The Philippine Dilemma -- CULTURAL DAMAGE

By Isdang Tumbaga

The first step in finding solution to a problem is first to find out why this is the case; why is the Philippine culture DAMAGED?

Let us understand one thing here, there is no such thing as “Damaged Culture”, there is no such thing as a culture based on corruption, each culture has these clearly defined and if you understand the clarity of that particular culture, well, none of it was corrupt, even if from the outside it sure looks it. But let us not argue about that. Let us look at the “National Identity” of the so-called Filipino.

1. Some people, in fact most people in the Philippine have a national identity crisis, this is a fact. One reason is because they tend to divide their loyalty to an illusion of a people and place that they have no real idea what and who these people are, however, they identify with them more than they do who they are: FILIPINO.

a). Some of these people would insist that they were Spanish, Chinese, whatever… it is sickening, you will see this among F.O.B. or Fresh Off the Boat Filipinos who would speak with Filipino accent, even when they speak Spanish, hiding or ashamed of their identity.

b). I had long discussions with people of Filipino descent and Filipino immigrants in the US and always, the topic was “What ( or who) is the Filipino”. Doesn’t that tell you what the problem is? It does to me.

All of this has historical and sociological reasons why.

The Philippines was first defined by foreigners, that alone would tell you that the Philippines as a government is an Alien entity, and do not belong to the people, it belonged someplace, but not anywhere in the Philippines.

Then for 300 years or so, the Filipino was never the majority of natives, who compose 90% of the population, AT LEAST! That 90% is a misnamed group of people called “INDIOS”!

The first time an alien people defined a Filipino other than the Spanish born in the Philippines, or mestizo upper class, was during the war between the US and the first (or is that second?) Philippine Republic. Why do you think people in the Tagalog and sometimes Pampango thinks of themselves firmly as Filipino instead of Tagalogs and Pampango, well, they heard they were, longer than any other Philippine native. Of course they were also called “niggers” just as much by Americans, but no one minds that, no one understood what that meant anyways.

When the Americans arrived they attempted to establish a government with them as head, they of course wanted to make it native Filipino giving them legitimacy as people running the country, this also gave the Filipino the firm understanding that the government is CERTAINLY NOT OF THE PEOPLE, but an alien entity. However the Padrino system of the Spaniards, and native “Big Man on Campus” syndrome is entrenched already, compound that with poor national identity….

This is what we have! The Philippine system of governance, and the people who do not care if their vote counts.

What is the solution to these?

Well, first off start telling everyone your true identity, stop be proud to be Filipino, even with such bad reputation, take it.

Stop calling yourself other than that, no Bisaya, no Ilocano, no Pampango, that is an entirely different issue altogether, that is cultural/linguistic issues that ONLY FILIPINOS CAN RESOLVE. Certainly no Hispanic nor American!

Of course you can be a combination of these but still, a FILIPINO, as my old running joke will say “What do you call a Polak and a Japanese son?... A Japolak!” but then after “ What do you call the son of a Polak and a Filipino?”… why he would be called a “Filipino!” of course, there is nothing else to call him.

Of course my Polak friend would call me an asshole after that joke.

So, what is the solution to that problem, what is the Filipino?