tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43709067852697592642024-03-05T00:31:31.368-08:00Ask A Filipino!The Filipinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06411009013482740401noreply@blogger.comBlogger63125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4370906785269759264.post-70686690331977137452012-05-18T07:10:00.001-07:002012-05-18T07:30:19.508-07:00Who is Mr. Anonymous?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<strong>Dear Filipino,<o:p></o:p></strong><br />
<br />
<strong><a href="http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/194547/%E2%80%98who-is-mr-anonymous%E2%80%99-santiago-wants-to-know">Who is Mr. Anonymous? Why is there a proliferation of Mr. Anonymous in this archipelago, the Philippines? </a></strong><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br />
<strong>Upset and scared,<o:p></o:p></strong></div>
<strong>Mir.I.Am of The Black-Eyed Ps (Pinoys)<o:p></o:p></strong><br />
<br />
<br />
Dear Mir.I.Am,<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
Mr. Anonymous is my/your friend, my/your enemy, my/your relative,
my/your neighbor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Known to be a</span> blogger
himself blogging on all kinds of imaginable topics, he manages to find time as a regular commenter on my blog (both good and bad) and countless other blogs. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is sometimes a she – even an “it”, believe
it or not. <br />
<br />
Mr. Anonymous is a composer, a lyricist, an artist, a
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_anonymously_published_works">prolific author</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s been around for ages – ever since the first man
and woman learned how to scribble on cave walls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> He has authored ancient Mesopotamian works (e.g.,
the Sumerian city laments), ancient Egyptian works (e.g., <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_the_Netherworld">Book of the Netherworld</a>),
early classics (e.g., Beowulf), pamphlets (e.g., <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Sense_(pamphlet)">Common Sense</a>) and poems (the
ones we learned in kindergarten).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even the
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federalist_Papers">Federalist Papers</a> -- those essays which promoted the ratification of the US
Constitution -- were attributed to him at the time of publication (even though the
authors used the pseudonym “Publius” who we now know is in fact Alexander Hamilton,
James Madison and John Jay).<o:p></o:p><br />
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
Indeed, Mr. Anonymous is mysterious, mystical, enigmatic,
furtive -- and loathsome. I hate him sometimes, especially when he’s trolling on
my blog and other blogs, writing despicable drivel. Sometimes, he has no morals and zero skills
in spelling and grammar. He's even found to write in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jejemon">jejemon</a>.<br />
<br />But one thing I really like about him is he is
fearless.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s not afraid to go against the
rich and the powerful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> He doesn’t care
about decorum or legal technicalities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
doesn’t care who gets upset or apoplectic. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> In fact, </span>I think he even enjoys getting under the skin
of the arrogant, the hypocrite and the bombastic. <br />
<br />
And when he’s in his principled zone, he’s quite something:
a true force to reckon with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s
capable of exposing the corrupt, the wicked, the unjust.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He makes even the most powerful quake in
their boots.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Naturally, those people would love
to muzzle him and get the Armed Forces and the Philippine National Police after
him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They would do everything to shut
him up.<br />
<br />But it's not gonna happen.<br />
<br />You know why he “proliferates” in the Philippine archipelago?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because Mr. Anonymous thrives in societies
that are unequal: where being honest gets you killed; where being principled
means you and yours go hungry; where you can get cited with contempt by
contemptible courts and land in jail; and where the biggest thieves may even be
wearing robes.<br />
<br />There is nothing to be scared and upset about Mr. Anonymous,
Mir.I.Am.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unless you’re hiding
something. ;-)<br />
<br /><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>Got a question for The Filipino? Email him now at </em><a href="mailto:askthepinoy@gmail.com"><span style="color: #1b6e96;"><em>askthepinoy@gmail.com</em></span></a><em>.</em></span></span></div>
</div>The Filipinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06411009013482740401noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4370906785269759264.post-10068164509296511232011-09-04T00:57:00.000-07:002011-09-04T01:05:43.700-07:00What's the latest hit video of Justin and Jeremy?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><strong>Dear Dad,</strong><br />
<br />
<strong closure_uid_qbfb5m="173">What's the latest video on YouTube of Justin and Jeremy? Can we please watch it?</strong><br />
<div closure_uid_m3gsjz="153"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_m3gsjz="153"><strong><em>Ang iyong mga nagmamahal na anak</em> (Your loving kids),</strong></div><strong>TFS (TF Son) and TFD (TF Daughter)</strong><br />
<div closure_uid_qbfb5m="167"><br />
<em>Mga mahal kong anak </em>(My beloved kids),</div><br />
<div closure_uid_qbfb5m="168"><div closure_uid_nbsdm9="150">The latest hit video of Justin and Jeremy, the Filipino-American twins who have become quite a sensation on YouTube, is <em>The Lazy Song </em>by Bruno Mars, himself a Filipino-American (actually, he's Filipino-Puerto Rican-American). I admit I love the song (especially the beat) but I do not like the lyrics of the song 100%. Your mommy and I have taught you not to use bad words so I hope even if the song has some bad words in them, you will try your best not to use them, okay? (And I hope you don't make me wait too long to get your college degrees, okay?!?)</div></div><div closure_uid_qbfb5m="170"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_qbfb5m="172">Anyway, here it is. Enjoy!</div><div closure_uid_qbfb5m="171"><br />
</div><br />
<div closure_uid_qbfb5m="169"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/4rkHMxrj-p0" width="480"></iframe></div><div closure_uid_qbfb5m="169"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_qbfb5m="169"><em>Got a question for The Filipino? Email him now at </em><a href="mailto:askthepinoy@gmail.com"><em><span style="color: #1b6e96;">askthepinoy@gmail.com</span></em></a><em>.</em></div></div>The Filipinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06411009013482740401noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4370906785269759264.post-71538696868133504462011-08-12T03:43:00.000-07:002011-08-12T19:52:29.858-07:00What caused the riots in London?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div closure_uid_k4w6xg="344"><strong>Dear Filipino,</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>What is your take on the riots in London? You lived there and I am sure you have good insights on what is really going on over there. Just curious…</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>Your friend from Machu Picchu,</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>JoFlo</strong><br />
<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqSwcGr8biV3jqpTFDu3YFdw32aFxJjRh9bhip0QbrEUgoo-JgvdWqZEwSmb7u4AEAa6PZ4EmPqfB-kLcWI-OPxOZvX5w58wkSsjRnusG92zyTeDMLvwttO2V3eiARm9heR0CnNW6w9UNI/s1600/London+rioter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" naa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqSwcGr8biV3jqpTFDu3YFdw32aFxJjRh9bhip0QbrEUgoo-JgvdWqZEwSmb7u4AEAa6PZ4EmPqfB-kLcWI-OPxOZvX5w58wkSsjRnusG92zyTeDMLvwttO2V3eiARm9heR0CnNW6w9UNI/s320/London+rioter.jpg" style="cursor: move;" unselectable="on" width="320" /></a>Dear JoFlo,</div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I have not written for months and been really remiss in answering the questions that are piling up because (1) I have been so busy with work and family and (2) I simply have not been in the mood to write lately. This blog, as you know, is a “moodly” – I write and answer questions when I’m in the mood. That’s why even my loyal readers have abandoned my blog because of the absence of new entries. I don’t blame them – I too would do the same (and in fact did over the last few months).</div><br />
But I decided to answer your question and let it take priority over the other pending questions because (1) it came from you and (2) you bet – I have my take on these appalling riots which have shocked the world. Now, whether they are “good insights,” well, you’ll just have to decide about them for yourself. <br />
<br />
I actually just visited London with my family over the summer holidays and had a fantastic time. I can’t believe that was just a few weeks ago. We met up with my dear friends from college who were visiting from Manila, as well as friends based in London. Let me reiterate: I had a blast – and I did because I was with my close friends, of course, but also because of the setting. In many respects, London is a cut above other cities because of its history, its nonpareil restaurants and sights, and what-not. Even for my kids, who were simply too young to remember the year they lived there, London is magical – <em>“Look, Dad, it’s Big Ben! And did you know it’s the name of the bell, not the clock?”</em><br />
<br />
<div closure_uid_terwzg="137">But David Cameron can’t be more honest: London is the heart of a <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/8694494/UK-riots-David-Cameron-condemns-sick-society-as-grammar-school-girl-in-court-over-riots.html">“sick” British society</a>. (And frankly, the adjective made me wonder if London is actually now a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metonymy">metonym</a> for the West.)</div><br />
I have a first-hand experience of how “sick” it is. I saw and experienced it myself when I was living there.<br />
<br />
<div closure_uid_ss2tx1="137">One incident leaps to mind: One June night in 2006, I was on my way to my friends’ place. I had planned to attend the World Cup in Germany with my friends and we had booked an early flight for the following day, so we agreed that I should sleep at their place instead so we could all go to the airport together. I was carrying my backpack, dressed simply like I always am – just jeans and a shirt and rubber shoes. I was not wearing, and do not and never did wear, any “bling.” I was my casual self, but I had my passport and some cash, my allowance for a week of football fan fun in Germany.</div><br />
My friends’ place was within walking distance from a Tube station in East London. If you’re not familiar with the place, it’s notorious for having lots of areas which many Londoners, especially the upper class, would dare not even step foot in. It’s also known for having mostly residents with the “wrong” kinds of English accents – definitely not the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxbridge">Oxbridge type</a>. Actually, if you sport a Cockney accent there, you would be at least near the top of the pecking order because your accent would at least be considered still British. <br />
<br />
Anyway, after alighting from the train, I started walking towards an underground tunnel to get to the other side of the road where my friends’ building is located. The tunnel was poorly lit and I noticed there were four young men – probably in their teens and not more than 20, probably high school kids but bigger than me – just lolling around ahead of me. When I noticed they were somehow eyeing me, I became somewhat suspicious, but I grew up in rough neighborhoods myself so I didn’t let it bother me because I know strangers always attract attention. They also came across to me as real rookies in the intimidation game.<br />
<br />
<div closure_uid_ng8o02="137">I was on my cell phone with my friend quietly asking for directions in Tagalog when I passed by the men. Then, I noticed that they started following me. I quickened my pace a bit and they did too. That’s when I started to become suspicious and a bit scared. But I knew I had to somehow disorient them so I stopped abruptly and politely asked them for help in finding a particular landmark near my friends’ place. </div><br />
They were momentarily taken aback, as I expected, and didn’t know how to answer me. The “leader” of the group, however, suddenly grabbed my phone, and then launched into some language which to me sounded like Urdu, Hindi or something Arabic. As if on cue, his friends started surrounding me. The leader then asked for my bag and my wallet if I didn’t want to get hurt. I said, “No.” <br />
<br />
Fight or flight? <em>Kung fu </em>or <em>Kung tu</em>? My survival instincts kicked in – I fled (hey, I learned my lessons in <em>Kung tu</em> well: “<em>Kung tumakbo ay matulin</em>” – which simply means: Run and run fast!). I wasn’t fast enough though and one of the guys sent me sprawling with a flying kick in the back. Another guy was grabbing my backpack but I held onto it while the others were trying to beat me. I managed to free myself from the rookie gangsters and ran again, this time shouting for “Help.” One of the guys kicked me again and I fell again, but they still couldn’t take my backpack despite the beating I was getting. Somehow, I managed to break free again and was able to get out of the tunnel. <br />
<br />
<div closure_uid_qfnhwp="137">When I was out of the tunnel, I was shouting for help but there was either nobody to help, nobody was able to help, or nobody was willing to help. Yes, despite my loud shouts and pleas for help, nobody came. That was surprising to me because London, especially East London, is a highly populated area and it was not really that late yet that night. Still, the rookies got scared and they fled because I was now out in the open, shouting. I managed to reach the bus driver of a parked bus, who then called the police.</div><br />
<div closure_uid_qfnhwp="138">Two policemen came in a 3-series Bimmer wearing shorts and civilian clothes, and asked me to hop into their car so we could look for my assailants. They asked me what they looked like and I replied they looked either Arab or Indian or Pakistani. They said I should not describe the men as such because that would be unfairly conclusory, but I honestly just didn’t know how to describe the men and was still too shaken to be making descriptions at the time. Since we were driving in a neighborhood with lots of young men just casually strolling around, one of the cops asked if they looked like them. I said, “Yes, from where I sit, almost all of them looked like my assailants.” </div><br />
Then the cops concluded: “They must be Asians, then.”<br />
<br />
I was puzzled. Asian? What a description, I thought! Heck, after all, I’m Asian and I look like one.<br />
<br />
<div closure_uid_bw887r="146">I realized later that for Brits, “Asian” refers to those descended from the countries in South Asia they colonized: the Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, Arab and other Southern Asian ethnicities. Taken together, I learned residents who consider themselves “British Asians” comprise over 12% of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_London#Ethnic_groups">Greater London population </a>and many of them live in East London. And apparently, I fell under the classification “Orientals” – those descended from the Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Filipinos, Thais and others from Asia who do not come from the Indian sub-continent. These “British Orientals” comprise about 3% of London.</div><br />
In the end, we didn’t find my assailants and the cops ended up just dropping me off at my friends’ place. (Fearing that my wife would just worry about me and not allow me to proceed to Germany, I told her about the incident only after a few days had passed.) <br />
<br />
Now, why am I relating this incident?<br />
<br />
Because it’s easy to see that what happened to me that night in 2006 had some of the elements of what’s happening right now in England. <br />
<br />
<div closure_uid_3hrckq="146">To explain, let’s look at what made London ripe for the kind of riots we've seen on live TV. For a good round number’s sake, I’ll give you ten factors.</div><br />
<div closure_uid_wuyaq="137">One, you have an overcrowded city. It’s true: Maybe it’s because it was tourist season but the first thing that I noticed during our holiday vacation was how more packed London now is. Let’s not forget that London is really not that big, geographically speaking, and England has limited room for growth because it’s an island. In a way, you can say that the Brits, during imperial times, could easily solve the capacity issue because they would just “export” their excess citizens to their colonies like Australia, Canada, the US, the Caribbean Islands, etc. – but that’s not the case anymore. And because of continuing migration to the UK of citizens from their former territories, the UK is just bound to grow in number.</div><br />
Two, you have a very expensive city (one of the world’s most) and it’s not exactly boom times for the local economy. I know middle-class Brits are heavily indebted and can’t really afford the high cost of living there. That’s why it’s not a coincidence that these riots are happening against the backdrop of an economically insecure Britain with talks of welfare cuts and budget cuts all around.<br />
<br />
Three, you have a highly segmented, stratified society with many pockets of no-go areas where crime is rampant because the middle class have largely abandoned them, the tourists don’t visit them, and the police don’t really have much of an incentive to maintain a respectable presence.<br />
<br />
<div closure_uid_rsbawg="146">Four, you have young, idle, poorly educated teenagers out late at night and obviously operating outside the supervision of their parents. Or if they are not out at night, they are in front of TV sets and video gaming machines, both of which spew a not-insubstantial amount of trash. That’s why the riots looked fun to the copycat thugs – for them, the riots probably presented a rare and exciting chance to act out a real-life, multi-player gaming “adventure”.</div><br />
<div closure_uid_yh8y73="137"><div closure_uid_z68cvf="137">Five, you have parents incapable, unable or unwilling to discipline their kids for all sorts of reasons. Against a permissive, highly liberal parenting culture, parents end up surrendering their roles little by little to other forces. Many of them are also scared or tired to even try to be real parents anymore and many have altogether given up. Don't take it from me – take it from an <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/aug/10/uk-riots-liberal-right-parent?INTCMP=SRCH">article from the Guardian</a>, the online home of UK liberals. </div></div></div><div closure_uid_k4w6xg="343"><br />
Six, I noticed there is not only little-to-zero intermixing among races, classes or religions, there’s in fact noticeable antipathy among members of these racial, social and religious groups. "Us versus them" is a recurring thread. Even a supposedly non-violent British protest is shocking to the uninitiated, with banners proclaiming "Death to the Queen" fairly common.<br />
<br />
<div closure_uid_h26gnm="137">Seven, there is a ton of apathy among a huge swath of the population, which is, of course, typical characteristic of packed, highly urbanized cities where crowds are often shoulder-to-shoulder and butt-to-butt and yet are strangers to each other. I think apathy should be made a crime in some circumstances, that’s why I was frankly relieved to hear of some form of vigilantism among the locals even though the chief of the Metropolitan Police didn’t approve of it. (But it’s funny to read that the British Sikhs massed together to protect their temples; the British Muslims to protect their mosques; the British Turks to protect their shops; and the white British locals to protect their pubs.)</div><br />
<div closure_uid_z68cvf="139">Eight, you have a policing system that’s nowhere near as robust as others I've seen in other countries (e.g., the American one), resulting in police personnel incapable of inspiring respect, let alone fear. Regular cops in the UK don’t even carry guns, for crying out loud! Not to sound chauvinistic here, and political correctness aside, the truth is policing there has been too feminized because many of their cops patrolling the streets are women, many no bigger than me.</div><br />
<div closure_uid_x4j3vm="137">Nine, you have a political economy with a dual-personality disorder: A massive welfare state with a huge pool of unproductive or underemployed immigrant underclass feeling both victimized and entitled, overseen by an oligarchy whose members – both native (the white overlords of imperial Britannia) and adoptive (the newly ordained billionaire Russians and Arabs) – have not been too shy to flaunt their increasingly and exceedingly abundant wealth – whether inherited, stolen or earned – in this glamorous playground of the rich and famous. The inequality in resources between the top and bottom deciles is really quite staggering – and getting worse.</div><br />
<div closure_uid_x4j3vm="139"><div closure_uid_qwme1h="146"><div closure_uid_x4lp9s="146"><div closure_uid_f9f1g8="146">Ten, a unifying religion-based moral code among the populace is now largely absent. You read that right here: Beautiful churches in England are mostly empty now of congregants except for tourists wanting to snap a picture here and there. From anecdotal evidence, the only houses of worship which are regularly packed are the Muslim mosques (unless of course you count the sports pubs).</div></div></div></div><br />
That’s why all you needed is an excuse, really – the proverbial match to light the tinderbox – and the whole thing would explode.<br />
<br />
As it turned out, Mark Duggan’s death was it.<br />
<br />
<div closure_uid_n6l7dp="137"><div closure_uid_2thgpv="146">The ultraliberal and ultraconservative pontificators of Britain have already weighed in on the riots and have made known their own takes. As can be expected however, their opinions are filtered by their own ideological lenses. And I think any reasonably honest, independent-minded person would conclude these people may be partly right but are mostly wrong-headed because they are incapable of taking into account the other side’s legitimate arguments.</div></div><br />
<div closure_uid_f9f1g8="147"><div closure_uid_qj80oh="137">Whether in the UK or the US, the ultraliberals, to me, have gone overboard. Although they always preach about tolerance, I’m frankly disgusted about their seeming intolerance for any opinion on education, welfare, family values, child-rearing, and many other issues that’s contrary to their position. They make you feel like a bigot for having any form of religious bent on any of these issues. They make you believe you are criminal-minded for believing that egos of kids have to be punctured from time to time, that some form of corporal punishment in raising and educating children is sometimes necessary to really teach them what’s right and what’s wrong (even a <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/management/2006-10-08-spanking-ceos-usat_x.htm">USA Today survey </a>of 20 CEOs revealed that every single one of them got "paddled, belted, switched or swatted" as children). They brand you as closed-minded or repressive for speaking against the perversity of movies and TV shows. They mock your religiosity and sense of charity because you do not support simply throwing money at the "poverty problem," which they romanticize and don't really understand. They advocate guiltless pursuit of carnal pleasures: after all, hey, you can abort a fetus anytime you feel like doing so or divorce your partner if you don’t fancy him/her anymore. Is it any wonder that this kind of atmosphere would produce many teenagers who are products of single-parent homes: amoral, delinquent, feeling entitled, mal-educated, and unafraid to mock and lash out at parents, teachers, or anyone in authority – yes, even the police – face to face? </div></div><br />
As a presidential candidate then, Bill Clinton had spoken about the 1992 Rodney King riots in LA and what he said is apropos here. He observed that the people who were looting “<a href="http://articles.latimes.com/1992-05-03/news/mn-1956_1_los-angeles">do not share our values, and their children are growing up in a culture alien from ours, without family, without neighborhood, without church, without support</a>.” <br />
<br />
<div closure_uid_nvdc2s="146">I think this absence of any moral compass whatsoever is what prompted those rioting thugs in London to rob an injured, young Malaysian student after pretending to help him at first – in the process perverting the Biblical concept of the “Good Samaritan”. <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2024461/LONDON-RIOTS-2011-Ashraf-Haziq-says-good-samaritans-threatened-stab-him.html">Really sick</a>. Sick, sick, sick. </div></div><div closure_uid_k4w6xg="343"><br />
Whether in the UK or the US, the ultraconservatives, to me, have also gone way overboard. I am appalled by their unrestrained, unprincipled pursuit of money, money, money – in that particular order. I am horrified by their lack of empathy for the weak, the disabled, the poor, the unlucky. They seem like they couldn’t care less about the widening inequality, the blight of growing ghettoes and slums. They feel entitled to fat bonuses regardless of their work (or lack thereof) and oppose all forms of taxation that will directly affect them in the short-term without any regard for the long-term fiscal health of the economy from which they derive much of their wealth. They despise all governmental efforts to help the bottom-feeders of society and claim such efforts are a wasteful use of their taxes, not really realizing that they would be the ones actually to benefit the most from them. Is it any wonder then that there are many ordinary citizens, not necessarily poor, who couldn’t care less about these uncaring, greedy rich and would take whatever they can from them if presented the opportunity?<br />
<br />
These two groups – the youths/delinquent teenagers (the “feral rats” as many have labeled them) and the supposedly “ordinary citizens” (they’ve been aptly called “opportunists”) – effortlessly banded together in London to cause these riots, mayhem, destruction and wholesale thievery and criminality. The thugs from other cities of England then copied them.<br />
<br />
I am not sympathetic to these people and I hope they are punished to the full extent of the law. For the sake of the UK and the people all over the world who are watching the events on TV – a real-life lesson on crime and punishment for all to witness – they should get their due.<br />
<br />
I have little sympathy for the delinquent teenagers because they had no cause and they’re not really poor. If you’re rioting to steal trainers and iPods and flat-screen TVs, you can’t be poor in my book. Poor is when you’re rioting for food, for your kids to be able to eat. That's why District Judge Alan Berg of Manchester Magistrates' Court is correct when he lectured the looters who’ve been caught and presented in his chamber: “<em>People like you, who have all the benefits of this country, which others in other countries would pray for, you bring shame and disgrace upon the country as a whole, and upon yourselves and your families!</em>”<br />
<br />
Nor do I have any sympathy whatsoever for the opportunists also because they are not really the downtrodden type or the poverty-stricken type or the too-young-to-appreciate-the-criminality-of-the-looting type. In fact, I have a bigger problem with them because many of them cannot even be considered part of Britain’s underclass. I think they should be punished more or asked to pay back society more.<br />
<br />
But there are those people in the UK who have earlier “ransacked” the UK too, causing major havoc not just in the UK economy but in the world, and they were allowed to get away. Where’s the righteous indignation from David Cameron? Where’s the political will to punish them? How come these criminals are not being haled before the magistrates’ courts? <br />
<br />
I know I’m painting in broad strokes and I’m going to offend many people, both from the left and the right of the political spectrum. But right now, bro, I just don’t care.<br />
<br />
<div closure_uid_7ng6si="137"><div closure_uid_2thgpv="157"><div closure_uid_2tkano="151">I've written quite a lot already for this post and I still have a lot in my mind. But do you know what really scares me? What really scares me is if this kind of rioting -- senseless and devoid of any objective except pure criminality --would cross the Atlantic and start happening in US cities. We both know things can easily be magnified in the US. tenfold or a hundredfold. </div></div></div></div><div closure_uid_k4w6xg="343"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_k4w6xg="343">Heck, it's very much possible. Why not? Many of the elements I enumerated above are now present in the US too.<br />
<br />
And of course, the US has a wild card: GUNS – available to almost everyone.<br />
<br />
<em>Got a question for The Filipino? Email him now at </em><a href="mailto:askthepinoy@gmail.com"><em>askthepinoy@gmail.com</em></a><em>.</em></div><img height="57" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqSwcGr8biV3jqpTFDu3YFdw32aFxJjRh9bhip0QbrEUgoo-JgvdWqZEwSmb7u4AEAa6PZ4EmPqfB-kLcWI-OPxOZvX5w58wkSsjRnusG92zyTeDMLvwttO2V3eiARm9heR0CnNW6w9UNI/s320/London+rioter.jpg" style="filter: alpha(opacity=30); left: 566px; mozopacity: 0.3; opacity: 0.3; position: absolute; top: 208px; visibility: hidden;" width="96" /></div>The Filipinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06411009013482740401noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4370906785269759264.post-10527923742767804822011-04-12T06:23:00.000-07:002011-04-12T08:17:54.879-07:00Are Filipinos blunt?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><strong>Dear Filipino,</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>A friend of mine recently asked me a question that had me stumped: He wanted to know if Filipinos were blunt. Apparently, he had a run-in with a couple that he knew on a less-than-personal basis and was very surprised at their frankness. Nothing insulting was directed towards him. These Filipinos simply made some very transparent and candid comments about a family member of theirs.</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>I found it a little difficult to answer his question because I didn't know at what level to address it: Filipino interaction within the family, with other Filipinos, or with other cultures. I also felt a bit inadequate in addressing my friend's inquiry since I mostly grew up as a third culture kid with my own confusing hodgepodge of cultures. At any rate, I know Filipinos, and even Asians in general, are not as timid or non-confrontational as they may seem. Any insight on this one?</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>TCK</strong><br />
<br />
Dear TCK,<br />
<br />
Any insight on this one? Of course! Are Filipinos blunt? Hell, yes!<br />
<br />
NEXT question, please!<br />
<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>Got a question for The Filipino? Email him now at </em></span><a href="mailto:askthepinoy@gmail.com"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em><span style="color: #5588aa;">askthepinoy@gmail.com</span></em></span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>.</em></span> </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
Just kidding, TCK. I'm just trying to be cute as TF because I am not really one in real life. And it's definitely not cool to make you and the others wait so long just to be brusquely set aside with an unqualified reply. (It's bad enough that I haven't been as religious in answering questions lately, right?)</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
But anyway, back to your question...</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
Although Filipinos can be really blunt and frank and direct and upfront, the answer is really <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=2Z-n_kDTxf0C&pg=PT270&lpg=PT270&dq=are+filipinos+frank+blunt+direct+confrontational&source=bl&ots=NEYd1c43n0&sig=XPJR1wui7H1lDtIdy1RRvmxOAAc&hl=en&ei=yj2kTb-sGMzzsgaE6pifCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false">not as cut-and-dried as that</a>. We can be evasive and less direct too so as to prevent hurting another.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
However, it is quite common knowledge that Filipinos, with an admixture of hot-Latin and humid-tropical blood coursing through their veins and schooled by the chest-thumping Americans, are more expressive than their counterparts from North Asia. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq3kGtIntCU5bPX07x7jYlFgOg1lM21-0dR52HUF9dZZbJjGqnCzhfxuQ44pmqF0izxQC05pUS5UhTl-5Zf3b-px-0YakCo5DfT4ycxhsaMUeJlOX0k9GYSgKPywDFH_MHjrgyxQjtCYwK/s1600/pugad+baboy.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="138" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq3kGtIntCU5bPX07x7jYlFgOg1lM21-0dR52HUF9dZZbJjGqnCzhfxuQ44pmqF0izxQC05pUS5UhTl-5Zf3b-px-0YakCo5DfT4ycxhsaMUeJlOX0k9GYSgKPywDFH_MHjrgyxQjtCYwK/s400/pugad+baboy.gif" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The popular <em>Pugad Baboy </em>(Pig Pen).</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Sure, we have a culture of "face-saving" too, but nowhere near what the Japanese or the Koreans have. Sure, we are polite, but not so polite as to bow repeatedly</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
