by Scott Allford
October 18, 2009
If you live outside of the Philippines and you watch or read the news you may feel very justified in believing that the Philippines is a very dangerous country, savaged by typhoons, earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, and terrorist attacks. You may also be assured in your belief that it is a poor country with images of children picking through garbage, slums, and corruption scandals broadcast in most international news reports. I am not going to deny that these things are true, however, they are not all that the country contains. Not every person in the Philippines is poor, a terrorist or a victim of terror. In fact other countries around the world suffer from these same problems yet they do not become iconic images of those nations.
The Common View of the Philippines
A few months ago I was at a roof-top birthday party in Makati filled with socialites and expats. Whilst there I was introduced to a German ‘journalist’, and my friend asked him why the Philippines is portrayed in such a negative light in the foreign media. His response was in two parts; Firstly because in his experience he could not sell stories about the Philippines in Germany if they were not about poverty, violence or corruption. Secondly, he said that because there is so much poverty, violence, and corruption, there is nothing else to report on. After saying this, he sipped his glass of red wine and was whisked away into a group of Filipino socialites.
Perhaps the red wine was ‘poor’ in taste, or the fact that that particular roof-top was one of the few in Makati which doesn’t have a swimming pool made him focus on the poverty in the Philippines, or maybe the sounds of merrymaking were ‘violent’ on his ears. I think that it was none of these things. Germany, a developed country, has slums. But if the focus can be moved away from the poverty in the developed countries and put on some islands way out in the Pacific Ocean, then people in developed countries can feel a little bit better.
I remember growing up in Australia, taking garbage out to the dump after cleaning up the garden. I would see Aboriginals picking through the garbage for food. Yet that has never been an iconic image of Australia. I went to ‘water villages’ in Malaysia and Brunei and thought how similar they look to slums in Manila. Yet ‘water villages’ are tourist attractions and the slums here are not. I lived in South Korea a few hundred kilometres away from the DMZ, with jets and helicopters flying overhead all the time it felt like a war zone. In the spring I would have 40 tanks facing in the direction of my apartment. Yet South Korea is generally not viewed or branded as a dangerous country. And South Korea has slums too. Perhaps the time will come when people outside the Philippines will come to realize that the branded image of the Philippines portrayed in the media is only a small piece of the full picture of this country.
A Different View
Since the Philippines was settled by people 30,000 years ago, this country has blossomed into a mix of over 180 indigenous ethnic groups, over half of which also represent unique linguistic groups. This array of cultures, languages and cultural artifacts cannot be matched by most nations of the world. From the Ilocano, Pangasinense, Kapampangan, Tagalog, Bicolano, and Visayans to the Binukid, Moros, Ati, Igorot, and the T’boli, just to name a few. These cultures are rich, strong and proud and in most cases the people that make up these cultures are very friendly and welcoming to outsiders. On a trip to Sagada I was welcomed into a very warm and friendly Kankanaey family. T hey showed us around Sagada and told us stories of Kankanaey cultural practices. They even taught me how to wear a traditional bahag (a hand-loomed loin cloth or G-string).
Neighbouring Sagada is Ifugao, with vast rice terraces that shape the mountains of the region. The oldest rice terraces are 6,000 years old, which is 1,000 years older than the oldest pyramid in Egypt. If put end to end the rice terraces dwarf the Great Wall of China, and the rice terraces were not made by using slave labor like most other ancient wonders of the world.
The Banaue Rice Terraces are a UNESCO World Heritage site. But they are not alone. The Philippines have numerous UNESCO world heritage sites including the Baroque churches of San Agustin Church in Manila, Nuestra Señora de la Asuncion in Santa Maria, Ilocos Sur, San Agustin Church in Paoay, Ilocos Norte, and Sto. Tomas de Villanueva Church in Miag-ao, Iloilo. There is also the beautiful and historic town of Vigan in Ilocos Sur. Furthermore, there are the natural UNESCO World Heritage sites of the Puerto-Princesa Subterranean River National Park and the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park.
