HAVING grown up in a continent where nationalism evolved into racism and eventually to the brutal killing of people of “inferior races,” I have always been wary of expressions of nationalism. We don’t choose our race. Few of us choose our nationality. Thus, I have looked from a distance at the celebration of Manny Pacquiao’s boxing victory. A friend of mine explained to me that Filipinos are so low, depressed and insecure that they need this kind of feat to lift up their spirits. I’m not a Filipino so I wouldn’t know how it feels to be in that state of mind.
As a foreigner who chose to leave family behind and live in this country, I always wonder about this so-called colonial mentality and supposedly insecurity and inferiority complex of Filipinos. I think it is all in the mind.
There is no superior or inferior race or nationality, there are only good and bad traits. That’s universal. We strive to increase the good and eliminate the bad. Filipinos are no more and no less intellectually or physically endowed than any other people.
Notwithstanding this, if there is one area where Filipinos—in my very subjective opinion—outshine most others, it is in their very irresistible charm. It must be the various cultural and religious influences and maybe the tropical climate that have produced this amazing result.
Unfortunately, we sometimes make this natural charm and beauty an object of commerce. Some parents push their daughters into marrying older foreigners.
Our unhealthy and unproductive obsession with beauty pageants further promotes a culture in which beauty and charm in women are assets to be measured and sold, a culture in which we put more value on form than on substance.
Going back to Mr. Pacquiao, I changed my perception of him as a person and his importance to the nation when I heard him in one of his radio interviews. So different from the aggressive fighter in the ring, here was a humble, ordinary guy with a gentle voice who just happened to have chosen a career that, if successful, would make him famous. He has shown us all that if we focus on the task ahead, do our homework, and execute our plans with determination and diligence, we can all succeed. Mr. Pacquiao spoke of his country as his extended family—this is the family and country we have so we should love, cherish and nurture it. It seems that for Mr. Pacquiao, it isn’t about winning or even fighting but about appreciating what we have, taking care of it and making the best out of it.
Our country is worth appreciating and taking care of. There is so much beauty around us, breathtaking beauty at that. Unfortunately, the so-called development is encroaching on the countryside, with waste littering even remote corners of the archipelago and polluting our seas, concrete buildings rising where once rice and trees grew. We should not take the beauty of our countryside and the health of our marine resources for granted. Millions of Filipinos depend on the bounty of nature for their survival. The country’s food security depends on the productivity of agriculture and fisheries sectors. We earn dollars on agricultural exports and our tourism industry.
It is amazing to be a tourist in this country. I had the opportunity to be one again when my mother came over for a vacation. Bohol Bee Farm, a small resort in a rocky part of Bohol, offers all organic meals and an environment that makes the guest feel one with the surrounding trees and the sea.
Maribago Bluewater on Mactan Island, Cebu, on the other hand, is a high-end beach resort with almost unbelievable peace and quiet for an urbanized area, with great service and beautiful surroundings.
Not preserving our environment and not staying focused on sustainable and equitable economic development is like knocking out ourselves.
