Behind the blogs

Today’s Sunday Inquirer is on Pinoy blogosphere. This blog together with my favorite blog, The Professional Heckler, were featured in Fe Zamora’s article,“Behind the Blogs.”

Heckling is a serious business best practiced only by professionals. Like Marcelo “Loi” Reyes Landicho, the man behind the irreverent Professional Heckler, who has been poking fun at politicians, celebrities and everyone else who gets in his line of fire.

Example is this blog posted one day in May 2010.

And the No.1 birthday message left on Sen. Mar Roxas’ answering machine…

“Hi Marrrrrrrrrr! This is Krissy! Gosh! It’s your birthday pala today! I almost forgot. Mabuti na lang, Tito Jojo Binay reminded me about it over dinner last night! Gosh, this is so embarrassing! Forgetful na talaga ang lola mo, pasensya na! Anyway, happy, happy birthday and I sincerely wish na ma-enjoy mo ang ‘yong pagiging ordinary citizen. Pakisabi kay Tita Koring, I miss her. Well, slight. Gosh! She won’t be Second Lady nga pala noh? How saaaaad! Bye, bye for now! I need to go. Oh my! Baby James, ano ba! ’Wag mong dilaan ’yang Villar bracelet. That’s dirty! Gosh this kid”

And the award-winning blog entry on August 4, 2010 titled “Exclusive: GMA Breaks Her Silence.” Excerpts:

The Professional Heckler (TPH): Kumusta na po kayo ma’am?

Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (GMA): Heto, napagod sa kakatakbo. Bigla ba naman akong sabihan na may privilege speech pala si Walden Bello, natural, kinailangan kong lumabas ng session hall. Eh nakita kong papalapit na siya sa podium, ayun kumaripas ako ng takbo. Maliliit pa naman ang aking mga hakbang kaya hiningal talaga ako!

TPH: Mabuti naman at ‘di kayo hinarang ng mga guwardiya..

GMA: Naku, imposible ‘yan! Si Mikey ang naka-duty nang lumayas ako sa Batasan.

TPH: Saan po kayo nagpunta?

GMA: Katulad nga ng nasulat mo sa iyong previous blog post, I tried to leave for Hong Kong. Eh cancelled pala ang mga flights ng PAL kaya umuwi na lang ako sa Lubao.

TPH: Last week po ay nilagdaan na ni Pangulong Noynoy Aquino ang Executive Order No. 1 creating the Truth Commission. Ano po ang masasabi n’yo?

GMA: My two spokespersons, Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago and Congressman Edcel Lagman have repeatedly raised the issue of the EO’s constitutionality. Naniniwala ako sa kanila. It’s unconstitutional.

***

TPH: Kumusta na po si Attorney Mike Arroyo?

GMA: Okay naman. Nakakapag-golf na ulit. Naghihintay lang kami ng advice ng kanyang doktor for his next check up in Hong Kong.

TPH: Kailan po ‘yon?

GMA: Depende. Depende sa schedule ng susunod na privilege speech ng aking mga kritiko.

***

TPH: Kung maibabalik po ang year 2004, tatawagan n’yo pa rin ba si Comelec Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano?

GMA: Sino ‘yon? May sinabi ba akong si Garcillano ang tinawagan ko? Remember: when I made that “I’m sorry speech,” never kong pinangalanan ang Comelec official na kinausap ko. Tawagin n’yo na akong corrupt, balasubas, magnanakaw, sinungaling, pandak, at kung anu-ano pang panlilibak… pero never akong nanlaglag ng ibang tao. In short, walang basehan ang iyong tanong. Let’s move on.

(For the full text of the blog, visit http://professionalheckler.wordpress.com)

BEFORE he became the Professional Heckler, Landicho was just content writing for radio and TV, a job which he landed after finishing a Development Communications degree at the University of the Philippines in Los Baños in 1996. Initially, he was writing scripts for life, culture and development programs, but by 2002, Landicho started shifting to entertainment, thanks to Boy Abunda whom he worked with in one radio show.

The short-lived showbiz blog served as a jumping board to socio-political commentaries, which became hot items during the 2004 national elections. In 2005, Landicho’s blog hit the mainstream media when some of his blog posts were included in the political humor book “Hello Garci, Hello Maa’m: Political Humor in the Cellphone Age” published by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) in 2005.

“I was just too happy that they noticed me,” Landicho says in an interview arranged through postings in his Twitter account, which has nearly 5,000 followers. He would be noticed by the Philippine Blog Awards too, which honored him Best Blog in the Entertainment Category (2008), Best Blog in the Humor Category (2009) and Best Blog in the Humor Category (2010). His blog post “Exclusive: GMA Breaks Her Silence” was also cited Top 3 Posts of the Year in 2010.

