A Prayer for the Victims of Terrorism

Almighty and Ever-Merciful Lord, I praise You for providing mankind with a beautiful home and the capacity to make it a better place than before. I praise You for giving us faculties for reason and religion; and with them, the pursuit for truth and justice. It is with great sorrow, that this wonderful world and its prosperous people have been corrupted with evil. As it was at the birth of Your Church, Lord, those who do not know of Your love are persecuting those whom You have called to your service. Innocent Christians of all ages are having their bodies desecrated in the name of power, disguised as religious motivation. Innocent, peaceful Muslims are also being attacked by heartbroken Christians who lack the wisdom to discern that Muslim extremists are people corrupted by sin, not motivated by faith.

Lord, please, welcome into Your House the people who have died at the hands of so-called jihadists. As you have done for St. Sebastian, St. Agnes, St. Ignatius of Antioch, St. Stephen, St. Lorenzo Ruiz, St. Pedro Calungsod, and the newly canonized martyrs of Korea, please, welcome the fallen victims of terrorism into your arms and let them sing of Your glory with your angels and saints forever. Let them enjoy Your everlasting grace in Your presence where there is no more pain or hunger or sickness or hatred; where they only cry for joy.

For us who seek peace in the land of the living, let us be governed by Your wisdom and love. Let us not be swayed by vengeful anger but be driven by the pursuit of justice and mercy.

And for those who continue to challenge You by slaying Christians, Lord, it is clear that in creating them in their mothers’ wombs, You have kindled in them the burning desire for worship. The Evil One has replaced their fire with the poisonous smoke of violence. Touch them, O Lord. Do not forsake them. Save them from the fires of Hell. Born from the seed of Ishmael whom You have delivered from the desert, deliver them from the Evil One that pollutes their hearts. Born of Ishmael who was born from Abraham, they are Your children, Lord.

Restore us into unity. We are united in You. Let us all be an instrument of Your peace. Amen.

What's Your Mix? A Filipina with at Least One Spanish Ancestor. So What?

A week or so ago, Bayo launched an advertising campaign that sparked outrage among Filipino Internet users. The advertisements have Anne Curtis' sister Jasmine Curtis-Smith and a number of mestiza models, each executing the theme “What’s Your Mix?” Each model are extremely beautiful and dressed in Bayo’s latest items. Each model is accompanied with curious captions describing their mixed heritage—in Jasmine Curtis-Smith’s case: “50% Filipino, 50% Australian.”

It’s difficult to pinpoint the reason, at first; but I instinctively knew this was definitely offensive. There was something seriously wrong about these models being labeled as “60% African, 40% Filipino” or “80% Chinese, 20% Filipino.” As far as I see it, this advertising campaign completely misses the discrepancy between race and nationality. But then, this article reacted to it:

http://www.rappler.com/move-ph/6560-of-half-bloods-and-hypocrisy

According to the author, those who complained about the campaign are hypocrites for being offended at all. In a nutshell, the author believes that: 

1.       The campaign does not intend to offend anyone, and it doesn’t claim that the models are beautiful because they are mestizas. 

2.       People who are offended are being oversensitive. 

3.       The people who are offended shouldn’t be offended when they yearn to be white anyway.

I disagree.

I think intentions are irrelevant; even if they didn’t mean to give unfortunate implications, they are there. Advertisements are designed to appeal to the psyche. These images appeal to hidden desires to be like the models in the advertisements. It is practically impossible view these images objectively. Yes, it is true that each ad states a fact; but can you expect ANYONE to NOT see anything else?

The message that the theme “What’s Your Mix?” is getting across is that the creativity of mixing and matching seemingly incompatible items of clothing makes a perfect mix. On that line of thinking, YES, the ad campaign strongly implies that these models are beautiful because they are mestizas. Using models of mixed race and addressing this fact revive the guilt Filipinas have about the still-undying notion that mestizas are more beautiful than purebred chocolate-skinned, ebony-haired Filipinas with coffee-bean eyes.

Furthermore, why is it necessary to bring RACE of all themes as a metaphor for mixing and matching clothes? Aren't these advertisers aware that in America, these kinds of thinking are worth banning because it hurts people's feelings? Yes, we don't live in America, but we have racial issues of our own. We don't need to ignite them in things as insignificant as advertising.

Let me just point out that people are not angry because they want to believe they are more beautiful than these half-breed models. They know full well that these models are beautiful because of racial mixing. What they are offended with is the implication that they are NOT as beautiful because they are, as far as they know, are purebred Filipinas. The phrase "What's Your Mix?" sounds like an accusation, an attack.

