Are You Proud To Be A Filipino?

[jgc813]

i used to have been so proud to be a filipino... and never have i imagined that i would want to live or work anywhere else outside the country.

 

but sad to say all that has changed now. a lot of pinoys are claiming that they are proud to be a filipino and that we get upset whenever some foreigner makes negative remarks about our country and race but guys open your eyes! how can u say your proud to be one..... when we see everyone throwing out garbage everywhere, filipinos pissing just about anywhere.

 

corruption, garbage, crab mentality,majority of our people tend to think that they are always right and that they are above anyone else....politicians with their convoys, hell even the jeepney driver thinks that they own the streets and when s@%t happens everyone points his / her pfinger to another and no one seems to accept responsibility.

 

honestly i am no longer proud to be one.

 

Contrary to you, sir/ma'am, I am very proud to be Filipino. Frankly speaking, my father is not. And you know what? I don't even look Filipino. Whenever I go to places where there are a lot of foreigners, people talk to me in English thinking I am a foreigner. They are just surprised when I speak to them in either Tagalog, or any of the major languages (not dialects) of this country, some of which I speak and write rather fluently, bragging aside.

 

And, I have had all the chances of living and working abroad. I have traveled to a lot of places, speak a couple of foreign languages. Heck, I can even have the chance to have two passports if I wanted to.

 

But, no. I only have one -- Philippines. And, being in business, it is difficult to travel with the Philippine passport. There is always a need of that four-lettered sticker pasted inside our passport that makes it thicker as you keep on travelling -- the visa. I could have opted to use a foreign passport which is practically visa free anywhere I could travel in the world for business or pleasure. But I chose not to.

 

Oh, yes. There is one thing I am proud to say -- I pay my taxes correctly and properly and on time. I don't believe in the saying of "tax avoidance," which, many say, is legal and is different from "tax evading."

 

It's true... we may be poor, we may have a lot of flaws, we may be a far cry compared to other countries. Notwithstanding, I still don't know why I love this country. I was born here. I want to die and be buried here.

 

I have many dreams and wishes for this country. I am active in many socio-civic and even political movements. I cry foul when the government does wrong, but I also cheer when we have Filipinos making us proud. I detest the exporting of our countrymen to work abroad, but I also feel warmth when I hear the praises Filipinos receive abroad, and are distinguished as "the workers of choice."

 

And, if by some chance, I would have the chance to be reincarnated, I would still choose to be born as Filipino.

 

God bless this country. God bless all the Filipinos. Let's stop bickering about the negative things we have. All countries have them, believe me. Instead, let's try our best, even in our own small way, to make this country better.

 

Mabuhay tayong lahat!

Edited October 5, 2010 by jgc813

[canonuser]

 

 

Mabuhay tayong lahat!

 

 

JGC! i knew there would be a lot of people here who would disagree with me but i'm actually glad that you decided to reply to my posting.

people like you do make me proud to be a Filipino unfortunately there are just so few people out there like you who would really REALLY want to make a difference without any hidden agendas.

 

i shared the same opinions you had once and actually thought i could make a difference unfortunately there are just so many things that made me change my position.

 

I hope i am wrong but i guess its easier for you here because as you've said you look "foreign" and a sad fact of the philippine culture is that majority of the people here look up to caucasians.

 

I would like to point out a situation which a good friend experienced.....

just a back ground on my friend... she's an artist who graduated from UP.....one of the smartest, most creative person i know, she's small, dark and looks a bit exotic. but not in a bad way of course.

anyway she was denied entry inside a resto within greenbelt because according to the guard and the manager, the resto had a dress code to follow and that she was wearing slippers.

 

unfortunately we saw foreigners and fair skinned mestizas inside that same resto havin a meal who are in shorts, undershirts and slippers. we pointed this out to the manager and the guard but they just simply said "pasensya na bawal talaga" labo di ba?

my point is that, its hard to be proud to be a filipino nowadays when Filipinos get discriminated by Filipinos. gets?

