# The Foreigner Effect



## simonsays (Feb 11, 2009)

what most don't realise is, different countries view foreigners differently

this is not a anti-PH rant, but if you know enough Filipinos, watch the local tele-serye/talk shows/wowowee and the likes, you know that Foreigners are always faulty, to be made fun of, which is a big difference vs some other Asian countries where foreigners are treated as Demi-gods or treated with much respect

A foreigner says Filipino food sucks, what to do ? Ban him despite him insisting it was taken out of context (and that some of the filipino food are really not for western stomachs doesn't cut it .. ) 

A foreigner says Manila is a dump, what to do ? kick her out and declare her PNG as fast possible, and revoke all her privileges.

A foreigner tells a mayor's brother he is a moron, what to do ? How dare the foreigner insult a filipino, revoke his residency and kick him out

A foreigner observes a road crew and tell them their contractor is mad, what to do ? Kick the foreigner out and ban him from entering PH

And a Foreigner in the wrong place at the wrong time gets quickly accused as a pedophile (what else would a 60+ year old caucasian do in PH) and by trial by media, was convicted before he was proven innocent, though a fair number of the natives believe him guilty simply by him being a foreigner and an apology from PNP didn't convince them that the fellow is really innocent.

And should there be a crime, and a foreigner is nearby, 9 out o10 times, not just in Philippines, but where there are a lot of Filipinos, in Singapore or Malaysia, the Filipinos start giving an accusatory look at the foreigner .. especially in bars, the filipinos will convincingly insist the foreigner must / is be cause of the fracas/drama.

Above happens very fast, like a month for the deportation to happen, fast tracked, in the case of foreigners but a local criminal may be caught like after 10 years on the run .. if at all he gets caught

Most don't realise, a vast majority of the lesser educated/star struck population, the likes who vote in Estrada and the Revilla family, and the likes who quickly forgive the likes of Marcos and Singsons and voting them in .. are those who are deeply mistrustful of any foreigners, and those educated, exposed are not so

Like the recent case of the Mamasapano misadventure - when a Charted US Helicopter landed to evacaute the injured, instead of a thank you, the general rant on the forums was that the US guys let the SAF fellow die needlessly

Likewise when the US paid the compensation for the damaged reef, the overwhelming cry is "NOT ENOUGH, Cheapskate bxxxxxs .. "

the trick in saving your hide is living in a place that is not so brain washed, and treat you as equal

Fortunately for me, those around me are not so brain washed and have some common sense to understand to equate foreigners = trouble

Even Foreign investor policy is strongly influenced by the mistrust of foreigners, and every time there is a call for reform of the 60/40 rule, even university professors have gone on record insisting that allowing majority ownership for foreigners is evil, there is a university paper justifying the kicking out of Fedex, never mind the few hundreds of jobs that were lost when Fedex was forced to shut down in Philippines.

Again, each country has their own quirks, and Philippines has it's own quirks. 

Takes time to understand what goes where, and the trick is to keep your nose away from local politics and affairs, and save your hide, than try to be a hero and end up 6 feet under.

No offense I hope !!

PS, you only have to read the comments on the Inquirer and ABS-CBN news websites, to know how most of the keyboard warriors behave, a vast majority having not even had any personal contact with foreigners..


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## jon1 (Mar 18, 2012)

Every bit of this is 200% true!


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## colemanlee (Nov 17, 2014)

Most don't realise, a vast majority of the lesser educated/star struck population, the likes who vote in Estrada and the Revilla family, and the likes who quickly forgive the likes of Marcos and Singsons and voting them in .. are those who are deeply mistrustful of any foreigners, and those educated, exposed are not so

I have to totally agree, mostly it seems to be about education, In the last four years I have seen depths of ignorance that before when just visiting here I was not aware of..though I have many educated friends here, I have been places where the "national pride" precluded any objective reasoning. I would say that 90% of the time if you go up against a Filipino in most anything you will be the one to lose. There are always exceptions but remember exceptions are not the rule...


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## UltraFJ40 (May 20, 2014)

Interesting perspective and obviously a subject that holds it's merit.

I can often be heard saying that "a fool is one that allows his pride to determine what his eyes see".

Believe me, here in multi-cultural South Florida, I see this one quite a bit and no race, color, creed or religion is exempt.


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