I haven't actually read Dan Brown's new book Inferno, but Metropolitan Manila Development Authority's Francis Tolentino may have overreacted to Brown depicting Manila as such a horrible place in his latest novel. Whether the portrayal was accurate or not, it's a work of fiction, and Brown can write whatever he wants.
Mr. Tolentino may have reacted because Dan Brown's description of Manila might be dead on, or just really close to reality. But is it appropriate to react that way if that is really the case? Is it also appropriate to react if the depiction was clearly the opposite of what is real (which is what Mr. Tolentino alleges)? Suppose that Dan Brown created a character called Francis Tolentino, or Frank Tolentino, or Fred Tolentino, or something similar, who is a government official but is actually the Devil in disguise but hit his head somewhere and had amnesia, and so he doesn't know he's the Devil. Should Mr. Tolentino cry foul?
I am not saying that Mr. Tolentino and the MMDA need not react over Manila's role in Inferno. They should do a lot of things about it, but sending fan mail to Dan Brown is not one of them. Manila may not be the literal gate to the Christian hell, but it surely is a kind of hell, with the traffic jams, poor sanitation, pollution, high crime rates, and poverty. It's not what the MMDA and the rest of the Philippines wants the world to see, but that's what it is. Go see for yourself - take a train ride from Baclaran to Monumento, or drive along EDSA from North Avenue to Taft. Enjoy the view. And the smog. And the smell. And enjoy getting your wallet snatched away by an expert pickpocket if you let your guard down even for a minute. Perhaps it is a good thing that Dan Brown drew attention to these things that ail the city - so the people responsible, namely its citizens and residents, are reminded that there is a lot of work to be done.
