Yes, Bongbong, the Philippines Does Have A Damaged Culture

At a recent awards ceremony for Outstanding Filipinos President Marcos declared that the Philippines does not have a damaged culture. 

https://mb.com.ph/2023/9/28/marcos-we-are-not-a-damaged-culture

Honoring 10 outstanding Filipinos made President Marcos reflect that the Filipino people do not have "a damaged culture."

"We not only honor you but through you, we honor Filipinos. And we remind our countrymen, this is what a Filipino is," Marcos said as he addressed the 2023 Metrobank Foundation Outstanding Filipinos on Thursday, Sept. 28.

"We are not a damaged culture. I hate that. We are a great people, and you are the example of that greatness," he stressed.

 The President expressed this after bestowing the medallion of excellence to Filipino teachers, soldiers, and police officers who have been conferred the 2023 Metrobank Foundation Outstanding Filipinos.

Marcos said in his speech that the awardees have taken the extra mile and pushed the limits in contributing to the development of their respective institutions and advocacies.

The awardees, he stressed, is a reflection of Filipino greatness. The excellence that they have demonstrated in their pursuits "is truly worth emulating," he added.

"Your exemplary work as academicians, soldiers and police officers are oftentimes the most demanding —not oftentimes, I take it back — are always the most demanding, exhausting, and wearisome professions that we have to undertake," he said.

The idea that Philippine culture is damaged stems from an article published in The Atlantic in 1987.

https://cdn.theatlantic.com/media/archives/1987/11/260-5/132615503.pdf

The gist of this article is that despite the ouster of Marcos and the beginning of a new era under Cory Aquino the Philippines remained backwards and stunted because Filipino culture is fundamentally flawed. Here are a few choice observations.

Unfortunately for its people, the Philippines illustrates the contrary: that culture can make a naturally rich country poor. There may be more miserable places to live in East Asia—Vietnam, Cambodia—but there are few others where the culture itself, rather than a communist political system, is the main barrier to development. The culture in question is Filipino, but it has been heavily shaped by nearly a hundred years of the “Fil-Am relationship.” The result is apparently the only non-communist society in East Asia in which the average living standard is going down.

Still, for all the damage Marcos did, it’s not clear that he caused the country’s economic problems, as opposed to intensifying them. Most of the things that now seem wrong with the economy—grotesque extremes of wealth and poverty, land-ownership disputes, monopolistic industries in cozy, corrupt cahoots with the government—have been wrong for decades. 

AM I SHOOTING FISH IN A BARREL? SURE—YOU COULD work up an even starker contrast between Park Avenue and the South Bronx. But that would mean only that the United States and the Philippines share a problem, not that extremes of wealth and poverty are no problem at all. In New York and a few other places the extremes are so visible as to make many Americans uneasy about the every-man-for-himself principle on which our society is based. But while the South Bronx is an American problem, few people would think of it as typical of America. In the Philippines the contrasting extremes are, and have been, the norm.

What has created a society in which people feel fortunate to live in a garbage dump because the money is so good? Where some people shoo flies away from others for 300 pesos, or $15, a month? It can’t be any inherent defect in the people: outside this culture they thrive. Filipino immigrants to the United States are more successful than immigrants from many other countries.

If the problem in the Philippines does not lie in the people themselves or, it would seem, in their choice between capitalism and socialism, what is the problem? I think it is cultural, and that it should be thought of as a failure of nationalism.

Individual Filipinos are at least as brave, kind, and noble-spirited as individual Japanese, but their culture draws the boundaries of decent treatment much more narrowly. Filipinos pride themselves on their lifelong loyalty to family, schoolmates, compadres, members of the same tribe, residents of the same barangay. The mutual tenderness among the people of Smoky Mountain is enough to break your heart. But when observing Filipino friendships I thought often of the Mafia families portrayed in The Godfather: total devotion to those within the circle, total war on those outside. Because the boundaries of decent treatment are limited to the family or tribe, they exclude at least 90 percent of the people in the country. And because of this fragmentation—this lack of nationalism—people treat each other worse in the Philippines than in any other Asian country I have seen.

For more than a hundred years certain traits have turned up in domestic descriptions and foreign observations of Philippine society. The tradition of political corruption and cronyism, the extremes of wealth and poverty, the tribal fragmentation, the local elite’s willingness to make a separate profitable peace with colonial powers—all reflect a feeble sense of nationalism and a contempt for the public good. Practically everything that is public in the Philippines seems neglected or abused. On many street corners in downtown Manila an unwary step can mean a broken leg. Holes two feet square and five feet deep lurk just beyond the curb; they are supposed to be covered by metal grates, but scavengers have taken the grates to sell for scrap. Manila has a potentially beautiful setting, divided by the Pasig River and fronting on Manila Bay. But three-fourths of the city’s sewage flows raw into the Pasig, which in turns empties into the bay; the smell of Smoky Mountain is not so different from the smell of some of the prettiest public vistas. The Philippine telephone system is worse than its counterparts anywhere else in non-communist Asia—which bogs down the country’s business and inconveniences its people—but the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company has a long history of high (and not reinvested) profits. In the first-class dining room aboard the steamer to Cebu, a Filipino at the table next to mine picked through his plate of fish. Whenever he found a piece he didn’t like, he pushed it off the edge of his plate, onto the floor. One case of bad manners? Maybe, but I’ve never seen its like in any other country. Outsiders feel they have understood something small but significant about Japan’s success when they watch a bar man carefully wipe the condensation off a bottle of beer and twirl it on the table until the label faces the customer exactly. I felt I had a glimpse into the failures of the Philippines when I saw prosperous-looking matrons buying cakes and donuts in a bakery, eating them in a department store, and dropping the box and wrappers around them as they shopped.

