Ber Months: Jose Mari Chan Rewrites Song to be Apt with the Quarantined Times

Wazzup Pilipinas!

"Whenever I see girls and boys selling lanterns on the street I remember the child in the manger as he sleeps"

Ilonggo songwriter Jose Mari Chan has also “rewritten” his classic hit “Can We Just Stop and Talk Awhile” to lighten the mood amid the COVID-19 pandemic. He changed the lyrics to be appropriate for the new normal, adding words such as Internet, surfing and chat, FaceTime, and quarantine.

Chan is also known for his Christmas classic “Christmas in Our Hearts” which has been the subject of various social media memes.

BTW, this year marks the 30th year of Christmas in our Hearts and tomorrow is the start of the Christmas season here in the Philippines! I can't wait to hear Jose Mari Chan's voice again. I can almost hear his voice come September 1.

The 3 most famous characters during Christmas season:

1. Jesus Christ
2. Santa Claus
3. Jose Mari Chan

Hope we will have better days in the Ber months inspite of the Corona virus (Covid-19) still lingering in the air.

Pero bakit nung nakita ni Jose Mari Chan yung girls and boys selling lanterns on the street, ang naisip niya si baby Jesus,  at hindi yung unjust society that made kids have to work to survive? Lol!

Because probably baby Jesus is also a casualty of an unjust society. Being born on a stable manger due to poor parents.

According to the Bible stories, Joseph, a descendant of David, was born in Bethlehem. And in that time, a decree from Rome stated that there will be a census, so technically, Joseph and Mary were required to go to Bethlehem for them to be listed as part of the population.

The prophet Isaiah already prophesized that Jesus will be born in a manger? As per scripture, it is all in God's plan. Jesus was sent to earth not to fight the sin who is the real oppressor.

But most probably, it was also because of atrocities not highlighted by the church, like the Roman Imperial government requiring them to pay absurd taxes in Bethlehem. Why else would they travel at the height of Mary's pregnancy if it wasn't life and death. The child Jesus had to be born in a manger because there was no more room in any inn in Bethlehem during peak season because Joseph and Mary had to pay taxes to a foreign imperial government and mandatorily travel miles from the comfort of their home at the height of Mary's pregnancy.

Rumor has it that Jose Mari Chan romanticized child labor in that particular song. He is said to be a capitalist, and a union buster, a labor rights violator thus we should cancel him and find other Christmas songs instead because we shouldn't tolerate any capitalist.... and yes this is also political.

He and his family are in business and have been implicated in union busting since 2004.

Ahhh yes. The song is romanticizing poverty as if being poor is a gift from God kasi pag mahirap ka sa lupa, yayaman ka raw sa langit.

Baby Jesus was LITERALLY born in a manger, sabsaban. Not even in an inn. Is He not representative of an unjust society in His times? Ipapanganak ka pa lang may injustice na sayo, sa nanay mo?

Actually, you cannot separate Jesus and i justice. If you're a Christian and you understood and lived the life of Jesus - from his birth to his death, and even His disciples' ministry, you cannot separate the concept of social justice.

Injustice nga yun. Kakapanganak pa lang naka experience na ng injustice si Jesus. The greatest and last was His crucifixion.

Pero bakit pati kanta ginagawan ng issue? Ang tagal tagal na nito? I sold lanterns on the street when I was a kid but not because I had to... so, dapat di tayo nag-aassume agad. Hindi na lang din ako magka-caroling kahit kelan, kahit anong taon! Nakaka-stress na pala kahit ang Christmas songs ngayon. Just enjoy the memes. Lol!

The Filipino excitement for Jose Mari Chan in heralding the Ber Months can be a testimony of our overflowing love for Christmas, on which as his song goes, "This season may we never forget, the love we have for Jesus."

December 25 belongs to Jesus Christ.

But the days leading to that -- starting from September 1 up until the last minute of December 24 -- all these still belong to Jose Mari Chan.

#SingingForThePresident trending because of government's atrocities

Wazzup Pilipinas!

