What does it mean to be a Filipino?
Filipinos, as we Filipinos well know, are known to be one of its kind. From the bizarre delicacies (that could certainly win us the SURVIVOR or FEAR FACTOR title without a sweat), to the unexplainable folklore that only we could understand (even if we really don't) down to the unbeatable sense of humor that not even poverty could erase. And that's just among the many others.
But nothing could surpass the defining moment of what it means to be a Filipino than that of the EDSA REVOLUTION. I am proud to say that I am an Edsa baby, but I am ashamed to say that my idealistic nationalism is slowly draining. What fire I once had for the Philippines and its politics right after EDSA II (which I proudly participated even at age 14 with my friends) is nothing but burning embers that's slowly losing its heat with every political fued, corruption, and shameless self promotion that I see and read as accounted by the media. This is the part that shames me, this is the part that makes me long to be somewhere else, and this is the part that makes me just wanna smack some sense into the big nuts of every politicos, if given the chance.
The wake and funeral of the revolutionary figure in EDSA I, Cory Aquino, somehow brings back nostalgia of what it once feels like to see people united as they act for the same purpose and goal. I know that the grieving will eventually come to an end, but I wonder if there will ever be a change for the better that will come out of it.
Filipinos thrive on the dramatics (just see all the long running sappy soap operas), and that's it. My only wish is for us to realize that We, Filipinos are more than just the drama. That like in EDSA we can be united for a cause and that we can start that by voting wisely.
If a man can believe that the Filipinos are worth dying for; and his wife can act that the Filipinos are worth living for and their daughter can say that the Filipinos are worth it, then we must really be something.
To be a Filipino is to appreciate what the Philippines has to offer. To take care of its resources, to respect its fellows, and to live by the example of those who believed, hoped, fought and died for this country that they called home. And to be Filipino doesn't just mean to be in the Philippines, but to simply be a proud Filipino, with all these, wherever and whenever.
Filipinos, as we Filipinos well know, are known to be one of its kind. From the bizarre delicacies (that could certainly win us the SURVIVOR or FEAR FACTOR title without a sweat), to the unexplainable folklore that only we could understand (even if we really don't) down to the unbeatable sense of humor that not even poverty could erase. And that's just among the many others.
But nothing could surpass the defining moment of what it means to be a Filipino than that of the EDSA REVOLUTION. I am proud to say that I am an Edsa baby, but I am ashamed to say that my idealistic nationalism is slowly draining. What fire I once had for the Philippines and its politics right after EDSA II (which I proudly participated even at age 14 with my friends) is nothing but burning embers that's slowly losing its heat with every political fued, corruption, and shameless self promotion that I see and read as accounted by the media. This is the part that shames me, this is the part that makes me long to be somewhere else, and this is the part that makes me just wanna smack some sense into the big nuts of every politicos, if given the chance.
The wake and funeral of the revolutionary figure in EDSA I, Cory Aquino, somehow brings back nostalgia of what it once feels like to see people united as they act for the same purpose and goal. I know that the grieving will eventually come to an end, but I wonder if there will ever be a change for the better that will come out of it.
Filipinos thrive on the dramatics (just see all the long running sappy soap operas), and that's it. My only wish is for us to realize that We, Filipinos are more than just the drama. That like in EDSA we can be united for a cause and that we can start that by voting wisely.
If a man can believe that the Filipinos are worth dying for; and his wife can act that the Filipinos are worth living for and their daughter can say that the Filipinos are worth it, then we must really be something.
To be a Filipino is to appreciate what the Philippines has to offer. To take care of its resources, to respect its fellows, and to live by the example of those who believed, hoped, fought and died for this country that they called home. And to be Filipino doesn't just mean to be in the Philippines, but to simply be a proud Filipino, with all these, wherever and whenever.
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