The Social Significance of AlDub
[Photo credit: bandera.inquirer.net]
By Wilfredo G. Villanueva
Picture me. Going on 64. Four daughters, all grown up. Thirty-three years married. Battle-scarred political animal with the survival instincts of a tortoise, hard shell, soft heart.
Therein lies the entry point of AlDub for me.
Before I proceed, a review of the last two months is in order as far as AlDub is concerned. It’s a segment of a 36-year-old show on GMA Channel 7. It was supposed to feature a lola (grandmother) who was actually one of the hosts of a segment called Juan for All, All for Juan, a get-down-and-dirty show which situates the show deep in Philippine society, a slice of life, where viewers would see jobless, toothless (not to demean) citizens of the republic who would cry over about a hundred thousand pesos (USD 2,200) worth of cash and goodies from the show sponsors. They would greet the show’s main host Vic Sotto a happy birthday, never mind if it’s been several months ago, and thank him with tears rolling down their cheeks for the largesse.
Before that segment, they had a problem-solving portion where they would answer nonsensical and not so funny questions — like what to do about a husband’s asthma. The lady doctor — played by Wally Bayola prescribed a medication from the breath of a hyena, sprayed three times into the ears, but before that inhale and blow through the ears, the asthma will exit through the ears, something like that. She had to return to South Africa to attend a seminar on herbal medicine.
Dora D’Explorer left, and Lola Nidora the millionairess arrived, also played by Bayola for the question and answer. Towed by Lola Nidora is Maine Mendoza as Yaya Dub. Yaya is Pilipino for nanny. Dub is short for Dub Smash, a software to mimic the facial expression of a singer or artist using the original soundtrack, and it would elicit laughs. Maine achieved fame when she did an impersonation which garnered a million likes overnight, something like that. Eat Bulaga productions got her for her fame in Dub Smash.
It so happened that on July 16, this year, she would come to see Alden Richards at the monitor where the moveable feast of Juan for All, All for Juan was staged. Alden was at the Broadway studio hours away from the Eat Bulaga outreach. The audience saw that she was taken in by the handsome young man’s looks, resident director Mike Tuviera of the show saw an opportunity, and the rest as they say is history. The kalyeserye (street series) was born.
Lola Nidora would move heaven and earth to separate the two but the attraction seemed to be mutual and coming from a deep well, to Lola’s consternation, and the audience got hooked because Yaya Dub seemed genuinely hooked on Alden, and vice versa. They wanted the two to meet each other in person, as young lovers would naturally want, but Lola always stood as sentinel, dishing out Filipino traditional values in the process. “Sa tamang panahon” (at the right time) became a meme, and the audience would switch on every day Mondays to Saturdays as the love story unfolded.
Alden would transfer water from drums to a huge tank to fill it up so that he could see Yaya Dub, but it was not yet meant to be. He ran from the studio to Cubao commercial district about three kilometers away in searing heat carrying a pile of firewood as a condition for Alden to be able to see Yaya, endearing the young man to the audience, perhaps remembering how it was when Filipinos courted their lady loves in the days gone by before texting and social media dismissed traditional courtship and instead settled for eyeballs — eye-to-eye meetings at the instigation of texting within moments of first encounter.
And so the story went on, and AlDub Nation was born. Lola Nidora discovered that she was part of triplets, Lola Tinidora played by Jose Manalo, and Lola Tidora played by Paulo Ballesteros creating a rambunctious mix of fun and hilarity as the three hosts hammed it up in drag, dressed identically, manly oil smearing makeup.
On September 5, Alden and Maine (Alden would call her Maine, ditching the role name of Yaya Dub, and Maine would call him Den) finally got to see each other in person but before they could hug or kiss, a wall of plywood painted the same way as the walls of the corridor dropped down, sealing the two from each other, and Lola Nidora castigated them for not following her expressed wishes to not to get cozy with each other. Alden would shed tears for not getting up close to his lady love, and Maine the same way, but before the episode ended, Maine was kidnapped and spirited off somewhere. End of episode.
The following Saturday, September 12, in what was possibly the most tingling show, the two got to get close to each other bodily, shoulders brushing against each other, almost breathing the same air, but they were blindfolded, both being kidnap victims. They would drink latte from the same straw not knowing that the other was sipping from it, too. The audience loved it and cried buckets when Alden was whisked off by DuhRizz, also played by Bayola, who was a grandchild from the United States of Lola Nidora, the mastermind of the double kidnap. Lola Tinidora (Jose Manalo) and Lola Tidora (Paulo Ballesteros) were able to trace DuhRizz and they lectured her on not being envious and to forgive, because she had wanted Alden for herself and was jealous of Yaya. Yaya was set free (and Alden, implied) and DuhRizz walked dejectedly away never to be seen up to this point.
On September 16, the second monthsary of the two, Lola Nidora had a surprise announcement: they can see each other but again subject to several conditions. They did meet, face to again without a panel of plywood between them and no blindfold, but they were still separated by a long table — they had to sit on opposite ends.
They were already ready to enjoy their first date, partaking of isaw — chicken stomach I think marinated in barbecue sauce and grilled — Maine’s favorite and quail’s egg soup, the egg spilling from her mouth as she gulped down the soup aware of her loved one’s presence about 12 feet away, self-conscious, and she laughed at herself for spilling the food; things like that endears her to the audience, it’s not every day that Filipinos see authenticity and honesty (read: Binay) and they are so hungry for humanity that they lap up every twist and turn in the AlDub story (pun on love story) like love was invented only yesterday.
Twelve million tweets for this last episode. They made history with 3.65 million tweets several weeks ago. The tweets kept on swelling every week until the 12.1 million after last Saturday’s episode. How will it end? Is there a parallel condition or situation when almost an entire country across the board in ages, from children to grandparents adored a love team so much that you can overhear young people mimicking the way Lola Nidora talks, and the names of the two young lovers are on everyone’s lips?
Well, in our time, there was Beatlemania, it was still about love, but there was no physical presence of the opposite sexes and most was in musical poetry, generic, up in the clouds. There were the Spice Girls and One Direction, but they didn’t cut through the age groups, limited in scope. This time in the Philippines, the adulation for AlDub is like a tide, a flood, like weather, sunny or stormy, lingering, pervasive, encompassing, unlimited in its potential.
Potential for what? As a lover of things Philippine, I am always on the lookout for a break, a miracle, a turnaround, a u-turn from the present scheme of things.
No, AlDub isn’t and won’t be a political force, but it speaks of a country kidnapped by some mythical monster over which we have no control. That monster is corruption in high places. That monster is lack of trust in government. That monster could eventually kill all initiative to work for and earn a good country.
AlDub is first of all a good break. Naysayers, doomsayers, trolls, negativists sometimes are finding their mark, that the country is headed nowhere, that it will self-destruct, to become an adjunct of a powerful country in the near future. Why? Because music and faith — as identified by the brilliant Jesuit Father Horacio de la Costa — is not enough to unite us as a nation. Something is missing. Why would we ever venture out of our homes which are countries in themselves, safe and secure from outside vagaries, until traffic turns us in one seething mass, until Binay’s corruption turns us into one seething mass, until Grace Poe’s candidacy can throw a monkey wrench on Mar Roxas’s candidacy and turn us into one seething mass under the political leadership of the Binays, center of all evil.
AlDub could be the deus ex machina, an unexpected intervention from a powerful force come to defeat us, something to wake us up from our stupor, to keep us from falling over the cliff.
How so?
We have tried everything. The political genius of Marcos, we have tried that and failed. The peaceful transition and people power of Cory Aquino, we have tried that and the country still remained at the bottom. Ramos, Estrada, Macapagal-Arroyo, bought us some time, but we simply cannot get our act together. AlDub could be a return to the things that endear us to each other — respect for elders, patience, emotional IQ, delayed gratification, the thrill of the journey not just the destination. In other words, AlDub represents the good things about being a Filipino.
Yes, let’s repeat that: 12 million tweets for the last episode, when the two finally meet face to face, from across a long dinner table.
It’s a phenomenon. We must write about it, reflect on it. As Alvin Toffler would say: “Are we dying or are we being born?” Whether Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza are acting or not, we don’t know. What we know is that they’re:
1) Speaking the truth about being in love, being apart from their loved one, being thrilled by the experience of even just a peep, a brush, a love note, kisses on split screen.
2) Representing the OFW population and those who have long-distance relationships, and generally those who are in love. Flowers from Dangwa, small notes, the mere suggestion of a touch, that’s what we’re missing, and the OFWs know how it is to miss a loved one.
3) Revisiting tradition by way of the lolas — especially the character of Wally Bayola. Reminding us of delayed gratification, obedience to elders, and the values that defined Filipinos in a forgotten time. Sex has become a mere handshake, for one. Answering back elders is another. Sad. AlDub is showing that love gathers strength if obedience to elders is present, if we are patient and tolerant enough. The message has some Godly significance considering Bayola was involved in a video with a woman who was not his wife. Sinners do make the best homilies.
4) Improvising, making the most out of present circumstances, carrying our own weather, being happy in spite of the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. That is a truly Filipino trait — observe the jeepney — something that increases our resilience in the most trying times considering our country lies in the path of storms, in the realm of volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and all other natural calamities.
5) Speaking to the average Filipino and Filipina. Forty-seven per cent of our population is composed of millenials, mean age 23. So if you’re selling tocino, life insurance or endorsing a politician, AlDub is the way to do it. Talk to this age group. That’s where our country is, the youth among us.
“The secret [of our success] is the love of the fans for AlDub,” Malou Choa Fagar said, as reported in the Philippine Daily Inquirer. “After all, Alden and Yaya Dub impart a positive message to their fans. It was just accidental that turned into something magical: a long-distance love affair, a fairy tale come true. It’s all about love.”
Yes, it’s all about love. Sometimes we forget. Sometimes we center on possessions, career, gadgets, social media, individual advancement, the least human touch the better. AlDub shows us how precious human contact is, don’t you agree?
You don’t know what you have until you lose it, and AlDub shows us that they really want to sip from the same straw or touch shoulders or hold hands, but circumstances prevent them from doing so, but it’s all right, there’s always a next time, the future belongs to the patient. And the loving.
I am just, errr as affected as the next guy, as to how this story unfolds. God bless all of us, that we have rediscovered how it is to fall in love, to stay in love. When we discuss how government sucks, how incompetent it is and how the thieves and pretenders can get away with almost everything, the lesson of AlDub is that love will find a way. As long as we want a good country, we will have a good country, but we will have to wait a bit, waiting for the “tamang panahon,” the right time, if we follow our values, our traditions, our kindness, our love.
Aah, love. . . . Nothing is lovelier.
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The Society of Honor by Joe America 
et tu, Joe? Great piece! Aldub is essentially about Love and Hope 🙂
Hi, Jes. The author of this piece is Wilfredo G. Villanueva. I have never watched the show. I fear my heart can’t take it. 🙂
Hahaha! Fair enough 😀
Diversion, yes. The other channel hurriedly created Pastillas Girl to counter this. Opiate, yes. But as that fine, fine movie Inside Out shows, all our emotions are critical to the whole, including Sadness. Sadness saved the day, not Joy!. Because it enabled others to show empathy and compassion.
So feel, feel, feel. It makes us whole, as we do battle with the evil in our midst.
Thanks, andrewlim8! Loved that movie, too! Maybe it’s a paradigm shift, something like that. Since we live in virtual Pangaea, we have become one heart, one mind. It’s time to mine the greatest frontier yet undiscovered or neglected, the heart.
i’d like to heartfully thank u for this article sir(wilfredo. g. villanueva). also to joe america for posting. as to re-quote of what andrewlim8 says “so feel, feel. it makes us whole, as we do batle with the evil in our midst.” honestly i can be as sturdy as an old oak tree that can i withstand the most of excruciating pain, but this kalyeserye bring a somehow much-needed relief amidst of the seems never-ending misery this country have.
Yes, Bimbo, the key word is relief. The higher the need for relief the deeper the misery. Wishing for all us a better country in the near future, with love in our hearts. Thank you!
Agree. I haven’t watched the show. But as the article shows, it sounds like a humongous relief from the pain and frustration of a very corrupt, sickly government that seemed so hard to resuscitate.
Hello. I am your tukayo from Taytay. Nice piece. I share your pulse on the aldub phenomenom. This is a wake up call on the values of Filipinos that seems have eroded so much. Something wwe have to go back. Way to go
Hello tocayo! I also met a complete tocayo from Antipolo. You’re right. It’s a wake up call, delivered by a comedians, would you believe. A strange cultural phenomenon, but so far it’s succeeding. Thank you!
My first impression to the popularity of the #aldub love team was people miss the old ways of courting a woman. We
are already tired of the proliferation of the young showbiz personalities being pushed to a role of a modern culture that sometimes, “girls” intiated the love affair or young as they are having undesirable scenes with their Mutual Understanding partners. “Partners” without courting, “titigan lang” on na. In this aldub phenomenon, we can clearly see how important to us the traditional values we used to do. This is what I am proud of the Filipino cultures and traditions. Let us erase the impression of the foreigners that Filipinas are easy to get. Simplicity is already embedded in our hearts.
You deserve to be proud of Filipino cultures and traditions, Daisy. I have always appreciated the conservative dress and politeness, and detest foreigners in sloppy shorts and hairy legs prowling the malls. There are, of course, other values, too. The starting point, I think, is getting rid of the poverty by electing a responsible leader who is not a political player but will build on the considerable gains of Mr. Aquino. Second is to re-instill good values in the Filipino family and end the promiscuity and teen pregnancies there. Third . . . there is not a third, because then foreigners will have to represent themselves decently and court Filipinas with class and honor.
Only now I saw this, Joe. You are truly a lover of the Philippines. Mabuhay ka!
Mabuhay, Heneral Will!
Best.Comment.So.Far.
I wish there’s a Like button here.
The neglected heart, Jes? Thank you!
Para rin noong araw noong kantanyagan ni Nora Aunor at Vilma Santos. Ang pagkakaiba lang kaunti pa ang population noon, ngayon ang dami na halos 100 milyon na ang population ng Pilipinas. Kaya dumami ng ganyan ang mga attendance ng tao sa kasulukuyan ng mga sikat ngayon.di-ba?
Para din noong panahon nila Nora Aunor at Vilma Santos na dinudumog din ng mga fans sa mga venue na pinagdadausan nila ng palabas nila. Ang pagkakaiba lang kasi, kaunti pa lang ang population noon ng Pilipinas. Sa kasulukuyan ay halos 100 milyon na ang population ng mga Pilipino, kaya, di-na dapat pagtakhan kung ganyang sobrang karami ang umatend ng show nila. so, the more population, the more fans and the less population, the less fans. Therefore, the more fans, the more people would go to watch in the venue and the less fans, the less people would go to watch in the venue. It just simply a law of percentage.
*******
I don’t know what I just read. I think I have to read it a second time.
*****
Give it a chance, Edgar. Here’s something from my Facebook friend, on the same article: “I have yet to watch it, Will…but am just as overwhelmed by its popularity. When I meet up with friends, it’s a hot topic. My friend said that even a group of golfers in their 70s, would drop everything to watch it. I’m happy if you’re saying it’s all about love.”
*******
Wilfredo,
Thank you. I have done a second reading, and things have jelled in my mind. Social phenomenon. Aldub nation. Got it. This is the perfect pasakalye. You will understand what I mean.
*****
moreThank you for watching TV net work
Honored by your presence.
My wife is screaming. Maine, oh, Maine, if feels good. Thank you for your visit.
*******
Thank you. I’m chuffed.
All credits to Wilfredo.
*****
Thanks, Edgar. I defer to JoeAm whose faith in something he hadn’t watched actually started the thread. And to all the commenters, including you, who wrote the rest of the article The Social Significance of AlDub, a big thank you.
I credit MRP who keeps my mind open . . . 🙂
it’s because we love your show, maine & alden… we hope & pray this will end in the real world of a grand or simple wedding in the future.. because u deserved each other
It is about love indeed! My head bowed after reading this..not because I am a fan of aldub but how you see things out of a simple kalye serye.Great article sir! I have become a fan..so please continue writing..
Really, Wilma? Thank you so much!
I think the closest we have to that over here is “I am Cait”. All 5 are covered except for number 2– but I can’t help but think that we are on the wrong track, so maybe you guys are the right one. Appreciate the cultural input, Wil.
great article love and hope…
Thank you, daggernet! Love and hope!
Love and Hope…so deep…I could settle for humour…
Thank you, Eddie! Love and hope! Deep, yes, maybe that’s why it’s clothed in humor.
No mention of PNoy by the writer? Has he not heard of the gains in the anti-corruption campaign? I appreciate the cultural oneness in AlDub , happy for the young couple and their careers but, I don’t know if we are in that stage that the author says- about to fall off a cliff? Yes if we let Binay or Grace win. But we are in a good position now as it is. IDK. Where is PNoy in this piece?
Uh-oh. I am yellow army, mssyj. I’ll read the article again and see where I should have mentioned President Aquino. Thanks for reminding me. Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.
Found it, mssyj! It’s in the quote: “As long as we want a good country, we will have a good country, but we will have to wait a bit, waiting for the “tamang panahon,” the right time, if we follow our values, our traditions, our kindness, our love.” Some people say President Aquino is the worst president ever, I think he’s one of the greatest, but we have to wait a bit for his achievements to sink in. I was thinking of him and his administration when I wrote that line. We have to love him, too, be kind to him, cut him some slack.
Good job, Wilfredo. Light touch can carry the heavy stuff. Thanks for the tea break.
Thanks, mcgll!
His achievements to sink in…………….. No, nothing seems to come to mind.
I don’t see the need to include PNoy in the article. It’s not about him. Kudos to the writer, I agree to a point that the nation needs a diversion. But if only the issues that engulf our nation would be accorded the same following and attention by each and every Filipino who follows AlDub, then perhaps we could become a better nation not needing any diversion.
Hi tes and conniediegor! Being pro-Noynoy made me careful in navigating through the rough waters of Philippine politics while writing the article. What I wrote is only half of the story, the balance was supplied by the commenters themselves. So privileged to man the watch tower of The Social Significance of AlDub as the comments poured in from around the world. I hope those who deride the phenomenon will read through the entire posting especially the comments. Never has so much reflection and seriousness been derived from comedy.
thanks Wilfredo, i’m a fan of the president and I think he has tried his best and also an avid fan of Aldub
Bowled over, Agnes. We’re in the same fans clubs. Thank you!
colpa mia 😅
i think it’s colpa mia….correct me if im wrong…ALDUB NATION from italy 😜
Mea culpa is Latin.
Thanks, Lolet, Lelet and Juju!
Why the need to include Pnoy in the article? The Government is the president and vice versa, in the philippines. It’s central subject is AlDub as a social phenomenon and it does not, in any way, need to mention a politically-associated name in particular. It would make the feature sour. I don’t want to be a piece of a sour article.
I think the author exercised his own discretion, it’s his article after all and he linked it to the social and political significance so beautifully. Why so touchy at the mere mention of the president? Is it because there was no mention of Sotto, Poe, Binay and Marcos?
Aren’t you guys tired of politics?
Thank you, Mary Grace and Eddie! Neutral as neutral gets.
We should not get tired of being involved in how our country is being run, we should care enough and not be apathetic, like feathers and leaves being blown by the wind to wherever it wants to direct them.
Aldub is fine, for entertainment and the social, cultural values that it is trying to bring back to the Philippine society. At the same time we should not stop being aware of what our politicians are doing, specially those are desiring to be the next president, vp senators, etc. Be aware, and care….share and try to be agents of meaningful change in the political outlook and the manner in which the masa are choosing our future leaders.
I admire Will for striking a balance in his life, his realistic and idealistic beliefs nurtured by time and wisdom of the years.
Thank you, Mary Grace! Realistic and idealistic, time and wisdom. Hmm. Age reminds. Hahaha!
Hi joe nice article can I share upload it in my blogsite as mentioning the source upon your approval. Thank you
Daggernet, go, please, with JoeAm’s concurrence of course. Thank you!
