U-Belt Snobs Smoke-free Manila Efforts

by Alyosha Robillos

CARE FOR a smoke? Despite the increasing number of laws that support the worldwide anti-tobacco campaign, the nearest cigarette stand is always just a few meters away from the gates of any university.

“Smoking depends on the discipline of a person. If someone has self-discipline then everything else follows. Even if they ask us to go away and stop selling cigarettes, someone will just replace us and the students might even bring their own packs so it defeats the purpose of making us go away and cease our trade,” said Rina Torres, a cigarette vendor in Dapitan.

Her family is often seen taking turns in watching their stand but she says that no one in her family has had a cigarette stick in their entire lives. Despite her rants about students who smoke too much, she stresses on having self-discipline and self-control. She also explains how these students have parents who should be guiding their children in developing good habits the way that she has reared her children to become non-smokers.


“Tobacco use is the second cause of death globally (after hypertension) and is currently responsible for killing 1 in 10 adults worldwide. It is an epidemic, but a preventable one,” said the WHO last May 31 during the celebration of World No Tobacco Day after the results of the latest Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) were released.


Apparently, tobacco use is a growing problem not only in the country but in the entire world, especially among the youth.


The GATS was one of the main projects of WHO when they initiated their Tobacco Control and Anti-Smoking Campaigns which eventually lead to the Tobacco Control Act of 2003 in the Philippines. To be able to provide comparable data regarding global smoking habits and trends, the WHO together with the Department of Health and the National Statistics Office, executed the survey. Technical support and assistance was also provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Despite these efforts, the number of daily smokers has increased and is still increasing up to date.


“With 17.3 million adult current smokers, 80% of who are current daily smokers, it is critical that our government places a priority on strong tobacco control legislation and action,” said Dr. Esperanza Cabral, Secretary of Health in the statement of policy implementations of the 2009 GATS results.


The alarming thing about this is that the survey covers “adults” aged 15 and above, which means that the youth nowadays are starting to develop habits that are fatal in the long run as early as 15 years old.

She added that, “we join the international health community in calling for action and effective implementation of the international tobacco control treaty to reduce the deadly health and economic impacts of tobacco.”


The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) was given a grant amounting to 9.5 million pesos by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, owner of Bloomberg Philanthropies, to help the spread anti-tobacco campaign. The International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease signed a deal with the MMDA, funding the program which aims to have a smoke-free Metro Manila by 2012.


Local authorities have also done their part in implementing policies that will support this program.


The Department of Education has issued a smoking ban in all public schools before the school year started. This has slowly crept its way to private institutions as well.


Recently, the smoking ban has been issued to all public vehicles seeing that most jeepney and tricycle drivers often smoke while on the job.


The DOH also ordered the use of packaging and labeling as a means of smoking prevention as the youth are more sensitive and respond more to visual aids as compared to written and oral warnings, thus giving birth to more widespread anti-smoking commercials and other forms of advertisements.


Even the Muslim community has taken extreme measures in dealing with the global crisis. The Supreme Council of Darul Ifta has issued a “fatwa” or religious ruling that prohibit Muslims in the Philippines from all kinds of tobacco use and trade. Headed by Grand Sheikh Omar Pasigan, the supreme council’s ruling was held in high regard by the DOH and advocates of a tobacco-free Philippines. If Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia were declared tobacco-free in 2002, then perhaps Manila can achieve the same by 2012.


Universities have also stepped up to the challenge by shooing away street vendors and sidewalk stalls that showcase all sorts of cigarettes near their premises. These stands even sell electric cigarettes which are slowly gaining popularity after giving people the misconception that it is a device that will help smokers eventually quit smoking. Convenient stores near the campuses of universities in Manila have also stopped selling cigarettes.


Although this was implemented, some of the stands have returned to their previous spots, as if nothing happened.

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Marcelo Santos III: The Next Internet Celebrity on YouTube

By Maiqui Rome Francis M. Sta. Ana



A 20-year old college student from Novaliches has taken the hearts of the Filipino youth through his emotional Love Story on Video (LSOV) which can be seen at the video sharing site, YouTube.

