No other country in Asia has as colonial a mentality as do the
Philippines.
Filipinos regard themselves as "natives" of the Philippines. While it
is grammatically and semantically true, that they are the natives of the
Philippines, it is also strange that they consider themselves natives,
and it is a clear linguistic indicator of the typical Philippine
inferiority complex.
"Natives" are second-class citizens in their own country. American
natives, or the small number that hasn't been murdered by European
immigrants, are those who live in reservations. In the United States, these
reservations typically are located in the most useless stretches of land.
It’s basically the same with Australian aboriginals.
You can ask a Thai or Indonesian person, or even a Cambodian or
Vietnamese, what he considers himself. Any of them would never come up with
stating that he is a Thai native, or an Indonesian native, or a Cambodian
native, or a Vietnamese native. He will identify himself as Thai,
Indonesian, Cambodian, or Vietnamese. Basta. No "native".
Only when the Filipinos stand up and consider themselves proud people
in their own right will they linguistically abandon that "natives" shit.
So, what is a "colonial mentality"? A colonial mentality is
characterized by a willingness of its holder to consider himself inferior to the
colonial masters. Filipinos never objected to being typified as "little
brown brothers" when in fact their colonial masters where overweight
pale grandpas.
The terms "natives" and "little brown brothers" fit exactly the idea of
"the white man's burden", used as an ideological justification by
Western powers to colonize the world.
Actually, Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936, Nobel prize 1907) coined the term
precisely for the US colonization of the Philippines.
White man’s burden
(http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~wldciv/world_civ_reader/world_civ_reader_2/kipling.html)
In accordance to the white man’s burden political theory, Western
powers had a moral obligation to colonize the world (even if they would not
have wanted to) in order to bring proper moral standards to the
barbarians everywhere else.
Which is why colonizing armies where always accompanied by hordes of
missionaries.
While the US bases in the Philippines have been closed down, a typical
leftover of the "white man's burden" in the Philippines is missionary
Shay C ... who rescues child prostitutes in Olongapo, where previously a
US military base was located.
I have pointed out in another article that I do not think that he is
truly guided by moral contemplations. Anybody who is truly guided by
moral contemplations would have to address the worst moral problem first,
even at the greatest personal risk. Out of a truly moral perspective,
non-dangerous assignments are suspect, which is why the Catholic Church
canonizes martyrs, and not those who preach good deeds from a safe
distance.
Missionary C… is not on a dangerous post, but a comfortable one. He is
unassailable and immensely popular. If he really would be guided by
nothing but moral contemplations, he could make a difference for the
millions of children who live and die in agony in Africa.
So, while missionary C… likes to project himself as having a big heart,
he really just has a big ego.
And of course, no environment is as suited for a missionary on a
publicity trip as a country with a colonial mentality.
Being a Westerner himself, it is, and always was, easy for him to
attract the Western media to report about his good deeds, and Western media
attention means international recognition far beyond the Philippines.
I have read that missionary C… has been nominated as a candidate for
the Peace Nobel Prize, apparently more than once (and this is what
prompted me to write this piece).
I think that it would be offensive towards Filipinos if the first Nobel
Prize to make itself to the Philippines would be handed to a foreigner
living there. It would be a powerful reinforcement of the idea of the
"white man's burden", the idea that the "white man" has a moral
obligation to tell the "natives" of "lower cultures" what proper sexual ethics
are and how to enforce them.
There are numerous Filipinos and Filipinas, who could do the job of Mr.
C…, not less but more effectively, just without the foreign media
tamtam.
However, because Mr. C… is the international star, no Filipino /
Filipina will ever have an opportunity to profile himself / herself through
the rescue of child prostitutes. And thus, Mr. C… is an obstacle to the
emancipation of the Filipinos.
Thais and Indonesians don't consider themselves as "natives", and as a
matter of principle, Thailand and Indonesia would not accept a
foreigner as the leading moral authority in the country. In China, the concept
would be entirely ridiculous. It's about time that the Philippines
adopt legislation that allows the country to grow up.
A sensible solution would be to limit the time during which foreigners
can do missionary or moral work to 2 or 5 years. That limitation should
also cover naturalized citizens who initially came to the Philippines
to do missionary or moral work. This will give genuine Filipinos and
Filipinas the opportunity to profile themselves as moral authorities in
their own country.
