Netflix's "Trese": A Source Of Pinoy Pride Or A Slap To Its Face?

TBH, I can't get over a couple of jokes I made towards Liza Soberano because of her resemblance to Meisa Kuroki-Akanishi and Risa Hontiveros-Baraquiel. I mean, take a look at the younger photos of Risa and you'll say they resemble Liza and Meisa. An interview featuring Liza is also available on Netflix with Trese After Dark. Liza is the voice of Alexandra Trese The comic book series is made in the Philippines. Now, it's become the Top One on Netflix Philippines this week. Is it really time to shout "PINOY PRIDE! PENOYS ARE DA GREATEST!" or is it not?

A bit of background of Trese and the cast. For one, Liza is a half-breed since her mother is a white woman named Jacquelyn Elizabeth HANLEY from the United States of America. Liza's accent is very American since she had some time in America. The writer of the series is a Filipino-CHINESE named Budjette TAN - sharing the same surname with the owner of Jollibee, Tony Tancaktiong. A Get Real Philippines article did write a really dumb article saying Liza is the sobering truth that Pinoy pureblood (which laughingly uses Jover Laurio as an example) isn't the answer. There were even some people who criticized Liza isn't "Filipino enough" for her role in Bagani. I guess the fact that the writer is a FILIPINO of CHINESE DESCENT and Liza is half-American might be two slaps on Pinoy Pride. For one, some are probably still obsessed with PENOY RACIAL PURITY in this day and age when we can't be sure who's still a Pure-Pino and who isn't. Did it even matter when Pia ALONZO Wurtzbach and Catriona MAGNAYON Gray are half-whites? For me, not at all. They're still Filipino regardless like every citizen of the Philippines. 

This also brings one thing that Trese might be a slap on the face of teleseryes too. I remembered I decided to check out the mini-series The Haunted starring Shaina Magdayao on ABiaS-CBN's Youtube channel. Yes, I did finish it. It really makes me think how ABiaS-CBN is stubborn to change the formula of teleseryes. The best ONGOING example right now is how Ang Probinsyano is truly UTTERLY POINTLESS. 1,300+ episodes and the plot isn't going anywhere. The series should've just ended on the year it first aired. Instead, we're getting more and more seasons. Can ABiaS-CBN really be proud of it right now that Liza is voicing Alexandra for the Tagalog version of Trese? If so, they should really see how the teleserye formula badly needs to change. I mean, if the teleseryes are only aired for Filipinos abroad but don't make a name for themselves - what's there to be proud about? The last I knew was that teleseryes got aired in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The latest memes from the show need to be addressed. There are many lines in Trese that show the defect of Philippine politics. In an earlier episode, there's one mayor who struck a deal with the aswangs by providing them human meat to eat. The mayor is later arrested. A line by the protagonist Alexandra also shows the problem. However, what Trese needs to address is the system as to why the monsters even exist. The root cause is the POOR SYSTEM that runs the Philippines. Hopefully, Trese doesn't get politicized because of the involvement of Liza herself. 

It's really time ABiaS-CBN really needs to change its ways if it expects to survive. They lost their franchise last 2020. The attitude of their celebrities was a far cry from the South Korean celebrities for a start. The one million signatures petition is still barely half a million. ABiaS-CBN was instrumental in demonizing constitutional reform. Sure, it was the right thing to do to give it back to the Lopezes after the Marcos Years ended. However, their arrogant attitude for the years to come REALLY ended up making them no better than the Marcoses. What they didn't realize is that they're not above the "best constitution in the world". Their violation of the 100% Pinoy media-only law (a prerequisite of the franchise) caused them to get yanked off-air. Now, ABiaS-CBN is forced to go digital. Will Trese really convince them to change their formula?