Pinoy Phonies

Pinoy Phonies

The topic that I may raise would seem volatile to some readers, specifically to some ‘balikbayans’ and compatriots. After living for almost 5 years now in the US, I noticed some misguided beliefs had developed for some Pinoys here in the US. I can only wonder what the sources of these misguided values were, and I would only cringe when my fellow Filipinos live up to the beliefs in question.

The show Wowowee! seems to be a perfect example of a Pinoy phony deception. There is a portion in the show where balikbayans would give away dollar bills to our compatriots in need. This is predicated that it would help our destitute “kababayans” This action seems plausible. The show is even regarded as a tourist attraction, which is good for a third world economy. However, what my fellow balikbayans inadvertently do is advocating the so-called “beggar culture. The very action of giving away dollar bills would also attached the nirvana perception that “money grows on trees,” here in the US. Some people would oppose the “beggar culture” because it promotes complacency. A Juan dela Cruz may think Filipinos in the US have lots of money, and he would just wait for the aid and charity. The perception “money grows on trees” here in the US would be hard to uproot from some Juan dela Cruz. The peso devaluation and the show Wowowee! seem to advocate this kind of Pinoy phony deception.

Another Pinoy phony deception is Fil-Am speech. This gets into my nerves a lot. What seems to be the problem is that some Pinoys find their mother language unappealing. As a result, they would try to “American –ized” most Filipino words. It seems a little bit hard to describe it in writing, but when you have time, go to Seafood City and just listen to the chatter of fellow Pinoys, you would really hear the very bad combination of “Tag-glish.”

Some Pinoys can lay claim that they speak Tagalog imperfectly, because they got used to the English language. Unfortunately, the English language they always refer to is English slang. .For instance, some of the most common English slang/ ebonics that most Pinoys emulate:

• “We will not go here no more.”
• “I ain’t gonna not pay for that.”

This seems to be a problem because the usage of English slang often denotes unsatisfactory knowledge of the language. If most Pinoys would live up adapt this kind of language, at the extreme of renouncing their mother language, they would end up not proficient in both languages. As I have emphasized on the last paragraph, some Fil-Am speakers just pretend to be inarticulate in Tagalog, because they find the latter unappealing.

I will have more Pinoy phonies entries. This is the first in the set.