Seething With Anger

One of the brewing issues in the Philippine Blogosphere over the past few days (oh no, not another one) is blogger Nick of Tingog.com and his call for an all-out boycott on Manila Standard and columnist Malu Fernandez.

Fernandez had written an article on People Asia about her recent trips to Boracay and Greece for the summer. What turned out to be a travelogue of sorts, had gotten the ire of some readers and bloggers, for her sentient statements on OFW's abroad and being stuck on a plane to Dubai with them.



As someone who has recently placed himself in Dubai with his family, I am irked by the statements Ms. Fernandez has written, which she has defended as part of her ascerbic wit. Excerpts of her piece are featured below;

"However I forgot that the hub was in Dubai and the majority of the OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) were stationed there. The duty-free shop was overrun with Filipino workers selling cell phones and perfume. Meanwhile, I wanted to slash my wrist at the thought of being trapped in a plane with all of them.

While I was on the plane (where the seats were so small I had bruises on my legs), my only consolation was the entertainment on the small flat screen in front of me. But it was busted, so I heaved a sigh, popped my sleeping pills and dozed off to the sounds of gum chewing and endless yelling of “HOY! Kumusta ka na? At taga sann ka? Domestic helper ka rin ba?” Translation: “Hey there? Where are you from? Are you a domestic helper as well?” I though I had died and God had sent me to my very own private hell.

On my way back, I had to bravely take the economy flight once more. This time I had already resigned myself to being trapped like a sardine in a sardine can with all these OFWs smelling of AXE and Charlie cologne while Jo Malone evaporated into thin air.

All in all, it’s been a pretty good summer. Jetting from the Aegean Sea to the Pacific may sound a bit pretentious until you wake up in economy class smelling like air freshener"

I'd like to vent my anger , please allow me to do so.

Now let me point a few facts for you Ms. Fernandez, first, if you speak so well of being of the high and mighty class in Philippine society then why were you in economy class?

I think you are one big major poser. And as for the perfumed bit, I think you should think twice before saying something afoul about our OFW's, first the reason why they wanted to smell so fine and dandy is because they didn't want their relatives back home to smell them of the sweat and tears which they have incurred in trying to make sure that their family has a future to look forward to. You have no idea what hardships these people have to deal with. You, Madam, strike me as someone who has never heard of the word TOIL.

And do not be puzzled as to why they had asked you if you were also a Domestic Helper, frankly, I have seen your pictures and all the coloretes and perfumes can not mask the irony that you look like one.Far more worse than one, to succinctly put it.

How dare you belittle OFW's, in case you haven't heard, these people are regarded as new heroes, contributing much to the economy and , God forbid, making its way to the pockets of your so called politician relatives.

Just like adding salt to your wounds, Ms. Fernandez even had the gall to come to her defense;

"As I type this, I’d like you to know that it’s not about whining, complaining and bitching but just stating the facts. Just recently, I wrote a funny article in my magazine column and my friends thought it was hilarious. It was humorous and quite tongue-in-cheek, or at least I thought so, until the magazine got a few e-mails from people who didn’t get the meaning of my acerbic wit. The bottom line was just that I had offended the reader’s socioeconomic background. If any of these people actually read anything thicker then a magazine they would find it very funny. Most people don’t get the fact that they need bitches like me to shake up their world, otherwise their lives would be boring and mediocre. I obviously write for the a certain target audience and if what I write offends you, just stop reading.

Although it may sound elitist to you the fact is this country is built on the foundation of haves, have-nots and wannabes. One group will never get the culture of the other"

Ma'am, it was not funny. Do not lecture us on saying that it was just a clear retelling of facts because yours were lined with bigotry from the first sentence. I do not get the thicker than a magazine statement of yours because most of the people that reacted to your statements were your readers. You are not elitist, you're probably trying to be one, but hey, that's your hang-up in life.

I could as much call you a big fat pompous bitch,but that would be too gentle a term (and ity looks like you do fancy calling yourself one) but the only word that comes to me now is IDIOTA.

One big Idiot whose boobs are much bigger than her brains. Oh and if you think I am being too harsh here, it's just my acerbic wit.