MANILA, Philippines?At a recent arts and media forum for Filipinos living and studying abroad, we got to see how ?connected? to local show biz and news programs they were, despite their physical absence from the Philippines.

Thanks to Filipino cable channels and DVDs of local movies, the young people we interacted with proved that, due to the availability of any number of high-tech communication links, ?out of sight? need no longer mean ?out of mind? or ?out of touch.?

The students were hip to the latest developments in the biz, and could discuss local TV programs with stunning specificity and insight.

On the positive side, when we asked how the popular programs they viewed made them better people, we got a flurry of enthusiastic replies: Angelica Panganiban?s character in the ?Rubi? teleserye taught them how not to be submissive and instead be palaban. Contestants? tales of woe on ?Wowowee? got good marks because viewers learned from them how to handle their own problems, and their stories were easy to relate to.

On the other hand, a student wondered why the technical values, like lighting, weren?t up to the standards he expected. We surmised that these gaffes and glitches could be due to the fact that some teleserye are taped in a mad rush to cut production costs, so the ?pwede na ?yan? mentality prevails.

More to the point, another student complained that there were too many imported telenovelas, and quite a number of local series are mere adaptations or updates on old material. Clearly, she wasn?t happy about this, and wanted our TV channels to be more creative and less ?safe? and indolent.

An interesting and instructive discussion ensued when we brought up the weird penchant of the ?Showtime? talent tilt for ?firing? one of its judges per week. Some students agreed that this was a big booboo that deserved our collective boo! But others didn?t find it quite so weird.

They patiently explained to us that the show did this, in their view, to make money from the text messages when viewers voted the judges off. In addition, they said, the ?musical chairs? of judges was good, because it kept things fresh and varied. And it gave viewers a voice on the tilt?s decisions.

We, however, continue to decry this innovation, because it waters down the judging process. We also find it weird that the show?s judges don?t just evaluate the contestants? talents, they now have to come up with ?sample? mini-performances themselves! These ?innovations? have gotten way out of hand.