Mala Malu, Nuestra Senora de la Matapobre

I disagree with Tingog.com and his otherwise worthy anti-Malu campaign, on one, single, point of principle: I’m not for firing people on the basis of what they write. So boycott as you please, but I don’t support having anyone fired. Why not take her travel photos and run a Mala Malu photo caption contest instead? Loads of fun and extremely educational.

Here, you can play with these charming photos and add your own captions:

Malamalu1

Malamalu2
Malamalu3

This all reminds me of something I noted on November 4, 2006, concerning the daughter of a Singaporean MP who snapped, “please get out of my elite uncaring face” in response to the angst of another Singaporean. Revisit muddynights and then see the odd joker and The Intelligent Singaporean, and then top off your visit to Tomorrow.

The Spanish have a maxim for everything, but for cultivated Filipinos of an older generation, one of their all-time favorites (my father used to quote it to me whenever he thought I was being rude) was:

Lo cortes no quita lo valiente.

It means: One’s valor is never diminished by one’s courtesy. But of Mala Malu and her que asco columns, I think I’ve found a word our elders would have thought fitted her to a “t”: a more cursi set of opinions would be hard to find.

Thanks to this great find, you don’t have to guess what our elders meant by using that word –cursi– to describe the Mala Malus of their generation:

In his book Cassell’s Colloquial Spanish, A. Bryson Gerrard explains his British take on the word:

“A colloquial but widely used adjective meaning something like ‘socially pretentious’; it describes people who give themselves the airs of a higher social class, non-U pretending to be U. When applied to things, e.g. furniture of clothes, it contains the idea of noveau-riche. High-class houses in the best Spanish tradition are furnished with an aristocratic simplicity and restraint, and the gaudy, ornate Empire-style furniture which you sometimes find in city apartments would be described as cursi. I once heard a Spaniard say of a friend’s tie iQué corbata más cursi! He was being facetious but i wondered what an Anglo-Saxon might have said … ‘What a fancy tie!’ … ‘What a pansy tie!’ … perhaps ‘What a ghastly tie! since it was not a compliment. Affectation, pretentiousness, excessive ornamentation are all involved.”

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Manuel L. Quezon III.

252 thoughts on “Mala Malu, Nuestra Senora de la Matapobre

  1. Noted. (just joking)..

    But, honestly, if Don Imus can get fired, I believe Malu should also as well. I don’t think it’s too an extreme of an action, we must all face consequences, otherwise, how else can we learn from these mistakes.

    To walk away and have other individuals with the same mindset think that it’s alright to make such discriminatory comments will only perpetuate such attitudes, and maybe next time, she may not stop at her own acerbic wit.

    And believe me, these statements were discriminatory and goes to the heart of our own nation itself.

    With the recent issue of the Mayberry testimony, as well as the Filipino human trafficking issue in Iraq, I don’t think any of our OFWs deserve such bigotry leveled against them.

    To teach Malu a lesson, is to truly have her learn the hard way.

  2. M,

    Good point. Revenge is best served cold. Let me start the educational process with a photo caption for the second picture:

    “MaluMala keeping her stomach in, boobs out with her patented constipated smirk este smile”

  3. Photocaption for third picture:

    “Gaudy shades, fancy necklace, faux boobs before being thrown over the cliff. What can be more cursi than this!”

  4. well, she was a virtual unknown to me until this thing blew up. thank your lucky stars Malu, you’re now (in)famous. You’ve reached Tim Yap stardom. And all you had to do was spew a whole slew of words that belittle your own countrymen. Talk about one’s words showing one’s character…

    And Don Imus uttered only one word to meet his downfall…

    Of course I’m not judging. it remains to be seen if she really meant what she wrote, or if she was just trying to be sarcastically funny, wanting to sound comical by poking fun at other people. after all, some writers claim to fame had been their ability to be funny when making fun of other people. but guess what Malu? they had CLASS, and you AINT got it.

    and here’s what else, try riding ordinary in a Raymond bus. I do it all the time when tickets for an aircon Raymond bus run out. yes, my idea of luxury is an aircon Raymond bus.

