Last June 12 we celebrated the 110th Declaration of Philippine Independence. It was also a commemoration of the lives of the many Filipinos who have fought and died in order for this country to be free from colonialism. The Philippines has been colonized for more than three hundred years by Spain, then by the United States. These colonizers have done a great job in brainwashing us such that some FIlipinos doesn’t even want to be free from them. We even wanted to be like them yet they never really treated us as their equal. They have subjected us to be “Indios” and their “Little Brown Brother”.
Do we have anything left of the Filipino in us? Do we know who we are in the first place?
Isn’t it that history is written by the victor? So most of what we read today in our history books may not even be our history. It is history in the eyes of our colonizers. They have portrayed themselves as our savior. Like if they didn’t “discover” us, we were just a bunch of primitive people. And we believed them. Why not? We have no evidence to prove that we have a flourishing culture before the Spaniards came. We have no temples to prove that we are not as backward as we think we are.
I remember that hoax hate letter supposedly from Art Bell a few years back. It claimed that our culture is more Spanish than Asian which is quite true. That’s not really our fault, three hundred years of Spanish rule can do that to you. The rest of the letter were false statements against Filipinos. It was racist, plain and simple. Yet, one can’t help but get hurt because we really don’t have one single identity as a nation.
Back in high school, I used to be so proud about the Code of Kalantiaw which supposedly originated in Panay. The supposed existence of the Code of Kalantiaw proves that there exist an advanced society in precolonial Philippines. However, it was later found out to be a hoax. Well, probably it wasn’t entirely untrue. Given that Filipinos have an oral tradition where stories were passed on from generation to generation, part of the story may have been true. There was also the golden death mask unearthed in my hometown of Oton, Iloilo in 1973 which is now displayed at the National Museum.
The golden mask is believed to have been made before the Spanish came to the Philippines, between late 14th Century to early 15th century, when Oton was a flourishing Malay port. I’m not a historian nor do I have extensive knowledge of history. As a regular Filipino citizen, I believe it is better to treat the Code of Kalantiaw as a legend until there are further studies and evidence proving otherwise.
It is quite easy for us to believe such stories about our origin as a people because there are so little available records of our precolonial history and culture. I hope there will be more studies and researches aimed at discovering our precolonial past. Who we are in the past may not be as important as who we are today and who are we to become in the future. But it will bring light and understanding of who we are as FIlipinos. Maybe then we wouldn’t have to feel inferior to other nations. Ever.
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It’s good to be back here!
Our college history teacher spent 4 sessions/class days just to ask us the question: Who is a Filipino? My classmates shivered because of the teacher’s harsh remarks and no answer seemed to satisfy her. That teacher has a Ph.D in History and her class is full of Accountancy students who don’t have any interests in the subject.
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I wish our history teachers are more like Ambeth Ocampo. I learned a lot by reading his column than my class in high school. He makes history such an interesting subject.
I have Ambeth Ocampo’s signature. Hehe, my mom got it for me when he went to Bacolod last year (or was it two years ago?).
Be nice. Keep it clean. Stay on topic. No spam. –> Baw daw naigo gid ko ah.
Fren,
First off, I like your new theme (
). Second, in my opinion, up to now we are not yet free as a people. Marami pa ring kumokontrol sa tin bilang isang bansa. Our history shows that we have always been the ones conquered and not the conqueror. Sad to say, masakit sa loob pag naiisip kong ganun.
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@Tikalon – Good for you eh. Pa-borrow ko b. hehehe…You’re nice most of the time man ah.
@Jessie – Thanks friend! I have to thank the designer though. I agree with you. Siguro dahil we are not financially independent as a country. The Philippines is not poor but we are poorly managed. Sana darating pa ang araw na our economy will be the envy of our Asian neighbors again. I hope darating yun in my lifetime.
“The Philippines is not poor but we are poorly managed.”
I couldn’t agree more.
Changing the Philippines will take political will and that is one thing that our government officials lack. Change is going to come, no doubt. The real questions, I think, is when is it going to come, what changes will come and towards what direction will those changes take us.
That’s why if I have to nominate somebody for president I would nominate Bayani Fernando. If you’re asking for track record look what he’s done for Marikina. His programs may not always be popular but they work.
Fren,
Oo nga. Sana rin makatikim ang mga susunod na henerasyon sa tin ng ginhawang di natin natikman during our time.
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