Wednesday, December 19, 2007
The Dissenter
Having a different opinion is not new. It’s a must. It should be a must. Wherever one stays, people differ in opinion, people disagree, quarrel, and show nonconformity.
I remember the 25th Asean Tourism Forum held in Davao City
Yes Sir, happy-go-lucky foreigners are really not the dissenters I am talking about. Speaking especially about Davao City’s hesitation to entice outsiders into visiting Davao City is indeed due to the history of struggle against former Western colonizers and a “Manila-centric” national government.
If foreign businessmen turn Filipinos to slaves in this country thru oppression, underpayment and inhuman treatment, then that is simple atrocity. If Filipino businessmen adopt these behaviours because of their partnership with foreigners, that this is downright betrayal.
Indeed, political power is overpowering. There are really some foreigners who come to the Philippines
But hold on: generalization is dangerous and poisonous. The former Spanish colonizers have nothing to do with Spain and its people nowadays. Even I, as a German citizen with an I-card (permanent stay) and Philippine ACR (Alien Certificate Registration), was subjected to strict entry permit requirements from the US if I take off from the Philippines. I could still remember the days when I travelled to the US with my German passport without a visa while greeted with friendly inquiries at the Los Angeles International Airport if I needed also a work permit.
But let’s go back to the Philippines, especially Davao City. I am a dissenter, maybe more than any other countrymen of mine. Sorry, I don’t love my own…
Davao City is a unique and safe place. Sometimes I learned about foreigners, who really should not be welcome here and the whole Philippines. Marrying Filipinas/Filipinos to stay here and abuse them and the whole nation is really unwelcome. I am now in my 9th year of stay here in Davao. I never regretted it. I might be a dissenter in the eyes of many others. Appreciating diversity, wishing to be enriched by varied cultures, respecting people’s rights and welfare are also expected of me as a German living in the Philippines. Not only here, also if I would plan to migrate to the US, Africa or Australia.
Can a foreigner be deported? Of course, he can. In many cases, he should be. But I also know a lot of cases, where the Filipina, even being tortured daily, is hesitating to inform the BID.
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# 1 RichardInSC said:
Karl,
I think you make some very good points here. And you are right about American visa requirements for residents of the Philippines being very strict…much stricter than for an American visiting the Philippines. And I do find that quite hypocritical on the part of the US, given our open-boarders policy with Mexico (that’s the last I’ll mention that subject on this board, I promise).
Visa and entry policy is matter of diplomatic arrangements between nations. It seems to be very easy to enter the Philippines and very easy to get yourself deported. In the US, it is very difficult for citizens of some countries to enter, but also very difficult to get yourself deported.
The objection I have to the way it’s done in the Philippines is that any citizen can, apparently, become insulted and petition to have you deported. The potential for abuse of this law is rather enormous. It sounds like, based on the law in question, that a foreigner has little, if any, opportunity for redress in these cases. Now leaving aside anecdotal evidence of foreigners (Europeans and Americans) behaving badly, of which, I’m sure, there are countless cases, this system seems ripe for abuse. And the fact that most Filipinos would never contemplate such a thing, the fact that it’s in the constitution makes it a bit of problem. Any foreigner visiting another country must, of course, obey the laws of that country, but this law, literally cannot be obeyed by an individual, unless he assumes he cannot act as a normal flawed human being.
Also, I would seriously doubt that, with employment and property restrictions against foreigners currently in place in the Philippines, that it would be possible for any middle-class foreigner to ‘enslave Filipinos’ unless they readily agreed to be enslaved…in which case it would still be illegal and any foreigner engaged in such activity would be taking an enormous risk.
‘Can a foreigner be deported? Of course, he can. In many cases, he should be.’
What circumstances do you think are deserving of deportation? I think we can agree that foreigners who come here, marry a Filipina and abuse her, or perhaps rob a bank or yell fire in a crowded movie theater should (at very least!) be deported. But, there are, I think, criminal laws already on the books in the Philippines that provide much harsher penalties, in these cases, than deportation. People who abuse their wives, are, in most liberal democracies on earth, criminals that deserve and get much worse than simple deportation.
I’m simply talking about someone, who may misunderstand you or who you are actually rude to, in a moment of passion, has within the power of the state invested by this law, the ability to basically strip you of all you have (assuming you are an expat, living and investing here). To some extent, you must live in fear (whether you choose to call it fear or not) of this and adjust your behavior accordingly. That seems very wrong to me. And it is the law, and every foreigner must ‘obey’ it, but I don’t believe it is a good or just law.
