I
AM compelled to write this as response to some people who need a bit
of education or info about other cultural truths/facts beyond their
own. Years ago, the Oxford Dictionary insensitively defined Filipina
as domestic helper. Of course, we vehemently protested. That shows
that even supposedly "respected" institutions with the name
"Oxford" can be grossly ignorant and misinformed. Though I
admit that many Pinays seek employment abroad as domestic helpers or
maids. But most, if not all, of these women had college education or
degrees back home.
Meantime,
most of the Filipina nurses that I know (I covered this a lot as
editor of Filipino newspapers in both coasts--New York City and Los
Angeles/Frisco), including my relatives, take nursing (later, a
higher Medicine degree) after graduating in a 4-year college
education in the Philippines because of the fact that Nursing and
other Medical profession pay better than a glamorous career like in
Arts, for example (unless you are famous). In fact, even popular
showbiz celebs back home when they get here, forget their fame, and
take in employment in medical field (or other jobs that pay more) for
practical reasons. The common denominator is, these women sacrifice
their individual dreams or careers so that they'd be able to help the
entire family and community. Like, send other siblings and kids of
kin to college, build them houses, capital for business, send them
help on a monthly basis. "Sacrificing" means having to work
as maids, for example. Family and community reign supreme in their
being. That love supercedes their ego or pride as the I-me-mine. You
may ask, what about the men? That'd be another subject.
PINAY!
A Filipina woman led a revolution against colonizers in mid-1700s
with essentially a homemade machete ("bolo"). The Filipino
people have already installed in presidential power two women--a
religious housewife who majored in French and a 5-foot fairy with an
Ivy League degree in Economics. The Philippines is known, among
others, for two powerful women. One led with a shining rosary, the
other ruled with sequined shoes--on either side of the human
spectrum. The first could smother you with love, the other could beat
you up with high-heels! They are called Kumander or Boss Bosschief
back home. You don't mess with them.
SOME
people it seems derive satisfaction from widening cracks
among/between us—by fuelling anger between camps. On the contrary,
I never had any problems mixing with all kinds of cultures and
peoples in my life. I enjoy it. I just respect them for what they are
and enjoy what we mutually like and not touch subjects that may
trigger sensitive areas. Problem is some people actually trigger
sensitive areas instead of just enjoying what we could share on the
positive end. That's what my objective with Traveling
Bonfires/Bonfires for Peace. Just gather and dance and enjoy.
If
we can pursue that in any place that we'd find ourselves, then there
is Hope for Peace. I survived a world where mere speaking openly,
although within the context of Law and regard for law enforcement,
was silenced by a hail of bullets. Even when I was an active
protestor as a young man in the Philippines and in the US, I never
condoned the show of anger and anarchy in protest movements. I helped
plan out moves and rallies, even emceed a number, but I never sided
with provocation. I suspended activists who vandalized cars and
buildings and maligned innocent bystanders and cussed at police. In
my concerts that I organized, I kicked out volunteers who professed a
partisan line and advised performers to stick to music and no F words
in my show. We can assure change if we appeal to the public at large,
the uninitiated and uninformed, and not with the choir. And the
people out there who value goodness than evil gravitate to a smile
and a hug, not a booming voice of hate, screaming of vengeance and
retaliation.
All
lives matter. All colors deserve to lay down on the grass as the sky
watches over. Evil doesn't come in black or white, yellow or red,
brown or grey. Evil doesn't have any color as in goodness doesn't
reveal a shade or hue. But all these, we feel them. And feelings
thrive in only one beat: Peace. And there will be no peace if we
disobey and disregard and disrespect.
ALL
these news. They confuse more than they inform. I notice that media
have been more prone to slide to social media banter than journalism
objectivity. Sadly. They tend to judge and advocate than report and
educate via facts. And where is the justice system or the synergy
between community/people's vigilance and governmental/legal response?
Everything is social media fodder. One has to gain PR perfume or
deodorizer to elicit "favorable" response. If a personality
doesn't look like the president of Canada and unaware of mass
communication that wins 1,000 "love" and "likes,"
then that person is dissed.
Tomorrow, I will read another "salvaging"
accusation hurled at cops and cops will response on the line of
"tangina!" (“Fuck it!”) And then expect 1,000 memes
from that, shared 2,000x in 1 minute machinegun interval. Do the
math. We are doomed. That is why people simply cave in with their
laptops and play Pokemon Go or selfie their chicken pork adobo dinner
or escape to Winterfell, fantasizing that Jon Snow could be their
next president and Gandhi incarnate is their next chief of police.
Peace is a Netflix TV series.
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