Proud to be what?

Facebook (FB), the most widely used social network on the Internet, is getting closer to its billionth user worldwide. As of May 2012, FB has over 900 million active users, with more than 30 million Pinoy subscribers, the seventh largest in FB’s entire network.

Raissa Robles, the famous or infamous Pinoy blogger who was catapulted to notoriety by her anti-Corona blogs during the impeachment hearing of the Supreme Court Chief Justice, was surprised to find her FB account terminated after the conviction of the Chief Justice last May 29. Only after an on-line petition was started demanding her reinstatement that FB eventually restored her account. Whether Ms. Robles was unfriended due to violation of FB community standards, no one really knows. Despite criticism of FB as being too invasive of personal privacy, this is one matter the FB organization has firewalled, so it seems their privacy is the only one sacred in the entire network.

Be that as it may, sometimes FB users could elicit reactions that are enlightening or revolting, depending on how one looks at them. Take for example the picture below, which seems at first glance like a poster about mixing and matching clothes, but drew out a different and very critical response from an FB friend.

Here’s the response of an FB user to this poster in Tagalog in its entirety:

“Ang tanga lang ng kampanyang ito. Kung hindi talaga tanga, magaling ang nakaisip nito para gawin tayong tanga na tangkilikin ang kanilang produkto at maging proud sa ideya na ang kagandahan at pang world class na Filipina ay parang pagbi-breed lang ng aso.

“Ang husay rin ng pagturing nito sa babae na parang produkto lang na binubugaw bilang palahian.

“Dapat sa inyo binabayo!” (End of quote)

A loose English translation is as follows:

“This is really a stupid campaign. If not stupid, the people behind it are really smart to make us look stupid by buying their products and being proud of the idea that achieving beauty and the world-class Filipina is akin to dog-breeding.

“They’re also clever to treat women as a commodity that can be pimped for mating purposes.

“You should be smashed!” (End of quote).

The poster claims that mixing and matching the Filipino blood with other nationalities is a sure-fire formula to produce a world-class and competitive Filipina beauty. Having a Filipino lineage is something one must be proud of, it adds, because it puts the Filipino on a level-playing field with other nationalities in almost all aspects.

This poster is arrogant and very condescending to Filipinos, insinuating that we need to be cross-bred with other races to become world-class beauties. But it may actually be true among many Filipinos who still continue to regard the “mestiza” as beautiful or the Western standard of beauty as superior to the natural beauty of our native Filipino women. Like Rizal’s Doña Victorina who thought she was more Spanish than a Spaniard that she hid herself behind tons of make-up and heavy European dresses. Or Filipinos married to foreign husbands or wives who would not hesitate to send their young daughters to the Philippines to compete in beauty pageants or become movie stars believing that their progenies are more beautiful and attractive than their local counterparts because of their mixed genes.

It is not an argument against mixed marriage or in-breeding with other races, but to say that our native women can only be considered world-class if they are the result of inter-racial procreation is simply a disgusting idea. Beauty can be world-class whether you come from your native race or from a mixture of races. Beauty is not race-specific.

Sometime ago I was reading a blog written by Raymond “Mong” Palatino, president of the Kabataan (Youth) Party and a member of the House of Representatives in the Philippines, who asked the question: “Are Filipinos Asian?”

While Filipinos are officially classified as Asians, the Philippines being geographically a part of Southeast Asia, calling them as Pacific Islanders is not necessarily wrong or misleading according to Palatino. For a very long time before the Spaniards colonized the Philippines, Filipinos were known as Pacific Islanders. When the Americans came at the turn of the 20th century, they described the Philippines as “orphans of the Pacific,” probably referring to its geographical distance from the Asian mainland.

The Philippine archipelago is a political creation of Western colonizers. When Spain colonized the Philippines, it centralized its cluster of more than 7,000 islands into one nation-state. What would have happened if Spain didn’t colonize the islands? Palatino suggested that Luzon, the largest island could have become a territory of China or Taiwan, while Mindanao in the south could have become a province of Malaysia or Indonesia. Or there was the possibility of a bigger federation of the Philippine Islands, Taiwan and parts of Malaysia and Indonesia.

Oftentimes, most Filipinos both at home and abroad are sceptical of their true identity. Although they believe they’re Asians, many feel a closer affinity to the West, especially the United States. They seem to be prouder of their Western upbringing or being hyphenated American or Canadian than their native Asian roots—a colonial mentality ingrained in the minds of Filipinos from hundreds of years of foreign colonization.

Many Filipinos don’t appreciate or understand the cultural and religious practices of their neighbours in Southeast Asia. Oftentimes, they are unaware of Southeast Asian politics, although the dispute in the South China Sea to some extent has kept them updated with China’s aggressive foreign policy against its smaller neighbouring countries like Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia and Brunei. Only because the seeming tug-of-war between Chinese and Filipino fishermen looks like an entertaining story to follow.

Rabid to the bones in showing subservience to the United States, their former colonial master, most Filipinos particularly those who have migrated to America would forever swear allegiance to an imperialist America but never to an imperialist China. For them, being pro-American is just as being loyal and patriotic to the Philippines even if America’s military expansionism is clearly evident in Asia and the Pacific region. As one Pinoy-Canadian proudly said, “more power to the USA! I'd rather go to bed with a power that shares my values than one that doesn’t,” meaning, China.

What are we really proud of—to be Pinoy? Or Asian?

When our Filipino boxers or entertainers become world famous, we announce to everyone in the universe how much we are proud to be Pinoys. Whenever Manny Pacquiao knocks his opponent out in the ring, Pinoys all over the world rejoice and celebrate. Or when Charice Pempengco sings on U.S. television or before an American audience, we all love and praise her to high heavens because she’s a Pinoy like us. Even American Idol runner-up Jessica Sanchez who happens to be half-Filipino and half-Mexican, has been fully embraced by Filipinos at home and abroad as one of us.

Proud to be Pinoy - World boxing champion Manny Pacquiao and others. Click
link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2vr2Ehf9Tw&feature=related to view
 "Proud to be Pinoy ka ba?"

But our pride in being Filipino is never linked to our roots from the Malay race, that we are proud descendants of the waves of Malays and Indonesians who first came to our islands long before the Spaniards and the Americans colonized us. We have never regarded our Asian neighbours as kindred in race and spirit. In choosing life-partners or simply on how we look, Filipinos would rather prefer to be “meztisa” or “meztisilla,” not the brown-skinned Malay native. Thus, in politics, we would rather be on the side of the Americans no matter how the latter is loathed and unwelcomed by our neighbours.

What is it really about being Pinoy that we can be proud of? In the next few days our community organizations in Toronto will be celebrating various festivities to commemorate Philippine Independence Day. Most of these festivities will focus on beauty pageants—Miss Philippines or Miss Whatever, Santacruzan, parade of lechons, Independence balls featuring the so-called shakers and movers in the community, musical entertainment, and many others that have nothing to do whatsoever with the independence of our country which we are celebrating.

A smaller group of Filipinos, on the other hand, will be picketing the Philippine Consulate in Toronto on June 11, 2012, to demand removal of U.S. troops who are in the Philippines under the Philippines-U.S. Visiting Forces Agreement. This group is composed of members of Bayan-Toronto, Anakbayan-Toronto, Migrante-Canada, Gabriela-Toronto, Binnadang, FMWM, iWWorkers, ILPS-Canada, and others continuing the Filipino struggle for genuine independence for the Philippines.

