Ang Aking SONA

I am no expert in law nor economics. But I just want to point out who we are as of late, our state as a nation:

We are a nation that has little to no love for culture nor an appreciation of it's past, neither are we one that draws inspiration nor wisdom from this illustrious past that we claim as Filipinos. How can we, therefore, move forward when we can't clearly see the past that we have gone through and how can we ever claim love for this country when we can't even claim any love for the people that have shaped our past. What nationalism can we ever have, or even claim?

We celebrate our past in ways that perfectly conceal it: ignoring the main sense of the celebration. What more is there for the people to celebrate occasions like flag day when the people that celebrate it don't have even the slightest idea about the importance of the history of this holiday nor any knowledge about the flag that embodies the very blood and soul of this nation.

The statues we build to honor the men and women that sacrificed everything for this nation are being turned into seas of filth -- the public urinals and toilets of the common people and the trashcan of the society. How can the people appreciate its past when the things that their government build to remember it is being ignored and left to be ruined slowly, dying in the congested metropolitans of this country?

The remaining places of beauty of times of old and the last gems of our cities are being left to rot to a stinking pile of refuse. And the people around them do not even care for whatever happens to these things.

How could the people feel safe in the cities and towns of these places when the police force cannot protect the people they are sworn to protect, evidence of this is the increasing number of crimes in the metropolitan and the suburbs, and when there are people inside the inner workings of the government who are blatantly protecting the people that commit crimes and are perpetrators of the crimes themselves?

We let the people destroy the remaining sites that hold anything of value in our cities... and we keep voting people who let other people break the law right beneath our noses or, in most cases, even right in front of our faces. And we still have this large majority that lets this happen over and over again.

Sure there is improvement: There might be traffic and all, there might be cleaner rivers in some towns and cities and other programs that help the nation...

but we usually forget that the problems are not always caused by those we elect, nor by those put there to manage and protect people, but by the people themselves. There is still a majority that cause problems and have the guts to claim the government as the sole source of all problems.

We forget to demand change and to seek out what is truly beneficial for all of us. We glorify dynasties and we still let them rule no matter how wrong those dynasties work: 

letting them rule for decades even though we ourselves see no change nor development under their rule in exchange for money that some of us get in exchange for votes --- for the future of the cities and towns.

And still we continue.

I hope our nation changes, not just this government. I hope we will all work towards a brighter future.

God Bless Us All.

In pictures:

1. The Fr. Mariano Gomez monument in Bacoor City which was covered by political posters and tarpaulins

2. Wagayway Festival (National Flag Day/Battle of Alapan Anniversary) 2013 in Imus City which was used by the city officials as a political event

3. The Legazpi-Urdaneta Monument, one of the oldest of it's kind in Manila. It is currently damaged by vandals and ignored by the city.

4. and 5. The GOMBURZA (Gomez, Burgos, Zamora) monument in front of the National Museum. Virtually unknown by many, the place stinks and the pond around it is color green due to the mass. Fr. Mariano Gomez, Fr. Jose Burgos and Fray. Jacinto Zamora happens to be the people whose death inspired the revolt of 1896 and many heroes, including Jose Rizal and Andres Bonifacio, who honored them in their own ways.

6. The Manila Metropolitan Theatre sits in the heart of Manila and was once one of the jewels of pre-war Manila. An art deco theatre designed by Juan M. Arellano and Otillio Arellano and was built in 1935. The structure has sculptures by the Italian Sculptor Francesco Monti. The theatre is now unused and generally neglected.

7. The Carriedo Fountain found in Plaza Sta. Cruz, Manila was built in 1882 to honor “Manila's greatest benefactor” Francisco Carriedo y Pedero who donated Php 10,000 to install the very first water system in Manila. The fountain originally stood in Rotonda de Sampaloc until it was transferred to its present site in 1978. The fountain is currently full of dirty water that happens to be filled with trash.

8. The Meralco Headquarters was the masterpiece of Monti and Arellano, a structure that was home to the original Meralco. The building's demolition was halted temporarily. 

9. Aguinaldo Highway is one of main highways of the South. It is plagued by traffic.

10. Estero De Bacoor used to be filled with garbage until it was recently cleaned by the city government to prevent the floods that plague the city.

11. A jeepney loading besides an unloading/loading sign no explanations needed.

12. Bacoor District Hospital is the city government's hospital. Starting construction last year, not much has changed and up today only the ERs are finished.

The rest of the pictures The statue honoring Sen. Revilla Senior, who founded the ruling dynasty of Cavite by fathering children who soon became politicians under his care. The statue marks how the government can spend funds to honor themselves and their family and not the real heroes of the city (ie. Fr. Gomez et al)

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Missing Identity: Filipinas

What is in a name?

It has been decades now since we last used the name Filipinas. 

During that time we were still under the powers of a colonial power that our ancestors fought against... when there was still a government under the General Emilio Aguinaldo, who had himself declared the national president via an election of his province folk, and we were still struggling to stand on our two feet. We have thought of changing it, from the American Philippines and tagalized Pilipinas to the former proposals of using Maharlika and Rizal as the name of our country... and still we are not sure of what our name is supposed to be.

But this recent change speaks in volumes. It just shows everyone that we, after more than a century, still have no definite identity.

We keep on looking for who we are. For who we truly are. We still are reeling in from our days under the flags of different nations that left us scorching too long under suns and stars that we ultimately get blinded by it. We have no concept of what we are now and what we were that we still keep on holding to the culture of others in search for who we are. We are still the "brown Americans" and the "Indios" based on the way we act and define ourselves.

Yes. It is important to look at the past and learn from it but is it really necessary to be stuck in it? Is it really necessary that we have this terrible amnesia that makes us forget the remaining decades beyond those years?  The reason why we can not move on and not move forward is because we keep glorifying our past without making the steps to go back and regain that former glory. 

Look at our music, our films and our telenovelas. We say it is Original. That it is Pinoy. But is it, really?

Beyond the name

It is not the name of our country that needs changing. It is our nation that needs the scrubbing down.

Sure, merge our cultures. But never forget who we are.