My AP homework. This is what Sir Brian and his lectures do to me. :)
Many have asked, "Are you tired of being Filipino?" And conceivably, because of the undying toil that our people have been through for the past four centuries, more and more are answering "yes." Its sad to think how state honor and self-esteem has been slowly overshadowed by the harsh distortion of society and its ideologies. That mere question in the beginning only instigates the line of reasoning, "how could other people believe in us if we don’t even believe in ourselves?" That, I believe, is what we Filipinos lack the most: national pride.
But despite that, as faint as it may seem, I also believe that hope and anticipation still resides within us. You will see this in an ordinary minimum wage earner, like a taxi driver returning a wallet full of thousands of pesos to the owner, or in OFWs who opt to take on the job of having to take care of other people’s children while not being able to do the same to their own loved ones back home - just to be able to send money to provide food on their tables every waking day. Simple as they are, knowing that these people with unyielding principles come from a third world country consoles me for I am reassured that the blood of our heroes still runs through the veins of the Filipinos of today.
Perhaps it rarely happens, but it has definitely happened time and time again. It happened after Ninoy Aquino was killed, when we protested against France’s nuclear testing, when we mourned for Flor Contemplacion, when we welcomed the Pope, when the whole country cheered for the SEA Games atheletes, when "Pinoy Ako" became our national anthem, and when we rallied in the streets of EDSA over and over again. The Filipinos have displayed exceptional unity in the face of adversity throughout history. And if only that happens again, one that’ll last for more than just a night or a day, one that will last even when there are no more people or cameras in the streets, one that will not require the President of the country to step down, one that will surpass all cultural and social divisions, then perhaps maybe, just maybe, all Filipinos can be proud of who they are again.
Sa isang anekdota ni Rizal, ikinuwento nya nang minsang lapitan si Pilosopong Tasio ng dalawang bata. Isa sa mga bata ang may ikinukubling ibon sa kamay. Para subukin ang talino ng matanda, pinahulaan nila ditto kung ang ibon ay buhay o patay. Kung sasabihin ni Pilosopong Tasio na buhay ang ibon, sasakalin ng bata ang leeg nito para pabulaanan sya. Kung sasabihin nya naming ang ibon ay patay, papakawalan lang ito ng bata para ipakitang nagkamali sya. Buhay ba o patay? Ano man ang isagot ni Tasio, mapapahiya sya sa mga bata. Kung kaya ang sinabi ng maalam na matanda, "Ang sagot ay nasa inyong kamay." (Mga Kwentong Barbero ni Bob Ong)
The answer is in our hands.
Hundreds of years old, over 80 languages, 80 million people, 7107 islands, north of the equator, south-western part of the Pacific, that is the Philippines. Ang Bayang Magiliw. Perlas ng Silanganan. Ang Lupang Hinirang.
The Spaniards, Americans, and the Japanese have long gone, but nothing much has changed. We are the “only Catholic country in Asia” for a reason. Let us be the ones to dare to be great, so that once were asked yet again what makes us proud to be Filipino, we can answer – "us."
