Hate Letter Against Filipinos
This is a hate letter coming from a radio talk show host Mr. Art Bell from Nevada. I don’t consider myself as patriotic but please read my reply below in BOLD LETTERS and send this to as many of your
friends as possible until it reaches him.
Subject: HATE LETTER
This is a very disturbing open E-mail letter to all Filipinos around
the world; specially here in North America!, from a man who has the power
to reach million of people. (he’s a radio talk host)
Please read on…………..
This is an open letter email by Art Bell, a radio talk show host in Nevada(more info in the email itself). Here is yet another person who has taken advantage of his power and privilege to use hateful words and racial stereotypes that breed further ignorance and intolerance in our society.
Art Bell is a talk radio host who has two shows that he broadcasts from his home in Nevada,
that is rebroadcast by 400 stations across the country.
He’s written 2 books. He lived in Okinawa, Japan for some years and had a radio program on the English station here. And, though it’s hard to believe after reading the following letter from him, he actually has been to the Philippines (he’s traveled fairly extensively around the world).
Check out his website listed at the end to get a who’s spreading this hateful ignorance. And letter is so degrading, I think it’s really important that everybody read this and not attack him, but respond to him in a civilized manner because otherwise his thoughts will be reaffirmed. Understand that not everyone has a viewpoint like we do, and that this is an opinion of someone who hopefully can be changed only by civil actions. - May Munoz
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Filipinos…..*make me puke* (Art Bell)
As we’ve all come to notice, in the past few decades, Filipinos have begun to infest the United States like some sort of disease. Their extensive involvement in the U.S. Armed Forces is proof of the trashy kind of qualities all Filipinos tend to exhibit on a regular basis. You can see this clearly by studying the attitudes and cultural Icons of most Filipino Americans.
Origins of Pinoys/Pinays:
Are they really Asian? Well we’ve come to accept the fact the Filipinos come from a part of the world known as SouthEast Asia. But the term “Asia” is used in the wrong way. You may notice that contemporary Filipino Americans try very hard to associate themselves with groups that we know as Asian. I cannot count the number of times I have seen a ‘Third World’ Filipino try to connect themselves to the Chinese or Japanese people. There is no connection and here’s why. The Philippines is a Third World country. Nothing respectable has EVER been created by Filipino people during our entire human history. Young Filipino men in America have become obsessed with “import racing”. They have an enormously perverted affection for Japanese cars. It’s a common phenomenon. In their minds, these Filipinos somehow believe that they are Asian and that it somehow connects them to Japanese people and Japanese cars. They often take credit for the ingenuity of Japanese people and say how it’s an “Asian thing”. This
term…”Asian thing” derived directly from African American slang “blackthang”. “It’s a black thang.” “It’s an asian thang.” You can see the connection. It’s even funnier that, in Japan, Filipinos are heavily discriminated against. The only filipinos that can live successfully in Japan are the filipino prostitutes. But that’s the case for most Filipino people no matter where they live in the world. Now we’ve come down to this fact…and it is a fact.
Nothing in Filipino Culture can be seen as Asian. They have no architectural, artistic, or cultural influence which is in ANY way, asian. Thinking of the great countries in Asia such as Japan, Korea, and China there is no way you can possibly connect the Philippine Islands. This assault by filipino americans to connect themselves with the great peoples of North East Asia is foul and disgusting. Try visiting a young filipino’s web site too. You’ll see something called the “Asian IRC Ring”. It has to do with the chatrooms. The most horrible thing about this is that these TRASHY people are trying to associate themselves with Asia again!! People in Asia don’t act like, this at all. What we are seeing here is the natural Filipino in it’s element with full access to technology and this is how they act! You will consistently see this behavior over and over again.
Another interesting thing is that these “thirdworld” people also frequent RC chatrooms such as #chinese #japan and #asian. They must believe that they are some how related racially or culturally to North Asians. But it’s completely WRONG! There might have been some distant contact With China and even less with Japan during World War II, but these people are actually more closely related to african americans and Mexican americans.
Do the parents of these young filipinos know what’s going on? Would they accept this? I believe that they would and do. This is the natural “Trash” element in filipinos manifesting itself. Nothing good has ever come from Philippines and I don’t believe anything good ever will.
