I’ve sat in front of my computer for the better part of an hour trying to think of a clever way to preface this latest bit of astonishing idiocy from the Philippines’ Department of Tourism, but I think I’ll let Dexter See’s article from yesterday’s Manila Bulletin speak for itself:
Since mid-November the DOT and its partners have given us the abortive “Pilipinas, Kay Ganda!” marketing campaign, the dubious white paper on “Branding the Philippines”, and now this utter bit of lunacy. If we follow the line of reasoning expressed by the tourism officials (and, most disturbingly, Governor Baac, who obviously has a less-than-keen understanding of his own constituents) then this example of a traditional war dance – which has, it should be noted, been performed all over the world in front of millions of people – ought to be enough to scare tourists away from its country of origin.
New Zealand, with a population about 1/20th the size of the Philippines’, attracts roughly the same number of visitors each year, between 2.5 and 3 million people. Call me crazy, but I think the cautionary implications of native dance mightbe a bit overstated here.
The whole notion that “tribal wars no longer occur, therefore, war dances are no longer culturally relevant or acceptable” is deeply offensive on a number of levels. The people of the Cordillera are as entitled to their own appreciation of their cultural heritage as anyone else, and like most indigenous people throughout the entire country, they are not just dancing for the hell of it; each of their many dances are deeply symbolic. Telling them they “must accept the paradigm shift” demeans them as a culture and as individuals – the attitude of the DOT and Governor Baac, not to put too fine a point on it, is institutional racism. The idea is offensive to prospective tourists as well, and unlike the possible misunderstanding of the meaning of traditional dances, sends a clear message to potential visitors that “We think you’re too stupid to understand what you see.” And the idea is offensive to other Pinoys who are not part of the Cordilleran culture but can appreciate it as a part of a shared Philippine heritage, as one of my Facebook friends commented:
The common thread that connects the recent gaffes of the DOT (apart from a stunning failure to grasp basic concepts in marketing) is the Philippines’ desperate, irrelevant search for a “national identity.” Faced with trying to find something in common among all the disparate cultures that make up this country, the champions of “Pinoy identity” are obliged to settle for the lowest common denominators. As a consequence, what “symbolizes” the Philippines is either trite – tarsiers and Boracay’s ‘famous’ white sand – or puerile. Since the empty symbolism is all the country’s promoters can provide, they come to believe that’s what the “outsider” wants to see.
And then they wonder why they have to pad tourism numbers with ‘returning Filipinos’ to show any progress, and why most tourism capital inflows seem to end up in SM or Jollibee.
About the Author
BenK has written 36 stories on this site.
BenK is an American economist, business analyst, and globalization advocate who provides consultation services for clients who, like him, believe that a resource-rich country with the world's twelfth-largest population really ought to be aiming a lot higher than it does.
Yes true, the Maoris of New Zealand perform their traditional war dance called Haka with pride. The New Zealand rugby team, All Blacks dances the haka before matches. Tourist even visit them to watch this war dance in particular. They would even teach you how to do it the way hawaiians teach tourist to dance the Hula.
DOT is nuts! They assume that tourists are as shallow-minded as they are. Typical Filipino ignorance. Just like when flipinos assume that hongkongers will get mad at pinoys in HK when PNOY bungled the Manila hostage crisis.
Anong akala nyo sa ibang tao? sing kitid nyong mag-isip? Ang galing ng administration mo Pnoy, umaatras tayo…..Pusa-madre!
[Reply]
What are they gonna do next? Tell the Maranao’s, bagobo’s and Manobos to tone down on using the kampilan and kris?
The DOT folks aren’t exactly the sharpest blades in the drawer.
[Reply]
Those people who said that the monkey dance degrades Cordilleran peoples are idiots. They’re basing their opinions on notions that a monkey dance is primitive and animal-like, without understanding that it is part of a culture – that the dancers have – that they can’t censor or tone down for the prejudices of others.
Maybe the act of the Monkey King in traditional Chinese opera is degrading also.
[Reply]
Are they serious?! I am proud of our Cordillera culture (even though I am from Mindanao). Amid all these developments, they (the natives) are trying to keep their culture alive. Instead of supporting them, our government is killing it. This situation is like those western explorers colonizing the New World and calling the natives “savages” – only in the 21st century.
[Reply]
rubberkid Reply:
March 1st, 2011 at 9:38 pm
Proud to be bisdak too! Whenever I hear someone wanting to be whiter, I tell them: “Ok lang lagom, basta di lang kagiron” =)
[Reply]
What really surprises me about this is that it’s coming from the region. If it were the ignorant opinions of paper-pushers in Manila, I could understand that. Wouldn’t make it right, but it would be understandable. But these are people – and especially Governor Baac – who ought to know better. About two months after I came to the Philippines, we moved up to Benguet and stayed there for about a year. I have a pretty good idea what impression outsiders get of the ‘safety’ of the region, and if there are problems with that (there usually are), it has more to do with bad roads, miscellaneous bandits, and jackass politicians and their hired thugs than anything the natives present.
[Reply]
It’s like a subliminal message that says tribalistic origins of our culture is prohibited. That’s rather foul.
[Reply]