A Taste Of Their Own Medicine

The Chinese-Filipino community in the Philippines is in an uproar over the supposed racist comments made by Chief Presidential Legal Adviser Sergio Apostol in a media interview on Friday. The Palace official was apparently lambasting Rodolfo "Jun" Lozada Jr., who testified in the ongoing Senate inquiry into the alleged overpricing of the NBN-ZTE broadband project. Apostol's comment is quoted below from an ABS-CBN news article.

"He is a crying witness like a crying lady. Di ba sabi niya 'probinsyanong Intsik'? Intsik pala siya eh. Kung ako ipapa-deport ko na 'yan. Magulo ka dito."

Now, I don't know about you, but it seems to me that the statement has been taken out of context. In my own understanding, Apostol was merely referring to those foreigners who are "troublemakers". In whatever country you may be, if you have violated its laws or are otherwise deemed to be an undesirable alien, you will be deported.

On the other hand, I find it hypocritical of Chinese-Filipinos to be falling all over themselves denouncing this statement as racist. The Chinese-Filipino community in the Philippines is known to be clannish and to look down on non-Chinese Filipino ethnic groups as somehow belonging to a lower social order. It is a known practice of Chinese families to cast off their children who choose to marry non-Chinese Filipinos, or otherwise snub non-Chinese spouses. The racist attitude of the Chinese community towards non-Chinese in the Philippines has been going on since time immemorial of Chinese immigration until the present, and happens in many aspects of Chinese interaction with non-Chinese Filipinos.

Have these self-righteous Chinese-Filipino groups done anything about this? I would really like to see the likes of Teresita Ang See extend their efforts to breaking down the tradition of snotty exclusivity in the Chinese-Filipino community, and not simply confine those efforts to resisting discrimination against Chinese-Filipinos. Then only can they take the moral high ground in condemning acts violative of the rights of citizens "regardless of ethnic origins".

Moreover, Apostol's critics are overlooking the fact that it was Lozada himself who referred to himself as a "probinsyanong Intsik". By doing so, Lozada was effectively distinguishing himself from Filipinos of other ethnic orgins, or "ordinary Filipinos", something that Apostol merely reacted to. Perhaps it is because this is a common attitude among Chinese-Filipinos that they saw nothing wrong with it, and instead took exception to Apostol's reaction.