Inside Philippine politics & beyond

I apologize for offending Visayan sensibilities over diction

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But not to the trolls

By Raïssa Robles

Yes, I did tweet this, while following the sham press conference of President Rodrigo Duterte.

First, I would like to apologize.

1. I never realized that language was an issue and trampled on the sensitivities of others
2. Now that I’ve been made to realize this, I apologize to all those who I offended. I’m sorry.
3. In fact, having been awakened to this issue, I’d like to invite people who feel they were discriminated against on this issue to tell me their stories and anecdotes. I’m considering compiling them into a report.
4. I don’t apologize to vicious fake account trolls obviously riding on the issue to promote Marcos and Duterte dictatorships

For those interested in the details of that Sep 11 fiasco of a “press con” that led to the tweet, read this post entitled – That September 11 fiasco of a “press con” in Malacañang

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That September 11 fiasco of a “press con” in Malacañang

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Comments

  1. I hope your apology is supplemented with intended reevaluation of your act of insensitivity. What you did was disrepectful.

      • reporters are supposed to know what they’re talking about.

        a black man can call another black a “nigger” but a white man calling a black man a “nigger” is an insult.

    • uhm, duterte has always admired hitler, I would have thought that like hitler, duterte’s elocution is perfect! image was everything to hitler, propaganda niya top of the tops at ngayong malapit na ang election, it’s not good for duterte’s image to appear deadbol, he, he, he. image is everything, so what happened to his fist pump, dila niya not in cahoot? mukhang may sira ang one of his facial nerves, the one that control speech and the tongue, not in coordination.

      when appearing in video for nationwide audience, dapat prepared si duterte, ready and raring to go, not sleepy ang slow, his tongue jet lagged, he, he, he, travel ng travel overseas kasi.

      seriously, not raissa’s fault yan to have keen hearing, daig yata ang chinese spies ni duterte, illegally listening to people talking. aside from raissa, many also picked up duterte’s gaffe.

      duterte had better kept in mind his hero hitler was good speaker and if emulating hitler, duterte ought to mind his speech. be aware of how he’s perceived. image is everything and election is coming, duterte is better off brushing up on his speaking prowess.

      to be respected, he, he, he, duterte is not commanding respect with the way he governs the nation. his governing style is bad as his diction.

    • Cara, to chat in your native dialect while there are other people who doesn’t understand the Visayan dialect is very disrespectful!

      When we’re with friends, we speak in English so those that cannot understand Tagalog aren’t left out!

      As for respect, it is EARNED and not given just because you think you’re better than us! Besides, if Duterte will speak in English, he should learn how to pronounce it properly and being the president, he should be a role model to the youths of our future! But with his poor breeding, not much to expect!

      Usually people with poor breeding tries to make-up for it by trying their hardest to impress! It’s not Raissa’s fault if she finds “stragol” funny! Mind you, Some even pronounces a pEg as “pig”, 8 -“it”, 6 – “sex” etc. Beggars belief you learned English in school but still pronounces it they way you’re used to it!

  2. bisaya mang ko, and when I first came to manila, I got such a shocked hearing the english language spoken. try see kill, vee he kill, I ducked of course, thinking a killing going on, lol! tricycle, vehicle, took a while for me to get to know colloquialism. people usually reveal their origin and where they came from by their speech and accent. americans differ from british even though both speak english. then, there’s phonetics.

    uhm, maybe that’s why the chinese could barely understand duterte, it’s possible their interpreters cannot follow him and may interpret him wrongly. china did not sell him arms tuloy, sold him galunggong instead, lol!

    ahem, at school, sa panitikan, I didnt really know how to use po and ho. but knew po and ho show respect. so I put either po and ho at the beginning of a sentence, at the middle and at the end, making sure all possibilities are covered. hapit ko mamatay, nearly died, when my teacher failed me! may scrapbook siya where the works of the best and brightest and dullest are lumped together, from the brightest and best down to the lowest and dumbest. and yes, I was at the very back of her scrapbook, and to make matter worst, visitors to our classroom always perused the damn scrapbook. I thought of burning it, stealing it, but did not have the guts.

    stares always landed at me, firstly at the brightest then at me. what could I do? I waved and smiled and shrugged my shoulders. good sport mang kuno ko. laughing on the outside ako pero hindi nila alam crying on the inside ako. then, I perfected my repertoire and I became as famous as the brightest! and the brightest ended up taking restraining order against me, not allowed ako to come within a meter of her. humiliated kuno siya kaayo when I sat next to her.

    my teacher stepped in and disallowed the restraining order. kids will always be kids, brightest and dullest alike. viva la difference!

  3. Listening to Duterte speak on TV…his delivery in a motley of dialects and English in staccato ….peppered with putangginas with his hands on his face…is a struggle indeed.