My friend Scott nagged me to write something for his facebook page with nothing more to go on besides the vague "something good about the Philippines." With much deliberation and after much pondering, I've somehow decided to write about something close to my heart, the Filipino people.
The people who already know me, know me as someone who has a lot of connections since I am quite an extrovert. This means I have experienced socializing and spending time with different kinds of Filipino people from the ones who sit pretty in their mansions with the world handed to them in a silver platter, to the ones like me who live life comfortably, but not too comfortably. And when occasion calls for it, I find myself doing outreaches in either the outskirts of Cebu City in the mountain provinces where the nearest grocery is mountains away, or on an island in the middle of the ocean where the nearest hospital is a two hour pump boat ride away.
To those crazy rich asians who take trips to and from Cebu and Hong Kong on a weekly basis, I would like to congratulate you for being able to make the lives of your families as comfortable as riding first class every time you travel out of the country. To the people like me, who have become unfortunate slaves of capitalism, strive! There is hope that one day you could soon live your lives sipping coffee at your Air B&B while overlooking the magnificent eiffel tower, instead of the twenty peso 7eleven coffee that you grab each morning before work as you rush to the office trying to beat that rush hour. To those who can't even afford to put food on the table, I hope you know that there is someone out there who loves you who is willing to work three jobs and submit to abusing his or her body just to put you through school with the hopes that you could live a much sweeter life compared to theirs. One where you don't have to sit by the streetlight just to finish your homework. To the ones who have had the misfortune of not having guidance as you grow up, may you not fall into the influence of alcohol and drugs. Especially now, that extra-judicial killing is the talk of the town. May you find solace in the company of good people who could lead you to the right path.
The Philippines is a country full of problems, it always has been. We have been under the influence of the Spanish, the Americans, and the Japanese. Have we ever asked ourselves, are we really free? I know that the Philippines talks about innovation and globalization, but sometimes we have to ask ourselves if the country is even ready to get to work on all that needs to be done. Did any of us even ask why? Why innovate? Why conform to all this colonial mentality shebang? Why? Have we even found who we are? Maybe we're caught up with thinking about what the Philippines SHOULD BE LIKE instead of thinking about what the Philippines IS. What is the Philippines?
To me, the Philippines is a melting pot of different cultures, especially since we have tourists coming in and out of the country each day as fast as the instructions of your mother as it enters one ear and exits the other. The Filipinos are one of the most versatile people, who can smile amidst tragedy and adversity. The children that live in the island two hours away from lapu lapu city show us the biggest smiles as we visit every third Sunday of the month to have our feeding program. The Filipinos are also the most hospitable people to treat their guests, an example could be the Korean lady who you helped ride the correct jeep, who afterwards, treats you out for coffee for being very hospitable and kind. Talent is abundant here in the Philippines, and I am happy to say that the art industry is starting to bloom here in the Queen City of the South. I know so many talented singers, visual artists, performance artists who give it their all during performances and deserve that standing ovation. I also know a number of indie filmmakers who have the potential to go past these blockbuster Filipino movies and teleseryes.
The Philippines has many flaws, yes. The Philippines needs improvement, definitely. But at the same time, the Philippines is home. We do need change, but maybe we should start improving what we have before working on something that we don't even have yet. So that we could one day be proud to answer when foreigners ask us “What's good in the Philippines?” besides being a masterpiece of mother nature.