Recognizing your Roots (A Message to Filipinos)To all filipino people:
Please recognize your ROOTS! You come from the Third World! You country is a disgusting and filthy place. Most people there live in poverty! Your culture has MUCH MORE SPANISH influence than chinese, and absolutely no JAPANESE influence whatsoever. People in Japan
and China, do not act like you. They do not constantly talk about sex and they have a MUCH HIGHER level of RESPECT for each other. There is NO WAY that you can connect yourself to Asia other than location. Your culture and technological advancement does not even come CLOSE to What Chinese, people have done in the past and what Japanese and Korean people are doing now! Everything you do is distinctly filipino. You cannot take credit for Japanese cars, video games, or Hentai! It’s not an “asian thing” it’s, an “American thing”. You have no concept of culture…no concept of asian ideas or asian philosophy! Can you demonstrate how you use Confucianism or Taoism in you everyday life?? You can’t. And you will NEVER be able to. I understand that you are trying to create an identity for yourselves as young people… but it is NOT related to Asia.
Your Identity is Filipino. That’s all you are. Just Filipino. Think about what that means….
Sincerely,
Art
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I find this funny, he is right in some ways where we, as Filipinos dont actually have an “Identity”. I think this is due to the confusion of our mixed races from Hispanic, Chinese, American and Malay origins. I see it in malls, imagine young generations wearing ski caps and ski goggles in a tropical country, baggy low rise pants like that of African Americans living in the Bronx of New York, not to mention endless whitening products being sold at department stores and drug stores. But his ignorance also blinds him from the other truth. That while we may glorify Anime shows and Japanese Internet gaming, he is not aware that a nameless Filipino may be responsible for some technical aspects of some Japanese software. He is not aware of our contribution to the the society in general .Technological advancements that may have aided post war navigations and landing on the moon. That the antibiotic Erythromycin was discovered by Dr. Abelardo Aguilar from Iloilo creating the brand “Ilosone”. Thomas Edison may have discovered the electric light bulb and the fluorescent lighting was thought up by Nikola Tesla. But the fluorescent lamp we use today was invented by Agapito Flores (a Cebuano named Benigno Flores of Bantayan Island, according to the Philippine Daily inquirer), a Filipino scientist. Americans helped then-Philippine leader Ramon Magsaysay to develop it for worldwide commerce.
That the personal physician of former U.S. Pres. Bill Clinton is Eleanor “Connie” Concepcion Mariano, a Filipina doctor who was the youngest captain in the US Navy. A Filipino writer Jose Rizal could read and write at age 2, and grew up to speak more than 20 languages, including Latin, Greek, German, French and Chinese. Or that a Filipino genius was responsible for the near hiatus in the PENTAGON and White HOuse nearly infiltrating their closely guarded secrets with the “ILOVEYOU” bug. Nuisance maybe, but still one heck of a ‘beautiful mind’…not to be underestimated.The list goes on and on, but who cares right? Certainly not Mr. Art Bell…Boy, I’m not surprised. Perhaps Art Bell does not know that although we consider ourselves ASIAN because we are strategically located in the Southeast asian region of which our nearest neighbors are Malays, ASIA does not mean only Chinese and Japanese race of people. Then maybe it is his connotation that “Asia” meant only our economically successful, paler brothers and he considers Malays such as Thais, Malaysians, Indonesians, and ourselves as a “Third World” race. Then it is “his” ignonimity that would make a civilized person of whatever race puke. Imagine literally connecting Chinese, Koreans and Japanese to the Philippine Islands which is archipelagos away from the countries he has mentioned. I also wonder where he got the impression that we aspire to be Japanese(???) Hispanics maybe but not the Japanese. But even Hispanics today do not mind sharing their “surnames” to their Asian brothers who they have colonized for 3 centuries.
Another sad reality that although most Filipinos working overseas are domestic helpers and prostitutes, who does he think educates the toddlers of Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and Tokyo? Parents of these countries rarely have time spent with their children, leaving them to their Filipino nannies. And with regards to prostitution. Filipinos are not the only ones working as one. I HARDLY SEE FILIPINOS STARRING IN PORN MOVIES. THERE MIGHT BE A FEW FILIPINOS WE HAVEN’T SEEN , BUT MOST ARE FROM MR. ART BELL’S RACE.