Let's say there's a girl who is short, has even chocolate brown skin, frizzy ebony hair, a small mouth with thick lips, and a button nose, and coffee-bean eyes; what do you think she would feel if she is confronted with the question "What's your mix?" while there are extremely beautiful mixed race models in her face? Wouldn't you think she would be humiliated? "Oh, my God! I don't have a 'mix.' What am I, then? I must be unimportant." They don’t want that. They don't need that. They don't deserve that.

Yes, it is hypocritical to claim this campaign is racist when most of us still cling to two contrasting notions that are fundamentally racist: that purebred Filipinas are more beautiful and don't need much makeup, and that purebred Filipinas are NOT as beautiful so we need to bleach our skin and hair and wear blue contact lenses. However these two notions are only symptoms and do not quite address the underlying issues that borne them.

What this advertising campaign poses to us Filipinas is the Doña Victorina mentality that we want to scrape off but can't—not at the moment. It was foolish of Bayo to construct their advertising campaign this way and expect people to not react the way they did.

Most Filipinos nowadays would rather just identify has Filipino. Yes, it is true that we have our brand of racism, but these hasn't been addressed yet because the media perpetuates it, and we haven't yet had a serious talk that addresses the issues on our race, our national identity, and our worth. However, most people identify Filipinos as a nation of people of mixed race, all unified with having at least one ancestor tracing their lineage from this tiny archipelago in Southeast Asia. But if you want to be purist about it, we also identify Filipino as these Malayo-Austronesian people with the physical qualities I've explained at least twice before. Yes, we all need to know that we shouldn't rest our worth on our appearances alone. Yes, we are yet to have a concrete and consistent national identity. But we don't need or deserve to get something as wrong as "What's Your Mix?" slammed onto our faces like cream pie.

Most importantly, no one, not even these gorgeous models, deserves to be reduced to an equation. So what if Jasmine Curtis-Smith has a Filipina mother and a white Australian father? Isn't she a whole person with as much beauty, charisma, and promise as her famous sister Anne? So what if I had a Spanish ancestor that gave me an unusual look that some people do not immediately recognize me as a Filipina? I am still born and raised in this beautiful country and a colorful history. I am still me, a girl who wants to become a great novelist someday. Shouldn't that be more important than the race of my ancestors?

Further reading:  http://www.rappler.com/life-and-style/136-technology/viral/6559-viral-what-s-your-mix-campaign-earns-ire-of-netizens

Demonym Abuse, and the Difference Between Pride and Egotism; or, the Sad Case of Jessica Sanchez

As of yesterday morning, Phillip Phillips was announced as the eleventh American Idol, the same title bestowed upon KellyClarkson, Fantasia Barrino, Jordin Sparks, and David Cook, to name a few. The opponent he apparently defeated is Jessica Sanchez, who is of Filipino and Mexican descent. The “white guy with a guitar” won over the little brown girl with the big voice, and I am somehow glad.

Don’t get me wrong: I wanted Jessica to win. In fact, as soon as I found out she is half-Filipino and has a legitimate talent in singing, I wanted her to win. Last night, as every Filipino hoped and prayed for her to win, I hoped it so, too. It’s just that the ridiculous news coverage really put me off. Once again, the overwhelming Pinoy Pride has taken control.

Before I get to that one vital topic, let me just discuss one more, seemingly unimportant problem that is actually bigger than what the ignorant populace of this wretched archipelago might not realize: Philippine journalism is run with people who shouldn’t even be in that field. Being a journalism means you have to tell the truth, but how can you tell the truth if you can’t even use words properly? Words are like crystal goblets containing valuable wine while being valuable on their own; they’re not sacks of sand you just throw around and pretend it wouldn’t matter.

I am, of course, talking about how local journalists, namely the anchors of TV Patrol, consistently referring to Jessica Sanchez as a “Filipino-Mexican.” It is understandable in that they are referring to her race, but you don’t describe race in common language like that. Most importantly, it distinctively sounds like they’re disregarding the fact that Jessica Sanchez is American. Yes, my little brown fellowmen, that gorgeous sixteen-year-old who looks exactly like us is American, and she is nothing less of an American than her white male opponent. Just because she is born of a Filipina mother and a Hispanic father (who is Hispanic White, by the way, and hails from Texas, which is populated by a large Mexican population) doesn’t make her any less of an American. Jessica was born in California, and her mother is probably an American citizen by now rather than a permanent resident (a.k.a. a green card holder).

Oh, the demonym abuse doesn’t end there, people. Korina Sanchez, at one point, asked a reporter collecting information all the way in Los Angeles, California, “Di kaya manalo itong si Phillip Phillips dahil purong Americano siya?” Purong Americano? Korina Sanchez, don’t you know such a phrase doesn’t exist and has no meaning? There is no such thing as a “pure” American especially when you are referring to a white person! If you call Phillip Phillips a pure American, what then would you call people like Taylor Lautner, or Chaske Spencer, or Julia Jones, or Gil Birmingham, or any of the other black-haired, copper-skinned actors playing the Quileute lupine shape-shifters in the Twilight movies? And for that matter, what then would you call people like Beyonce Knowles, or Will Smith, or Jennifer Hudson? And while we’re at it, do you think people like Jeremy Lin, or Daniel Dae Kim, or heck, Nicole Scherzinger are not American because they’re not white?

