The Meaning of Being a Filipino Today What Does It Mean to Be a Filipino today?

Leo Francis F. Abot

Lourdes School of Mandaluyong

 

The story of the Filipinos is like a forgotten epic. It is a story that is often told, but never sung. When it is indeed sung on rare yet welcome occasions, it is quickly forgotten by the proponents themselves, lost in the vastness of time only to be recalled to serve as examples of past songs sung well. Or worse, it is sung incorrectly, out of the original tune which has been perverted so, and oftentimes whose lyrics have also been lost in the vastness of time. Indeed, it is often told, but never understood. It is often judged, but never remembered. Thus none can answer whether the main character still lives, who has authored the epic, and if he stills exists, does he care?

 

Filipino society today is confronted with problems that seem too many and too heavy to bear. Oftentimes, such problems lead to a state of self-denial. Indeed, when Manny Pacquiao wins another fight or when a pinay beauty bags another award, the whole country celebrates in revelry and joy. But as easily as the Filipinos are inconsistent, they deny their own race when bombarded with criticisms of Filipino wrongs and mishaps, the most famous being the Quirino Grandstand Hostage Taking. Simply put, Filipinos are Filipinos when victorious in the boxing ring, but quickly change face when the country is humiliated for its failure to meet the world’s standards. They have an identity crisis. Who are they, anyway?

 

Start with the easiest persons to pinpoint: those engaged in government and political activity. After all, most people point out that they are the ones responsible for the country’s plight. Indeed, they derive their power and mandate from the millions of Filipinos who voted for them. Convention characterizes them as corrupt and ultimately selfish. Needless to say, this is more often than naught, true. Because they represent the Filipino people as a whole, corrupt people in the government show to the whole world just how immature their race is.

 

In terms of governance, this republic is continuously racked by the many scourges and tyrannies that have existed since who knows when. Sometimes, a ray of hope would emerge, such as the May elections last 2010 (perhaps a People Power in disguise). In this awe-inspiring exercise of suffrage, the Filipinos have thrust unto power a person whom they know they could trust: the scion of the late Corazon Aquino who ousted the dictator in what seems like a long time ago. There is only one thing to be said about it: the new president has a lot of fixing to do. But at least, the Filipinos may just have a reason to be proud again.

 

P-Noy, as Pres. Benigno Simeon Aquino III is so affectionately called, has brought with him a platform which he believes would salvage the country from corruption and return to the Filipino people what is due to them. Among them is Presidential Decree No. 1, the very-well known establishment of a Truth Commission which will scrutinize the actions of the past administration. It is very frustrating indeed, that the Supreme Court, supposedly the bulwark of Filipino justice, will disgrace itself by junking such a noble first act that they believe to be unconstitutional due to some technicalities that they may well have made up themselves. It is an obvious truth that leaves the Filipinos again, frustrated.

 

In connection to this tragically failed justice system, the Office of the Ombudsman has agreed to a plea bargain agreement with former military comptroller, Carlos Garcia, who has mysteriously amassed a large sum of money. Pleading guilty to lesser crimes and walking free with most of his supposedly ill-gotten wealth, the Filipinos now plead angry to this farce they call justice. Filipino culture places a high value on justice, but the very people in the justice system (nay, the government itself) betray the public trust that must proudly call itself Filipino. It is another obvious truth in the sad part of the Filipino story.

 

The problem with many in society is that they simply cannot make up their minds as to what principles they stand for, and whether or not they have the will to correct their past mistakes. Take the police force, for example. While many police officers remain noble examples of the ideal Filipino and protector of the republic, some still openly violate their oaths and engage in such crimes as sexual abuse, drug trafficking, and violence. Hostage taker Rolando Mendoza is an obvious example. Nonetheless, it is how the S.W.A.T. Team handled the situation that has sparked controversy, alluding to the mediocrity of the Filipinos. This may well be enough to justify Chip Tsao calling the Philippines a “nation of servants.” The country also does not know how to think highly of itself in such diplomatic disputes, with it boycotting the Nobel Prize Awarding of a Chinese democrat, and the president forwarding a report of the hostage incident to the Chinese before the Filipinos. This so-called democracy-loving country is inconsistent, especially when it feels the need to bow down to China. What does the world think of their People Power now?

 

Besides the international grieving, Filipino society is yet tantalized by many more domestic disputes. Attacks on journalism remain unpunished, as manifested in the impunity demonstrated by the Maguindanao Massacre. Insurgents and separists continue to sow fear and violence in Mindanao. If environmental destruction continues as shown by smoky Metro Manila, global warming will be the first to destroy the country, not corrupt politicians. Above all, the social evolution that has occurred resulted in the degradation of traditional Filipino values. This is amusing, as overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are prized all around the world for their discipline and work ethic. Here at home though, Filipinos cannot seem to follow simple traffic rules. The moral issue extends to such religious sides of the story, such as the RH bill. P-Noy and P. Damaso are still in dispute, leaving a rift in the once unified faith of most Filipino Catholics.

