Being Filipinos: Our Littleness, Our Greatness, Our Hope as a Nation

We do not belong to a super-powered country; we belong to a developing country. We do not belong to the white race; we belong to the brown race.

What am I trying to say? We need to accept who we are and how God created us, and we need to strive to be the best of what we can be. We need to accept our imperfect noses, our not-so-tall heights, the black color of our hair, and the gradations of our skin from brown to yellow to fair, depending on the genes we inherited. There is no use dyeing our hair with blond, red, or brown colors, since these will also fade and reveal the true color of our hair. We should also learn to recognize that brown is beautiful, too, and not yield to the colonial mentality propagated by the advertisements of whitening skin lotions and soaps.

We are a people dwelling in an archipelago located in the Pacific islands, and we are visited by an average of 20 typhoons every year. We are the third most vulnerable country to the effects of climate change. We have all types of disasters – typhoons, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, landslides, and recently, tornadoes as well. Yet we are a people filled with faith and resilience, and this is where our greatness lies. We are vulnerable to natural disasters but we have faith in an almighty God of love who will never abandon us if we call upon Him. The threat from typhoons keep us praying for safety whilst learning to prepare more for any impending disaster.

We are both little and great, we are little in that many of our fellow Filipinos have taken up the dirty, dangerous, and difficult work abroad as domestic helpers, care givers, factory workers, house cleaners, toilet scrubbers, plantation workers. We are humbled by the poverty of majority of Filipinos while other countries have risen up in economic prosperity and efficient governance. Yet we are also great not only in producing professionals here and abroad, but I would like to think that our greatness lies somewhere else — one that was shown in People Power 1, but is also shown in those who tried to help our devastated fellow Filipinos, in the bayanihan spirit, in our faith and religiosity even, in our common outrage and mobilized protest against corruption, in our simplicity of heart, in our being hospitable, and in our love for one another.

Yet, we cannot deny that we as a people have defects to overcome and values to develop and practice. We need to develop and show more concern for our nation, for the poor, and for the environment. Drivers of public utility vehicles and private cars need to be more concerned for the quality of air by cleaning up their engines so these will not emit black fumes that can poison the lungs and brains of Filipinos. We need to develop a more efficient and effective governance that can ensure greater agricultural productivity, more jobs for Filipinos, more efficient transportation and solid waste management, and the creation and implementation of environmental policies like the no-plastic bag policy in Muntinlupa City, more discipline in ensuring the cleanliness of our streets and waterways, and overall, having greater love for our nation and not just love for our immediate families.

Alex Lacson has rightly pointed out in his book 12 Little Things Global Filipinos Can Do to Help our Philippines that Filipinos lack faith in themselves, in their own products, in their looks, and in their country, which is a consequence of the hundreds of years of Western colonization of our country. He spoke of an urgent and strong need to rebuild ourselves culturally as a people earnestly through these words:

There is a need to rediscover the beauty and strength within us, so we and our children may fall in love with ourselves again so we may have faith, love and respect for the Filipino. So we may learn to love, respect and have faith in our fellow Filipinos. So we may learn to trust and work with our brethren Filipinos.

Our hope lies in developing and putting into practice the value of having greater “malasakit” or sensitivity and heartfelt concern for our nation, for the poor around us, and for our environment. Filipinos like Alex Lacson, author of 12 Little Things Global Filipinos can Do to Help our Philippines;  Nestor Sulpico, who was hailed as New York’s most honest taxi driver when he drove for 43 miles to return the US$80,000 worth of jewelry (rare black pearls) to his passenger who forgot it; Yeb Sano, who fasted during the UN Convention on Environment when he learned of the deaths and devastation brought by typhoon Yolanda; and Josette Biyo, who left her high-paying job as a teacher in De La Salle University to teach in a far-flung barangay are some examples and proofs that we have hope to become a great nation.  There are also the many Filipinos – known and unknown – who fan the flame of  hope in our nation as they contribute to the nation’s progress by helping our needy fellow Filipinos and our endangered environment through civil society movements, NGO work, education, honest and efficient government work, and the implementation of corporate social responsibility. May we be counted among the ranks of these sung and unsung modern-day heroes as we build a great, progressive, and God-loving nation.

About the author: Belinda F. Espiritu is a faculty member of the University of the Philippines Cebu. She holds a Master’s degree in Comparative Literature and a PhD degree in Communication. She would like to hear from the readers about their feedback or comments on her articles through her email address: belinda.espiritu@gmail.com to set a conversation going even after her articles have been published.