Anyway, I found you post very interesting and a good Dissent
# 2 Bob said:
Hi Klaus - One thing that I think we have to be careful of is always blaming the foreigners for everything! That is a hallmark among Filipinos a lot of times. Almost anything bad that happens - it is the foreigner’s fault! You talk about abuse and the enslavement of the Filipino, but it is also done by Filipinos themselves! I often see things in newspapers about sex crimes and such, and generally it is foreigners that are blamed, but Filipinos do that too. So, we cannot always blame the foreigner for every bad event in the Philippines.
Just offering a little dissent here.
# 3 Klaus said:
Hi RichardInSC, I would like to thank you very much for your very interesting comment. I really agree strongly with you and fell that your comment completes my write up very much. You are right, some foreigners live “in fear” even obeying the law 100%. Of course this is not good - but a deportation will never follows immediately. Best wishes KLAUS. (I am not KARL by the way…
).
# 4 Klaus said:
Hi Bob, thanks for stopping by. Yeah, you are right also: Filipinos do that too. Blaming foreigners for everything is really a hallmark and we have to take care ourselves. But living in the Philippines since almost nine years I think I found the “right middle path”. Anyway, thanks for your dissent here.
# 5 RichardInSC said:
I apologize Klaus, about calling your Karl
Me and keyboard have been enemies for many years as you can tell from many of my posts 
Seriously, I’m embarrassed and apologize..too many times to mention, my fingers just don’t do what I tell them to!
# 6 Klaus said:
Hi RichardInSC, no big deal. It’s okay. Sometimes the same happened to me. And, sometimes I know my English is not as perfect as yours or others’, because it’s not my mother language.
Have a great day…
# 7 AmericanLola said:
I don’t have a problem with the laws that make it easy to deport foreigners. There needs to be such laws. I think that overall, Filipinos do not have a problem with foreigners, and instead see them as an economic plus, or an interesting friend, or a friend that may give them some status, or someone who will be good to know in some way or other. Unfortunately, some people are even willing to be abused in one way or another by those who have money or power (either local or foreign) if the benefits to them seem worth the risk/pain/disadvantages. Most people are very willing to give us the benefit of the doubt and even put up with some pretty shocking behaviour if we are seen to be, over all, nice people.
BUT. When the balance tips, and the shame (and shame is HUGE), verbal (or other kinds of) abuse and risks of a relationship are no longer worth it economically, socially or in whatever way the Filipinos feels they benefit sufficiently, that is when things happen. Reading between the lines, I am sure that is what happened to the 62 year old British man who was supposed to be a missionary up in Butuan. Sounds to me like he had a lot of people mad at him, and like he had gotten between some people and money they considered theirs. Almost always, when a foreigner is robbed and killed and it is declared an ‘inside job,’ you can be pretty sure that no one was sad to see him go. It is a robbery, but it is also a crime of passion. Respect and loyalty gone bad turn into the worst kind of hatred.
So, I see deportation as a good thing. If people are that mad at someone, give them a legal way to make sure the guy they hate goes away and never comes back. There is always the chance that someone might get deported based on a false report, but if people were that upset with him, maybe he is being spared worse. Because we foreigners tend to be so obtuse, we can be in the middle of and the object of a huge mess and not even know it–not have a clue about how we have consistently stepped in all the cultural cow pies. This is especially true when there is really poor communication due to a language barrier.
So my advise to avoid deportation is: keep smiling, be nice, don’t shout or yell, keep your promises and do nice things for people when you can.
# 8 RichardInSC said:
Lola,
Very interesting. Can I sum up what you said as ‘better to be deported than dead’? Actually, you came right out and said that, so I probably don’t need to sum it up.
However, In the case you just mentioned, it doesn’t sound like they gave him a chance to be deported (I mean the laws are on the books, so they had that option)…they just torched him. Whether he deserved it or not, that seems rather drastic, doesn’t it?
And there have been some people in my life that I wish I had never been involved with, but I could never be involved with (despite what I dreamed) offing them.
Your final line of advise is good no matter where in the world you go, but it sounds like you don’t have much of a choice in the Philippines.
# 9 Klaus said:
Hi American Lola, your last sentence says actually, how I live in the Philippines since 9 years now. And I can tell you, it works. Thanks a lot for stopping by.
Hi RichardInSC, the final line of advice is really the best, whether we have a choice or not. It doesn’t matter, where we are living on this globe. When my wife came to Germany 1983, she did the same and lived there happy almost 15 years.
