Many Filipinos Need To Give Some Room For Negative Opinion!

Whether you like it or not, negative opinion is always part of life.  However the problem of many Filipinos is that they tend to play the victim card whenever they receive negative opinion, which by the way is just like spices, you throw out the bad ones and graciously receive the good ones.  It's a huge problem really how the typical Pinoy ego is so easily fragile to the point that the Philippines has had the stupid Balat-sibuyas Basic Law catering to whiny Filipinos, waving the persona non-grata staff on the supposed offender or lock up the person for one's opinion.

It just reminds me of how those annoying ultranationalists can be a bully to their fellow Filipinos who are not in their level.  It all can start with asking you to praise or support, I mean the Filipino culture has been all about the "feel good" mentality where they keep wearing smiles just to show that they are happy but deep within, they are a miserable people.  Take note that when people are opinionated, they do not listen to the opinions of others.  For them, only their opinion matters and their opinion is a fact.  Many of them don't even have valid facts or arguments to defend their opinion.

It reminded me of how one can get accused of "colonial mentality" if I praise something foreign over something that's local.  I remembered how Ilda of Get Real Philippines would frequently say that many Filipinos refuse to think outside the box, they only think with their emotions.  For example, let's just say I praise a Chinovela (either from Taiwan, Hong Kong or China) of having such a beautifully written love story compared to the local telebasuras by ABiaS-CBN never mind that their favorite local networks will inevitably have to rely on foreign programs to keep themselves running.   So really what's next?  Lock up a critic just because he or she stated an honest negative opinion that wasn't even harmful or slanderous?  

Negative opinion whether you like it or not is a necessary force and it serves its purpose.  Do you even know why audience feedback or customer feedback is necessary?  Let's just say if customers gave out their valid complaints, don't you think services will improve?  Whether you like it or not, negative feedback is helpful feedback, it tells us what we need to improve.  Sad to say but many Filipinos just can't accept negative feedback whether it's about their trashy entertainment or the current state of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, poor law enforcement and everything that just ruins tourism.  

I'll admit I do get easily butthurt or get an outrage but it's just not helpful.  It's also important to separate the types of critics.  Remember a critic is not necessarily bad or good.  A critic is either someone who presents negative opinion based on factual analysis and evaluation, the good ones don't care about popularity as long as they get to share their thoughts.  On the other hand, a bad critic is somehow given to petty reasoning and just his or her viewpoint, ignoring others or you can alternatively call them the cynic.  After all, I don't expect to grow without criticism or as Malcolm X said it, "No critics, no success." just like a life without critics is like food without spice.

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