The Lack of Patriotism in the Philippines

I would like to offer my analysis to a perplexing aspect of the Philippines: the apparent lack of patriotism among Filipinos. I am writing as only an outside observer and even my understanding of what patriotism actually means may differ from other people. I wouldn't consider myself a patriot at least by the conventional American terminology. That doesn't mean I don't love America but I don't believe in American exceptionalism in any way. A lot of Americans think that to be a patriot you have to believe America really is the best country and the shining light of freedom in the world. You can't whitewash the entire history of the United States just to paint a nice national narrative. I hold my criticism and occasional disdain for aspects of the history of the United States but that does not change the fact that I love my country. Love is no a pros vs. cons calculation. Real love in unconditional but with realizations of the imperfections of the subject of your love. I feel the same way about Israel.

The Philippines is a completely different story. This is a country where before a movie is shown in a movie theater they play the national anthem. Actually almost every conference and seminar I've been to has begun with the national anthem and a prayer. Also, since I do live in the national capital there are of course Filipino flags regularly flying and for a visitor the Filipinos seem to demonstrate a strong pride in their country. I have met an array of different people from across this country and I can safely say that the outward display of patriotism is really an expression of an inner emptiness. Since students are usually politically active, what they say about the government or the state of the affairs of the country can be a good litmus test or at least a good place to start in order to understand. I have met a wide array of students here; from the obsessive political activists to the empty-headed sons and daughters of the rich and the honest ones in between. The politically minded seem to always have something to complain about; whether it's the corruption of government officials or the inability of the government to protect the rights of Filipinos working abroad or just the general inadequacy of the government and their servile mentality towards neo-liberal American economic pressure. Unfortunately I have spent considerable time with students from very wealthy families. It's hard for me to describe how much I dislike this aspect of my time here. It is as if they were trying to imitate Americans but they chose the worst people to imitate; it's like hanging with the people I always hated in high school. I didn't like that group of people in high school and chilling with people that apparently emulate them just drives me crazy. These people generally don't offer any sort of constructive opinions and generally talk about how much they paid for their sunglasses and how better the rest of the world is compared to the Philippines. I'm not really being fair but seriously god dammit, I can't stand these people. The majority of students fall in between these two categories. I have had a lot of meaningful conversations about Filipino history and politics with people of every part of the political spectrum. I have heard Filipinos describe Ferdinand Marcos as the best leader the Philippines has ever had and people call him the worst of the worst. I have head people sing praises of the Filipino democratic institutions and how the Philippines was the first Asian country to revolt against colonialism and create a representative government. I have heard people describe this country as America's stooge. A girl even explained to me that what the Philippines really needs is another strong dictator to take this country to the forefront of history. The basic point I am trying to make is that there are cacophony of opinions. This is a positive sign and a symptom of a thriving democracy.

The problem with taking opinions of students seriously is that they do not usually know what they're talking about and are deluded with idealism. How many seminars can you have about development? People complain about the ivory tower of American universities in the states but I feel like the problem is worse here. I have discussed politics with other older people and I have heard a similar amount of discordant opinions but lacking the optimism. Usually when a middle-aged person tells me their political opinion it is laced with cynicism or a “What do you expect?” attitude. I have a feeling that if one had avidly followed Philippine politics for last 30 years they would probably develop a large amount of cynicism also. Every administration has big promises and a populist message to get the impoverished voters on their side but the corruption and the stagnation of the effort to alleviate poverty maintain the same. In light of all of this, I will say that Filipinos are not politically minded. They sometimes remind of the general political apathy I sense among the Japanese. But are political apathy and patriotism tied together? I have very rarely found a Japanese person that wants to discuss politics or really has any interest in it at all. Filipinos I would say have a stronger interest and it is reflected in the political turmoil here. The Liberal Democratic Party was continually elected in Japan for around 50 years and as long as the economy is not in crisis they have stayed in power. It seems that as long as the economy is good the Japanese will elect the same party to maintain the status quo and they are not particularly interested in the foreign policy of a particular administration. It may seem that the Japanese are completely apathetic about their country but actually they are some of the most patriotic people in the world. The Japanese have a strong pride in their culture. They just don't care about politics.

