Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chairman Francis Tolentino reacted to a portion of Dan Brown's new book "Inferno" which described Manila as "the gates of hell."
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| MMDA chairman Francis Tolentino and 'Inferno' author Dan Brown |
Tolentino said he already wrote the author. His office sent a letter through fax to Brown’s publisher and agent on Thursday noon
In his letter to Brown, Tolentino said: “More than your portrayal of it, Metro Manila is the center of Filipino spirit, faith and hope. Our faith in God binds us as a nation and we believe that Manila citizens are more than capable of exemplifying good character and compassion towards each other, something that your novel has failed to acknowledge. Truly, our place is an entry to heaven.”
In "Inferno," the fourth part in Harvard art professor Robert Langdon’s adventures, one of the characters goes through "the gates of hell" in Manila.
The description of the city is from the first-hand account of one of the fictional characters, the messianic Dr. Sienna Brooks, who works with humanitarian groups. She goes to the Philippines for a mission to supposedly feed poor fishermen and farmers in the countryside.
She expects the Philippines to be a “wonderland of geological beauty, with vibrant seabeds and dazzling plains.”
But after setting foot in Manila, Brooks gapes in "horror" as she has "never seen poverty on this scale," slamming Manila’s "six-hour traffic jams, suffocating pollution, horrifying sex trade."
Tolentino, who is also the traffic czar, said Manila’s traffic is only around two hours long -- at most.
But what got Tolentino really upset is the book's “religious insinuations” against Manila that may have a “negative implication” on the faith of Filipinos.
He called Brown’s account was a “diabolic description” of Manila.--Source: ABS-CBN News.