But financial reward does not come with “heckling,” Landicho says. He still has to keep his job in a TV station, aside from taking in extra writing jobs as sidelines. He remains low-key, though. “Even my co-workers don’t know I’m the Professional Heckler,” he says. He has requested SIM not to identify the TV station where he works “so I can have my freedom to heckle them, which I have done,” he states.

No libel suit has been filed against him, so far. “I was warned to be careful with Jamby Madrigal, that was all,” he says.

There’s an offer for him to appear in a TV political gag show, but Landicho has already declined. “I’m better read than heard,” he explains.

He’s happy heckling, and that’s what he’s best at.

Even the Philippine Daily Inquirer, which listed him among the “25 Blogs You Should Be Reading” for its 25th anniversary special issue in November, was not spared from Landicho’s sting.

Here’s a blog dated sometime in June, 2010:

For two consecutive days now, my favorite broadsheet has bannered “positive” stories about its favorite president-elect.

Saturday: “Aquino receives US envoy”

Sunday: “China, Spain hail Aquino’s poll victory”

Is PDI the new Manila Bulletin?

IF BLOGGING would be rated in number of Xs, Ellen Tordesillas’ blog, Making Life Worth Living, would be rated a Triple X. Not for the faint hearted, Tordesillas’ postings especially on politics strike at the guts of her target, dealing them the knockout punch not once but thrice. An award-winning journalist, Tordesillas also has “reliable sources” who furnish her with information and documentation to support her stock data compiled from years in beat reporting and investigative journalism.

On Cha-cha for instance. While other columnists agreed with former Chief Justice Reynato Puno’s statement that the Aquino administration is the “perfect time” to amend the 1987 Constitution, Tordesillas warned them it’s a “Trojan Horse.”

Here’s her blog dated January 12, 2011:

Cha-cha tune is being played again and we should be wary and alert.

Last Sunday, a friend working in the House of Representatives alerted us that Gloria Arroyo and her allies are ready with the Charter-change operation and they are just waiting for the right time to start it. She said Arroyo has the “budget” for it.

Arroyo has already made the first step when she filed on her first day as Pampanga 2nd District representative last July 1 a set of bills including House Resolution 8 calling for Charter change through a Constitutional Convention. It was co-authored by her son, Camarines Sur. Rep. Dato Arroyo.

Or this on December, 2010:

These scoundrels really know timing.

They unloaded their dirty tricks at the time when the public was busy with Christmas shopping and parties while coping with issue overload – Amnesty proclamation for military rebels, release of Morong 43, boycott of Nobel Peace Prize ceremonies in exchange for the life of Filipino drug traffickers, and acquittal of Hubert Webb and company in the Vizconde massacre case.

First was the decision of the Supreme Court allowing Mikey Arroyo to take his seat as sectoral representative of the security guards and tricyle drivers upholding the bastardization of the partylist system. The second was the deal struck by retired Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia with the Sandiganbayan.

Mikey Arroyo’s presence in Congress via the partylist, Ang Galing Pinoy, once again underscores his family’s perversion of the law to keep themselves in power.

(For more of Ellen Tordesillas’ blog, visit http://www. ellentordesillas.com)

Writing about the Arroyos – Gloria, Mike, Mikey, Luli and Dato – has become second nature to Tordesillas. The blogs she has posted about the Arroyos also have become her most-read postings, not a surprise though.

“I think people who read me share my point of view. Kasi, kung ayaw mo sa akin, why come here?” she says. She welcomes contrary views, provided the views are expressed in accordance to acceptable social conduct. ” This is my territory, tapos sasampalin ako? Hindi ako papayag,” she says.

That’s why she requires all visitors to her blog who want to post a comment to register first.

“In that way, I can ban their IPs once they misbehave,” Tordesillas explains.

A journalist since the 1980s, Tordesillas has been known for her take-no-prisoner stance in dealing with issues. In 2005, she opened her blog as a “venue to post my columns,” she says. She was then writing a column for Malaya and Abante, and contributing articles to Graphic, Mirror and other magazines.

Tordesillas says her blog has expanded her readership exponentially. “I have a wider reach. Some of those who read my blog have never read me in print,” she says. The comments on her discussion board also depict a global readership. “I noticed that many comments come in at night, maybe because it’s daytime from where they are,” she adds.

Her popularity has been noticed by advertising agencies, some of which have approached her for ad placements. But Tordesillas is choosy. “No cigarettes, no online gambling. Real estate is OK,” she states.

She ran an ad on Alaxan for a week leading to a Manny Pacquiao fight, a placement which was arranged through her Internet provider. She’s amused by the unexpected financial returns. “It’s not much, but it supplements my income,” she says.

The real challenge still lies in updating her column as often and as fast as she could. “It depends really on the issues,” she says of her column, which now includes postings on arts, culture and even human interests. •