Yes, daggernet, you may share it with attribution to The Society of Honor by Joe America, and when the author is not me, the author’s name. In this case it is Wilfredo G. Villanueva. No need to request approval, if you do those things, as policy allows readers to share with attribution.
I’m glad you found the article meaningful. Will puts a nice pen to a phrase.
Thanks, Joe! “Nice pen to a phrase.” That goes into my Book of Good Things.
This article touched me to the core.. I find myself shedding tears while reading… Spot on, man.. Kudos. Thanks for voicing out how we all feel about ALDUB so beautifully. Love it
Thank you, rjy555! You just said go ahead for me to write a hundred more! And thank you, JoeAm, for recognizing AlDub’s significance. Great front pictures of the two, Joe! I’m beginning to wonder, Joe. You’re a fan! You admitted to me that you like to write love poems. C’mon, Joe, admit it. Aminin.
I admit I have written love poems but, truly, the emotions in these dramas are too much for me. The wailing and weeping . . . I’ve been there and done that and am perfectly happy in my serene space. I did peek at Forever More, but that’s because I like farming . . . 🙂 And the one before when my wife kept fawning over Coco Martin. Good thing I have big self-esteem . . . not that I’d let Senator Escudero whisper in her ear . . .
Hi Joe. Aldub is not drama totally. In fact, only a small part is drama. Most scenes are hilarious and romantic. I agree with Mr Villanueva, Aldub is about love, our Filipino culture and traditions. My husband and I llenjoy that Kalyeserye part of EB. For a while now I’ve been waiting and hoping for you to blog about it, coz imo not doing so is like ignoring the strong and rapid pulse of the public/masses due to this phenomenon. At the same time, I was apprehensive about your take on it, and also on the possible comments of your usual readers. I’m an avid reader of your blog and I would be disappointed if I’d read comments from people I learned to admire that would show snobbiness and consider it cheap. Coz to me only someone not Filipino or ashamed of being Filipino would not appreciate our culture and values in Aldub. THANK YOU, Mr Villanueva for writing this. THANK YOU, Joe, for posting it.
Thanks, Jasmin. It was definitely a pleasure to publish this quality, touching article. Wilfredo is one of our resident poets, and you can feel the cadence in his prose.
Thank you, Jasmin and Joe! I don’t know what got into me. I saw something in AlDub that made me fall in love again, with life, with my loved ones, with my country, with the future for the Philippines.
Hi again JasminG! The brickbats are coming in. It’s a good thing Joe recognized AlDub without batting an eyelash when I presented the article. You should read what blogger benign0 said, too much negativity. Compare his blog post and comments with ours and you’ll be more convinced that we have a better handle.
I often argue with the ladies at home that Aldub is a waste of time, untilI saw pastillas girl. Aldub na lang. Thanks Wilfredo for giving me a reason to check it out some more.
You’re welcome, karl!
Err, I don’t know what to think about this. I generally regard these kinds of cultural aspects as a waste of time but it would seem that the majority here feel differently. Of course, I’m not foolish enough to force my views on others, but I think that the fascination of Filipinos with regards to noontime shows, fake love stories and the like is part of the reason we can’t seem to dig ourselves out of this rut.
The Japanese are working themselves to extinction, with their young people prioritizing career over practically everything else (including family) and here we are, wasting hours on something that we can certainly live without.
I don’t know. This is just how I view such trivialities.
…I’m just curious if the Japanese are happier than Pinoys?
It’s hard to generalize. But now that Japan ranks no. 3 only among the world’s economies, they have more time for their families and travel more often (both domestically and abroad). Still, they remain hardworking because it’s in their DNA, and know how competitive it is out there.
They have a thriving economy where they don’t have to send OFWs outside for revenue, a diverse culture that has captured the world’s attention, an incredibly well-preserved tradition and the respect of the whole world. You be the judge.
Besides, I think the concept that Filipinos are happy is misleading. It would be more accurate to say that we are well-adjusted to our miserable situation. It’s like the case with the frog that’s slowly being boiled to death.
Not boiled to death – caught in traffic and flooded to death, just like Metro Manila.
Back in the Philippines, I never watched any of these teleseryes, have never been a fan of any love team, nor any celebrity, but never have I considered people who would painstakingly wait everyday for the next episode to be “wasting their time”. I have lived without it, yes.
It is only now that I get to appreciate these teleseryes, now living abroad, and being a big fan of AlDub. So chill. You will never know what you have been missing until you finally experience it.
I also didn’t like telenovelas. Kind of bored me no matter how magazines and newspapers raved about it. Until AlDub came along. My husband and I are hooked. In the episode last Saturday, the lolas reminded Alden of how a man should behave. My husband looked at my 13 year-old son and said, “Tandaan mo yan (Remember that!).” A very good way to teach kids.
japanese people are always looking for happiness somewhere else outside their country.
there’s a scientific study that Japan has a very high suicide rate in the world (#17) and the Philippines ranks the 154th based on the 170 countries. figure that out… so AlDub pa more, woooh!
woooooooohhhhhhhhooooooohhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’m well-aware of their suicide rate. That’s just what happens in a society that has high expectations of their citizens. On that note, Japan is one of the biggest economies in the world and has a powerful armed forces for a start, while the Philippines is being kept afloat by OFWs and can’t even get rid of a small group of armed insurgents.
So yeah, there’s a downside, but a whole lot of upsides with Japan’s case. Certainly a lot more than the Philippines which has economic, social, military and infrastructural problems that are too numerous to list.
Still AlDub pa more?
In the last analysis, we all strive to be happy. And what makes us happy? This is very subjective but I think, Aldub strikes a chord in our own concept of happiness. The best things in life are free and what is most important is invisible to the eye and where the heart can see rightly (2nd meeting of Aldub!). After finishing several degrees, working for a successful career, and being with others I realize now that this simple kalyeserye can make me smile and put so much “kilig” (there’s no accurate translation of this -maybe being in love with love?) in me. Then suddenly it dawns on me that it is universal and I’m sharing this feeling with thousands of other people across ages, generations, status in life and genders. Yes, love and its tentacles are indeed universal !
agree 🙂
Personally, I find happiness in my wife, my daughter, my friends and my family. I also find happiness and fulfillment with my work, my skills and the financial security that I can provide my family through my efforts.
I take pride in knowing that I make the most of my short life improving myself every chance I get and shunning things that hold me back. I just happen to include noontime shows, teleseryes and whatnot in the latter category.
Then again, I do see your point. I just wish that Filipinos spent more effort to better themselves and their lives than to get lost in mindless (to me) entertainment.
Why connect Albub phenomena with our country’s condition?, note that not only Filipinos are appreciating this Albub magic, They gained fans all over the world. Wag na nating palalimin ang issue…Albub fever is our way of expressing our protest to mga plastic ng LIpunan, gaya ng ating mga political leaders na mapanlinlang sa bayan, mga government officials na wala nangang pakinabanG NINANAKAWAN PA ANG KABAN NG BAYAN. SINO ang magiging masaya sa kanila,,,Albub fever is our outlet of our many frustrations sa ating bayan.. Pre, mabigat magtrabaho kapag alam mong niloloko ka ng mga taong pinagkakatiwalaan mo.
At least sa eat Bulaga kahit sa maikling oras everyday, nawawala stress ng marami… sana pre naintindihan mo yan… at di tamad ang mga Filipino..
Huchguhaseo, Ric and Mommy She: Everyone gets to write his or her own AlDub story as a reflection of reality. This is the beauty of Kalyeserye. To each his or her own daydream or nightmare.
Thanks, rhene! My sentiments exactly.
My exact sentiments, hackguhaseo, word for word.
I think escapism is there somewhere. But if it makes people happy, what the heck, carry on.
Yes, it makes people happy. In fact people are smiling for the full thirty minutes the show is on everyday. It is therapy
Right, Japan with a suicide rate of > 30,000 deaths per year (70 deaths a day), young people overworked with no time to find love and partners, thereby reducing the population growth and inverting the pyramid even more with a few young people having to pay for the pension for a very large old age population. Overworked Japan whose population care less about the country’s major issues and care more about the latest Iphone model.
Versus the Philippines, a country plagued with problems and yet… suicide is virtually unheard, young people also work hard (e.g. call-center industry boosting the countries economy) but they try to keep the balance and find a break from the country’s issues via AlDub (which is a mere 30-40 minutes segment and not hours). The same young people who will march to EDSA when the need arises (EDSA 2 remember?).
from: a former Japanese Government scholar who has lived/studied in Japan for 6 years, Scientist, was in EDSA 2 when I was 20 y.o. (so yes I am quite young), politically aware, nagmamahal sa Inang Bayan, and #AlDubfan. 😉
I’ve always admired the Japanese. I wish we were Japan, but it won’t happen. Our climate, therefore our temperament is different. We don’t have a king or an emperor, therefore submission and civil obedience is foreign to us. We have always been in search of a national identity, music and faith seems to be it (Horacio de la Costa), but when will grumbling and bickering stop? Precisely my point: let’s accept our idiosyncrasies, but build on the positives. Loving is one of them. For example, will you vote for corrupted candidates knowing that your children will suffer the consequences in the long run? Isn’t love long term?
Yep
I’m aware of Japan’s suicide rate and falling birthrate courtesy of their young choosing to forgo forming families, hence my saying “The Japanese are working themselves to extinction”.
Even so, regardless of how you put it, their economy is among the biggest in the world, their workforce is among the most respected, the country itself managed to transform its image from world-conquering empire to one of the friendliest, most open, most advanced countries on Earth.
Their government, education and technological sectors are among the most trusted in the world.
So yes, they do have the suicide thing and the falling birthrate because they are under a lot of pressure. But if those are the only flaws you can throw at Japan, then they must be doing pretty well.
Filipinos love to make excuses with regards to their many, many, MANY (so many that it’s a headache to list them all) issues. Let’s face it. We love to run from reality.
You say young people work hard with call center agents being examples, I say they have no choice BUT to work as call center agents. Few other jobs come close to paying the same wages.
You say those same young people will march to EDSA, I say maybe. Then again, what does it say about a nation who did march the first time during EDSA II and very little has changed in the country? We are an impotent society with impotent rage.
Hmmm… We usually have preconceived notions of a nation, or its people. I went to Japan with the thought of order (line up on one side of the escalator please!) and death by overwork (karoshi). But as I have taken time to live like a local (I still do now), the Japanese actually have a lot of this similar madness too.
On most Sundays, Koganecho would have parades where families actually line up mats on the streets just to see the “bands with majorettes” pass by. And the parades are not the elite types or oh-so-cultural ones.
They go craaaaazy with anything “kawaii” like Pikachu, even to a point that boyfriends carry their girlfriends during Pikachu appearances/parades–just to enable them to see amid a crowd.
They go crazy about dogs, like Marutaro and Hachiko, and would go and line up anywhere in Japan (think 2 hour train travel, whereas 15-30 minutes would be the average commute time for them), where the dogs would make appearances ala “meet and greet.” Marutaro is the second most famous Japanese celebrity on Instagram.
The Japanese women go crazy about having likes and comments from other women on their recipe posts, hence, a startup like Cookpad Japan is now an IPO-company with over $900million market cap. AKB48 is a phenomenon–whereas these revered ladies are just ordinary women catapulted to stardom, thanks to people’s votes (think Pinoy Big Brother).
Much is said about Filipinos being “lowbrow,” when they patronize something “masa,” labeling it as “ka-cheapan” and “nonsense.” Many would say, “nakaka-bobo” or “puro mga kathang-isip,” attributing the madness to temporary escapism. But when people from first-world countries do such, we say nothing like what we do about Philippine “noontime TV shows” or “fake love stories.”
I have seen only a few clips of Aldub from Japan–I am not crazy about it but I do consider it a part of Filipino culture.
And yes, stay longer in Japan, then ride and observe the trains on Monday (start of work) or Friday (end of workweek). Most probably, trains would stop and the screen on-board would say, “Passenger Injury.” Japan, the one that invented the culture of kaizen and the one that promotes highest QC and safety, ALWAYS GETS passenger injury? Not really. Most probably, there is another being who has decided to jump off the train platform to the tracks, just because he is tired of keeping up his “tatamae,” when all he wants to do is be allowed to partake of simple joys like noontime shows and fake love stories–or things they can certainly live without. Apparently, these things, keep them “living” in a world of tireless pursuit of their careers. 🙂
What a terrific insight, Katrina. I have long thought that Philippine television producers are top-flight, from drama programs to entertainment and drama. Movie producers are also top rung. News is not top rung, but entertainment is. If the nation were run as capably as entertainment media producers do their business, we’d have superb government.
So those who pan the “inane” pleasures of others . . . are they intellectual snobs, or what? Look at sports in America. The passion and investment in games.
Games.
Perhaps it is time for Filipinos to recognize that recreation, and entertainment, are personal choices. We ought to respect those who find their peace . . . however they manage to do it.
Thank you for this wake-up call . . . to me . . . for sure.
Oh, the Japanese have their own brand of craziness for sure. I’ve seen their game shows, their festivals, their cosplays and the like. Then again, I also know that they work themselves silly, take productivity very seriously and have an almost overzealous dedication to their careers.
By the way, I’ve noticed that many of the replies mention the suicide rates in Japan (which I know about) like you did, which struck me as a rather sterile counter-point when compared with the thousands of issues that I can list about the Philippines.
I’m not saying that having fun is a bad thing, no, far from it. I’m just saying that for most Filipinos, it seems that fun and recreation is more important than work and being a productive member of society.
I hope you won’t mind. I presume it was a typo error, but for the benefit of others, the concept is “tatemae” (stance) as opposed to “honne” (true intention). Japanese generally are not confrontational and thus suppress what they actually think and assume a stance to maintain harmony whether in the workplace or during social encounters.
I’m not sure if your last two statements were meant to be tongue-in-cheek, but while suicide in Japan is prevalent compared to the Philippines, it is a cultural phenomenon associated with a keen sense of shame. People sometimes jump into the tracks as a manifestation of absolute desperation or depression.
🙂
hi sir.. great one (again !!) hehehe.. i like the last part “When we discuss how government sucks, how incompetent it is and how the thieves and pretenders can get away with almost everything, the lesson of AlDub is that love will find a way. As long as we want a good country, we will have a good country, but we will have to wait a bit, waiting for the “tamang panahon,” the right time, if we follow our values, our traditions, our kindness, our love.”
i will post this to my fb wall..
Thank you, hero ofw from abu dhabi!
Excellent, ofw. Writing credit goes to Wilfredo G. Villanueva. That Romeo . . .
Wow, very well-said po. I’m so glad I get to be a part of this enormous fandom of AlDub. No words can describe what I am feeling every time I watch their videos both in Television and online. Thank you for spreading the love for them Sir. I salute you! 🙂
Thanks, Leo! I was jumping up and down as if in a basketball game during their game towards their first date. I said to myself I should write something about this thing.
@Wilfredo
x-
I was jumping up and down as if in a basketball game during their game towards their first date. I said to myself I should write something about this thing.
-x
And you did (did write “about this thing”).
For good, for the good of us all, IIMSSM.
(if I may say so myself)
Good job, Wilfredo. Thank you.
http://j.mp/ja-wv
ja – Joe America
wv – Wilfredo G. Villanueva
x-
I’ll be around to do the things we have to do.
-x
Am glad, you’re around, Wilfredo.
God bless!!!
Thank you, i7sharp!
hahahhh!!! You were not alone sir. try watching the fans reaction on 1st, 2nd, 3rd meeting. You have to prepare your ears though. Laughter is sooo good for out internal organs.
I think AlDub affects each people individually, as for me, it makes my problems, stress, whatever negativity go away for a while, its kind of chocolate bar to me, its a happy hormone, making my life easy, light, and happy. I always look forward to it everyday especially Saturday episodes because I know it will make me forget whatever it is to forget for a while, I appreciate it so much that AlDub happened to my life.
I always have a smile on my face because of this show. I dunno why. ahahhahaaa
kilig po yan..hahaha
Hahahahh!!! Let me be honest. I am now more in love to my husband than when I married him 15 years ago. That’s just one of the good effects of this show. And from the comments all over the world, I am not alone 🙂
Now, as someone who seems to be in the minority who doesn’t seem to like AlDub, it seems weird that I dreamt of Maine last night. I don’t know why.
I found the author’s take on it was very very eye-opening, about Philippine culture as expressed through popular arts . . . I definitely liked the article, although I’m doubtful I’ll follow the show.
*******
Love?
*****
@edgar
x-
Love?
-x
The greatest force in the world, Edgar.
IIMSSM
The first and greatest commandments are about love.
1. Love God.
2. Love your neighbor.
“God is love.”
Verify it.
hmmm, let me help:
– 1 John 4:8
– 1 John 4:16
Charles Haddon Spurgeon (the “prince of preachers”) on
“The First and Great Commandment”
http://j.mp/i7-first
http://j.mp/i7-first
An excerpt that speaks to YOU, dear reader – and to me, too, of course.
x-
… Can you look to Calvary, and see the bleeding sufferer, all crimson with streams of gore? Can you say
“A guilty, weak, and helpless worm,
Into thine arms I fall;
Jesus, be thou my righteousness,
My Saviour and my all!”
Canst say that?
Then he kept the law for you, and the law can not condemn whom Christ has absolved.
If Law comes to you and says, “I will damn you because you did not keep the law,” tell him that he dares not touch a hair of your head, for though you did not keep it, Christ kept it for you, and Christ’s righteousness is yours;
tell him there is the money and though you did not coin it Christ did; and tell him, when you have paid him all he asks for, he dares not touch you; you must be free,
for Christ has satisfied the law.
-x
😂😆
good day to all… thanks for this… just want to share something similar from ms. daphne: http://daphne.ph/the-aldub-fever (you can delete this post if it is not allowed to post a link to another blog site, my apology then…)
If it’s related to the topic, you can post away . . . Thanks for putting it up . . .
Read it! It’s a good support base for my humble article. Especially the comments from OFWs. Kinda validates what I had in mind.
Thanks to both of you, Sir Joe and Sir Willy… I am an OFW myself that’s why I can relate very much… bad things do happen and pain may be inevitable… but a good laugh overcomes more difficulties and dissipates more dark clouds than any other thing… Cheers!
Thanks, Al! I do feel for OFWs. When I travel, two days is enough for me to feel the pangs of home. And you do it for a year or years. Cheers to you, too!
Most often than not, we have difficulty uniting our nation, and AlDub, just like PacMan, is just few of those things that keep us one… maybe the problem with our nation is that we’re trying hard to be someone that we’re not… the truth of the matter is that we have a national diversity yet we don’t acknowledge it, but just like AlDub, which mirrors who we are, our values, respect to elders, being patient and hopeful, loving, passionate – the real Filipino in heart, mind and soul. More power to both of you and God Bless!
Thanks, Al! More power to you, too!
🙂
It totally makes sense. Aldub might be indeed an accident, an opportunity seen as a good story line for a noontime show but nevertheless it has passed way beyond a mile of what it was supposed to be originally. Sharing to all of my friends, I’d like to quote the last lines you’ve got to. Have a great day!
Thanks, Jeza!
AlDub is opium for the masses.
I agree with you, Bing. Opium is bad, but laughter, loving, being with people with the same likes aren’t. All of them, including opium, generate endorphins—feel good hormones. People need to chill to regenerate and take stock of the situation. Opium and other banned substances aren’t the only source of euphoria, which isn’t bad per se if used for good. AlDub is not an escape from reality. It is reality presented as an escape.
Aldub is a daily dose of good laugh and positivity… I’ve read it somewhere that the EB writers are taking considerations all the comments and feedback they get from social media and tweaks the story to fit into what the viewers are actually hoping to happen… It’s actually the feedback that drives how the story will unfold, and adding positive attitude, hope, patience and kilig factor to it…
Which makes AlDub our baby. It is reflecting what it’s like on the ground, and if we are kilig and screaming our hearts out because of all the Pinoy humor and Pinoy romance, we are actually saying we are beautiful, there, for all the world to see, our country, our culture, our soul.
Very true – a Bulgarian I know who used to work on ships and had a lot of Filipinos there said your people are truly good, something he had never experienced in the world.
