Year Review: 22 Things that Dominated 2022

The year that’s about to close has been messy. Chinese words (?) and hygiene-related objects have dominated politics thanks to Sara Daughter-te, Lionel Messi finally lifted Argentina for the World Cup title after beating 2018 champs France, self-proclaimed “free-speech absolutist” Elon Musk made noise after suspending the accounts of journalists and comedians critical of him, and Zelenskyy and Ukraine have been standing up to Putin’s Russia.

Let’s revisit the year by listing down 23 things that dominated the headlines, conversations, and memes this year. Below are the things in alphabetical order.

Angat Buhay

After losing to the former senator and namesake son of ousted former dictator, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., the former vice president Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo founded the non-profit, non-government organization Angat Buhay Foundation. Robredo said that it will be a waste to let go of the momentum that was started by the pink army that supported her candidacy, so Angat Buhay will continue their anti-poverty advocacy and pandemic response programs. (See also: Uniteam below.)

Confidential Funds

There’s intelligence funds, and then there’s, well, confidential funds. Both funds are used for surveillance, but what sets them apart is who’s using them. Intelligence funds are used by uniformed personnel (the military, the police) to gather information regarding national security. Confidential funds, on the other hand, are used by civilians to gather information on things that will help a certain office’s mandate be successful. Confidential funds became the talk of the town when both Marcos and his vice president Sara Duterte (since she is also the Department of Education secretary) asked confidential funds from Congress. This is something Robredo never really used and something DepEd shouldn’t really need because it can do its mandate by just doing surveys or research. After all, it’s one of the few departments whose top ranking appointees should know a thing or two about research. Anyway, I digress.

Marcos’ P4.5 billion confidential fund was approved while Duterte was given P530 million in confidential funds (P500 million for the Office of the Vice President; P30 million for DepEd). A few days later, in a television interview with Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, she proposed a nationwide toothbrush drill in schools. More on toothbrush below.

Eight Billion

On Nov. 15, the world’s population has reached 8 billion this year and the symbolic eight billionth baby is Filipino Vinice Mabansag. In Oct. 31, 2011, when the world’s population reached 7 billion, another Filipina baby was selected as one of the symbolic 7 billionth baby. I say “one of the” because there was another baby girl in India who was selected as a protest against the gender gap there. Sex-selective abortions there were causing a drop in the girl to boy ratio in some provinces. This year, instead of turning the attention to issues like that in India 11 years ago, the conversations turn into talks about the climate crisis and its link to overpopulation. Here’s an excerpt from Zaria Gorvett’s “How many people can Earth handle?” which was written just two months before we reached 8 billion (I encourage you to read this in whole through this link):

 According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 38% of the planet’s land surface is used to grow food and other products (such as fuel) for humans or their livestock – five billion hectares (12.4 billion acres) in total.
And though our ancestors lived among giants, hunting mammoths, mega-wombats and 450kg (1,000lb) elephant birds, today we are the dominant vertebrate species on land – a grouping that includes everything from geckos to lemurs. By weight, humans account for 32% of terrestrial vertebrates, while wild animals amount to just 1% of the total. Livestock accounts for the rest.
The wilderness-preservation charity WWF has found that wildlife populations declined by two thirds between 1970 and 2020 – in that time, the global population more than doubled.
In fact, as our dominance increases, many environmental changes have been occurring in parallel – and a number of prominent environmentalists, from the primatologist Jane Goodall, famous for her study of chimpanzees, to the naturalist and tv presenter Chris Packham, have voiced their concerns. In 2013, Sir David Attenborough explained his views in an interview with the Radio Times: “All our environmental problems become easier to solve with fewer people, and harder – and ultimately impossible – to solve with ever more people.”
For some people, alarm over humanity’s environmental footprint has led them to decide to have fewer or no children themselves – including The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who announced in 2019 that they would have no more than two for the sake of the planet. In the same year, Miley Cyrus also declared that she wouldn’t have children yet because the Earth is “angry.”

Gorvett, “How many people can earth handle?”

Elizabeth II

Elizabeth II, the queen of the United Kingdoms, passed away this year, passing her throne to Charles III. Some Commonwealth nations saw it as a chance to question their ties to the monarchy. Yeah, they should.

Eraserheads

For many years, not many believed that an Eraserheads reunion will happen. But on Dec. 22, the legendary Filipino rock band Eraserheads performed together once again in their “Eraserheads Huling El Bimbo 2022.” Named after their most recognizable song “Huling El Bimbo,” the concert featured original members Ely Buendia, Buddy Zabala, Marcus Adoro, and Raimund Marasigan. Eheads is considered as the most influential Filipino band.

Fei shang, gao shing…

I don’t what the fuck this means.

