The Philippine Online Chronicles

I would like to think that as a nation, we are not repressed - - not to the point of looting and ravaging our own cities under the guise of a political Bohemian revolution. Neither are we so indulgent that we stand idly by as national treasury funds get prostituted. We are more of tweeners, the next attraction, brimming with potential.

Brief tete-a-tetes with friends – real life and online – showed me that Pinoy potential.

Aranikole Medina, a freshman at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, loves that we are hospitable and approachable.

Audrey Rose Domingo, a Filipina based in Singapore, boasts about our “bootylicious” tourist spots. She confides though that she gets asked whether it is safe to come to the Philippines so often her ears are about to fall. She takes pride in the accommodating nature of Pinoys, especially those from the food and beverage industry even in Singapore, clearly indicating we are hospitable in or out of our Island.

Jovy Aura Carpio, a Filipina physician based in Sydney, Australia, loves our mountains, beaches, and our medium-well done complexion. She would argue about me using the “our” since I have more of the rare type -- but hey, I’m all brown inside, baby.

Jason Luistro Benedictos says that our country is quite young in terms of its history as a country. We cannot be compared to European countries which have accumulated far more collective history than we have. We could have been discovered in the 1500's but there was no Philippines then. All we had were a group of islands with different and distinct dialects. We could be proud about resiliency, family centricity, and hospitality, which are all common traits shared by Asians.

For each of us to have more sense of national pride, Benedictos insists what we need is an opposing force to bind us together as one people, one nation. Look at the first world countries, he says: US was under the spell of the “cold war” in the 60's up to the 80's. Western block countries as allies of the US during that time prospered. Look at Japan, they had to strive harder after being ravaged by World War II and two atomic bombs though they were already a military power to begin with. China, the new superpower is flexing its newly found muscles. South Korea and the constant threat of annihilation from the North kept it on its toes. Lastly there is, Israel, the Jewish nation surrounded by Muslim countries. I guess resiliency is our best trait after all.

Ric Rabe, who commutes between the Philippines and Switzerland, tells us that Pinoys are optimistic, caring, food-loving, cheerful, and family-centered. We also have beaches, biodiversity (including. but not limited to, Philippine eagles and corals), and ethnic cultures from the Mountain Provinces and Mindanao.

Rabe compares us to the Swiss, who are discrete and tend to be neutral. Parenthetically, he refers to the legendary quality of Swiss goods and services. More to the point, he gushes about the Swiss landscape the manicured landscape of panoramic mountains and lakes and glaciers, the same way he gets awed by the Baguio rice terraces, our islands, the mix of cultures, etc.

Getting a cue from Rabe, I started wondering how nationalistic foreigners see their country, I tried questioning some of them, and one Canadian replied: I'm proud of my country because of the freedom to choose. I can go to the church I want, vote for the government I want and do the job I want without control from someone (like Hitler) working their own selfish agenda.

Here in The Islands, we mostly get to do what we want, just like in the Americas. We could become “joe citizens,” and actively participate with local media in expediting even the smallest of tasks like drainage canals left unfinished. We could also go to the dark side, like some have done. And even if we have done that, to a certain extent it is justifiable, since, according to Benedictos, we are a relatively young country.

But in being mild-mannered patriots, we are often hard pressed to remember where to draw our national pride from. If we had something palatable, then we would become kinetic. Towards this end, we shall explore possible sources.

I have been given by Joy De Jesus-Boo a great lead with the Mikey Bustos videos. In his parody video, Bustos describes our schools as congested, because Filipinos are so very much into studying. He toasts/roasts traffic in Manila and balut among other things Pinoy, to the tune of Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way.”

What I did next was to browse the Net with the key phrase “proud pinoy” and about 80% of what I got was videos of expatriated Pinoys strutting their stuff, and representing The Pearl of the Orient. One video, the one on top of the search results list, sadly, was entitled “Proud to be Pinoy? Don’t be, here’s why” which came with the disclaimer “may contain content that is inappropriate for some users, as determined by the video uploader.” I needed to sign in to YouTube just to get a glimpse of username Pinoymonkeypride’s masterpiece. Wow. I set it aside for the garbage that I’m sure it is.

Then we have videos from Beiley in the USA, whose video presentation enticed me to have a dream house just inspired by the Spanish colonial houses they have in Vigan.

Angelo Baligad from Hawaii, is so into his heritage --even if at eight years old, he has already starred in Step Up, the movie -- that he named his breakdance showdown video Proud to be Pinoy!!! The three exclamation marks are part of the title, by the way. The spins he did made the other, fully grown guy do a face palm and the people a standing-jumping ovation.

Nicole Scherzinger came to the country, stared at the people and said to herself “Wow, these could very well be part of my family.” Other international artists Appl de App from Black Eyed Peas, Batista, Vanessa Hudgens, and Deuce Bigalow, I mean, Rob Schneider, all brandish their Filipino colors.

Why is it that Filipinos who live, work, or were raised in another country seem to be more Pinoy than most of us? It might be that they’ve had it easy and can thus focus on finding their roots. But is having it hard up here in the Land of Balut enough reason for us to turn back on ourselves? Some might say “yes,” but they should know that we are not that different.

I have bled too from disappointment and frustration time and again but have never given up on my country. For me, that would be Filipino pride. Pride is a choice. Not only because Pinoys from the other side of the world puts me to shame by their strong Pinoy identity.  Not only because ours is such a beautiful and scenic country.  Not only because we are such a beautiful and happy people.  But also because of the better people we can be if we only tried harder and, yes,  if we had more sense of country. 

Maybe that’s what national pride is -- a continuing effort to make the best of what we have, while trying to change things, as we walk the righteous path (and we have done wonderfully, over the past administrations, I must say). Just like the fiesta or the show, we must go on, no matter what.

And yes, Mikey Bustos, brother, ‘pare, I AM Pinoy that way.

Photo:  by Tina at teentoinks.deviantart.com