The Philippines is a country that we love to talk about here on FTD Facts.
so much can be said about the beauty of the country, as well as the beauty of the people.
Yet, even still, there are many stereotypes, misconceptions, and straight-up lies that have been
put on as labels on the country and its people. Welcome back to FTD Facts, my name is Leroy Kenton,
and for this episode, I'm going to be looking at 10 of the biggest lies, stereotypes, and misconceptions
about the Philippines. Okay, so let's get into this list. And number 10 - Filipino women are submissive
and quiet. Like every other country though, women come in a variety of attitudes. Some a little bit
more attitude prone than others. But either way, Filipinas are just a conservative type of woman.
According to sources, Filipina women, they find it uncomfortable to mingle or even interact
with male foreigners, and even their own men. They also have a reputation of being quiet and
shy. But, this is normally because they feel that they don't have the adequate skill of
speaking English to the foreigners. So, instead of speaking nonsense, they remain silent. The next lie
is that the Philippines is one landmass. This is something that I've been guilty of thinking myself.
But, there are actually over 7,000 islands that make up the Philippines. And, around 2,000 of them
are inhabited. And this is known as an "archipelago", which is, a collection of islands, or sometimes, a
Sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Now, the Philippines has a total land area of 300,000 square kilometers,
which works out to be 115,831 square miles. This makes it the world's
largest island country. The Philippine archipelago is divided into three island groups: Luzon, Visayas,
as well as, Mindanao. The lie number 8 is - Filipinos don't speak English. So, when tourists
visit the country of the Philippines, they're usually surprised at the fact that Filipinos,
they actually learn English as their first language. Most Filipinos also learn it alongside
Tagalog growing up. Although some Filipinos will have a distinct accent while speaking English,
English-speaking tourists will have little or no trouble at all communicating with them. And,
this actually leads us to our next lie. And this lie is that Filipinos only speak Tagalog. This lie
and misconception is similar to the idea that Chinese people speak Chinese, when in fact they
speak a wide variety of languages like Mandarin, Cantonese, etc. In the Philippines though, Tagalog is
one of many dialects spoken in the country. Back in the year 1937, the government, they adopted Tagalog,
elevating its status as a national language of the Philippines, also calling it Filipino. And it has
since become mixed with other existing Philippine dialects as well as foreign languages like English
and Spanish. Now, when it comes to native languages and dialects, there are more than 200 in the entire
country. Number 6 - all Filipinos share the exact same culture. So, being an archipelago,
like I mentioned earlier, historically, there was no actual Philippines to refer to. The different
groups of islands being separated by large bodies of water, they contained their own distinct culture,
and language, and traditions. Because of this, they were very distinct from each other. So then, the
movement for a united Philippines didn't come until the arrival of the Spanish, which was much
later on though. Alright guys, so we've reached halfway in this episode. We have 5 more lies to look
at. And, for more information about the Philippines, I definitely want you to check out our video
where we did 10 surprising facts about the Philippines. It is a mind-blowing episode.
It's such a beautiful country. So much to learn about it. I'll link to it below in the video
description section, so you can check it out after this. Alright, continuing with the lies. In at lie
number 5, we have - Filipinos are nannies and call center agents, that's all they're good for. Okay, so,
Filipinos may just be very good at delivering these types of services, and because of that,
there's a high demand for their skills in other countries. However, not everyone shares the same
dream job interest. There's actually millions and millions of Filipinos living and working overseas,
with completely different professions, like doctors and nurses, and singers. Yeah. Filipinos sing
really good! - That's another stereotype. But, I think there's like some facts to that. You'll
find Filipino entrepreneurs, I.T. specialists, engineers, and the list goes on, and on, and on,
and on, and on. So, no, no, no. They're not just nannies, and they don't just work in call centers overseas.
The lie at number 4 is - Manila is the main business district. And this is something that
I thought as well, I'm not gonna lie. Contrary to what many foreigners think, most of the embassies
and big firms, banks, and insurance companies, they're actually located in Makati and Taguig city.
Makati and Taguig are located within the greater Manila area. Now, Manila is the capital city of the
Philippines, and it is one of the most populated cities. But, it is not necessarily where all the
main action happens. Number 3, have you heard this one before?? - Dog meat is regularly eaten and
served. Okay, alright, so, no. They don't sell dog meat in Filipino supermarkets and grocery stores.
Eating dogs in the philippines is... it's a very taboo topic, and there actually are a
few small groups. Most of them are in the northern region of the country, in the mountain
province, where Indigenous people as well as their ancestors, have had a history of eating dog meat.
but you're not gonna be finding it at restaurants or in grocery stores just like that. No, that
doesn't exist. Number 2 - Filipinos date foreigners for money and papers. Alright guys, so these ideas
are largely perpetuated because of shows like "90 day fiancé." Let's be honest, okay? But not all
Filipinos dream of becoming an American or British citizen, or whatever. Some just love
to travel and meet new people along the way. Just because Filipinos date and marry foreigners, also
doesn't mean that they're just looking for Visa applications, making that whole process
easier and everything. Filipinos, they can afford to fund their own travels themselves, get their
Visas, and do their jobs in foreign countries. So, they don't necessarily need a foreign partner
to do so. Marrying a Filipino actually does not mean that the foreigner has to support
the Filipino's family either. You know, there's a lot of times where people move overseas, and
it's like, "Okay, well you got to send money back to my family." Not saying there's anything wrong
with that, but it's unfair to label Filipinos with that stereotype. And, yes, so it is a sad
reality that because they date foreigners, it's assumed that they're just gold diggers.
But, if you actually think about it, just because someone dates somebody from a foreign country,
doesn't mean that that person is rich either. So yeah, something to think about there. And now,
moving on to our biggest lie in this episode - The Philippines - it's a very dangerous country. Now,
we've all seen the news reports. Many foreigners, they hear about Philippines war on drugs among
other struggles that they have in the country. And this has led foreigners to think that the
Philippines is a place of criminals and kidnappers. Everywhere. Now, there are of course several
unfortunate issues in the country. But overall, away from the hot spots of criminal activity,,
there are many beautiful places and safe places that you'll see in the Philippines. Not just the
resorts designed for tourists, but many local places as well, completely safe. Alright guys,
so this concludes this episode. This was a look at 10 of the biggest lies about the Philippines.
Hope this helped clear up some misconceptions. The country of the Philippines, and Filipinos, they
are an amazing group of people. Here at FTD Facts, we do our best to show love and appreciation to
all peoples in our world. And, really hope you guys enjoyed this one. Leave a "Like" if you did.
Don't forget to check out the recommended video. I'll link to it again in the video description
section. And until next time guys, stay awesome, stay educated! I'll see you in the next episode.
you