    I vote for punishment: firing AND community service along the lines of mingling with people she consider to be a blight to her olfactory senses. malodorous? better than being “Pierced and Pabilog…”

  5. I also favor the boycotts but not the demands for firing. For one thing, how would we otherwise know how the ‘elite’ truly thinks if we shut them up? At least now we have a better understanding of Malu and her circle of friends’ worldview. I do believe that contempt for the ordinary Filipino is the norm among people belonging to her class. She’s just not that good in hiding it.

  6. BUT OF COURSE MLQ3! You’re a columnist too! That’s a given answer on your part. It’s sort of an “allowance”, just in case!

    Why do most newspaper columnist have that braintwits running in their crackhead? They think that just because they’re columnist they could just hurl insults like that?! And to all OFW’s at that?!

    If Manila Bastard err Sub-Standard have any decency at all, why have a bitch on their list of columnist? She not only deserves to be fired! She deserves to be fried!!!

  7. I agree with Manolo and that was my stand too when I joined the call of Nick to condemn the lady columnist and her article. As I have said, it is not the columnist who’s going to suffer when the paper loses revenues because of the boycott. The small workers would be the first in line when there is downsizing. There are also thousands of newspaper boys (never mind the distributors, they have other magazines to sell) who will be affected.

    It’s not Malu’s bread and butter btw. She got a boutique.

  8. For one who writes about lifestyle and fashion, she is one victim of haute couture that she flaunts in her column.

    Let’s see her much valued accessories which together with
    her make-up weighed about 17kg in the pictures above.

    Picture 2

    NEVER WEAR BIG Accessories like gigantic beads when you get fat neck. Worse, she got three layers of them. Yuk. Where did she get her fashion sense? From her boutique?

    Models can get away with that outfit of hers, sports collar, white fancy blouse and boring grey necklace because what they wear in the fashion ramp is not their everyday wear. Besides she got a face which is a dream for those who want to paint a full moon. Lalong nakipagaligsahan sa bilao ng pansit Malabon.

    Picture 3

    NEVER, NEVER, (repeat after me, malulukah ako)wear turtle necked tops when you can hardly find where your neck starts and where it ends. Maseshera ang aking pagkafasionista. Sampalin siya ng papel na nakasulat, kahit mahal yan, huwag magsusuout ng PUTI o light colored
    outfit especially when you’re on the heavy side.

    And please…please lang, the necklace again is out of place. That’s more appropriate for reyna elena pag may santakrusan. Pakibuhusan ninyo siya ng holy water para maexorcise ang bad spirit na nag-advise sa kaniya ng ganiyang suot. Maria de Capra.

    Picture 1.

    Okay, black ang suot niya na puwedeng magtago ng mga kaniyang mga kabilbilan pero ‘day tingnan mo naman ang braso. Puwede sa WWF. NEVER NEVER wear sleeveless if your upper arms would shame the Christmas pata.

    Shame, shame, shame. And please, not that cleavage. And I see that necklace. Repeat yan sa picture 3. Akala ko ba marami siyang accessories. Bakit yong evening at casual, preho? Gusto niyaing idonate ko yong iba kong accesory sa kaniya?

    No amount of accessories and expensive perfume (yong pabango niya, air freshener dito) can give that lady, class.

  9. pic one, just cover the upper part and show the cleavage, not dissimilar to Britney’s.

    pic two, not bad looking a little too heavy on everything.

    pic three, lots of support there hon!!

    No it’s not the airline’s economy seat too small, you’re just too fat and wide…

  10. As to firing vs boycott(in this case,not in general)

    As to what the the Cat said, mas madaming maapektuhan sa boycott,pati yung mga walang kinalaman sa kanya.

    No one is indispensible as they say,they can find a better replacement.

    re captions:

    I like all the captions of the commenters. I could not add, since first time ko madinig ang fashionistang yan, sa totoo lang.

  11. No, getting her fired and her editor would be best. The lesson is more concrete and will be understand by all classes.

    The CAT is right on the last part of her comment. The first part is the opposite of the second part. If you care about the employees of the paper, don’t boycott; just get her and her editor fired.

    Manolo, what if someone lambasted an Ayala, Lopez or Gokongwei in a paper and these people get angry with the EIC and the Publisher and put pressure on the owners. FIRED, right?

