What does it mean to “love your country”?

Sometimes people see patriotism as nothing more than proclaiming your country to be the best in the world and that every other country is inferior. 

To me, at least, it means 3 things:

1) You care about the land.

2) You care about its culture.

3) You care about its people.

The Philippines is an amazing place. Take away all the man-made structures, pollution and overpopulated cities and what you’d be left with is a virtual utopia of teeming flora and fauna. 

I’ve had the privilege of getting to travel to many parts of this wonderful country and from every place I take more than just beaded bracelets as souvenirs. I’ve also taken many reminders of how blessed I am to be in such a beautiful place: the white beaches and azure waters of Bantayan Island and Bohol; the breathtaking view of the Cordillera mountain range in Sagada; the schools of vibrant fish flitting in and out of the coral jungles off the shoreline of Moalboal, Cebu; the bubbling hot springs of Camiguin; the fresh pine-scented air of Baguio.

I was fortunate enough to experience these things, but a vast majority of my countrymen haven’t, and never will. They live in squalor, amidst the choking, polluted air of our cramped and dirty metros. And oh, the mountains of waste and refuse. Few areas – usually privately owned – in our major cities are free from this. The reality of our land for the masses is not the fine sand of Boracay nor the nice, clean streets of Bonifacio Global City. It is the daily onslaught of filth in the slums, the riverside shanties, the makeshift newspaper beds on the sidewalk. 

To care about the land isn’t to deny or ignore the fact that it is dirty. It is to acknowledge that it IS dirty, that something needs to be done, and then spring to action. Every little bit helps. That one Starbucks cup thrown on the street isn’t going to clean itself up and neither will the rest of the trash.

Our culture has embraced some really annoying habits, shrugging them off as “so typically Filipino”. Filipino time, crab mentality, “bahala na”. 

You know what? I think that’s absolute rubbish. Tardiness, schadenfreude and laziness are not traits that are inherently or exclusively Filipino. The difference is that we’ve excused ourselves from their repercussions by proclaiming it as part of our culture.

What about embracing TRUE Filipino culture? We’re constantly trying to emulate and copy other countries, specifically the USA. We make fun of people with Filipino accents. We think local music is baduy. We don’t take Filipino talent seriously unless it’s recognized by the rest of the world. We have forgone the traditional Barong Tagalog at weddings in favor of the “more sophisticated” Western suit and tie. 

To care about our culture is to embrace what’s good and unique about it, not to continue bad habits.

The saddest thing about being Filipino is the lack of solidarity among its people. This is why it took us 333 years to become independent from Spain and it’s the same reason we continue to point fingers at each other instead of working together to reach our nation’s full potential.

It is always Us vs. Them. The Bisaya vs. the Tagalog. The Muslim vs. the Christian. The Rich vs. the middle class vs. the poor. Enough already! This is why, even though a lot of the things I’ve said aren’t true about me as an individual, I have used the pronouns WE and OUR and US.

Unless we learn to unite, our corrupt, bullying, lying oppressors will continue to use the discord and disorganization to their advantage. How many of the urban poor have voted for corrupt politicians who gave them money, simply because most of the upper and middle class never gave them the time of day before? How many of them distrust the upper and middle class who say that their voices don’t deserve to be heard?

To care about our people is to acknowledge that They are Us. We are They. There is more power in unity than division. Let us always remember that.