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Thursday, March 22, 2012

A rejoinder for Sieczka

HE SAYS
A rejoinder for Sieczka
By Aldrin Cardon

The video link was pulled out of YouTube the Sunday I checked it.

But other tech savvy people have managed to store its full content in other sites, immortalizing in the world wide web the stupidity of an uncouth American character named Jimmy Sieczka who, armed with a video camera and a shirt that shows his brain and a toddler in full middle finger glory, listed the 20 reasons he dislikes about the Philippines.

Sieczka chose his scenes well, his backdrop the innards of Cebu City where he claimed to have been working for three years, enjoying the life of an expat, whom Filipinos — after centuries of subjugation under foreign rule and were never free, ever! — respect and look up to, not much for their bearing but their skin color and the dollars they believe they bring in and not take out (or so we think!).

Sieczka started his rant with an attack on the city management of its environs, complaining about the lack of proper manhole covers, the poor sanitation in public markets, traffic, filth, pollution, waste and litter, and people pissing anywhere there is a cover.

He complained about “shitty drivers” and their penchant to blow horns. He made fun of street vendors selling cialis, and our women who patronize whitening products and their “obsession to look as white as possible.”

He claimed to be affected by the hazardous state of “never-ending constructions” of buildings and even small matters like the “cut paper towels” in restaurants.

He has a lot of other complaints, ranging from the legitimate (like prostitution and the presence of “she-boys,” the transvestites engaged in the trade) to the absurd (like the presence of chicken everywhere). What Sieczka did not bother to do was check on his history to know why the Philippines, and other so-called Third World countries (especially those formerly and presently occupied by his own country), remain in such an ugly state of backwardness.

Third World conditions vary, but they do not differ much. I will not take the Sieczka route, but I’ve seen other worse places in the many travels I’ve had as a journalist. But as I read before I left for these places, I made sure I was armed with whatever little understanding of their people and their cultures, and not rant in front of a video camera with a list of things I dislike about my host country.

I’m not sure if Sieczka understands the Philippines’ long-time relationship with his own country, but if only to remind him of the ugly history long hidden by the United States from its people (like Japan does with its own regarding facts about its role in World War II), Sieczka should know that we cannot afford to make the smallest leap toward becoming a progressive nation simply because we are always at the losing end of deals with our supposed partners like the US.

Sieczka should find time to read, instead of spending time drinking beer in some pool joints while ranting about the presence of “she-boys” whose only fault was serve him beer and give him something to talk about. Maybe he should look up the various one-sided laws imposed on us by the US during its occupation of the Philippines 1898 to 1941, and its re-conquest of the same in 1945. Maybe he should be reminded that for so long, his country had plundered our wealth and abused its people, victims of its imperialist desire to take over as the new superpower from the likes of Spain and succeeding in it, and now imposes its power upon us and several other countries to advance its own economic might.

That way, Sieczka should know, he and his compatriots continue to enjoy the luxuries of life we, ordinarily poor Filipinos, would not.

Yes, some of our public toilets stink. It is not because we are a people with low regard for sanitation, it is because our small entrepreneurs cannot afford to build luxurious ones for Sieckza to admire at.

Yes, traffic is terrible in the Philippines. It is not because we, in general are lacking in discipline, but because we do not have ample and wide roads to accommodate the cars more advanced countries dump in our backyard. Yes, we do not have enough money to build new and better ones to replace the past urban designs made by some of Sieckza’s countrymen when they were still kings of this country.

Yes, we could not afford to cover all our manholes with the same as those you see in your neighborhood back home. Our government does not have a budget for those, it could not even provide enough money for the education and health of its youth. But don’t put the blame solely on us, remember that we could not compete against yours and we will never be on the winning side of trade deals that would make our country rich, and thus afford to but manhole covers.

Yes, there are prostitutes in the Philippines. But which country does not have one?

Yes, we have what Sieczka calls “she-boys.” The US has Dennis Rodman and Lady Ga-Ga.

Yes, Mr. Sieczka, there are some terrorists in the Philippines. They are the terrorists you fear. They are the ghosts of your own country had created. For reference, search the Internet for 9-11.

Yes, go around the Philippines and you’ll find trash almost anywhere.

But, hey Mr. Sieczka, it’s already an improvement from the years when dead men, and boys just over 10 years old, littered our streets because your soldiers feared they would fight back and rise up against your racist grandpas who called us gugus.

But even with our ancestors long dead, we know how to fight back Mr. Sieckzka.

Enjoy what you have now Mr. Sieczka. Such things don’t last.

Published: Mar 15, 2012 - 9:24am

"20 Reasons Why I Dislike Philippines" by Jimmy Sieczka (Note: The name Jimmy Sieczka originally appeared with the YouTube video title. But sometime after 9:24 a.m., March 15, the name was removed. Later that same day, the video itself was removed by the user from YouTube. We later found a version of the video, which is the one embedded on this page now, uploaded on the Channelfix website. )

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