Sinigang

NOT AGAIN! Anybody who watched the premiere episode of Desperate Housewives last Sunday would know what I’m talking about. For those who missed it, Check out a clip on Youtube. Susan Meyer (played by Teri Hatcher) went for a check up and uttered the following lines:

“Okay, before we go any further, can I check those
diplomas? Cause I would just like to make sure they are not from some
med school in the Philippines.”

What’s wrong with that line? Most people are overreacting and are calling it a racial slur. I wouldn’t be surprised if Filipino bloggers around the world would start another campaign to boycott the show like the recent Malu controversy asking to blacklist Manila Standard Today! We are such sensitive, passionate and emotional people, what I can tell you? But to be honest, in this instance, I wasn’t offended. It wasn’t an insult to the Filipino people. It wasn’t racist. I was a little bit hurt- just a little bit because it is the truth. While we are producing fine, talented and competent medical practitioners in the field of medicine, nursing and physical therapy among others, we are also producing a bunch of inept, unqualified and inefficient  medical people at an alarming rate! Just look at the number of nursing schools without proper credentials sprouting all over the Philippines, some offering a nursing diploma in just months! Heck, we know for a fact that one can even buy a diploma of your choice in Avenida!

Let me tell you why I am not offended. First of all, the doctor in question isn’t even Filipino. He’s Caucasian. Second of all, she said some med school- she didn’t say, I would just like to make sure they are not from a med school in the Philippines. See the huge difference? There are some med school in the US too and everywhere else that are being frowned upon. The scriptwriters probably alluded the Philippines in the light of the Philippine Nursing exam leakage and alleged cheating last year that was headlined for all the world to know. With that said, one (like Hatcher’s character) is bound to question another’s competency and qualification in the practice of medicine. It is part of a patient’s bill of rights. In the Philippines, a Filipino patient may not even know that he/she has rights but here in the US and in most countries, the patients are on top of their medical condition. They make it a point to meddle on their affairs from what drug to take, the kind of care they want and most especially who will provide for that care. While offensive, majority of Filipino nurses who may or may not have been in the field for years and are highly competent are being bluntly dismissed by patients because they look young or they appear to be a student nurse or dear Lord help them, because they’re colored! Such is life. Reality bites.

Before fellow Filipinos around the globe start another online
revolution, I hope they watch the episode and judge for themselves. It
was a one liner that shouldn’t be taken out of context and out of
proportion. It was a general statement referring to some med school in the Philippines. So hush now. Besides, if you come from the suburbs like Wisteria Lane, you probably can’t help asking for your doctor’s credentials before continuing treatment. No harm in that I guess…