Marcelo Santos III, a 4th year Advertising and Public Relations student from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) located at Sta. Mesa, Manila, started his video making career as nothing more than a hobby for his friends.

“At first it was just nothing but an attempt to do something that I have never done before. Originally I did all of that for my friends and just to have fun. I attached my email address at the end of the video so that more people would add me up as their friend. I never thought that it would become such a hit,” Marcelo said in an interview.

He started making his videos last December 2009. His debut story is the three-part video “Bag at Folder”, a story about two people who are about to confess their true feelings for each other when a sudden accident befalls the guy named Ryan. In the end, the characters said that the ending of their love story rests on what the viewers think is the appropriate ending. These first three videos already received almost 400,000 hits on YouTube.

“My first videos are about the concept of ‘it’s too late’ and there are a lot of ‘what ifs’ in the stories. Some characters disappear or die because of the realization that not all love stories have a happy ending,” Marcelo expressed in Filipino.

All of Marcelo’s videos are accompanied by solemn and sometimes melancholic love songs that served as a mood-setter in order to unify the feeling of the viewer that the video they are watching is a unique story of life and love. Some of the music he chose to include in his videos are “Hiling” by Silent Sanctuary, “Kung Wala Ka” by Hale, and the MYMP rendition of “Only Reminds Me of You.”

“Whenever I write my stories I listen to the music to acquire the necessary emotions for me to start writing. After that, I’ll start writing on the spot whatever’s on my mind that time.”

The video that received the most number of views on Marcelo’s channel is the viral video entitled “DOTA vs. Girlfriend.” The story of a girl named Shiela and her boyfriend Rafael who always plays DOTA, a highly addictive role-playing game that is currently capturing the attention of many teenagers today. Rafael’s addiction to the game made him forget about Shiela calling his cellphone a number of times, asking him to accompany her to celebrate their 9th monthsary together. Darkness fell and Shiela was attacked by armed men who tried to rob her, eventually leading to her death. This story received almost 970,000 hits on YouTube because of its melancholic theme accompanied by a soulful background of the worldwide hit “Fall For You” by Secondhand Serenade.

Marcelo’s inspiration for his stories comes from his own personal experiences and also the support of all the fans and the viewers of his videos who keep on demanding more of his love stories. He also gets most of the material that he writes from his friends and the people around him.

“If I write horror then only a handful of people will be interested in my stories. If I write comedies then people would think that all of it is just a joke and nothing more than a waste of time. Not all of us have our own horror stories or funny stories; but all of us have our own love stories to tell that everyone can relate to.”

Pocketbooks and radio/TV dramas are all part of the typical afternoon pastime of Filipinos especially before they lie down and have their refreshing siestas beneath the scorching heat of the sun. But just like any other leisure activity that withstood the test of time, technology steps in and reinvents these traditional forms of recreation into new media. Marcelo took advantage of this and created his very own series of love stories on video that will surely capture the hearts of everyone.

“I chose to write love stories because of the fact that Filipinos are more dramatic. And when it comes to love stories, whether the old or the young, all of us are considered equals.”

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The Flip Side of Hiphop: an interview with Dello

By Dennese Vzmyn Victoria and Antonio Ramon Royandoyan

Dello in one of his most famous rap battles

SMOKE, booze and an awesome amount of ego fill the air. Words are sent whirling towards the adversary; the audience chant to an inaudible but internally felt beat. You need no flashy clothes and the chains hanging low on your neck don't matter. The people are there to hear you speak, rap, whatever you call it. Make every rhyme cutting, make every word worth remembering; and if possible, make them ego-eradicating.

With the realization that the previous paragraph can be personified, the name “Dello” comes into the mind of the modern rap aficionado. He’s the 28 year-old tee-wearing, quick-witted, wicked-mouthed, crowd-favorite rapper in the now acknowledged Flip Top, The First Filipino Rap Battle League.

In contrast to the hip-hop stereotype of having too much real-life air and angst, what is said in Flip Top apparently stays in Flip Top. Sorry fans if you’ve made a Dello altar for yourself, but he’s not exactly what his crowd typecasts him to be; nor does he need to be one.