What has been missing, what sometimes was the negative side of this was lack of resolve – but that part is being handled by Heneral Luna, the other mass phenomenon in the Philippines, people are realizing that something must be done. But without love you don’t get far with that.
Hey, that’s a good line: “Without Love You Don’t Get Far—AlDub.” Visual: Alden running while carrying a bundle of firewood. Somebody, please, a meme! Thanks, Irineo!
You’re Welcome, Will. I need some love from the AlDub nation to help us get further faster on the Philippine Internet: https://joeam.com/2015/09/27/nationalize-the-telcos/#comment-138864
Based on traces from volunteers in the Philippines I will analyze the weaknesses of the Philippine Internet, were the traffic is going wrong ways in order to improve it – and write an article in this Society, my blog and hopefully also Raissa Robles’ blog to call national attention!
My request: https://joeam.com/2015/09/27/nationalize-the-telcos/#comment-138875
I had wanted to comment on that article, but as far as tech and mechanics are concerned, I’m almost zero. Suffice it to say that I wish you well in your endeavor. Years from now, heroes will be the techies among us.
In my early formative years, my parents sent me to the most exclusive prep school in CEBU. It was the most whitest school there was as I can remember. One third of us were from Spain, another 3rd white Americans and a another 3rd were Chinese. Our parents were told to tell the houseslaves (Yes, my parents were houseslave owners) NEVER TO WATCH TAGALOG TV SHOWS so we preppers cannot watch it.
They enumerated the reasons:
1. It is not artsy;
2. It is crass;
3. Dowdy;
4. predictable outcome;
5. repeatedly predictable;
6. unintelligent;
7. No social impact;
8. while we were gathering bucket list, the shows gushes bucket of tears
When I became of age, I Youtube these shows. The PTA was right. There was nothing there. What I also noticed in these shows promote FILIPINOS AS 2ND, 3rd & 4th class citizens. The half-bred half-white Spanish, Americans mestizo class including tsinitos and tsinitas are superior than the tsinelas Filipinos.
That is why Filipinos to this day import tisoys and tisays from the mestizo class that colonized the Filipinos to represent 99% of enslaved Filipinos in Miss Beauty Contests and, sadly, THE FILIPINOS DO NOT KNOW IT. How can the Filipinos not know it? Well, they have been bombarded with the colonizer above the food chain while the Tsinelas Filipinos are down there to adore the mestizo class.
Thankfully I am a mestizo from a previlege class. My parents were former colonizer. And I fight for the brown skin, minimum wage, working class commoners so do not jump on me.
Preen Magazine of Inquirer promotes our race. If you are brown skin and pigsnout, do not even bother to send your photo portfolio to Preen. Because U.P.-run Preen promote that brown skin are inferiors AND meant to be enslaved.
The TV shows too promotes Filipinos as inferior race not worthy to shop at Greenbelt. Because if you did, I will have a brown-skin security guard follow you all over the place like those Swiss Guards followed Oprah in Geneva afraid she might pull a houdini in tony stores.
Even Inquirer, Philippine Star and all Philippine news media you can know all crooks are brown skin nog-nog. You can NEVER HEAR or READ THAT MY RACE STOLE, BRIBE AND CORRUPT. The mestizo colonizer class ARE HONEST PEOPLE !!! THE ONLY HONEST RACE IN THE PHILIPPINES.
That is why we colonized the Philippines hoping the Filipinos can be inculcated with our COLONIAL MENTALITY, instead the brown-skin UP graduate history professors accused COLONIAL MENTALITY as the bane of the society. WRONG! WE ARE THE MOST HONEST CLASS.
When Ayala’s name was brought up in Mercado’s accusation against Binay, Trillanes and Cayetano tiptoed around Ayala …. totally afraid ….
HAVE YOU BROWN SKIN FILIPINO EVER HEAR OF THE MESTIZO CLASS EX-COLONIST been dragged to court for public corruption, bribery and thievery and illegally smuggling tamates, sibuyas, ajos and bigas? NO!!! NEVER !!!!
WE ARE HONEST! BROWN SKIN ARE NOT! Because PCIJ and Philippine Press are afraid to investigate us. WE ARE POWERFUL. Even Philippine Media quivers before our presence.
So, I am challenging the Philippine Media and PCIJ why WE, MESTIZO CLASS, are HONEST not the real Filipino.
Dear MRP: Couldn’t make heads or tails of your rant (it’s a rant, right?) but I did pick up something you said, about the pigsnout, brown-skinned Filipino. Jose Manalo and Wally Bayola are pigsnout. The magic is in how they touch Filipinos. Perhaps the time has come for mestizos to let the pigsnouts proliferate and communicate with us. We are totally comfortable with the way we look nowadays. OFWs are mostly pigsnout, and look what they are doing to the economy, contributing 20% of GDP, keeping us from going the way of Greece. We are still ugly, but this time we see the beauty in our askance looks in the way Bayola and Manalo redeem themselves by their improvisation and total absence of a feeling of their own ugliness. You should see their makeup smudged and rolling down their cheeks, and still smiling, enjoying every minute of their task to make us laugh. We’re beautiful that way, taking stock of what we have, not much, but we have humor, music, values, God. It’s all an accident, this AlDub thing, but the very spontaneity of it makes us feel honest about ourselves, that we would do the same thing if we were in Lola Nidora’s shoes, keeping watch over our ward. Gets you right here, between jaw and solar plexus, out of breath laughing and saying, hey, our race isn’t bad, we have many things to offer beside the evil that our politicians do (except PNoy and his angels). Hey, world, watch out for us, we’re not done yet, we will lead someday, we don’t know how, perhaps the world is in need of love and laughter coated in goodliness?
I think the real significance of Aldub is that it is a significant new cash cow for Gozons, Jimenezs and Duavits. A side from the usual milking cows (Marian Rivera, Marian Rivera Pre and Post Wedding Saga, Chiz-Heart Wedding Saga), GMA has limited sources of revenue/profit. And Aldub is the breath of fresh air of EB/GMA7 needs to revive its ratings. EB’s too old for TV, it operates in pretty much the same way it did decades ago. No innovations! much like its home Station GMA7. The show and the company represent some of what I perceive is wrong in the country; the lack of innovations, risk taking, and drive to bring the industry to higher standards.
Dont crucify me just yet for being anti-GMA and pro-ABSCBN/TV5 or whatever. I’ve been a fan of a lot of GMA7 shows since I was a kid – I watched canned japanese shows and anime, I loved the actio-adventure shows, and religiously followed Bubble gang. But Its just it, I realized the station never progressed, they never produced shows of significant value or invested/pursued new technology. GMA7 practically dragged their foot (a good three years in fact) in deciding which digital standard was to be pursued by the country, when pretty much all other players where poised to switch to the Japanese Digital TV standard. Further, they have been trailing other stations in the production quality – especially in cinematography, directing, production value, etc.. Everytime I get a chance to watch any of their shows (I only get a a couple or so hours a week/month to watch tv), I feel Iike watching something produced a decade ago.
GMA7 has always gone the low-cost, low-tech, high revenue route in its strategies as evident in its shows. And ALDUB is just another hit they can suck the life out as long as it produces profit. I feel that any social significance the show may have are just consequence of their money-grabbing intent.
To those that read my post, I hope you get the unbiased tone of my reply.
Like my observation for most of GMA7 shows, the Aldub saga is just lacking in production value, it is obviously hurriedly produced with whoever/whatever resources are available. I feel that the producers behind this segment think that viewers are gullible enough that they will take whatever is given as long as they do the Dubmash, close encounter scenes.
Perhaps my point is that we can purse/promote the “Love” and “Filipino tradition” in TV while raising the bar for watchers. Filipinos deserve superbly produced shows. Media companies should stop feeding us mediocre news, shows, and movies. I just think we deserve better.
aldub happens in the streets of metro manila and nearby provinces. don’t expect too much production value. they do whatever they can given the limited resources the places that they are in. unlike in other drama series where they can shoot in the same places all over again.
How can you say that GMA 7 isn’t innovative when they are the only network that has continued to churn out shows involving the LGBT community? It is so groundbreaking because no other network has had the courage to even attempt such a daring show before. Not to mention that the risk they took proved to be a good decision because the show became a hit. Now they’re airing the 3rd series with the LGBT plot. If there is such a thing as progress that would be it. ABS on the other hand, continues to churn out shows with contrived and tired plots (mistresses, hetero love triangles, revenge stories etc). The common telenovela tropes are always present. Everything is so predictable that it’s getting annoying.
👆👆👆👍👍👍 Not to mention their News and Public Affairs Team have churned out the outstanding Bonifacio and Rizal (with Alden as Rizal) stories. Can’t say much for ABS. Oh wait. GMA entertainment also did the groundbreaking Encantadia，and the historical fictions Amaya and Indio. Did ABS make anything remotely near the quality of all of the above?
I agree. And the documentaries too are thought-provoking !
Thank you. I loved how you said (paraphrasing here) that we don’t even see our “ugliness” because we are happy with who and what we are. To the incoherent naysayers, is that so bad?
That Wally, Jose, and Paulo care more about making people happy than their smeared make-up showed dedication and true passion. That’s the Filipino Spirit. Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! #AlDubNation
Feel the same way about the three. Thanks, Reji! Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! Hindi ako papayag na pangit tayong lahi. Ang galing natin sa diskarte.
So Mr. Pacifico, why all the rant? This piece isn’t about your race being more superior, or the Filipinos’ brown skin & flat noses & tsinelas personality . Wil is just sharing some AlDub love here. Chill out.
Sad to say but Pinoys have lots of love but zilch on deeds, hence Aldub; tackle the exploding Pinoy population for Christsakes, listen to Kikoy !!!
Even in the US, there are more colored criminals than pure whites by 3:1 (or more). WRT to the entertainment industry there is ABS that is trying to flood us with mestizos while GMA thrives with raw acting / singing / news anchoring talent even with less attractive features. Unfortunately, the Philippines is home to a majority of bakya crowd hence GMA remains a loved station both by the amo and naninilbihan. Trying-to-be-illustrado will get you as far as 168 or Greenhills for your wares and you will only be scorned by the very people who brought those fakes to us. It is better to stay as baduy and as homey as possible. Riding in tandem folks know who has and hasn’t got any just by the color of your skin. :p Thus, it is safer for the brown folks to live a happy life in this country.
Direct quote from your post: “It was the most whitest school there was as I can remember.” —Surely, your parents and teachers didn’t teach you the proper usage of superlative adjective and you claim you went to the most exclusive prep school. Touche! And I wish your parents are not turning from their graves for labeling them as houseslave owners, because it’s already 2015 the term house slave doesn’t exist anymore. It’s time to update your vocabulary according to the changing time. That’s really a curse upon your parents.
“Thankfully I am a mestizo from a previlege class.” Did your ancestors marry their Filipina houseslaves and bred mestizo offsprings? Review your history. And again, before you rant, polish your grammar to make you more effective.
P.S. This post is about AlDub.
very well said singles for ALDUB. Why rant? Why brag? i dont’ see the point. It’s not even related to the topic.
See my note to Singles. It is not the job of readers to police other readers. Everyone here arrives with respect, and is granted the same. It’s kinda like the same way love works.
Hi, Singles for AlDub. You are new to the blog, so let me shorten your learning cycle. Consider that Mariano, who has been around these parts for years doing different versions of what he does, ought not be taken seriously, except for the serious points that are between the lines or behind them or mysteriously dancing in and out from them, for those multi-dimensional of comprehension. Consider that he can write English better than most, but, like Mark Twain drawling Huck Finn down the Mississippi, he uses Englisches to punctuate the balloons of pretense held by the hoity toity grammarians.
In other words, don’t worry about the character of others, and they won’t worry so much about yours. He has been around long enough to earn the right to write whatever he pleases, whether or not it pricks balloons. It is called the equity of loyalty, the scars of battle, the mental muscles of being here regularly.
Plus, we have Tanods employed here whose job it is to police the ethical behavior of commenters. Yours is to express your view on the issues.
Thanks.
Joe
I’d like to reiterate some parts of my comment from above. It irks me big time when people from the so-called PRIVILEGED CLASS (good thing, my humble high school taught us never to act as the privileged, self-entitled ones), generalize–that one class is better than the other and that pop culture enslaves people to a point that they become dishonest and corrupt.
I’d call myself an honest and diligent worker despite me growing up watching these shows. I worked hard, even during my formative HS years (a time when most of my classmates would cheat), to learn my S-V agreement, the use of superlatives–like how “most” should not go with another superlative like “whitest,” and more. I was also taught that our “kasambahay” is a member of the family, not a slave. Again, I have seen these shows.
I went to Japan with the thought of seeing FIRST-WORLD HABITS–a parallelism to the thing you seem to be trying to say–that one class that does not patronize Tagalog TV shows (POP CULTURE MADNESS) has BETTER HABITS than the other class. But as I have taken time to live like a local in a first-world country, the Japanese actually have a lot of this similar madness too.
On most Sundays, Koganecho would have parades where families line up mats on the streets just to see the “bands with majorettes” pass by. And the parades are not the elite types or oh-so-cultural ones.
They go craaaaazy with anything “kawaii” like Pikachu, even to a point that boyfriends carry their girlfriends during Pikachu appearances/parades–just to enable them to see amid a crowd.
They go crazy about dogs, like Marutaro and Hachiko, and would go and line up anywhere in Japan (think 2-hour train travel, whereas 15-30 minutes would be the average commute time for them), where the dogs would make appearances ala “meet and greet.” Marutaro is the second most famous Japanese celebrity on Instagram.
The Japanese women go crazy about having likes and comments from other women, on their recipe posts, hence, a startup like Cookpad Japan is now an IPO-company with over $900million market cap. AKB48 is a phenomenon–whereas these revered ladies are just ordinary women catapulted to stardom, thanks to people’s votes (think Pinoy Big Brother).
Much is said about Filipinos being “lowbrow,” when they patronize something “masa,” labeling it as “ka-cheapan” and “nonsense.” Many would say, “nakaka-bobo” or “puro mga kathang-isip,” attributing the madness to temporary escapism or reason for “bad behavior.” But when people from first-world countries do such, we say nothing like what we say about Philippine “noontime TV shows” or “Tagalog TV shows.”
I have seen only a few clips of Aldub from Japan. I am not crazy about it but I do consider it a part of Filipino culture–and it’s not (just) exposure (to these things) that molds people’s behavior.
It’s this mentality of self-entitlement that actually breeds corruption, greed, and dishonesty. It’s this same mentality of considering one’s self as the “privileged one,” that discourages hard work.
I may not understand entirely what you are trying to point out here but the example you just shared about parents not letting us watch Tagalog TV shows is indeed quite common in the Cebuano culture. As a Chinese Filipino, pure Chinese but was born and raised in Cebu, this rings a bell for me. I grew up hearing how we should be different from our Filipino counterparts, how we are above them and that even a small thing such as watching a Filipino show is not advised. But through the years I believe this has changed or is still changing. Despite of how I grew up,I choose not to tolerate racial discrimination in any form. It may well be true that Filipinos still think highly of what is foreign and imported but we should be more pro-active about it, help that we will find our own identity and regard it highly. I use “we” because despite of not having a drop of Filipino blood I consider myself a Filipino, Philippines is my home. And I support anything that can potentially help Filipinos, will it be ALDUB or something else.
Yes we should find our identity and regard it highly. We are Filipinos
Dear Katrina, Samantha and Gerry: I was just telling my children tonight that in our time, class AAA and B+ had a different culture, B- and Upper C—the middle class—had different likes, and Lower C,D and E, another country. So Nora Aunor belonged in another country, and it was an insult to your parents to like her if you came from higher strata. Guess what, AlDub tore the curtain. Of course, it was a process, societal divisions gradually crumbled. AlDub especially made us one, I think, based on what I read and see. If that isn’t good for the country, I don’t know what is. We are actually making it difficult for corrupt ones to insert themselves in our now-homogeneous world. Why? Because the destiny of one is the destiny of all. Isn’t that redeeming of all the kababawan, as some may think?
That is very true. When I was a child, I secretly watched Nora Aunor, Fernando Poe and others together with the labandera when my parents were out working and I was not in school. It’s not like they said don’t watch it but I definitely knew they wouldn’t like it if they found out about it.
Thanks for confirming what I thought – that AlDub is watched by all classes. It also fits with my observation that Filipino is being ever more widely spoken by all social classes. An elite son like Noynoy Aquino making speeches in Filipino would have been unthinkable in the 1990s. What Filipino psychologist Ver Enriquez from U.P. called “The Great Cultural Divide”, mirroring the colonial period with Spanish, mestizos and Indios, seems to be disappearing, very good!
Very good! Finally, a nation. Thanks again, Irineo!
Haha! Well, we see things as what we are and not as what they really are. The author would still see love while watching TV Patrol (not bad).
From my side, I think it’s just another form of “perya” but on a significantly massive scale. Also notable is the the “bravery”/creativity of the show producers. They just throw anything to the wall and observe what sticks and then keeps on throwing it until it no longer sticks.
Yes, Adrian. I see love everywhere. For example, in a pedestrian I let cross the street when culture says ignore them and race past them. Thanks for noticing.
Time to dismantle the feria ,which has been going on since Aguinaldo’s time ; we should wake up and get down to brass tacks. Instead of following Adlub, follow the telenobela of Llamanzates.
Yesterday I could hardly believe how some people were just tweeting and retweeting about Aldub, obviously aiming to create a record. I could not be bothered to find out what it was all about until I saw JoeAm’s tweet about this piece. And frankly, I wasn’t about to read it (only because the thought that it was about a tearjerker of a show did not appeal to me) but having seen “social significance” in the title I thought “This better be good, there must be something here.” Thanks WGV. I certainly wasn’t disappointed, although I have to admit I was about to give up along the way! 🙂
Permit me to share what I got from the article. If people can be galvanized into action to make Roxas win (under the assumption of course that enough people care about the Philippines’ continued rise through Daang Matuwid) as they were intensely engaged about Aldub, there is every reason to hope.
I have shared a number of JoeAm’s posts on FaceBook, but nobody ever comments. Probably half of my “friends” are relatives and high school classmates living in the States, but only 4-5 who are in the Philippines click the like button. So often enough I am disappointed, considering that I don’t even write anything provocative or give a hint as to my political inclinations. I share an article to at least make people think, reflect and rethink. Perhaps it is just that politics is such a divisive topic, as it is highly likely they didn’t vote for PNoy so they prefer GPL, or they just don’t want to get involved, preferring to use FaceBook merely as a “sosyalan” medium – Hello, I’m in New York! Now don’t I look pretty? This is what we are about to eat! Hey guys, I got this award!
I have been away from the country for several years, but I remain a Filipino citizen and thus, can vote. I was able to vote for the President in 2010 at the embassy, although I can’t for the life of me remember whether I voted for Mar Roxas or left my ballot blank. But I will certainly vote for him next year. In 2013, my ballot (supposedly mailed) did not arrive. ):
Thank you Joe, for this haven of a blog. It gladdened me to hear the President cite you and the Society of Honor (it was the only SONA I listened to live from beginning to end, as it was a slow day at work). I salute Andrew, Edgar, Juana, Karl, Ireneo, Giancarlo, Mary Grace (I apologize I can only remember your first names) and of course WGV and many others for their valuable contributions. I wish I could participate more often but the chores are just endless. Nevertheless you all play a part in educating and enlightening minds, not to mention enriching others’ lives, especially mine.
Consider yourself a full-fledged member of our talkative society, cortyinjop, even if the demands of your days doesn’t let you comment so easily. You for sure made my day brighter with your uplifting observations, and I suspect for others as well. Thanks, and best wished from the Society for stimulating intellectual enrichment, and every-day well-being.
Thanks, cortyinjp! Our race has been thrown to the four corners of the planet. I think the Chinese also did the same thing, and gave the world, what, business? Perhaps years and years from now, people will say we gave the world, aargh, love.
Gob bless you, cortyinjp, for remaining a Filipino despite the length of your stay outside your country, and being able to vote ! Kudos to you and all the others who do the same. Although I understand all the others in diaspora who, for economic and other reasons have to give up their Filipino citizenship, hearing from you is truly heartening and inspiring. Stay well.
