The Philippine Blog Awards 2008 are coming soon!

If you’d like to volunteer for the Philippine Blog Awards 2, or perhaps sponsor, the organizers would love that. Now that the Pinoy blogosphere is reaching maturity and record numbers, now is an excellent time to join and be part of the community. I, for one, have already dropped a line with them that I’d like to help out in whatever way I can.

Sali na!

There’s a hailstorm of discussion circulating around the Philippine blogosphere, centering on a few individuals’ disappointment at the Philippine Blog Awards’ invocation. Specifically, Benj, an atheist, was extremely offended at the mention of Jesus Christ as a motivating factor for Philippine bloggers in maintaining their blogs. He was further offended by the response of “a lot of people” (in particular, this fellow) to his post, and has gotten a good round of discussion from Jorge, Tess, and Gail, who defended the organizers and initially encouraged Benj to join the group next year to ensure non-Christians’ rights would be represented better, but later took back the invitation.

(To Benj’s credit, he did say that the organizers were not to blame; to moot the point, he placed the blame somewhere else, when at this point, finger-pointing would not do the issue any additional good.)

Joni, coincidentally, asked me this morning what I thought of the ongoing flurry of activity. Initially, I thought to myself, this is not an issue I necessarily want to weigh in on, preferring instead to just let the issue die. As a self-professed Fil-Christian blogger for the past seven years, I think I should at least say something about how the situation may have been handled better by the Christians in the group, so as not to further stoke the flames of this ‘controversy,’ which may have marred, in one way or the other, the success of the Philippine Blog Awards.

First off, I want to say that Benj and I have not had the smoothest of relationships, thanks in large part to two things: a less-than-stellar-but-more-than-civil exchange of thoughts on PinoyExchange, where we first ran into each other, and a tendency to read too much into each other’s blog posts, hahaha. I have often said things that may have been offensive to him, and he has done likewise. What I think makes our online relationship work - and translated at least into a decent conversation at the BlogParteeh ‘07 when we didn’t kill each other - is a common respect for the other person’s beliefs. After all, it is expected and common that, in our individual web spaces, we call the shots. He has the freedom to delete/edit anything I say on his blog, and I on mine; of course, we don’t, out of what I hope is a respect for the person’s freedom of speech, and to my (not-so-perfect) recollection, I’ve never had to delete any of his posts on any of my Christian blogs. Occasionally, he’ll make a post that will push my buttons, intentionally or unintentionally, and I pray for the strength to just let it go. I’ve often apologized to him in public and private, and he has, too.

There is something to be said for an online relationship between a hardcore atheist and a Bible-thumping Christian, that we can have reciprocal links to each other’s websites, and what I hope is a healthy respect for each other’s rights as people.

The Philippine Blog Awards, however, was no longer just a webspace. It was a gathering of people, not all of whom share the same beliefs - religious, political, whatever. What should have united every person in that theater that night was a healthy respect for each other as individual bloggers, all coming together to recognize that we are all equal - as bloggers, and as people.

Despite my being a Christian, I feel very strongly about recognizing and acknowledging Benj’s point that a more universal prayer or moment of silence would have been more appropriate. There was a point in my life when I was on the other side of that fence, when I was just like Benj. There was a time when I denied the presence of God, and did my part in trying to convince others of my beliefs. I can understand why he feels the way he feels. I may not have expressed myself the way he did, but I can see where he’s coming from.

I definitely disagree with how Benj may have phrased his disgust disappointment with that prayer - especially since some have since interpreted his rather angry post in a negative way. That post was written for response and controversy; there’s no way organizers would have not reacted to it because Benj did throw a lot at them.

When a negative response to something is made, it’s human nature for the owners of that something to react in defense. Shari and and a few other attendees who found that prayer a bit disconcerting may have been left out, but Benj spoke out. Whatever results or changes he may have wanted for next year’s PBA, however, were probably diluted because it was so angrily said.

There are diplomatic ways to express displeasure, but in the heat of the moment… well, Christians and non-Christians can all lose tempers and say things they may end up later wishing they had not said.

Of course, the non-Christians aren’t as driven as we are to forgive. Nor are they as smug as we are because we are in the majority.

Frankly, we Christians in the Philippines do not realize how good we’ve got it, that we can pray in public and not be shot. That we can open our Bibles and read it on the subway. We don’t live in the minority, unlike the earlier Christians, or like Christians in other countries like China or Cuba, and as a result, we’ve become complacent, and almost snooty, just because most Filipinos know of Christ, and a few have active relationships with Him.

