Sen. Santiago joins fray against US envoy

Even Filipinos hate Blacks.  We never complained about the previous white US Ambassadors.

i think the ambassador meant well…i don’t think the purpose of it is to brand the country but to show the country’s reality that we need to put attention on…

It’s not about the color.  It’s the “off-color” remark.  An ambassador has to be extra careful about a lot of things.

Most people mean well when they offer advice.  It’s how you put it across that requires a certain skill and tact to avoid trouble.

Enrile, Lacson and Santiago must not get into a heated exchange with US AMBASSADOR HARRY THOMAS !     THOMAS IS BUILT LIKE A DEFENSIVE TACKLE FOR AN AMERICAN NFL TEAM.    You don’t wanna get him mad !

There was this newly appointed diplomat who went out to see what the city had to offer. Just outside the Embassy he met a woman whom he propositioned to have sex with him to the tune of $20.00 which the woman refused.

A week later he was out walking along Roxas Blvd with his wife when he met the woman again who exclaimed: “See? That’s what you get for $20.00!”

Embarrassed, the diplomat started making up stories about tourists going to the Philippines just for sex.

That is it for her. She would not be elected in what ever she is running for. Peace in the middle east is not a source of jokes or stupid comments that she just made in international forum. It just goes to show the depth or lack of it in international politics and protocols/traditions. She had to open her mouth. She should not have compared the middle east and our minor sex tourism “issue”. Besides, everyone already know about the sex tourism in the country except a few people in goverment especially in the Senate – her. 40, 30,10% is not the issue, the issue is we have sex tourism in the Philippines and those outlets are being protected by corrupt government officials. And sadly many Filipino people are starting to accept it as normal and as part of everyday life.

 who cares about his size???the bigger they are, the harder they fall….guess which country caused this global economic upheaval????? yup…i thought so. One this is for sure, the Philippines did not cause this nightmare. I’ll give you a hint: the 2 countries closest to the Atlantic Ocean.

This is my country too but it does’nt help solve the problems if we keep denying the truth. It touched our sensitivities, yes, but it simply is the truth. This reminds me of a foreigner who commented of the ever present garbages around Manila and he earned the irk of  some Filipino leaders. Instead of addressing the problem, these leaders went after the foreigner suggesting even to blacklist the person to prevent him from coming back to the Philippines. The garbage problem  still exist.

For Miriam: Get into the root of the problem. In this country there is prostitution because of poverty. If there is any problem with Ambassador Thomas, it is merely collateral.

Cuba and Bahama

This is so typical of Filipino Politicians, H Y P O C R I T E S.  You should be embarassed and apologize not get even with Thomas.  He is just stating the facts!  And the fact is, prostitution is very rampant here in our country because of poverty.  So do your job instead of picking on Thomas to divert the attention.  You no good garbage senatongs.

 Expel this Thomas.     Expel this Thomas.    

To this man, to this so-called Ambassador, the PHILIPPINES does not deserve an IOTA  of   TACT.

He cannot do such a categorical pronouncement in any other country.

Basically, an ambassador has three areas of responsibilities. First, he is the eye of the government he serves(source of information). Because of what he said he is doling (cross-eyed) for the wrong information. Secondly, he is there to serve and protect his countrymen. But because of what he said he seems to be singling out his countrymen. What about the Germans, Koreans, Australian etc. who come to the Philippines not for sex but to marry Pilipinas who eventually enjoy good life abroad or in the Philippines. Thirdly, his duty as an ambassador is to maintain the most amicable relations with the country he is assigned and to observe towards them the strictest respect, veracity and good-will. If Harry Thomas is out there spreading lies to other countries that the Philippines is open for business for sex that is very negative for tourism. What about the 60% who are planning to come to the Philippines for our beaches, our culture and also to visit relatives and friends? Bad publicity is bad for the country. He failed as an ambassador of good-will.

Hay, hindi na naman nakita ang problema. Ang prostitution or sex tourism ay isang problema. Dahil problema, dapat solusyunan. Hindi importante kahit 0.1% lang iyan.

Wake up Filipinos. The Ambassador was being kind. The number is closer to 80% than 40%.

Why else would a single, white male choose The Philippines as a holiday destination? Why would an American fly for 20 hours to see the country? What does the Philippines have that is so special?

Now after you’ve answered those questions ask yourself why a lot of investment is taking place in building hotels in Angeles city – the sex capital of the country.

Face your problems and fix them. Don’t shoot the messenger.

sabi na nga ba
si sen miriam lang
ang may balls sa senado

ki tsina o u.s.
sugod maisug

I guess drama queen nationalism trumps the occasional showboat feminism. Yawn.

I seriously doubt these kinds of comments will earn support for her bid for the ICC judgeship. This loose mouth senator will be an embarassment to the international court, and also to filipinos.  i dont think she possess the judicial temperament that people expect from judges, moreso at one of the highest international courts. For someone who is running to become an ICC judge, those comments are out of place. I thought her remarks about Thomas are unexpected ffrom a would be international jurist.The luncheon was her chance to present her judicial credentials and should have left the controversial issue inside the senate chamber. Instead she should have discussed judicial wisdom and global issues, and the role of ICC in postering liberty and freedom for those people who live under the rule of tyrants. She may get the votes of countries that do not like America, but there are very few of them.  Western diplomats will surely have a negative interpretation of what she just said.

its so hard to accept the truth …………but easy to denied and live in hypocrisy…

Better to face the truth and make changes, than to live a lie, and live in hypocrisy. Although we know the politicians there are corrupt, and willing to sellout anyone to make a dollar for their greedy pockets. Stand up and face it head on, then you can face the people eye to eye. Sen. Santiago feels she is too good to be looped in the category of corruption from prostitution, but it doesn’t matter how the money is received if it is still from ill gotten gains, or blood money, then it’s still bad money.

Everyone wants to shoot the messenger for bringing the message without looking at the true facts. It’s not just American men, but men from many country’s that come there for a vacation and sex. It is so rampant in Angeles City, Manila, Subic, Davao and other cities. Many Filipinos know about this, but think if they turn a blind eye they won’t see it, at the same time you have so many making money from this that it is ignored. There are websites that you can go on to see women there totally naked on camera, using different sex toys, it’s just a matter of who is being bribed to let this behavior continue.
So for Sen. Santiago to try getting even with the Ambassador for his comments is outrageous, maybe she is one of the officials that gets a slice of the funds. You can’t eradicate the problem until you acknowledge that it’s happening daily there, then make an effort to prevent it. You can’t stop it completely, but you can sure put a major dent in sexual trafficing going on ONLY IF THEY WANT TOO.
Poverty has driven women there to do desperate things to help support their families, including being GRO girls. Invite businesses to do more business (legally), and create more jobs instead of taking bribes to fill your pockets and screwing over the poor people.

Shame on you senator, its seems you and your colleagues are out of touch of reality. The senators have comfortable lives and sit in their nice air-conditioned offices. Yet there are so many poor in our country that they have to sell themselves to tourists. If you go in any big city and tourist destinations you find pimps selling girls everywhere. If you cannot accept that there is a problem then that problem is not going to be solved because you keep on denying the problem. Open your eyes senator and come back to reality of the Philippines and not your personal dreams.