Filipinos are also usually more polite around strangers, especially foreigners who obviously do not speak or understand the language. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
Among people we know, however, we do have a tendency to be less sensitive about race, gender, disability, sexual orientation and other "equal opportunity classifications" you can name -- often causing a lot of masked pain. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
Hence, name-calling and jokes about one's less-than-ideal attributes can be brutal, especially among the young.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
For instance, growing up, I was repeatedly teased as "Egoy" or "Negro" because of my skin -- until of course, I grew up to become the quintessential tall, dark and handsome (I heard a 0.333 batting average is considered spectacular) bachelor coveted by the most desirable ladies in town. Hah!</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
But seriously, many Filipinos sometimes don't think twice about made-up adjectival names to refer to others. Hence, you can hear people ask: "<em>Nasaan si Pango/Pandak/Duling/Bumbay</em>?" (Where's flat-nosed/short/cross-eyed/Indian guy?) </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
Others would find these names uncouth and uncool. So they employ syllabic inversions and other magical verbal treatments. Hence, <em>Pango </em>becomes <em>NgoPangs</em>; <em>Pandak </em>becomes <em>DakPans</em>; <em>Duling </em>becomes <em>LengDu</em>; and <em>Bumbay </em>becomes <em>Pana </em>(the last derived from "Indian arrow" because arrow translates to pana in Tagalog).<br />
<br />
Still others can get very creative. A naturally bald-headed person who wears a toupee is someone who has a BMW ("<em>Buhok Mo </em>Wig!" or "Your hair's a wig!").</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
In high school, I had a classmate whom everybody called "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinapa"><em>Tinapa</em></a>" (smoked fish) because he smelled like one. Apparently, his family's business was the buying and selling of <em>tinapa, </em>but,<em> </em>no matter,<em> </em>it didn't exempt him from the ridicule.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
Because I went to an all-boys' high school, the effeminate ones stood out, albeit, for some, not by choice. Regardless, they were all referred to as "<em>Bading</em>" (gay).</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
In conversations, it's not generally seen as rude to remark, "<em>Uy, tumataba yata tayo!</em>" (This translates to "Hey, looks like you've gained weight!" even if "<em>tayo</em>" is really the Tagalog for "we.") </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
The inverse, to say to a close female work colleague, "Wow, mama mia, sexxxyyy!" is also fine, or at least, it wouldn't be considered sexual harassment. To the contrary, it would be deemed flattering.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
Note though that frankness flies out the window if you're a guest at a house and it's eating time. If you're a welcome guest, the host will offer to share his/her food, and it's considered bad manners to decline, no matter how politely conveyed, even if you're full and your stomach is ready to burst. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
But if you're an <em>un</em>welcome guest though (you would or ought to know), the host will still offer to share his/her food, and it's considered bad manners to accept even if you're starving, emaciated and the table is overflowing with food. Because if you do, be prepared to hear remarks like: "<em>Buti naman at di ka mahiyain, iho</em>." (It's a good thing you're not a shy person, son!)</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
Another area where frankness and bluntness don't apply: When you're courting Filipinas. If you find yourself in this situation, understand that a Filipina may say "yes" but she actually means "no", or she may say "no" but she actually means "yes" in caps and bold with three exclamation points. The fun part is figuring out which is which, but unfortunately, I am woefully inadequate to give a dissertation on this topic.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>Got a question for The Filipino? Email him now at </em></span><a href="mailto:askthepinoy@gmail.com"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em><span style="color: #5588aa;">askthepinoy@gmail.com</span></em></span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>.</em></span> </div></div></div>The Filipinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06411009013482740401noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4370906785269759264.post-89513894754668112522011-03-24T04:48:00.000-07:002011-03-24T23:03:23.523-07:00Does the Philippines have a future in a technology-driven world and will Filipinos survive in it?<strong>Dear Filipino,</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>As someone who has worked in Silicon Valley and who researches on and lectures about IT issues, I sometimes wonder what the future holds for the Philippines. It seems like we are only supplying resources (e.g., IT skilled labor) but not really in the forefront and "making things happen," so to speak. </strong><br />
<br />
<strong>So my question is: Do you think Filipinos will survive in an increasingly high-tech and competitive world? </strong><br />
<br />
<strong><em>Nagmamahal</em>,</strong><br />
<strong>The Filipina</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>P.S. By the way, I <strike>like</strike> love your new logo, too. But how come MuQ is in the logo while I’m not? Sob-sob-sob. :-(</strong><br />
<br />
To <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7tQenkyjzs">My Funny Brown Pinay</a>,<br />
<br />
First, I’m glad you like the new logo/banner. <br />
<br />
Secondly, I’m really sorry that you’re not in the picture, but don’t you think it would look kinda silly if I were riding you instead of MuQ?<br />
<br />
Thirdly, I feel bad not answering a lot of pending questions from readers, but I’m really super glad that you asked your question because it's of the kind I really want to write about. Because if there’s one thing I am absolutely sure, it’s that Filipinos WILL survive. In fact, not only will Filipinos survive, we are on track to conquer the world! Hah!<br />
<br />
Yup, you heard that right! But don’t take my word for it – take instead the word of the former Secretary of Finance, Roberto de Ocampo, who, thanks to a reader who alerted me about it, has recently written about how <a href="http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view/20110318-326279/The-Chosen-People">Filipinos are really “The Chosen People.”</a> <br />
<blockquote>Consider that, according to some researchers, “in order for a culture to maintain itself for more than 25 years, there must be a fertility rate of 2.11 children per family. With anything less, the culture will decline. Historically, no culture has ever reversed a 1.9 fertility rate.”<br />
<br />
The 2011 fertility rate estimate for Spain is 1.47, Italy 1.39, UK 1.91, France 1.96 and Germany 1.41, to name a select few. The average fertility rate of all Western Europe is about 1.5. In short, these nations are either on are perilously close to what population experts call an irreversible demographic decline. To put it more starkly, for example, by 2020 (or just nine years from now) more than half of all births in a country like, say, the Netherlands (1.66 fertility rate) will be of non-European Dutch origin. Furthermore, with the birth rate dropping below replacement, the population of such countries ages and the problems facing an aging population are numerous and startling enough to deserve a separate treatise.<br />
<br />
Western Europe is not the only one experiencing this phenomenon. The US fertility rate is, at 2.0, just below replacement and Japan is at a worrisome level of 1.2. For Japan, this means a population decline of about 60 million in the next 30 years and an aging population that will have one out of every five Japanese at least 70 years old by 2020.<br />
<br />
However, with the exception of Japan, the overall populations of the above-mentioned countries are not declining. The overwhelming reason for that is immigration (to which Japan is by comparison with others, still somewhat resistant). Guess who comprise one of the larger immigrant populations. Yes, dear—Filipinos!</blockquote>De Ocampo concludes: <br />
<blockquote>Now we have begun to creep into the world’s bloodlines. The 2010 World Series winning pitcher Tim Lincecum, 2011 best supporting actress Oscar nominee Hailee Steinfeld, head coach Erik Spoelstra of the Miami Heat, and R&B star Bruno Mars are all Fil-Ams. It may only be a matter of time before nearly every race on earth has some Filipino blood.</blockquote>In other words, if you think all these advanced countries are going to go high-tech, Filipinos will at least be tagging along for the ride!<br />
<br />
But actually, the truth is, if we play our cards right, we’re not just going to tag along – we can make things happen too, and to a certain extent, we have. In fact, we are really in the position to design our own “ride” – literally!<br />
<br />
Now, what do I mean by that?<br />
<br />
Well, what I mean is that we have the right ingredients already in place. We have, as you mentioned, the skilled laborers; we have creativity; and, believe it or not, we have years of experience in the transportation field too.<br />
<br />
Let’s talk about these ingredients one by one.<br />
<br />
First, the skilled laborers.<br />
<br />
Many people think of the Philippines as this low-tech country exporting nothing but tropical fruits and basic natural commodities. But in fact, electronics exports accounted for a whopping 61% of the country’s merchandise exports in 2010 which totaled $31 billion. Of that figure, <a href="http://www.chinapost.com.tw/business/asia/philippines/2011/03/14/294587/Philippine-electronics.htm">semiconductors comprised 71%</a>! <br />
<br />
And Filipinos are not just at the bottom of the high-tech totem pole either, for Silicon Valley has several Filipinos who have achieved substantial success in the field. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dado_Banatao">Dado Banatao</a>, of course, is just one of the more well-known figures, having co-founded Mostron, Chips & Technologies (acquired later by Intel), and S3 Graphics. <br />
<br />
All these means, of course, that we have the knowledge capital. And I strongly believe we also have the creative capital, which, as mentioned earlier, is the second ingredient. <br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4tq6i8IB3z3r50WaMCODN9PoRlVtBu2Cjzd5BxFq9NmLAKr2Feo7vqhTm-oXFgsz9I4dPraZbz7QA84d4g6_YVlQxg1Te-8OTzj64yVWZcVsg6psFRlWrA91jGt1tBb2Ny_7qhHnlrNJB/s1600/Phoenix.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="176" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4tq6i8IB3z3r50WaMCODN9PoRlVtBu2Cjzd5BxFq9NmLAKr2Feo7vqhTm-oXFgsz9I4dPraZbz7QA84d4g6_YVlQxg1Te-8OTzj64yVWZcVsg6psFRlWrA91jGt1tBb2Ny_7qhHnlrNJB/s320/Phoenix.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kenneth Cobonpue's Phoenix<br />
(Source: <a href="http://topgearnew.blogspot.com/2011/03/kenneth-cobonpue-designs-worlds-first.html">TopGear Blog</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>In fact, just a few days ago, I read the <a href="http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20110320-326480/First-bamboo-car-draws-raves-in-Milan">Inquirer article about Kenneth Cobonpue</a>, a well-known Filipino furniture designer. Apparently, he just outdid himself and designed “Phoenix” – a concept car made out of bamboo, rattan, steel and carbon fiber -- which has drawn raves in a Milan exhibit entitled “Imagination and Innovation.” I saw the picture and it looks awesome – indeed, “a bird posed to take flight.” <br />
<br />
What I didn’t like about the Inquirer article is the lead sentence which says in part that “Cobonpue has designed what must be the first and only bamboo and rattan car in the world.” <br />
<br />
Why? <br />
<br />
Because it’s not true! And this brings me to the last ingredient I earlier mentioned: years of experience.<br />
<br />
Actually, the honor of “first and only” bamboo ride rightly belongs to the – note the following adjective closely – <a href="http://totieco.multiply.com/"><em>out-of-school </em>youth and the former mayor of the remote municipality of Tabontabon, Leyte </a>who actually manufactured public taxis made out of bamboo! <br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF5RHAga4Oq985ikrx0ieeeSZbrOKglX672WaEo3JraBVcEV69e7JqWiMqA8U1kbJ_PayCwzb1CLXvM5rZB8oPEr0Z0Td9hdcayoR4Xf2hCppnAxQ8CZ7kLAs8GMqC4l8pQZhp2CAhCKbW/s1600/bamboo+taxi11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF5RHAga4Oq985ikrx0ieeeSZbrOKglX672WaEo3JraBVcEV69e7JqWiMqA8U1kbJ_PayCwzb1CLXvM5rZB8oPEr0Z0Td9hdcayoR4Xf2hCppnAxQ8CZ7kLAs8GMqC4l8pQZhp2CAhCKbW/s320/bamboo+taxi11.jpg" width="309" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Want a ride aboard the bamboo taxi of Tabontabon, Leyte?</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
And if you think it’s just superficially bamboo, you’re wrong: It’s 90% bamboo! <br />
<br />
But wait, there’s more: According to <a href="http://www.greencarreports.com/blog/1043593_biodiesel-bamboo-cabs-philippines-town-turns-taxis-green">John Voelker, Senior Editor of GreenCarReports.com</a>:<br />
<blockquote>The ECO taxis built by Tabontabon Organic Transport Industry [TOTI] come in two sizes: ECO1 seats 20, whereas ECO2 carries eight passengers. Each is said to run for eight hours on a gallon of biodiesel, which in this case is derived from coconut oil.</blockquote>Did you read that? The thing actually runs on biodiesel! How about that, my dear Pinay?<br />
Honestly, I was floored when I first read about it on <a href="http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/ariel-schwartz/sustainability/bamboo-taxis-arrive-philippines-town">Fast Company</a>. I couldn’t believe it because Tabontabon, Leyte does not exactly exude high-tech. In fact, it’s a poor <a href="http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/lifestyle/09/17/09/leyte-town-goes-green-bamboo-taxis">farming town </a>and is considered a fifth-class municipality by Philippine standards! <br />
<br />
I said though that the third ingredient is years of experience. Well, these ECO taxis were built in 2009, so a couple of years do not exactly years of experience make.<br />
<br />
But by years of experience, I am referring also to our decades of churning out our very colorful <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeepney">jeepneys </a>(a portmanteau of "jeep" and "jitney") which started when the American forces left us with hundreds of surplus jeeps used during the Second World War. We stripped them, elongated them, re-roofed them and made them culturally our own. That should count for something, right?<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEanVtimx7Bwh4ZMS5LWgueohPzL0WWzrlBnO0uKu-3iYG-d1l5Oy6tAXj6eQbrW4ZdZlz2bbwGx3xJZhhyphenhyphencDUK4MnCKQ31dgd50wO_xe1KCavM4Xc0zU-954BUpwrDcxbDg_DRNFKSms8/s1600/ambassador.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEanVtimx7Bwh4ZMS5LWgueohPzL0WWzrlBnO0uKu-3iYG-d1l5Oy6tAXj6eQbrW4ZdZlz2bbwGx3xJZhhyphenhyphencDUK4MnCKQ31dgd50wO_xe1KCavM4Xc0zU-954BUpwrDcxbDg_DRNFKSms8/s320/ambassador.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">FAAIE's enviable jeepney: The Ambassador</td></tr>
</tbody></table>As you probably know also, the jeepney used to be notorious as a smoke-belcher, but it has since evolved over the years. Nowadays, there’s even a lot of interest in making them more environmentally friendly and high-tech by making them electric-powered. You better believe it -- e-jeepney is on the way!<br />
<br />
In sum, I want to emphasize that we do have the ingredients to not just survive but to thrive in an increasingly high-tech world. All we need now is a cook, a really good chef. And I hope purpose-driven businessmen will step forward to play that role. Additionally, I hope the government will also step up and at least play the role of sous-chef. We really need them to up their game big time.<br />
<br />
Because believe me, I strongly think that demand for Philippine-made rides will increase, especially from Pinoys abroad because, at least Stateside, I am really sensing a growing pride about their ethnic background among Filipino-Americans. For instance, the <a href="http://www.spokanimation.net/faaie/">Filipino-American Association of the Inland Northwest</a>, which is involved in various humanitarian and socio-cultural activities, has bought a club jeepney. So as a group, they now roll and roar aboard the machine they proudly call The Ambassador.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Good for them! And honestly, I envy them because I too want to roll with one -- and because MuQ has been wanting a break from carrying my heavy bum bum. What do you think I should call it? (I meant the jeepney, not my bum bum.)</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>Got a question for The Filipino? Email him now at </em></span><a href="mailto:askthepinoy@gmail.com"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em><span style="color: #5588aa;">askthepinoy@gmail.com</span></em></span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>.</em></span> </div>The Filipinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06411009013482740401noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4370906785269759264.post-33346748556439889432011-03-16T09:56:00.000-07:002011-03-16T12:28:06.435-07:00For MuQ: Who are you really, how do you pronounce your name, why do you look lazy, etc.?<em>[Before "regular programming," I just want to say this: </em><em>It's always a struggle to write something characterized by levity (even pettiness) in the wake of a disaster so horrific and so shocking like what happened in Japan last Friday when a massive earthquake, and the tsunami which it caused, destroyed entire cities and towns and claimed thousands of lives. And to make things worse</em><em>, the disaster appears to be far from over, what with the ongoing threat from the nuclear facilities which were badly damaged. I hope nobody will find this a cheap and crass shoutout, but I really have been very impressed so far by the way the Japanese people have reacted with unbelievable amount of collective calm, courage, dignity and discipline in the face of such great national suffering, destruction and death. And readers from Japan who chance upon this blog are probably thinking that, half a world away from the epicenter, I am really very fortunate that I can continue blogging about relatively silly matters, and I hope nobody takes it as my callous indifference to their plight. My wife was an exchange student in Japan in the 1990s and she has "family" there -- even a loving "Japanese mother" she calls her "Okasan" for acting like one to her -- and I too have extended family and friends there. That's why </em><em>I do want to say in this blog, from the bottom of my heart, that our family's p</em><em>rayers and thoughts go out to the Japanese people affected by this continuing tragedy. -- </em><em>The anonymous blogger behind AAF!, otherwise known as The Pinoy, The Filipino or TF.]</em><br />
<br />
<strong>Dear MuQ,</strong><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivQmQJ6RqfiGlKrpksOh3ZvxNiOvq2pWICRBTqE1DHEqvG_oyaaWoU0fxW0z5sZZsO1hc4h6mpBxVRBW11cIhKt6Dj6SUridnzcktVeo78IaK1rrfbS3_3Pds4NYrbGtdGiPme_J-lmbYb/s1600/TF+in+green+circle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="198" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivQmQJ6RqfiGlKrpksOh3ZvxNiOvq2pWICRBTqE1DHEqvG_oyaaWoU0fxW0z5sZZsO1hc4h6mpBxVRBW11cIhKt6Dj6SUridnzcktVeo78IaK1rrfbS3_3Pds4NYrbGtdGiPme_J-lmbYb/s200/TF+in+green+circle.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br />
<strong>For this time (and I hope, this time only), I want to be the questioner because since we changed the banner/logo of the blog, you've begun to upstage me, and I'm beginning to feel kinda jealous. I'm supposed to be the blogger here answering all sorts of Pinoy-related questions, but now, I'm getting asked questions about YOU! <br />
<br />
The questions range from the metaphysical (who you are) to the practical (how your name is pronounced), et cetera. Maybe some chubby Midwestern buffaloes are probably just curious and want to flirt with you, but one prominent Filipino muralist is even openly challenging your Pinoy cred and claims you're actually Chinese! <br />
<br />
While I respect his work, the same artist referred to your droopy eyes too! He thinks you have the "Lazy Look" (knowing you, you probably love that alliteration!). And probably because of that look, he thought my reading pose while I was on top of you is, well, quite lazy-looking too (notwithstanding the fact that I was pictured busily reading a book). Thus, with the two of us appearing lazy to him, we supposedly perpetuate, according to him, the misguided stereotype that Filipinos are lazy!<br />
<br />
So what say you, The Buffalo Gigolo?<br />
<br />
Your BFF,<br />
TF</strong><br />
<br />
Dear TF,<br />
<br />
Wow, I feel important – very important! Imagine: I get to actually write my very own post in this blog and not just submit planted questions? <br />
<br />
Thanks for this opportunity, but where do I start? <br />
<br />
<strong>TF: Well, why don’t you start from the very beginning. First, introduce yourself.</strong><br />
<br />
That’s a good idea. Thanks, TF!<br />
<br />
Well, you could say I was first conceived in January of this year because my Creator -- you, of course! -- wanted to write about a beautiful Ford supermodel, but no reader had submitted a question which he could answer and somehow discuss <a href="http://askthepinoy.blogspot.com/2011/01/what-are-keys-to-success-in-life.html">her success story</a>. Then you thought a planted, perfectly worded question would do the trick so you made up a fictional questioner, the Made-up Questioner, or MuQ in short – i.e., moi.<br />
<br />
At that time though, except probably for <em>cojones </em>the size of humongous <em>lansones</em>, even in the mind of my Creator (you), I had no real attributes, no identity, no face, no character, no personality, no nothing -- except a name which happens to be a nice, short and sweet initialism or acronym. And, of course, a job: to ask the perfect questions at the most perfect times. <br />
<br />
But I didn’t know if I needed to sound like a lowly vassal, a disciple, or a rap star wannabe. I didn’t even know if I had to speak <em>collegiala </em>Taglish or have a British accent, although I knew I would have hated it, like, if I had to, you know, speak like, you know, a Hollywood star or something. In short, neither I nor you knew what I was going to end up as. <br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqJ1sz7qoOdyHEwn2Krh60EWItwdbaD63XYZmgTNuwDn96q8WlKylzaQpvDiAUr1RneZoO2nckD8IcVqWsxBBhYH_VltOJFwYF4Iaewtd4PUo73zemS8bmp2lh7rqXLEJuvssFiTXtwCnv/s1600/askthepinoy+logo2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="96" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqJ1sz7qoOdyHEwn2Krh60EWItwdbaD63XYZmgTNuwDn96q8WlKylzaQpvDiAUr1RneZoO2nckD8IcVqWsxBBhYH_VltOJFwYF4Iaewtd4PUo73zemS8bmp2lh7rqXLEJuvssFiTXtwCnv/s320/askthepinoy+logo2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The previous logo and banner of the blog.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
Luckily, you as my creator met a creative guy. He’s an artist who has served as art director for several top advertising companies in the world. He’s also active in the Filipino OFW community in Europe, organizing sporting events for the hyphenated Filipino youth. As a musician, he volunteers his talent, treasure and time to make sure that worthy fundraising projects, all aimed at helping less fortunate Filipinos back in the Philippines, are successful. His name is <a href="http://www.molina.dk/">Peter Molina</a>.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicZ2hylWIlRwJsjETM2LdIF2-MzIOVZXwh62ssNrjsuF9_z1kOArt7Pvu9qERRsUAi2fnPzFtz1ywpjhR3x22jYWIqPuOfIx4_44uOu4xtOoKgOkoC2NconW_oACznevu0uijIo1yCPOa6/s1600/AAF+logos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicZ2hylWIlRwJsjETM2LdIF2-MzIOVZXwh62ssNrjsuF9_z1kOArt7Pvu9qERRsUAi2fnPzFtz1ywpjhR3x22jYWIqPuOfIx4_44uOu4xtOoKgOkoC2NconW_oACznevu0uijIo1yCPOa6/s320/AAF+logos.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peter's different AAF! logo studies.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
Peter liked the AAF! blog so much that when he was approached about it, he decided that, for a token fee, he’d help upgrade the logo and banner of the blog. It took quite some time because of his busy schedule but he subsequently came up with several “studies” for the new logo, all of which were nice. Most revolved around Jose Rizal because the Philippine national hero is the original figure which graced the top banner of the blog. But the last of the studies actually ended up taking the prize because Peter did not just create a logo – he, probably inadvertently, also conceptualized the personification (or in my case, the "animalification") of a fictive character created solely for this “Ask blog”. And the character looks like someone who fits the name "MuQ"!<br />
<br />
People ask: “Why would that name fit?” Well, because it is pronounced like “muck” which rhymes with buck or luck. <br />
<br />
And “muck” is also perfect because it means “a moist sticky mixture, especially of mud and filth” or “dark fertile soil containing decaying vegetable matter.” In short, “dirt” – i.e., my favorite stomping grounds when I want to, as the Brits would say, “muck about” or “spend time idly.”<br />
<br />
But then, by saying that last phrase, I guess I just confirmed that muralist’s very charge, huh? That is, that I’m lazy, right?<br />
<br />
I hope not. But if that’s what he thinks, who am I to ask him to think otherwise?<br />
<br />
After all, I’m just a [fictive] carabao, a lowly beast of burden. I’m not a truck, a tractor or a car, even if my kind has been serving like those mechanical beasts many centuries before they were even invented. I don’t perform tricks like the dogs do, nor purr and act cute like the cats to get what I want.<br />
<br />
But what that artist probably doesn’t realize is that as a carabao, I have <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carabao">no sweat glands</a>, so I have to cool myself after long hours of working under the sun by lying in a filthy waterhole or mud or muck. That muck, caked on to my sexy body, protects me from bothersome tropical insects who can’t seem to get enough of tasty me. <br />
<br />
I’m probably wasting my time saying all these things though because again, who am I really to argue with that famous muralist? Us carabaos are not even supposed to complain. We’re supposed to be docile and just work hard. We're supposed to just carry heavy burdens. We’re just supposed to plow hardened soil, rain or shine, to soften them for another round of planting. We’re [sniff] just supposed to provide milk and when really necessary [sniff], offer our meat and our hides for you guys. We’re just [sniff]…<br />
<br />
<strong>TF: Hey, calm down, dude. Don’t cry because you’re going to make me cry, too!</strong><br />
<br />
I’m sorry but I can’t help but feel bad, TF. Why does this guy think I look lazy? It’s bad enough that the scientific community gave us a long, ugly and tongue-twister of a scientific name -- <em>Bubalus bubalis carabanesis </em>– but now I’m supposed to just accept additional abuse too because of my droopy-looking eyes? <br />
<br />
Besides, he’s unfair and quite misguided in his <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropomorphism">anthropomorphizing</a> because what applies to humans does not necessarily apply to the animal kingdom. Besides, has he ever thought that those droopy eyes were the result of tiredness, not laziness? Besides, I happen to think those eyes are my best assets because they make me look approachable and harmless among the female members of our specie. And here's another more important besides: I have massive horns, you see, and I don’t want female carabaos to think, well, that I’m “horny”!<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4zOPmd_TZnMKSYOrazubgSAOEVS6QxvhU7PQQlDf2uWyf1x1fUFMS4GccvDTHSTA2pMEp5GkXx8B-NBzbk2HtUrP8Fu3I6BwVJOx4svYDsQJl8azhpaNom2SevbC9IiE5I8XU5TN4DWRG/s1600/AAF+Card.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4zOPmd_TZnMKSYOrazubgSAOEVS6QxvhU7PQQlDf2uWyf1x1fUFMS4GccvDTHSTA2pMEp5GkXx8B-NBzbk2HtUrP8Fu3I6BwVJOx4svYDsQJl8azhpaNom2SevbC9IiE5I8XU5TN4DWRG/s320/AAF+Card.jpg" width="207" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">TF & MuQ: Happy together!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
But it’s true, TF: I like my dreamy look in Peter's work because it makes me an enigmatic character. And truth be told, like you, I’m really a dreamer.<br />
<br />
<strong>TF: But what about your Pinoyness? He questioned that too. He thinks you’re of Chinese origin. </strong><br />
<br />
So what? Just like millions of Filipinos, right? Should we strip those folks of their Pinoy kinship and connection too?<br />
<br />
Let me remind you: Carabaos have been around since pre-Hispanic times in the Philippines and I have just as much right to be considered Filipino as he has. Doesn’t he consider himself Filipino too despite his Spanish name or, presumably, mixed ancestry? <br />
<br />
Tell me this: How many centuries does it require to be considered native to a place? We’ve been the primary source of material for the armor of pre-colonial Filipino warriors. Some of my Filipino cousins were even exported to Guam in the late 17th century, and Guamanians considered my cousins Filipino, not Chinese! <br />
<br />
And actually, do you know what else Guamanians did? You’re right -- they made the carabao their national symbol! <br />
<br />
That’s called respect, bro. As in R-E-S-P-E-C-T! And sadly, we don’t get it that much among Filipinos, nowadays. We’re seen as too provincial, too rural. We’re of the lower class. No, make that lowest class.<br />
<br />
That's why if somebody is ugly, he/she "looks like a carabao." If somebody is a slowpoke, he/she is “as slow as a carabao.” If somebody speaks broken English, he/she is said to speak “carabao English.” <br />
<br />
It hurts, bro. We deserve better treatment. Besides, we’re supposed to be the country’s national animal – <em><a href="http://fil.wikipilipinas.org/index.php?title=Kalabaw">Ang Pambansang Hayop</a> </em>– right? Believe me: I can't help but feel envious of my distant relatives -- those spoiled cows -- living in India.<br />
<br />
But you know what? It’s a good thing The Big Guy above gave us thick hides and even thicker hearts. So we are able to endure all the slings and all the slights.<br />
<br />
Then, pretending as if we’re not tired or not hurting or not affected, with our characteristic pluck and poise, we plod along, plow ahead or plot a plan. <br />
<br />
<strong>TF: Thanks, MuQ! For a supposedly lazy creature, you answered my question quite non-stereotypically: i.e., quite thorough and in -- I apologize for saying this -- non-"carabao English".</strong><br />
<br />
You're welcome! And you're forgiven this time (but this time only). ;-)<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>Got a question for <strike>MuQ</strike> The Filipino? Email him now at </em></span><a href="mailto:askthepinoy@gmail.com"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em><span style="color: #5588aa;">askthepinoy@gmail.com</span></em></span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>.</em></span>The Filipinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06411009013482740401noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4370906785269759264.post-9699695897285275752011-03-09T03:23:00.000-08:002011-03-16T14:24:11.621-07:00Are Filipinos becoming the newest heartthrobs in the US of A?<strong>Dear Filipino,</strong><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvv0SH0cJQppcMsu-j5PasLhPGJ4aufTt-jiTV3_9g_5RM4hv1jh7hjysyh5ekoerbf8Hq4UyjrqMkVxbP65x4adFxqY0k2NeZeIVG80ACMhqtzmX18yPABOqRvIxeyDI4Q4z5LFbQrVcp/s1600/Big+MuQ.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="196" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvv0SH0cJQppcMsu-j5PasLhPGJ4aufTt-jiTV3_9g_5RM4hv1jh7hjysyh5ekoerbf8Hq4UyjrqMkVxbP65x4adFxqY0k2NeZeIVG80ACMhqtzmX18yPABOqRvIxeyDI4Q4z5LFbQrVcp/s200/Big+MuQ.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Big MuQ, TF's sidekick.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<strong>Did you see that <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/victoria-moy/is-america-ready-for-cool_b_830525.html?ref=email_share">HuffPo piece</a> about Asians, including many Filipinos who were specifically named in the article, turning into America's newest heartthrobs? </strong><br />
<br />
<strong>Sigh. I wonder when it's going to be my turn... </strong><br />
<br />
<strong>Wishing,</strong><br />
<strong>MuQ</strong><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;"></div>Dear MuQ,<br />
<br />
Keep dreaming, brother! Keep dreaming -- nothing wrong with that at all!<br />
<br />
Yes, I read it several days ago and I found it really fascinating. I actually wanted to write about it but you weren't around to ask the planted question as my sidekick! Where were you anyway? (Okay, okay -- in fairness, I'm just making you my scapecarabao; I've been really too busy lately to do much writing.)<br />
<br />
As I said, it was a fascinating article and I don't really know what to make of it. I'm sure social scientists, and moreso the casual observers, would have tons to say about the article, or even just this paragraph alone:<br />
<br />
<blockquote>Just when we start to feel envious about the Whiz Kids' superior academic and virtuosic abilities, we quickly console ourselves that the price they pay is social awkwardness and having no fun. Asian Whiz Kids and their Tiger Moms surely abound. But frankly, this model is rather old. The newer, more interesting strand of Asian American is... the Heartthrob Asian.</blockquote>"We"? Who's "we" in the article -- the white dudes? And then, the article continues: <br />
