By Gel Santos Relos
Iba't ibang style ang naging tugon nating mga Pinoy sa Carolla controversy.
What do our responses say about who we are?
The recent issue dominating the
media, stealing headlines from the critical Philippine presidential election
just less than a month away, is the Adam Carolla brouhaha. While this may be a
trivial issue to some, I think there is a discussion to make deeper than the
rant of and against Adam Carolla. Let us leave him out of the equation for
purposes of this piece. What I wish to
focus on is how we Filipinos react to
vexations---Papaano ba tayo tumutugon sa mga pagpupula ng iba? Sa likod ng
isyung ito ang katotohanan kung sino at ano tayo sa ating paningin, bilang mga
Pilipino. May hapdi ba sa bawat pagsaling? May sugat ba?
The present issue we are
confronting as a nation is like the “Noli me Tangere” of our days. “Noli
Me Tangere”, as we know, is the novel of our National Hero Dr. Jose Rizal,
which means “Touch me not” or “Huwag mo akong salingin”. Analysts say
this novel was instrumental in creating a unified Filipino national identity
and consciousness during the Spanish colonization era. Then and throughout
history, we are made to confront catalysts, from within and from from without,
that push us to introspect on that very question---who are we as individual Filipinos
and who are we as a people? Noon at magpahanggang ngayon, pilit tayong pinahaharap sa salamin upang masilayan at makita natin ang Pilipinong tumitingin din sa atin.
Listening to all our comments and
observing reactions and responses from Filipinos all over the world may give us
a glimpse of where we are in this journey.
A big majority of us are deeply
angered by this comedian’s sweeping unfounded statement that the Filipinos are
nothing without Manny Pacquiao and the sex tours. Isang panlalait sa ating mga Pilipino, lalo na sa ating mga kababaihan. People from other countries have joined in the debate and refuted
Carolla’s characterization of the Filipinos. There are also some who say we
should not be affected at all because Carolla, after all is just a
comedian/radio host desperate for audience share, and that we should not take him seriously.Huwag na lang daw pansinin at palakihin at baka sumikat pa si Carolla.
There are those Filipinos who are
in the middle, hurt by the statement and yet agreeing to some aspects of the
commentary, alluding to Filipinos’ “flaws” like voting for a candidate by
virtue of his popularity, or how we hero
worship people to a fault, or the need for the government to address the
sex tours. Still there are those who strongly say we deserve this, the reason
why we are hurting because what this guy said about us is true, and that we
cannot demand respect from other countries but command and earn it.
Some of our kababayans, fired up
by their passion, elevated the discussion to address a larger audience, set the
record straight, demand for justice, and make a difference.
Binugbog si Carolla ng mga batikos, panunuya at maging pagmumura mula sa ating mga kababayan. Some Filipinos chose to give
Carolla a dose of his own medicine, spewing vile remarks for every tirade he
threw at us. We read those strongly
worded attacks against the comedian especially on twitter, facebook and blogs.
This must have been a cathartic experience to be able to ventilate all the rage
brewing within them. Nakakagaan sa dibdib ang maibuhos ang sama ng loob at galit, lalo na kung sa isip mo ikaw ay naaagrabyado.
Another action involve online
petitions signed by thousands of Filipinos, refuting Carolla's unfair sweeping statements about us, demanding for a public apology from
Carolla to Pacquiao and the Filipino people
(Carolla has apologized via twitter), or they will boycott CBS shows.
Below is the text of one of those, addressed to CBS radio network, with whom
Adam Carolla is affiliated.
“…. Your words were unnecessary, hurtful, and
erroneous. When you insinuate that Filipinos “pray to chicken bones” or that
the Philippines only has “Manny Pacquiao and sex tours,” you fail to recognize
the millions of Filipinos and Filipino Americans who have contributed
significantly to the United States and to the entire world. We do not pray to
chicken bones. We are Catholic, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, and other
religious and non-religious people who are civilized, educated, and successful.
We are not sex workers. We are doctors, nurses, teachers, professors, artists,
community organizers, writers, politicians, journalists, engineers, activists,
fashion designers, accountants, entrepreneurs, researchers, social workers,
public health advocates, athletes, chefs, and post office workers. We have
taken care of you in the hospital. We have taken care of your children. We have
taken care of your elderly. We have worked hard to achieve our American Dream,
and you have no right to denigrate us like this, merely to get attention.
