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00:00.0
Ayan na! Ayan na mga ka-meta! Kamusta kayo diyan?
00:04.0
Hindi ko plano mag-meta ngayon kasi umapol pa ako sa mga trabaho ko dito.
00:09.0
Kaso napansin ko na wala na yata akong load e.
00:14.0
Mapapusna yung load ko.
00:15.0
Sabi ko bago mapapusna yung load ko mag-meta tayo na mabilisan.
00:19.0
Catch up tayo diyan.
00:20.0
So kamusta diyan?
00:21.0
Doon sa mga biktima ng commercialization at American imperialism.
00:28.0
Then, joking aside, Happy Valentine's Day sa inyong lahat.
00:31.0
I hope you guys are having a special day.
00:34.0
Whether you're double, single, quadruple, kung ano man kayo sa buhay.
00:39.0
I hope you're enjoying your day.
00:41.0
Shout out dyan sa aking mga extended relatives nandiyan sa Baguio.
00:45.0
Kanina tumawag sila gano'n.
00:47.0
Hi po sa inyong lahat. Sorry I couldn't hear things well.
00:50.0
Nandito ako sa labas, outdoor.
00:51.0
Kakatapos lang natin ng some meetings with some friends from the diplomatic community.
00:56.0
Of course in light of yung latest visit ng ating Pangulo, Pangulo Marcos Jr. doon sa Japan.
01:02.0
So I just had to catch up with some work.
01:04.0
Doon sa mga latest na nangyari sa...
01:07.0
Kaya pala hindi sumasagad ng mga editors na Valentine's Day pala.
01:13.0
Anyway, alam naman tayo guys, mga kameta.
01:18.0
There are many good things that happened doon sa pagbisita ng ating Pangulo sa Japan.
01:23.0
So mukhang more or less settled na the Philippines will be one of the first recipients of security aid from Japan.
01:29.0
So hindi lang official development assistance but also overseas security assistance.
01:34.0
Official security assistance, OSA.
01:37.0
It looks like nakauwi ng $13 billion in pledges and investments si Pangulo Marcos Jr.
01:43.0
Obviously these are pledges but...
01:45.0
Siguro unlike the Chinese pledges, medyo mas may ambag itong mga pledges na yan.
01:49.0
And hopefully they'll create more and more jobs for Filipinos.
01:52.0
Nakita din natin dito sa ano.
01:54.0
There'll be support for the Philippine Coast Guard.
01:57.0
There'll be support for Subic Bay Development.
02:01.0
Also for the Mindanao Peace Process.
02:03.0
There's also a negotiation of terms of reference of a defense cooperation agreement.
02:07.0
Most likely ito yung reciprocal access agreement.
02:11.0
Before a much more full-fledged visiting forces agreement is going to be signed.
02:16.0
So marami rin mga ODA, private investments commitments from Japan.
02:21.0
Not to mention also yung Metro Rail Transit Line 3, MRT 3 rehabilitation.
02:27.0
Post Disaster Standby Loan from Japan.
02:30.0
North-South Commuter Railway Project.
02:32.0
NSCR Extension Project.
02:34.0
So billion-billion na mga projects na nakikita natin coming from our Japanese friends.
02:38.0
Meron din Memorandum of Cooperation, Agricultural Cooperation.
02:42.0
At Memorandum of Cooperation on ICT, Digital Infrastructure Development with our friends in Japan.
02:48.0
So again, ang dami mga nangyari.
02:50.0
Also there'll be promotion of bilateral defense cooperation through regularization of 2 plus 2 meetings.
02:56.0
And also there'll be support for, alam nyo na, West Philippine Sea, Taiwan, so on and so forth.
03:03.0
So dito yung hawak ko yung mga full document ng lahat ng mga agreements na meron tayo with Japan.
03:09.0
During dun sa bisita ni Paolo Marcos Jr. sa bansang yan.
03:13.0
As I said, I'm not fan of revisionism.
03:16.0
I'm not fan of strongman populism.
03:19.0
I'm not fan of performativism, all of that nonsense.
03:22.0
But in fairness naman, pagdating sa foreign policy, I think Marcos Jr. has been right in every way that Duterte was not.
03:31.0
I'm not saying things are perfect.
03:33.0
I'm not saying the foreign policy is all set and done.
03:36.0
No, many things can change.
03:37.0
Many things can still go wrong.
03:38.0
There are many things we still don't know.
03:40.0
There are many angles that the President may have not considered.
03:43.0
But I think so far, President Marcos Jr. has done so much better than Duterte.
03:47.0
At least in his first 6, 7, 8 months in office.
03:51.0
I think we have much more balanced relations with our counterparts around the world,
03:54.0
which have a much more dignified position vis-a-vis China.
03:57.0
We no longer have unnecessary tensions with our traditional allies like the United States.
04:03.0
And we have a very fruitful relationship with a number of countries, especially Japan.
04:07.0
So let's look at where these things are going.
04:09.0
So yun again, huwag kayong magalit kung anti-Marcos kayo at huwag kayong masyadong matutuwa naman.
04:14.0
I'm just giving this with caveats. I think so far, so good pagdating sa foreign policy.
04:19.0
Ibang usapan na yung good governance at home.
04:22.0
Ibang usapan na yung mga ibang-ibang issue.
04:24.0
Alam nyo na yan, diba?
04:27.0
Now anyway, since it's Valentine's Day, let me talk about something that has nothing to do with Valentine's Day.
04:33.0
Ito yung article natin, of course, na pinag-usapan natin, guys.