Lastly, the Philippines consists of 7,107 beautiful islands. These islands contain remote beaches and amazing rock formations as well as other natural wonders like the Chocolate Hills in Bohol, the perfectly conical Mt. Mayon volcano or the stunning Bacuit Bay in El Nido, Palwan. B ut also on these islands is a range of biodiversity not seen in most other places on the planet. In Romblon, Sibuyan Island is known as the Galapagos of Asia as it contains such a diverse range of species which can be found nowhere else on the planet. If you get off these islands and dive into the cool blue-turquoise waters of the Philippines, you may also see some of the richest biodiversity in the world’s seas. The Verde Island Passage has been named as the ‘centre of the centre’ of marine biodiversity in the world. It has over 300 species of corals as well as vast numbers of fish that you will not find anywhere else.
With all that this country has to offer, I am baffled as to why it has been branded in such a negative way by the international media. However, I think that more and more people are starting to discover that there is a different side to the Philippines to the one they have been bombarded with for the past few decades. Those who come to the Philippines to seek out the beauty of this country will not be disappointed. However, first time travelers to the Philippines should beware, just like me and many other foreigners, this amazing country may compel you to stay quite a bit longer than you initially planned.
----------------
Scott M. Allford has lived and worked in Australia and South Korea and has traveled extensively throughout Asia - Mongolia, China, Tibet, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia and Japan – fell in love with the Philippines and decided to allocate at least two years to comprehensively cover the country.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Final piece of a puzzle by Krisanne Alcantara
Philippine Daily Inquirer First Posted 02:57:00 02/09/2008
The great Filipino Diaspora has resulted in countless Filipinos settling down all over the world, in countries such > as the United States, Canada and Australia. These Filipinos are admired for uprooting completely and attaining the coveted Western dream, all-inclusive of the dollar-earning corporate job, Mercedes-Benz, shiny Gap-clothed offspring and glittering palatial homes in the suburbs.
But let me tell you, all that glitters is not gold.
I know, because I am one of those Filipino-Australian /American offspring, part of an entire generation of young Filipino adults who have lived and been raised "abroad," a generation who, despite being born into the Great American Dream of their progenitors, cannot help but suffer from some form of identity crisis.
I am the perfect case study. Born in Manila, shipped to Australia for 10 years, only to be relocated in America, then back in Australia during my adolescence, I had completely given up finding a place to call home. Consequently, for years I insisted on calling myself a "citizen of the world." By the ripe old age of 21, I was jaded and slightly defiant, if not a little confused.
That was until a week ago, when I found myself standing in the middle of a traffic-congested road with no distinct lanes, poorly attempting to "para" [halt] a jeepney in the thick of the Manila heat, knowing a total of 12 words in Tagalog and not knowing the difference between a P5 and a P10 coin -- and feeling right at home.
Coming back to the Philippines in my adulthood is akin to the satisfaction of finding that final piece of the puzzle and placing it snugly where it belongs. It is like filling an empty space that you never knew existed. "Where have you been all these years?" I wondered, as sweat poured down my brow and I was almost killed by a reckless taxi driver.
Ironically, I have lived the "dream life" abroad like so many Filipinos constantly tell me they are desperate for. Whenever I mention that I currently reside in Australia, this revelation is always immediately followed by something along the lines of "Ay, Australia, gusto ko 'dyan!" ["Australia, I want to be there!"]
And with good reason. Me too, I like it in Australia. It's practically impossible not to like the country. It is so clean and so green, there is hardly any traffic and the weather obeys the seasons: winter means "cold" and summer means "hot."
Yet, now, after years of desperately trying to find this elusive place called home and instead being offered breathtakingly beautiful substitutes, I find myself loving a country where winter means "hot," and summer means "heat so excruciating you may as well be living inside a furnace." It's a country where people stare at me like an alien when I attempt to speak Tagalog (and oh, I try so hard), and a country where the skyline is defiled by billboards of heavily airbrushed superstars advertising anything, from hair products to coffee creamer.
What many people don't know about we "lucky" Filipinos who have lived abroad our entire lives is that there is a tug-of-war that happens beneath the surface for many of us. There is an entire generation of Filipino young adults who have been brought up in another country, who experience a constant, underlying struggle between the culture that runs in their blood, and the culture that they live and breathe on a daily basis.