<blockquote>You may have seen cool Asians on MTV's <em>America's Best Dance Crew</em> and Fox's<em> So You Think You Can Dance </em>in dance crews such as JabbaWockeeZ, Kaba Modern, and SoReal Cru. Justin Bieber's backup band is the Filipino American R & B group Legaci. Sam Tsui, a Chinese American singer/pianist/songwriter and student at Yale who's amassed over 85 million views on YouTube, appeared on <em>Oprah</em> and <em>ABC World News</em>. 21-year-old Filipino American singer/guitarist Joseph Vincent Encarmacion appeared on the <em>Ellen DeGeneres show</em>.</blockquote><blockquote>Iyaz gave a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duA0eZhS0HE" target="_hplink"><span style="color: #b10000;">shoutout</span></a> on a Youtube video to 21-year-old Filipino American AJ Rafael and friends for covering his Billboard hit "Replay." And of course, there's Bruno Mars who's half Filipino. Harry Shum Jr. of League of Extraordinary Dancers is on <em>Glee</em>. In January, Billboard created a new chart for emerging artists in social media, which was topped by Traphik, a Thai American rapper, and was peppered with Asian Americans.<br />
<br />
21-year-old Filipino American guitarist/pianist/singer and YouTube sensation <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/ilajil" target="_hplink"><span style="color: #b10000;">AJ Rafael </span></a>from Moreno Valley, Calif. received over 50 million views on YouTube; had become 29th most subscribed musician of all time; has over 11 million plays on MySpace; and when he came out with his EP on iTunes album charts, he debuted at 115. (This was on his own, without labels and millions to back him.) His iTunes sales pays his bills.</blockquote><blockquote>Talented and charismatic, Rafael performs regularly to packed concerts of screaming teens who know him from YouTube. Last summer, he toured Hawaii, Sydney, Melbourne, and Toronto.</blockquote>The article's quite long and Filipino names are sprinkled all over it -- and they're new names too and not the more known ones like Arnel Pineda and the like. The article even opened with the story of 10-year old Filipino-Canadian Maria Aragon who just sang a duet with Lady Gaga in her Toronto concert. <br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbrIDqg3ebPF8n4l8Et9UV7j18FfEi09TF6OTcKLPNVaAbN8fxhKMAt7EyJTPMYX1Xcy5NSBKtBuSnf3kI-xTB-fbUCDSaxFviM5i0vCAi4_mo0v8mqUtvxF-mvtYJGY3_uXmGRi368T_1/s1600/Far+East+Movement.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbrIDqg3ebPF8n4l8Et9UV7j18FfEi09TF6OTcKLPNVaAbN8fxhKMAt7EyJTPMYX1Xcy5NSBKtBuSnf3kI-xTB-fbUCDSaxFviM5i0vCAi4_mo0v8mqUtvxF-mvtYJGY3_uXmGRi368T_1/s320/Far+East+Movement.bmp" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The cool dudes of the Far East Movement.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>And the other groups mentioned in the article, aside from Legaci, also have Filipino members -- including the most successful Asian American group, <a href="http://www.fareastmovement.com/" target="_hplink">Far East Movement</a> (also known as FM), which managed to break into the mainstream pop scene with the single, "Like a G6," which reached #1 in iTunes and Billboard Hot 100 charts. FM's DJ Virman is the only Filipino American but the rest of the group <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGXgyGWLSLM">are "adopted Filipinos," at least food-wise</a>. <br />
<br />
Pretty amazing, no? Considering a <a href="http://www.jewishjournal.com/keepingthefaith/item/manny_pacquiao_is_a_superstar_a_hero_and_my_new_celebrity_crush_20101114/">Jewish blogger, Ilana Angel, had also earlier gushed over Manny Pacquiao, her new "celebrity crush"</a> (her words, not mine), maybe there really is a trend here. <br />
<br />
So who knows? Maybe soon, you, MuQ, are going to be the next celebrity and buffalos from the American plains will soon be rampaging to get close to you!<br />
<br />
<strong>MuQ: Cool! Can't wait! But what took Americans so long to recognize our -- <em>ahem</em>!<em> </em>-- coolness and good looks?</strong><br />
<strong></strong><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4wUFIXKtQG5xcR1W4M0AnIiAzJS0rtibG_fko2-xYpAUc4J553MDPnUJlZbmeAYvTkQ5vUx52UhVtXrLFhvxBUuTLpwDnVPTxhlyalmVuFTsJ9G_5B1Ij_8BZOe5N1212ggx7UURksoFc/s1600/Souvenir+-+Igorot+Village+World+Fair.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="216" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4wUFIXKtQG5xcR1W4M0AnIiAzJS0rtibG_fko2-xYpAUc4J553MDPnUJlZbmeAYvTkQ5vUx52UhVtXrLFhvxBUuTLpwDnVPTxhlyalmVuFTsJ9G_5B1Ij_8BZOe5N1212ggx7UURksoFc/s320/Souvenir+-+Igorot+Village+World+Fair.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"I love dogs too! Wanna exchange recipes?"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>I know -- makes you wonder, right?<br />
<br />
But if you have forgotten your history, allow me to remind you.<br />
<br />
After the Americans colonized the Philippines a little over a century ago, they had to showcase their newest subjects in a grand manner. And what better way than to do so at the 1904 World's Fair held in St. Louis, Missouri?<br />
<br />
According to <a href="http://www.webster.edu/~corbetre/dogtown/fair/igorot.html">Virgilio R. Pilapil of the Filipino American National Historical Society</a>, "[t]he St. Louis World's Fair was the grandest of all Fairs and the Philippine Exhibit took the honor of being the largest and most popular one at this Fair."<br />
<br />
And guess why? Because we were all supposedly head-hunting savages! And we ate dogs -- yum yum! <br />
<br />
(Hmmm...I wonder what The Filipina is preparing for dinner tonight -- Adobong Bulldog, Great Dane stuffed with Kangkong, or the usual Chihuahua Curry?) <br />
<br />
Oh, sorry, I was daydreaming about food again. Where was I? Yes, the history behind our coolness, of course! <br />
<br />
Going back to the St. Louis Fair, the Igorot Village, in particular, was a huge hit because the Igorot appetite for dogs was supposedly insatiable, this despite the fact that <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1909651">Igorots ate dogs only occasionally and for ceremonial purposes</a>. But there was no shock value there, so they were asked to butcher dogs and eat them daily. And Pilapil adds:<br />
<blockquote>The city of St. Louis provided them a supply of dogs at the agreed amount of 20 dogs a week, but this did not appear to be sufficient, as they had also encouraged local people to bring them dogs which they bought to supplement their daily needs.</blockquote>So, as you can see, Filipinos used to be just "objects of curiosity" in 1904, to put it mildly, to be fed with dogs. But fast forward to today, and if you believe HuffPo's article, hey, guess what? We've now become "objects of desire" -- or at least, our Filipino music stars are.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLzh3IBBsf18mcY-XtV7pFlT4QiajGc5YP61ILL8oEGcQfU2ZrKjlkU3IvATjkP7uYXVDDm8QnBNKsB-cyzKtJysqsxkto0arakUmc3Z1OU_2-O8_dLMpCI116nDXo5O_uOvj5zDlvmgPX/s1600/Chief+Justice+Tani.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLzh3IBBsf18mcY-XtV7pFlT4QiajGc5YP61ILL8oEGcQfU2ZrKjlkU3IvATjkP7uYXVDDm8QnBNKsB-cyzKtJysqsxkto0arakUmc3Z1OU_2-O8_dLMpCI116nDXo5O_uOvj5zDlvmgPX/s200/Chief+Justice+Tani.bmp" width="157" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Justice Tani, The Filipino's <br />
newest celebrity crush.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Personally, I'm not going to be complaining, brother. And neither should you.<br />
<br />
But if you ask me, my newest "celebrity crush," to borrow Ilana's term, is the country's first Filipino chief of a State Supreme Court, Madame Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye of the California Supreme Court. <br />
<br />
Believe me, bro: She's pretty and she's smart! (I don't want to be accused of objectifying women, but I read a lot of comments on articles when news of her nomination broke last year and I happen to agree with many commenters: She's hot!)<br />
<br />
But while her success story is truly inspiring, her parents' story is even moreso, for they were the ones who toiled the sugar cane and pineapple farms of Hawaii as well as the fields of California's Central Valley so she could get her education.<br />
<br />
So here, I'll join you in dreaming: I hope that someday I'll find myself fortunate enough to be arguing a case in the august chamber of the Court with Chief Justice Tani presiding. I'm sure my knees will be quivering, especially if she flashes me her signature smile. And I know I better be prepared because I sure won't like her smile turning into something scary. Ay yay yay!<br />
<br />
And MuQ, I expect you to be there to give me moral support -- okay? -- even if you, my fictive water buffalo, are already being revered as The Buffalo Gigolo. <br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>Got a question for The Filipino? Email him now at </em></span><a href="mailto:askthepinoy@gmail.com"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em><span style="color: #5588aa;">askthepinoy@gmail.com</span></em></span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>.</em></span>The Filipinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06411009013482740401noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4370906785269759264.post-81758724120729056432011-03-03T14:13:00.000-08:002011-03-07T00:46:22.163-08:00Is mediocrity really the goal and standard for majority of Filipinos?<strong>Dear Filipino,</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>Someone (with a PhD from Harvard and who was a Summa Cum Laude at his local Manila university) told me that he believes that part of the dynamics in terms of explaining why the Philippines is where it is today -- i.e., near or at the bottom rung of the Asian economies even after 25 years since the end of Marcos rule -- is that the majority of Filipinos (both the elite and the <em>masa</em>) do not subscribe to the pursuit of excellence (or a higher challenge) as a goal or as a standard to live for or to die for. </strong><strong>In short, mediocrity (or <em>Pwede Na Basta't Maka Sulong</em>) is the day-to-day mode of Filipino life. </strong><br />
<br />
<strong>My question is: Is this observation accurate and correct? If it is, what is the explanation? Is it cultural? Is it an effect of colonialism? And if so, were the Spaniards a stickler for mediocrity themselves? </strong><br />
<br />
<strong>Johnny V. from Stanford </strong><br />
<br />
Dear Johnny,<br />
<br />
Yes, let’s blame everything on the Spaniards! After all, most former Spanish colonies are practically in the same rut we are in. Heck, you can even argue that Spain is in worse shape than most of its former colonies including the Philippines – what with its <a href="http://www.economist.com/node/17965525">20% unemployment rate right now and near bankrupt banks</a>. <br />
<br />
But on second thought, let’s not do that. The Spaniards have been gone a long time and it’s time to take ownership of our state of affairs. But in investigating your main question, I will steer clear of the discussion of culture also because many experts have already done that in the past and, frankly, I’m tired of hearing those experts pontificate about our culture.<br />
<br />
So, let’s talk about you instead. ;-) <br />
<br />
Actually, I think the question could not have come from a more appropriate questioner. Why do I think so? Because Stanford, regularly ranked today as the “dream college” by both parents and students, has become synonymous with excellence in higher education. In fact, according to the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings, in 2010, Stanford is ranked <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_University">among the top 5 in the world</a> in the fields of engineering & technology, life sciences, health sciences, physical sciences, social sciences, and arts & humanities. This achievement is truly remarkable because no other university placed in the top 5 across all these broad disciplines. (And what these rankings always overlook is the fact that Stanford is also an incredible powerhouse in collegiate athletics!)<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfTAB43f_FZv0X69Q2OFLarMfPftlv4HghAcP_bLKLyXRnHS6FffmsBJmThPga7OZWXHM5qaAluBBzqtvKtIRE0OuIUfUGaQF5TA7Dq_fEbEhEtVYo6RbmLemrEn64u-ZIb7tpgPsrJcAk/s1600/Stanford.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfTAB43f_FZv0X69Q2OFLarMfPftlv4HghAcP_bLKLyXRnHS6FffmsBJmThPga7OZWXHM5qaAluBBzqtvKtIRE0OuIUfUGaQF5TA7Dq_fEbEhEtVYo6RbmLemrEn64u-ZIb7tpgPsrJcAk/s320/Stanford.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Stanford University campus.<br />
(Source: <a href="http://stanford.edu/">Stanford.edu</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>It is even more remarkable that Stanford made it this big despite its relative youth when compared to Harvard, Oxford or Cambridge – its present “peers”. In fact, after its founding by the railroad tycoon and politician Leland Stanford and his wife Jane in 1891, the fledgling university almost went under because of problems involving its finances following the death of Leland in 1893. <br />
<br />
However, determined to keep the university in operation, Jane personally took charge of administrative and financial matters at the university from 1893 to 1905, and she ran it like a housewife would a household because that was the only way she really knew how to run anything. She’s said to have paid salaries out of her own funds, even pawning her jewelry just to keep the university going. <br />
<br />
It is common knowledge, though, that what really brought Stanford to its current perch is Silicon Valley, one of the biggest engines of the US economy, and that Silicon Valley, in turn, is what it is today because of Stanford. You cannot divorce the success of one from the other and you definitely cannot understand the rise of one without understanding the rise of the other.<br />
<br />
But what was the original tie that bound the two together? <br />
<br />
The answer, according to Professor Stephen B. Adams of Salisbury University who wrote about the topic in an Oxford Journal, is a <a href="http://es.oxfordjournals.org/content/4/3/521">sense of mission and regional solidarity</a>. He explains thusly: <br />
<blockquote>From the early years of Stanford University, the university's leaders saw its mission as service to the West and shaped the school accordingly. At the same time, the perceived exploitation of the West at the hands of eastern interests fueled booster‐like attempts to build self‐sufficient indigenous local industry. Thus, regionalism helped align Stanford's interests with those of the area's high‐tech firms for the first fifty years of Silicon Valley's development.</blockquote>We know now that this sense of mission and regionalism would give rise to the likes of Hewlett Packard, Intel, Cisco, Apple, Oracle, Yahoo, Google and thousands of other less well-known but equally excellent and cutting-edge companies, staffed by the best and the brightest who were attracted by the lure not only of wealth and glory but also the exciting prospect and pressure of competing, co-creating and/or cooperating with like-minded souls who are in pursuit of excellence.<br />
<br />
Now, distilling the lessons from the success of Stanford and Silicon Valley, I humbly submit to you here that the key ingredients to enable a group of people to achieve excellence are (1) a sense of mission by those in leadership roles; (2) a “regionalistic” environment which produces a sense of solidarity; and (3) peer pressure of the positive kind. Take away any one of these ingredients and you’ll likely get mediocrity at best (or outright failure at worst).<br />
<br />
Personally, I think many Filipinos subscribe to the pursuit of excellence in their own individual fields, and I don’t think I need to detain you any further here by giving you specific examples. Suffice it to say that the “someone” you mentioned appears to be one of them; otherwise, he wouldn’t have bothered getting his PhD from Harvard. (In fact, like him, many Filipinos leave the Philippines not just to earn a better living but also to seek the best in their respective fields, advance as globally as possible professionally and thereby pursue world-class excellence in their craft.)<br />
<br />
But then, you are probably thinking that if enough Filipinos are pursuing excellence individually, then the country should not be where it is today. To a certain extent that may be true, but I don’t buy that line of thinking completely. And, here, I’ll point to India as my counter-example. <br />
<br />
You see, India has a lot of excellent and super-successful individuals who have thrived particularly well in countries like the US and the UK. But despite significant personal achievements of these expat Indians and the considerable economic progress of the country, India still has a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_India">significant portion of its population mired in extreme poverty</a>. Why? I’ll give you three reasons: (1) Because the elite Brahmin class does not really exhibit a true sense of mission to help members of their lowest class, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalit">Dalits </a>or the untouchables; (2) because India’s still pervasive and rigid caste system produces a low-trust culture and therefore a weak sense of solidarity among its people; and (3) because there is not enough peer pressure among the powerful and rich Indians to do the right thing. <br />
<br />
Case in point: India’s richest person, Mukesh Ambani, just built the most expensive, most ostentatious personal residence in the world. According to <a href="http://www.forbes.com/2007/06/02/india-mumbai-palace-faces-markets-cx_rd_0602ambani.html">Forbes</a>, it is a billion-dollar, 60-story palatial building in Mumbai, which, depressingly enough, is actually home to the largest population of slum dwellers in India. It’s weird saying this because I might come across as just envious (and to a certain extent, I am), but I honestly almost feel sorry for this Ambani guy – for obviously, he has some demons he’s dealing with.<br />
<br />
Do you get my drift here?<br />
<br />
In any case, I think your question actually involves generalities. In other words, you’re really asking whether Filipinos, as a group, are pursuing or are capable of pursuing something large-scale, something grander for themselves: i.e., an excellent and advanced economy undergirding an equitable and just society. In other words, something like what the Singaporeans or the Koreans or the Taiwanese have, to a large extent, achieved.<br />
<br />
So, applying the Stanford/Silicon Valley model of success I discussed above, I have to ask: Do Filipinos in power generally have a sense of mission? <br />
<br />
Well, by its very definition, the word “mission” -- which is often seen as a companion word to “vision” – is suffused with idealism and therefore connotes lofty ideals and aspirations which transcend one’s selfish interests. And I doubt, honestly, whether the past and present leaders of the country (with the exception of a handful) had or have them, or even if they did or do, that they took or are taking them seriously enough.<br />
<br />
The in-your-face corruption, the giving and accepting of bribes, the brazen system of patronage and vote-buying, the unbelievable violence – all these belie a sense of mission among the people at the top of the public pyramid. And when even the country’s privately wealthy make their money not really through invention and production of high value-added goods and services but through sale of imported consumer products to a local populace getting subsidies in the form of remittances from their OFW relatives, through passive collection of rents, through relentless milking of precious and limited land which inevitably leads to its eventual destruction and depletion, or through their connections to the people in power, you also realize that the country’s elite are just, mission-wise at least, as bankrupt. <br />
<br />
(I remember a “game” I once played with a friend who belonged to one of the country’s most prominent families and who is very knowledgeable about the Philippine society’s elite. Highly self-aware of the nature of his own family’s membership in the group, he said to me: “Name any rich family in the Philippines and I will tell you how they arrived at their wealth through their connection to, help or blessing of a former or present President.” Not that there are no families who made their wealth more impressively, but during our exchange, I failed to stump my friend.)<br />
<br />
But surely, we cannot lay the blame solely on the feet of the elite. We all have our fair share in everything wrong with the Philippines, of course, and we rightfully cannot get a free pass especially because there’s more than enough blame to go around. So what about the rest of us, the masses? <br />
<br />
Sadly, the Filipino masses (where, for the sake of expediency, I would lump the middle class) have been fickle, feeble and feckless too. Collectively, we, too, seem to have no sense of mission. For instance, we kicked out the Marcoses from power but we allowed them back in without asking them to commensurately pay for their sins first. We elevated Cory to the presidency (and near-sainthood) but we did practically nothing to support her administration. We are supposedly educated but we put up with – and actually enrich! – the likes of Willie Revillame who bring out and institutionalize the worst in us, not to mention elect his ilk to positions of power. (Quite honestly, that last example is not just being mediocre – it is macabre!)<br />
<br />
As for having a regionalistic environment which produces a sense of solidarity, with over 7,000 islands and dozens of languages, Filipinos are supposedly already “regionalistic”, so there has to be a checkmark here in our favor, right? <br />
<br />
Unfortunately, it appears to many from outside, or even to many among us, that our regionalism does not quite extend beyond the superficial. Indeed, Filipino solidarity is often seen as merely skin-deep, quite myopic and frail, if not totally non-existent. Why? Because the sense of mission, as discussed above, is also merely skin-deep, quite myopic and frail, if not totally non-existent!<br />
<br />
The regionalistic environment referred to by Prof. Adams is the ethos which says, “We, in this region, are in this mission together.” It’s the “us against the world” mentality which fuels a spirit of solid camaraderie and unity strong enough to overcome self-doubt, systemic problems and external attacks. <br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4z-fzMh1bOzgqnfZRyuR-V2Wh9E5Bb9igOjRTlodbYRi3GexM8qWLKUSZ95Xet3RIoBO8B53AlomeLg838gzf1kLeTyhEMHJz74chT_IsV-Aq7o39akyj-XdhDXu1i_cg4QWX2oCzPQ8R/s1600/koreans+donating+gold.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="210" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4z-fzMh1bOzgqnfZRyuR-V2Wh9E5Bb9igOjRTlodbYRi3GexM8qWLKUSZ95Xet3RIoBO8B53AlomeLg838gzf1kLeTyhEMHJz74chT_IsV-Aq7o39akyj-XdhDXu1i_cg4QWX2oCzPQ8R/s320/koreans+donating+gold.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Source: <a href="http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2010/11/117_74690.html">Korea Times</a>.)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Here, I am reminded of how ordinary South Koreans rallied to save their country from complete collapse during the Asian currency crisis of 1997 by lining up in droves <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/07/world/asia/07seoul.html">to donate their own personal gold</a> -- their family heirlooms and trinkets and jewelry – in order to refill their emptied national treasury and repay the country’s loans to the International Monetary Fund. To say it was remarkable is to understate things: According to <a href="http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2010/11/117_74690.html">Michael Breen of Korea Times</a>, even “couples handed over wedding rings” and “old ladies contributed treasured possessions” such that “the international price of gold dropped to the lowest in 18 years”! <br />
<br />
When people are lining up in droves, driven by a conviction that they’re doing something noble for the greater good, you’ll get an atmosphere that produces peer pressure. And as already mentioned above, of course, I’m talking of pressure of the positive kind: the kind which puts the onus on the skeptics, the doubters, the apathetic, and even the selfish, to put on a public face at least and for once do the right thing in a crisis situation. <br />
<br />
But even in a non-crisis situation, positive pressure inspires the intrinsically driven, the ambitious, and the idealistic to sustain their efforts to achieve even more – for themselves and for the larger group to which they belong. This positive pressure does not repel others; to the contrary, it attracts the right and the bright people, thereby enhancing the elements which further benefit the group.<br />
<br />
In his work on how nations achieve competitive advantage, Michael E. Porter of Harvard Business School introduced the concept of clusters which, like in Silicon Valley and Hollywood, are critical masses or “<a href="http://web.ewu.edu/groups/cbpacea/2002FallArticles/clustertheoryandpractice-advantagesforthesmallbusinesslocatinginavibrantcluster.pdf">groups of interconnected firms, suppliers, related industries and specialised institutions in particular fields that are present in particular locations</a>.” <br />
<br />
According to Porter’s Cluster Theory, <a href="http://www.isc.hbs.edu/econ-clusters.htm">clusters enjoy unusual competitive success</a> in a particular field because they affect competition: “first, by increasing the productivity of companies based in the area; second, by driving the direction and pace of innovation; and third, by stimulating the formation of new businesses within the cluster.” In other words, Porter is just basically saying, in management consulting lingo of course, that success is infectious, that success begets success.<br />
<br />
I mention Porter at this juncture because this infectious dynamic is what’s needed in the Philippines right now. Indeed, the Philippines really needs to achieve a critical mass of sorts, a cluster of like-minded institutions and souls who will pressure each other positively to create a spirit and atmosphere of genuine desire for reform and succeed socio-politically and economically. If it can’t, the country will continue to be stuck in the morass of mediocrity.<br />
<br />
So I guess, that last sentence answers your question: We are not pursuing excellence as a group. In most economic development studies, we are mediocre -- i.e., stuck in the middle of the pack, or worse (however, to say we are at the bottom is also overstating things and quite erroneous). [Edit 03/07/11.] And I'm sure you didn't need me to answer this for you -- your Harvard PhD buddy already concluded so.<br />
<br />
But if you haven’t noticed, one thing about many Filipinos – including <em>this</em> Filipino despite his decision to immigrate to the US – is that they will not give up on the Philippines. And because these Filipinos will not give up on the country, the country will not run out of chances to get better either. <br />
<br />
And here, I offer as an example the experience of the Naguenos as a group.<br />
<br />
Naga, as late as 1988, was a poor, sleepy, third-class city in the poverty-stricken region of Bicol until an enlightened young mayor, Jesse Robredo, took over the reins of the lcal government. As soon as he did, change was almost instantaneous and the pace of progress thereafter was furious, so much so that just a decade later, in 1999, Asiaweek dubbed Naga as <a href="http://edition.cnn.es/ASIANOW/asiaweek/features/asiacities/ac1999/data/improved.naga.html">one of Asia’s Best Cities and its Most Improved</a>. <br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo-bIf9oBYmwNHhlOqIk-A2PUu4uZGdNLMdRmppmjN23IWTRSxtMQusAth1JSIM4wxxdvz1z5PTGkK7H7cUTpEviDqyz_u70HtD9mecx1tQz1QBMT4Z9J5fNpzj7XspRavWDmX0cQnQ3nu/s1600/Robredo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo-bIf9oBYmwNHhlOqIk-A2PUu4uZGdNLMdRmppmjN23IWTRSxtMQusAth1JSIM4wxxdvz1z5PTGkK7H7cUTpEviDqyz_u70HtD9mecx1tQz1QBMT4Z9J5fNpzj7XspRavWDmX0cQnQ3nu/s1600/Robredo.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Source: <a href="http://planet.naga.ph/29845/vote-for-jesse-robredo/">PlanetNaga</a>.)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Today, Naga is the country’s <a href="http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=485990&publicationSubCategoryId=473.">most awarded city and is the model of good governance</a>, having won around 150 relevant international awards. It has also been attracting new residents, investors and tourists alike. <br />
<br />
How did Robredo do it? You bet! By leading with a sense of mission and by promoting regional solidarity!<br />
<br />
Specifically, he instituted transparency in city affairs and finances, among others. Then, he rallied, cajoled and convinced many others in the community to join him in his ambitious mission to lift the city by its own bootstraps. In the process, he got, among others, the local Rotary Club to feed the poor children and expectant mothers; the local schools and universities to participate in more aggressive community building not just traditional education; and even the Catholic Church to sell land to the city at below-market rates for squatter housing. He also reached out to the leaders of surrounding towns and municipalities to push for the development of "Metro Naga" and discuss ways to share burdens and resources to improve everyone's lot. Most impressively, believing citizens have to have a direct stake in government affairs, he also shepherded the passage of an Empowerment Ordinance to allow non-government groups to form a People's Council which chooses representatives to the city government's committees. <br />
<br />
By all accounts, Robredo and the people who rallied around him were so successful that officials from other cities, perhaps feeling the “peer pressure,” started trooping to Naga to learn the city’s model of governance, which led to the establishment of the Naga City Governance Institute (NCGI). At the launching of NCGI in 2009, World Bank country director Bert Hofman was effusive in his praise, remarking that the city “is one of the shining lights of good governance in the country today.”<br />
<br />
If you visit the website of Naga (<a href="http://www.naga.gov.ph/">http://www.naga.gov.ph/</a>) today, you’ll appreciate why Hofman said that. Despite the small size and limited budget of the city, its website, I think, can hold its own, in terms of aesthetics and substance, against the websites of much bigger, much richer cities all over the world. The website, which captures the welcoming, progressive and hopeful zeitgeist of the city, is inviting the Internet surfer to see/meet/ invest/live/experience/study in the city – the city that “SMILES to the World.”<br />
<br />
The challenge for P-Noy and the people around him is how they can ignite the spark which will replicate on a national level what Naga has accomplished on a city/regional level. It will be difficult, sure, but man -- God knows how much many people like myself are just dying for that to happen!<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>Got a question for The Filipino? Email him now at </em></span><a href="mailto:askthepinoy@gmail.com"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #5588aa;"><em>askthepinoy@gmail.com</em></span></span></a><em><span style="font-family: inherit;">.</span> </em>The Filipinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06411009013482740401noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4370906785269759264.post-80597761949156161702011-02-23T10:24:00.000-08:002011-03-15T13:02:39.347-07:00Why do Filipinos use "F" and why do they confuse their "fees" and "epps"?<strong>Dear Filipino,</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>Why is "Filipino" spelled with an "F" when there is not even an "F" in the Pilipino alphabet? And why do many Filipinos pronounce their F's as P's?</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>Rene Astudillo</strong><br />
<br />
Dear Rene,<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2FKGnMs8AfO5RFahwQjM0rFZhsul96fA94e27bGqWeP4sewfWor6368n3ai0x2f1FMIdahGy-ny0m8Uk9jfjIzOMkOumKUJXd40oA8NEhU0F8m8hMZyBLlk2wGaYQ-xdVWhzeOTqgGwDu/s1600/Budapest+Basilica.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2FKGnMs8AfO5RFahwQjM0rFZhsul96fA94e27bGqWeP4sewfWor6368n3ai0x2f1FMIdahGy-ny0m8Uk9jfjIzOMkOumKUJXd40oA8NEhU0F8m8hMZyBLlk2wGaYQ-xdVWhzeOTqgGwDu/s1600/Budapest+Basilica.jpeg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Filipino admiring <a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1660487837">St. Stephen's</a><br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Stephen's_Basilica">Basilica</a> with his daughter.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
For several days in the last week, I was with my wife (and the kids as well) in Budapest, Hungary to celebrate our 12th wedding anniversary. But it was a special trip for my wife and I for two other reasons: The country was the 26th we've visited (we are aiming for 50 before age 50) and the city proved to be a traveler's must-see -- i.e., it has lots of fantastic sights and a history so colorful I wish we had a real historian as a local guide.<br />
<br />
But ask my two kids (one is almost 8 and the other is 5 1/2) what stuck to them the most about the trip and you'll likely get a version of this: "Wow! The Hungarian language uses lots of Z's!" <br />
<br />
