I'LL GIVE YOU 20 BUCKS IF YOU CAN SHUT ME UP.

Well-said, Red.

(Let me think of an equally vague yet appropriate adage.)

well gannon, this is my 2cents about it: http://lappy.multiply.com/journal/item/135 nasa blog ng isang bespren ko na nagmigrate na sa HK...

and the truth is, with everyone on the let's-bash-malu-she's-such-a-fat-pig bandwagon, i find myself feeling sorry for her. oo na , tama na, sobra na, palitan na.

maybe Manila Standard should just fire her, like what they did to Isaiah WAshington of Greys Anatomy (they DID fire him , right?)...eh di end of story. She might even learn what responsible journalism is about. And that there is no such thing as freedom of speech, not really.

kitiwiti: Interesting side comment on Washington. While this is more of a social division issue than a race issue, there are still some similarities worth considering.

Take note, though: Washington was hired by a rival network shortly after leaving "Grey's Anatomy." I honestly don't think Fernandez has the luxury of a second option. But time will tell.

Thanks for passing by.

Thank you for your thoughts, Rubes. :) God superbless you.

I actually think the below-the-belt comments are hilarious. She ridicules OFWs, well they ridicule her back.

yup kagey you've encapsulated everything i wanted to say. gannon, isaiah's issue was not of race but of bigotry (he made a comment that another dude was gay). Malu is a bigot bec she is intolerant of OFWs with their Players colognes and whatnot.

i don't agree with the fat jokes or the name calling. but i do support the information campaign of some re her articles by quoting and linking to it and passing it around. they link, we decide.

Malu, you hurt me deeply, and offended me greatly, but I forgive you.

malu AFAIK, never asked for your forgiveness or apologized. but maybe i'm wrong.

if she did, can you please link to the article or cite your source? but if you forgive malu anyways, good for you.

when given the chance to respond, she chose instead to taunt those who were offended with her article. those are the facts as far as i know.

Hi muidhin!

I doubt the veracity of that Geocities resignation. ;)

And yes, everything that's happening is just TOO much. 100% agreed.

Malu finds her article funny, and proudly mentioned her "ascerbic wit". She also mentioned that her friends find her article funny.

I happen to find it equally funny when pinoy bloggers resorted to name calling (i.e. calling her ms. piggy, lechon, baboy, oink oink). What's god for the goose is good for the gander.

The best defense is not to offend. Now it's time for her to put a bag on her ugly fat ass everytime she goes out, hahaha!

A clarification: you are right, Washington got into hot water because he hurled a word at T.R. Knight that many consider offensive. He later tried to make it a race issue by saying he was being targeted because he was black. My bad.

(The tiniest of corrections: Malu said it was Axe to which she took olfactory offense, not Player's.)

Why not? ;)

Me, I'd rather meet up with some of the angrier bloggers. I think they deserve to let it all out so the healing and forgiveness can begin.

I volunteer myself as a sounding board.

i think you did not see the article that came out last April, where she said the same thing, she got away with that, her editors got away with it. now she did it again by writing that article in June.. She really deserved all the name-calling she got. I hope you guys understand how we (OFWs) feel. I'm a UP grad and if i name-call her it doesn't mean that i'm the same as that MALU bitch!

well whatver the method was for most pinoys - name-calling and all - it did the trick. she's resigned. :)

Wow. I'm blown away by your assessment, dizzyb. Excellently put. I tip my hat off to you.

dizzy b, that was very well placed. focusing on things more important.

I would definitely want to think that everyone on this planet was as objective and classy as gannsdeen, but truth of the matter is ,it's easier said than done when emotions come into the equation. what malu said and wrote about was uncalled for. OFWs have nothing but good to say about our country especially the people when they are asked about philippines, they usually think about the positives of our country instead of its many flaws, so i'm guessing here.. maybe their name-calling was in reaction to what a fellow filipino wrote and ranted about them was so much in contrast to how they felt and thought about people back home.

the fact that she claimed she was a socialite and a diva and all the name dropping she did made it worse. for someone who was educated well and was invited to teach at UP , she should have shown more class in writing her article. she said she was being funny and her amigas found it humorous as well on a separate article. it could have been funny if she wrote it on a "third person" perspective and not talk about it as if she was high almighty and better than everyone else. just watch or listen to any stand-up comedian mediocre or good. how she said and what she said would have made even a "snobbish socialite" defend herself so she wouldnt be stereotyped as someone who thinks like malu. to sum it up , i guess malu fernandez when she was writing her article was just full of herself.

so as it is noble to be classy and forgiving, it is to be said that when emotion gets into the equation, it is easier said than done.

