Philippine political economy 101: Following the near overthrow of Spanish colonialism the Philippines was invaded by the United States at the turn of the 19th century, brutally subjugated, and made to bow down before a new colonial master. More than a hundred years later, the Philippine government retains its sycophantic relationship with the United States, no longer as a directly politically controlled colony, but now as an economically controlled neo-colony. The leaders of the Philippines are corrupt American puppets, the Filipino people are poor and exploited, the Philippines’ abundant natural resources are shipped all over the world creating super-profits that fatten the bellies of multi-national corporation CEOs and shareholders.

The economy of our homeland is “import-dependent and export-oriented.” Our raw materials, including gold (yes, AAA gold), bauxite, ore, oil, lumber, and many more are exported at discount prices to nations with functioning industrial sectors which then create finished products to dump upon the Philippines and the rest of the developing world. Besides the natural resources exported as raw materials, I must mention the Philippines’ number one export: its people. The Philippine government maintains an official policy of exporting its people throughout the world as cheap labor. The Philippine economy is kept afloat largely by the taxing of monetary remittances sent home from OFWs. Among the hundreds of thousands of jobless Filipinos who leave the Philippines each year to find work a significant number of them are skilled medical workers.

So, what is the connection between all of this? Many Filipinos are deeply offended by Teri Hatcher denigrating the value of the Philippine educational system, the competence of Philippine educated health professionals, and the stalwart diligence of the Filipino people. What we need to understand as a community, however, is the deeper implication of these kinds of statements. A white woman on prime-time television belittling the integrity of Philippine medical workers is simply a pop-culture manifestation of the unequal relationship between the United States and the Philippines. And what about the large number of Filipinos who are telling us other Filipinos who are offended to “lighten up”? That would be the colonial mentality; the psychological effect of not only more than 300 years of Spanish colonialism, but also the more than one hundred years of American political and economic dominance in the Philippines. Our people have been dominated for so long that our minds remain in shackles even though we no longer wear the physical restraints of slave laborers. The persistence of the colonial mentality has become an effective entity to ensure that the American Gatling gun and semi-automatic 1911 .45 caliber pistol are no longer needed to pacify us. Some Filipinos are so deeply colonized that they even go so far as to laugh when this xenophobic white-supremacist society makes the plight of our OOFWs into the butt of its cruel and ignorant jokes.

I’m sure that I’m going to be getting some response to this piece stating that I too need to “lighten up” and “buy myself a sense of humor.”

And my response will simply be that I cannot laugh at a 3rd rate joke that mocks the countless number of Philippine educated health professionals in the United States who save American lives and care for American people despite facing racism. I don’t find it funny that my homeland is so incredibly impoverished that it cannot convince enough of its doctors to stay and care for the thousands of people who are miserably ill and tens of millions who do not have regular health check-ups. I do not find it funny that many of our people think this is not a big deal, because not only are racist and xenophobic remarks reflections of our already shameful colonial past and present, but they will indeed shape public opinion and public policy about Filipino immigration to the United States. There’s really not much to laugh about.

Hopefully when all of this is said and done we as a community will have had some time to openly debate what the big deal is all about.

If you are one of those people who feel that I’m being a party-pooper I hope that after reading all of this you may have a better understanding about why some of us feel that jokes made on American national television (or anywhere for that matter) at the expense of the dignity of the Filipino people are not funny at all. (Bulatlat.com)

*Joshua F. Castro is a member of the League of Filipino Students at the San Francisco State University (LFS-SFSU).

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