READ: Netizen Speaks Up About The Discrimination Against Bisaya People

Having a Lola who is pure Bisaya and a Lolo who is pure Tagalog, I grew up appreciating both cultures and languages. I can understand Bisaya and I even know how to speak it in a conversational setting. However, growing up, I am also aware of the lousy prejudice and stereotypes that are being thrown to Bisaya people. If it hurts me to hear such statements and insensitive comments, what more for Bisaya people?

An open letter was written by Rachel Amestoso where she discussed the discrimination against Bisaya people. Her lengthy Facebook post aims to address people who questioned the recent Philippine Bar Examinations results given that Visayas-based university topped the list of passers.

Read her full post below:

_{Let me put this here, because the discrimination against Bisaya people has gone fucking extreme:}

_{People say the results of the recent bar exam smell fishy. People say it’s impossible that no one from those who placed in the top 10 came from a Luzon-based university. People say that it has something to do with the president being Bisaya. People say bisaya people passed because the questions were in bisaya. People say that we must expect a breed of low quality lawyers from now on. The discriminating statements could go on but..}

_{Binisaya ko kadali aning parteha. Kung di gali ka kasabot aning linyaha ikaw ang bogo natong duha. Kasabot ko nimo magtinagalog or english pa ka. Ani nga point pa lang, kinsay bogo nato duha? Ay nag tubag. Pakauwaw ra kas imo lolo}

_{I know where this is coming from.}

_{People from the Visayas were always portrayed in the television as dumb and ridiculous and can do nothing more than being a mere house helper. People made fun of our language, people made fun of our speech. Radio stations use words from our language only when the intention is to make a joke or say something dirty at least. I remember one conversation between two women in a salon i went to,}

_{“nakakuha ka na ng bisaya? ” 
“di pa nga e ihanap mo nga ako”
“sige mas okay kasi mas makakamura ka pag nakakuha ka ng yaya na bisaya.”}

_{Talk about commodifying my people.}

_{“ayaw ng mga anak ko ng bisaya e”
“dun mo na pakainin at patulugin sa may kusina, yun ginawa ko sa yaya namin ayaw kasi ng anak ko sa kanya”}

_{Aaand we’re treated like dogs.}

_{I remember fully well how one of my teachers back in grade school told us their helper was so surprised they let her eat with them at their dining table. Apparently, her past bosses in Manila made her eat in the kitchen sink.}

_{Going back, first day of college in a Luzon-based University, i got laughed at for my weak tagalog communication skills. No worries, i told myself. At least i can understand what’s going on. Still I got questioned for being there when i could’ve been back home as if i did not deserve to study there. Fast forward to idk what year in college but i got a boyfriend from the oh my god superior tagalog race. Know what his parents said? “bakit ka nag girlfriend ng bisaya.” You know, because bisaya people aren’t viewed as humans yata by the superior tagalog race so i basically didn’t deserve the motherfucker. B*TCH IT’S YOUR SON WHO DID NOT DESERVE ME.}

_{“Bisaya ka? Bat ang puti mo”}

_{TAGALOG RAY PWEDE PUTI? TAGALOG KA? ABI KO BAG NAA MOY UTOK}

_{“Bisaya ka? Bat ang ganda mo”}

_{FLATTERED KO PERO BOGO GIHAPON KA}

_{“May kuryente sa inyo? “}

_{NAY KURINTI SA AMO SA INYO NAAY COMMON SENSE?}

_{“Bisaya ka? Pano ka nakapag aral dito”}

_{BITCH BECAUSE I PASSED UPCAT AND MY PARENTS CAN AFFORD MY EDUCATION, WHAT’S GOOD}

_{And other shit:}

_{“pag bisaya diba jejemon”
“nakakaintindi ka ng english? “
“jologs nun e bisaya kasi”}

_{Fast forward in college and i was an applicant in an organization whose members made me sing bisaya songs and laughed at me like retards. Pinagmumura ko lang kayo with melody di niyo lang alam. Sinong tanga}

_Anyway,

_{You know what’s funnier than a bisaya person trying to speak tagalog? Answer: a tagalog person unable to understand a bisaya conversation}

_{You know who’s bobo? Answer: people who assume they’re automatically smarter because they were born in a place whose people spoke a particular language}

_{I don’t get it. Pag topnotchers from a Visayas based university, smells fishy agad pero pag topnotchers na bisaya pero from a Luzon based university, okay lang? So you’re saying universities from Luzon are automatically of higher quality and universities from the Visayas are always less? FYI, there are so many universities from the Visayas who breed excellent and competitive students. You’re so complacent with the thought that you’re superior you actually overlooked the fact that you’re not. You try so hard to appear bigger you ended up inhaling too much air inside.}

_{I’m not saying we should hate each other and there should be a war between bisaya people and tagalog people BUT YOU CALLED FOR IT. AND NO, THIS ISN’T AN ISSUE NA DAPAT DI PINAPALAKI KASI WE’VE BEEN DEALING WITH THIS FORM OF DISCRIMINATION ALL OUR LIVES. IT’S SOMETHING YOU WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND BECAUSE YOU GREW UP TAGALOG. AND I COULD’VE SPOKEN ENTIRELY IN BISAYA HERE BUT HEY KAWAWA NAMAN KAYO DIBA DI NIYO MAGETS}

_{Suko mo suko pod mi pero ug mag lalis ta, di mo kastoryag di mi kasabot. Nan. Bogo.}

1. _{S. YOU SHOULD BE HAPPY PEOPLE FROM VISAYAS BASED UNIVERSITIES ARE PERFORMING WELL BECAUSE THAT MEANS OUR EDUCATION SYSTEMS ARE GOOD. KAILANGAN TAGALOG LANG ANG MAGALING?}

_{ALSO NOT SAYING ALL LUZON PEOPLE ARE LIKE THIS PERO STILL}

_{*end of rant & slaps all of your faces*}

Hope we can all learn from this, and hopefully, we can avoid discriminating and stereotyping other people based on race, province, dialect, social status and a lot more. It’s about time for us to think before we speak, to be culturally appropriate, and to be human enough to consider other people’s feelings.

What are your thoughts on this? Tell us in the comments.