oseph R. Daoang
IP 368B-Agcaoili
Spring 2009
Savage Act

Savage Act

The film savage act was an eye opener. It shed a lot of light about the occupation of the US in the Philippines. It is true that although the US have given the Philippines its independence, their presence is still strongly felt. On my visit to the Philippines recently, I witnessed the US strong influence on the citizens of the islands.
For instance on one occasion, on the pageant night of Binibining San Nicolas pageant, the candidates were asked questions in English. Not only the judges expected the candidates to answer the questions in English, the audience that barely understood English were expecting and waiting for answers delivered in English. Some contestants answered in Tagalog and was given a cold shoulder and boos by the audience. This is very disturbing because some Filipinos are now starting to measure a person’s intelligence by their ability to communicate properly in English.
I went to the Philippines during the holiday season because I organized a pageant called Miss Gay of the Universe 2009. The pageant celebrated the many talents of gay communities in the Ilocos region. We urged candidates to answer their interviews in whatever dialects they were comfortable speaking. It shocked me because come candidates said that they rather speak in English because they want to avoid the humiliation from the audience by speaking in Tagalog or Ilokano. On the pageant night one contestant choose to speak in Filipino and was loudly applauded. Is it because the people already know that gays are intelligence and doesn’t need to prove themselves by speaking in English?
Being an immigrant to the US, the ability to speak English is a good advantage because it allows me to be able to go to school and live here in the states. There are some people that are unfortunate and are unable to speak or read in English. These people not necessarily unintelligent, these people are just resisting to learn the foreign language. There are people that will argue that in order for a foreigner to continue living in the US, they should be able to communicate in English. I don’t agree with those people because people should not be dictated on what they should speak.
I agree that the US will be in an economic downturn if all the Filipinos resign and return to the Philippines. I am very proud of my countrymen that are living all over the world. These people have sacrificed and left their love ones in exchange for a better future for themselves and their family. When I went to Djibouti Africa, I encountered Filipinos working in popular US fast food chains. The Navy base there have burger kings and McDonald and their employees are all Filipinos. Their salaries may be lower than the regular employees but if they convert their pay into pesos, they are still making a whole lot more than if they work in the Philippines.
When I look at the current economic status of the Philippines, sometimes I think about what would it be like if the US annexed the islands and made them into states. Would it be better for the Filipinos or they would be slave and be force to serve the Americans?
Filipinos are very observing. They are very adaptive in their surrounding. When the Spanish were occupying the country, the natives were told that they are ugly because they have dark skin. Because of this, Filipinos started using whitening soap to give them whiter skin. They avoid going out in the sun and avoid outdoor activities. Some people uses long sleeve shirts and uses umbrella whenever they go outdoor. They still have the belief from the Spaniards. When they see a dark person they would think of them as coming from a lower economic background and would regard them as farmer or people that work outdoor.
In Ilocos, rich people would rather speak in Tagalog. Speaking in Tagalog would separate them from the rest of the class. This tells other people that they speak other language because they are different from the rest. When you go to restaurants, restaurant’s people would communicate with you in Tagalog. I don’t feel comfortable talking Tagalog with an Ilokano speaker because its like making fun of my own language. I would then talk to them in Ilokano and they would still talk in Tagalog. I don’t believe that Tagalog speaker have more advantage compare to Ilokanos. I believe that Ilokanos are smart, hard working, caring and they should be proud of that.
The influence of the US to the Philippines were good and bad. Its good because it allowed Filipinos to be marketable around the globe. This is the reason why they are now working all over because they are able to communicate with other people that speak English. The bad side is that they gave people a different view in life. They gave them the belief of superiority. They made people believe that things in life are competition and you either have to be someone better or lose the game. Well, that is not true. I believe that in order to be successful, you have to respect other’s belief, culture so you can able to apply your own culture without disrespecting others.