This article is now 36 years old but the phrase "damaged culture" continues to resonate today. Clearly the author James Fallows is casting a wide net when addressing the failure of the Philippines to attain the same kind of success as its neighbors South Korea, Japan, and Singapore. Fallows is discussing society as a whole while Marcos is limited to a few individuals who have achieved greatness in their field. It is a comparison of apples to oranges. It is NOT the same. 

Let's take just one of Fallows' many observations.

But when observing Filipino friendships I thought often of the Mafia families portrayed in The Godfather: total devotion to those within the circle, total war on those outside. Because the boundaries of decent treatment are limited to the family or tribe, they exclude at least 90 percent of the people in the country. And because of this fragmentation—this lack of nationalism—people treat each other worse in the Philippines than in any other Asian country I have seen.

Filipinos are loyal to their own but not to those outside their circle. Can there be a better reason why political assassinations take place nearly every single week? Where is the nationalism and pride in killing your political enemies rather than working with them?

Fallows also mentions that peculiar Filipino trait of delicadeza. 

The Filipino ethic of delicadeza, their equivalent of saving face, encourages people to raise unpleasant topics indirectly, or, better still, not to raise them at all.

Indeed politicians especially do not like having to answer unpleasant questions and will do their best to smear their opponent if they believe they have been attacked. We have seen this recently with the debate over Sara Duterte's enormous Confidential Intelligence Fund. Rather than give a straightforward answer as to how the money was spent both she and her supporters have held in utter contempt those who would dare question her. For instance take this guy who thinks being held accountable counts as an attack. 

This attitude of delicadeza is what acts as a cover for the most blatant kinds of corruption. As Fallows notes Marcos didn't cause the Philippines' economic problems as much as he exacerbated them. To even question the source of the Marcos family wealth these days and assert the fact that such wealth has been deemed to be ill-gotten is to court scorn from those who support the Marcos family. 

And how about this observation:

Practically everything that is public in the Philippines seems neglected or abused. On many street corners in downtown Manila an unwary step can mean a broken leg. Holes two feet square and five feet deep lurk just beyond the curb; they are supposed to be covered by metal grates, but scavengers have taken the grates to sell for scrap. Manila has a potentially beautiful setting, divided by the Pasig River and fronting on Manila Bay. But three-fourths of the city’s sewage flows raw into the Pasig, which in turns empties into the bay;

Roads and sidewalks (or the lack thereof) are often filled with holes.  Electrical poles are often rotting and leaning while being overburdened with too many wires. Manila Bay remains a foul cesspit and the government's reclamation attempts have been proven to be totally ineffective and worthless. 

It's not just Manila Bay either. The problem of pollution is nationwide. Floods happen every year because the sewers become clogged with garbage. People dump their garbage on the side of the road and they casually litter without a second thought. As Fallows observes:

 I felt I had a glimpse into the failures of the Philippines when I saw prosperous-looking matrons buying cakes and donuts in a bakery, eating them in a department store, and dropping the box and wrappers around them as they shopped.

I cannot count the amount of times I have witnessed people litter without blinking an eye. And who can ignore the men publicly urinating all over the city? Such a thing would never happen in South Korea, Japan, or Singapore. If it did the person would be apprehended immediately. So what is the difference in the Philippines if not the culture which allows it to happen? There is not even a store of social capital here as everyone lives behind a fence or a gated compound in order to keep out thieves. 

Fallows is smart to point out that none of these observations are new but go back over a hundred years.

For more than a hundred years certain traits have turned up in domestic descriptions and foreign observations of Philippine society. The tradition of political corruption and cronyism, the extremes of wealth and poverty, the tribal fragmentation, the local elite’s willingness to make a separate profitable peace with colonial powers—all reflect a feeble sense of nationalism and a contempt for the public good.

I would argue that they go back even further. In the year 1720 Gaspar de San Agustín wrote at length about these traits. Reading through them one is shocked to see how Philippine society and culture has not changed in 300 years.  

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=miun.afk2830.0001.040&seq=187

Fallows is sure that this decrepit culture is linked to "a feeble sense of nationalism" but he never gets to the root of that issue. The fact is the Philippines does not exist except as a political fiction. Before the Spanish these islands were inhabited by various warring tribes with their own customs, religion, and languages. It was the Spanish who untied these tribes together and dubbed them "The Philippines." 

But when has ever a Filipino seen himself as one member of a united whole? Sure you might have Benigno Aquino Jr. say the Filipino is worth dying for but that doesn't tell us much. Filipinos are divided by region and dialect. Tagalog, Cebuano, Visayas, Solid North, Solid South, etc. Unity, even in the face of a common enemy like China, is fragmented and divided amongst ones own people as was noted above. There is "a feeble sense of nationalism" because there is a "a feeble sense of" nationhood. This is why a revolution will NEVER change a thing.

If the culture does not change then the state of the nation will never change. But don't get me wrong. I am not advocating for a culture change. I am saying that a culture change is never going to happen. 

And yet we are supposed to forget what Filipino culture is all about because a few individuals received a medal of excellence. That is ridiculous. It's like pointing to Manny Pacquiao, Lucio Tan, Imelda Marcos, and the unmined gold in the ground and declaring Filipinos aren't poor they are actually rich!

What If the Anime of Hayao Miyazaki Was Filipinized?

Have you ever watched the beautiful animation of Studio Ghibli and Hayao Mizaki and wondered what such a fantasy world would look like if it took place in the Philippines? Neither have I but that has not stopped one Cebu artist from conjuring up what such a world. He created these "what-if's" as part of the Ghibli redraw challenge. Let's look at three of these drawings compared side-by-side to the originals. If you have not seen these movies then by all means watch them. They are not children's films.

Spirited Away

What a difference, huh?

In the Filipino version the bathhouse is run down, has broken windows, there are tires on the roof to hold it in place, and there are no decorations like the big golden gargoyle called an onigarwa. There is a sari-sari store and there is an electrical pole with a kite stuck in it. That is incredibly true to life. I have seen many kites stuck in the electrical wires here because they are too low.

