tough love” on Caparas by no less than the “refined”, “traditional” and “concerned” komiks writers and artists. With clenched fist and all the melodrama they can muster you can hear them scream their hearts out: “He’s no visual artist! His works have no artistic merit! He’s a massacre film makre!” Sta. Banana, what a revolting development. Jesus save us! indeed. If the Caparas komiks line were still ongoing, ten to one, you can bet the komiks farm that these "cultured" komikeros would be keeping their mouths shut and holding some poorly organized fun run in Intramuros for Caparas.

Its politics and hypocrisy at its bedside best, folks. You can be sure that after all this is over, you can see these “artists” pat themselves on the back for a job well done; screaming to high heavens that they are the “light” to all this “darkness”. Good Grief. And then they go back to their enclosed artistic self-indulgent shell of a world in Mt. Olympus. Hwow. Such poetry. Such synchronized inanity. No wonder the general public is apathetic to all this “national artist” b.s. Know why?

Because the works of these “concerned artists” have never been accessible to the low income general public in the first place as Caparas’ works have been. There’s no connection, widespread familiarity and nostalgia to begin with.

The general public who are—ahem—“poor”, have no knowledge of “expensive” and “exclusive” art and refinement especially those produced by the “cultured” elite of komikeros and indies.

Yet, these komikeros and other culturally-minded “concerned” artists like them cry and bewail that our third world economy is against them. They’re not businessmen. Its corrupting. They don’t want to be, so everything has to be expensive. The audience has to keep up with them. Art must be expensive, “high”, “abstract”, “progressive” bla bla bla. And what happens? They’ve left the field open to massacre kings like Caparas to dominate and when the latter gets to win a National Artist award they cry FOUL.

And they call themselves the “light” to all this political “darkness”. Screw moi. No thank you. We can think for ourselves, thank you very much.

In the ongoing Caparas melee which is really a battle of vain and empty artistic pride, no one can really take sides except maybe standby and watch the cockfight go its final predictable course. It has nothing life-changing to offer. And we are the poorer for it.

Jesus save us.

Komiks' unknown reality of tax and other incentives

2009-05-21T23:14:00.022+08:00

From the yahoo.com.ph site, the following news item from the Philippine Star is reproduced:

"Reading broadens horizons, regardless of the subject. But for the Bureau of Customs, only books used in schools can be classified as “educational” — a category that exempts an imported book from taxes and duties. The BOC has since revised its rules, slapping taxes on the importation of many international bestsellers and other books that the bureau believes do not fall under the categories of “educational, scientific or cultural.”

The BOC’s move, endorsed by Finance Undersecretary Espele Sales, is based on a review of Republic Act 8047 or the Book Publishing Industry Development Act of 1995. Customs and finance officials said RA 8047 exempted from taxes and duties “only books or raw materials to be used in book publishing.” Critics pointed out that slapping the taxes and import duties violated the 1950 Florence Agreement on the Importation of Educational, Scientific and Cultural Materials, to which the Philippines was a signatory in 1952. The treaty provides for the duty-free importation of books to guarantee the free flow of “educational, scientific and cultural materials” among countries. But BOC and finance officials reportedly believe that novels and other international bestsellers do not fall under any of these categories.

The new rule has reportedly led to a halt in book importations in recent months, and the absence of new book titles at popular chains. A number of those books are geared toward young readers. With the Internet, television and Wi-fi competing for children’s attention these days, parents count themselves lucky when their children bother to read books. Many youths who enjoy light reading such as the “Harry Potter” series and the “Twilight” vampire chronicles eventually go on to heavier subjects including non-fiction and classic literature. Book enjoyment is carried on into adulthood. Does education stop after college graduation?

Taxes and import duties are passed on to consumers by book dealers, and higher prices could discourage book reading among Filipinos with a limited budget. Duty-free importation has allowed Filipinos to enjoy books at prices that are often lower than those in the sources of origin of the imported items. The government should review whether it wants to deprive Filipinos of this source of learning and enjoyment. - (Philstar News Service, www.philstar.com)"

After considering protests from the NBDB and other bodies, the action was thankfully withdrawn. For now at least. It can always come back whenever our cash-strapped government needs money to fill its dwindling coffers. A close call but its no reason to sit on your laurels. Will another protest work then? You never know.

The Book Publishing Industry Development Act of 1995 (i.e., Republic Act No. 8047) gives a broad definiton of "book" so as to encompass "comics" and "graphic novels" within its coverage. It defines a "book" in this manner:

"Section 3 (a), Book. As defined by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) a printed non-periodical publication of at least forty-eight pages, exclusive of cover pages, published in the country and made available to the public."

This law mandates all persons and enterprises engaged in local book publishing and its related activities to register as such with the National Book Development Board. Once qualified for registration, the local book publisher is entitled to fiscal and non-fiscal incentives under the Omnibus Investment Code (as amended) subject however to qualifications and requirements set by the Board of Investments (BOI). One of these incentives is the grant of tax and duty-free importation of books (for book distributors) or raw materials to be used in book publishing. But the real meat in all this, is the exemption from coverage of the expanded value added tax law, all books, magazines, periodicals, newspapers, including book publishing and printing, as well as its distribution and circulation.

Is the publishing, printing, distribution and circulation of local comics or "graphic novels"(in either [periodical or non-periodical] magazine or book format) exempt from the 12% E-VAT? The answer is a resounding YES. Are comics or "graphic novels" in either magazine [periodical or non-periodical] or book format, qualified then for the additional fiscal and non-fiscal incentives under the Omnibus Investments Code? Generally, the answer is in the NEGATIVE. This is so because as you read RA 8047, This particular benefit is reserved only for "educational" textbooks and "educational" and "periodical" comics, that is, a print publication that appears at regular intervals. In fact, Under Section 5 (v) of RA 8047, it is explicitly stated that the National Book Development Plan shall include: "provisions for producing books or other periodicals such as appropriate or selected comics as instructional or teaching material for such various categories of readers in the country as pre-school children and schoolchildren, school drop-outs, neo-literate, the handicapped, professionals, general readers and ethnic groups;"

So, if you put out an instructional and educational comic that appears at regular intervals, is less than 48 pages, is published in the Philippines and as publisher, you register it with the National Book Development Board, you not only get the E-VAT tax exemption, but also the fiscal and non-fiscal incentives under the amended Omnibus Investments Code.

The issue now however is, WHY limit the grant of these fiscal and non-fiscal incentives under the amended Omnibus Investments Code, only to instructional and educational comics that appear at regular intervals? Why not apply the same to non-instructional, entertainment-based comics that are either periodicals or non-periodicals? Doesn't purely entertainment-based and "Tagalog" language komiks help promote local culture and literacy, as well as generate employment? Why the seeming bias against "entertainment"? Is the law implying that there is no intellectual value whatsoever that could be gleaned from entertainment-based comics? If so, what are the reasons? The law does not say.

Local komiks history has shown that entertainment-based Tagalog komiks not only helped many Filipinos how to read at an early age, but through its visual appeal, help inculcate as well an appreciation for the illustrative arts. It also generated employment in allied industries of distribution, collection, paper, ink, printing press maintenance and others. The fiscal and non-fiscal incentives under the Omnibus Investments Code should apply as well to entertainment-based comics that are either periodicals or non-periodicals.

It is therefore, a more worthwhile and yes, REWARDING endeavor if there was some concerted, collective action for this amendment and modification of the Book Development Act of 1995, instead of wasting energy on a directionless controversy involving a B-movie director and has-been komiks "novelist" winning the 2009 National Artist Award, or a komikeros' misinformed advocacy for a government's grant of vague "tax incentives" to local comics publishers.

You want to help convince local and prospective print publishers to go into comics publishing? You want to help jumpstart a new local comics industry? You want to help promote local comics publishing as an untapped yet potential creative industry? Tell them about the 1995 Book Development Act and what you're doing to help improve its provisions.

Celebrating Saturnalia

2008-12-26T21:54:00.003+08:00

Wow. Was that another Christmas day that had just gone by?

It used to be that you heard Christmas songs played almost everywhere, unconsciously humming the same tune over and over in your head as you went along doing your thing. And that’s in early October.

In the evenings, enterprising children would group together, ingeniously manufacture their makeshift musical instruments out of tin cans, cover the top with plastic, seal the edges with rubber band, look for a wooden stick, collect bottle caps stringing them together in a wire, then go on caroling from house to house—sometimes accompanied by their parents. What happened? Where are they? Nowadays, beggars have replaced the carolers.

Then there’s the “parol” or Christmas lanterns dexterously made out of art paper, sticks, cellophane and electric lights, either displayed proudly in front of every home or sold in every street corner. Or how about those vendor-hawkers who used to ply the middle of the street in droves selling the latest smuggled toy from China?

What about the usual tradition of neighbors and friends exchanging food viands then the next morning, returning the glass bowls, saucers, plates and Tupperware? And of course, those firecrackers that anxiously, if not prematurely, went off in early October? Nowadays they all go off in unison on December 31.

There are others but you get the idea. Austerity has certainly left its mark. It has made people stop and think. Take for instance Christmas day.

Before, it was widely thought that this was the birth date of Jesus Christ. No one knows when Christ was really born, yet December 25 has without question, been universally accepted as his date of birth. Nowadays, with the advent of various sources of free information, the internet among them, a growing number of spiritually enlightened people believe otherwise.

In ancient times, December 25 was actually an annual holiday of gift-giving and revelry held in honor of the Roman god, Saturn. It was only after Christianity became a religious-political force, and Emperor Constantine was forced to reconcile pagan, pantheist religion with Christianity, that it was decreed that Saturn be replaced by Jesus Christ as the new celebratory deity and December 25 as Jesus’ birth date; maintaining the tradition of public celebration, commercialism and gift-giving to appease the Roman pagans. This tradition was maintained through the centuries by Judeo-Christian institutions, particularly the Roman Catholic Church.

Of late, Bible scholars and astronomers have determined the birth date of Jesus Christ to have been somewhere between April 20 to 22; a good eight months prior to December 25. If this is the case, then why persist in doing something wrong and justify it as tradition?

And its not just Christmas day. Austerity has made us think, be aware and question what we have been doing; asking whether or not our premises, customs, traditions, and way of thinking have brought us into the present mess we’re in right now.

Relating that to the context of the subject matter at hand, many Filipino comics creatives right now have begun to be aware and question the present state of the Philippine comics scene. What has gone before, why it happened, what’s been done in its place by the new elitist, globalized “indie” custodians and backward thinking veteran traditionalists, why they’ve miserably failed for the last 15 years or so, why they’re still in a state of naïve, mass denial… it’s a guilty open secret. We don’t need to repeat THAT again. So in this season of hope and joy, is there any REAL reason to celebrate?

Awareness and destruction always precede change. The awareness phase is still ongoing. It is difficult and it musn’t let up if the kind of change some out there aspire to, is to arise. If you consider that as a sign of hope, then that is probably enough. Commence the rejoicing then. Celebrate Saturnalia if only for the briefest of moments and for the right reasons.

May God be with you.

A market for cheap, local newsprint comics outside NCR-Manila?

2008-12-16T01:21:00.008+08:00

Though there has been a decline in book readership in 2007, again one should not rely solely and be misled by this single, general statement. If one cared to read and comprehend the details of the National Book Development Board 2007 survey, the following salient points would help us appreciate the existence of a potential market for local comics targeting the low-income 16 to 24 age group outside the National Capital Region (Manila):

1) “Book” in the 2007 NBDB survey, refers to two kinds: schoolbooks and non-schoolbooks (NSBs);

2) Though there has been an overall decrease of “book” readers, down 83% in 2007 from 90% in 2003, 96% of this 83% figure read more non-schoolbooks in 2007 when compared to only 76% in 2003. This means that more NSBs were read in 2007 than schoolbooks;

3) Overall, the percentage of NSB readers increased from 68% (76% of 90% book readers in 2003) to 80% (90% of 83% book readers in 2007).

4) The decrease in 2007 book readership is only confined to those living in the National Capital Region in Luzon where bookstores and libraries are concentrated. Provinces OUTSIDE the NCR, particularly in the rural areas of Visayas and Mindanao, experienced a DRAMATIC increase in readership.

5) Young people outside the NCR have begun to read NSBs at age 16 in 2007 and they come from the lower income class D and E. Those in the NCR and the upper income classes begin to read NSBs only at a much older age: 18.

6) Older people outside the 16 to 24 age group in all socio-economic classes, read less.

7) Top scorers in the popularity of NSBs are: Bible (67%) (38% in 2003), Romance (33%) (26%), Cooking (28%) (7%), Comic books (26%) (0%), and Religion/Religious/Inspirational (20%) (9%).

8) In 2003 when there was no significant readership for comic books, there is now a 26% readership. However, the survey observes that in 2007, public school students now read fewer books, newspapers, magazines, and comics than they did in 2003, and as for private school respondents, the slight increase in reading today is only among those reading comics.

9) As an aside, if you think those imported U.S. graphic novels and Japanese manga in book format were read by a wide readership in 2007, the NBDB survey says otherwise. To quote the report on the survey:

Whose books do Filipinos read?
In 2007, 46% of readers of non-school books read NSBs by Filipino authors only.
43% read NSBs by both Filipino authors and foreign authors.
9% read NSBs by foreign authors only.

10) Though there has been a rise of readership in the provinces outside the NCR mostly from young people aged 16 to 24 in the rural areas, there has been no change in the observation that Filipinos still prefer to get their printed reading matter for free as gifts (42%), borrowed from others (42%), read in the library (27%), bought (19%) and rented (18%).

This may be explained by the lack of access to reading materials in areas far from city centers.

The survey does not analyze the reasons why, but the research team offer some recommendations. “The challenge is for booksellers and publishers, printers and paper and ink manufacturers, to make more books affordable. The government can facilitate this, as well as the financing of technology upgrades to make operations more efficient and economical.”

It was also added that: “Authors are also challenged to write more books, not just to entertain, but also to inform, to teach the readers skills or to convey to them practical knowledge. Community libraries [should encourage] adults and out-of-school youth to like to read books; and educators, to teach students to read longer materials, such as books.”

Do today’s few local comics also inform, convey practical knowledge and inspire a reader to better oneself? Do they even appear frequently and are affordable to a great many low-income young readership so as to encourage the habit of reading good, literate comics at an early age? If the answer is in the negative, then a re-evaluation of priorities by comics creators and publishers living in Uranus is in order.

"Young People don't READ anymore" and other B.S.

2008-12-13T19:03:00.014+08:00

The problem with a sweeping statement is that it’s a sweeping statement. It conveniently deals with careless generalizations that are not really true. The term “young people” for instance is general; broadly including all kinds of young people from age seven to twenty two, from any nationality, from any income class and from any period or generation. This is followed by the equally careless and general predicate: “don’t read anymore”.

Not reading anymore means a complete and total stoppage of abstracting and comprehending the meaning of words and symbols from any language, appearing on any text, chart, graph, flowchart, equation, formula, circuit, screen, computer monitor, book, pocketbook, newspaper, magazine and yes, even a printed comic book.

Putting them together and reviewing the whole poor excuse of an oxymoron: “YOUNG PEOPLE DON’T READ ANYMORE”, and another idiotic dictum has just been made--probably coming from some of those parochial, narrow-minded, unemancipated “young people” in the internet (or message board—take your pick). And its not surprising considering that a lot of these “young people” today don’t really READ anymore. Now THAT’s an oxymoron.

If any of it were indeed true, then millions of readers (young and old) of the “Da Vinci Code”, the Harry Potter books, Archie digests, various translations of the Bible (and Koran), English translated Shojo and Shonen manga, “Pera mo Palaguin Mo”, the entertainment gossip magazines, FHM magazine, discounted second-hand books and pocketbooks, Tagalog romance pocketbooks, “Bulgar” and other daily Tagalog newspaper tabloids, aren’t really reading at all(!)

The irony of it is that many globalized Filipino comics creators and publishers maintain this absurd dictum as gospel truth. Yet, while proclaiming that “young people don’t read anymore” they continue to publish or self-publish their expensive western or Japanese inspired comic books in low print runs, that appear irregularly and sold in a few imported comics specialty shops, bookstores, and other commercial urban establishments. Naturally, their works are not bought or read by a great many “young people” hence their claim that “young people don’t read anymore.”

Selling expensive, low print-run, glossy 32-paged superhero-action-fantasy comics in few comics/hobby specialty shops catering to the small "collector" market, is what is being done right now by mainstream American comics publishers. And what is the result? Sales and awareness by "young people" of the American comic book has gone down over the years forcing mainstream publishers like DC, Marvel and Dark Horse to use the internet in advertising their product; specifically by providing preview pages of their comics' latest issues in the internet, even providing for free, online reproductions of their past issues in an effort to stimulate sales and public awareness. Its the other way around. The internet did not bring comics down. U.S. comics did it to themselves when mainstream publishers like Marvel and DC ruined the fan-based direct market that saved them.

From: http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/books/11/13/comics.online.ap/index.%20html:

"LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Marvel is putting some of its older comics online Tuesday, hoping to reintroduce young people to the X-Men and Fantastic Four by showcasing the original issues in which such characters appeared.

Marvel Comics, and other comic book companies, are putting their product online.

It's a tentative move onto the Internet: Comics can only be viewed in a Web browser, not downloaded, and new issues will only go online at least six months after they first appear in print.

Still, it represents perhaps the comics industry's most aggressive Web push yet. Even as their creations -- from Iron Man to Wonder Woman -- become increasingly visible in pop culture through new movies and video games, old-school comics publishers rely primarily on specialized, out-of-the-way comic shops for distribution of their bread-and-butter product.

"You don't have that spinner rack of comic books sitting in the local five-and-dime any more," said Dan Buckley, president of Marvel Publishing. "We don't have our product intersecting kids in their lifestyle space as much as we used to."

Translate "kids' lifestyle space" into plain English and you get "the Internet." Marvel's two most prominent competitors currently offer online teasers designed to drive the sales of comics or book collections.

Dark Horse Comics now puts its monthly anthologies "Dark Horse Presents" up for free viewing on its MySpace site. The images are vibrant and large.

DC Comics has also put issues up on MySpace, and recently launched the competition-based Zuda Comics, which encourages users to rank each other's work, as a way to tap into the expanding Web comic scene. Company president Paul Levitz said he expects to put more original comics online in coming years. (DC Comics is a unit of Time Warner, as is CNN.)

"We look at anything that connects comics to people," Levitz said. "The most interesting thing about the online world to me is the opportunity for new forms of creativity. ... It's a question of what forms of storytelling work for the Web?"

For its mature Vertigo imprint, DC offers weekly sneak peeks at the first five or six pages of upcoming issues. The publisher also gives out downloadable PDF files of the first issues in certain series, timed to publication of the series in book or graphic novel format.

The Web release of DC's "Y the Last Man" sent sales of that book collection soaring at Bridge City Comics in Portland, Oregon, the shop's owner Michael Ring said.

"They really do tend to be feeder systems," Ring said of online comics. "They give people that initial taste."

For Marvel, the general public has often already gotten its initial taste through movies like "Spider-Man" or the "Fantastic Four" franchises.

The publisher is hoping fans will be intrigued enough about the origins of those characters to shell out $9.99 a month, or $4.99 monthly with a year-long commitment. For that price, they'll be able to poke through, say, the first 100 issues of Stan Lee's 1963 creation "Amazing Spider-Man" at their leisure, along with more recent titles like "House of M" and "Young Avengers." Comics can be viewed in several different formats, including frame-by-frame navigation.

Ring expects Marvel's effort to put a slight dent in the back-issue segment of the comic shop industry, where rare, out-of-print titles sell for hundreds of dollars on eBay and at trade shows.

Though most comic fans are collectors, some simply want to catch up on the backstory of their favorite characters and would no longer have to pay top dollar to do so.

About 2,500 issues will be available at launch of Marvel Digital Comics, with 20 more being released each week."

The highlighted paragraphs above hint and show that even the few comics collectors serviced by comics specialty shops are inconvenienced by high cover prices. It also shows that increase in sales could be attained if the standard comics format were exposed more to the non-comic collector, or the public at large and had reasonably low, affordable prices. Had these expensive, low print-run, 32 glossy paged mainstream comics been re-formatted and sold beyond the now dwindling comics specialty shops in the U.S., the fate of the standard U.S. mainstream comic would have been different.

Here in the Philippines, the same procedure is BLINDLY being followed. It starts with a false, misleading statement: “Young people don’t read anymore.” Followed by even more absurd claims: “Filipinos are into the internet now. So why bother making affordable newsprint comics in Tagalog? Nobody will read them. Let’s just create these westernized or Japanized classy-looking comics for a local upper income and international “global” audience who will pay us foreign exchange and we’ll all be rich.” Since 1992, globalized Filipino comics have been doing this but until now, no new industry based on their ideas has yet prospered or blossomed.

To add insult to injury, they cover-up their failure by proclaiming: “we can’t ever revive or make a new comics industry in this third world country ever again.” They then deliver the final blow: “let’s just be content in self-publishing “whatever” it is we love with all our hearts and to hell with what the public thinks or wants.” With that, a new “hobby” and “artform” was created for the elite, rich, westernized few to “love” and enjoy.

How many imported comics specialty shops do we have right now in the country? Less than a handful and they’re all concentrated in imperial Metro Manila. The same with the few bookstores and specialty bookstores. Yet, this is how globalized Filipino comics are being distributed. Is it not any wonder then why comics right now are a marginalized medium, mocked by many and supported by only a few cult comics collectors and a sympathetic few members of the academe as an “artform” ?

“Young people don’t read anymore.”

Are these the kinds of comics creators we have now? Making careless, poorly thought-out broad statements? Are they easily intimidated when confronted by long readable text? Do they often read just two or three paragraphs? Is that their limit? Do they have short attention spans? Is their education half-baked? Can’t they talk or think in straight English or Filipino? Why “tag-lish”? Are their thought processes often disjointed and disorganized?

Why do they often get ahead of themselves by second guessing; creatively pulling thoughts out of thin air and making unfounded, general assumptions? Are they really simple-minded, emotionally volatile, over-courteous, folksy-friendly, gullible artists? If the answer is yes to all of the above, then its no wonder their comics works aren’t read and appreciated by a great many people.

How to make great, new Tagalog comics affordable to the general public of low-income Filipinos? Forget it. That’s old school. That kind of cheap, low-quality newsprint comics is too “alien” and should only be sold in the far-off planets of Mars or Jupiter. Ah, but Mars and Jupiter are not the issue here, are they? Rather, the conundrum facing us is why keep on making globalized Filipino comics for the limited, exclusive consumption of that self-indulgent, narcissistic world of URANUS?

Direct market or newsstand distribution for Philippine Comics?

2008-12-07T23:43:00.016+08:00

The direct market of mainstream comics distribution in the U.S. may not be selling as much due to high cover prices, severe reduction in number of comics specialty shops and the distribution business monopolized by only one comics distributor: Diamond Distributors, but it is a relief to know that there are some mainstream comics titles that are NOT sold in the direct market and, are doing better. We find them, of all places, in the newsstand market.

We are talking about the “Archie” mainstream comics line. From the “Comics worth reading” blog by Johanna Draper Carlson and friends (at http://comicsworthreading.com/2008/01/20/archie-sales-figures/) we find that Archie Comics is the only major mainstream comics publisher that still publishes its Statements of Ownership, Management, and Circulation, a U.S. post office requirement for the use of certain mail classes. This public disclosure is the primary source of circulation information for Archie.

The Archie comics line publishes two types of comics formats for the newsstand market: 32 page single issues (i.e., Archie, Archie and Friends, Betty, Betty and Veronica, Betty and Veronica Spectacular, Jughead, Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Sonic the Hedgedog) and the thick 96 to 192 page digest format issues (i.e., Archie Digest, Archie Double Digest, Archie’s Pals and Gals Double Digest, Betty and Veronica Digest, Jughead and Friends Digest, Jughead’s Double Digest, and Tales from Riverdale Digest).

As of February, 2008, the circulation of Archie single issues nearest filing date are: Sonic the Hedgedog (34,696 copies), Archie (28,885 copies), Betty and Veronica (18,083 copies), Betty (13, 295 copies), Archie and Friends (13,143 copies), Jughead (12,319 copies), Sabrina the Teenage Witch (12,029) and Betty and Veronica Spectacular (11,457 copies).

The circulation numbers for the Archie single issues approximate the best-selling DC and Marvel comics titles distributed by Diamond in the direct market. However, when we look at the circulation figures nearest filing date for the Archie Double Digests, we see them doing better than the single issues: Betty and Veronica Double Digest (108,354 copies), Archie’s Double Digest (104,056 copies), Archie’s Pals and Gals Double Digest (98,753 copies), Archie Digest (96,788 copies), Jughead’s Double Digest (91,261 copies), Betty and Veronica Digest (61,628 copies), Tales From Riverdale Digest (59,486), and Jughead and Friends Digest (48,842 copies).

