Happy Thanksgiving! Isn’t it time the Philippines celebrate it?

Every last Thursday of November, the United States celebrates Thanksgiving Day, a national holiday that commemorates the day when the early settlers of America shared a feast with the Native Americans around fall of 1621 as a way of offering thanks to God for a bountiful harvest. There are several accounts of this first thanksgiving as well as other claims of earlier celebrations in other places but the one traditionally observed and established by law is that of the 1621 version.

Across the US, Thanksgiving Day is a joyous occasion for family reunions centered around a shared meal customarily consisting of turkey, potatoes, pies, green beans, and cranberries. However, other parts of the US also prepare their own fare depending on their own culture. Other traditions related to Thanksgiving are volunteering in charities, watching parades, and being the unofficial start of the Christmas season. People also take advantage of the huge discounts at brick and mortar stores and online.

Immigrants have a lot to be thankful for. The opportunities that are offered to them and their families, the realized dreams as well as the safety and security that they experienced in this new homeland are some of the reasons to celebrate Thanksgiving Day. Each person has his or her own story of struggle, of hardships, of new beginnings, and of redemption, of small and big victories, all worthy reasons for a celebration in gratitude.

I was once asked if we Filipinos have our own Thanksgiving Day. I answered no, we do not have an official, national holiday like Americans have. As I pondered on this question further, I began to ask, isn’t it appropriate that the Philippines have its own Thanksgiving Day? Filipinos have a lot to be thankful for and, of course, we ought to be grateful every day, but a day set aside just for this specific purpose could be worthwhile to foster family bonding and national unity. While I would like to think that Christmas or the more localized fiestas would be the occasions similar to it in terms of family gathering and festivities, yet not all Filipinos are Christians. A secular holiday that does not impose the pressures of gift-giving or the observance of a specific sectarian expectation would make the day of thanks celebrated in a simple and more meaningful way. Thanksgiving Day is not solely an American holiday. Other countries like Canada, Liberia, Grenada, Japan, UK, Germany celebrate their own versions as well. Isn’t it about time the Philippines establishes its own version too?

Even if we Filipinos do not have an official Thanksgiving Day (yet) let me just extend wishing every one of you a Happy Thanksgiving the same way I greet my American friends. This is not an attempt to appropriate their tradition, but as a people and as a nation, we have so much to be thankful for, most especially at this time of the pandemic.

We give thanks not because we deserve but because we were deemed worthy. We give thanks not because we received but because we were given. We give thanks not because of what we have become but because of what we have been. Today, be full of thanks, be full of giving.