Thank you for your kind thoughts, Mary Grace. It’s not easy to be away from our homeland, but I have to keep on toiling to be able to spend time with my family, most of whom are in North America. I manage to visit MNL at least once a year to visit my parents’ resting places. Hey, I still have all of my cancelled passports. 🙂 I always look forward to your posts. Cheers!
ALDub over Grace Poe and Mar royal rumble? 12,000,000 tweets? No tweets on anti-corruption? Racial discrimination? Humane treatment of houseslaves?
Arab Spring was the result of Tweet and social media. Grace and Mar needs to learn a lesson or less from ALDub. Their political advertisement should happen during ALDub episodes. Because that is where they can reach 12,000,000 Filipinos.
Binay did advertise in last Saturday’s episode (where the 12M+ tweet happened). Let’s see who will do an ad this Saturday. I’m sure GMA7 is really raking in huge profits from this series.
I’m just glad I’m alive to witness this kind of phenomenon. AlDub truly has created a new standard.
Oh yes. Filipino is in. Thank you!
Is “Significence” same as significance? Please tell me. This is a real question. This is a new word for me. Great read, by the way. Thanks for sharing.
@Phoebe
I think it is a typo.
Until it is corrected, I will think of it as “magnificence.” 🙂
hmmm, ….
“magnificence”?
How about
“The Magnificence of the Philippines”?
“Significence” was a … er, … a serendipitous typo?
Hmm. Magnificence! This place is crawling with geniuses. Thanks, you all!
I think the spell check was turned off. Please give Wilfredo some slack. It is not the end of the world. It is a good piece worth reading twice. It is informative. I did not even know AlDub is tweeted 12,000,000 times if it not for this piece. If AlDub ran for President I am sure Benigno will investigate him.
Personally, I disregard spelling and grammar recommendations so my addicted fans, followers and readers that I am human, too. 🙂
61 comments, …
and
“significance” still could not be found.
I found significance in it, of course – but not the word itself (until just now, of course). 🙂
Little things (also) mean a lot.
My bad, my misteak.
Here is the 1st (of many) occurrence of the word:
x-
The message has some Godly significance considering Bayola was involved in a video with a woman who was not his wife. Sinners do make the best homilies.
-x
btw, “sinners”?
hmmm, …. am one. No doubt about it.
“Benigno Aquino III wishes nothing but fairness for Senator Grace Poe, who formally declared that she will run for president in the 2016 elections amid a disqualification case before the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) over her citizenship.”
Read more: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/724431/aquino-wishes-poe-fairness-in-2016-polls-citizenship-case#ixzz3mTeAss00
Benigno knew Grace Poe was not a Filipino …
Benigno knew Binay was a crook …
Benigno knew Corona was, too …
Let us see the pattern here.
1. Benigno told Binay not to run for President. Binay insisted. So, Binay was investigated
2. Benigno wanted Grace to run VP for Mar. Grace said no. So, Grace is investigated
3. Benigno was miffed by Corona on TRO. So, Corona was impeached using legalized blackmail: SALN
Benigno is a crook. So is Mar for supporting Grace Poe when Grace was attacked by Binay’s attack dog questioning her residency. Now, there is a falling out between Benigno&Mar and Grace. All hell breaks loose.
Grace Poe is also a crook. She is not being straightforward of her residency. She was mad when she was asked of her residency with the support of Mar. The trick here is to vote the lesser evils.
If only Grace Poe had accepted as VP to Mar, there wouldn’t have been an investigation. Who are investigating Poe? By whom? Of course Benigno Aquino no less. It is in the stars and the pattern is obvious.
Filipinos cannot observe and see the pattern because they are busy tweeting AL Dub, 12,000,000 of them.
“Aquino on ex-LTO chief Torres: If you go against my way, we’re not friends”
Read more: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/724406/aquino-on-ex-lto-chief-torres-if-you-go-against-my-way-were-not-friends#ixzz3mTj7eH64
That is exactly what Benigno did to Grace Poe,Corona and Binay. On Binay it is different. Benigno is still not making his revulsion to Binay public instead using government resources like his lackeys: Naive Trillanes and Cayetano.
nice article……worth reading. keep writing sir.
Thank you, Aurora! Yes, I will.
Thank you JoeAm. This piece nicely puts why we are drawn to the Aldub phenomenon. Simple lang. Love.
Yes, life is simple. It’s a four-letter word, and it doesn’t begin with an “f.”
@Wilfredo
“Flowers from Dangwa, …”
——
What “Dangwa” immediately to my mind was the bus transportation company.
I decided to google for more info:
1 https://www.google.com/search?q=dangwa+flowers&tbm=isch
2 https://www.google.com/search?q=dangwa+barangay
(I will look into barangay “Bado Dangwa”; am sure we can find something “Goodo” in it. Also in “Tabuk” despite, with all due respect, the municipality’s name.
they named the flower market near blumentrit dangwa since its where dangwa terminal was located..
Blumentritt in German means step on flowers, so having a flower market there fits.
Dangwa, yes. That’s where I buy flowers for the wifey. Really, Blumentritt, step on the flowers? Hmm. Poem coming.
Blumen = flowers. Tritt = step. Check on Google Translate if you want.
I know for sure that the name comes from Dr. Blumentritt, a relative of Rizal..
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Blumentritt
They did honor him by giving his name to the street
Of course it does – but the name if you translate it literally from German means Tapak-Bulaklak.
Konting patalastas muna – bagong artikulo: http://filipinogerman.blogsport.eu/metro-manila-traffic/
BTW Noli was written here: Jägerstr. 71, Berlin:
If you separate the 2 words it does but it is one word….:-)
Actually it comes from 14th century..
”jemand, der unschuldige, minderjährige Mädchen verführt”
Since you speak German…i think you know what that is.. 🙂
http://wiki-de.genealogy.net/Blumentritt_%28Familienname%29
iyong tumatapak nga sa bulaklak, o kaya namimitas ng bubot na bunga kung tagalugin.
Irineo, kumusta ang yaya mo ???
@Wilfredo
“… Poem coming.”
——-
May your poems bring out “the Magnificence of the Philippines.” 🙂
http://j.mp/ja-magnificence
The magnificence of her people – exemplified by, for one, Dr. Jose Rizal.
Blumentritt saw Dr. Rizal’s magnificence, ‘di ba?
The world has since the magnificence of Dr. Rizal’s “Mi Ultimo Adios,” ‘di ba?
The magnificence of her geography:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_the_Philippines
Consider the length of her coastline. Especially the ratio of the coastline length to the land area.
Benham Rise still has to raise our consciousness of why God put it there.
The Philippine Trench is big and deep enough, I guess, should Mt. Everest want to take a quick dip in it.
Her people’s hospitality.
“PH” means “Philippine Hospitality”?
“Tuloy po kayo.”
“Mano po.”
Her biodiversity.
The best of birds (“The Philippine Eagle”) chose to live only in her environs?
The best of birds???
Yes.
Google for this:
x-
In choosing the “best bird” in the world, I use the same criteria that I adopted in my youth when I researched, weighed, balanced, and created my own “top 50 birds of the world.” These criteria were: …
-x
How’s that for a start on the flora and fauna of the country?
Who will dare say, the Philippines is definitely not the biblical Ophir?
PI – Philippine Islands
RP – Republic Of the Philippines
PH – Philippines (also Philippine Hospitality. :-))
Don’t these two-letter codes for the Philippines give you “OPHIR”?
No, you say? Because there is no “O.”
Yes, there is: The “Of” in Republic Of the Philippines.
OK; granted that is no proof, but
If my hunch turns out to be true,
do I get credit, maski katiting lamang. 🙂
I guess there is not much interest in the “magnificence” of the Philippines.
After browsing through the latest article in the blog site,
http://j.mp/ja-150924 siphonophore
I did some googling and – in a roundabout way – eventually came upon this:
I came upon it because I came upon news about “the highest grade of gold” and searched for where in the Philippines it was found.
Try to keep Ophir in mind – or “The Gold of Ophir”?
You can find the book in … ForgottenBooks(dot)org.
Perhaps you don’t see it yet (and probably won’t see it the way I do) but doesn’t the image (of the Philippine geography) look almost like a siphonophore?
Coincidence?
Serendipity?
Flowers from Dangwa
Can’t put a finger on it, flowers from Dangwa,
side street, smelling like love or death,
but isn’t love death, and death love?
Flowers from Dangwa the bus terminal
straight from the clime of Baguio,
if you press the flowers closely to your
face, you can still catch the smell of pines
long gone, houses on the hillside, down
they go when the earth moves, the tree
roots are gone, and so are the people
who take shelter on the fragrant hillsides,
flowers from Dangwa, there’s a poem
somewhere, a husband whose thoughts
are of his wife, a young man scrimping
on beer and cigarettes to put a smile
on his beloved’s lips, flowers from Dangwa,
they’re really just flowers as flowers go,
but it’s the thought, the rush of feelings
as man or boy walks past them, trying
to remember which flower, which color,
their wife or girl would be happy with
long after they’re gone, when the lights
are out, and the flowers are wilted and
human beings give up their souls to
the creator of men and flowers up above,
flowers from Dangwa, why do you not die?
Will
September 24, 2015
i hope the bashers from the other channel would read it.. i have to share in my fb page.. it was a really good read..
Thanks for the uplifting thought!
Thank you for this beautiful article. There’s hope for all of us Filipinos! We are God fearing and loving people. So proud again of my country, people and culture. AlDub is indeed more than words. Many of us believe it as a Devine intervention. May you continue to write beautiful articles! God Bless!
Hi Julie! Thanks for your encouragement! Be writing more articles, pumped up to rock and roll!
This Article is a WOW Wilfredo! Good job! hope to read more!
For my tiring job and schedule away from my Family in the Philippines, Aldub is my inspiration! For ALDEN and MAINE, Thank you so much for whatever you brought into my LIFE, you both actually pulled me from TEMPTATIONS into a good ADDICTION to your LOVE TEAM!
ROM-JEE, thanks for the wow! These are inspiring times, Binay notwithstanding.
Hi Sir,
Thanks for sharing a wonderful column.
I was just a bystander; Nothing more than a spectator to this so called Love Team Phenomena. I did not realized that i was becoming more of a witness. and I can say that i can give a firsthand account of something seen, heard or experienced and didn’t realized now maybe a FAN ~ Watching Kalyeserye is really for entertainment. You have this exhilarating feeling like you are riding a rollercoaster. Many Filipino can relate to our deep rooted culture and this really a revival of dying and lost culture into our modern culture. The birth of Aldub Nation can do something special if we are united. Thanks for a wonderful column! ~
AldubTexas Fan (I guess FAN-niwalain?!)
WaterLily, AlDub is showing us that anything is possible, if we are true to ourselves. Thanks!
When can I ever watch a How-to-kill-a-mockingbird equivalent in Filipino movie?
If ever there is one the scenario would be like this:
The accused has the burden of proof to incriminate themselves. Tiu had the burden of proof to prove Binayland belongs to him instead of Trillanes burden of proof. It is also the burden of proof to Grace Poe that she is an illegal alien living in the Philippines without working Visa to serve the Filipino people.
I can know these simple principle but it seems Senators, congressmen, UP graduates and UP journalists cannot seem to know these including Raissa and Allan . Jeeeez.
And here is the epilogue …. Filipinos running to Papa American to extricate themselves from the mess they are in of their own making.
Mariano, it seems like we are only good at how to kill a mouse.☺
The Filipinos cannot do a Kill-a-Mockingbird despite topnotch law graduates from University of the Philippines.
Scriptwriters in the US consult lawyers when they do a Kill-a-Mockingbird movie but in the Philippines they seem to have difficulty in Kill-a-Mockingbird because if they do that THEY HAVE TO CRITICIZE HOW THEIR PERSECUTION OF BINAY IS HANDLED which is purely kindergartnerish.
It is weird that Grace Poe has to prove to the Filipinos she is a born again Filipino.
It was also weird that Tiu has to prove that BinayLand belongs to him.
In the U.S., it is the accuser has the burden of proof. In the Philippines the accused has the burden of proof to incriminate themselves.
Something is really wrong with Philippine Justice.
Yes why do the accused be the one to prove hes innocent, it is the accuser who should prove his guilt.
You are diverting the issue on Mrs. Llamanzares’ citizenship. To be a president, one does not just need to be Filipino, but to also be a natural born Filipino, i.e. he/she need not do anything to perfect his/her Filipino citizenship. For example, no act of renunciation of US citizenship. As Justice Carpio said, foundlings are naturalized citizens of the Philippines, which makes the unqualified. FYI, the Philippines has not acceded to the 1961 Convention of UN. That is the reason why Mrs. Llamanzares is moving heaven and earth to find her biological parents…to get that issue out of her ambition’s way. Of course, normal Filipino foundings would try to find their real parents not out of ambition.
Zing.
Good Day Sir,
I just bump here in your article because it is from ALDUB. I admit even I am a guy, I am (crazy) fan of their LT at nakakatuwang magbasa ng mga ganitong POV of this phenomenon from the authors/bloggers like you. At first I like ALDUB because of the “KILIG” factor of the two but when I read this article, it gives more reasoning why I love them – “AlDub represents the good things about being a Filipino”. Minsan naiinis ako sa mga taong nagsasabing baduy, corny or puro ALDUB kaya walang nangyayari sa bansa etc. but I understand you can’t force some other people to like what we others love. Naiisip ko na lang nakakalimutan na ata ng ibang pilipino na maging pilipino. Times really fly so fast and changes is inevitable but here comes Kalyerserye to remind and make us feel what we sometimes forgot in this fast changing world, the value of LOVE and HOPE to FAMILY and LOVE ONES! Kudos to you SIR
PS. Sorry for the comments for being TAGLISH. Taga-Tagalog lang talaga alam ko!
BTW. I couldn’t agree more regarding “Sinners do make the best homilies”. Well Wally B. really redeem himself from his mistake from the past and I am proud of him for that.
Haay, ang sarap maging Pilipino! (It feels good to be a Filipino!) Ang sarap i-frame ng mga comments! Thanks, John!
“WORTH READING! ANOTHER POV. JUST.. WOW.. “
Well, Wilfredo, I’m afraid you fairly set my twitter account to humming over your article. If I’m not mistaken, there are girls across the land falling in love with you. And some guys, too, not something that needs to concern you too much in our modern times.
Thanks for changing our pace with this delightfully touching commentary on a current social phenomenon.
Joe, read this to my wifey. She’s not smiling. Time to wash the dishes. Enough already.
Hahahaha, your wife reminds me of my wife . . . I need to go get some cream for my dishwater chapped hands . . .
By the way, the AlDub fan base, which is substantial, is working this article over on twitter. You’ve got 13,000 reads today and counting. It’s in the US now, through Maine’s fan club there.
Don’t wake me up! Let me dream on!
Just out of curiosity, Joe, what’s the most number of comments you’ve received in this blog? This article is about to breach 200 comments pretty soon!
Over 1,000, when I was on vacation and had an “open discussion”. We hit between 200 and 400 fairly regularly now.
Aldub has millions of fans, but I think a significant proportion of them (us) would feel OP (out of place) commenting here. They will say, “tsk, nosebleed sa English!” in a cheeky sort of way, especially the millenials. 🙂 But that’s okay, what’s important is they enjoyed reading it and got new insights which became a point of discussion in their own circles.
You (and they) may comfortably speak the language of choice, and comfort. That is totally acceptable, and respected by others.
This is really a good read Mr. Wilfredo. Kudos for you! I couldn’t agree more with what you’ve said. I am glad I took time to read your blog.
Oh, thank you, jhen!
I normally would skim a page to see how much time I would need to read everything but yes your article is worth every scroll down up to the comments.
It’s a good summarization of the KalyeSerye minus the adjectives to describe the punchlines and craziness of JoWaPao. Politics aside the article is still worth reading. Thanks for doing this. I hope not to see you wearing an AlDub iconography somewhere. 🙂
Uh-oh. If you see a doddering old man in an AlDub shirt that would probably be me. Then again, there is a legion of us. Thanks, Lin Lang!
I am not a fan. And while the treatise, that I had difficulty reading and comprehending, seems very elucidating – I still don’t get it. I won’t apologize. But if only those million tweets would be directed to improving the discpline and nationalism and patriotism of Filipinos, then maybe there is a bright future waiting ahead of us somewhere in the distant horizon.
Instead, we turn a blind eye and pretend that the myriad problems besetting our country do not exist and just concentrate in following implausible plots and nonsensical situations. Maybe that’s a good thing…
I just don’t get it and as my brother told me yesterday, I maybe just a few out of the millions of Pinoys who are in the bandwagon. But I can’t ride on it.
Couldn’t agree with you more, Grammy
Thanks, grammy and mercedes! Sometimes the most ludicrous makes the most sense. Witness the child.
Hhahhhh!! I agree with you sir. Kids laugh heartily. Maybe I’m going to also give my two cents about this article this week. Can’t today. Too many things to do. Teacher here. But, yes. I’m one of those thousands of Filipinos whose countenance and disposition have changed because of this show. Even my marriage changed – for the better of course!!!!.
God gave me you – It’s more meaningful now.
Be waiting, teacher!
That was hubby’s and my sentiment too… Until we viewed an episode and understood. I feel very Filipino whenever I watch it – and a happy one at that. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea though, of course.
Thanks, Jasmin for the support! Opposition sharpens genius.
Im also not the bandwagon type of person. I try to appreciate/comprehend the show and all the hype around it, just nothing. I get what Wil is trying to get at but Im too preoccupied by the business side implications of the phenomenon since I briefly work for a Government-owned network few years ago.
Simply putting it, it just another lucky cash cow for the un-innovative GMA7 and its money worshipping owners.
I would like to correct, their loveteam is accidental. Better watch the first episode. You don’t need to downgrade by saying un-innovative GMA 7 blah blah because EB is owned by Tape Inc and a blocktimer of GMA. GMA 7 owners has nothing to do with their show.
Very well written sir! I salute you! For finally, someone stepped up and wonderfully layed out the reasons why AlDub is being adored by the entire nation. Now the Oblivious ones have a better understanding why people chose AlDub over the nonsencical Pastillas craze. Looking forward to your future write up. God bless your Heart!
Pull me down, pull me down! My kite’s overstretched! Thanks, Judy! God bless your heart, too!
I was crying the whole time I was reading this piece. Not because I love AlDub & Kalye Serye (KS), which I tell you, I do. I think, KS paints our society in black and white, not to flaunt our flaws and imperfections but to show to all that this is what we are. That we Filipinos are strong and resilient and able to laugh at our own misery. That despite technology, modernity and development, Filipino values of love for family, respect for our elders, humor, gratitude and patiently waiting for the right time without losing hope, among others, is still embedded in our heart and soul. Kalye Serye has exposed that, and for that, we are reminded, and we are thankful. That is why we are hooked, and loving it.
Loving it for the messages it imparts every minute, and the comedy every half minute. Thanks, laybraryanako! What a name. See our disdain for the ordinary, Joe?
🙂
very nice!! this is so true… God bless everyjuan!
Thanks, dingdong!
nice read, looks like an article/ a reminder
from a grandpa, thanks much
Wilfredo is a young whippersnapper . . . at heart . . .
Hahaha! Been there, done that, will be there to do it all over again.
I have to comment on this at once: I hope my daughters see this — “grandpa” — as a gentle reminder.
I am in awe . . . just awesome . . .
Hahaha! I’m assuming you’re referring to the article. Thank you!
of course 🙂
Thank you, grachun park!
Ok so I get that there’s a tug at heartstrings, nostalgia and values. But that’s what worries me too. While we can all subscribe to the positive in the values of respect, patience, delayed gratification, etc. especially in this era of instant and iconoclasm, there is a dark side. Respect for elders assumes, in this case, the “respect-ers” inability to speak up, opening up the possibility of being victimized by authority (hence, the semiotics of Maine’s inability to speak in her own voice), manipulated by circumstances ie lacking her own agency in some ways. Then there’s Lola Nidora’s absolute control of the situation. Are we calling it respect or is it authoritarianism? Coded within the whole enterprise are stereotypes of gender — the amorous suitor; the pure, prized, patient maiden — and going back to this will help women how? Plus from the end of the media production of the text, we all know that a lot manipulation is involved – oh the suspense, the lengthy drama, stay tuned to this station and not the other channel. Anyway, it opens up a whole can of worms for me. But hey, it’s all fun and kilig so what’s the harm, right?
