Love Your Own

I have said I fell in love with the Philippines while in Europe. I have to say the same thing about Filipinos. I appreciated Filipinos more while in other countries. Iba pa rin pala kapag kababayan ang kasama mo. We are all citizens of this world, no doubt. There is still, however, a sense of belonging with fellow countrymen that we will never feel with citizens of other countries.

I loved being around Filipinos while traveling as there really is nothing quite like the hospitality and warmth that a Filipino conveys. At the same time, though, I am saddened because of the fact that these Filipinos I have met had to live and work outside the Philippines in pursuit of a better life. It’s so sad that while we love being around our countrymen, a lot of us don’t exactly love to be in our country.

It amazes me and saddens me at the same time how we have come to be embarrassed by our identities as Filipinos. We try to hide, or at least downgrade, everything in us that is Filipino: We hate being brown-skinned and do everything in our power to become more “white”. We bleach our hair blonde, hazel, or burgundy to hide our black hair. We mask our hard-edged English accent to sound more “kano” or “sosyal”. We lambast our government harshly the first chance we get even if we’re never 100% sure about our judgments and theories. We make fun of the “jologs”, Jolina Magdangal or Sharon Cuneta… all this, one might argue, can actually be just a matter of “preference” or “opinion”—I myself can be accused of any one of these instances of self-denial in the past. But I think the worst we could do as Filipinos is to cave in to the world’s belief that the Philippines is hopeless. That the only future worth looking forward to is a future outside the Philippines. This is the harshest reality I have witnessed while traveling in Europe.

Nothing could be sadder than a Filipino losing hope in the Philippines.

One thing I loved about seeing the UP MedChoir in concert here in Germany was how the experience gave me back a sense of appreciation for our country and our fellowmen, a feeling I have almost forgotten because almost everything I see here reminded me of the third-class, or fourth-class even, state of our country. I’m sure all the Filipinos inside that church felt this feeling too, especially when the choir sang Filipino classics “Manila” and “Paruparong Bukid”. Nakaka-senti kahit anong sabihin ninyong pagkakorni nun, ano! Seeing them sing, sing so well, and hearing of their vocation as (yet underpaid) doctors and their objective to solicit donations for the Pedia Ward of the Philippine General Hospital all made me want to pack my bags and go home and do something--anything!!--just to make our country a little bit better.

Traveling is a wonderful thing and a round-the-world trip is definitely a one-of-a-kind experience. Nonetheless, nothing feels quite the same like home—it’s so irreplaceable that wherever one finds himself or herself in, whatever the circumstance—whether in luxury, comfort or misery—he or she is in, the desire to come back home is still there. But a sad thing is that a lot of Filipinos in other countries have lost this desire to come home. I honestly feel very sorry for them—truth be told, I can’t deny that I somehow detest that kind of attitude. Turning your back on your country--whether you do so in practice or in principle--is tantamount to turning your back on yourself. Deploring the plight of the Philippines and criticizing the government to death may be our personal right, but what good will all our bad press about the Philippines do if at the end of the day we’re doing nothing to help it?