Take a look at Chihiro who is the heroine of Spirited Away. She has been compared to Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz and Alice from Alice in Wonderland. She is trapped in a fantastical world and is trying to find her way home.

Filipino Chihiro looks like a dirty street orphan who has been working at the bathhouse for years and has been broken and abused by the witch who runs it. She is not even wearing a shirt that fits properly and she is barefoot. She is staring at the viewer from the entrance of the bathhouse as if she has been there for years. In contrast the real Chihiro is a resilient young girl who does everything she can to save her parents. She is never resigned to her fate but seeks to transcend it so she can return to the real world. She is looking up at the bathhouse as a challenge she must conquer. Filipino Chihiro looks defeated and like she belongs in the world of the bathhouse which, from the looks of it, is not the spirit world.

In fact that is the problem here, there is no trace of the spirit world to be found in the Filipinized version. The bathhouse is ratty and not beautiful at all. There is no magic to be found in it. The Spirits come there to bathe but who would bathe in that nasty place? The water would be dirty and cold. This artist did not even bother to draw the furnace's smokestack which is what heats the water. The building does not look safe at all. Not even the bridge leading to it looks safe. It looks rather rickety. Everything could fall apart in a moment. And what's under that bridge?  Being in the Philippines it probably looks like this:

In the original the bathhouse is a Japanese pagoda but in the Filipino version it's a tall nipa hut. The Philippines does not have any recognizable architecture of its own except for the lowly nipa hut. All the oldest surviving buildings have Spanish influence because the natives of these islands never developed a permanent architectural style of their own. 

The bathhouse is no longer a bathhouse. It is absent the furnace room which heats the water. Why did the artist replace the smokestack with an electric pole? Will there be electric water heaters inside? Even if there were because it is now Filipinized that means the water will by no means be clean and pure but will be dirty to one degree or another. Will the tubs be filled from blue water containers? The electricity will also go out ant random times. The walls are not solid but are jigsawed together with found objects making this not a very private place to relax and bathe. One could imagine rats and roaches scurrying about. There is no comfort or cleanliness here.

Howl's Moving Castle

What the heck is going on here? Howl's Moving Castle is supposed to be alive but now it's dead and powered by Filipinos carrying it. There is laundry drying on the top. Howl's castle has a fin tail but in the Filipinized version it has been replaced with palm tree leaves. Where is the smoke from the fire inside? Where are the turrets? This is not a magic castle. All the magic is gone. Everything magical about Howl's  Moving Castle has disappeared in the Filipinized version. It's just a large bricolage nipa hut moving not by the power of magic but of the Bayanihan spirit.

The residents of Howl's Moving Castle do laundry but they don't hang it out on top of the house while it's moving.  They stop and hang it out to dry so that no one sees their clothes.  The Filipinized version vulgarizes and bastardizes the castle into something it is not.

Howl's Moving Castle also has a magic door that can transport one across space and time. There is no way the Filipinized version has such a door. Everything in the house is alive. Here it is all dead. In this drawing you get a sense that there is no living spirit world in the Philippines but only dark and dead superstition.

Princess Mononoke

Now, that looks pretty good right? "Looks" is the key word here.

Princess Mononoke's animal companion has been transformed from a Wolf Goddess into a wild dog found in the jungles of Bukidnon known as the Bukidnon Witch Dog. Moro, the Wolf Goddess, is Princess Mononoke's protector and mother since her parents offered her up to Moro as a sacrifice but she decided to raise her as her own. Moro is also the protector the Forest Spirit.

The Bukidnon Witch Dog is a wild dog that causes chaos killing domestic animals. It is not a divine protector but a very earthly creature given to destruction. In the drawing the dog looks like a kangaroo. Here it is in real life:

https://www.esquiremag.ph/long-reads/features/native-dog-breed-philippines-a00293-20200520-lfrm

In the ancestral lands of Bukidnon in Mindanao, there is a type of wild dog that does not breed with other dogs. It has sharp claws, climbs trees, hunts cobras, and could be 36,000 years old. It is called tiger dog and aso ng gubat by locals. It is also called bird catcher in Luzon and witch dog in the Visayas. The aso ng gubat in Bukidnon has a brindle coat—dark-brown with black stripes 

According to Philippine indigenous dog researcher Tom Asmus, the dog can survive independently in the jungle, and is difficult to raise at home.

“They climb trees after prey, hunt snakes, and are capable of surviving on just jungle vegetation,” said Asmus. “It's difficult to keep a wild blooded one domestically, as they have little to no resistance to common domesticated canine illnesses.” 

The dog’s refusal to mate with dogs other than its own kind makes its genes among the purest native breed in the country, says Asmus. 

In the wild, the dog has an impeccable kill instinct, which makes it a high-value target for illegal dog fights. “They will kill another dog no matter its size or type,” said Asmus. 

Even Asmus has trouble keeping his group of 10 aso ng gubat from killing livestock. “If I let them loose, they kill domestic dogs, goats, cats, and all kinds of poultry. They see no difference between a rat and a cat.” That is the COMPLETE opposite of Moro the Wolf Goddess. 

Princess Mononoke, having been raised by Moro the Wolf Goddess, acts very much like a wolf. That would mean the Filipinized Mononoke acts like a wild dog. Just look at their difference in attire. Princess Mononoke has a tooth necklace and a fur cape which symbolisms her wolfishness as she was raised by wolves. The Filipinzed Mononoke has an outfit made out of leaves! What is that supposed to symbolize? It has no connection to her wild jungle dog. The mask is supposed to identify Princess Monnoke with the forest spirits. What does the mask of Filipina Mononoke represent when her protector is not a goddess but a mere wild jungle dog?

So, Princess Mononoke has also been stripped of its magic. There is no Forest Spirit to protect here. At least if there is this dog and Princess aren't doing it. It's just a wild dog and not a divine being.