But Sir, it doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy your piece, Mr. Villanueva, and your rich and positive analysis. If only I could be so hopeful as you everyday.
Peminista, good you wrote the second time. Hope is all we have. It’s free. Keep on loving! Thank you!
Well said Mr. Villanueva a very good summary of how #AlDub story unfolds and how it relates to our Filipino tradition and values and how AlDub affected all generations that are watching . A bit of politics and especially about LOVE…
Thanks, Gracel! Had no idea the feedback would be this way. Guess my eyes weren’t tricking me. Truly, AlDub is all about love.
Superimposing the Aldub themes of love and hope eternal on our national politics:
a. you cannot claim love of country if you are corrupt!
b. you cannot claim love of country if you come unprepared and ask people to take a chance with you!
c. you cannot claim love of country if you do not return the ill-gotten wealth amassed by your parents!
Great segue! Thanks, Andrew! Begin with a single step.
Like many others, I have fallen for these good looking but talented goody two shoes characters Alden played RIZAL in Ilustrado, for heaven’s sake!! That is nothing to scoff at. True that they have bridged age and distance in uniting the Pinoy psyche. Heneral Luna had a small share of this generational appreciation as well. I so heartily wish that AlDub would ask all Pinoys NOT TO SELL THEIR VOTES. If it is really love, and Heneral Luna taught us love can be for country, then #aldubnationforcleanelections #maidenfanswontsellvotes
It’s raining ideas! Yes, to vote wisely use AlDub. Why not? Thank you so much, ipatluna!
Salamat naman po. I feel very offended when people (who have not even seen the show) claim that it’s sense-less and for people who have nothing better to do. I myself do not understand what I specifically see in it that makes me look forward to watching it everyday. All I know is that I enjoy it! The show still has its misgivings but over-all the segment is far from the previous years when scantily-clad dancers grace the stage of eat bulaga. It has become a “fresh-air” as it is not about sensual instant-gratification, bad behaviour, entitled attitudes, which sadly seem to be the “trend” in many shows. Ayun lang 🙂
Yes, Myn! Fresh air! What a feeling! Thanks!
I also gave the comment “a breath of fresh air” in one of my comments somewhere. It’s nice to know I’m not the only one having that feeling.
An awesome piece here Mr. Villanueva. Thank you!
Thanks, Merle! Awesome of you to appreciate.
This is satire, of the most subtle kind. I’m not taken. But Wilfredo is a most versatile writer and I am very impressed by his writings not only this thread but by his other comments, all of them. Please write on, Willy.
Thanks, Bert! Be writing on and on—valley, mountain peak, lake, ocean, raindrop.
Never watched the show, don’t know what it’s all about, but of course I knew it is very popular but don’t understand why. Liked your societal analysis. Good piece.
The fun guys Beatles say “All you need is Love”, the serious guy Shakespeare say “If music be the food of love, play on”.
I’m not side-tracked by this love story, still focused on the other lovey dovey tandem Poe-Chiz.
Thanks, chempo! The road will twist and turn, divide in separate directions, but we will still find ourselves together at the end of the journey. This thing called love will not forget, will not leave anyone behind.
This is a great piece..
especially im a great fan of this tandem ALDUB..
Thanks! Maybe not so much the article, suigeneris0005. It’s the love. You mention it, and 12 million jump in.
Yeah. That’s it that brought the wonder of the ALDUB..
Everybody is contributing on the 12.1 million. 😂😂😂
I have to confess my not liking any noontime shows. In one of my visits to my nonagenarian grandma in the province, a hand me down flat TV from the US is being installed and while testing the station line up, a teenager daughter of a cousin suddenly screamed, ALDUB, ALDUB, please, let’s watch that…. it made me curious and watched with her.. Mein Mendoza and Alden Richards are simply good looking, the girl’s eyes are really soulful and expressive, and the actor can act even if silently, but I found the KalyeSerye so slow paced and so I returned to Paul Hood’s solving the admin crisis of the US President, with his VP engineering an international crisis that almost started a world war, all because the said VP wanted the President to resign so he can take over. ooopsss, another make believe story, this time from Divide and Conquer (Tom Clancy’s Op-Center, Book 7)
After reading your article, I might take a second look and see what those 12 million tweeters are so wild about. I like your article by the way and admire the way you find the social significance in that kalyeserye ALDUB phenomenon with emphasis on love and our old customs and tradition. I hope those million followers will revive that and not follow the modern day courting through text, followed by casual sex and all that.
Sotto will surely be elected again in the Senate, if the viewers will have their way. I heard him saying ALDUB will not endorse any presidential candidate, senatorial maybe?
When I was young, I used to sneer at soap operas in the US, which essentially are melodramatic stories, love and hate,that play out for months or even years. They are written as the story develops. I changed my view of that when two things happened:
1). I got to do my Master’s thesis at CBS in West Los Angeles, so I would prowl the sound stages and watch shows being filmed. The actors for the soaps are amazing, learning their lines and working through the emotions only a day or two before going on stage. The shows are cobbled together “on the fly”. The directors are cracker-jack talented at what they do, and the writers and actors supply the drama. It was impressive.
2) At the bank where I worked, I received commercial loan training from a fellow Viet Nam veteran. This guy was a legitimate hero, a fighter’s fighter, who did crazy things, including once diving on a live grenade to protect his comrades. Diving on it cut off the firing mechanism and he was able to dig it from under his belly and throw it. It went off, peppering him with shrapnel, but nothing serious. He always ate lunch in the conference room with a TV so he could watch his favorite soap.
So I no longer judge those who enjoy drama programs . . .
Joe,
Is there any special significance to the red font?
That is red violet, rather a lovely color, wouldn’t you say?
Oh, I get it for love?
This one article got a bunch of new commenters, BZ for Wil, but I’m still really baffled– is this a social media phenomena or an actual real world phenomena, and is this satire as suggested by Bert?
Very good questions, and I’ll offer my take. Will can give his own. It is not satire, and I’m inclined to think that brother Bert and others who believe it is are simply out of touch with the devotion that is being given to the love story, which is seen as real life (two actors in love) playing out in a screen drama (love exists there, too, but just beyond reach of the two main characters). I think we all have our own loves missed and hit, and perhaps it is playing to that. It just touches a chord among the Tweet crowd, and has become both a social and real-life “event”. To recognize how powerful it is, we evidently had Binay today suggesting that he wanted the young actor to play him in a bio-pic. So it is for sure winding its way from drama into real life.
As I follow the tweets to my own account, which is a record setter for any article by far, the emotion is strictly positive, of love and uplift and how great it is to be Filipino. The cynics would have to be pretty hard of heart not to be touched by the two love stories going on, one between man and woman, the other between Filipino and one’s whole national, emotional, cultural being. It is rather like one gigantic fiesta celebration, love uncorked . . .
Joe, Wil, thanks.
Juana below mentioned this happening before. And I remembered the 2nd time I was there, Wowowee was the fad and it was the host and his female co-host who were the love item.
So is this thing cyclical ( a Filipino tradition ), just now with Twitter, fb and social media to multiply the buzz? Has this phenomena always been around over there, since TV and movies were invented?
If the new variable is simply Twitter, etc. and love always triumphs ( no matter how gimmicky, didn’t the Hollywood studios do this like in the 50s? ) , I propose the Society of Honor rides this wave and do something similar, I nominate gian or Mami as the would-be boy-crush of the nation,
and we’ll do a search for suitable girls for them to date ( and eventually marry ), but before they can meet these girls, the girls (and our guys) will have to write articles upon articles on here to basically prove that they will be the next Malakas at Maganda for the Philippines.
We’ll have them interact with one another via articles and through the comments section, then get youtube and Twitter and fb, etc. all involved.
The formula seems simple enough, Joe, I’m sure we can replicate it here.
We’ll get Wil and gian together so they can craft a letter in search of a Filipina girl, who is not only witty and charming, but has the best interest of the Philippines in mind. Throw some poem or two– a nice picture of gian.
Then start the whole ritual on here, starting with simple love letters ( how’s that for old school, Wil? ) then move on to letters with more meaning about the future, the Philippines, hope, poverty, pollution, mega-cities, de-forestation, int’l affairs, to leave or stay in the Philippines, the list goes on and on.
Eventually, if there is a marriage ( there should after about a year of letter writing ), edgar will officiate.
What do you guys think?
I think it is brilliant, and if the goal were to make money, ads could be attached to it, and we’d eventually buy the hacienda back from Binay’s dummies. We need a suitable and willing set of bachelors to compete.
Yeah, we should definitely proceed with casting now– I thought gian was a bachelor, other suitables on here?
“It is rather like one gigantic fiesta celebration” or like a barangay or barrio where everybody is gossiping about an ongoing courtship. Gossip has an important social function, Filipino culture is at heart still a village culture that feels a bit lost in today’s world. Possibly AlDub is something that it needs to feel at home, maybe it is part of the process of the Filipino nation finding back to its roots without resorting to nationalistic nonsense – but I will have to watch it to say more.
LCpl_X: I’m game if Joe is game. Just have questions before we proceed.
Will
Sure, work it up. I’m open to new ideas.
Wil,
The question is, can we replicate what you’ve just lovingly wrote about?
But instead of using TV as the primary media, we use letters ( posted on here ).
I know the readership here are more on the geriatrics side of life, so maybe you guys can recruit the would-be guys and gals. But I think it’s better to get our guys here ( Society of Honor guys or your sons or grand-sons ), so it adds to the drama.
Then through your ( or others’ here ) connections, ie. academia, professionals, etc. Get suitable girls to respond on here.
So basically it starts out as guy looking for girl. Then these letters evolve as something bigger than self. I think you ‘re more of a creative than I am, so add or subtract. But that’s the basic premise.
If it’s satire, perhaps the teasing is on me, for being so hopeful in what is perceived sometimes as a dismal environment. But no, I meant every word. It’s a phenomenon because courtship used to be ordinary but it’s out of fashion now but sort of revived by AlDub accidentally first, then egged on by the audience and social media, most probably professionally handled by a trove of scriptwriters, directors, lights and camera men, set designers, keeping the flame alive with the original air of spontaneity. People were reminded. “Hey,” they said, “that’s how we used to do it! We can teach our children that! Perhaps that’s the thing that’s missing. You lose courtship you lose respect for elders, you lose respect for elders, you lose the grand fabric of society, making it I want, I want instead of I’ll wait, I’ll wait.”
@Wilfredo
x-
People were reminded. “Hey,” they said, “that’s how we used to do it! We can teach our children that! Perhaps that’s the thing that’s missing. You lose courtship you lose respect for elders, you lose respect for elders, you lose the grand fabric of society, making it I want, I want instead of I’ll wait, I’ll wait.”
-x
——-
“Abstinence.”
Did you have that in mind?
Not a popular meme, I guess.
It would be an uphill battle – given what Hollywood dispenses.
http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Bible-Verses-About-Abstinence/
Oh, I got it only now. The text color. Thanks, Joe for the special treatment!
I’m a regular mush ball . . . you’re welcome.
Hello i7sharp. That is exactly what drew me to the show “SA TAMANG PANAHON”. It is now a popular statement and I keep on telling that to my son. AlDub is a great way to teach kids about waiting for the right time 🙂
Oh I do enjoy dramas, comedies more. Nathaniel for one which will end this Friday, and all those before it up to 9:00 pm, that’s my limit. I watched all Coco Martin’s starrer. Judy Anne’s Piolo Pascual’s from when she was a teen up to her last one at ABS CBN. I even watched the Spanish TV channel TELENOVELA which replayed one on Saturday with Tagalog dubbings, all five hours of them (presumably from Mondays to Fridays) and loved them all. I find it entertaining and some sort of escape route from the the week’s stress.
I just don’t go for noontime shows that’s all
Not a tv person, too, Mary Grace. Highlight of my day is a jog with my dogs. Errands for the wifey, appointments and meetings for my job in financial services, oh yes, movies but almost no tv, just news. Just got hooked watching Maine uglify herself, a rarity these days of botox and movie-star looks, and Alden the boy who still obeys elders without grumbling. I said, wait a minute, there’s something about these two.
Am glad you shared that something with us. Thank you.
I agree 🙂
Joe, didn’t know how to respond to this until I recalled a poster which said Real Men Pray. Same thing.
Indeed, it is. I think real men don’t require the blessings of others to feel whole. They do what they need to do.
Beautiful!!! Congratulations, SB Will! I saw this from a friend who shared it on his FB with the following status message:
“In Sociology, we refer to a concept called tipping point or a point in time when people, en masse, suddenly change their behavior. This concept has been used to explain collective behavior and social movements like the People Power and the Arab Spring, that ushers social change. I thought about writing a sort of Sociology of AlDub but dismissed it, saying there’s no need to overthink that phenomenon, besides, I only saw 3 episodes of it and only managed to sit through only one. AlDub and the rest of the talents are just very talented and funny. But this article, a bit lengthy but it’s worth the read, got it right: 12 million tweets can be interpreted as the whole nation finally uniting, being one, with the show (re)defining Philippine culture.”
Thanks, brod Castle Den! Culture unites. Culture preserves. Culture defines a nation. A nation. When was the last time we talked in terms of “a nation?”
Hi, Den…are you the same Den who is regularly posting at Raissa’s? .youre one of those whose posts made me wish there are like buttons in blogging…
Nice piece, sir! This #aldub thing is a nice breather for a housewife like me from a half-day’s housework. yes, it makes me.laugh, smile, kilig, to hope and get that in love feeling again. Scripted or not, i enjoy it.
My wife and I, too. We’re in an empty nest now, with only our dogs to keep us company, yet at around 1pm every day, we laugh at the same time, united in our coupleness for the next 24 hours. Thanks, Maricel!
Hahahhhh!!! So, we’re not the only ones eh??? My husband and I watch it at night coz we work during daytime. And yes!! What a bonding we have – laughing our hearts out at the adlibs of the JoWaPaos.
Yes! Nothing like a good laugh, a guffaw, like thunderclaps, forgetting ourselves for the moment, children again. Never thought I would cheer two beautiful people to regain Eden, pero sa tamang panahon.
Hahahh!! Me too. I laugh more when I hear my husband laughing his heart out. 🙂
This is first time I’m looking for the LIKE button..
Nory, thank you! Heartened.
Thank you for writing this sir, im also trying to analyze the phenomenon but I always goes back for being a fan.
You started the article with your age and status in life, those things make me more interested. Thanks agai..
Thanks, Gilbert! Being a fan means the center is not us—the beginning of nation building—that we look outside ourselves at the same thing or person we hold dear united in thought and desire.
I think this is the side I’d like to take on this piece. Am I just a cynic or it’s just that that Pollyanna, can it? If it is satire, masterfully done Sir! #cheeky #fun
Peminista, I call it as I see it. Thanks.
Wilfredo,
I shared this on facebook and it rocked.
Thanks, Karl. Happy to share.
Uyy iba toh ‘no (as paulo would say).
Ang galing!
Enlightening at socially educational gaya ng paghahalintulad ng takbo ng ating pulitika, ang Aldub serye ay nagpapaalala.
Marami tayong maling gawi o pilit na ginagawang mali na kapag nanood ka ng Aldub serye ay matutunan mong gawing tama.
Mabigat ang pakiramdam ko dahil sa mga hindi kagandahang nangyayari sa ating paligid pero nang mabasa ko ang ‘isinulat’ mo ay gumaang.
Bravo at mabuhay!
For Joe, a translation: Hey, this is different (as Paulo Ballesteros would say). It’s good! Enlightening and educational, juxtaposing AlDub with what’s happening with our politics. We are doing many things wrong or we insist on making it wrong but AlDub teaches us to correct our wrongdoing. I feel depressed with what’s happening around us, but when I read your article I felt lighter and refreshed. Bravo and long live!
My reply: Thanks, armbuensuceso! What a beautiful note of appreciation! You, too, bravo!
The insights presented in the article has somehow affirmed/confirmed why I am addicted to the Aldub fandom. Thank you and hope to read the next sequel of your article.
Thank you for your appreciation, ermie! Looking forward.
Salamat po. Sana maging matalino ang mga Filipino.
You’re welcome, Albert! Is it just emotion? Or is it coupled with reflection about where we are, why we aren’t moving as we ought to, what can we improve on in our culture and habits to gain the extra push? Love is high intelligence because patience, obedience, sacrifice and sharing without expecting anything in return save that of knowing that the loved one will be happy is involved. Love is all we need. Kanta yun.
While reading this, I admire the boldness and creativity of the author to raise issues like political, social, cultural, and to relate these issues to Aldub phenomenon. And I thought you are filling this article with lots of sarcasm and irony. Another beautiful satirical article to pop the bubbles created in one’s head. I was happy because I felt like only few people would recognize that and such braveness to go against that 12M tweets was just wow. Or so I thought. When I read the comment section, this proved me otherwise. And you mentioning in one of the comments (yes, I made it far to reach almost the bottom of the comment section to make sure I was all wrong while reading the article), that this is not a satire makes me cringe a little bit. Please do enlighten me. I’m on the verge of sharing it, but I think I do have a different view than you have. I loved it being satirical. I loved it for that strong compassion to raise awareness. I loved it for going against the wave. I loved it. Yes, I loved it. Please do enlighten me, please.
Hi Jom. Sorry to disappoint you, but I meant every word. Satire isn’t me. About going against the flow, I think AlDub in and of itself is exactly that, breaking self-limiting beliefs we have set among ourselves—that love and kilig is for kids, there is nothing to laugh about these days, elderly wisdom and guidance are passé, let’s get it over with, we’re in love aren’t we, impatience, cutting corners and a rebellious spirit will get us where we want to go.
Hi Sir Wilfredo, you are right. People of today’s generation should be reminded life is a choice. Being sad is your choice, and being happy is also your choice. If Aldub could give us the kilig factor that will remind us the younger days, why not? Being happy is actually what we need today as we are facing a lot of challenges everyday re: traffic, floods, etc. Kalyeserye has all the elements, it exudes laughter, to be inlove, respect from elders, patience, and other filipino values we almost forgot. This show reminds the viewers to embrace the old ways of courting with respect and dignity and therefore it gives values. That is the kind of show we need today, a little kind of drama, romance but abundance of laughter.
In today’s episode, Lola Nidora dished out another gem: go to the lady love’s residence, court her there. Oh! The clowns are reminding us how the wise lived their lives in the days of chivalry and gentleness. Thanks, Indio_malaya!
Really? He’s going to her residence at last? Hahhh!! Yes, girls!! Respect the boys who go to your house and court you there and not anywhere. My son should watch this episode so his father could say to him again: “Tandaan mo yan”.
I remember an episode where Lola Nidora said, “Patext-text lang, kayo na? Pafan sign, fan sign lang, kayo na? And she said that long before Pastillas girl looked for a BF on twitter.
Messrs. Joam and Wilfredo, thank you for posting and writing, respectively, this very good piece. Indeed, one very interesting read after a long day at work. I hope you don’t mind that I shared this in my Facebook page.
Sir Wilfredo, you just have gained one follower in me.
Thanks, Daisyanne! Richer by one follower, hallelujah!
hahaha, or 31,000, but who’s counting?
Wonderful entry Mr. Villanueva! You captured very well what viewers of the show enjoy. It is indeed something quite intangible.
I’d like to disagree on some of the comments stating this supposed “frivolity” is what keeps our society in a rut. I’d like to think it’s the reverse: that our societal dysfunctions have compelled us to look for what “progress” cannot offer. After all, both economic progress and intellectual discourse cannot guarantee any relief from sorrow. Until such a time the government can manage to protect and expand our freedoms, the Filipinos, wearied from the politicking, desensitized by all the crime, corruption, and violence, will find themselves looking for, as what you said, that “missing” piece in their lives, that “something” that will resonate, even in the form of an accidental love team of a noontime show the Philippines.
