The PBA Megarant: An Open Letter To The Haterz

.:On Critics And Haters: The Necessary Sidebar:.

I was supposed to bring this up in the previous post, but I decided against it so that I can save the vitriol from contaminating it. So instead, I split this section off so I can dedicate my attention to it more.

As one of the hosts that night, I worked exceptionally hard to do what I did. I’m certain I wasn’t alone in that effort, though. You had my co-hosts, you had the people in charge of the AVP's, you had the voice-over dude, you had the organizers, the other volunteers, you had a ton of different people who poured their heart and soul into this. So when I hear unfair and unfounded criticisms regarding the blogging awards, I certainly feel the need to get on my soapbox and address them.

“If they’re so insignificant, why let them affect you?”

The thing is, these accusations are not insignificant. They are attempts at undermining the integrity of the event. If enough people hear this and believe it, what is supposed to be a great night of solidarity and celebration among bloggers becomes a parody that nobody respects or cares about.

Pretty much the way I saw it during the Campus 99.5 hullabaloo, we had people piling on sheer hatred on the awards night for no other reason than to pour hatred on the awards night. If it really didn’t mean a thing to them, they wouldn’t even write about it now, would they?

We poured blood, sweat, and tears into this. To classify our efforts as a joke is an insult to us, and to our dignity as honest, decent, honorable people, and any attempt to undermine that is tantamount to calling us liars and cheaters at worst, or incompetent idiots at best.

Allow me to go over these contentions like a shopping list…

1. “We need to choose five of our entries? So you made me a judge?” – No. You are not a judge. What you are doing is helping your chances of winning by pointing out what about your blog is worth noting. I’m sorry, but if it took me two hours to find five entries for myself, expecting a small team of screeners to go over 200 or so nominees exhaustively is ridiculous. Nobody's paying these people to do it. They are doing it to the best of their capability, taking time away from their job/studies/family commitments for no other reason than a desire to help. They’re not slaves. Stop treating them as if they were.

2. “Why did so-and-so win? Aren’t they volunteers?” – They won because they were good. Their volunteer status had nothing to do with their winning. Coy, specifically, has been one of the top video bloggers in the country. Candy Magazine itself acclaims this fact, as do many other people who have already acquired Coy’s services because of his mad video skillz. So y'know, if you don't think Coy's the bestest since slice bread, well... YOU'RE WRONG!!!

3. “I was shifted categories; therefore, I was cheated.” – No, Bitter Ocampo. You weren’t shifted categories. You were not nominated in one category, but you were nominated in another. The special awards have different guidelines from the main awards. That explains why special awards in general don’t follow the “five posts of your choice” rule.

4. “The Special Awards were announced last-minute! We demand a recount!” – Yes. Because not only do we make demands of the organizers, we now make demands from the sponsors of the event, expecting them to ignore what they think is best for them just to cater to lil’ ol’ us. I’m sure if, say, RX 93.1 sponsored a blog award, we’d expect the blog that wrote how amazing Magic 89.9 was should be the deserving winner. Of course.

5. “How is this Filipino? Nobody’s speaking in Filipino!!!” – Eh kung hindi ka rin naman pala tanga’t kalahati… ano ba yung una kong sinabi nung umakyat ako ng stage? At bakit? Hindi ka ba Pinoy kung nag-Iingles ka? Baka naman gusto mong isip-isipin iyang pinagtatatalak mo.

6. “Elitism!!!” – Really? Jay Mata, my partner in magic, doesn’t even blog. In spite of that, he fits right in with the bloggers to a good extent, and still manages to take their breath away when he performs. Let’s put it this way… we’re not being elitist… you’re being anti-social. We don’t go out of our way to make you feel unwelcome. Hades, I started off not knowing who these people are! But because I reach out and talk to them, the ice is broken. Is that too hard to do?

7. “The judges are biased!” – Now you’re just making accusations. Are you seriously going to impugn the names of people like MLQ3 or JJ Disini? Would you like to make these insinuations to their face? Please. Nobody’s stopping you.

8. “Your award is a joke!” - No. You're a joke. You hide behind anonymity, then expose yourself by demanding an apology from the person you insulted? Oh. My. God. Ang kapal ng mukha mo. Nobody deserved that award more than Arpee did, and you know it.

9. “It’s just an award. I don’t need awards.” – Well, good for you. I’m glad you spent so much effort telling us exactly how much you don’t care about these awards. Nakailang entry ka na ba to drive home this point?

I won’t impede your right to rant and rave on your personal space and assail the character of people who worked hard for this event. I have no authority to do that.

However, I will wholeheartedly call you out on your misconceptions, on your erroneous presumptions, and your outright lies. Just as you are free (Within legal liabilities, mind you.) to sourgrape and act like one of the cool kids by being contrarian and counterflowing,

Seriously, what’s this bull#$%^ indie mentality for, anyways? If you genuinely don’t want recognition for your efforts, cool. We respect that. But for you to go out of your way and paint the people who vie for awards as “sell-outs” or “cliquish”? What’s up with that? How is that a bad thing?

I mean, how dare these people want to be recognized for their hard work and efforts, right? You’re like those elitist fans who think that when their favorite indie band gets signed to a major label, they’re “sellouts” and no longer deserve their support. How dare they want to feed their families and earn money, right?

So y’know what? If you think that the awards night wasn’t perfect, well and good. We acknowledge that. There’s always room for improvement.

However, once you begin to assail the integrity of the organizers, judges, and volunteers, expect that we will not only defend ourselves, but take umbrage to your accusations.

I have been, for the six years of my existence in the blogosphere, a very nonpartisan blogger, never jumping to one side or another whenever some big issue comes along. I have to put my foot down on this one, though.

It’s one thing to criticize an event for its shortcomings. It’s another to impugn the reputation of the people who made this event possible, and I will not take such allegations lightly. Not when I've seen these people myself work hard, give their all, and the least you could do is appreciate what they did as a genuine, sincere effort to give the Philippine Blogosphere a shot in the arm it certainly deserves.