What is Filipino Pride?

Filipinos leave the country every year in pursuit of more gainful employment abroad. They’re laying pipelines in Siberia, mining diamonds in Angola and sailing ships in all the world’s oceans. They clean thousands of homes a day from Hong Kong to Dubai to London; Bahrain’s prime minister employs some 50 Filipinos in his own household (Philippines: Workers for the World, Newsweek, Oct.4, 2006.) The Philippines is currently the world’s leading exporter of nurses, with 164,000 or 85% of the country’s trained nurses are working abroad, with doctors becoming nurses. About 200 hospitals have recently closed down across the country because of a lack of doctors and nurses with another 800 hospitals considered to be “partially closed” due to the lack of qualified health personnel

As Barth Suretsky, an American expat who lived and died in the Philippines lamented, the fundamental thing wrong with this country is a lack of pride in being Filipino. “All Filipinos want to be something else. The poor ones want to be American, and the rich ones all want to be Spaniards. Nobody wants to be Filipino.” No pride, no identity, no recollection of his glorious past that can project him in leading the future of his country. “A people without a sense of history is a people doomed to be unaware of their own identity.”
George Farwell, a Brit who went to the Philippines several times, left an interesting study before he died. In his book, Mask of Asia: the Philippines, he said that one of the mysteries of Asia, at least from the Western viewpoint is the small role assigned to the Philippines in international affairs… “The West’s colonial godsons, rebelliously or not, have now come of age. They have inherited much of our materialist desires, impeded only by industrial inexperience and corroding poverty.”

The focus and priorities of millions of Filipinos going abroad are not necessarily “FOR THE COUNTRY”. While we look for gadgets and toys (pasalubong to beautify our image), the Indians, Chinese, Japanese, and the Koreans would go to the West and gather TOOLS to equip themselves by getting the best education in the great learning institutes so they could invent a new mobile phone, design a new car, or create their own business at home. They brought with them things that could be used to improve their situation and in effect those around them, whichever place they choose to stay. They brought with them better skills and funds that could assist their family and their society back home.

Until we are able to dream correctly, dream selflessly, and train utterly, we will forever remain a funny mystery to the world as a barren land of gold and supreme, silly natural and intellectual resources.

We are very much capable of solving our own problems, we were once envied by our neighbors which has now overtook us, we must look more inwards than outwards and we must have the courage, the will to change for the better. Do it not for yourselves but for the next generations of Filipinos.

Note: Some text were taken from the http://www.thebrownraise.org/


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What is Filipino Pride? What is Filipino Pride? Reviewed by Vernon Joseph Go on Friday, February 27, 2009 Rating: 5

7 comments

  1. nindot, nindot.

    Ang kapait lang kay iyahay man tag pangita ug kwarta. Dili man sad ta comparable sa uban countries like Korea o unsa kay lain2x man sad tag situations. Nya atong gobyerno diri maypagka way au man (not all) mao ng manglupad ta tanan sa gawas. Haha.

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  2. I agree:D isig binirahay man gud... Sa ako sad observations no, most of us want to be unique in a very bad way... hilig kaau manghambog nga naay power to break rules...

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  3. I love it! very true!

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  4. Gerat article ! Pwedi na ka mo dagan og pagka presidente heheheheh :-)

    Well, the lack of pride among Filipinos is probably because the Filipino nation has been a product of centuries of colinization by different nations, cultures and races.

    That's why I support activities that touches base of who we really are. Like the DYAB radio program sugbu-anon na ni, Center for Cebuano studies - USC and Governor Garcia's attempts to make us proud of our heritage (Suroy-Suroy Sugbo) I think the good Gov. has a new activity called "One Visayas" which aims to bring Visayan Culture and heritage under one roof. If you have time, visit it now sa CICC. Adto siguro ko sa weekends.

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  5. nindota ani nga post..igo jud ka tang tanan!i remember about mr. art bell, an american radio talk show host,criticizing Filipinos for being a confused race. He even said we're not Asians,we're not like Chinese and Japanese, just because we are a third world country..

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  6. I will always be proud to be Filipino.

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  7. What a good article... all my thoughts summed up in once piece.

    It would have been better to also mention that Filipino pride does exists strongly but is sadly misplaced on the individual achievements of Filipinos making a name for themselves on the International stage of popular media. These would be celberities in the Western world with Filipino origins. Filipinos outside their homeland feel this sense of pride and nationalism while viewing the achievements of celebrities like Manny Paqcuio, Charice Pempengco and other well known celberities of Filipino origin. However once back in their homelands and witnessing the poverty, political corruption and poor economic situation their parents or grandparents protected them from by migrating abroad, that sense of nationalism slowly goes away.

    Filipinos have to remember that they played no part on the risings of these celebrities therefore should not really showcase their ethnic pride using these inappropriate facts to justify their pride.

    However, there are facts which we can be proud of. Certainly Mother nature has blessed our home country with some natural wonders. Puerto Princesa Subterranean River has been named as one of the possible new 7 natural wonders of the World and Boracay is internationally renown. Apart from natural facts our history is quite diverse and unique, we have interacted one way or another with most of the worlds countries which eventually shaped our culture as we know today. Our collonial mentalism and our fluent natural ability to speak English came from our American colonizers, our food is influenced by both Spanish and Oriental components. Finally our personalities and dialects which differ in every region of the country makes us appear such a fascinating place to be in.. These are little facts which could contribute to our true Filipino pride.

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