And it's true -- the letter "Z" is indeed everywhere in Budapest, from the street signs to the ads to the names of places and things (and also, apparently, in lots of <a href="http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Category:Hungarian_verbs_suffixed_with_-z">Hungarian verbs</a>). That's because, of the 44 letters in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungarian_alphabet">"greater" Hungarian alphabet</a> (which is really an extension of the Latin language even though it's used to write the Hungarian language which is a member of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ugric_languages">Finno-Ugric language family</a>), 4 have the "Z" as an integral part (a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glyph">glyph</a>) of the particular letter -- i.e., <em>Dz</em>, <em>Dzs</em>, <em>Sz </em>and <em>Zs </em>-- on top of the stand-alone <em>Z</em>. (In <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthography">orthography</a>, the Hungarian letters <em>Dz</em>, <em>Sz </em>and <em>Zs </em>are called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digraph_(orthography)">digraphs</a> while the letter <em>Dzs</em> is called a trigraph. ) <br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifXAkY_u6i8i2HkKTeu_Kl82jPYqy06TAvVphmrVD25ehek2m0NY-GiWpNq4lJT8x9LyFXBHXuFbqzcyZClL9RU-RRsgeQEzVq9Zg4AJvsMLQcBaU-_Y5qX_iaRaslS3eCP2SuwuauZQnK/s1600/Budapest+busz+lane.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="152" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifXAkY_u6i8i2HkKTeu_Kl82jPYqy06TAvVphmrVD25ehek2m0NY-GiWpNq4lJT8x9LyFXBHXuFbqzcyZClL9RU-RRsgeQEzVq9Zg4AJvsMLQcBaU-_Y5qX_iaRaslS3eCP2SuwuauZQnK/s320/Budapest+busz+lane.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The bus lane in Budapest which prompted The Filipino's<br />
son to ponder the question: "If <em>bus </em>is spelled as <em>busz </em>in <br />
Hungarian, how do you spell <em>chess </em>in Hungarian?"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>I placed the word <em>greater </em>in quotation marks because the Hungarian alphabet also includes the letters <em>Q</em>, <em>W</em>, <em>X </em>and <em>Y </em>which are only found in words considered foreign to Hungarians. In other words, there is what's referred to as a "smaller" Hungarian alphabet which contains only 40 letters. <br />
<br />
Like the Hungarians, the Japanese has an orthography which uses a comparable, albeit more complex, way of writing their language. I'm talking here of course of the three Japanese writing systems: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanji">Kanji</a>, which is actually composed of traditional <a href="http://www.blogger.com/wiki/Chinese_character" title="Chinese character"><span style="color: #0645ad;">Chinese characters</span></a> which have Japanese translations; the <a href="http://www.blogger.com/wiki/Hiragana"><span style="color: #0645ad;">Hiragana</span></a> which is used to write Japanese words not covered by <a href="http://www.blogger.com/wiki/Kanji"><span style="color: #0645ad;">Kanji</span></a>; and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katakana">Katakana </a>which is used primarily for <a href="http://www.blogger.com/wiki/Transcription_(linguistics)" title="Transcription (linguistics)"><span style="color: #0645ad;">transcription</span></a> of foreign language, <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://www.blogger.com/wiki/Loan_word" title="Loan word"><span style="color: #0645ad;">loan words</span></a>, as well as technical and scientific terms. <br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4pOG4xWoQVPgNw5pXaTnciNfIL83Hx71lBRfjADVrpk-AiKAGGTuybmysMr6PiNzNUhAll4lnLcRj3WIjb-NkmIK6z-i9aKlxB-G5t0ZQElsExbHubaLX1tY5oZ-Kc0SXgwQAknlZ_CaB/s1600/Szolarium.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4pOG4xWoQVPgNw5pXaTnciNfIL83Hx71lBRfjADVrpk-AiKAGGTuybmysMr6PiNzNUhAll4lnLcRj3WIjb-NkmIK6z-i9aKlxB-G5t0ZQElsExbHubaLX1tY5oZ-Kc0SXgwQAknlZ_CaB/s1600/Szolarium.jpeg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Ooppss</em>! Somebody forgot the Z!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>By now, you're probably thinking: "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arigato">Arigatō</a> for all these info, but what the '<em>epp</em>' are you talking about and how is this intro even related to my question?"<br />
<br />
Well, allow me to explain further. <br />
<br />
I don't know about you, but when it comes to understanding my Filipino-ness, it has been my experience that I just understand things better when I look for explanation outside the Philippines, and, though difficult sometimes, search for clues and parallels beyond my very Filipino frame of mind. <br />
<br />
For instance, the very premise of your question is that the "Pilipino alphabet" does not have "F" in it. But the premise is only correct if you're approaching it from a perspective which uses pre-Hispanic phonemes as basis. In other words, we don't have the "F" if you're thinking of the "smaller" Filipino alphabet which had only 20 "letters" -- i.e., the old "Abakada" as created by Lope K. Santos in 1940 which he supposedly patterned after the <a href="http://askthepinoy.blogspot.com/2010/11/do-filipinos-have-their-own-script-and.html">Baybayin</a> despite the fact that the latter is actually technically a syllabary, not an alphabet, and in any case is written very differently from Latin-based alphabets.<br />
<br />
But as a matter of fact, like the Hungarians, we also have had a "greater" alphabet, which <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filipino_orthography">at various times had either 28, 29, 31 or 32 letters because we were using the Spanish orthography</a> which had digraphs like the <em>Ch</em>, <em>Ll</em> and <em>Rr</em> and because we were also using all the letters in the English orthography following the take-over of the Americans as our new colonizers. And actually, we could easily have had more if, like the Hungarians, we considered the vowels which use diacritical marks like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diacritic">the acute, the grave and the circumflex</a> as separate letters. And it would actually have made sense because we pronounce vowels very, very differently depending on the words used. For instance, the "o" in <em>guro </em>(Tagalog for "teacher") should be written with the circumflex (as in <em>gurô</em>)<em> </em>because it is pronounced very differently from the "o" in <em>siguro </em>(etymologically Spanish but is now also the Tagalog word for "maybe"). <br />
<br />
In any case, the understandable confusion around our alphabet finally stopped in 1987 when we adopted what is now known as the "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filipino_alphabet">Modern Filipino Alphabet</a>." This alphabet is made up of 28 letters and includes the entire 26-letter set of the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://www.blogger.com/wiki/Basic_modern_Latin_alphabet" title="Basic modern Latin alphabet">Basic Modern Latin alphabet</a>, the Tagalog digraph <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://www.blogger.com/wiki/Ng_(digraph)" title="Ng (digraph)"><em>Ng</em></a>, and the letter <i><a href="http://www.blogger.com/wiki/%C3%91">Ñ</a></i> which was bequeathed to us by the Spaniards.<br />
<br />
And speaking of the Spaniards, the word "Filipino" is itself -- it should come as no surprise -- actually Spanish ("<em>efe</em>" is one of the 27 letters in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_orthography">Spanish alfabeto</a>). The term, derived from the name given to the country by our Spanish colonizers to honor their king, was originally used to refer to Spaniards born in the Philippines (also called the <em>insulares</em>) and to distinguish them from Spaniards born in Europe (the <em>peninsulares</em>). However, according to historian <a href="http://www.blogger.com/index.php?title=Ambeth_Ocampo" title="Ambeth Ocampo">Ambeth Ocampo</a>, our national hero <a href="http://www.blogger.com/index.php?title=Jos%C3%A9_Rizal" title="José Rizal">José Rizal</a> appropriated it for all of us and was the first to call the indigenous inhabitants of the islands <em>Filipinos. </em>Thus, because of Rizal, the term <i>Filipino</i> began to be widely used to refer to the natives by the end of the 19th century.<br />
<br />
But if the country is called the Philippines, why are we not called Philippinos instead? According to <a href="http://www.slate.com/id/2136894/">Daniel Engber of Slate</a>:<br />
<blockquote>The Philippines have only been called the Philippines (with a "Ph") since the United States bought the country from Spain around the turn of the 20th century, after the Spanish-American War. Under Spanish colonial rule -- which extended back to the 16th century -- the country had been called "<em>Las Islas Filipinas</em>," after King Felipe II. For Americans, Felipe was Phillip, so <em>Las Filipinas</em> became the Philippines. While the name of the country changed, the name of the nationality did not. Those who lived in the renamed Philippines were still called Filipinos.</blockquote>But where did the word "Pilipino" come from? Engber further explains that:<br />
<blockquote>The term "Pilipino" derives from the convoluted story of <a href="http://sundrylit.blogspot.com/2006/01/metamorphosis-of-filipino-as-national.html" target="_blank" xmlns:tools="XslTools">how the Philippines got its national language</a>. There was no official, native language under Spanish and American control. Those living on the islands could be divided into as many as 120 different groups, each with its own way of talking [<a href="http://askthepinoy.blogspot.com/2010/12/how-many-ways-can-you-say-merry.html">175 actually, according to Ethnologue</a>]. The desire to create a mother tongue increased when the United States pulled out of the country and the Philippines became a commonwealth in the 1930s. A national institute was given the task of making one of the native languages official.</blockquote>In 1936, this institute, the <a href="http://www.blogger.com/wiki/Commission_on_the_Filipino_Language" title="Commission on the Filipino Language">Institute of National Language</a>, selected <a href="http://www.blogger.com/wiki/Tagalog_language" title="Tagalog language">Tagalog</a> as the basis of the national language but incorporated elements of the country's other native languages. The <a href="http://www.blogger.com/wiki/Abakada_script" title="Abakada script">Abakada alphabet</a> created by <a href="http://www.blogger.com/wiki/Lope_K._Santos">Santos</a> in 1940 was also officially adopted to "<a href="http://www.blogger.com/wiki/Indigenization" title="Indigenization">indigenize</a>" the writing system. However, because of the almost 400 years of combined Spanish and American influence, the newly adopted alphabet was seen as inadequate and impractical because many consonants used regularly by locals were missing in the Abakada. <br />
<br />
Moreover, because speakers of the other Philippine languages were upset and felt marginalized, the government saw it fit to rename the national language into "Pilipino" instead in 1959. But why <a href="http://store.escalate.com/store/turoturo/article11.jsp" target="_blank" xmlns:tools="XslTools">"Pilipino" and not "Filipino"</a>? As already alluded to above and further expounded on by Engber:<br />
<blockquote>The developers of the mother tongue <a href="http://emanila.com/news/opinion/ggrivera_2001_04_10_opinion_tagalog.html" target="_blank" xmlns:tools="XslTools">looked back to the alphabet</a> that was used before the Spaniards took over (and in the early years of Spanish rule). The native script, called "<a href="http://www.mts.net/~pmorrow/bayeng1.htm" target="_blank" xmlns:tools="XslTools">Baybayin</a>," had fewer than two dozen letters and didn't include the sound for "F." Though the letter "F" had been incorporated into the language during the centuries of Spanish influence, the country's post-colonial leadership chose to return to the original alphabet. [NOTE: Here, I think Engber also made the mistake of thinking Baybayin is an alphabet rather than a syllabary.] Foreign words that used "non-native" sounds were respelled to fit the Baybayin-based alphabet. C's became K's, X's turned into SK's, and the letter F became a P. [NOTE: This is akin to the Japanese way of transcribing foreign words using Katakana.] Filipinos who spoke Tagalog became Pilipinos who spoke Pilipino.<br />
<br />
The debate over the national language continued for decades. A constitution written in the early 1970s (drawn up as Ferdinand Marcos instituted an <a href="http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Pool/1644/marcosera.html" target="_blank" xmlns:tools="XslTools">eight-year stretch of martial law</a>) promised to create <a href="http://www.chanrobles.com/1973constitutionofthephilippines.htm" target="_blank" xmlns:tools="XslTools">a new national language</a> called "Filipino." The next constitution, from 1987, <a href="http://www.chanrobles.com/article14language.htm" target="_blank" xmlns:tools="XslTools">made the change official</a>, designating Filipino -- which uses a larger alphabet and incorporates foreign sounds -- as the national language. With the letter "F" restored, presumably those who speak the national language are now, once again, Filipinos.</blockquote>Now, onto your other question: Why do many Filipinos confuse their F's and P's? <br />
<br />
Indeed, many of us do and I know for a fact that this "pronunciation confusion" has also been a source of jokes, to say the least. Worse, it has also been a source of prejudice and disdainful elitism. I've personally seen it many times that Filipinos with a more Americanized way of speaking English go way beyond teasing and look down with an unwarranted sense of superiority upon those who speak the language with a "Filipino accent." <br />
<br />
And for many of us who grew up in the provinces, the teasing and the condescension cause, at the very least, a lot of hurt "<em>peelings</em>." ;-) In fact, for the typical <em>provinciano</em>, speaking English with a strong Filipino accent can be costly because it can mean less career opportunities and even alienation in an environment (say, a top school or a business organization) which prizes fluency in spoken English. <br />
<br />
And when you think about it, it's really quite unfair considering, for <em>provincianos </em>like myself, English is really our third language. After all, we have our provincial language as our first and native tongue, and then we are forced to learn Tagalog and English too! Now, compare us to the elitist folks who come mostly from Manila and who only needed to master English as a foreign language, and I say, if anything, we're supposed to be the ones "<em>peeling</em>" superior here, right?<br />
<br />
But to go back to the crux of the topic, what's the real reason behind this Philippine phonological confusion involving the pronunciation of "F"? Well, it's simple really: Because, quite literally, our native Filipino tongues are still generally Malayo-Polynesian even if we've already adopted a more expansive alphabet as a country, even if we've undergone almost 400 years of colonization. So, if you're a typical <em>provinciano</em> who, as I've said earlier, has had to learn not only the local language (most likely Malayo-Polynesian) but also Tagalog (definitely Malayo-Polynesian), your tongue -- in fact, your <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonology">entire vocal tract</a> -- is just not naturally hard-wired for words with the "F" phoneme (or for that matter, the "V" phoneme). So unless you're exposed to English regularly (i.e., you're from a rich Filipino family or you were educated in top schools), or you are, say, an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine_English">Ibaloi from Northern Luzon whose indigenous language contains the "F" phoneme</a>, it's really not that easy to pick up the phonetic ability to pronounce "F" properly. <br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIRRduO9yBNsDHLPySJWuRLvefYeRscXgobkQykfaJLa_-HwYRkdvmehO-ve9erVlaTxWjc97OJ1h8vAvuNcOoDgUHbiekjUYHv82Rayifb-JCq1PI6bJ4WQblxlBIlOc5M6IixEA4a2Es/s1600/Vocal+tract+places+of+articulation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="185" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIRRduO9yBNsDHLPySJWuRLvefYeRscXgobkQykfaJLa_-HwYRkdvmehO-ve9erVlaTxWjc97OJ1h8vAvuNcOoDgUHbiekjUYHv82Rayifb-JCq1PI6bJ4WQblxlBIlOc5M6IixEA4a2Es/s320/Vocal+tract+places+of+articulation.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The vocal tract and places of articulation.<br />
(Source: <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Places_of_articulation.svg">Wikipedia</a>.)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>And in fairness, pronouncing foreign words is really not easy for almost <em>everyone</em>,<em> </em>especially if the sound that needs to be produced is non-existent or has no comparables in one's native language. That's why for the Anglicized ear, the <a href="http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100226185138AAsviCR">French can't seem to pronounce "H" quite properly</a> and the <a href="http://www.fluther.com/104317/why-cant-scandinavians-pronounce-the-letter-w/">Germans and the Dutch appear to mistake "V" for "W</a>" quite regularly when these people speak English. That's also why the Brits can't quite produce the rolling "R" perfected by the Spaniards. That's why learning to read Scandinavian languages is easier than learning to speak them because they use a lot of glottal stops and what-not. That's why the Arabs, whose words are pronounced more throatily, will find learning a language like Vietnamese or Chinese, which are very nasal, very, very difficult. That's why the Japanese, who don't really use "L" and "V" in their language, will pronounce "I love you" as "I rob you"!<br />
<br />
Personally, I always have fun making my Western friends try to pronounce the word "<em>ngayon</em>" (Tagalog for "now") because it uses the digraph "<em>ng</em>" which is a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velar_nasal">velar nasal</a>, a type of consonantal phoneme which most Westerners, try as they might, just seem unable to make. Unfazed, they would try pronouncing the word many times and I would usually end up laughing even though I try not to. Fortunately, my friends know I'm just having fun. And to write it in Hungarian, I think they know I'm really juszt amuszed by their szilly attemptsz which yield nothing but erroneousz szoundsz.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>Got a question for The Filipino? Email him now at </em></span><a href="mailto:askthepinoy@gmail.com"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #5588aa;"><em>askthepinoy@gmail.com</em></span></span></a><em><span style="font-family: inherit;">.</span> </em>The Filipinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06411009013482740401noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4370906785269759264.post-82648379165690746482011-02-15T03:49:00.000-08:002011-02-17T07:11:37.902-08:00Why are elevators so challenging to Filipinos and are Filipinos really more discourteous?<strong>Dear Filipino,</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>I'm from the States but I have been living in the PI for almost six years now. I'm married to a wonderful Filipina woman, adopted her two daughters from a previous marriage, and a year ago we had our first daughter together. I've run a few businesses/offices here with 40+ staff. I've gotten used to the corrupt MMDA guys; to the horrible snarl of traffic on EDSA; to the general driving populace's apparent inability to pick a lane to drive in or pay attention to when a stoplight turns green; to mentally translating "out of stock sir" to properly mean "we have never had it and likely never will". This background is to show I'm generally more familiar with the culture here than a "fresh-off-the-boat" expat or a tourist</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>But there is one thing that I simply cannot get used to and cannot understand the root cause of the phenomenon: It seems a large percentage of the population simply cannot understand the simple concept of an elevator. Why?</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>Why do people think it's a bright idea to push both the up and the down button at the same time? Why do people think it's a good idea to get on an elevator travelling in the opposite direction they want to go? Why do people get on an elevator without bothering to take note of the direction it is heading and then after travelling a few floors burst out with the inevitable "AY!" and get flustered as they realize they're heading the wrong way or just as often when they realize they've missed their floor because they didn't bother to push the button to indicate the floor they wanted to go to?</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>I've asked friends. I've asked people who engage in this strange elevator behavior. Most of the responses center around fear of "overload". I can't think of a better way to put this: that's just moronic. By causing the elevator to make unnecessary stops, they reduce the efficiency of the system which causes longer waits which causes more "overload". Is it like the sleeping at the stoplight phenomenon where folks just aren't in a hurry to get wherever they're going so they don't really care what direction they're heading? I've often heard from less politically correct expats that elevators are too new a concept for people "fresh from the provinces" and they shouldn't be expected to understand their use. Ignoring the racist overtones of that explanation, it still doesn't make sense. Even if one has never seen an elevator before, one certainly can grasp the meaning of an up and a down arrow. So again, I don't get it.</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>It's taken quite a while for me to get over the vast difference between here and my home culture in the importance of common courtesy. Holding the door for someone or thanking someone that does the same for you, letting someone get over in traffic when they signal they want make a lane change, properly waiting your turn in line while making sure not to block all foot/vehicle traffic, generally being aware of the people around you and behaving in such a way as to not only avoid interfering with them but additionally being aware of any opportunity in which you can lend a helping hand. These are all things I was raised to do. All things that were impressed upon me as important to being a good person. I get that this is not the case here. Fine, it's a different culture. </strong><br />
<br />
<strong>With all that said, I can't see how a culture that's known worldwide as being so friendly and caring can condone this elevator behavior. My previous employment was on the top (33rd floor) of a building. The 23rd floor has a huge call center. Every day my staff was unable to get on the elevator to go down for lunch because every time the door opened it was packed full with people from the 23rd floor. We're talking about hundreds of people a day riding 10 floors in the wrong direction and forcing everyone 10 floors above them to miss the elevator because they couldn't wait their turn. ARRGGGHH! </strong><br />
<br />
<strong>I've spent almost six years trying to figure this out and honestly I'm just as stuck on this issue as I was the day I landed here. Please, can you shed some light on why this happens and perhaps some suggestions on how to deal with it? Someday if I ever have the funds, I intend to produce a 2 minute video on how to properly use an elevator and air it on ABS-CBN. But I refuse to do it until my Tagalog is good enough that I do not have to use any English. Airing a commercial about how to use an elevator already sounds like a self-righteous/racist expat. Hopefully if I can do it in Tagalog, a few people will get past that and actually listen to the message. </strong><br />
<br />
<strong>Regards,</strong><br />
<strong>Marc Womack</strong><br />
<strong>Consultant for Traffic, Outsourced Labor, Hosting & More!</strong><br />
<br />
Dear Marc,<br />
<br />
If your question were just a straightforward logic question on elevator use, it would be fairly simple to answer. Why? Because it is not quite as “moronic” as you put it; in fact, there is some twisted “genius” behind pressing both buttons – which means, I’m sorry to break the news, the 23rd floor folks in your previous building had probably outsmarted you to some extent. <br />
<br />
You see, in a typical modern office building which has a bank of elevators, system programmers consider “interfloor,” “up peak,” “down peak,” and “lunch time” <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elevator">traffic patterns</a> to maximize the elevators’ utility. While “interfloor” traffic is important if, say, there’s a major tenant occupying multiple floors, most systems really address “up peak” traffic by making elevator cars wait by the lobby during certain times (e.g., around 8am) to provide faster service to passengers arriving at the building , and “down peak” traffic by sending elevator cars towards the highest floor to await hall calls placed by passengers wishing to leave the building (e.g., around 5pm). <br />
<br />
The “lunch time” mode is a two-way traffic pattern found somewhere between “up peak” and “down peak.” That’s why if you press both the up and down buttons, you increase your chances of getting an elevator to stop by your floor because you get to summon the closest elevator car or catch the one in-transit on the way up or on the way down, whichever is closer. <br />
<br />
To illustrate, let’s say you want to go down and you press both buttons. If an elevator on the way down stops by your floor and it has room for you, then you ride; if there’s no room for you, you wait for the next one. But if an elevator on the way up stops by your floor, you may still decide to ride it if it’s empty because you can typically override the system to travel to the opposite direction (most possible if there’s no one above you who summoned the same elevator), or if it’s not empty and you don’t mind travelling up a few floors instead of waiting.<br />
<br />
This partially explains why the 23rd floor folks probably thought it would, overall, save them time to go up 10 floors rather than miss an opportunity of getting a ride. They would rather lose time going up 10 floors than wait for a car with enough room for them, or walk 23 flights down. <br />
<br />
I’m sure there were instances, of course, when it was an honest-to-goodness mistake on the part of the elevator riders which account for the “round-trip,” or maybe their outright impatience. But I would wager that the main reason is time: i.e., “saving time” is very important to these folks because they are on the clock and every minute is important. <br />
<br />
You see, with the shortage of decent jobs in the Philippines, ordinary workers do not really enjoy a lot of rights, and especially in call centers, they are monitored like robots. So if it’s lunch time, off they go lest they miss their lunch, which is not only a time for eating but also a chance to socialize with their friends and co-workers as well. And they won’t let elevators get in the way.<br />
<br />
But in a way, the elevator behavior you have observed is actually very similar to the driving culture in Manila. People are only concerned about their personal time, not the societal time. So drivers don’t hesitate to squeeze into lanes where they shouldn’t be, make turns without regard to traffic lights, or stop in the middle of the road without regard to the other motorists behind them.<br />
<br />
Is this type of behavior selfish? Sure it is, and I’m not going to defend it. [In fact, let me tell folks engaged in this kind of behavior who are reading this post: PLS. STOP!] But off the top of my head, I will discuss three reasons why this type of behavior festers in Metro Manila. (Although you may observe similar behavior in the provinces, I submit it would be to a much lesser extent.)<br />
<br />
One major reason is Metro Manila is just way too crowded. The metro region -- which covers the City of Manila and 15 other cities (Caloocan, Las Piñas, Makati, Malabon, Mandaluyong, Marikina, Muntinlupa, Navotas, Pasay, Pasig, Parañaque, Quezon City, San Juan, Taguig, Valenzuela) plus the municipality of Pateros – has an estimated population of some 20.8 million as of end-2010. By my calculations, this translates to a population density of 32,345 per square kilometer. Compare this to NY City’s 10,194; Chicago’s 4,923 and Los Angeles’ 3,041. Can you imagine what will happen to these major US cities if they had population densities similar to Metro Manila’s?<br />
<br />
A second reason is that the systems in place are not only inadequate, they are also overwhelmed. You can have traffic lights and all, but if there are way too much cars on the road, traffic will still be monstrous. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5OsIWI5ufQO1IdnNS4QiztdmrGsV9mo-Fi0oiq8YQNF7kqxNm2kQY89-POswYpRlF-ZuERd0BLpAAmp6eKPP1sfYcOU908chPrF1ThyphenhyphenVbkA5pP5ASwb1KaTA8a0WyYSk0tWrWlWlJ6seu/s1600/elevator.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5OsIWI5ufQO1IdnNS4QiztdmrGsV9mo-Fi0oiq8YQNF7kqxNm2kQY89-POswYpRlF-ZuERd0BLpAAmp6eKPP1sfYcOU908chPrF1ThyphenhyphenVbkA5pP5ASwb1KaTA8a0WyYSk0tWrWlWlJ6seu/s320/elevator.gif" width="206" /></a></div>Applying this in your elevator scenario, a building developer and/or building manager should take into account the building tenants, the density of occupancy per floor, and the schedule of lunch breaks, when programming elevator systems. In fact, a building-wide meeting to address these types of concerns is not a bad idea. Because an employee’s one-hour break can easily be eaten by long lines which impact productivity and encourage rule-breaking, when I was working for a multi-floor tenant of a big commercial building, we had to stagger lunch breaks to address the traffic not only on elevators but also at the cafeteria. <br />
<br />
A third reason is the systems’ lack of incentivizing and penalizing mechanisms. By this, I mean the equal and consistent application of rule-enforcement mechanisms. This is why I applaud <a href="http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=591315&publicationSubCategoryId=63">P-Noy’s “No <em>wang-wang</em>” rule</a>, even if I think he needs to use the <em>wang-wang</em> for his own safety. Applied in the elevator situation, there should be no “special elevator” for the exclusive use of a handful if the building’s configuration didn’t originally plan for it, if these “special passengers” have no compelling reason to be accorded special treatment, and most especially if they’re not paying for the privilege.<br />
<br />
I said I was going to enumerate three reasons and I did. But did you notice that not once did I touch on culture?<br />
<br />
Why is that?<br />
<br />
Because I think the elevator behavior you mentioned is not Filipino culture per se! And this is why, even though I really appreciate your sincere intent to understand, I have to push back a bit against your contentions, both the express and the implied, because I think you also unfairly contextualized your question by bringing up other issues, especially when you said that there is a “vast difference” between your “home culture” and the Filipino culture with regards to “common courtesy.” You also quite impertinently alluded to “all things [you were] raised to do” and “impressed upon [you] as important to being a good person,” which you claim to “get that this is not the case” in the Philippines because “it's a different culture.” <br />
<br />
That paragraph saddened me, but because I can understand to a certain extent where you're coming from, I will not dwell too much on your implied assertions in this blogpost. But I will say this: If it were purely Filipino culture that’s to blame, don't you think this type of behavior would persist even in the States where almost 5 million of us now reside? But it doesn’t, does it -- whether anecdotally or otherwise? Why? Because where systems work, where laws are enforced, and where people are treated equitably, Filipinos behave just fine. So it's not about culture.<br />
<br />
In fact, I would argue our native Filipino culture is much more “courteous” than the culture in the US. Truth be told, I was treated rather much more discourteously as a tourist in New York than anywhere else except London where I was beaten up by four thuggish teenagers who wanted my wallet and my bag!<br />
<br />
But how can I convince you? Because it’s difficult to devise the metrics for “courteousness” and because there's not a lot of data on this, I think a reasonable metric to use is the rate of criminality among our peoples. I mean, you can’t really call someone courteous if he’s trying to mug or kill you, right? <br />
<br />
So let’s look at those figures.<br />
<br />
According to the 2000 US Census, <a href="http://www.migrationinformation.org/usfocus/display.cfm?ID=403">3.04% of males ages 18-39 are incarcerated in the US</a>. But if you parse the figures, you will discover that incarceration rates increase sharply if you compare the foreign-born immigrants’ figures to US-born figures. <br />
<br />
For instance, the incarceration rate among foreign-born Non-Hispanic Whites is only 0.57% but this figure increases to 1.71% among their US-born. For the Non-Hispanic Blacks, the rate increases almost five-fold from 2.47% of their foreign-born to 11.61% of their US-born; for Mexicans, the rate increases more than eightfold from 0.70% of their foreign-born to 5.9% of their US-born; among the Vietnamese, the increase is more than tenfold, from 0.46% of their foreign-born to 5.6% among their US-born. And for Filipinos? The rate is 0.38% of their foreign-born to 1.22% of their US-born.<br />
<br />
Overall, the incarceration figure is 0.86% of foreign-born and 3.51% of US-born. Clearly, something in the US culture is to blame for the rise in incarceration figures among the US-born sons of immigrants, don’t you think? (As a Filipino-American myself with US-born kids, I'm very concerned about this.)<br />
<br />