 

One reading the story of the Filipinos may want to immediately put it down and erase it from the face of the earth. Those who find a glimmer of hope continue reading. The country may be well on its way to solving its identity crisis.

It is difficult to define exactly what a Filipino is, especially in this day and age when everyone could not care less. On the other hand, one can attribute this situation to a damaged culture. Having been colonized by Spain, the United States, and Japan in the course of its history, the Philippines is relatively young, but already sick with old age. Being torn between east and west, English and Filipino, colonial mentality and local preference, foreign pop songs and OPMs, R&Bs and kundimans, the Filipino culture that exists today is very unique in many respects. But the problem lies in the fact that Filipinos are so immersed in foreign things that the sense of nationhood and patriotism is lost, thus paving the way for all the problems that exist today. Remember though that Filipinos are the victims here. Dubbed as the “Sick Man of Asia,” the country is at the frontier between disaster and development. Only if Filipinos choose to truly love their country will they be able to discover themselves for who they really are and work to make this nation great gain.

 

The good thing about many Filipinos today is their active involvement in changing their country’s future. Lots of Filipinos are engaged, with the aid of modern technology, in campaigns advocating social awareness and reform. Via the internet, in Facebook or all other sorts of blogs and social networking sites, Filipinos find avenues to express themselves in the spirit of camaraderie and nationalism. In these virtual worlds, one can find the real Filipino at his best. This extends to the media, of course, where Filipinos, particularly the youth, are wrapped in fervor to redeem the country of their forefathers’ mistakes. It is not yet enough though, as apathy and indifference continue to dominate the political sphere of contemporary Filipino society. Change that.

 

The re-emergence of traditional Filipino values is a much needed call. Fortitude, piety, service, teamwork, discipline, thrift, respect, and hospitality should be more than just words for today’s pinoys. They should be core values, measures of worth in this troubled part of their moving history. Filipinos here should imitate OFWs abroad who exemplify these values. They are the pride of the workforce. Aside from these, the wonder of being a Filipino is the ability to withstand any hardship or suffering with patience and forbearance, smiling always to the not-so-always bitter end. Indeed, let it be reiterated that even after every typhoon, one can see the smile and laughter on that typical Filipino face.

Talent is also a welcome relief amidst the so many problems and dilemmas that plague the country and rob it of its happiness like a thief in the night. Noble deeds count among them. Among those the Filipinos can be proud of are the “major major” feats of Venus Raj, Charice Pempengco, Manny Pacquiao, Efren Peñaflorida, and Lea Salonga. These people are the current wonders deserving exaltation and praise. They have stunned the world and showed them what it truly means to be pinoy, unmasking the Sick Man of Asia, to show how he really looks like.

 

In Rizal’s novels Noli me Tangere and El Filibusterismo (the very same books that procured a nation’s freedom), the martyr, with great eloquence, stressed the need for change, reform, and rebirth. The Filipino today is not the Filipino who existed hundreds of years ago when he was still an infant of Spain. Nor is the Filipino today to be considered an adult, fully matured in age and wisdom. No, the Filipino today is a juvenile. Like any teenager, the Sick Man of Asia is accustomed to both rebellion and self-exploration. He has exercised both in the past. Rebellion duly justified has granted his independence, and self-exploration has put him on his way to socio-political maturity. He just got sick on the way, but the Filipinos, who may want to take time on solving their identity crisis, are working fast on a cure. The rebirth may or may not come from a new regime, such as that experienced by the “Sick Man of Europe” when the Ottoman Empire collapsed. For now, the Filipinos would have to make do with the current administration, relying on a new chief executive to work with them in solving the country’s problems.

 

Even if all the leaders who let the Filipinos down (shame on them) have been replaced, history will repeat itself if they continue making the same mistakes. The juvenile must mature into an adult sooner or later. They must also be cured of the amnesia that their historical and political identities have been diagnosed with. If they would remove the mindset that only government officials are to be blamed (and realize that they too are Filipinos, and most importantly, men who commit mistakes), it would be a step closer to making this country great again. Such a maturity is manifested in wise voting, community participation, and outreach programs. It would be better to replace a culture of apathy with a culture of volunteerism.

 

Filipinos indeed have the capacity to change, but only if they have the will to do so. That will start from the individual. He must first answer this question (and discover himself therefore): What does it mean to be a Filipino today?

The Filipino is the main character of his story, the centrepiece of this new generation of People Power. His story has been told too many times by the author who is none other than himself. Let him develop his sense of destiny and he can then be called an adult. Let him develop his wings and he can sally forth towards his freedom. Let him develop a voice for himself and he can now sing his story. Let the story be sung from now on.