Filipinos are ignorant fools

I’ve previously written about how some Filipinos overreacted (more examples, read the responses as well: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)  at a piece of satire not even aimed at us. It seems everybody including Manong Tambay and one’s local tongressman congressman foamed at the mouth when they read the part about “nation of servants”. The writer, Chip Tsao, was under such pressure from the Philippine  warlords-thieves elected officials that at one point, he was blacklisted from entering the country (since he is not a 50 something white male in search of a 20 something Filipina wife, there’s no reason why he should visit the country).  Not to be outdone, the Filipina workers in Hong Kong staged their own rally to protest Chip Tsao and his employer. There were a couple of things that contributed to the success of  that Hong Kong protest. The Jollibee fast food restaurants were closed that day, and the Wowowee event scheduled to visit the city was postponed. Everything else being equal, having Jollibees nearby and a Wowowee event will lead to Filipinos entering a state of euphoria. Not that day it seems. The angry Filipinas marched and let their voices be heard. Unbeknownst to them, they also proved two things. First, the educational system of the Philippines is of low quality. The people who got angry couldn’t read between the lines. The foolish Filipinos who brag about their Ateneo, De La Salle, and UP degrees (all  useless outside the country) and got angry at Chip demonstrated how dumb they are. Secondly, the “controversy” proved that Filipinos don’t have an indepth grasp of English despite the often cited claim of Filipinos having the best English skillsets in Asia.

The whole event demonstrates that either some Filipinos can’t read between the lines or they love to be part of the herd (pasawsaw). I came across this post made by Joseph Dent in the excellent Indolent Indio that explains the matter to the mangmangs (ignorant) who need to be reeducated in Efren Penaflorida’s mobile classroom.

“My fellow Pinoys, Mr. Chip Tsao is defending Filipinos and Filipino maids and is actually ridiculing these so-called “Chinese patriots”.

When Tessie Tomas pretends to be a rich matrona in “Abangan ang Susunod na Kabanata” and then says outrageous, ridiculous mata pobre things, Tessie Tomas is not really mata pobre, instead, she is exposing the mata pobre of the Filipino upper class. That is how this article works as well: satire. In the article, Mr. Tsao is pretending to be one of these Chinese patriots. He then proceeds to say outrageous, over-the-top, racist statements to show them that the viewpoints of his fellow Chinese citizens are in fact outrageous, over-the-top and racist!

In the first paragraph, he exposes the hypocrisy of the Chinese government when they turn a blind eye on Russia and Japan’s violations (who are big nations), but suddenly become a bully when it comes to the Philippines.

He then exposes what you guys are angry about: that some of his fellow Chinese citizens in fact look down on the Philippines as a “nation of servants”, and that’s why the government is not afraid to bully us. (note Mr. Tsao does not believe we are a nation of servants, he is still playing the part of the proud Chinese patriot)

Now there really is no Louisa. You guys got so angry about how he treated his domestic helper, but she doesn’t really exist. Again, this is still part of the act. When he mentions Louisa has a degree in International Politics and then shows her a map, he is exposing how ridiculous the Chinese are because Mr. Tsao knows that according to the map, the Spratly Islands are in fact close(r) to the the Philippines and according to International Politics, we do in fact have a right to lay a claim on it.

In the next paragraph, Mr. Tsao is actually defending the dignity of Filipino maids. He is condemning his fellow Chinese citizens for their lack of respect and appreciation for their maids who work long hours for them, and showing them what hypocrites they are for hating on the Philippines when in fact they rely so heavily on these upstanding Filipino citizens to keep their households running smoothly.

Then he actually points out that the Chinese are wrong to belittle Philippines given the fact that we have good ties with the USA. Finally, he ridicules the propaganda of his own government back in eh day.