Besides, I would also wager that “your” culture, though it may appear “courteous” at the superficial level, is actually much more aggressive. I mean, it should be obvious from a cursory parallel review of the histories of the West and the East, right? In the 20th century alone, Europe visited upon the world two world wars which killed millions. And let’s not even talk about the thousands of smaller Western wars and battles and imperialistic adventurism which transpired during and prior to that century which also decimated millions for the sake of resources. (And yet the Brits supposedly taught the world what it means to be a "gentleman"?)<br />
<br />
Personally, I see the Filipino culture fighting tooth-and-nail against a culture of poverty which, because of its all-enveloping reach and depressing level of magnitude, is getting the better of the Filipinos oftentimes. This culture of poverty breeds distrust and ignorance especially among the folks at the bottom of the social pyramid; corruption and impunity among the folks at the top; and massive selfishness all throughout. It is evil, it is pernicious, and therefore it has to be fought and defeated. (I refuse to believe our culture is the reason why the Philippines is poor, because, again, Filipinos in the US are in fact <a href="http://askthepinoy.blogspot.com/2010/12/will-filipinos-ever-be-considered-model.html">one of the most affluent minority groups</a>.)<br />
<br />
And this is why I think if you really want to help, you would be better-advised spending the money you’re saving for the two-minute commercial you’re planning to air on ABS-CBN about elevator use into something more productive - something that will really help the country fight against the culture of poverty. I mean, I personally think a funny commercial that drives home the point about elevator use is a great idea, but I really believe there are better uses for your money.<br />
<br />
Like what? Well, you’re a consultant – you should be able to figure things out! But if you really insist on what I would recommend, well, why not help distribute books? Why not help the <a href="http://askthepinoy.blogspot.com/p/spotlight.html">Books for the Barrios</a>?<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>Got a question for The Filipino? Email him now at </em></span><a href="mailto:askthepinoy@gmail.com"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #5588aa;"><em>askthepinoy@gmail.com</em></span></span></a><em><span style="font-family: inherit;">.</span> </em>The Filipinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06411009013482740401noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4370906785269759264.post-53441687972551804162011-02-11T05:24:00.000-08:002011-02-17T01:56:58.214-08:00Are there jobs in the Philippines for Westerners?<strong>Dear Filipino,</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>I'm thinking of moving to the Philippines for a change of pace and scenery, but I'm concerned of course how I can survive there if I don't have a job. I guess I have a little capital for a small business, but are there jobs there for foreigners like me?</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>Western Man</strong><br />
<br />
Dear Western,<br />
<br />
Of course, there are jobs there for people like you!<br />
<br />
But first, you have to learn a local language. Then, you can, for instance, start a taxi business in Isabela -- like what Jason and Tory tried to do:<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/zZf00xELwKo" title="YouTube video player" width="480"></iframe><br />
<br />
Okay. I guess that didn't pan out very well for them. What about a jeepney business in Quezon City?<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/XSSZZFj85L8" title="YouTube video player" width="480"></iframe><br />
<br />
Or what about selling <i>taho</i>?<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/JAmhLQqybKg" title="YouTube video player" width="480"></iframe><br />
<br />
See, they made money! <br />
<br />
Bottomline: You'll be fine -- so go and move East, man!<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>Got a question for The Filipino? Email him now at </em></span><a href="mailto:askthepinoy@gmail.com"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #5588aa;"><em>askthepinoy@gmail.com</em></span></span></a><em><span style="font-family: inherit;">.</span> </em>The Filipinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06411009013482740401noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4370906785269759264.post-61815649571349680522011-02-08T14:19:00.000-08:002011-02-08T14:35:16.116-08:00Is it okay to express condolences by just posting a note on the bereaved's Facebook wall?<strong>Dear Filipino,</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>If one wants to express his condolences to a friend, the bereaved family member of someone who just tragically passed away, is it okay to just leave a note on the friend's Facebook wall?</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>MuQ</strong><br />
<br />
Dear MuQ,<br />
<br />
Hell, no! And most especially NOT if the Facebook profile picture that will be showing right next to your message looks remotely like any of the following: (a) smiling; (b) laughing; (c) pouting; (d) ridiculous-looking; (e) in love; (f) a cartoon character; (g) a comedian; (h) a pet; (i) a stupid quote; (j) a vacation picture; (k) any food; (1) any drink; (m) a sexy actress/actor; (n) a teen heartthrob; (o) a movie character...<br />
<br />
The list goes on and on and on. <em>You </em>get the drift? <em>You </em>get the logic?<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>Got a question for The Filipino? Email him now at </em></span><a href="mailto:askthepinoy@gmail.com"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em><span style="color: #5588aa;">askthepinoy@gmail.com</span></em></span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>.</em></span><a href="http://www.mts.net/~pmorrow/bayeng1.htm"></a>The Filipinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06411009013482740401noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4370906785269759264.post-80974198450689461732011-02-08T01:26:00.000-08:002011-02-08T20:58:10.107-08:00What is the recipe for the traditional Filipino street barbeque on a stick?<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><strong>Dear Filipino,<br />
<br />
I was in the Philippines in about 1976. Everywhere in the streets, there were people selling the most delicious beef or chicken barbeque on a stick. I want the recipe <em>please</em>. I've tried the recipes on the Internet and it just wasn't the same. I even asked Filipinas going home to visit family to try to get the recipe but no success. As you can see, it's been 35 years and it's still on my mind. You are my last hope. I promise if you do, I'll tell everybody, "The Pinoy is JEFROXS." LOL!</strong></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><strong>Rob Bob, AZ</strong><br />
<br />
Dear Rob,<br />
<br />
You mean <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYlNbC48c_s&feature=related">"Jeproks" as coined by Mike Hanopol</a>? You mean "cool and smart"? Hey, actually I wouldn't mind being called <a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=jeprox">Jeproks</a> -- just don't call me "<em><a href="http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definitions/spoiled?cx=partner-pub-0939450753529744%3Av0qd01-tdlq&cof=FORID%3A9&ie=UTF-8&q=spoiled&sa=Search#906">laki sa layaw</a></em>"! ;-)<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, I don't have the recipe myself -- I was just a toddler in 1976. But I don't give up that easily if the label "Jeproks" is on the line. So I reached out to The Man -- Ray Gingco of <a href="http://wokwithray.net/">WokwithRay.net</a> -- for help. He's a great cook and 1976 is one of his favorite years because it's "the year of platform shoes and ultra wide bell bottoms."<br />
<br />
Ray published a recipe last year for traditional street Pork BBQ on skewers, but he said the recipe can also be used for chicken and beef. He suggests top sirloin for beef and chicken thighs for chicken. I'm reproducing his recipe below for your benefit, but you may want to visit his website to really learn from The Master himself if you have other questions. <br />
<blockquote><a href="http://wokwithray.net/wwr/?p=2352"><strong><u>Pork BBQ with Banana Ketchup Glazing</u></strong></a><br />
by Ray<br />
<br />
This dish is very easy to prepare and best eaten with a concoction of vinegar and garlic dipping sauce. Some folks like to eat this delicious barbecue with pickled shredded papaya (AKA achara) on the side. During my high school days in the 70′s, I can still remember this dish being cooked and sold by street vendors right outside the gate of our school. Pork BBQ is always the best seller along with deep fried vegetable lumpia (eggrolls), and ukoy (shrimp fritters).<br />
<br />
Here in the States, I always buy the meat from Asian Supermarkets because I can always ask the nice guy behind the meat counter to slice the pork to the right thickness. So, when I get home, all I have to do is cut the meat to correct width for threading. Of course I can slice the meat myself but if someone else can do it for me and it’s part of the price of the meat. . . why not? Always use pork butts because it’s more tender and it has the right amount of fats, which gives the BBQ the best flavor. By the way, in case you are wondering. . . Pork Butts is not actually the ass of the pig. Okay, I shouldn’t be saying ass here, oops my bad, I said it again. They call it butts because it is the butt end of the shoulder.<br />
<br />
<strong>Ingredients:</strong><br />
<br />
2 lbs Pork Butts<br />
10-15 Bamboo Skewers<br />
1/2 cup Soy Sauce<br />
6 cloves Garlic – finely minced<br />
3 tablespoon Lemon Juice<br />
3/4 cup 7-Up or Sprite Soda<br />
2 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce<br />
3 tablespoon Sugar<br />
2 teaspoon Rice Wine or Dry Sherry<br />
2 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper<br />
1 cup Banana Ketchup for Glazing<br />
2 tablespoon Vegetable Oil<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><strong>Cooking Directions:</strong><br />
<br />
If you bought a whole pork butts, slice it by 1/4 inch thick then cut each slice about 1 inch wide strips.<br />
<br />
In a large bowl, combine soy sauce, garlic, lemon juice, soda, Worcestershire, sugar, wine, and black pepper then mix them with a whisk.<br />
<br />
Add the meat and mix thoroughly until well coated.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFNFVPNgk2F23C7O3fruZIQtbHoJmLG39voq63UvAx2-yUtBHii0-4iByri_eJ7dvReCVsaspsu0oTKjBVDBfrpoYfIUo6jcTq1Z5WsokOPw-vVtfR1FlMCirIjVcBoWD9W7Uxq12x8rin/s1600/pork+bbq.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFNFVPNgk2F23C7O3fruZIQtbHoJmLG39voq63UvAx2-yUtBHii0-4iByri_eJ7dvReCVsaspsu0oTKjBVDBfrpoYfIUo6jcTq1Z5WsokOPw-vVtfR1FlMCirIjVcBoWD9W7Uxq12x8rin/s320/pork+bbq.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Source: <a href="http://wokwithray.net/">WokwithRay.net</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Transfer meat and the marinade in a Ziploc bag then refrigerate for about 4 hours.</div><br />
Soak skewers in water for about 1 hour before using.<br />
<br />
Thread meat on a skewers<br />
<br />
Prepare basting sauce by combining Ketchup and oil then mix well with a whisk.<br />
<br />
Set the barbecue grill to medium.<br />
<br />
Grill the meat turning every minute so it won’t burn.<br />
<br />
When meat is half-way cooked, start brushing the meat with ketchup mix on every turn.<br />
<br />
Serve hot with rice or with BEER! (hehehe).<br />
<br />
Serves 4 to 6. Preparation time including marination: About 4 hours & 30 minutes.</blockquote>Hope this works for you!<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>Got a question for The Filipino? Email him now at </em></span><a href="mailto:askthepinoy@gmail.com"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em><span style="color: #5588aa;">askthepinoy@gmail.com</span></em></span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>.</em></span><a href="http://www.mts.net/~pmorrow/bayeng1.htm"></a>The Filipinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06411009013482740401noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4370906785269759264.post-28000729994359323122011-02-05T02:10:00.000-08:002011-02-05T07:24:04.237-08:00What was Manila like in the 1930s during the American Commonwealth regime?<strong>Dear Filipino,</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>I know you are feeling a bit under the weather, but do you know what the Philippines was like during the American Commonwealth period?</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>I'm not making life easier for you, am I?</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>Your fictive sidekick,<br />
MuQ</strong><br />
<br />
Dear MuQ,<br />
<br />
Actually, you make my life much easier! Thanks, bro! <br />
<br />
You're right -- I'm really not feeling well at all, so I just want to leave you with a couple of short YouTube clips from that period. Note that these clips were produced by Americans so the perspective is American.<br />
<br />
Here's the first clip:<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ZOI6rc38Qic" title="YouTube video player" width="480"></iframe><br />
<br />
And here's the second:<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/dvpbsyNcI3I" title="YouTube video player" width="480"></iframe><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>Got a question for The Filipino? Email him now at </em></span><a href="mailto:askthepinoy@gmail.com"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em><span style="color: #5588aa;">askthepinoy@gmail.com</span></em></span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>.</em></span><a href="http://www.mts.net/~pmorrow/bayeng1.htm"></a>The Filipinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06411009013482740401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4370906785269759264.post-36356763178751479912011-02-03T03:25:00.000-08:002011-02-05T04:39:56.736-08:00Why are Filipino nicknames repetitive and do Filipinos name private parts in a similar manner?<strong>Dear Filipino,</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>Why do Pinoys love giving nicknames to their kids that repeat the same name/syllable (e.g., Dodo, Toto, Leklek, etc.). Is it true that most of their private parts are named in a similar manner? That is, in the examples given, you just change the vowels? LOL!</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>Boy B.</strong><br />
<br />
Dear Boy,<br />
<br />
It’s true: Filipinos do love to give nicknames with syllables that repeat. I mean, who can deny it? The sitting President himself sports one: Noynoy. And the Vice President? Jojo. And the Cabinet's Executive Secretary? Also Jojo.<br />
<br />
I personally grew up with neighborhood playmates, classmates and friends with nicknames like Penpen, Dandan, Denden, Dondon, Dindin, Lotlot, Lala, Nene, Bebe, Jonjon, Junjun, Tintin, Yanyan, Tingting, Toto, Katkat, Macmac, Maimai, Nognog, Ningning, Chichi, Baba, Bongbong, Bangbang, Bingbing, Bambam, Bimbim<strike>, Bumbum</strike>. <br />
<br />
Then, there are those with Western-sounding double-initialed names: AA, BB, CC, DD, GG, JJ, MM, RR<strike>,TT</strike>.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHmss5ielWHlZLJMYMZO0GnmC17wtQGmIMMMmHna0SrNDjz3e5NVwuPd5mVCHM18zNlQq_ejcIfERmdGqdVKNblob5h2vqlE8pLQbNBXuLGpzQCrIL9GKZPhFQSICmp9_RUQq7sZRy_zma/s1600/titingelectrical.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHmss5ielWHlZLJMYMZO0GnmC17wtQGmIMMMmHna0SrNDjz3e5NVwuPd5mVCHM18zNlQq_ejcIfERmdGqdVKNblob5h2vqlE8pLQbNBXuLGpzQCrIL9GKZPhFQSICmp9_RUQq7sZRy_zma/s320/titingelectrical.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Source: <a href="http://saintbarry.wordpress.com/2010/09/02/good-vibrations/">SaintBarry.wordpress.com</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>A little imperfectly repetitive, I know of Dodot, Dodong, Kakay, Kokoy, Dodoy, Totoy, Boboy, Nonoy, Popoy, Momoy. <br />
<br />
Believe me, I can go on and on and on. <br />
<br />
But what accounts for this, er, national tic? Are we suffering from some sort of collective <em><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palilalia">palilalia</a></em>, the pathological repetition or echoing of one's own spoken words?<br />
<br />
The answer, actually, is found in linguistics. And here below is my theory.<br />
<br />
You see, almost all languages in the Philippines belong to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malayo-Polynesian_languages">Malayo-Polynesian</a> family of languages, which is itself a member of the<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austronesian"> Austronesian </a>clan. As such, our languages are agglutinative – i.e., we extensively glue words together to form new words.<br />
<br />
We do it by joining what are called morphemes in linguistics. Think of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morpheme">morpheme</a> like you think of an atom: It is the smallest, irreducible component of a word that has its own semantic meaning, and a combination of several of these make a word. Wikipedia has this English example: The word "unbreakable" has three morphemes: "un-", a bound morpheme because it cannot stand alone; "break", a free morpheme because it can; and "-able", another bound morpheme. The morphemes "un-" and "-able" are called affixes: the former is a prefix, the latter is a suffix.<br />
<br />
Generally, new words are said to be created using three methods: by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affixation">affixation</a> (i.e., by attaching affixes onto a root word); by composition (i.e., by forming a compound word); or by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reduplication">reduplication</a> (i.e., the repetition of words or portions of words).<br />
<br />
Occasionally referred to as cloning or doubling and found in a wide range of languages, reduplication may be full or partial; if the latter, it may be initial (i.e., prefixal), final (i.e., suffixal), or internal (i.e., infixal). It has many uses, but it is used primarily to indicate a different tense of the root verb; pluralize a noun; adjectivize a noun; adverbialize an adjective, noun or verb; accentuate or intensify an emotion; adopt a more expressive tone; speak figuratively; or express conceptual similarity. <br />
<br />
Going back to Filipino nicknames, many of them are actually terms of endearment commonly used by parents in addressing their children. Bicolanos, for instance, use the generic loving terms “nonoy” (if male) and “nene” (if female) to address their babies, toddlers and young kids. But for many of these children, these common nouns stick and as their nicknames, become proper nouns, because to the dismay of some, they never outgrow them. <br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_SKF54Z6Xi0dxGvC_dkEmvmyngdHYU1-kDD6Xm5toB5u-Ho69IB7pd8HkbZ_6RtHpB4NdsmtgfRsJFPBMRo70_4j9_dp4owPcjylrKp3jZbIRe31Y8BPJ_GYm8SZxtkE8B-gZkfyM4uaB/s1600/Pekpek+carenderia.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="209" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_SKF54Z6Xi0dxGvC_dkEmvmyngdHYU1-kDD6Xm5toB5u-Ho69IB7pd8HkbZ_6RtHpB4NdsmtgfRsJFPBMRo70_4j9_dp4owPcjylrKp3jZbIRe31Y8BPJ_GYm8SZxtkE8B-gZkfyM4uaB/s320/Pekpek+carenderia.bmp" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Source: <a href="http://www.ilovehateamerica.com/a_filipino_immigrants_lov/2008/07/stupid-filipino.html">IlovehateAmerica.com</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Now, many Philippine terms for private parts indeed use reduplication. But what I really find interesting is that our languages really don’t seem to have more “clinical-sounding” terms for them. Instead, we have terms that regular people completely avoid mentioning in polite conversation because they sound lewd, rude or linguistically belonging to someone uncouth, uneducated, lascivious, given to prurient thoughts, or otherwise, well, horny. <br />
<br />
And when we do find ourselves absolutely needing to, we use English, or if it really has to be in a Philippine language, we use all sorts of euphemisms or less threatening language – i.e., we “speak figuratively” and/or “express conceptual similarity” – hence, our use of linguistic reduplication. That's why the scrotum becomes <em>bola-bola </em>instead of the rougher-sounding <em>bayag</em>; the penis is infantilized and gets called <em>pitotoy </em>instead of the more potent <em>uten</em>; the breasts become baby-ish, life-nurturing <em>dede</em> instead of the babe-ish, lust-conjuring <em>dyoga</em>; and vagina is turned less veteran-ish and gets called <em>pekpek </em>instead of the more experienced-sounding <em>puki. </em>(Interestingly enough, the Tagalog version of "The Vagina Monologues" was called "<em><a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/chroncast/detail?entry_id=5647">Usaping Puki</a></em>".)<br />
<br />
Personally, though, I do not know of any parent who would or did name his/her child after private parts (I know a couple of people nicknamed Dong but their well-meaning parents were surely after the onomatopoeic ring to it!). But to get some inputs, I actually forwarded your question to my friend, EZ, who is also a lawyer (so I have no reason to doubt his truthfulness!) and who shared with me a funny story which he claims actually happened during a Little Miss Philippines contest on <em><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eat_Bulaga!">Eat Bulaga! </a></em>in the late 1980s. <br />
<br />
According to him, there was a contestant nicknamed Kengkeng. When one of the hosts, Vic Sotto, asked her why she was nicknamed Kengkeng, her answer on live TV was: "<em>Kasi po, noong ipinanganak ako, ang taba-taba daw po ng aking pukengkeng</em>!" <br />
<br />
[SHORT BREAK BECAUSE BLOGGER IS STILL R.O.F.L.!]<br />
<br />
Okay, here’s the deal: If you didn’t understand the joke because it’s in Tagalog, I’m so sorry but this is one occasion which I will not translate in English. So this is a good reason for you to ask your Tagalog-speaking friend for a translation, or get to know one who is. But make sure you show this blogpost first because if you ask it verbally without properly contextualizing the line, I can’t guarantee that you won’t get slapped in the face!<br />
<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>Got a question for The Filipino? Email him now at </em></span><a href="mailto:askthepinoy@gmail.com"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #5588aa;"><em>askthepinoy@gmail.com</em></span></span></a><em><span style="font-family: inherit;">.</span> </em></div>The Filipinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06411009013482740401noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4370906785269759264.post-84899588973427046682011-02-02T05:33:00.000-08:002011-02-02T19:50:32.773-08:00Guess who is this week's "Good Mexican of the Week"?<strong>Dear Filipino,</strong><br />
<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><strong>Hey, have you read The Mexican's latest column in New York's <em>The Village Voice</em>, Kansas' <em>The Pitch</em>, or Salt Lake's <em>City Weekly</em>, et cetera, yet?</strong></div><br />
<strong>Ecstatic for you,</strong><br />
<strong>MuQ</strong><br />
<br />
Dear MuQ,<br />
<br />
Yes, of course! Ever since I learned about The Mexican's column, I've read it every week. And every week, I also wonder how I can be as colorful, caustically witty, exciting and funny as my idol! But you know, MuQ, I've long realized there's no way I can be like him -- the guy is just a genius at what he does!<br />
<br />
And if you've forgotten, loyal readers of this blog will remind you that "<strong>Ask a Filipino!</strong>" got started because I was inspired by the men behind "<strong>Ask a Korean!</strong>" and "<strong>¡Ask a Mexican!</strong>", the "original." But unlike The Korean and I who, aside from being lawyers, both blog anonymously, The Mexican is actually not anonymous. In fact, not only is he not anonymous, he is quite famous. His name is Gustavo Arellano, a syndicated professional columnist, who was <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/24/fashion/24mexican.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&ei=5070&en=358c70caddc0c97f&ex=1183262400">featured in The New York Times in 2007</a> for unleashing "a torrent of criticism and attention, not to mention questions" about anything Mexican.<br />
<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">According to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustavo_Arellano">Wikipedia</a>, Gustavo's column "now appears in 37 newspapers across the [United States] and has a weekly circulation of over 2 million." Gustavo has also "won numerous awards for the column, including the 2006 and 2008 <em>Best Non-Political Column</em> in a large-circulation weekly from the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies, the <em>2007 Presidents Award </em>from the Los Angeles Press Club and an <em>Impacto Award </em>from the National Hispanic Media Coalition, and a <em>2008 Latino Spirit </em>award from the California Latino Legislative Caucus."</div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIvLsdSXHff6yNlTmmDjeXa0i9Y_HYSF3H2liZiw3AJ7jCg6h8x4t_vzv916mwXdad_sLQm3aP_kfigHfySt-ui1f7pX93DVNAT8C4Dv4Bk96ZPwLcoQHkRYQjH0NmK4FX43CWdXXk1VPI/s1600/Mexican+of+the+Week.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIvLsdSXHff6yNlTmmDjeXa0i9Y_HYSF3H2liZiw3AJ7jCg6h8x4t_vzv916mwXdad_sLQm3aP_kfigHfySt-ui1f7pX93DVNAT8C4Dv4Bk96ZPwLcoQHkRYQjH0NmK4FX43CWdXXk1VPI/s400/Mexican+of+the+Week.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></div><br />
Every week, after answering a couple of questions from his readers, The Mexican has a section dedicated to praising the "Good Mexican(s) of the Week." Well, as you've probably read, a week after I declared Ricardo Reyes (the Mexican "Pop-a-Shot King" who Philippine media mistook for a Fil-Am) as "<a href="http://askthepinoy.blogspot.com/2011/01/what-are-keys-to-success-in-life.html">Honorary Filipino</a>" on this blog for beating NBA superstars at their game, my idol gave this blog his seal of approval and called me the "Good Mexican of the Week." <span style="font-family: inherit;">How cool is that!?!</span><br />
<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtI3uLkNb0ThcmEIdLcChWtkMgYAY1ZRJ6CurMHnuvW9rD18PxFqzbKnXJ2Hd1nuZfhHhDwa3-yoQWymRw01VZZ7WGHGVconreFBGLUniFpefdIjGszVQVE95sDG1jLUVDfDajUGIX4vfD/s1600/AAM+book.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtI3uLkNb0ThcmEIdLcChWtkMgYAY1ZRJ6CurMHnuvW9rD18PxFqzbKnXJ2Hd1nuZfhHhDwa3-yoQWymRw01VZZ7WGHGVconreFBGLUniFpefdIjGszVQVE95sDG1jLUVDfDajUGIX4vfD/s200/AAM+book.jpg" width="128" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(The Mexican's book.)</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span>Here's his <a href="http://www.villagevoice.com/2011-02-02/columns/mariachi-madness/">unbelievably generous shoutout</a>: </div><blockquote><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><strong>GOOD MEXICAN OF THE WEEK</strong></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Is actually a Filipino, but we all know that those <em>chinitos </em>are the Mexicans of Asia (consult page 248 of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ask-Mexican-Gustavo-Arellano/dp/1416540024">my <em>libro</em></a> for further details). "Ask a Filipino" answers questions about his <em>raza</em>, from why the armpits of those little island people are so dark to why Filipinas are beautiful but Filipinos ugly, in an informative, hilarious, scandalous manner. Good read, and Mexican-approved! Read more Pinoy <em>pendejadas</em> at <a href="http://askthepinoy.blogspot.com/">askthepinoy.blogspot.com</a>.</div></blockquote><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So to <strike>The Mexican</strike> my idol, if you're reading this: <em>Muchos gracias</em>! <em>Maraming salamat</em>! And if we bump into each other one of these days, the <em>lumpia </em>is on me!</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>Got a question for The Filipino? Email him now at </em></span><a href="mailto:askthepinoy@gmail.com"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #5588aa;"><em>askthepinoy@gmail.com</em></span></span></a><em><span style="font-family: inherit;">.</span> </em></div>The Filipinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06411009013482740401noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4370906785269759264.post-23000117563573065332011-01-31T02:25:00.000-08:002011-02-02T19:27:19.126-08:00Shouldn't the Philippines repeal the "60/40 Law" (and change its Constitution) to encourage investments?<strong>Dear Filipino,</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>The Philippines cornered the </strong><a href="http://business.inquirer.net/money/topstories/view/20101228-311430/Philippines-gets-least-amount-of-FDIs-in-SE-Asia"><strong>least amount of foreign direct investments among seven selected economies in Southeast Asia in 2009</strong></a><strong>, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its first global survey on FDIs. On a global scale, the Philippines ranked 60th out of 72 countries included in the </strong><a href="http://www.imf.org/external/np/sta/cdis/"><strong>Coordinated Direct Investment Survey</strong></a><strong>. </strong><br />
<br />
<strong>Question: Considering that investments are needed to bolster economic growth -- e.g., $10B for infrastructure alone -- how should the Philippines become more investor friendly? How about repealing the 60/40 Law? This is one scuttlebutt that is impeding investors from coming in!</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>Mike T.</strong><br />
<br />
Dear Mike,<br />
<br />
What prompted a guy like you with a “harvard.edu” email handle to ask a lowly blogger like me? Aren’t you guys supposed to hail from the “<a href="http://www.universalhub.com/node/25648">Know-it-all Capital of the Universe</a>”? <br />
<br />
Just a little good-natured ribbing there, of course. ;-) <br />
<br />
Anyway, thanks for your question, but the “60/40 Law” you’re asking about is actually part of a HUGE issue that I really want to talk about with more breadth here. [For readers looking for more depth on a particular legal sub-issue, I recommend approaching knowledgeable legal professionals practicing in the Philippines.]<br />
<br />
First, some Philippine constitutional background.<br />
<br />
Under the heading “National Economy and Patrimony,” <a href="http://www.ldb.org/philcon/artnatio.htm">Section 1 of Article XII of the Philippine Constitution</a> provides: <br />
<blockquote>The goals of the national economy are a <em>more equitable</em> distribution of opportunities, income, and wealth; a <em>sustained increase </em>in the amount of goods and services produced by the nation <em>for the benefit of the people</em>; and an <em>expanding productivity </em>as the key to raising the <em>quality of life for all</em>, especially the underprivileged. <br />
<br />
The State shall promote industrialization and <em>full employment </em>based on <em>sound </em>agricultural development and agrarian reform, through industries that make <em>full and efficient use </em>of human and natural resources, and which are <em>competitive </em>in both domestic and foreign markets. However, the State shall <em>protect Filipino enterprises against unfair foreign competition and trade practices</em>. <br />
<br />
In the pursuit of these goals, all sectors of the economy and all regions of the country shall be given <em>optimum opportunity to develop</em>. Private enterprises, including corporations, cooperatives, and similar collective organizations, shall be encouraged to <em>broaden the base </em>of their ownership. </blockquote>I added the italicization in the indented paragraphs above because I found those blurbs very admirable and impressive-sounding. And if the drafters of the Constitution really meant what they wrote, let’s give them some credit. Unfortunately however, when it comes to formulating laws in accordance with lofty stated policies, negative unintended consequences always pose a risk; in the Philippines, this problem becomes even more compounded by problems stemming from implementation.<br />
<br />
So let’s talk about the main implementing law behind the constitutionally sanctioned policy of protecting local industry from “unfair foreign competition”: The <strong>Foreign Investments Act (FIA) of 1991</strong> (as amended).<br />
<br />
The FIA requires “the formulation of a regular Foreign Investment Negative List [FINL] covering investment areas/activities which may be opened to foreign investors and/or reserved to Filipino nationals.”<br />
<br />
If you’re a “former Filipino” and now a citizen of another country and you haven’t yet gotten your dual citizenship or reclaimed your Filipino citizenship, you may want to pay particular attention to this “FINL.” This “negative list” is really a list of occupations, trades and investments where foreign participation is either limited or off-limits altogether. So if you are harboring any dream of someday going back to the Philippines to practice your trade, set up a <em>sari-sari </em>store or other small business, or invest, this list is very important to you.<br />
<br />
Subject to all sorts of exceptions and asterisks which I won’t discuss here, the <a href="http://www.boi.gov.ph/image/8thRFINL_2010.pdf">latest “negative list” under Executive Order No. 858</a> signed in 2010 includes the following:<br />
<br />
<strong>I. <u>No Foreign Equity Allowed</u></strong>: Mass <strong>media </strong>(except recording); <strong>practice of all professions</strong> (<strong>engineering</strong>, <strong>medicine </strong>and allied professions, <strong>accountancy</strong>, architecture, criminology, chemistry, customs brokerage, environmental planning, forestry, geology, interior design, landscape architecture, <strong>law</strong>, librarianship marine deck/engine officers, master plumbing, sugar technology, <strong>social work</strong>, <strong>teaching</strong>, <strong>agriculture</strong>, fisheries, and guidance counseling); <strong>retail trade enterprises </strong>with paid-up capital of less than US$2.5M; cooperatives; private security agencies; small-scale mining; utilization of marine resources; ownership, operation and management of cockpits; manufacture, repair, stockpiling and/or distribution of nuclear weapons; manufacture, repair, stockpiling and/or distribution of biological, chemical and radiological weapons and anti-personnel mines; and manufacture of firecrackers and other pyrotechnic devices.<br />