He also mentioned that we have no concept of culture..no concept of asian ideas or asian philosophy. How can we demonstrate Confucianism or Taoism in a Christian nation? IS HE INFORMED THAT THE PHILIPPINES IS THE ONLY PREDOMINANTLY CHRISTIAN/CATHOLIC NATION IN ASIA?! YOU HAVE TO USE COMMON SENSE IN A LOT OF THINGS SOMETIMES…
We do not need to create an identity for ourselves. We are who we are. Our identity stems from the anonymity we live in this world. How we contribute silently towards the progress of the world and not just one country. Although the Filipino blood may be tainted with malice, corruption, poverty and prostitution, it is not a perfect race… But so are the others. Maybe Mr. Art Bell needs to think about this. WE MAY NOT BE PERFECT MR. BELL BUT AT LEAST WE STILL HAVE VALUES. FOR ONE THING WE DONT PUT OUR AGING PARENTS IN NURSING HOMES BECAUSE “THEY’RE SIMPLY OLD AND WORTHLESS”. WE DONT HAVE AS MUCH NUMBERS OF SINGLE MOTHERS WHO GET PREGNANT IN THEIR VERY EARLY TEENS AND EVENTUALLY BECOME PARASITES OF THE GOVERNMENT FOR YEARS AND YEARS. YES…WE CAME TO YOUR COUNTRY TO WORK, TO EARN DECENT MONEY (HALF OF WHICH BY THE WAY GOES TO TAXES BECAUSE THERE’S SO MANY SOCIAL PARASITES FROM YOUR RACE).AND BY THE WAY, MOST EDUCATED PEOPLE THAT I WORK WITH DONT COME FROM YOUR RACE… THEY’RE ACTUALLY IMMIGRANTS TOO. AND THOSE EDUCATED ONES DO NOT ACT LIKE YOU DO, PERHAPS BECAUSE THEY’VE REALLY BEEN WELL EDUCATED..AFTER ALL THAT’S SAID… WHO IS THE IGNORANT ONCE AGAIN?! -
May Munoz
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Pinay wins it big in London
By Alfred Yuson
The Philippine Star 05/16/2004
Patricia Evangelista, a 19-year-old, Mass Communications sophomore of University of the Philippines (UP)-Diliman, did the country proud Friday night by besting 59 other student contestants from 37 countries in the 2004 International Public Speaking competition conducted by the English Speaking Union (ESU) in London.
She triumphed over a field of exactly 60 speakers from all over the English-speaking world, including the United States, United Kingdom and Australia, reported Maranan.
The board of judges’ decision was unanimous, according to contest chairman Brian Hanharan of the British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC).
PATRICIA’S SHORT SPEECH WORTH READING….
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BLONDE AND BLUE EYES
When I was little, I wanted what many Filipino children all over the country wanted. I wanted to be blond, blue-eyed, and white.
I thought — if I just wished hard enough and was good enough, I’d wake upon Christmas morning with snow outside my window and freckles across my nose!
More than four centuries under western domination does that to you. I have sixteen cousins. In a couple of years, there will just be five of us left in the Philippines, the rest will have gone abroad in search of “greener pastures.” It’s not just an anomaly; it’s a
trend; the Filipino diaspora.
Today, about eight million Filipinos are scattered around the world. There are those who disapprove of Filipinos who choose to leave. I used to. Maybe this is a natural reaction of someone who was left behind, smiling for family pictures that get emptier with each succeeding year. Desertion, I called it. My country is a land that has perpetually fought for the freedom to be itself. Our heroes offered their lives in the struggle against the Spanish, the Japanese, the Americans. To pack up and deny that identity is tantamount to spitting on that sacrifice.
Or is it? I don’t think so, not anymore. True, there is no denying this phenomenon, aided by the fact that what was once the other side of the world is now a twelve-hour plane ride away. But this is a borderless world, where no individual can claim to be purely from where he is now. My mother is of Chinese descent, my father is a quarter Spanish, and I call myself a pure Filipino-a hybrid of sorts resulting from a combination of cultures.
Each square mile anywhere in the world is made up of people of different ethnicities, with national identities and individual personalities. because of this, each square mile is already a microcosm of the world. In as much as this blessed spot that is England is the world, so is my neighborhood back home.
