A Filipino "Bad- Twitting" Vietnam, What A Shame!

 Early this morning as I had my breakfast, I watched TV and came across this topic being discussed on ABS- CBN's Umagang Kay Ganda with one of it's hosts, Mr. Anthony Taberna interviewing Mr. Ed Lingao of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism and Ms. Ellen Tordesillas, a veteran columnist-journalist. . I was so disturbed and even angered after hearing that President Benigno Aquino III on his visit to Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, Vietnam brought with him a female delegate who posted negative comments about Vietnam on her Twitter account! As my eyes were glued on the TV monitor, I found out that this female delegate, Ms. Carmen "Mai" Mislang was exchanging tweets with Mr. Ricky Carandang. Ms. Mislang is President Aquino's Speechwriter/Assistant Secretary while Mr. Carandang is the Secretary and both of them work for the same office, the Presidential Communications Office for Strategic Planning and Development.

Ms. Mislang tweeted to Mr. Carandang:
"the wine served during the banquet 'sucks'"
"there were no handsome men here"
"the easiest way to die is to cross the motorcycle- filled streets in Hanoi"

As I watched Mr. Taberna's interview to Mr. Lingao and Ms. Tordesillas further, Mr. Lingao said that Ms. Mislang should have just sent text messages to Mr. Carandang instead of posting her negative comments on Twitter and he sees this act is really "careless". And according to Ms. Tordesillas, Ms. Mislang's action is very rude - that when you are invited to a dinner, you have to be grateful and not supposed to complain behind the hosts' backs about the food or wine or complain that you are not dining with "handsome" men. And she also mentioned that the wine they were served during the banquet is not Vietnamese but Chilean. Well, it's just a matter of GMRC, Good Manners and Right Conduct!

On a personal note, I think what Ms. Mislang posted on her Twitter account is really unacceptable! She was not asked to be with our president for nothing. It must be her first time to go to Vietnam and with that, she doesn't have the right to say anything bad about the Vietnamese country and its people! I am also a Filipino and so ashamed with what Ms. Mislang has done! I was able to live and work in Ho Chi Minh City for 6 months and Hai Phong for 8 months but I never dare to say anything harsh about Vietnamese people! She should have known that these people are beyond what our eyes can see. With all my experiences living and working in Vietnam for a short time, I can truly say that Vietnamese people are close to my heart. They are very friendly and warm, something that the whole world should know!

I feel really bad about this and I can say that it's not only me who feels this way. Many Filipinos are angered by what Ms. Mislang did. Some people commented on some news sites that Ms. Mislang should be fired for her bad behavior. In fact, somebody made a spoof account of her on Facebook. Click the link
http://zh-hk.facebook.com/pages/Maria-Carmen-Mislang/163873206968099 and see how this issue made many Filipinos' hackles up! It is because many of us believe that this action of Ms. Mislang is not what an "educated" person should do specially someone who works for the government. Even though Ms. Mislang has already asked forgiveness for what she did and deleted her Twitter account, I think it's not enough. For sure, this chapter will not be closed until she gets what she deserves.

To everyone, here's something we all have to learn, as Mr. Taberna closed his segment on Umagang Kay Ganda, he said, "Bawal ang mayabang!" (Arrogance is forbidden!). And that sentence sums it all up...