This is not the first time you have gotten into trouble for your racist
remarks. You’ve called Native Hawaiians “the world's dumbest people,”
“retarded,” and “in-bred.” You’ve later insulted a Korean American actor by
mouthing “ching-chong, ching-chong.” And now you apparently are trying to gain
attention by insulting Filipinos and the Filipino American community. You
apologized to the Asian American community before, but it seems that you have
not yet learned your lesson.
It seems that time and time again, “celebrities” and “comedians” feel that
it is acceptable to degrade Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in public
forums. You would never have said such things about African Americans, as you
recognize that your career would plummet, as exemplified by the falls of
Michael Richards and Don Imus. What you need to recognize is that racial hate
and ignorance about any group is wrong and unjust. And what you also need to
recognize is that your hate towards Asian Americans, the fastest growing racial
minority group in the United States, can also lead to your career’s demise
too….
(www.petitiononline.com/FilAmAC/petition.html)
Another group, The Migrant Heritage Commission, based in
Washington DC, demands a real and genuine public apology or they will urge all
of Carolla’s advertisers to withdraw
their sponsorship of his show
“as the program is not worthy of public trust and respect”.
”…We would like to think that members of the
press have all the sensitivity and sensibility before they begin opening their
mouths. Unfortunately, Mr. Carolla, you are certainly one of the most senseless
media practitioners the US could ever have. We know that the media profession
compels all practitioners to do thorough research, interviews, and background
investigation before they could start writing a story or be on board their
radio programs and TV shows. More importantly, media professionals have to
uphold the highest ethical standard of reporting the truth, balancing news,
respecting people’s views and cultural backgrounds, religious beliefs, and
political standpoints.
Your recent pronouncements against us, Filipinos,
Mr. Carolla, are an act of ignorance and not of intelligence and
professionalism. Behind that feeling of superiority of being a White American,
is actually a failure of your human faculty to think and feel for the diversity
of the cultures which America is made of. What
we are saying, Mr. Carolla, is that you lack the wide understanding and
intelligence of cultural diversity of America.
You don’t deserve to be in the media. This is not
the first time you have issued racist remarks using your position. Members of
the press have the solemn responsibility of informing and enlightening the
public about the affairs of the state and all other matters that affect public life…”
And then there are Filipinos like those from
Antipinoy.com and those that subscribe
to the same thinking, who look at and spread the truth about Filipinos from a
different perspective.
“The Filipinos started its…Filipinos insulted
someone (Mayweather) in the most reprehensible ways for his merely refusing to
fight their champion. And they got the reaction they deserved.”. …Adam Carolla
is but the most recent of many people who have pointed out the truth about the
truth about Filipinos.. And because much of what is true about Filipinos is not
pretty, Filipinos, true to their renowned onion-skinnedness, took offense.”
“ National
pride was insulted daw. But what happened here was not national
pride;
it was national arrogance. The
Adam Carolla issue again showed the problems of our damaged culture. The
problem is that Filipinos prefer
to front other Filipinos who are
more successful, like Pacquiao, and ride
on the fame
of this person
in order to boast to other
nationalities. In the
end, they demonstrate the “ride on”habit
of Filipino culture.
Their insecurity is so great, and yet they refuse to get their own
act together, so they
rely on others to improve their image for them”.
“Thank you,
Adam Carolla for hosting the monument to the truth about
Filipinos”...collect
some
specimens of fine Filipino fauna hanging out at Adam Carolla’s Facebook
page and classify them into three-phyla Filipino
zoological taxonomy..The
Terrorist Wannabes — these are Filipinos who
threatened violence against Adam
Carolla. A few even invoked some imagined Filipino gangsta scene
in L.A. that might step up to the occasion in the
name of “country”; Triumphalists —
these are people who have so convinced themselves of the special place
Filipinos hold in human civilisation. They also revel
in the infestation of
malevolent Filipinos in the nursing profession; and Plain
retards — this
is a catch-all bucket for posts that astound at their sheer
inanity”.