Brilliantly put. I hope we all 'wake up.' There are far too many issues worth more of our time and effort than this. Thanks for that, Mutya. :)

That prejudice, stereotypes, and discrimination, against anyone for any reason, but especially concerning ethnic groups, races, or the sexes, are bad things is today a truth of public discourse that is never questioned by anyone considered socially, morally, or politically responsible.

Never questioned in public, that is; for the guilty secret of all, indeed even among the widely acknowledged victims of prejudice and stereotypes — is that, in private, prejudices and stereotypes are usually harbored about someone.

And virtually everyone, whether right or left, black or white, and whatever they think, feel, or say, practices some kind of discrimination about someone.

Perhaps the most irrepressible manifestation of that guilty secret maybe found in the ethnic, racial, or sexual jokes that regularly surface, like ERAP jokes to embarrass indiscreet politicians and to offend those at whose expense the jokes are made.

It is not surprising that we often hear, or hear of, repeated campaigns of moral exhortation against harboring or practicing such attitudes.

Certainly we don’t like the idea of being judged ourselves according to some stereotype of a group that we may belong to.

It is then easy to say that people should always be judged as individuals and never as members of a group. But we must consider carefully whether that noble determination is even possible, let alone whether it is a requirement of morality.

A children’s mantra blares out in sing-song fashion, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”

Words, in fact, can hurt; vicious language is part of the arsenal of the bigot and the bully alike.

Attitudes, however, by themselves, are more likely to hurt the holder than the target. If I avoid people who are different than myself, I stunt my own growth, and have little impact on the target of my disaffection.

But, each of us is likely to translate attitude into behaviors, whether they be sticks, stones, words, or things more subtle.

Unfortunately, prejudice is not simply an attitude that remains internal to its owner; it impacts behavior. When negative attitudes on the basis of differences translate into behavior, we have as a result, discrimination and the social inequity it produces.

Therefore, efforts to reduce prejudice are well advised to take the social context into consideration when focusing on the individuals’ attitudes.

Joemzjr and bettylopez10: Thank you for your comments.

At the heart of both your comments is how it would appear that, with this blog post advocating forgiveness and reconciliation, I am holier-than-thou and ignoring the people's right to be angry. You have every right to see my post in that way.

Please do understand that I, too, was part of that mob. If you click on the links I've provided several times throughout this blog entry, you'll note that my initial entry on Malu was less than tactful. In my opinion, there were two issues at hand: 1) how Malu wrote hurtful things about OFWs in an initial piece, and 2) how Malu reacted upon receiving the initial batch of criticism, writing additional hurtful things and defending herself in a manner that angered even more people.

I don't think we can expect people to not be angry, and I am not denying them the right to be. I am simply saying that a resolution to the problem can be achieved when we focus on the issues at hand. I believe it is possible to be angry yet civil.

I am not saying Malu does not deserve to be chastised, maybe even punished. Justice needs to be served, but at the same time, I think she needs to be treated justly, and I don't think the Philippine blogging community, myself included, gave her that. We are so divided as an angered society - the fact that we couldn't even agree on a mode of punishment, with calls for everything from firing to national apology being issued - that it becomes difficult to get to a conclusion, much less a just or satisfactory one.

Neither am I saying that we 'forgive and forget,' because I do understand that we are human and it is never easy to forget something that has pained us so deeply. Not everyone can be expected to believe in, adhere to, and practice the Biblical concept of forgiveness, which is to wash the slate clean and forget completely about it.

All I am saying is this: with two issues at hand, my opinion is that it is best to focus on a united stand on how to properly 'chastise' Malu and veer away from the name-calling. I honestly don't think that was asking too much; if it was, well, comment boxes are the best venue to tell me otherwise.