  12. Maski saan ko tignan BABOY talaga mapa-hitsura or sumulat man. I go for “fire”….underneath her para malechon na yang baboy na yan.

  13. I’m sure Malou Fernandez’s greatest failing is her lack of writing talent and that she has the subtlety of a pig that’s about to be butchered. That’s not the point. The point is policy. There’s a saying. Don’t bite the hand that feeds you. This Malou did just that. It’s OFW money that keeps local businesses on the black despite the dismal economy. Local businesses are dependent on remittances. Besides that, sheer respect for humanity should make everyone feel for the OFWs.

    Locsin is a tough dude with elitist tendencies. Hell, the guy is a true elitist. He’s not reacting fast enough.

    “Lo cortes no quita lo valiente.” What kind of Spanish said this, Don Quixote. The Spanish are the most racist people in Europe today. They are uncouth, lacking in culture and a little stupid. Nobility of spirit is alien to them. You atch soccer?

  14. i’m in LA now and i fly quite a bit to and from Manila, so i encounter a lot of immigrants and OFW’s.

    it is true that there are some things about them that are quite annoying or irritating. but what people group does not have anything annoying about them? you can’t stand some things about them, but that does not mean you should disrespect them. they might have less money, have lower jobs, be less cultured, or use bad cologne, but at their core, they’re still HUMAN BEINGS. and that’s where the respect should be on. treating someone with respect shouldn’t be dependent on what he/she has, makes, does, or uses (although there’s a strong tendency to).

    each and every person, rich or poor, big or small, educated/cultured or not, gainfully employed or otherwise, should be treated with respect and dignity. it is everyone’s right as a human being. if malu is as educated and cultured as she makes herself sound to be, then she SHOULD know this and should even be the first to uphold and defend this right whenever it is trampled (as it often is).

    one can make fun of others, but that isn’t the same as degrading them. at least the OFW’s are trying. is malu even trying (to lose weight, for one)?

  15. @BrianB:

    i wouldn’t quite call the Spaniards (that’s what the people are called, BTW) racists. sure, they exhibit some discriminatory behaviors, but only in certain instances.

    i’d like to think that it’s not really “racism”, but rather “nationalism”. they don’t really think of themselves as a superior race in all circumstances, only in terms of being the carriers or bearers of “Spanish culture”, in the sense that they think they’re the real, authentic, original Spaniards in the world – which they really are. they consider Spanish-speaking colonies like those in Latin America to be “2nd-class Spaniards” and not the true, original bearers of the Spanish culture and language, no matter how similar they are to those in Spain – which is true as well, because the culture of the colonies, no matter how Spanish, always has a mix of the local culture in it*.

    but outside of that context? i don’t they’re racist at all. i was there for a month and they basically just left me alone.

    *case in point: in Mexico, you call everyone “amigo” and you’ll be fine. in Spain, you’ll get weird looks. the meaning of the word is the same, but the culture is different. in Mexico, whose culture is more American, or in the Philipines or U.S., you can call somebody you just met “pare” or “buddy”, and you’ll get away with it. in Spain, which is more European, you never call somebody a friend if they’re really not.

  16. “Lo cortes no quita lo valiente.” What kind of Spanish said this, Don Quixote

    With all due respect BrianB,MLQ3 was talking about his dad that time.

    I agree with jumper’s views on thelast two entries, give or take a hundred percent.

  17. “With all due respect BrianB,MLQ3 was talking about his dad that time.”

    You mean “papa.” Pretentious quote from a pretentious elite. The Spanish calls Africans monkeys and South Americans like Maradonna “Indio.” They are racist. People I know in Europe, and I have tech-blogging friends in France and Germany, agree with that assessment. The Spanish are the most openly racist people in Europe. They were never as paranoid as the Nazis but they are racist. You don’t have to kill Jews and enslave Africans to be racist.

    I’m not picking a FIGHT HERE, BUT THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT (sorry hit caps lock) somthing about these genteel quotable quotes that drive me nuts. It presupposes a superior stance to the sayer. I see a knight in shining armor hold the door for a woman, I’d shoot him through his visor. I hold the door to women, but only because they expect it. I resent it later, don’t get me wrong.

