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Images of queerness in Philippine cinema

Films move beyond entertainment; there is more to a film than the audience’s enjoyment. They have the power to engage with and to open discussions with people and to influence their level of consciousness and understanding toward what’s being shown or how it’s shown. In the case of LGBTQ+ representation in the media, one issue…

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Home is where the cat is: A DLSU adoption story

They’re fat from love. When you enter the University, you might notice a chunky, charming “fixture” near the North Gate. He sometimes appears to be on the lookout with his piercing eyes scanning each person entering the campus. This fixture is Archer—the famous security cat of De La Salle University. Archer is one of the…

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Aromantic, a romantic: Love beyond romance

“Is it possible for a person to not be romantically attracted to anyone throughout their life?” I asked this to several students of De La Salle University—several, if not most, said no. Miguelito Beato (I, AB-PHM), argues that “humans in general are social beings that are bound to be attracted [to someone else] even [if]…

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HIV/AIDS, stigma, and lives unclaimed

It has long haunted our country. We’ve all heard the numerous urban legends about contaminated needles in dark cinema halls and other tales that took on the form of monsters under our beds. Above it all, the implied shame. The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and the acquired immunodificiency syndrome (AIDS) was a conversation the Philippines…

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Left behind: The haunting era of ghosting culture

Ghosts are no longer just wispy shapes in our peripheral vision. Ghosts don’t stay behind the creaking doors and dilapidated footsteps anymore as the clock ticks. Ghosts are now living persons hiding behind messages left on “seen”, questions left unanswered, and issues left undiscussed. Both, though, leave behind the same ripples of distress and curiosity—haunting…

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Blurring lines in between appropriation and appreciation

I remember the days when my tiny feet were marching along with people who were dressed in saris, flamencos, kilts, kimonos, cheongsams, and all the other dresses representing the globe; my school called it appreciation of different cultures. I remember the days when my tiny fingers were flipping through pages of history books learning the…

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Beneath the glitter: Sacrifices behind festivities

Christmas in the Philippines has always been about reuniting with loved ones. Most often, it is spent with the people we hold most dear. But not everyone can celebrate Christmas day with their loved ones. The LaSallian looks at the lives of four individuals whose Christmas tales take a different turn to what many are…