IMHO, the cases of Imus and Fernandez are actually similar. In both cases, both media personalities were eventually taken off their respective media outlets. We, however, do not have the benefit of hindsight: it remains to be seen whether either Imus or Fernandez will have some kind of career - one, two, five, ten years after being taken off the air/print. There is such a thing as a 'career-ending move,' and while America is littered with the corpses of several media careers, it also has given second wind to the careers of some media celebrities.

At the end of the day, I was just calling for an end to the name-calling. If you believe I have some kind of hidden agenda for posting this particular entry, including putting myself on some kind of holier-than-thou pedestal, I don't think there is anything I can do to convince you otherwise. (I was honestly taken aback by the insinuation I had anything more in mind than to just ask we treat another human being, well, humanely.) After all, I cannot honestly hope to ward off criticism or cynicism, and if I've offended you in any way with this post, please accept my apologies.

Thank you for visiting.

wow. sikat na sikat ka pala ganns. I had no idea.

atong27: I completely agree with you!

Mind you, I never said OFWs were unclassy, kaibigan. For the record, I have a relative working abroad for her family, and I witness the difficulties the family goes through everyday without their mother. The Bible itself recommends that nothing separate husband and wife, including work; when I witness a family separated because of financial circumstance, it breaks my heart too.

Neither did I question any blogger's spelling or grammar, kapatid. I even made it a point to avoid talking about Malu's writing prowess.

I just want to make it clear. I agree that what she did was wrong. I'm not defending her for what she did. I am just recommending that we take the higher road, and treat her with dignity and respect, even in our calling for her resignation and/or public apology. When we react with that kind of class - and we can prove that many, many, many OFWs have class - we teach Malu a deeper lesson that money doesn't guarantee class or happiness.

Thank you for passing by.

Hi there! Sige na nga, na-convince mo na akong i-forgive si Tita Malu. But you can't make me forget what she did. Hindi ko pa rin mag-gets talaga kung ano ang motive niya to write it. Well, naiintindihan ko si Jose Rizal kung bakit niya isinulat ang Noli at El Fili. Pero siya.....unless her writing reflects kung ano talaga ang true feelings/attitudes ng mga socialites towards OFWs. At least, honest siya! Hmmm, it makes me wonder kung bakit pa siya nagtitiyaga na mag-stay sa Pinas when almost 80% (more or less) belongs doon sa mga ___________. Siguro almost everyday ay nagco-contemplate siyang mag-suicide dahil dito, no?. Kawawa naman siya.

hi! korea pinoy foundation here... just want to say, this MALU FERNANDEZ or MALOU FERNANDEZ is not human. this MALOU FERNANDEZ think not human. this fatty MALOU FENANDEZ deserve to be called ANIMAL. WE ofws are working day and night, may times we suffered to surrender but we still live to survived then here is MALU FERNANDEZ and her jo-malone perfumes etc. oh my gushh!where this animal came from? she dont even know what this ofw is all about maybe bec. she came from the wealthy family? sus! kaya hnd umaangat ang ating bansa dahil sa mga ilang MALU FERNANDEZ sa ating bayan.. i still rem what my gandpa said: ofw are the backbone of our country.....

okay, i feel like i need to put in my 2-cents' worth as well...

apart from Malu Fernandez, i hold equally accountable her editors in both the MST and People Asia. given the propensity of most sheltered affluent people to be self-centered, the editor should take into consideration the possible impact and consequent reactions of the readers if a certain questionable article is allowed to see print. the fact that we do have freedom of speech is not enough, it should be tempered with responsibility... and common sense.

Thank you for writing that. Finally, someone has put into words that uncomfortable feeling I was having in my gut as this whole drama unfolded. True that she wrote horrible, horrible things but there are still many out there who have written worse. In a sense, justice has been served because she has had to face the consequence of her actions but you are right about this whold mob mentality thing. In some ways, we are always looking to find the villain; a person to point our fingers at because, seriously, each individual lacks accountability.

geewitch: Thank you for your kind words and sharing your thoughts on Malu.

honey0715: Dona Victorina in "Noli Me Tangere."