  18. I think getting Malu Fernandez fired from both publications would be the ultimate act of making her responsible for what she has has said. She wrote her columns for public consumption. She justified what she wrote in a broadsheet, let her answer to the same public.

    As I have said elsewhere, it would be a symbolic victory for this new media and the clamor coming from OFWs all over the world. It is a signal, to all and sundry, that views like Fernandez’ will no longer be tolerated in this emergent society. 8.3 million Filipinos, as of last official count.

    Besides, if she can afford 17 kilos worth of make-up, she can afford not subjecting the population with her unimaginative, Tim Yap-ish writing.

  19. brianb I’m not picking a FIGHT HERE, BUT THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT (sorry hit caps lock) somthing about these genteel quotable quotes that drive me nuts.

    I think this is Manolo’s subtle reminder, to Fernandez if she ever reads this, that he too is from the elite. But unlike Fernandez, Manolo doesn’t write in contempt about those whom he may perceive below his social class. And reading his columns, you obviously see that unlike Fernandez, he doesn’t count himself useless in “bridging the gap between socioeconomic classes.”

    Apologies Manolo, as a reader this is my interpretation of what you wrote. You may have different reasons altogether. 🙂

  20. What! Never heard that Manolo is a Jacobin? Bridging the gap my tush! Apologies for my pig latin.

    No one can bridge rich and poor, Sparx. Rich and middle class maybe, and the middle class will be delighted. The poor want to stay as far away from rich people. Not unless they make libre their 3 meals a day and give them a little allowance for some fun time in the malls. Have you no idea how much an empty stomach resents a full stomach. Even worse, what if the usually full stomach is on a diet? The gap will never be bridged. All the better.

    There’s a blogger (don’t remember who) that pointed out that Fernandez is Miguel Zubiri’s aunt. Someone has a comment on this? Is this why Malou Fernandez is an “writer” now?

  21. brianb,

    sobra namang yatang talunan and pilosopiya mo kaibigan. at lahat na lang ba tayo hahayaang magpadala sa agos ng kasaysayan? ayaw mo ba’ng lumangoy? ayaw mo ba’ng magturo sa ibang lumangoy? ayaw mong tularan sa sarili mong sikap?

    dahil ang yaman ay “finite”, totoo’ng palagiang may mas naka-aangat sa iba. pero naman, sa pahanong ito, makatao ba’ng may nagugutom pa rin? rasyonal ba’ng may nagugutom pa rin?

  22. i’m not trying to defend fernandez, i think what she wrote about ofws was reprehensible. but like me, most of the commenters here don’t know her as a person (kg claims this is the first time she heard of her). how can these people judge her with such venom and putrid language? what does her looks, body size, clothing, make-up, etc. anything to do with her article, detestable though it may be?

    blacks often call each other “nigger” and they just laugh it off. seldom do they take offense in that case, unlike when someone other than another black (whites, especially) do it wherein they would surely make a federal case out of it, if not resort to physical violence.

    as a filipino herself, i see fernandez as trying to be self-deprecating – maybe even thinking that a good number of her own kind shares her observation. her fault lies in not realizing that she was committing the worst kind of political incorrectness – insult a class she thinks is lower than her’s.

  23. Sparks, this Filipino attitude od absolute forgiveness is Unique, I repeat, UNIQUE in the world and the entire history of human race. My suspicion is this isn’t forgiveness. Why forgive criminals who haven’t been punished? Why forgive people who continue enjoy the fruits of their injustices. I don’t understand why Filipinos are so forgiving when it comes to their oppressors. They don’t forgive cellphone snatchers, do they? Binubugbog bago ipa-pulis.

    You call my attitude a loser Philosophy? I call your attitude slave mentality. Or maybe I just don’t understand your Tagalog.

  24. On softer note, I like Malu’s logic, though I already lambasted her and I take responsibility for my thoughts and actions for that (for comparing her to a driftwood..yaiks..)

    To quote Malu Fernandez, “Although it may sound elitist to you the fact is this country is built on the foundation of haves, have-nots and wannabes. One group will never get the culture of the other. Although I could mention that it is easier to understand someone who has a lower socioeconomic background that would entail a whole other page and frankly I don’t want to be someone to bridge the gap between socioeconomic classes.”