We are the young people who have been forced by our parents to adopt English as our first language and eat Weetbix and Cornflakes for breakfast. We nonchalantly take our SATs or HSCs, knowing that getting into universities is no drama, and neither is finding some form of employment if we fail.
Yet there is some kind of inexplicable emptiness that is hard to fill, or even admit, that is common among many of us Fil-Oz and Fil-Am youngsters.
I know this, having Filipino cousins and friends in both America and Australia. Within many of us lies the similar, disjointed feeling of being neither here nor there, being neither wholly American/Australian nor wholly Filipino.
Please don't misunderstand me. I love Australia. It has been very kind to me, and I would not be sitting here had it not generously awarded me a free education at one of its most prestigious universities and then sent me to work here, expenses paid. And I know it sounds shallow, but boy, is Australia beautiful.
But the Philippines possesses a different kind of beauty that does not have to do with immaculate greenery, flawless stretches of golden desert and glittering turquoise ocean. In my opinion, the Philippines is beautiful because of its irony and its endearing imperfection.
A Third World country with gargantuan shopping malls to rival the world's best. A country with the most shopping malls, and also the most slum areas and poverty. A country so devoutly Roman Catholic yet also one of the most destitute and plagued with the most problematic of governments. And a country whose citizens are labelled "the happiest people in the world," according to the Chinese Asiaweek.
I have witnessed firsthand the breathtaking opulence of Malacañan Palace during vin d'honneur, and I have visited slums where shanties are packed so tightly together that the tiny doors can only open inwards and children run around barefoot and naked. I have witnessed both Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo' s presidential address beneath a glittering crystal chandelier and the heartbreaking sight of a sweating man standing in between two lanes of traffic, balancing a stand of peanuts on one arm and his toddler in the other.
The Philippines is such a charming, enchanting, endearing mess of a country. Nothing really seems to fit, yet it all does.
And it reminds me a bit of myself. Perhaps that's why I feel like I fit right in. Perhaps that's why after all these years I can say I have finally, thankfully, found my home.
So, for all you fellow Filipinos here in the Philippines who dream of a life abroad, I am not telling you to stop dreaming. Explore your horizons. Go to college, apply for scholarships, and work abroad. Just know where you came from, and feel blessed to have what you have. And never forget to come back to help your fellowmen, your people
And to the lost souls, the confused "citizens of the world" like me who may be reading this: Don't lose hope. As the famous saying goes, "Life is a voyage that's homeward bound." In other words, no matter where or how far you wander, don't fret -- you will one day end up where you belong. Take it from me.
----------------------
Krisanne Alcantara, 21, is a journalism student at the University of Sydney. She won the Myer and AKF journalism scholarship and is currently an intern at the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
Copyright 2008 Philippine Daily Inquirer. All rights reserved.
The great Filipino Diaspora has resulted in countless Filipinos settling down all over the world, in countries such > as the United States, Canada and Australia. These Filipinos are admired for uprooting completely and attaining the coveted Western dream, all-inclusive of the dollar-earning corporate job, Mercedes-Benz, shiny Gap-clothed offspring and glittering palatial homes in the suburbs.
But let me tell you, all that glitters is not gold.
I know, because I am one of those Filipino-Australian /American offspring, part of an entire generation of young Filipino adults who have lived and been raised "abroad," a generation who, despite being born into the Great American Dream of their progenitors, cannot help but suffer from some form of identity crisis.
I am the perfect case study. Born in Manila, shipped to Australia for 10 years, only to be relocated in America, then back in Australia during my adolescence, I had completely given up finding a place to call home. Consequently, for years I insisted on calling myself a "citizen of the world." By the ripe old age of 21, I was jaded and slightly defiant, if not a little confused.
That was until a week ago, when I found myself standing in the middle of a traffic-congested road with no distinct lanes, poorly attempting to "para" [halt] a jeepney in the thick of the Manila heat, knowing a total of 12 words in Tagalog and not knowing the difference between a P5 and a P10 coin -- and feeling right at home.
