3 out of 5 are idiots....what about the ratio in the Philippines?

There are different ways of looking at it. Found a blog post that hits on this topic and I mostly agree with:

When you always refer to yourself as a guest you aren't getting the full respect that you deserve. You can criticize the local culture so long as you do it respectfully, take their cultural norms into consideration when making that criticism, and make that criticism in the right "forum". But, that doesn't really have much to do with what and how things are discussed here on DI though.

DI was created by "foreigners" mainly to help "foreigners" adapt to living in Dumaguete and the Philippines and to voice their thoughts and opinions on the local culture. While we more than welcome locals to join and add their opinions/advice/questions/etc, they must remember the objective of this forum, who it was created by and who it is meant to cater to. In a way it is them that are guests on this website - and basically anywhere online - and the prominent culture here is internet culture, not Filipino culture. If they cannot handle criticism and have thin skin/sensitive egos then this website - and the vast majority of websites online - is probably not the place for them to be. This forum, just like 99.9% of the internet, does not reside in their country and does not have to abide by their cultural norms or country's laws. We discuss their cultural norms here, sure, but their culture simply does not apply.

 

Not all of us do though. In my actual home, sure, there should be some basic respect given for the way things are done (don't p*ss/sh*t on the side of the house - throw your trash in the bin - don't be an *sshole to other guests, friends, family or me), but outside of that I ask no more respect from tourists than I do American citizens. I personally feel that everyone should be able to voice their opinion regardless if they are a "foreigner" or citizen - at the right time and in the right forum of course - on how something is done in my country. We might find that whatever they don't like is something we agree on, they could learn why something is the way it is or, if it is something I am capable of changing, a better method can be thought about/adopted.

If the US president had just called the majority of people from a certain country a bunch of retards then I certainly wouldn't expect the people of that country living as residents in my country to just shut up and take it. Respect is earned not given, and if the president of my country is not giving any respect to people of other countries I certainly wouldn't expect people to give him any respect.

Our constitution does not limit that freedom to citizens, it is a universal right. It is much the same in the Philippines. They have laws that restrict us from interfering with certain things (mainly politics and protests) but the right to free speech as "foreigners" is protected and considered a "universal right".

Spoiler: Off-topic

Side note: I also don't think people should be forced to learn English (we do not have an official language in the US)...but on that same line of thinking they shouldn't expect me to learn their language to cater to them. If you want me to help you out with something or even listen to you it is on you to find a way to communicate in a way I can understand. The same applies to me though, if I'm in a country that doesn't primarily speak English it is on me to learn how to communicate with locals, luckily with the Philippines that is not the case.