He doesn’t like
the Philippines

The Good Life with Eli F.J. Tajanlangit

There are plenty of reasons to ignore the video “20 reasons why I dislike the Philippines.” For one, this is a free country, anyone can say what he wants to say. Two, why help popularize the already popular video, which has had 400,000 hits already and has drawn many similar uploads, most of them rebutting and some of them supporting the things it says.  Three, it seems like a waste of time trying to react to somebody who, most probably, just wants to call attention to himself.

Besides, the clip has had its share of comments already, not just in YouTube and Facebook, but also in the many other cyber forums as well. Our Department of Tourism has already said it isn’t bothered at all.  Malacanang said every tourist has something to like, and something to dislike, in the country.

And yes, it is true. The video does have a lot of true things to say about our country – dirty comfort rooms, noise and other pollution, traffic jams, unmitigated use of plastics, unfinished construction projects that pose public hazards, unhygienic public markets.

But I don’t think it is right to allow this foreigner to get away with this.  I don’t mean hauling him to jail or refuting his every word.  What he needs, I think, is a public lecture on the way he talked about us Pinoys in that video.

And so, Jimmy Sieczka, host of this video, here’s something from a native of the country you so freely bashed:

First, please learn about cultural sensitivity. We are what we are, including our bad habits, because of our geography, history and other circumstances, such as the fact that your forebears had colonized us in the past. I do not mean to condone our bad habits, but that is what we are. I know it takes a lot of maturity to accept cultures, and bashing them does not achieve anything.

You must have had limited exposure to other cultures and most probably the Philippines is the first country you’ve traveled to. Your rants that include your disgust about being served warm beer and small, cut-up napkins, is symptomatic of  your limited travels and exposure to other cultures.  When you have enough interaction with other peoples from different cultures in the world, I am sure you will develop a higher threshold of tolerance and acceptance with what you see.

As I said, you have valid complaints. But what are you trying to achieve by telling us these complaints in sentences that are peppered with the F--- and S---words?  You complain of taxis honking their horns for no reason at all, but don’t the sirens blare every so often in the big cities of the world?

You make a big thing about being sold Cialis in downtown Cebu. Other cities sell worse things than that.

You also proclaim that the food in our country is “not so good.” Now, that is the biggest punch here. What is good food, Mr. Sieczka? Your fastfoods, some of which contain leather-cleaning chemicals, burgers that come from inhumanely grown cows and artificially-produced bacon?

Pinoys can produce videos that rant like yours did, and even do it with more creativity. We can point out to you things in your country that are worse than the “low-end bass” music you ridicule in ours.

But we’re not gonna to that. Because unlike you, we’ve been exposed to different cultures long enough to accept our differences, including bad habits and ill-manners, like the ones you so glaringly display in this video.*

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