For his joke, actor Alec Baldwin was banned from entering the Philippines. This is after Hongkong columnist Chip Tsao was also banned for making a joke on Filipinos last March 27.
Baldwin joked in a May 12 interview on the “Late Show with David Letterman” that he thinks "about getting a Filipino mail-order bride at this point or a Russian one, I don’t care, I’m 51. Tsip Chao, meanwhile, said that Filipinos should not think higher than the Chinese who employs them as domestic helpers.
Teka, teka, teka. While the joke has a racist color (daw), there is also truth in it. Wag na tayong magpaka-ipokrito. A few clicks in the Net, makikita natin na halos Filipina ang nasa mail-order bride websites. And the government admits, it sends Filipinos abroad as domestic helps to compete with Indonesians, Malaysians and even Indians. All of these because of poverty.
Mukhang masyado nang sensitive ang gobyerno ngayon. Pero just like its head, Orwellian sensitivity lang ang pinaiiral. Pinipili lang ang gustong patulan. Otherwise, dapat nahiya na ang Gloria in the Palace mula ng sumingaw ang "Hello, Garci!" Scandal. O kaya umalis na sa puwesto matapos ang sunod-sunod na dagok ng mga iskandalo. O kaya, napansin na ng gobyerno ang talamak na kahirapan at pagkagutom.
Kung sabagay, ang kabayo na may tapa-ojo, diretso lang ang tingin. Ganun din ang Administrasyon Ni Gloria. Kaya wag kang magbiro, baka ma-Jun Lozada ka. Di ba Mike?
