the different faces of freedom

The different faces of freedom

There have been too many crazy things going on in the past weeks that I do not know where in the world I will start. But let me take off anyway.

Speaking of take-off, the recent incident in the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) involving actress Claudine Barretto and husband Raymart Santiago, versus columnist Mon Tulfo was a totally shameful fiasco.

All is said. In fact, more than two sides of the story have surfaced. Count in, the poor airport’s attendant, her mom, even Judy Ann Santos, the Tulfo Brothers, the DOTC.

What a slap in the face of media it is that too much airtime is wasted covering the incident, over and over. But I completely understand — take note that BAD publicity, no matter how bad it is, is still publicity. And the parties love publicity.

Let’s just wait until they get the attention they need, probably the will all get new projects after all. And we will probably watch.

Speaking of watching, Lady Gaga’s concert in Manila went on amid protests from civic groups, who claimed that some of the music icon’s songs and videos (which will of course be part of her show) are too explicit and blasphemous and do not conform to the Filipino concepts of morality. Name Judas.

Mayors and the MMDA came to the rescue, saying Gaga should better behave. But can they tame the mother monster? It seems they tried but she was born that way.

Some people are born that way, indeed. Gays in the US have extensively wanted the government to allow same sex marriage. Obama, in time for the upcoming elections, said he is open to the idea. But wait, Manny Pacquiao is not.

In an interview with a US-based Fil-Am reporter, the boxing champ reiterated that he is against same sex marriage, quoting verses from the bible. All is well, until the write up said that Pacquiao mentioned a Leviticus verse, which in essence, said being gay is evil.

Controversy sparked in an instant. People were disappointed of the ‘saintly’ Pacquiao, but it turned out later that Pacquiao was misquoted. The writer intentionally did so.

These incidents make me ponder on Freedom.

Was it journalistic freedom that allowed Mon Tulfo to take pictures of fuming Claudine?

Was Claudine’s freedom (or privacy) violated?

Did Raymart offend Tulfo’s journalistic freedom (or human rights?), was it the other way around?

Are all of us free to react on the issue, even when we knew less of what really happened?

Can Lady Gaga’s artistic freedom pose a threat to Filipino morality?

Are we not free to discern what is moral and not?

Should we be given our freedom to choose the genre of music, or singer we want to listen to?

Should the third sex be given equal freedom to marry?

Did the writer abuse his journalistic freedom?

The bottomline: Freedom can allow us to do a few things. It is like having wings to fly but we can never fly too far or to too long or too wide because other birds have wings too.