Seen this way, the Filipino Diaspora, or any sort of dispersal of populations, is not as ominous as so many claim. It must be understood. I come from a Third World country, one that is still trying mightily to get back on its feet after many years of dictatorship. But we shall make it, given more time. Especially now, when we have thousands of eager young minds who graduate from college every year. They have skills. They need jobs. We cannot absorb them all.
A borderless world presents a bigger opportunity, yet one that is not so much abandonment but an extension of identity. Even as we take, we give back. We are the 40,000 skilled nurses who support the UK’s National Health Service. We are the quarter-of-a-million seafarers manning most of the world’s commercial ships. We are your software engineers in Ireland, your
construction workers in the Middle East, your doctors and caregivers in North America, and, your musical artists in London’s West End.
Nationalism isn’t bound by time or place. People from other nations migrate to create new nations, yet still remain essentially who they are. British society is itself an example of a multi-cultural nation, a melting pot of races, religions, arts and cultures. We are, indeed, in a borderless world! Leaving sometimes isn’t a matter of choice. It’s coming back that is. The Hobbits of the shire travelled all over Middle-Earth, but they chose to come home, richer in every sense of the word. We call people like these balikbayans or the ‘returnees’ — those who followed their dream, yet choose to return and share their mature talents and good fortune.
In a few years, I may take advantage of whatever opportunities come my way. But I will come home. A borderless world doesn’t preclude the idea of a home. I’m a Filipino, and I’ll always be one. It isn’t about just geography; it isn’t about boundaries. It’s about
giving back to the country that shaped me.
And that’s going to be more important to me than seeing snow outside my windows on a bright Christmas morning.
Mabuhay and Thank you.
____________________________________________________________________
So, be proud, you are a Filipino,…and not like Mr. Art Bell. Please do send this to as many person as you can until it reaches him.
*Be proud that you are Filipino, a culture of love and pride for their roots.*
Got this from reactivatedreactorism blogsome
- All about me, Did you know... | Time: 12:01 pm (UTC+8)
as ive researched.. this is fake.. it’s not actually written by Art Bell.. and this has already been a topic way back 1998.. lol… naku!! pagsearch gd sa google… tsk3.. makaluma man ni na sturya hahahha
:D
Comment by Ronald — March 5, 2008 @ 11:19 pm
waaaaaaaaaaaaaah
Comment by quesera — March 6, 2008 @ 6:39 pm
Could you give a little public exposure to two new blogs:
http://fsspvocations.blogspot.com/
http://tradvocations.blogspot.com/
God bless you!
Comment by Tom — March 31, 2008 @ 5:02 am
Could you give a little public exposure to two new blogs:
http://fsspvocations.blogspot.com/
http://tradvocations.blogspot.com/
God bless you!
Comment by Tom — March 31, 2008 @ 5:03 am
I’m here to open your eyes to opinions not often heard but should be heard more often. Most of the time, all we Filipinos (and I’m assuming that you are a Filipino) hear is how bad we are. We take advantage of our fellowmen (panggagancho, panggogoyo, pandaraya… we have many words for it—this just means that it is a big thing in our society), we have corrupt government officials, and we are lazy… indolent. We have our own flaws, but we fail to remember that, “Hey, EVERYONE has flaws!” Germans have flaws, the Spanish have flaws, the Japanese have flaws, Americans have flaws, EVERYBODY! NOT JUST US! So let’s not beat ourselves up too much over them flaws. Because, really, some of the personality traits that we as a people have developed aren’t flaws. They’re something else. So Dr. Jose Rizal, our national hero, delved into the issue of our supposed “indolence” to discover what it really was.
In one of his writings entitled “The Indolence of the Filipinos,” he explains why we have become “indolent” (he asserts that we originally weren’t, mind you, even citing the writings of Pigafetta, Morga and other historians and travelers to prove his point). The gist of the whole thing, which ran in five installments of the La Solidaridad from July 15 to September 15, 1890, is that we Filipinos have a predisposition to not overwork ourselves, thus saving ourselves from heatstroke, given our tropical climate. But the hopelessness, discouragement, and twisted use of religion made a very distasteful recipe quelling the appetite of the Filipino for work. We can see that the Spaniards very systematically erased our sense of pride as a people, made us forget who we were before they came, and made us feel inferior to them. They insisted that they were superior to us and that we should not aspire to accomplishments of any significance but should just accept our lot in life. Instead of civilizing us, they brutalized us, hence making us out to be brutes. The truth is the colonizers feared that if we were to be educated, we’d get ideas of raising our standards of living. They were afraid we would turn against them because of their systematic efforts to destroy our spirit, thus keeping us from becoming an enlightened people.