The Philippines has a democratic and free government but they don't seem to hold that much respect for it and unlike the Japanese, the Filipinos don't have any transcendent national image such as the emperor. You could say that corruption turns people to dislike the government and push them to avoid having anything to do with it but if they really are so disgusted with the corruption why aren't there massive protest and rallies or public outcry. The press is free here and regularly criticizes government corruption but it seems as if it has become old news and people aren't really interested anymore. Aside from politics or respect for a government, I think a shared historical narrative is important for crafting a national identity. Colonialism, the fight against it, and it's vestigial presence is a vital aspect of the problem. I recently read a article that put the colonialism of the Philippines in three stages: Spanish, American, and then internal colonialism. According to this author ever since the Republic of the Philippines has been independent, the national government has “colonized” both culturally and physically the rest of the Philippines. This is an ambiguous and controversial topic and different segments of the population will react differently. In my eyes evidence in her defense would consist of the adoption of a national language: Filipino which is really just the regional language of Tagalog spoken around Manila and parts of Luzon, the government green light to land grabbing in Mindanao by northern Filipinos, the disproportionate appropriation of the nation's resources to Manila, and cultural arrogance of people from Manila. I have a feeling that using the term internal colonialism is a bit misleading and it is really only used by those unwillingly to move past a post-colonial view of the world. This is similar to those within American policy makers that can't seem to move past the Cold War era doctrines. I think the evidence that points to “internal colonialism” is actually just mismanagement of government resources akin to every national government in the world today. In her defense, people in Manila sometimes do have a arrogant attitude. I hear people here refer to everywhere else in the Philippines as “the province”. This attitude can be readily observed in New York as well. I think it's kind of funny when I meet Filipinos from outside Manila and when I ask where they're from they just say “the province”. They are probably just assuming that I don't know any province outside of Manila but there does seem to a cultural polarization where you are either from the city or you aren't. Personally, I don't think this distinction makes sense. I have been to Sablayan, Cebu, Puerto Princessa, Banaue, Batangas, Olongapo, Canabatuan, and some other ones, and I think they are pretty much as developed as Manila in terms of amenities. The size and scale of the skyscrapers of Makati only exist in Makati but in “the province” they have electricity, hospitals, supply of food, nightlife, good universities, and much nicer parks than Manila. Honestly, I think the standard of living of people in Manila is lower than a lot of cities in “the province”.

The Philippines is a culturally and linguistically diverse place and so this may contribute to the lack in patriotism. I think people outside of Manila seem a bit culturally detached from the modern aspects of big city life. America is no different. There has always been a cultural disconnect between those from the big city and those from the smaller towns or countryside. Actually America is very divided: North vs. South, East vs. West, etc. but America is a very patriotic country so although it may be a contributing factor, I do not believe the answer for the lack of patriotism lies in the cultural diversity of this country. Actually, I believe the answer to the question lies in that my understanding “patriotism” is subjective and skewed by my American perspective. Europeans and Americans seem to always compete and compare their countries based on national “achievements” like winning wars, cultural contributions, etc. But I feel like this is a childish way to view the world. The people of this world do not live a convenient fiction of “good vs. evil”. No one is keeping score. Reality has much more depth and room for interpretation. The Filipino is pragmatic when he looks at the world. They respect and admire the achievements of other countries; even their enemies of the past. I have not seen a stronger openness to foreigners than in the Philippines. They recognize the inadequacies of their country and are well-aware that the living standard outside can be much better. I think there is an unanimous appreciation for the Filipino heroes and famous writers, artists, actors, etc. (who the Filipinos all refer to as artistas). So why are Filipinos leaving the Philippines in droves to work abroad? Simply put, the money is better and they need to support their family. I believe cynicism towards the national government is a sign of intelligence and those that believe that the evolution of politics to what we see today as positive are delusional. Yeah, maybe Filipinos are not sitting around all day talking about how awesome the Philippines but again I think that is a sign of intelligence. From what I see the Filipino first cares for his family, than his love, then the livelihood of his community and then when he has time: the affairs of the government. My basic point is that I believe Filipinos are more evolved then myself and their counterparts in the developed world.