Coming back to the Philippines in my adulthood is akin to the satisfaction of finding that final piece of the puzzle and placing it snugly where it belongs. It is like filling an empty space that you never knew existed. "Where have you been all these years?" I wondered, as sweat poured down my brow and I was almost killed by a reckless taxi driver.
Ironically, I have lived the "dream life" abroad like so many Filipinos constantly tell me they are desperate for. Whenever I mention that I currently reside in Australia, this revelation is always immediately followed by something along the lines of "Ay, Australia, gusto ko 'dyan!" ["Australia, I want to be there!"]
And with good reason. Me too, I like it in Australia. It's practically impossible not to like the country. It is so clean and so green, there is hardly any traffic and the weather obeys the seasons: winter means "cold" and summer means "hot."
Yet, now, after years of desperately trying to find this elusive place called home and instead being offered breathtakingly beautiful substitutes, I find myself loving a country where winter means "hot," and summer means "heat so excruciating you may as well be living inside a furnace." It's a country where people stare at me like an alien when I attempt to speak Tagalog (and oh, I try so hard), and a country where the skyline is defiled by billboards of heavily airbrushed superstars advertising anything, from hair products to coffee creamer.
What many people don't know about we "lucky" Filipinos who have lived abroad our entire lives is that there is a tug-of-war that happens beneath the surface for many of us. There is an entire generation of Filipino young adults who have been brought up in another country, who experience a constant, underlying struggle between the culture that runs in their blood, and the culture that they live and breathe on a daily basis.
We are the young people who have been forced by our parents to adopt English as our first language and eat Weetbix and Cornflakes for breakfast. We nonchalantly take our SATs or HSCs, knowing that getting into universities is no drama, and neither is finding some form of employment if we fail.
Yet there is some kind of inexplicable emptiness that is hard to fill, or even admit, that is common among many of us Fil-Oz and Fil-Am youngsters.
I know this, having Filipino cousins and friends in both America and Australia. Within many of us lies the similar, disjointed feeling of being neither here nor there, being neither wholly American/Australian nor wholly Filipino.
Please don't misunderstand me. I love Australia. It has been very kind to me, and I would not be sitting here had it not generously awarded me a free education at one of its most prestigious universities and then sent me to work here, expenses paid. And I know it sounds shallow, but boy, is Australia beautiful.
But the Philippines possesses a different kind of beauty that does not have to do with immaculate greenery, flawless stretches of golden desert and glittering turquoise ocean. In my opinion, the Philippines is beautiful because of its irony and its endearing imperfection.
A Third World country with gargantuan shopping malls to rival the world's best. A country with the most shopping malls, and also the most slum areas and poverty. A country so devoutly Roman Catholic yet also one of the most destitute and plagued with the most problematic of governments. And a country whose citizens are labelled "the happiest people in the world," according to the Chinese Asiaweek.
I have witnessed firsthand the breathtaking opulence of Malacañan Palace during vin d'honneur, and I have visited slums where shanties are packed so tightly together that the tiny doors can only open inwards and children run around barefoot and naked. I have witnessed both Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo' s presidential address beneath a glittering crystal chandelier and the heartbreaking sight of a sweating man standing in between two lanes of traffic, balancing a stand of peanuts on one arm and his toddler in the other.
The Philippines is such a charming, enchanting, endearing mess of a country. Nothing really seems to fit, yet it all does.
And it reminds me a bit of myself. Perhaps that's why I feel like I fit right in. Perhaps that's why after all these years I can say I have finally, thankfully, found my home.
So, for all you fellow Filipinos here in the Philippines who dream of a life abroad, I am not telling you to stop dreaming. Explore your horizons. Go to college, apply for scholarships, and work abroad. Just know where you came from, and feel blessed to have what you have. And never forget to come back to help your fellowmen, your people
And to the lost souls, the confused "citizens of the world" like me who may be reading this: Don't lose hope. As the famous saying goes, "Life is a voyage that's homeward bound." In other words, no matter where or how far you wander, don't fret -- you will one day end up where you belong. Take it from me.
----------------------
Krisanne Alcantara, 21, is a journalism student at the University of Sydney. She won the Myer and AKF journalism scholarship and is currently an intern at the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
Copyright 2008 Philippine Daily Inquirer. All rights reserved.
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