From worsening traffic to a quality year-end film festival, here are last year’s winners and losers
THUMBS UP/DOWN.
We lost some
We lost some music greats in 2016, including David Bowie and ’80s icons Prince and George Michael.
But for two nights last year, Filipino music fans partied like the ’80s when the Queen of Pop, Madonna, performed in Manila for the first time in February, in sold-out concerts. VIP seats sold for as much as P57,000 a pop.
It was also the year that returned ’90s movie icon Winona Ryder to the radar of today’s audiences, as she made a comeback in Netflix’s “Stranger Things.”
2016, however, also took away one of the most enduring pop icons of all time, Carrie Fisher, Princess Leia to generations of “Star Wars” fans, who died after Christmas following a heart attack.
Traffic!
Traffic went from bad to worse, such that retailers said sales were down in 2016, as shoppers opted to stay home rather than run into a gridlock on their way to the malls.
E-commerce is still in relative infancy here, but at this rate, more and more people could soon opt to shop on their computers or mobile phones.
At long last!
Filipino filmmaking had a shining moment at the tail-end of 2016, with some notable entries to the Metro Manila Film Festival.
On the internet, movie fans expressed enthusiasm over the eight films, with running tallies of the ones they’ve seen, what they were seeing next, and what they were hoping the cinemas wouldn’t pull out before more people could see them.
Remember those years when we mocked and were mostly dismayed with the MMFF entries, largely nth installments of rehashed franchises? Not this year.
Troll fortune
As if our daily dose of extrajudicial killings wasn’t enough, the double whammy of internet trolling and proliferation of fake news sites compounded an already contentious year.
In a Lifestyle report, a “professional troll” said that the job is now under the umbrella of social media marketing, designed to forward the client’s political agenda, by means of heckling and getting a rise out of their keyboard opponents.
In the era of post-truth politics, it has become harder for the average citizen to sift through the lies and fabrications on the internet, as seemingly legitimate fake news sites and personalities like Mocha Uson have co-opted the work of journalists.
The grapevine is abuzz with the fortune being amassed by an ex-PR practitioner who now runs armies of trolls. The business has been so good the troll tycoon was able to buy an ultra-luxury condo.
‘It’ girls say ‘I do’
Some of Manila’s most eligible bachelorettes got hitched one after the other in 2016, in some very stylish European weddings, too.
“It” girls Solenn Heussaff, Georgina Wilson and Isabelle Daza, as well as Belo Medical Group scion Cristalle Henares, married their respective beaus in picture-perfect weddings in England (Wilson), France (Heussaff) and Italy (Daza and Henares).
Fans are likely to see the next of these fairy-tale affairs with the recent engagement of Anne Curtis to Erwan Heussaff.
On the sly
In a covert and sly move, Malacañang allowed the burial of the dictator Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng Mga Bayani, in a hurried ceremony in November, just days after the Supreme Court rejected the petition of martial law victims to stop the transfer of his remains from Ilocos Norte to the final resting place of war heroes, national artists and former presidents.
The Marcoses are accused of having stolen some $10 billion from the country’s coffers, with only $4 billion recovered. Under the regime, 70,000 were imprisoned, 34,000 were tortured and 3,240 were killed.
‘Me’ generation
When people gathered at the Edsa People Power Monument to protest Marcos’ stealth burial, millennials—a generation often disparaged for their seemingly negative collective values (self-absorbed, entitled, narcissistic, spoiled)—were among the strongest voices. It showed the positive side of the “me” generation, that if called upon, they show up and even lead; that they could be socially aware and involved; and that they can make the most creative use of the skills at their disposal.
Where else could those witty protest placards have come from?
World’s best
The island of Palawan was named world’s best island by readers of Travel & Leisure magazine in 2016. Boracay and Cebu were voted No. 2 and 6. But it wasn’t the only travel magazine that gave the nod to the idyllic and pristine beauty of Palawan, with Conde Nast Traveler and National Geographic Traveler also listing it among the world’s best, and dream destination for beach lovers.
Baguio City, one-time favorite local getaway of Filipinos, is also getting a renaissance of sorts. In 2016, its cooler climes lured local tourists looking for an alternative to the beach. There’s no more “tourist season” in Baguio as holidaymakers troop up north all times of the year, with the improved roads and highways.
Among the top attractions include the cleaned-up Burnham Park, the night markets, and National Artist BenCab’s museum.