Being a Filipino today

The Philippines is 'news' once again, though in a very bad light, after the August 23 Luneta hostage taking which took the lives of eight Hong Kong tourists.

Since we don't watch TV shows at home - as a way to shield the kids from undesirable concepts - I never really saw or heard about the crisis that fateful day. The closest I got was overhearing a radio program covering the incident, while I was buying at the market in Kamuning. From what I heard, I picked out that a hostage incident involving a police officer in Quirino Grandstand was going on. I thought somebody was holding the police officer hostage, the truth was the other way around.

At the end of the day, husband told me about the real story. And it became talk of the town for that week, even up to this day. Even our pastor cannot help but talk about it. He was egging the congregation to be mindful of their influence, that we are all connected and each of us carries the nation with him - to become excellent, as the best way to answer this dilemma that has put the country and the brown race in total disgust by the whole world.

First thing that came to mind when I learned all about it, I cried in a very panicky tone, Naku, na-confirm namin lahat ng sinasabi ni Chip Tsao. It was terrible - especially because eight tourists died, due to our mediocrity. Kawawa naman yung mga OFWs namin. We really are our own enemies.

Our family has been to Hong Kong early this year, and we saw a lot of Filipinos there. Filipinos who are domestic helpers. Sa totoo lang, ito yung dahilan kung bakit ayaw kong lumabas ng bansa e. Ang sakit kase, nakakainit ng dugo, nakaka-antig ng puso, tapos wala akong magawa?

In all sincerity, it really is tough to be a Filipino today - whether abroad or locally. This article has been saved in my drafts for very long now, I can't finish it because emotions prevent me from thinking straight. Plus, much has been said about it. I don't want to add. But I would like my kids to know that in this tough time, we - their parents chose to side with the good - to stay here in the Philippines and be with them; raise them around a culture that is ours, rich and worthy to be proud of; discover our own history together and learn from them; strive to be excellent in a global perspective despite the overwhelming mediocrity around; to live simply, humbly yet generously; to get involved in the lives of people around us positively.

Let us all learn from this mistake.