The anger and revulsion Malu Fernandez spat out to the OFW community is only indicative of her personal issues of anger and revulsion. Any psychologist worth his salt will tell you that each individual goes through life projecting that which he or she truly feels at his or her core. So there is no need to humiliate her any further with name-calling. She has laid bare for the entire world to see that she is a very unhappy and angry woman full of self-loathing. The Christian approach would be to pray for her personal “enlightenment” - that she moves towards a realization that she is not the “ugliness” she thinks about herself at her core. When she has made peace with who she is and has learned to love herself, her childhood defenses will crumble. She will then cease lashing out because of her personal demons.

I have heard many in the blogosphere lash out in retribution at Ms. Fernandez. Many were on-point, but the vast majority was vulgarly off-point. I suppose that is the human condition - we react when our sensibilities are so shaken that we are left simply in a state of incredulity and disbelief, until a seething anger seeps in, waiting for the most convenient outlet. I understand the anger out there, and I understand everyone’s need and right to be heard. But applying Hammurabi’s principle of “an eye for an eye” just leaves everyone blind. Perhaps what would have been more constructive is to try to understand Ms. Fernandez’ deep-seated anger, and use that as a stepping stone to understanding our own personal demons. Perhaps then, we can be a kinder and gentler blogosphere.

To the millions of OFW-heroes, there was no degradation of your dignity. You continue to sacrifice for the sake of your families and country. Very few will dispute the nobility of your actions. Victimization is a state of mind, so choose not to be one. Do not give the unfortunate Ms. Fernandez that satisfaction.

Hey Gannon,

How's it going? There's some good stuff on your blog site. Anyway, I hope we can learn to forgive Malu Fernandez. I wrote an entry about her article and I hope you can find time to read it. It's entitled "One Voice (An OFW’s reaction to Malu Fernandez’s “From Greece to Boracay”)" and I posted it here: http://lestercavestany.com/?p=10

Keep in touch bro!

Lester

The problem with the "forgive and forget" mantra can be sometimes (note: I said sometimes.. not all the time") be worse than an "eye for an eye" especially when it comes to corrupt politicians and idiotic, high brow, heartless nincompoops like this fat sloppy bitch that is Malu Fernandez. She took it upon herself to be insulted and humiliated by millions of filipinos. It is one thing to talk down on a public figure, and another thing when it comes to a group of PRIVATE folks who are just minding their own business and working hard under difficult situation just to feed their families.

This malu bitch is the epitome of a heartless spine whose fatty oil is oozing down her thick skin. She don't deserve forgiveness.. as it is obvious that her apology wasn't sincere. The fat ugly old hag bitch will never learn. It is her habit, and God fobid perhaps her upbringing, to look down on other people that are in the lower class. I, for one, refuse to take the high ground. Although I am a christian.. I am the first one to admit that I don't deserved to be called one... as I am not christian-like. True... there are times when forgiveness is essential.. but not this particular pig fat belly ache Malu.

People attacked her personally because her attacks on the OFW's are personal as well.. and perhaps deep rooted. I will not stand on a pedestal and proclaim that I would be better than her by not stooping to her level. We sometimes need to stand up for assholes like Malu. If we keep forgiving people like her.. she will never learn and just do what she's always been doing. We need to put people like her in a place where they belong... down the drain!

Gansdeen,

Thanks. I will answer to Him when the time comes but for now, the fat sloppy bitch is simply a bitch. I was born a christian (not by choice) and I am ashamed to call myself one as I do not act one. However, there are people who call themselves Christians yet they do not act such way and they proudly say they are christians. I would rather be true to myself than be a hypocrite. I can also assure you that this Malu bitch is a church going, self-righteous hypocrite.

I would rather not shut up to be called wise. I call spade a spade.. and I treat people the way they treat me. At least.. I know deep down I'm not a hypocritical turd like many of the so called Christians.

It might be true that I may not be a Christian (morally an rhetorically speaking) because I refuse to forgive that fat sloppy pig bitch Malu. Then again, if I claim that I am not christian-like.. what do we call christians who claim they are christians yet they keep doing the same immoral or un-christian like things over and over again? Just because one is baptized as a christian, go to church often, pray the same prayer every day like a friggin' parrot makes one a christian? Besides, I don't believe in any religion. The most hypocritical people I have known are religious people. The most bizarre thing is that I have also met many atheists who are not hypocrites and some of them has morals than the hypocritical religious turds.

