Your VOICES.

By Christine Ng-Buyan, CDOKAY Staff

Seize fire. I have been reading the comments made on Ms. Thelma Macas’ post and I can say that indeed, racism is truly debatable. And two thumbs up to Ms. Thelma for initiating such forum. However, enough is enough, especially when your comments are no longer connected to the initial premises pointed out. And allow me then to raise a few points myself.

Truly, Ms. Macas’ story is not unusual to us anymore. We see, hear and even read day-to-day stories when our country and regional group is, not only scrutinized, but also lambasted in many ways. We have heard about Filipinos being branded as domestic helpers. We know about their notion of Filipino Time (which is in fact really negative). But I believe, in some ways, even in a third world country, we Filipinos are worth being proud of. That we not only stand out from the rest due to the unconstructive things we do but we get ahead on a lot of things as well.

I take pride of having Ms. Macas as an example; that these Americans entrust their children’s future in the hands of a Filipino educator. While away to earn money, these people would leave their beloved (their children and aged) to Filipino domestic helpers and caregivers.

I thank Rapirap for pointing out globalization on a more challenging perspective. I used to work for a call center before as a trainer for America’s largest credit reporting agency. We do conference meetings with American co-trainers in Florida and despite the fact that they know more about their credit system, we Filipino trainers understand their Federal Law better. And the fact is, American companies with call center operations in international call centers here in the Philippines still have American call center agents back there. Yes, it saves them a lot of money to put their labor force here but compared to other third world countries with Contact Center businesses, we Filipinos should be proud that we intellectually deliver their needs better and with more comprehensive communication skills. We therefore salute the 40% of Filipino graduates who now work for this industry for carrying such a good impression on us Filipinos. You’re helping the economy grow and with a good performance, you’re encouraging more investors and bringing in more jobs to the country.

Going back to Ms. Thelma’s post, Mr. Timothy, thank you for informing us all about the facts you gave us on Holocaust. They were really helpful. However, I feel that such information should have been posted as another blog not as a comment since the comments should pertain to Ms. Macas’ post – racism and that she needs not be educated about your comment because the Holocaust issue was not her point. And I am sad that you needed to challenge other people’s opinion, which is something that we all are entitled to. I won’t challenge your statements on Holocaust and your definition of globalization. Why would I if I know that I could readily search for this information through Google? You only stated facts, definitions, challenged positive perspectives and bragged about yours. That is not worth reading. If you needed to point out more things on the definitions you presented, post a blog.

Again, this was a healthy start of moderating forums like this. But let’s not forget that comments should pertain to the article and not an avenue to create a new proposition to debate on. The string of reactions should be a means to come up with resolutions and an educated exchange of ideas still based on the article. This should not be a way for someone to interpellate on other people’s opinion.

I thank CDOKAY for this wonderful section that brings about great minds of people in Cagayan de Oro. It only shows how much we know and how much we care.

Ms. Macas, we are with you on this all the way. You’re definitely one of the pillars of this country’s growth. Kudos to you Ma’am!

And lastly, let’s end this debate on racism with a constructive resolution: Racism is everywhere - in America on Americans, in the Philippines on fellow Filipinos. But we should know better. Individually we have the responsibility to act on issues like these based on our values. That though racism is something we can’t stop, this is something we can change. Let’s start from ourselves.

We rest our case.

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The post entitled A Kagay-anon in Texas, USA writes ‘On Subtle Racism’ contributed by Ms. Thelma Macas, Contributing Writer, Texas, USA, elicited spirited comments. But we have to stop the debate — hence this Rejoinder — but not to discourage one from speaking up. Even, we are glad that CDOKAY BLOG has come to evolve as a venue for VOICES to be heard.

And we hear you good. Say it. We know there is more to your VOICE that can inspire us all, and make this world a better place. — Bong Garrido, BM, CDOKAY.com