Grand Lotto

The Grand Lotto winners last Oct. 1 were not just 1, not just 2, but 433, who split the P236 million jackpot into P545,000 each. That was possible because all six numbers that were drawn that day were all divisible by 9—9, 18, 27, 36, 45, and 54. Everyone was puzzled and many suspected that there were irregularities. The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) was quick to defend their integrity and even aired testimonials from some of the 433 winners. They also said that the winners were loyal to the combination of numbers.

Johnny Depp

Okay, I know. This is a name. But a name’s a word, so let’s include this dude in this list. Amber Heard should also be in this list, but apparently, Depp and Will Smith were search more times than she was. (See also: Will Smith below.) The high profile defamation trial involving the two formerly married couple was the most publicized story involving two people from the entertainment industry this year. This was due to an opinion piece written by Heard on The Washington Post that did not mention Depp’s name. Heard referenced being a victim of sexual violence in her opinion piece. In the end, the jury sided with Depp, said that the piece was defamatory and malicious against the actor, and awarded him $10.35 in damage.

REMINDER: Despite the verdict in the Depp v Heard trials, it is important to note that all allegations of domestic abuses should be taken seriously and not gaslighted.

Long COVID

The pandemic isn’t over. In fact, we’re learning a lot about the COVID-19 more and more each month. Long COVID isn’t new, but more people are telling their post-COVID conditions experiences. While some people who survive COVID-19 within a few days to a couple of weeks, some are reporting that they experience lingering symptoms for more than a couple of weeks, months, or even years. The worst thing about this is that most symptoms are debilitating and painful. Learn more about long COVID here.

Maharlika Wealth Fund

The Marc—I mean, the Maharlika Wealth Fund has been described as a “solution looking for problems.” As a sovereign wealth fund (SWF) designed to grow the country’s funds through investments in stocks, bonds, and other forms of investments globally. Its proponents, two of which are relatives of the president (his cousin and his son), were pushing for a P250 billion seed money. The proposed bill met a lot of negative reactions, most of which were addressed through the rewriting of the bill. Originally, the President Marcos Jr. was supposed to heard the Maharlika board, but Marcos critics don’t trust him holding that amount of money. The original bill also included Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and the Social Security System (SSS) as sources of funds for the SWF. After outcries of contributors and pensioners, the bill’s authors removed the two. Here’s Ed Lingao explaining the Maharlika Wealth Fund.

Messi

Lionel Messi lead Argentina to earn the World Cup title this year, beating former champions France. It’s Argentina’s third win in the FIFA World Cup, but it’s Messi’s first, and some are considering him as the greatest player who’s ever played the sport. The Qatar World Cup was controversial because of both its human rights abuses and the corruption allegations against FIFA, but Messi’s win seems to have erased all of that in people’s memories, unfortunately. Both Messi and France’s Kylian Mbappe were favorites in the finals, but the latter scored more than the former. All of France’s three scores were from Mbappe (two from penalty kicks), but those three were equalled by two from Messi and another score from Angel Di Maria. So it all went down to the penalty shoot-out. Argentina scored four, while France only scored two. Messi said that he has no plans to retire yet. (See also: World Cup 2022 below)

Monkeypox

Maybe most of you don’t remember it anymore, but this year, there was a Monkeypox outbreak that killed more than 200 and infected close to 100,000 in 111 countries including the Philippines. In the Philippines, the first confirmed case was on July 19. Unlike COVID-19 that spreads through the air, Monkeypox is spread through sexual contact and rarely deadly. Of the four cases of Monkeypox in the country, luckily, nobody died.

Roe v Wade

In America, the landmark decision on the freedom to get abortion was overturned this year by its conservative Supreme Court, which ruled that the right to abortion was not “deeply rooted in this nation’s history or tradition,” making the anti-choicers and anti-lifers happier than ever. The legality of abortion in the United States, therefore, will be left to the decision of each state. So people in more conservative states will have no choice but to go to states with progressive and rational laws. So how about those who have no money to travel outside the states where they live? The conservatives in the US have just trapped them in a life that they do not want or deserve.

Targaryens

After three years of hating on the “Game of Thrones” season 8, we’re all finally back in the world of Westeros, but this time, through the show called “House of the Dragon,” which chronicles the drama, violence, and politics of being a Targaryen. The white-haired monarchs in the show are the ancestors of Daenerys Targaryen from “Game of Thrones.” Based on the book “Fire and Blood” by George RR Martin, the show’s first season tells the story of how Rhaenyra Targaryen and Alicent Hightower’s friendship were ruined by the misogyny in Westeros. I write about each episode here.

