My musings last week on the letter of Jeff Ruffolo that was printed in this paper about two weeks back received some reaction from readers. Let me reprint those from foreigners, non-pigs, who have had the chance to live longer in this so-called pigsty, Cebu.
My good friend Paul Gerschwiler, no stranger to Cebu having lived here for nearly a decade now in Argao, e-mailed me this: “I also read this American’s load of trash about Cebu City. He claims to ‘have seen it all’ and that would apparently qualify him to comment on our ciudad.
“Well, if it were worth the effort we could suggest that this competent American citizen should have a good look around any city of his own homeland, the Bronx for instance, or any other sleazy slum and drug area in any US metro, including Washington D.C. Places where even the police troopers go in very hesitantly and on high alert, particularly during nighttime.
“Even I would not go to certain known areas of my beloved hometown Basel in Switzerland at night.
“Well, I went on reading Cebu Daily News with a shrug after skimming through this piece, but now that I read your article, I start to wonder why for god’s sake every time an ‘inspired’ foreigner feels enlightened to comment on our way of life some people feel ‘slighted to the extreme.’ Where is the Cebuano self-esteem? I do not suggest that we should feel like the proverbial moon, but still we could let some dogs just bark.”
He ended with this loaded question: “But tell me, Jobers, what do writers know that I don’t to get space for an article in CDN?” Paul is currently writing a book on the social and cultural history of Argao, having completed two years back the extremely informative and well-researched book, “Bolhoon: A Cultural Sketch.” If there is someone who should be ranting and raving about Cebu, Paul would probably be the guy to do it. That he hasn’t speaks volumes about Ruffalo’s bias.
Here is another reaction from Carlo Örtoft of Sweden who posted his reaction on the Facebook page where good friend Orly Cajegas posted my column last week: “I visited Cebu City the first time in 1984 and I fell in love not only with the clever and beautiful Vicky, but also with your city. I was 23 years old and had never traveled as far as the Philippines before. The people of Cebu took me in their open arms, especially the Lim family and I felt welcomed from the beginning.
“…What I could notice when I was visiting Cebu City two years ago was that the city is more crowded, that I was more afraid in the evening and that I was cheated a little bit more, but the hospitality of the people of Cebu City was the same especially the Lim family. Yes sometimes it feels like a city in chaos but the reference is people like me living in a city of 40,000 and a country more than twice as big as the Philippines with only 9 million. So, of course, it can feel very different for us. But I love the city and I love the people living there and I thank you all for your hospitality and the Lim family for letting me take the wonderful Vicky Lim to Sweden that year in 1985. We got married and have four wonderful kids and we are still married and still in love. Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!”
Need I say more? Let me close this episode with this final word from another Facebook reactor, even as I encourage everyone to go out and vote with their conscience and with their vision of what Cebu should be and how it should be run. Beatriz Faelnar Ford wrote: “Every country in the world has their places to be proud of and places to shun. This guy was on a mission to seek all that was negative about our beloved Cebu City, even if he was most likely met with congeniality for most of his trip.
“I feel a slight sadness that my home city of so much promise is being experienced or perceived in such a manner by foreign visitors. No one is blind towards the sad realities of our country’s political, economic and even environmental situations. However, we all have a universal and individual responsibility and role to play in civil society. Writing about Cebu City like an ungrateful bastard is not one of them.”
I say Amen to that. Go out and vote, on Monday everyone. Let the cultural pride of Cebu shine further!