Refuting the fraud-Mr. Art Bell's Article, Filipinos... makes me puke

Hahaha... I just have to re-edit this. I guess I didn't realize that I made a lot of grammatical and typographical errors because I was so pissed off...
anyway, it's the same stuff, just grammatically better.

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I'm not sure if anyone had seen or read the article I'm referring to, but for those who missed it, I'll post it for your convenience and to refresh the memories of those who managed to read it...



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Filipinos.....*make me puke* (Art Bell)

As we've all come to notice, in the past few decades, Filipinos have begun to infest the United States like some sort of disease. Their extensive involvement in the U.S. Armed Forces is proof of the trashy kind of qualities all Filipinos tend to exhibit on a regular basis. You can see this clearly by studying the attitudes and cultural Icons of most Filipino Americans.

Origins of Pinoys/Pinays:


Are they really Asian? Well we've come to accept the fact the Filipinos come from a part of the world known as South East Asia. But the term "Asia" is used in the wrong way. You may notice that contemporary Filipino Americans try very hard to associate themselves with groups that we know as Asian. I cannot count the number of times I have seen a 'Third World' Filipino try to connect themselves to the Chinese or Japanese people. There is no connection and here's why. The Philippines is a Third World country. Nothing respectable has EVER been created by Filipino people during our entire human history. Young Filipino men in America have become obsessed with "import racing". They have an enormously perverted affection for Japanese cars. It's a common phenomenon. In their minds, these Filipinos somehow believe that they are Asian and that it somehow connects them to Japanese people and Japanese cars. They often take credit for the ingenuity of Japanese people and say how it's an "Asian thing". This term..."Asian thing" derived directly from African American slang "blackthang". "It's a black thang." "It's an asian thang." You can see the connection. It's even funnier that, in Japan, Filipinos are heavily discriminated against. The only filipinos that can live successfully in Japan are the filipino prostitutes. But that's the case for most Filipino people no matter where they live in the world. Now we've come down to this fact...and it is a fact.

Nothing in Filipino Culture can be seen as Asian. They have no architectural, artistic, or cultural influence which is in ANY way, asian. Thinking of the great countries in Asia such as Japan, Korea, and China there is no way you can possibly connect the Philippine Islands. This assault by filipino americans to connect themselves with the great peoples of North East Asia is foul and disgusting. Try visiting a young filipino's web site too. You'll see something called the "Asian IRC Ring". It has to do with the chatrooms. The most horrible thing about this is that these TRASHY people are trying to associate themselves with Asia again!! People in Asia don't act like, this at all. What we are seeing here is the natural Filipino in it's element with full access to technology and this is how they act! You will consistently see this behavior over and over again.

Another interesting thing is that these "thirdworld" people also frequent RC chatrooms such as #chinese #japan and #asian. They must believe that they are some how related racially or culturally to North Asians. But it's completely WRONG! There might have been some distant contact With China and even less with Japan during World War II, but these people are actually more closely related to African americans and Mexican americans.


Do the parents of these young filipinos know what's going on? Would they accept this? I believe that they would and do. This is the natural "Trash" element in filipinos manifesting itself. Nothing good has ever come from Philippines and I don't believe anything good ever will.


Recognizing your Roots (A Message to Filipinos)

To all filipino people:
Please recognize your ROOTS! You come from the Third World! You country is a disgusting and filthy place. Most people there live in poverty! Your culture has MUCH MORE SPANISH influence than chinese, and absolutely no JAPANESE influence whatsoever. People in Japan and China, do not act like you. They do not constantly talk about sex and they have a MUCH HIGHER level of RESPECT for each other. There is NO WAY that you can connect yourself to Asia other than location. Your culture and technological advancement does not even come CLOSE to What Chinese, people have done in the past and what Japanese and Korean people are doing now! Everything you do is distinctly filipino. You cannot take credit for Japanese cars, video games, or Hentai! It's not an "asian thing" it's, an "American thing". You have no concept of culture...no concept of asian ideas or asian philosophy! Can you demonstrate how you use Confucianism or Taoism in you everyday life?? You can't. And you will NEVER be able to. I understand that you are trying to create an identity for yourselves as young people... but it is NOT related to Asia.


Your Identity is Filipino. That's all you are. Just Filipino. Think about what that means....

