What makes you proud to be a Filipino?
Aldrin Catral,Quezon City: Masipag, matiyaga, maalaga at matiisin ang lahing Pinoy. These are four distinct characteristics that cannot be found in other races.
Janice Nacrio de Lima, Manila: I’m proud of being a Filipino but not proud of our government.
We are a happy race
JANICE NACARIO DE LIMA, MANILA: Filipinos were born with the gift of laughter and a sense that the world is mad. This brings to the idiot smiles instead of tears, compassion instead of apathetic indifference, intelligence instead of being a nincompoop. So, we should be proud of being Filipino. Joe Nacilla, Las Piñas City
Rey Ibalan, Antipolo City: Being a citizen of a country ravaged by natural and man-made calamities and, still, people can afford to smile, makes me proud of being a Filipino.
Nestor Chan, Metro Manila Manila: Despite complaining of hard times, like high prices, high unemployment, problems of peace and order, our people still enjoy life. More focused on family concerns, people count their blessings rather than worry too much about problems. This is evident in the people we see enjoying recreation activities like malling and travel
Alexander Raquepo, Ilocos I am proud of my color, my tradition, my education, my religious beliefs, and my upbringing. I might have some misfortunes along the way, but my being alive and happy outweighs them all.
Dennis Montealto, Mandaluyong City: I live in a country teeming with resources. I live with a people not so ideal and yet have a sense of family and with great respect for the Divine. I have a system of government that, though not perfect, is freely elected by the people.
Nescel Panes, Iloilo City: I am proud to be a Filipino for the following reasons: First, Filipinos have an optimistic view in dealing with problems. Amidst the turmoil and crisis they experience, Filipinos never lose hope that something good will happen and everything will be fine. Second, Filipinos have strong family ties, giving importance to the elders by keeping and caring them at home, instead of keeping them at a facility or elder’s home. Third, Filipinos are hardworking and smart. You can find Filipinos in almost all countries of the world, working and sacrificing for the sake of their families and country’s future. Above all, Filipinos are one in spirit, thanking God for the all blessings they receive. The positive outlook, love for elders, persevering character, and recognizing God in the center of our lives make me say I am proud to be a Filipino.
June Deoferio, Cavite: I’m proud to be a Filipino because we are honest, hospitable, with strong families ties, and always with a smile despite the hardships in our daily living. Dr. Jose Balcanao, Benguet: I am proud to be a Filipino because of our positive thinking, high degree of confidence, determination and perseverance. We have strong family ties and philosophy of hard work and resilience that enable us to work anywhere in the world.
Louie Vallo, Pangasinan: I am proud to be a Filipino because of our resiliency and toughness in hard times, adaptability to different conditions and situations and, most of all, because of our inherent trait of being happy all the time.
Johann Lucas, Quezon City: I am proud to be a Filipino because, no matter how bad things get, we always seem to find something positive or something to smile about to keep ourselves going.
Maricel Maralit, Naga City: Filipinos are resilient. Come hell or high water, we are born survivors. Maricel Maralit, Naga City
Rudy Tagimacruz, Malaybalay City, Bukidnon: Our resilience as a people makes me even more proud to be a Filipino. Rudy Tagimacruz, Malaybalay City, Bukidnon
Mix of cultures
Renato Taylan, Ilocos Norte: This makes me proud to be a Filipino: I enjoy living in a happy mix of cultures the way I enjoy eating halo-halo.
Armando Tavera, Las Piñas City: I am proud of my skin, my language and my cultural heritage. I am also proud of our heroes who offered their lives for the country.
Peter Rabilas Santor, Albay: I’m proud of our Filipino culture.
Next question, please
Bing Limson Salvador, Metro Manila: This is a difficult question.
Freedom fighters
Ryan Pahimulin, Rizal: Since 1986, I have always been proud to be a Filipino.
Elizabeth Oximer, Negros Occidental: I feel proud whenever the foreign media mentions the Philippine Edsa People Power Revolution.
