Filipino Hospitality: A Myth

The Philippines being a former colony of Spain and the United States has left a severe cultural scar within the Filipino psyche today. Colonial mentality as most people would call it is deeply ingrained within Philippine culture today. How is that evident today? The other day in the MRT this white Caucasian guy came into the train. Probably half the people in the car were staring at him just because he was white, and he literally stuck out like a sore thumb among the Filipinos in the train.

Eventually random Filipinos asked this random Caucasian guy mundane questions, such as where he was from, where was he going, or did he have a girlfriend. He was even offered a seat on occasion. Now would people do that to a Filipino in another country? When pigs fly, I guess. One look at the Caucasian guy and I could tell he was kinda annoyed. I guess that is why Filipino hospitality is so legendary in a sense that if you couple it with colonial mentality, voila, the end result of being overly-nice to foreigners.

This attitude is not exempt to Caucasians alone. Probably almost any foreigner with a certain accent that silly Filipinos call "twang" would pass as a candidate for our hospitality. Singaporeans, Australians, and even the Koreans would suddenly get some sort of VIP access to many areas around the country. When I was waiting for my guest at NAIA Terminal 1, this group of Koreans were suddenly allowed to go past the Greeter's Area so that they could welcome their friend. Filipinos who wanted to do that were still held by the guard as opposed to the Koreans who were simply waived through.

In terms of customer service, as a Filipino, if you go to most retail stores or other service-related places, you would be given a rather indifferent treatment and most service staff would just give you an indifferent experience with limited smiles and limited customer service. If you were a foreigner, you would instantly become a VIP in your own right and you would get what you want if you simply complain. Basically if a Filipino is in trouble, we treat it as a "wala lang" kind of deal. Indifference. If the customer was a foreigner, we would be very careful and give this foreigner the best, and only the best.

So why is it that we Filipinos don't help our own kind? Probably because we got fed up of seeing each others faces for a long time that we just don't care about each other any more and apathy took over this thing called "bayanihan" that seems to surface only during times of crisis and elections. Then we see these foreigners in the poshest of places in the country, enjoying whatever is there.

I performed a little experiment with some friends one time. Because of my knowledge in Nihongo and my looks that could pass off as a Japanese person, we went to some stores and I acted like a Japanese person, speaking in Nihongo to the best of my ability. (And how convincing it sounds, I might add.) I just told my friends to play along and observe how people would react at the stores we visited.

At a retail store, we went around the store and I gave comments in Japanese, with my friends playing along. I eventually noticed all eyes were on us and the sales staff were stalking us around the store. When I reached for an item, one sales staff suddenly offered me a shopping basket. I just said "Iranai." (no need) as a reply. When we left the store, we tried to hold in our laughter until at the mall's exit where we finally let out our laughter and had one of the best trippings ever.

I've been using this colonial mentality to my advantage somehow. If I wanted to get a bit more, I would simply pretend to be a Japanese person at let's say, a fast food outlet. If I wanted a bit more in my serving, I would talk in Nihongo and they would give some more fries in my serving. If I revealed my identity as Filipino they'd probably tell me that's the normal serving.

Unless Filipinos could learn to mature and say that foreigners need not be our masters, I can always go around the next store and exploit the sales/service staff with my Japanese facade.

The Bus. Part of Urban Blight.

Dubbed as "Kings of the Road" second to those blasted metallic hunks of scrap metal called jeepneys, buses in our country are no different in terms of crass methods of "professional driving" for public transportation. Like in most developing countries, the drivers and the methods of these buses are very dangerous to an extent that it endangers both the passengers and motorists on busy thoroughfares. Well-known for their smoke-belching, loud horns and simply blocking the traffic flow, buses are definitely a blight in our system today.

Because of the increased ridership in our train system nowadays which still needs improvement, you could find buses either half-empty or with no passengers at all. That is because buses fail at being an efficient public transportation system. You could find all sorts of buses within Metro Manila so let me profile them for you.

1. The "Survivor"

- The non-aircon bus. These are basically buses with no air-conditioning and equipped with uncomfortable seats. And more importantly, railings. Why? For you to hold on

for your dear life. These things are like zombies for some reason. Made out of the carcasses of rejected buses and refurbished to function again, they move slow during the day because of the heavy traffic. However, come nightfall, these things are speed demons that make your ride a rollercoaster, literally. Personally, I would only ride this for short trips or if I have no other choice. You may also find more of these in the provincial routes. For you thrill-seekers, enjoy.