<br />
<strong>II. <u>Up to 20% Foreign Equity Allowed</u></strong>: Private radio communications.<br />
<br />
<strong>III. <u>Up to 25% Foreign Equity Allowed</u></strong>: Private recruitment, whether for local or overseas employment; contracts for the construction and repair of locally-funded public works; contracts for the construction of defense-related structures.<br />
<br />
<strong>IV. <u>Up to 30% Foreign Equity Allowed</u></strong>: Advertising.<br />
<br />
Now, here’s where the term “60/40 Law” got coined:<br />
<br />
<strong>V. <u>Up to 40% Foreign Equity Allowed</u></strong>: Exploration, development and utilization of <strong>natural resources</strong>; ownership of <strong>private lands</strong>; operation and management of public utilities; ownership, establishment and administration of <strong>educational institutions</strong>; culture, production, milling, processing, trading excepting retailing, of <strong>rice and corn </strong>and the by-products thereof; contracts for the supply of materials, goods and commodities to government-owned or controlled corporation, agency or municipal corporation; project proponent and facility operator of a BOT project requiring a public utilities franchise; operation of deep sea commercial fishing vessels; adjustment companies; ownership of <strong>condominium units</strong>; manufacture, repair, storage, and/or distribution of products and/or ingredients requiring Philippine National Police (PNP) or Department of National Defense (DND) clearance; manufacture and distribution of dangerous drugs; sauna and steam bathhouses, massage clinics and other like activities; all forms of gambling; domestic market <strong>enterprises with paid-in equity capital of less than the equivalent of US$200,000</strong>; domestic market enterprises which involve advanced technology or employ at least fifty (50) direct employees with paid-in-equity capital of less than the equivalent of US$100,000.<br />
<br />
<strong>VI. <u>Up to Sixty Percent (60%) Foreign Equity Allowed</u></strong>: Financing companies and investment houses regulated by the SEC.<br />
<br />
Quite understandably, the restrictions are based on the premise that it is in the country’s best interests for these areas of concern to remain under the control of Filipino citizens and/or Filipino corporations. <br />
<br />
And I for one think the premise makes some sense. A lot of countries, even the most advanced ones, also have some very restrictive laws about who can own what in order to protect their national interests. That’s why you have members of the US Congress intervening and threatening legislative action whenever a Chinese company is rumored to acquire a key American company. That’s why Scandinavian countries have very strong key local industries largely protected from foreign competitors.<br />
<br />
When I was living in London in the middle of the last decade, a common refrain from locals, whether homeowner or renter, was the cost of housing. Why? Because wealthy foreigners from Arab states, among others, were gobbling up properties left and right, thereby driving up prices to levels completely out of reach for the locals. <br />
<br />
We don't want that to happen in the Philippines, of course. But the problem with the Philippine situation, as you can see, is that the “negative list” is pretty broad-based and leaves little room for foreign professionals and investors to actively participate in the Philippine economy -- the kind of participation which may be necessary to globalize the country’s industries and spur economic growth. <br />
<br />
This inevitably brings up the question of whether the law is indeed serving the country and its citizens as intended. <br />
<br />
In one study about competitiveness of countries in attracting foreign investments, the Philippines did not only rank at the bottom – 6th out of the ASEAN-6 – in having a favorable regulatory regime, its score is not even close to its nearest competitor, Indonesia:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHe8PhEZ7PmnhHkPw3pd3a_T9UQhPRSUu3ypvwEO1_Sy9VDMmQ9dLvxWE4P4-T2u7F_7-l_RZBdJ7ljbtpu2GnCHptpBSUAx6RsknJS5iInysiMolGJmwv3LCzidb-Qnzx7Kophl_hfTW7/s1600/Business+impact+of+rules+on+FDI.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="257" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHe8PhEZ7PmnhHkPw3pd3a_T9UQhPRSUu3ypvwEO1_Sy9VDMmQ9dLvxWE4P4-T2u7F_7-l_RZBdJ7ljbtpu2GnCHptpBSUAx6RsknJS5iInysiMolGJmwv3LCzidb-Qnzx7Kophl_hfTW7/s400/Business+impact+of+rules+on+FDI.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Source: <a href="http://www.investphilippines.info/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/21.-Part-4-General-Business-Environment-Foreign-Equity-and-Professionals1.pdf">InvestPhilippines</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>So while I am not in favor of completely doing away with the whole list, what I’m in favor of is a systematic, intensive but expeditious review of the list to see which areas have restrictions that need to be maintained and which areas can and should be fully liberalized, and thereafter a quick governmental action to effect the necessary changes. Although <a href="http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/video/business/10/26/10/60-40-rule-hindrance-foreign-investments">politically messy</a>, this “action” will need to come in the form of Charter Change – there appears to be no getting around to it – if we must revamp the current law. <br />
<br />
And revamp it we really must. <br />
<br />
Why? Now, I know this is serious stuff but in honor of a favorite comedian, <a href="http://www.blogger.com/">David Letterman</a>, whose show, <em>Late Night with David Letterman</em>, officially debuted on February 1, 1982, let me present to you my...<br />
<br />
<strong>Top 10 Reasons to Revamp the Philippines’ Foreign Investments Act</strong>:<br />
<br />
<strong>[10] Lack of control over their investment understandably discourages foreign investors.</strong><br />
<br />
The restrictions mentioned above are the biggest barriers to foreign investments in the Philippine economy. It’s a fairly simple calculus really: When foreign investors are faced with a choice to put their money in two countries where risks are almost identical but where one country requires majority control to be in the hands of the locals, investors would naturally choose the other country which allows them to determine what happens exactly with their funds. <br />
<br />
<strong>[9] The amount of available local capital is insufficient to meet the national demand for it.</strong><br />
<br />
It is no secret that many of the infrastructure-related projects needed by the country require billions of dollars in funding and that the available free capital among the local investors is simply not sufficient to meet the demand. In fact, it is impossible to meet the demand if the country will just rely on local capital, period.<br />
<br />
How can it be possible? As of end-2010, the total stock market capitalization of the entire Philippine Stock Exchange (which means all the companies listed in the country’s stock market) is only <a href="http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/business-columns/36709-philippine-stock-market-ends-2010-with-a-whimper">PHP 8.87 trillion</a>. This figure translates to just about US $200B, a sum not even <a href="http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/01/03/apples-market-cap-tops-300-billion/">65% of the present market capitalization of one US company, Apple, Inc</a>. Put another way, the owners of Apple can swap the company with all the companies listed in the Philippine stock market and still have about $100B left.<br />
<br />
<strong>[8] There is a shortage of actual companies/individuals who can partner with foreigners willing to invest.</strong><br />
<br />
Not only is the actual amount of local capital insufficient, but the list of actual Philippine companies and/or individuals who may have the wherewithal to partner with willing foreign investors is also short. Who among the locals can pony up the required 60% in big capital-intensive projects to allow them to serve as joint venture partners of foreign investors willing to enter the Philippine market? Thus, because of the current law, the legal ability of a foreign investor to fund a project is limited by the amount raised by his local partner. <br />
<br />
To illustrate, let’s say a restricted project costs $100. Even if a foreign investor can put up the maximum allowed by law – i.e., $40 -- the law still requires his Filipino partner to come up with the other $60. If the Filipino can only raise $30, the maximum the investor can bring in is $20, not $70, leading to the collapse of the joint venture, or the project altogether. Where the project survives, the shortcuts taken to comply with the funding requirements naturally affect the quality of the finished project.<br />
<br />
<strong>[7] The current law allows the local oligarchs to have their choicest pickings because of limited competition.</strong><br />
<br />
In her book 2003 book "World on Fire" (excerpted in a Prospect Magazine essay entitled "Vengeful Majorities"), <a href="http://askthepinoy.blogspot.com/2011/01/does-prof-amy-chua-have-any-other.html">Prof. Amy Chua wrote</a>: “When foreign investors do business in the Philippines, they deal almost exclusively with Chinese” because “[a]part from a handful of corrupt politicians and a few aristocratic Spanish mestizo families, all of the Philippines’ billionaires are of Chinese descent.”<br />
<br />
It’s true: If you’re a Chinese Filipino oligarch in the Philippines, the deals are literally walking to your doorsteps and lining up for your review. But the main reason for that is this 60/40 Law, whose provenance, interestingly enough, can be traced back to American Commonwealth times. Because the Chinese Filipino oligarchs who dominate the Philippine economy are the ones with the funds who can put up the required “Filipino” capital investment, naturally, foreign investors who want to come in are forced to approach them first for partnership possibilities, or the foreigners can’t come in at all. <br />
<br />
This dynamic allows these oligarchs to have first crack at studying investment options as to where they can put their money. And with the limited competition, they are almost assured of hefty returns, thereby further concentrating wealth among the handful of them. In fact, in some situations where there is virtually no competition, it is easy to imagine how foreign investors and their local oligarch partners can even practically hold the Philippine government hostage and make it agree to concessions and guarantees that virtually eliminate risk for the investors.<br />
<br />
<strong>[6] Inflexibility of equity-sharing encourages corruption and other law-breaking (e.g., use of “dummies,” etc.).</strong><br />
<br />
In an environment already rife with political corruption, the restrictions placed on foreign investors and their Filipino partners which limit allowable equity structures further stoke law-breaking, bribery and corruption.<br />
<br />
A common tactic to get around the restrictions on equity participation is the use of “<a href="http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/07/09/09/understanding-anti-dummy-law">dummy</a>” Filipino partners. Here, the local partners (often, the oligarchs mentioned above) “own” 60% of the entire venture on paper but the project is, in actuality, mostly (if not fully) funded, operated and managed by the foreigners despite their being just “minority” partners. This type of situation leaves projects vulnerable to extortion from regulators who learn about these arrangements, abuse by one partner over the other just to maintain the front of a legally compliant partnership, or worse, the collapse of the project altogether and ugly lawsuits thereafter. <br />
<br />
There is an “<a href="http://www.philippine-portal.com/property-acquisition/anti-dummy-law.html">Anti-Dummy Law</a>” to counter the use of dummies, but because of inconsistent and/or lack of adequate supervision and enforcement, it appears to an outside observer to be often largely ignored.<br />
<br />
<strong>[5] Cumbersome compliance issues lead to legal maneurings which may not be compliant with the spirit of the law and just add friction to what can otherwise be a smooth transaction.</strong><br />
<br />
The law has led to all sorts of legal squabbles including the most basic: What does “Filipino” mean? In areas reserved to Filipino citizens or domestic corporations whose capital is at least 60% owned by Filipinos, the “Filipino” classification is critical, as shown by the <a href="http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/top-stories/37149-naia-row-roils-investors">PIATCo-Fraport AG airport controversy</a> where one of the main issues is whether there were violations of the Anti-Dummy Law.<br />
<br />
The Philippine Department of Justice has adopted the “control test” in establishing the nationality of corporate stockholders covered by the law: If at least 60% of the corporate capital is owned by Philippine citizens, all the corporate shares, including those owned by foreigners, are considered Filipino. But if the percentage of Filipino ownership goes below 60%, only the number of shares that corresponds to that percentage is treated as Filipino. In other words, if one can show that at least 60% of the capital is owned by Filipinos, no further inquiries are made on the nationality of the owners of the remaining 40%. This means that when this ownership-restricted corporation invests in another ownership-restricted corporation, the investing corporation is treated as a “Filipino” investor.<br />
<br />
Now, compare this test from the “grandfather rule,” which is still followed in some instances. Under this rule, the nationality of the individual stockholders or the owner of the stocks of the corporate shareholder affects the status of the restricted corporation in which the investment was made.<br />
<br />
How to make sense of the two rules? According to SEC Commissioner Raul J. Palabrica, the <a href="http://business.inquirer.net/money/columns/view/20071019-95370/Nationality_ownership_rule">current rule </a>seems to be this: The "control test" is the main standard to determine the nationality of corporations but the "grandfather rule" will be applied if there are questions about compliance with Filipino ownership requirements. <br />
<br />
One <a href="http://business.inquirer.net/money/columns/view/20101118-303994/Contentious-nationality-rules">creative strategy </a>to circumvent the ownership restrictions is the use of “<a href="http://www.investopedia.com/terms/g/gdr.asp">global depository receipts</a>” or GDRs in which investee companies would sell to foreign investors interest-bearing “depository receipts” using the <a href="http://business.inquirer.net/money/columns/view/20101118-303994/Contentious-nationality-rules">stocks</a> of the restricted investee companies as collateral. <br />
<br />
Technically, the nationality rule is not violated because the stocks remain in the company’s name but the investors are assured of hefty returns on their <a href="http://business.inquirer.net/money/columns/view/20101118-303994/Contentious-nationality-rules">investment</a> without breaching the nationality rule. But it should be obvious that GDRs are, for all intents and purposes, “foreign investments” which should be covered under the nationality rule if the government is indeed serious about cracking down on these types of legal maneuvers which may be compliant with the letter of the law but not its spirit. Additionally, GDRs only increase the friction in business transactions for the companies trying to raise funds, adding unnecessary cost in terms of time and money to what would otherwise be simple transactions.<br />
<br />
<strong>[4] Revamp of the law can increase the competitiveness of local industries and create jobs.</strong><br />
<br />
Foreigners are not only reluctant to invest their money if they do not have control, they are also concerned about intellectual theft if they are to divulge their corporate secrets to Filipino partners in a partnership where they are in the minority. This often entails their dialing back of their investment of intellectual capital in the form of industrial/product design, technology and market knowhow. <br />
<br />
Allowing these profit-seeking foreigners to own their local subsidiaries outright 100% can translate to increased competitiveness for the local industries affected because the oligarchs who presently rule their industries will be forced to up their game. With increased competition, the affected industries will modernize, grow and, in the process, create jobs for locals.<br />
<br />
<strong>[3] Revamp of the law can increase the country’s exports.</strong><br />
<br />
The current law is really anti-trade, and here’s why. <br />
<br />
One way for the country to grow its export-oriented manufacturing industries is to enter into bilateral trade agreements (BTAs) with the right countries, especially with those whom the Philippines already enjoys robust trading. But the current law poses a hindrance to signing of BTAs because the Philippines’ counterparties will definitely demand preferential terms and more openness on the part of the country to allow investors from their countries to come in unencumbered by restrictive investment laws.<br />
<br />
<strong>[2] The current law discourages even “former” Filipinos from investing or returning to the Philippines to set up their businesses or practice their professions.</strong><br />
<br />
While there is now a dual citizenship law which allows Filipinos who became naturalized citizens of other countries to reclaim their lost Filipino citizenship, many of them choose not to do so <a href="http://askthepinoy.blogspot.com/2011/01/feature-post-what-are-pros-and-cons-of.html">for various reasons</a>. But because they are considered foreigners under the law, they are therefore prevented from setting up small businesses (e.g., retail trade enterprises less then $2.5M in capital; see the list above) under their own name and/or practice their professions in the Philippines. This is unfortunate considering these “former” Filipino professionals have much to share with the land of their birth, having learned immensely from their exposure in globalized and highly competitive industries all over the world.<br />
<br />
<strong>[1] To retain the current law is to maintain the status quo.</strong><br />
<br />
‘Nuff said.<br />
<br />
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">Got a question for The Filipino? Email him now at </span><a href="mailto:askthepinoy@gmail.com"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em><span style="color: #5588aa;">askthepinoy@gmail.com</span></em></span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>.</em></span> </em>The Filipinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06411009013482740401noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4370906785269759264.post-68924479382647665862011-01-29T10:53:00.000-08:002011-02-01T22:47:01.515-08:00Poetic license: Can we have fun with some anagrams?<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOdu5Mo-3GSN-ga1h7Yyj7Kv2KlnEzFVdW0CX3qydilOWJn1OOveuL83vo8_CexM4_-T1w2eZP9iamGNeiJAb05vaOaWfCjuK8knSlWNnd7SpzzGd47zPfFwZFPXMTuzonBBuJUZX1HF1o/s1600/evian_naive.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="125" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOdu5Mo-3GSN-ga1h7Yyj7Kv2KlnEzFVdW0CX3qydilOWJn1OOveuL83vo8_CexM4_-T1w2eZP9iamGNeiJAb05vaOaWfCjuK8knSlWNnd7SpzzGd47zPfFwZFPXMTuzonBBuJUZX1HF1o/s200/evian_naive.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Source: <a href="http://www.brandinfection.com/2005/03/17/the-billion-dollar-water-evian-naive/">BrandInfection.com</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table><em>An <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anagram"><strong>anagram</strong></a><strong> </strong>is a type of word play where the letters of a word or phrase are rearranged to produce a new word or phrase using all the original letters exactly once. Some of the more famous examples are: <strong>evil </strong>= <strong>vile; evian </strong>= <strong>naive; a decimal point </strong>= <strong>I'm a dot in place; Madonna Louise Ciccone </strong>= <strong>One cool dance musician</strong>. The original word or phrase (i.e., <strong>evil</strong>, <strong>evian</strong>, <strong>a decimal point</strong>, <strong>Madonna Louise Ciccone</strong>) is called the subject. </em><br />
<br />
<em>An <strong>antigram </strong>is a type of anagram where the meaning of the anagram is considered opposite in some way to the subject. A classic example is: <strong>funeral </strong>= <strong>real fun</strong>. </em><br />
<br />
<em>An egroupmate, Ed de Guzman, sent me some fun anagrams last night which inspired me to come up with some of mine too for this blog. I came up with enough anagrammatic lines to make the 5-stanza poem below, with each line linked to a post which somehow relates to the line. (Okay, okay -- admittedly, some lines don't make as much sense as the others, and others probably don't make much sense at all, but that's why I'm invoking poetic license here.) </em><em>Are they simple anagrams or antigrams? I just post, you decide! </em><em></em><br />
<blockquote><strong><u>Ask ThePinoy</u></strong><br />
<br />
He kin <a href="http://askthepinoy.blogspot.com/2011/01/to-chew-or-not-to-chua-to-know-or-not.html">post </a>ya!<br />
He kin <a href="http://askthepinoy.blogspot.com/2011/01/who-is-dr-gerard-francisco-and-why.html">stop</a> ya!<br />
He kin <a href="http://askthepinoy.blogspot.com/2010/12/what-did-pasig-officials-smoke-to-come.html">spot </a>ya!<br />
<a href="http://askthepinoy.blogspot.com/2011/01/what-are-keys-to-success-in-life.html">Key points</a>, ha?<br />
<br />
A <a href="http://askthepinoy.blogspot.com/2011/01/why-is-dota-more-important-to-filipino.html">ken so pithy</a> - <br />
<a href="http://askthepinoy.blogspot.com/2010/12/why-are-filipinos-such-good-dancers-as.html">Hip to sneaky</a>!<br />
Hot <a href="http://askthepinoy.blogspot.com/2010/12/do-penile-implants-bolitas-work.html">penis yak</a>!<br />
He <a href="http://askthepinoy.blogspot.com/2011/01/pnoy-and-porsche-whats-going-rate-for.html">nip yo task</a>!<br />
<br />
A <a href="http://askthepinoy.blogspot.com/2010/12/feature-post-is-philippines-really.html">stinky hope</a>?<br />
Ah, <a href="http://askthepinoy.blogspot.com/2011/01/3-in-1-are-filipinos-obsession-with.html">spiky tone</a>!<br />
<a href="http://askthepinoy.blogspot.com/2010/12/why-do-filipinos-spit-before-making.html">Hates pink</a>, yo!<br />
<a href="http://askthepinoy.blogspot.com/2011/01/is-gretchen-barreto-really-filipinos.html">Ape thinks</a>, yo!<br />
<br />
A <a href="http://askthepinoy.blogspot.com/p/about-aaf.html">shy </a>poet kin? <br />
The <a href="http://askthepinoy.blogspot.com/2010/12/why-is-milk-filipino-expletive.html">soapy</a> kin!<br />
<a href="http://askthepinoy.blogspot.com/2011/01/why-is-dota-more-important-to-filipino.html">Hypo</a>? Takes in <br />
The <a href="http://askthepinoy.blogspot.com/2011/01/why-do-filipinos-eat-with-spoon-and.html">okay spin</a>!<br />
<br />
This <a href="http://askthepinoy.blogspot.com/2010/12/whos-hotter-shalani-soledad-or-liz-uy.html">okay</a> pen<br />
Okays <a href="http://askthepinoy.blogspot.com/2011/01/to-chew-or-not-to-chua-to-know-or-not.html">hip ten</a>!<br />
Hey, <a href="http://askthepinoy.blogspot.com/2011/01/to-chew-or-not-to-chua-to-know-or-not.html?showComment=1295328584715#c9011524231211794926">ink a post</a> -<br />
<a href="http://askthepinoy.blogspot.com/2011/01/3-in-1-are-filipinos-obsession-with.html">Inky</a> <a href="http://askthepinoy.blogspot.com/p/about-aaf.html">ape</a> host!</blockquote><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>Got a question for The Filipino? Email him now at </em></span><a href="mailto:askthepinoy@gmail.com"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em><span style="color: #5588aa;">askthepinoy@gmail.com</span></em></span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>.</em></span>The Filipinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06411009013482740401noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4370906785269759264.post-83480714426089106222011-01-27T03:34:00.000-08:002011-01-28T04:14:24.214-08:00Who is Dr. Gerard Francisco and why does he deserve a PhilStar "News Feature"?<strong>Dear Filipino,</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>O Master, dost thou rememberst Teri Hatcher's unfortunate remark in <em>Desperate Housewives</em> against Philippine-trained doctors? </strong><strong>Dost thou knowest that Rep. Gabrielle Giffords now hath a Philippine-trained rehab physician, a UP alum just like thy <em>kumander</em>, The Filipina? </strong><br />
<br />
<strong>Thy humble servant,</strong><br />
<strong>MuQ </strong><br />
<br />
Dear MuQ,<br />
<br />
Ah, it's you again! But what's up with this Old English crap? Will you please knock it off? It doesn't quite ring well coming from you, you know? <br />
<br />
But thank you for coming up with your questions for me! Perfect timing as usual! (Makes me wonder how I would have written this blogpost if I hadn't invented you.)<br />
<br />
Of course, I remember that offensive line from Teri Hatcher's character in that <em>Desperate Housewives</em> episode which ran September 30, 2007. In it, she was about to see a doctor and then she remarked: <br />
<br />
<i>"Okay, before we go any further, can I check those diplomas? ‘Cause I would just like to make sure they are not from some med. school in the Philippines.”</i><br />
<br />
Naturally, it stung and offended doctors who went to Philippine medical schools. But not only doctors, MuQ -- also other Filipinos like me who got their degrees from the Philippines (my bachelor's degree was from there). We felt the slur was really another swipe to lessen our accomplishments, our value. Even though it was just a joke, we thought there was going to be something sinister afoot if it were not corrected -- a subliminal message which would feed more distrust and bigotry and condesc-- <br />
<br />
<strong>MuQ: Yeah, but weren't you and the doctors being too oversensitive?</strong><br />
<br />
Will you please not interrupt me, MuQ? <br />
<br />
As I was saying, it was very condescending and insulting. And the incident hit me personally because I was reminded of my study groupmate and good friend in law school -- a white dude -- who was so surprised when he found out that I topped our midterm exam in Contract Law. <br />
<br />
"Of all people," he honestly told me, "you were the last person I would have predicted to do it." <br />
<br />
I asked, "Why?" <br />
<br />
"Please don't get upset, but it's because your first language is not English and, well, you graduated from the Philippines," he said.<br />
<br />
That's why I got involved, MuQ, in protesting against the Teri Hatcher remark, even though I stayed in the background. I helped organize <a href="http://sfist.com/2007/10/13/sfist_photo_asi_1.php">a demonstration in front of the Disney Store in San Francisco</a> and I also helped research the law and other issues surrounding the incident to make sure the more prominent individuals who were leading the charge against the network which ran the show, ABC, were armed with data and information for better argumentation. In the end, I'm thankful ABC backed down, <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7027551.stm">apologized</a> and cut out the offensive line. Now --<br />
<br />
<strong>MuQ: Wait a minute -- I think the title of your blogpost is a bit off.</strong><br />
<br />
I'm getting there, MuQ, but STOP interrupting!<br />
<br />
Okay, here's why I <em>really </em>wanted to write this blogpost: The Philippine media loves a sensational story, a feel-good story, a story which their constituencies -- i.e., their readers/viewers -- would find some affinity with. And that's all perfectly understandable. What I lament though is the fact that in the pursuit of these types of stories, they sometimes do away with journalism standards that can get in the way.<br />
<br />
The story of Ricardo Reyes is a good example of this. Recently, the Philippine Star, along with other media outlets, featured the busboy who beat NBA stars in "Jimmy Kimmel Live!'s Pop-a-Shot Challenge." In and of itself, Ricardo's story is great.<br />
<br />
But Philippine media had to find a "hook" for Filipinos, and when they saw that (a) Ricardo had a Filipino name and (b) Ricardo had a Filipino look -- <em>boom! --</em> they declared him to be Filipino without checking his background.<br />
<br />
In fact, for Philippine Star, the story of Ricardo merited not just an ordinary news article but a "News Feature" [EDIT 1/27/2011: I originally thought the "Breaking News" heading applied to the article as well, but upon closer inspection, I now think the heading actually refers to the ticker of fresh news pieces]:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSxDvDMcu2C62oOFURuDbtUfD40KB_46cTKnm5fsOI95RStkkMAmdC8yLAmjS01p3aAvYcrKLIsBNchw2wDZjtqGPTCwkxiFKBw5QwHMdgQoYV-ihX0uorhqtyGGE4x7OHHvuOKOZ_qW82/s1600/PhilStar+article+on+Ricardo+Reyes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="217" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSxDvDMcu2C62oOFURuDbtUfD40KB_46cTKnm5fsOI95RStkkMAmdC8yLAmjS01p3aAvYcrKLIsBNchw2wDZjtqGPTCwkxiFKBw5QwHMdgQoYV-ihX0uorhqtyGGE4x7OHHvuOKOZ_qW82/s400/PhilStar+article+on+Ricardo+Reyes.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
I saw the YouTube clips and I thought Ricardo's English accent was not really Filipino-sounding, so I dug deeper, and because there's not a lot of information online about him, I even contacted his manager. In the course of my research, I <a href="http://askthepinoy.blogspot.com/2011/01/what-are-keys-to-success-in-life.html">found out that the guy actually immigrated from Mexico City</a>!<br />
<br />
I then left a comment in the comments section of this specific PhilStar article to inform the newspaper management and its readers of this mistake, but someone deleted my comment. This left me wondering: Is there someone suppressing the truth about a story as petty as this? For what reason?<br />
<br />
Now, if PhilStar and Philippine media in general really want to do a good job for its readers and/or viewers, they could have applied the standard they applied to Ricardo Reyes -- <em>Filipino name? Check; <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFuhXYJqs1M">Filipino look</a>? Check</em> -- and they would have had a nice story on their hands about <a href="http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/012611_giffords_condition">US Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords' new doctor</a>, Dr. Gerard Francisco, MD, who is leading the team of doctors who are helping her during her rehabilitation from the effects of the horrific <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/us/politics/09giffords.html">shooting which shocked America</a>. And with minimal research, they could have had a feature article that looks something like this:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHvAl0Lp_3I5zBK-QyjI9DSqOCHm6Hs7S4vbKvcqzCBy5jRmzgcB1htB5ELeLoCkFWOl6id-1c5o_6R20opbv5o81KkEBEllCxBRso-LawzO0KbHfa33uzLWjDzvUzslFRkUOmbLSLXex3/s1600/PhilStar+article+on+Gerard+Francisco.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="217" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHvAl0Lp_3I5zBK-QyjI9DSqOCHm6Hs7S4vbKvcqzCBy5jRmzgcB1htB5ELeLoCkFWOl6id-1c5o_6R20opbv5o81KkEBEllCxBRso-LawzO0KbHfa33uzLWjDzvUzslFRkUOmbLSLXex3/s400/PhilStar+article+on+Gerard+Francisco.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Granted, Dr. Francisco's story is not as juicy as Ricardo's story, and Congresswoman Giffords is not a pop culture star like Kobe Bryant, but I think there's a lot of different angles that could have been and can still be pursued in Dr. Francisco's story.<br />
<br />
But because I have not seen ONE feature article from any Philippine news media about Dr. Francisco, let me suggest just a few of the angles they can explore:<br />
<br />
(1) How about the Teri Hatcher angle? Because <a href="http://www.uth.tmc.edu/schools/med/phymed/faculty/bio-Francisco-Gerard.html">Dr. Francisco is not just Filipino but actually received his medical degree from the University of the Philippines</a>, the fact that he's the Chief Medical Officer of TIRR Memorial Hermann rehab facility at Houston's Texas Medical Center and also the Department Chair of The University of Texas Medical School at Houston's Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation is worth writing about, I think. <br />
<br />
(2) How about the scholarship angle? According to his <a href="http://www.uth.tmc.edu/schools/med/phymed/Assets/pdf/CV-Francisco-2008-06-17.pdf">39-page CV</a>, Dr. Francisco has received awards for Teaching Excellence, has been adjudged one of Castle Connelly's Best Doctors in America for several years, and has published tons of articles in his field of expertise -- these are also worth writing about, if only to impress upon the doubters and haters out there the quality of Filipino scholarship.<br />
<br />
(3) How about the angle exploring Filipinos' outsized representation in the US medical field? According to a study published by the American Medical Association, there are <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20071015113425/http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/1550.html">20,861 practicing physicians in the US who obtained their medical degree from the Philippines, translating to 8.7% of all US doctors</a>. This is remarkable considering Filipinos just comprise about 1.5% of total US population. (Makes you wonder what the numbers are if you include Philippine-trained nurses, physical therapists and medical technicians, right?) A journalist writing about Dr. Francisco using this cangle can even explore the related "brain drain" effect caused by these medical-trained Filipinos who studied in public schools in the Philippines but decided to move to the US for one reason or another, and maybe look at ways to incentivize them to be dual nationals not only on paper but also in terms of active Philippine societal engagement.<br />
