Thursday, October 02, 2008 So: ‘Coming in unto’ in Cebu tabloids By Michelle P. So Caught in the Net
ALL this talk about pornography in the Cebu tabloids is getting me excited.
Whenever I get hold of a copy of Sun.Star Superbalita, whether it’s an edition of Cebu, Cagayan de Oro, Davao or General Santos, I go to the entertainment section where I am kept abreast of Piolo Pascual’s abs, Katrina Halili’s cleavage, Sam Milby’s new girl, etc. When time permits, I check out the “literary pieces” and scan the articles for salacious lines but find that descriptions of “bus-ok nga dughan” and “hamis nga paa” barely titillate the senses.
I get more imaginative looking at the column mugs of Ernie Lariosa, Efren Lonzon and Ruphil Banoc, who sport the face of disappointment that Superbalita Cebu doesn’t run sexually suggestive articles.
I don’t know by what standards the Cebu Provincial Women’s Commission (PWC) uses as bases for its complaints about Superbalita and Banat, the other Bisaya tabloid, allegedly running pornographic materials.
Exactly, Superbalita Cebu associate editors Anol Mongaya and Roger Vallena say to me in voices charged without sex. It is crunch time in the Superbalita Cebu newsroom and the two male editors do not have time to think about s.e.x.
The PWC has identified Superbalita and Banat as among the “sources of pornography” in Cebu. Until the PWC pointed this out, I didn’t know some porn has been going on in the Superbalita newsroom. I should start hanging around there more often.
Anol says that unless the PWC defines pornography, the commission can be accused of newspaper censorship and suppression of the cause to promote Cebuano literature. “Superbalita is known as the Kampeon sa Bisaya,” he says.
I will not dwell on the arguments on what is porn or not, but a humor site (cracked.com) finds many suggestive lines in the bible that no Cebuano literary piece that got published in Superbalita or Banat could ever equal. It will take a lot of Roger Vallena’s translation prowess to put in the vernacular the sexually referenced biblical phrase “coming in unto.”
The PWC says it will request the Provincial Board, which it wants to draft the ordinance banning the publication of pornographic materials, to ask the publishers of Superbalita and Banat to refrain from printing pornographic photos.
No need to do this. Superbalita has a mandate from the Office of the Publisher to refrain from running photos or stories that fuel the prurience of readers. The mandate applies to all its editions in Cebu, Cagayan de Oro, Davao and General Santos. This is why Superbalita readers see only photos of women and men partially covered, never those of totally uncovered.
I find the PWC effort discriminatory because it singles out Superbalita and Banat and excludes the Internet sites that show more than cleavage and tell about different ways of “coming in unto.” The PWC effort is also misdirected because if it seeks to protect the young from exposure to smut, then it should do something concrete about those sites that young people eagerly access.
Lest the PWC isn’t aware, the young barely read Superbalita or Banat. That’s why they don’t get to read these lines from Banat’s Intimate Moments:
Abner: “Actually, wa gyud koy ideya kun unsay imong sukod. Ako lang gibanabana. Maayo gani kay misibo gyud nimo.” Jamaica: “Maayo ka gyud diay mopasibo.”
They’re actually talking about the underwear that Abner bought for Jamaica and that it fits her just right. It’s Cebuano lit of “coming in unto.”
(October 2, 2008 issue) Write letter to the editor. Click here.