More importantly, why do you jump to the conclusion that Phillips' would win just because he's white? HOW UNBELIEVABLY RACIST CAN YOU GET? Okay, it's true that there remains public inclination toward white males, which is possibly the same reason most Hollywood movies have white male action heroes unless the lead is Will Smith. But people, have you forgotten that the first American Idol was Kelly Clarkson, who is a white female, and her successor was Ruben Studdard, who is a Black male? Or maybe you didn't care because there is suddenly "one of us" who have gotten so far in the competition. Phillips didn't win because he is white; he won simply because more people voted for him because his fanbase (composed of rock and pop rock music lovers) were simply heavier than Jessica's.

I know what you’re thinking: oh, they’re just making it easier for the less educated people to understand what they mean. No, using language this way is not doing any favors for the masses. This only makes them even more ignorant of the nuances of racial makeup in the United States population. Some white people in America might actually not be American, and many colored people born and raised in the United States are American, granted that their parents are citizens of the United States of America. Most of the Caucasian (white) population are actually descendants of European settlers, making them essentially, and technically, not just American by birth but American by virtue of being born from a long string of generations of Europeans (many ethnic groups of them, for that matter) also born and raised in the New World to escape oppression from Europe. Some white people in the US today are also of mixed race, meaning they may have at least one Jewish, Hispanic, or more commonly, a Native American ancestor. What does that make colored people labeled American? Well, some of them are Americans in the same manner. However, in the case of people like Jessica Sanchez—in fact, most Filipino Americans of her generation—at least one of their parents are immigrants from the Philippines. Jessica is American because she was born in America to American parents, regardless of race. American is not an ethnic group; it is a nationality. The word describes people born in America to American citizens; the word also applies for immigrants (regardless of race) who applied for American citizenship. Native Americans (sometimes named collectively along with Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians) are also Americans by virtue of being born and raised in United States territory to parents and ancestors who have been living there long, long before the white people ever knew they existed in the 1500s.

Now that that issue is out of the way, let me settle down the more important issue: the overblown obsession with Jessica Sanchez and the overwhelming desire of having her as the new American Idol. Again, let me reiterate: I share this desire because she is Filipino and is a good singer. Before you call me a hypocrite, let me explain one tidbit I mentioned in a previous blog entry: I understand that we Filipinos see anybody as a brother or sister as long as they can trace their lineage to our precious archipelago. I share this sentiment. Even now, I still wish Jessica won the competition because I also believe that it is a tremendous honor to have “one of us” to have the title.

However, I do not approve of peculiar claims I keep hearing both from these television journalists and the people they interview and encourage. Pop singer Gary Valenciano mentioned at one point that Jessica Sanchez “carries the banner of the Philippines.” Random interviewees and reporters have dramatically proclaimed that having Jessica Sanchez win American Idol would be the triumph of Filipinos in Hollywood.

As my iPod has been out of battery power while my right earphone is damaged, I could only cringe and squirm in my seat in the bus while I kept hearing those phrases and variations thereof over and over and over. It was torture. It was torture because these people are either misguided or totally ignorant. Either way, they don’t know what they’re talking about.

When has Jessica Sanchez ever cared about her Filipino heritage? For that matter, I have never heard any Filipino American bragging about it, not even my American cousin, who is delighted about visiting her parents’ home country but doesn’t really care about anything else about it. If you ask me, this is not a problem. I also think that if Jessica doesn’t care, neither should we. Nobody has to. While it is a big deal because if she had become the newest American Idol, that would make her the youngest and the first Filipino, and the first Asian, and the first Hispanic American Idol, Filipinos need to stop claiming that such an honor is shared with us.

This isn’t even just pride anymore; it’s egotism. This is not like a parent beaming over a child with accomplishment; this is like a chained dog cheering over a long and successful struggle of a wolf with a huge prey and then claiming that the success is his because a distant unknown ancestor was once a wolf. My little brown fellowmen, this competition, this triumph, is not about you; this is about her. This is about Jessica and her long and turbulent struggle to come this far in such a prestigious competition. If you wanted to support her, why don’t you just support her? Why didn’t you support Jessica because she is a talented singer and a sister for us? No, you did it because you feel the triumph can be our own. It isn’t. Jessica is not a symbol of our country; she is an incredibly talented individual who got where she is because of her skills and charisma. Most importantly, she is only Filipino because of half of her genetic makeup; as far as I can see it, she is 100% American.

