Isa sa mga hinding-hindi ko makakalimutan na itinuro ng mga magulang ko sa akin noong bata pa ako ay ang pagmamahal sa ating bansa. Laging ipinapaalala ng mama ko sa akin na dapat kapag inaawit ang Pambansang Awit ng Pilipinas ay dapat ko itong kantahin ng buong puso. Mahalaga na ako'y magbigay pugay sa mga taong nagbuwis ng buhay upang ating matamasa ang kalayaang ating dinaranas.
Pero katulad ng maraming kabataan, masyado akong nakokonscious kapag inaawit ang Pambansang Awit lalung-lalo na kapag kasama ko si mama kasi talagang kumakanta sya ng malakas ang boses na talagang maririnig sya ng iba. Nabago lamang ito sa akin noong ako'y kwentuhan nya ng isang karanasan nya sa buhay.
Sya ay bumiyahe pa-abroad para sa isang internasyonal na kumperensya. Sabi nya noong tinawag ang mga kalahok na Pinoy upang awitin ang kanilang Pambansang Awit, sila'y nagsitayuan at hinayaang ipatugtog ang tape na naglalaman ng awitin. Matapos nito, ilang kalahok ng ibang mga bansa ang nagsitayuan at tulad ng mga Pinoy, marami rin sa kanila ang hindi umawit ng ipatugtog ang kanilang mga Pambansang Awit. Ngunit ng tawagin ang mga kalahok ng bansang Japan, nakaramdam si mama ng lungkot ng makitang halos maiyak ang mga Hapon sa pag-awit ng kanilang Pambansang Awitin. Sabi nya talagang nakikita mo sa kanilang mga mata ang lalim ng kanilang pagmamahal sa kanilang bansa. Sa simpleng akto ng pag-awit ng Pambansang Awit nila ay nararamdaman mo ang respeto at katapatan nila sa kanilang bansa.
Noong nakaraang linggo, marami akong nabasa sa status ng mga kaibigan at kakilala ko sa facebook na sa araw noong hostage taking, ikinahiya nilang maging Pilipino. Masyado akong nalungkot ng mabasa ang mga status updates na iyon. Totoo na malakit lamat sa ating imahe bilang isang bansa ang trahedyang nangyari, pero hindi ko maubos maisip na ikakahiya mo ang pagiging Pilipino mo dahil sa kamalian ng iilan. Ang mas malungkot kamo, naisip ba natin noon na ipagmalaki na tayo'y Pilipino? O mas madaling maghugas kamay at sabihing nakakahiyang maging Pinoy kapag may mga nangyaring ganito. Baka naman kapag nanalo lang si Manny na tayo'y "Proud to be Pinoy."
Habang hindi ko iniexcuse ang kahinaan ng ating pulis, hindi ko tanggap na dapat ikahiya ang aking pagiging Pilipino. Imbes, dapat na isipin natin kung papaano matutugunan ang kanilang kahinaan imbes na insultuhin. Base sa aking pagkaintindi kaya naganap ang hostage ay dahil sa pagkawala ng trabaho. Hindi sa sinasabi ko na tama ang kanyang ginawa pero ang kanyang ginawa ay testamento sa kahinaan ng ating mga institusyon na alagaan ang mga taong nagsisilbi sa ating bansa. Kaya nga maraming gustong umalis sa Pilipinas kasi dito, walang pera. Maraming mga OFW ang nagtitiis sa sweldong halos pwede rin naman makamtam dito sa Pilipinas kaso walang trabaho.
Sabi ng mama sa akin, kapag may trabahante ka, wag na wag mo silang gugutumin. Kasi hindi sila makakapagtrabaho ng maayos kung gutom sila. Kapag nawawalan ng trabaho ang tao, nawawalan sila ng panggagalingan ng kakainin ng kanilang pamilya. Kung sana sapat ang sweldo ng ating mga government employees, hindi nila iisipin na maging corrupt.
Alam ko na ginagawan ng paraan ng Gobyernong Aquino ang sitwasyon. Hindi ako nagtataka na sa umpisa ng kanyang administrasyon ay nagkaroon ng ganitong trahedya dahil ito ang magpapatunay sa kahinaan ng ating mga institusyon. Pero imbes na ating patuloy na insultuhin or pagkawalan ng tiwala ang ating gobyerno, sana ay atin silang tulungan na maibangon ang ating bansa. At saan pa magsisimula kundi sa sarili.
Be proud to be Pinoy. Tayo-tayo lang naman ang tutulong sa isa't-isa diba?
Monday, August 30, 2010
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Deep Random Thoughts: Everyone's a Little Bit Racist
*Disclaimer: Deep Random Thoughts are blogs on anything that affects me emotionally, mentally and spiritually. They may not be structurally well written but they're from the heart. And you were already forewarned that they're random...
Okay, so I have to admit that through all the tragedy, I consciously decided not to follow the hostage taking. It's not that I don't care about what was happening, it's just that I'm not a person who can take news like that. I remember reading on the paper about those teachers burned alive during one of the bloodiest elections in the Philippines. I got so upset that I went in the bathroom and cried really hard. It's very difficult for me to watch the news already but to watch something like that, I just couldn't do it. Which is why my reactions to what happened especially the backlash may be a bit delayed. Hearing stories of Filipino OFWs in HK being treated, Jinggoy being rudely treated by an immigrations officer, Jackie Chan's twitter comments are only being addressed by my brain now.