We have done so much thinking and arguing because deceit has been the currency, that to find something like this show, with all the ecstasies of young love, makes us feel again. Feel after being numbed by skepticism, by the cold, metal table of progress.
I remember a quote from Christopher Isherwood’s A Single Man which best encapsulates how I’ve responded to the show:
“A few times in my life I’ve had moments of absolute clarity. When for a few brief seconds the silence drowns out the noise and I can feel rather than think, and things seem so sharp and the world seems so fresh. It’s as though it had all just come into existence. I can never make these moments last. I cling to them, but like everything, they fade. I have lived my life on these moments. They pull me back to the present, and I realize that everything is exactly the way it was meant to be.”
I can only hope that whatever we feel in the show indeed translates to some action, and we learn to pay that happiness forward by being dutiful citizens of this beautiful country and by being more empathetic to our fellowmen.
Jacob! Are we approaching the realm of spirituality, of Gandhian substance and purpose? I hope, I hope. See what AlDub has done? A pebble of honesty, wholesome admiration, mutual care was thrown into the pond and ripples of love and longing for a better country keep lapping the shores of our tomorrow. Thank you, Jacob!
I hope that young people will CATH THE MESSAGE ” SA TAMANAG PANAHON” It’s all about Love and sacrifice, nice article mr Villanueva
Thanks, Banan Romel! I hope they will, too.
I only started watching after I noticed my son’s laughter late at night when he would come home from work. i believe it helped him de-stress and when I saw the videos I noticed the lessons being taught and started following the “kalyeserye” too when I had time at home.
Read the comments posted here and I see various perspectives and levels of acceptance. A person has opinions based on how he / she filters information. A business person sees the commercial value of a thing, a romantic values the “kilig” factor, another would focus on its effect on modern day society, etc. I, as a parent and teacher nearing my senior years see it as a welcome change from the graphic violence bombarding us daily through newspapers and TV news programs. It helps us balance our view of human nature and of the Filipino soul. That instead of fear, we can have faith.
I personally do not see it as my need to escape from reality: I watch documentaries and news on local stations and cable TV, read biographies and other books which will add to my knowledge / understanding. What I find refreshing about this noontime segment is that as a baby boomer with a millennial son, there is something new that connects us despite our age gap.
Multi-generational families are now watching TV together and enjoying the same thing, interacting verbally, discussing possible scenarios to come. Young people are getting the chance to take a peek at how previous generations of Filipinos lived and loved. The effect is similar to a lesson in history minus the classroom, presented in a high-tech manner that reaches today’s generation.
It has bridged 3-4 generations easily, enabling people to appreciate and accept different views without them being forced on one another. The characters “speak” for whatever age group is represented. We are given the opportunity to watch and listen, think, then change how we treat one another.
The humor allows us to accept whatever hard truths may be presented. We Filipinos can laugh despite our troubles. It is a decision we make, an attitude that has enabled us to live through years of colonization, oppression, dissatisfaction. Not because we are blind, but because we resolve to see through the darkness and believe there is hope when we pursue what is good.
Parents do not have to preach as much anymore when reminding their children to be careful about relationships, to show respect. I read the comments also on various twitter accounts (my psychology background compels me… need to know what people are thinking, how they are affected) and find it so encouraging that young people are reflecting on their family relationships, what their parents / grandparents have been telling them, how important it is to follow good role models, be patient (“sa tamang panahon”), etc.
Sure beats sermonizing and enduring generation gap drama – “whatever” … rolling eyes… nonstop arguments…outright rebellion. (Feedback from parents / grandparents I have counseled).
So thank you, sirs, for writing and posting the article. it was informative, analytical, well-stated and most importantly written from the heart. God bless you for taking the time to speak for those who see this ongoing series for its value – bridging generations as well as different segments of our society, reflecting on our essence not as people from different regions speaking different dialects, but as a nation of Filipinos.
And if the network is benefited because of this, good for them – consider it a blessing – at least they are making effective and positive use of media.
Marie, thank you! How would we have known that something that appeared to be kid stuff actually opened up deep feelings of love and concern for one another and for country? God loves us, is the only answer I can think of at the moment. I hope we won’t dissipate the AlDub movement. Just this morning, while jogging, I overheard two tricycle drivers talking and all I could hear was the word AlDub, back and forth. I will remember this sentence from your comment: “God bless you for taking the time to speak for those who see this ongoing series for its value – bridging generations as well as different segments of our society, reflecting on our essence not as people from different regions speaking different dialects, but as a nation of Filipinos.”
Thank you very much, sir. I have also been reading about non-Filipinos who are in the dark regarding ALDUB and why it is is always trending. With the analysis you shared it would now be easy to give them the complete picture by pointing them to your article. You did us a great favor. We Filipinos have a very distinct culture due to all the influences we have absorbed and are thus often misunderstood. At times we also misunderstand each other. May your article and the comments that are posted allow them to get a clearer perspective on what we Filipinos are really like, with our different opinions and ideas.
Blessings to you and your family.
God bless you and your family, too, Marie!
Most balanced comment so far. Two thumbs up, Marie 🙂
Thank you, Jes, God bless you.
And thank you, Marie! What an honor!
The current president’s legacy is HONESTY. Never stole a single cent.
As to prosecution and persecution of crooks, Benigno has nothing to do with it. Benigno is just riding the momentum of anti-corruption that began after Marcos demise. Benigno should not get credit for the anti-corruption, it is his people doing the anti-corruption because the people were tired of Marcos and the Filipino people wanted a new life.
One legacy that benigno should credit himself for is not protecting the crooks that the people found out.
2nd legacy is his personal vendetta and meddling of Corona impeachment. Corona was a crook and he should deserve a crooked justice.
The next or successor President should fix the looney justice system. This will take another 20 or more years because the justice system by witness account and affidavit is deep in the bones of the Filipinos that it has become part of the Filipino psyche and culture. To this day, if I talk about justice american style they accuse me of being Pro-Binay. This means Filipinos are not here yet. They are still back there while I am forward looking.
Thank you very much for this article,I’m touched.I am a big fan of AlDub so I tried reading all the analysis about this phenomenon,Being a US Navy retiree with wife,children and grandchildren,been around the world and meet all kinds of people, I could not believe how hooked I am on AlDub. The fans unlike any were so passionate and loved Maine and Alden so much. I used to be passionate about politics here and in the US til AlDub. I am more open minded now to the other side.
You are so welcome, Florentino!
awesome read.. and well thought article
Thanks, Kevin!
Thank you for the great article. Yes, you are right, we see ourselves in Aldub. Even our own love stories. When it is time to get stressed, we see the news. With Aldub, we are rediscovering that shows could make us laugh and relate without the actors/ actresses dressing scantily that their internal organs could almost be seen. We are rediscovering that slapping, cussing, etc. need not be a daily menu. We are rediscovering a beautiful side of us and maybe as some of us watch the show while doing our daily chores (who said they cannot be combined if we really wanted to :), we are hoping that this story would have a happy ending.
But then there’s also the technology side of the show and Aldub is maximizing it: even having three sites conversing at times and promoting in social media. Because it is live, scenes cannot be edited thus props (imagine the big date) have to be 100% present and each step well -directed and coordinated with at least one other site. Maybe it just appears so simple.
#Aldub will also go down in history as a revolution. It will be discussed by Marketing classes, strategic management teachers and even in humanities and communication arts, history and culture. We can just pray that there be Godly wisdom in each episode as millions are watching and that influence, so big in this case, continue to be used for good.
Yes! What an AlDub has on us! And I agree with you, it’s a revolution of the heart, finally.
“What an effect AlDub has on us!”
AlDub is our Pinoy Romeo and Juliet but surely with a happy ending. The meme “Sa tamang panahon” resonates with the theme song “A Time For Us” from Zefirelli’s film. The Juan for All Dabarkads are the perfect foils. It’s great that they treat the many poor Filipinos they encounter with respect. E.g..a poor man was telling Lola Tinidora about his teenage daughter who tragically had a stroke while on the stairs and fell, suffering a traumatic brain injury which left her a paraplegic. Vic Sotto made a snarky insensitive remark about how she must have been dancing on the stairs–alluding to Lola Tinidora’s wild gyrations. Instantly Jose Manalo (Lola Tinidora) spoke up: “Bossing, iba ito.” It was good to hear him put the Bossing in his place and remind him that even big stars should behave with human decency. Sadly the original EB trio have often been found wanting in the past as in the rape of Pepsi Paloma. The Trio of Bayola, Manalo and Ballesteros with AlDub have raised EB to a much higher plane. Tito-Vic & Joey can eat their dust.m
Thanks, Maria Carmen! I always thought the EB people respected the people in their Sugod Bahay portion. But it’s good that Jose Manalo provided balance for Vic Sotto in that incident. Actually, Eat Bulaga is fertile ground for AlDub to flourish, with its outreach and day-to-day exposure to the real Philippines, real not in terms of being poor, but real in terms of being happy with what we have. It was but natural that something like true love would blossom in the midst of the real Philippines, quiet unattractive but definitely joyful and thankful for what life has to give, including surprise cash gifts and surprise loves.
What a refreshing insight, a social analysis of a kalyeserye that has touched the lives of many pinoy in and out of the country. I am currently residing in Rome for eight years now and somehow ministering somehow part-time with the OFW’s. And I would say this kalyeserye have made us all in touched again with our pinoy roots, with our endearing positive values of our brown race. Thank you very much for giving us a detailed and significant analysis of how a kalyeserye brings out the best in us. Many lessons indeed can be learned and relearned from this comical-realistic-old fashioned and accidental segement of Eat Bulaga. Thank you Sir,
Happy to be of modest help to our modern-day heroes, bluerosebluguy! You’re always welcome!
Maraming salamat sa reply.
OT
stumblingandmumbling.typepad.com/stumbling_and_mumbling/2015/09/nib-good-economics-bad-politics.html
Why people who care like most of the society has an obligation to make our case. The media thrives on conflict and failure. Blogs have to be the balancing view.
hope to live long enough to see when Eat Bulagas and the Wowowees shows are no longer patronized by Filipinos because they have no more time to watch it live except thru you tube and recorder..
“Love covers a multitude of sins”!
Jesus died for us. Hallelujah!
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/724761/sws-poll-poe-binay-roxas-in-statistical-tie
Number 1, Confused citizen Grace Poe
Number 2, I cannot know what to make of Binay. They say he is a crook but cannot tie the money to him. Binay is hiding behind law books
Number 3, Mr. Nice Guy the Successor-in-waiting
Confused Grace and Mr Nice Guy should come together but I guess it is too late.
May God bless the Philippines. But that may not happen. Currently Pope Francis is in D.C. pleading to Americans “climate change cannot wait” for God to answer prayers. People has to take action because God is sleep-snoring at soup kitchens.
So, people, if you want the Philippines catapulted to 2ndWorld, please, please build a bridge between Grace and Mar. Prayers do not work anymore. PRAYERS ‘r’ US. We answer our own prayer.
If you believe in AlDub love affair, it is about time we love each other.
Yes, MRP, it’s about time. The missing element.
Thanks this article got my attention..you did a good job..
Thank you, Mega macky!
Wow! This AlDub thing is sizzling. The last time I got caught in loveteam mania was during the Guy & Pip/ Vilma & Edgar era.
I had been wondering what this was all about because when I go to news sites, the “most read” articles usually have “AlDub” in the title. A guilty pleasure with moral lesson? A new breakthrough in Filipino entertainment. Any show that ushers reflection trumps the usual that insults the intelligence of the viewers. Smarter entertainment begets smarter population.
Maybe in a few years, we would not have to worry about entertainers running for political office.
Thank you, Juana Filipina! Good you mentioned Guy and Pip, and Vi and Bot. Those were also about fans but mostly they were confined to a particular socio-economic class. Before AlDub came about I was thankful that my daughters knew from the heart raps or songs of Glock 9, Eraserheads, among others, and would not hesitate to watch what my generation used to call Tagalog movies. The wall was breached. No more bakya (wooden clogs) crowd. So all of us were in the same page when AlDub came about. One nation, one language, one heart.
Lol. This phenomenon is simply telling us how simple we are,
WE Filipinos were happy in every little things,
WE Filipinos can create our own happiness even in unpleasant turn of events,
We Filipinos need no millions of dollars to make ourselves comfortable.
And this show it tells us how we creative we are. Thats it.
In a nutshell, yejyan! Thank you!
Start to accept it now. MAR ROXAS CAN BE RUNNING UNOPPOSED.
If only opinion makers and media will go beyond reading between the lines and instead discern what’s behind events using selfless cold as steel reason: Mar Roxas will run unopposed come May 2016. MAR ROXAS will be the ONLY CANDIDATE and SURE WINNER in the presidential election.
OH YEAH? How is that NONSENSE again, MAR ROXAS WITH NO OPPONENTS, you who must be dreaming in the pancitan. Well, who’s snoring all these months?
It is not about the principle of the HIDDEN hand more like a statesmanship of the rare kind. PNoy’s track record is subtle, unpredictable, measured and calculating, prudent, humane, more apolitical than dirty politician. The wise, the optimists, the honest and the patriots MIGHT just LEAVE IT to him, to leave it to the physics of politics the fate of the succeeding presidency.
Let the Officials and bureaucrats DO THEIR JOBS in accordance with their GOOD and not their BAD conscience. PNoy can crack the whip and BINGO Pinas is on its way to Tuwid na Daan. But he’s not likely to do it. Just as knowledge is not the monopoly of one man so also is love of country and heroism to keep out the undeserved and unqualified. PNoy is he really giving others the honor to DO right by their country? Others in the government can just do it, ENSURE a clean and proper presidential election. What a joke, a clean and proper election with only one candidate?
Why not even when the other candidates are whatever ? Well, Widow Leni Robredo could win like, unopposed too.
No, neo. Bongbong Marcos will be announcing his intention to run for president very soon. That means that even if Binay and Grace Poe are disqualified Roxas will not be running unopposed.
Erap said he will only run if Binay and Poe are disqualified. But if disqualification occurs after October, Erap has to get Comelec to allow him to do a back-dated submission, anything goes.
A very good read. 🙂
Thank you, Lui!
Wilfredo,
A lovely piece! Left Metro Manila for a 2-week vacation. Hadn’t posted anything except an earlier short note at Raissa’s blog since my wife and I left. Been with the whole family out of the country. Been busy with family things in the traditional Filipino way: yes, LOVE the way only a Filipino can express towards family (sans the general wider love of country — sadly — which we debate on here; but methinks we may be headed for a balance on that if our hoped for trajectory is achieved). I haven’t seen the AlDub phenomenal show; but I got loads of it from your piece. Thanks. And to think that I have to experience the essence of the show out of the country. Thanks too to Joe for publishing it.
(BTW, I too am a senior citizen of 77, and blessed with a family with a balanced view of things. Can’t ask for more.)
77!?! Are you the oldest on here, NH?
“I haven’t seen the AlDub phenomenal show; but I got loads of it from your piece.”
This is the most “Trackbacks” (below) I’ve ever seen here. I’ve watched a bunch of scenes on youtube, and I’m also ( aside from the love aspect ) getting the whole “Jerry Lewis / Dean Martin” -vibe to all this, is that also significant? I know the French loved Jerry Lewis, not so much over here ( U.S. ). Asia also loved Jerry Lewis– different kinda comedy, I suppose.
I may be one of the oldest here in the Society. But I am young at heart, I dare say. Proof — I loved watching cartoon movies with my grandchildren. Madagascar, that sort of cartoon movie. (Second childhood?)
One more item, @LCpl_X, I love conversing with children and oldies; much more with children than oldies, if I may qualify. JoeAm, is one of the oldies I like to converse with, with the few short notes I post here. Sorry Joe, I know you are younger than I; but a little bit of reality won’t hurt our ego at our age. Don’t you agree?
🙂
Age is less important as a qualifier of character than just about anything, I reckon. Sometimes wisdom attaches to it, but I’ve also known some wise young people. Considering all the alternatives, I really, really like the age I am, and thank all the contributors here for exercising my cranium to keep it limber, and even lithe now and then. 🙂
Lithe it is, I observe; and readers here will no doubt agree. Gotta keep our grey matter exercised I tell my wife. Yes, it is a great period of life to be.
Hear hear!
Seventy-seven! Love is the fountain of youth! Thank you, NHerrera!
Such a nice read.. It’s really refreshing to read sensible articles nowadays.. Thank you Sir, Kudos!
Thank you, Jhena!
“prescribed a medication from the breath of a hyena, sprayed three times into the ears, but before that inhale and blow through the ears, the asthma will exit through the ears, something like that.”
This line almost killed me. I lost all the air in my body and nearly got hospitalized because of my asthma. I can’t stop laughing, my mind can’t stop imagining myself fetching some hyena breath and how the hyena would react.
It just came into me, right now while I’m writing down this comment that I have asthma and I need that remedy. HAHAHA,.. Hyena Breath! HAHA
Kidding aside, This article really does make sense, every Filipino each and every one of us need a break for all the negativity that has happened and still happening weather generally or personally and AlDub did a job a well done for bringing smiles and spreading positive vibrations to anyone that follow their love story. A job well done as well for the writer of the article it’s been a while since I last laughed this hard. For some reason, it’s funnier to deliver the prescription in English.
Keep on looking at the bright side of life.
Hyena breath! Such uninhibited creativity, and I don’t think with a script! Thank you, Paulo, for reminding me. The bright side of life, yes!
Sir,i’m an aldub fan so i read it word for word you’ve written it so well with the connect to politics.You know all the events to make me believe you are like me an Aldub fan. Me more than Aldub fan is an Eat Bulaga fan, a TVJ fan since childhood. But I’d like to also say that i admire the creativity the TAPE production writers put into it. Who would have thought of a plywood, a blindfolded scene,a question and answer just to have date, a long table would be a “hadlang” to two lovers as compared to a local teleserye were there’s kidnap, guns, amnesia, a lost one, a mistress always- the usual plot. And Wally, Jose, and Paolo make it more so funny. And to everyone, even the hosts don’t really know what will happen. So i reallyfeel so excited when it’s Saturday and await for another great script. =)
Hi My Caguioa! Yes, I’m an AlDub fan. Never was a fan of anyone except maybe Pope Francis and the Aquinos, but those are different. AlDub goes deep in my person, making me feel young again, giving me the AlDub smile, maybe that’s the reason there are so many of us!
Just can’t ingnore this article without sharing it with my friends. Nice one sir, actually I’m not fan or reading long articles without pictures but this, I managed to finished reading till the end. Nice
Thanks, inhalergood! It’s feels good to be appreciated, even if I only wrote what I felt and saw, the AlDub phenomenon. The stars are the two, Alden Richards and Maine Richards, the three lolas, the Sottos, Joey de Leon, Allan K, the rest of the crew and directors. Take a bow!
Good read wilfredo! So glad someone created a blog about this. We have the same sentiments about aldub. Such a feel good show at the same time it shows our good values as filos. I totally agree withyou that it’s about love and hope and I reckon it is not just applicable to romantic love but also to our love for our country. I always get this feeling everytime i see comments how this show makes everyone so happy and united. It’s a good feeling though. Being away from Our country makes me realise a lot of things. And this show aldub makes me grounded that I am still a “dalagang Filipina”. How I miss Philippines…
Hi Jade! Dalagang Filipina! A natural resource! We’re proud of you. I have four of them, daughters. It’s good that you still experience warm feelings for our country even if it’s out of sight. Thanks to AlDub for reawakening the good things about being a Filipino and a Filipina!
ibang klase ‘tong Aldub na to! kahit saang bansa ka pa maho-hook ka talaga…eat Bulaga! da best talaga kayo…..nicely explained sir Wilfredo G. Villanueva
Thanks, Jojit!
Wally recently posted this on his FB page. He rocks!
wow.. Gifted Writer.. Sir GOD BLESS YOU.. D’best…:)
Wow! Thanks, Ronald!
Best agreeable message ever. I’m a fan… Keep writing
Oh! Thanks, Legue04!
