{"id":127212,"date":"2014-07-02T00:01:28","date_gmt":"2014-07-01T18:31:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=127212"},"modified":"2014-07-08T01:23:42","modified_gmt":"2014-07-07T19:53:42","slug":"a-beer-with-jesus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/a-beer-with-jesus\/","title":{"rendered":"A Beer With Jesus"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Udan Fernando<\/a><\/span>\u00a0–<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Udan<\/a>Manila is largely a Catholic city but the nights there are hardly pious! Bars and pubs in Manila offer\u00a0different things \u2013 some are discos, some are karaoke joints (aka Videokes \u2013 a new term I picked up!),\u00a0some are go\u2010go bars, some are comedy clubs, and others are wholesome, family\u2010style restaurants that\u00a0stay open late at night to serve alcohol and \u2018pulutan\u2019 <\/i>\u2010 finger food.<\/p>\n

The Bar I visited a couple of months back is called ‘The Conspiracy’<\/i>, a hip place where political activists, scholar\u2010activists and artsy Filipinos hang out. An old haunt of Imelda, the wife the late dictator Marcos, it has been turned into a cooperative\u2010owned bar. The Conspiracy is really a good place to chill, listen to music and chat.<\/p>\n

Preparing me for the Bar visit, a friend of mine said: \u201cmake sure you wear clothing that has a Maoist red\u00a0star or Che\u2019s face, or any communist\u2010related clothing so that you will be instantly accepted\u201d. She further\u00a0advised me to \u201crefer to friends as \u2018comrades\u2019 and show a disdain for everything relating to capitalism\u00a0will also increase my appeal\u201d. Unfortunately I haven\u2019t brought my Maoist stuff, so I put on a red t\u2019shirt\u00a0but realized that it\u2019s a Tommy Hilfiger one! And the Tommy flag was quite visible next to my chest!! So I\u00a0picked up a khaki\u2010coloured shirt. At the Conspiracy Bar I met Jesus! No, not the one you are thinking of, but Jesus Santiago aka Jess Santiago who is known for his progressive poetry and moving songs that reflect the social\u2010political realities in Philippine society. He was a constant figure in rallies and other protest actions during the rule of Marcos, and even after. His latest album carries songs about extra\u2010judicial killings and the desaparecidos <\/i>(the disappeared).<\/p>\n

\"Udana<\/a><\/p>\n

The chat with Jess was as refreshing as the many buckets of San\u2010Miguel beers we drank. Meeting Jess\u00a0and listening to his stories about Marcos \u2013 and his fall as a result of the EDSA Revolution \u2013\u00a0 lifted up the spirits and hope\u00a0 \u00a0I told Jess that anybody who\u2019s not toeing the line of the regime in Sri Lanka is called a traitor or a conspirator. Pat came the reply from Jess: \u201cComrade, you have come to the most legitimate place \u2013 The Conspiracy!\u201d and we ordered another bucket of San Miguel…<\/p>\n

\"Udan<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":126241,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-127212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-constitutional-reforms"],"yoast_head":"\nA Beer With Jesus - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/a-beer-with-jesus\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Beer With Jesus - Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[…]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/a-beer-with-jesus\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-07-01T18:31:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-07-07T19:53:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Udan.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"173\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"230\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/a-beer-with-jesus\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/a-beer-with-jesus\/\",\"name\":\"A Beer With Jesus - Colombo Telegraph\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/a-beer-with-jesus\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/a-beer-with-jesus\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Udan.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-07-01T18:31:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-07-07T19:53:42+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/a-beer-with-jesus\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/a-beer-with-jesus\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/a-beer-with-jesus\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Udan.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Udan.jpg\",\"width\":173,\"height\":230},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/a-beer-with-jesus\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A Beer With Jesus\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\",\"name\":\"Colombo Telegraph\",\"description\":\"In journalism truth is a process\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3\",\"name\":\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/colombo_telegraph\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A Beer With Jesus - Colombo Telegraph","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/a-beer-with-jesus\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A Beer With Jesus - Colombo Telegraph","og_description":"[…]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/a-beer-with-jesus\/","og_site_name":"Colombo Telegraph","article_published_time":"2014-07-01T18:31:28+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-07-07T19:53:42+00:00","og_image":[{"width":173,"height":230,"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Udan.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/a-beer-with-jesus\/","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/a-beer-with-jesus\/","name":"A Beer With Jesus - Colombo Telegraph","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/a-beer-with-jesus\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/a-beer-with-jesus\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Udan.jpg","datePublished":"2014-07-01T18:31:28+00:00","dateModified":"2014-07-07T19:53:42+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/a-beer-with-jesus\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/a-beer-with-jesus\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/a-beer-with-jesus\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Udan.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Udan.jpg","width":173,"height":230},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/a-beer-with-jesus\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A Beer With Jesus"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/","name":"Colombo Telegraph","description":"In journalism truth is a process","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3","name":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH"},"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/colombo_telegraph\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Udan.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127212"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127212\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":127526,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127212\/revisions\/127526"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}