So you see, everything he said here, what he really meant is the opposite. He’s just acting the part of the “racist Chinese patriot”. He is exposing how offensive and ridiculous his fellow citizens and his government are, and the fact that we got so angry proves his point: that how his fellow citizens and his government are behaving is very shameful.

Let’s not throw abuses at Mr. Tsao. He is on our side.”

tl:dr Mag isisp ka! Critical thinking skills won’t kill you.

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18 reasons why the Philippines suck

The following are 18 compelling reasons why the Philippines suck. I got this from a blog reply. Credit to Section404 who posted the list here.

Quote

(1) For P50, the Filipino’s vote can be bought.
(2) For P500, the Filipino can have someone assassinated; just look at all those murderers loose on motorbikes.
(3) Tsimays literally go after White Americans, have themselves impregnated, go to the States, and speak in broken English, thinking that they look like Whites themselves.
(4) Filipinos always ask to be “treated” to lunch or dinner.
(5) Wherever there is free food, you will find a large congregation of Filipinos, especially those from the slum areas.
(6) The Filipino wants to borrow money; if someone refuses, they immediately badmouth the person.
(7) Try collecting debt from someone who owes you, and you will end up either being the “vile” person, or you’ll get yourself killed.
(8) Look at all the Filipino shows; their jokes are corny.
(9) Is it a wonder if Filipinos born abroad hides the fact that they come from a Filipino lineage ? Lots of them in the US.
(10) Filipinos are copycats; cannot get good ideas on their own. Lots of your TV shows are actually copied from either Asian or American shows.
(11) Filipinos are fond of asking for alms; go to any church and you’ll see lots of beggars lining up on the streets.
(12) Filipinos are always embroiled in controversy; remember the Nursing Licensure exams, or whatever that was where the answer was leaked ? Shame on you !
(13) Look at Filipino politics! Dynasties abound !
(14) Whenever a male foreigner marries a Filipino woman / maid, can you see her entire FAMILY tagging along, being fed by the foreigner ? Poor chap ! From the parents to the aunts to the 3rd or 4th degree cousins … they all live under one roof … poor foreigner.
(15) Tagalogs hate the Visayans and those from the south, while the Visayans call those from Manila Imperialists.
(16) Look at your senators and congressmen! TV personality Loren Legarda, action star Lito Lapid, and a host of other people who basically don’t have half the brains to do their jobs ? heh !
(17) Apo Hiking Society has a song “American Junk.” They basically castigated the Americans. Yet they applied for visas to hold a concert in Las Vegas ? Goodness, how thick could you get !
(18) Your leftist groups, like Gabriela, always takes to the streets chanting anti-American slogans! Yet for all you know, the aid coming from America is in millions of dollars helping your economy stand on it’s feet. Ingrates!

End Quote

It’s unfortunate that many of the 18 points above have at least an element of truth at their cores. The non Filipino who wrote that is quite cynical, but it’s hard to refute his main points.

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Charice Pempengco and how a copycat exposes Filipino mediocrity

Charice Pempengco is an odd teen copycat musician.  By analyzing her, Filipino mediocrity can be exposed.

Who is this Charice in the first place? She has no distinct identity as a musician. She has no song of her own despite already having two albums. She keeps singing the same songs already made popular by Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, and Jojo. Charice’s latest single, Note To God, wasn’t eve good enough to be picked by Jojo’s management to be her single. Yet Charice kept singing the same old Diane Warren composed song like her life depended on it.

What makes Charice Pempenco peculiar is how her fame exposes Filipino mediocrity and flaws. First and foremost, I’m generalizing, but I don’t mean to state that all Filipinos are that way. Since getting noticed by some Americans (Elen Degeneres, Oprah, and the Canadian David Foster), some Filipinos have gone batshit insane in supporting Charice. That’s odd because before being noticed, Charice was just a runner-up to some singing show. In short, she was nothing special before being invited to the Elen Degeneres and Oprah shows.

