Carl Ocab won the distinction of being among the Top Ten Emerging Influential Blogs of 2007. It's probably because of the posts which were unbelievably well written... for a 13-year old. So, who really wrote those posts?

When I first read the posts at CarlOcab.com (Make Money Online With A 13-Year Old), I skeptically imagined: "Naa... there's no way a young teener is behind this. There has definitely got to be some pretty heavy ghostwriting involved here."

I didn't think much about it at that time. Afterall, if whoever is behind the site is able to make it succeed, then good for him or her.

Anyway, Carl wins in the TTEIB for 2007, and then recently people have been blogging about the possible identity of the true writer. Could it be Carl's father, Alan Ocab?

From Noemi Dado's Ethical Blogging:

What infuriates me is when a parent uses their minor child to create a blog and misrepresent some facts!

...

First of all, what kind of values is the parent instilling to the child that fudging the truth is OK?

Secondly, what happens to the child? The child grows up confused and cannot meet people’s unrealistic expectations. The truth will come out sooner or later.

What next?

And from Andrew Dela Serna's Making Money At Home Through Your 13-Year Old Child:

When and if his cover is blown by the blogosphere and, God forbid, the media, only he will end up as the major casualty. How can he protect himself? How can he handle all the negative press? When all the damage is done, how can he move on? Those questions are among the reasons why I held back in exposing this story a long time ago. So I let the status quo continue. But Noemi’s right. If we do continue to keep our silence we become a part of the conspiracy

(I don't quite get Noemi's reaction to Jomar Hilario's (?) statement about the child writing the blog. But anyway...)

I got in touch with Carl and Alan and asked them who wrote those posts at CarlOcab.com, and they separately replied that the posts were written by Carl. No ghostwriting involved.

When I was 13, I hardly wrote. And while I'm still struggling with the thought that a teenager writes that well (and even better than a number of much older folks, myself included), I'm left with the fact that there is no evidence that suggests Carl did not write those posts.

So, Carl, keep up the good work and the great writing! It's good to see young people make their mark using the written word. May you help inspire more Filipinos to blog profitably.

UPDATES:

Connie Veneracion: Disclosure policies, Carlocab and blogging ethics:

Why should the blog of a child serving as a mouthpiece of the father, if it were indeed true, be less ethical than those of bloggers serving as mouthpieces for business entities, for instance, when they blog about products being promoted by PR companies, in exchange for free dinner, drinks, “being seen” and benefiting from the subsequent rounds of “link love”?

According to Google's cached copy (Aug 14, 1am gmt+0800), Noemi Lardizabal-Dado appears in the list of Section Editors of the Pinoy Moms Network.

Abe Olandres meets the Kid Blogger:

I believe the father and the son has a good relationship. I couldn’t remember talking with my dad about serious stuff around Carl’s age. I don’t think Carl is being forced to go into internet marketing/problogging by his father (we’ll he has access to his dad’s credit card, that’s for sure). The kid had other previous interests in sports, music and even girls. That being said, I don’t believe there was any issue of exploitation whatsoever.

Connie Veneracion believes that sometimes, defense is not enough:

But if adults attack my kids, in any way, even in the guise of protecting them, there will be no IFs. I won’t be on the defensive. I’d attack the attackers and let spill their blood. In short, offense is the better way to go.
...
The biggest irony is that the most judgmental of people, and the noisiest of the lot, are those who fancy themselves to be some sort of moral guardians. It’s just too tempting to ask who the heck assigned the role to them.

The BLOGMeister: My thoughts on the Carlocab issue...

I agree on the stand of the Connie regarding the criticisms made by Mr. Dela Serna, Noemi and all of their cohorts. The problem of those detractors is that they are afraid of the other bloggers. They only want those in their "circle" to be famous. They want to be the ones setting standards. It has been proven through time that these so called "bloggers" would not accept anything if it does not meet their standards.

LATtex wonders: Do I have to worry about a mafia in the Philippines?

Do I have to worry when, say, five years from now my daughter launches a blog when she is 7 years old and her English appears impeccable, which isn't far from impossible because she exhibits a very good command at the language at merely 2 and a half years old?

Gibbs Cadiz reads Jayvee Fernandez, then points down and says: Misrepresents, my foot

So soon after that dust-up about whether the 13-year-old CarlOcab is really responsible for his remarkably grown-up blog (about which I have my own thoughts, but they're for a later post), Jayvee Fernandez has stirred up another fracas with his accusation that someone was "misrepresenting" the "treasure" that is the Philippine blogosphere in a talk with "industry experts:"

Connie Veneracion (Manila Standard Today): Will Internet TV usher in a new era?

If you have a twisted sense of humor, you can almost say that the blogging community developed its own Lifestyle section that strongly echoed the culture of mainstream media. To a certain extent, it is almost as if Web logs have ceased to be an alternative medium because bloggers have entered the mainstream culture. And they won’t even dare criticize traditional media today lest they lose the chance, no matter how small, of getting mentioned in the newspaper or getting invited to appear in some TV show. It just seems so ironic that these bloggers like to call themselves “publishers in the new media.” New media? Give me a break.

The good news is that, at this point, this is just a small group of bloggers that I am talking about—although they work hard at representing themselves to be influential. The bad news is just how many, especially among the younger set, want to join their ranks.

Aug 16: Noemi Lardizabal-Dado no longer appears among the Pinoy Moms Network Section Editors. Dine Racoma says in the Pinoy Big Brother (Pinoy Blogosphere Edition):

And to the mothers in Pinoy Moms Network, even if for a while I struggled and thought of taking leave, let me assure you that I will continue and hold on to my place as editor of the parenting section. Let us continue to share our mommy thoughts and experiences, and proclaim to the world the beauty of the Filipina, in heart and in deed.

(The Carl Ocab - Ethical Blogging domino effect continues...)

BOTTOMLINE: I'm still waiting for proof from the accuser(s). Preferably, proof collected before the blog-post-that-started-it-all was written. Now if there's no proof forthcoming... Oh well. At least now I know better.

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"Carl Ocab's Ghostwriter"
First Posted: August 11, 2007 | Filed in: General

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