We are created in a different nationality. There are Whites, blacks, chinitaz, wide eyeball, straight hairs, curls, tall and petite. We are different from each other, and unique in our own self. If I was asked and given a chance to choose between staying a Filipino or be in other nationality, I would not hesitate to say that I'm really proud to be Filipino. I wouldn't have it any other way. When I was a kid, though, I didn't have this same perspective. I have always wanted to be like the Americans, Mexicans and Chinese. Coming from a province where foreigners are a usual scene, I dreamt of being like them. They can buy whatever they want, goes anywhere, with the perfect tone of voice, the accent, the height, the nose, the skin tone, the blond hair. Today, I am so happy, so thankful, and so enriched for being Filipino. There are lots of good traits of Filipinos, especially how we showed respect to Cory the time she passed away, I can really say that I wouldn't want to be born again and wake up not to be a Filipino anymore. I was given the time to reflect and came to the realization that I am a Filipino and will always want to be one. Our culture is rich with people who love, care, and fight for their rights to be heard, acknowledged, and appreciated. Foreigners often say that the Filipinos are hospitable, humble, love to have a good time, and really talented and according also to some survey Filipinos are the happiest people in the world. I love our beautiful language, the tagalog, bisaya, ilonggo, and many more are languages that are spoken in our country but even though we have this we are still united to use one national language. I love also our lifestyle, customs, people, and country. The 7,107 islands composing our awe inspiring country, the tourist spot which are world widely known, the beaches, mountains, marine eco systems. Even if in the future I'll be in another country, my heart will always be in the Philippines.
From Lea Salonga to APL of Black Eyed Peas, to Manny Pacquiao to Charice Pempengco, we are representing the beauty of Filipinos to the world. But we don't have to be famous! Let's be proud to stand for our country, our culture, and our people. Not just today, but everyday! I'm not saying that speaking foreign languages, flying to other countries, and learning from other people are bad things. It’s one of our biggest assets: how easily we can communicate, relate, and adapt to other cultures, especially since the advent of globalization. But we’re also urgently in need of finding our true identity. And until we do, we’ll be perpetually stuck trying to fit into governmental and societal structures handed down to us by our colonial captors. Until we figure out a system of living that will truly work for us, especially in this modern age, our society will remain just as dysfunctional as it has been for the longest time, with most of our fresh and highly educated graduates trying hard to ease into fake, second-rate American accents in order to get by. Being exposed to different nationalities, I began to understand that perhaps the real problem why some don't wish to be a Filipino anymore lies not in how we’ve been falling short of certain standards, but in how we still knock ourselves out trying to be something that we’re not. And the lost of love for the country God has gifted us with. For the most part of my life, I’ve been guilty of having (and denying) a colonial mindset. But I don’t blame myself for it because as a young and eager-to-learn student, it was all I was made to understand. The concept of being proudly Filipino was taught to us in abstract and vague terms. We never really knew what to be proud of.
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