ON THE FILIPINO DIGNITY AND SELF-RESPECT
By Apolinario Villalobos
President Rodrigo Duterte, with animated
emotion, declared that he does not want his country to be trampled on just like
a doormat by America. His declaration is very timely as, since the Spanish
colonization, the Filipinos have been treated like slaves. And, when the
Americans took over, they did the same - treating the Philippine archipelago as
their “garden” where they can reap the produce anytime they want for their
dinner table. During the Spanish regime, vast areas of the country, except
Mindanao, were divided among the friars and the Spanish immigrants as “encomiendas”.
When America took over, and in time, supposedly gave the long-overdue liberty
to the Filipinos, they tainted their act with deceit by inserting the
disgusting “parity rights” in the Philippine Constitution. In short, while the
Spanish colonization was grossly masked with religion, that of the Americans
was with “freedom and rights”.
Ever since, the Philippines became “independent”,
nobody among the presidents until the time of Benigno Aquino III, ever noticed
that the Filipinos have been suffering from the trauma that resulted from
trampled dignity which practically shattered their self-respect. Unfortunately,
SOME of those who enjoy the “blessings” via US visa and Green Card cannot
accept this fact. The enforced influence is so ingrained in the consciousness
of the Filipinos that it has brought forth the word, “stateside”, which means
“nice things from America”…which further means, that nothing is better than
“stateside”.
I have nothing against America and anything
American. What I am disgusted at is how the leadership of America and even many
Americans, themselves, continue to have a negative impression about the Philippines
and her people who, for them are overly- dependent on their “big white
brothers”. I am also disgusted at SOME Filipinos who suddenly became “American”
upon setting foot on American soil. SOME of them pretend to have forgotten
their dialect, the taste of saluyot, alugbate, ginamos, tuyo, etc. SOME even
ask, “why is YOUR president (Duterte) like that?”, as if their skin is not
brown or that it transformed into a sickly paleness only after quaffing skin
whitening drugs. There is nothing wrong with those of course, FOR AS LONG AS
THEY DO NOT FORGET THAT THEY ARE FILIPINOS DESPITE THEIR U.S. VISA AND GREEN
CARD, AND MOST ESPECIALLY, THEY DO NOT DESPISE THE COUNTRY OF THEIR BIRTH, JUST
BECAUSE THE NEW PRESIDENT CUSSES!
Those who deny their being a Filipino are
losing their dignity and self-respect. THE U.S. VISA AND THE GREEN CARD CANNOT
SUPPLANT THE FILIPINO BLOOD THAT FLOWS IN THEIR VEINS….THEY SHOULD REMEMBER
THAT, IF THEY ARE WISE ENOUGH. They forgot that foremost among their plans when
they went to America was to earn dollars to be sent back home to their family,
for which they toil hard night and day by maintaining many jobs, and losing
sleep in the process. The problem with SOME of them is that they deny this
fact. How can those back home, understand their sacrifice if they keep this
information from them which results to their family’s assuming that they are
just picking up dollars in America, as if they are picking up shells on the
seashore?
The impressive diligence and dependability
of the Filipinos in America have not totally erased the bad impression about
the country as demeaning comments can still be found in the internet,
especially, with the emergence of Rodrigo Duterte as the new President…and all
because of his cussing and brashness. His guts did not spare the American
president, Obama, and the European Union because they dipped their fingers into
what Duterte is doing to eradicate the illegal drug problem in the country. All
of a sudden, Filipinos in America became apprehensive because they might be
affected which shows their lack of self-confidence. The two governments are
involved in the issue, and not the business sector, although, the bosses of
Filipinos who may be dishonest and not diligent enough in their job will now
have a reason to kick them out.
Duterte should be admired for his courage
and aggressive desire to restore the dignity of the Filipinos that has long
been trampled by their colonizers. Instead of lambasting him with unfair
judgments, his detractors should wake up and face the reality that what the
country needs today is a paramount cooperation among the Filipinos, for which
the detractors should extend their hand. If they cannot do it…the big question
is WHY?