Sincerely,

Art

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In relation to what I am about to say, I ask you all to bear in mind that the one behind this Hate mail was not the real Art Bell, rather someone mindful of the attention associated with the name to use it as his/her pseudonym in showing his/her ignomity.

It must be said that this had circulated several months ago through e-mail, if I remember correctly, and it is due to my heavy schedule that I had not been able to place my own response to this outright libel.

A person who forgets to look at his own roots before degrading another is like a wannabe star badmouthing his/her rival. I don't believe anyone has a right to call another race "thrash" and degrade them to nothing more than a speck of dust. I ask you now, if an American says Filipinos are trashy because they have no real culture, but only cultures from the invading forces that had dominated the Philippines for more than 3 centuries, then wouldn't it be just fair if the Filipinos called these Americans British or English "trash" as well since it had been apparently clear in American history that these so-called White Americans had been nothing more than society outcasts and their families who left England or Britain to settle in the continent they had dubbed the "New World" away from the stifling English society where First-Born males were given the highest priority? Of course Filipinos could do that, but that would mean stooping to their level of thrash talk.

Anyone who's familiar with Philippine history would firmly state that this person made the mistake of saying that Filipinos don't have a culture when in fact, we do. Way before the Spanish vessel had first landed on our archipelago, we had our own rich culture that had sadly been replaced with another. Long before the Spanish unified the archipelago with their conquest for the "sake of religion", Filipinos had been living a peaceful life. They had their own form of primitive government where a datu ruled a town or barrio, the society had been egalitarian, meaning women had been given equal rights as men, their own concept of art, as could be deduced from the painted, or tattooed bodies that had been considered their own label of fashion, and the instruments they had developed for music. Moreover, these primitive ancestors had been able to build their own home using the resources available at their disposal, living in harmony with nature.

The Spanish had been a colorful historical landmark in the sense they had changed the Philippines as the first Filipinos had known it. Roads had been flattened and became cobbled, buildings and structures using stones had been erected, rails had been placed on the windows and heavy clothing replaced the clothes that had been designed for our climate. Anito worship had been replaced with a half-understood Christianity, women had been cast away from their positions as equals of men and been reduced to a place of hearth and home, banned from getting a proper education that includes Mathematics and Science. The natives had been made to feel inferior, because of their hospitality, they had been believed to be nothing more than eager to serve others, that the Spanish had fashioned themselves to be lords, someone that had not seen the handle of a broom or a walis-tingting. Forced into inferiority by these White Europeans, the Philippines had been treated nothing more than a vacation place a rich aristocrat or elite might have on the shores of some lake in the country, away from the heavy bustle of city life. If you think about it, the corrupt Spaniards had introduced the concept of graft and corruption in the first place, as well as other vices that had plaqued our nation at the moment. I am not blaming the Spaniards of today since they had not done anything to warrant any blame on their part. I'm talking about the past, and I'm not entirely saying that the Spanish invasion had not been beneficial in some ways.

The Americans had done a better job, but sad to say had left a trait that had been the downfall of many a business in the country. I am referring to the fact that most Filipinos believed our goods to be inferior to that of the Americans, the so-called "colonial mentality". They had been conditioned in the belief that as long that it's imported, it's of good quality. What a lot of these people don't realize is that the labor of some of these "imported" goods had been done by their own countrymen as well.

The Japanese occupation had been one unforgetable event in our long history. It had been filled with oppression and an air of despair and hopelessness, and yet the courageous among our people had dared to stand up against them despite the lack of support by the Americans. Who's to say that we owe our courage to our conquerors when in fact it had been ingrained within us way before the Spaniards had first laid their eyes on our shores?

Now that we've recounted some highlights of the history of our people, I believe it just follows that we bring to light some of the values and traits that had already been incorporated in our brief historical discussion. I don't think we owe to any conqueror our courage, nor our artistic inclinations during the pre-Spanish period. It should be noted that the Filipinos are naturally hospitable and resourceful. Moreover, we value the concept of bayanihan, the collective effort of helping a fellowmen. How many countries can boast of having a trait such as this?

