Proud to be Pinoy? Yes! Got a problem with that?

"Why independence, if the slaves of today will be the tyrants of tomorrow?" - Jose Rizal

After getting my ass kicked in DOTA via Garena client (for the umpteenth time), I decided to do some Facebooking (out of frustration) and stumbled upon a video that's causing a stir online.

After watching above video, I can't help but sympathize with its creator, Baron Buchokoy. I can sense the concern born from growing tired of the country's and its citizens' sorry state.

In summary, the message the video is trying to convey is a call for change. Really, nothing wrong with that. But how this person is going about with this "call for change" is what bothers me because from where I stand, the medium is effing up the message.

At the 1:43 mark, this message shows up.

Right off the bat, Buchokoy denies being pro-Marcos, as if anticipating jabs about being one. Like a spoiler to a film you haven't seen yet, from this point on, you know that there's going to be some pro-Marcos rants along the way. Not that I have a problem with that. I sort of support the ideals of badass Mckoy, but more about that later.

This image is followed by a series of clips showing the poor and the hungry. And at the 2:04 mark, you get to see Baby James, son of Kris Aquino and James Yap, treating himself to generous servings of chocolate syrup, pancakes and a glass of milk, as if Buchokoy is pointing out that the boy with the soul of a man (I bet you noticed the kid's low key voice) is the reason the Filipino people are suffering.

Hold on to your horses dude. While it would be nice to have the Aquinos giving away more of their wealth, isn't blaming the rich for the sufferings of the poor a little over the top, unfair and baseless?

Sure, most of the wealthy people use their money to put themselves in a better position than the rest of us when the opportunity presents itself. But who wouldn't? The thing is, we're probably hating on the rich for being able to throw their weight around simply because we envy them for being able to do so.

It's all about self-preservation Baron. If you have the resources, I bet you'd probably do the same. Even if you're the nicest person on the planet, somehow, some way, you'll end up using your guns, goons and gold to one up somebody for a reason. Heck, let's stop playing hypocrites. At certain points in our lives, everyone's one upped somebody. So how are we any different from your perceived oligarchs when we could also be oligarchs in the eyes of the poor schmuck waiting for his turn at the computer in the local computer rental shop?

I also don't get why you're so upset about President Noynoy Aquino eating a hotdog in New York. I mean, you're bashing him for that and you're letting former president and now Cong. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo slide with her one million peso dinner. Doesn't that hurt what you're fighting for? I mean, here you are asking everybody else to change for a change, yet you ain't practicing what you preach.

To me, Baron, you're nothing but a traditional activist -- someone who'll always rally against whoever is in power, whining about why the Philippines is so fucked up yet offering no strategy to the end the war you started in the first place.

"If you can't tell me what you'd like to be happening, then you don't have a problem yet. You're just complaining." - The One Minute Manager, Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson

I'm not saying that poverty and hunger isn't a problem. And I'm not saying that rich people are totally innocent. What I'm saying is instead of wasting your time parroting grievances that have been aired since time immemorial, why not be part of the solution? Instead of complaining about the problem, why not solve it.

You're asking people to change, but what kind of change would you want to see? Give us an idea of what you want happening, and who knows, you might get into some people's heads and they can start supporting your cause. We monkeys are open to suggestions.

And can you please stop with the monkeys? It's pretty hard to sell an idea when you look down at your audience. I'm with you on the part about Filipinos being ignorant, refusing to take action that will end ignorance, and lacking discipline. Hell, that's why I want a Marcos-like leader ruling us. We need an iron-fisted disciplinarian that'll keep everybody in line because democracy isn't working out. In a perfect world, I'd like to have that Marcos-like leader to be strict while still leaving room for freedom of speech. But that's a different blog altogether. Back to the monkeys. Can we please stop?

See, the thing is, though I don't really know why you keep referring to us Filipinos as monkeys, I think I have an idea -- it's tough love.

Basically, the whole Filipino culture and history is so fucked up. In a time when Filipinos should be united in fighting foreign invaders, the Filipino politicians during Emilio Aguinaldo's and Andres Bonifacio's time decided to waste each other. The Spaniards eventually left us alone, only to have our allies, the Americans, screw with us. Then the Japanese came and they raped our women. And because all these colonizers imposed their will on us, we lost the authentic Filipino culture, and whatever we found cool and convenient from their cultures, we imitated it and became Filipino culture as we know it today. As Leela puts it: "Like a prom dress made of carpet remnants!"

What's the history lecture gotta do with the tough love? Gee, I don't know. Maybe, you just want to put an end to the bad practices we adopted from the invaders. I'm guessing apathy is one of them.

That's good and all, if that is truly the case, but Filipinos are kinda sensitive. You should know that if you're truly a Filipino. We don't take a liking to insults, especially when you start calling us monkeys.

The Americans, for all their arrogance and epic fails, did they ever call themselves assholes? What about the Japanese, ridiculed for being the home of tentacle-porn, did they ever refer to themselves as tentacles? Oh, what about war torn Afghanistan? Do you think any Afghan in the right state of mind would call his people war freaks, just because lots of war happen there? To all these questions, the answer is no.

Our leaders, history and culture may be fucked up, but it doesn't mean the country and the people are. We're still fighting the good fight here. We still believe in change. Be it in the hands of this president or the next. We'll complain, and if they don't do something about it, we'll do. As meowtrox commented on your YouTube channel: "It is you who makes your own life regardless of what race you are."

And that's why I don't like being called a monkey. Not when I'm still fighting the good fight. Isn't it enough that other races see us as primates? How will other people respect us when the disrespect starts from within? No race is perfect and no race highlights their flaws. It would be degrading. If we have problems, it should be solved internally, not advertised for the whole world to see. Insults are inevitable, even in this modern age. After all, there are still idiots in the 21st century. But I won't take it in my own country, and especially not from a guy who shares my race. This is the Philippines. We are Filipinos. This is the one place where we truly belong. Even if the whole world has their steering wheels on the right side, this is that one place that it's alright to have it on the left and we could care less, simply because that's how we roll. If the time comes that the whole world will shun Filipinos, we always have this place to crash and simply be ourselves.

You detest a child-abuse tolerant society? Agree. No to child trafficking! No to child labor! No to TV shows exploiting children!

Deaths on the streets? That can be resolved by some iron-fisted leadership. Passing laws that would have jaywalkers arrested and fined, or something like freeing a driver from responsibilities if he/she hits a jaywalker should also help. That way, the stubborn people would think twice before crossing highways, especially if they know that there's no stopping the drivers.

Greed for wealth and power? Aren't we way over our heads if we want to eradicate greed? We can put systems in place that could prevent corruption, like having auditors watching over certain government officials, but greed is something that stems from the heart and mind of an individual. This issue can be resolved by a psychiatrist, not an activist.

Poverty-driven criminals? How about reading this for possible solutions?

Uniformed scalawags, abductions, rebel groups, violation of law in all levels of society... all these can be resolved by a Marcos-like figure.

But the apathy, that's where guys like you come in. You don't simply make a call for change. Rather, a call to action. It's pretty hard to change when you don't know where to start. What must be done? Time and again, there have been TV personalities and campaigns that have tried to promote bayanihan, civil obedience, etc. What makes your demands any different Baron? What exactly do you want happening? You should be able to answer that, considering you see all of us as monkeys, you're probably smarter than the rest of us.

And again, I don't understand what's your problem with rich people. They're sort of pricks for being greedy, for not sharing, and for beating us in certain opportunities, but c'mon, if you were in their shoes, you can't possibly give up everything to help everybody, only to find yourself with nothing. Or stand apathetically as an opportunity passes by, knowing that you have the resources to make the most out of said opportunity. The government is partly to be blamed because it's not doing anything to negate the advantages of your oligarchs. But we can't rest our fates on the government. At the end of the day, wherever we go, these financial problems are ours. Therefore, we should be the ones resolving it.

By the way, if the politicians don't represent us, who would? I mean, you could appoint or vote for a poor guy to power, and at the end of the day, he's still a politician. What gives man? What're you trying to say? I guess you better clear this up. I can't imagine a world ruled by anarchy. Without any laws or government, all hell will break loose, and before you know it, it's survival of the fittest to the nth power.

And lastly Baron, I commend you for giving a lecture on ignorance, however, you're eyes aren't exactly wide open as well.

For one, you seem to find media outfits being owned by wealthy people an aberration, when in fact, it's normal. Be it in the US, England, Japan, Korea, broadcasting stations are owned by rich people. If you think that the media people are conspiring with the rich people and the politicians to keep the poor people at bay, just because you've seen it on some TV show or movie, I beg to disagree. To begin with, they abide some sort of moral code. And two, if what you say is true, then the likes of Gerry Ortega should still be around today, fighting the good fight. Come to think of it, didn't you feature the Ampatuan massacre in your video? If media people are in cahoots with the rich, why did all those journalists die? My, my, aren't we contradicting ourselves, eh Mr. Buchokoy?

You go on asking everyone to look around and earn his/her Filipino-ship, but you cap it off with the image of the most pro-Spain hero of all-time. Guess who's ignorant now?

But to be honest, your opening scene really struck me (and sitting through the entire video, I wish you just stopped right there). On one hand, maybe we weren't really cut out to rule over our own land. Maybe having someone else take over is not such a bad idea. On the other, there's this:

"I would rather have a country run like hell by Filipinos than a country run like heaven by the Americans, because however a bad Filipino government might be, we can always change it." - Manuel L. Quezon

A race is not identified through the leader of the country, nor by its state. Rather, it is through traits that a certain race distinguishes itself from others. And it is with our resiliency and optimism that we keep moving forward despite obstacles, and are recognized as Filipinos.