Sige na, lahat na ng Tsino kamukha ko.
O lahat na ng mga Pinoy kamukha ko rin. Alam kong hindi ako nag-iisa. Narinig ninyo na siguro ito sa inyong mga katrabaho, kapitbahay, o kaibigang hindi Pinoy. Lahat daw tayo magkakamukha. Kaya noong may Korean-American na nag-amok at namaril sa isang paaralan sa US ilang taon na ang nakalilipas, kadarating ko pa lang sa opisina ay dali-dali akong sinugod ng aking katrabahong Espanyol para sabihing kamukha ko raw yung nasa dyaryo. Sabi naman ng klasmeyt ko kamukha ko raw yung nasa pelikulang Anna and the King, si Chow Yun-Fat. Ang sigaw sa akin ng mga katrabaho ko kung minsan ay Jackie Chan. Noong Pilipinas ang tampok na bansa sa Festival Asia noong 2006, nagtitili ang practicum supervisor kong Catalana kasi pinsan ko raw yung nasa poster ng Casa Asia.
Noong nakaraang Biyernes lang, na-dyaryo na naman ako. Ipinakita sa akin ng katrabaho ko ang dyaryo at sinabing kamukha ko raw yung DJ na may konsiyerto sa Barcelona. Hindi, ang sagot ko sa lahat ng mga kasong ito ng mistaken identity. Sabi pa niya baka Pinoy raw yun. Hindi rin ang sagot ko. Ang sabi ko kapag ang isang Pinoy kasi ay sikat kahit ‘ starlet’ pa lang siya sa ibang bansa, superstar na siya para sa mga proud Pinoys sa buong mundo. Pinadalhan niya ako ng link para patunayan na Pinoy ang DJ na ‘to at nadiskubre kong isa nga siyang superstar.
Tinaguriang pinakamagaling na turntable DJ sa buong mundo ang Filipino-American na si DJ Qbert. Ang nanay niya ay galing Bacolod City at ang tatay niya ay galing Ilocos Sur. At malayong mangyaring si DJ Qbert ako. Daniel Infante Tuaño
Ang Bagong Filipino 
Dear Daniel, it is true that most Spaniards (Europeans and Americans too, so let us say “most Caucasians”) cannot easily identify the different Asian types. It is instead much easier (and human beings unfortunately tend to be quite lazy, both mentally and physically) to simplify it into “Asians”, in Spain popularly known as “Chinitos”, origin of course of “Tsinito-Tsinita” in Tagalog. I must admit that even though I believe myself not to be that lazy (or simple minded, ;-), there are times when it is hard for me to tell if someone is Korean or Japanese, unless I hear him/her speak. There are cases as well in which it’s not that simple to tell a Chinese from a Korean, which makes my Filipino wife laugh, since for her it’s just pretty obvious. She has been wrong sometimes, though. This is a problem common for all races, and I am the one to tell inmediately a German from a French, or a Portuguese from a Greek, while for my spouse they just look “Europeans”, so to say, and for the average Filipino citizen they would just be “Amerikano”, that is, “maputing tao”, unsufficiently or poorly cooked (hilaw, in my wife’s nakakatawa na Bisaya). During my years in the Philippines I had to accept being constantly called “Amerikano”, while I would not surrender instead to take “Joe”, a term that drives me nuts (pangako!). I would systematically answer, “Excuse me, Sir, but I am no Joe, I have a nice Christian name, Anghel ang pangalan ako”, which would make my counterpart laugh even more, of course, and would always result in being called “Angel”, in the English pronunciation, turning me at least into a silahis, and who knows into what else. Joke lang! Well, Filipino laugh can make any inconvenient words vanish instantly, and it would make another intercultural interesting topic. No wonder you created the section “Smile of the Week”: even being yourself a pinoy you are very much aware of that precious Filipino cultural-social-human treasure. Hopefully every race will be doing their homework; we must trust a bit the “mundialización” process, “diba”? By the way, I guess not everybody knew that the expression “Hey, Joe” originated in an American sixties hit, a song by Jimmy Hendrix of the same title. For sure most Filipinos have heard it, but didn’t get the thing yet. Kaya… Hey, Manong! Pare! Mare! Nandito ang awit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GydN5VDDBMM
Well friends, that’s all for now! Great hugs, Daniel!
Thanks Ángel for your article, I mean, your comments hehe. Some Filipinos get offended when people mistake them for Chinos. I don’t. But when people treat me like a ‘Chinito’, I will unleash the Lapu-Lapu inside me 🙂
Sorry, my keyboard wrote too fast. I meant “Excuse me, Sir, but I am no Joe, I have a nice Christian name, Anghel ang pangalan KO”, and not ako, syempre. Salamat po sa inyong lahat!
Thanks again for giving the Spanish/Caucasian perspective on the article. Un abrazo Ángel y a tus angeles 🙂