GROUP 6

☆ MEMBERS
♡ LEADER; MECHELLE DEEFYLE BITANGA
♡ STEPHEN MHAR CUNTAPAY
♡ JOHN VERLIN GILOS
♡ MA. NAOMIE MANALILI
♡ KRISCIA JENEENE RAMOS
♡ KIAN ANDRE SAPNO
♡ XIELO BLAIR TIRAO
UNDER MY
INVISIBLE
UMBRELLA
☆SHORT BACKGROUND
●Being lighter-skinned in the Philippines is a strange experience,
shaped by country’s history and hierarchies. Laurel Fantauzzo
manoeuvres Manila, consciuos of her difference, and tries to
translate the experience in the 2nd prize-winning entry under the
Essay category of the 63rd Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards. And
also this is the personal essay for The Manila Review on how she
manoeuvre race and class privilege in the Philippines. “Under My
Invisible Umbrella” first appeared in the second issue of The
Manila Review, March 2013.
☆AUTHOR
LAUREL
FANTAUZZO
☆ SHE IS A STORYTELLER AND A COLLEGE LECTURER.
SHE WAS BORN IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, WITH STOPS
IN BROOKLYN, MANILA, AND LOWA CITY SINCE THEN.
SHE TEACH IN THE WRITER’S’ CENTRE AT YALE-NUS
COLLEGE IN SINGAPORE, AND SHE IS REPRESENTED BY
GERI THOMA AND ANDREA MORRISON AT WRITERS’
HOUSE IN NEW YORK CITY. HER DEBUT NONFICTION
BOOK, THE FIRST IMPULSE (ANVIL PUBLISHING), WAS
PUBLISHED IN THE PHILIPPINES AND ABROAD IN 2017.
HER MOTHER IS A FILIPINA AND HER FATHER IS A HALF
ITALIAN AND HALF AMERICAN BASICALLY SHE IS A
FIL-AM. WRITING CAN BE A SOLITARY PRACTICE, BUT
NO WRITER DEVELOPS ALONE. I’VE BEEN LUCKY TO
HAVE SUPPORT ALONG THAT WAY
☆SYPNOSIS
●THIS ESSAY IS ALL ABOUT THE LIFE
EXPERIENCE OF LAUREL FANTAUZZO
HERE IN THE PHILIPPINES. SHE TOLD IN
HER ESSAY THAT BEING LIGHTER-
SKINNED IN THE PHILIPPINES IS A
STRANGE EXPERIENCE AND HOW SHE
MANOEUVRE RACE AND CLASS
PRIVILEGE IN THE PHILIPPINES.
☆INTRODUCTION
☆BODY
THERE IS AN ABSURDITY IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN WHITE PEOPLE
AND THE FILIPINO PEOPLE. THE NARRATOR WAS TREATED LIKE ROYALTY, AND
WAS GIVEN BETTER TREATMENT THAN HER FELLOW FILIPINOS, DUE TO HER
FOREIGN PHYSICAL APPEARANCE, WHICH SHE DISLIKED AS SHE OBSERVED
THE RACIAL SEGREGATION AMONG THE WHITE PEOPLE AND THE FILIPINO
PEOPLE WHO HAVE DARKER SKIN.

RACIAL SEGREGATION WAS PRESENT IN THE STORY, AMONGST THE FAIR-

SKINNED PEOPLE WHO ARE FOREIGN IN APPEARANCE, AND THE FILIPINO RACE
WITH COMMONLY DARKER SKIN. FOREIGNERS EXPERIENCE BETTER
TREATMENT, AS THEIR APPEARANCES EMBODY SOCIAL STATUS AND WEALTH
IN THE EYES OF FILIPINOS, WHICH COULD BE AN EFFECT OF COLONIALISM TO
THE FILIPINOS' MINDSET. THEY ARE REGARDED TO HAVE MORE POWER, MORE
PRIVELEGES AND DISADVANTAGES THAN THE FILIPINO CITIZENS.WHITE
PEOPLE ARE OFTEN TREATED WITH COURTESY, ARE PRIORITIZED, ARE ASKED
HIGHER PAYMENT, AND AREN'T QUESTIONED WHEN THEY DO THINGS AVERAGE
FILIPINOS ARE PROHIBITED FROM DOING. THIS CAUSES DIVISION AMONG
PEOPLE REGARDING THEIR RACE, COLOR, AND CLASS.
 THE STORY ALSO ADRESSES ISSUES OF ECONOMIC EXPLOITATION
THROUGH STATING THE NARRATORS EXPERIENCES. SHE IS REGARDED AS A
PERSON WITH ECONOMIC STABILITY AND HIGH SOCIAL STANDING. FOR THIS
REASON SHE GETS CHARGED EXTRA, WHICH SHE CALLS "DAYUHAN TAX". MORE
FILIPINOS ARE FORCED TO WORK OVERSEAS DUE TO THE PHILIPPINES BEING A
POVERTY-STRICKEN NATION.

☆CONCLUSION
THE STORY OVERALL DISCUSSES THE NARRATORS PERSONAL
EXPERIENCES AND STRUGGLES IN A SOCIETY THAT TREATS FOREIGNERS
DIFFERENTLY. THROUGH HER OBSERVATIONS SHE OBSERVED HOW FOREIGN
PEOPLE WERE TREATED DIFFERENTLY, AND FOR THE MOST PART, THEY WERE
TREATED BETTER THAN THE FILIPINO PEOPLE. THE WORK AFFIRMS THE SOCIAL
ORDER IT DEPICTS BECAUSE THE DIFFERENT QUALITIES OF SOCIETY MAKE AN
IMPACT TO IT'S DIFFERENT SECTORS. THE CHARACTER'S STRUGGLE,
PARTICULARLY THE NARRATOR'S, CAN BE VIEWED AS SYMBOLIC OF A LARGER
CLASS STRUGGLE, BECAUSE THE WAY SHE IS TREATED IN THE COUNTRY IS
IDENTICAL TO THE TREATMENT OF MANY OTHER FOREIGNERS IN THE
PHILIPPINES. RACIAL SEGREGATION IS APPARENT IN THE FILIPINO SOCIETY.
THANK YOU😉😍