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This again appeared in my personal Tumblr dated 25 May 2013. Updated.

Dear Mr Tolentino,

Greetings and peace in the Holy Spirit!

You may not know me. I am a mere citizen of the country. I admire you for the work you have done in our metropolis. I also admire you that you answer to almost every call of the media to answer questions and problems. However, your actions in the past week disappointed me. You see, I'm also an avid reader and fan of Mr Dan Brown.

In Mr Brown's book, Inferno, it was said that Manila, the most densely populated city in the world, is the "gates of hell". I think you have taken it out of context. It was mentioned as such because it was the personal feeling of the character. You deemed it as a description of Manila in general but I don't. We all experience our personal "hell", as simple as in our own houses. Don't we all call our homes "hell" when something bad happens? I think this is what was depicted instead of Manila as hell in general. The main character, Robert Langdon, has not been here so if ever he will be, maybe he will have a different description than what was said? Also, you cannot call out that we are a religious country, that "our faith in God binds us as a nation". It has nothing to do with what was described. Again, it was the character's personal description.

I have some questions for you. Have you read the book or any book, in that case, of Dan Brown? Did you just hear this from the people that surround you? Isn't that secondhand information? If you've read the book, you may have read that an old lady saved her from being raped by drunk tambays. Mr Brown researches his books so why was Manila portrayed as such? And why react to it so strongly when you know that this is fiction? Have you seen some of the people's comments in some news articles? The book is fiction but isn't fiction based on facts? If Manila is an "entry to heaven", isn't it time to show the world that it is? 

Why not invite Mr Brown in Manila to see how beautiful it is instead of writing to his publishers? That way, he can also see that it is how you described it and that he can experience "heaven", as you said. And writing to the publishers, whether you have a title, in office, with a letterhead or not, will only thank you for writing to Mr Brown and that he is busy right now. I have done it before and received a form letter and picture of the author. I enjoyed it though because I truly love the author I wrote to. But then again, as mentioned above, I'm just a mere citizen.

I believe that this non-issue is not worthy of making the headlines. There are more pressing issues to deal with. I suggest that you put your hands on a copy of any of Dan Brown's books and see for yourself, see if you don't get entangled in the stories and do some research of your own. ;) There are more places in Europe, big organisations, that should have garnered an uproar because of how he portrays them in his books but never heard any of them reacting. Manila was just mentioned in passing and yet the government reacted as fast they could.

I still admire you for what you have done in the country. You are truly a great leader and with a great sense of humour, too. This was just a fluke.

Thank you (for all the hard work you've done and for reading this letter, if ever).

Yours,

D