<br />
(4) Lastly, how about the Manny Pacquiao angle? The Philippine media, the government, businesses, and everyone it seems, put out all the stops to share in the glory of Pacquiao, leading to exponential growth in interest in the sport of boxing among the impoverished young. But as a nation, is the Philippines best served encouraging these impressionable kids to take up gloves as their way to wealth and greatness? Why can't the country, its government and the establishment, even for just a tenth of how Pacquiao was glorified, honor people like Dr. Francisco, or my friend, who I will not name here because I do not have his permission, who got his Ph.D. in Bio-Informatics in the US and yet went back to the Philippines to follow through on his promise to go back and teach in his province? <br />
<br />
If someone from the Philippine media will just exert some effort to write about Dr. Francisco, I'm sure many Filipinos will find that Dr. Francisco's story is truly inspirational. And if the country is to succeed, I think the media really has to do a better job at finding stories that inspire -- with vetted facts to support them, if I may add.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>Got a question for The Filipino? Email him now at </em></span><a href="mailto:askthepinoy@gmail.com"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em><span style="color: #5588aa;">askthepinoy@gmail.com</span></em></span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>.</em></span>The Filipinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06411009013482740401noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4370906785269759264.post-6360778071436860042011-01-24T11:41:00.000-08:002011-03-16T03:23:10.518-07:00What are the keys to success in life?<strong>Dear Filipino,</strong><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCdYtu_vIMlN6R2uNtq4xdiua1lcKptodRbzgf9oy8NoF067cq6iaTPXk2jyLV_QYsIHkFGQl5ZdFR0UnpSic80iPeaRD4bhWUkn8JoICAOK8-tM8cbtoJxkqrHEvh3vISznqa8S6MJ2Ch/s400/Danica.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="265" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Source: <a href="http://thediplomaticwife.wordpress.com/">The Diplomatic Wife</a> Blog.)</td></tr>
</tbody></table><strong>O Master, let me talk with thee, and pray tell, what are the keys to success really?</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>Thy humble servant,</strong><br />
<strong>MuQ (<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Made-up Questioner</span>)</strong><br />
<br />
Dear MuQ,<br />
<br />
Ah, your timing is impeccable, my friend! I was just meaning to write about success because three "Filipinos" who exemplify the keys to success I wanted to talk about have been in the news lately. So, without further ado, here's...<br />
<br />
The first key: Genes. <br />
<br />
My dear MuQ, I know it's painful to hear for some, but there's just no getting around to it. I mean, it's either you're beautiful or you're not; you're tall or you're not; you're model material or you're not. And if you're beautiful, you're tall and you're model material, why, you can be the world's supermodel, of course!<br />
<br />
And that's just what happened to our 5'9"" beauty, Danica Flores Magpantay, 17, who was recently declared winner of the 2011 <em>Ford Supermodel of the World </em>competition held in New York last Saturday, January 22. Established by Eileen Ford in 1980, the <em>Ford Supermodel of the World </em>is reputed to be the largest and most prestigious international modeling competition in the world.<br />
<br />
Besting more than 70 contestants from all over the world, the Fine Arts student from the University of the Philippines has the perfect genes because she is the daughter of Milagros “Lala” Flores, herself the winner of the <em>Supermodel of the World Philippines</em> in 1990.<br />
<br />
But I'm sure you want to ask: "What do you do if, let's say, you want to beat the very best in something but you don't really have the perfect genes for it? Do you just give up?" <br />
<br />
No, of course not, dear student. In fact, that question leads me to...<br />
<br />
The second key: Hard work.<br />
<br />
By hard work, I mean, of course, you need to do what you need to do to be good at what you do. That means practice, practice, practice. Because if you practice hard enough, if you put in the work, nothing will faze you. You'll be confident, you won't second-guess yourself, and you won't get rattled by anything and anyone when the moment of truth comes -- even if you're just, well, a "nobody" and you're going against the very best in a contest in which your opponents are the biggest celebrities and are being paid millions to be good at it: e.g., shoot balls.<br />
<br />
This is exactly what <a href="http://barneysbeanery.com/ricardo/">Ricardo Reyes</a> figured out early on. Ricardo is only a busboy at Barney's Beanery in West Hollywood but after practicing during every break he got over the past 10 years, he humbled the biggest basketball professionals in Jimmy Kimmel Live!'s "Pop-a-Shot Challenge."<br />
<br />
Lebron James came first, and Ricardo, wearing his trademark apron and unruffled demeanor, simply annihilated the self-proclaimed King, 72-42: <br />
<br />
<object style="height: 340px; width: 420px;"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ynWb34L-Qn8?version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ynWb34L-Qn8?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="420" height="340"></object><br />
<br />
Another basketball royalty, Sir Charles Barkley, was next, and the result was the same -- a royal kicking in the fanny -- this time at 85-51:<br />
<br />
<object style="height: 340px; width: 420px;"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/PoVXQ3H-Kf0?version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/PoVXQ3H-Kf0?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="420" height="340"></object><br />
<br />
Next up was Kobe Bryant, the reigning Finals MVP, who impressively put up a challenge but was still clearly overmatched, with the score settling at 82-58:<br />
<br />
<object style="height: 340px; width: 420px;"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/nWBCCc1Osxk?version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/nWBCCc1Osxk?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="420" height="340"></object><br />
<br />
Now, one would think that other NBA professionals would have learned their lesson by this time, but Lamar Odom wanted to impress his Kardashious wife so badly that he almost lost her to The Man, 84-35:<br />
<br />
<object style="height: 340px; width: 420px;"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/BIAulVgVQLM?version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/BIAulVgVQLM?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="420" height="340"></object><br />
<br />
Finally, the last challenger put up by Jimmy Kimmel was Carmelo Anthony. The result was predictable, with Ricardo winning the match 72-38. The comedian, bless his heart, had something up his sleeve though, and rewarded the unsuspecting Ricardo a beautiful red Ford Mustang. Watch:<br />
<br />
<object style="height: 340px; width: 420px;"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/UdVGSqR673Y?version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/UdVGSqR673Y?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="420" height="340"></object><br />
<br />
But MuQ, I hope you noticed that I placed the word <em>Filipinos </em>found in my very first paragraph in quotation marks. What was my reason for that?<br />
<br />
Well, very simple really: Despite <a href="http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=649436&publicationSubCategoryId=68">Philippine Star's heart-warming news article</a> dated January 19, 2011, and entitled "Fil-Am busboy outshoots Kobe," and many other Filipino articles and blogs similarly claiming the <em>kababayan </em>connection with him, the truth is, Ricardo is actually <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OddBEaLQOFg">not Filipino</a>. <br />
<br />
You heard it right here, MuQ: Ricardo is named like an ordinary Filipino and he looks like an ordinary Filipino, so many Filipinos assumed he's Filipino. Can't blame them because the story is just such a feel-good, made-for-TV story. But the guy is actually Mexican! <br />
<br />
Yes, according to <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/chris_ballard/01/05/pop-a-shot/index.html">Chris Ballard of Sports Illustrated</a>, Ricardo left Mexico City and migrated to the US about 20 years ago.<br />
<br />
But just to make sure, I contacted Ricardo's manager, AJ Sacher, to confirm. AJ's response? "He's whatever you want him to be. :0"<br />
<br />
Given AJ's response and since I'm <em>The </em>Filipino, I officially declare Ricardo "Honorary Filipino" on this blog. And if anybody's got a problem with that, they know how to reach me.<br />
<br />
Now, where are we? Oh, right, the keys to success. <br />
<br />
MuQ, even if you have the genes, even if you put in all the hard work, you still need...<br />
<br />
The third key: Luck.<br />
<br />
Yes, MuQ: Luck is key. Because to succeed, you need the stars to align for you; you need the gods to smile at you; you need divine intervention.<br />
<br />
Most especially if you're going against priests!<br />
<br />
That's what happened to Dr. A. Gabriel Esteban, who was <a href="http://www7.shu.edu/president-esteban.cfm">appointed last January 11 as President of Seton Hall University</a>, the oldest diocesan university in the United States.<br />
<br />
Dr. Esteban has the genes: You see, both <a href="http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20110124-316228/Seton-Hall-president-is-Filipino">his parents were educators</a>. And before you get me wrong, let me tell you without equivocation that gleaning from Dr. Esteban's impressive credentials, I know he has also put in a lot of hard work. After all, he had served a number of institutions prior to Seton Hall with distinction; he had provided exemplary leadership as university provost; and he had attended Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education as well as completed the Japan Management Program at the Japan-America Institute for Management Science. He also holds a Ph.D. from the Graduate School of Management at the UC Irvine, an M.S. in Japanese Business Studies from Chaminade University in Honolulu, and an M.B.A. and B.S. in Mathematics from the University of the Philippines. <br />
<br />
Where's the divine intervention?<br />
<br />
According to the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/12/nyregion/12seton.html?_r=1&emc=eta1">New York Times</a>, last spring, the university was looking for a new president and it had named two finalists for the job, both of whom were Catholic priests in keeping with the university's bylaws. But for some unexplained and miraculous reason, both priests withdrew from consideration, forcing the search to start over.<br />
<br />
Now what? <br />
<br />
Well, at the time, Dr. Esteban was the interim president and he impressed officials of the university so much that the university's Board of Regents unanimously voted to appoint him President following a resolution passed by the university's Board of Trustees creating an exception in his favor.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGJB-foz6mUykHWE5-0em1LaMCaNmVEwrO2B4ijmjGWhYsNbE4SanSqMvqkeHvf6y4BoGqIobRZUw-IoPVSnx7yNnzRhcKO9wVOKQBbw24yquOvgG50WOAAkRw2_Eb3FUtdsWRBFreSiPH/s1600/Esteban.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGJB-foz6mUykHWE5-0em1LaMCaNmVEwrO2B4ijmjGWhYsNbE4SanSqMvqkeHvf6y4BoGqIobRZUw-IoPVSnx7yNnzRhcKO9wVOKQBbw24yquOvgG50WOAAkRw2_Eb3FUtdsWRBFreSiPH/s1600/Esteban.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Source: <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/12/nyregion/12seton.html?_r=1&emc=eta1">NY Times</a>.)</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
Didn't I say gods have to smile at you?<br />
<br />
And if you're a skeptic, let me assure you, Dr. Esteban's accomplishment is nothing to sneeze at. According to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seton_Hall_University">Wikipedia</a>: <br />
<br />
<blockquote>Seton Hall is made up of nine different schools and colleges with an undergraduate enrollment of about 5,200 students and a graduate enrollment of about 4,500. Its School of Law, which is ranked by US News & World Report as one of the top 100 law schools in the nation, has an enrollment of about 1,200 students. For 2009, <i>BusinessWeek's "Colleges with the Biggest Returns"</i> ranked Seton Hall among the top 50 universities in the nation that open doors to the highest salaries. Seton Hall's Stillman School of Business is ranked 56 out of the top 100 undergraduate business schools and #1 in the state of New Jersey according to BusinessWeek.</blockquote>Since its founding in 1856, the university has produced numerous heads of major businesses and institutions, professional athletes, members of the US Congress, and countless other well-known personalities and politicians, including the current New Jersey governor, Gov. Chris Christie, who is believed to be a possible candidate for the Republican presidential primary next year. <br />
<br />
So there you go, MuQ -- the keys to success: Genes, hard work and luck. And since the second key is the only one you can really control of the three, you better work your fanny off to succeed in L-I-F-E!<br />
<br />
Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to practice my shooting for Pop-a-Shot.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>Got a question for The Filipino? Email him now at </em></span><a href="mailto:askthepinoy@gmail.com"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em><span style="color: #5588aa;">askthepinoy@gmail.com</span></em></span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>.</em></span>The Filipinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06411009013482740401noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4370906785269759264.post-8056324525366007602011-01-22T07:18:00.000-08:002011-03-15T13:08:15.160-07:00Do Filipinos hate -- and so won't date -- the Chinese?<strong>Dear Filipino,</strong><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz_LDK-m7Q2tjh3-W1lDK3IOAFKqzdBPz0P7C3AI8Bz0ikP3MzAFFtS9cpd8M2vatSawUVybIcrzE955tsVfF6iSHr7h_0PGoY2T-V4SDuW9hXPLOPLDYjFqedwW0zXAr7H1fFIv2rErsq/s1600/iloveyou-chinese.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz_LDK-m7Q2tjh3-W1lDK3IOAFKqzdBPz0P7C3AI8Bz0ikP3MzAFFtS9cpd8M2vatSawUVybIcrzE955tsVfF6iSHr7h_0PGoY2T-V4SDuW9hXPLOPLDYjFqedwW0zXAr7H1fFIv2rErsq/s200/iloveyou-chinese.gif" width="170" /></a></div><strong>I find myself really attracted to this Filipino guy. I actually get along with him very well and I'm probably overthinking but...I was wondering if there was any chance for me to date him? </strong><br />
<br />
<strong>I guess I'm sort of young and naive, but the only stereotypes I know of Filipinos are that they are very peaceful, musically inclined, talented, and generally tanned. However, according to my Filipina friend, Filipinos tend to go after their own or go after whites in order to "marry up". She told me that's how she was raised, and that unless the person she dated was Catholic, Filipino or Caucasian, there would be no way she would be allowed to date. Furthermore, she told me that majority of Filipino people sort of hate Chinese people? So if I start a relationship with him, would I face a lot of prejudice from his family? Is it usually looked down upon to be of a different race? <br />
<br />
Sincerely,<br />
Love-stricken Chinese Girl</strong><br />
<strong><br />
</strong>Dear LCG,<br />
<br />
Hey, what can I say? Filipino guys are simply irresistible! ;-) And as regards the stereotypes you mentioned, I can hang with those -- no problem! <br />
<br />
Seriously though, first, I must apologize. You've written me this a while back and it's quite insensitive of me to have kept you waiting for an answer that must be quite important to you. But unfortunately, I can only answer questions at my pace, and though I was born in the Year of the Tiger, I'm really a Turtle Blogger. <br />
<br />
I actually thought of delaying my answer to you until Valentine's, but I changed my mind because "Chinese" seems to be on everyone's lips these days. Locally, in the Bay Area, <a href="http://globalnation.inquirer.net/columns/columns/view/20110120-315557/Chinese-American-empowerment">Chinese empowerment</a> is the buzzword, as the first Asian-American mayor of San Francisco, Edwin M. Lee, was sworn in last week. Nationally, in the US, <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fg%2Fa%2F2011%2F01%2F21%2Fbloomberg1376-LFACE60D9L3501-2CVDJAVGGDKNT5OGSQ9LIR5G4P.DTL">Chinese power</a> is said to be really ascendant, as shown by the way China's president, Mr. Hu Jintao, is being treated as he visits his country's largest debtor this week. But more importantly, globally, <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704111504576059713528698754.html?mod=WSJ_hp_us_mostpop_read">Chinese superiority</a> is also now being touted -- even in an aspect erstwhile deemed to be so personal to everyone: parenting.<br />
<br />
So assuming it's true that we Filipinos only want to "marry up" race-wise, surely we must be re-evaluating our stand with regards to the Chinese, right?<br />
<br />
But here's the thing: The truth is, Filipinos don't look down upon the Chinese; Filipinos generally don't restrict marriage to Caucasians, Catholics or fellow Filipinos only; and while Filipinos often do prefer lighter-skinned folks as potential partners in marriage (although changing, that's still the reality of today's world), I think it's not a stretch to say Filipinos, especially when compared to other groups, are in fact <em>equal-opportunity </em>daters. <br />
<br />
I don't know why your Filipina friend said those things to you, but don't believe everything she says, in the same way that you shouldn't believe everything I say here. None of us can speak definitively for millions of people. But I think the evidence weighs in favor of my position. And while statistics will bear out that most of us do end up dating and marrying within our group, <a href="http://www.webmd.com/sex-relationships/features/do-opposites-attract">that's just natural</a>, because cultural compatibility is paramount to most people who want to avoid conflict. I'd like to think this is just what her parents were driving at, too.<br />
<br />
Besides, <a href="http://askthepinoy.blogspot.com/2010/10/why-are-filipinas-beautiful-but.html">we're mutts</a>, you see, and so historically, we've really <a href="http://askthepinoy.blogspot.com/2010/10/why-are-filipinas-beautiful-but.html">intermarried a lot with all sorts of "breeds</a>." In fact, estimates show that while the "pure" ethnic Chinese only comprise about <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Filipino">2-3% of the country, as many as 20% of the Filipino people have some Chinese ancestry.</a> Personally, I think these figures are understated because the Chinese have been settling in the Philippines since time immemorial -- or as far back as the Ice Age when a now-submerged <a href="http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Chinese_Filipino">land bridge is believed to have enabled many people from South China</a> to settle in what is now the archipelago called the Philippines, and continued non-stop even during the Spanish (when they were referred to as <em><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sangley">sangleys</a></em>) and American regimes, up to present times. The sitting President, the national hero, the former dictator Marcos -- they are just a few of the country's more famous Chinese mestizos, offspring of mixed marriages.<br />
<br />
And I think it's wrong to say we hate the Chinese, for if that were the case, those famous Chinese mestizos would not have achieved their positions in life. Majority of Filipinos do hate <em>hateful and abusive </em>people, Chinese or not. In fact, anyone would, don't you agree?<br />
<br />
That's why I now think Tiger Mother Amy Chua's observation in her 2003 essay, "<a href="http://askthepinoy.blogspot.com/2011/01/does-prof-amy-chua-have-any-other.html">Vengeful Majorities</a>," unfairly depicts Filipinos. In it, she related how her Chinese aunt was killed by her Filipino driver and how the police classified the killing as an act of revenge. But she did more than that: She also suggested that the driver killed her aunt because her aunt was a member of a rich, market-dominant minority while the driver was a member of a "vengeful majority" in the Philippines. By doing so, she elevated the incident to somehow be representative of an ethnicity-influenced tension between the ethnic Chinese and the ethnic Filipinos in the Philippines. <br />
<br />
But even if I were to concede that there is in fact some tension, I guarantee you that it is almost negligible and in no way -- <em>no way</em>! -- comparable to the other ethnic tensions she also mentioned in her essay: e.g., Croats vs. Serbs, Hutus vs. Tutsis, Jews vs. ethnic Russians, Chinese vs. ethnic Indonesians, etc. -- tensions which are more violent and widespread, much more societally disruptive, and much, much more gruesome because they had resulted in riots, outright war, ethnic cleansing, and genocide in the past.<br />
<br />
To understand what I'm saying here, let's reverse the roles in Chua's aunt's case. If her aunt had been an ethnic Filipina who was killed by her Chinese driver because the latter couldn't take the abuse and enslavement anymore, I think you'll also understand why the police would still be justified to put the same reason for the killing: "Revenge." In other words, the murder was an act of "revenge" because of Chua's abusive aunt, not because the ethnic Filipino majority is somehow "vengeful."<br />
<br />
So, no, I'm not worried about you being looked down upon by the Filipino guy's family, and I'm not concerned at all that you would face any prejudice from the guy's side. You won't. The truth is, I'm more worried about your family looking down upon my fellow good-looking Filipino. I know we're just talking about dating here and not marriage, but Chua herself recently admitted that she married an American Orthodox Jew as a form of rebellion because her once father told her: "<a href="http://www.therecord.com/living/article/474176--book-on-tiger-moms-parenting-brings-anger-shock">You will marry a non-Chinese over my dead body!</a>" With respect to us Filipinos, she was upfront and didn't even mince words when she wrote in her 2003 book: "For the Chinese...marrying a Filipino...is shameful."<br />
<br />
I happen to know this is quite true among many Chinese in the Philippines. When I was in college, I had female Chinese friends who fell in love with Filipinos, and even if the guys were from decent families and were decent themselves, the Chinese parents still objected to the relationships, going as far as threatening their daughters with disownment. One Chinese lady I know was indeed disowned and her parents did not even bother to attend her wedding. I heard the parents and the daughter only reconciled after the latter delivered her first baby.<br />
<br />
Now, are you sure you still want to date that Filipino guy? <br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>Got a question for The Filipino? Email him now at </em></span><a href="mailto:askthepinoy@gmail.com"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em><span style="color: #5588aa;">askthepinoy@gmail.com</span></em></span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>.</em></span>The Filipinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06411009013482740401noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4370906785269759264.post-78488605760118205462011-01-20T06:15:00.000-08:002011-01-20T11:40:57.646-08:00Economy-wise, where is the Philippines in the US map?<strong>Dear Filipino,</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>How's the Philippine economy like compared to the US?</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>Thanks,</strong><br />
<em><strong>Bulakbol</strong></em><br />
<br />
Dear Bulakbol,<br />
<br />
In the field of information science, there is a hierarchical model, aptly but uncreatively called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DIKW">DIKW</a>, which is depicted as a pyramid. In this acronymally termed pyramid, <i>data</i> is found at the base, followed by <em>information</em>, then <em>knowledge</em>, and finally, at the apex, <i>wisdom</i>. <br />
<br />
How do people in this academic field differentiate these concepts?<br />
<br />
<a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=cZlYmQrnTMwC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Organizing+Knowledge:+An+Introduction+to+Managing+Access+to+Information&source=bl&ots=HNq21GW8Cu&sig=3bgzEzziN3adZS4AbVF59ra4gws&hl=en&ei=lBU4TeDlLdGeOrmw0dML&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CCoQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q&f=false">Practitioners</a> generally define <em>data </em>as "discrete, objective, and unprocessed facts or observations." As such, they are said to have <em>no value</em> whatsoever -- the data, not the practitioners -- because they lack context and interpretation.<br />
<br />
Defined in terms of data, <em>information </em>is "organized or structured data" and therefore valuable and useful.<br />
<br />
Defined in terms of information, <em>knowledge </em>is considered the "synthesis of multiple sources of information over time" which provides a "framework for evaluating and incorporating new experiences and information."<br />
<br />
While actually understood by many, the trickiest concept to define is <em>wisdom </em>because it does not lend itself to easy, formulaic definition. Not that practitioners don't try. But when defining it in terms of knowledge and information, they claim <em>wisdom </em>is "integrated knowledge" or, more sophomorically put, "information made super-useful." Some of these academicians also turn philosophical on you and introduce another concept that's also difficult to define: Because <em>wisdom</em>, they say, requires the mental function we call "judgment." <br />
<br />
For its definitional simplicity, I like the version put forward in 1987 by Czechoslovakia-born educator Milan Zeleny. For him, the DIKW model really equates to <i>know-nothing</i>, <i>know-what</i>, <em>know-how</em>, and <i>know-why</i>.<br />
<br />
Now, where am I going with this preamble in answering your question?<br />
<br />
I was reminded of these concepts for two reasons: (1) because The Filipina is involved in this field; and (2) because I stumbled upon the answer to your question while browsing the online version of The Economist. I've always been a fan of the magazine because the folks there are really great at turning <em>data </em>into <em>information </em>and <em>information </em>into <em>knowledge</em>.<br />
<br />
So let's proceed to your question. <br />
<br />
Found below is a US map. Can you find the Philippines?<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGKk_AjF3WbEchv5_wwgYQYJYf-HY-6scT_ET9gEjwuCxFrxOgUEWRv-Z1iRBS70ynERRRPzcP8AuvwRVMrMi2QExeYTW_KCbOYDvtAJLszjrJDiZX8gN4jPKV9VBSssPt2cwcuBlVw0Y1/s1600/Economist+map+of+US+comparables.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="283" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGKk_AjF3WbEchv5_wwgYQYJYf-HY-6scT_ET9gEjwuCxFrxOgUEWRv-Z1iRBS70ynERRRPzcP8AuvwRVMrMi2QExeYTW_KCbOYDvtAJLszjrJDiZX8gN4jPKV9VBSssPt2cwcuBlVw0Y1/s400/Economist+map+of+US+comparables.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.economist.com/blogs/dailychart/2011/01/comparing_us_states_countries">Source:</a> The Economist</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
If you easily spotted the Philippines where the Bluegrass State is commonly found, I say, "Good for you -- keen eyes!" <br />
<br />
And if you were disappointed in finding it there, I say, "I'm sorry -- and I am with you." <br />
<br />
Because the map, which depicts the size of the economies of the individual American states and how they compare with other countries, tells us -- aside from the obvious fact that the US is really an economic colossus -- some unfortunate truths. Among them:<br />
<br />
<em>One</em>: The Philippines has an economy almost the same size as that of Kentucky despite having a population roughly 20 times bigger.<br />
<br />
<em>Two</em>: The Philippines' next-door ASEAN neighbor, Thailand, has an economy equivalent to that of Colorado (which is a state bigger by about $100 billion than Kentucky), despite having roughly 30 million fewer people.<br />
<br />
These are not happy facts to face, but face them we must -- that is, if we want the country to aspire to some objective, achievable targets. Like becoming another Colorado, for instance, by the end of P-Noy's term. <br />
<br />
The country can do so because Thailand has already shown the way. Filipinos, at home and from all over, just have to help, especially the Filipino Americans, who have a collective "GDP" also bigger than the Philippines.<br />
<br />
This brings me back to the DIKW Hierarchy. <br />
<br />
Who would have thought that the singer-musician <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Zappa">Frank Zappa</a> would actually expand the model? <br />
<br />
Yes, he did, as shown in the lyrics of his song, "<a href="http://www.metrolyrics.com/packard-goose-lyrics-frank-zappa.html">Packard Goose</a>":<br />
<blockquote><em>Information is not knowledge</em><br />
<em>Knowledge is not wisdom</em><br />
<em>Wisdom is not truth</em><br />
<em>Truth is not beauty</em><br />
<em>Beauty is not love</em><br />
<em>Love is not music</em><br />
<em>Music is THE BEST.</em></blockquote>And this brings me to my concluding thoughts.<br />
<br />
When I was in college, I was part of a group which performed a musical in front of audiences in the East Coast. I've forgotten many of the details of that awesome period in my life, but I still cannot forget one memory.<br />
<br />
After every performance, we would sing the song composed by Constancio de Guzman in 1929, <em><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xehDSjqac-k">Bayan Ko</a></em>. Without fail, many Filipinos in the audience would join and sing with us, and you could literally feel the emotions -- intense, raw, palpable, unstructured, tearful. Unfortunately, I could tell many in the audience who didn't understand Tagalog could not quite grasp the significance of the song. <br />
<br />
So here's my parting gift to you to share with others as you feel necessary: The English version of the song as translated by the poet Ed Maranan. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZWjq1Fr9COfClS8WkIbateI5aKLG4-u4Zg8fBd-2ixkQAOZWEG33auDbKfM3JvDhXY99c0FjznbchGs_e6hpr8arUwCvVcrviQBaRsfiExbE9zTen641p7VOmOLK4q4T6t0P0S5HtbqdB/s1600/Bayan+Ko+translation.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="316" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZWjq1Fr9COfClS8WkIbateI5aKLG4-u4Zg8fBd-2ixkQAOZWEG33auDbKfM3JvDhXY99c0FjznbchGs_e6hpr8arUwCvVcrviQBaRsfiExbE9zTen641p7VOmOLK4q4T6t0P0S5HtbqdB/s400/Bayan+Ko+translation.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="post-title entry-title"></div><div class="post-title entry-title">The beauty of his translation, which is incredibly faithful to the original language and its spirit, is that it can actually be sung following the same original melodic tune, the same music. How cool is that?</div><div class="post-title entry-title"><br />
Now, if Maranan's translation cannot be deemed <em>wisdom</em>, if it cannot be considered <em>beauty</em>, if it is not a manifestation of <em>love </em>of country, then I, for one, don't know the definition of these concepts anymore.<br />
<br />
And pardon my preachiness, but for the Philippines to advance, you and I, and all the other Filipinos who care for even just one tiny bit about the country, really have to start showing it <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3tdVqGxspk&feature=related">some <em>love</em></a>.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>Got a question for The Filipino? Email him now at </em></span><a href="mailto:askthepinoy@gmail.com"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em><span style="color: #5588aa;">askthepinoy@gmail.com</span></em></span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>.</em></span><a href="http://www.mts.net/~pmorrow/bayeng1.htm"></a> </div>The Filipinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06411009013482740401noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4370906785269759264.post-29931915901975641432011-01-19T02:26:00.000-08:002011-01-19T03:23:28.618-08:00PNoy and the Porsche: What's the going rate for The Filipino's "investment"?<strong>Dear Filipino,</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>I'm sure you've heard about the Philippine president buying a Porsche supposedly so he can use it to unwind. What's your take on it?</strong><br />
<br />
<strong><em>Ingat</em>,</strong><br />
<strong>Poorish Pinoy</strong><br />
<br />
Dear Poorish,<br />
<br />
I supported PNoy's candidacy so I was really upset about this news. By support, I mean I invested <em>time</em> (by attending US-based campaign events in support of his candidacy -- no matter how inconsequential my presence at these events may have been in the grand scheme of things); <em>treasure </em>(by spending and/or contributing a little bit at these campaign events -- no matter how miniscule the amount I could afford); and <em>talent </em>(by sharing some of my ideas with the folks who were more prominently campaigning for him -- no matter how superfluous, naive and/or worthless these ideas may have been).<br />