04:37.0
Yung article ko today on Inquirer, which is kind of a love letter to not only Madrid and Rizal,
04:49.0
but also to a forgotten aspect of our own history.
04:53.0
As I said, maramit sa atin mga Pilipino.
04:56.0
We're very attached to America.
04:57.0
We're very attached to NBA.
04:59.0
We're very attached to Hollywood, junk culture, whatever, everything that we find from the U.S.
05:04.0
And yung iba naman sa atin, masyadong atat na magkabagbeshi, friendship sa China, katulad ni Tatay Digong.
05:12.0
But one of the things that we tend to forget is we share centuries of history with Spain.
05:19.0
And in the case of Madrid, yun nga, may kausap akong diplomat dun sa Spain.
05:26.0
And one of the topics that kept on popping up was this.
05:30.0
Kasi Madrid is a former seat of empire.
05:35.0
I'm not a fan of empires.
05:37.0
Empires do horrible things.
05:39.0
Colonialists are colonialists.
05:41.0
They're exploitative.
05:43.0
But of course, there are different types of imperialism and colonialism.
05:46.0
Not all of them are the same.
05:47.0
Some are more brutal than the other.
05:49.0
But going back to this, if you go to a place like Istanbul, which is also a former imperial seat or capital,
05:59.0
the writer Orhan Pamuk said that the city has a tinge of melancholy about it.
06:10.0
It has these traces of a long-gone glory.
06:16.0
And of course, the collapse in the standing that the Ottomans have had over the past hundred years
06:21.0
is something that's been very difficult for a lot of them to process.
06:24.0
Now, obviously, in light of the tragedy that happened in Spain, of course, our hearts go to the people there.
06:30.0
And I hope there will be more accountability, less corruption in Turkey, etc.,
06:35.0
and more effective governance para hindi mangyari mga ganitong traheja.
06:39.0
Because it's one thing for you to have natural disasters, but if countries are not properly prepared
06:44.0
or there's corruption and malgovernance, unfortunate people will suffer more than they already have.
06:51.0
And more than just a shock by the natural disasters.
06:56.0
Now, he would say that if you go to Istanbul, there's a beauty to it, but it's a melancholic beauty.
07:03.0
Pagdating sa Madrid, I don't think it's melancholy.
07:08.0
Or whatever Orhan Pamuk was talking about, I think the term melancholy is more applicable to the case of the Philippines.
07:17.0
Because that tinge of a foregone glory, or that this city had more beautiful and glorious days,
07:25.0
that's what you really feel about Manila.
07:27.0
Especially when you're in the more historic quarters of Manila.
07:31.0
You know, the intramural area is just a tourist spot.
07:34.0
It looks like a small preserved area.
07:37.0
But it gives you an idea of how beautiful Manila looks once upon a time.
07:42.0
And so when you're in Madrid, the sense it evokes in you is more of a sense of nostalgia.
07:52.0
It's nostalgia for the time of our Ilustrado when they were there.
07:56.0
It's a nostalgia of a once cosmopolitan global empire,
08:01.0
but obviously because we're not Spanish and we're not pro-colonialists,
08:05.0
obviously you're not nostalgic for imperial glory and all of that nonsense.
08:09.0
So it's more like a nostalgia for the glorious days of our forefathers.
08:15.0
So when we were in Hotel Inglés, Hotel Gran Inglés,
08:19.0
you sit down there and you imagine what brilliant men our country had produced back in the day.
08:24.0
Juan Luna, Felix Hidalgo.
08:27.0
I mean, these were the guys who topped the art exhibitions in Spain.
08:31.0
They beat everyone from all around the world,
08:33.0
especially from the Spanish empire across the Spanish empire and the Spanish-speaking people across Europe.
08:40.0
I mean, we had people like Rizal who were one of the smartest people out there.
08:43.0
But by the way, let me make it sure, as much as I want to talk about Rizal and all of that,
08:47.0
I think we also have to go beyond just praising Rizal and giving him all the credit
08:55.0
when in fact he was just part of a bigger group.
08:58.0
There were many, many other people who did a lot of great things.
09:00.0
And I think we unfortunately have this tendency in the Philippines that we want to heap all the praises on just one person.
09:05.0
You can guess who's the one person that the opposition wants to heap all the praises on.
09:09.0
I'm not even talking about Lenny, by the way.
09:11.0
You know, one person there, supposedly that one person is the only journalist standing up, blah, blah, blah.
09:17.0
I'm not saying that person per se is doing that.
09:20.0
But we have this tendency to just glorify one person and forget that one person is part of a bigger movement.
09:25.0
And there are other people who are also making major contributions to nation building today.
09:30.0
And in the case of Rizal, there were many, many others, great people.
09:33.0
The Luna Brothers and others who were also brilliant people who really contributed also to the foundation,
09:40.0
to the establishment foundation of the Philippine nation state, or at least nationhood,
09:45.0
before we had the full-fledged Philippine nation state by the middle of the 20th century.
09:49.0
Anyway, I mean, for me, we know that Madrid was not that beautiful long ago.
09:55.0
If you look at Madrid, it has this kind of a socialist, brutalist architectural heritage that goes back to the days of Franco.
10:05.0
In the same way, notice the CCP, some of the architecture that we had during the Marcos era
10:12.0
have this kind of bulky spaceship, Prometheus kind of look to them.
10:17.0
There are also parts of Madrid that you go and you see this kind of socialized housing style.
10:22.0
I mean, nothing ugly, but nothing spectacular about it.
