What makes it proudly Pinoy?

Abe Olandres Editor-in-chief August 24, 2006 · 2 min read

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This is one of the questions that’s open for debate and I’d like to solicit some inputs from everyone reading here.

What makes a blog Pinoy? What makes a start-up company proudly Filipino? What makes a service trully Filipino.

Here are some classic cases we sometimes see around:

1) A Blog Network owned by a group of Australians, Americans and Canadians hire Filipino writers to write for their blog. Is that blog a Pinoy blog?

2) A British guy heads to the Philippines, hires some kick-ass developers, goes to France to open his office and manages the team remotely to develop a kickass application. Would you refer to it as a Philippine start-up, British start-up or a French start-up?

3) A Filipino IT Manager went to India and sets up shop in there with an entire workforce of Indian developers. Is that a Filipino company?

4) A Chinese guy searches the web for Flash developers and finds a Filipino artist to do his website in Mandarin. Is the site a Pinoy site?

5) A Pixar animated film was developed by hundreds and hundreds of crew, among them a couple of Filipinos. Is the movie Filipino-made?

Some of the answers may be very obvious while others will be case to case. The reason I asked is because of my recent entry over at PTB which slightly deals with international perception of outsourcing.

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Abe Olandres

Editor-in-chief

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and is considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines.

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14 Comments

Maricar · 20 years ago

http://www.filipinasoul.com falls under #1 (and b5media is the blog network described, right? ;) ). I would consider us a Pinoy blog. One of b5’s founders (Shai Coggins) is Filipino. The blog’s writers are Filipino, and so’s the topic.

These days, everything’s global, so it’s difficult to categorize companies as this and that nationality. Maybe “global company with significant Filipino contributions” would suffice.

j4s0n · 20 years ago

Yah probably, if Pinoys get the Credit. He/She/We has reasons to be proud of, for however big or small contributions are.

But honestly, really, for me it’s more than that, to follow AhmedF’s comment, It’s not just owned, operated by Pinoys, But how we make our products/services work for Pinoys.

It’s being Proud because you’re servicing your own countrymen rather than someone elses. Now, that’s Pinoy!

mister · 20 years ago

Hmm.. let say an iPod made in china owned by an american co. who gets more credit? IMO, who ever comeup with the idea and processes will get the highest recognition. So, in the case of ipod although most of its parts are made in china it will never be a chinesse product. So your lists only #3 i would consider a pinoy product.

jhay · 20 years ago

I think it’s national pride, in the noblest sense of it is what drives this ‘pinoy-based blog, this and that’ phenomenon. I see nothing wrong in it. Heck, the Americans, French and other nationalities are doing, why should we not?

Still, I agree with AmedF. It’s obsurd to call somethig ‘Pinoy’ just because a Pilipino was involved or has at least something to do with it.

Bob · 20 years ago

What difference does it make? It’s a startup. It’s a movie. It’s a blog network. Why does it have to be a Pinoy thing, and American thing or any other nationality?

Really, it would make as much sense to consider if it was a “girl’s” company or a “boy’s” company. When it comes down to it… really, who cares?