My country is a country that disappoints. I can very well say this to myself now ten years after returning to my homeland in what was supposedly the better world of the West. Ten years ago I was willing to bet my stake on the future and promise of these beautiful islands, only to realize that things have not changed in those ten long years but have in fact deteriorated to a point of hopelessness for Juan de la Cruz.
If Rizal, Ninoy and our other heroes were alive today, would they have had second thoughts if the Filipino was worth dying for? Would they have asked where we have gone wrong?
I look at my children when they’re asleep at night and wonder what future awaits them here. Would I be raising them with the hope that they’ll be entitled to opportunities that will make them get out of this country someday, or would I be instill in them ways to be “more Filipino†than their forebears are at present?
Of course, the rightful answer would be for them to grow up to be “more Filipino” than we are now. If today’s situation appears hopeless, the challenge lies in parents like me to mold the future movers of this land, a generation which will hopefully be enshrined with greater values than the culture of colonialism, corruption, greed and indifference that is so prevalent today.
I still believe that the Philippines is too beautiful a country to be left for greener pastures. Yet, we have seen the best of it being ravaged to the ground by the same leaders we chose to bring us to the apex of salvation; a meritocracy that promotes “globalization” by way of training its young to work in call centers and exporting legions of our seamen, nurses, caregivers and domestic helpers. We have lost the best of our brains and brawn to foreign shores while the teachers, scientists and inventors who choose to stick out in this homeland truly starve.
I can go on and on here about what is wrong with us as a race relegated to the tag of belonging to the Third World. Is it because we laugh so much at ourselves that we can manage to laugh at poverty even if it stares us in the face? Have we been so taken by the politics of patronage that we elect the same people from the same families over and over again? Have we been so blinded by faith even if the church we have put so much faith on has failed to put food on the tables where those dozen children should be?
Our sense of nationhood has become so fractured that most of us would now opt to “fly out” instead of “stay in” while finding more and more reasons not to love the Philippines. In our quest for survival, we have ignored our all-important connection to history and the extent with which our heroes shed their blood in the name of our independence.
I do not mean to underestimate anyone’s love for this country. I know that there will always be something that will lure us back to our roots, whether we are inhaling the fumes of Manila or savoring the medieval sights of Europe. But I do think that the betterment of the Philippines will not be achieved by rabblerousers who think it is their divine right to dictate our choice of leaders, especially when they too have fallen short of our expectations in the past. Change can only come from collective patriotism and volunteerism for the greater cause, in this case the awareness that there lives the silent majority who are lucky to eat two meals a day and have not owned a TV in their lifetime.
And if we have as much as lost our faith in our leaders today, let us not lose hope on the ability of the future generation – our children and our children’s children – to make a difference. Hope is eternal and we can only pray that it will happen. Someday. Soon.
ajay, it’s a mad world we live in. for every action and reaction. for every decisions and indecisions. for every
deductive and inductive thinking. the result will always
be the same result. and this is happening back there in the Philippines.
yeah, hope is eternal..hopefully things would change in our beloved country, how, i dont know..
i guess we need work for the filipinos so they wont be ‘forced’ to leave the country in order to survive..
nakikidaan lang po from pinoyblog..
A-MEN!
I grew up when it was MARTIAL LAW and that time we did wish for a better future.. then all the dramas from Cory, Ver,Erap now GMA…
ok we can go on wishing wishing….
since I left the country just after Ninoy was killed whom you think among the lot above did a better job?
anyway, sad really sad whats happening.
just been through all BALUTPENOY pages
Change can only come from collective patriotism and volunteerism for the greater cause, in this case the awareness that there lives the silent majority who are lucky to eat two meals a day and have not owned a TV in their lifetime.
Napakaganda, Ajay. Can you get this published? Para mabasa naman ng mga namumuno at nagbabalak mamuno sa atin.
The way I know it, swerte pa yung mga nakaka-2 meals per day. I know of people who literally have only salt as ulam. On lucky days, they try ketchup. Yun lang, solve na sila.
Thanks for dropping by, everyone…
Dr. E, am sure you know the feeling. Galing ka rin sa abroad and you came back here to serve your kababayans. Our politicos are supposed to be immersed in the suffering of the people but I wonder why they’re so detached from all these. I do know what poverty is because in my province it’s prevalent..tsk,tsk…
Beautifully written. I agree with Dr. Emer. You should get this published. Hindi lang para mabasa ng mga namumuno or nagbabalak, but just for everybody to read. This is one reason I love visiting your site. You remind us, (I’m sure not just us here abroad) to always love our home country and to never forget our roots. You make us aware of what’s going on there. We read it on the news, but somehow, what matters most is what kababayans like you feel about all of these.
Thanks Irene. Dunno if I can get this published.. anyway, I think more people can read it online, haha.It’s not as if what I’ve said here has not been said before but yes, it’s also good to vent out your feelings sometimes. Warm regards…
hi ajay,
your latest blog is an eye-opener. well-written:)thanks for this…
hope to see you soon :)regards!
I’m sorry but how is Ninoy a hero?
Siena! Akala ko nasa PROC ka na uli….magpakita ka sa akin ha..hehehe
Sharon..heroes need not be proclaimed as heroes per se but Ninoy did the heroic act of returning to his homeland and dying in the process. I would like to think there are quarters who consider him a hero (kung sino man kayo..raise your right hand! hehe)
ajay, i must mention that i really enjoy reading your blog. =)
now back to the hero thing, to me i guess… i like to think that heroes have done something that is worth something – not just by dying. i guess he is a hero to some but not to others…
I once wrote:
The Philippines is a beautiful country. It is the people who make it ugly.
😉