    Siguro these lines, they are undisputable, flawless. But of course it should not give anyone a license to degrade the Filipino expat.

    Unwittingly, Malu was the person to represent this truth she said. Ika nga, at the wrong place and at the wrong time. We also have our version of Malu’s Syndrome, I don’t deny it and we can do far worst than her, hindi ako proud dito.

    Sir if I may quote Jodie Foster, she said “it is a reality not a disability.” So far as the equation is concern, our reality, this reality we have is our very own disability.

    But everyone has to start somewhere else, our “sacrificial lamb,” siguro is destined to be the starting point.

    Hopefully we won’t be fooling ourselves twice or forever, and won’t wake up one morning and get another kick for the next-best-thing-after-7/11, the Malu Version 2: Return of the Queen Aboard the Boeing Dreamliner Economy Class!

  25. Thanks for this MLQ3.

    Just to react to some comments – as for invoking Ms Fernandez’ rights as a journalist (which I presume you were also thinking of when you wrote your stand on the anti-Malu campaign), she may have had the right to write what she did, but there’s no defending her lack of tact & her utter disdain for people who know how to earn an honest day’s work by the sweat of their brows.

    Ditto the offence said article has inflicted on a significant sector of Philippine society. Ditto Ms Fernandez’ editors for allowing the release of this. There are limits – laid down by Supreme Court cases both here and the US – to these rights. Best to be mindful of these limits before writing pieces like this.

    Quid pro quo, the sectors Ms Fernandez has managed to offend have a right to react and demand an apology too.

    PS: As for trying a hand at “acerbic” writing, she needs to read things thicker than whatever she’s been reading to cultivate this writing style. Try “wry and dry humour”, dearie. Or better, sign up for a writing course, dahling!

  26. “I’m not picking a FIGHT HERE, BUT THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT (sorry hit caps lock) somthing about these genteel quotable quotes that drive me nuts. It presupposes a superior stance to the sayer. I see a knight in shining armor hold the door for a woman, I’d shoot him through his visor. I hold the door to women, but only because they expect it. I resent it later, don’t get me wrong.”

    Tagakotta de Cebu, time for deadmatology my man(not kimosabe)

  27. Malu Fernandez really is a caricature! She’d be right at home in the pages of Noli and Fili — probably a matapobreng matandang kapatid ni Kapitan Tiago or some other 🙂

  28. BrianB, the best hope for our country lies in having an enlightened elite. Without that, we would have to spend at least a generation engaging in class warfare (in its various forms) before we finally have the chance to prosper.

  29. The Philippines with a “class” society? Elitist, sultans, warlords, sir, madame, senoritas, senor…hehe..

    Back in l9l9 when this country, well of course I’m talking about Canada again, is still a baby, MP Nickel decided to slowly dismantle the so-called British “class” based society by a resolution introduced asking the crown not to grant Titular Titles to Her Canadian Subjects as it is against the Democratic Principles of the young Country. Then comes the l960 Bill of Rights, followed by the l982 Charter of Rights and Freedoms to make Equality, pigs and horses and pretty white skins and ebony blacks, and little browns and yellow asians equal = = .. One may be a zillioner or a beggar, belong to the Yorkdale glitz or the Yonge St. Crowd (the rich and the poor) but call your self an elitist and there is one place every one will refer you to including ur family doc… 100l queen st, the mental institution… malu fernandez you are one lucky bitch….

  30. brianb,

    this Filipino attitude od absolute forgiveness is Unique

    I don’t follow what you wrote about forgiveness. Who said anything about forgiving anyone? If you mean getting MF fired, I have expressed support for this.

    You call my attitude a loser Philosophy?

    I was responding to you saying “the gap will never be bridged. all the better.” I took it to be defeatist (talunan), implying what? That we should let the gap remain there?

    Show me any key agent of social change who doesn’t come from elites. Who organises those marches on Mendiola? Who teaches Marx in universities? Who is Marx? Who is Bonifacio (huge debate of course). Who, among socialist scholars here and abroad, for all time, are not bourgeois? Who is the Chinese Communist Party? Who is Fidel Castro? Who is Che Guevarra? Who among NGOs and civil society movements are not bourgeois? Sila nga mismo, they call themselves middle class.

