u/mcdonaldspyongyang

Clubs all over the world play into identity politics: Real Madrid are the rich Castillans, Barca are the club for Catalan nationalists, Liverpool are for the Scouse working class, River Plate are for the rich, Boca Juniors for the poor, Lazio for the fascists, Celtic for Catholics, etc etc. Even clubs in neighboring countries are rooted solely in some type of identity, with regionalism manifesting in Indonesian football:  people from Jakarta belong to Persija, while people from Bandung and other West Javanese regions belong to Persib. The people of Surabaya own Persebaya, and the people of Jogja own PSIM. 

What's the difference between Manila Digger, Kaya FC, One Taguig, etc? Fucking nothing. Not really. Sure, they have different cities in their names but what have they actually done to endear themselves to their local communities?

This is the real reason why football isn't taking off in this country. You think the average normie watches football because they're looking for crosses, corner kicks, possession? They dgaf about that and if you want football to take off in this country you need to be honest about it.

People watch El Clasico because it's good football, yes, but there's also the layer of it being basically a mini Spanish Civil War everytime they're on the pitch. Atletico Madrid vs Real Madrid is an unspoken class war too.

Honestly I think local clubs should deprioritize technical quality and up community engagement. Get some local boys to play, I'm sure you don't even have to pay them that much, but make sure you're tying it hard to some sort of community.

Imagine a Tsinoy FC. An all-Muslim Bangsamoro football club. A Real Iglesia ni Cristo Starting 11 vs Roman Catholic FC. Then imagine the sparks a Tagalog FC vs Bisaya FC match could ignite. Then the next day the league championship goes down the wire between Tondo FC vs Dasmarinas FC aka all-out class war.

I don't believe any of the other explanations about why football isn't taking off in this country. Boring, low scoring? As if Brazilians or whatever other nationalities have better attention spans. Pang mayaman? I guess Africa and South America don't exist.

The lack of idpol is why.

I've been working in the PR/Comms field for a few years now and I'd like to try and write out some of my thoughts on how Ateneo (mis)handled the deaths of two promising young men.

What were they thinking?

A lot of people are asking how such an elite institution, which produced some of the best PR/comms professionals in the country, could mess up so badly on something so crucial. I've also asked this same question too.

But what I'm guessing is the Ateneo management were just as blindsided as the rest of us. Kita niyo kulang na kulang sila sa safety precautions, so they probably haven't done any crisis comms preparedness exercises because they didn't see the need too. I'm sure it's the same for other UAAP teams- -you don't think college sports would have controversies on par with contentious industries like healthcare, finance, etc. but in this day and age you never really know. I maintain that every organization that deals with the public should have a crisis comms manual.

My guess is Ateneo's management thought they could pass off the deaths of the two boys as purely an accident that could've happened to anyone who swims at a beach.

Then they probably would've wanted to pass it off as a matter strictly for the LGU/police to investigate while they focused on mourning.

During Padrigao's sexual harassment scandal involving Pia Ildefonso, the line was the school doesn't have legal jurisdiction over what Padrigao did. That holds up in the court of law but not in the court of public opinion. I think they were looking to try the same approach here: "we're devastated they drowned, but this is for the LGU/police to handle. In the meantime, please leave us be."

What went wrong

The approach above maybe could have worked except podcast appearances by ex-Ateneo players started making the rounds within the hour Rene and Divine's passing was announced. Suddenly it came out that 1) a similar incident already happened in the past, with GBoy Babilonia almost dying and 2) Tab's Aurora camps continued regardless.

So the public reasonably starts asking all sorts of questions: why wasn't Tab sanctioned the first time? What kind of training were they doing exactly? Who signed off on this training? Ateneo was probably hoping for sympathy, instead they got scrutiny.

It got worse the more details came out, with Divine supposedly being the only one reported missing at first. Then the fake news about the ankle weights added fuel to the fire. The fatal blow was Rene's mother herself saying management barely spoke to her. Then you later had Divine's mother saying she couldn't get a clear story.

Ateneo was too slow to respond. By the time Tab's apology video came out (yesterday?) the issue was already hijacked by sports content creators, DDS vloggers, fake news peddlers, etc.

What they should have done

As soon as they realized Rene and Divine passed away, they should have made arrangements to fly over Rene and Divine's families to Manila or even Aurora ASAP. "We are in contact with the families" is not enough, especially when it turns out it was just a short Messenger chat. Ateneo should have offered a deep support team for both families from the jump: accommodations, counseling, whatever lets them know they're not going to be left hanging.

Then, in past crisis comms exercises I was taught to assign a trained spokesperson to any crisis right away. This didn't have to be Tab but simply sending out statements via Ateneo's social media pages just looked outright callous and cold. There should have been a human face answering questions ASAP.

Ateneo should have also been loud and transparent about 1) how swiftly they're cooperating with LGU and police investigations and 2) how they'll support Rene and Divine's families moving forward. It should NOT have been ADDU to first announce scholarships for Rene's siblings.

