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Apology unaccepted

In the interest of being fair and showing all sides of the story (I am a journalist, after all), here's the apology sent out by Malu Fernandez:

Statement from Malu Fernandez on the OFW controversy
Friday, August 24, 2007

"I am humbled by the vehement and heated response provoked by my article entitled 'From Boracay to Greece!' which came out in the June 2007 issue of People Asia. To say that this article was not meant to malign, hurt or express prejudice against the OFWs now sounds hollow after reading through all the blogs from Filipinos all over the world. I am deeply apologetic for my insensitivity and the offensive manner in which this article was written, I hear you all and I am properly rebuked. IT was truly not my intention to malign hurt or express prejudice against OFWs.

As the recent recipient and target of death threats, hate blogs, and deeply personal insults, I now truly understand the insidiousness of discrimination and prejudice disguised as humor. Our society is bound together by human chains of kindness and decency. I have failed to observe this and I am now reaping the consequences of my actions. It is my fervent hope that the lessons that I’ve learned are not lost on all those who through anonymous blogs, engaged in bigotry, discrimination, and hatred (against overweight individuals, for example).

I take full responsibility for my actions and my friends and family have nothing to do with this. To date I have submitted my resignation letters to both the Manila Standard and People Asia, on that note may this matter be laid to rest."

Personally, I don't buy it. Seeing all her previous articles before where she also expressed the same attitude towards OFWS (or basically everyone she considered beneath her), this sounds insincere. After all she's said and wrote, this is totally out of place.

"That this matter may be laid to rest?" I thought she was all about being a bitch and shaking up worlds? It seems that her world was the one that was shaken up. "Humbled"? Maybe "overwhelmed" would be more like it. Considering the sheer number of responses (one website had 1400+ responses) she got, it's not surprising that the supposedly "fierce" person that she is got broken like a twig. The "fabulous" part was exceedingly dubious from the start.

Bad breeding can't be corrected overnight, no matter how many insults and death threats one recieves. Then again, I might be wrong.

Nevertheless, she got what was coming to her. I won't say she deserved all the insults, but that's what you get when you're an arrogant and big-mouthed idiot.

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