I was having breakfast with my officemate yesterday and we started to talk about past relationships. It seems she was not yet over her ex-boyfriend although she admitted that it was probably her pride who still hurts rather than her heart. Her ex has apparently “upgraded” to an Optometrist who’s also not an eyesore herself. To add insult to injury, a friend told her that the mother of her ex was apparently against her when they were still together for three reasons. 1) She doesn’t have lots a’ moolah, 2) She’s arrogant since she always speaks English when she calls, and 3) She’s from the Visayas. The mother (who’s an Ilocana) was heard commenting that she was against “Bisaya” women because she has a son who, according to her, was impoverished because of his wife who is a Bisaya.
Answer to No. 1: It is beyond the powers of my officemate. Answer to No. 2: She is conscious of her Ilonggo accent. Have you heard Miriam Santiago? Would you rather hear her speak Tagalog than English? Answer to No. 3: “Indi ko ya Bisaya, Ilonggo ko ya no!”. I coudn’t agree more.
What we refer to as bisaya in Ilonggo is the native chicken. We call all Cebuano-speaking as Cebuanos but if someone not Ilonggo-speaking refer to somebody as Bisaya, we take this to mean as Cebuano. No offense meant to all Cebuanos but Ilonggos don’t like to be called Bisaya. Ilonggos have a negative perception of Cebuanos as being quarrelsome. Personally, I don’t want to be called Bisaya because I take pride in being an Ilongga. It’s interesting to note that different regions have negative perceptions of people from other regions. Ilocanos are considered “kuripot” (miser). Others consider Ilonggos as “tikalon” (braggart). Now that probably explains why the mother of my officemate’s ex was so against her.
My advice to my officemate was that she should forget her ex especially the mother. They were not of good pedigree after all. Not because the mother is Ilocana but because she is a shallow person. Duh! Who would want her for a mother-in-law? Nawong pilak. Some may not agree with me but who cares? Just don’t mistook me for a Bisaya because “Ilonggo ko ya no!”
{ 20 comments… read them below or add one }
Please enlighten. Why traitors? Just curious.
“Ilonggos have a negative perception of Cebuanos as being traitors.”
mas gusto ko ang mga Ilonggo bukod sa marunong sila magTagalog…
saka bisaya people attack ilonggo.. kasi gusto kong bumisita sa Bacolod, wag daw ako pumunta kasi mayabang daw mga Ilonggo kahit walang pera… i think sinisiraan lang ng mga bisayang taga negros oriental ang mga taga negros occidental lalo na sa taga maynilang kagaya ko at sa ibang tagalog speakers
hehe. couldn’t agree more.
fencesitter,
well probably not all ilonggos think of cebuanos that way. and i personally don’t. i just heard a lot of stories from those living in manila and seafarers who had conflicts with cebuanos. they said never mess with cebuanos or else you’ll be sorry… and you should watch your back too. hmmm… i think the word ‘traitor’ was inappropriate. i didn’t mean to be unfair to the cebuanos.
obvious man nga ginkulbaan ko? hehehe…why quarrelsome? well, i asked a few officemates and friends of what they think of cebuanos. and they said cebuanos seem to sound angry all the time. hehe…it’s probably in the way you speak. peace!
Hahaha. I hope nga indi ako ang nagpakulba sa imo. Nagdako man ko nga ilonggo ang ginahambal. Pero indi man ko Ilonggo, kag indi man Cebuano, although didto ko nag-college. Anyway, the question was just out of curiosity so please don’t be unnecessarily worried. Cheers!
hala ka glady!!! hehe. paaaati ah.
miss ya, bakiks!
Hi from Iloilo City too.
are you ethnocentric or just stirring the water a little bit? just asking if you don’t mind.
Neither. I’m proud of my roots but it doesn’t mean I am belittling others. I have re-read my post and I don’t think there’s something here that says Ilonggos are superior over others.
for me, it doesn’t matter if you are ilonggo or cebuano its not a big deal, we should be united and to show love each other, hw can we change the word discrimination for OFW especially, to europe or some other places if we ourselves start to shows this where we from?where any from our hometown?
PEACE!!!!!….
Lynne Dizon – hometown CEBU CITY
Athens Greece
This is a very interesting blog indeed. I’m from Cebu, married a Bacolonia and has since lived here in Bacolod. I generally don’t have a problem making friends or with my relationships with my coworkers. But yes, I do feel/hear a general distrust or “suya” towards Cebuanos. Hell, that’s how me and my wife got each other’s attention. I don’t know if folks from Ilo-ilo feels the same (somehow I can relate to them more especially in music and more lax clothing), but here in Bacolod, that comment is almost freely given. And indeed, to be branded as Cebuano is as bad being accused as a thief or having a leprosy.
Like I actually saw a mother spanking her child while repeating “daw Cebuano ka”.. One time, I was riding a trike, and when someone made a wrong turn, almost hit us, the driver angrily shouted, “hoy! Daw Cebuano ka!”