Conclusion

This is what happens when you Filipinize something. You take an idea or a thing and you strip it of its essence reducing it to the bare minimum perhaps turning it around backwards or on its head. You take away that which makes a thing what it is and replace it with something vulgar. What was once transcendent becomes earthly in the most degrading sort of way. Moro the Wolf Goddess becomes a wild jungle dog. Howl's Moving Castle is stripped of all its magic and becomes Howl's Carried Castle. Chihiro is reduced to being a dirty street urchin. 

Though it was probably not his intention the artist, Bastinuod, has done a fantastic job contrasting the earthly brutishness of the Philippines with the uplifting spiritualness of Japan. There is nothing transcendent in the world he has envisioned as it is a complete bastardization and degradation of Miyazaki's world. Filipinization adds no value or improvement. Who would want to live in the Filipino version of Howl's Moving Castle devoid of all its magic or take a bath in the nipa hut bathhouse?

In contrast to this guy's artwork Bored Panda has gathered 35 of the most notable Ghibli redraws.  The difference between them and Bastinuod is that they all enhance the animation with even more magic in some cases.  What they did not do is relocate them to a different culture. Let's look at one instance.

https://www.boredpanda.com/redrawing-ghibli-art/

That is the cat from Kiki's Delivery Service. See how much more magical that looks? It's a real upgrade. But with Bastinuod we don't get that. Instead we get a downgrade to the Philippines.

The Irony of Duterte Declaring Septmeber as Philippine Film Industry Month

The Philippines has a long history of cinema that stretches back to 1897 and has embraced every sort of genre. Like all cultures each film is a peek into the hearts and minds of Filipinos of the era when a particular movie was made. Marcos recognized the power of film and with the help of Giovanni Volpi, whose family founded the Venice Film Festival, he organized the 1975 Metro Manila Film Festival. Likewise his wife Imelda built the Manila Film Center which was designed to be the first national film archive as well as a place to showcase cinema. The Center hosted the first Manila International Film Festival in 1982.

So one would think that it is great thing that Duterte has declared September as "Philippine Film Industry Month."

https://entertainment.inquirer.net/403007/duterte-declares-september-as-philippine-film-industry-month

“[T]here is a need to recognize the invaluable contribution and sacrifices of all stakeholders and sectors of the film industry, as well as provide avenues to showcase and celebrate the achievements and progress of the discipline of film and filmmaking,” Duterte said in the proclamation made public Thursday.

The President directed the Film Development Council of the Philippines to lead the observance of the Philippine Film Industry Month and identify the programs, projects, and activities for its celebration.

Duterte also encouraged other government agencies, state universities and colleges, local government units and the private sector to promote the programs of the Philippine Film Industry Month.

On principle who could not agree more? Every nation needs to cherish its filmography. The first Philippine film is Dalagan Bukid (Country Maiden) from 1919 and it is now a lost film like so many others.

Dalagang Bukid (English: Country Maiden) is a 1919 Filipino silent film directed by José Nepomuceno. It is the first Filipino feature film to be locally produced in the Philippines. Like all of Nepomuceno's works, Dalagang Bukid is now a lost film.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalagang_Bukid

It is a sad thing that across the world there are so many lost films. The antidote is film preservation and restoration. That is the job of the national film archives.

The Film Developmemt Council of the Philippines (FDCP) is the national agency under the Office of the President of the Republic of the Philippines responsible for film policies and programs to ensure the economics, cultural and educational development of the Philippine Film Industry. It aims to encourage the film industry to create quality films - from development, to production, to distribution and exbihition - and to conduct film - related events that enchance the skills of the Filipino talents. The agency also leads the film industry's participation in domestic and foreign film markets and local and international film festivals to promote and position Philippine cinema to be globally competitive. It also tasked to preserve and protect films as part of the country's national cultural heritage through film archiving.

https://www.fdcp.ph/about-us

The Film Development Council of the Philippines, FDCP, was founded in 2002. That was 19 years ago. But to this day they do not have proper storage facilities for the films they archive.

As of July 2020, the PFA Collection count is at 26, 171 elements⁠ — the film collection (16mm, 35mm, and super) is at 12,985 and the video tape collection (U-matic, Betacam-SP, Betamax, and VHS) is at 8,753. The audio collection has an estimated 600 open reels and cassette tapes while the digital assets are 833 (DVD, VCD, LTO, and hard drives).

Maintaining the PFA, which is among the mandates of the FDCP, is paramount to effectively archive and protect our cinematic heritage. Around 65-percent of our film copies are already destroyed, with the remaining ones that are unpreserved in danger of damage as each day goes by.

But while our efforts to sustain our current facilities continue to be a priority, the long-term vision of FDCP for the Philippine Film Archive is a state-of-the-art permanent storage facility. So that’s what we did: to start the quest of finding a property for our cinematic treasures.

With the support of the Department of Tourism, Department of Finance, and Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority, the FDCP embarked on a partnership for the construction of the Film Archive Heritage Building in Intramuros.

The construction was supposed to take place this year in Beaterio de la Compañia de Jesus, Intramuros, Manila, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the plans were temporarily put on hold. The facility will be a 4-storey structure that will be able to cater to the multi-faceted elements of film archiving.

It will have laboratories and working areas where audiovisual elements can be inspected, cleaned, and repaired; digitization rooms for scanning, capturing, and post video-editing; and climate-controlled vaults for film reels and analogue tape materials. It will also have a theater plus a media library for students, researchers, and the public who want to view digitized films.

Despite the pandemic and the halt in some of our plans for PFA, the PFA Restoration Program is still ongoing. The program puts film reel movies back together by rescuing decaying film stock and preserving the film stock’s images.

https://www.manilatimes.net/2020/08/09/weekly/the-sunday-times/arts-awake/the-vision-for-fdcps-philippine-film-archive/752670/

It appears the FDCP is not fully equipped to carry out their mission. But ABS-CBN is. Or was. 