I feel very sad about this for while I know that there are many Chinese employers who treat their Filipino employees well, we also know of stories where Filipino employees are maltreated in Chinese countries. Whether they admit to it or not, Filipinos whether OFW's or tourists are treated like 2nd class citizens in these countries. It makes me really sad. I mean I won't be a hypocrite and say that I have never been a racist in my life because we all know a racist joke or two. As Avenue Q puts it, "Everyone's a little bit racist." It's just sad that Filipinos are suffering a worse fate than they already have because of one person's actions that resulted in death. But seriously? I mean it's just lucky that Filipinos are such a reticent kind of people because we'll take it even though we weren't necessarily at fault because for some reason we feel guilty. So we don't say anything when we're maltreated. I mean this is a people who suffered through 300 years of maltreatment under the Spaniards. We can take a lot. But please, don't think that we won't push back at some point. I'm already feeling angry as it is posting this. We are sorry this happened. It sucks big time! But you don't have to punish those who are not at fault. We know you're angry. Heck, we're angry too! Why can't we help each other instead of hating each other? Weren't we all victims in this tragedy?
Okay, so I have to admit that through all the tragedy, I consciously decided not to follow the hostage taking. It's not that I don't care about what was happening, it's just that I'm not a person who can take news like that. I remember reading on the paper about those teachers burned alive during one of the bloodiest elections in the Philippines. I got so upset that I went in the bathroom and cried really hard. It's very difficult for me to watch the news already but to watch something like that, I just couldn't do it. Which is why my reactions to what happened especially the backlash may be a bit delayed. Hearing stories of Filipino OFWs in HK being treated, Jinggoy being rudely treated by an immigrations officer, Jackie Chan's twitter comments are only being addressed by my brain now.
I feel very sad about this for while I know that there are many Chinese employers who treat their Filipino employees well, we also know of stories where Filipino employees are maltreated in Chinese countries. Whether they admit to it or not, Filipinos whether OFW's or tourists are treated like 2nd class citizens in these countries. It makes me really sad. I mean I won't be a hypocrite and say that I have never been a racist in my life because we all know a racist joke or two. As Avenue Q puts it, "Everyone's a little bit racist." It's just sad that Filipinos are suffering a worse fate than they already have because of one person's actions that resulted in death. But seriously? I mean it's just lucky that Filipinos are such a reticent kind of people because we'll take it even though we weren't necessarily at fault because for some reason we feel guilty. So we don't say anything when we're maltreated. I mean this is a people who suffered through 300 years of maltreatment under the Spaniards. We can take a lot. But please, don't think that we won't push back at some point. I'm already feeling angry as it is posting this. We are sorry this happened. It sucks big time! But you don't have to punish those who are not at fault. We know you're angry. Heck, we're angry too! Why can't we help each other instead of hating each other? Weren't we all victims in this tragedy?
Deep Random Thoughts: Life, Death and Everything in Between
*Disclaimer: Deep Random Thoughts are blogs on anything that deeply affects me emotionally, mentally and spiritually. They may not be structurally well written but they're from the heart. And you were already forewarned that they're random...
It was about a year ago that I was having a really bad case of tonsilitis. Being the bad patient that I was, I didn't finish my antibiotics which then exacerbated my problem to the point that I started having structural defects in my throat since it wasn't healing properly. Anyway, this led to a series of diagnosis from different doctors which ranged from laryngitis to possible brain tumors. When I woke up this morning I was thinking about that I realized that I am very blessed because lying down in the other room is my Auntie Pearl.
Auntie Pearl is my Tata Ernie's (mama's oldest brother) wife. She was diagnosed with cancer the year I was born and she has survived the death of her husband. However, she is in bad shape right now. She is in a lot of pain. But just like everyone says, she is a fighter. She just arrived from Kenya after having traveled for the past 24 hours and then again on a plane tomorrow for another hour and a half. She is one of those people whose faith is so strong that you know exactly where she's going to go when God finally can't wait to have her by His side.
So I was thinking about life and our journies. Some of us have it easier than others. We all take different paths but we all end up in one of two places, heaven or hell. And whether we like it or not the way we live our lives determine where we go. So it is about the journey because the decisions we make translates into paths we take (ugh! rhyme).
It was about a year ago that I was having a really bad case of tonsilitis. Being the bad patient that I was, I didn't finish my antibiotics which then exacerbated my problem to the point that I started having structural defects in my throat since it wasn't healing properly. Anyway, this led to a series of diagnosis from different doctors which ranged from laryngitis to possible brain tumors. When I woke up this morning I was thinking about that I realized that I am very blessed because lying down in the other room is my Auntie Pearl.
Auntie Pearl is my Tata Ernie's (mama's oldest brother) wife. She was diagnosed with cancer the year I was born and she has survived the death of her husband. However, she is in bad shape right now. She is in a lot of pain. But just like everyone says, she is a fighter. She just arrived from Kenya after having traveled for the past 24 hours and then again on a plane tomorrow for another hour and a half. She is one of those people whose faith is so strong that you know exactly where she's going to go when God finally can't wait to have her by His side.
So I was thinking about life and our journies. Some of us have it easier than others. We all take different paths but we all end up in one of two places, heaven or hell. And whether we like it or not the way we live our lives determine where we go. So it is about the journey because the decisions we make translates into paths we take (ugh! rhyme).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)