spinster said:What else can you make of that? Plus intentionally or not, it even sounds like a promotion for sex tourism. That's my take anyway.
He wasn't saying mistresses, he said wives. It's a given it's not illegal to have mistress/es anywhere so he wouldnt have to point out the legality of it if he wasnt really referring to actual wives and I doubt he was strictly referring to Muslims. His saying that is a false reflection of the status of women in this country.
This is a country with millions of hardworking women who do make a decent living, where 50 percent of senior corporate positions are held by women, where the global average is only in the low 20s. But you read his tales of hired women and how it's perfectly legal to have multiple wives, and what kind of picture do you go away with? I'm sorry but any Filipina reading what he says can't help but be slighted.
It is true that many positions of power in the Philippines are held be women, who tend to be better educated than their male counterparts. They have a female President currently. My overall observation is that many of the things that we suppress in American society and culture are allowed to openly exist in the Philippines. There is no talk about gay marriage over there, because gays can live openly and without being ostracized. What happens behind closed doors in the USA, is accepted openly in the Philippines.
Take gambling for existence. You can bet all you want in a Philippine poolroom and no one is going to come in and arrest you. In fact, I've seen the cops making wagers on matches. In many ways I like the openess of their culture. I bet you one thing for sure. There are far fewer rapes and assaults against women over there. And I do not see wealthy people looking down their noses at the "working" class people either. Everyone rubs shoulders a little too closely for that.