The ABS-CBN Film Restoration Project began in 2011 and had restored hundreds of films. They had the budget and the facilities to store them. Sadly when their franchise was not renewed this project was forced to shut down.

https://entertainment.inquirer.net/384429/devastating-effects-of-abs-cbns-film-restoration-and-archives-group-shutdown

“What will happen to our films now?”

This is the question that key industry players are asking now that ABS-CBN’s Film Restoration and Archives group has announced that it would be shutting down, along with most of the departments of the broadcasting network starting Aug. 31.

This was an effect of the Kapamilya network’s failed bid to renew its franchise for another 25 years.

“I want to emphasize several points. First of all, restoration and archiving are not the work of a private company, but of the government. It should be the one to preserve artifacts of culture,” he pointed out.

“Up to this day, the only ones that are doing restoration in the country are the FDCP (Film Development Council of the Philippines)—which is the government—and the FPJ Studio, which is doing really well. Even the FDCP, with its budget to restore films can only do two films a year. It has the National Film Archives, but, unfortunately, they can only do so much with their budget.

“Also, ABS-CBN is the only one with the proper storage and archive facility—nobody else has one because it takes a lot of money to maintain. I’m also worried that what happened to our archives in the ‘80s might happen again today. We lost so many films before. You see, aside from ABS-CBN being the only one restoring films, it is the only one looking for films and acquiring them. A lot of the films that private production houses used to own are now left in the care of families whose lolo was among those who made them. These films are left in the closet and are starting to smell like vinegar. Those titles may never see the light of day again if we don’t have a group like ABS-CBN to save them."

"Preserving our heritage." That is what these two filmmakers say ABS-CBN was doing by preserving and restoring films. How can anyone disagree? But the only company with the proper storage facilities and budget to preserve the nations's film heritage has been shut down on orders of Duterte. It is a terrible irony and he likely either doesn't know or doesn't care or both.

A Momma Abroad: My Sons Are Filipinos Because Life in the Philippines Is All They Know

I have written several blog posts about what it means to be Filipino-American. How can one born in a foreign land to a Filipino parent still claim to be a Filipino when they know nothing of the Philippines? While there are many Fil-Ams because of the OFW program/problem there are not many Am-Fils. This rarity makes the case of Amber Folkman's three boys Aaker Nuke, Oz Mounce, and Wells Finn (yes those are their actual names) rather interesting and unique.

https://www.smartparenting.com.ph/parenting/real-parenting/i-want-to-raise-my-boys-knowing-filipino-values-a1746-20180329

I was raised in a small town in Northern California in the valley of two mountains. We lived an hour away from a mall and 30 minutes from our dentist. I never imagined that I would raise my boys across the world in Manila, one of the world's most densely populated cities in South East Asia surrounded by skyscrapers and high rises. 

I cannot imagine a more opposite experience than the one I had. But that is part of the magic of living abroad. 

Besides having an endless summer, the best mangoes in the world and the most fun modes of transportation, the Philippines is where my boys have learned valuable life lessons that I hope will guide them through the rest of their lives. We predominantly have an American culture in our home, but outside we embrace everything that is Filipino.

In the headline Amber declares her boys are Filipinos because life in the Philippines is all they know but in the article she says they have an American culture in their home. What else could they have? Mom and dad are Americans and they are going to impart American values to their offspring because that is all they know. It's only natural. But if she is imparting American values and culture to her sons how can they be Filipinos? Amber goes on to say that outside the home they embrace everything that is Filipino. 

Going through her blog the "everything that is Filipino" boils down to food apparently. Even in this article she has much to say about food. First she mentions the best mangoes in the world. Next she gets excited that her little boys prefer to eat with their hands just like real Pinoys.

Never would have I ever thought my sons' preferred meals would be galunggong fried to a crisp with a heaping pile of rice, AND eating it with their hands, the Pinoy way! I never imagined that the Kuya of our family could switch his accent like a light switch depending on who he was communicating with (Filipino vs. non-Filipino). 

Of course she never would have thought her boys would not be civilized enough to use forks and spoons. Who would want to think something so sad? She also mentions the hilarious fact that one of her boys switches his accent when he talks with Filipinos. Is learning to dumb down your speech depending on who you talk to one of those valuable life lessons that will guide them through the rest of their lives that her boys are learning in the Philippines? Remember how Hilary Clinton switched her accent in front of various audiences? Perhaps that skill will combine handy if her boys become politicians.

The end of this article really sums up how she views her boys living in the Philippines and her whole philosophy about culture and nations.

One of my most tender memories is my bunso learning his body parts in Filipino before English. These lessons have taught us all that there is no one "right" way to live. 

May my three Pinoy boys always remember that they are world citizens and life is much bigger than one country and one culture. 

Since my boys were born and raised in the Philippines (minus one year for my eldest son), I have declared them Fil-Am. We may not have the passport to prove it, but they have the heart of the Filipino, and they are better for it.

No right way to live, they are world citizens, they have the heart of the Filipino and are better for it. All of that screams California liberal but apparently Amber is a Mormon. That does not mean she can't be a liberal but what it does mean is she has no idea what it is to be a Filipino. Filipinos are quite patriotic and have a lot of pride in their ethnicity. They may be scattered all over the world but they never assimilate into the local culture. Instead they bring their culture with them and send their money back to the Philippines where they hope to eventually retire after earning lots of money abroad. Filipinos are not cosmopolitans. Only silly white women like Amber are and after falling in love with a foreign culture and telling everyone back home, "We are all the same," they often end up dead.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pippa_Bacca

How can her boys have the heart of a Filipino when she admits they have an American culture inside the home? Home is where the heart is, right? Incidentally you can take a tour of her house at the following article:

https://www.chuzailiving.com/american-expat-home-philippines-amber-folkman/

Amber's house is immaculate. It is straight out of Good Housekeeping. In fact her house was featured in Real Living and she had an article published in Good Housekeeping.

https://amommabroad.com/blog/2016/07/25/magazine-feature-in-real-living-i-have-no-idea-what-im-doing

When Shine of Real Living mentioned some months ago that our house might be up for a feature I was over the moon. Real Living was THE only publication I bought regularly for the last couple of years. (Yummy and Good Housekeeping are also winners! I actually have a short recipe in Yummy's July issue and an article in Good Housekeepings' August issue.) Summit Media produces such quality material. It took a few months and some more nesting on my end but eventually it worked out. To be honest, I was proud of myself that I had created a home out of love, creativity and frugality and that a magazine, one I respected, thought our home was up to par. It felt like my motherhood was being recognized.