People like Malu should be beaten until they are down, humiliated, and torn to pieces. Like I said.. if you leave people like her unpunished... she will just repeat what she's doing.

I will not give Malu Fernandez the satisfaction of feeling that she can degrade and insult millions of filipinos. I will show Malu Fernandez that there are people who will stand up to her.. or even stoop down to her level so she would realize how sorry of a bitch she is. By the way, please spare me with your bible passages. I would not want to start contradicting your bible passages ;-)

Dear Gansdeen,

I said I was born a christian (not by choice) and don't consider myself as a chistian because I don't act like one. I never tricked you by saying I'm a christian. Where did you get that idea? Nowhere in my post would you see that I PREACHED about forgiveness nor proclaimed that I'm a Christian. Of course I do not respect Malu. Respect begets respect and it is not automatic. Respect needs to be earned. How can I possibly respect a fat, idiotic, bitch pig when she looked down on the poor OFW's?

I also bashed the Christian Hypocrites. I am afraid that you suffer from SELECTIE READING. I didn't say that ALL CHRISTIANS are hypocrites nor I bashed ALL Christians. I specially bashed the so called Christians who are hypocrites.

Did you say a person's inalienable rights? I am not taking away Malu's inalienable rights. She has every right to speak her mind, and I won't stop her from doing so nor would I demand her to be fired from her job... unlike many people. Where in my post did I try to take away her inalienable rights? Nowhere! I will defend her rights to express herself but I also reserve my right to say what I want about that fat filthy ugly bitch, lol. The last time I checked slavery was abolished decades ago :-) And yes, I do abhor the religious hypocrites as they are the worse kind of christians. I only respect people who deserves to be respected regardless of their race, religion,color, or nationality. To thine ownself be true. I will never preach morality or the word of God because I am not worth it. I do applaud religious people who do not preach yet they practice the true meaning of christianity. I despise people who proudly proclaims to be christians or regular church goers yet they do unchristian acts. You're right.. there is nothing you can say that would persuade me to take the high ground when it comes to the likes of Malu. She is a worhtless piece of human feces, and she deserves to be humiliated, villified,and scorned!

Dear Gansdeen:

It is truly fascinating that a person with your level of intelligence couldn't understand, or grasp, my point. I am not writing in Aramaic, Swahili, or Latin for you to be so out of touch with your arguments. I will try to make it extremely simple for you so you can understand.

You said that YOU CANNOT BE BORN A CHRISTIAN. YOU CHOOSE TO BE A CHRISTIAN. How could I possibly have chosen to be a christian when I was baptised as Roman Catholic (last time I checked Roman Catholics are deemed to be Christian) at the age of a few months? Tell me einstein... how can an infant make a choice?

Just because I said that I am ashamed of being called a christian (because I do un-christian acts) would automatically mean that I am not a christian? I suggest that you think about this. It's as simple as 1-2-3 and, for the life of me.. I couldn't fathom why you couldn't understand simple logic.

Now, let me point out another of your logical fallacies. I'd say you suffer from selective reading dimentia, lol. It is true that when Malu bashed the filipino OFW's, she bashed millions of filipinos but definitely not the rich and snubby assholes like herself. Now... here's my point. Read carefully and learn. When I bashed the Christian Hypocrites.. I offended millions of CHRISTIANS who are HYPOCRITES. Logic would tell you (if you still have some) that I didn't bash all Christians!

You also said, "I don't know what your definition of the true meaning of Christianity is, but I can tell you this, again, based on Biblical teaching: a true Christian treats other people with respect, regardless of whether they've earned it or not. A Christian doesn't bash". Are you serious?!?! A christian doesn't bash? Tell me you're not serious and it is just a typographical error or simply a brain fart. Have you been living inside a cave or a convent? Are you that clueless or ignorant? It is a fact... a maxim, that millions and millions of Christians do bash. Millions and millions of christians commit un-christian acts (fornication, adultery, theft, robbery, fraud, corruption, rape, kidnapping, etc.). They are christians yet they do un-christian acts. If you still don't get my point.. here's another simple one for you. When a convicted killer (for argument's sake let's say the killer is a christian) is about to be put to death... he is always asked if he wants a priest. The priest would then say a prayer for the christian convict and bless him. The convict is a christian but he committed an un christian act. But then again.. O preacher of forgiveness and all mighty gandeen. You are God's chosen forgiver, aren't you? Would you not forgive a convicted killer? Would spare him instead? You said to forgive and forget. Since you have such a kind and forgiving heart..would you forgive the killer and let him go? Of course, you would say that you'd forgive him but let him pay what he had done. What kind of payment? With his life.. or life in prison?