I couldn’t have said it better myself. Good one!
Thank you, Jing!
Some say that talking about people (showbiz in this manner) is the activity of those with ‘small’ minds while those with ‘great’ minds talk about ideas, as quoted by Eleanor Roosevelt. This article tells it otherwise. Talking about people doesn’t really mean talking about non-sense but learning something from it. I confess that I became a fan when I watched it because of the genuine reaction of Maine and yes, I miss the tradition taught to us by our lolas. Great artice sir!
Thanks, afterburner!
I was at my lowest point of my life..too much depression.. Then suddenly there’s AlDub.. i started to look forward each day, never miss an episode.. The smile, the happiness and the love they share to everyone give me hope that i can rise again.. This may sound too unbelievable but it works magic to me.. I thank God for sending AlDub..
Thanks, Vanessa! Magic is all around us, but we have to acknowledge it, tune into it, make it matter in our lives.
hmmmmmm . . . hope? I go to school in a lighter mood and a lighter mood means better output. Thank you God for giving us AlDub 🙂
For a while there I was convinced and persuaded by the writer’s romantic and amorous description of what the AlDub tandem represent or symbolizes. I even nodded in agreement, while reading, on the assumption that what the AlDub reflects was our inherent quality as a people that we can be what we want to be as long as we subscribe to the AlDub’s motto of love, patience, determination and respect.
Until I changed channels because the ‘Kalye Serye’ segment was done and over with. 😥 Reality kicks in.
AlDub is a Romeo & Juliet and Cinderella stories rolled into one with lots of “kilig” moments sprinkled around it. The typical youth oriented variety. It has all the ingredients of a successful story: love, drama, romance, suspense, heroes and villains and, most importantly, laughter. While the plot or storyline is really nothing new the execution (the street props, lots of extras, the double frame showing interaction not only between AlDub but also the co-hosts in the studio, among others) gave it a novel approach. A brand new gimmick enabling everyone to easily ‘identify’ themselves with the characters and situations of the story. But that’s only the ‘come on’ part of the show. We indulge in it not because we ‘identify’ with the characters per se but because for the next 30 or so minutes we’re going to be taken in a place where we’ll be entertained and all our troubles taken cared of.
The OFWs love it not mainly because they missed their loves ones and see themselves in the characters of AlDub who were prevented to have any kind of contact without approval from their betters. Technology already arrested the homesickness issue of missing those they left at home. Money cures everything, even absence. Will it help improve the political environment in the country and contribute to us acquiring wisdom in choosing the right people to run the gov’t.? I highly doubt it. If ever, politics will ruin it instead of making a positive impact on it. There has been reports that VP Binay have expressed his preference for Alden Richards to portray him on his bio pic. Talk about corrupting something after coopting it.
Does it represent the good things about being a Filipino? Well, in terms of love, in a way yes, but we don’t have the monopoly of falling in love and being in love. To have somebody to love and care for and who love and cares for you in return, to sacrifice for one whom you share the same feeling and emotion with cuts across cultures and nations. Those are good things we all universally possessed and cherished.
What endears AlDub to all of us is not really about love (to fall or stay on it), not the tradition of respect and obedience to what is proper. It’s not about bad against good but the realization that things are not hopeless in our country. That in spite of what happened in the not so distant past (the corruption at all levels, the killings of our people in uniform, the deaths through calamities, the poverty, the political prostitution that’s going on, etc.) there is something happening that we look forward to that takes our attention away from the dregs of everyday existence, the doldrums of fighting to survive, the monotony of waking up and repeating the same cycle all over again just to be in step with the times. AlDub is the distraction we bank on, the potion we look for to break the flatness of reality. We are in it not really for the romance nor the symbolism that were attached to it. We love it not because there is a potential for it becoming an instrument of the good against the bad. Nope, the ‘serye’ was not designed for that purpose. It was an accident waiting to happen because we crave for it to happen. We are all in it simply for the laughs, for the kiligs, for its entertainment value because that’s what it is.
An escape. Pure and simple. 🙊
Hmm. I think I answered a similar comment. I said it’s not an escape from reality, it’s reality presented as an escape. We are actually that kind of people, we are affirmed by their acts, young and old, we are part of Kalyeserye. My viewpoint. You can hang on to yours, Jameboy, but I would stay on the road that lifts me up.
I get the romanticism approach but there’s nothing in the serye that is real like in the doom and gloom scenario brought about by the murder of the 44 PNP-SAF. I’m sorry I have to drag that again simply because I agree with you when you mentioned something about the Beatles and the mournful feeling America were under after the JFK assassination. The Beatles were not the reality America was feeling or experiencing before the Fab Four landed in the US. But their ability to entertain through their music extricated America from emotional limbo at the time.
The same with AlDub. All you said about love, respect and everything good about us in relation to the serye is true. What is not true was we are not AlDub. We are not the Beatles. We were the ones entertained, we were the ones salvaged or saved by AlDubs from the dire reality we’re in. 🙂
Hi!! Before I begin let me just say that I respect your opinion about AlDub ’cause everyone is entitled to his own opinion.
After that “plywood” episode, I read of OFWs suddenly calling home, crying because they missed their loved ones. They felt the pain of separation. (In the case of AlDub, it was in the form of a plywood.) I read of a grandmother, a daughter, and a granddaughter all crying together, with the grandmother telling her teenage granddaughter, “Kaya ikaw, makikinig ka sa amin ng nanay mo.” I read of a woman who also cried because she said, had she only listened to her mother when the latter lectured her on love, her life would have been better. AlDub, as I see it, is not just about “kilig” moments.
I am a mother and I am very much concerned about my son’s future. I am a teacher, and I am very passionate about my role in my students’ lives. Years before there was an AlDub, I already lectured my students (and my then very young son) to choose their future partners wisely because their partners would either make them or break them. I taught them (and I prayed that long after they’ve graduated, they would remember) to WAIT and let God orchestrate their love story. I am a Christian and I believe that the very first thing that the Enemy would love to destroy is the family. I have yet to read of children who came from a good strong family background to be walking in the wrong path. I am NOT saying that ALL kids from broken homes end up in the wrong path coz there are a lot who looked at the positive side and made their lives better by veering away from their parents’ mistakes.
I’m still in reality. I am still hurt by the SAF incident (believe it or not, I thought about them awhile ago before I read your comments, heheh); I still scratch my head with the traffic problems; i just changed channels when I saw the BINAY commercial (haaaayyyyy); I still look at our budget and think of how we would be able to live under our circumstances. I know of the social concerns because I watch news and read newspapers. And because I love my country so much, I take time to include the government, the President and his cabinet, our men and women in uniform, the weather, etc. in my prayers. Yes, I am still WITH reality.
This morning, I again remembered AlDub and its lessons and I realized what Mr. Wilfredo Villanueva said about “hope” is very true. With positive lessons like this, I have hope that marriages would be stronger (in case you haven’t read, men loved their wives more. I agree with this statement: The best gift a father could give to his children is to love their mother 🙂 ) I have hope that our children, or the next generation, will be better off and wiser in terms of priorities (life is not just about phones and gadgets and technology, ya know). I have hope that families would be stronger. I have hope that with stronger family ties, our country would eventually become stronger too.
The entertainment side is such a big bonus 🙂
Have a good day and God bless and our Philppines:)
A fantastic sharing! Thank you, Mommy She! It’s a new genre in itself. The kalyeserye of AlDub is astonishing in its comedic and moral impact. It serves up daily except Sundays the lovestruck young couple, the cockeyed gravitas of the lolas, the steady annotation of the 36-year-old trio at studio in split screen, the hardscrabble settings in and around Metro Manila. Every Filipino will find it easy to empathize. The show could be singing our age-old song: we’re poor but dignified, struggling but happy, deprived but obedient and hopeful. What happened to the provocatively-dressed dancing girls and risqué jokes at lunchtime? Could this be the people’s unconscious response to wrongdoing in high places, that we are saying we don’t need abhorrent leadership and susun-susun (streams of) scandal, we will not take it anymore, we will reclaim the Philippines from your clutches by recognizing that we are underlings but with a glorious past, that we will finally be a wellspring of good values and right conduct, to fight evil and skulduggery with love, patience and obedience? We’ll hope and pray that the impact of AlDub lasts for generations to come.
Reading your piece I can sense you are a well grounded, good and decent woman. I cannot agree more with what you said about AlDub. The show has really made a great difference with a lot of people in terms of how they see and appreciate things in life and at the same time laugh and cry in all the things happening with AlDub and hope things will turn for the better with the two. On my part, I take the laugh, the comedic part of the serye and allow myself to be entertained. Unlike other shows, it is really fun as in family fun time to watch. 🙂
She “threatened” to write her comments early on, and she has floored us with her sharing. Thank you again, Mommy She! Thank you, jameboy!
I’m a filipino,and i’m an avid fan of this segment..very well said mr.joe,indeed it changes the views of every filipino,a story of a young lady whom she saw the man she likes.
Again this coming saturday another phenomenal story for Aldub.
Thank u sir joe,for compiling this story.God bless us all.ALDUB U all.
On behalf of JoeAm, JBond, you’re welcome! And God bless you, too!
I just came across this article in facebook.. 3days ago.. opened it and it was.. . …..long.. not much time to read. but then i can still see it in the tabs.. so i said i’ll read this.. yes, i read it in beetween breaktime from work.. just finished the article now.. and yes, it is very informative and some kind of eye opener to al of us and the whole soceity. i absorbed too much info’s since i’ve been reading all the comments.. but haven’t finished until now. . i’ve something to do.. maybe some other time. it’s already bookmarked. 😀 i appreciate the effort of the author to write this. i can say it’s a big thing. i also enjoy reading comment.. To the author, you’re a genius! Thank you. Salute! it’s worth reading. God bless everyone. LOVE
LOVELOTS!
From TAIWAN
A genius!? That’s news! Thanks, Jao! Getting my sniff of helium again. Hahaha!
Will, the thought arose that the single guy for your AlDub romance set-up ought to be President Aquino.
We need to sit down in a chat room to set this up. Guide me.
I just shared this well-written article… worth sharing.. of course with proper accord to the author and poster.. am sure my relatives and friends abroad will be enlightened more with your article…
Thank you, Cristeta! AlDub makes us proud to be Filipinos.
Kudos to the writer 👍, actually i’ve watched #ALDUD for the first time last September 19, i’ve got really curious about it, because my students are always talking about Alden and Yaya Dub and they even know the theme song of the show (and i could hardly believe it because they are still first graders) and i was like???,and true to what my students are saying, it was a super “kilig” show haha, i was shouting the whole time haha, I have watched all the episodes since then. The show would really make young audiences realize how important is being “masunurin” and that we should work hard for us to get what we want.
Thanks for the appreciation, iam_christine!
Nice one sir..very well said!!
Thank you, Janet!
Had my first ever look at AlDub after a pretty stressful working day… it is great and lightens up.
The easygoing spirit of Eat Bulaga – the only show that was already running when I left the Philppines 33 years ago – is definitely part of AlDub which is the millenial child of Eat Bulaga…
I mean the only show still running now that was already running back then, I doubt there is any other show that has survived…. The hosts all look so old I remember them young and fresh… their fun and banter was something our generation liked, AlDub is all that and much more.
Didn’t really like EB in my younger days, Pepsi Paloma, sexual innuendoes and all that. But it mellowed. Having been with us for a long time, it has began to reflect Philippine society as a whole. With the AlDub phenomenon, it has somehow hit the spot. Gives you goose bumps when you think about it. Someday, the Philippines will hit the spot, too. Same trajectory.
A resurrecrion, being born again. Triump over the country’s desolation and sufferings from the recent tragedies experienced. Happiness and love and faith reddeems us a lving nation. Aldub you all.
Yes, Ok Maria Yap. Our redemption.
I never been so proud with EatBulaga and the people behind it, with the LIVE telecast of aldub basically shows the uncut life-cycle of each pinoy wherever they are. It may be scripted or not but the thought is always there. The maka-masa is there. Thank you Sir for sharing this. 😄😄😄😄😊😊😊😊😊
You’re welcome, Janice!
Love is a force no one can deny. ALDUB is a love energy and people will be continually drawn to it because what it manifests speak to the heart. People gets mental, but who can explain the methods of love? But only the heart can understand that language, that is the phenomenon. We are catastrophically hit by a love wave. I am happy day in, day out because of these wonderful souls who gives good vibrations. So happy it hurts.
So happy it hurts. I will remember that. A universal trait among Filipinos. Thank, YaYaSis!
One of the best writing analyses I’ve ever read. It’s not about the aldub mania but how this great writer sees to connect aldub to present Phil condition. Learn to be patient because it produces love…and vice-versa. God truly gifted you this writing skill. God bless you sir and more writings to come.
Humbled. Truly. Humbled. Thanks, Ramon!
And God bless you, too, Ramon, and your loved ones.
I like this article. It just articulated what I feel about the Aldub phenomenon and justified why I follow it and shared bits and pieces of it in my FB account – to the bewilderment and consternation (some) of my friends. I particularly like your “Sinners do make the best homilies” – referring to Wally Bayola’s past. I do hope that Wally has learned his lessons because I am one of those televiewers who would not want to see his face ever again on television – after that sex-video scandal came out. But, then, aren’t we a forgiving race? I did forgive him when he made his public apology several times. And, I guess, his talents are even more unleashed with the free-flowing script of the Aldub Kalye-Serye.
Yes, Aida, Wally has bounced back, thanks in large part to the forgiving nature of Filipinos (uh-oh the Marcoses). Whatever comes out of AlDub and EB, we will long remember that right or wrong, we are brother and sister to everyone in the balanghai. We never really left the first boat.
why should we be angry at him for making a sex video? He did not hurt anybody.
Katunayan pa siguro iyong video na meron siyang pinaligaya… 🙂
He hurt his wife. He hurt his children 😦
But then again, anyone who never sinned, please throw the first stone.
The challenge is how the Philippines could also export its entertainment. India through Bollywood has done this quite successfully. Eat Bulaga is already in Indonesia not just through TV but live regular shows (not just special visits). But there could be more.
Am also wondering whether this website got these so many comments/ feedback for each article or is it just now that Aldub is the topic? I haven’t investigated. There could have been other popular topics, but not as this? Just curious.
Thanks Wilfredo G. Villanueva, yes, Jesus died for us. So blessed to see you insert that unchanging truth in the light of worldly ratings that go up and down.
Amen, JPFernandez!
Latest nuggets 😀 https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CPuqYoWUcAAU6lX.png
Loved this. Is Wally just a clown? Is he aware that he is dishing out nuggets of wisdom and reminders of correct living the Filipino way? He seems so natural, not looking like he has memorized a script, unaware of the glorious tradition he represents. Part clown part prophet, Wally Bayola has made a name for himself.
Hope, Faith & Love. Thank you Sir for this article!
We have become or about to become accidental saints. Thanks, Kristine!
The way the conversations in this thread are going it won’t be surprising if at the end somebody would propose the the canonization of Wally Bayola to sainthood at most or at least a replacement to Rizal as the national hero, ahahahahahahaha.
Hi Bert! You get the drift. We need heroes who can talk to us, who is as flawed as the rest of us, who can see in the present how we can address the future by invoking the distant past. Maybe not Wally, maybe not you and me, but somebody else out there to surprise us. Keep on writing, joining discussions like these. I myself am learning from the comments. This is an article that keeps writing and rewriting itself by multiple authors. Thank you for your input.
“love gathers strength…”, the best phrase ever. Great Article, Sir.
Thanks, Jen. Thought so, too.
I am a fan of this phenomenal love team, and what I like about this segment is that it teaches us the Filipino values na parang nakalimotan nang ituro in today’s generation.
You’re right, Joms. Thanks!
I am not a fan of Eat Bulaga or Aldub before, I do not know about this until my coworkers here in Qatar are talking about them… I was surprise the first time I watched that, I laughed and as if I have lost all my problems and my home sick… for this short moment of time I feel renwed and problem free….. and with the lessons that Lola Nidora is giving… wow…..
Hi Andrew! Our daughters are grown up, and I miss the days when we would watch a movie in the house together. They have their own likes already. But at the #AlDubEBForLove episode today we watched tv together. Wow talaga ang AlDub. Thanks for sharing!
I will read it over and over it again and will share it to eveyone who doesn’t know about it.
Hi Armando! The whole AlDub story so far was summed up yesterday by Alden (God bless him and Maine and the lolas and everyone on board) when he shed tears of joy and thankfulness for his lady love on screen. Everyone is convinced now that it is also an offscreen romance. We are actually watching a miracle unfold. I’m even risking my credibility by saying we are watching Adam and Eve II being given another chance to regain Eden. Yes, Eden is all about love and obedience. We will still labor like Sisyphus but we will be lighthearted about it knowing that we are loved.
Best article I’ve ever read about ALDUB so far. No comparison made. I love the way you analyzed the different episodes of kalyeserye and made it into something worth reading for. Please continue writing. God bless po! Aldub you 🙂
Hi Lolie! God bless you, too! Thank you for your encouragement. Maalden ko kayo. Readers are showering me with love. What an experience!
Very well said….. Such a great article!
Thanks, Ysah!
Very filipino and traditional way of writing.. Haha i know a couple of friends who really write and it was sooo funny your writing is as poetic as the them haha anyway, nice piece of work….
I like how you made the analysis which brings out the positivity in all ways this aldub thing can actually offer. Just a little comment i guess lol and I also wanna say something, specially on the last part. In reality, the kind of methodology your implying might not really work if we are to apply this in conjuction with the political issues. Lets face it there are a lot of factors we need to consider if were dealing with politics. On the other hand, yeah we’ve tried a lot of methods for the past decades and it didnt really work….and that made me think okey fine lets have a leap of faith on this one. Haha funny right?!?!….xd (madaling kausap)
And this one i really want to add this…Yeah love is love and it needs “tamang panahon” it needs to wait however for our country we also need to wait for it to be on top or atleast in the middle we need to be patient though i just wanna stress it out that the action needs to START NOW. I fear that when people would read the last lines they would have the impression of getting the wrong idea that they would just need to keep on waiting and let the aldub take over. Lol…you know how most of our countrymen think (sorry sorry just bein realistic hehe).
But to sum it up…i like it…kudos bro!
And oh, i just had one crazy idea, aldub needs to work with miriam defensor santiago ahahahahaha…
No seriously, if you wanna push it to the last bit of FAITH they need to work hand in hand…horhor
Chadd, thanks for your comments. But why not President Aquino himself? Anyway, I won’t impose my politics on you. Suffice it to say that love has the upper hand, thanks to the clowning and cross-dressing and wall-to-wall sweetness of the lovers, all those things that endear AlDub to Filipinos in or out of the country. At bottom, it’s the OFWs. I didn’t realize that they would appreciate the things I said in the article, but there it is, it’s really for them especially, those who want to carry a piece of the Philippines in their hearts while far away from home, but also for those who are in love, all who want to see a better Philippines. Still shaking my head, wondering where AlDub came from (an accident) and where it is headed (no longer an accident), everyone is at the edge of their seats, smiling the AlDub smile, smiling into the future.
nice post! excellent article
Thank you, sesamemucho!
Nice piece! 🙂 Congrats! I just hope the good Filipino values observed in this Aldub phenomenon are translated in the real life of every Filipino involved in the Aldub Nation in order to contribute to the betterment of our country, the Philippines. 🙂
Our thoughts—blog owner, writer of this article and commenters—exactly. Thank you, Lyn!
This is a great article Mr. Wilfredo Villanueva. Thanks for sharing…Thanks to Joe America for posting! 🙂
Thank you, Josielyn! Let’s keep on loving!
Well written. I am working abroad. Many OFW’s are entertained by Kalyeserye. Aldub fever is also spreading like a forest fire in other countries where there are Filipinos. And Aldub fans’ base is growing every day, from young children to old granparents, from all sectors of the society. It’s really a phenomenon.
Aldub pa more.
See what love can do? It not only affects two people but those around them. Which reminds me to always be loving to my wife. My children are happier. Thanks, Joseph!
agree.since me and my husband just retired from the govt.agency we were hooked to always see kalyeserye on tv.naapreciate namin
Thanks, ludy frogoso!