But history shows that they weren’t entirely successful in keeping us in the dark. The revolution happened, and you know the rest. But still, some of those attitudes that were cultivated during the Spanish times plague us to this day. We are very familiar with the terms: “Colonial mentality,” “Foreign stuff is always better than Filipino stuff” and so on. Closely connected to it is this “insinuated inferiority”, as Rizal called it. But please take note that we didn’t think like this before the colonizers arrived. The following texts are from the historical records and travel journals that Rizal used in his article:
Before the arrival of the Europeans, the Malayan Filipinos carried on an active trade, not only among themselves but also with all the neighboring countries. A Chinese manuscript of the 13th century, translated by Dr. Hirth (Globus, September, 1889)…speaks of China’s relations with the islands, relations purely commercial, which mention is made of the activity and honesty of the traders of Luzon, who took the Chinese products and distributed them throughout all the islands, for the merchandise that the Chinamen did not remember to have given them. The products, which they in exchange exported from the islands, were crude wax, cotton, pearls, tortoise shell, betel-nuts, dry goods, etc.
The first thing noticed by Pigafetta who came with Magellan in 1521, on arriving at the first island of the Philippines, Samar, was the courtesy and kindness of the inhabitants and their commerce. “To honor our captain,” he says, “they conducted him to their boats where they had their merchandise, which consisted of cloves, cinnamon, pepper, nutmegs, mace, gold, and other things; and they made us understand by gestures that such articles were to be found in the islands to which we were going.”
Further on he speaks of the vessels and utensils of solid gold that he found in Butuan where the people worked in mines. He describes the silk dresses, the daggers with long gold hilts, and scabbards of carved wood, the gold sets of teeth, etc. Among cereals and fruits he mentions rice, millet, oranges, lemons, panicum, etc.
That the islands maintained relations with neighboring countries and even with distant ones is proven by the ships from Siam, laden with gold and slaves, that Magellan found in Cebu. These ships paid certain duties to the king of the island.
At that time, that sea where float the islands like a set of emeralds on a paten of bright glass, that sea was everywhere traversed by junks, paraus, barangays, vintas, vessels swift as shuttles so large that they could maintain a hundred rowers on a side (Morga); that sea bore everywhere commerce, industry, agriculture, by the force of the oars moved to the sound of warlike songs of the genealogies and achievements of the Philippine divinities. (Colin, Chapter XV.)
The ancient writers, like Chirino, Morga, and Colin, take pleasure in describing them as “well-featured, with good aptitudes for any thing they take up, keen and susceptible and of resolute will, very clean and neat in their persons and clothing, and of good mien and bearing” (Morga). Others delight in minute accounts of their intelligence and pleasant manners, of their aptitude for music, the drama, dancing and singing, of the facility with which they learned, not only Spanish but also Latin, which they acquired almost by themselves (Colin); others of their exquisite politeness in their dealings and in their social life, others, like the first Augustinians, whose accounts Gaspar de San Agustin copies, found them more gallant and better mannered than the inhabitants of Moluccas. “All live off their husbandry,” adds Morga, “their farms, fisheries and enterprises, for they travel from island to island by sea and from province to province by land.”
Can you picture pre-colonial Philippines? How wealthy we were? I imagine a proud people with a distinct culture. A people who tilled their land and held much pride in their products, thus giving them confidence to trade with other lands. Can you believe that? We were swimming in gold back then! We weren’t primitive. We were very proficient in the arts even then. That explains why we are such good musicians, dancers and artists. Only a proud race would have warlike songs about Philippine divinities. And take note of how the Chinese manuscript of the 13th century described us. We were honest merchants and traders. From what Pigafetta relates, we can deduce that we had very good interpersonal skills that were useful in cultivating trade relations.