Draper Carlson and friends make the following observation and explanation of why this is so:

“As expected, the digests do better than the comic-format titles, and the bigger books are more popular than the smaller. Digests are 96 pages for $2.59; double digests are 192 for $3.69, making them the best deal out there in newsstand comics, especially now that DC and Marvel are pushing the $3.99 barrier (for 32 pages, usually with “upgraded” cover). The top-selling digest sells roughly three times the top-selling comic, and in issues, Sonic sells 6-7,000 more than the top Archie book.” (Emphasis Ours)

One will also note that unlike the highly specialized and expensive mainstream comics of the direct market, the ARCHIE comics line are still printed in “cheap” newsprint paper, contain really amusing storylines for their type of audience, do not have fancy computer colored covers or interiors, contain reprints, are ubiquitous and are reasonably low-priced. Add to this the fact that ARCHIE’s comics line are distributed mostly in newsstands, drugstores, supermarkets, toy stores, gas stations, transport terminals and other high traffic commercial establishments in the U.S. that are not closed clubhouse hangouts for comic geeks, and you have a successful comics publishing business unaffected by the now shrunk direct market, or the rise of alternative electronic and interactive entertainment media.

Is it not any wonder then that the Archie comics digests are America’s possible answer to the best-selling, reasonably priced or “cheap”, book formatted, and widely distributed Japanese Shonen and Shojo manga?

There is hope beyond the self-enclosed direct market. To survive, mainstream comics publishers have aggressively entered the U.S. bookstore market by reprinting their single issue comics formats into expensive trade paperback compilations being passed off as respectable “graphic novels”. And as shown in the previous entry, their foray into this new distribution channel has resulted in a $375 million graphic novel market, outpacing the slow moving Japanese manga. The circulation of these trade paperbacks is still unknown, but with their high prices it can be reasonably, if not safely, assumed where the $375 million increase came from.

But seeing as how mainstream comics publishers, particularly Marvel and DC, have been known to ultimately destroy their distribution systems, i.e., the newsstands in the 1970s and the direct market in the 1990s, is it not too farfetched to consider the same fate happening again in this new bookstore distribution system? Many seem to think so.

These publishers also face the predicament that the newsstand market still adheres to the dreaded Comics Code Authority requiring comics publications to be “wholesome” and “family friendly” like Archie’s comics line.

By going into the direct market in the 1980s and ignoring the Comics Code Authority, mainstream comics publishers have ventured into writing more intelligent and challenging material for their niche’ audience of older, hardcore comics enthusiasts. The material however, would be considered inappropriate and sometimes offensive when brought into the conservative newsstand market that still adheres to the Comics Code Authority.

Yet, there have been attempts to re-enter the newsstands as shown by the “wholesome” newsprint single issues of DC and Marvel’s cartoon shows and child versions of their superhero characters, i.e., Marvel Adventures, X-Men, Superman Adventures, Batman the Animated Series, Batman Beyond, The Batman, Superfriends, Supergirl, Justice League Unlimited, Spider-Man, Krypto the Super Dog, Looney Tunes and Legion of Super Heroes. The re-entry has been slow, cautious, and the word is still out on the results of this maneuver.

Meanwhile, in the backwaters of the Philippine comics scene, so-called “indie” or "globalized" male dominated comics creators still emulate the American direct market distribution model. Expensive, mostly in English, using high priced book or glossy paper, low circulation, essentially following stereotype superhero, action or fantasy concepts and storylines of U.S. and Japanese mainstream cartoons and comics, focusing mostly in the illustrative aspects of the medium, Pinoy globalized "indies" sell their wares in the few handful of imported comics specialty shops in Manila, an annual “Komikon” held in an ivory tower University, 200 or so branches of National Bookstore, a few high end book and magazine shops, and college/ university stores. Many doubt whether sales of these “indie” globalized Filipino comics publications actually provide some livelihood to the establishments selling them. But the “indie” elitist creators do not care. They’re not businessmen. They’re “artists”. They just “love” what they do and that’s all that matters. To hell with reciprocity.

At a time when we do not have a local comics code authority like the Roces managed KPPKP Code regulating the creation of comics works, when our local newsstands are boringly dominated by newspapers and songhits magazines, the opportunity to create new, indigenous, exciting pieces of comics literature affordable to a great many people is set aside by “indies” and narrow-minded publishers for reasons of artistic ego and a perceived quick buck in the high-end niche’ market.

Has an industry risen in the last 15 years since the westernized “indie” comics came to the fore? Some seem to think so but many doubt the claim when we compare their paltry achievements with what was accomplished by a local comics industry of yesteryear.

Why their aversion to the newsstand market? Why their reluctance to print their black and white works of art in newsprint? Why their seeming inability to write in Tagalog and be original for a change? Why their seeming ignorance of the fact that with the great sum expended by them in the printing of an issue of their expensive black and white book paper comics, they could get two issues of that in newsprint, and in color from some newspaper printers open to sub-contracting work? Why their reluctance to actually “work” and be serious in putting out their product on schedule without compromising its quality? Why this seeming lackadaisical, laid-back bohemian attitude?

The problem, it seems, is not the prevalence of television, the internet, radio, cellphones or a depressed economy. It is a question of priorities, orientation, competence and the will to actively create a local comics industry which is sadly not part of the agenda of the players in this present vacuum of creative activity they inhabit.

Why Manga sales in the U.S. is slow

2008-11-30T11:15:00.016+08:00

Manga sales in Japan declining due to a falling birthrate, the predicament is compounded by slow sales growth in U.S. bookstore chains where they are mainly distributed. Licensed, english translated manga are not sold in great number in the present non-returnable direct sales market monopolized by lone comics distributor: DIAMOND Distribution who has been aggressively promoting the mainstream comics titles of Marvel, DC, Image and Dark Horse.

American mainstream comics publishers have apparently decided to "flood" the bookstore market with their monthly superhero comics compilations in book format termed "tpbs" (trade paperbacks) or "graphic novels" causing U.S. bookstores to reduce display rack space for Japanese manga. It is therefore incorrect to say that the slow growth of U.S. manga sales is due to waning public interest. This "flooding" of rack space is an old ploy used by underhanded publishers in driving out the competition. To recall, newsstand rack spaces were flooded in the 1970s by competing and unsold Marvel and DC comics that ultimately led to a near collapse of the American mainstream comics industry. This new "flooding" of U.S. bookstore chains by Marvel and DC against the Japanese manga is chronicled in the following online article From: http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/12416.html

"Graphic Novels Hit $375 Million
Plus Comics = $705 Million"
Published: 04/18/2008, Last Updated: 04/20/2008 03:11pm

"An ICv2 Release. The U.S. retail graphic novel market reached $375 million in sales in 2007, according to an analysis conducted by ICv2 and presented at its annual ICv2 Graphic Novel Conference at New York Comic Con on Thursday. The growth came from both bookstores and comic stores, which were both up around 12% over 2006 sales.

The periodical comic market was $330 million in 2007, according to the ICv2 white paper, bringing the total 2007 comic and graphic novel market to $705 million for the U.S. and Canada. Comics were up from $310 million the year before; the total was up roughly 10% from 2006 numbers. Graphic novels once again gained share of the business, increasing from a 52% to a 53% of the total.

Manga sales, including both comics and periodicals, were up about 5% to $210 million in 2007, up from $200 million in 2006 according to the white paper. This was the lowest growth rate for manga since ICv2 began tracking sales. Sales through bookstores were up by a mid-single digit rate, but direct market sales of manga declined 5-10%. The decline in direct sales of manga was due to a reduced emphasis on the category by comic stores, a significant percentage of whom reduced their manga floor space in response to the growing number of releases and the increased difficulty in choosing between them. Over-all, top manga titles continue to do well, but titles in the lower ranks of releases are having difficulty finding breathing room.

Another factor in the slowing manga growth rate may have been increased competition from publishers of American graphic novel material for space in stores. American “genre” (superhero, science fiction, fantasy, horror) releases climbed 31% in 2007, to 1268 releases from 965 in 2006, according to the ICv2 white paper. Manga releases also climbed, to 1513 new releases in 2007, up 25% from 1208 in 2006. Over-all, there were 3,391 graphic novels released to the trade last year, according to numbers compiled by ICv2 from release lists provided by Diamond Comic Distributors, up 22% from 2006’s 2785 releases."

Rack space in U.S. bookstores is limited and like a magazine newsstand, CANNOT exclusively sell graphic novels to the exclusion of other books and printed products. The risk is very real considering the still limited diversity of subject material being offered by American mainstream comics publishers.

The print run and circulation of U.S. mainstream monthly comics to the direct market has only slightly improved when compared to the growth of sales in the new bookstore market. To appreciate the magnitude of superhero "graphic novel-compilations" flooding the U.S. bookstore market over and above the number of Japanese manga, the following 2005 online article from: : http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2005-03-03/direct-market-losing-manga-sales-share, is reproduced as follows:

"Direct Market Losing Manga Sales Share
posted on 2005-03-03 16:51 EST
Direct Market Sales not Growing as Fast as Bookstores

Over the past two years, the manga market at bookstores has exploded. Manga now takes up shelves and shelves of space at Waldenbooks, the Nielson Bookscan Best-selling graphic novel list is dominated by manga, and manga titles even occasionally make it into overall best sellers lists. In the past couple of years the total retail value of the North American manga market has exploded from approximately $30 million to approximately $140 million.

Only a couple of years ago, the majority of manga was being sold not at bookstores, but at comic stores and specialty-shops. But a quick glance at the top graphic novel sales to the direct market through Diamond Distributors (archived at ICv2), shows that the direct market sales of manga haven't grown in the same way as bookstore sales.In January 2003, 19 of the top 50 graphic novels distributed through Diamond were manga and they accounted for 35% of the actual sales of the top 50 graphic novels. In January 2004 these numbers were 11 of 50 and 21% and in January 2005 they were 14 of 50 and 27%.

Steve Kleckner, VP of sales and distribution at Tokyopop states that the direct market only accounts for 12 to 15 percent of Tokyopop's sales.Similarly, Frank Pannone, Managing Editor at Media Blasters Press states that the large majority of his company's sales are made to bookstores. When asked why sales increased at bookstores but not the direct market, Pannone answers rather matter-of-factly, “Most women don't go into comic stores."

A few years ago most North American manga was geared towards a male audience, but this has changed significantly. Pannone says that women account for at least half of their sales. This is reflected in the top selling graphic novels at Diamond and Bookscan as well. For Diamond, the top selling manga in January were Samurai Executioner, Ghost in the Shell 2, Berserk, Rurouni Kenshin and Negima. At bookstores, the top selling manga in early February, according to Nielson Bookscan, were DNAngel, Rurouni Kenshin, Tsubasa, Gravitation and Legal Drug. The only manga in USA Today's bestselling book list last week, Fruits Basket.

However, both Pannone and Kleckner agree that there's more to the shift than just the female market. Kleckner points out that a lot of comic book retailers don't know or understand manga. “These guys have always prided themselves of being experts in their field, they're hobbyists. They've spent their whole lives with comics, but along comes manga and it's not something they know.”Pannone points out another big difference between comic bookstores and bookstores, “People that buy manga have learned to go to bookstores for it.

[There is a] better selection, and the opportunity to preview it without a comic store clerk breathing down their necks.”Kleckner also blames the manga industry itself for some of the failings in the direct market. Looking straight at his own company he states, " We never focused as much on the direct market as we would have liked. We weren't really advertising as much in Previews before." But this is changing; Tokyopop is intent on growing its sales at the direct market, "Now we have 20 pages a month. We started 6 months ago and that has been helping tremendously."

Tokyopop is offering different starter kits for comic book stores to help them introduce manga to their customers. Tokyopop also has account reps dedicated exclusively to the direct market and sales to the direct market in 2004 had doubled over those in 2003.For his part, Pannone sees potential in certain cross-over titles, “There are some books that crossover really well to comic store fans like Lone Wolf, Samurai Executioner and Blade of the Immortal.” Adding “There can be crossover if it were cultivated more with projects like Snikt! or the upcoming CLAMP project that I'd heard tell of.” However, Pannone doesn't see the current status quo changing much in the near future."

Will history repeat itself? Will the time come when U.S. bookstores stuck with a glut of unsold and undisplayed superhero tpb compilations, shy away depriving the medium yet again of another distribution channel?

The Continuing Decline of the Japanese Comics Industry

2008-11-20T14:26:00.011+08:00

Has the tide turned? As of 1995, manga used to constitute 40% of all Japanese print publications. When the 1998 regional financial crisis hit, followed by several years of recession, that figure has dropped to 20% in 2006. Yet, this 20% is by no means paltry.

“According to a paper on the subject by the Nomura Research Institute, Japan’s three million otaku now command a huge market. More than one million comic-book otaku spend more than a billion dollars every year buying comics and traveling hundreds of miles to conventions. An estimated eight hundred thousand “idol otaku” –those who are obsessed with Japan’s plethora of pretty young pop singers—worship the individual stars and fritter away approximately six hundred million dollars on attending every single event in which the stars are involved. Around fifty thousand otaku devote their lives to the construction of computers from separate parts.

What the Nomura paper calls Japan’s “enthusiastic consumers” now command a market worth around three billion dollars a year, without even including otaku interests that have now become accepted parts of the mainstream, such as the multibillion-dollar video game market.” (Source: Roland Kelts, “Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture has invaded the U.S.”, Palgrave-Macmillan, New York, 2006 ed., pp. 161-162).

Kelts chronicles his interview with Shinichiro Ishikawa, president of Gonzo Digimation Holding, the youngest of Japan’s listed anime studios. Here, Ishikawa gives the following description of the domestic 3 billion a year manga market:

“There are still at least ten weekly manga magazines that sell thirty million units per week. On top of that, there are monthly magazines and comicbooks. In the U.S., the total annual comic market is fifty million units. In the span of one week, Japan does a full year’s worth of U.S. comics sales. That’s a social infrastructure that has been place here for three decades, and it means we—the Japanese under fifty—are raised in a culture that has a huge creative advantage.”(Source: Ibid, p.196)

Kelts has also observed that imported Japanese manga has made considerable, if not significant, impact in the U.S. publishing market.

“In its generally august (or dryly parochial, depending on your passion for bookish Manhattanites) publishing industry pages, the New York Times reported in the winter of 2006 that manga represents one of the few quantifiable growth sectors of the U.S. publishing industry. A month later, in March, TokyoPop, one of the two major importers of manga to America, inked a distribution and publishing partnership with HarperCollins.The other major importer, Viz Media, had expanded its own distribution relationship with Simon & Schuster at the beginning of the year. Attendance at New York City’s first large scale comics convention that same month, the New York Comic-con, featuring numerous manga titles, so far exceeded expectations that organizers were forced to turn away hundreds of advance ticket holders—and city fire marshalls were called in to the Javits Center to turn away thousands more clamoring to get in.

American publishers, desperate for growth of any kind, are paying close attention. The word out of major book fairs in London, Paris, and New York is that book buyers are scrambling en masse to the manga booths and displays—first to find out what it is, then to start selling it.” (Source: Ibid, p. 19-20)

Despite the above data, the following news article from the November 10, 2008 international edition of NEWSWEEK reports of a decline in the Japanese comics industry:

“Japan’s newly elected prime minister, Taro Aso, is mad for manga, the comic books that embody Japanese pop-culture cool. Analysts say Aso’s been playing up his passion in order to wee young voters. Bad news for Aso then that manga sales in Japan are down for the first time in 12 years, indicating waning interest.

A decade ago, manga was a surefire cash-cow for Japanese publishing houses. But as consumers turn increasingly to the Internet and mobile phones for entertainment, manga publishers are having to find new ways to compete. They’ve expanded to mobile platforms like a manga channel for Verizon phones.

And they’re also eyeballing Hollywood, which has produced blockbuster hits like “Iron Man” and “The Dark Knight” at a time of resurgent interest in American comics. Whether such success will translate to manga remains to be seen—even though the U.S. constitutes the largest manga marketplace outside Japan, growth of manga sales is outpaced by growth of their American counterparts like “Batman” three to one.

Still, studios are starting to venture into manga territory: Warner Brothers is producing “Akira”, while Stephen Spielberg is adapting ‘Ghost in the Shell”, both for 2011. And this summer, manga publisher VIZ Media launched its own Hollywood-based production company to capitalize on growing demand from Hollywood execs for manga rights. Too bad Hollywood won’t be voting in the next Japanese election.” (Source: Kate Dailey, “Aso Plays a Cold Card”, NEWSWEEK, November 10, 2008 issue, International edition, p.8)

The decline has been observed as early as 2006 by Roland Kelts. In his same book, Kelts gives a more detailed explanation for the decline by citing Japan’s falling birthrate as the main culprit and not so much on the introduction of new entertainment technologies, which are merely tributary and incidental to the main cause:

“Various reasons are given for the drop-off in domestic demand, from cell phone advances—enabling younger Japanese to spend hours, and wads of money, each month communicating with one another, watching videos, cruising the internet, playing games, or just talking, all without ever cracking a manga – to the dearth of quality new manga and anime titles.

But the falling birthrate, falling since 1975, is the chief among all factors, and it puts into bold relief the risk that some in the industry took in turning inward and focusing almost exclusively on the domestic market during the 1970s and ‘80s. Though some of manga and anime’s finer artists may have produced the medium’s most adventurous works during those years—the works that aficionados like Alt wax nostalgic about when decrying the industry’s new global self-consciousness—many of its studios lost valuable time in which they should have developed coherent marketing and distribution plans to meet the demands of a growing international—and fully wired—audience of otaku.” (Source: Ibid, p.188)

A falling birthrate means no new and younger readers replacing a generation of now older manga readers. Japan is populated more by older people than by younger people. The chances of getting new, original ideas from a younger generation is consequently nill. When you lack that fresh, creative drive to make new, quality manga, you stand to lose some (not all) readers to new and competing technologies. Result: declining sales.

“In June, 2006, a few months before Japan’s then prime minister Junichiro Koizumi stepped down, the health ministry released a statistic that dominated national headlines: Japan’s birthrate had dropped 1.25, the lowest in its history, and a couple notches below its projected rate of 1.4.

According to demographers, the average birthrate required to keep a population stable is 2.1. The U.S. birthrate is 2.09. Japan’s most recent statistic drops it to number 218 on the CIA World Factbook national birthrate list—a list that accounts for 226 countries.” (Source: Ibid, p. 187)

Kelts opines that had the manga industry took note of their country's falling birthrate since 1975, instead of focusing solely in creating manga for domestic readership, industry players would have laid early on the foundation for the marketing and distribution of manga in the international market, especially focusing on intellectual property protection. Kelts takes note that after allowing foreigners to handle the international distribution and marketing of manga and anime', Japanese publishers and creators have since been left out in the profits. It is only now--however too late-- is the problem being addressed.

The situation is further compounded by a nurtured culture of apathy and indecision among today’s generation of Japanese youth which again affects the creation and patronage of original and innovative manga.

“…an aging population and a declining or stagnant birthrate; an expanding class of young, part-time workers (freeters) with checkered resumes and scant skills; and so-called NEETs (“Not in Employment, Education or Training”), with their CVs and skills sets suspended in mid-youth. Stories of hikikomori, pathological young shut-ins who withdraw into their bedrooms and virtual worlds to avoid the real one; and internet suicide pacts—through which young loners meet one another online in order to kill themselves together in the bricks-and-mortar world—have become common fodder for domestic and foreign media. “They know they want what they want,” explains Duke University Professor Anne Allison, author of Millenial Monsters: Japanese Toys and the Global Imagination, speaking of Japan’s current crop of liberated but lethargic kids. “The problem is: they’re not sure what they want.” (Source: Ibid, p. 230)

Not only in Japan but the NEWSWEEK article also states that manga sales in the U.S. is also declining. It claims that the “growth” in U.S. manga sales is being outpaced by mainstream U.S. comics by a scale of three to one.

Again, no elaboration or statistic is cited to support the claim. Instead, a vague reference to a resurgent interest in U.S. comics is made allegedly due to the success of recent American superhero movies. This is pretty hard to swallow considering that imported manga, have been outselling mainstream American comics for several years.

Well, there you have it. The decline in domestic manga readership is attributed to a falling Japanese birthrate; not to new entertainment technologies or an economic recession. Only time will tell whether or not this malady can be licked. Where will the new creativity and readership for today's manga come from?

The End of the Sterling/Caparas Komiks partnership?

2008-09-08T18:51:00.007+08:00

The above appeared in today's issue (Monday, September 8, 2008) page B-9 of the Philippine Daily Inquirer's BUSINESS Section.

It will be recalled that last year, the dynamic duo of Sterling Paper Products and Massacre King CARLO "Direk" CAPARAS entered into a much publicized five (5) year komiks publishing plan to revive local komiks. Five (5) komiks titles under the CAPARAS imprint were launched in late 2007, suspended in December, 2007, due in part to the resignation of Sterling VP for marketing, MARTIN CADLUM, claimed to be the brains behind the local comics distribution and marketing for Sterling, then resuming publication in February, 2008, and uncannily halting the release of further issues in March, 2008.

It will also be recalled that when Sterling resumed the CAPARAS line, it also released two other licensed komiks titles that did not bear the CAPARAS imprint, namely: television channel ABS-CBN's "Maalaala Mo Kaya" and Joe D' Mango's "Lovenotes".

Direk Caparas was reportedly not pleased with Sterling publishing these two licensed comics titles that were competing with his line. Sterling on the other hand, had previously acquired the rights to publish these titles even before its partnership with Caparas was forged. Sterling would certainly be throwing away the license fees it had previously paid to ABS-CBN and Joe D' Mango, if it did not publish their licenses.

Rightly or wrongly, the Caparas camp perceived this move by Sterling as unduly capitalizing on the earlier media drive of the CAPARAS comics line. These factors were considered by many to be the main cause why no further comics from CAPARAS or Sterling came out after March, 2008. Just like Batman and Robin before them, these two komiks crimefighters have seemingly and quietly, parted ways and the above photo article appears to validate the split.

If you ask me, this has got to be the shortest five year plan ever conceived.

A real massacre.

Do Filipinos still read comic books?

2008-06-07T06:35:00.008+08:00

Let's start with this news article, one of several, found in the internet:

Comic Book Hero Spreads Counterterrorism Message

By Stew Magnuson

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines — One of the unique products used in psychological operations in the southern Philippines is the comic book “Barbargsa — Blood of the Honorable.”

About 600,000 copies of the 10-part series have been distributed on the Sulu islands, a chain that was once a terrorist safe haven, and still suffers from skirmishes.

U.S. special operations forces have used comic books in information campaigns. But the characters were based on well-known American superheroes. Two years ago, two Army officers decided to create one from scratch to tell the children of the Sulu islands the story of what was happening in their homeland.

The project was the brainchild of Maj. Edward Lopacienski, military information support team commander for the joint special operations task force Philippines mission, and the non-commissioned officer in charge, Master Sgt. Russell Snyder.

The pair sat down in January 2006 and outlined the basic idea.

The plot follows several basic comic book storyline conventions — most notably the battle between good and evil.

The comic book focuses on Ameer, who left his home island to work overseas, but returns to find it racked with violence. Ameer is a practitioner of kuntao, which is a local form of martial arts. Like Zorro or Batman, he dons a mask and vows to protect the downtrodden and innocent victims of terrorists.

The Philippines military are also portrayed in a positive and heroic light while the villains are the terrorists or “bandits.” The creators were careful to accurately illustrate the Sulu region, and use character names, clothing and mannerisms that reflect the culture of the Tausug ethnic group. There are versions in English and in the local dialect.

It depicts real events that took place on the islands and at neighboring Basilan — specifically the Sulu Co-Op bombing in March 2006, which killed five and injured 40 and the Basilan hostage crisis when members of the Abu Sayyaf Group took school children and used them as human shields against Filipino troops.

“Essentially what we’re doing is showing all the atrocities that the Abu Sayyaf Group has done,” Lopacienski said.

One subplot shows how terrorists manipulate a boy into becoming a bomber.

The production of the comic book was farmed out to a Manila-based marketing firm. Two experts on Tausug culture were brought in as consultants to make sure nothing offensive was put in, and that everything was culturally accurate. It took about 2,000 hours to create the 10 comic books.

“In the end you see the hero and the community rising up to turn over the terrorists,” Lopacienski said.

It was important that the series be reproduced on high-quality paper as slick as any graphic novel found in U.S. bookshelves, he said, because that shows respect to the culture.

Lopacienski said there is anecdotal evidence of the comic book’s popularity. When some areas missed delivery due to security concerns, children “were ripping out the pages and trading them like baseball cards,” he said.