2. The Japanese Second-Hand

- A small second-hand aircon bus imported from Japan. These buses are quite noticeable for their old, musty interior and refurbished seats made to fit Philippine standards. (And by

Philippine standards, I mean mediocrity.) Unaligned seats, musty smell and suffocating air-conditioning make your ride uncomfortable in this death trap. If you're having trouble spotting these, look at the windows inside these buses and look for the Japanese characters written on it. That's the one. It started life as an efficient transport in Japan and ends up in our country, corrupted to its core. I try to avoid these buses as much as possible.

3. The Chinese/Korean Express

- Now these are nice Chinese/Korean buses. I try to get a ride on these buses as much as possible because it's still brand new. It would be better if this would replace all those other ugly buses on the road, as these kinds of buses have sufficient lighting, reasonable seating, and have smooth running engines all because it's still new. The only problems it brings are those normally associated with our Philippine buses.

Now let's tackle the normal problems associated with these "road demons". Although the MMDA has already placed a Rapid Bus Transit System, these efforts are but a drop in the ocean. Traffic would still occur not because of normal cars going on the bus lane, but because buses will stop and pick up passengers at ANY point of the road, except in Makati during the day where they miraculously obey rules.

Next would be the regard for human life and the road. Buses will go at great speeds whenever possible and normally disobey regular traffic rules. Even if you are crossing the street as a pedestrian, these buses will try to beat you from crossing the street, thanks to their demonic speed on the road.

Now about that part when they pick up passengers. Drivers and conductors from what I've heard aren't paid monthly, rather by how much they've earned during their shift. This is the reason why they go beyond the passenger pick-up time of around 10 seconds and try to hoard as much passengers as they can. One time, I was riding this bus from Gil Puyat into Makati, and this rival bus company of theirs got angry when our bus "stole" a passenger from them by driving up next to it.

The conductor of the rival company was angered like a monkey and shouted profanities at our bus and threw an empty bottle of mineral water onto the bus body. Along the way those Japanese second hands break down a lot too, as I see discontent passengers behind their broken-down bus looking for another ride. It also broke down during Makati rush hour, of all times and places.

Alright, time to talk about solutions. Personally, I think there should be less bus franchises on the road, and with that the drivers and conductors would be paid more. With the eve of train transportation (which should be greatly expanded), there should be lesser buses on the road. Those second-hand buses gave me an idea when I saw these buttons by the windows. These buses eat up precious commuting time when they pick up passengers, so a button to nag the driver to hurry would be fun to implement.

It could be some sort of flashing light or voice directed at them to keep moving and stop what they're doing. This should penetrate the human mind, right? Well Filipinos are stubborn little buggers anyway, so let's wait and see what happens.

For now, we can only tolerate their shortcomings, but for how long? If we reduce these gargantuan coffins of iron on the road, our streets would decongest somehow.

The Philippines: SE Asia's "Springboard"

Alright, I was browsing through some Singaporean budget hotel site, and I saw this section called "neighbouring countries". That intrigued me, as the hotel gave its own descriptions of the neighbouring countries within its perimeter such as Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam. As expected, I saw our country at the bottom of the list, with only a few good things to say. If you wanna see the webpage itself, click here.

You will notice that it has talked about nothing else but our "beaches" and environmental mishaps, and the hellhole in the south called Mindanao.

There is nothing shocking about this at all. Everything written there about our country is pretty much true as our country really does lack attractiveness and authenticity. However, these set of words struck me the most: "...but most travelers only use it as a base for further travel." So that's all we are. A springboard or "transit-land" to other better and more interesting destinations than this copycat archipelago of cultural blah.

In my experience so far in the hospitality industry, it is already hard to suggest good tourist destinations around the country and especially within cities. Although there are many leisure travelers, they would only stay in our country for about a day or two then move to another country holding better interests and facilities. Sure, we have some good tourist destinations, but what makes a tourist STAY and enjoy?