Imagine, if you were Magellan who had been sailing for you don’t remember how long, trying to find the spice islands where you were told there were not only spices but also other exotic treasures. Then you discover a group of small islands with friendly and VERY rich inhabitants who show you their stuff, making you understand that more of that could be found on the island (don’t forget that they showed you GOLD, so there must be more where you’re going). One of the MAJOR thoughts in your head would be, “I FOUND IT! I’VE STRUCK GOLD! GOLD! GOLD!” You tell yourself that you are sooooo lucky, and all those nights of seasickness have finally paid off, because now you’ll be rich beyond your wildest imaginings. Besides this, your king will be very pleased with you. Aside from the gold you will be bringing back home for yourself, the king might even reward you for claiming such rich lands for him. You won’t have to work for the rest of your life. You’ll be sitting in the lap of luxury. The problem now is how to put your plan into action. Now where is that manual on How to Conquer Islands for your King? Ah, here it is…first step, make them think you are friendly. Second step, the trap. Convert those pagans. Then, make them swear allegiance to the King of Spain. Hah! The “jaws of death” will have been triggered. Now to memorize those steps…OK! I’ve got them. Now to set the plan in motion.
Now imagine you are a citizen of Mactan. Remember how they burned our homes when Lapu-lapu resisted them? How they terrorized our mothers and the children, wreaking havoc and panic in our quiet town? And then how bravely our fathers and brothers protected us and fought the foreigners? But we did beat them. We kicked butt. The nerve! We even managed to kill that jerk they called their captain. What was his name? Magellan, I think.(Now this is just an “if”…don’t get offeneded with the language.)
Now imagine again that you are Magellan, falling, splashing face down into the shallow water a few feet from the shore, just a short distance from the escape boats. But there is no escape for you. The blow you received on the side of your head is hurting like crazy. You think you’re going to die. That blow was so hard you feel like your brains are seeping through the cracks in your skull. Your dying thought being, “All those plans! I was supposed to get filthy rich! Now, nothing… noth…”
But as we all know, some of Magellan’s crew did manage to escape. Below is another excerpt from Rizal’s “Indolence” that tells us quite a bit.
Wealth abounded in the islands. Pigafetta tells us of the abundance of foodstuffs in Paragua and of its inhabitants, who nearly all tilled their own fields. At this island the survivors of Magellan’s expedition were well received and provisioned. A little later, these same survivors captured a vessel, plundered and sacked it and took prisoner in it the chief of the Island of Paragua with his son and brother.
In this same vessel they captured bronze lombards, and this is the first mention of artillery of the Filipino, for these lombards were useful to the chief of Paragua against the savages of the interior.
They let him ransom himself within seven days, demanding 400 measures (cavanes?) of rice, 20 pigs, 20 goats, and 450 chickens. This is the first act of piracy recorded in Philippine history. The chief of Paragua paid everything, and moreover, voluntarily added coconuts, bananas, and sugar-cane jars filled with palm wine. When Caesar was taken prisoner by the corsairs and required to pay twenty-five talents ransom, he replied “I’ll give you fifty, but later I’ll have you crucified!” The chief of Paragua was more generous: he forgot. His conduct, while it may reveal weakness, also demonstrates that the islands were abundantly provisioned. This chief was named Tuan Mahamud; his brother, Guantil, and his son, Tuan Mahamud. (Martin Mendez, Purser of the ship Victoria: Archivo de Indias.)
Okay, first, these supposedly civilized Spaniards acted more uncivilized than the presumably uncivilized islanders of Paragua did. It was a total reversal. Just one cotton-pickin’ minute. Wouldn’t you agree that the term “civilized” is subjective? It’s simply a matter of perspective, since we could just as well call them savages since their ways and customs are different from ours. Who’s to say that we are uncivilized when it’s quite clear that we had our own civilization even at that time? From Rizal’s writings, we can deduce that we acted in a more refined way than those Westerners did. Would you believe that after they had been given food and supplies, they went and kidnapped the chief? How ungrateful could they get? If they had just asked for more, do you think the chief would have said no?
