Netizens slam Condé Nast Traveler Facebook page for misrepresenting PH 

Screenshot from Many People, Many Places Facebook video.
Screenshot from Many People, Many Places Facebook video.

Filipinos full of #PinoyPride give their all-out support whenever the Philippines is represented on the international stage, but they can just as easily turn on you when they sense even just a bit of misrepresentation.

Just like how quickly Condé Nast Traveler‘s Facebook page Many People, Many Places went viral yesterday after Filipinos slammed several of its videos for misrepresenting the Philippines.

The page regularly posts videos that compare different languages and cultures by editing together interviews with people of different nationalities. At the center of the controversy is an unnamed Filipino woman who does not seem to know much about her motherland.

The episodes can be watched here but the issue has gotten so viral that one netizen went ahead and edited together the clips that Filipinos took issue with. Watch it below:




In one episode (available on YouTube but not on the Facebook page), participants were asked to count with their fingers. Instead of counting in Filipino (E.g. isa, dalawa, tatlo, apat, lima), she recited it in English, as in: “One, two, three, four, five.” She did the same thing in a video where they were asked to count money.

When asked to say  “cheers” in another episode, the woman says: “There’s actually no ‘cheers’ in the Philippines but since it’s Americanized, cheers!”

In other videos, she also sang Happy Birthday in English instead of the Filipino version Maligayang Bati and said that the Philippines doesn’t really have any tongue twisters.

Anyone who grew up in the Philippines would know that these answers are just not accurate — and that’s what netizens who have flooded the page’s comments section have pointed out.

Facebook user Jeman Bunyl Villanueva gave examples of Filipino tongue twisters then said: “She’s not Filipino. Please don’t include her in your videos.”

“(Cheers in native language) Kampay or tagay!” John Nemuel Aurellana Noche said.

“[P]lease replace the representative of the Philippines, seems she don’t have any common knowledge about the Philippines,” he added.

Many also expressed their disappointment with the videos.

“Where the hell did you get [the] representative of the Philippines?? Were (sic) she even been raised in the Philippines?? Or did she just forget everything she learned here?? No one who was raised in the Philippines who doesn’t even know 1 Filipino tongue twister because we have a lot!” Jerrica Jervoso said.

Mec Camitan Arevalo apologized for people cursing at the Facebook page but still called them out.

“I apologize for my fellowmen who are cussing here. This train wreck of a representation from your end of our culture does not justify poor manners. But, seriously, it’s very aggravating that you got someone who obviously doesn’t even speak Filipino (or our other languages and dialects) OR who doesn’t understand what your instructions are, hindering her from giving appropriate answers. I hope your people are respectful enough to respond accordingly.”

“Can you please change the representative of the Philippines! She didn’t know how to count using our native tounge (sic).. Is she a legit Filipino? She is stupid!” Tan Nicolas said.

Language is complicated in the Philippines. The official language “Filipino” is actually just a standardized version of Tagalog, one of the many regional languages in the country.

English is also considered an official language and is widely spoken throughout the country but fluency varies depending on a person’s social and educational background — and the gap between rich and poor is big.

Many young Filipinos who studied in expensive private schools don’t speak much Filipino, just as English language education in public schools continues to decline.

Colonial mentality also plays a role. A 2014 study by the Pew Research Center found that Filipinos like the United States even more than Americans. Because of this affinity for American culture, many Filipinos who move to the U.S. don’t teach their children the Filipino language.

What do you think about the Condé Nast Traveler‘s videos? Let us know int he comments section or tweet us @CoconutsManila.



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