What is Filipino hospitality? I have often asked myself this question. People always talk about how friendly and hospitable these people are. I was indeed fortunate to have experienced it first hand! Yes, in general, the people in this land are extremely friendly. On arrival in Manila for our transit to Davao, I had asked the transit counter girl a few questions with regards to the procedure of our transit. Later, as I was in a Q waiting for immigration checks, she came running looking for me. The reason? She had given me some wrong information and wanted to make sure I got the correct information. I was impressed! The immigration officer on arrival was also very friendly and nice. I was quite sure that I was in for a good time!
Throughout my stay though, I found that people in general are friendly, courteous and helpful. This is especially true in the service sector. People here don’t seem capable of loosing their temper. They are always so calm and collected, even under extreme pressure! However, I must say that once in a while you do get the rude and less courteous person.
Point in note was my departure at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. Both the lady who collects the terminal fee and the immigration officer bordered being simply rude. After being in a country where a smile is just a glance away, it was painful to look at the sour faces of these two ladies. When I had finished, I thanked them and they both pretended to not hear it! Well, maybe I’m jumping into conclusions! There is a possiblitity that they both did not speak English and had no idea what I said. I was just reading an article in the Manila Bulletin that talked about the declining standards of English in the Philippines and how it was getting increasingly difficult to find staff who were fluent I the language. I guess the two sour pusses were simply under a lot of pressure being in a place where you are expected to be able to speak English fluently yet not being able to understand a simple word like thank you. Oh! How my heart goes out to them!
