I normally don’t react to a person’s total nonsense but these Ms. Malu Fernandez’s travel columns “From Boracay to Greece” (People Asia, June 2007) and “Am I being a diva? Or do you lack common sense?” (Manila Standard Online, July 30, 2007) continue to draw negative reactions from Filipinos here in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). I know that this reaction and comment is so late considering that Ms. Feranandez is being lambasted in every corner of the Internet, I still think it’s better late than never.

I believe in press freedom and the wide latitude given to writers in expressing their conscience but I believe that Ms. Fernandez and her editors overstepped the bounds of responsibility with these stories.

The incident recounted in her flight via Dubai to Manila in which she berated fellow Filipinos (who had already endured the misfortune of working away from their families) on board Emirates for wearing “cheap” perfumes had no significant bearing to her story.This particular anecdote did not provide any form of entertainment, learning opportunity or even delightful trivia to the readers. To suggest all Dubai-based OFWs smell awful because they are unable to afford expensive perfumes like the one she’s wearing is high-brow snobbery.

It is the same snobbery stamped on the psyche of some members of the Philippine society’s elite that has caused the yawning gap between our rich and poor, and the economic exodus of which millions of us Filipinos have now become a part.

More local as well as foreign companies in the UAE are employing Filipino workers because of their proficiency in English and admirable work ethics.

A print medium that aspires for relevance in today’s competitive media world cannot hide under the skirt of press freedom for its licentiousness to insult a group of people. One’s freedom to poke her fingers begins where someone else’s nose begins.Ms. Fernandez’s unrepentant response to the barrage of angry reactions from OFWs and their loved ones (“I obviously write for a certain target audience and if what I write offends you, just stop reading”), simply adds fuel to the fire.

A nation like the Philippines that aspires for renewal and regeneration needs a responsible press with a high level of sensitivity to all sectors that comprise it.

Ms. Fernandez and her editors should be given disciplinary action and apologise to the people insulted by these articles.