    A slave mentality you say? To what? To dogma?

  31. I think a successful boycott as Manolo suggested would actually lead to Tingog’s objective: faced with a choice between keeping Malu and keeping revenues alive, I suppose Manila Standard editors would choose the latter.

  32. it is not the columnist who’s going to suffer when the paper loses revenues because of the boycott. The small workers would be the first in line when there is downsizing. There are also thousands of newspaper boys (never mind the distributors, they have other magazines to sell) who will be affected.

    If that’s the way you put it cathcath, then I’d rather see her fired na lang instead of the newspaper boys lose their jobs over Malu’s bigotry.

    But if the owners of the newspaper Manila Standard Today shares her views or see nothing wrong with what she has written on OFWs and poor Filipinos, then I don’t see anything wrong at all with the boycott option.

  33. From Bencard, who uses the example of blacks calling each other “niggers”:

    i’m not trying to defend fernandez, i think what she wrote about ofws was reprehensible. but like me, most of the commenters here don’t know her as a person (kg claims this is the first time she heard of her). how can these people judge her with such venom and putrid language? what does her looks, body size, clothing, make-up, etc. anything to do with her article, detestable though it may be?

    blacks often call each other “nigger” and they just laugh it off. seldom do they take offense in that case, unlike when someone other than another black (whites, especially) do it wherein they would surely make a federal case out of it, if not resort to physical violence.

    as a filipino herself, i see fernandez as trying to be self-deprecating – maybe even thinking that a good number of her own kind shares her observation. her fault lies in not realizing that she was committing the worst kind of political incorrectness – insult a class she thinks is lower than her’s.

    Blacks do sometimes call other blacks “niggers”. I guess it’s a question of intention or how they intended to use the term. What was Malu’s intention when she was writing (and defending) those articles of hers?

    http://www.tingog.com/social-concerns/malu-fernandez-people-asia-article-controversy-manila-standard-columnist.html

  34. reyna, nick, i don’t know, really, if simply demanding a writer get fired accomplishes anything. issues of free speech, indeed -and that freedom includes reacting to free speech that offends you.

    unlike the net, where the give-and-take is basically unlimited, someone writes, people immediately react, in a publication the writer is presumed to appeal, if not to every reader of that publication, a chunk significant enought to make it worth the publication’s while to pay the writer. in which case the readers wield their ultimate editorial authority by means of their pocketbooks.

    a boycott doesn’t mean someone will get fired, but it does mean the publication has to realize it has a larger audience than perhaps it assumed, and is thus accountable to a larger audience. it can embrace or shun that broader audience.

    if it’s smart, it will revisit its editorial policies, give the writer concerned a chance to rectify their errors, reaches out to the public, everyone ends up scarred but maybe a little wiser.

    and if not, well… the original constituency reasserts itself and wins out.

  35. Is this really an issue about elitism, class consciousness, class wars? Or is it just a matter of good taste?

    Because if it about the evils of elitism, then the suggestion of a boycott should include all newspapers that have society pages. Kung yung newspaper nya lang yayariin nyo, madami kayong masasagasaan na wala namang kasalanan. I don’t think she needs the money from the newspaper to feed herself. She just writes to feed her ego.

    My suggestion? Flood the newspaper with letter complaints that demand an apology from her. I think she’d rather resign than issue one.

  36. “If that’s the way you put it cathcath, then I’d rather see her fired na lang instead of the newspaper boys lose their jobs over Malu’s bigotry.”..john marzan.

    jm, like the old saying goes, the sick old man dyeth, a healthy child born to carry on. not worried about one Newspaper folding down, one will rise to take its place and provide more employment, even a better one…

  37. Whether we opt to boycott Manila Standard or have Malu Fernandez fired from the same paper, what is clear is that her outlandish statements has caused a stir among a portion of the paper’s readers and a significant sector of the pinoy blogging world.

    I support the campaign started by Tingog.com although I have reservations with the objective of firing her. I think the campaign should accommodate Manuel’s points in this blog entry. It’s never to late to change some of the action slogans anyway.