The only bad thing about this tour of her home is that we don't get to see the bathroom. We do see that the boys bathroom is Batman themed but we don't see the commode. Is there toilet paper in all the bathrooms? American culture after all. But then again she did write a "love letter" to the tabo.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B9zCvuZpVrV/

“Dear Tabo, I am sorry I had an aversion to you all these years. When I saw you and judged you as unsanitary. After your support in thoroughly cleaning my toddler and his extremely soggy swimsuit full of [poop] I owe you the sincerest apology and deepest gratitude. Now, I would like to continue our relationship if you’ll have me, Truly yours, an ignorant Momma Abroad. You tube: how to use a tabo. Fascinating!” -@amommabroad

There is quite a lot I could say about this lady and her assertion that her American children are Filipinos. As I noted they do pose an interesting case. The boys have grown up in the Philippines and the Philippines is all they know. So they are Filipinos right? Wrong!

These boys do not face the same trials as Filipinos do. Likely they live in a wealthy, gated community. They eat Filipino food but imbibe American values at home. Eating and washing your butt with your hands does not make one a Filipino. It just makes you gross.

Looking at her blog one does not see the Philippines in all its grit and gory. What one sees is the whitewashed fantasy of an American momma trying to build a magazine perfect life for herself and her children. One that is safe and wholly American but with tinges of the most superficial aspects of Filipinoness. What does make one a Filipino or an American? Her boys are going to have to face that existential crisis when they come of age.

This family is the perfect WHITE family. And that is very problematic because right now those boys are being sheltered from the cultural shift which is happening in America namely the demonizing white people as the cancer of the world as Susan Sontag disgustingly phrased it long ago. When they go back to America they will be blindsided at all the hate directed towards them. They will say we grew up in the Philippines, we aren't racist and they will not understand why no one will care. And with good reason! Because they are growing up rich and sheltered in the Philippines. That is what they call white privilege. The privilege to have a dad with a good paying job where you live in a third world nation and can live like kings because the peso is so devalued. The privilege where you can eat with your hands while squatting and pretend you are a native.

Aaker Nuke, Oz Mounce, and Wells Finn are not Filipinos. This lady is delusional. She has been demoralized by the melting-pot relativism of mainstream America. How could any foreigner live in this country and come to the conclusion, "we are all the same??" Cockfighting, littering. trash burning, exploiting relatives, exploiting those with whom you are tasked to protect and serve, an inability to plan for the future, the list goes on. Filipino culture is not like American culture and vice versa. That is because the internal workings of the Filipino mind are not at all like those of anyone else's. We see that evident in the society and culture Filipinos have built in this nation. There is a biological aspect to being Filipino that Amber's white children will NEVER have. They do not have a Filipino brain, will never think like Filipinos, and thus they will never be Filipinos. To ignore human biodiversity is to remain forever ignorant why societies and cultures differ among people groups.

What does this mean anyway??

"We predominantly have an American culture in our home."

What is the American culture in her home that those boys are being raised in?  Does daddy read the Constitution at night like a bed time story? Does momma extol the virtues of not burning garbage? Do her boys know anything about the United States which would make them good citizens? She should go to Booksale, look for a copy of the Federalist Papers (I have seen copies there) and read it to her sons. Or maybe print out a PDF, go to Recto, and have it bound. She should pay special attention to Federalist no. 2!

With equal pleasure I have as often taken notice that Providence has been pleased to give this one connected country to one united people--a people descended from the same ancestors, speaking the same language, professing the same religion, attached to the same principles of government, very similar in their manners and customs, and who, by their joint counsels, arms, and efforts, fighting side by side throughout a long and bloody war, have nobly established general liberty and independence. 

https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/fed02.asp

That little paragraph speaks volumes about what real American culture is and from whence it originates. This lady's idea of what it means to be Filipino is incredibly shallow.

https://amommabroad.com/blog/2016/08/04/becoming-filipino

While on this search for happiness I have found that the more I embrace the culture the deeper my roots sink and the more fulfilled I am. Although I am clearly not, part of me feels Filipino. It is a gift this country and culture have given to me, embracing me wholeheartedly. It might sound silly but a part of my heart will forever belong to The Pilipinas. So I dedicate this post to those who are Filipino or are on this journey to becoming Filipino. I will follow Kyle's lead of Becoming Filipino for this post. It may be kind of corny but whatever, I'm going for it. 

You may becoming Filipino if you... 

Are a pandesal addict. 

Are a suman, turon or hot tsokolat addict. 

Consume multiple varieties of bananas a day. :) 

Can make your own coconut milk. Bonus: eat it while doing the Pilipino squat.  

Eat a whole fish. Except the eyes. I just can't do that yet. My American side keeps telling me no. 

Your kid uses a tabo like a boss. 

Get excited when this very sanitary and nice toilet greets you on your road trip. You may becoming Filipino if you have to remind yourself to flush the toilet paper when you visit America instead of throw it in the rubbish bin.

