PINOYS ABROAD
"Sa Europe, pag may-susotsot, malamang Pilipino yun" a teacher in Italian language once told our class, "Pag may lilingon, sigurado Pilipino din yun." she added.
Of course, other nationalities also make sutsot but not to the same degree and not with as many variations as Pinoys do. The pssst, rude and crude as it is, has proven itself to be effective in catching anyone’s attention. It works here, so why shouldn’t work elsewhere ?
Moreover, overseas Filipinos have an uncanny way of finding each other. Bumping into a kababayan is not as much a coincidence but more like a pre-ordained occurrence.
A couple of years ago Christine toured the United States. She was waiting outside a store for her transportation, when out came the sister of a former officemate. Her ex-officemate also happened to be inside the mall and they had an instant reunion right there at the parking lot.
In most cases, what happens is that Jose meets Pedro for the first time and in the course of their kumustahan they find out that both of them know Juan.
I have an uncle whom I haven’t seen for years since he migrated to the U.S. He met somebody there who has a sister in Cebu who happens to live close to our house. When my uncle visited the Philippines for a vacation, I was naturally tasked to deliver a parcel to the sister of his friend. On his flight back to America, my uncle’s seatmate turned out to be his fellow employee and also a friend of mine. Coincidence? Perhaps yes, perhaps not.
With so many Filipino entertainers, overseas contract workers, domestic helpers, occupational health workers, hotel employees and seamen everywhere, it’s hard not to meet one you know wherever you travel. Rico currently works in Vietnam. One night he and a fellow Cebuano visited a club in Ho Chi Minh city-and the perfuming band also happened to be from Cebu. They even have a mutual friend, a musician whom the band used to jam with and is now Rico’s co-employee back in the Philippines.
Whether they’re tourists or OCW’s or immigrants, Pinoys are eager to interact with their countrymen. Marit, a Dane, witnessed one such incident. "I was in Japan with a group of government representatives from other countries. I was surprised when the Filipina delegate suddenly left our group to go after a woman across the street who looked like a Filipina. The next thing we knew, she was already asking her 'Pilipina ka ba'?.
During such encounters the customary dialog is typically Pinoy: "Pilipino ka?" "Taga-saan ka?"... and the inevitable. "kilala mo si ....?" David, an American who worked in the Middle East, observed this many times among our OCWs. "They would go on and on, asking each other questions about hometowns, schools, previous jobs etc.," he noted. They would feel their way around as they chatted until they found common ground. "Would you believe, this guy from Bohol has an uncle who was the parish priest of the other guy’s hometown somewhere in Mindanao?"
He himself experienced being on the other end of this friendly interrogation by an inquisitive Filipino. "You’re from Arkansas? I have a niece in Denver!" He adds with a wry grin, "then he mentions the name of the relative, where she works and so on, and looks at me expectantly for some hint of recognition."
You hardly notice other nationalities behaving this way. When I asked Arthur, an American traveling sales manager, he said, "I didn’t come to the Philippines to meet fellow Americans!"
Why do Filipinos seek out their own kind? "Siyempre, day, kinsa man diay ang imong pangutan-on kung asa ang barato nga mga tindahan ug kan-anan?" Shirlyn casually answered. She knows; she just visited Europe where prices of goods and services are high by Philippine standards. Overseas Pinoy are specially useful when tourists and new arrivals want to know the location of Filipino restaurants and stores.
Marit shares another story. She was with a group of Filipinas in Thailand. They were particularly insistent that the band performing at their hotel was Filipino. "The band was really good," she recalls, "my friends thought they had to be from the Philippines." But the band, in fact, was all - Thai. Marit adds, "Well, at least our waitress was a Filipina."
To avoid mistakes like this, Pinoys overseas have found different ways of distinguishing their countrymen apart from the rest.
Agnes is a Chinese Filipino mestiza who recently spent five month in Guangzhou, China. She was puzzled that while the natives often mistook her for one of them. Filipinos could easily recognize her at a glance. "Pilipina ka ‘no?". they would say, How did you know, she’d ask back. "Kasi naka-maong ka." In a separate incident she chanced upon a group of Filipinas in a hotel and distinctly heard them debating about her until one them exclaimed, "Aah, may panyo, Pilipina!" The natives, it seems, favor tissue paper.
In Hong kong, one can easily tell Filipinas apart from the locals by their figures. "Hongkees" have very slim angular figures tapering down to narrow hips and muscular legs. Filipinas, well all know, posses more curves in the right and wrong places such as the bosom, hips and thighs.
Pinoys stick out like a sore thumb in Europe during summer. While everybody else is wearing warm weather clothes, Filipinos are bundled in jackets and coats.
Abroad, Filipinos laugh, giggle, chuckle, yell, squeal as they do at home - aaaaayyy! kung babaye or Uyy! kung lalake. The Pinoy’s sunny disposition also shines through his face. -"Palangiti kahit na hindi kilala, " notes Aissa,who has been to Malaysia. Shirlyn can put it simply like this: "Tan-aw ko niya, tan-aw sad siya nako. Magti-nutukay mi, pahiyom gamay-aw, klare kaayo nga Pilipino!" From one Filipino to another, one smile can convey everything-the loneliness of a DH, the warm welcome of An expat, the curious glance of a tourist, the timid hesitation of a TNT, the amused all-knowing look of the seasoned traveler.
Here and abroad balikbayans are the easiest to spot even minus their overstuffed luggage of pasalubongs. Male OCWs, usually from the Middle East, like to come home looking like the village People attired in maong or leather jackets with matching cowboy boots. Heavily made-up Filipina entertainers command attention with their long permed hair, long-sleeved blouses, tight pants and high-cut shoes. For added effect some put on hats or wear scarves. Both sexes appear to have a fondness for gold jewelry, too. Now and then you’d see some toting cassette or CD players and TV sets. To complete the look, many lug brand new cameras or handycams, ready to shoot anybody or anything on sight. American balikbayans? "Sila na’ng slang-slang mag-Ininglis," Ramon remarks dryly. A frequent traveler, he likes to observe people while waiting at the airport.
If you are not as adept or observant, mind what you say about the stranger next to you. During a visit to a night market in Sabah, I was assessing the merchandise while muttering, "Sus, pareho ra man ni sa gibaligya sa Colon," when, to my surprise, the merchant exclaimed, "Hala Bisaya! Taga Cebu ka day? Ako taga Dadiangas!" Whereupon, he waved at the other merchants, many of whom come from Zamboanga, yelling while pointing at us "Hoy! Mga taga-Cebu!"
Lastly even when you’re in the company of Caucasians, it is still not safe to say anything potentially embarrassing or insulting. A case in point is this anecdote of two filipinos in America. They were sharing the elevator with an American lady and one of them couldn’t help observing how Caucasians have different hair color. "Tan-awa na siya bay, bulaw. Unsa sad kahay buhok niya sa ubos?" he wondered our loud. Without batting an eyelash, the American lady - who had spent years in the Philippines as a Peace Corps volunteer-- replied "Bulaw sad."
Published in Sunstar Weekend, March 10, 1996