I think the perception goes deeper than a poor seaman who may have been “gina pulihan” or Ilonggo’s bad experience with someone, who happens to have a Cebuano tongue. Having grown to that perception, one would see the incident as a confirmation of that perception. I think any child here will be growing with the same bad impression way before he will actually meet a Cebuano. And when he does—CONFIRMED! Which is as misguided as expecting someone from Mindanao as Muslim and probably has ties to some muslim extremist group.
It bothered me at first why the whole place seem to be one in their impression when there’s very few taga-cebu that would visit Bacolod. Then I realize that the term Cebuano, applies to anyone who speaks the dialect. Not so in Cebu, the dialect is referred to as Bisaya and anyone from Bohol or Davao will readily correct anyone who will call them Cebuano, Im a Bol-anon or Davaoneo.
But then again, if we were to use CEBUANO as anyone who speaks the dialect, doesn’t that widen the stereotype even more? The dialect is spoken by over 20million Filipinos and is trailing closely to the tagalogs speakers. Surely there’s a sub-culture to Cebuano speakers from Negros, Cebu, Leyte, Mizamis, Davao its crazy to brand them as a whole.
Here’s my take as to why. I notice that a lot of the blue collar jobs here are taken by Cebuano speakers.. Drivers, sales ladies, wet nurses, security guards etc while few Cebuano speakers go to the top Universities here. Negros Occ., is more prosperous than the Cebuano speaking orient. So I guess the general observance of “balik-awut”, “buki”, “lain batasan” are observed from people who have lesser education than the populace—unfortunately they speak Cebuano. If they are Ilonggos, they are still branded as “daw Cebuano”. Surely I can’t expect my child’s nanny (Cebuano or not) or the village security guard to behave like my co-employees.
And of course there are differences. One good value here that I can’t find in Cebu is that pasaheros here take time saying “palihug ko bayad” when giving the fare to the next passenger. People in cebu, they will just make gestures or worse, “kuhit” the next passenger. Now that is bad manners. In the same token, I would appreciate it if people here will keep distance when I withdraw from the ATM. Five paces away would be nice, but they just line at my back. It’s a courtesy I can’t expect here, but it’s not a reason to brand the whole populace as walang modo. It’s just the way it is here. And I could give a long list. Still, there are well mannered people and there are not. Geography and tongue has nothing to do with it.
Are the cebuanos guilty of laughing at the Ilonggo or waray dialects? Definitely. But I think that’s true with everyone so I guess we can call it quits. Ilonggos are known to be tikalons in Cebu, but the fact that they are known to be tikalons rather than hambugeros means that we probably heard that from Ilonggos themselves as we don’t have have tikalon in our tongues. Warays are known to be isug. But the most effect that can do is that we try to avoid confrontations with them. I remember my parents and titas tell lots of jokes about taga-bohol being ignorant and under educated. But I haven’t heard that from my age group nor do I have that perception.
Having convinced my wife that branding the whole Cebuano populace as Odong is sooo out of line, she once asked me, “Can all taga-cebu (she still has the inclination to generalize) carry a good conversation as you?” I replied, “no, hunny, I just happen to have an education yet still prefers my tattered jeans and sneakers.”
John, thank you for this comment. After my blog hiatus, I’m just glad to read a very insightful comment on this blog. Ahh… the tattered jeans and sneakers. Now that’s something that Ilonggos from Panay can relate to. Over there, even people with money especially the Chinese, dress simply. While the Negrense counterpart wouldn’t be caught dead wearing sloppy clothes.
Your observation maybe true. Most of the Cebuano speakers in Negros Occidental belong to the towns and cities with mountainous areas thus some have limited access to education. That’s why some of them end up doing menial jobs in Bacolod.
Negrenses are just very friendly. But sometimes too friendly for comfort that’s why some don’t find it rude to be close behind you at the ATM. I personally don’t expect to be greeted with a beso-beso by new acquaintances, but that’s how it is here.
The way we do things in public are greatly influenced by our culture especially if we haven’t traveled a lot outside our region. It is our cultural difference which makes our country such an interesting place to visit. Perhaps, what we need is patience and tolerance.
yeah right..,what was that you were saying?..,cebuanos lack education..,really now?..,we cebuano dont lack education.,neither we need to change who we are the way we are..,we are good people. And to label us as odong,or uncivilized people are just so uncivilized for you mga ilonggos..,remember,..we are just humble,give an example..Manny Pacquiao.,our national champion is a cebuano..,brave and strong.,and given,humble he is. Did you ever hear him boast of what he had achieved?..,no,but you ilonggo, you are proud as a shrimp just having a new branded jeans..,tikalon kamu..,we are brave.,Datu Lapulapu” our first hero was a Cebuano.,and try to come visit Cebu, basi kamu ang mamanul didto..,Cebu is the second largest city in the country, isulod ra nang bacolod nyo xa Merto Cebu ikapila..,so dont brand us uncivilized, we are much exposed to society than all of you, humble ra gyud me thats why wala kmi ga patikaltikal mga good clothes na for you are the basis for being human.,”Ey’ you can dress a monkey a toxido, but still you cannot take the fact the inside the fancy clothes is still a monkey”..,funny you just use Miriam Santiago as an excellent example for you ilonggos,.yeah what an example!..,to all ilonggos try not to boast far much from wat you really are please,it makes you all pathetic
and ey’..,your mayor there in bacolod..,in alalay for a cebuano Manny Pacquiao.,like a buntot na sunod nang sunod kay Manny!..,and “Manny a Cebuano” being a Cebuano to be bacolod’s adopted son?…,did you ever tought,if you discriminate Cebuanos,y take him as an adopted son?..,is it because you trying to get some sprinkle of fame from him?,.what a move.,you just ate what you just vomit mga ilonggos!
