Manila Vanilla

What it's like to be a U.S. Fulbright scholar, basketball player, journalist, and the whitest man in Metro Manila.

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Location: Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines

New Yorker by birth, shipped across the globe to the world of malls, shanty-towns, patronage, corruption, basketball and a curious burnt-toast smell that wafts around at dusk

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Lost in Translation

In the latest chapter of the Philippines' never-ending brouhaha over extrajudicial killings and disappearances, UN Special Rapporteur Philip Alston delivered his final report on the killings, blaming the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police for most of the dastardly deeds. This is not news -- his preliminary report said the same exact thing and it's what just about everyone assumes -- but rather another opportunity for posturing on all sides, with leftist groups trumpeting their cause, the military proclaiming innocence and the Arroyo administration feigning ignorance while promising justice. But, amidst the thick miasma of self-righteousness, you occasionally get a gem like this quote from opposition Senator Francis "Chiz" Escudero in today's Inquirer:

"Many of the extrajudicial killings that happened there were just five kilometers away from the nearest police or military camp. The modus operandi is always the same: the perpetrator wore a bonnet, was on board a motorcycle, and used a .45-caliber pistol. And until now, not one suspect has been arrested. In these circumstances, I am not surprised that the findings point in the direction of the Philippine National Police (PNP), if not the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP),” Escudero said in Filipino.

When you see that bonnet -- start running. 'Cause when you see that bonnet -- I'm coming.


Come again, Chiz? Little Bo Peep is out here in Sorsogon riding on fools! Capping Communists left and right and her bonnet ain't even shift an inch. I would love to hear Escudero's quote in its original Tagalog form to see what word the Inquirer translated to "bonnet." Father Leo English, the author of one of the best English/Tagalog dictionaries on the market, tells me that there is a word, "bonete," taken from Spanish, but it's hard to imagine Escudero really describing a bonnet-wearing assassin. The more common Spanish loan word for hat in Tagalog is "sombrero," which also brings silly images to the not-so-worldly, raised on Looney Toons American mind. Maybe if the AFP changes its story and blames the killings on Yosemite Sam, Alston and the United Nations will buy it.

5 Comments:

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Blogger Midas33 said...

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Blogger Midas33 said...

LOL!!! This really made me laugh, Rafe! If I'm not mistaken, I believe that the "bonet" they refer to is what you would call a ski mask. But I guess you know that by now. Hilarious to me, just the same, trying to imagine an armed criminal wearing a bonnet while doing his thing. :-)

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