Let's break down his response piece by piece...
Bill Clinton:
Well I think, first of all
...on the whole it wasn't a big advantage for the nation to have been
...colonized -if you will- by Spain and the United States
TRANSLATION:
...the Catholic Church (SPAIN) did not benefit the Philippines
...Democracy and the Dollar (USA) did not benefit the Philippines
====================================================
Bill Clinton:
They got a lot out of it
...but it makes it too easy to maintain the ties that bind
...and it's been great for America
...all the Filipinos that have served in the armed forces
...it's been great for all the families who got the remittances that were sent back home
But it takes you very quickly to a level that makes life bearable
...but it doesn't necessarily create the mindset let's say that exists in Rwanda
TRANSLATION:
...Filipinos' lives got 'comfortable' very easily because of the US Dollar
...it made the Filipinos 'lazy'
...it should have been more traumatic and difficult like what happened in Rwanda
====================================================
Bill Clinton:
Let's talk about Rwanda
...Rwanda is the most densely populated country in Africa
...per square mile
...although it's very small
...only nine million people
TRANSLATION:
...similar to the Philippines
10% of the people were killed in a genocide in 1994
...that lasted approximately 90 days
...most of them were hacked to death with machetes
...and while they have been part of various spheres of influence
...that european powers had in Africa had over a long period of time
TRANSLATION:
...similar to the Philippines
The two principal conflict groups
...the Hutus -the majority (Catholics)
...and the Tutsis -the minority (Muslims)
...had shared that little piece of land for 500 years
TRANSLATION:
...similar to the Philippines
====================================================
Bill Clinton:
So after President Kagame led the military group
...that basically put an end to the fighting and the killing
...he wanted to create a country where Ethnicity was not the defining characteristic
...and they set up an interesting variation of Mister Mandela's Truth and Reconciliation Commission
...and said that 'if you ordered the killing of a whole lot of people, you should go before the War Crimes Tribunal.'
...'if you just participated as a foot-soldier in the slaughter, if you go back to your home village, tell the absolute truth about what you did to a village council, they will decide what service you must render to the community and for how long in return for total absolution. Then we'll begin again.'
TRANSLATION:
...the Philippines needs a militant leadership
...to develop the Philippines as a country NOT focused on "FILIPINO PRIDE"
...and set up its own custom-made system that ABANDONS THE PAST
...and FOCUSES ON THE FUTURE
====================================================
Bill Clinton:
And they have relentlessly developed
...-keep in mind- their per capita income 4 years after the genocide was only 268USD a year
...less than a dollar a day
...they quadrupled their income in a decade
No other country in the world did it
...and they did it with this relentless focus on the future
...and they developed this amazing capacity to abandon the grievance
Let's just give you one example
...I've been doing a lot of work in Rwanda
...we helped them develop their health care system and
...I've worked with farmers there
...we've helped them double -in some cases triple their incomes
TRANSLATION:
...the US can help the Philippines focus on the future
...but only at the cost of abandoning the grievances of the past
====================================================
Bill Clinton:
In Rwanda
...every adult takes one saturday a month
...and cleans the streets
...as a civic activity
...to prove that poverty
...does not have to be associated with dirty streets
...slothy cities
...so you can go to Kigali, the national capital
...and you're shocked
...you're saying these people who are living in $1,000 a year
...or $1,100 a year, how in the world are they doing this?
Because every saturday, the whole country is out there cleaning the streets.
TRANSLATION:
...you can be poor, but still live with pride and dignity
...focus on civic duties and work with the state
=============================================
Filipinos need to stop acting like the Blacks and Jews of Southeast Asia
...with their "We were hurt and abused in the past, now give us money!" mentality
Notice how the American Clinton spoke in allusion and metaphor
...instead of being direct
...he was speaking in the language Filipinos are used to using
...indirectness
"He dodged the question by talking about Rwanda!"
"His is like a ninja-diplomat!"
Bill Clinton answered the question brilliantly
...at least for those who were intelligent enough to know what he was saying
====================================================
This is PART 1 of a 3 part post
...PART 2: Stuck on EDSA
...PART 3: Philippines' Worst Imports
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