Wendell Gatmaitan, also known as Dello for Flip Top fans, is actually a Fine Arts graduate. He graduated in 2003 from the Far Eastern University in Manila and has since been part of creating print ad campaigns for big companies such as Smart Telecommunications.

He was not a bum who stayed at home waiting for stardom. Before the 5 million Youtube views, he was an OFW in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; toiling in foreign soil for his mother and son.

“Rapping definitely wasn’t a family thing,” he shares, “even my being an artist was unconventional.”

Dello was born into a family of doctors and lawyers; his brother even works in the Department of Justice. His journey towards the love for art, rap and music in general was a solitary one. Even his friends and classmates did not share his passion. He would drop funny lines at home and everyone would just give a laugh. Never did he realize that rapping could be a talent; that not everyone could do so and in such a clever way.

“It’s still a question for me, how this all happened. I still can’t believe it. People recognize me; ask me to take pictures with them. It feels strange.”

Dello came home to the Philippines last December 2009 to rap. While spending days and nights abroad, he met and formed this group called “Skwaterhawz” with fellow OFW rap enthusiasts. Not too much thought was put into their name as during that time, they came up with it just because “it was needed.”

Just months later Flip Top was launched and he found himself in a freestyle rap battle where he suffered his first defeat.

No one told him that Flip Top was about two people cleverly lambasting each other in front of a demanding and taunting crowd. He decided that he didn’t want to battle anymore after that night.

After sometime, some chiding by friends and some 5 to 6 bottles of Red Horse beers, Dello soon found himself in another battle; this time, with a new opponent, against the bad-mouthed Target. The battle propelled Dello to rap stardom and what his groupmates call his Eminem-like story.

“I don’t actually understand why people get wild over two people verbally abusing each other in public,” he said and smiled as he paused.

“But it’s so dreamlike that I’m doing what I love and people love me for that.”


One of the best 
There’s no denying that Dello is one of the best rappers in Flip Top. He is able to smoothly return insults and multiply the hurt by ten. The people holler to his every line, but no one expects that he’s actually very shy.

Though it does not show, Dello is intoxicated in alcohol when he battles. He needs to be. He’s very shy and he needs to have at least 5 bottles of beer to overcome that shyness.

“It’s nerve-wracking in Flip Top. There’s too much smoke, a lot of people surround you, and they’re all looking at you, waiting, for what you have to say, or most of the time, for what you’ll fail to say,” he claims.

Two weeks before a battle is held, a rapper already knows his opponent . They take that time to prepare general lines of insult. When the battle comes and you’re in the center, what matters is how wittingly you can answer back to whatever blow your opponent might have prepared for you; and this is where Dello is really good at.

“I’m thankful that people consider me as one of the best. I like being one of the best; it means that a lot of us can be great at this. It means I’m not alone.”

Attention has really been given to Flip Top; one question raised was them being the new poets of society, ang mga bagong mambabalagtas as they say.

“It’s a good thought but it’s also gets you to think about things. ‘New poets,’ it means someday we too are going to be old, worse, forgotten. But we know that, I know that. I’m just happy that right now we are considered to be that.”

Dello loves the whole rap and hip-hop scene but he also considers other professions, especially when he thinks of his 4-year old son. He’s currently unemployed as to all the gigs he is landing by rapping. Compensation is good but he knows and admits that such interest will not forever be in the rap scene.

“It really depends on the generation. Right now, this generation loves rap. But next time it may not be rap. It may be another thing. A generation creates its own ‘in’ system. It all depends on that.”

He says he’ll be looking for a real job this November; probably as a graphic artist again. He describes it to be a more stable source of income.

“Art is my first love. I’ll always come back to it.”


Hoping for what is good
Hip-hop along with politics, Dello says, is one of the bothersome scenes in the Philippines. It is too troubling as there is too much confusion and fighting. He doesn’t know where Flip Top will go or what it will become in the future. But he’s hoping that it’s going to be “good” for Flip Top and for the general hip-hop scene.

