Filipinos – Racially Discriminated (Part 2)

I was in a hotel in Baguio City last year and I was startled to read about Candy Pangilinan’s (a local comedienne) joke in her gig in the city. She said “tao ako, hindi Igorot!” (“I am a human being, not an Igorot!). I guess it has been her frequent punch-line that she was unaware she is in the city of Igorots and her audiences were mostly Igorots.

The Igorots are one of the indigenous peoples of the Philippines. They are from the Cordillera region in Northern Philippines. The Igorots are one of the TRUE Filipinos with TRUE Filipino culture. They were ingenious people who carved the mountains to plant rice way before the Philippines was colonized by the church of Spain.

These people whom everyone mock and disregard are the builders of the Rice Terraces approximately 2,000 years ago. Ironically, the people who racially discriminate the Igorots were also proud of the Rice Terraces they built that Filipinos consider as the “Eight Wonder of the World”. The Rice Terraces of the Cordilleras is by the way, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Rice Terraces is disputed as the works of the Miao tribe from China who migrated to the Cordilleras. So what? These people, whatever their origins, were already living here before the country even got its name.

Apart from the Rice Terraces, the Hudhud (narrative chants during rice sowing season, harvest and funeral wakes) was declared by UNESCO World Heritage as one of the world’s intangible heritages in 2001. I am really amazed that in a far-flung mountainous area in the Cordilleras live a culture, arts and a very rich history worth a treasure.

Do the “Filipinos” from the lowlands ever have their “OWN, TRUE FILIPINO” culture to be proud of? I DOUBT! Lowlanders’ cultures are just mixtures of different cultures from the colonizers and traders of the country.

But why do the Igorots suffer more insults and discrimination than foreigners from bigot and egotistic Filipinos? Well, I suppose the Igorots are not Filipinos as described by Carlos P. Romulo. Maybe the Igorots have their own “Sovereign State” within the borders of the Philippines just like the Vatican City is to Italy?

Filipinos have Regionalistic discrimination as well (ex: Ilocanos - tightwad) but I will no longer discuss it here.

So, how can we try to solve this discrimination within ourselves? Here are some suggestions:

• Learn the culture – try to learn their culture to avoid conflict.
• My suggestions in Part 1 also applies.

P.S. I do not belong to the “Great Igorots”. I wish I am one of them. I am embarrassed by the bigotry of lowlanders where I belong. Peace.

Filipinos – Racially Discriminated (Part 1)

Racial discrimination is not without a perceived superiority on the part of the slanderer and humiliation against the target. It has been a pandemic without a cure. No one is exempted. It yields hatred and war and it is an affair we cannot escape. There is no Utopia.

I hear stories of racial discrimination against Filipinos wherever they are or were around the world. This is very appalling to say the least. Filipinos are categorically called by all derogatory names like monkey, pig, rat, filthy, poor, beggar, scumbag, thief, corrupt, idiot, stupid etc.

I’ve heard, read and watched enough of this detestable act towards Filipinos by non-Filipinos and I’m sick of it. But why do they pick on us? Is it because we’re poor, third-world South-East Asians? Or is it because of something else?

As I was pondering about this abominable act, I came across with some revelations that White people are no exception from these racial slurs as they are racially discriminated as well. Filipinos, on the other hand, are just as guilty offenders as the rest of the human race.

Filipinos always use names to refer to other races they see on the street or mingle in schools or offices. Filipinos can either be naïve or ignorant with regards to naming non-Filipinos. Here are some examples:

• Amerikano – any white or Caucasian person they see regardless of nationality.
• Negro – any black person regardless of nationality. It also applies to dark-skinned Filipinos. By the way, most Filipinos are naïve when using this name to black people but black people find it offensive.
• Intsik – Chinese. It also applies to Filipinos with Chinese features.
• Hapon – Japanese. It also applies to Filipinos with Japanese features.
• Koreano – Koreans. It also applies to Filipinos with features in between Chinese and Japanese.
• Arabyano – anyone that looks like Arabian regardless of nationality.
• Bombay – anyone that looks like Indian regardless of nationality.
• Latino – any Mexican-looking person regardless of nationality.

And Filipinos naively or deliberately prejudice these people as:

• Burikano (Caucasians) – rich and pedophiles.
• Negro (Blacks) – athlethic, rapper, bluesmen and inferior people.
• Intsik, Singkit (Chinese) – Kung-Fu masters, Shaolin and businessmen who take advantage in business.
• Sakang [bowlegged] (Japanese) – Samurai, Ninja, Yakuza and makers of high-quality Asian cars, gadgets and things.
• Kimchi, Kim Jong-il (Koreans) – smells like Kimchi.
• Arabo (Middle East Asians) – bad body odor.
• Bombay (Indians) – engaged in “5-6” (an underground economy of lending with very high interest rates). Bad body odor.
• Latinos – just like us.

If you are non-Filipino and you happen to be in the Philippines, you must have been called with one of these racial slurs.

It is obvious that racial discrimination is ubiquitous. So, how are we going to deal with it? Here are my suggestions:

• Education – it should be taught by parents and schools that naming names is offensive.
• Acknowledgement – we should all acknowledge that we all have this DISEASE and strive to find a cure.
• Immunization – what about if you call back the person who racially discriminate you with a racial slur?

Example:
American: Hey MONKEY, get the F!@# out of my country!
Filipino: It’s not my fault PEDOPHILE. I’m an immigrant as your forefathers were to this land. Besides, your government granted me my Visa.

If we hear these racial slurs constantly, I’m convinced that in due time we will all be unaffected about it.

I suppose “Tolerance” will have its end and “Ignoring” will only make it worse so, these are not a viable solution.

Part 2

What Makes You a Filipino

• You are Filipino if you are, by law, a Filipino citizen.
• You are Filipino if you prefer rice over bread or potato.
• You are Filipino if... Darn, I can't think anymore!

Oh, here it comes...

• You are Filipino if you have “crap... I mean, crab mentality”.
• You are Filipino if you have “colonial mentality”.
• You are Filipino if you are a “copycat”.
• You are Filipino if you have acquired the negative Spanish mentalities and habits that weren't rectified throughout your life.
• You are Filipino if you put foreigners in a pedestal.
• You are Filipino if you like to owe money and doesn't wanna pay.
• You are Filipino if you Cheat in National Licensure Exams.
• You are Filipino if you do things that embarrass other Filipinos.
• You are Filipino if you are corrupt.
• You are Filipino if your politicians have the same family name or are related to each other.
• You are Filipino if you say “yes” even if you mean “no”.
• You are Filipino if you discriminate other Filipinos.
• You are Filipino if you throw your garbage on the river.
• You are Filipino if you sing “videoke” non-stop.
• You are Filipino if you have too many children you cannot even support.
• You are Filipino if you drink “gin” from the same glass and passing it around.
• You are Filipino if you buy imported “branded” clothings and things you can barely afford.
• You are Filipino if you “text” in inappropriate places.

This list is not, in any way, complete. Please add or comment.