10:25.0
And then you go to certain areas where it has this kind of a, I won't say fascist light,
10:31.0
but it has this kind of a brutalist architecture of, you know,
10:35.0
like the engineers in the Prometheus movie, not the Greco-Roman and all of those curves and beautiful aesthetic touches.
10:44.0
But you can see that Madrid has improved significantly.
10:49.0
So I was talking to some of the Madrilenos, including one ambassador who is from Madrid,
10:56.0
and he said, you know, when he was a child, whenever they go to Barcelona, he would say,
10:59.0
wow, why is Barcelona so nice? I wish we could have a city like this.
11:03.0
Because Barcelona, it has Gaudi, it has architecture, it's clean, there's this kind of glamorous feel to it.
11:11.0
And now you go to Madrid, it's very well preserved.
11:14.0
The historical quarters are very well preserved.
11:16.0
The diversity is there. It's a super clean, squeaky clean city, much cleaner than Paris and Rome,
11:22.0
some of the major capitals that are better known across Europe.
11:26.0
The people are really nice. The people are really welcoming.
11:30.0
You can get away with broken Spanish or Spanglish, as I call it.
11:35.0
There were times that I'll speak a bit of Spanish, and if I cannot follow it through properly,
11:40.0
I'll speak a bit of English there, and I used to get away with it.
11:42.0
They're kind, they're forgiving about it. I really appreciate it.
11:45.0
And I would say, to be honest, it's hard not to fall in love with the nostalgic sensibilities that the city evokes.
11:56.0
I mean, there's really something about it. There's really something about it.
11:59.0
Parang, ay, nako.
12:01.0
Alam niyo naman, kameta, hindi naman tayo yung, ano, ang tawag doon?
12:05.0
Alam mo naman, hindi naman tayo yung first time lang nag-travel ganon.
12:08.0
Alam niyo naman, we have been doing metas from all around the world, including metas when I was traveling from Munich all the way to Berlin,
12:15.0
from south to north of Germany, we did metas in Paris, we did metas in Barcelona,
12:20.0
all across the world over the past year alone, hindi pa ako nag-meta from other beautiful parts of the world.
12:25.0
But there's just something about Madrid.
12:27.0
And, so, given how Madrid went from a relatively ugly parang city from the Franco days to the kind of beautiful, squeaky clean,
12:40.0
not to mention it has also over modern quarters like, you know, the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium,
12:48.0
pinuntaan din natin yan for Real Madrid and all, of course.
12:50.0
Diba, mga kameta.
12:51.0
So, may kumili tayo ng mga metacolor na jacket.
12:54.0
You know what I mean? You know that this city was not that nice not long ago,
13:00.0
and yet it turned out so authentic, authentically beautifully.
13:04.0
Authentically beautiful.
13:05.0
Especially dun sa Calle Sevilla and Alcaraz, that area is just gorgeous, right?
13:10.0
It's a small area, but it's so well preserved that it very much reminds you that this city had beautiful days,
13:17.0
and those beautiful days can be frozen in time with proper architecture, architectural preservation, proper city planning, etc.
13:24.0
And then you wonder, sana ang Pilipinas maging ganun din isang araw, no?
13:28.0
Balang isang araw, no?
13:30.0
I mean, you know it's doable.
13:32.0
But for that to happen, we need a number of things.
13:35.0
I think one of the things we need here in Manila talaga is a governor.
13:40.0
A Manila governor who oversees macro-transformation projects that go beyond ephemeral mayors and squabbling mayors
13:48.0
and this petty barangay chairman thinking people, right?
13:51.0
You need something more.
13:53.0
I'm not against barangay chairman, but I don't like people who think like a barangay chairman
13:57.0
when they're already in charge of millions of lives, right?
14:00.0
I'm not talking about Tatay Digong per se, but you can connect the dots.
14:07.0
I think something can be done.
14:09.0
The other unfortunate thing, guys, is talagang sinira ng mga Amerikano.
14:13.0
Yung Manila, yung beautiful quarters of Manila were just completely devastated during the bombing campaign of Manila
14:19.0
in the twilight days of the Second World War.
14:21.0
So remember we discussed this, if you read the book Rampage,
14:24.0
it's written by a Pulitzer-winning American historian, not Chinese or anti-U.S.
14:31.0
You'll see that grabe, ang daming na matay, ang daming na sira yung heritage ng Manila.
14:40.0
So I really suggest you guys read this.
14:42.0
So read it on your own, you'll just see.
14:44.0
This is the book, no?
14:46.0
Please check it out, this book.
14:48.0
It just shows one reason Manila is not that nice anymore is because it was just so devastated during the twilight days of World War II
14:56.0
because the Americans, in order to avoid casualty among their soldiers, they just bombed much of the city,
15:01.0
especially the beautiful center of the city, to avoid direct clashes with their Japanese counterparts.
15:06.0
And we just conveniently forgot about that.
15:08.0
How the Americans are responsible for much of the destruction of the greatest heritage of Manila,
15:13.0
the Pearl of the Orient Seas.
15:17.0
But of course we cannot also blame Americans for everything because we also had, what, 17 years after that
15:23.0
to get things together or at least make the most out of what was left.
15:26.0
And that's why I'm saying sana meron talaga tayong Manila governor.
15:29.0
Hindi yung emaldific style na pocket lang here and there para hindi talaga yung nakayos yung problema.
15:33.0
But the real governors who really deal with the fundamental concerns of the city,
15:37.0
like for instance in Jakarta we see they have a governor and their governors,
15:42.0
including with Jokowi a decade earlier, they really started to lay down the foundation for infrastructure transformation of Jakarta.
15:48.0
So you can see Jakarta has made huge improvements over the past 10 years.
