You've turned some assumptions you have about my knowledge/understanding of Filipino culture into questions here. While there are some cultural similarities (deceivingly similar, I'd add), I was under no illusions they were the same.

I'd say my understanding was better than most Americans in my position coming out here, but it's grown significantly in the last 4+ years, for sure. I do think this played a role, but I don't think it was a primary issue.

As best as I tried to explain what happened factually in the 3K+ word article, I definitely wasn't able to include everything.

As an expat entrepreneur, holding back on getting your business rolling while you take time to learn more about the culture sounds nice, but isn't realistic. How many months (years?) would you have spent learning the culture before starting your business here?