    Calling for her dismissal over her reprehensible write-up raises issues of free speech. What if other people begin campaigns via the blogging world to have decent writers ousted from papers where they work for some less reasonable cause.

    And still on the issue of free speech, we wouldn’t want our blogs shut down over what we write like they do in China or in Turkey where wordpress was recently banned.

    Viewed in this context, the “fire Malu campaign” may start a dangerous precedent.

    I think the loss of profits caused by boycotting the paper should be enough to lead the owners to have Malu reprimanded so she say nicer things next time.

    P.S. Thanks for the pictures. 🙂

  38. i do think ms. fernandez will survive this blogstorm. i don’t think this story will ever reach the mainstream media. hanggang sa internets lang ito.

  39. “BrianB, the best hope for our country lies in having an enlightened elite. Without that, we would have to spend at least a generation engaging in class warfare (in its various forms) before we finally have the chance to prosper.”

    Darn, our elite are primitives, and they are hopeless because they are pretentious. How can you improve when you pretend you are already better than you are.

    “if it’s smart, it will revisit its editorial policies, give the writer concerned a chance to rectify their errors, reaches out to the public, everyone ends up scarred but maybe a little wiser.”

    Manolo, come on. You are deliberately being naive. Yhe publisher to firing Malou Fernandez is the biggest, clearest, no-doubt-about-ittest statement the newspaper and the magazine can make. It is APT punishment, so apt I’m getting an erection.

  40. Let’s face it, it’s all about how big you are. If you are little, no one will bother being ethical, moral or legal with you. If you’re big you get every benefit of the doubt they can squeeze out of existence and every privilege that can be provided by man.

    We are not kids that you could just pacify, Manolo, tell your mentor that.

  41. dz, please find Malou Fernandez’s email and send that, or even better, send it to People Asian and Today Standard (or what the heck is it called nowadays). Tell them that’s how people feel. I’ll sign it… with my real name.

  42. brian, you’re talking of the same paper that wanted to fire tony abaya, because he opposed the president. and what saved his column, was a reaction from the public. it cuts both ways.

    the paper can denounce fernandez, it can censure her, even suspend her. and she’s free to bow to public pressure and quit. if she’s fired she can always pass the blame to her bosses, no?

    you may want to consider the proposal for ofw’s to take out an ad:

    http://www.ellaganda.com/?p=197

  43. oh ho! this now shows how remorseful she is and how much she REALLY MEANT what she wrote. well Malu, sorry, but keep digging your own grave.

    http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=goodLife1_july30_2007

    “I obviously write for a certain target audience and if what I write offends you, just stop reading.”

    and that target audience would be? bigots perhaps? and stop reading? oh ho! thank you for the encouragement, but i dnt think its needed. you see, there is ALREADY a call for BOYCOTT of YOU. and yes, if MST wants to be profitable, it better listen to your “target audience..”

    “I don’t want to be someone to bridge the gap between socioeconomic classes.”

    Perhaps that’s what you should exactly try out.

    “Now I seriously ask you, am I being a diva or are people around me just lacking in common sense? Perhaps it’s a little of both!”

    Seriously? Neither! you’re the farthest thing from a diva, and people who actually have common decency have a lot of common sense too. and yes, common sense. this country has 85 million OFWs and chances are, at least one “target audience” will have one OFW relative. how da hell do u think they’d react? call u and congratulate you on your “acerbic wit?”

    oh. did i forget to mention my Mom’s an OFW nanny and my sis one too? (though she’s luckily been “upgraded” into a much classier job) so thank you for your “wit,” but id rather have drollness anytime if your kind of “wit” is the only choice i’ll have.

  44. Besides the ad, how about a talk show spot for this? Anyone with connections to one of the talk shows? And let’s consider her connection with Senator Zubiri as well. She’s an awful writer and have nothing really to share to the public, even for a socialite. So why is she a columnist?

    Devil, I happen to have connections in Paris. Real friends, some Turks and Frenchmen. I’ll email them her picture. I have a waiter friend in a rather famous restaurant on St. Germain. Now I’m not threatening violence or anything, but if any time this year she happens to be in Paris or happens to be eating in the restaurant, my friend will call me and I’ll be giving herm instructions. I sure hope she’s not just pretending to be a jetsetter.

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