THERE are times I wish we were more globalized. Have you noticed how Philippine media reports on disasters or scandals abroad? It typically goes something like this: “Bali bomber caught; looks like Pinoy.” “Michael Jackson loved kids, Pinoy nanny testifies.” “Glacier melts in North Pole; no Filipino drowns.” And not just media. Even our own Department of Foreign Affairs has gotten into the act. The other day, they were quoted as saying: “No Filipino in Detroit airplane bomb try.” We take something global, say, global warming, terrorism, or religious fundamentalism, and instead frame it mainly in terms of the local, with us as victims or bystanders.

I can perfectly understand that with the Filipino diaspora, it is indeed news when no Filipino is present in any newsworthy event abroad. For sure, half the time, this is justified. Whenever Somali pirates hit ships in the Indian Ocean, we wonder if one of our own was on board. The trained Filipino seaman is so highly coveted in the shipping industry that, for both the public and the seamen’s families, we need to know when Pinoys are taken to Mogadishu. But the other half of the time, we need to play Copernicus telling his fellow earthlings that the earth is not the center of the universe.

Source: Inquirer.net