# 10 RichardInSC said:
Klaus - Indeed it is good advise. But one should never be compelled to be nice…we all have bad days and it sounds like one bad day in the Philippines could be your last.
# 11 RichardInSC said:
BTW, I should clarify. Please don’t take offense at my points. They are not directed and you, personally. I’m trying to understand the Philippines and I have a long way to go. Klaus, Lola, Bob and everybody else who pitches in here are helping understand things much better that I could unless I actually lived there myself. This is a valuable service you are providing.
I’m just very interested in this lifestyle and have always been fascinated with this place. I do challenge and ask questions, but if you will indulge me, I think you will find I’m a pretty ok guy (unless it get’s into outright politics, in which case, I can be very direct
) But you guys haven’t gone there…you focus on the daily challenges of an expat…you are a new version of National Geographic to me. Always loved that magazine.
Thank you all for being so forthcoming.
Richard
# 12 Klaus said:
Hi Richard, I understand you very well. Thanks a lot for your praises. It’s a great inspiration. I never got your opinions personally, don’t worry. I guess, well educated people won’t do that and will never use LiP as their forum. I am sure, you will a long way here to adjust as an expat. Even being here almost 30 times, I got also my adjustment time. As I always say: living in the Philippines permanently doesn’t mean vacation.
# 13 Tina said:
Hi Klaus,
Interesting post. I agree 100% with what AmericanLola said. I think AmericanLola has mentioned repeatedly in her past comments how important it is for a Filipino not to “lose face”. As I was reading the article and comments, my thought was situations can get ugly fairly quickly in the Philippines. This happens among Filipinos, too. Fights break out because someone felt insulted or even a simple thing as someone giving another the “wrong look”. It may be the “macho” image that some Filipinos try to project.
When I first moved to the States, this was one thing I found amazing – Americans can yell and carry on and curse at each other with their noses almost touching but they don’t hit each other. When they’re done, they just walk away.
In the Philippines, it’s the opposite. If you yell at someone, especially in public, causing him to “lose face”, just watch your back as he may try to get even with you and cause you bodily harm. In this case, for a foreigner, deportation is a much better option. I am not saying this is right, I am just saying that this is how it is in the Philippines, unfortunately.
Best advice is learn the art of “pakikisama” or camaraderie. In general, Filipinos, when there is something they aren’t happy about, complain in a very subdued manner, especially if they don’t know the other person that well. As they get to know the other person better, they become less restrained. This is how they keep the peace.
Just pointers for those of you who are trying to understand the Filipino psyche.
Klaus, you seem to have mastered the art of “pakikisama” so I don’t think you’ll have a problem. Keep enjoying the Philippines!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you, Rose and Mutti!
# 14 RichardInSC said:
Tina,
Thanks for sharing your perspective. As someone who is a native of the Philippines and a resident of the US, your opinions give us another unique insight into this topic.
I’m starting to get it now. Being rude and arrogant is dangerous in the Philippines. There are people from the US who are like that, and I’m sure you may have encountered some.
But is it likely that some foreigner who isn’t too familiar with the Philippines could get into hot water there over some simple misunderstanding? That’s the part of this entire thing that concerns me most and that I find interesting. It seems to be entirely a matter of judgment on the part of the aggrieved Filipino whether they have been insulted.
So far, I haven’t hear of any thing that might moderate that, specifically the law doesn’t seem to take this into account. Would another Filipino likely step in this case and defend a foreigner or give him or her the benefit of the doubt? It sounds like some terrible mistakes can be made without any recourse or possible explanation, just because a foreigner might not understand the culture very well. What do you think?
# 15 Klaus said:
Hi Tina, thanks for visiting my blog and thanks a lot, indeed, for your comment. If you got the experiences with Americans, I can tell you, it also happend among Germans. But just walk away…? Mmh, I am not sure, but I don’t wish to go deeper into details. I learned very earlier about the Filipino custom “loosing the face”. But it looks different between Filipinos and foreigners. I welcome your advice very much, and, yeah, that’s how I live here without getting problems. I really enjoy living here. Thanks for your season greetings also to Rose and Mutti. The same heartily back to you and your family. God bless!
# 16 Klaus said:
Hi Richard, I am glad to see your next comment again. Yup, being rude and arrogant in the Philippines is really not welcome. I wouldn’t say “dangerous”. Sad to say, not only Americans act like this, as you mentioned. To be honest, I also met some Filipinos who defended me, after being involved in some problems resulting out of some “rude incidents coming from my own countrymen”. Well, that’s life and God knows. Maybe that one of the main reasons I feel save and comfortable living in the Philippines.