Local stores have printed unauthorized T-shirts portraying the hero Ameer."

-end-

---------------------------------------------------------------

And in other news, you will recall that during the 2007 local elections, comic books were used by many politicians to inform people about themselves and their platform of government. One controversial incident stood out concerning former actress VILMA SANTOS-RECTO when she ran for governor of Batangas. Her close rival was her brother-in-law who then, didn't approve of her running for the position. What followed was a surreal word war between the two camps and the medium used was--you guessed it--comic books. Eventually the two camps patched up their differences, the brother-in-law gave way, and the more popular Vilma ran for governor and got elected.

There are so many other news reports of FREE and VOLUMINOUS comic books being distributed all around the country by private individuals, government, religious and non-government institutions that effectively belie the notion that Filipinos, particularly the majority of low-income Filipinos, don't read printed comic books anymore. So you have to ask, WHO exactly, are the people asking these questions?

You will find that the culprits are usually those who think that comic books are those that are being distributed FOR SALE commercially and in large quantities in the mainstream market. And what is happening in the mainstream market right now? Most of the comics are expensive, english-language licensed reprints of American and Japanese comics and cartoons or are "inspired" by them selling from a low of Php 75 to Php 100, have low circulation and whose audience are primarily those with upper-income, westernized tastes.

On the fringe, you will find some local comics made by so-called "indies" whose printed product primarily target the same upper-income, westernized audience, have low circulation, are hard to find, and though sometimes priced below Php 75 (i.e. Php 50) are not within the reach of the common low-income Filipino reader. These "indie" comics primarily use the English language and though they may on occasion use a pinch of Filipino slang, illustrate an aspect of Filipino life and culture in our country, all these are minor background to the largely westernized themes and stories that they consciously adopt in their beloved works of art.

Yet, these people whine and pine: "why aren't comic books being read by Filipinos?". Layered beneath that cry of anguish is the translation: "why aren't Filipinos reading my globalized comics?" The answer to that is pretty obvious. But when you confront them with it, they shake their head in denial and continue to do what they're doing. When you suggest that they target the wider, low-income market, create more variations in their subject matter and not be limited to trivial, inoffensive sanitized "entertainment", be more Filipino, and think more like businessmen instead of awestruck fanboys and fangirls, they look at you like a wide-eyed deer caught by the car's headlight as if you're coming from Mars or Jupiter.

They fortify their denial with a litany of cockamamie defenses: there's no profit when you sell to the low-income, we don't know and don't like to get a loan, we're just doing this because we "love" it, we're just doing this because its "art", its a personal hobby, none of your business its what I "chose" to do and I'm unaccountable to no one. Then when reality dawns on them and find that they have a small limited audience, they later complain: "Why don't people respect artists? Why does society look down on comics and comics art? Why don't FIlipinos read comic books anymore? Why isn't there a local comics industry?"

Tragi-comic as always. But now you know why Filipinos don't read and buy THEIR comic books.

History of the Filipino Mainstream Komiks Industry: A Summary

2008-05-31T19:29:00.067+08:00

A few months after the war in 1946, the first commercially sold local Tagalog comics magazine “Halakhak Komiks” was published by a bookstore owner and lawyer, Atty. Jaime Lucas. Because of the prevalence of U.S. comic books brought, read and freely distributed by American military servicemen, “Halakhak” followed this modern U.S. comics pamphlet format.

“Halakhak” was priced at 25 centavos, had 42 pages with blue and red newsprint covers and interior black and white newsprint pages. It featured editorial cartoons, news articles, and four (4) page serial installments on adventure, love, mystery and humor. The contents were provided by then out-of-work Philippine Free Press editorial cartoonists and Liwayway magazine comics illustrators. “Halakhak’s” first editor was editorial cartoonist and painter, Isaac Tolentino.

However, because of limited capital and lacking publishing experience, Atty. Lucas’ “Halakhak” folded after ten (10) issues. The main bulk of “Halakhak” were consigned to stallholders and newspaper dealers who were slow in paying him allegedly due to collection problems. Distribution was reportedly excellent but collection did not improve, and there was limited cash on hand.

Immediately after “Halakhak” folded, Don Ramon Roces, millionaire publisher owner of the Manila Times and Liwayway magazine, set up ACE Publications with “Kenkoy” strip creator, Tony Velasquez, as manager and editor.

In 1947, under Velasquez’ guidance, Ace Publications put out 10,000 copies of “Pilipino Komiks” with a cover price of 25 centavos and was distributed in the newsstands. Its success paved the way for “Tagalog Klasiks” (1949), “Hiwaga Komiks” (1950) and finally, “Espesyal Komiks” (1952). Unlike U.S. comics, these local comics magazines featured Tagalog stories and the Filipino way of life through cartoon humor, adventure, love, drama, mystery and humor serials. The success of Ace’s comics line was also due in large part to the fact that it availed of the distribution and collection facilities of “Liwayway magazine” also owned by Don Ramon Roces which had nationwide distribution and readership.

Local comics publishing flourished because they were affordable to many low income Filipinos displaced by World War 2, who were hungry for information and entertainment that spoke their language and knew their way of life. Local Tagalog comics publications were a respite from American magazines, newspapers books and other print media that flooded the country at the time.

The success of ACE’s comics inspired other independent local comics publishers to follow suit. But lacking the distribution and collection facilities of Don Ramon, many of these small start-ups folded after a few issues. It did not help that Don Ramon controlled the largest magazine distribution service in the country with many newsdealers loyal to his publications. Nevertheless bigger, more organized publishers like Doña Beatriz Guballa, Silangan Publications, Quioge Publications, Arcade Publications to name a few, entered the picture.

From 1947 to 1954, just as local comics publishing was beginning to be more diverse, creative and follow different editorial perspectives, all this began to change in 1955 when local comics publishers began to self-regulate and censor their ranks.

They were apparently following the lead of U.S. comics publishers when in 1954, American crime and horror comics were accused of being the cause of juvenile delinquency and illiteracy. This backlash was primarily led by the Catholic Legion of Decency and other religious socio-civic groups. It worsened when popular EC horror comics publisher, William M. Gaines, appeared before a televised senate sub-committee investigation on juvenile delinquency, and gave an earnest but poorly organized defense of his competence and rights as a publisher. Gaines, who would later continue publishing the successful MAD magazine, would be vindicated by a public that has learned to appreciate his horror comics line as a work of art and potent social commentary, even inspiring top Hollywood directors and producers into adopting his comics stories in the early 1990s into a successful HBO cable television series: “Tales from the Crypt”.

Fearing that legislation would soon be passed outlawing the publication of ALL comic books, the conservative and child-friendly comics publishers at the time (i.e., National/DC, Atlas/Marvel, Dell, Walt Disney, Archie, Fawcett, and others) decided to self-regulate themselves by forming the Comics Code Authority. The Authority outlawed horror and crime comics, and required every comic to pass its standards of “wholesomeness” before being allowed distribution. Violators were refused distribution by the Authority’s partner newsdealers nationwide. From them on, U.S. mainstream comics were censored and became “safe”, “conservative”, “child-friendly” and “inoffensive”. Its creative drive gone, readers left in droves resulting in a decline of the American comics industry that is dominated by cartoons, romance, superhero comics and sanitized war, horror and crime comics.

In the Philippines meanwhile, some enterprising comics companies either reprinted or imitated the U.S. horror comics. This angered the local catholic and moral crusaders who petitioned Manila City Hall eventually causing Manila councilors to propose banning the sale and distribution of ALL comics. But before any initatory actions could be made, Don Ramon Roces, backed by the Catholic Knights of Columbus, called on all local comics publications to follow the lead in America and self-regulate their industry.

Specifically, Don Ramon proposed that all other companies adopt ACE Publications’ editorial standards in making comics. The local publishers, together with the Catholic Knights of Columbus, agreed to form the APEPCOM (Association of Publishers and Editors of Philippine Comics) and be governed by ACE's conservative editorial guidelines now called the APEPCOM Code. This Code was similar to the conservative U.S. Comics Code and pretty soon, all Filipino komiks from 1955 onwards would follow the same conservative and “catholic” editorial outlook. This is why most, if not all, Filipino komiks, looked and read the same.

No legislation outlawing Filipino comics publications being passed, the medium now censored and self-regulated by the APEPCOM controlled by Don Ramon and the Catholic Church, the local mainstream comics business grew without opposition. However, since ACE Publications had the largest magazine and newspaper distribution in the country, it profited more than the other publishers. ACE also had the largest circulation of local comics and consequently, gained the loyalty of many newsdealers. Most importantly, ACE employed the best illustrators and writers in the business. It was no wonder then that Don Ramon’s ACE became a monopoly early on.

ACE drove out fly-by-night and small, start-up independent comics publishers, most of whom tried to go around the conservative and creatively restrictive APEPCOM code. The result was that by 1963, only the following were the biggest comics publishers, with ACE being the largest and more powerful even with all other comics publishers combined: Don Ramon Roces’ ACE Publications, Dona Beatriz Guballa’s Bulaklak Publications, D. Benipayo Press, G. Miranda and Sons, Philippine Book Company, Bookman, Goldstar Publications, Pioneer Publications, G.M.R. Publications, Viratas Publications, Makabayan Publications and PR Publications.

Working conditions however were far from perfect. In 1962, a company-wide strike hit ACE Publications forcing it to shut down. It resumed operation after two months under a new name: Graphic Arts Service, Inc. or GASI in order to avoid liability from its striking workers. GASI put out “Kislap Komiks” (1962), “Pioneer Komiks” (1962), ”Aliwan Komiks” (1962), “Pinoy Komiks” (1963), “Pinoy Klasiks” (1963), “Holiday Komiks” (1963) and “Teens Weekly Komiks” (1968).

GASI was able to place its komiks-magasins among the frontrunners circulation-wise. Aliwan Komiks for instance, started with 25,000 copies. In four years time, it hit a high 80,000. Kislap Komiks also began with a print order of 25,000 copies, subsequently converting into a movie magazine in 1965 and by 1970 its circulation registered 130,000. Pinoy Komiks also performed quite well – from the intial 25,000 copy circulation in 1963, it soared to 120,000 in 1970.

After the strike, ACE’s most popular comics artists: Nestor Redondo, Alfredo Alcala, Armando Castrillo and Jim Fernandez, formed their own comics publications company: CRAF and put out several komiks titles named after them: “Redondo Komiks”, “Alcala Fight Komiks”, “CRAF Klasix” and “Amado Lovers Komix” all in 1963. Other titles were added in the late 1960s until CRAF's closure in September, 1972.

After GASI, another comics publication company was put up by Don Ramon in 1964: Pilipino Komiks, Inc. or PKI, again in an effort to avoid liability from the striking workers. Tony Velasquez, "the Father of Philippine Comics" and right hand man of Don Ramon, was called in again to manage. The office of PKI later transferred to Commandante Street in Sta. Cruz, Manila where the garage of Don Ramon's Liwayway Publications was also located. This sector eventually became the traditional drop-off place and pick-up area for Manila agents for practically any publication particularly all the komiks-magasins.” In short, Don Ramon Roces again controlled the distribution of ALL local comics magazines giving preference to his titles.

The first issue of PKI's revived "Pilipino Komiks" consequently enjoyed the largest circulation in the country. This was followed by PKI's revivals of other cancelled titles from ACE: "Espesyal", "Hiwaga", and "Tagalog Klasiks". They too, immediately and expectedly, enjoyed a meteoric rise in circulation thanks to the lone, nationwide pick-up point for ALL komiks-magasins set in place at the PKI office in the garage of Liwayway Publications.

Soon, Circulation Service, Inc. was set up to handle the increasing marketing and distribution requirements of the komiks published by PKI. Later on, the companies transferred to the Capitol Publishing House Compound at the corner of Scout Reyes Street and Don A. Roces Avenue in Quezon City. Then the incorporators decided to prevent confusion of the PKI and komiks-magazine itself, particularly to avoid liability from the striking workers. The corporation renamed itself "Atlas Publishing Co., Inc." purportedly inspired by the greek mythical hero who bore the world on his shoulders—and this was what the company did—by being the strongest in the local komiks world.

The creation of GASI and ATLAS was in preparation of Don Ramon’s turn-over of his entire comics business to his two daughters: Dona Carmen and Dona Elena who later obtained ownership over these two companies in the late 1960s. Actual management of day-to-day transactions however, was turned over to their respective sons Ramon R. Davila (ATLAS) and Alfredo R. Guerrero (GASI). Ultimate control however, rested with Don Ramon who still operated behind the sidelines.

In the mid-1960s, the komiks business had grown into a thriving industry. There were fifty titles in circulation as of 30 June 1965, as registered with the Philippine Bureau of Posts. Of this total, nine were published by Roces, but all were controlled editorially by the APEPCOM code and availed of Roces' nationwide distribution service oblivious that Roces' titles were given preference by this distribution network. The aggregate number of copies per print run of the fifty titles was at 1,343,206, according to a contemporary account. The growth was mainly due to the fact that most komiks had movie columns and with komiks storylines serving as screenplays for komiks based movies that also gained widespread patronage.

With the advent of the bomba sex comics in 1968 however, a challenge to Don Ramon’s comics monopoly came to the fore. From 1968 to 1972, bomba sex comics outsold the mainstream local comics monopolized by Don Ramon. Bomba sex comics operated outside the APEPCOM code as cultural and social mores were being questioned by liberal philosophies prevalent at the time. Don Ramon and his Catholic lobby group sought the help of government and initiated moves to outlaw and prohibit the distribution of the sex comics to no avail.

That is, until the advent of Martial law in September, 1972. Marcos’ first order was to outlaw the printing and distribution of any and all print publications and broadcast of any program without prior approval from Malacanang. A three month media blackout followed where radio and tv stations were raided and taken over. Print publications were not spared including the komiks and bomba sex komiks. Many were jailed and re-oriented towards the propaganda of a “New Society”.

Komiks publishers who wanted to resume publishing had to apply for permits and pay a bond. Don Ramon who still had money and influence, negotiated for the release of his brother, Manila Times editor Chino Roces, and was able to obtain permits for his komiks companies. All other komiks publishers either closed down, shifted to textbook publishing, or were sold off to Don Ramon’s komiks companies. The fortunate few who were able to obtain permits did not last long and less than a handful mainstream komiks publishers survived the end of the 1970s. These three survivors were Mars Ravelo, GMiranda and Sons, and the Rex Group of companies.

The remaining comics publishers, most of whom were now under Don Ramon, were re-organized yet again into a new self-regulating Authority now known as the Kapisanan ng mga Publisista at mga Patnugot ng mga Komiks-Magasin sa Pilipino (KPPKP). This new body re-adopted the old APEPCOM Code but broadened its prohibitions to make the komiks industry a more effective partner of the Marcos government in the "national developmental effort". Specifically, the new restrictions prohibited any story, image or material that would cause hatred or contempt against the Marcoses and the military.

Armed with several komiks companies under parent ATLAS and GASI publishing houses, the Roces family’s monopoly of the local mainstream komiks industry was in place. Under ATLAS were the following komiks publishing companies: Atlas Publishing Co., Magellan, Islas Filipinas Publishing, Adventures Illustrated Magazines, Inc., a revived Ace Publications and Mass Media Promotions. Under GASI were: GASI, Affiliated Publications and Counterpoint. Under such a restrictive social, political and economic atmosphere, many komiks writers and artists either retired or migrated abroad. The remaining komiks creatives meanwhile, had no choice but to continue toiling under exploitative industry sweatshop working conditions standardized and practiced by Don Ramon's comics companies. The other few remaining comics companies also had no choice but to follow these working standards set by industry leaders ATLAS and GASI.

Pilipino komiks was Roces komiks and Roces komiks was Pilipino komiks. In 1978, it was reported that every week, about two million komiks magasins, bearing 44 different titles, are sold. If we assume that 6 people eventually get to read each copy (which some claim is still a conservative estimate), then komiks-magasins should easily have a readership of no less than 2 million. For the 12 komiks publishing houses (i.e., Atlas Publishing Co., Magellan, Islas Filipinas Publishing, Adventures Illustrated Magazines, Inc., Ace Publications, Mass Media Promotions, GASI, Affiliated Publications, Counterpoint, Mars Ravelo’s RAR Publications, GMiranda and Sons and Rex) this means weekly sales of about Php 1.7 milion, or Php 88.4 million annually.

The leading komiks title during martial law was "Pilipino Komiks" published by Atlas Publications. In 1976, Pilipino Komiks reported an average weekly circulation of 151,481; a figure that so-called legitimate English-language magazines can only drool over. As of 1978, Pilipino Komiks’ circulation surpass 175,000 copies a week.

The great bulk of komiks readers belong to the C and D households, 38 percent and 41 percent respectively. Only 4% of komiks readers belong to A and B households, while 17% are in E households. The average komiks reader is a married adult who has high school or some college education. Only 4 out of every 10 readers are 19 year old and below. This explains why the content of komiks can hardly be classified as simple kidstuff.

One of the factors for the great patronage of local mainstream komiks, is that during the martial law years of the 1970s, most broadcast and print media were censored and limited in number. Consequently, many Filipinos were again hungry for information and entertainment. Once more, Don Ramon, being the lone komiks monopoly had a "captive" audience who had no real choice in the matter. Komiks at the time, especially Don Ramon’s komiks, helped placate an entertainment and information hungry public through its censorious KPPKP comics code. Komiks was also used by the Marcos government and military in its propaganda efforts. Such use and acknowledgment was considered by some as giving the komiks medium a certain sense of "legitimacy".

However, opposition to the conjugal dictatorship grew in the late 1970s especially when Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino was allowed to live in exile in the United States. There, the excesses of the conjugal dictatorship were exposed to the international press. In order to show the world that the Philippines was not a banana republic, an ailing Marcos in January, 1981 lifted martial law and tried to portray a return of press freedom and other liberties in the Philippines.

With martial law lifted, the entry of sleazy tabloid wars, sex in cinema, and return of the Pinoy Bomba Komiks came to the fore. All were tolerated for the benefit of a skeptical international press and community. Escapism was a big product in times of adversity as shown by the renaissance of Don Ramon’s monopoly during martial law. The early to mid-1980s was no exception. After the assassination of a returning Senator Aquino on August 21, 1983, the Philippine Peso devaluated twice in that same year compelling Mars Ravelo to later close down his RAR Publications due to unpaid dollar loans on his importation of new printing equipment for his new office building. What followed were several street protests that demanded the ouster of Marcos. The mainstream comics monopoly responded by cautiously stretching beyond the KPPKP comics code and being a little daring in its escapist fare as observed in this article by Dr. John A. Lent, international comics scholar:

“As the 1980s dawned, melodrama, with an emphasis on sex, violence, class divisions, and familial turmoil, was favored in komiks and movies. Readers seemed to prefer tearjerkers that reminded them of their own plight. Also popular were pocket komiks, which had been around for some time, but took off in the 1980s with Speed Pocketkomiks (GASI), Bestseller Pocketkomiks, Mighty Viking Pocketkomiks, and Kasaysayan Pocketkomiks (all Atlas products); Combat and Bulilit Pocketkomiks (Rex Group of Komiks); Filipino Superheroes Pocketkomiks and Commando Pocketkomiks (Adventure Illustrated Magazine, Inc.), and Crimebuster Pocketkomiks and Western Pocketkomiks (Mass Media Production, Inc.)”

By the mid-1980s, all these stunts apparently paid off in that by this time there were now 47 mainstream komiks titles on the stands, not counting at least 24 bomba, as well as religious and educational titles. Estimated total circulation of mainstream komiks was from 2.5 to 3 million, and a readership of six times that figure or about 15 to 18 million, which is about a third of the Filipino population at the time. By the mid to late 1980s, only Rex and GMiranda and Sons remained as the only other small time “competitors” of the Roces monopoly.

The 1985 snap presidential elections and the February 1986 revolution that followed, did not affect the circulation and continued monopoly of the local komiks industry. Sheila S. Coronel, Executive Director of the Philippine Centre for Investigative Journalism observes in her 1998 online article: “Media ownership and control in the Philippines”, that:

“When Marcos fell the system of media controls that he had established was dismantled overnight. Once they were set loose, the media blossomed. Suddenly, there were two dozen daily newspapers publishing out of Manila alone, compared to only half-a-dozen during the Marcos years. The three major nationwide TV networks became six. At the same time, radio stations were set up as if air waves were running out of fashion. Twelve years after people power, there are 156 television stations (excluding cable and UHF) operating in various parts of the country; 402 radio stations, 25 nationally circulating dailies and over 200 other weekly or fortnightly newspapers.

After Marcos, there were virtually no controls on the press, no licenses were required to set up newspapers. In broadcasting the government retained ownership of one television and radio network. At the same time, it wrested control of two other television networks owned by Marcos cronies and assigned their management to politically well-connected firms which operated the networks as private businesses with little government interference.”

The Roceses knew that they had to act fast. The new freedom and euphoria that accompanied the EDSA revolution emboldened big and small players to enter the local komiks publishing field. Of particular note were Tagalog B-movie producer “Mother” Lily Monteverde’s Mariposa Publications and the Lopez family who were then rebuilding their television and radio broadcasting empire, who initially came out with “Kiss” and “Aargh” komiks. These two potentially big players were intending to join the fray. Writers and artists working for Don Ramon's komiks companies were intimidated and warned not to work for these new competitors, threatening loss of employment if they did. Another measure was to edge out these competitors’ titles from the newsstands by flooding the market.

This "flooding" can be discerned from an increase in circulation of the top selling komiks titles of Atlas and GASI from 1986 to 1989 which was accomplished by putting out their top sellers twice a week. These top sellers were Hiwaga, Tagalog Klasiks, Espesyal Pilipino and Extra for ATLAS and Aliwan, Pinoy, Pinoy Klasiks, Universal and Superstar for GASI. Another important point was that the Roceses' KPPKP comics code was relaxed. Roces komiks at this time, notably GASI, allowed for some graphic sex and violence in its titles, particularly its horror titles when compared to the more conservative Atlas. The few komiks competitors who tried to do the same were chastised by the KPPKP comics code. A double standard in the application of comics censorship was practised.

As a result of this manuever, GASI’s profits in particular, doubled from Php 4,845,568.10 in 1984 to Php 8,810,555.54 in 1987. GASI in fact, was listed as no. 640 among the top 1000 corporations in the Philippines for the year 1988. By 1989, there were now 89 mainstream komiks titles, approximately 90% of which were published nationwide by nine (9) komiks publishing companies, all of whom were owned by the Roces family, i.e., Atlas, Magellan, Islas Filipinas Publishing, Adventures Illustrated Magazines, Inc., Ace Publications and Mass Media Promotions, GASI, Affiliated Publications, and Counterpoint.

Of these 89 mainstream komiks titles, only nine were being published by two independent and separate publishers: G.M. Miranda and Sons and Rex Group of Companies. In 1989, G.M. Miranda was only publishing one komiks title: “Wakasan” which had a weekly circulation of only 20,000. The remaining eight komiks titles of Rex meanwhile had a circulation base of 12,000 to 15,000 copies a week per title. These numbers however, pale in comparison to Atlas and GASI’s circulation wherein their four top selling titles (i.e., Pilipino, Aliwan, Pinoy Komiks and Love Story) was at 175,000 copies a week while their least selling titles (it is claimed) never went below 60,000 copies a week.

In 1989, the Philippine Information Agency released a nationwide media survey declaring the komiks medium as having the most number of audience share besting television, movies, newspapers and magazines. The monopoly had finally reached its peak. In the following years of the 1990s decade however, its downfall would also result in the collapse of the whole mainstream komiks industry.

A reduction in the number of published titles could be discerned when we consider Dr. John A. Lent’s article “The First 75 Years of Philippine Komiks” appearing in “Comic Book Artist” No. 4, September, 2004 issue, wherein he cites the following 1992 data:

“In 1992, of the 71 komiks published in the Philippines, 62 came from komiks companies owned by Roces—GASI, 37; Atlas, 20; Affiliated, five. Roces products included the country’s four largest books (Love Life, Aliwan, Pinoy Klasiks, and Pinoy Komiks) each published twice weekly with a circulation between 200,000—250,000. Atlas’ Pilipino Komiks also published twice weekly in 1992; nearly all other 66 komiks were weeklies.”

From a high of 89 mainstream comics titles in 1989 to 71 komiks titles in 1992, we could immediately tell that the business had reached its peak and is now beginning to bottom out. The Philippines is an archipelago of approximately 7,100 islands with three main island groups: Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. The city of Manila is located in Luzon and it is here that the hub of local mainstream komiks publishing operates. A great bulk of komiks were distributed in Luzon as there were no additional costs for shipping and air freight charges incurred as opposed to distribution in the outlying provinces of Visayas and Mindanao where shipping and air freight costs were necessary.