"The President who stood for the people now needs 'us' (the people) to also stand for him during uncertain times. Let us show him our love, the love of the majority of the Filipinos who sing his praises for the good he has done for our country."

A group of DDS holds a virtual concert titled #SingingForThePresident as its tribute to what they call President Rodrigo Duterte’s "tireless effort" amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

#SingingForThePresident is trending but not because artists like Freddie Aguilar will be singing for Duterte as a tribute to his "tireless efforts" in fighting COVID19.

BIGGEST. EYEROLL. EVER.

They misquoted.... He’s “tired and effortless!!!”

#SingingForThePresident is trending because of images of and links to all this government's atrocities most especially about the victims of Duterte’s extrajudicial killings disguised as a drug war.

Kian, Raymart & Carl were not the only minors killed in the 1st yr of his war on drugs, at least 54 others died.

Althea Barbon. Her dream was to become a cop. When the police bullets hit her delicate body and killed her and her father, she was only four years old.

Kian delos Santos. He was a high school student. Duterte’s police said they shot him in self-defense. But video shows they dragged him into a dark alley and executed him. He died in fear kneeling and covering his head.

Aldrin Castillo. He was killed despite stopping his drug use years before, according to his mother, Nanette Castillo. Aling Nanette has been actively speaking up on extrajudicial killings until now. She lamented how the poor is easily killed.

Erica Fernandez. Her friends called her Angel. She was a school student who was shot to death by Duterte thugs. She was wearing a Hello Kitty watch and held a Barbie doll at the time of her murder.

Zara Alvarez. She was a teacher who loved seafood and worked tirelessly to help the poor. Duterte’s thugs shot her to death on the street for her Human Rights advocacy.

Randy Echanis. He was tortured and killed inside his rented house along with a still unidentified neighbor, in Novaliches.

“In Davao, I used to do it personally...” - Duterte

Don’t forget about the Gemver fishermen left for dead by the Chinese. The jobless jeepney drivers. The exhausted healthworkers. And a lot more.....plus the blatant misogynistic words and women objectification coming out from the mouth of the highest ranking Philippine official.

Remember it's West Philippines Sea not South China Sea. Then all of a sudden Manila is a province of China. Duterte respects China but disrespects the Philippines and the Filipino people.

The President looks so tired. So tired that he can do these to his own countrymen.

When I first saw the hashtag I thought Pres. Duterte is dead, at may pa-tribute ang mga DDS. Kaso, wala man lang bang pa, kape at biscuits?

Are they planning to be comedians? Pina-trending lang ng trolls yan.

Seriously, are Freddie and those DDS living on the same planet and talking about the same Duterte?

Well, it's true that Duterte has shown "tireless" efforts, as in walang gulong. Kaya hindi na tayo umusad sa fight against Covid-19.

Duterte had done nothing except ask for more budget, more loans and sign for them without even laying grounds for a good outbreak management plan.

So whats the point of this #SingingForThePresident?? Desperate last minute efforts to rebuild the image of the inutile president?

Don't ever forget about the many "collateral damage" who died because of "nanlaban" or just plain trigger happy policemen.

Not only were those who were suspected into drug trade and use who died in the war on drugs of Duterte and who were deprived of the due process of law, the equal protection before the law and the chance for redemption, it also did not spare children.

One must be held accountable for the death of the innocent children during this fake drug war, and that is none other than the president himself!

#SingingForThePresident is filled with cult members who chose to kiss the ass of the most incompetent “leader” who is “working” from home instead of raising funds to aid the debts of the country or to help those who are suffering because they got hit hard by this crisis.

Karamihan diyan mga nakikinabang ngayon, napasweldo dahil sa appointed position or nabigyan ng business deals.

There is no more dangerous threat to civilization than a government of incompetent, vile and corrupt men.

Tonight pro-authoritarian DDS are #SingingForPresidentDuterte. But I wonder #Duterte, ‘Do You Hear the People Sing?’ Because they’re the ones you should be listening to.

