We Filipinos continuously pride ourselves on our so-called “Filipino world-class hospitality” — we like to say that we’re the most hospitable race ever, always so generous to each and every one of our guests! Hence, it isn’t such a no-brainer why we believe our country is suited for tourism, as we go to lengths to make our visitors welcome during their stay.
And then, there’s our humor. As well-meaning as we may be, we Pinoys have a lot of self-deprecation in our humor, and so “teasing” someone about their physical attributes or characteristics (“Balyena”, “Baluga”, “Intsik baho” come to mind) is pretty much harmless. What we seem to be unaware of, however, is our tendency to be unintentionally casually racist and discriminating.
So it’s not so hard to see, really, when someone outside our culture comes to visit and comes across this aspect of our culture, it can be jarring and offensive. Take Youtuber Elayne Peddy from the United Kingdom, for example, who recently visited the beautiful island of El Nido, Palawan — named as the best island in the world– and though she found the Philippines to be a “truly beautiful country” with our blue waters and pristine natural resources… it wasn’t enough for her to refrain from referring to her trip to the country as her “worst holiday ever”, being called by locals as a “fat ugly monkey”, “big black fat girl”, among other names.
Watch the video here:
The Youtuber teared up in her video as she recalled being asked to “pay twice because I was fat, fat” and that she’s never been so disrespected in her life. Elayne also said that her trips to Cebu and Manila were fine, but the four days she spent in El Nido were the worst.
Whether this was just all a case of cultural difference or not, I’d like to offer my sympathies to Elayne over the mere fact that she had experienced discomfort during her stay in the country, as Filipinos are truly kind at heart.
Still, respect for one another should resonate above all.
Thoughts on this? Let us know in the comments!
So sorry for what happened. Discrimination is ignorance.
Hope we get the chance to elevate this matter to our government agencies responsible in addressing/resolving this matter ASAP… this British woman did not deserve to be treated that way.
I’m really sorry for your experience there. I lived there for 3 years and i know what they are like. They do not like dark skin and the women carry around umbrellas because they hate dark skin because its a cultural and status to look as white as they can so people wont think they are farm workers. I like a good tan on me, but they worship very light skin. My father that is 79 years old has pale skin and they worship his skin and want to touch it. To me, this is very strange.. And regarding your weight, most philippines are very poor and under educated and work very hard for little wages and never gain any weight, so when they see a heavy set person, it makes them look twice,, Myself, they made me feel like a King my entire stay in the philippines and this although made me feel very good was in fact only because im a white Americano and they see me as a waking ATM machine… So basically what im telling you, the Philippines culture is not a well adjusted culture and they give values based upon skin color and nationalities…. I hope this helps explain a little bit
I know how you feel. Glad you just spent 4 days. I been living here in USA for years.
kahit nga ako nakaka experience din akong ganyan sa kapwa ko Filipino, mostly naman ang mga may ugaling ganyan yong mga galing province, pero diko nalang banggitin kung anong province kasi halos lahat naman na province meron ganon, at isa pa taga province din ako, pag humaharap ako sa salamin sa tingin ko mas okay pa nga ang mukha ko sa taong yon, sana lahat nalang na lumalabas sa bibig ng kapwa natin ay papuri sa kapwa nalang para iwas sama ng loob para masaya tayong lahat…