Suppose a man breaks into your home and rape your sister (this is only hypothetical. Knowing you.. you take things to literary.. and you are oh so uptight, lol). At the same time, he tied you up and your parents while your sister is being raped before your eyes. After he raped her.. the police came and caught the rapist. The day before his trial, he pleaded to you for forgiveness and tells you that he was really sorry and he has found God. He ask you not to file charges against him because if he's found guilty, he will be put to death by the state. Now.. my reverend and most kind friend... would you forgive the man? Remember.. forgive and forget. That is your mantra.

That may be too extreme for you. How about a thief? Would you forgive (and forget) a thief who stole all your money?

I would like to make one thing clear. The only thing we share is we were both baptised as christians but, unlike you, I am un-christian like. You are very revered, kind, gentle, forgiving, God fearing, Holy, saintly, etc. I am not proud to claim that I am un-christian like. I am just being true to myself. I'm a sinner and unforgiving but at least.. I feel very human and not some saintly being, lol.

By the way, I will not revert from calling you names. It is not my style. I only attack when attacked. I treat people the way they treat me. I would like to think that I'm a pretty fair and logical person. I have no reason to call you names. You have done me no harm.

One more thing. It is an honorable thing to say that you are concerned with Cris Mendez in finding justice. I suggest that instead of talking about it.. act on it. Why don't you volunteer to help find his killers? Better yet, why don't you come visit his parents and comfort them with your kind christian words? I'm sure it would help them a lot. Just a thought.. o mister high and mighty, lol. Chill out, dude! I am being facetious! :-)

P.S to my previous post to Gansdeen:

You said:" or Jesus, the two greatest commandments were Love God First, Love Others Second, As Much As You Love Yourself. It's the opposite of 'To thine own self be true.' (You'd be surprised at what lies ahead on the other end of the spectrum. Google 'commandments of satan' and look at commandment #3.). Err... "to thine ownself be true" is the opposite of Love God first, etc.? Could you kindly expound on that? I just don't know where you get that bunch of B.S., lol. I think every person who understand basic english would conclude that the meaning of "to thine ownself be true" is be true to yourself.. or be honest to yourself. How is that the opposite of loving God first? Errrr.. hello.. earth to Gansdeen, lol.

Kudos to you if you follow the two greatest commandments (according to Matthew). I, for one, can truly say that I cannot possible love people who instill pain, suffering, and death to other people. I can not definitely love someone like Malu Fernandez. I can, however, love the meek, the humble, the poor, people who suffers from illnesses especially the children, people in war ridden nations. You see, I can never be like you. You are the closest thing to Jesus. Of course you didn't say you are jesus-like. You just talk like you are high and mighty.. or perhaps morally superior, lol.

I am going to Italy next month. Since you are so saintly, I think I'm going to the Vatican and convince the pope to canonize you, hahaha!

By the way, if I bash a catholic priest who is found guilty of molesting a child.. would you also say that I am offending all catholics? I wouldn't be surprised if you would. Your logic flows that way, lol.

Like I said in the previous post, I am taking all religious discussion offline so the discussion can focus on Malu Fernandez. Every new post that you and I enter with regard to the Christian faith takes the discussion further and further away from Malu Fernandez. I will take your 3:42AM post into consideration with my reply.

Dear Ren:

Fine; I'll respect your wishes and pop my answer onto the public board.

Some defense points:
> Malu offended you and me. My initial response was also anger, as evidenced by the Malu Fernandez hyperlinks in my post. Afterward, I chose to deal with the anger by deciding to forgive and pray for her. Although I did encourage people to forgive her, I did not ask anyone else to pray with me.

> I did not defend, as you put it, Malu's fat ugly b**ch maladies. If anything, I have consistently insisted that she receive commensurate punishment for her actions. (It remains to be seen whether or not she will; until then, I think you and I are united in that one aspect, because she apparently is still writing for MST.)

