The past weekend was a calamity recovery scene for the Philippines again. What with Typhoon Mario battering and inundating Metro Manila and severe traffic still hounding our nation’s streets. Add to that the rising criminality, low level of respect for our political institutions and the insane rush for people’s money in the budget deliberation and we have a full recipe for national disaster.
That is why, when that Aegis BPO video maligning the soundness of investing in the Philippines was posted to YouTube, even if I felt indignant, there was that loud voice in my head that said “correct!”
Because even if it was wrong for a company to insult a nation—a company thad had to sell their business here, in the US and Costa Rica due to financial concerns—the accusations still rang so true.
Ours is an economy that should be fast rising if not for poorly chosen political leaders and economic managers. Ours are leaders who are reactionaries and not visionaries, maybe add thieves to that list. Of course, we also have a society that is so selfish on the micro level and yet so sensitive to global impressions that we do not care to choose our leaders correctly but scream foul at the slightest slur on our nationality.
We choose not to excel here in the country but quickly claim relation to any foreigner who has even a semblance of Filipino blood to gain worldwide recognition. This has gotten so ridiculous that we actually nationalize a foreign basketball player so he can give honor and glory to our flag. A joke the whole world is laughing at—and yet something that we are so proud of.
So now we scream at Malaysia, demand a public apology from Aegis, get it at the quickest moment and then what? Did the problems the Aegis advertisement illustrate and enumerate go away? Did the global apology increase the stature of our nation in the world economic arena?
I don’t think so. That butt-hurt really scored some serious damage on our feelings, but hey, every year a Filipino or Filipina is either hanged, jailed, abused, tortured or raped somewhere in the world and there is nothing we can do about it. Because even with all the apologies, ours is a country so low in the respect meter of the world, that to them any pain they cause us can be soothed by a simple apology on global TV. After that, they can go abuse us again.
So, hey, bask on the glory of the Aegis apology! Why not? It won’t be the last. Not until we get our act together as a nation.
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