 

anyway i'm not here to argue im just trying to point out some small things why im not soo proud to be one anymore.

 

peace bro! and like what you've said...... mabuhay!

[jgc813]

 

I hope i am wrong but i guess its easier for you here because as you've said you look "foreign" and a sad fact of the philippine culture is that majority of the people here look up to caucasians.

 

Probably, you're right. I may look foreign, but I'm not caucasian. Still, my features are asian. Besides, I almost always speak to people in Filipino, hence, from the start, I let them know I'm Filipino.

 

 

I would like to point out a situation which a good friend experienced.....

just a back ground on my friend... she's an artist who graduated from UP.....one of the smartest, most creative person i know, she's small, dark and looks a bit exotic. but not in a bad way of course.

anyway she was denied entry inside a resto within greenbelt because according to the guard and the manager, the resto had a dress code to follow and that she was wearing slippers.

 

unfortunately we saw foreigners and fair skinned mestizas inside that same resto havin a meal who are in shorts, undershirts and slippers. we pointed this out to the manager and the guard but they just simply said "pasensya na bawal talaga" labo di ba?

my point is that, its hard to be proud to be a filipino nowadays when Filipinos get discriminated by Filipinos. gets?

 

Oh, yes... definitely. I totally agree with you regarding your point above.

 

But, in my case, I don't take things like that sitting down. If I were in your friend's place, I'd call for the manager of that establishment and have a talk with him/her about the policies of their resto citing the presence of foreign-looking guests who were accepted and were not in proper dress code.

 

You see, it happened to me several times already, not just here, but elsewhere. I was at the Shanghai airport some years back. I came from a business convention, and was on my way back to Manila.

 

There were a group of Filipino seamen ahead of everyone lining up. People started arriving for checking in their luggage, and securing their boarding passes.

 

All of a sudden, here comes this airline official and started talking condescendingly at our Filipino seafarers telling them that they were not suppose to be there, and that they were suppose to be lining up in another place because they were checking-in as a group. To where he was pointing, I could see that the line was already long, and these our kababayans were there ahead of everyone else.

 

I accosted this airline official, and asked him: "excuse me, are you Filipino?" To which, he replied, "yes, I am." (He was actually Chinese Filipino because I heard him talking to the other personnel in Chinese.)

 

I told him nicely, but firmly, that he was not suppose to talk in the manner he just did to the seafarers. First of all, even if they availed of group tickets and are checking-in their baggages as a group, they are still customers. Second, they were there ahead of the others. There was no sign whatsoever where they were suppose to line-up. If ever they were in the wrong counter, they were suppose to be guided properly, and since they were there early, they should be given the privilege to check-in ahead of the others who came later. Third, they are Filipinos (like that guy), and as such, they should be treated properly, and not like as if they were second-class individuals.

 

There and then, I asked for the manager of the airlines, and I spoke with the manager complaining about the rudeness of this one airline personnel. I spoke with his boss in front of everyone to hear, so that they would know what is the proper way of treating their customers, more so, their fellow countrymen. The manager apologized, so too, the guy who, somehow, mistreated the seamen.

 

The seafarers there clapped so loudly, and you can hear several negative comments from them. "Buti nga sa kanya," some of them were heard saying. "Akala mo kasi kung sino sya!"

 

There are so many things like this both here and abroad. Filipinos mistreating each other. And, if we were to enumerate all the negative things about our country, and about us, I'm sure, we can talk until kingdom come.

 

Notwithstanding, that does not take away my pride in being Filipino. Why? Because I honestly believe, there are also a lot of positive things about us regardless the poverty, filth, and corruption that there is in this country. And I would like to focus more on what I see as positive, and I would also try my best to improve on what can be improved even if it will be just me doing those things, e.g., respecting traffic lights, not littering, fulfilling my obligations as a citizen like voting and paying my taxes, and trying to help, in my own way, the economy of this country and the lives of our fellow Filipinos.

 

So, there you have it. But, I'm also glad there are individuals like you who are critical of our country and the negative things about us and our society. Critics help us see better what needs to be checked, corrected, and improved on.