“People need to calm down; especially in Flip Top where nothing is personal. Why will you get mad when in the first place you’re trying to get that person mad yourself?”

Dello doesn’t attack mothers or groups. He’s dropped another rapper’s name only once. He gets ticked off but only at the right times and in the right places and with the right reasons. He gets annoyed, which is wrong, when he is compared to another rapper. But so far he’s handled that well; separating what’s personal from the seemingly personal but actually impersonal world of Flip Top. 

He will soon be the godfather of Target’s child, which, most people would assume to be impossible if they think the Dello vs. Target battle seeps in real life. They battle but after that they have fun. What is said in Flip Top should stay in Flip Top. Otherwise a lot of people would have been dead by now.

“I’m a rapper but I don’t have enemies. I guess that’s the only thing I can boast of, but I’m happy about it.”

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MOTS (Man on the streets) interview

compiled by Monalisa Chuang

WHY IN THE PHILIPPINES?

Foreign students from u-belt interviewed.

Why the Philippines? Why your college? Foreign students gets asked why they chose the Philippines over any other country to go to for their college education, find out what they thought then and how they think now.

Is the Philippines still attractive?

Meisam Ahmadi, 21, Dentistry, 1st Yr, UE, Iranian
Chose the Philippines because of its proficiency in Dentistry, and the English in the country is good, which makes things much easier for foreign students, “almost everybody knows english”.

Quality of education, English proficiency, even in media.

Doesn’t have Filipino friends yet, still new in the country (just about four months), usually sticks with fellow Iranians.

“I went here to study and finish dentistry, I’ll think about other stuff when I have time on my hands, all I need to do now is to survive and study. Then I can go back home to Iran or work in another country,”

“you don’t get rich working here, which is one reason good workers and graduates from your country usually fly off, right?” he speaks about the OFWs and says he once read a business article talking about such.

“I found out about this country from my uncle, he studied here. And then became a good dentist.”


Izadikhah Amin, 19, Dentistry, 1st Yr, UE, Iranian
Also choosing the country for Dentistry and lower rates, he says that the country seems to have a lot of nice people and some not so nice ones.

“I mostly get informed using the internet and rarely a newspaper”, he also adds conversations and short chats with friends.

He shares that he likes to announce (on facebook and on actual conversations), what he hears and sees, also at times what he thinks about a certain thing, topic, or event.

There is a link in his page were the Rolando Mendoza hostage taking was being discussed about by himself and other Iranian friends, “it was very atrocious and horrible to be, I just can feel sorry for them”, he says,

“Things that happen here affect me now, so I think news here is somehow relevant.”


Akalugwa Richmond, 25, AB Economics,2nd Yr, UST, Nigerian
Having stayed in the country for more than two years, he has learned some Filipino words already, though he still isn’t accustomed to Philippine TV and local news.

He usually spend most of his time with his Nigerian friends, playing in the field, going to the mall, but he also likes it when Filipino students from his school become his friends, “there are a lot of nice Filipinos and Filipinas, they’re all very friendly, and I like them very much.” he says sincerely.

When asked on the Mendoza hostage taking, he says “the media were manipulated by the police and vice versa, it contributed to aggravating the officer Rolando Mendoza, leading to more casualties that could’ve been avoided,” he says.


Cho Dae Yeon, 22, BSBA Economics, 3rd Yr, UST, Korean
“At first it was my dad that was here in the country, not too long ago. And then my grandparents sent me here to study. They said I should learn English,” the country is known to be widely speaking in English and acclaimed for its ability to teach English well and quick.

“I often visited the Philippines even before, I went to other colleges and universities, but I liked UST the most. It’s like I wanted to study, the students inspired me to be one of them, it was like, only UST in my head. I didn't even try and take exams from other schools, I applied only to UST,” Daniel shows his appreciation of his present school and all the help it has given him, he now can not only understand Filipino but he can use it in his everyday speech, and he likes speaking in Filipino, surprising an unsuspicious local student with tagalog phrases and tagalish sentences .