15:51.0
It's still not a very nice capital compared to what it should be.
15:55.0
But the basic infrastructure has improved dramatically.
15:58.0
So yun din ang gusto natin mga kameta na sana, sana meron din tayong governor dyan sa Malina.
16:04.0
So really coordinate, ayusin yung Pasig River, ayusin yung interconnection among different cities
16:11.0
to bring resources together so that you can invest in certain areas to preserve our culture, our architecture, etc.
16:18.0
Yung ngay, alam mo yung kulang talaga sa Pilipinas, especially sa Manila, walang poetry.
16:24.0
It's just these nice financial centers like here in BGC areas or Makati or Tigas, whatever.
16:31.0
And then these posh homes, whatever.
16:34.0
But there's no, where's the heritage?
16:38.0
You know what I'm saying?
16:40.0
There's no heritage with skyscrapers.
16:42.0
These are just all new and they're not even that unique, right?
16:46.0
Like copycats of the other skyscrapers you see.
16:48.0
Personally, I really like skyscrapers, I'll be honest about it.
16:51.0
I like height and skyscrapers and everything.
16:53.0
But there's so much more to Manila than these new blocks and all.
16:59.0
Not to mention, of course, that one-third of our residents in Metro Manila are not given the decent housing that they deserve.
17:04.0
So we need some decent, socialized housing.
17:07.0
So yeah, you need a governor to really deal with this.
17:11.0
Now, I'm not for federalism per se, but I think as far as Metro Manila is concerned,
17:15.0
you need some sort of a government to coordinate efforts here.
17:18.0
Kasi kung iniwan mo lang sa bawat mayor, may sariling discartage of them.
17:21.0
Walang future talaga ng city na ito.
17:24.0
It lacks, I mean, as Carlos Eldran, our good friend, put it, the city lacks soul.
17:30.0
Because the core of the city was so devastated during the Second World War.
17:33.0
But my argument would be, okay, it's true that the Americans were responsible for a lot of devastation that happened here,
17:38.0
and as well as the Japanese, of course, who initiated the war to begin with.
17:43.0
But it's not like we didn't also have 70 years to make something out of whatever was left.
17:49.0
Because Japan was devastated too, Tokyo was devastated, and yet they came back.
17:52.0
Because they had good leaders, they had efficient leaders, they had hard-working leaders, and they kind of got things together.
18:04.0
While Madrid brings nostalgia, I think Manila brings melancholy.
18:08.0
Yun ang talaga na sense ko, this is the fundamental feeling you get out of it.
18:12.0
Not to mention Manila, of course.
18:13.0
If you're a little bit less romantic about things, Manila brings out frustration, anxiety, and sadness.
18:19.0
Ako, taga Baguio ako.
18:20.0
Unfortunately, even Baguio's not that nice anymore.
18:23.0
But para sa amin, nang taga Baguio ganun.
18:26.0
Culture shock talaga Manila before, no?
18:28.0
Like, just the massive inequalities, many people are homeless and not taken care of,
18:34.0
how the rich in this city live as if, you know, they live like...
18:40.0
Alam mo yung movie na Elysium?
18:43.0
Diba yung mga rich, they live there in, like, that spaceship,
18:45.0
and then they're extracting everything from sa baba sa Earth to send up there?
18:48.0
Para may pagkaganon ng Manila dating sa amin, no?
18:51.0
And, like, the rich and all have their, I don't know, helicopters,
18:55.0
and, I don't know, they have their beautiful SUVs, and atitsundo, all the stuff, and all of that.
19:01.0
And then the ordinary folks have to go through this horrible grind of...
19:06.0
...of just commuting.
19:09.0
And commuting is really, really hard.
19:11.0
I mean, I used to commute a lot.
19:14.0
I mean, yes, ako ngayon, I drive on my own, thank God.
19:19.0
I work hard to be able to, you know, afford my own thing, not because...
19:23.0
Alam mo, ay, nako.
19:24.0
Huwag na tayo mag-bardagula.
19:26.0
You get what I'm saying?
19:27.0
But I don't have a driver or anything like that.
19:29.0
Alam mo naman tayo mga Ilocano, diba?
19:34.0
I'm a strong and an independent man.
19:41.0
I used to commute a lot, especially when I was studying sa UP, no?
19:44.0
Ang hirap talaga, ang hirap talaga.
19:46.0
I also used to commute not that regularly, na.
19:49.0
When I was teaching in LaSalle, going from my place to there.
19:52.0
Pagdating ko ng trabaho, pagod na ako sa commute pa.
19:56.0
Yung grabe, yung sobrang stressful, and all of that.
19:59.0
Not to mention issues about security.
20:02.0
I mean, if I were a woman, I would be even more concerned about
20:04.0
yung pag-jump up kayo, natuna kayo.
20:06.0
So, talagang wala akong sense of poetry
20:08.0
kung ganyan ang siyudad mo, kung ganyan ang transportation mo,
20:13.0
ganun kadumi yung Pasig River mo.
20:15.0
I mean, from the skies, ang ganda ng Pasig River.
20:18.0
Pasig River is gorgeous from the skies.
20:20.0
When you're airplane, you look at it,
20:22.0
and then you look at yung mga opening lines.
20:25.0
I think this is sa El Filibusterismo, right?
20:27.0
If you go to El Filibusterismo,
20:29.0
I think the opening line in the second one,
20:32.0
Dito yung you'll be introduced to Simon, di ba?
20:35.0
And this is where Doña Victorina and all of these people,
20:38.0
these key characters, protagonists,
20:40.0
they're passing through Pasig.