 

Mabuhay tayong lahat! More power to you!

[canonuser]

 

 

Mabuhay tayong lahat! More power to you!

 

 

 

well said JGC! : )

[knoll1234]

yes I am and my foreign friends can attest to that. Mr. F. rauch, Mr. G. barker, Mr. B.H.goh, mr. s. Sheppard, etc. one american, the next australian, then malaysian and the last is an englishman, also mr. N.K. patel from india and H. Namiki from Japan.....they can tell you why I am proud to be pinoy through and through. ( even if pinas did not give me anything special).

Edited October 7, 2010 by knoll1234

[Itto Ogami]

here...

 

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_3Lud_9_uocs/TLoRo_BFvtI/AAAAAAAAB8w/QZMyeEtAzLk/pinoy-1.gif

 

take one and pass.

[omegared]

Proud to be a Filipino.

[staringatdsun]

oo..proud to be pinoy

 

wherever i am in the world...

 

what is there to be proud of? a lot actually..

 

saan ka makakakita anywhere in the world ng traffic enforcer na nagsasayaw?

 

saan ka makakakita ng isang pamilya na isang beses na nga lang kumain sa isang araw pero nakukuha pang magalok sa iba?

 

tignan mo lang ang sarili mo sa salamin---arent you proud to be you?

[dennisg]

here's the deal I have never, never ever let anybody mess my being filipino, I am proud as a pinoy. Even if pinas has done nothing great for me. no dayuhan ever said something about my race and never answered that dayuhan back. once in europe a group of skinheads shouted at me "go home chink"!!! I shouted back at them @##$ u, as@@@#holes!!!. an american said once to me, u are just here for the money because you ARE POOR. I said to him, f@###k off, first, I don't work here i am a visitor. second, you cannot afford to go to pinas and survive a day saying that thing to me now.

 

 

I was invited by a company in the US for training and seminar so i had to go and visit the US embassy here in KSA. I was asked during the interview by the embassy officer "Is Philippines, a nice place?" I answered "well there's no place like home" he asked me "Why are you here in here?", I said "for the money?" Then the embassy officer concluded "So you have a poor country and you have to work here?" I answered back "Yeah, probably better than yours "

 

Guess what

 

<---- Visa denied

[dennisg]

i used to have been so proud to be a filipino... and never have i imagined that i would want to live or work anywhere else outside the country.

 

but sad to say all that has changed now. a lot of pinoys are claiming that they are proud to be a filipino and that we get upset whenever some foreigner makes negative remarks about our country and race but guys open your eyes! how can u say your proud to be one..... when we see everyone throwing out garbage everywhere, filipinos pissing just about anywhere.

 

corruption, garbage, crab mentality,majority of our people tend to think that they are always right and that they are above anyone else....politicians with their convoys, hell even the jeepney driver thinks that they own the streets and when s@%t happens everyone points his / her pfinger to another and no one seems to accept responsibility.

 

honestly i am no longer proud to be one.

 

 

No offense Sir, if you're not proud to be a Filipino anymore then to which group would you want to be in? (american? japanese? arab )

[nino1481]

always. gud or bad times always proud to be pinoy

[tequila5]

I can say, YES. Kasi, maraming bagay na pwedeng ipagmalaki bilang Pilipino. Like, yung paggalang sa matatanda, pagmano sa kanila. Then, yung magagaling nating atleta at singers. Kahit na may mga bagay na kahiya-hiyang pinaguusapan, tulad nung mga hostage-taking, at pangingidnap, masasabi ko na proud pa rin ako na Pinoy ang lahi ko.

[ReDBaByBuRn]

yes.

[cockachoo]

proud na proud!!!

[mbt31]

For dammed sure i am. I'm chinese in ethnicity n culture but im a chinese filipino. Not a filipino chinese. Chinese is just The adjrctive thar describes my being

 

For dammed sure i am. I'm chinese in ethnicity n culture but im a chinese filipino. Not a filipino chinese. Chinese is just The adjrctive thar describes my being