The problem with many Christians - and I can include myself in that list on several occasions, unfortunately - is that we tend to become almost elitist and high-and-mighty, knowing we have something in our lives that others do not. We forget it is still their freedom to accept the gift we have ourselves been given and accepted. We become so ritualistic that we forget about the non-believer whose impressions of God and Jesus is based on their interactions with us.

How is a non-believer supposed to know our own Jesus Christ - the person we acknowledge is the Son of God - hobnobbed with the huddled masses, the whores, and sinners? He accepted them for who they are, and (I believe) they changed in time because they kept company with Him. He influenced them in a positive way, and one day, that message of love made a difference in the lives of the people.

How can we reach out to these people when we offend them fresh out of the gate? How can we build relationships with them when we leave them out? And how can we expect them to understand Jesus’ message of compassion when we throw stones instead of bread?

My ending point is this: I personally don’t think a message of tolerance is necessarily a message against Christianity. If we automatically shut out people who do not share our views and faith, we would have lost sight of that which Christ specifically told us to do in Matthew 28.

I’m beside myself with joy! Toni, one of my bestest friends in life and blogdom, won the Philippine Blog Award for Home and Living last Saturday, for her blog Wifely Steps! Yahoo! She so deserves that award. Wifely Steps should be on your list of must-visits every day. Every day, you hear me? Every day.
That’s a pretty good run, eh, Toni? She even posted her thank-you speech. In it, she thanks a lot of people, including the mystery person who nominated her blog.

Well, I’m outing myself. I nominated you, Toni! Hee hee hee! Surprise!

Tomorrow night, more than 200 Filipino bloggers from across the country are expected to converge at the RCBC Theater for the awarding ceremonies of the Philippine Blog Awards.

I won’t be there, not for lack of desire nor nomination, but simply because my son, Nathan, is still without nanny and I cannot in good conscience choose this wanton blogging bacchanalia over my son’s well-being. It’s not like my eight-month-pregnant wife can handle this three-year-old by herself!

But don’t think I don’t want to be there. I’ve been a Filipino-Christian blogger for almost eight years. My life as a Fil-Christian blogger has outlasted several blog templates (their corpses are still littered throughout the web as a testament to my folly); I’ve had hit counts of as little as 50/day to literally thousands/day. It’s nice to be part of the blogosphere. I would’ve left a long time ago if I thought it didn’t make a difference in my life or that I didn’t make a difference in anyone else’s.

At the end of the day, I don’t think I need recognition (although it’d be nice occasionally to get it). That we all contribute to the blogosphere, that we represent the Philippines as blogging ambassadors to the international blogging community, that we still get hits and comments on our blogs, well, that shows you count. I salute the PBA for doing this, but just as importantly, I salute every Filipino blogger who continues to blog, for whatever reason. You rock my socks.

To the nominees, I tell you: you’re all winners in the sense that people - whether they are judges or people who simply nominated you for Blogger’s Choice - think you are important as a blogger. That your life, recording in your blog, for all to read, can affect someone. That your life and your thoughts and the information you disseminate through your blog, that they all matter. That you are relevant, and you make a daily difference in someone’s life.

That, at the end of the day, is what blogging is all about.

Congratulations, everyone. Hopefully, I can join you again next year.

Update: Here’s the list of winners.

The country’s most prestigious blog awards is now accepting nominations.

The Philippine Blog Awards has recognized Filipino blog sites for the past four (five?) years. I first heard of them in 2003, when my good Christian buddy Rick Manzano secured a nomination for Filipino Blogger of the Year. In 2005, this blogger’s old website, Superblessed, was a finalist in the Most Informative Blog category, eventually finishing a happy runner-up to Doc Emer’s Parallel Universes.

Today, in its fourth (fifth?) installment, the most prestigious national blog recognition body in the nation has increased from an original four categories - Filipino Blogger of the Year, Most Informative Blog Site of the Year, Photoblog of the Year, and Best Blog Site of the Year - to an impressive ten:

• Best Technology Blog
• Best Travel Blog
• Best Entertainment Blog
• Best Personal Blog
• Best Home & Living Blog
• Best Socio-Political Blog
• Best News & Media Blog
• Best Business/Entrepreneur Blog
• Best Sports & Recreation Blog
• Best Fashion & Lifestyle Blog
• Best Photo Blog
• Podcast of the Year Award

If you know of a worthy blog, then scoot on over to the official website of the Philippine Blog Awards and nominate that blog on or before February 28, 2007.

By the way, if anyone from the Philippine Blog Awards happens to swing by this entry, may I humbly suggest a ‘History’ or ‘About Us’ page? Having seen the growth of your blog awards through the years, recognizing the growing impact of your endeavor through a retrospective would be giving credit to whom it’s due - you guys.