I would also like to ask this person if he had any idea at all of the architectural structures Filipinos had erected during the Pre-Spanish period. Sure, we do not have similar architectural structures such that could be seen in countries such as Japan with their tatami mats and shoji screen, China with their tiled roof, but it must be put into consideration the fact that our country is located further south than these two, nearer the equator, and therefore experiencing a different climate. Houses made out of rock takes a lot work and our ingenious people had managed to make their homes not out of rocks, but out of the bamboos that were abundant in resources. Because of our climate, houses made of bamboos made it a lot cooler during the summer months and having a raised floor protects it from the flood in the monsoon season. If you're still unclear to what I am referring to, I am talking about our national house, the Bahay Kubo.

What is wrong by calling ourselves Asian, because we truly are Asian? We are not Asian based on geography alone, we share values with other Asian culture that this person knows nothing about. We are, as I said before a hybrid of different cultures, a melting pot of various origins both from Asia and other continents. Yet, despite the influences of Western countries with their suspicious outlook in life and individualistic lifestyle, we Asians had always stuck together, we all share the collectivistic view on society. Each Asian could find something that would connect him to his continent in whole world, so why would someone begrudge any Asian to seek out its roots? If this person feels so strongly against Asians, Filipinos in particular, why would he need to write this under someone else's name? It only further strengthens my belief that he had no idea what he was talking about. Rizal wasn't a coward, nor was Balagtas when they decided to write against the Spanish colonial authority in the Philippines during that time, so why would this be any different?

I have to say I am disgusted that this person feels that it is a shame to be a member of a "Third World" country. We might not be technologically advance, but being looked down upon by one as ignorant as this person appears to be is enough to make any country under the so-called "Third World" banner furious. He must try to get his facts straight because as far as any educated women and men are concerned, the Filipinos had contributed a number of important things to the world. The invention of Khaos wasn't made by an American, and in case for those who had no idea of what this gadget is for, let me enlighten you. Khaos is a gadget that allows car owners to save on gas by almost 50% and it's a really timely invention since oil isn't exactly an unlimited resource. Is this person even aware that the Filipinos discovered the beneficial uses of virgin coconut oil? Or what about the medicine for the foot and mouth disease? Erythromycin was discovered by Dr. Abelardo Aguilar, Agapito Flores designed the flourescent lamp that we used today, even the former American President Bill Clinton had entrusted his health to Dr. Eleanor "Connie" Concepcion Mariano, a Filipina doctor that even became the youngest captain in the US navy. And who could forget the disaster that a Filipino had created with his "ILOVEYOU" bug? Jose Rizal was a genius in his own right, being able to write at the age of two, growing up and becoming a lot more than an opthalmologist. He was a writer, a painter, a sculptor and a teacher. And besides that, he had learned to speak 20 languages, not an easy feat for anyone. So how could this person just state that nothing good or important had ever come from our shores? He needs to investigate more and he might just find that a Filipino had been behind the special effects used in his favorite movie, a Filipino engineer had built his computer, there are so many things nameless Filipinos had contributed to society and to degrade a people into nothing more than a labor machine of no importance is very pathetic.

I would further like to point out that we do not constantly talk about sex and being liberal with that term had been the cause of your influence. Our people used to be a conservative nation, in some respects it is still is, however to accuse of thinking nothing more than sex twenty-four seven reveals the fact that you are indeed in an insecure position. There is nothing entirely wrong of talking and exchanging information about sex, since it is not a taboo term. Furthermore, being open about such an issue lessens the chances of putting it to practice without prior knowledge, such that had befell India with its high-rate of AIDS-afflicted individuals due to lack of responsible sex education.

Another thing, there's a reason we are called the only Catholic country in Asia, cause the majority of our people are Catholics. So why does this person have to ask us about applying Confucianism or Taoism in our everyday life? You don't see me asking a person from another country that question because it is irrelevant. Not all Asians are Buddhist or Taoist for your information.

Whatever this person understands, it is not that we are trying to find an identity for ourselves, because every individual goes through that stage. As a people, we already have an identity so why should we seek out something more? The only thing we are looking for is who we truly are as a person, in case identity crisis is too technical a term for this person. Psychologists know this, and even laymen understands this concept so how about this person, is he open-minded enough to realize that?

This person had ended his essay saying we should think about it, being a Filipino I mean. And that must be the only part I agree with him wholeheartedly. True, I am just a Filipino, and I'm proud of being called one. I am not a Filipino by blood, but I am born a Filipino, a Filipino that could make a name for myself, even in a small scale, through the traits that each Filipino had learned to acquire, the perseverance to succeed.