Filipino. . .

it always sucks to hear stupid foreigners belittling the Philippines and its people while they are here enjoying the relaxing view of our country.

but there's nothing worst than having one of your fellowmen happily throwing mud on your face. somehow, happy seems to be an understatement.

sne time, i was traveling aboard a ferry and sat beside two other passengers who seem to be lone travelers also. one moment we're silent and the next instance saw us talking to each other like good old friends.

things where going smoothly until one of the guys mentioned about the success of a Filipino abroad. the other guy agreed saying that the said Filipino succeed because he was abroad where the opportunity is far better than the Philippines.

nothing's wrong with that but the guy suddenly speaks about the worst things in the country as if everything is a curse. me and the guy who spoke about the successful Filipino slowed him down reminding him about the best words attached to the word Filipino.

you could never guess what happened next. the friendly conversation almost became a heated argument. the guy keeps on saying that the Philippines is nothing but a pathetic place dependent on America with ignorant fools as citizens. he recalled incidents that proves how stupid Filipinos really are, pointing that locally-made products couldn't even compete with imported products.

i stood up to get myself a cup of coffee with no intention of going back to that seat until the end of the journey. that smart guy had forgotten about two things:
1. we have been celebrating something every 12th day of June
and 2. we had the same color of skin

i will always be a Filipino and support the Philippines, i thought. i was lazily sipping my coffee when i remembered something. . . i left the P5,000 U.S.-made trekking backpack i borrowed from my balikbayan cousin unattended. And i hope that nothing happened to the imported chocolates and body cologne inside the bag.