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GKNB and the UP bird: The battle continues

If anybody from ABS-CBN might be reading this, please be assured that I would continuously try to validate the piece of information that I hold. On a positive note, the initiative of Ms. Kris Aquino's GKNB staff in trying to reach me to explain their side has opened an avenue for a discussion that the University of the Philippines might also would like to look into.

I just can't let this seemingly small "blunder" committed by the researchers of the hit TV show Game Ka Na Ba (GKNB) of ABS-CBN be forgotten as no more than a trivial matter presented by a crazed televiewer in need of her 15 minutes of fame.

Shown below were the correspondences between Mr. Mark Rejano and Mr. Bong Barrameda of GKNB and me to set the record straight regarding the two sides of what transpired during the August 17 episode as explicitly mentioned during my previous post on the said day:

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Dear Mr. Rejano and Mr. Barrameda:

Thank you for taking your time in answering my query. I am highly appreciative that the GKNB staff took their time out in reaching me and explaining their side.

Then again, the side I have is backed by no less than former UP President Francisco Nemenzo himself from his article at the UP publication UP Forum.

According to Nemenzo, the UP bird in the seal is a parrot; that in fact, during his college days in UP, the UP Fighting Maroons were actually called "UP Parrots". The juniors were called "Baby Parrots". This piece of fact was also published in the UP Diliman student publication "Philippine Collegian" of which I was once a part of.

A closer examination of the UP seal at the UP Main Library would also reveal that it's a parrot.

Furthermore, the word or color "maroon" is a color dominant of the species of parrots. In fact, there is such one species that is called with the word "maroon" on it and I quote:

"The Maroon-fronted Parrot Rhynchopsitta terrisi is a large, macaw-like parrot. It is a dark green with a dark red shoulder and a maroon forehead an eye-stripe. It wings and tail appear to be black when it is in flight. It makes a high, rolling cr-a ak sound. Groups sound similar to the Acorn Woodpecker if they are heard from a distance.

Maroon-fronted Parrots live in mature pine, mixed conifer, and pine-oak forests from 2000 to 3500 meters. They nest in limestone cliffs near moving water in large colonies. This bird is endemic to the Sierra Madre Oriental in Nuevo León, Coahuila and Tamaulipas, Mexico. Breeding coincides with the fruition of pines, which is its main food source, and they lay one to three eggs in July. These juveniles fledge around November. They migrate over short distances seasonally.

This bird is considered vulnerable due to overgrazing and habitat destruction. It is estimated that only 2500-3000 birds remain, while 95 to 110 young are produced in a year."

Add to maroon the color green, which, is also a plummage dominant of parrots and we have the official colors of the University of the Philippines.

I understand what you meant of UP sounding ridiculous for affiliating itself with parrots but think of it this way, why would the UP administration allow a continuous proliferation of those FOPC packets every year for freshmen from UP Diliman to UP Manila to UPLB if what these say is untrue?

Respectfully yours,

Maria Preciosa T. Cardenas

0927-397-6134; 699-6152

mark rejano <rejano_mark@yahoo.com> wrote:

First, allow us to thank you for dutifully watching our show.  We likewise appreciate the effort you took in calling us about an alleged error on our part regarding a question in the atras abante round, the question is "Sa Pinoy schools, Anong ibon ang nasa logo ng University of the Philippines".  Please see below response letter of Mr. Borrameda Research Consultant for Pilipinas, Game ka na ba?

Dear Ms Cardenas,

Not a few people, including many UP graduates and students, think that the bird on the official logo or seal of the University of the Philippines is a parrot. It's an almost embarrassing misconception that finally should be corrected.

The bird on the logo is, and has always been, an eagle – an American bald eagle, to be exact. A simple visual examination of the logo would easily affirm this.

So why an eagle? UP was established by the American colonial government in Manila in 1908, with Murray Bartlett as first president. In fact, the original name of UP was AUP or American University of the Philippines. Not surprisingly, the colonialists chose to enshrine on the university's seal Uncle Sam's avian symbol of power and "independence."

The parrot myth started after the creation of the NCAA (there was no UAAP then) cage wars in the 1920s. The UP squad was then called the Maroons and Greens (now Fighting Maroons). When Ateneo later on decided to change its team's name from the Blue and Whites to the Blue Eagles (although no eagle appears on the school's official logo), some folks at the Pamantasan ng Pilipinas felt that UP should also have an animal sports symbol. And when certain individuals thought that the bird on the UP logo could not be an eagle because it was already Atenean property, the parrot fallacy was born.

Symbolism-wise, the parrot is an unwise choice to represent the State University's scholarly image and spirit of "makibaka, huwag matakot.' Although popular as a pet, this bird often denotes the inability to think for oneself, repeating only what others say. In many cultures around the world, it is a symbol of babbling humans - and not of erudite ones.

Please visit the websites of various UP organizations, especially the UP Vanguard, where the origin of the UP Eagle is well-explained.

Thank you for your valuable thoughts and time.

Sincerely,

BONG BARRAMEDA

Research Consultant

Pilipinas, GKNB?

Thanks again

Mark Rejano

Executive Producer

Pilipinas, Game ka na ba?

GKNB: UP's 'Bird'

Amf! So totally unacceptable!

Calling Ms. Kris Aquino! Unfortunately for your researchers and writers, I was able to catch today's episode of your hit show, "Game Ka Na Ba" (GKNB). Not that I'm being smug about the booboo that I heard but there's just no excuse.

During the "Atras-Abante" round, you asked the question of what type of bird is on the seal/logo of the University of the Philippines (UP). There were choices but an eager contestant named Al, who might be from UP enough to answer without knowing the choices, answered that it was a parrot. The next few seconds were all but a blur when you clearly rejected his answer and went off to say that the answer of another contestant (eagle) was correct.

Not wanting to let this pass, I immediately grabbed the phone and for three times, I tried to call ABS-CBN to report this incident. The first time, I got transferred to your show but nobody's answering. The second time, the operator hang up on me thinking my call was just a prank call. The third time, a certain Beverly from the ABS-CBN call center were kind enough to listen to me and forward my concern to your staff.

Thanks to Beverly, a few hours later, a certain Liza from the ABS-CBN call center as well, gave me an unexpected call. She tried to explain why the "eagle" was the correct answer narrating tidbits from how my beloved alma mater was established by the Americans to the blurry part about the bird. She got it all correct save for the bird.

Mark, probably one of your staff writers, according to Liza, would give me a call. As of this time, I haven't received any call yet. Good if he would call. Okay if he would choose not to.

Again, not that I'm being smug about this discovery. But a friend of mine, a former copywriter from ABS-CBN confirmed that a few days ago, one of her friends, an editor currently working also in ABS-CBN, also insisted on the fact that the bird was actually a parrot, not an eagle.

For the 411, the parrot, unknown to many, is the bird on UP's seal simply for the fact that the American founders of the university found the said bird to be intelligent. This fact is known to many UP students, especially the freshmen, who are given this one as a piece of trivia on their orientation day. I should know. I got the brochure about this one too.

ABS-CBN, through its shows, should be careful about what it presents on air. It is part of its corporate social responsibility to be always truthful and accurate. GKNB is especially known as a great source of general information and seemingly small trivia and therefore, every member of its staff  -  from the researchers to the director to the host herself  -  should not be any less credible over what it presents to its avid televiewers.

(The author was  a Chalk Magazine Official Student Correspondent for UP Diliman during her college days. The magazine is part of ABS-CBN Publishing and its current editor, Ms. Vicky Montenegro, and its lifestyle editor, Ms. Nana Caragay, were from UP Diliman as well.)