If there’s anything every Filipino in Toronto could be proud of this week, this is one shining moment for us—young and old—to join and show not only to the Philippine government but also to Canadians as well and to the world, that as a country, we cannot be truly proud until we have removed all vestiges of foreign control and intervention in our national affairs. But for sure, our ever-loyal and patriotic Pinoy–Canadians in Toronto would probably turn their noses at these young Filipinos and mock their claims for true independence for the Philippines. One thing they would ask is where were these young people when their parents and elders were demonstrating in front of the Chinese Consulate some weeks ago to protest China’s aggressive and bullying tactics in the South China Sea. This to them is the litmus test of genuine Filipino patriotism, even if it means being branded as pro-Americans.

Shameless subculture

Summer is almost around the corner and Filipino community organizations in the Greater Toronto Area are once again soaked in unabashed excitement over their so-called cultural offerings to more than 250,000 Filipino-Canadians in the area. This is usually the time of the year when these organizations wake up from their winter hibernation to prepare for the parade of Filipino beauties—young and old, Mr. and Miss or Mrs.—along with the retinue of roast pigs or lechons that vie with the frenzy and revelry of the entertainment festivals that go with the celebration of Philippine Independence Day on June 12.

Time again for Filipino beauty pageants in Metro Toronto, courtesy of the Philippine
Independence Day Council (PIDC). Click image to view "Money Issues Surface as
New  Officers Take Over  Toronto's PIDC,"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFvfAV26CIQ&feature=relmfu

Two major organizations are currently embroiled in a simmering feud about transparency and accountability in financial reporting of the monies raised by their respective beauty pageants. The Philippine Independence Day Council (PIDC), the “mother” of all these so-called organizations, has raised some questions on the way its beauty pageants were run before by a former officer who now sits as a ranking official of the Philippine Canadian Charitable Foundation (PCCF), a rival and spin-off organization.

At the centre of the feud is the allegation made by former PIDC president Ms. Minda Neri that Ms. Rosemer Enverga, now an official of the PCCF, did not make a full financial disclosure with regard to the beauty pageants she managed when she was still with the PIDC. Ms. Enverga, during a press conference she called recently, denied any wrongdoing with her previous running of the PIDC beauty pageants.

This kind of bickering between organizations within the Filipino community is neither unusual nor unheard of. With hundreds of groups organized and motivated to cater to the entertainment of Filipino residents in the metropolitan area, it is almost natural to expect that rival groups would eventually clash and even hurl allegations of improprieties against each other. That has been the practice among Filipinos everywhere, whether at home or overseas. It is as if without the in-fighting everything becomes lifeless and dull, a habit that does not speak well of Filipinos, a baggage they have not done away with even in the Diaspora.

But it’s not the feuding among Filipinos in Toronto that is really depressing. Rather, it is the subculture that these so-called leaders have brought to this metropolis. It is their penchant for crowning Filipino women and girls as beauty queens that has become a shameless exercise, not to mention the appetite for showcasing “bakya” entertainment for the masses, as if this is the best of Filipino culture that one can offer.

During her press conference, Ms. Enverga said that with more than 250,000 Filipinos in the Greater Toronto Area, “we can have as much fiestas and festivals every year, yet we cannot be able to accommodate” all our Filipino kababayans. “This goes also true to beauty pageants; we can have as much beauty pageants. The more, the merrier. So much the better if we can have a lot of choices,” she added.

Not to be outdone, rival organization, Philippine Canadian Charitable Foundation (PCCF)
hosts it own Pinoy Fiesta & Trade Show at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

Who are these beauty queens? Let us just mention the titles.

Miss PIDC-Philippines, Miss Philippines-Canada, Little Miss Philippines-Canada, Mrs. Philippines-Canada, Paraluman, Miss Carassauga, Miss Caregiver, Miss Manila, Miss Santacruzan, Reyna Elena, Miss Photogenic, Miss Congeniality, Miss (insert name of town or city in the Philippines), etcetera, etcetera.

