MANILA, Philippines – American Jimmy Sieczka, who posted a video enumerating things he dislikes about the Philippines, has apologized for his shenanigans.
In a video that he posted on the Internet, Jimmy initially said he did not intend to offend or attack Filipinos with his video, which went viral.
“Hello, this is Jimmy, the host of ‘20 Things I dislike in the Philippines’ and I just like to start by saying that the video that I hosted was never made to attack or put down or to hurt or to let down some of the people in this wonderful, beautiful nation that’s been so great to me since I live here two years ago, two and a half years ago,” he said.
Then he humbly apologized to those who were offended by his rants.
“I’m deeply sorry that I’ve offended some of the people in the Philippines and the show is just made to point out obvious things that any other person probably would acknowledge and say to themselves or say to their friends but obviously not take the steps that I took...”
He feels sad that a lot of people took his bashing seriously.
“I just really wanna say, you know, it saddens me that so many people took it a horror, took it so serious, which is kind of…”
Jimmy explains that he never used the word hate in his video. He feels that he was misunderstood.
“I just wanna say, well, that a lot of people think that I hate the Philippines. Well, the video is called ‘20 reasons why I hate the Philippines.’ That was never a word used, it was never an idea of mine, never spoken by me. That was just something that was misconstrued online.”
“Hate is a very strong word,” he stressed. “I don’t hate anyone. I don’t hate anything. It saddens me that people think that I hate this nation or I hate... It’s such a strong word for anyone to think that, you know, I would stay here for as long as I have and hate the place. It’s not just true. I’m deeply sorry that I offended the Philippine nation, most specifically the Cebuanos that have been so nice to me over the years. That’s about it.”
In his video rant, Jimmy enumerated the not-so-positive things that he observed during his stay in the country – piling garbage, obsession for whitening products, stinking toilets, heavy traffic, pollution, erring taxi drivers, beggars.
The website called Brain Contour reported that, “On Monday, March 19th, the City of Cebu has reacted to the buzz.”
A Sun-Star article titled “Video embarrasses Cebu, country”, as reported by the said website, said that, “City Councilor Sisinio Andales wanted Jimmy Sieczka declared ‘persona non grata in the city’ and that ‘he will file a resolution before the City Council next week.’”
On March 20, Mo Twister, in his early morning radio program over Magic 89.9, “Good Times”, interviewed Jimmy and Councilor Andales.
After the interview, the controversial radio host posted Jimmy’s public apology on Twitter, which read: "I, James Sieczka, have considered the Philippines as my second country and Cebu as my second home. The subject video that was aired was made in good faith and as a legitimate and reasonable exercise of my right, ‘freedom of expression.’ There was no intention to scrutinize the city nor the people that governs the same.
"It's an honest observation and opinion that I myself think needs to be worked on, not just specifically in Cebu. These are little things that we see around us as normal people and from the eyes of an ordinary man like me. But from all that's happening and me just trying to exercise my freedom of speech, I am very open and amenable for an apology, on the manner and means that I exercise my right, if the need presents itself. As a sign of my compliance with the duly authorized authority and rule of law, I am not ashamed to apologize to people that I offended in the process, with the hope that you would reconsider in declaring me ‘persona non grata.’ Sincerely, James Sieczka.”
source: mb.com.ph