“Good kids? Like you? I don’t know why, it is most attractive. It seemed very active that time, harmonized environment, buildings, students, it also seemed like students were active, looks energetic. Maybe just the view from a tourist’s perspective.”

He said he wanted to study in the country because at that time universities were most lively and attractive, especially the university that caught his attention, “ it also seemed like students were active, looks energetic.”

“Maybe it’s just the view from a tourist’s perspective,” he adds.

“The others were just okay, but I think UST is student friendly,” he says, as most Thomasians would also like to put it.

Living in the country for more than three years, he says that the only things he would complain about are traffic and pollution, “as you get to know it deeper, you see the negative side,” he says as he pertains to the content of news lately.

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The Vendors of Mendiola

by Erika Denise Dizon

HE DRAGGED his tattered slippers on the soiled and unpaved streets of the province daily to attend his afternoon class some 40 years ago.

He never really liked school.

For five times a week, he cursed at the piercing rays of the twelve o’clock sun that walked with him for adding to the burden. Always the reluctant and lackadaisical student, he rarely opened his workbook at home. At school, he was the perpetual latecomer. It was easy to spot him sleeping in the middle of the lecture, but hard to drill in his head the name of discipline. That was Edgardo.

One day, he stopped attending class. Instead, he opted to help his mother sell clothes at the nearby plaza at the ripe age of 16, not knowing that his decision to forever cease schooling would someday be the foundation of his regrets and toils.

At 55 years old, he is now a sidewalk vendor who sells clay pots at the short stretch of Mendiola Street in Manila.

Edgardo’s story is all too common in the Philippines where, according to the Basic Education Statistics of the Department of Education, in 2009, 7.45 percent of the country’s high school students are dropouts.

Seated behind three brightly colored clay pots on the floor, his worn out cap slightly covered his face as he talked softly but fervently on that cloudy morning. At the age of 17, Edgardo married his childhood sweetheart and had five children. All five of them are already married and three of them did not finish high school.

“They just weren’t fond of studying,” he said boldly, but with a seemingly disappointed expression. “They were all like me when I was a student.”

He sells clay pots at Mendiola Street only on Thursdays because that is the only day the vicinity police allow them to.

“Many people pass by this area during Thursdays because there is mass going on in one of the neighboring churches.” He also sells his clay pots in front of the historical Quiapo church every Friday.

Edgardo admits that his weekly earnings are good enough to sustain him and his wife’s basic and daily needs.

Pisila, 54, is also a sidewalk vendor. She sells pocket-sized prayer booklets in front of San Beda College for the small amount of 20 pesos.

"Sometimes, I get to earn around a hundred pesos at the end of the day when luck favors me."

A hundred bucks would go a long way to the sidewalk vendor, whose conspicuous white hair and wrinkled hands echo her five-decade-worth of trials. A hundred bucks would provide her family at home rice for the whole day, and school allowance for her two grand children whose mother left them under Pisila's care in exchange for greener pastures in Olongapo City. A hundred bucks would provide them hope to endure the two or three to come -- but only when this so-called "luck" is by their side.

One of her two grand children, six-year-old Katrina, skips school every Thrursday to help her grandmother sell the booklets.

"It's okay [to have a difficult life]," Pisila said. "It may be difficult but you don't have a choice. You have to work hard to get by."

Pisila's husband spends time at home on most days of the week while she stays at Mendiola to sell the remaining prayer pamphlets until six in the evening.

Lastly, there is Melchor, a pedicab driver, a jolly old fellow at the age of 39, and a present day Magi, who gives his gift of service to the civilians of Manila.

Census showed that underemployment rates in the country have gone down to 17.9 percent, a 1.9 percent decrease from 2009 stats.

Although he has been a pedicab driver for 15 years now, and earning only about 250 to 300 pesos a day, he has a degree in Electrical Engineering but failed to graduate because of his family's fiscal problems then. Despite all those, Melchor dreams big for his three young children. He hopes that one day, they may finish their schooling in order to attain a better and brighter future.

"No pain, no gain," he said in high spirits

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