Pitts Hizon, Pampanga: We are a freedom-loving people, as exemplified by our national hero Dr. Jose Rizal, who brought honor and great pride to Filipinos.
Diony Yap, Bacolod City: Those four days in February 1986 that united millions of Filipinos to oust the 20-year rule of a dictator makes me proud to be a Filipino.
Tony Gomez, Parañaque City: Edsa makes me proud to be a Filipino. Even Edsa 2 does.
Better to change citizenship
J.R. Mondonedo Jr., Parañaque City: Yes, I am proud to be a Filipino, but I am not proud to be carrying a Filipino passport, that is why I changed mine to an American passport and most Filipinos in general would do the same thing if given the choice to change their citizenship. Tell me how many Filipinos living abroad changed their citizenship? Most, if not all, would.
Dr. Francis Regalado, Manila: Actually none at all, I’m leaving the citizenship real soon. There’s too much dumb zealousness among the masses, which makes a fool out of them. Too much hypocrisy about religion, and yet people in the government come second to none in corruption. In case they don’t know, what they’re doing is stealing! Let’s just face the problems and face it upfront. We shouldn’t be so melodramatic. For a while, I thought it could go better, but judging from recent events in our country, there’s nothing that makes me proud being part of this race. Perhaps I’m proud as a Filipino myself, but nothing about the race.
Worldwide acclaim
Desuel Pardo, Mandaluyong City: With all the things going on in our country, what pride can I claim? Pacman and Donaire? They will fade soon.
Miguelito Herrera, Cabanatuan City: Having so many accomplished Filipinos abroad, helping one another and believing and trusting that our democratic institutions will work for the benefit of our countrymen makes me proud to be a Filipino.
Ishmael Calata, Parañaque City: Despite the fractured image of the Filipino because of the undoing of many influential sectors in our society, I am still proud to be a Filipino! If we have things to be ashamed of, I believe that all other peoples in the world have their own share. Corruption and criminality, where in the world do they not have it? Many of our men and women have excelled and are considered the best in their fields, and because of their feat, I get consoled from the many negative instances that downgrade us as a people. Where in the world can we find the likes of Manny Pacquiao or Charisse Pempengco? Do they have a “magician” like Efren Reyes? Where can we find the likes of the Madrigal Singers and the Bayanihan Dancers? Who designed the first moon vehicle? Who invented the fluorescent bulb? Etc., etc.
Ella Arenas, Pangasinan: We have a certain uniqueness that is distinctively Filipino and this makes us stand above the rest of the human race. Larry Parroco, Quezon City
It’s that rare Filipino ingenuity, creativity and great talent that make us world-class and at par with others all over the globe. Look at Pacquiao, Charice, Arnel Pineda, Donaire, Cobonpue, Josi Natori, Monique Lhuillier, and all others who achieved worldwide acclaim in different fields, doesn’t that make us proud to be Pinoy?
C.B. Manalastas, Manila: Filipinos are known for having good boxers in Pacquiao and Donaire, and entertainers such as Charice Pempengco.
Rizza Dulay, Metro Manila: I am a proud Filipino because of our fellow Filipinos shining as stars in other countries, but I admire our fellow Filipinos working hard and sacrificing a lot for their families that they leave behind here. Imagine years of not being with their family. Congratulations and a big round of applause to our fellow Filipinos working out there and let’s also give a round of applause to those Filipinos making their names in other countries, hooray to them.
Land of beautiful people
Teresita Apognol, Metro Manila: I’m proud I came from a race of really beautiful and kind-hearted people.
Mon Dy, Metro Manila :We have so much talent and kindness. This makes us beautiful human beings inside and out.
Ricardo Tolentino, Laoag City: My brown race is the most beautiful race on earth for white is half-cooked and black is overcooked.
Embarrassed
Robert Young Jr., San Juan: Honestly, I feel embarrassed to be a Filipino when I’m abroad. Foreigners look down upon us because of widespread corruption in government, judiciary and the military. They are surprised that after decades of litigation, our judicial system can’t come up with a guilty verdict on many plunder cases. We have become the laughingstock of the world because those who are supposed to uphold the law are lawbreakers themselves. Officials cover up the misdeeds of their peers without shame. We can never be proud as Filipinos until the day these problems are fully addressed.
Elpidio Que, Vigan: If only we have not become the laughingstock of the world for being a very corrupt nation, where almost all government officials are corrupt…
Filipino until the day I die
Felix Ramento, USA: The fact is, I am not ashamed to be a Filipino. In all the countries I’ve been to, every time they mistake me to be any other Asian, I am always quick to say, “Iam a Filipino!”
Jim Veneracion, Naga City: Notwithstanding our rotten political and judicial systems, I’m still proud to be a Filipino, for the Philippines is the only country I have. I’ll die here.
Gessa Marie Bartolaba Condiño, Metro Manila: Kayumanggi aking balat, Tagalog ang aking lingwahe at ako’y Pilipino.
Jimmy Villanueva, Metro Manila: I am Filipino. I am color moreno, not a vegetarian, pero makatao at higit sa lahat, guwapo! Ha ha ha, joke!
William Gonzaga, Marikina City: I am proud to be a Filipino for the Philippines is the land of my birth. In my high school days, History was my favorite subject, be it Philippine History, American or World History. Naturally, I got high grades in History. I was fascinated about Lapu-Lapu, Rizal, Bonifacio and other Filipino heroes mentioned in history books. Our ancestors were said to be honest in their transactions with Chinese traders, who just left their goods on the shore and returned days later to get equivalent goods for barter. Foreign influence caused so many undesirable traits in us, which has now turned us into Asia’s basketcase and most corrupt. Notwithstanding the undesirable fate that befell the country, I remain proud to be a Filipino until the end.
I was born here
Carmela Ramento, Cagayan de Oro City: Somewhere in me says “Made in the Philippines”. That makes me all that proud to be a Filipino.
Jose Fabello Jr., Cagayan de Oro City: I am a first-class citizen of this country and truly nothing beats that. The gentle winds at the foot of Mt. Apo were howling alleluia the day I was born.
It’s worse out there
Loi Castillo, Davao City: I am proud being a Filipino because I know there are more countries that are worse than us.
It depends
Rose Leobrera, Manila: It depends. Here in the Philippines, I am proud to be a Filipino, taking my foreign visitor or balikbayan to the countryside where the atmosphere and the air is clean and clear, and the scenery is breathtaking. When I am in Manila, there are always long litanies of explanation of what they see, like why there are so many illegal settlers, why it’s too crowded and traffic is endless, why small kids are in the streets to sell or beg. When in a foreign place, I talk less so that they would not know I am a Filipino because of the reputation our country has. I am afraid they would belittle me so I might hear something not pleasing to the ear.
We have our good and bad sides
Honestly, I have many reasons to be proud of as a Filipino, but I also have many reasons to bow my head in shame. I am proud because of Rizal, Mabini, Luis Taruc, Ramon Magsaysay and many heroes who served God and country with no self-interest. I am proud of Elorde, Pacquiao and Donaire, Bata Reyes and Bustamante, Venus Raj and other rags-to-riches celebrities, and always declare with pride that they are Filipinos. I am proud of Tony Meloto and Efren Peñaflorida for their voluntary service to the less fortunate. On the other hand, I am ashamed of our endemic culture of corruption, colonial mentality, foreign aid dependency and mendicancy, grandstanding, overacting and social ant tendency, wrong sense of values, individualism and regionalism, traffic chaos, lack of discipline and garbage thrown everywhere.
Views expressed in this section do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of The STAR. The STAR does not knowingly publish false information and may not be held liable for the views of readers exercising their right to free expression. The publication also reserves the right to edit contributions to this section as it sees fit.
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