The book – written from a relentless moralist with western value-orientations - is an unpleasant final statement on the situation in the Philippines. In the subtitle of the book, we still find the word „paradise" – but in the text lines there is no glimmer of a “paradise” at all. The author takes the view that the Philippine society shows stronger moral deficits. The society is „dominated by avarice and egoism and lives from deceiving and being deceived" (p. 30). Nepotism and clan thinking, corruption and grafts, criminality and social iniquity are its main features. The only superficially religious, nevertheless „ethic-reduced desert of the country" (p. 93) is governed by representatives of an unscrupulous class of politicians, which come almost exclusively from the traditional rich families and which are refusing or are incompetent to arrange any social reforms. A parliament dependent on the president (“pork barrels”), missing separation of powers and an unkempt system of laws as well as an inefficient bureaucracy draw the author to the conclusion, „that the Philippine democracy has a bad reputation and does not earn this term actually" (p. 89). The majority of the social torn society lives in poverty, the economic policy of the country cannot show any prospects for an increasing number of unemployed persons. The judgments of the author have only a small empirical basis. A broader and well-founded argumentation is not the author’s cup of tea. The lack of a bibliography is also an evidence for an unscientific approach. Brachetto shows only such facts, which support the negative image of the Philippines. Arguing in such a way, you can also show that Switzerland is a criminal country by citing a number of individual cases. As master of generalization Brachetto can also tell us something about the “nature” of the Filipinos. They are on the one hand happy, uncomplicated and easy to handle - on the other hand, tricky, clever in tactical sense with feigned honesty. Filipinos can improvise but they show no innovation talents in their low-quality work. You see, Brachetto can even measure contradictions by the same yardstick. Is the “Wild West of Asia” only offering negative aspects? No, it isn’t the case. Filipinas make an exception. They are „in general more open, more honest and reliable” (p.75) than men and are „sign boards” of the Philippines. This remark leads us to the contemporary part of the book. And in fact, the feminine presidents of the Philippines - Cory Aquino and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo – and their politics get better marks compared with their masculine colleagues. (Marcos for example is described as “king of thieves"). Only the comments on the contemporary history of the Philippines make the book worth reading. Here the author has to get facts and cannot swing the cudgel of simple judgments. I know at present no German-written publication, which describes so detailed the failed land reform and the fruitless negotiations with the NPA and the Muslim rebels. Finally we should mention, that the book is clear to read - even if the friend of the Philippines is presumably getting a sore stomach while reading of the book. © Wolfgang Bethge, in 2003 |
The author Eduard Brachetto migrated in 1992 to the Philippines together with his Philippine wife. After seven years of staying in the Philippines he disappointed came back to his native country, the Switzerland. There have been two reasons why he returned back. First the insufficient basic conditions he found in the Philippines. But the main reason was that he felt exploited by his Philippine relatives.