Salute sir Wilfredo. Now this article makes me think a lot more. Appreciate how we can get a good point of talk with this simple form of entertainment. Love is universal indeed. And to tag Aldub as Mababaw is hitting a stone back to its source. The show has Tatak Pinoy to it. We are so accustomed to foreign shows and thinks every entertainment must be aligned with it. Love your article and will hear your response with this petty insight of mine. Good Day!
Just read F. Sionil Jose’s take on Heneral Luna, attesting to Filipinos’ flawed nature. It’s providential that the two–AlDub and Heneral Luna the movie–are hitting us at the same time. Is there really something wrong with us or are we simply misunderstood? Whatever the answer to that is for sociologists and historians to unravel, but we’ve hit adobe rock with AlDub: one, we are a playful people; two, we will not stand in the way of love, and three, if you want to talk to us, drop all pretensions. We may not be Danish, being the happiest people on earth, but we certainly know what matters and no one can tell us how to live our lives. Finally, independence day. Thanks, plarrythess.
The article: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/726310/sionil-jose-on-heneral-luna-filipinos-are-arrogant-shallow-but-heroic
Sionil Jose is one of the best observers of the Philippine condition there is, but may I add my message of hope to that: Love teaches the proudest of us how to be humble.
Humility is essential to learning from one’s mistakes, which each of us must strive to do. Amen.
Amen.
Wala lang, I just wanna share this story I read. A confession from a fan. Touching.
————-
CONFESSION #0025
Fan since Day 1
“I saw the July 16 episode when it first aired in the Philippines, nataon na andun ako when that moment happened, umuwi ako ng Pilipinas to present my husband’s ashes to his family and to have a memorial service for him. I lost him June 21st Father’s Day to a sudden cardiac event, kahit wala kaming anak, our life was complete, we completed each other and he was too young only 49, so it devastated me. My life stopped and I couldn’t go on. I was watching Eat Bulaga after lunch that day and some kind of magic happened, it put a smile on my face and that smile never left, hindi ko kilala si YAyaDub then but ask me
anything now about the Kalyeserye and I could answer you in a heartbeat, alam ko pa ang mga dialogue nila. Alden on the other hand is the epitome of a good boy, pa smile smile lang but he has substance at alam mo na maayos siyang pinalaki ng mga magulang niya. Maine on the other hand is a beautiful girl inside and out who just want to have fun making funny faces and doing her dubsmashes, she is raw and genuine. I have been watching Eat Bulaga on and off since it first started airing 36 years ago when I was in secod grade, I have subscribed to The Kapuso Network since it first started airing here in the US 10 years ago. It has always made me laugh and now with Kalye serye it has changed my life, I could have wallowed in self pity after my husband passed away but I did not, with the help of Aldub, Jowapao, TVJ , Allan K and the rest of the Dabarkads, I chose to to live a happy life, although I have my moments, I chose to smile and bring happiness to the people around me, people at work, kahit hindi kila maiintindihan ang Kalye serye, masaya sila because napapasaya ng show ako. Kahit puyat walang problema, continue pa din panonood ng ala una ng umaga, minsan 2-3 oras lang tulog may trabaho pa ng 12 hours pero no problem kine keri at hindi bad mood, always smiling and happy at good vibes lang ang sine share sa mga katrabaho, kahit mga kasama kong Amerikano masaya dahil masaya ako. Aldub definitely helped me with my grieving process abdnto that I thank you, maraming salamat Eat Bulaga, kayo na talaga.”
Lulu23
Kalamazoo, Michigan
Source: https://www.facebook.com/ALDUBMAIDENNationConfession
Thanks for this, Jes! A touching story. Indeed, when we are touched, we touch others as well. How can we give something we don’t have? How difficult it must be to be alone in the world, and out of country. Lulu23’s story, as well as those of commenters who have dropped in on The Society of Honor with love and lightness in their hearts, make the AlDub phenomenon a labor of love in and of itself. Please relay to Lulu23 my thanks and regards.
This is WOW. I am not an avid fan of Aldub but I sincerely love them simply because it gives me HOPE that good thing is bound to happen sa TAMANG PANAHON. Good Job Will.
Hey, that’s the way to put it! Thanks, Asia Doringo!
off-topic: check out this guy’s webpage: http://www.idreamedofthis.com/how-you-can-help/
first of all it is VERY positive about the Philippines, then about where my roots are – Albay, and it is showing Filipinos helping the country move up, each of them in their own small way! 🙂
Not so off-topic, Irineo. The people in the website were all smiling, love for country again.
Btw, Irineo, my paternal grandfather was born in Sorsogon, lived some of the best years of my life in Naga, so I’m true blue oragon like you.
We should bring back our traditions since we are in the era of forgetting it already. Quoting CBCP here. “Supporting the noble cause of spreading virtue, values and morality that our nation deserves.”
Hallelujah! The marines are here! CBCP has already given its approval to the accidental homilies of Wally Bayola! Or is it an accident?
Saw this and read it because it’s about AlDub which, of course, will tell you that I am a huge fan. I’ve read every comment and I actually learned a lot from them. And let me say what a beautiful article this is, sir.
I personally think that the segment is teaching us great things underneath those jokes, punchlines, and acting. It shows what is said in a song “the greatest is love”. A girl who loves her Lola so much that she’s willing to leave a most are awaited date for her Lola. A boy who is willing to do anything to be w/ the girl he loves. And a Lola who will lay down the rules to protect her grand daughter’s heart.
It shows us the Filipino values that the new generation should uphold. How a boy should court a girl; properly, w/ the consent of her guardian, and in her own turf. And the ‘pagmamano’ of Alden to Maine’s parents is a wow (try to tell me it’s not).
All in all it’s not just a simple ” KalyeSerye”. It’s a show where you can discover and rediscover the best things about being a Filipino.
And I can proudly say that I am not watching AlDub to escape the real world, I’m watching it to see how things are outside this world of mine.
Pardon if my comment is way too long. This is my first time to comment on anything. 🙂
Good luck to you and your writing and God bless! 🙂
And this is the first time I ever got so many comments, reads, shares, likes, not to mention good feelings out of an article I wrote in my entire life. This article just keeps on giving, exactly the way love does. Yes, to all your observations, especially about values and pagmamano. The charm of old school beckons us to stop in our tracks while loaded with gizmos and techno-savvy and look back at the past, see how we can live better lives with traditions. Thank you, intheshadows!
Hello all, i would like to share my thoughts about Eat Bulaga itself. A long time running afternoon show (36 yrs.) I was a teenager, when I started watching eat bulaga with my family. until now it’s our way of family bonding. i have seen a lot of good deeds on the show like building up new talents. Lots to mention. When I arrived here in UK (2009) Still watching eat bulaga thru youtube, and my husband bought me chromecast so that i can watch it in a big screen..so everyday. If you know sugod bahay, all for juan , juan for all….. Always brought tears and laughter…so i am very thankful to EB. I can’t think if there’s no EB seems no more hope to our unfortunate kababayan. And no more entertainments like jokes etc… When Aldub came..i witnessed the new born babies of EB from the start. So i am more hooked to the program. And the main thing here, me (South Wales) my brother (London) and 1 of my sister ( New Zealand- she brought me here on this blog) :)) and all my family in Pinas, esp. My mother and my pamangkins always talking about Aldub. Our group chat is about Aldub/EB and reminding our pamangkins about good values, esp..sa mga love life nila :)))) despite our hectic schedules, in work and family, but still I have time to watch our family traditions.. Cure to our stress and homesick. We are hurt if they say, Kababawan(shallowness) .. Cheap… Unemployed…asal kalye etc..the fans of aldub. They have no idea how it makes us laugh, smile ..giggles and lesson learnt from EB/ Aldub. So please i just want to say, let’s respect individuals happiness… That program is just 1-2 hrs .. We deserve to be happy. Life is short.!
Thank you and more power to this Blog. Wilfredo and Joe.
(Dn’t mind my english :)))
Your English is superb! Thank you, Sheila! Yes to things that make us whole, relaxed and connected. Eat Bulaga deserves every encomium, every good word thrown its way. I was telling Baby my wife that discovering AlDub was not an accident, meaning the show was already fertile ground for good values however ironic that might sound, considering its past. Juan for All, All for Juan is actually an excellent outreach, bridging the rich, middle class and poor together even for about half an hour. And when Yaya Dub saw Alden with lukso ng dibdib (throbbing heart) it was ready to jump at the opportunity, to turn a clownish act into something appealing to all classes. Jackpot.
well I can take the fact that Aldub brings happiness to many but to close your sati sari store, leave class or work in other words prioritize it over other important duties or spend your time to other things that appreciates your worth like reading books, studying etc really disaapoints me. it became an obssesion already that it hurts to think that u are willing to spend significant amount of time for this but u are hesitant to volunteer for a good cause,
You’re right, Jessie. The science hasn’t been invented that can harness fan following like water in a dam. The social significance of the AlDub phenomenon has yet to be translated into something positive, like voting conscientiously, following rules and regulations such as in traffic, respecting elders, honoring tradition and loving well. Yet 26 million tweets is not something to trivialize. It will remain a testament to mass following never before seen in history over so short a gestation period. Give it time. It may surprise us all. Thanks for your comments.
If all we did was work, we’d soon become zombies, among the walking dead. Americans have their sports and television and video games and picnics and days at the beach. Filipinos pretty much the same. I think one’s character ought not be judged for how one plays, but what one does with the rest of the time. If people would simply read enough to vote wisely, I’d be happy.
A great piece sir! I’m not an aldub fan but you have greatly showed the significance of it. I have never seen the show and still not willing to watch it. I just know them from friends and flooded posts from my facebook account. I just happen to click this link though a facebook post just to know its significance and i am greatly captured by your words. Indeed i am an OFW and forced to blend with the traditions with other countries but i am a proud pinoy! I always tell stories to my colleagues how great and compassionate Filipinos are. I love what you said about revisiting Filipino traditions, Im on my early 30s but i was raised by my parents to embrace and respect old traditions. Kudos po sa inyo sir! More power to you and God Bless! 🙂
Thank you, OFW from Singapore! What a heartwarming note! Your parents must have raised you well for you to appreciate the values brought to fore in KalyeSerye. Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!
More power to you as well, and God bless you and your family!
I’m sharing this nice article you have. Filipino values and culture, current state of living, and love and happiness for everyone, I hope many could see it. 🙂
Thank you, Gyl! Let’s all do our part in making our country the country of our dreams.
I really, realy love Aldub..as a matter of fact,i began to loved them since July 16,2015…and now I’ m a certified Eat Bulaga’s Dabarkads member…try to visit our page..my whole family,relatives,friends from Phil.and all over the world loved Aldub…cause they represents all the good traits that was lost in each and everyone of us,and with them,our kids are learning a lot…salute to Channel 7,esp.to EB..MORE POWER AND GOD BLESS US ALL.
Marilou, thank you! God bless us all.
You were quoted in this article: http://foundersguide.com/aldub-social-media-phenomenon/
Thank you, @wanderwomanwonders! Saw it! Thanks to you! The article is still getting an 20-40 reads per day almost three months after it was posted.
Btw, my daughter works in an ad agency and she had occasion to manage a shoot with Maine Mendoza. My daughter asked Maine if she had read this article, and Maine said, “No. Marami kasi.” I hope there will come a time when she can read this blog, and be amazed at the social significance of AlDub. We were united as one nation—AlDub Nation—laughing and being touched by love, a nation of love connected by the its original content. Maybe, when the balanghais found land in the disjointed archipelago, our forefathers said,
“So to each his or her own island. We kept on searching for dry land we can call our own through stormy seas and calm waters, through feast and famine, good times and bad, we kept on looking until we found this beautiful place. Remember the one thing that kept us together, huddled in our flimsy boats, remember that we loved one another, we were brother and sister to each other.”
Events like wars against Spain, America, Japan, the EDSA revolution, and now an accidental love affair by way of AlDub rekindled the balanghai spirit dormant in us. We are one people after all, united in our values, and our love for the things that remind us how we came to be.
There is another perspective by which we can digest with admiration ALDUB. Forgetting broad definitions and contextual elaboration, we can view the TV entertainment program in terms of its cultural (not social) significance. ALDUB’s impact as discussed in the society is more qualitative than quantitative. Using economic measures, ALDUB’s benefit to society is indirect and intangible. The social dimension of development implicates positive effects accruing more directly on health and education. The cultural dimension stitches variables closer to the Arts than Science. If the often invoke “naututulog sa pancitan” is considered as pejoratively cultural, it is deep search and arrogance to say ALDUB may have fertilized euphoria in appreciation of excellence demonstrated by the ALDUB artists of the performing Arts.
Thank you, neo!
Hmm. Thanks, Neo.
This looks like the end of the line for comments. May I take this opportunity to thank JoeAm for giving AlDub a chance. Most of us who sent comments have seen the show, but JoeAm hasn’t, not a single episode. Reminds me of what Jesus said about believers who do not need proof. The last two days was like a tour of the Philippines, going deep into our hearts and minds, and what a sight I saw, what a feeling of utmost relief that we have a country we all love in spite of so much hidwaan (conflict) on the ground. Doing blogs is vastly different from writing a straight article in traditional media. The writer doesn’t get as much feedback as he or she would want. Besides, I was actually expanding my article above with the comments and my replies to them in actual time. At bottom, we have a country we all love although we may not know too much how to love it, still we love it for a profound reason. We have a future, and that future is in our hearts and in the hearts of the people around us who expect good example or guidance. I kept watch on the tower since Tuesday, saw the reaction of the readers, and I come down from the tower completely washed over with hope and love. What a feeling. Thank you, AlDub!
Haven’t had time to check it out on Youtube yet – but your article has inspired me to do so.
In fact from travelling internationally, my experience is that you get the current feel of a place best by watching the popular TV shows or listening to the popular music even if it is just in the taxi or pub, something I did everywhere I went even without understanding the local language.
For sure AlDub with its extreme popularity captures the spirit of the present Philippines, and reading the comments makes me optimistic because it seems to be intelligent entertainment…
http://entertainment.inquirer.net/179438/watch-trio-performs-aldub-inspired-original-song
Sharing my comments on a blog post:
Thank you, Francolevi! Did I get the author’s name right? You know what? I’ve been talking this way for a long, long time—in conversations, in Facebook posts, everywhere—that love will find a way, but I have been met with indifference. With AlDub it’s different. I was surprised that this time many people sided with my point of view, like 95-5. An amazing transformation! It’s a caricature all right, the exaggerated pouts and “papangit” as Maine (Meng) herself admits, Alden’s (Tisoy) pa-beautiful eyes, the lola’s counterbalance to youth and beauty, everything is over the top, but still love shines through. You should see the comments to my blog post in The Society of Honor of the kind one, Joe America. It’s a dam breaking, like marriage encounter and family encounter, worship service, I-love-the-Philippines stuff. It may be too early to compare this phenomenon to anything that has happened in recent past, but as of now, AlDub is king. Love is king. It’s in the air. Whether or not we will apply it to our own relationships is no longer in question. We will apply it. We will persist in loving in the garish, OA way, why? Because we have no choice. It’s like a hand extended to us as we cling to the side of the cliff. We have actually ran out of options. Love is the only thing that can make us win. — Will
https://francolevi.wordpress.com/2015/09/22/magic/
Being an OFW, when I am out of the country, I look forward to reading and/or watching news – all kinds – about PH… Unfortunately, in my workplace, we have only TFC and most often than not, just hearing (not actually watching) the headlines of TV Patrol, it always make me sigh and thinks “ala na namang magandang balita” (as usual, no good/positive news)…
AlDub is not just popular because of the 2 main cast, but overall, a source of good vibes and positivity… that’s why many are hooked to it.
Even before AlDub, in fairness to Jose, Wally and Paolo, the 3 were always “natural” as well as those who were part before of their segment like Marian Rivera… Accidental or not, AlDub just made them even better…
I’ve been watching youtube clips of this and I still don’t get it. I don’t understand what they are saying, but Yaya Dub is pretty much playing a Jerry Lewis role, slap-stick/facial contortion comedy, and by default Al is the more refined Dean Martin. And then there’s cross dressing too. Then there’s a live audience element too, where they go off-stage all the time– playing on the whole sense of on/off stage or camera.
Hi Irineo! Take a bagful of Philippine culture without embellishments or pretensions and carry it around the world with you. You will always have a country to come home to, and we will always have an Irineo who will speak well of our dreams and aspirations, reminding the world what kind of people we are, that we are loving, gentle in spirit, caring, respectful and happy in whatever circumstance we find ourselves. Go, Irineo!
Al, yes, Jose Manalo, Wally Bayola and Paulo Ballesteros are a national treasure. Marian Rivera-Dantes also. Even before AlDub when they would do the Sugod Bahay, I had wanted to write about their concern for the downtrodden done in slapstick fashion, but they have been role models in people skills and in their almost-Mother Teresa love for the poor. Almost, because they are imperfect vessels. It mattered to the directors that Alden caught the eye of Yaya Dub and she turned from dismissible clown to blushing maiden in a matter of seconds. It’s not only genius, there is love in what they do although they will never admit it, magkamatayan na (over their dead bodies).
Because the segment is done during mid-day, if I am not mistaken, Paolo even had a sort of a mild heat stroke before as well as Maine fainted while wearing the wedding gown. We can also see their sweating every now and then but the discomfort doesn’t stop them from doing the segment… We can sense that they really love what they do, no matter what, rain or shine, comfortable or not…
Another Filipino trait on display, Al, loving what we do no matter the circumstances.
I was trying to respond to Ireneo above.
LCPL_X: a Bikolano friend of mine in my younger years in Germany did an act similar to Yaya Dub, but she is far more versatile in imitating the facial expression and body language of practically any MTV video, while my friend was specialized in doing Elvis singing…
Meaning this kind of humor in dealing with the stuff we see and hear has always been there – one thing I will never forget is the “Tito, Vic and Joey” version of “We are the World” applied to domestic servants: “we wash your clothes, we wash your children…” or their Thriller version.
The drag queen “grandma” is over the top and makes me laugh the most, the humor makes fun of a lot of day-to-day stuff – there is one episode where the grandma’s security people, all very muscled and stuff, didn’t manage to put acid in Al’s face, just mouthwash due to wearing shades.
Now that is a humorous commentary on how Filipinos often try to look the part – the security people look like they do all over the world – but when it comes to getting stuff done they bungle…
Making fun of the daily madness is a survival skill Filipinos have perfected over the centuries…
@Will: (not Shakespeare, Villanueva) – thanks for the very encouraging words.
I think for many of us abroad, what is Filipino becomes clearer when we see the contrasts.
Even those of us who are disenchanted for a while return, at least in spirit, at some point.
Always welcome, Irineo!
The blogger forgot to mention The Society of Honor by Joe America, but in essence, it’s an affirmation of JoeAm’s judgment to feature the article, which was used to parry Lea Salonga’s dig on quite possibly the AlDub phenomenon. The link:
https://francolevi.wordpress.com/2015/09/27/why-lea-salonga-is-wrong-about-aldub/
Bloggers are scurrilous rascals, trouble-makers all . . .
“How great it would be if Filipinos developed a love affair with their nation. Even the criticisms would come with solutions attached, and bitterness removed.” — Joe America.
Not far from what a German censor wrote in the repressive early 19th century – the time lots of Germans just like your folks left for the land of the free across the “great pond”:
“Libraries are dangerous breeding places of knowledge”.
I was responding to Joe…
And yes, criticisms must come with suggestions, be constructive.
Modern German democracy is a hive of criticism, Germans constantly complain but usually say how they would like to have things – one reason why they keep on improving things over here. A far cry from the time of the Iron Chancellor Bismarck who called his people “a bunch of discontented complainers, unable to take destiny into their own hands”. Who voted a pied piper into office in 1933 because he promised them the moon in a time of chaos and troubles…
Good news:
http://www.rappler.com/entertainment/news/108209-alden-richards-yaya-dub-maine-mendoza-cbcp-award-aldub