"If [drug suspects] pull out a gun, kill them. If they don't, kill them still, son of a whore, so it's over, lest you lose the gun. I'll take care of you." - Duterte


#StopTheKillings
#JusticeForZaraAlvarez
#SingingForThePresident
#SingingForPresidentDuterte

Jeff Bezos is now worth $200 billion

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Jeff Bezos is now worth $200 billion while millions of Americans can’t afford to put food on the table or pay their rent.

No single person should hold this amount of wealth during a time of widespread suffering.

We must tax the rich and #MakeBillionairesPay.

How is being a billionaire morally wrong? The most important innovations wouldn't be possible if not for the huge accumulations of wealth. We're literally using a platform that's created by a billionaire. Should there be a standard limit on "hoarding" wealth? How does that affect someone on the lower end of society? Is that a limiting factor in one's earning ability?

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has been the richest person on Earth for a while, but his fortunes recently rose to new heights, at worth $200,000,000,000.

But let's stop glorifying billionaires and millionaires. Having this kind of wealth is morally wrong. Ilan ang namatay at namamatay para "makarating" sila dyan. One individual should not have this much money.

LMAO, that's capitalism. Should consider other types of government systems that spread the wealth more equally such as socialism, communism, etc.

US capitalism now: many millions unemployed; vast small, medium firms bankrupt; debt-ridden workers, students.

But Jeff Bezos grabs, keeps $200 billion for himself. An obscenely immoral system.

It’s not only morally wrong but it halts economies. Our current economic systems are based on spending money or allocation of resources. If all wealth in the world are only concentrated to a few, economies will come to a stop because people don’t have enough money to spend. It should be illegal for any one person or family accumulating and HOARDING extreme amounts of wealth.

Bezos exploits his workers and underpays them. He takes the value of their labor while leaving the workers starving. Nagprotesta uli mga manggagawa sa US laban sa kanya. Imagine underpaid sila $15/hr wage, pero lalo pa mga workers ng Amazon sa ibang bansa tulad dito satin at sa mga provincial sites, roughly $2/hr lang ang sweldo.

https://www.businessinsider.com/bezos-mansion-protesters-set-up-guillotine-demand-higher-wages-2020-8

According to pretty much every publisher I know Jeff Bezos is personally responsible for the destruction of the book industry. They can no longer pay most authors anything as it all gets squeezed by Amazon.

And the amazing thing is that almost all the money that would be going to authors, who mostly could actually use it, just goes to Bezos personally, so he can say "look! I have another 10 billion! Oh! And another 10 billion!" He doesn't even use it.

It's like stealing candy from babies and not even eating it. In practice, we seem to have created a world so perverse that denying creative people any benefit from their creation is an end in itself. You do it so as to revel in your very power to do so.

Capitalism has brought art to a crisis point.  Cinema has it worse because it is so young that it was literally born into this economic system.  The dollar is choking to death true artistic expression.

My faith in the enduring tenacity of the creative spirit to push through adversity, no matter what, allows me to view so-called 'crises' as 'opportunities' (I know that sounds motivational speaker!). But cheap kit & open source etc means we can all make films in our bedrooms now.

Crowd-funding & Kickstarter etc, far more accessible & less demeaning than kissing producers' backsides & whoring for product placement just to cover 10 mins analog colour stock & processing.
Worldwide distribution on WWW is crazy easy to achieve, even if rewards for most small.

The internet overall has been more of a force for good in this area, though even there we can see the system constantly trying to turn it against us (censorship, zealous IP enforcement, etc.). The battle right now is intense.

It will get more indie & liberated as a reaction, espesh now big video projectors are getting so affordable.

While digi-cams cheapish since 1990s, & editing setups for last 20 years, projectors for room showing stayed out of reach.
A new era of film clubs & indie cinemas beckons!

This is a picture of Jeff Bezos when started Amazon.

He just became the first person with a net worth of $200 billion.

It doesn’t matter where you start.

You can accomplish anything.