<br />
More than the 3 T's, I also invested in PNoy my personal emotions and my hopes for the country. And as you will probably agree, emotions and hopes are always arguably the most costly aspect of any form of investment whenever an investment ends up not panning out. <br />
<br />
Please don't get me wrong: I'm not writing off my "investment" yet. But if I have to render a graphical representation, it would look something like this:<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXmn8rsFODMtIbwJcj5DISLcECxV1QwsFx4ZSuvdB81y6covSnlz8Jwe6mUCwZlr-nTCheJWeRlEiZsjKlVWA14u_NBpZrBnZsr27LwaFpyprnmen8YLz44lHGsJlFOURneTi9ehyQFCsd/s1600/PNoy+Investment.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="288" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXmn8rsFODMtIbwJcj5DISLcECxV1QwsFx4ZSuvdB81y6covSnlz8Jwe6mUCwZlr-nTCheJWeRlEiZsjKlVWA14u_NBpZrBnZsr27LwaFpyprnmen8YLz44lHGsJlFOURneTi9ehyQFCsd/s400/PNoy+Investment.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
The data points in the x-axis (which represents the timeline) correspond to the following events:<br />
<blockquote><strong>1</strong> = Senator Noynoy's conduct at ex-President Cory Aquino's wake;<br />
<strong>2</strong> = Senator Noynoy's decision to run and conduct during the campaign;<br />
<strong>3</strong> = Senator Noynoy's winning the election;<br />
<strong>4</strong> = PNoy's inauguration;<br />
<strong>5</strong> = PNoy's handling of the kidnapping incident at Luneta;<br />
<strong>6</strong> = PNoy's visit to the US when he met with Fil-Ams (I attended two events);<br />
<strong>7</strong> = PNoy's decision to keep DILG Undersecretary Puno;<br />
<strong>8</strong> = PNoy's dissing of DILG Secretary Robredo (the best member of his Cabinet);<br />
<strong>9</strong> = PNoy's snub of the Nobel Peace Prize awarding ceremonies in Norway in order not to anger China;<br />
<strong>10</strong> = PNoy's purchase of the Porsche car.</blockquote>As you can see, I'm at 60, down 40% from the starting price of 100. But it's not at zero yet, so there's still hope for a rebound.<br />
<br />
Additionally, the Porsche purchase indicates one thing to me: Now, I know for sure, without a shadow of a doubt, that he's not getting good advice from the folks around him who should be giving him solid advice. And I think that's the problem when you have friends (his closest advisers are supposedly his friends) who are scared to give you the right advice because they don't want to offend you and would rather ingratiate themselves to you to keep their positions.<br />
<br />
But my take on this Porsche matter was actually captured perfectly in an <a href="http://globalnation.inquirer.net/viewpoints/viewpoints/view/20110117-314950/PNoys-Porsche-The-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly">Inquirer column</a> written by someone I respect a lot, Attorney Ted Laguatan. I think it's impossible for me to improve on what he wrote so I am just going to reproduce it here for your convenience, as follows:<br />
<br />
<blockquote><strong><u>PNoy's Porsche: The good, the bad, and the ugly </u></strong><br />
<br />
To the shock of many, staid, non-flashy supposedly simple living PNoy recently purchased a Porsche.<br />
<br />
Malacanang-sourced reports state that it is not a new car. Even if the model is not specified, based on the indicated P4.5-million (about $92,000) price, I would guess that it's one of those powerful iconic 911 supercar models in the Carerra series.<br />
<br />
A seller of such a car would advertise it as: "Pre-owned like new. Only 62,000 miles. Rich leather interiors. Iconic model. Absolutely stunning!" Whereas a PR man trying to downplay the purchase would describe the car as: "A highly depreciated used third-hand entry level model with already 10,000 plus kilometers. Nothing extraordinary."<br />
<br />
Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda did in fact used some of these PR speak. To further downplay the purchase, PNoy announced that he paid for the Porsche by selling his old BMW and taking a bank loan. He also claimed that he needed the car to relax so that he can make better decisions.<br />
<br />
Let's take a good look at the situation.<br />
<br />
<strong>The Good</strong><br />
<br />
Purchasing the Porsche with his own money shows a lack of guile and honesty. PNoy could easily have asked a millionaire supporter to buy him a new Porsche. He did not. If he were corrupt, he also could easily have a fleet of even more expensive cars by simply favoring certain government contractors who would overprice their bids and gladly give these to him as kickback.<br />
<br />
It also shows that unlike the children of other presidents, he did not enjoy the luxury of having this kind of expensive cars when his mother was president—which speaks well of him and his mother.<br />
<br />
Bongbong, Jinggoy, or Mikey are probably cracking up with the news of fifty-year-old PNoy still getting excited with a used Porsche. They already had their taste of all kinds of new luxury cars when they were barely out of their teens. They are now into helicopters, private jet planes, and yachts.<br />
<br />
If he were dishonest, PNoy could already have bought this kind of car when he was a congressman or senator by simply using his pork barrel funds and utilizing all kinds of shadow transactions to acquire it—a common enough practice. Or better yet, he could easily have used a crony to buy the car for him so nobody knows.<br />
<br />
Like a little boy wanting an expensive toy, when he became president and could afford to, he impulsively buys this pre-owned Porsche. He believed there was nothing wrong with his purchase as he was paying for it with money honestly earned.<br />
<br />
As president, he has access to other types of vehicles which he could easily convert to become his private toys: airplanes, helicopters, tanks, boats, etc. He does not want to do that. Instead, he uses his own money to buy a car that he would enjoy and relax with. Purchasing the car, by itself, is really not a bad thing.<br />
<br />
All these indicate a naïveté of sort—maybe even a showing of admirable honesty if interpreted along honesty criteria.<br />
<br />
<strong>The Bad</strong><br />
<br />
However, even if there was no corruption involved in this car purchase and given that he could afford it— even his mother and father would most likely tell him that it was an improper thing to do and that he was acting like an impulsive kid. Aside from honesty, affordability, and his personal enjoyment, there are other issues.<br />
<br />
As president, he needs to show a polite sensitivity to the plight and feelings of millions of desperately poor Filipinos. Nearly one-third of our countrymen live in quiet desperation barely surviving in slum communities and go to bed hungry at night. Mothers and fathers helplessly see their children every day deprived of proper food, shelter, health care and education—condemned to a life without a decent future. Some quietly shed tears at night knowing their sick children will die because they cannot afford to buy medicines or medical services.<br />
<br />
The president of a country where this kind of mass poverty and misery thrives appears to show an utter lack of sensitivity to the plight and feelings of the desperately poor in buying a P4.5-million Porsche. Who doesn't want to drive a fine car? However, proper discretion dictates that even if in fact he can afford to honestly buy the Porsche or that he thinks driving it relaxes him, it doesn't necessarily mean he should have one.<br />
<br />
It shows not only insensitivity but also immaturity and poor leadership. There are better ways to relax, less expensive, and far less dangerous than to drive a super power car in the Philippines' dangerous highways. PNoy ought to be aware that he owes it to the people who elected him to show sensitivity, take care of his safety, and be a true leader. The image he also presents to the world brings respect or disrespect to the country and its people<br />
<br />
Being president is a great responsibility. He is either a servant to the people or a curse to them. If the president is to be a servant and a great president, he must be willing to sacrifice his own personal needs and idiosyncrasies for his people.<br />
<br />
<strong>The Ugly</strong><br />
<br />
We have just seen the end of the presidency of one of the most unpopular presidents in the country's history, marked by persuasive evidence of mass corruption. A corrupt leader brings massive suffering to the people. PNoy inherited a bankrupt government where the culture of corruption is the norm rather than the exception. From the ruins of the past government, the new administration is struggling to build an honest efficient government responsive to the needs of the people, a very difficult task in which everyone of good faith should help.<br />
<br />
PNoy was elected by an overwhelming majority, a landslide victory. All of us who supported him and even PNoy himself would be fooling ourselves if we believe in any way that he won because of charisma. He also did not even have any notable legislative record to speak of.<br />
<br />
What catapulted him to the presidency was the people's hope: that he could bring real change to their lives. At least with him, there was this chance that their impossible dream of having a better, less corrupt, less poor Philippines might become a reality. He had a father who sacrificed his life for his people. He had a mother who sincerely and honestly tried under very difficult circumstances to be a good president. With these genes and legacy, millions placed their hopes on him rather than on the other candidates.<br />
<br />
If he fails because he does not understand the real sacrifices demanded of him, he only has himself to blame. So many millions are behind him to help him succeed in this great endeavor. If when his term ends and the country is worse off than when he took over, it will be ugly for him and for all of us.<br />
<br />
**<br />
<br />
With all due respect, Mr. President, allow me this personal note. Get rid of that Porsche. Please. That's not too much of a sacrifice for you. It gives you a bad image: an insensitive wild playboy which you are not. I also doubt that driving a super fast sport car on bumpy trafficky, mostly narrow Philippine roads and highways is going to relax you and help you make better decisions. It is dangerous—which might even make you more tense. Instead, utilize proven ways to relax and to get rid of tensions: solitude, meditation, prayer, regular gym workouts. A healthy diet and breaking the chain smoking habit will also help.<br />
<br />
So much of where the country goes depends on you. Your enemies would like to see you fail. They'll pick on every single issue they can use against you. You need to maintain the shine on your armor in the great sacred fight against corruption, poverty, and other national problems. While this Porsche issue is not going to bring you down as no corruption is involved, it weakens you as it touches on the issue of sensitivity and maybe even sincerity. It's like feasting on a thick Wagyu steak while everyone else around you eats galungong or tuyo. You cannot take this issue lightly.<br />
<br />
We who support you because we want a better country want you to succeed. Success means repeatedly pulling one's self together, making sacrifices, getting up after every mistake or failure, being sensitive to people's feelings and having a clear vision of desired goals. Additionally for you, the chosen one, it’s being a true leader to your people—meaning truly loving them and being unconditionally committed to their welfare. Your father and mother expect that much from you. We, whom you claim to be your boss ("Kayo ang akin boss!"), expect the same.</blockquote><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>Got a question for The Filipino? Email him now at </em></span><a href="mailto:askthepinoy@gmail.com"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em><span style="color: #5588aa;">askthepinoy@gmail.com</span></em></span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>.</em></span>The Filipinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06411009013482740401noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4370906785269759264.post-42199496836797801872011-01-17T12:45:00.000-08:002011-01-18T12:06:11.980-08:00To chew or not to Chua? To know or not to Nora?<strong>Dear Filipino,<br />
<br />
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on various subjects and issues you discuss courageously in your blog. I have shared your posts with some of my friends. Those who have seen them have been impressed, and your readership I’m pretty sure has increased. (You may want to start soliciting for advertisers – you deserve some income from this.) </strong><br />
<br />
<strong>Anyway, I want to share my thoughts with you on some subjects you broached in your blog, and towards the end, ask you another "</strong><a href="http://askthepinoy.blogspot.com/2011/01/is-gretchen-barreto-really-filipinos.html"><strong>profound and complicated question</strong></a><strong>."</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>Reading and chewing on your articles on Amy Chua have caused me mixed emotions and feelings – disgust and hatred, bordering on admiration and awe. I have never heard of her previously, but Wikipedia has provided me enough general background about her, and it's quite impressive. She graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School with a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree, worked as a corporate law associate, taught at Duke Law School, and currently is a distinguished professor of law at Yale Law School – all these perhaps a product of her own intellect and extreme conditioning from her Chinese Filipino parents.<br />
<br />
Since she takes her maiden name, not unlike many Western professional women, and since she seems to be into parenting and perhaps not into women’s liberation, I am not sure I know how to address her properly. Should it be "Miss Chua" -- but she’s not single? Or "Mrs. Chua" -- but she is not her mother? Or "Ms. Chua" -- but she may resent that? Therefore, I have decided to just address her as Chua. Tells you what I know about proper etiquette in addressing women; with men, it's simpler -- just call them "Mister."<br />
<br />
<u>On the Vengeful Majority</u><br />
<br />
As much as I like to read, mostly mysteries, spy stories, lawyer stories, some classics and literature, some autobiographies, some histories, I have never read any of Chua’s books. And she had written 3 books: the first book is <em>World on Fire: How Exporting Free Market Democracy Breeds Ethnic Hatred and Global Instability</em>; the second book is <em>Day of Empire: How Hyperpowers Rise to Global Dominance – and Why They Fall</em>; and finally <em>Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother</em>, which is currently causing a lot of controversies due to its extreme parenting method, its comparison to Western and other parenting methods, and Chua’s claim that Chinese parenting method is superior to others. Guess these books did not belong to my list of desired topics and stories, fiction or otherwise.<br />
<br />
Through your blog, I was able to read her <a href="http://askthepinoy.blogspot.com/2011/01/does-prof-amy-chua-have-any-other.html">essay on “Vengeful Majorities,”</a> apparently with excerpts from her <em>World on Fire</em> book. Some say this essay has been sensationalized to gain readership for her book and therefore increase its profitability – just like any other effort or action by any company or corporation with the bottom line being dollars and cents. My money will probably not be used to buy her books, though I heard most parts of the books were intellectually written and show her knowledge of globalization and the law.<br />
<br />
As I read that essay, I was totally shocked when she wrote very early in the essay in regards to her aunt’s murder: “For the Chinese, luck is a moral attribute, and a lucky person would never be murdered. Like having a birth defect, or marrying a Filipino, being murdered is shameful.” I was appalled and totally surprised by this statement and was hoping she was only being satirical and that she would recant it later. But no such ‘luck,’ and as a matter of fact, Chua seemed to have justified the killing by saying: “But poverty by itself does not make people kill. To poverty must be added indignity, hopelessness and grievance.” Nothing can justify a killing, neither can one justify rudeness.<br />
<br />
She repeated many times how her family, which belonged to the market-dominant minority in the Philippines, lived in a very exclusive, all-Chinese, luxurious, gated and guarded enclave, walled off from the Filipino masses. And how they have bank accounts in various places in the US and had safety deposit boxes full of gold bars. (I hope they reported their income, both foreign and local, to the Philippine Bureau of Internal Revenue.) But then she related about her aunt stuffing her Gucci purse with free packets of ketchup when they ate at McDonald’s – sounds like petty thievery to me at a place I would never guess they dined.<br />
<br />
Also, I don’t understand why her family’s splendid hacienda-style house in Manila in this exclusive Chinese enclave has servants' quarters where the poor, ignorant, ethnic Filipino servants sleep on a dirt floor. When I was growing up in the Philippines, we were not rich, not even remotely close to the Chua’s wealth, but we also had some helpers and they were provided with decent accommodations and, God forbid, they never slept on the dirt floor, not that we had any. But I digress, and rightfully so, since I seem to have noticed too many inconsistencies on her story. Considering how intelligent Chua is, I don’t understand the inconsistencies. Maybe I misunderstood, or perhaps I’m just getting petty. <br />
<br />
But can one blame my pettiness if somebody compares being married to your compatriot similar to having a birth defect? Which reminds me how beautiful Filipinos are, of course for both sexes. Look at how many Filipinas have been Miss Universe -- two in the last count, and an additional five Miss Philippines have been semifinalists. How many of Chua’s Chinese were Miss Universe? None that I know of, not even as semifinalists -- but that’s of course a cruel thing to say since I know a lot of pretty Chinese women and good-hearted Chinese Filipinos.<br />
<br />
<u>On The Tiger Mother</u><br />
<br />
And then finally, here is <em>Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother</em>, purporting how Chua’s Chinese method of parenting is superior to the Western method and, of course, to all other Asian countries. Chua may be too smart to know that she may not be right the way she’s raising her children. Reminds me of a Machiavellian pragmatism -- "the end justifies the means" -- though I don’t think I agree with it. I cringed when her dad told her "to not ever disgrace him ever again" after she got only second prize in a national history competition, but she seemed to have justified that too. She said she knew her father loved her and that he just wanted her to try her very best since he knew she was the best. Imagine being the best among 6.8 billion people in the world: That’s such a prestigious honor, but really scary and so stressful – almost like Manny Pacquiao (yes, Chua, can you believe Pacquiao is an ethnic Filipino boxer?) being the greatest fighter ever in this world. <br />
<br />
How does one maintain to be the best the world? I’m realistic and I know I will never know. I just want to be the best I can be. But Chua certainly has a different outlook in life than most of us mortals. That’s her family’s life philosophy and she certainly has the inalienable right to defend it – but then again it is her family and I’m glad not mine. Life is too short to try to achieve perfection all the time – we need to aim for it but we should enjoy the trip.<br />
<br />
<u>On Our Filipino Way of Parenting</u><br />
<br />
Briefly, allow me to tell you my own experience in raising two children here in America. Like a lot of young engineers in the late 1960s, I immigrated to the US, met my future wife, got married, finished an advanced degree, and worked for a major US corporation. We were blessed with a girl and a boy, and since we did not have extended family and since my new job moved us to a location where there was only one other Filipino family in town, we were left on our own to find the right methodology in parenting. <br />
<br />
Of course, we were neither experts nor very educated in parenting, but we used some of the lessons we learned from our own parents, picked up the good, and downplayed the ones we were not enthusiastic about. Raising kids in America was more of a challenge relative to raising children in the old country. This was a different culture and we did not have the presence of lots of relatives to provide some guidance and help. What we tried to instill to our children was to do the best they could without threat of punishment. We were not into extremism. I was more like a "be happy and enjoy" guy and still am, although my wife was a little stricter but reasonable. The way we raised our kids was to let them get into activities they liked, and we found out they excelled on things they wanted to do. Luckily, they were good kids and conscientious students too. They also made mistakes along the way, but that was part of growing up and quite natural – and we were there to support them when they did, providing them with unconditional love, and just hoping that they would learn from their mistakes.<br />
<br />
The girl excelled in dancing, gymnastics and piano, with no coercion from us but lots of support. She was also an "A" student from the early stages of learning, garnered a BS in Sociology, then an MS in Medical Sciences, an MD degree, a residency, and finally a fellowship on her specialization – all at prestigious universities and institutions. She is now a specialist surgeon in her field of expertise. <br />
<br />
The boy was a bit of a late bloomer, but also became an "A" student in high school through hard work. He studied piano and saxophone but drifted to sports as he grew up. He finished a BSME and an MBA degree also at prestigious universities, and now has a responsible job in a private corporation. He married his college sweetheart who is also a lawyer and works for the federal government. They have two little boys, our only two grandchildren – our pride and joy.<br />
<br />
Our goals in raising our children were similar to those of Chua’s Chinese parents, but our approach was quite different. Of course, we tried to instill in the kids when they were growing up to work to the best of their abilities. Most of all, we thought we have to show that we love and will always support them and that was the most important thing in our lives and none of this ‘Chua’s Chinese disgrace’ nonsense. In addition, since our ancestry came from a different culture and country, I urged them to be better than their American friends so they can feel equal with them (this was my own hang-up – I always knew I was just as good if not better than anybody else). I’m not sure they understood that, but I know they are now doing well in their chosen professions and lives.<br />
<br />
<u>On The Philippine Economy</u><br />
<u></u><br />
One has to remember that the United States really helped rebuild Japan after defeating it in World War II, while the Philippines which was an ally was not given the same treatment. Despite this, the Philippines had the highest literacy rate in Southeast Asia during the mid-to-late 20th century. It had an economy second only to Japan, ahead of Singapore and much better than South Korea and other neighboring countries. It had prestigious universities where foreigners attended, taking advantage of their programs which could compete with the best of the best. (Chua's essay reminded me of some Chinese classmates at the University of the Philippines; they did not speak Tagalog and they probably lived in the same enclave where the Chuas lived. And though they were good students, they were not in the high percentile of our class. I do digress again, but I’m just trying to show those critical intellectual ingrates that Filipinos can compete with anyone given the opportunity.)<br />
<br />
In any case, as cronyism and corruption became rampant in the Philippines, perhaps fueled by briberies from the market-dominant minority to which Chua's Chinese family belong, the Philippine economy was fleeced bone-dry and the country fell to the bottom of the economic ladder in the region. (By the way, another important point about the poor ethnic Filipinos that Chua always and relentlessly alluded to in her writings: Don't these impoverished people provide the clientele for the Chua companies to keep them reaping all those profits which make them market dominant or shamelessly rich?)</strong><br />
<strong><br />
While things are beginning to change again with Pres. Aquino, all we can really do is just try to help in any way we can, pray, and hope fervently that the country will indeed recover and be what it once was -- and perhaps even better. And I hope the market-dominant Chinese Filipinos will also do their part.<br />
<br />
<u>Finally: My Profound and Complicated Question</u><br />
<br />
You know, I also just want to ask: Do you personally know, and are you really friends with, Nora Aunor? :-)<br />
<br />
Best regards to The Filipina and your family,<br />
<br />
<em>Pinoy na Inhenyerong Suya Sa Tsinitang Off-putting (aka "PISST OFF")</em></strong><br />
<br />
Dear PISST OFF,<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_6HNl1Nsuu5Cmqqf-pu_89Knl5g7LB5V1_b6tJcDcAB5Gyw4hz4t0gZBfSWO4UB4th_cFQBtnX9bYDfYUb3V7r3FD2BzbOSzSP01oHAQUnMwnKYk5h9ZPrOQIb2Y0nikho7Q4ElyyLyU0/s1600/Nora+Aunor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_6HNl1Nsuu5Cmqqf-pu_89Knl5g7LB5V1_b6tJcDcAB5Gyw4hz4t0gZBfSWO4UB4th_cFQBtnX9bYDfYUb3V7r3FD2BzbOSzSP01oHAQUnMwnKYk5h9ZPrOQIb2Y0nikho7Q4ElyyLyU0/s320/Nora+Aunor.jpg" width="264" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Source: <a href="http://video48.blogspot.com/2010/03/nora-aunor-christopher-de-leon-in-gerry.html">Video48</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
Thank you for your support for this blog and your comments. Wow -- Chua must have rankled you real bad to write the above. ;-) <br />
<br />
But to answer your question, of course, I know who <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nora_Aunor">Nora Aunor</a> is! I mean, who doesn't, right? A true <em><a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Morena">morena</a> </em>and <em>Bicolana</em>, she is an <em><a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=uragon">uragon</a></em> actress who bested dragon ladies by topping the <a href="http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/entertainment/03/24/10/nora-aunor-wins-2010-green-planet-movie-awards"><em>Ten Best Asian Actresses of the Decade </em>poll for the <em>2010 Green Planet Movie Awards</em></a> which was held in Los Angeles, California. The other 9 Asian actresses who also made it to the elite list include Zhang Ziyi (China), Gong Li (China), Maggie Cheung (China), Nae Yuki (Japan), Angelica Lee (China), Hye-Soo Kim (Korea), Yaqing Jin (China), Yoon-jin Kim (Korea), and Rinko Kikuchi (Japan).<br />
<br />
And you know what too? Because she has made my mother and aunts very happy as her fans with her remarkable decades-long acting (and singing) career, I consider her a friend. And until she unfriends me on Facebook, I'll proudly trumpet to the world that I'm her friend, too -- regardless if that profile of hers on FB is the real Nora or not. ;-)<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>Got a question for The Filipino? Email him now at </em></span><a href="mailto:askthepinoy@gmail.com"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em><span style="color: #5588aa;">askthepinoy@gmail.com</span></em></span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>.</em></span>The Filipinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06411009013482740401noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4370906785269759264.post-57203792161799569582011-01-14T17:35:00.000-08:002011-01-18T12:02:14.723-08:00Is Gretchen Barretto really The Filipino's friend?<strong>Dear Filipino,</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>I just want to say that I am really enjoying reading some of your posts and most of the time I am laughing my ass off. </strong><strong>But are you really friends with Gretchen Barreto? <em>Dannnnggg! </em></strong><br />
<br />
<strong>Keep up your good work, my friend!</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>Ray G.</strong><br />
<br />
Dear Ray,<br />
<br />
Thanks for the luv, <em>kaibigan</em>! Thanks for the luv!<br />
<br />
Now, the topic of your question -- i.e., my friendship with famous Philippine actress Gretchen Barretto -- is a profound and complicated one. So in order to answer it, I first broke it down into its logical components: whether we <em>can </em>be friends, whether she's <em>qualified </em>to be my friend, whether we <em>chose </em>to be friends, and whether we can <em>remain </em>friends. <br />
<br />
Then, I sought the wise counsel of the learned from across the globe and throughout human history. I looked at the "rules" they have laid down on the issue and I "applied" it to myself vis-a-vis my friendship with Gretchen -- the friendship which you now question.<br />
<br />
So let's look at these rules one by one.<br />
<br />
<strong>First Rule</strong>: The wise and great Chinese philosopher <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confucius">Confucius </a>(551-479 BC) advised us:<br />
<br />
<em>"Have no friends not equal to yourself."</em><br />
<br />
<strong>Application of the Rule</strong>: According to my mother, I'm <em>really</em>, <em>really </em>good-looking. People, of course, say Gretchen is very, very beautiful. In my book, my mother's opinion on this issue carries the same weight as all others.' So I guess, it's fair to say that Gretchen is my equal, right? In other words, she <em>can </em>be my friend.<br />
<br />
<strong>Second Rule</strong>: For his part, the American poet, essayist and leading figure of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcendentalism">Transcendentalist</a> movement, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Waldo_Emerson">Ralph Waldo Emerson</a> (1803-1882), opined:<br />
<br />
<em>"A friend may well be reckoned the masterpiece of Nature."</em><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7F9t1Kmc2K6X6040Z6o-e_DY_AiMnHYoVZNhZ5SuuAnIQ8jMnERt71gPp0xxlAqymx8kP2ew3gkx8AhgfjNjiaKDZaTNNwOltn2qV7kHJutSVGvUffzOMPEwEtXZn_ZfUOtOmbeKdeR9w/s1600/gretchen-barretto-05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7F9t1Kmc2K6X6040Z6o-e_DY_AiMnHYoVZNhZ5SuuAnIQ8jMnERt71gPp0xxlAqymx8kP2ew3gkx8AhgfjNjiaKDZaTNNwOltn2qV7kHJutSVGvUffzOMPEwEtXZn_ZfUOtOmbeKdeR9w/s320/gretchen-barretto-05.jpg" width="241" /></a></div><strong>Application of the Rule</strong>: With Gretchen, I reckon we can take the Emersonian advice literally, don't you think? I mean, hey, she's Nature's beautiful creation, right? If so, then she <em>qualifies </em>to be my friend.<br />
<br />
<strong>Third Rule</strong>: Then, the French poet extraordinaire, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Delille">Jacques Delille </a>(1738-1813), commanded us:<br />
<br />
<em>"Fate chooses your relations, you choose your friends."</em><br />
<br />
<strong>Application of the Rule</strong>: Now, I think this mandate is the hidden genius behind the idea of Facebook which the founder, Mark Zuckerberg, who is single and is only 26, has impressively figured out early on in his life. I mean, it's really brilliant because what Delille is saying is this: I may have no say who gets to be my mother-in-law, but <em>I </em>get to choose who <em>I </em>want as <em>my </em>friends. I chose Gretchen so I requested to be her friend on Facebook; irresistibly drawn to my online charm, she accepted. Ergo: we're friends because we <em>chose </em>to be friends.<br />
<br />
<strong>Fourth Rule</strong>: Here's the tough part: The British poet and leading figure in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanticism">Romanticism</a>, the great <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Byron">Lord Byron</a> (1788-1824), required thusly:<br />
<br />
<em>"Friendship is love without his wings."</em><br />
<br />
<strong>Application of the Rule</strong>: Like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotle">Aristotle</a> before him, Lord Byron was really comparing friendship with romantic love when he said that. And what he really meant is this: That while friendship is usually between people of the same sex, a friendly relationship between a man and a woman is also fine. <em>However</em>, if one party has unrequited sexual feelings towards the other, it can cause the withdrawal of the desired party from the relationship, and friendship will therefore disintegrate because of that. <br />
<br />
What this means is that as long as Gretchen does not fall in love or exhibit any sort of carnal desire towards yours truly, we can <em>remain </em>friends; if she does, I'm out. In other words, the burden really is on her.<br />
<br />
Now, admittedly, it's going to be a heavy burden for her to bear, but I'd like to think it's doable.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>Got a question for The Filipino? Email him now at </em></span><a href="mailto:askthepinoy@gmail.com"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em><span style="color: #5588aa;">askthepinoy@gmail.com</span></em></span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>.</em></span><br />
<br />
<strong>Dear Reader: Want to become friends with The Filipino? Look him up on Facebook where he's known as "Ask ThePinoy," send a Friend Request, and if you're good-looking enough, he might just accept your request. <em>Mabuhay</em>! ;-)</strong>The Filipinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06411009013482740401noreply@blogger.com4