Why do the likes of Ms. Enverga and other so-called Filipino leaders in the community keep on celebrating our culture in this brazen way? Beauty queens do not represent Filipino culture, and putting these women on the pedestal shows an utter misunderstanding of cultivated behaviour that underlies the fabric of one’s culture.

In holding these beauty contests every year, these so-called leaders are entrenching this tradition as a subculture, no matter how useless and insignificant to our lives and struggles in this foreign city. Sure enough, they offer us fleeting entertainment and diversion from the humdrum struggle of survival that most of us go through. But we are stooping so low in the estimation of other people who think that Filipinos are a beauty pageant-crazy nation. To say that we can hardly accommodate the hundreds of thousands of Filipinos living in the Greater Toronto Area only blows up our collective low self-esteem, that there’s really nothing we can be proud of except for our “Miss-whatever” contests.

A young Muslim woman replying to an opinion survey whether beauty contests are degrading wrote the following response:

“I agree that beauty contests are degrading. They degrade women to mere objects. The sponsors exploit women by requiring them to parade in swimsuits or even lingerie. They are judged mainly on their physical appearance rather than on any other qualities they may possess.

“When the women parade themselves on stage, the judges will look at a number of things, but the most important criteria will probably be poise. To achieve proper poise, a woman's body should be well proportioned—having a neck proportionate to her height, lanky legs, and so on. This process of evaluating poise can be compared to dog shows where golden retrievers of the wrong bodily proportions are kicked out of the competition. I feel judging women primarily on their looks degrade womanhood.”

Indeed, beauty contests project an unrealistic image of the ideal woman in the eyes of the public. We are already inundated with silly standards of beauty by the mass media; we don’t need beauty pageants to further aggravate such situation.

Just consider this as a thought. The first modern beauty pageant was held in 1854 by P.T. Barnum of the renowned circus called the Ringling Bros. & Barnum and Bailey Circus, but his beauty contest was closed down by public protest. Barnum also held dog, baby and bird beauty contests, quite an unpleasant category in which we can lump our present-day beauty contests.

Including young children in beauty competitions further degrades this tradition. Like the American reality show, “Toddlers and Tiaras,” a search for Miss Little Philippines is totally disgusting, an excuse for physical and emotional abuse of the child.

Most psychologists are unanimous in finding that children's beauty pageants are not in the best interests of healthy child development. There is enough undue, exaggerated focus on superficial beauty in our culture without children being pitted against each other in a contest of looks. Our so-called leaders in the community like Ms. Enverga and company pay no apparent regard to considerable body of research that demonstrates why beauty contests are harmful to kids.

This Filipino passion for beauty queens is a mere extension of our collective appetite for shallow entertainment as a panacea for our shortcomings as a people. We tend to hide under the veneer of popular songs, dances and other forms of amusement in order to distract others from seeing our borrowed and western-oriented culture. Because we are good entertainers, we keep others amused and somehow forget our insecurities.

As a people, we tend to be easily distracted by the more mundane and ordinary pursuits in life. Take the case of the Gawad Kalinga (GK) Global Summit which is going to be held in Toronto this coming June 8 and 9. This GK summit is about GK’s role in eradicating poverty and their thrust on learning social enterprises as a platform for liberating the poor from the vicious cycle of poverty. Yet, the Toronto organizers have focused on promoting a gala concert by Philippine musician Ryan Cayabyab and his ensemble of singers on the eve of the summit, instead of giving play to GK founder Tony Meloto who is scheduled to give the keynote speech the following day.

This much shows our priorities and scale of values: singing and hobnobbing with the community’s rich and famous trump the substance of the GK Summit. Just like the celebration of our national independence, the significance of the day is lost and buried in the various festivals and beauty pageants which people would rather see in droves. But the shameless part of all this preoccupation with the commonplace and banal is obviously the role played by our so-called community leaders in promoting this heritage of trumpeting our biggest shame: our penchant for celebrating the inane, our propensity for embracing shallow pursuits over substantive issues that truly affect us as a community.