At the end of my rant, I'll explain the reference to "Filipinos make me puke", which Art Bell never said or wrote anywhere.
The Squeaky Wheel Gets the Grease
As a resident of Olongapo City, Philippines for more than 2 years, I've heard more noise coming out of the political left than anyone else. Just as it is with American media and the political left in the US, the Philippine media pays way too much attention to the subversive Filipinos headquartered in Manila, Philippines.
These subversive people are currently trying to exert pressure on the Philippine Court of Appeals in the case of Lance Corporal Daniel Smith, a US Marine being held in custody at the American Embassy. They don't want the court to overturn the lower court's verdict and they're willing to resort to violence, as I mentioned in "Daniel Smith's Appeal Decision is Rapidly Approaching".
The Visiting Forces Agreement
The Philippine media has been pandering to the subversive Filipinos and needs to stop. Anyone with a high school reading level can understand the first sentence of Article V, paragraph 6 of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) and I quote:
The custody of any United States personnel over whom the Philippines is to exercise jurisdiction shall immediately reside with United States military authorities, if they so request, from the commission of the offense until completion of all judicial proceedings.
It doesn't matter if the judge ordered him to the Makati jail or not. The VFA, ratified by the Philippine Senate in 1998, is the higher authority in this case. The media continues to support the notion that the Philippine government spirited Smith from the Makati jail to the American Embassy in the dead of night because it was an illegal action. The reality is that the action was taken in order to comply with the VFA, not to go against the judge's order and not because of political pressure from the US. The move was conducted at night precisely because of what would have happened if they tried to do it during normal working hours — the subversive Filipinos would have started yet another riot.
Biting the Hand That Feeds
It's no secret that the US government has been supporting the government of the Philippines since World War II, in one form or another. Why is it then that the government and the media pay so much attention to these subversive Filipinos? Because they make the most noise!
The real Filipinos, the ones that aren't making the noise, have no anti-American sentiment. In fact, the older Filipinos, the ones that were around even as children at the end of World War II, are very pro-American. I only have to listen to the stories of my mother-in-law and her siblings to know that as fact.
The subversive Filipinos only want the money that the US provides without any strings attached, including the presence of Americans in the country. I'm not just talking about the American military. They don't want the American corporations here either. It's very annoying to hear their rhetoric because the American corporations provide jobs for Filipinos that they can't.
The Art Bell Reference
Ever since I published my first article on Art Bell, this blog has continuously received hits from people searching for "Filipinos make me puke", and sometimes with his name attached. Art Bell never said it, a Filipino newspaper printed it as the truth and later printed a retraction, but I suppose some Filipinos choose not to pay attention to the truth and continue to believe the lies.
Please take a few minutes to read the Philippine Urban Legend Archive page concerning the "The Art Bell Filipino Hate Letter". I suppose, since I included the words "Filipinos Make Me Puke" in the title of this article, I'll soon be accused of saying it about all Filipinos, not just the subversive Filipinos.
Since I've been happily married to a Filipina (female Filipino) for more than 23 years and have one son who is half-white and half-Filipino (and a dual-citizen), nothing could be further from the truth.
