The case of the ‘Filipino Monkey’: A maritime mystery
So goes the story…
For decades now, American ships operating in the Middle East have had to contend with a mysterious but profane voice known as the “Filipino Monkey.”
The voice coming from a radio transmission, and likely by more than one person, listens in on ship-to-ship radio traffic and then jumps on the net shouting insults and jabbering vile epithets.
“For 25 years there’s been this mythical guy out there who, hour after hour, shouts obscenities and threats,” recalls a retired U.S. cruiser skipper. “He used to go all night long. The guy is crazy. But who knows how many Filipino Monkeys there are? Could it have been a spurious transmission? Absolutely.”
Apparently, the Filipino Monkey phenomenon is worldwide, and has been going on for years.
“They come on and say ‘Filipino Monkey’ in a strange voice. They might say it two or three times. You’re standing watch on bridge and you’re monitoring Channel 16 and all of a sudden it comes over the radio. It can happen anytime. It’s been a joke out there for years.”
These days, the U.S. Navy doesn’t think of this as a joke, what with the latest naval incident with Iran in the Strait of Hormuz.
Now I couldn’t find enough history of this Filipino Monkey, so I’m not sure how the word “Filipino” came to be associated with this heckler, or if a Filipino started this… but it would be interesting to know, wouldn’t it?
Tags: filipino monkey, maritime, navy, radio, heckler, marine, iran, transmission, news
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January 14th, 2008 at 2:47 am
damn…are we Filipinos being mocked here? this is another type of bad reputation by others, using our national name.
its kinda sad that the word Filipino is being associated with a Monkey. :(
January 14th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
yeah, i’m skeptical of brand new terms, but here’s a reference to it in 2004.
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=24175&D=2004-01-12
January 14th, 2008 at 6:53 pm
“so I’m not sure how the word “Filipino” came to be associated with this heckler, or if a Filipino started this… but it would be interesting to know, wouldn’t it?”
It apparently started with hecklers taunting Filipino seamen, calling them monkeys. Knowing Pinoys, they probably had some great comebacks though.
January 14th, 2008 at 11:29 pm
A mariner/blogger gives his take on the incident and the so-called Filipino monkey:
http://gcaptain.com/maritime/blog/the-gorilla-from-manilla-strikes-again-filipino-monkeeeeey/
It’s been going on for years, and likely was born out of boredom. It’s a bad joke that now has become quite dangerous.
January 15th, 2008 at 7:26 am
If any Filipino believe this story - HE IS THE FILIPINO MONKEY. The US after have been caught with their pants down, has to come up with a lie, like it was supposed to be a “FILIPINO MONKEY”
Where pray tell that Filipino would have been transmitting from when most Filipino workers are scared of their lives living in a Muslim country? More, the accent is definitely Middle Eastern.
How dare they make the Filipino as the Fall Guy once more.
January 17th, 2008 at 11:27 pm
Antonio,
Get with it man. They are not saying the mystery speaker is a Filipino. Try and use a little common sense and read the article completely before you get all excited. Its just an unfortunate term that, at this point, has nothing to do with Filipinos or your fine country. By the way, when did the US make you (the Filipinos) a fall guy before? I assume there must be an incident that you are talking about… or did you just misread another new article?
January 18th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
Ryan,
Apparently, by admittingly you are ignorant of the number of times Filipinos have been made a “Fall Guy”, is ignorant of the slanders we get and unworthy of anymore response that this one I am giving you.
January 19th, 2008 at 8:52 pm
I am not trying to antagonize you Antonio. I just think that inflammatory statements should be backed up by factual evidence. I was also pointing out that you seemed to misunderstand the news article. I would never argue with the fact that the Philippines has gotten the short end of the stick on a lot of deals. I have seen the mistreatment Filipinos get even here in HK. I should point out, though, that much of the horrid treatment of your countrymen here in HK often comes from other Filipinos. Anyway, primarily I take issue with your comment that your people are being made the “fall guy” again. Maybe its just not the term you meant to use. “Fall guy” means you are being blamed for something you didn’t do. Certainly in this news story no one else in the world is thinking the Filipinos are responsible for the radio broadcasts. The only reason I am writing this is because I am afraid that anyone who reads your comment will have the same interpretation of the story as you did. I think we can both agree that its important to stop a cycle of misunderstanding.
January 22nd, 2008 at 2:37 am
This americans has no authority to use the word filipino and associate to any word. We are humans. They have no right to abuse our own names and put to a negative issues like this. We need to stand and let them apologize to our country. Masakit to. Parang lang tayo basura kapag pinabayaan natin to. Lets unite and let them feel that we are also be respected! Please try to relay this to all our filipinos who care for our country.
January 23rd, 2008 at 2:30 am
sad reality, ain’t it? yaan mo na, may araw din yang mga tao na yan na pinapasinaringan ang dangal ng pangalan ng ating pambasang pangalan. tayo’y magsumikap, ipakita natin na ang mga Pilipino ay hindi mga huwad at manloloko. tayo’y respetadong mga mamayan ng atin bansa.
may araw rin yang mga hinayupak na yan…
January 29th, 2008 at 9:02 am
It’s true you stupid brown monkeys. The Philippines is a giant dumping site. The majority of people there are third-world, good-for-nothing parasites. You Filipinos, especially the pure native ones, are all butt-ugly. And you breed like cockroaches. Wherever you are, people look down on you.
January 29th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
My, my, the very last entry must have come some real ignorant, uneducated, barely out of high school red neck arrogant sob and deserves to be ignored. Must we Filipinos, who have 1/3 to 1/4 Chinese in our blood give attention to such insult? We must remind him that before any white man came out of their caves and able to say ‘dada’, China’s civilization was already two thousand years old with a very strong and thriving empire. Well..’DA DA’ to you Mr. Red Neck. Look at the white man..BIG EYES - because they just came out of the caves, they needed big eyes to see in the dark..Haven’t really evolved that yet to outside light…BIG NOSE..since no light in the caves, they rely more on sense of smell. Not too much oxygen inside either…haven’t really evolved that yet…LIGHT SKIN - no sun light to give them the tan - Haven’t evolved skin to outside sun…LOTS OF HAIR ON SKIN, -bumps into the walls of the cave, - Haven’t evolved that yet either…Jeez…These white monkeys…are pitiful..ignorant…and this guy..uneducated..I am willing to bet he does not even have a college degree….We are proud filipino’s, inventor of the moon lander, the traffic light, the flourescent light. One of our forefathers, was so great, they even named a UNITED STATES WARSHIP AFTER HIM - the USS JOSE RIZAL…His poems read in US congress, quoted by US Presidents..but we know this, because we are not ignorant…only him… but be nice to him…he probably work so bad with a bad attitude, he got fired by the Filipino Doctor he used to work for…that is why he is so hateful…
January 29th, 2008 at 4:49 pm
it literally shows, how ignorant that poster is. hehehe. antonio’s right, absolutely uneducated and should be ignored.
January 29th, 2008 at 6:43 pm
to all people who gave comments here…what i can say is we all know and understand the article well. what i am bragging about is those lazy americans should not use any term and associate with a negative term. if that was a positive remark, i guess no problem. but if it was used as a negative meaning, then who in the hell will anyone accept it. for example, if your name will be used as a descriptive word and associate with a noun then is it ok with you???
why they dont use their own names like gi joe monkeys? or american lazy monkeys? or what will happen if they use irananian monkeys? if they used that - it will mean war for sure, am i right? if they used chinese monkeys, china will react on this matter.
i am not blaming the whole american but we should point out the broadcast station - FOX NEWS to be more responsible and accountable for their action.