In 1991, Mt. Pinatubo erupted; its volcanic lava or "lahar" inundating the nearby provinces of Pampanga and Pangasinan in Luzon. Not only were many families rendered homeless migrating to Manila as beggars and illegal squatters, but that distribution of komiks to other provinces in Luzon beyond Pampanga and Pangasinan were blocked by the lahar. For several months, komiks sales in the outlying Luzon provinces were at an all-time low.

Besides Mt. Pinatubo’s lahar problem, there was the nationwide power crisis which began in late 1989 lasting until 1990, where frequent brownouts greatly affected industries that depended on electricity, particularly the komiks printing and distribution aspect of Don Ramon's enterprise. This was aggravated by the huge traffic problem in Manila resulting in the imposition of numbered coding of vehicles and of the drastic "Daylight Saving Time" measure where timepieces were advanced several hours so as to convince people to retire early from work. The monopoly was in trouble.

Low sales meant low income, and low income meant low (sometimes unpaid and delayed payment of) wages. Don Ramon’s komiks publishing companies again experienced internal labor problems. Komiks artists, young and old, were being siphoned by more lucrative and bourgeoning foreign sub-contracting animation work in Manila or were immigrating to the U.S. for more high-paying paying jobs in American comics companies. Lowly-paid Komiks writers (mostly females) meanwhile, transferred to a bourgeoning Tagalog romance pocketbook business, helping it morph in the early 1990s into a profitable industry targeting the same low-income audience of komiks. The early to mid-1990s would also see internal company strikes at Atlas and GASI by underpaid and maltreated komiks writers and artists thus affecting product quality.

As a result, sales of Don Ramon’s komiks monopoly began to decline in 1991 and in 1994, Don Ramon passed away. Thereafter, each of his komiks companies were either closed down or sold off to other companies who did not continue the comics publishing business. One komiks company in particular, Atlas, was sold off to Benjamin Ramos in 1996 and its komiks line (now reduced to a handful) were taken off the newsstands and distributed exclusively in all National Bookstore branches nationwide owned by the Ramos family. Unfortunately, the shift of distribution venue and target audience resulted in the closure of Atlas’ comics line in 2006. Rex and GMiranda and Sons, bereft of a newsstand distribution network that was wholly dependent on the huge volume of Roceses’ komiks titles, stopped their komiks publishing business and concentrated in selling textbooks. The Roces-Guerreros of GASI meanwhile, tried to hang on with their KISLAP movie magazine and "Space Horror" komiks which were distributed in the newsstands but were operating at a loss. "Space Horror" eventually folded around 2003.

Since the fall of the Roces komiks monopoly (and along with it the whole Filipino komiks industry), there have been attempts to jumpstart or create a new local mainstream komiks industry. In 2003, the nation’s second largest Tagalog tabloid newspaper, “Abante” put out more than eight weekly komiks titles but folded in only two years due allegedly to poor management and the employment of editorial policies and class "B" veteran creatives from the defunct Roces komiks companies. The truth however was that for two years, Abante komiks' manager, Rodrigo Cabrigo, witheld from management the fact that newsstand dealers at the time were returning approximately 90% of unsold Abante komiks titles. Apparently prodded on to do so by the former Roces komiks veterans working under him in order for the latter to maintain employment, Abante komiks actually operated at a loss for two (2) years. When the matter was finally revealed to Abante top management, a furious and incensed Allan Macasaet, immediately ordered the closure of the Abante komiks line. In 2007, these same class "B" komiks creative veterans initially organized by former GASI komiks editor-in-chief Joe Ladd Santos, and then led by his best friend: Carlo J. Caparas, a former top melodramatic komiks novelist and local B-movie director, obtained a monetary grant from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and partnered with a publisher, Sterling Paper Products, Inc., who had no prior knowledge and experience in local komiks publishing. It is significant to note that Joe Ladd Santos, who is now connected with the government of President Arroyo, is also a board director of the NCCA.

The Caparas line of komiks came out with four monthly titles and was preceded by a six month nationwide komiks caravan and media exposure in 2007. The titles came out in September, 2007, with black and white interior pages selling at Php 10.00 then later at Php 15.00 when it decided to have interior color pages. Caparas' monthly komiks line was distributed nationwide in all participating newsstands. Unfortunately, the partnership stopped in March, 2008, due allegedly to internal management conflicts as Sterling had also published its line of licensed komiks titles: “Maalala Mo Kaya” and “Joe D’ Mango’s LOVENOTES” which was not approved by Caparas claiming the same was in competition with his komiks line. This was aggravated by the fact that the newsstand formatted Caparas komiks (and the two (2) other Sterling komiks titles) were also distributed in early 2008, to urban magazine dealers and retail establishments which significantly cut into the income of the newsstand dealers. The newsstand dealers did not take this lying down. Caparas on the other hand, eventually left seeking greener pastures of having his komiks titles made into local television series, and the partnership with Sterling has since dissolved. No new issues of Caparas or Sterling's comics line have appeared since March, 2008. Some of the class "B" komiks veterans however, continue to put out their work in a "webkomiks" website, art galleries, an annual cult comics convention of so-called "indies" in the University of the Philippines, and in the few local Tagalog newspaper tabloids, waiting for the next "employment gimmick" to come around.

As the mainstream comics industry fell in the 1990s, there arose in its place a Manila-based cult group of young U.S. and Japanese comics enthusiasts engaged in the "self-publishing" of their own comics titles (or comics in book format called "graphic novels" and "grafictions"). This group focus mostly in the illustrative aspect of the medium, with a handful of their titles sold at low circulation in the mainstream market, primarily targeting an upper to higher income socio-economic class audience. Written mostly in English, with concepts and storylines not unlike those seen in American and Japanese mainstream comics and cartoons, these local "indie" and "globalized Filipino comics" published by Alamat, Nautilus, Psicom and Mango among others, are distributed in a few and hard to find specialty bookstores particularly in the approximately 200 nationwide branches of the country's biggest bookstore chain: National Bookstore. Concerned more with the satisfaction of seeing their work displayed in classy urban settings, they are oblivious of the fact that majority of cost-conscious Filipinos haven't developed the habit of expending additional transportation fare to travel to these out of the way bookstores just to purchase their graphic works. Another characteristic of these "indie" and globalized Filipino comics is that they usually carry cover prices that are not within the reach of majority of low income FIlipinos. Not surprisingly, these globalized "indie" comics creators fraternize with each other into near-masonic proportions and have been declaring, through the internet as their main marketing tool, the epiphany that they have been "keeping alive" komiks reading in the country for 15 years since 1992. These "globalized indies" have also been actively promoting the idea that local comics creatives should forget about resuscitating a mainstream comics industry and instead continue to independently self-publish and create comics for a global and westernized audience in order to survive. Their zealousness extend to the recruitment of local creatives into working for American and other foreign comics, or comics-related, industries.

As of this writing, imported U.S. comics and English translated Japanese manga, along with licensed reprints of U.S. mainstream comics (particularly those of Marvel and DC), dominate the upper-income, specialty and commercial bookstore racks located in the few urban areas of the country. None of these foreign comics are found in newsstands, appear monthly, and are not within the reach of majority of low-income Filipinos.

PKB Directory of newsstand comics dealers 2008

2008-03-22T16:40:00.007+08:00

If you are into expensive, imported comics as a personal hobby, or see comics as an “artform” reserved only for the visual appreciation of the moneyed elite, who give shallow importance on the flashy, inconsequential outward appearance of a CBG graded comic book such as, but not limited to, its glossy, shiny paper surface, its well-known foreign writers and artists, and its being printed in the U.S., Canada or Hong Kong, with strong, speculative re-sale value, that needs to be encased in plastic, mummified and kept under wraps for thousands of years, then this is not for you. There is nothing to see here. Please move on.

On the other hand if you are among the inquisitive, maligned few, harboring the much besmirched and disparaged idea of helping build a new local mainstream comics industry starting at the grassroots level of low income Filipino readers as base, a readership that is mocked by imported comics elitist-enthusiasts as “cheap”, non-existent and living only in Mars or Jupiter, then this may be of help.

You say you want to know more about the mass market? You want to talk directly to newsstand dealers and get more information on the matter? You say you want to graduate from the insular and enclosed, small world of expensive Pinoy “mini-comics” or “photocopy comics”, and find out if there’s some money to be made as an independent comics publisher in the local mass market?

Most may find this hard to believe, but there are many “bangketa” newsstand dealers out there who want to sell Tagalog/Pilipino comic books other than those of Sterling/Caparas but still priced within the “cheap” Php 15.00 range. If the product is even better, they may even consider a price range not going beyond Php 35.00 to match the standard comics sized “songhits” magazines on their stands.

Some of these dealers currently operate on an arrangement where they make an outright purchase of your title in bulk at a discount rate less cover price. The remainder of course, is their profit or “patong” (or, as the ZTE dealmakers would say: “tong-pats”). The number of unsold copies are then sent back to the publisher and are later exchanged/reimbursed by an equal number of new issues. Who are these dealers specifically? You’ll have to call, ask and negotiate to find out. They are not on any internet komiks blog or chat room, so a certain amount of legwork is involved. If a deal is closed, it is either the dealers who come to the publisher’s Manila office to pick up and purchase your title, or a common drop-off and pick-up point is fixed for the convenience of the parties, usually at the Port Area, Manila, where most of the country’s broadsheet and tabloid newspapers are housed.

If you have a small print run of 5,000 to 10,000 copies some of these dealers are willing to take you on, and may even consider subsidizing a portion of the printing costs depending on the feasibility of your business plan, arrangement or proposition. Your distribution need not be broad or national in scope at first. They suggest that you choose only a few trusted and competent distributor-partners and limit your areas of distribution for a start. Gradually expand from there if economies of scale improve. Remember that the first modern Filipino comic book, “Halakhak” published a few months after the war in 1946 by the late Atty. Jaime Lucas, started at only 10,000 copies. Its follow-up: Don Ramon Roces’ long-running “Pilipino Komiks”, also started on that same print run of 10,000 newsprint copies when it began in 1947 climbing to 120,000 every fortnight in 1961 and to about 600,000 copies a week in 1978.

This is probably the one good thing brought about by the Sterling/Caparas venture into mass market local comics publishing. In their approximately more than six (6) months of operation since September, 2007, almost all newsstand dealers in the country are now open to the idea that the printed medium of local Pilipino comics could stage a comeback.

What is sorely needed however, is variety. At present, the choices are limited only to the retro themed titles of Sterling/Caparas. Thousands, if not millions, of potential local mass market comics readers have varied and diverse tastes and preferences. We are talking of an untapped fifty (50) MILLION adult readership aged 14 to 50 who are mostly low income. That is a self-evident fact. The pie is so big, there’s more than enough room for everyone. To service that demand, there must exist a plethora of separate and independent comics publishers who have diverse editorial viewpoints operating in a free, competitive and fair market. Sterling/Caparas is the only player right now and it has its own audience. What about the rest? Are their reading tastes and preferences being serviced?

The following list is admittedly incomplete. There are more who need to be known and listed. Neither is this a guarantee that all of these dealers play fair. You’ll have to find that out for yourself and if you’re kind enough, please share the information for mutual and future reference. Quid pro quo, bro.

Happy easter.

MANILA DEALERS

Alfredo R. Pascua --- Baclaran---433 4891

Ermilando P. Galos --- Quiapo, Manila --- 704 5301 - 0905 324 4955

Errol V. Felices --- Manila --- 0915 976 850

Felicidad Lising --- Manila --- 733 4169- 533 3479

Raul S. Echano --- Manila --- 0905 324 6789

Marvic Lumayno --- Paco, Manila--- 0921 966 4267

Ernesto Jaudian Jr. --- 0916 411 1142

Dennis Capitan --- 0920 918 0908

Albert Solidarios Jr.--- 0921 640 1249- (034) 433 1138

LAS PIÑAS, PARAÑAQUE, MUNTINLUPA, ALABANG DEALERS

Rommel P. Landas --- Las Pinas --- 0917 917 6662 - 875 1616

Ferdinand Manzano --- Paranaque/ Alabang --- 519 4060

PASAY CITY DEALERS

Sofia P. Inay --- Pasay City --- 854 72 70

Romulo Maboy --- Pasay City--- 851 3420

MANDALUYONG CITY DEALERS

Clemencia Sibayan --- Mandaluyong City --- 535 43 80

Regina Sibayan --- Mandaluyong City --- 415 3790

QUEZON CITY DEALERS

Juanito P. Corra --- Quezon City --- 412 8596

Wilfredo Sarsonas --- Quezon City --- 749 7169

Romeo Bule --- Quezon City --- 350 2039

Eduardo Maceda Jr. --- Quezon City --- 415 3790

Carlito Corro --- Quezon City --- 415 37 90

Rhodora R. De Vera --- Quezon City --- 0920 254 8384

Ben Tabiana --- Quezon City --- 0926 751 0842

LUZON DEALERS

Neil R. Bautista --- Santiago City, Isabela --- (078) 682 1025 - 0906 927 4023

Cesar Caburian --- Ilocos Sur --- (072) 888 1512

Jane Caburian --- La Union --- (072) 705 1435

Lerma Carillo --- Agoo, La Union --- 0917 564 2800

Julie/ Carlos Catbagan --- Pangasinan --- 0918 639 8014

Allan V. Quitoriano --- Pangasinan --- 0928 253 0226

Concepcion V. Dungca --- Tarlac, Pangasinan --- 0917 453 4668

Edmundo S. Ordinario --- Villasis, Pangasinan--- 0921 484 8488

Leo S. Ordinario --- Rosales, Pangasinan --- (075) 582 3378

Virgie Lumayno --- Antipolo City--- 0921 966 4267

Dominador Lubian --- Cavite --- 853 6374

VISAYAS DEALERS

Atty. Raymund J. A. Mercado & Marylou Mercado --- Dumaguete City---(035) 225 5079 – (035) 225 5796

Mr. Ferdinand & Mrs. Alma T. Mercado ---Tagbilaran City, Bohol --0918 927 1090 Alma cel.

Henry Velasco --- Bacolod City --- 443 4891

Mr.& Mrs. Bernardo S. Cruz --- Samar, Leyte --- 0916 791 5366 - 0916 228 5505

Pedro C. Ruina --- Surigao City --- 0919 583 0108- (086) 232 6955

Eduardo V. Clavero --- Pagadian City --- 0918 331 1111 – (062) 214 4444

Ma. Theresa Ybanez --- Cebu City --- 0917 546 7285 – (032) 255 6504

Ma. Cecilia V. Yap --- Cebu City --- (032) 234 4583

Hansen Dongallo --- Cebu City --- 0915 847 9384 - (032) 421 31 78

Edmund Enriquez --- Cebu City --- (032) 412 1035)

Gerry Agcaoili --- Cebu City --- 0910 670 3932

Jorge R. Villanueva --- Cebu City --- (032) 416 1717 - 0926 200 5122

MINDANAO DEALERS

Rico Onate --- Davao City --- 0920 921 0703

Marivic S. Gan --- Davao City --- 0917 705 5174

Thelma D. Peralta --- Cotabato City --- 0905 933 0087

Catalina T. Boro --- Cotabato City --- 0920 340 0941

Pete Marquez --- Cotabato City --- (064) 421 3264

Kristel Dimalanta --- General Santos City --- 0919 553 9888

Komiks under Martial Law (Sept. 1972 to Jan.1981)

2008-03-01T04:48:00.027+08:00

HOW A MONOPOLY WAS MAINTAINED AND AN INDUSTRY STUNTED

This appeared in issue no. 467 of POGI komiks magasin, published by the Roces family’s Atlas Publications, cover date January 14, 1981:

“With the lifting of martial law next year, Don Teodoro Valencia wrote in his Dec. 20 column in a morning daily that “what the President will be restoring are the freedom of the press, free speech and the right to invoke the writ of Habeas Corpus xxx.”

The first 2 rights are among the most cherished in free society, they are also the most abused. And lest some practitioners of yellow journalism, long held in lease by martial law, start believing that they will again be having a field day, and that they will be free to write anything they please, they are best reminded that while freedom of the press means “the right freely to publish without censorship or any other government interference,” that right is necessarily restricted in practice by the law bearing on sedition, libel, pornography, obscenity, indecency and blasphemy. In other words, anything printed must be decent. We repeat, decent.

Press abuses are often encouraged by the fact that laws are not always applied impartially—the scales tend to tilt on the side of those who wield the mighty pen and, abetted unwittingly by a sensation-hungry public, can make or break a public figure.

This early, therefore, the necessary safeguards against the resurgence of irresponsible journalism must be instituted. We have in mind the Ministry of Justice assuming a more vigilant posture against abuses of press freedom. Further, the posting of continuous cash bonds as a requirement for publishers would serve as some guarantee of responsibility and editorial integrity. With this scheme, metropolitan dailies and magazines may be required cash bonds of P50,000 and P25,000 respectively, with provincial newspapers posting P25,000 and magazines P5,000. House organs (magazines, pamphlets, newsletters, booklets, etc.) may be exempted.

The requisite of cash bonds may on the surface smack of restraint of press freedom, but to our mind it is quite imperative if we are to prevent the politically normalized situation from becoming an open season for seditious writing, character assassination, sensationalism and irresponsible reporting.

In this context, the lifting of martial law will be an acid test for publishers, writers and other members of media in the relentless drive for a truly responsible and free press.” (Emphasis Ours)

This editorial is both curious and instructive. Curious because the paper lifting of martial law was on January 18, 1981 by way of Presidential Decree No. 2045. The above editorial appeared in POGI komiks magasin with cover date: January 14, 1981, or 4 days earlier than the lifting of martial law. Further showing that the editorial was made a month earlier prior to January, 1981 is its opening text: “With the lifting of martial law next year, Don Teodoro Valencia wrote in his Dec. 20 column in a morning daily that…”

Instructive, because the editorial also reveals the close coordination between the Roceses and the conjugal dictatorship in Malacañang. The Roceses’ komiks titles were the leading mass medium of the 1970s and were read weekly by millions of low-income Filipinos. Dominating more than 75% of the local komiks market, it was a pure monopoly. On the wane in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Roceses would not have regained their monopoly over a censored and repressed medium without politically kowtowing to a dictator. It was an expedient that ensured their economic survival.

Several years later in 1981, the illusory lifting of martial law, the Marcos conjugal dictatorship was not ready to let a truly free, fair and competitive free market challenge the dominance of their partner propagandist. The Roceses after all, were doing a great job of helping “entertain” and intellectually mollifying their low income mass readership; diverting their attention from the abuse of power and resultant social injustices that were being committed around them by Marcos, his cronies, his wife Imelda, and the military.

Don Ramon’s family was not just into print publishing and distribution. By 1981, the Roceses had already expanded into other areas of local business such as lumbering, construction, hollow blocks manufacturing, and book publication. All this was in addition to their other business interests in other countries, Spain in particular. Some are of the view that the Roceses had to maintain their komiks business in order to get into the good graces of the Marcos dictatorship by being part of its media control hierarchy, and then wily extend this political and economic “protection” into their other local businesses.

Komiks publishing under martial law was controlled by the State. No one was allowed to print and publish unless one had a permit from Malacañang. The permit was renewed every six (6) months and one had to pay a Php 20,000 to Php 50,000 bond. A lot in those days. The bond was forfeited in case the publisher violated the comics code administered by a local comics code authority, the KPPKP, composed mostly of Don Ramon’s men. From September, 1972 to January, 1981, comics publishing in the Philippines became a closed fraternity that enjoyed only a select, privileged few who had money and the right connections. To sustain this status quo beyond the paper lifting of martial law in January, 1981, a call was made for the State to continue with the bond payments; all under the pretext of protecting a “free and responsible press."

One would have expected the Roceses, or the three (3) other minor comics publishers at the time: Rex Group of Companies, G. Miranda and Sons and Mars Ravelo’s RAR publications, to have risen up and oppose the State’s control of the media. But this did not happen. From September, 1972 to January, 1981, eight (8) years of media control and of taking it easy has dulled the independence and spontaneous creativity of these comics publishers and their stable of creators. Eight years of social conditioning and “tradition” has ingrained in their minds that conventional, industry-wide, self-regulated, government-friendly and “wholesome” comics were the only way to go. To understand and appreciate how this progressive indoctrination came about, a situation akin to a kidnap victim’s developed sympathy for her captor, or “stockholm syndrome”, one has to glance back at the history which preceded it.

II.

After martial law was declared on September 21, 1972, a nationwide media blackout took place. Television stations went off the air, movie houses were closed down, curfew was implemented, newspaper publishing houses were raided and magazines went off the stands, especially those pesky bomba sex komiks that were proliferating everywhere. The culprit? Marcos’ issuance of Letter of Instruction No. 1 ordering then Press Secretary Francisco “Kit” Tatad and then Defense Minister, Juan “Johnny” Ponce Enrile to: “take over and control or cause the taking and control of the mass media for the duration of the national emergency, or until otherwise ordered by the President or by his duly designated representatives (i.e. Tatad and Enrile).” Komiks publications were a part of the mass media at the time.

When martial law was declared, Marcos and the military reigned supreme. This meant that as commander-in-chief and chief executive of the land exercising emergency powers, Marcos had authority not just to implement laws, but to MAKE them as well. Congress and the Senate, or the lawmaking arms of the government that were opposed to him, were closed down until the chief executive decided to reconstitute them. Marcos’ self-made laws during the martial years were called “Presidential Decrees” and “Letters of Instruction”.

Acting on authority of Letter of Instruction No. 1, Kit Tatad’s Department of Public Information (DPI) issued two (2) orders on September 25, 1972 requiring all media publications (komiks publications included) to be cleared first with the DPI and that all printers (komiks printing presses included) were prohibited from producing any form of publication for mass dissemination without prior approval from the DPI. To add teeth to this last DPI order, Marcos issued on October 28, 1972, Presidential Decree No. 33 which penalized without qualification or exception, the printing, possession, distribution, and circulation of printed materials (komiks magasins included) that were immoral, indecent, or which defy the Government, its officers, or which tend to undermine the integrity of the Government and the stability of the State.” Those found guilty by the military tribunal (not the courts) suffered imprisonment of at least six years minimum.

On November 2, 1972 (a holiday) the media blackout ended. On this date, Presidential Decree No.36 was issued by Marcos creating the Mass Media Council (MMC) chaired by both the Secretary of Public Information (Kit Tatad) and the Defense Secretary (Juan Ponce Enrile). Its purpose was to prohibit the recurrence of the 1960s mass media that was critical of Marcos. There was a perception that the mass media of the 1960s’ “old society” conspired and helped foment the elements of insurgency, subversion, organized violence, and lawlessness against the Marcos government. Towards that end, anybody who wanted to print and publish anything, even a comic book, had to get prior approval from the MMC.

Specifically, P.D. No. 36 prohibited and penalized any newspaper, magazine, periodical or print publication of any kind, radio, television or tele-communications facility, station or network, from operating without first obtaining a certificate of authority form the MMC. The MMC certificate must be duly and personally signed by Marcos and was valid for only six (6) months, renewable for another six (6) months unless otherwise terminated by Marcos. A comics publication was no exception.

Soon, cronies of Marcos such as, but not limited to, General Hans Menzi (senior military aide of Marcos), Roberto Benedicto (Marcos’ U.P. frat brother), Leyte Governor Benjamin “Kokoy” Romualdez (Imelda’s brother), Presidential Assistant, Juan Tuvera and his wife, Kerima Polotan-Tuvera, took over the raided newspaper, magazine, radio and television stations and were given written authority to resume these enterprises’ operations as partners of the “new society”.

Next up were the komiks publications that had a wide, mass-based audience, the biggest of which were those of the Roceses. Would the Roces family give up their waning publishing empire to the Marcos cronies? What concessions would the Roceses have to give in order to avoid a military take-over? Brother Chino Roces of the critical Manila Times newspaper was already jailed. Was Don Ramon to be next?

As a propaganda tool, the mainstream komiks distribution system of Don Ramon was certainly an asset worth having. Marcos’ spin doctors, media specialists and propagandists were most certainly aware that Don Ramon controlled the distribution of all mainstream comics (even those of his competitors) in the country. As chronicled in pp. 29-30 of the 1984 book: “A History of Komiks in the Philippines and other countries”, edited by Ramon R. Marcelino:

“At this time (1964), Antonio S. Velasquez revived the parent of all the komiks genre, namely, Pilipino Komiks. Velasquez served as the consultant of the PKI (Pilipino Komiks Inc.) with its temporary office at Adela Street, near the Sta. Mesa Rotunda then before it gave way to the five-way traffic lane leading to the Nagtahan Bridge sector.

