Charlie Agatep’s commentary (“What is a good country?” Opinion, 4/8/17) lists a few things I’d like to ask him about. He says our country exports “the happy smiles of our people,” but I’d like to ask him: How sincere and heartfelt are those smiles among Filipinos—be they working at home or abroad? Poor people who know they owe their jobs to their rich bosses will fake smiles just to get on.
Agatep next praises “the gracefulness of our women” as though Thailand, China, Latin America and the Scandinavian countries don’t also produce such women who keep winning beauty contests. In this breath, he is commodifying Filipino women.
Finally he mentions “the skill of our boxers” as though pugilists make such big contributions to the nation’s welfare. Except for feeling pride in uneducated men who develop their muscles instead of their brains (as in the case of the notorious Sen. Manny Pacquiao who has spouted phony religiosity and stupid hatred of homosexuals), pray tell how do any of them promote goodness in any self-respecting country?
CELESTE T. CRUZ, celestetcruz@gmail.com