By Henrylito D. Tacio
Regarding Henry

I WAS checking my e-mails early this morning, and what caught my attention was a message from a Filipino reader who now lives in United Kingdom. He reacted to my article on traveling. While most readers find the ending paragraph amusing ("you should have included spoon, fork, knife and soaps," someone wrote), he believed it was "quite offensive to your kababayan."

In the earlier paragraphs, I wrote that traveling abroad broadens my mind. With that as basis, he attacked me as "still ignorant, irresponsible writer and useless!" After reading his email, I just laughed. I was not mad at all because it was not the truth. But what hurts the most is when it is the truth and we try to ignore it.

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When I was in South Africa while attending an international conference, four people branded me as kidnapper when they learned I was a Filipino (at that time, it was all over the news out there that two South Africans were kidnapped by Abu Sayaff).

On my way to Tokyo, I talked with a Japanese who was beside me. He whispered to me, "Why do you export so many prostitutes to my country?"

What was my reaction to these two incidents? Nothing, because they were facts and that was what hurt the most. I was really surprised when a dictionary published in Singapore defines Filipina as "domestic helper," a lot of Filipinos protested.

Or, when that Desperate Housewives scene was aired in the United States where a leading character questioned if the doctor's diploma was not from the Philippines, Filipinos again howled.

Don't get me wrong. I am a Filipino and I am proud to be a Filipino. But criticisms like those I mentioned earlier should make us to wake up from our deep sleep. As our national hero Jose P. Rizal once said, "We need criticism to keep us awake."

The truth hurts! That is the message of Anastacio, a balikbayan from Los Angeles. While vacationing in Manila recently, he had nothing to say but negative comments about the Philippines and Filipinos.

Don Pedero, a Philippine Star columnist, considered him "the classic epitome of the 'crow perched on a carabao.'" Nasty, as he called him, complained about everything. "He griped that all Filipinos he encountered were dense and inefficient; that the traffic was horrendous and drivers, drove like they were late for their funerals; that the pollution from the smoke-belching vehicles was irritating his dainty, surgically-pinched nose. He was disgusted that water closets didn't work; horrified that there was no toilet paper in public toilets; petrified by street children begging while soaking wet in the rain. He moaned about the proliferation of slums, people crossing the superhighways, the potholes on the streets, the disgusting garbage and filth all over the city, and the annoying floods!"

As usual, a lot of Filipinos wrote back. They had nothing but bad words against Nasty. So, he wrote back again, this time, "hits more sensitive chords and it stings," to quote the words of Pedero.

In his letter, Nasty distanced himself from being a Filipino. "I have come to terms with my own identity -- I am, after all, an American citizen carrying an American passport," he wrote.

What precipitated his quick decision to sever his ties with his former country were the following: the Abu Sayyaf abductions, the Payatas-like downslide of the peso, the "devoid of conscience" graft and corruption in your government, and the stupid "Juetengate" and juicy but enraging Boracay mansion gossips. "With all these, who would be proud to be a Filipino?" he wondered.

Saying those words, he offers no apology. "Here, in America, you have to tell it like it is or you'll never be taken seriously. I have learned to drop my 'Pinoy sugarcoating' because out here, you get nothing done if you are meek and sweet and pa-api (martyr)," he wrote.

"When I commented about your pollution, street children mendicants, slums, potholes, toilets that don't work, garbage, floods, and most of all, the Pinoys' chronic lack of discipline, I was merely putting into words what I saw. I can't blame your being blind about your country's situation," he explained. "All the complaints I aired may have hurt your pride but what I wanted you to realize is this: The things I pointed out are all symptoms of a failing, falling nation!"

He explained so many things that were hurtful because they are the truths. He said that our biggest fault as a nation is our "individual greed."

He pointed out, "Ako muna!" seems to be the national mantra. The trouble is, very few people think for the common good in a deplorable 'to each his own kurakot' festival. Coupled by your crab mentality of pushing down others, this can be fatal. You think barangay, not national. Europe is unshackling her national boundaries while you are building fences around your nipa huts.

For comments, write me at henrytacio@gmail.com