Myth No. 3—Globalization will transform Filipinos into “little brown Americans.”

Globalization is in fact promoting cultural diversity. With access to satellite TV, Internet, 24-hour news, and to all sorts of information, Filipinos are interacting with different cultures, not just the Americans. My son chats about the Roman civilization with history enthusiasts from Greece, Britain, and America. In the past several years, Philippine TV has been running soap operas from Mexico, Taiwan, and Korea. McDonalds has been here but Jollibee is even bigger. At a time when every body has access to CNN, BBC, and Fox News, local TV has suddenly shifted to using Tagalog, our “national language.” It’s a great mistake because we are now in dire need of English proficient workers for the fast-growing business process outsourcing industry. Of course, the local film industry has practically died but that’s because Filipinos now have choices other than the usual inane films that local film makers dish out. (Globalization has not prevented Bollywood from flourishing). The list of examples is endless.