20:41.0
You could see that once upon a time, Pasig was like a...
20:44.0
was a river that was alive.
20:46.0
And literally, people were passing through.
20:48.0
Huge people, important people passing through.
20:51.0
So, like, from the sky, if you look at it,
20:54.0
it evokes those imageries that you find in Rizal's Novas,
20:58.0
especially in El Filibusterismo, no?
21:04.0
And then now what?
21:05.0
And then now, look at it.
21:06.0
Kunya, in Rockwall area, ayusin mo yung Pasig na yan.
21:09.0
Anong mangyara kung madumi naman dun sa taas or sa baba?
21:11.0
Wala rin sa isa, eh.
21:12.0
So, meron kang collective action failure, di ba,
21:16.0
So, you really need a government to get that thing together,
21:18.0
to bring this city together.
21:20.0
I cannot blame if there's no sense of poetry,
21:22.0
if there's no sense of appreciation of literature,
21:25.0
of the higher arts, right?
21:28.0
And that many people just want to be, I don't know,
21:30.0
just want to escape from their harsh conditions.
21:33.0
Siguro, yung isa gusto mag-beauty queen,
21:36.0
kasi pag-beauty queen gano'n, automatically,
21:39.0
life will completely transform, right?
21:40.0
I mean, the way we treat beauty queens here
21:42.0
is like how we treat, I don't know,
21:44.0
Nobel Prize scientists, siguro, no?
21:46.0
Not even that, more than that, no?
21:48.0
How I wish you also treated our chess masters
21:51.0
and top scientists and thinkers and intellectuals
21:54.0
the same way we treat, you know?
21:55.0
But look at it, like, because the conditions are so hard,
21:58.0
there's just no poetry.
21:59.0
Everyone's looking for shortcuts.
22:01.0
People want to be like, I don't know,
22:02.0
bloggers, YouTubers, and make it big.
22:04.0
Everyone's, it's so, it's all about survival
22:08.0
and hustling and all of that.
22:09.0
So, there's absolutely no sense of poetry.
22:11.0
And when you go to Madrid,
22:14.0
you don't only see the poetry of this once-glorious empire,
22:17.0
or not-so-glorious empire,
22:18.0
but you also see the poetry of our forefathers, right?
22:20.0
The Rizal generation, the Lustrado generation.
22:23.0
And you wonder when is that going to come back
22:25.0
to the Philippines, right?
22:26.0
And you see, the skeletons of that
22:28.0
are still here with us.
22:29.0
You have still a river that can be cleaned up.
22:31.0
You can still have intramurals
22:33.0
and some beautiful parts, Manila Bay area,
22:35.0
that you can clean up.
22:36.0
Not the, you know,
22:37.0
not the clean-up of, you know,
22:39.0
Adolomite-style clean-up of Japex.
22:41.0
The real clean-up and all of that.
22:44.0
For that, you really need a Manila governor.
22:46.0
Some sort of reforms really have to come into the picture.
22:48.0
Anyway, mga kameta, I don't want to make this
22:50.0
like a rant or all of that.
22:51.0
Please go ahead and read yung article natin today,
22:54.0
The Ghost of Rizal,
22:55.0
because I kind of explain where I'm coming from
22:57.0
in a much more organized way,
22:59.0
na hindi sabog and all.
23:01.0
And then, of course, later this week,
23:03.0
nag-arranging tayo ng mga interviews
23:05.0
with a number of our friends,
23:06.0
including good friends or experts on Spain,
23:09.0
Spanish-Philippines relations.
23:11.0
So we'll continue this kind of conversations.
23:13.0
Again, as I discussed with a good friend of mine,
23:17.0
a Spanish diplomat and all,
23:18.0
of course, we don't want our relationship with things
23:20.0
to be just a matter of nostalgic,
23:23.0
backward-looking.
23:25.0
I don't want it like that.
23:26.0
I want it to be forward-looking.
23:28.0
What are the lessons we can learn?
23:29.0
Because really, one of the most...
23:33.0
Ito nalang kasi, you know,
23:35.0
I spent a long time just looking at Guarnica,
23:38.0
yung painting ni Pablo Picasso, no?
23:40.0
Dun sa Reina Sofia Museum.
23:42.0
I really spent a lot of time.
23:43.0
I was analyzing it.
23:44.0
I was looking at different parts of it
23:46.0
and talking to my good friend.
23:49.0
We were looking at it.
23:51.0
Spain went from the horrors
23:53.0
that were captured by Pablo Picasso
23:56.0
and the horrific regime
23:57.0
that came out of that horrific civil war.
24:02.0
Spain came out of all of that
24:03.0
to become a much more stable,
24:05.0
prosperous, industrialized country that it is today.
24:07.0
Of course, Spain still has a lot of problems.
24:09.0
Katalan separatism.
24:11.0
PASC, well, it's not as big a problem as it used to be.
24:13.0
By the way, a lot of us Filipinos,
24:14.0
actually our names are Katalan or PASC.
24:16.0
I think, for instance,
24:17.0
Foronda, my middle name,
24:20.0
That's a PASC name.
24:21.0
It's not even a Spanish name.
24:22.0
It's a PASC name.
24:23.0
But anyways, putting that aside,
24:24.0
I mean, Spain has a lot of serious problems.
24:26.0
I remember in 2016, 2017,
24:28.0
when I was in Brussels,
24:29.0
there were these huge rallies
24:30.0
for Katalan separation,
24:33.0
global independence.
24:35.0
But still, Spain has come a long, long way
24:37.0
from where it was
24:38.0
just a generation or two ago.