The Slap

Nothing really interesting ever happens in awards ceremonies, so on March 27 this year, Will Smith decided to change things up a little bit. After 2022 Oscars host Chris Rock made an inappropriate joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaved head due to spot baldness, Smith went up the stage, took a swing at the visibly anxious comedian, and then walked back to his chair.

Toothbrush

Vice President Sara Duterte, in her capacity as the Department of Education secretary, said that the country can develop a national culture of peace with mandatory toothbrush drills and she said that with a straight face. Now we don’t have to worry that the confidential funds won’t be used properly (/s). Duterte believes that toothbrushing can be used to teach children not just oral hygiene, but also following instructions. In other words, she wants to teach compliance through toothbrushing. For added context, she also said that they want to start them young: kindergarten.

Tumindig

The viral artwork “Tumindig” didn’t actually come out this year. Kevin Eric Raymundo of the Tarantadong Kalbo started the movement after his frustration over the government response during the COVID-19 pandemic. If you’ve seen the photo of the August Landmesser, the German guy who refused to do the “sieg heil” salute to Adolf Hitler, the idea is like that. Only that in Tumindig, there are fists bowing while a lone fist is standing upright. The bowing fists symbolize the blind loyalty to then president Rodrigo Duterte, whose trademark gesture is a clenched fist stuck out in eye or chest level. Meanwhile, the lone standing fist symbolizes activists. It’s the symbol of protesting in the Philippines and militants are usually seen clenching their fist above their heads during rallies. In Oct. 7, the Tumindog artwork won the Good Design Award 2022 by the Japan Institute of Design Promotion.

Twitter

Tweeting has been toxic even before Elon Musk. Apparently, the guy can make something bad even worse. Musk’s take over of Twitter started on Oct. 27. For that short amount of time, nothing good ever happened from that platform. First, he laid off some 7,500 employees. Then he put the blue checkmark up for sale. Previously, the blue check marks were from prominent individuals . That was helpful so that people would know whether they were interacting or getting the information from accounts who really as who they say they are. Inevitably, some comedians bought blue checkmarks and then said they were Musk, but they were immediately suspended from the platform. Then there was a mass suspension of journalists who were covering Musk, Twitter, and the suspension of the Twitter account tracking Musk’s private plane using public and legally obtained information. On Dec. 19, Musk tweeted a poll asking his followers whether or not he should step down as the Twitter CEO. After over 17 million Twitter users answered the poll, the “Yes” won with 57.5 percent votes. Satisfying af.

Uniteam

Uniteam was the nickname of the Marcos-Duterte tandem during the elections. The nickname is a combination of the words “unity” and “team,” because creativity is their best asset (/s). Throughout the campaign period, the two and their supporters have been advocating for unity, something which actually just means, “If you don’t agree with us, you’re our enemy.” But asking for unity is a simplistic call. What a country instead needs is respecting and protecting the voice of the minorities.

Wordle

World didn’t come out this year, but this simple game really took of this year. Played once daily, this word game lets you guess the word of the day on a 5×6 grid. It’s a five-letter word and you get only six chances to guess. If you get the a letter right on the correct square, a grid turns to green. If a grid turns to yellow, that means the letter you put on it is in the word, you just didn’t type if on the correct grid. It’s addictive and you’ll want to play it more each. Here are sample games I played:

World Cup 2022

The World Cup this year was held in Qatar, the fourth richest country in the world. The “biggest sporting event” in the world faced a lot of controversies from the climate-related woe, to the human rights abuses of Qatar towards migrant workers from South Asia and Africa, to the bribery and corruption scandals that will forever haunt it. FIFA became a self-enrichment scheme for some of its officials before. In 2014, even Sepp Blatter, who was then its president, admitted that declaring Qatar as the host for the 2022 World Cup was a mistake. When the country was building the stadiums to be used for the World Cup, many migrant workers were not allowed to leave their employees. Many of them died. Some 6,750 perished while working on some of the stadiums. The small kingdom denied those numbers and said there were not more than 40 work-related deaths. This year, they placed the number at 400 to 500. Still a very low number compared to the numbers from the Supreme Council of Health in Qatar; the embassies of India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka in Qatar; the Nepalese foreign employment board; and the Bangladeshi Wage Earners’ Welfare Board reported.

Zelenskyy

Ukraine and its president, former comedian Volodymyr Zelenskyy, were in the headlines a lot this year for reasons all of us can really admire—they’re standing up to bullies Vladimir Putin and Russia. On Feb. 24, Putin announced that they were doing a “special military operation” in Ukraine. Throughout the Russian offensive, Zelenskyy and his family remained in Ukraine to be with their fighting forces. TIME Magazine declared Zelensky and the “Spirit of Ukraine” as the person of the year 2022.

NOTE: /s means sarcasm

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