> While I do agree forgiveness and atonement are Christian actions, they aren't exclusively Christian, and I don't think I should be faulted for suggesting them. For instance, the system of restorative justice, which can be interpreted as atonement, is now being implemented in some countries, including South Africa, as well as being test-run in some states in the USA.

> Let's assume for the sake of the argument that you are Christian, and I am speaking to you as my brother in the faith. Can you fault me for thinking Bible verses would be adequate and appropriate in defending my stance? How was I to know that you would be offended by my use of the Bible?

Furthermore, my quoting from scripture doesn't mean I can adhere to it 100%. Nobody can. I've got skeletons in my closet you wouldn't believe, demons in my past that I struggle with on a daily basis. When I said, "Christians don't bash," for instance, I said that as an ideal, the rule, the standard to which you and I as Christians try to follow (basing it on a Bible verse that I won't quote for fear of offending you); it doesn't mean I succeed at it even remotely. Of course, some Christians will bash. "Love God first, love one another as you love yourself" is the ideal. You and I as Christians could try to follow, frequently stumble, get up, ask forgiveness from God and the persons we've offended, and move on. It's the ideal situation, and certainly not the kind of behavior I am known to display 100% of the time.

Can we agree to disagree?
There are things on which we agree, and there are things with which we disagree. These points of disagreement include the following on Malu:

> The right to respect (I say it's an inalienable right, you say it must be earned)

> Forgiveness and second chances (I say everyone is entitled to it, you say it's selective)

> Punishment (I say justice and just treatment for all, you say total humiliation under certain circumstances)

> Name-calling (I say undeserved in any situation; you say deserved in certain situations)

and the Christian faith:

> What it takes to become Christian (I say one must accept Jesus as personal Lord and Savior, you say baptism is adequate enough to earn the label)

> What it takes to stay Christian (I say relationship with God inspires good behavior, you say good behavior is main standard)

On these things, I hope we can agree to disagree, respecting each other's rights to our opinions on these.

A long overdue apology:
I realize in hindsight that most of the vitriol of our exchange was of my own doing, by putting you on the defensive regarding your own faith (although by your own words, you do not believe in religion, so I'm not quite sure where to place you now). It was counter-productive of me to insist you were not Christian. If I did offend you because of what I said about your faith-walk, I apologize.

I also realize that in calling for an end to the name-calling, I may have said some things that inadvertently offended you, since you feel you are entitled to the name-calling. While it was not my intention to do so, I also realize that you may view my call for Filipinos to stop the name-calling as a way to put myself on some kind of pedestal, a moral high-ground that makes me superior or better to everyone else. It was not my intention, but that may be what you thought or felt. If you were offended by it, I apologize.

I also made some jumps to conclusions in some of my points. For this, I apologize.

I also made some hasty generalizations in some of my points. For this, I apologize.

My piece implies people who name-call are no better than Malu. I said name-calling was unclassy, a behavior unfit for intelligent individuals. Some people were offended by this as well. In writing this, I inadvertently implied these people were unintelligent and unclassy. While I hold that name-calling still does not contribute anything positive to the resolution of the issue, I do recognize that it is still people's right to say what they want to say, and if I am to convince them otherwise, there are better ways of going about it than what I realize now is a shame tactic. For that, I apologize.

Ren: despite your assertion you will not call me names, you have been very sarcastic in your past few posts, and taunted me with words that, while not exactly names, are quite hurtful. I assume that, based on our two-day interaction, I have not earned your respect, and I respect that. It is my hope, however, that you accept my apologies, and, if you feel I deserve it in any way, forgive me for offending you on a variety of levels.

I do honestly want to focus on the plans we're developing for Cris Mendez, and I hope we can put this behind us. Thank you for posting.

A reply to Gansdeen:

Point 1. Malu did not offend me. She offended the OFW's and the poor people. I completely abhor what she said, and defended the people whom she offended.. which lead to an offensive.

Point 2. I am not calling for Malu to be fired from her job. Malu did not commit a crime nor she broke any company rules. The proper punishment for Malu is public humiliatio and condemnation. No more.. no less.

