Flipping The Narrative

Just when you thought you knew everything about beauty pageants - that spectacle of sequins and swimsuits that is a source of national pride in the Philippines and a controversial institution of misogyny as far as feminists are concerned - here come two former beauty queens who paint the competition in a completely different light. With regal poise and consummate grace, Miss International 1964  Ge...

It’s PRIDE month, so let’s talk about the “L” word. In the panoply of gender identities that make up the rainbow coalition popularly known as the LGBTQIA+ community, or LGBT for short, the “L” part is often overlooked due to the higher visibility of the rest of the GBT, at least in the Philippines. Sandy Aloba and Ida Ramos, a lesbian couple in a committed, loving relationship that is no different...

What’s a typical Filipino anyway? And who would be the ultimate judge of Filipino-ness? In their introductory podcast, Laura Verallo de Bertotto, Luis de Terry and Bambina Olivares - often told they’re atypical Filipinos - discuss the complicated, contradictory and constantly evolving nature of Filipino identity, beginning with the use of the pejorative term “Flip” to describe Filipinos in the Uni...

We’re frank, fearless, and irreverent. We’re also Filipino, and we’re here to flip the narrative on all things culture-, race-, gender-related and more in the new global-parochial world. We’re Laura Verallo de Bertotto, Luis de Terry and Bambina Olivares, three Filipinos of mixed heritage who’ve chosen to return to the Philippines after many years away. To be honest, we’re still trying to make sen...