She says this list is just for a little corny fun but I don't buy it. This lady is serious. She loves the Philippines and she loves the Philippines for these very reasons which have mostly to do with food! Amber really loves to eat. So here she is dressed in Pinoy-face stuffing her maw with pandesal, mangoes, bananas, and rice saying, "Look ma! I'm a Filipina and my boys are Filipinos toooooooo!" 

But an interesting thought occurs. Barack Obama grew up in Indonesia, not far from here, and eventually became the President of the USA. What if Aaker Nuke, with his Filipino heart, grew up to become President of the USA? Who would want a man with the heart of a Filipino to be President of the USA? 

The Filipino is A Great Race: An Experimental Poem by Sofronio Dulay

Sofronio Dulay has written an experimental poem about the greatness of the Filipino race. Dulay is currently the patriarch of the Royal House of Tondo and the Patriarchate of the Royal Houses of the Philippines. As I wrote before about him he is basically a king. A king wrote an experimental poem about the greatness of the Filipino race. Let's take a look at his verse.

The full poem can be found on his website.

https://sites.google.com/site/totidulay/greatrace

I am not going to post the whole text here. Instead I will dissect it line by line.

"We are the only old Christian nation in Asia.
English speaker."

Indeed the Philippines is the only Christian and English speaking nation in Asia. There are of course other Asian countries that speak English and have been Christianized. But how does having a foreign language and religion thrust upon them make the Filipino race great? Haven't you heard that the Catholic Church is evil and so are the Americans?  I hear that very often. So how does practicing an evil religion and speaking an evil tongue make the Filipino race great?

"Good looking. A mixture of Hispanic and Chinese race…mga tisoy tayo.We take a bath daily, even twice a day, so we smell nice. In cold countries, they take a bath once a week, so, you can imagine how they smell….they envy us….and they like to marry Filipinos…."

The Filipino race looks good because they are a mixture of the Hispanic and Chinese race. Does that mean without that added blood Filipinos would not be so good looking? How does the addition of foreign blood to the Filipino race make the Filipino race great? Isn't that proof of being conquered and thus an inferior race?

Filipinos bathe twice a day while in cold countries they bathe once a week. That's certainly a lie but even if it were true how does that make the Filipino race great? Even a cat bathes himself. Many times  day in fact.

It is true that foreigners do like to marry Filipinos. But how does that make the race great? Miscegenation is a pollution of the gene pool!

"We are the only race on earth that won all the five major beauty contests: Miss World, Miss Universe, Miss International, Miss Earth and Miss Supranational.."

This is not true because there are only four major international beauty pageants. Miss Supranational is not one of those pageants. If we look at the statistics we see that four countries have won each of those contests with Venezuela winning the most times with 23 wins.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Four_international_beauty_pageants

If we look at the winners of Miss Supranational, which has only been around since 2009, there is only one Filipino winner. Mutya Datul won in 2013. This pushes the Philippines to 16 wins in all five contests. That is still seven less wins than Venezuela. 

How does winning a beauty pageant prove the Filipino race is great? Especially when Dulay has admitted the Filipino race is a mixture of Hispanic and Chinese blood and thus impure? How does winning a beauty pageant prove the greatness of anyone? It's a subjective contest and beauty fades. One day all those ladies will be old crones. It's pure vanity.

"We are clean…its part of who we are….."

The Philippines is actually one of the most polluted nations on earth. From the air to the water to the ground there is pollution everywhere. A great race would take pride in their land and keep it clean don't you think? Maybe he is referring to the two baths a day regimen.

"We are good businessmen. 

Our malls are bigger than most malls in the US. We are conservative bankers…"

There are indeed plenty of good businessmen in the Philippines. They are mostly Chinese. What does having a large mall have to do with the greatness of one's race?

The Mall of Asia in Pasay is the 15th largest mall in the world

On the list of the world's largest malls there are 37 Philippine malls and only 19 United States malls. In the top 10 there are 4 Chinese malls, 3 Thailand malls, and only 2 Philippine malls. The largest mall in the world is in New Jersey.

Filipinos have a wide selection of large malls from which to buy overpriced foreign luxury goods. Great. How does the ability to consume imported goods make the Filipino race great? Of those 19 US malls how many are selling Filipino products? And I don't mean products produced in the Philippines for a US owned company.

"We are family oriented. We never dump our parents to the home for the aged.

We never drive away our children from home when they reached 18."

This is simply wrong. Sometimes mom or dad get very sick and they need to stay in a home for the aged. They need professional healthcare 24 hours a day. For many this is a hard decision and it is wrong to say they are dumped in a home for the aged like a bag of garbage. This is also a misunderstanding of the West and it relates to his next line.

In the West Children are not driven away at 18. Rather children are encouraged to leave the nest and become independent adults living their own lives having their own families and homes. In the Philippines the opposite is true. Momma's little baby boy is her little baby boy until she dies and she never wants him to leave the home. That is detrimental to society and to the well-being of her son who will never grow up to be a man because of his overprotective mother. There are many such cases in the Philippines.

With their sense of personal independence people in the West do not want to live with their children when they get old. They don't want to go to the home for the aged. They will do all they can to remain independent. Filipinos do not have this sense of personal independence. Sometimes generations of families will live under one roof. How does a lack of a sense of independence make a race great? It doesn't. It makes a race of leeches.

"Our culture is European. Roman Catholic influenced. Surnames are western…our Kundimans are just like Italian songs." 

Am I reading a poem about the greatness of the Filipino race?? How does having a European culture make the Filipino race great? If the Philippines has a European culture that would make the European race who built that culture the greater race. Only an inferior race adopts a foreign culture.

The Philippines does not have a European culture. European influenced, yes. The government, the economy, even popular culture are all Western influenced. But Filipinos do not even understand those institutions. Human rights, free speech, the function of the government and politicians as servants of the people, none of that is comprehended by Filipinos the way it is in the West. Even with TV the programs are so bottom of the barrel and lowest common denominator it is a joke. You won't find innovative TV in the Philippines.

