We have heard the story many times; on June 12, 1898 we witnessed the unfurling of the Philippine Flag that bore the three stars and a sun as the Lupang Hinirang fell in the background and Filipinos finally proclaimed their long fought freedom. But over a centennial and two decades after, we still raise our flag high up but now with an even bigger threat to our independence and the question if we Filipinos ever really embodied at the very least in our culture, the true essence of our freedom?
I had a professor in college who once told us that Filipinos today are remnants of broken pieces from hundreds of years of colonization — a pertinent factor that played a role in our perception of what is superior.
That made me think. One did not have to look into history books to see how clearly Filipinos are still held captive by conservatism and a strong presence of colonial mentality to this day.
Growing up Filipino-American, it saddens me that in my younger years, I took more pride in being American than I did being Filipino.
That pride stemmed from the pleased remarks I received from teachers, family, and friends who all somehow found myself being American as something significant. People always seemed to put a pedestal on me whenever they heard my last name. In turn, it made me believe that being American garnered better treatment and a higher esteem.
We continue to advocate cultural colonialism in the way we teach our children to tackle issues and perceive others, creating an even bigger rift for generations to uphold our own.
There is a colonial ideology in the way we view modern day progression such as same sex marriage and the LGBTQ community.
I cannot count the many times I have received bible lectures from family and friends whenever I posted a write up in support of the LGBTQ community — perhaps a result from Spanish conservative Catholicism that continues to dominate our culture.
There is a colonial ideology and white supremacy thinking in the way we view beauty standards.
I cannot count the many times when I was made fun of because of the color of my skin. I cannot count the many times when I saw horrible marketing tactics and racist innuendo from Filipino whitening products. Perhaps we adapted this from European and American racism.
There is a colonial ideology in the way we view mental health and how we continue to promote the solution of prayer to get rid our ‘inner demons’ where the emphasis lies on religion rather than the need for professional help — a thinking that potentially stems from Filipinos’ strong ties to Catholicism and the inability for us to move forward in the medical sphere.
As a child, my panic disorder was initially met with family members telling me to pray and to simply get out of my head without understanding the uncontrollable and immeasurable fear it brings.
There is a colonial ideology in the way we tell our children how better life was when the Americans were still present in our country.
We tell this to our children without understanding what imperialism truly means. Although history in fact tells us that the American invasion was far better than that of the Japanese and Spaniards, that did not diminish the fact that imperialism always equates to some form of exploitation of the natives. Imperialism always equates to something negative to the country who is being colonized.
There is a colonial ideology in the way we view modern day activism. There is an enormous threat to our democracy in the way we tell our children to remain silent in fear of someone far superior than us.
In our pursuit of independence, perhaps we need to ask ourselves what independence and freedom truly mean not just by definition, but by value, principle, and virtue.
This question paves the way to understanding the practices and ironclad beliefs we need to sever and unlearn. We need to understand what has to be changed, and how differently must be teach the future generations.
As we stand at the very uncertain history of the existence of our freedom, we are also currently being threatened to perhaps face another imperialism, but this time a force that is not only tolerated, but welcomed with open arms. We watch as another country lays its groundwork on ours as we are slowly being owned again, making us wonder how will this further affect our cultural understanding.
The next time we see a Philippine flag, let us ask ourselves if by heart, pride, and soul, the Philippines is in fact blue over red, or has it always been red over blue — the one that tells us that the fight for all aspects of our independence has never stopped yet.