Finally, they should have fired Tab and maybe the rest of the coaching staff too. To let him resign, of his own accord, is just bad optics. At the very least, a suspension.

What they can still do

Honestly, the situation looks beyond saving right now. Especially with Tab's ex-wife and stepdaughter insinuating he's a borderline pedophile sexual predator.

So they won't come away clean but they can still do the right things:

• Announce support for Rene and Divine's families in the tens of millions of pesos. Two families lost their breadwinners after all. They can afford it.
• Announce that Tab, Epok Quimpo, and the rest of the coaching staff are cooperating fully with legal authorities--and that they will face the consequences, even going to jail.
• Withdraw their MBT from UAAP Season 89. They will need the time off to pause and reflect.

Basically, nakakatulong ba ang pagiging pogi sa mga bagay OUTSIDE of attracting and keeping a desired partner.

For example, does it help sa employment? Finances? Di ko na alam ano pa pwede idagdag hahaha

What's it like? I mean, I know it's an agency and it has a bunch of sub-business units under it but I'd really like to know what the culture is like?

I know may oil crisis ngayon Pero meron rin naman last month. Parang Ang hirap mag book ngayon kahit MoveIt/Angkas/Joyride pa yan.

How much for senior? How much for Junior?

Sumakay ako kanina mga 6. Dati kasi nakakasakay ako mga 4:30, just right before rush hour- -but I got a new job and mas strict sila sa work hours.

I knew it'd be worse but is it normally that bad?

Is it better to stay late at the office and go home later? Mga 7-8?

I swear to God this is not a paid post, pero naappreciate ko talaga yung mga businesses that are making an effort to make cheaper, mas abot-kayang alternatives to things that people usually buy.

I think the biggest example off the top of my head would be DALI. They're able to keep costs low because they keep staff to a minimum, bare ang interior ng stores, and they manufacture things themselves. Maybe it's not the best place for super essentials like meat, veggies, etc pero mas mura na compared sa ibang big grocery stores and OK na OK na rin for little treats like candy, chips, etc.

I'm glad rin nag emerge yung mga players like PICKUP, Zus, Cocopan kasi di ko maimagine kung parang ten years ago na ang option mo lang pang kape sa labas pa rin ay Starbucks or Coffee Bean. I'm hoping to see Zagu make a comeback soon pero parang pa-onti ng pa-onti branches nila. It's nice to have places I can go to kung gusto ko lang ng maliit na treat after a work week that won't break the bank.

Naappreciate ko rin ung mga smaller brands na nageemmerge sa mga Shopee, Lazada, TikTok Shop etc. I'm a guy so solid alternative to H&M and UNIQLO sakin for casualwear yung mga FBRKD and Organic sa Shopee.

Lately nadidiscover ko na rin ung Andok's, lalo na ung Dokito burger. I think slightly mas mura sila kesa sa Jollibee and honestly mas masarap. Rooting for the chicken kesa sa bubuyog na sobrang exploitative na, tumataas pa presyo lumiliit naman portions.

Anyways wala lang hahaha just appreciative of these businesses and hopefully they can kepe doing what they're doing

And pabalik rin po sana hahah

How often do you wash your pants?

For work usually chinos suot ko, tas mode of transport ko is typically MoveIT, MRT, tas lakad mga 15 minutes to the office. Pauwi reverse lang, but add LRT.

Pag uwi ko usually sinasampay ko para maarawan then every other week ko ilalagay sa washing machine. Though I'm not sure if eto best practice? I read somewhere di naman kasi dapat sobrang frequent ng hugas but it does feel kinda gross lalo since summer ngayon.

Whenever I go over to the r/digitalmarketing sub there's always hand-wringing over yung future ng field nila. Dati akong content writer so gusto ko talaga mag pivot to something na AI won't harm- -but I want to be sure I'm choosing right.

I want to shift careers after some bad luck at work. Ang goal ko talaga is to become an e-commerce manager within the year.

I have some familiarity- -like I know the basic terms like CPC, AOV, GMV, etc- -but I don't have any actual experience really running a store on Shopee, Lazada, or TikTok. I learn best by doing but yeah, again, wala akong store.

So what are some courses you guys can recommend for learning the job?

Ganito kasi ako eh. I joined a company that offered to almost double my salary from my last job, but then I had to leave bc ang dami nilang labor violation. It just wasn't a stable company.

But if I say how much I was making sa company na 'to, I'm immediately priced out of a role I wanted sana. So I'm willing to take a huge cut- -what do HR teams typically think of that?

I want to shift careers after some bad luck at work. Ang goal ko talaga is to become an e-commerce manager within the year.

I have some familiarity- -like I know the basic terms like CPC, AOV, GMV, etc- -but I don't have any actual experience really running a store on Shopee, Lazada, or TikTok. I learn best by doing but yeah, again, wala akong store.

So what are some courses you guys can recommend for learning the job?