Bangungot ng Mundo-World without the Filipinos

Dear Mouse,

Rey Rojo who is currently a student in the UK typifies that group of Filipinos who according to Michael Tan are pretty good at putting Filipinos down.

He must be a frustrated general. His essay about Patronizing Paisanos was full of generalizations. Take this for example and I quote:

With the US being almost a home turf for transplanting Filipino values in a Western setting, sociologists naively discover the lack of Filipinism in young Filipino-Americans. The multi-cultural diversity and typological youth culture in the modern West is the broad explanation, but these post-modern adventurers practically do not see themselves as owing anything to the land in which their parents were born.

I want him to know that although he is bloody thousand miles away from bloody New York, will it make him proud to know that for two nights the red, blue and yellow colors of the Philippine flag will flicker from the same tower where a crimson heart had ended Tom Hanks’ ardent search for Meg Ryan in “Sleepless in Seattle”?

This was not a project of a scholar like him from the Philippines whose observations about the Filipinos may be isolated to his circle of friends and to some local celebrities never heard of in the USA.

The lighting of Manhattan Building in celebration of the independence of the Philippines earlier was made possible by Esguerra and fellow members of the Collaborative Opportunities for Raising Empowerment, Inc.,an organization of young Filipino professionals.

He looked at the Filipino value of helping one another as kababayans or paisanos as a way of gaining favor or feeling big and better.

I do not think this Filamgroup group, the Philippine Forum is helping the Filipinas forced into slavery in the US in order to earn brownie points from him.

FilAm group unveils drive versus trafficking Rita Villadiego, May 26, 2004 NEW YORK

Two Filipinas – Elma Manliguez and Mary Jane Lorico, were forced into slavery in the U.S. last year. They were brought from the Philippines and made to work without pay in American homes in New York, in violation of the 13th Amendment, or the anti-slavery law. Through the help of Philippine Forum, the two Filipinas sued their employers.

Oo Birhinya, kahit ngayong nagkakasapot sapot na ang world wide web, mayroon pang slavery sa Estet.

According to Rojo:

There are also Filipino friends here who would rather not mention their origins if only to avoid answering questions about the Marcoses or dog-eaters. Why would one like to explain his connection to a Third World country that exports brains and prostitutes, and produces domestic helpers?

If he did not hear about Patricia Evangelista's speech that won the nods of the judges of the snobbish United Kingdom, then it is time for him to read Michael Tan's article, World without Filipinos

I like this one best:

As they converse, Annan and the Pope agree on one thing: the world has become a quieter place since the Filipinos disappeared. It isn't just the silencing of work and office equipment formerly handled by Filipinos; no, it seems there's much less laughter now that the Filipinos aren't around, both the laughter of the Filipinos and those they served.

HAHAHAHAHA

The CA t