First issues of Pilipino Komiks then marketed in Manila and the provinces originated form this office. Later on the office of the PKI was transferred to Commandante Street in Sta. Cruz, Manila where the garage of the Liwayway Publications was located. This sector eventually became the traditional drop-off place and pick-up area for Manila agents for practically any publication particularly all the komiks-magasins.” (Emphasis Ours)

When PKI later changed its name to Atlas, it was in reference to the greek mythical god-hero who carried the whole world on his shoulders. And rightly so, for Atlas Inc. actually controlled at this point the circulation, marketing and distribution of the whole mainstream comics industry.

Details as to the identities of the individual players in both the Roces and Marcos camps, their negotiations and power brokering that went on behind the scenes, their possible conflicts of interest, may be lost to us at this point. What is clear however, is that the Roces family were allowed to resume their magazine and komiks publishing business so long as they became partners of the government by publishing stories with a “developmental thrust”, that is, stories that did not challenge the dictatorship but instead helped disseminate its diversionary propaganda of nation building, the Green Revolution (a nationwide home grown vegetable garden program), family planning, Bliss housing program, and other ideals of Marcos’ “New Society”. Another way of putting it, the Roces komiks monopoly became part of Marcos’ “counterfeit revolution” as coined by oppositionist Ruben Canoy.

On November, 1972, the comics publishers who were able to get the much coveted six (6) month MMC certificates of authority, after military indoctrination and payment of administrative fees together with a Php 20,000.00 bond (a lot at the time), were Mars Ravelo’s RAR publications, G. Miranda and Sons (together with its sister company Mapalad Publishing Corporation) and Don Ramon’s comics companies such as Atlas (formerly PKI), GASI, Affiliated, and a revived ACE Publications. Don Ramon’s comics titles cover dated, November, 1972 to April, 1973, in fact, printed on its covers the MMC Certificate numbers to show compliance with the law. Confiscation and military arrest would result if these MMC Certificate numbers were not found in many local magazine at the time. Don Ramon’s flagship vernacular magazine “LIWAYWAY” which contained komiks serials, also came back to the stands in November, 1972. Liwayway’s November to December, 1972 issues contained serialized articles such as “Demokrasya: Rebolusyon ng Ating Panahon” purportedly written by Marcos (actually Adrian Cristobal) that espoused the necessity and achievements of the “New Society”. Similar articles appeared in many of Don Ramon’s komiks titles at the time.

The supply of paper was also managed by the military as part of its control measures in limiting the dissemination of anti-Marcos propaganda. This initially affected the circulation of the comics, but not Don Ramon’s publications which, with four comics companies in tow, still published majority of the country's mainstream comics titles in the industry. Not only this, but Don Ramon was STILL the lone distributor of ALL mainstream local comics—including that of his competitors-- in the entire country. Don Ramon practically controlled, if not owned, the mainstream comics industry. With most of the mainstream comics publishing houses now gone, Don Ramon had a huge sandbox to play in.

The Roces family were fortunate. At the time, not only did they still have their distribution network but most importantly, they still had the money and political connections to survive the crony-led business take-over of martial law. Other comics publishers at the time, particularly the bomba sex komiks companies, were not as fortunate. Lacking the money and political contacts to get the much sought government permit to operate, most of them were arrested and forced to close shop.

1960s “legitimate” comics publishers such as the Philippine Book Company (owned by E. Enriquez) and Bookman (owned by C. Picache), two family owned companies, ceased the comics publication business and shifted their focus on general printing services, school textbook publication and book importation. Other comics publications stopped operating totally. Among them, the writer’s cooperative from Malabon, Goldstar Publications, headed by publisher Ner Siongco, followed by Filemon Campaner’s Pioneer Publications, Amado Araneta’s Makabayan Publications, J. Pinili’s PR Publications, D. Benipayo’s Benipayo Press, and finally by a now splinter owned CRAF Publications including that of Nestor Redondo’s “Ares Publications”. Others such as Luis Reyes’ Viratas Publications tried to prod on with religious “fotonovels” but this too did not last long. The unwanted bureaucratic red tape, unwarranted government censorship, and the concomitant bribery that usually accompanied the issuance of the MMC certificate, was apparently too much for these comics publishers to bear.

How Mars Ravelo and G. Miranda were able to get their respective MMC Certificates is still not known. Details of their maneuverings are still lost as of this writing. One could only but speculate, reasonably at best, that Ravelo rode on the connections of the Roceses who were still cordial with him considering that Ravelo would occasionally write for the Roceses’ komiks companies oftimes employing ghost writers to get the job done. But perhaps one could reasonably assume that these few remaining companies were allowed to operate in order to cushion the large unemployment of artists and workers that ensued in the local comics industry.

Their futures and careers drastically put into a crossroads, local comics illustrators and writers were at a loss. Many wanted to leave the country. Their sources of income were now being limited in an ever-shrinking industry slowly being bereft of independent-minded publisher players. As overkill, some komiks collectors even suffered the indecency of having their collections raided and confiscated by the military on orders of First Lady Imelda Marcos, on pretext that they were a national resource better kept for posterity by the government.

In 1973, less than a year after the declaration of martial law, PSG Publications owner, Pablo S. Gomez, was compelled by the prevailing media climate to sell the rights to his two bestselling komiks titles: “United Komiks” and “Universal Komiks” to Don Ramon’s newly formed Affiliated Publications, Inc. Gomez would later devote all his time to the other mainstream media of movies and television. Compounded by plummeting sales, publisher Beatriz Guballa (a.k.a. Doña Bating) also decided in 1974, to sell her flagship vernacular magazine “Bulaklak” to Mars Ravelo who later renamed it “Bulaklak at Paru-Paro” later shortened back to “Bulaklak” now morphed into a movie magazine sans its komiks serial features.

In order for commercial life and foreign monetary aid to continue pouring in, it was important for the dictatorship to present to both the Filipino public and the international press that the country was not another banana republic undergoing a social and institutional breakdown. Comics, particularly Don Ramon’s mainstream comics, were used to help propagate this spin by “entertaining” and placating an inquisitive public; re-directing their attention to the sedate, harmless and wholesome comics stories of melodramatic fantasies and self-contained domestic conflict that did not glorify or sensationalize graphic sex, violence, crime and most important of all, did not criticize the ongoing political, social, and economic purge being done right under their nose. In short, the mainstream comics of this period did not contain any hint of critical, seditious or rebellious content against the Marcos government. And for the first six months from November, 1972 to April, 1973, the spin was apparently working.

When it was time to renew their individual MMC certificates however, Marcos issued on May 11, 1973, Presidential Decree No. 191 abolishing the MMC replacing it with the Media Advisory Council or MAC. Unlike the MMC, the MAC was now headed by non-government officials in that its chairman was the President of the National Press Club (actually Marcos’ Executive Secretary Primitivo Mijares at that time, who later turned against the dictatorship by testifying before the U.S. Senate) and a civic leader/Presidential appointee.

The MAC still accepted applications for certificates of authority which were to be signed by Marcos. Its inception was to convey the public impression that the government was in the process of gradually handing back control of the mass media back to private hands. Private hands however, who showed willingness to “self-regulate” and “self-censor” their ranks under supervision of the government. Fortunately, Don Ramon was no stranger to self-censorship and self-regulation.

As early as November, 1972, the same month P.D. No. 36 was issued creating the MMC, Don Ramon called on the remaining mainstream comics publishers to re-form into a new self-regulating body, the Kapisanan ng mga Publisista at mga Patnugot ng mga Komiks-Magasin sa Pilipino or KPPKP, who not surprisingly, re-adopted the old APEPCOM Code but broadened its terms to include guidelines that were not subversive to the government. On that same month, the MMC certificates were issued to KPPKP comics publisher members. What followed was another sensitization of Philippine comics. As recounted by Dra. Soledad Reyes in her article appearing in the 1984 edition of “A History of Komiks of the Philippines and other countries”:

“When Martial law was declared on September 21, 1972, a total ban on mass media was enforced. The komiks-magazines were allowed to resume publication after the industry had prepared a new code which specified, among others, that no government official or military personnel would be depicted as corrupt, that respect for the law should always be maintained, that no explicit sex scenes may be shown, and that stories about criminals and criminality be minimized. Stories dealing with poverty and social unrest disappeared. What took their place were tales revolving around domestic situations, or stories used to propagate values and beliefs deemed worthwhile by the government. The world of the komiks had suddenly acquired a new sheen—it had become unbelievably antiseptic and wholesome.

The long wished for recognition that the komiks industry had desired was finally given; the komiks was to work hand in hand with some government agencies in developmental projects such as the Green Revolution and family planning programs. Stories which incorporated values such as the need to limit the number of children in the family, the need for people in the provinces to stay put there and not join the exodus to the cities were published periodically. Also included were articles dealing with the nature and organization of government agencies such as the Social Security System, Government Service Insurance System, Nutrition Center, to name a few.” (Soledad S. Reyes, “Romance and Realism in the Komiks” from “A History of Philippiine Komiks, Ibid., p. 50)

A similar observation was made in 1974 by the late Fr. Ben Carreon, in one of his magazine articles:

“Picture magazines that once looked like advanced courses in pornography have gotten out of their sleazy, slinky cocoon. Today, thanks to the new guidelines in Mass Media, the Filipino comics is reaching out into the area of respectability.

And because of its new thrust—where once the storyline was almost like a receding hairline and ingeniously contrived fantasies--- it is now pushing into regions of readership.

It used to be that anyone with a sleek concept of sexuality, meaning the fat slob or the slender slut who’s willing to out-nude Eve and outpose Marilyn Monroe gets the full page.

Now, the comics pages are really for laughs and for heroic exploits as well as for the amusing family story that brings out the old time Filipino virtues.

I’m not saying that this is true of all comics and movie magazines. Some of them are still stuck in the mire of mediocrity. But at least, the out-and-out appeal of the libido is out.

Now parents need not worry when their kids sneak out behind the garage and read those magazines. In fact, they need not sneak out anymore. Mam probably will enjoy stories like “Butsukoy, the Wonder Boy”, and Papa will appreciate “Kingpin” if he’s a sports fan.

Xxx xxx xxx

Think of our Malay-Western mix in education. Why, we’ve one of the richest histories in the world. That’s why we should be rich in fantasy. So the Filipino comics, in spite of difficulties in adjustment to the new thinking and high cost of printing is in the throes of progress.” (From: Home-Life The Philippines Family Magazine, Vol. 22, No. 2, February 1974)

Once more, this new KPPKP Comics Code became a self-regulating, industry-wide editorial edict that codified how local comics should look and appear in the market. No room was given for alternative self-expression. There was rather, a re-imposed general sameness that prevailed in the comics being published by Don Ramon, Mars Ravelo, G.M. Miranda and by later publishers. A few works would occasionally attempt to stray but are chastised early on or otherwise left to their own devices, inundated by the flood of regulated/commercialized comics flooding the market. All had to observe a biased and sterilizing Code.

In November 9, 1974, the MAC was again abolished and replaced by another regulatory body with a new appellation but still having the same duties and functions: the Philippine Council for Print Media (PCPM). Criticism however, hounded the PCPM in that its membership were mostly crony Marcos publishers with no representatives from advertisers and other workers from the print media. The PCPM members were: General Hans Menzi of the Bulletin Today, Kerima Polotan-Tuvera of Focus Philippines, Juan Perez of Philippine Daily Express, and Rosario Olivares of the Times Journal. All four were also interlocking officers of the Publishers Association of the Philippines (PAPI). A conflict of interest was thus apparent. How could such an evidently biased body possibly supervise and regulate any wrongdoing committed by publisher-members of PAPI? At any rate, the KPPKP fell under the aegis of the PCPM whose objective was to develop the KPPKP as a trusted, self-regulating and self-governing body of the local komiks medium. As before, one had to secure or renew the requisite permit in order to publish komiks as well as deposit cash bonds to answer for any violation of the KPPKP Code.

Yet, despite all these layers of media control the so-called evils that it sought to suppress came to fore. Why? Because the whole system was counterfeit. The media oligarchs of the 1960s were now replaced by an even fewer, privileged gang of Marcos cronies. This was the anomaly of control.

“Columnist Teodoro F. Valencia was more scathing in his criticisms. He said the PCPM was used by the lords of print media in the creation of “an insipid press but a very prosperous one.” As he explained, “advertisements and commercial blurbs still dominate the pages of newspapers in spite of admonitions to conserve energy…In place of the society page, what do we find today? Imported sex articles in all shades of pornography in print, and endless nonsense about coming movie productions, gossip about movie stars and starlets, and worse, undisguised image-building stories about motion picture characters.” (Source: Rosalinda Pineda-Ofreneo, “The Press under Martial Law”, article from the book “Philippine Mass Media: A Book of Readings” edited by Clodualdo Del Mundo, Jr., CFA Publications, 1986 ed.)

Worse, Valencia accused the PCPM of persecuting the small fry in order to monopolize the take:

“The most glaring example of the monopolistic attitude of the lords of print media was the suppression of GINOO, a monthly for men that featured semi-nudes and provocative poses of women in varying styles of undress. One had expected that with the suppression of GINOO, the press would rule out cheesecake. The contrary was what happened. The front pages of the major newspaper run by the principal officers of the Print Media Council blossomed with the very pictures they censored in GINOO. What the small fry could not do was all right by the bosses of the print media.” (Source: Rosalinda Pineda-Ofreneo, “The Press under Martial Law”, article from the book “Philippine Mass Media: A Book of Readings” edited by Clodualdo Del Mundo, Jr., Ibid.)

The above account was not only true with newspapers but with all other media controlled at the time by Marcos and his cronies, i.e., television, radio, movies, magazines and yes, even the komiks of the Roceses, particularly the local komiks movie gossip magasins.

With the PCPM hovering above the Roces-controlled KPPKP from 1974 to 1981, state control over the local komiks media through the Roces monopoly, was secured. The big four (4) comics publishing companies during martial law were all owned by the Roceses: Atlas, Affiliated, Ace and Graphic Arts and Services, Inc. (GASI). These four companies had a “captive readership” of low-income Filipinos who had no choice but to read their titles in the millions of copies every week during martial law.

III.

Again dominating the comics market, once more being the sole player in a humongous sand box, one would think that some improvement in the quality of the comics ensued after more than two (2) decades of industry dominance since 1947. The reverse was unfortunately the case. As observed by then reporter now Manila Times editor, Danny Mariano, in his 1978 TV Times article:

“The plots, settings and characters of komiks-magasins nobelas strive to depict what are easily identifiable in the Philippine milieu. Some critics however, point out that the theme of many of these nobelas recall those of metrical romances, which in the Spanish colonial era formed the basis of traditional literature.” (Source: Danny Mariano, “In the Name of the Masses”, TV Times magazine article, September 10-16, 1978 issue)

This meant that local comics on the whole, as dominated by the Roceses, still employed what had gone before, which is the extension and repackaging into comics format of Spanish colonial era, traditional type literature by way of melodrama and conservatism. And because the monopoly had again no serious competitor on the market, it had no incentive to be original or innovative, contenting itself with self-contained domestic dramas, mediocre swipes, rip-offs, and weak spoofs of icons from other foreign pop cultures. As again observed by Danny Mariano in his 1978 article:

“Nowadays, the escapades of such crimebusters as Tom Cat, Palos, Alakdang Gubat and secret agent DI Trece have been substituted for the gallant adventures of medieval prince-lings and knight errants (Prinsipe Amante, Carlomango, Prinsesang Kalapati, Dose Pares de Francia and Siete Infantes de Lara). They also point out the absurd discrepancy of Pinoy Koboys, bandidos and other soldiers of fortune (Mercenario) continue with borrowings from other concepts. Other komiks-magasin characters are obviously borrowed from Graeco-Roman mythology such as Darko, the dark-skinned centaur, Petrang Kabayo, the blonde female centaur, the mermaids Dyesebel and Kleng-kleng, the Medusa-like monsters Valentina and Zuma and Harimanok, half-man, half-cock. Others have been plucked from the cosmos of American pop-phantasia and given ample doses of Filipino idiosyncracies: Captain Barbell, Captain Universe, Kapteyn Batuten and Bad Man and Rodin (whose names and exploits ring of Captain America and the Dynamic Duo), Andres Corsiz, the sci-fi man with the mechanical heart (shades of Steve Austin) and the Hands, a pair of amputated arms which can think, see, move about and even attack wrongdoers.” (Source: Danny Mariano, “In the Name of the Masses”, TV Times magazine article, ibid.)

In short, the look and style of the Spanish colonial era zarzuela and comedia form of folk storytelling were again “modernized” to fit the times. Melodrama, the essence and substance of these storytelling forms however, remained constant.

“But melodrama above all, is the grist of the komiks-magasin mill. Komiks-nobelas of this type almost inevitably deal on poverty and portray characters, who despite the muck that surrounds them attain noble proportions. The lovable street urchin who remains wholesome amid a cruel world of unloving adults. The martyr-parent (usually a mother) who does not hesitate to go down on her hands and knees in menial tasks to support a child’s (usually an ungrateful prodigal son) education. The dalagang ina who allows herself to suffer a fate worse than death in order to support a fatherless child. The battered wife who silently agonizes through the maltreatment of a villainous husband (usually an alcoholic gambler). Variations on the Romeo-Juliet theme (a probinsiyana whose love affair with a rich Manila boy is doomed from the start or the chauffeur whose devotion to his senyora is unrequited, etc. etc.).” (Source: Danny Mariano, “In the Name of the Masses”, TV Times magazine article, ibid.)

More than anything, melodrama is what characterized local mainstream comics since the late 1940s when the industry began, up to the closure of Atlas’ comics publishing operations in 2006 (and revived last September, 2007 by the Carlo Caparas line of komiks published by Sterling Paper Products, Inc).

But what is melodrama? Why is it considered a less evolved form of dramatic writing? Lajos Egri, director of the Egri School of Writing in New York City, a prolific writer and director of plays in the United States and Europe as well as screenwriting consultant to various members of the American film industry, defines melodrama in this wise:

“Now for a word about the difference between drama and melodrama. In a melodrama the transition is faulty or entirely lacking. Conflict is overemphasized. The characters move with lightning speed from one emotional peak to another—the result of their one dimensionality. The ruthless killer, pursued by the police, suddenly stops to help a blind man cross the street. This is phony on the surface. It is unlikely that a man running for his life would even see the blind man, let alone help him. And, certainly, a ruthless killer would be more likely to shoot the blind man for getting in his way than to make friendly gestures toward him. Transition must be present to make even a three-dimensional character believable. The lack of transition produces melodrama.” (Source: Lajos Egri, “The Art of Dramatic Writing: Its Basis in the Creative Interpretation of Human Motives”, Touchstone/Simon and Schuster publisher, New York, 1960 ed.)

Another element that characterized the unchanging nature of komiks during the martial law years is its conservatism. As observed once again by Danny Mariano:

“It is significant though that the philosophical standpoints that many komiks-magasin nobelistas assume and align with conservatism. Even their depiction of the alleged “liberated woman” is portrayed through the distinctly jaundiced eye of male chauvinism. The liberated woman is actually a libertine, the direct antithesis of the Spanish-Catholic virgin cult-type. Also, any expression of youthful protest is categorically frowned upon as impious.” (Source: Danny Mariano, “In the Name of the Masses”, TV Times magazine article, op.cit.)

Melodrama and conservatism. It is interesting to note that in those periods in the media histories of American television, radio, film, books and comics, where censorship was prevalent and unwaveringly conservative, melodramatic writing prevailed. The same is true in the Philippines even to this day as shown on either extreme of the spectrum by the kind of mass-based, “traditional Filipino” comics being published by Sterling/Caparas on one side, and on the other side, the so-called modern and globalized “indie” comics that shamelessly imitate the likewise melodramatic comics writing of many U.S. and Japanese fantasy/sci-fi/superhero soap opera comics that presently dominate the reading racks of the middle to upper income class of Philippine society.

When some people derogatively refer to any creative form of writing as “comics writing” or to action/fantasy movies as “comic book movies”, chances are they most often refer to the industry-wide practice of non-offensive, wholesome, conservative, melodramatic writing characterized by sensationalized, manipulative and awkwardly contrived stories that appeal blatantly and exclusively to an uncritical or unthinking audience’s emotions.

In defense, comics publishers and creators counter that such sensationalized, manipulative writing is necessary in order to maintain regular sales. From a business and economic standpoint, the apologia seems to be justified especially in the absence of a free market where melodrama is the only kind of product being offered for sale by the monopolist. The problem however is that in reality and in the long term, an audience’s tastes and preferences evolve and mature. Consequently, there has to be freer, more refined, more intellectually satisfying and alternative comics publications that meet this need. Break that chain and you are stuck with a stunted industry. The non-monopolized comics industries of France and Japan have acknowledged this reality and are prospering.

The mainstream comics industry of the U.S. only began to realize this in the 1980s when it took steps to grant royalties and give more freedom to its comics creators thereby distancing itself slowly but surely from their conservative Comics Code. The result is a $500 million a year direct market comics industry in 1991 that later crashed in 1994 not because of the product’s maturing quality but due to the entry of comics speculators into the direct market who warped it into a comics investment scam, and in 1997 when Marvel comics tried to control the comics distribution of the direct market. This last venture resulted in the closure of many comics distributors and comics specialty stores until finally, only one single comics distributor was left standing, servicing the few, remaining comics specialty stores in North America: Diamond Distribution. Today (2008) the U.S. mainstream comics direct market still has an average annual revenue of approximately $250 million a year.

In the local comics market however, the reverse is true. On rare occasions, real problems of society would be the subject matter of komiks stories which seemingly challenge the martial law edicts of the KPPKP comics code: marital infidelity, the improvidence of Filipino husbands, drug abuse, gambling, alcoholism, prostitution, the impiety of the young, the pernicious effects of rumor-mongering, agrarian reform, agrarian unrest, urban poverty, priests and nuns resorting to violence, crime and rebellion. But as is most often the case in a controlled media where melodrama and conservatism reign, the resolution in these komiks stories usually end in unrealistic, unbelievable and unsatisfying fairy-tale like compromises and contradictions.

In this same controlled comics market dominated by a monopoly, where the readers have no real alternative choice of reading material, only the komiks of the Roceses prospered. Roces komiks were Filipino komiks and they had a "captive" readership during martial law. Just who were these captive readers? Ramon R. Marcelino, KPPKP president cites the following article that appeared in the 1978 edition of “The Illustrated Press”, the official organ of the KPPKP of which he was the writer and editor:

“From Batanes in the North to Jolo in the South, komiks-magazines are read by more Filipinos than any other printed medium.

It is not surprising. Some two million copies of 45 titles by 11 publishers are sold every week. They are dispatched by van, bus and train in Luzon and by ship and plane to Visayas and Mindanao where readers of all ages await the next installment of their favorite komiks-magasin strips.

They are farmers, farm laborers, fishermen, miners, factory and office workers, government employees, proprietors, and people of every occupation and profession including housewives and students. They are the nation’s mass elite, gainfully employed, literate and intelligent.

An accurate count of their number is difficult, but a calculation can be made based on the actual circulation figures of all the komiks-magazines. It is thus estimated and assumed that there are six readers for every copy bought. Two million copies multiplied by six readers give twelve million Filipinos who read komiks-magazines regularly.

The number is really much more if those who borrow or rent their copy are counted. They will bring the total up to sixteen million readers. Compared to the population of forty-four million, sixteen million readers represent a diffusion rate of one to four. That puts the komiks-magasin in the category of a truly mass medium.

A recent survey reveals some startling facts about the komiks-magasin reader. He is an adult, married, with a high school or college education. And he is more than not a female, which means that there are more female than male readers. This is because housewives who hold the purse and decide what to buy for the family make up 17 percent of the readership.

It is not true, then, that komiks-magazines are read only by children and teenagers. Out of every 100 readers interviewed by the survey, only 40 are 19 years of age or below; 60 are adults.

The survey also shows that they belong to the socio-economic classes that follow closely the class segmentation of the population. This is visually described by a pyramid where 4 percent are found in AB homes at the apex of the pyramid followed by C Homes and D Homes with 17 percent forming the base of the pyramid.

As to the lifestyle of komiks-magasin readers, it has been found that 54 percent rent or lease their dwelling places, 40 percent have their own homes, 79 percent have radios, 64 percent have TV sets, 47 percent have refrigerators and 13 percent own cars or jeeps.

While komiks-magasin readers are not affluent, they spend P1.7 million weekly or P88.4 million a year on komiks-magazines.” (Source: Ramon R. Marcelino, “Komiks Magasin: Scriptwriting”, published by Communication Foundation for Asia, 1980 ed.)

The above observations are concurred in by Dr. Soledad S. Reyes who, in her 1976 article appearing in Sagisag magazine, said:

“At present, there are four (4) big comics companies—Atlas, Affiliated, Ace and Graphic Arts—who publish at least 5 to 8 comics titles each. Their total circulation is estimated at about one million copies a week. Assuming that for each copy there are five readers, the actual number of readers for Filipino komiks is approximately five million Filipinos.” (Source: Soledad S. Reyes, “Ilehitimong Panitikan: Ang Komiks bilang salamin ng Buhay”, article appearing in Sagisag magazine, November-December, 1976 issue).

