WHAT is the “Filipino Dream”?
If you ask anyone, more than half would say it’s to work abroad. Preferably in a European country.
After that, marry a foreigner or get naturalized and claim their family to live there, abandoning the country they were born in.
Sure, sometimes they may visit but their children with have forgotten their culture, their language, their roots.
Every person has the right to make their own decisions in life, but I just find it sad that leaving is such a common desire. For some, it is a necessity in order to improve their lives due to the lack of opportunity in the Philippines.
Why is there a lack of opportunity though? We have a huge work force but capitalism, a corrupt government and colonial mentality make it impossible for us to work for our country. Those who do have the means to change the system can’t.
Why? Because they’re all abroad.
Anyone who has the budget uses it to escape. Even my companions talk about “Pareja de Hecho” to apply for citizenship here in Spain. When I researched what it was, I found out that it means “Domestic Partnership” or in simpler terms, “get a Spanish boyfriend”.
I find it sad that these are talented people who could use the skills and values they learned here to apply back home, but instead they opt to get in bed with some foreign guy to stay here permanently.
When I am asked what my plans are, I am met with strange condescending looks when I say going back home is my biggest priority.
Even my family thinks staying here is better. “Kay ara kana da,” they would say.
Yes I am here and Spain is a lovely country, but it’s NOT my country. I may be deemed foolish but I still believe that if the Filipino desires to make their own country better, they can use their knowledge and skills in the service of their own country rather than somewhere else.
The best examples for me were Jose Rizal and the ilustrados. Yes, they studied and lived abroad, but they never turned their back on the Philippine. They used the skills and knowledge they obtained to develop their home towns and educate the people. Now, you can see the end result as romanticized by so many text books and movies.
The best way to a have this desire is to develop love for your own country. No matter how dirty or messed up it is. Constantly comparing it to other countries just fuels a subconscious insecurity among us.
As long as you have the desire to develop your country, you can. Ranting or posting memes on social media isn’t enough. Neither is sharing “how beautiful our country is” through pictures of tourist spots.
You have to accept the ugly truth and try to fix it. You have to be willing to start from the bottom and work. To offer your blood, sweat and tears to progress. That is how the developed countries we adore so much got to the point they’re in now.
We can make a new Filipino Dream. Instead of dreaming to leave the country we must dream to make it one that is self-sustaining, one where people work abroad because of choice, not out of necessity. One that is developed. One where the citizens have enough opportunity for a career./PN
