Since everybody is entitled to their own opinion...

In my search for more info about Sionil Jose’s work, I saw this comment from a thread somewhere. To whomever who wrote this, please pardon my unpredictable whim of plucking out an unsuspecting comment from the cyberspace and making a hapless subject of discussion out of it. I respect the point of view but I see another form of prejudice. The comment goes:

“I was thinking then kung sana "taga-UP" lang si Sionil Jose, his characters would have more depth, they would be more realistic, they would have more impact.”

I’ve quite a few friends from UP and I love them all, but upon reading this particular comment, what registered to me is arrogance, plain smugness. Not one of my UP friends had dared say anything to that effect to anybody who was educated at a different college or university. Maybe they have what we call sensitivity or better yet, urbanity. Surely, Sionil Jose has turned out excellent as he is, having been educated at University of Santo Tomas. UP, or any other institutions at that, does not make geniuses out of people, and one does not need to study in UP to know that. Since everybody is entitled to their own opinion, I’ll leave it at that and I’ve nothing wicked more to say.