Are The Stars Out Today? Fernando Montenegro and Pooky Moreno

 Not everybody has a chance to brush elbows with the stars in the entertainment, modeling, and pageant industries so when the invitation starts knocking at my door ... who am I to refuse. Others may frown at it ... but it is irresistible. Well-meaning friends have given us the opportunity on a silver platter (it is like allowing us to get something easily ... without having to work on it) so when I saw the window ... in basketball lingo - an opening ... all I did was to dribble the ball ... do the lay-up and shoot it for the much-needed money shot

Dr. de la Merced called me one morning if I was interested in joining the shooting of his talent's movie. Who am I to say NO? Fernando Montenegro and Pooky Moreno were a perfect host at the set of Campus Coed.

Fernando Montenegro is a Ginoong Filipinas alumni.

                                                        Fernando Montenegro aka Jay Magsano

Humor: Some Bizarre Filipino In-flight Behaviors

 There are also in-flight/ airline behaviors Filipinos have that are amusing to foreigners.  At times it can be annoying too.  I want to reiterate that not all Filipinos are doing this, but there are still some who can pull these antics and leave everyone else knocked out and floored.

1.  Seat reservations.  I always have the habit of having my ticket reserved 3 months before the actual flight.  And one of my requests is to give me an aisle seat because with a long flight from San Francisco and back I swallowed air in the process.  Aerophagia is the medical term for excessive and repetitive air swallowing.  People with aerophagia gulp so much air, it produces uncomfortable gastrointestinal symptoms like abdominal distension, bloating, belching, and flatulence. Having an aisle seat gave me the freedom to walk inside the airplane while everybody is sleeping. 

So here comes one enterprising Filipino who asked you point-blank if you could give up your seat in exchange for a middle seat which I really hated so much especially when you see yourself later on being sandwiched beside two sleeping and snoring seniors. And I really hate myself denying their request, explaining myself why I denied it or giving them a pep talk on making their request or reservations early so they can have the seat that they wanted.  

2. Another annoying in-flight behavior is when Filipinos start standing right away after the plane has landed. I seldom see that in other airlines. Why are they doing that anyway? Is it because they want to be the first to disembark or they are just so excited to see their families?  Why can't they follow a simple rule?

Imagine two seniors who were seated at the tail-end wanting to go in front with their hand-carried bags jostling the crowd that has already crammed and jammed the aisles.  And they want to make they're being seniors as an excuse so you will allow them to pass thru.  This prompted another senior to say: "Inang sabay-sabay po tayong makakarating."

3. Another peculiar behavior is our penchant for souvenirs and small mementos, collectibles, keepsakes, tokens, and remembrances.  We love collecting postcards of places we go, and in the hotels, we stayed sachets of shampoo, soaps. even towels were not spared.

On the plane, we saw some are collecting small bags of sugar, salt even spoons, and forks.  I even saw one collecting Filipino newspapers and I ask him why, and his answer was, "my pasalubong. My family in San Jose thirst anything Filipino."

4.  Another inflight anecdote that never fails to amaze me, is during the announcement, that the plane is finally in its last leg of its descent, I find it strange for seniors to start crumbling their way to the bathroom when you can almost see the runway of the airport. Can't, they do their last-minute ablutions early? On my last flight to LA, I witness firsthand how a cabin crew pounds the door of the restroom to remind the person she has to go back to her seat.

Guys I have nothing against seniors, I know I will someday become one. But prudence and common sense dictate we have to be careful.

5, For Philippine Airlines, it has become the habit of Filipinos to clap after a successful landing. My American friend who was half asleep was startled and asked: "What is happening ..." And then, of course, I have to do the obligatory explanation that what you see is authentic Filipino behavior.  Nobody does that ... ONLY IN THE PHILIPPINES.

Crowds For Leni in Tuguegarao

 Kakampink Crowd in Tuguegarao City

Campaign Placards

 

Seen Somewhere: Can't Man

 

Photo News

Jeepneys are the most common form of public transportation in the Philippines. Known as the King of the road, jeepneys symbolize Filipino ingenuity.

Readers Reaction

I'm not sure if you're a foreigner or a Filipino who happens to live most of his life abroad, because if you are, to follow your "suggestion" of scrapping or dropping out some cultural behaviors would be an anti-thesis to your post of "having colonial mentality" because basically, you are just imposing your "western" point of view.

In any case, I would treat your post as something innocuous and academic.

1. Colonial Mentality. After having been colonized for 333 years by Spain, a couple of years by Japan, and a couple of years more by the US, i'd say this mentality is pretty much ingrained already and probably Filipinos have the Stockholm Syndrome even before it became a concept. But I guess, this is slowly fading, and I mean slowly, with movements calling for #SupportLocal and that sort of stuff. And yeah, we hated Barazza and demanded that our Queens be dressed by local designers. So I guess we're slowly moving away from that mentality.

2. the Mañana habit was actually vilified by the colonizers if I'm not mistaken. Historically, they thought Filipinos were indolent for doing siestas or afternoon naps and thought they were procrastinating. But they failed to realize that Filipinos back then were already working in the field as early as 3 or 4 in the morning. The tropical heat also prevents them from working during midday, so they do siestas instead. Basically, I'm saying the mañana habit isn't as bad as we think they are. Filipinos are hard workers.

3. Crab mentality. I can't say that this is uniquely Filipinos. So yeah. I do not agree.

4. Bahala na Mentality. I don't find anything wrong with this, unless it means mediocrity or that we settle for less. But if it means that after all the efforts exerted, lifting everything to God (or chance) is not something negative. We just believe that there are things that are beyond our control.

5. Filipino Time. Same with Crab mentality. this is not uniquely Filipino. In fact, in Costa Rica, they also have "Tico Time". I bet, most countries have this too. So, it's time to drop the discussion on this.

6. Ningas Cogon. No comment. I don't have any historical or sociological inputs on this.

7. Balikbayan box mentality. there is no such thing. Filipinos just love to give "pasalubongs". Those balikbayan boxes are actually filled with love. in the words of Queen Pia, "I don't see any problem with that at all"

8. Kanya-Kanya Syndrome. I don't think this is entirely true. Filipinos, sociologically speaking, are a cliquish lot. We tend to do things as a group, hence, the "bayanihan". So this is not entirely true. I think we still have a sense of community unlike in the U.S. or other western cultures.

9. Onion-skinned syndrome. Where do you get all these made-up syndromes and mentalities? I never heard of this. I don't think Filipinos are that onion skinned. They may be sensitive the same way other nationalities are sensitive when they felt they're being attacked. So yeah, not uniquely Filipinos.

10. Fiesta Syndrome. Again, never heard of this. But why would you want this scrapped out?

11. Pointing lips. Why what's wrong with this? To drop this just because the "western culture" find this funny is basically your finest example of colonial mentality.