“Da Pinoy needs to see a
shrink. Da Pinoy is taking another beating – for good reason – because
of
stupid behavior and irrational beliefs. We, Pinoys need to learn
more about
handling the truth – because obviously, as a nation – we, Filipinos can’t
handle the truth.” “If we want to change the
perception of people from
other countries about us, then we have to change our realities. People did not
laugh at Carolla when he
said those things about Pinoys… maybe because
there
was some truth to what he said.”
Same situation, different
reactions, different responses. Maging sa ating magkakababayan, iba-iba ang pananaw natin sa isyung ito. Magkakatunggali rin ang pagtingin natin sa ating sarili. Minsan, higit tayong nalilito at nawawalan ng pananampalataya sa ating sarili bunga nito.
But what we really see here are double edged swords of some
aspects of who we are as we relate to this situation. They say we are so “balat-sibuyas”,
madaling mapikon--- but that is the flip side of our very strength—our
being genuinely loving, caring and compassionate people. They say we hero worship,
and that we are self arrogant flaunting successful Filipinos in the limelight
or the successes of our kababayans in the field of health care, science,
sports--- but that is our sense of celebrating who we are, of being inspired to
do more, give more and be more by those
who have already succeeded despite the impoverished state of our country. Kung kaya ni Manny Pacquiao, kaya rin nating magtagumpay, kaya naman patuloy tayong nakatayo sa kabila ng mga pagsubok na dumating sa ating bayan! They
say we are “terrorist wannabes”, “crass”, and “innate” for fighting back in
the manner we were attacked, or for
demanding apology or threatening to boycott media outlet or call on
advertisers--- but this also reflects the Filipino’s fighting spirit which can
be very helpful in our quest for justice and fairness, instead of how we just
used to take in all the blows and abuses of past transgressions. Hindi na tayo lalamya-lamya, kimi at bahag ang buntot. marunong na tayong liumaban kung kinakailangan!
Ang ugat ng lahat ng ito:
Kilala ba natin kung sino tayong talaga, kasama na ang magkakambal na
lakas at kahinaan ? At ano ang ginagawa natin tungkol dito para sa ating ikabubuti? Or do we really need an outsider like Adam Carolla to
define who we really are? I don't think so. We know who we are better, we live in our midst, we know our own history, we are immersed in our culture. Kung hindi masakyan ng dayuhan kung sino tayo, problema nila iyon! Ang mahalaga ay kung ano ang sinasabi natin tungkol sa ating sarili.Sa kamulatang ito, tayo rin ang makapagsasabi at kikilos kung ano ang
dapat nating baguhin sa ating sarili ayon sa ating sariling pananaw---hindi ng ibang tao.We need to respond affirmatively and
conscientiously, and not just exhibit a flash-in-the-pan reaction to
any Carolla.
Do we really say ,"“Thank
you, Adam Carolla for hosting the monument to the truth about
Filipinos”? What is the truth about us Filipinos anyway? At papaano natin ginagamit ang
pinaniniwalaan nating katotohanan sa ating pakikitungo at
pakikipagtulungan sa kapwa natin Pilipino? How does our
own definition of “our truth” move us,
or perhaps paralyze us, in our goal to reach out to and work with our kababayans
in fulfillment of our collective desire to realize a better Philippines? Or
are we still a fragmented people in search of our true identity?
Our character as Filipinos is determined not by the
absence of any obstacles, vexations, or weaknesses---from within and from
without. How we respond, and not just react to them defines who we are. Our
history may predispose us to react in certain ways, but it will be our
moment-by–moment discernment and our
everyday conscious struggle to overcome these challenges, to be bigger and
taller than them--as a person, as a people--that ultimately shape who we become.
“Noli Me Tangere” and Rizal’s
goal to define our national identity
and consciousness it seems, is an unfinished business. And it may never be.
Each generation has to define it, collectively. Magkakaiba man tayo ng pananaw, kailangang pagbuklurin tayo ng isang layunin. If we keep
our eyes on our goal, inspired by our deep faith in the goodness of the
Filipino and really commit to work together as equals---the journey
itself will be our reward even if we may never reach our destination.
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