One Step at a Time

Above: a sea of happy faces at the Gawad Kalinga Bayani Challenge 2011 - Bantayan Island, Cebu

One thing that a lot of people love to complain about in the Philippines is that we are a country without a culture. Indeed, regionalism is somewhat strong in the Philippines; some of our southernmost regions keep pushing for secession, many regions have stronger loyalty to their ethnic groups than to the Philippines as a whole; and Manila’s reach is somewhat hard to feel in some of the farther-off areas, especially due to the Philippines being an archipelago.

It’s a big challenge trying to sum up what it means to be a Filipino in just one article. Yet, there are some things that stand out about us as a people. Hopefully, this blog post will be able to articulate them somewhat.

To be a Filipino is to adapt, endure, and somehow find happiness.

Filipinos have to embrace duality in many aspects of life. Having gone through three different occupations that lasted hundreds of years, we have learned to adapt and mold different cultures. For example, most Filipinos are Catholic, yet we also grew up with many decidedly pagan beliefs. As children we were taught to be good and to fear God; yet we were also quieted by our mothers and maids with threats of being carried away by dwarves or tikbalang (a sort of half-man half-horse creature; think a reverse centaur). We pray the rosary and visit churches to ask for favors; yet sometimes we also call in the local albularyo or folk healer. My grandmother makes us go to mass at dawn on Christmas, but she also practices feng shui and has us burn paper money to send to our ancestors.

Many Filipinos have had to deal with this duality since birth. A lot are Filipino mestizos, or a mix of Filipino and foreign ancestry. I myself am a Chinese-Filipino, and grew up with learning a mix of Chinese and Filipino practices. There are many mestizos who make it a point to celebrate their foreign heritages while also working towards the betterment of the Philippines as its citizens. The Kaisa para sa Kaunlaran Inc.  Foundation, of which I am a member, is one such group of like-minded Chinese-Filipinos. Our credo sums up our sentiments nicely The Philippines is our country, It is the land of our birth, The home of our people: “Our blood may be Chinese, but our roots grow deep in Philippine soil, Our bonds are with the Filipino people.”

Filipinos are also known for being able to adapt easily to life abroad. There are significant numbers of Filipinos in the United States, Middle East, East Asia, Western Europe, the United Kingdom and Australia. Remittances from these Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) totaled about 10-12% of Philippine GDP in 2010. OFWs know that their earnings are a boon to the nation’s economy; but they know even more that it is this money that allows their families to live better lives. That’s why they do it – it’s a big sacrifice to be away from family and friends for so long, but this is a small sacrifice to pay for a better life. Yes, it’s also an adventure and a chance to grow, but you have to understand how important family is for us Filipinos. To leave for a foreign land with no guarantee of returning to the Philippines for good is one of the hardest things to deal with. Technology eases the sting somewhat, but consider that Filipinos have been doing this for decades before Internet use became widespread. Filipinos before would cope by forming their own communities, and by bringing over what things they could of home, such as food (Filipino restaurants like Jollibee, Red Ribbon and Max’s have gained footholds in LA, for example), and by writing back home every so often.

Let’s look back earlier in time. History shows that when the Spanish, Americans and Japanese all came to conquer the Philippines; we did resist. Yet, we had to surrender when it became clear there was no way to resist. By all accounts, most of our leaders and our people were able to adjust remarkably well by cooperating with the new leadership. Some would call it cowardice; but most would agree that it was merely practical survival. Several revolts did spring up throughout the years, but sadly, most didn’t get very far.

Towards the end of the Spanish era, the members of La Liga Filipina, a civic organization devoted to achieving independence, would split. Some would advocate seeking independence through armed revolution; some would argue for using the strategy of propaganda and institutional reform. Again, neither group quite succeeded. During the American era, Filipino politicians were also split: some were quite aggressive towards the Americans, while some wanted to work with them and prove that the Philippines was ready for self-governance. During World War II, under the Japanese, some Filipinos took to the hills to wage guerilla warfare, while others stayed in their posts to act as a buffer between the Japanese and the Filipinos.

There were two widely different strategies, yet both had the same aims.

This is because we Filipinos do our best to endure. Yes, there comes a time when we have had enough, and we do fight – the EDSA Revolution of 1986 played a key role in forcing an ailing Ferdinand Marcos from office, for example. However, as long as things can be endured, we will find a way. Some argue that this is a bad thing – that if we had not been so patient, we would years ago have risen up and taken power away from the rich few in Manila who influence the way the country is run. On the other hand, it is a testament to the hardiness of our people that we somehow make the most of what little we have, and slowly, we grow.

Are Filipinos really among the happiest people in the world? Dozens of websites claiming that we are popped up when I did a Google search. Perhaps we are; I had the good fortune to join the Gawad Kalinga Bayani Challenge 2011, and found a lot of positive energy even among the people whose houses we were building. Gawad Kalinga, or GK, is a movement aimed at ending poverty by helping the poor help themselves. It seems cliché, but it does work. Instead of donating built houses, GK looks for supplies to build houses, and calls on volunteers to work alongside the communities being targeted to build said houses. Instead of raising money to give directly to the poor, GK helps the poor establish their own businesses.

GK attracts many Filipinos now living abroad to return for a few days and help out. GK also attracts many foreigners who see this as a great way to learn about the Philippines. The most recent Bayani Challenge had representatives from almost every province in the Philippines, as well as citizens of France, Singapore, Australia, the USA and many more. A lot of the foreigners say they were attracted because of the chance to help, and because we Filipinos just seemed to have so much fun while doing all that heavy lifting out in the hot, hot sun.

Maybe it’s because, as Filipinos, we manage to find happiness in togetherness. We thrive on these feelings of community, of unity. We know life is hard; but if our sacrifices can make those we care about happy, and have better lives, we will gladly endure all that comes with it. That’s one reason social networking sites are so big in the Philippines – they help us keep connected with one another, wherever we may be.