By 1978, the figures were a little more generous. Again, as observed by Danny Mariano in his 1978 article appearing in TV Times magazine:

“Komiks magasins have the enviable distinction of being a truly mass medium. Every week, about two million komiks-magasins bearing 44 different titles, are sold. If we assume that six people eventually get to read each copy (which some claim is still a conservative estimate), then komiks-magasins should easily have a readership of no less than 12 million.

For the 12 komiks-magasin publishing houses this means weekly sales of about Php 1.7 million, or Php 88.4 million annually.

Among the leading komiks-magasins is Pilipino Komiks, published by Atlas Publications. In 1976, Pilipino Komiks reported an average weekly circulation of 151,481; a figure that so-called legitimate, English-language magazines can only drool over. Current circulation estimates surpass the 175,000 mark, it is claimed.

Some in the komiks-magasin business insist that street sales could be much higher if newsstand owners did not prefer to rent out komiks-magasin copies, at 10 to 15 centavos per sitting. (Each copy sells for 85 centavos). But komiks-magasin publishers have little else to worry about since through three decades, their merchandise have maintained a secure hold on the grassroots.” (Source: Danny Mariano, “In the Name of the Masses”, TV Times magazine article, loc.cit.)

The big four comics publishing companies during martial law: Atlas, Affiliated, Ace and Graphic Arts were all owned by the Roceses. Of these, Graphic Arts and Services, Inc. (GASI) was probably the most profitable:

“By the end of 1978, the aggregate circulation of the company’s (GASI) publications was almost fourfold than that of yearend 1975. It was also at this time that the aggregate circulation of the company’s (GASI) publications became one of the highest in the industry. In terms of profitability, the 1978 profit of the company (GASI) increased by 400% over that of 1975. Subsequent years proved themselves as successful for every year since 1978 likewise generated substantial increase in sales and profits over the previous year. This 1984, they project to increase their sales by 20% and their profits by 25% over last year’s despite the current depressed economic conditions.” (Source: “The Birth of Philippine Komiks” anonymously written article from the book: “A History of Komiks of the Philippines and Other Countries” edited by Ramon R. Marcelino, Islas Filipinas Publishing Co., Inc., 1984 ed.)

IV.

1972 to 1981. Eight years of social conditioning, of molding a mass medium of communication into a media controlled industry. During this period, tremendous profit was reaped by the favored few who controlled and managed the entire industry. Approaching the lifting of martial law in 1981 however, the local comics monopoly now faced the probability of competing in a free market. Would the favored few relinquish their undeserved monopoly? Obviously not. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Hence, the call by the Roceses in 1981 for the continued imposition by the Marcos dictatorship of bonds on all prospective publishers intending to enter the lucrative market.

The tragedy of the whole thing is that it has been ingrained in the minds of many that only by monopolizing the comics market could the industry and their futures remain secure. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The truth being that even with the huge numbers brought in by the monopoly, this could have been much higher had a free, diverse and open market of comics publishers were competing. As a result, what we have is a stunted industry.

Consider: the sixteen million komiks readers of the Philippines circa 1970s martial law, is small fry when compared to the free and open market competition of mainstream comics publishers in Japan during the 1970s. Japan in the 1970s had an annual comics readership of 1,117 BILLION as reported in this May, 1979 news article from the Bulletin Today newspaper:

“TOKYO (Reuter) – The Japanese read more than a billion comic books a year to escape the intense pressures of their competitive, pressure cooker society. While many are read by children, hundreds of millions are read by adults, including university students, business executives, doctors and lawyers.

Xxx xxx xxx

There are five weekly comic books, two bi-monthlies and seven monthlies for boys and two weeklies, four bi-monthlies and 13 monthlies for girls. More than 100 comics are published for adults every month.

The Publications Science Research Institute, a private organization said in 1978 a total of 1,117 billion comics were published in Japan. Most of the comic book writers are said to be men and women graduates of senior and high school. One of them, Shinji Mizushima, was ranked 53^rd in last year’s list of the rich in Japan with an income of 290 million yen (1.4 million dollars)” (Source: Ikuo Anai, “Japanese read a billion comic books in one year”, reprinted in the Bulletin Today newspaper, May 9, 1979 issue).

There are similarities between the Philippine and Japanese comics industries. Both were mass-based but unlike the Roces monopolized comics of the Philippines, Japanese comics did not suffer restrictive, industry-wide censorship, was progressive in that it provided mature, literate and serious comics works as a generation of their readership aged, grew and matured, and most importantly, there were no monopolies that unduly controlled their free and very competitive comics publishing market.

There was more spontaneity and freedom in the Japanese comics market such that all parties that were involved in the industry from the center to the periphery, were constantly improving the product until a simple hobby or habit morphed through the years into what it is today: a comics reading "culture." What is even more impressive is that the population of Japan is less than that of the Philippines yet , even in the 1970s the Japanese were reading a little more than a billion manga .

Having a local comics reading culture effectively shielded the manga industry from competition by other media such television, video games, the internet and other alternative modes of entertainment. The phenomena is akin to social conditioning. Having nurtured and developed a behavioral pattern that is biased towards a particular habit, i.e., comics reading, which is essentially a shared collective experience, the Japanese comics industry is testament to the fact that even with the entry of foreign comic books or new alternative entertainment technologies, these are not enough to penetrate a culture already ingrained at the start of a very young age onto maturity. Sadly, this has not been so in the Philippine experience.

One can only but wonder what it would have been like if the Filipino comics industry were not only mass-based, but free and authentically competitive with several comics publishers having diverse and separate editorial approaches to creating comics, similar to that of Japan in the 1970s as described in the same 1979 news article:

“There are escapist erotic comics for men in which pumpkin breasted women (frequently western and often blonde) are depicted as performing amazing sexual feats. Stories in comic books for children are about soccer, and volleyball players, boxers and wrestlers, movie and pop stars, hobbies and ideal school teachers.

A typical comic book for high school and university students sells more than one million copies each week. Costing 150 yen (70 cents) it contains more than 300 pages made of 12 separate stories.

The weekly Shonen Jampu (Boys Jump) issued a special 350 yen (1.60 dollar) 602-page edition last month, aiming at children at the start of a two week school holiday. It contained 19 stories on subjects such as sports and hobbies.

One critic said boys and girls and lower echelon office and factory workers talk about comic book heroes and stories as well as sports during lunch breaks. What has changed in the Japanese comic boom which started in the 1960s, is the fact that the educated now are reading them.

A 1977 government report said 60% of university students regularly read comic books and that the number of comic books read by high school students has risen 6.5 times in the last 20 years.

A separate survey by the Japan recruit center, a private research institute, said university students read 7.6 magazines, including comic books, each month on average.

Less than one percent of university students polled said they never read a comic. A survey taken by the center two years ago found that one out of four senior high school students never read a single serious book.” (Source: Ikuo Anai, “Japanese read a billion comic books in one year”, Ibid).

What is even more tragic is that even after the paper lifting of martial law in 1981, even after the EDSA revolution of 1986, and even after the decline in sales of the Roces monopoly in 1994 accompanied by the closure of its comics companies and sale of its one last company, Atlas, to the owners of National Bookstore in 1996, no new publisher players have seriously entered the fray. Every attempt was either half-hearted or made without any real knowledge of what they were getting into. Worse, their individual failures have given the misimpression that comics publishing in this country is hopeless; that the creation of a new mainstream comics industry free of the baggage from the old industry, is wishful thinking.

To be sure, what is taking place this 2008 are birthing pains wherein on one side, we have the comics veterans of yesteryear in the Sterling/Caparas camp trying to revive the old sweatshop business practice of the Roceses, while on the other side we have the younger generation of “globalists” trying to establish their fortunes in American, Japanese and other foreign comics industries, having no real conception or appreciation for the primary creation of a local comics industry and the concomitant development of a local comics reading culture that goes along with it. Two extremes to be sure with no middle view in sight.

A lot of wasted opportunities have gone by, the habits of a prospective local audience for komiks slowly being weaned away by the entertainment cultures of alternative media now around us, and the misinformed discussions regarding the matter populating the internet, all serve but fire more unwanted pessimism.

Yet, ignorance of the future is still with us. Not knowing with certainty what the future may bring, not knowing what unexpected twists and turns destiny may hold up its hidden sleeve, is reason enough for one to hold some hope, some glimmer of optimism that all will turn out right in the end.

Today's Filipino Middle Class and that Php 50 to 100 comic book

2008-01-30T20:31:00.014+08:00

Let’s get straight to the point:

“While the Filipino middle-class shrank only a little between 1997 and 2000, there was at least a 2 percentage-point decrease in the population share of the middle-class between 2000 and 2003. The number of middle-income families actually increased from 1999 to 2000 but decreased from 2000 to 2003.

The percentage share of both the middle and high-income classes shrank between 1997 and 2000, as well as between 2000 and 2003, resulting in an expanding low-income class in Philippine society.

As of 2003, less than 1 in 100 families belongs to the high income class; about 20 are middle-income and 80 are low income. Thus, in a span of six years from 1997 to 2003, for every 100 middle-income families, three families were lost to the low-income category.” (Source: Dr. Romulo A. Virola, “Collapsing” Filipino Middle Class:Antipoverty? How about pro-middle class?” news article from the Philippine Daily Inquirer newspaper, December 16, 2007 issue, p. A14).

So its official. The above findings are from those of a respected marketing professional, Dr. Romulo A. Virola, who did an actual survey on the matter. The Filipino middle class has indeed shrunk while the lower income class increased and the size of the high income class reduced to LESS THAN one percent. This means that since year 2000 to 2003, rich upper income Filipinos had gotten poorer and pushed down to the middle or low income class, while many middle income Filipinos had also gotten poorer and pushed down the low income class. In effect, the low income class today is made up of ex-middle and ex-high income classes. The social pyramid just got a wider and fatter base. It is now 2008. The situation has not gotten any better. Since 2003, more Filipinos have left the country as OFWs and despiteall the government hype going on about an improved lifestyle for the average Filipino, the plain fact is, the quality of jobs and standard of living in the country has not improved.

However, working on the clichéd assumption that one’s poverty limits the development of one’s literacy, can one honestly say that EVERYBODY in the now enlarged lower income class are so feeble-minded, have mediocre tastes and standards, that they don’t like to read or avoid it altogether?

Before you answer, please remember that in the now enlarged lower income class there are ex-middle and high income class members included in the mix. These are Filipinos who have previously benefited from formal education in their former income class. It is thus inaccurate to make broad, sweeping generalizations claiming that today’s low income class don’t read or have the intellectual capacity to appreciate good, quality literary or artistic works.

Today’s low income “bakya” crowd is not as “bakya” and simple-minded as one would like to believe. Today’s “masa” is a totally different animal. It is a bastard. It has mixed blood. There is an obvious, if not significant, ratio within this inflated socio-economic class that still espouse the tastes and preferences of the high and middle income class. The problem however, is that there is a dearth of products in the local market that meet their economic means of purchase. Publishers, dealers and creative people still do not seem to grasp, understand or address this reality. They still cling to the old notion that this market will not appreciate artistically highfalutin’, graphic novel, “art book” level, “quality” work. Rather, they just stick to the old practice of targeting and selling thinly veiled, high-priced “bargain” books, or comicbooks, to the reduced middle to high income class who can afford them.Result: they jack up the price.

“Of course, it must be stressed that the low-income class is not necessarily poor, but this trend maybe the basis when people (the middle class?) complain that they do not feel the impact of the economic progress that the country has achieved in recent years. The good news is that the ratio of the income of the richest 30 percent to that of the poorest 30 percent and the ratio of the income of the richest 10 percent to that of the poorest 10 percent has gone down.

In addition, the Gini coefficient has improved from 0.4605 in 2003 to 0.4564 in 2006, indicating an income distribution that is getting slightly more equitable. The bad news is that the income share of the families in the fifth to the seventh deciles has gone down, meaning that the income share of some of the middle-class families has shrunk.” (Source: Dr. Romulo A. Virola, “Collapsing” Filipino Middle Class: Anitpoverty? How about pro-middle class?” news article from the Philippine Daily Inquirer newspaper, December 16, 2007 issue, p. A14).

The income share of middle-class families has shrunk. There is a marked, declining market today for recreational, leisure, and entertainment-based products for the middle class. Thinking of putting up a Php 50.00, “entertaining” local comic book for the now reduced middle class? Forget it. Its not an important part of their expense priorities. Once more, Dr. Virola:

“The middle-income class may be defined as those families who, in 2007, have total annual income ranging from P251, P283 to P2,045,280. In terms of socio-economic characteristics, the middle-income families are those who meet all of the following requirements: 1. whose housing unit is made of strong roof materials; 2. who own a house and lot; 3. who own a refrigerator; and 4. who own a radio.

On the other hand, it is good to note that the middle-income class does not seem to favor a lifestyle of conspicuous consumption. Its top expenditure items are 1. food; 2. house rent; 3. transportation and communication; 4. fuel, light and water; and 5. education. The expenditure items with the least shares are 1. nondurable furnishings; 2. alcoholoic beverages; (obviously the middle-class has no passion, despite Iza Calzado); 3. tobacco (which Lucio Tan may not like); 4. recreation; and 5. house maintenance and minor repairs.

The general population spent the most in the following expenditure items: 1. food, 46.58 percent; 2. housing and repairs, 16.80 percent; 3. transportation and communication, 7.52 percent; 4. fuel, light and water, 6.95 percent; and 5. education, 3.83 percent. The expenditure items with the least shares are 1. recreation, 0.38 percent; 2. other miscellaneous items, 1.04 percent; 3. tobacco, 1.19 percent; 4. household operations, 1.23 percent; and 5. household furnishing and equipment, 1.76 percent.”
(Source: Dr. Romulo A. Virola, “Collapsing” Filipino Middle Class: Anitpoverty? How about pro-middle class?” news article from the Philippine Daily Inquirer newspaper, December 16, 2007 issue, p. A14).

What is low-income, what does poor mean? There are three levels. Income class E is earning below Php 6,274 a month (or below Php 40.00 a day for each person in a 5 member family), income class D is earning between Php 6,274 to Php 9,100 (or a little over Php 40.00 to Php 60.00 a day for each person in a 5 member family), and income class C is earning at Php 9,100 to Php 20,000 a month (or a little over Php 60.00 to Php 133.00 a day for each person in a five member family).

In sum, the new poor, or today’s “masa” (2008), has a daily budget of Php 40.00 to Php 133.00 a day, a considerable portion of which is spent first on basic necessities such as food, shelter, clothing, water, electricity, and transportation. Do you honestly think the remaining extra change will be spent on a Php 50 to Php 100 “purely entertaining” comic book with no educational value whatsoever? How do you even begin to catch their interest, much less develop their continued patronage and “love for Filipino comics”, if your “art book” level graphic novel comic is priced from Php 50 to Php 100? You think this is cheap? Cheap for whom? Its cheap for your target middle to high income class audience whose numbers have been reduced and have a 0.38 percent expenditure for a recreational item such as a “purely entertaining”, non-educational Php 50-Php100 globalized Filipino comic book? Think again, please.

Your stories and art may be top notch. Your marketing, distribution and collection systems may be at place. But have you ever thought of the one factor that really matters at the end of the day: your customer? You know, the guy or gal who’s going to fork over some spare change for your product and keep your business going? Good stories and art will save the day? C’mon. You haven’t stepped into the ring yet, and here you are, slipping on the wet floor and hitting your head for a full K.O. It’s the price, stupid. That’s your first hurdle. This is the third world. We are not a “developing” country. We are a poor (yet happy) country. We’ve been that way since the mid-1960s when Marcos came to power. This is not America, Japan or Canada where you have a large middle class. Filipinos nowadays (even the very rich few) are price conscious. 80% to 90% of the population are poor. They look for value at a low price they can afford, that’s why flea markets, tiangges, ukay-ukays, value meals, discount coupons and tiendesitas are so popular. You want to start building an industry brick by brick? Start lifting that first heavy brick. Subdue your artist egos. Desist in your out-of-body experience as comics creators. Humble yourselves before reality. Change your lifestyles. There is so much warmth and sunshine to be had from diverse human interaction outside your internet laced artist’s studio. Don't limit your knowledge and "spider sense" within that small masonic circle of comics fans, creators and geeks. Stop polluting the internet with your homespun, kooky logic that’s usually based on bare conjecture and supposition like this one:

“There has been lots of talk that comics for the masses should be cheap, as cheap as 10-15 pesos because that is what the majority of Filipinos can afford. I disagree. If the majority of Filipinos can afford loads for their expensive cellphones, blowing peso after peso on trivial and unimportant text messages*, if they can blow hundreds of pesos a week on drink and cigarettes and pirated CDs and DVDs, they can afford a well done, well crafted 100 peso comic book. And the success of FK #1 seems to bear that out. xxx xxx xxx Let’s be honest. For every 1000 texts you make with your cellphone, how many of that, on the average, constitute messages that are truly important and essential? So important and essential that you need to carry it around 24 hours a day, allowing yourself to be contacted immediately anywhere you are at anytime?”

He may not realize it but this is precisely the argument why Filipino comics should be ideally priced within the “cheap” Php 10-15 range or below Php 50.00. Do you think majority of lower income Filipinos will blow peso after peso on trivial and unimportant text messages, drinks, cigarettes, pirated CDs and DVDs, day after day, week after week, if these were priced at an expensive Php 50 to 100 PER TEXT? Per softdrink bottle? Per cigarette? Per pirated dvd/cd with only one film? Of course not.

But let’s reverse the situation. Suppose ONLY Filipino comics were being sold at Php 50-100 cover price while text messages, drinks, cigarettes and pirated vcds and dvds are at a price that is less than Php 50-100 (which is actual fact by the way). What do you think your low income mass audience would prefer? The Php 50-100 Filipino comic? C’mon. Admittedly, the "12 in 1" pirated dvds and vcds are at Php 60 and Php 50 respectively in some upper income areas of urban Metro Manila (and in other few urban cities of the Philippines). But in the provincial areas where majority of lower income Filipinos live, they are at prices below Php 50 and can even be haggled lower at point of sale.

Since the 1990s, there have been locally produced "globalized Filipino" and foreign reprint comics priced from Php 75 to Php 100. Unfotunately, to this day, this sector is still stunted in the small-scale, cottage industry level. Why? Because this marginalized sector of "globalists" essentially cater to small (and shrinking) upper and middle income class market.

Let’s be honest. Majority of lower income Filipinos don’t even own expensive celfones. Most of them are second hand and are affordably priced within their budgetary means. True, taken individually, most of these text messages are trivial and unimportant much like the comics being produced nowadays by that Komikero and other so-called “indies” like him, BUT the paradox is that because these commodities are priced low and trivial, they have become a habit and considered invaluable to a great many Filipinos. The law of ubiquity.

Granted, most of the text messages are trivial and unimportant, but trivial and unimportant TO WHOM? For the lowly guy or gal sending and receiving these messages? Their messages may be trivial and unimportant to others but certainly not to the individual senders. So, its really not an argument whether the messages being sent are trivial or not. It’s a subjective and relative point that’s not even persuasive.

Not even his single most precious example of Filipino Komiks No. 1, priced at Php 100 can convince many of us to think otherwise. Where’s the specific hard evidence to support his bare contention other than the usual hearsay that we’re getting? There is none.

Remember the law of ubiquity: “it is in the distinct self-interest of the affluent to find ways of extending the new systems to include, rather than exclude, the less affluent.” Again, Alvin Toffler:

“The same proved true, as we’ve seen, in the early development of postal services. The industrial economy needed a way to send bills to, or advertise to, or sell newspapers and magazines to everyone, not just the rich. And today, once more, as fax machines begin to replace the industrial-era post office, similar pressures are accelerating the spread of the new technology.

There were 2.5 million fax machines in the United States in 1989, churning out billions of pages of faxed documents per early users were importuning friends, customers, clients, and family to buy a fax quickly, so that the early users could speed messages to them. The more faxes out there, the greater the value of the system to all concerned.” (Source: Alvin Toffler, “Power Shift: Knowledge, Wealth and Violence at the edge of the 21st Century,” Bantam Books, 1991 ed.)

Applying the above law of behavior science to comics publishing, given that 80 to 90 percent of Filipinos are low income “masa,” and you want even just a small portion of that to patronize your “well done, well crafted P100 peso comic book,” how can you even hope to do this when just from the price itself, you are already excluding them from the experience? You think in the long-run they’ll eventually change their minds and start gobbling up your P100 comic book? You honestly think they’ll do that with all the other alternative forms of entertainment around that are a lot cheaper?

But hey, this is all just “talk” anyway, right? Let’s see the market decide then. Let’s have reality be the judge. Go ahead. We’ll be sitting here munching our popcorn while you guys do another “sold-out Filipino Komiks No.1.” Good luck to all of you and hope the comedy show is a success.

It always is.

A Tale of 2 Pinoy Comic Books on Christmas Day

2007-12-25T09:29:00.000+08:00

On Christmas eve, a perfectly preserved, mint-copy and rare issue of a 1950 Filipino comic titled HIYAS with a price tag of Five Thousand Pesos was magically brought to life. It slipped past the glass case where it was kept, and roamed around the room admiring the high prices of other comics collections kept inside protective wrappers, tacked to the wall and displayed in other glass cases. The mint-copy HIYAS was proud that it was in such an elite and illustrious company.

As it looked to the side however, it noticed a big wooden chest. Assuming that it too housed rare and perfectly preserved Filipino comics, the mint-copy HIYAS jumped down and lifted the chest’s lid. What it found came as a surprise.

Piles of worn-out, partly torn and creased copies of rare, old Filipino comics of the 1940s to 1960s with a price tag of Twenty Five to Thirty Centavos printed on their covers, were laid on top of the other. They were the same issues as those displayed in the collection room. The mint-condition HIYAS could not believe that someone would treat these copies in such an uncaring and callous manner.

Gently, it examined each one until it came upon a damaged copy that looked exactly like it. This damaged HIYAS copy had rounded and folded edges, its cover and pages were creased and yellowing with age, its spine was covered by scotch tape because it was missing a staple, and it had one or two inside pages that were water damaged.

As the mint-copy HIYAS tried to gently lift it up away from the pile, it too, magically came to life. “What are you doing? Who are you?”, the damaged HIYAS copy asked. The mint-condition HIYAS copy was taken aback but quickly regained its composure and said: “We are copies of the same issue. You’ve been terribly mistreated and I’m here to help you.”

“Oh?”, asked the worn-out copy. “How is that, exactly?”

“The heat inside the chest is activating the acid in your pages. You’re disintegrating already. Pretty soon, you’ll be turned to powder. There are protective wrappers inside this room. We could put you and the others inside to delay the process. You will be preserved for generations to come and live longer.”

But the worn-out HIYAS shook its head, “No one would be able to read me then and enjoy my stories.”

“In that worn-out condition?” scoffed the mint-copy HIYAS.

“You’d be surprised. The owner, his friends and family often drop by just to read and check us out; reliving their “good old days”. We’ve been passed around through the years, others in here have been rolled up as fly swatters, used as table mats, and as cover for the rain.”

“I’ll bet some of you had pages that were torn and used as toilet paper, fish wrapper or as implements to help fire up wood on a burning stove somewhere.”

“AFTER we’ve been read,” corrected the worn-out HIYAS, “AFTER we’ve been passed around to so many hands and given readers a few minutes or hours of feeling good. No one lives forever, you know. What they do to us later is of no moment because they’ll be coming back for more and others will be taking our place. It’s the experience and goodwill flowing from all this repeated activity that counts, not the object itself.”

Now it was the mint-copy HIYAS’ turn to shake its head, “You’re gluttons for punishment. You’re willing to be abused and disposed of, just so you could give many insensitive, unappreciative casual readers a few minutes of happiness and camaraderie? That’s what you’re saying? Comics are NOT disposable. They’re ART BOOKS supposed to be read only by a few, select, careful hands; collectors’ hands.”

“Well, its our reason for living. Its our purpose in life. What’s yours, anyway?”

Just then, the room’s door opened and human voices could be heard approaching. The worn-out HIYAS copy quickly dove back into the pile and stayed still. The mint-copy HIYAS meanwhile jumped out, closed the lid on the chest and ran back towards the glass case. It slipped back the case, resumed its previous position and stood still.

From its position behind the glass case mounted on the top corner of the room, it could see from above the door open. In came their master, the 68-year old comics collector and owner, Gerardo, together with group of seven male and female teenagers, who were all his nephews and nieces.