24:41.0
So it gives us also a sense of hope
24:42.0
that maybe if we get certain things right,
24:44.0
we can put the Philippines
24:46.0
on the right direction.
24:50.0
si Medialon Junior, diba?
24:52.0
Since mahilig naman sila sa arts and diplomas,
24:55.0
hopefully visit Spain.
24:56.0
The King of Spain,
24:58.0
Carlos ba ngayon?
25:00.0
Will visit the Philippines?
25:01.0
But we go more than that.
25:03.0
We really learn some good things from Spain.
25:05.0
How they overcame their dark past,
25:07.0
their feudalism, etc.
25:08.0
Obviously, that's not gonna make some people here happy.
25:11.0
The other thing I want us to get rid of
25:14.0
is itong mga pretentious pa-Spanish
25:16.0
dito sa Pilipinas,
25:17.0
na nagsa-Spanish-Spanish
25:18.0
with this exaggerated accent
25:20.0
or affectations and all.
25:22.0
Spanish is just a sweet,
25:25.0
Don't make it like
25:27.0
a French diplomatic language.
25:33.0
we need a Spanish
25:34.0
that is relatable
25:36.0
by both the Juan Lunas
25:38.0
and Juan de la Cruz.
25:42.0
we were a truly trilingual country
25:44.0
whereby we could speak
25:45.0
English proficiently,
25:46.0
Spanish proficiently,
25:47.0
or at least basic Spanish,
25:48.0
and Filipino or whatever national language
25:51.0
we have proficiently.
25:52.0
Today, none of them.
25:54.0
Barely anyone speaks Spanish.
25:56.0
At best, I can just pull off a Carabao Spanish,
25:58.0
but I hope I can really work on that
26:01.0
and improve that.
26:02.0
Because I think the accent,
26:03.0
the attitude, everything
26:05.0
comes completely natural to me.
26:07.0
And then what? Tagalog natin,
26:14.0
so I kind of feel bad
26:15.0
the fact that my Filipino
26:17.0
or hopefully gets better
26:19.0
I know malaking improvement
26:20.0
nangyara sa aking
26:22.0
Filipino speaking skills,
26:25.0
I'm way, way behind
26:27.0
where I should be
26:28.0
considering I'm someone
26:30.0
who's a product of the
26:31.0
University of the Philippines.
26:33.0
and I don't feel good about that.
26:34.0
But at the very least,
26:35.0
I try to be at least
26:36.0
decently proficient in English.
26:41.0
we really become a nation
26:43.0
where we're proficient
26:44.0
in multiple languages.
26:46.0
kahit isa na nga lang,
26:47.0
even you look at the
26:48.0
supposed top elite schools,
26:50.0
we're producing a lot of graduates
26:52.0
who barely can speak
26:53.0
a single language proficiency.
26:54.0
They can't properly write or read,
26:56.0
write in a single proper language.
26:59.0
And isa pang frustration namin,
27:01.0
marami rin Filipino sa abroad,
27:02.0
sa Europe and all,
27:03.0
na hindi naging citizen
27:04.0
or they then don't get
27:05.0
the best jobs they deserve
27:06.0
because they cannot speak
27:08.0
the language of their
27:09.0
host countries in the
27:11.0
high culture ways.
27:13.0
Like they speak calle espanol
27:15.0
or something like that,
27:19.0
We really need to do
27:20.0
something about it.
27:21.0
We have an education crisis,
27:23.0
we have an attitude problem crisis,
27:26.0
we have a lost sense
27:27.0
of the past crisis.
27:30.0
So all of this is contributing
27:31.0
to the identity crisis
27:32.0
and everything else
27:33.0
is contributing to
27:35.0
the fundamental sense
27:36.0
of ratherlessness
27:38.0
that we collectively
27:43.0
Now a lot of you,
27:45.0
life is just so hard,
27:46.0
you cannot even think
27:47.0
about these things.
27:48.0
But there are always
27:50.0
who try to think about
27:51.0
these bigger questions,
27:52.0
these existential questions
27:53.0
facing our country.
27:55.0
I'm taking it very seriously
27:57.0
as much as possible
27:59.0
getting into petty fights
28:02.0
So that I can really
28:03.0
focus on these big questions
28:05.0
and hopefully come up
28:07.0
explorative answers.
28:08.0
Because no one really
28:09.0
has the final answer
28:11.0
major existential issues.
28:13.0
I'm doing my best
28:14.0
using whatever privileges,
28:16.0
whatever I may have
28:18.0
to really think deeply
28:20.0
about these fundamental issues
28:22.0
confronting our country.
28:23.0
What I'm saying is that
28:25.0
as difficult as things are,
28:26.0
if you think through it properly,
28:28.0
if you learn the right lessons,
28:30.0
including from countries
28:31.0
that have shared histories
28:33.0
including Spain that has
28:34.0
more than 300 years
28:35.0
of shared history with us,
28:36.0
including countries like Spain
28:38.0
relatively backward country
28:39.0
just a generation ago
28:40.0
to quite a developed,
28:41.0
prosperous country today.
28:43.0
If you learn the right lessons,
28:45.0
I think Manila can still
28:46.0
become beautiful.
28:49.0
just a basic sense,
28:50.0
since it's Valentine's Day,
28:52.0
if you just have a basic sense
28:53.0
of poetry and romanticism,
28:57.0
a city like Manila
29:00.0
I think it's very much doable
29:01.0
and beautiful for the
29:03.0
not for the 19th century
29:04.0
and 20th century.
