Politically Correct — Not

One of the things foreigners will certainly have to get used to in the Philippines … especially us Americans who have gone over into almost nauseating territory on the Politically Correct side of the spectrum — is that in the Philippines people still often call a spade a spade .. or a Chinese person an Inchick.

Interesting word, that Inchick.  Among other things it means a person of Chinese heritage … which describes a very large percentage of the Philippine population …there are a few tiny aboriginal peoples in the Philippines but the overwhelming bulk of the population is racially Malay or Chinese.  So it can be used as a simple nickname or even a term of endearment.  It can also be uttered, as I recently heard it on TV from a very prominent senator, live, at a televised, high-profile senate hearing very much as a curse … nearly the same as our infamous US "N-word".

Even though it can be a fairly neutral term it is very often used between Filipinos to act as shorthand for the belief that the Chinese are somehow always maneuvering to get ahead in business, taking advantage of every opportunity (and sometimes every person) they come across … as they are sometimes also described, acting as the "Jews of Asia".  Hmm, wonder how many stereotypes and ethnic toes that particular phrase steps on?

You’ll also very frequently hear people of one province or language group talking openly about stereotypical characteristics firmly believed to be held by their neighbors.  Pampangans are great cooks, but they’re untrustworthy traitors because they eat dogs and thus have dog’s blood.  So you can call someone a Pampangan as a totally friendly geographically descriptive term, or you can pronounce it "ka Pampangan" as a very meaningful curse. 

Women from Cebu are widely held to be among the most beautiful in the Philippines, yet an educated and reasonable father might well sum up his son’s new girl friend who was born in Cebu with a dismissive "Cebuana", leaving no doubt that he firmly believes the widely held belief that Cebu somehow has a "corner" on women with loose morals and Cebuanas no scruples abut going after other women’s husbands.

There are dozens and dozens of other beliefs, prejudices and comments you are going to hear about people on a daily basis here … if you spend your life looking for insults, off-color words and violations of the US laws on discrimination and Equal Opportunity then you might be well advised to think twice before you put the Philippines on your list of places you want to live.

Newspaper ads for employment will frequently state: "Women only, 18 to 25, must be attractive and unmarried, must not be overweight, reply including picture" and so on.  It’s not uncommon for men to have "second" families, while women can be criminally charged with adultery if they stray even a little bit from the narrow path of fidelity.  A good summation of the climate of acceptability here might be illustrated by the last president (who was removed from office via a bloodless coup backed by the Church and the military), Joseph "Erap" Estrada.  He admitted to having several wives–at last count, at least five–and a numerous brood. Estrada loved to recall his telling the scandal-scarred Bill Clinton, "I have the sex and you have the scandal."  Former President Estrada is now pardoned for all the crimes he was convicted of after being tossed out of office and remains a very prominent figure in the news.   According to some pundits he may well make another try for the presidency in 2010.

Shocking?  Bewildering?  Hard to believe?  Well, for an outsider all these adjectives and more may be true, but this is the Philippines.  Do not think you are going to come here and see "business as usual" as you would in your home country.  I don’t want to be accused of painting only a negative picture, but I certainly do my best to give you an honest one … and what I’ve described is the way day-to-day life goes here in the Piñas.

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