Ugly slurs from Teri Hatcher to Judy Ann!
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PHIL STAR
Nation
INSIDE CEBU By Bobit S. Avila
Friday, January 4, 2008
Last October, the whole Filipino community here and abroad vehemently
expressed their indignation to the racist slur or remark by actress
Teri Hatcher on an episode of the hit TV drama series Desperate
Housewives where she insulted Filipino doctors who graduated in
Philippine medical schools. That slur incensed the entire nation;
after all, Filipino medical practitioners are highly sought-after in
many Western countries, including the United States. The ABC network
has since apologized for the offensive remark, making sure that it
would never happen again.
Well, if you think that since this incident, movie actresses would
have stopped making racist remarks, you're dead wrong! Last Christmas,
a movie entry in the Manila Film Festival, Sakal, Sakali, Saklolo,
from my favorite movie producer Star Cinema featured a conversation
between actresses Gloria Diaz and Judy Ann Santos, who was complaining
that her child was learning to speak Bisaya from her yaya. She said,
"Dapat Tagalog para Pinoy!" Translated, she was practically saying,
"You should speak to the child in Tagalog, otherwise, it's not Filipino!"
I have always been in the forefront in the fight for respect for all
spoken languages in this country and since this movie was already
shown in many areas, allow me to say that Star Cinema ought to tell
its screenplay writers and especially its actors that they should be
extra sensitive in making such racist slurs or uncalled-for remarks
that hurt the sensitivities of people living in non-Tagalog-speaking
areas.
I would have written this article a week ago, but then few people read
anything during the holidays, focusing only on their last-minute
shopping. But the die has been cast. When actress Teri Hatcher made
that racist remark last October, it sent a loud outcry across the
Pacific Ocean that Filipinos would never tolerate such an offensive
remark. This latest incident should also send a clear message not only
to Star Cinema, but also to other Tagalog film production outfits and
film producers as well that we, the Visayan-speaking people in this
country, would never tolerate such snide remarks!
If we're not happy with actress Teri Hatcher making offensive remarks
against Filipinos, I'd like to make it clear here that Cebuanos, too,
won't tolerate a Filipino actress like Judy Ann Santos making
insulting remarks about us Cebuanos. If there are no reactions yet
from the provincial government of Cebu or Cebuano congressmen, it is
only because we were in the middle of the Christmas break or recess.
I'm sure that when our elected officials go back to work, this issue
will be discussed.
Perhaps now is the time to remind our friends in the Tagalog-speaking
areas that when that Portuguese explorer in the employ of King Charles
I (he was later known as Charles V, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire)
or the Spanish Crown arrived in the Island of Cebu with the ship
Armada de Molucca, he was met by Cebuanos. The settlements along the
Pasig River were only discovered when 49 years later Spanish
Conquistador Miguel Lopez de Legazpi came back to retrace (and to
conquer Manila) the voyage of Magellan on this still unnamed
archipelago, which was eventually named after King Philip II of Spain,
who authorized the Legazpi expedition.
This brings us to the question, "Are the Bisayans, Kapam*pangans,
Ilocanos, Pangasinenses, Bicolanos, Tausogs, Zam*boangueños, Ilonggos
and Warays also not considered Pinoys?" Allow me to rephrase that
question… "Is the Pinoy name reserved only for Tagalogs? Or should
Cebuanos start talking about getting independence from the Philippines
because we are not welcomed here anymore?" Judy Ann Santos ought to
give us her reply to this query.
My friend Prof. Fred Cabuang, who is in the forefront in the struggle
to preserve all the spoken and dying languages in this archipelago,
wrote this: "When will we ever learn that being a Pinoy is not
measured by one's ability to speak the Tagalog language only? Are the
Bisayans, Kapampangans, Pa*nga*sinenses, Ilocanos, Bico*lanos not
worthy of being called 'Pinoys' too? Do our Bisayan athletic heroes
who did well in the Southeast Asian Games in Thailand have to learn
Tagalog well before they are considered 'Pinoys?'
"What about world-renowned Manny Pacquiao, does he have to learn
Tagalog well, too, before he can be called a real 'Pinoy' hero? And
surely, nobody will question the pride of Pampanga, our beloved
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her father Diosdado Macapagal;
did they become 'Pinoys' only when they learned to speak Tagalog?"
When will Pinoys learn and realize that the Philippines is a
culturally diverse country speaking different tongues?
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