29:05.0
We're never going to go back
29:06.0
to what we had in 9th century
29:07.0
because our population
29:09.0
15-20 million, right?
29:11.0
No, we're never going
29:12.0
to go back to that.
29:13.0
Manila alone is like
29:14.0
20 million population today.
29:15.0
So it's a mega city, right?
29:18.0
But we can make it
29:21.0
for the 21st century.
29:22.0
And not just with
29:23.0
these beautiful skyscrapers,
29:25.0
and BGC and all of that.
29:26.0
No, this is great.
29:27.0
I have no problem with that.
29:28.0
But I don't want this
29:29.0
to be a highlight of Manila.
29:30.0
I want the highlight of Manila
29:32.0
to be a beautiful Pasig River.
29:34.0
Pasig, Pasig, Pasig,
29:41.0
I want it to be a
29:42.0
beautiful Pasig River.
29:44.0
well-preserved areas.
29:48.0
alam mo yung poblasyon areas
29:51.0
I think it gives you an idea
29:52.0
whereby you don't need to be
29:53.0
posh or pretentious bloat
29:54.0
to make a place friendly
29:56.0
not only to tourists
29:57.0
but also to locals.
29:58.0
Also a little bit affordable
30:00.0
to a certain degree.
30:01.0
We need more of that
30:02.0
like poblasyon-like kind of.
30:04.0
I know it's a bit
30:05.0
gentrification and annoying
30:07.0
but at least there's
30:08.0
a certain level of
30:10.0
not just skyscrapers
30:11.0
and steel and metal
30:13.0
If we can poblasyonize
30:14.0
more and more parts
30:16.0
including the old Manila
30:17.0
and at the same time
30:18.0
really do something
30:20.0
to make it really clean
30:22.0
not just dolomite
30:23.0
our way out of it.
30:24.0
Then we can bring back
30:25.0
poetry to the city.
30:26.0
Then you can make
30:28.0
that you're excited
30:30.0
Manila is not a place
30:32.0
you're just leaving
30:33.0
because this is where
30:37.0
or this is because
30:38.0
you're married to someone
30:39.0
and then you're stuck.
30:41.0
Make it the city of poetry.
30:44.0
I constantly go back
30:46.0
inspiration for the future.
30:47.0
It's that constant
30:48.0
dialectic process.
30:54.0
I still have a lot
30:56.0
We have a lot of drama.
30:59.0
So that's my message
31:00.0
for Valentine's Day.
31:07.0
of poetry about our city.
31:09.0
a place where we live.
31:14.0
Your grandchildren
31:19.0
it's really frustrating.
31:20.0
You want to give up.
31:23.0
there's no such thing
31:25.0
Or in the States.
31:26.0
Or the US has already
31:29.0
there's no such thing.
31:30.0
Or there's no such thing
31:32.0
Those kind of things.
31:37.0
and we can improve it.
31:40.0
no one will listen to me.
31:46.0
who has influence and all
31:47.0
is watching us one day
31:48.0
or is going to listen to me one day
31:49.0
and get things done.
31:52.0
That's what we're thinking.
32:09.0
they managed to preserve
32:10.0
some of the heritage
32:11.0
of their glory days
32:12.0
in the early 20th century.
32:13.0
That's why if you go to
32:15.0
you kind of understand
32:18.0
You kind of understand
32:21.0
One of the five richest
32:22.0
countries 100 years ago.
32:23.0
I think it was something
32:24.0
even if their economy
32:25.0
now is not really that good.
32:28.0
will help the country.
32:33.0
at least let's be
32:34.0
something like Argentina.
32:36.0
At least something
32:40.0
We don't even have
32:43.0
We lost architecture.
32:44.0
We don't even have
32:50.0
we don't have this
32:51.0
we don't have that.
32:52.0
If you were in this
32:58.0
in 10 to 15 years
32:59.0
we created a whole
33:00.0
mini city already here
33:02.0
to how things can
33:09.0
It's a pet friendly
33:13.0
we also apply that
33:16.0
architectural heritage.
33:25.0
And I noticed that
33:26.0
it's really expensive
33:28.0
It's really expensive
33:30.0
It's even cheaper
33:36.0
go on a date in Europe
33:38.0
because the dinner there
33:39.0
is cheaper than here.
33:42.0
or something like that.
33:47.0
with some good friends.
33:48.0
I'm also talking to Leloy
33:55.0
all of those things.
33:56.0
And then hopefully
33:59.0
if I can get some
34:03.0
We want to set up
34:10.0
kind of Joe Rogan
34:12.0
high quality production.
34:19.0
it's gonna cost you
34:21.0
or something like that.
34:24.0
obviously we cannot afford
34:25.0
doing every episode
34:27.0
But once in a while
34:30.0
really high quality
34:33.0
podcast discussion
34:37.0
talking to someone
34:39.0
really good people
34:40.0
that would be great.
34:42.0
that's something we can work on.
34:47.0
because of course
34:50.0
corporate sponsors
34:57.0
So those are the things
34:58.0
we're working on.