“yeah right..,what was that you were saying?..,cebuanos lack education..,really now?” … I don’t remember saying Cebuanos lack education.
You must be referring to this “Your observation maybe true. Most of the Cebuano speakers in Negros Occidental belong to the towns and cities with mountainous areas thus some have limited access to education. That’s why some of them end up doing menial jobs in Bacolod. ” This was in response to John’s observation why most Bacolenos would discriminate on Cebuano-speakers.
I was actually making fun of Miriam Santiago and not making her an example on what an Ilonggo should be.
All of us can learn one or two lessons in between our discussion. Every person in the country is proud of his/her roots and we are still very regionalistic. I for one, is also guilty of being regionalistic but I have never gone below the line as calling any Philippine ethnic group as lacking in education.
I hope you read also the other comments above especially that of John’s so you may see the point of my reply to him.
Please look at the adoption of Manny as Bacolod’s adopted son on a positive note. That can also be interpreted as breaking the stereotype. Bacolenos are proud of him as a Filipino no matter what where he came from. As I said in my reply to John, we need patience and tolerance of our differences in culture so that we can all live peacefully. That’s probably what we also need for our country to prosper.
negros oriental — bisaya, napansin ko lang, masayado silang “quarrelsome” and “paranoid” dahil lang sa pagiging Manilenyo ko, saka pinipilit nila akong magbisaya kahit ayaw ko kasi nakakasuka yung dayalektong yun.
negros occidental– sabi n mga negros oriental mayabang daw ang mga ilonggo pero kaso nung makausap ko ang mga ilonggo sa dumaguete they speak Tagalog fluently kaya mas gusto ko silang kausap tapos nagseselos yung mga bisaya sabi sakin dun lang daw ako makipag usap sa mga ilonggo na kauri ko dahil lang Tagalog ang ginamit naming salita.
Bisaya people, i think ay totoong “uncivilised” kahit si inday na katulong at si dodong na sikyu… sobrang yayabang pag nasa maynila na.
love you guys… im from Manila… yan lang yung mga behaviors na naobservahan ko sa mga probinsyanong bisaya.
ManilaGuy, hindi naman siguro nakakasuka ang salitang Cebuano medyo mahiral nga lang sya. Ako gusto kong matutong mag Cebuano dahil maraming Pinoy ang gumagamit nun. Siguro mas maganda, avoid na lang nating magkabit ng mga negative adjectives sa mga taga ibang probinsya para maiwasan ang a ma misinterpret. Instead, let’s enjoy our differences in culture learn to embrace it. Boring naman pag pare-pareho tayo ng ugali at temperement.
My mother is Ilongga and my father is Bisaya. I live in a place where people speak a combination of Ilonggo, Bisaya, and Karay-a. My husband is Hiligaynon and he speaks Hiligaynon and Bisaya.
I think it doesn’t matter where you belong or where you came from, what matters is one’s attitude. You may be Ilonggo, Bisaya or Tagalog but if you don’t have the good attitude towards others then it doesn’t make sense at all. It depends on how your parents upbrought you. So if you are quarrelsome or braggart, then that’s what is taught inside you home. The problem is that we criticize generally based on our personal observation. Of course we prefer loving our own. I’m proud to be both!
Peace out!
I’m a mix of Ilocano, Pampangueno, Ilonggo, and Karay-a. Its such a pity that some Filipinos still believe quite heavily on stereotypes. I grew up in Bacolod, and I take pride in being an Ilonggo, but I am also proud of my Northern Luzon and Western Panay herritage. My family and I appreciate Ilocanos and Cebuanos as much we appreciate our fellow Ilonggos. It is only fitting for us Filipinos to finally eliminate stereotypes so that we could appreciate our diversity. I’m currently studying in Manila, and I think Manilenos are also very good people. I would like to note however, that it is necessary for all Filipinos to be fluent in Filipino (some call it Tagalog but the proper name is really Filipino) because according to my personal experiences, it is indeed very capable of bridging communication gaps wherever one may end up in the country. Wag na po tayo mag away dahil magkaiba tayo ng pinanggalingan, mahihirapan po tayong umusad bilang isang lahing Pilipino kung hindi po tayo matutong magkaintindihan.