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Philippines, 25 Apr 2024 |
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THE INTERNET, THE CULTURAL DIVIDE AND THE DONAIRES' FILIAL STRIFE PhilBoxing.com Fri, 04 Mar 2011  At the Foot of Mt. Apo, Kidapawan City, The Philippines, 4 a.m. March 4 - The Internet, undoubtedly one of the greatest discoveries of the 21st Century, has built a virtual invisible information bridge that connects a writer sitting in front of his laptop in his farmhouse at the foot of the Philippines' tallest mountain to an Eskimo browsing the net in his snow-covered home in Alaska. The exchange and access of information occurs in milliseconds and is done simply by punching the "ENTER" key. But while the Internet has facilitated the exchange of information between people living in the opposite ends of the globe, it has also brought about a new phenomenon which I would call the "Cultural Disorientation." The information bridge that the Internet built, which amazingly has a system that could transform Roman alphabets to Chinese, Japanese or even Arabian characters, did not include features that would translate issues and events being shared in a different cultural perspective. Take the case of the ruckus over the family feud involving the Philippines' newest boxing sensation, Nonito Donaire Jr., and his father and former trainer and mentor, Nonito Sr. I first wrote about this issue towards the end of 2008 when the relationship between the father and son boxing tandem started to sour. The story was intended for Filipino readers as it was posted on philboxing.com, undoubtedly one of the most popular boxing websites in the world today, and thepinoyboxers.com. That story was written in the perspective of the Filipino culture, which was precisely the reason why, in spite of his immense talents inside the ring, Nonito Donaire, Jr., does not enjoy even half the popularity of Manny Pacquiao in the Philippines. Yet, the magic of the Internet allowed Filipinos overseas and even non-Filipinos to follow that story closely and react to it. Unfortunately, their appreciation and interpretation of the issue have not taken into consideration the Philippine cultural setting. The story is viewed in two different contexts. To those unfamiliar with Filipino culture, it is just another story of a great boxer who is unhappy with his trainer, who happens to be his father, and decided to get rid of the trainer and make public explanations as to why he had to jettison his old man. To the Filipino reader, this is a story of a son, who happens to be an outstanding boxer, who has shown disrespect to his father by talking ill of him in public and even going to the extent of mulling a change of name. The foreign reader would simply shrug his shoulder and ask: "What's the big deal? Nonito Donaire, Jr. is a grown man who has taken a wife. He has no responsibility to look after his family." The most classic reaction of a Filipino reader was the post I read in one of the threads of philboxing.com: "I admire Nonito Donaire, Jr. as a boxer of great talent but as a person, I consider him shit." In the Philippine cultural milieu, it is taboo to speak ill of your parents, no matter how bad they are. Corporal punishment, which is a crime in the United States, is an accepted norm in Philippine society as the parents' way to correcting a wayward child. I was born to a big family, 11 children all boys, with a very strict father and a loving mother. All of us, even at our age now, were taught to kiss the hands of our father and mother, grandparents, uncles and aunts and even elders who are close to the family every time we meet them. Sending our old and senile parents to the home for the aged to wait for their final moment is an idea that is scorned and nearly as impossible as the trip to the moon. My late father, who was also my teacher, once whacked my head with a book when I reported to his class without completing my assignments. Cruel? Yes. But I graduated valedictorian in both elementary and high school and became a Governor. My brother, former congressman Bernardo Jr., made sure he would inherit the molave door when our old house was renovated because that was where our late father banged his head several times for coming home drunk. All my brothers, retired police colonel Patricio, mayors Efren and Joselito, Celso, Noli, Gerardo, Ferdinand, Nilo and Socrates, everybody, went through it. We all had our share of what we initially thought was "unreasonable cruelty" by our father. Today, when we all gather to celebrate our father's birthday and death anniversary, we all have a big laugh over our painful but funny experiences from the hands of our dear "Tatay." We all agree that without that feared old man growling at our every errant action, we all would have been wayward sons. (By the way, none of us smoke cigarettes and only one or two would take alcohol during gatherings.) Such is the Filipino culture. Such is the cultural background that the Donaire Father and Son Feud was written on. Unfortunately, while the Internet enables non-Filipino viewers and readers to have access to events and issues in the Philippines, it does not offer features which provide a cultural translation of the events and issues. This is where the raging conflict of views and opinions over the Donaire Father and Son Feud finds its roots, even dragging my dear friends Quinito Henson and Ronnie Nathanielsz, on one side, into a conflict of views with the father and son tandem of journalists Recah and Chino Trinidad. Recah and Chino, one of the most loving father and son team I have known, contend that the boxing glory achieved by Nonito Jr. should not overshadow the fact that he is an ungrateful son and that this must be written about. Ronnie, on the other hand, says the private life of the Donaires should be remain private and Nonito Jr.'s achievement in the ring should be celebrated. Quinito was more honest in explaining his position on the issue saying that the Marcials, whose daughter, Rachel, Nonito Jr. married, are his relatives. This is an issue that Nonito Jr. and his wife, Rachel, must understand having been raised in a foreign land and brought up in an American way of life. No amount of publicity stunts like visiting a sick child in a hospital or offering help in training Filipino amateur boxers and dedicating his victory to President Aquino and the Filipino people will change the perception of conservative Filipinos that Nonito, Jr., the outstanding boxer, is an ungrateful child. And this the cross that Nonito Donaire, Jr. will carry on his shoulders until he finds his way to his parents' doors and reconcile with them in all sincerity. Charity, after all, begins at home. Click here for a complete listing of columns by this author. Click here for a complete listing of this author's articles from different news sources. |
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