Point 3. You're right.. forgiveness and atonement are not exclusively Christian values. Then again, I never said that only CHRISTIAN has those values. In fact, those values are also observed by buddhists and hindus. Again, please do not put words in my mouth. If you are going to quote me, please do so in factual accuracy. Restorative justice for Malu? Again, Malu committed no crime therefore restorative justice to not apply to the fat ugly idiotic nincompoop of a bitch (note: I stress again that this particular argument involves Malu only. Now.. if you would like to discuss restorative justice in social terms.. that's a different story).

Point 4. I never faulted you for bringing up bible verses. I was arguing against your arguments.. not against your faith.

As I have stated previously, I am ashamed to call myself a Christian. To me, it would be so hypocritical to claim that I am christian yet I keep making the same sins knowing they are wrong. I detest being a hypocrite. Many christians (note: I said many christians... NOT ALL CHRISTIAN... regardless of religion) have this notion that since they are just fallible human beings, they committ the same sin over and over again and just simply ask for forgiveness and they'll be fine. Sorry.. but my hypocrisy can only go so far.

Furthermore.. here are my answers to your points:

1. The right to respect is not an unalienable right. I think you are confused, my christian friend. To respect and be respected are not considered as rights. I have the same rights not to respect you as Malu has the same rights not to respect the OFW's. She has lost her right to be respected after she insulted the OFW's. That's why I said that respect has to be earned.

2. Forgiven and Second Chances. Yes, I say it should be given selectively based on the circumstances. I know that I cannot possible forgive or give a second chance to the likes of Charles Manson, Jim Jones, Ted Bundy, or any person who rapes or kills an innocent child. Heck, I can also go further by saying that I can never forgive Hitler, Polpot, Lenin, Stalin, et al., let alone give them another chance.

3. Name calling. Yes, I say it is necessary in certain (not all) situations. There are people who are just so clueless, mean-spirited, and thick skinned that they do not realize what they have done to offend someone.. or they enjoy to offend. This is where the malu fat idiotic bitch comes to mind. You can eventually see that she wasn't really sincere with her apology. She apologized because she received death threats (personally, I think the ones who gave her the death threats are a bunch of idiotic dimwits) and there was a huge amount of hate emails directed at her. Can you imagine if nobody reacted to what she said? Can you imagine if the people didn't bash her to pieces? She's still be saying the same shit! It's as simple as that. The fat little bitch deserves to be called names!

Now.. to answer your question about being a christian. I didn't not say that baptism earns you the label to be a christian. I will repeat this again for the third time. I was baptized as a christian when I was an infant.. which obviously wasn't my choice. Technically speaking I am a christian. When I fill out forms I always check the box that says Christian. In spiritual and moral terms.. I wouldn't call myself a christian because I am such a sinner. Besides, I don't see anywhere in the bible what sins are less to commit than others. All sins are equally bad. I would not want to insult Christians by claiming that I am a christian in deeds and action. I am just simply not woth it. At least God cannot accuse me of being a hypocrite.

There is nothing to forgive.. don't be such a drama queen like Kris Aquino, lol. How could you possibly have hurt me? True.. I was being sarcastic but it is just my rhetorical style.

And yes, I do not believe in religion. I was baptized as catholic but I don't believe in their religious dogmas/maxims or MANY (not all) of their teachings. There is one caveat tho. I believe that religion is good in nature. It is the people who makes religion look bad (remember the christian inquisition or those who commit murder and atrocities in the name of God/Allah/Jehovah/Yahweh?).

Lastly, you have not given me any reason not to respect you. I disagree with your arguments but in no way did I feel that you disrespected me. Like I said.. I treat people the way they treat me. It's a quid pro quo world, my friend. Sometimes GOOD PEOPLE like you need people like me to defend you or speak in behalf of you so mean people wouldn't step on you all the time :-)

Actually iisgenius is offended, no matter how much he tries to deny it. It's obvious from the vitriol in the way he writes.

So hurl away my friend and be done with it. Mouth all the insults you can muster against Malu Fernandez if only to feel better about yourself. But I believe in the end, after you have tired of it, you will still find yourself with so much anger. The reasons behind it only you know....

Try checking out a therapist for anger management. I'd hate to see what you would actually do if someone offended you personally.

ang tagal na nito... i wonder what happened to Malu Fernandez?

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