As the teenagers looked around the room, they were visibly awestruck at the sight of printed nostalgia laid before them. They were particularly impressed by the high prices marked on each of the copies. Not being comics enthusiasts, they could not believe that such items could fetch astronomical prices, and that only a few, like-minded, rich people like their Uncle Gerardo, could afford them.

But their admiration quickly turned to frustration as they could not open, much less examine, the insides of these rare, and valuable Filipino comics sealed within protective wrappers and locked inside glass cases. Sensing this, Uncle Gerardo took out the big, wooden chest and called them to gather round. As he flung open the chest’s lid showing off the damaged and worn-out copies, everyone was laughing, hemming and hawing as they actually touched a copy and opened its pages, perusing each one.

It did not matter that the copies were worn-out, their pages missing, or some scotch tape plastered over torn edges. The important thing was for them to actually see, touch, and even smell what was inside these rare, printed comic books. Pretty soon, copies were changing hands as Uncle Gerardo spun stories of bygone days relating to them the stories he read, the great comics artists of his era, anecdotes and recollections of his life richly lived, and of his passion for the medium.

The group was so animated and involved in their discussion that sometimes the worn-out copies were being rolled up and slapped around while emphasizing a joke. This at first appalled the mint-copy HIYAS who was observing the proceedings, but then was dumbfounded when he saw the owner, Gerardo, actually doing it himself. All were obviously having a merry and wonderful time until they were called to come down and have dinner.

Reluctantly, Uncle Gerardo’s young guests obeyed but not without being allowed to take out several of the worn-out and damaged copies. When the door was locked behind them and silence once more filled the room, the mint-copy HIYAS began to reflect as it stood still behind the glass case.

"When was the last time I was actually opened and read?", it tried to remember. “In all these years that I’ve been locked and preserved, I’ve never been touched by anyone. Is this how its supposed to be?” It then fell silent, its thoughts wandering and reflecting until it realized that its being magically alive may not last long either. This gift of life may only be fleeting and momentary as is with Christmas with each passing year. He is not even sure if coming to life will happen again. Surely, there must be a reason for all this. But what? What must it do? Why did it come to life on this particular day? What was its purpose for being?

For hours, the mint-copy HIYAS kept looking down at the wooden chest thinking of all the worn-out copies inside and the kind of life they led. Voices can then be heard at the other end of the door. There was music, and people were singing Christmas songs, laughing and giggling.

The mint-copy HIYAS thought for a moment. Finally, it took a deep breath, slipped out of the glass case and ran back towards the wooden chest. It opened the lid and peeked inside. “Sure hope you guys have room for one more,” it joked. The worn-out and damaged copies looked up, smiled back, and waved at it to jump aboard.

It did.

Romanticizing Martial Law

2007-12-10T10:03:00.000+08:00

Though media censorship was prevalent during martial law in the 1970s, one always seems to imagine that this decade produced MANY critically acclaimed Filipino movies. Some even go so far as to dubiously claim that the number of such films is an indicator of just how many the more creative and logically written Filipino komiks were made at the time. Former Media Specialist of Imelda Marcos' public relations office and part-time komiks writer and illustrator of the 1970s, Jo Mari Lee, wistfully shares that view:

“Komiks and Tagalog movies were linked since time immemorial, and the Tagalog movies are the best gauge on how good or bad the komiks were in that decade. The 1970s were the best years of the Tagalog movies, and I dare say that, that decade was also the best times in komiks in terms of more logical and creative writing.” (Source: Jose Mari Lee, “A Komiks Sojourn During the Martial Law Years”, from the book: Komiks sa Paningin ng mga Tagakomiks collected and researched by Fermin Salvador and Randy Valiente, Central Book Supply, 2007)

Nothing could be farther from the truth.

In his 1986 article appearing in Clodualdo Del Mundo, Jr.’s “Philippine Mass Media: A Book of Readings”, Film director and Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino movie critic, Pio De Castro III, gives a more factual assessment of the Filipino movie industry of the 70s recalling that out of 156 movies produced every year, only 5 or 6 films were excellent:

“Metro Manila produces an average of 156 movies a year to fill its 81 first-class theaters—which means that some 13 movies are produced every month, or approximately three new movies are shown every week when the theaters change their schedules. Out of the 156 movies produced every year, only five or six reach an acceptable standard of excellence—which means that only 3% of the movies produced every year is worthy of note.” (Emphasis Mine) .“(Source: Pio de Castro III, “Philippine Cinema (1976-1978)”, from the book: “Philippine Mass Media: A Book of Readings” edited by Clodualdo Del Mundo, Jr., Communication Foundation for Asia, 1986).

He continues by giving concrete examples:

“In 1976, only five movies won critical acclaim: Eddie Romero’s GANITO KAMI NOON…PAANO KAYO NGAYON?, Lino Brocka’s INSIANG, Mike De Leon’s ITIM, Lupita Concio’s MINSA’Y ISANG GAMU-GAMO, and Ishmael Bernal’s NUNAL SA TUBIG.

In 1977, only six movies won critical acclaim: Ishmael Bernal’s DALAWANG PUGAD…ISANG IBON, Robert Arevalo’s HUBAD NA BAYANI, Mike De Leon’s KUNG MANGARAP KA’T MAGISING, Lino Brocka’s TAHAN NA EMPOY, TAHAN, Celso Ad Castillo’s BURLESK QUEEN, and Eddie Romero’s BANTA NG KAHAPON.“(Source: Pio de Castro III, “Philippine Cinema (1976-1978)”, from the book: “Philippine Mass Media: A Book of Readings” edited by Clodualdo Del Mundo, Jr., Ibid.).

Fellow Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino film critic, Mario Hernando, continues by giving more concrete examples:

“In 1978, Celso Ad Castillo followed up his relatively low budget drama BURLESK QUEEN with an ambitious romantic and social drama, PAGPUTI NG UWAK, PAG-ITIM NG TAGAK, both starring Vilma Santos. The movie was named by the critics’ group as best picture of the year. The Manunuri also named Bernal’s IKAW AY AKIN and Danny Zialcita’s HINDI SA IYO ANG MUNDO, BABY PORCUNA, as among the year’s best. The other films worthy of mention for 1978 were Bernal’s ISANG GABI SA IYO, ISANG GABI SA AKIN, Brocka’s RUBIA SERVIOS, Eddie Garcia’s ATSAY, and Romy Suzara’s BOY PANA.

In 1979, the year of JAGUAR, Brocka did two other melodramas that deal with family feuds—INA, KAPATID, ANAK…and INA KA NG ANAK MO…both films were box office disappointments but the performances by the cast earned critical acclaim, nominations, and awards. (Source: Mario A. Hernando, “Against All Odds: The Story of the Filipino Film Industry (1978-1982)”, from the book: “Philippine Mass Media: A Book of Readings” edited by Clodualdo Del Mundo, Jr., Communication Foundation for Asia, 1986).

Other notable films of 1979 were Bernal’s BAKIT MAY PAG-IBIG PA? ALIW, and SALAWAHAN, Maryo J. Delos Reyes, HIGH SCHOOL CIRCA ’65, GABUN and Celso Ad Castillo’s ALIW-IW and ANG ALAMAT NI JULIAN MAKABAYAN.

If the number of critically acclaimed 70s Tagalog films determines, and is the best gauge, of the number of Tagalog komiks that were “creatively and logically written”, then from the very few quality Filipino comics works enumerated by Jo Mari Lee, i.e., TUBOG SA GINTO, OO, AKO'Y LALAKI, ANGELA MARKADO, MGA IYAKING PARU-PARO, BRUNA BANGENGAK, AZTEC and TANIKALA, it follows that only a select FEW Tagalog komiks were creatively and logically written during martial law. There is even no showing that the aforementioned number of quality Filipino films were adapted from Komiks stories or that any of the few "serious komiks works" cited by Jo Mari Lee were made into critically praised films of the period. On other hand, if what is meant is that there were many Tagalog komiks works that were made into Tagalog movies during martial law, and that this mere fact of moviemaking morphed the product into a "serious komiks work" many fail to see the connection. You mean, if one just writes a komiks script and its turned into a Tagalog film, its already a "SERIOUS komiks work"?

Pio de Castro III, gives a more credible evaluation of the state of the Filipino movie industry during that repressive era in Philippine history:

"In the last two years, a stench of commercialism has engulfed the moviehouses in Metro Manila, leaving film enthusiasts gasping for breath. Government taxes have not eased up, the prices of raw stocks have gone up, the salaries of movie stars have shot up astronomically (in Lino Brocka’s ANG TATAY KONG NANAY, the combined salaries of Dolphy and Nino Muhlach totaled one million and two hundred pesos), the Interim Board of Censors uses a maddeningly arbitrary code of standards for censoring movie titles, storylines, treatments and scenes of sex and violence in finished movies. Scenes of nudity and excessive violence in American and European movies are allowed to be shown to the public, but equivalent scenes in Pilipino movies are drastically cut.

xxx xxx xxx

These are the reigning formulas. Due to a cultural clean-up as fostered by the administration after the declaration of Martial Law, the Filipino western—a cultural anomaly for a long time—has been abolished. The full-length musical and the war picture have not been in vogue due to expensive production costs. Budget consciousness has also eliminated the fantasy and the horror genre which involves trick photography, costumes, special effects, long shooting schedules, and optical effects in the laboratory. The whodunit genre was never in vogue in local cinema due to its need for an elaborately-plotted screenplay requiring wit and sophistication which the quickie scriptwriter lacks.

Filipino producers are in search for the quick buck. They are not interested in improving the quality of Philippine movies. They will always opt for the formula plot rather than gamble on an original screenplay. The quest for technical excellence is ignored completely. One evidence is disparity in the salaries of superstars and artists, and film technicians like directors, scriptwriters, cameramen, editors, production designers and musical directors. There is no concern for film as art. There is no attempt to standardize film techniques. Producers have no ambition to produce films of quality which will call international attention to Filipino films. Yes, there is a dream to break into the foreign market, but this dream is a fantasy because they want to break into the foreign market without working their backs off in improving the technical quality of their films.” (Source: Pio de Castro III, “Philippine Cinema (1976-1978)”, from the book: “Philippine Mass Media: A Book of Readings” edited by Clodualdo Del Mundo, Jr., Communication Foundation for Asia, 1986).

Clearly then, if we are to properly substantiate the claim that most, if not all, 1970s komiks stories during martial law were more creative and logically written, we cannot, with much regret, subscribe to the bare proposition and ill-conceived syllogism put forth by Mr. Lee. To repeat, Jo Mari Lee in his same article, only gives (in his personal opinion) seven (7) alleged “serious komiks works” that were created during the martial law decade, i.e., TUBOG SA GINTO, OO, AKO’Y LALAKI, ANGELA MARKADO, MGA IYAKING PARU-PARO, BRUNA BANGENGAK, AZTEC and TANIKALA. Yet, he continues to opine that these bare seven (7) are already MANY. Recall that in 1978, it was hypothesized that about 2 million commercially produced komiks magazines bore FORTY FOUR (44) different titles. (Source: Danny Mariano, “In the Name of the Masses”, article appearing in TV Times Magazine, September 10-16, 1978 issue).

As to the number and identity of the serialized komiks stories within these forty four komiks titles, we do not know. The same remains a mystery to this day. There has thus far been no scholarly or objective tally as to the number of “serious komiks works” within these forty four komiks titles properly evaluated by qualified and reputable literary critics to support Mr. Lee’s rather dubious proposition. Them’s the cold, hard facts, Jack.

Indeed, how in heck can one expect to have varied, diverse, competing and thriving “artistic” activity during martial law when in the first place, media freedom was repressed and controlled by a select, elite few? Only seven (7) “serious comics works” during martial law? How privileged. What about the rest that were not given the chance and opportunity to see the light of day? And people are so blissfully nostalgic as to make an imaginative sojourn back into this dark era and pine: “What’s really funny about the martial law years, was that, despite the constriction by the censors, many new ideas emerged. That’s why I consider the 70s the milestone in Philippine komiks. It was on this decade that many serious komiks works were created.” Yet, no voluminous catalog of these so-called “serious komiks works” is presented.

The mainstream comics industry of the martial law era was not only dominated by a resuscitated monopoly of the Roceses, but also mind-controlled by a modified comics code that was broadened to “make the komiks-magasin industry a more effective partner of government in the national developmental effort.” Where is the independent artistic creativity, the logic, the diversity and plurality of "serious comics works" that could possibly flourish from such a scenario? None. (Source: “Self-Censorship in Philippine Komiks”, anonymously written article appearing in the book: “A History of Komiks of the Philippines and other countries” by Cynthia Roxas, et. al., Islas Filipinas Publishing Co., Inc., 1984 ed.)

To make matters even worse, the self-censoring body of the mainstream comics industry during martial law was again dominated by personages from Don Ramon’s group or “family” of comics companies now calling themselves: the Kapisanan ng mga Publisista at mga Patnugot ng mga Komiks-magasin sa Pilipino (KPPKP) which was really a reformed APEPCOM, the former Roces and Catholic church dominated, self-censoring body of local comics from 1955 to 1972. The KPPKP administered the revised KPPKP comics code under strict watch of the Marcos conjugal dictatorship.

In other politically and economically repressed societies of the world in the 1970s, you don't see a widespread flowering of independent and excellent artistic works either. Where, pray tell, were these serious artistic (or comics) works in the Soviet Union, Cuba, Mexico, Vietnam, Laos, Nicaragua, Cambodia, Iran, People's Republic of China and the Philippines of the 1970s? What is the ratio between the good and bad artistic works in such a censored and repressed atmosphere? Compared with relatively free and prosperous countries of the 1970s such as France and Japan where you see MORE serious comics works than the bad ones, the ratio is pretty much in favor of the former.

Indeed, nostalgically romanticizing about the past often makes one feel so deliciously aged and sad. It is at this point that we find application of this phrase most apt: “Nostalgia is a seductive liar”. To quote Brooks Atkinson: “In every age “the good old days” were a myth. No one ever thought they were good at the time. For every age has consisted of crises that seemed intolerable to the people who lived through them.”

Fan Mail from the Globalized Filipino Komikeros

2007-11-26T18:24:00.000+08:00

Wouldn't you know it? Right after some of the articles on this "opinionated" blog by an anonymous and unimportant commentator gets reprinted and published by Randy Valiente, we get the following violent reactions and rants from some of the globalized Filipino comics creators over at their mutual admiration, ass-kissing society message board called the PKMB. And what triggered it all was a lone and innocent query from a fellow pen-named inquisitor: "Gothic Cathedral", who obviously enjoyed Randy Valiente's book and the articles therein of yours truly. My, talk about an avalanche of "love". So without further ado, its time to turn National Geographic and observe the tribal intercourse of this particular specie we have all come to know and love as: the "komikeros":

"gothic cathedral: Nakabili na ako ng book nyo sa megamall kagabi, mangilan-nilan pa lang ang nabasa ko pero enjoy na ako. Tanong lang sino (o sino sino) ang mga taga Aklas Isip? Sana may features kayo sa susunod na book kina Pablo S. Gomez at Jim Fernandez. "

"gerry alanguilan: Alam nyo na malaki talaga ang problema ko sa mga "anonymous", maganda man ang sinasabi o hinde. Ang kasabihang "Hindi kung sino ako ang impotante kundi kung ano ang sinasabi ko" ay bullshit para sa akin. Kung tunay na mahalaga ang sinasabi mo, binibigyan mo ito ng kaukulang bigat sa pagsabi ng tunay na pagkatao mo. Anyone who writes anonymously is telling you that he cannot be, and is unwilling to be responsible for his words, and that he refuses to be accountable for anything that he says. By doing so, he insults every other contributor to this book, each of us publicly declaring who we are, publicly declaring our true identities and by doing so we are publicly declaring that WE are responsible for what we are saying and YES, you can hold us accountable for it. Anyone who doesn't do the same does not have any credibility with me at all. And pardon me for being frank, I find that the inclusion of his writings in this book sullies an otherwise excellent publication."

"auggie: Right On Gerry! siguro sa revised edition, dapat ilabas na ang mga secret identities nitong mahiwagang grupong ito, otherwise i-delete na lang, di ba ? STAND & BE ACCOUNTABLE !"

"robby:That's what I thought about Randy's blog as well. Nasira dahil sa anonymous posts. But I suspect that Aklas Isip isn't as anonymous to some as we are led to believe."

"Randy Valiente: Re:Anonymous writers/pen names Mga kapatid, Magkakaiba tayo ng pananaw sa issue na ito. Actually centuries old nang pinag-uusapan itong issue ng paggamit ng pen names. Greek period pa. Maraming dahilan. Merong mababaw at merong malalim. Sa history ng Pilipinas, siguro naman aware na tayo na ilang mga kilalang tao ang gumamit ng 'alyas'--Rizal, Bonifacio, Marcos, Ninoy...pati nga si Bob Ong.

Ang malaking dahilan kung bakit gumagamit ng 'alyas' si Aklas Isip ay dahil sa 'sensitivity ng mga issues' na kanyang isinusulat. Ganito rin ang madalas na gawin ng mga taong involved sa mga political ideologies. Sensitive ang mga issues ni Aklas Isip dahil wala siyang 'kiyeme' sa kanyang mga sinusulat.

Kung nasusubaybayan natin ang mga naisulat niya sa kanyang blog, malalaman natin na marami siyang binabanggang tao--mula sa Roces family, indies, traditional at modern komiks, art, marketing. Pati nga lahat ng writers sa libro ko ay nakabangga na rin niya--si Gerry, Dennis, Fermin, Joemari, ako. Pati ang iba pang tao dito sa PKMB--Robby, Mcoy, etc. Bilang editor ng libro, naisip ko rin kung dapat bang isama si Aklas Isip.

Pinag-aralan ko rin kung kukuwestyunin ba ng marami ang kanyang kredibilidad (gaya ng nangyayari ngayon). At alam kong darating sa puntong ito. Pero dahil opinionated, individualistic, at self-regulated ang mga articles (dahil halos wala naman akong pinakialaman sa 'thoughts' ng mga nasa libro), naisip ko siyang isama. Narito ang mga dahilan:

1. Mayroon siyang mga ideas na hindi naisip ng sinuman sa atin.

2. Mayroon siyang mga research materials na hindi natin na-research.

3. Mayroon siyang mga informations na hindi natin nalaman.

4....at higit sa lahat, mayroon siyang mga issues na hindi natin puwedeng kantiin dahil makakasakit lang tayo ng damdamin, magkakaroon tayo ng kaaway, o kaya ay magiging pagkasira lang ng ating pagkatao sa paningin ng iba.

Kung lalantad ba si Aklas Isip ay papalakpakan natin siya? O lalo lang tayong lalayo sa kanya para iwasan na maging personal na kakilala?"

"robby villabona: Randy, There's pros and cons to anonymous writing -- but for academic writing (which I believe your book's articles should at least strive for, otherwise it's just a collection of ordinary writing), I don't think anonymous writing brings out the best possible work from people. Academic writing needs a large degree of being critical of one's own work so you don't end up committing fallacies (i.e. making false assertions, making questionable conclusions). It also requires a large degree of peer review -- having subject matter experts point out errors in what you write. Self-criticism and peer review, PLUS subject matter expertise and research result in well-written articles.

The anonymous writer is more concerned with advancing an idea than his personal credibility (since it's not at stake anymore). Good thinking generally doesn't come from people not really concerned with their personal credibility. When you lose that concern, you lose the ability to view your own writing with a critical mind. There's no consequence to being careless, making hasty generalizations, making ad hominem arguments, and all the other fallacies they teach you not to make in high school when writing essays.

Aklas Isip's articles may be full of raw information, but his articles are also rich in these fallacies they teach you not to make in high school. And that's probably where I find him good at -- source of raw information. But not really as a source of well thought-out reasoning and conclusions (kasi nga they're very carelessly put together). Anonymous writing is probably only good for situations where you're writing can get you killed. Other than that... it's just really a license that can easily be abused and destroys your own ability to write well. Aklas Isip should write with his real name not to satisfy our curiosity, but so he can improve on his writing."

"auggie: Rob, Right On! unless may threat sa buhay ni Aklas Isip, it's hard to justify, anonymous writings. You gotta have balls when you decide to write and critique. Tingnan mo sa Mon Tulfo, bumibira siya, pero hindi siya takot sa consequences, dahil preparado din siya. Ang alam ko parating mi kargada itong si Tulfo, bukod pa sa mga marines niyang bodyguards. Ditto with Mike Enriquez sa hard-hitting niyang programang Imbestigador. Sa mga Komikero, kung gusto mo rin bumirada, huwag matakot, mababait naman siguro ang mga artists, unless mi Right Wing, death squad na nagbabasa rito,at bigla nalang kayong mawala from the face of the earth.....

Jose Mari Lee: Ingkong KC, Randy, at sa TATLONG MARIO (dahil tatlong MARIA ang katumbas) na pinanggigigilan ngayon ni Aklas:

Sa tuwing ako'y magbabakasyon, may mga happenings na nangyayari sa mga blogs ng komikeros. He-he.

Personally, I don't really blame Randy for publishing Aklas Isip. I don't agree with Aklas for taking cover behind his nom de plume, but heck, many people will not take him seriously no matter what topic he writes about because he just lacks credibility by not showing his YAGBOLS. He wants to make himself the oddball, goofball, nincompoop of blogs worldwide, that's fine with me.

Pagbaba ng araw sa likod ng mga bundok at karagatan, sino ang nangungulila... ako ba? Kami ba na mga nag-contribute ng articles sa libro ni Randy na gumamit ng tunay nilang mga pangalan?... o si AKLAS ISIP na LULUGU-LUGONG nag-iisip sa sariling kahunghangan kung bakit hindi maharap ang mapait na katotohanang... NAPAKA-IKLI ng buhay sa mundong ito, at kung hindi ka rin lang kasing-TAPANG, kasing-GITING, kasing-TATAG ng kahanga-hangang, ORIG... the one one and only... DAMIAN SOTO... ay tsupi ka na lang. ZIP IT!~ sabi nga ng yumaong Morton Downey.

Kaya mga katotong komikeros, huwag talupan ng buhay ang isang kaibigan nating komikero na isa sa mga kapuri-puring nilalang sa maliit na daigdig ng Philippine komiks, ang isang orig na may prinsipyong hawig kay Damian Soto, si Ginoong Randy Valiente.

Kaya nga ba ang artikulong isinulat ko ay ginawa kong kasinggaan ng papel de Hapon, para naman magkaroon ng kahi't bahagyang relaxation ang mga magbabasa. Kasi, kung puro na lang angst ni AKLAS ISIP ang mabubuglawan natin ay sukat na. Sinubukan kong mag-iwan ng message sa blog ni Aklas, pero sa akala ba ninyo ay pinahintulutan ito ng taong ito na mabasa iyon? NOSIREEE! Paano, pinuna ko yung idea niya tungkol sa mga komiks daw na ibinebenta sa sidewalk sa north America.

Mukhang he's getting too ancient. 1950's pa itong binabanggit niya. Nagsi-alisan sa bangketa itong mga babasahing ito in the early 60s, at naglipatan sa 7-11 stores, Safeway, Superstore, Franchise bookstores, and most especially.... specialty comics shops. Sino ba ang inuulol niya? I've been living here in north America for almost 30 years, and I still have to see those bangketa komiks he is talking about.

Kaya nga... mga kaibigang komikeros... hayaan iyang si Aklas Isip ay magngangawa na parang ASONG ULOL at pagbaba ng araw sa likod ng mga bundok at karagatan... pagsapit ng takip-silim at paglaganap ng karimlan sa kanyang daigdig ay matatapugan niyang muli ang kanyang sarili na nag-iisa... punung-puno ng kalungkutan, ng paghihinagpis, dahil sa halip na makatulong sa pag-usad ng komiks ay sinisira niya ang inspirasyon ng mga artists at mga manunulat na itinalga ang kanilang mga buhay at kinabukasan dahil lamang sa pagmamahal sa komiks.

Ngayon, dahil may record itong si Aklas na mag-hit below the belt sa kayang sarcasm, at kung hahagupitin niya ako ng personal dahil sa sinulat kong ito... daanin na lang natin sa HUBARAN. May the guy with the best looking physique and the nicest looking dick... wins!

O, ano... laban ka diyan?

JM po lamang, blabbering from Lake Louise, Alta.

PS:

Aklas, hindi ko nagustuhan ang pang-iinsulto mo sa isang babaeng nagsulat dito sa blog ni Randy. (Excuse me? I have NEVER left or made any comments on Randy's blog, nor have I resorted to the kind of low blow insults you so unfairly ascribe. How in heck did you arrive at this conclusion? Oh, right. Forgot. Spin doctor. Former member of Imelda Marcos' "Public Relations Office" during martial law.-- Aklas) Kung ikaw ay isang desenteng lalaki, hindi mo tatawaging TIPAKLONG si Miss Gimena. What's fucking wrong with you, Aklas? Hindi ka pa ba nakukuntento sa pakikipag-babag mo sa mga kalalakihan at pati ang isang disenteng babae ay hindi mo man lang mapakitaan ng kaunting respeto?