Racism in the Philippines

Just so everyone knows—I am not the kind of person who likes to think or talk about interracial tensions. In fact, I delight in the idea of interracial harmony. I also enjoy reading and viewing fiction about interracial romances such as in Save the Last Dance, The Joy Luck Club, Othello, The Last of the Mohicans, Spanglish and Legacy, among others. At present, I am writing two.

So I don’t like these stories (real or fiction) about Filipinos being bullied outside this country; but neither do I like hearing Filipinos complaining about it with unnecessary pride and passion. As a Filipino myself, I understand that my people have been treated unfairly in the past, and it’s a cause for some righteous anger. But I think it’s no reason for us to be unreasonably angry with our ex-colonizers OR revere them for a reason that I totally do not know.

Growing up in a country where colonial mentalities remain to be the diseases of society, I am extremely thankful that my family and I do not have the same perceptions about foreigners, especially white Americans. But to our disappointment, the residue of such behavior could still be observed in the people around us. We don’t want to say we are ashamed to be Filipinos, but we see that there isn’t much to be proud of either, because the pride that some of our countrymen is showing is confused with vanity and arrogance.

I am not going to talk about how many Filipinos brag about how we are the best. I think too many foreigners and some intelligent folk from this country have already complained about that so I leave it to them.

But let me share you three events that my family experienced recently: two were my father’s personal experiences, and one was my sister’s and mine.

In a not-so-distant past, my father was boarding a bus home. The bus wasn’t full, so he spotted many unoccupied seats there. When he chose a good one, somebody in the bus told him to get another seat because “Americans are sitting there.” My family—we don’t think of people of other colors that way. To us, people are people. If somebody—regardless of race—leaves a good seat in a bus vacant, we would gladly take it unless the person previously sitting there made it clear that they don’t want anyone else sitting there (e.g. leaves his bag there). But the “Americans” just left the bus to buy something and left the good seat vacant, so my father sat there. “So what?” my father said. “Did they tell you to keep this seat empty? This is a public place; I can sit where I want.” The person who told him to leave the seat spoke no more. The two “Americans” did not complain when they returned. My father was even more annoyed that the two Caucasians were actually French (or perhaps French-speaking Canadians).

In a more recent event, Papa was temporarily assigned in Clark Air Base when his international and domestic flights would be from Clark and back, not Manila. Cebu Pacific arranged with the local Holiday Inn to accommodate Cebu Pacific pilots. Being a former US Air Base, Clark still has a large percentage of Caucasians in the population. But my father noticed a peculiarity in the behavior of the employees of Holiday Inn: at the dining area, when the guest is a foreigner, especially when white, the employees would be warm, greeting the guest with a ready smile, even guiding the guest to his table without being asked. My father wasn’t treated the same way, although he was as much a guest as any big white American in the hotel. “What kind of training are you giving to your employees?” he asked the manager irritably when he complained about it. The manager, a Filipino, graciously thanked him for the comments and promised to do something about it.

About two weeks or so later, Papa was assigned in Clark once again. This time, he took Mama, my little sister Coleen and me with him.

On Wednesday, June 10, 2009, our second day, my sister and I went to the pool in the back of the hotel. The shallower end of the pool was full of people; since we were used to swimming in a pool with only our relatives, we chose to step into the empty deeper end, which was just four feet deep. To our surprise, the employees who are watching the pool guests told us to join the other guests in the shallow end, and we obeyed. I speculated that they were going to clean up the surface of the water at the empty end, but they did nothing anyway. My sister and I aren’t rule breakers by nature so we stayed with the strangers.

Then, about half an hour or so later, a brown-haired white man entered the deeper end of the pool with his kids, and nobody stopped him. I don’t understand it—why were my sister and I told to join the strangers and not that guy? But this gets worse: his son, who must be about eleven years old, handed him a glass of mango juice while he was still in the water—food and drinks are not allowed in the pool. Again, nobody stopped him.

My sister, who is a passionate anti-racist, was fuming.

But we didn’t tell this to our parents, because we knew that it would be our father who would complain. We didn’t want our father to get a reputation at the hotel for being such a frequent complainer. Besides, it wasn’t that big a deal; there could a good reason why we weren’t allowed in the deeper end of the pool. Maybe there was a schedule, I dunno…

Anyway, regarding all three instances, we all have the same thoughts: Why do Filipinos tend to be so nice to foreigners and not their own countrymen? If we want foreigners to respect us as a nation, we should start respecting each other and ourselves. I think the reason why foreigners think we’re slaves is because we act like such—putting Caucasians on the pedestal as though they’re so much better than us. I don’t believe they’re not, but us treating them with unnecessary reverence gives them an impression that we don’t value ourselves as much. And now, it’s becoming too real. We don’t value ourselves properly anymore.

Seriously, I don’t know where our society’s going at this rate.