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ENTERTAINERS OF PHILIPPINE GROUP PLAY TO VILLAGERS

[un]derstand and communicate with the Vietnamese people. They were not the target of anti-European feelings that were a legacy of the colonial period.

Other Vietnamese in Tây Ninh were less favorable toward the Philippine civic action group for several reasons. Reports made by the rural technical team of CORDS (Civil Operations Revolutionary Development Support) indicated that some people disapproved of what they termed "black market erring and womanizing" by Philippine members. Prominent civilian and government persons in Tây Ninh Province expressed similar views. During a confidential conversation in July 1967 the Tây Ninh province chief commented unfavorably on the extent of the Filipinos' amorous activities and cited the numerous reports he had received of Filipino soldiers selling post-exchange items and stolen material on the local black market. The province chief also claimed that the Vietnamese considered the Filipinos to come from an inferior culture without Vietnam's long history. This attitude, shared by other Vietnamese, had not been expressed overtly, but there were indications that this feeling constituted a barrier affecting the co-operation between provincial officials and Philippine officers.