The Deterioration of Filipino Nationalism
Posted on Thursday 10 November 2016
THE DETERIORATION OF FILIPINO NATIONALISM
by Apolinario Villalobos
If nationalism is about standing in
attention upon hearing the National Anthem and ability to sing it, as well as
reciting the Pledge (Panatang Makabayan), patronizing local products, interest
in the nation’s history instead of “learning” it haphazardly just to have
passing grades in school, familiarizing oneself with the historic heroes, and
being proud of the national language instead of the Queen’s language…then
something is wrong with SOME of us, Filipinos.
The SM chain of stores is commendable for
playing the National Anthem in time for the opening of their doors, but many
shoppers don’t give a damn, as if what’s being played is just another Christmas
song – so they keep on walking and do not stand up in attention. In some school
campuses, I observed that even while the flag ceremony is going on, students
keep on walking and running.
In one of the TV shows, the naughty host
called a student as shown by her uniform, on stage. She was surprised when
asked to recite the “Panatang Makabayan” and painfully tried her best to no avail
as she was good only for the first four lines. Another student was called and
asked to sing the National Anthem, in exchange for a certain amount as the
prize. She dismally failed and even mispronounced some words.
There’s also a TV show in which the hosts
called on the participants from the audience and who were asked question about
the Philippine history. When one was asked who Tandang Sara is, she answered, “
street in Caloocan”. Another was asked who was the “sublime paralytic” about
which he loudly wondered, “meron ba noon?”. And, still another was asked who
the mother of Jose Rizal is, for which he answered, “Gabriela Silang?”
Obviously and sadly, nationalism is continuously
deteriorating, and I would say that the youth of today are victims of the
country’s educational institution’s irresponsibility. From preparatory or
“kinder” up to the elementary level, the Filipino youth are pitifully loaded
with workbooks. They go home with assignments that their parents do for them,
while their eyes are glued on TV. They are given projects to be done at home,
but which “loving and caring” parents do for them, even going to extent of
clipping photos from books and collectible magazines….but nothing much is done
to educate them about the history of the country.
Many students who were born many years
after the Martial Law are wondering today what the leftist groups meant by not
allowing the remains of Ferdinand Marcos to be interred in the Libingan ng mga
Bayani. Many still, do not have a hint at what the People Power was all about.
So many years have been wasted by the administrations that over took the reins
of the government after Marcos was booted out of the country, as not a single
book used in school today contain chapters that seriously deliberate on the
dark years under the Marcos dictatorship. There are “mentions” but
unfortunately, nothing of extensive dissertation exposition.
As the country needs to survive
economically, the government has allowed the flooding of the local market with
foreign products particularly those from China. This phenomenon has aggravated
the already deeply-rooted “stateside” mentality. The once-prosperous jewelry
industry of Bulacan has become a thing of the past as Italian silver and Saudi
gold jewelries became the “in” thing. The durability of the Marikina shoes is
overshadowed by the western-sounding-named products. Local factories for sweets
closed shop because raw products are exported to China to be processed and sold
back to the Filipinos as “made in China”…so at the supermarkets, we see sweet
tamarinds made in China, mango products still from the mainland, even dried
tapioca or cassava, sweet potatoes, etc.
At the rate our culture which is the
foundation of nationalism is overshadowed by the intruding “giants” , we might as well, learn their
language to be competitive at all cost….as we have no choice in order to
survive. On the other hand, I know that there are some who try their best to steadfastly
uphold their being a Filipino, be they are living in the archipelago or abroad.
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