Feel-ipino

Opinion

By Willord Estero

The entire crowd fell silent after the bell was rung–the end of round 12. A familiar baritone voice started to read the scores in a bellow: 115-113, 113-115 and 115-113, scores that should have sounded significantly, but were silenced by the mixed boos and cheers from the audience that faltered the announcement of the results. The foreign pugilist triumphed over our very own pound-for-pound boxing king.

In another set of crowd, a very similar atmosphere is settling over the live and home audiences–another critical decision had to be made. At center stage were two young artists with their hands clasped with each other, completely ignoring their distinct racial differences. Once again, the mob was instantly hushed by the voice of the enthusiastic host, reading off the results from an envelope. The entire dome was engulfed by deafening jeers but with more applause, in favor of the pure American singer who won the singing contest.

Yet in another rivalry, now with the entire world as audience, two opposing countries are valiantly defending their sovereignty over a controversial disputed shoal. Both conflicting parties, calling the shoal with distinct names, bickered against each other, sending ships after another. They supported their claims with treaties, historical accounts, and territorial descriptions to prove their ownership over the shallow sandbank. Amicable arrangements were even made between the head of states, but until now, the dispute is not yet resolved. Until now, the entire world awaits the last upshot.

If all of these events still paint a vivid picture of the real actions on your mind, then you might have been greatly involved or affected by them. In case you have not yet moved on with the controversial defeat of Manny Pacquiao, of the loss of half-Filipina Jessica Sanchez, and of the territorial clash between the Philippines and China, you might as well reconsider how these incidents influenced the perspective of other countries towards our being Filipinos. Just to make sure on your personal inference, these successive struggles do not implicate that the Philippines is second-rate. As a matter of fact, we are thriving with so much resources, talents, culture, morality, and resilience. Yes, being a Filipino is definitely one thing you should take pride on. And there are countless reasons for this assertion.

In P-Noy’s recent SONA, he boasted about our country being free from debts and that we even ventured into net-lending which can be proven by Bangko Sentral’s move in sending a US$1 Billion-contribution to a multilateral initiative assisting distressed European economies. This pronouncement may seem overstated as to what the facts really say, but with the current economic development of the country, this could all be true.

The Philippines had roughly about $100 billion in public sector debts in 2011 as a share of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) according to various sources, and this seemly sound too large for the country to take on lending money to other countries. But actually, as estimated by the investment bank JPMorgan, the debt was about 50% of the GDP in 2011 and is forecasted to decline further to about 48% of this year’s GDP. It simply means that the Philippines is running out of debt. This indicates the continuing improvement of the Philippine economy and the country as a whole. To all, this is real good news.

As a result of this economic development of the country, we are now being considered by the ASEAN as the next Asian Tiger–the term used to describe highly developed economies of Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan–which is indeed a very big merit for the Philippines. Now, can we still doubt the fact that Filipinos, the Philippines, are world-class?

From being a world-class nation, the resilience and compassion of the Filipino race is undeniable, and the entire world even approves of that. Just this month, majority of Luzon were greatly devastated by unrelenting monsoon rains, wreaking havoc to properties and lives. And in these trying times, our Filipino essence have once again sailed and prevailed through the storms. There are countless incidents shown on television, broadcast over the radio, published in newspapers and the Internet about these heroic tales which do not need further mentioning. But there is one thing that MUST be said: We are a proud country.

Don’t get me wrong. This is not overrated patriotism or publicity for the country’s development. This is just a chronicle of what Filipinos can and will do, a history of Filipino pride. Speaking of pride, the honor of being who you are or where you are from is not something that is to be proven. It is something beyond what our senses can perceive. It is something felt deep inside. That’s your being a Filipino.