The delayed support of Charice by Filipinos highlights a key flaw of Filipinos.  Many Filipinos crave the validation of foreigners. They value and strive for anything foreign whether it’s foreign commodities or a foreign spouse. It’s rather sad that many would rather pay 400 something pesos for a cup of Starbucks Coffee over locally grown Kapeng Barako. It’s rather sad that many would value an imported can of corned beef over something locally made that might be more fresh.

The craving for foreign validation sadly extends to entertainment. Very few were fans of Charice or Arnel Pineda before they were noticed by Americans. After Arnel Pineda was picked to be the lead singer of Journey, many Filipinos became fan of the band to the point that many Filipinos wave the flag of the Philippines at Journey concerts. Charice was told she was ugly and wouldn’t make it in Philippine entertainment, but with Oprah’s support, she now has millions of Filipino fans.

The need to be recognized by Americans highlight a key weakness of the Filipino mind. Indian movies and songs are a joke to many Filipinos. Indians are referred to with offensive names and slurs. Nonetheless, when Americans started to like Slumdog Millionaire ,its song Jai Ho became the hottest thing around. Jai Ho was performed and covered in many Filipino variety shows. The film itself was belatedly shown in theaters after it won many Oscar awards. The trend of copying American entertainment trends could be explained by the colonial history of the country.  From 1898 to 1946, the country was a colony of the United States. Nonetheless, the Philippines is not a complete lap-dog of the US entertainment industry. When the Da Vinci Code was making boatloads of money in the US with hardly any sign of an official ban, Philippine society was embarrassing progressives and independent thinkers. The film was banned in Manila, and many Catholic Church officials in the country called for boycotting the film. There were even petitions for the president to do something to prevent the film from being shown. Preseident Macapagal Arroyo, a cunning cheater, made one of her better decisions by sparing the country from being a laughing stock of the world.

Charice’s rise to fame also exposes how superficial Filipinos can be. Here is a singer with no song of her own, but just because she has a recording deal in the US, she is the toast of Filipinos everywhere. Nobody dares to question the artistic capacity of the singer. Nobody demanded original material from a so called “international artist”. Nobody dared to criticize the lack of originality of Charice.  What is important to them is that the singer has appeared at the Elen and Oprah shows. Nobody dares to mention that David Foster, Charice’s producer, is a has been . Foster has had very few Top40 hits in this decade.

More worrisome is how Charice’s lack of identity explains the lack of identity of many Filipinos. It has been said that Filipinos are “lesser” Asians than other Asians. It has also been said that Filipinos are little brown Americans. While both are generalizations, there is an element of truth at their cores. International musicians have their own cultural identity even when they try to make it in the US. Hikaru Utada and Ayumi Hamasaki didn’t ditch their Japanese identities. Enrique Iglesias didn’t hide his Spanish roots (and he acknowledges his half Filipino roots as well). Shakira didn’t shed her  Latin roots. Even Daddy Yankee didn’t drop the Reggaeton portion of his act. The odd part is when a Filipino musician tries to break through, he or she puts on the best attempt to out Americanize the Americans. Why is that the case?

Through their tacit support for Charice, Filipinos acknowledge that they can never make it in the global stage with a Filipino identity. Charice is mimicking Americans and Canadians. By supporting Charice, Filipinos demonstrate that the key to stardom and success is to try to become anything but themselves.

Worse of all, by supporting Charice, Filipinos demonstrate that it is acceptable na “puwede na lang” mediocrity as long as pupuriin at susuportahan ng mga Kano.

Mayroon akong hula na si “Nicole” ay masaya na despite what allegdly happened basta bigyan siya ng pera at papeles. I realize that my “Nicole” comment is below the belt and ugly. The “Nicole” case demonstrates how much Filipino mediocrity and kowtowing will support the big dogs of this world even if that big dog is heavily in debt to some country full of people that Filipinos routinely call “Intsik beho”.

Note how this person and commenters missed the point of constructive criticism here.

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