Who IS your FATHER? GANITO BA ANG PAGPAPALAKING GIUNAWA SA IYO NG IYONG MAGULANG? (Boy, talk about ad hominem phobia :) --Aklas)

You really have to examine your own conscience! Perhaps, there is BIPOLAR disorder somewhere in your brain, Aklas? (Look who's talking! :o :)-- Aklas)

Reno Maniquis: From the bios in Randy and Fermin's book, Aklas Isip is made up of four people.

Pero tulad ng sabi ni JM, ilang beses na akong nag-attempt mag-iwan ng comment sa blog nila noon, mga comment na hindi naman umaatake sa krebilidad nila or kahit personal attacks sa kanila, ngunit mga comments na nanghihingi ng kaunti pang linaw sa mga isinusulat nila doon. Pero hayun nga, di naman nila pino-post o sinasagot. (Please specify. Maybe if you backtrack and check the previous entries you'll see your questions posted and answers given. You're always generalizing things. What questions exactly were these? --Aklas)

Sayang, noon ay lagi kong binabasa ang blog nila, pero dahil sa makitid nilang pag-iisip at di pag-respeto sa opinyon ng ibang tao (habang ang kanilang mga ideya at opinion ay pilit nilang pinupukpok sa ulo ng iba) ay naisip ko nang they're not worth my internet time. (Nobody's forcing you to believe anything here. Maybe its YOU who is FORCING other people to believe you; some sort of wish-fulfillment erhaps? And when they don't, you (and others like you) cry a river when a contrary viewpoint you cannot seem to deal with, is given your way.--Aklas)

Auggie Surtida: JM: Saan ka nagbakasyon at matagal kang nawala dito ?

DAMIAN SOTO ? lol, nobody here from PKMB, must have heard him, but I used to listen to his commentaries before. The guy was a character. Here is a sample if his self made ad: ( promoting the book about Rizal). Paki-lakip po ng inyong postal money order at isulat sa sobre ang : DAMIAN SOTO, sais uno nueve, kalye Pacheco, Tundo Maynila....

Aklas Isip ? bakit nagaklasan ba ang mga isip nila ?tungkol saan ? dahil sa mga burgis na Komikero, at banyagang superheroes at manga/animie ?dahil sa kawawang masa na hindi maka-afford bumili ng mga gawa ng mga indies ? kawawa naman , tsk, tsk, tsk....

They try to project themselves as able academicians kuno with their lenghty treatise, but unfortunately, they register as nothing but POSEURS, trying to impress the rest of us here. To be credible, put down your names first and we will talk, beter still, bakit hindi tayo magkita-kita sometime, para naman magkakilalahan tayo ng husto, waddaya say say guys ?

Robby Villabona: Hindi ko naman binabatikos ang pagkatao ni Randy. Yun lang desisyon na magsali ng anonymous writer. Ganun din pag may disagreement ako kay Gerry -- sa isyu lang, hindi sa tao. If we all agreed and we're all one big happy family all the time then we'd all be hypocrites.

Jose Mari Lee: Guys: I was vacationing in this little cottage off Bowen island after leaving Lake Louise and I tell you, without Aklas' memory and nothing but peaceful falling of the snow was exhilarating. I think I'll go back there to stay as far away as possible from Aklas' shenanigans.

Randy Valiente: Kung ang 'kredibilidad' ay lagi nating tinitingnan sa pagkatao ng isang indibidwal, ano ang kredibilidad ni Pablo para isulat ang 50% ng Bibliya?

Randy Valiente: May punto ka diyan... Pero gusto kong ibalik ang isyu sa librong 'Komiks sa Paningin ng mga Tagakomiks', doon tayo mag-focus.

Dapat nating tingnan na ang aklat na ito ay 'compilations' ng mga articles ng mga editors, writers/artists, fans, etc. Ang una kong tiningnan dito ay ang 'content'. Hindi ko gaanong tiningnan kung sino ba ang nagsulat, kasi kung gagawin ko iyon, hindi lahat ay nasa libro ko. Baka pati ako mismo ay wala sa libro dahil undergraduate ako at Architecture pa ang kurso ko.

Unang-una, kami lahat ng nagsulat ay hindi academicians--si Dr. Lirio lang ang may PhD sa amin--which is, hindi rin naman gaanong nahalukay ang topic na kanyang isinulat (na alam kong mapapalalim pa niya ng husto).

Ang kagandahan sa librong ito, open siyang pag-aralan ng academe. Dahil kami ang 'workforce' ng industry. Walang iskolar sa amin sa pagsusulat, kami ay nahinog lang sa karanasan.

Ang mga articles ni 'Aklas Isip' ay bukas para pag-aralan ng kahit sino sa atin. May sense ba ang kanyang pinagsasabi? Saang bagay siya nagkamali? Ano ang mga kuwestyunable sa mga isinulat niya? Hindi ba katanggap-tanggap ang kanyang opinyon dahil nasasaktan tayo?

Sabi ko nga, thousand of years ng pinagtatalunan itong isyu ng 'anonymous writings'. Kumporme sa sitwasyon.

Sa eskwelahan, hanggang ngayon ay piag-aaralan pa natin ang mga isinulat ni 'Huseng Batute'. Inabot ng maraming taon bago lumantad sa publiko na siya pala si Jose Corazon de Jesus.

Narito ang listahan ng mga writers (poets, sholars, ficiton writers, etc.) na gumagamit ng pen names:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_pen_names

nagkataon lang na kilala na natin sila ngayon.

John Becaro:

Randy V already answered it--- CONTENT. It doesn't matter who or where it came from… Anonymous donor, anonymous donation, a horse with no name, a hero without a face, the list goes on… my assertion here is FREEDOM of Speech, freedom of expression. Freedom to criticize. And the purpose they serve; whether it be constructive , helpful or not, or if they even make some sense at all.

I don't really know where the extreme hostility about "anonymous" everywhere is coming from or why is it necessary to get bent out shape about them. First of all, You don't have to accept anything. No one absolutely force feeding into your mouth. Just take it as a grain of salt and you can make your own final conclusion afterwards.

There are myriad of reasons why a person wishes to remain anonymous. It's just part of human nature, I don't blame anyone if they see any other motives... Well, it's only common sense to make something out of the matter. Even Stephen King, Kirby, Gil Kane, John Romita, film directors, authors became anonymous at some point.

With regards to this discussion, I'm siding with Randy. Just Comics for crying out loud-- you don't have to buy if you don't want it.

Ever:

First and Foremost, Anonymous and pen

names has different functions although

both doesn't want to be recognized in

their true Identity.However pen names

are used for marketing purpose and

protecting personal identities while

Anonymous simply don't want to show

their balls.In other words, Anonymous

is prone to "malicious" intents because of its

full function not to be recognized in any way.

While "Aklas Isip" can be recognized as a

pen name,Its intentions are gearing for

Anonymous.

Based from the postings of him that

I have reseach so far, the Blog of this

"Aklas guy/s" would rather remain Anonymous

than sharing their true Identity.Although his

"researched" articles posted in his/their blog is

quite remarkable, I still find it qustionable

since the author wanted to be more Anonymous.

And that leads me to ask if the articles are also

real or just a plain well crafted of an anonymous writer.

How can I believed on something that is not existing

anyway?

Talking about Aklas Blog. I find it quite astonishing

that he has this so much "hate" on Komikeros. And that

is what Im talking about malicious intents of anonymous writers.

This "Anonymousity" was used to attacked other bloggers!

And how are we supposed to be safe on that? Are we going to

tolerate this? And everyone can justify an attack

by using anonymous? Imagine a scenario like that?

TRAIDOR lang ang gumagawa niyan.Tumitira patalikod.Ang masakit

pa niyan ay kung kakilala o kaibigan natin ang taong ito.

Unfair na tayo nagpakilala lahat while siya exempted?

Anu siya? Especial? Come to think of that Guys!

Akals, bakit TAKOT ka magpakilala? Dahil lam mo mali ginagawa

mong paninira sa iba! Use your intellect without harming

others. (Be specific. WHERE in this blog have I been unfairly rude or"treacherous" to people? Quote me. --Aklas)

Leon Mortera: Just Comics for crying out loud--

The rest of the above-quoted text was.. I don't know waht it was.. didn't constitute an argument whatsoever. But this one, and I repeat quoting it with primal rage . . Leon Mortera wrote:

Just Comics for crying out loud--

. . this one, I honestly believe, merits PKMB's own version of a fatwa!!!

Jose Mari Lee:

Leon:

We're not doing all these rebuttals just because Aklas is writing anonymously. We are responding the way we do because Aklas just does not write his article per se, without commenting on personal things about komikeros. He even questioned before why is my name... my name? It's just so irritating that he better stop adding sarcasm when he talks about personal things about a komikero. He's not going anywhere doing this. (I don't get this. I don't even know this guy and he makes fabricated accusations. Please be specific. WHERE in this blog or in Randy's book, have this blogger made "personal" comments against you or the "komikeros"? WHERE? --AKLAS)

Now, if Aklas has written something equally wonderful like the wonderful things you have enumerated above, well and good. But, his work is not even near the ones you have compared him to.

Kung si Aklas ang nagsulat ng anonymous Haiku na:

"May isang bulaklak,

May isang bulaklak,

na ibig lumitaw,

sa balat ng mundo'y,

Ibig paibabaw.

Nalalanta ito,

nalalanta ito,

sa patak ng ulan,

at nananariwa,

sa sikat ng araw."

Kung ganito pa ang susulatin ni Aklas, maniniwala pa ako sa panulat niya. pero kung yung mga articles niya na iisa ang tema, re: Murang komiks na para sa masa at bawal ang mga western centric na mga komiks na printed on expensive stocks, eh, LUMANG TUGTUGIN na iyan! Nakakapanting na ng tenga, tapos, sasabayan pa ng mga comments na personal sa mga komikeros na hindi talaga appropriate.

Now, now. Kung talagang talented ang hinayupak na ito, BAKIT HINDI SIYA GUMAWA NG SARILI NIYANG CHEAP, AFFORDABLE, NEWSPRINT, PINOY-CENTRIC na komiks? (Boy, I sure hope Sterling, Joe Lad Santos and Carlo Caparas are reading this. :) ---Aklas)

Ano pa ang hinihintay niya? Ang paghuhukom?

Kung aabutin pa niya ito bago siya HATULAN ng mga komikerong patuloy niyang iniirita.

Hey Ted:

I'm not even surprised anymore. Until now, a lot of people are still treating comics like excrement.

Just like when many people, without batting an eyelid, would say: "He's just a teacher!"

As if being a teacher is a sin! Even many parents say this – when in fact, without these "ONLY teachers" their children will end up ignoramuses.

And without comics? Heck, this planet will never be the same!

I wonder if Aklas has thought of publishing his pinoy-centric komiks in Mars or Jupiter? Or, how about the moon? That would be a more romantic setting for his komiks empire. The only thing is: he had to make the komiks not Moon-centric or it would be against his principle of publishing cheap, pinoy-centric, mass-produced komiks. Outside these parameters, it will always be VERBOTEN for him! (Well, the reality is, most of the so-called "indie" komiks nowadays by the komikeros (who have the means, talent, resources, network and money, by the way) are being made, or tailor-made, for an AMERICAN or "GLOBALized" audience right here in the PHILIPPINES, and for audiences in English speaking (and thinking) countries. So what's so wrong about making indigenuous (and affordable) Filipino comics for Filipinos of this generation FOR A CHANGE? All the energies of these geniuses are focused on enteraining other WESTERNIZED cultures but not developing a local comics culture in this country, in this generation. That's "old hat"? That's "bashing"?--AKLAS)

Rather narrow, I must say.

lagunapavon

Bagong Salta

To some degree Aklas Isip may have valid points in his writings, and to some degree he takes meticulous effort in throwing low blows around the komikero community. Obviously its bully tactics - feeding on the response to get attention, and by the looks of it I think he's getting what he wants wouldn't you agree?

The way I see it is that if we ignore his bashes and never bring his name up again, chances are we'll eventually stop since he's not getting the satisfaction of a response anymore.

He makes good points and has insight about comics, ok i respect that.

He is being a total ass to his fellow komikeros - if he was brought up that way then that's his right.

My two cents is if you don't like what he says, ignore him, he doesn't even have a name in the first place, why should you even bother with a reply? If he pops up with a good idea every now an then, give him that, but still just keep it to yourself as well.

That's my piece, and I intend never to speak about the matter again no matter the provocation.

The Frugivore

You're right, guy. I think he had said what his point was long ago, and that is: if the komiks published is not newsprint, not cheap, and not reaching the masses in every nook and cranny of RP, then that's not acceptable.

And this point he had said at least 1,000 times. There's no more valid point anyway, because the main premise of his statement is already fallacious (not to be confused with FELLATIO)!

But reading Aklas' message which has been rehashed so many times, FELLATIO might be a better topic to discuss

ReyVillegas

Leon Mortera said:

"What do these things have in common?

They were done by ANONYMOUS. There are literary millions more examples."

-- These ancient creators' names are anonymous not because they chose to, but because their names has been lost to time by countless wars and plunders that went after their time. This is generally not connected whatsoever in this discussion.

"With regards to this discussion, I'm siding with Randy. Just Comics for crying out loud-- you don't have to buy if you don't want it."

Oo nga pala, komiks lang. Teka, hindi naman yata sa pagbili ng komiks ang issue dito ah. Kungdi sa anonymity ni Aklas Isip who is continually bombarding komikeros with below the belt antics and his supposedly thesis of creating quality but very affordable comics but yet hindi naman niya magawa.

ROBBY V:

Lagunapavon's observation is very sharp. I really have no intention of responding to him, and haven't been doing so in a very long time. You can now see him resorting to posting comments as different people in his own blog just to try to provoke a response. Same with the comments on Randy's blog. When someone goes to that extent, my anger quickly turns to pity.

Fermin Salvador:

Katatapos ko pa lang makita (hindi pa nga buong nababasa) ang final product ng librong "Komiks..."

Nakakangiti, nakakukunot ng noo, nakapagpapalalim ng kaalaman, at kung anu-ano pang uri ng damdaming mahirap ihanap ng angkop na salita ang naramdaman ko.

Iba-iba ang istilo ng paglalahad.

Iba-iba ang bagay na inilalahad.

Iba-iba ang karakter/personalidad ng mga contributors.

At, naging kontrobersiyal (he he) ...

Iba-iba ang kapasyahang gamiting pangalan ng awtor.

Nagpapasalamat ako sa lahat ng nag-ambag ng mga titik at pahina na nagbigay-buhay sa aklat.

Marahil ay isang mayabang na pananalita -- subalit tahasan kong sinasabi (sapagkat aking pinaniniwalaan) na ang mga naging ambag na pananaw sa aklat ay tila ambag na rin na patutungo sa imortalidad ng literaturang tumatalakay sa komiks bilang konsepto at kasaysayan sa Pilipinas.

Sabi ng makatang Ingles na si Lord Byron: "'Tis good to see one's name in print. A book's a book although there's nothing in't".

Walang rebolusyonaryong ideya o tuklas o anumang katulad na bagay na makikitang nilalaman ang libro. Ang nilalaman nito'y mga paniniwala, karanasan, pangarap, adhikain, at samut-saring uri ng pananaw sa isang larangan na minsa'y sumaklaw sa pamumuhay at kamalayan ng milyong Filipino sa marami ring henerasyon.

Ang bawat nagsasalaysay ng kanyang karanasan sa isang larangan sa isang tiyak na yugto ng panahon ay lumilikha ng tulay

na nag-uugnay sa nakaraan at sa hinaharap.

Maraming taon mula ngayon, 20 years halimbawa, ano kaya ang magiging mga diskusyon pag ginunita ang pagkakasilang ng "Komiks...?

Matatandaang nag-post ako ng hamon sa PKMB kung sino ang papayag mamatnugot sa isang librong maglalaman ng mga karanasan at opinyon na magbibigay ng ideya sa mga hindi tagakomiks kung ano ba talaga ang komiks at ano ang nangyari rito bilang Philippine-made product?

Si Randy ang buong giting na tumanggap sa hamon. Si auggie ay tumindig din ngunit hindi niya maiwan ang kanyang pastulan. Ganunpaman ay isa siya sa mga unang nagbigay ng buong suporta.

Sa format ng libro, inilahad ko ang pangkalahatan/abstraktong konsepto habang ang realisasyon/mga detalye ay kapasyahan ni Randy. Tinanggap niya ang sa umpisa'y tila hindi yata malinaw na responsabilidad. Tiwala sa isa't isa ang naging gabay namin.

Hindi ito ang wakas...

...ng ating sama-samang pagpapakasakit sa pagsulong ng "literaturang tumatalakay sa komiks". (Bagong trend 'to, friend!)

Ang mga salaysaying katulad ng mga matutunghayan sa "Komiks..." ang magbibigay ng matibay na gulugod sa mithiing ipalaganap ang mga kaalaman sa papel na ginampanan, ginagampanan, at gagampanan pa ng komiks sa pamumuhay at kamalayan ng Filipino. At, siyempre pa, sa buhay ng mga totoo't wagas na tagakomiks.

[End of our press release.]

Anonymous said...

KC,

Tingnan mo din kung may basis yung fear ni 'Preng Fermin na mi halong condescencion ang pagtingin ng mga literati sa mga Komikeros, baka naman perception lang ni preng Fermin yun...

Marami kang mga insights na makukuha sa pag -attend doon....

Auggie

Nom de plume said...

Pen names have been used by authors who either seek anonymity or a more marketable name. You may adopt a name that is more suited to the genre. Ang librong 'Komiks sa paningin ng mga taga Komiks ay naghahanap ng sinseridad. Bakit kailangang magtago ka,Aklas-Isip, kung kaya mong panghawakan ang iyong sinulat? Using a false name to deceive publisher,your fellow writers and the readers can come back to hunt you!

Anonymous said...

Enough of the talk, puro satsat... Aklas ISIP ! magkita-kita na lang tayo personally, at ako ay isa sa mga libo-libong taga-hanga ninyo. Gusto ko kayong ma-bistahan, para makuha man lang ang mga otograp ninyo, kasi para kayong mga henyo eh. At ako ay bilib sa mga taong henyo. Plis naman, huwag sana ninyong ipag-kait ang request ko....ang inyong fanboy,

TALAHIB

ARTLINK STUDIOS said...

First and Foremost, Anonymous and pen names has different functions although both doesn't want to be recognized in their true Identity.However pen names

are used for marketing purpose and

protecting personal identities while Anonymous simply don't want to show their balls.In other words, Anonymous is prone to "malicious" intents because of its full function not to be recognized in any way.While "Aklas Isip" can be recognized as a pen name,Its primary intentions are gearing for Anonymous.

Based from the postings of him that

I have reseach so far, the Blog of this "Aklas guy/s" would rather remain Anonymous than sharing their true Identity.Although his "researched" articles posted in his/their blog is quite remarkable, I still find it qustionable since the author wanted to be more Anonymous.And that leads me to ask if the articles are also real or just a plain well crafted of an anonymous writer.How can I believed on something that is not existing

anyway?

Talking about Aklas Blog. I find it quite astonishing that he has this so much "hate" on Komikeros. And that is what Im talking about malicious intents of anonymous writers.This "Anonymousity" was used to attacked other bloggers!

And how are we supposed to be safe on that? Are we going to tolerate this? And everyone can justify an attack by using anonymous? Imagine a scenario like that?TRAIDOR lang ang gumagawa niyan.Tumitira patalikod.Ang masakit pa niyan ay kung kakilala o kaibigan natin ang taong ito.Unfair na tayo nagpakilala lahat while siya exempted? Anu siya? Especial? Come to think of that Guys!Akals, bakit TAKOT ka magpakilala? Dahil alam mo mali ginagawa mong paninira sa iba! Use your intellect without harming

others.

Huwag mo kami paikotin sa kamay mo, dahil hindi kami mga tanga!

Vrdugo said...

Matagal ng mi beef against " burgis" komikeros itong sina AKLAS. Hindi maintindihan kung bakit. At masyadong bitchy kung manira kina Gerry A., Robbyv, Joemari, et.al. eh, mga accomplished professionals ang mga iyan.. Eh itong sila Aklas, I think cannot hold a candle to these guys. In the first place, ano ba ang claim to fame nila ? accomplished na ba sila ? saan ? sa paninira at inggit ?

Psuedonym said:

Robby Villabona: "Aklas Isip is a man of obviously little mental discipline."

Robby Villabona: "Maybe a few articles somewhere were spared this lack of intellectual honesty, so yes, I'm not ruling out that its sometimes possible to find convincing arguments from him."

Parang me contradiction dito a. Pwede i-specify ng husto ni Mr. Villabona kung ano-ano ang mga article na me "lack of intellectual honesty", paki-quote in fairness ang mga statements within context, at kung ano-ano article at mga statements dito ang me "very little mental discipline"? Pakipaliwanag din kung bakit.

Tapos, ano-ano naman ang mga article na sa tingin ni Mr. Villabona na ayon sa kanya, ay "convincing" para sa kanya at bakit?

Tnx.

Psuedonym uli said...

Isa pa, pwede ba magbigay ng specific example si Mr. Villabona kung saan sa mga article ng Pinoy Komix Biz, e ano-ano ang mga point of view ng mga ibang tao (sino din ang mga taong ito) na di niya gusto at tinatawagan ng sarcastic names. Isa, pa, kung meron naman, me basis ba para maging sarcastic si Aklas? Paki-specify po. Ano-ano ba ang mga statements na nai-quote sa PKB at sa libro ni Randy ang argumentum "ad hominem" (Wow bigat. Ano yan, German? Joke lang.)

Ano-ano rin po ba sa mga article sa PinoyKomixBiz at sa mga ni-reprint sa libro ni Randy ang mini-mis-state daw ni Aklas ang sinasabi ng ibang tao. Sino-sino ba ang mga taong ito? Paki-specify din uli po, Mr. Villabona.

Thank you.

Nom de Plume said...

Bakit yung iba diyan, hindi naa-astonish sa tindi ng galit ng mga komikeros ke Aklas Isip, dyan lang sa nai-post na usapan/comment nina Gerry, Auggie at Robby sa blog ni Randy? Binabaligtad and issue e.

Sila ang me ganang magsabi na si Aklas ang me galit sa mga Indie- Komikeros. E kung binabanatan ka ba naman ng patalikod sa PKMB nina Gerry, Auggie at Robby, hindi ka magsa-sarcastiko?

Pasalamat nga dinaan pa sa sarcasm. Iba ang sarcasm sa galit, oy.

bystander said...

hi randy. just passed by Pinoykomixbiz blog and in all this time I've watched it, this is probably the first time Aklas Isip specifically pointed out PKMB and the komikeros there as being up to no good. In all his articles he or she or they never made any specific and vile attack on any specific person the same way Gerry, Auggie and Robby did at PKMB. It seems to me that it is only now after Gerry and co. at PKMB made those thoughtless remarks that this thing is going on.

I'm not identifying myself because I may be ostracized as well by Gerry at PKMB. I visit it often and learn a lot from the other artists there like Mang Romy Tanghal etc. Sure hope the administrators at PKMB learn to be a bit more circumspect in their words, thoughts and actions."

Well, there you have it. Without specifying exactly WHAT particular reprinted article of this blog they find issue with, or what was said exactly, the komikeros immediately proceed with uncalled for, speculative innuendos attacking the personality and motives of this blogger. All bark with no bite. That's debate 101 for you in the land of PKMB censors. Geniuses abound here. Should we dignify this with a long-winded answer as well? (Bet you the PKMBs are holding their breath and those in the know are snickering right now).

If you want to see and judge for yourself what all the fuss is about, buy RANDY VALIENTE's "KOMIKS SA PANINGIN NG MGA TAGAKOMIKS" at all Central Books outlets, located at:

Quezon City 927 Quezon Avenue Phoenix Building;

Makati City Ground Floor (inside Goodwill Bookstore, beside Zara across Marks and Spencer) Glorietta 3 Mall Ayala Center, Makati City;

Morayta, Manila, Ever Gotesco Mall CM Recto cor Nicanor Reyes St, Manila;

Ortigas Center - Metro Manila SM MegaMall 5th Level Building A;

Cebu City, Junquera St. cor Del Rosario St.;

Cagayan De Oro City, Limketkai Mall, West Concourse Lapasan, Cagayan de Oro City;

Davao City, Doors 2&3 Dover Building, Bonifacio Street, Davao City, and at

Iloilo City Robinson's Place, Mabini Wing, Ilioilo City.