Pinoys' English 'not good enough' says Guam exec

Guam Assistant Attorney General Benjamin Abrams made a controversial comment during Guam Board of Allied Health's meeting where it was proposed that his office should outsource a transcription task in the Philippines.

"I don't like the idea at all," Abrams told the board. "Their English is not good enough. You're dealing with a third world country where English is a second language and we're dealing with tapes that are not crystal clear."

He continued: "We're dealing with a transcriber who may or may not know anything about legal proceedings and certainly can't pick up the phone... to get clarification as to what they might have said."

The remarks have sparked racism issue. The Guam official, however, has released a statement denying the allegations.

"This is an act of desperation," he said. "The allegation that I’m a racist is not only erroneous, it’s downright preposterous. I am happily married to a wonderful woman who happens to be a Filipina. It’s sad that these people have to resort to tricks and lies to gain notoriety."

He added: "This is what happens when an excerpt is provided. Context is distorted. I was merely trying to preserve the integrity of the information for both the board and for Dr. Joseph and because the involvement of a third party was being suggested, I didn’t feel comfortable not knowing specifically what kind of transcriptions and translations we would end up getting. That’s it."

Here's a Youtube video of the said meeting: