What is the gut issue that faces the Filipinos of today? Not merely national survival, I would say, but national progress. As philosopher Carl Schurz eloquently expressed, “Ideals are like stars; you will not succeed in touching them with your hands. But like the seafaring man on the desert of waters, you choose them as your guides, and following them you will reach your destiny.”
The past week has brought us a lot of euphoria, confusion, highs and lows about our nation. The National Heroes Day celebration reminded us of leadership that has gone begging. At the turn of the century, where the Filipino people could boast of leaders and heroes, men and women of high purpose, ready to sacrifice their lives or damage their careers in pursuit of high ideals, there seems to be none today. Gone with the wind are the Jose Rizals, the Manuel L. Quezons, the Manuel L. Roxases, the Camilo Osiases, the Ramon Magsaysays, and, yes the Ninoy Aquinos.
Every year we celebrate National Heroes Day to remember the start of the Philippine revolution against our Spanish colonizers. It reminds us not only of the many lives sacrificed for our freedom, but also of the unification of the people oppressed by colonial rule. Unity then meant life or death.
My father, the late Max Soliven in his column entitled, “Can a nation rise if its heroes have feet made of clay?” wrote, We won ultimately on the field of battle against the Spaniards, but our cause fell apart owing to our endless squabbling. When the Americans betrayed us and turned on us, we failed to present a united front against them, and we were subsequently overwhelmed by their superior firepower.
Why do I recount these things? I think Bonifacio Day or “National Heroes Day” is a good time to ponder what bedevils our psyche. Our revolution, the first nationalist uprising in Asia, was great, but we had way too many men at the helm of leadership who failed to rise to that greatness.
Let us not falter now in the same disappointing manner. We are in the toils of an even more difficult revolution – that of finding ourselves and of emerging, at long last, a strong, self-confident, and happy nation.
Now, our unity as a country is again being put to the test.
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The celebration of Buwan Ng Wika (or National Language Month) no matter how nationalistic the objectives are, continues to leave some groups petrified because their native dialects/ languages are losing ground and almost vanishing. The national language adopted by law is Filipino. The 87 major dialects reflect the racial homogeneity which links Filipinos with the principal tribes of Indonesia and Bumiputras, and the Malays of Malaysia. While Filipino “languages” generally belong to the Malayo-Polynesian family of tongues, they also bear the earmarks of centuries of trade and inter-marriage, with words derived from Chinese, Spanish and English. English although receding so, is one of the official languages that bind Filipinos of verbal diversity together. Filipino is beginning to find its ground in the different regions making it the lingua franca of the nation.
Diversity, however, does not mean division and disarray. Must an Ilocano and Bicolano live as if they are alien to one another? Overseas, Filipinos from our country’s many isles bond as if related by blood, their solidarity the only weapon they have on foreign land. Here in our homeland, on the other hand, issues of clashing cultures and stances plague the nation, with other ethnolinguistic groups still holding the purist belief that their region must remain unburdened by national influences including the Filipino language.
There is no doubt that the country thrives in language diversity. But a lingua franca, sometimes known as a bridge language, must exist in order to link people of varying cultures waving the same national banner and singing the same national anthem.
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Once upon a time, the Philippines occupied a front row seat among the big leaguers in East and Southeast Asia. Each year, however, this once promising country finds itself falling behind, embarrassingly, a little more. Now, it can be said, the Filipinos are in the bush leagues.
The political scene, indeed, is fatally flawed by an oligarchy that arrogantly refuses to recognize the merits of social justice, social mobility and income redistribution. What used to be sought as the “common good” or the “common will” is now a limp rag of accommodation. A vulgar philosophy of “I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine” appears to prevail.
Preserving one’s culture and language must come with the knowledge and acceptance that these elements interact with one another in the same way that people do, especially people of a single country. In a nation, where varying cultures continue to enliven national history, preservation of regional cultures must complement national unity.
Regional cultures are not sent to the deathbed because of national identity. It is through our protection of these cultures that we get to better understand who we are as a nation. We are after all, one country binded by our history.
This, our history, is why the federalist agenda can’t seem to push through. If we could erase all memory of our history and take note only of our geographic state, then perhaps a federal government could succeed. But given our long and arduous history filled with political dynasties lording over regions and provinces, we risk undergoing change for the interests of the few.
Protecting culture and identity has never been for an individual or a select few alone. The men and women who sacrificed their lives for the fight against Spanish colonization are put to shame when a country’s interests are hijacked by those in power and those who want to remain in power. These people threaten regional and national identity because cultural preservation is not their primary goal. Instead their intent is clear, the preservation of power and wealth.
Remember that story of Moses coming down from Mount Sinai, carrying the tablets of the Ten Commandments, and finding the Jews to his anger, worshipping not God but the golden calf? We have worshipped the golden calf for too long and the goddess of reason for too long. It’s time for us to go back to the patriotism that sustained our fathers, from Rizal to Bonifacio, to Aguinaldo, to young boy General Gregorio del Pilar, and forged a nation out of a motley of tribes speaking more than 87 dialects.
As Filipinos, we must work together to protect our nation and to protect our people. Last week’s Arte Fino Fair is a clear example of bayanihan, the spirit of our community helping each other for a common cause while preserving our culture and heritage. We must have more of this!
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Another highlight of the past week, were the Filipino athletes who won the gold during the Asian Games. Hidilyn Diaz’s sense of patriotism during the awarding ceremony brought us goosebumps. Her love for country is evident but she is hurting, like the rest of them feel. The very weak support of government has brought them to hopeless despair.
What is happening to us? Quo Vadis Filipinas?