People defending Gawad Kalinga Founder Tony Meloto voice out their support on Facebook

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On Monday, Assistant professor at University of Hawaii Lilla Quindoza Santiago posted on Facebook defending Gawad Kalinga founder Tony Meloto. “Yes I was at the audience when he said the things he said, but NO! I WAS NOT OFFENDED nor insulted by his remarks,” goes a portion of her Facebook post.

Continues her Facebook post: “These pictures were taken AFTER his speech and I have a full video of his remarks especially the part for which he is being criticized for as “anti-women” and misogynist!” I will upload this video in due time. Marahil iba iba ang naging dating sa iba ibang tao. Pero ganito ang naging dating sa akin.

“He began his remarks by comparing the equal arduous efforts of CPS and GK for the country’s progress. Then he said, “The greatest attraction of the Philippines is its beautiful women” ( laughter from the audience). Then he narrated what happened to his British son in law who fell in love with the Philippines, with Gawad Kalinga and with his daughter. The British son in law donated his expensive car (porch?) and almost his entire fortune for love of the country. This is the context of the entire narrative.” 

We asked Ms. Santiago why she thought others took offense while she obviously got the ‘joke.’ “I cannot really explain how a statement comes away as a joke to some people, but a serious sexist slur to others. Iba iba nga ang ‘dating’ but bottomline is – we have to be fair both to speakers and listeners and bridge gaps and misunderstandings should these arise,” she replies.

Santiago’s post came at the heels of another Facebook post, this time by Carlos Celdran. “Perhaps The Tony Meloto fiasco can be seen through another lens: A letter I received from an American (white guy) who has seen Meloto’s speech a few times,” writes Celdran on Facebook.

The letter begins: “I’m no fan of Meloto, but I do sort of suspect the UH group is playing this up for attention. I’ve seen versions of the speech before and it appears that many other FB commenters have as well. I suppose it could be on all of us who just left the speech thinking “what a dick” instead of speaking out and turning it into an Internet outrage event, but I learned pretty early on to give a little extra leeway to offensive speech in the Philippines — or at least speech that would be considered offensive in the States. The humor is different, the history is different, … it’s a different country!

“I’ve seen Meloto’s speech at like 4 different Fil-Am conventions by now. It always sucks, but I kind of think this group is applying a U.S. standard of political correctness in a dumb way. This is a group that appears to be familiar with the Philippines, so they should know that the same rules for coding language in polite company don’t really apply there. It seems disingenuous to invite the guy and then be like, ‘he didn’t follow all of our guidelines of accepted activist terminology.’

“Then again, that cappuccino shit is new to me, and it’s ridiculous and horrible. GK always gave me the creeps, but it’s hard to fault them because at least they’re trying (even if half the time it just comes across as stealth missionary work).”

Clarifies the Center of Philippine Studies, the statement they released last Saturday wasn’t addressed to Meloto, but rather, to the constituents of the Center – faculty, students – and the Filipino community to apologize for not vetting Meloto carefully before inviting him.

Anyway, we’re embedding both posts below for your reading pleasure. Seems like everybody has already spoken except for the man. We’re hoping we get to hear Mr. Tony Meloto’s statement soonest. 

RELATED:

– Is this for real? Hawaii-based Center for Philippine Studies slams Gawad Kalinga founder Tony Meloto
– Filipinos present during Tony Meloto’s speech in Hawaii answer our question: Yes, it’s for real