It has finally dawned unto me that there is something clearly erroneous with the circumstances in which Filipinos believe they should be proud about.
Arnel Pineda, Charice Pempengco, and boxing champion Manny Pacquiao, these are the few world-renowned Filipinos who have instigated a sense of so-called “Pinoy Pride” among the attention-seeking Filipinos who, after realizing within themselves that as a state, we have achieved practically nothing, would bask in to the achievements of the individuals mentioned in order to feel some sense of self-worth. However, I do not blame people like Pacquaio for precipitating a false sense of pride among Filipinos. After all, it’s not their fault their “kababayans” have a distorted culture.
Do we not remember that too much of anything is bad?
When Filipinos showcase this tremendous pride, they would do it excessively, as if a single person like Charice Pempengco can save the entire Philippines from its mayhem of unfortunate events. They would completely delude themselves that the Filipino race is superior among others without actually taking into consideration that other countries like the United States of America also have their fair share of talented people without actually rubbing it in to the international community’s face. I find it rather gloomy when I come across Filipinos with unwarranted pride, for I believe the reason behind this is that we no longer have other more important things we can be proud of, hence, people mentioned earlier in this article serve as the only excuse we have for having “Pinoy pride”.
So great is this pride that when people like Claire Danes dare say something about the unruly condition of the country and how dirty our surroundings are, we would bash them incessantly, forcing them to make a public apology. It’s hilarious at times since majority of these Filipinos who bash other people for stating the truth would say something bad against the person, not understanding that in order to come up with a good rebuttal, the ideas of the person should be attacked, not his or her personality. Then again, it is hard to defend why our country’s environment is dirty anyway. Apparently, it doesn’t occur to them that in order for people to stop saying negative things about our country, we should be very wary of our actions. Instead of doing that, we would just further humiliate ourselves in our country’s defense by making ourselves look low by making sorry excuses for our country’s downfall. Why don’t we do something in order for people like Claire Danes not to be able to say something horrible about us? We can do extreme measures like keep our environment clean and instil a sense of discipline among ourselves as to not make our country look like a dumpsite. Without a doubt, too much pride does harm us in so many ways we can’t imagine.
Another thing I realized about this inappropriate pride Filipinos have is that our people have very low self-esteem. It’s actually contrary to what I stated before but then I acknowledged the fact that if we do really have something going on for us, we wouldn’t bank on popular figures like Pacquiao and Pempengco. We would just let the whole world realize how great we are as a nation not by exploiting such personalities but by just keeping mum about it and letting it speak for itself. Furthermore, if the criticisms we received are untrue like what most Filipinos claim them to be, they wouldn’t be enraged by it right? The saying “The truth hurts” really is applicable to the uproar created by Filipinos when facing criticisms. That is probably the reason why we have never progressed as a country. We can’t take constructive criticisms because it hurts our ego despite the fact that we really need to change our wrong practices which consume us day by day.
I do not know if Filipinos will actually agree with me that as a nation, an effort should be done not just by one citizen but by majority of the population. No, I am not talking about another people power protest for I honestly think it’s irrelevant.
Our well-known Pinoy pride has resulted to us not working hard enough to be recognized in our own ways. We love fence-sitting on other people’s achievements because it is only through that that we feel important and appreciated. This pride is present in the minds of Filipinos due to the reason that we feel so small compared to other countries and so we hide behind this facade and continue to praise people like Pacquiao endlessly as if not doing so makes one disloyal to the country.
And so, I’ve arrived at a conclusion on why our people take so much pride in individuals who are recognized for their talents and skills. I’ve figured that some of our countrymen are too lazy to actually make an effort so that they can be praised themselves. I’ve got to admit that it is hard to make a collective action but if we will forever settle for the false and pretentious Pinoy pride we have, we are not going to progress. It should always take something more and bigger than a Charice Pempengco and Manny Pacquiao for us to be proud to be Filipino lest we want to be trapped in our wrong mentality for eternity.
Another disturbing attitude is that we attribute being Filipino to the success of people like Pacquiao as if we are the best race that ever walked this planet. Statements like “Pinoy yan kaya magaling” brings a feeling of discomfort to me. Instead of saying that that person worked hard to be where he or she is, being a Filipino is used to make ourselves feel important, superior, and righteous.
The main reason why I have never uttered the words “I’m proud to be a Filipino” is because I have high expectations and I do not like settling for mediocre thoughts like “We have Charice Pempengco”, “The Banawe Rice Terraces is one of the wonders of the world”, and “We really have cute tarsiers in our country” as sole reasons why I should be proud to be Filipino. Evidently, relying on such trivial achievements is mediocre and pathetic since there are bigger things we should focus on like improving the economy and living conditions of the Filipinos.
The time I will be proud to be Filipino is when everyone has done their part to change all aspects that needs to be changed. It is when the elite are doing their part in educating the masses because it is their responsibility. It is when we do not have an idiot for a president. It is when our surroundings are clean. And it is when our Human Development Index has increased (I do not believe that the GNP is the best gauge for development). From what I can see, it would ostensibly take a painstakingly long time given our track record.