This makes me wonder what was it that made our country so attractive back in the good ol' days. "Paris of the East", Manila was called... when it was still ruled by Americans. When Philippine stupidity kicked in, everything fell apart, from cities to rainforests. Everything from environmental to political issues fell apart in the last few decades. Also, Philippine hospitality is not something we should take pride in. Nearly all third-world countries have this trait because of a colonial past, etc. It is merely a cultural psyche that we have become accustomed to.

Alright, alright, maybe I'm being a bit too negative. Let's list down all the positive things about our tourism shall we?

1. We're practically in the 'hub' of Southeast Asia.

2. Much of our natural wonders are yet to be explored.

3. ...uhh... Latin flair culture?

Yeah, even I couldn't think many positives. That is why that 'hub' thing about our country makes us a good spot for airport transfers. A springboard. We're like that boring town in an RPG wherein no major plots occur, and you can only sleep and shop in it. That's how I think it feels. *yawn*

The environmental mishaps and warlords all over the country scare away tourists. It shows how much we've degraded ourselves as human beings. I mean, who would want to visit an archipelago with possible hostilities and bland attractions?

Only time will tell.

Philippine Tourism: Lacking

You see it in those sugar-coated ads we see on TV about our beloved country. The white sandy beaches, the beautiful women, and the lush tropical sceneries along with scenes of festivities throughout our beloved archipelago of 7,107 islands. Then we'd have all these wonderful slogans that change every year from WOW Philippines to Fiesta Islands and after a few months it changes to something like "Your Home, Philippines". How inconsistent is that?

Seriously, the country lacks a lot in terms of cultural attractions. A foreign guest at the hotel once asked me a typical question coming from a foreigner; "What attractions could I visit around here?". The first thing that came to my mind was Intramuros, the Walled City composed of old buildings and a motley assortment of squatters here and there. I then suggested the SM Mall of Asia but he said he was sick of malls. I also suggested out-of-town venues but he only wanted to see city attractions. My mind then drew a blank as the guest said he'll just go to Thailand instead.

Now here's the question: What city attractions?

Intramuros is practically a half-assed way of saying "Hey, here's our colonial past have fun lol". Go to Intramuros yourself and amongst the admirable structures you could see these small squatter communities still trying to eke out a living within the historic walled city. You would see the beautiful Casa Manila in one street, and run-down shanties behind it, with pedicabs lined along the road to "transport tourists" and other people.

Rizal Park ain't much of a site to behold as well. Aside from the Rizal Monument, that's all there is. If you're lucky, you could see a few beggars here and there, as well as street children that are ubiquitous in Metro Manila's streets. Seriously, our cultural attractions are surrounded by such appalling conditions that makes it hard for tourists to visit. Another problem is that most historical areas were not preserved because both the government and the community have failed to realize its importance.

Remember the Metropolitan Theater near Lawton? Apparently it is one of the few buildings to have used some kind of Art Deco style of architecture. Where is it now? Rotting somewhere in Central Manila. Quiapo Church is plagued by locust-like devotees as well as other historic churches, in terms of modern attractions, why is Mall of Asia considered to be one? It's just some big effing mall, that's it.

What about our virtually empty museums? The docent gets so bored he would just play solitaire in his office! The only time they would be uppity is when they have guests! Museums and parks aren't very popular in our country. As long as it doesn't earn money, it sucks. People here have traded brains for monetary profit.

So that's all the city has to offer right? You have a bit of history here and there, then it's all shopping, shopping, shopping, shopping, and more shopping. Go ahead. Every neighborhood has at least one mall in it right? I mean, aside from shopping the closest we could offer in terms of tourism is sex tourism. Malate anyone?

What has caused this lack of attractions and culture? Well personally I believe Filipinos aren't exactly the brightest people on earth. I'd love to expound more on Philippine idiocy, but there is a time and place for that. Being a student who majored in tourism, I believe this would be the biggest problem in why we can't seem to get much tourists into the country.

I just don't want Manila to become a shop and sex hub in Southeast Asia. That's why we have Thailand for right? (No offense to Thais.) Now I ask you, the reader.

What can we do as a PEOPLE to create the Philippine standard of tourism?

Whatever it is, the tropical sandy beach stereotype is saturating.

Utak Hipon: Mark 1

Greetings.

Just call me Prawnt.

This is where I'll be posting my thoughts and ideas and all other kinds of miscellaneous stuff about everyday life.

Well then. Time to blog.