I wouldn't argue against a single word of this post.

There are indeed many Filipinos in China trying to find work as English teachers, and they do indeed have a very rough time of it. This stems entirely because of their race and country of origin. Those who DO find jobs often get paid at the same rate as local Chinese teachers (if they're lucky)...which is to say 20-50% of what North American/European/Australasian teachers get.

It is of course pretty much entirely groundless. I know many fine Filipino people and many fine Filipino teachers here. I've long been involved in hiring teachers myself, and I have no problem hiring Filipino teachers. I insist on clear accents, but I apply the same rule to other teachers too. Unfortunately I often have a hard time placing Filipino teachers because my clients (I'm in corporate training) simply won't accept them. I hate it but I have to give the customers what they want or go out of business.

Chinese people seem to view English taught by non-Caucasians as not being "real" English. They would rather be taught English by, say, a German person than by a native-speaking Filipino...or, for that matter, by a native-born Black or Asian American. On top of that, South/Southeast Asians seem to suffer special discrimination here and Filipinos are not held in especially high regard. This, sadly, is a simple matter of skin color...South Asians are seen as being "darker" than Chinese, and therefore greatly inferior. "Lighter" skinned Japanese and Koreans, by comparison, are seen as only being somewhat inferior.

The situation is going beyond mere discrimination and entering into outright victimization. Filipinos, native-speaking Africans, Pakistanis/Indians, and others are starting to be seen as desperate marginal workers who will work for any salary and meekly take any abuse the school owner may care to give them. Some of the very worst schools here are starting to skip over the expensive foreigners who cause them so much trouble, and turn to the other wave of foreigners, such as Filipinos and Africans, instead. These workers are given ridiculous salaries (I've seen ads from schools targeting Filipinos and Africans, offering full time jobs for 1000-1500 RMB a month!), living conditions unfit for animals, and contemptuous treatment. The abuse is even worse...if the owner decides he doesn't even want to pay the 1,000 yuan, well, what are you going to do about it?

Stupid? Yeah. Infuriating? You bet. But it's also reality in China and we aren't going to be able to do a lot to change it. It IS changing, but only very slowly, and being strident about it will not help. It could hurt.

All you can do is hang tough, not take the unfair jobs, get the best jobs you can, perform well...and change the perceptions one school at a time. It will be a very long, slow, and painful battle.