And what about those Western surnames? How does having a foreign surname make Filipinos a great race? It is a constant reminder that they were conquered by a greater and more powerful race of men. Having a Western surname is not much different from being branded.

The next bit is hilarious. 

"We have easy life. In America “no work, no eat”, not in the Philippines please."

So Filipinos are leeches? In America you can eat without working. Here is what that looks like:

That's called a homeless shelter. Why would being able to eat without working make the Filipino race great especially when the very first item listed in this poem is that the Philippines is a Christian nation? Does Sofronio Dulay not know what the Bible says?

2 Thessalonians 3:10 For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.

Maybe he means the bayanihan spirit? No idea. But no one is going hungry in America unless they want to. Food banks and food kitchens abound. Not to mention food stamps and other types of welfare. America supports her leeches too.

"We are hardworkers…we have double jobs…. and we save money for our family.
The Philippines is a middle income country…If countries are people, we are middle class. As a middle class, we enjoy the indulgence of the rich and we can also feel the adventures of the poor…so, why pin us down on the lower middle class side alone…. pag middle class ka..kumakain ka ng litson at tuyo and you don’t mind…"

Working two jobs does not make one a hard worker. In the Philippines wages are depressed and so is the currency. One might need to work two jobs just to make ends meet. The same happens in the West too. 

Saving money for one's family is nice but that is all tied to the lack of personal independence. Parents should not rely on their children for financial support as so many do. They should be an example of economic thrift and perseverance. Parents should teach their children how to earn, save, and spend their money responsibly. Children should not be expected to give all their money to their family. How are they supposed to build their own family and life if they give all their money away? It's a toxic and neverending cycle.

The Philippines is a lower middle income country according to the World Bank.

https://data.worldbank.org/?locations=PH-XN

What does he mean by "the adventures of the poor?"  Is living in a bamboo shack next to a pile of garbage and polluted water source an adventure? How does that make the Filipino race great?

"We are the only country who fought three world powers and got what we want.

We fought Spain, the Filipino - Spanish War, the world power then…and we won and declared our independence.

We fought the Americans, the Filipino - American War,  the world power then and now, and we won because we got our independence. If Russia defeated Germany thru its long and harsh winter, we defeated the Americans into giving us independence thru eloquence and diplomacy.

We fought Japan, the Filipino - Japanese War, ….and we defeated them by using American support to drive the Japanese in our country out…

We had a lot of rehearsals on this war stuff, and with great powers at that...we can take on any pretender at this point...pag di natin makuha ng patayo, kinukuha natin ng pahiga..di uubra kalokohan nila satin..

now tell me, if this is not greatness as a race, call it football."

Is he serious? The Philippines did not fight the Spanish alone. It was the Americans who won that war. Though the Philippines did declare independence nobody recognized it and the nation was made a colony of the United States. By the way the first constitution and the entire independence movement was Masonic in nature and based on Western ideals of governance and liberty.

"We defeated the Americans into giving us independence thru eloquence and diplomacy." That is complete lie.  As I have documented the USA always intended to give the Philippines independence once they had proven themselves to be capable of self government. Independence came in 1946, eleven years after a plebiscite in which the entire nation voted for it.  

The Philippines defeated the Japanese using American support. How does that make the Filipino race great? They couldn't defeat the Japs on their own so they used the Yanks. Meanwhile the Americans conquered and developed a whole continent defeating all hostile elements with no one's help.

"We can take on any pretender at this point?" What a joke! The insurgency has been going on for 50 years with no end in sight! The Philippines can't even defeat mountain and jungle dwelling communists and Muslims. The Philippines is also using American support to fight that war. Imagine if a real "pretender" stepped up to take over the Philippines. You know like China. 

"We dont like corruption, we jailed two corrupt Presidents so far.."

Is he talking about Estrada and Macapagal? Estrada was convicted and sentenced to life in prison but Macapagal pardoned him! He never paid for his crimes. Later she was arrested but acquitted of all charges by the Supreme Court because the DOJ failed to prepare a sufficient case against her. Meanwhile the Philippines remains one of the most corrupt nations in the world.

https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2020/1/23/Philippines-corruption-worsens.html

"We are superior people, so, come on, let us work harder. And indulge. And enjoy life…because superior people like us work very hard and we deserve indulgence."

Filipinos are superior and work hard so they deserve to indulge? That's not the motto of a great race. That's the motto of a lazy and self-indulgent people. Do you think the British conquered the world and then sat back thinking they deserved a little indulgence? How about the Mongols, the Greeks, or the Romans? Let's quote the Bible again.

Proverbs 6:10 Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:11 So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.

That's the end of Sofronio Dulay's poem. He shared it with some people on the internet which caused lot of heated discussion for and against. He came to the following conclusion.

Conclusion: if you like this article, you are subconsciously a patriotic Filipino. If you feel bad about this article, in one way or another, you may not know it consciously, but you have a deep - rooted hatred or uneasiness of your being a Filipino or of your Filipino connection. You are a Filipino who can not be expected to defend our country in times of war. Huli ka, bata!!!

His conclusion, like the rest of his poem, is false. Nothing in this poem exemplifies greatness. According to Sofronio Dulay the Filipino race is great because they practice a foreign religion, speak a foreign tongue, have foreign blood mixed with their own, have won foreign beauty contests because of their foreign blood, have large malls where they can buy foreign goods, have no sense of  personal independence, and won a war with the help of foreigners.

That is not greatness. If the Filipino race is a great race then it must be judged by a higher standard than the size of their malls and the dilution of their blood. How about the marks on The Cultural Iceberg?

How does the Filipino race and culture add up compared to the rest of the world in all these categories? Everything Dulay has listed is vain and silly and the opposite of what makes a great race. In fact all the things he listed have to do with the Filipino race adopting other the cultures of other races! Funny that he could not think of anything genuinely Filipino as evidence for the greatness of the Filipino race.