Second, the chief of Paragua was not only generous in the sense that he forgot the foreigners’ trespasses, he was downright benevolent! He forgave. Though his actions could be read as being a weakness, it could also be perceived as the actions of a gentle ruler who knew how to pick his battles. Remember the saying “Nothing is as strong as gentleness or as gentle as strength”? But then again, maybe he was not wise enough to consider the possibility that these foreigners would come back to do more looting, and in a more widespread manner. He could have been more unforgiving, thus teaching the ungrateful foreigners a lesson not to come back if they were going to do the same thing.
But being unforgiving is not a Filipino personality trait. We are not a vindictive lot. We are a forgiving and patient people. These traits must have been very useful in creating and maintaining trade relations with other foreign peoples whose only purpose was to do business with us. Maybe that is why we had welcomed them with such warmth: because we had expected them to have trade as their only agenda for coming to our shores. But being too forgiving and patient has also put us in danger many times throughout history. Who can deny that these particular traits have given rise to this dangerous tendency of ours to forget the trespasses of persons and nations against our people and country, an affliction also known as a “short historical memory”? This chronic malady of ours has allowed these same transgressors to repeat their sins against us because we allow them to return to power. Take the Marcoses, Estrada, Honasan, etc. for example. Or if not the same perpetuators, then the same sins that have already been committed against us tend to be repeated because we fail to recognize the telltale events that should have warned us of “history repeating itself” (read: coming disaster).
Yeah, maybe it would have been better if the islanders of Paragua had killed all of Magellan’s surviving crew so that they couldn’t have told of our islands’ vast riches. But we’re just not like that. You would think that their defeat at Lapu-lapu’s hands should have been enough of a deterrent against the Spaniards’ return. But no, they had been too blinded by our islands’ wealth for that to occur to them.
And so they returned. This is what happened when Legaspi came:
They arrived at the Island of Cebu, “abounding in provisions, with mines and washings of gold, and peopled with natives,” as Morga says: “very populous, and at a port frequented by many ships that came from the islands and kingdoms near India,” as Colin says: and even though they were peacefully received discord soon arose. The city was taken by force and burned. The first destroyed the food supplies and naturally famine broke out in that town of a hundred thousand people, as the historians say, and among the members of the expedition, but the neighboring islands quickly relieved the need, thanks to the abundance they enjoyed.
Here we AGAIN encounter the Westerners’ barbaric deeds. ‘Nuff said. But I’d like for you to focus your attention on what the adjacent islands did for that city that had been thrown into famine: they “quickly relieved the need, thanks to the abundance they enjoyed.” First we see one of our best qualities in action here: bayanihan. Second, we note the reason why the foreigners ravaged the city: it was rich. That is why we have been colonized by one country after another.
And about that indolence thing, I hold the opinion that we stopped working during the colonial rule as a form of boycott. Why toil to death when you aren’t allowed to enjoy the fruits of your labor anyway? It was a boycott. We are not dumb. We realized that our efforts did nothing to raise our quality of life but only that of the friars and encomenderos.
In closing, all I’d like to leave you with is a better knowledge and appreciation of our people before the colonizers came. I think it’s important for us Filipinos to know how we were, the good qualities we had and the things we should be proud of as a people. Because we need this. We need to realize the good and noble qualities we have had even before we were colonized.
We were superb traders who had very good interpersonal skills needed to make and maintain good trade relations. We were industrious folks who cultivated our land to produce crops worthy of export to China, India, Siam, and other lands with which we held trade. We were hospitable, refined, intellectual, hygienic, artistic, cultured, benevolent, forgiving, patient, kind, and helpful, among many other praiseworthy traits. We are still all these and much more.
We are known worldwide for being diligent workers, creative, well educated, amiable, and good-looking, if I may say so myself ;^)! (Do you know where I hear that we are a beautiful people? From foreigners who have seen for themselves how gorgeous we are.) We need to stop putting ourselves down because that is colonial mentality at its worst. We have to celebrate who we are. We need to be proud of being a Filipino. (We need to row to the beat of warlike songs of the genealogies and achievements of the Philippine divinities!) Let us restore our sense of dignity and pride as a people. Then maybe we can move on and carve for ourselves a brighter future. Who knows? We may yet be richer than our ancestors who, shall I remind you, swam in gold.
We are Filipino. I, for one, am proud of it.
Comment by juztEr john — August 3, 2008 @ 8:27 pm