35:02.0
what I'm doing here
35:04.0
Everything I do here
35:07.0
inexplicable love
35:12.0
this is how it is
35:16.0
how can I explain this
35:19.0
whenever I'm abroad
35:21.0
your connecting flight
35:23.0
you see all of these
35:29.0
the spark in their eyes
35:31.0
a fellow Filipino
35:32.0
and they're excited
35:46.0
thank you so much
35:47.0
for being so kind
35:57.0
these conversations
35:58.0
like for instance
35:59.0
you're in the airplane
36:00.0
and then you hear
36:06.0
I was in the Philippines
36:20.0
that I'm Filipino
36:22.0
if I'm wearing shades
36:30.0
I could hear them
36:32.0
I haven't been home
36:36.0
I'll be home soon
36:38.0
it's still different
36:42.0
you're earning well
36:44.0
and that was always
36:46.0
why people ask me
36:48.0
migrate or whatever
36:50.0
migrate then what
36:53.0
it's still different
36:54.0
and you could see
36:56.0
who have a lot of
36:57.0
frustrations in the Philippines
36:58.0
once they're back
36:59.0
there's this spark
37:00.0
this twinkle in their eye
37:01.0
that never goes away
37:03.0
even with all the difficulties
37:11.0
is really different
37:12.0
the lines are so long
37:13.0
especially in Terminal 3
37:14.0
like it's a horror
37:18.0
there's like 20 queues
37:20.0
only 5 are filled up
37:22.0
that the line will be long
37:24.0
those frustrations
37:27.0
it really pisses you off
37:30.0
because it's your country
37:31.0
there's a familiarity
37:32.0
and sense of rootedness
37:34.0
going to find anywhere else
37:35.0
you're not forced to
37:36.0
learn another language
37:37.0
because it's your
37:39.0
you're not forced to
37:41.0
that you're worthy
37:42.0
that you're a citizen
37:43.0
because it's your country
37:46.0
and everything like that
37:47.0
it actually reminded me of the daughter of Navalny
37:51.0
you know the activist Navalny
37:54.0
she's studying in Stanford right now
37:55.0
and she was asked
37:57.0
why is your family fighting so hard
37:59.0
they said because we love
38:02.0
so she's studying in Stanford
38:03.0
but she plans to go back to Moscow
38:05.0
despite all the risks to her
38:07.0
despite the fact that if you're a Stanford graduate
38:09.0
especially in computer science
38:10.0
or something like that
38:11.0
it's a very very bright
38:12.0
and profitable future
38:13.0
if you're going to stay in the U.S.
38:17.0
she said she's going to go back
38:18.0
because Moscow is where her family is
38:20.0
Moscow is where her childhood is
38:21.0
Moscow is where their memories is
38:23.0
Moscow is where they read
38:24.0
their Dostoyevsky's
38:27.0
Moscow is where their heart is
38:29.0
their identity is
38:31.0
so even if there are opportunities
38:32.0
all around the world
38:33.0
as Stanford graduates
38:34.0
being the daughter of Navalny
38:35.0
one of the best known activists on earth
38:37.0
who I believe should have really got
38:38.0
the Nobel Peace Prize
38:42.0
I'm saying we should be like that
38:43.0
we should be like them
38:48.0
I completely understand
38:49.0
people have to go abroad
38:50.0
because you're not compensated properly here
38:52.0
you're not taken care of
38:54.0
and few rich here
38:55.0
they live like kings
38:56.0
and all at the expense of the rest
39:00.0
I understand that
39:03.0
in some little way
39:04.0
we can contribute to
39:05.0
bring some poetry back to Manila
39:08.0
to bring some sense of progress
39:10.0
to bring some sense of possibilities
39:12.0
and things can look far far better
39:14.0
than what they have been
39:15.0
and we can make all the sacrifices
39:17.0
and hard work of our people
39:20.0
I have a lot of drama
39:22.0
I'll come back to you
39:24.0
I have a lot of drama
39:27.0
I don't have a script
39:29.0
this is just purely
39:30.0
just comes from my heart
39:32.0
everything we do is out of
39:33.0
an inexplicable sense of love
39:35.0
which may not even make
39:39.0
in any objective way
39:41.0
it means everything to us
39:48.0
thank you very much
39:50.0
I really appreciate it
39:51.0
thank you as always
39:52.0
sa lahat naman sa supporta sa atin
39:55.0
ma'am Jocelyn Lombero
39:57.0
ma'am Eden Olonan
40:01.0
lahat naman sa supporta sa atin
40:03.0
I really appreciate it
40:04.0
thank you very much
40:06.0
let's talk soon again
40:08.0
let's talk soon again
40:11.0
get soon na yan sinasabi ko
40:13.0
there are many things that
40:14.0
I rather just not
40:16.0
but you know what I'm saying
40:19.0
alam mo kahit di ka marami
40:20.0
kahit di ka marami mag easy
40:21.0
kahit di ka marami mag tagalog
40:28.0
twinkle in the eye
40:30.0
certain facial gestures
40:33.0
you'll get to know
40:35.0
what is being meant there
40:36.0
what we're saying here
40:39.0
even the inexplicable
40:41.0
is understandable
40:42.0
even if you cannot
40:49.0
I'm sure some of you
40:50.0
ay ito na naman si Richard
40:52.0
gaganun drama drama
40:55.0
sige make fun of me
41:09.0
ano meron sabi ni Kat Rodriguez
41:11.0
tapos na ang conversation
41:16.0
thank you very much
41:20.0
happy valentine's day
41:21.0
and I'll get back to you soon
41:23.0
let's have more conversation
41:25.0
so please basayan nyo
41:26.0
yung article natin
41:27.0
The Ghost of Rizal
41:31.0
it's about the poetry
41:35.0
it's about going beyond
41:37.0
it's about having a sense
41:39.0
it's about learning
41:40.0
the right lessons
41:42.0
learning about transformation
41:44.0
inspiration and hope
41:49.0
and irrationality
41:51.0
it's all about those things
41:53.0
marami salamat guys
41:54.0
thank you very much
41:56.0
and talk to you soon
