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What do Hawaii and Guam have in common besides their
dependence on Japanese tourists? They both stay under US rule. We
can’t say the same for us. We were a US colony, then we became a
commonwealth, and now we’re just a common third world country
overrun with corruption, scandals, overpopulation, and environmental
degradation. Former President Manuel Quezon once said, “I prefer a
country run like hell by Filipinos to a country run like heaven by
Americans. Because, however bad a Filipino government might be, we
can always change it.” Talk about self-fulfilling prophecy.
What good is independence if you
don’t have food on the table? No disrespect to our old leaders who
fought for our freedom, but what the hell were they thinking? Sure,
I’m all for freedom and sticking it to the man. But I’m also for
prosperity, peace, a clean environment, a milkshake and a
cheeseburger [or better yet, some native delicacy, like a Jollibee
cheeseburger —Ed].
My hunch, which is heavily based
on the conspiracy theory of my aunt who was around during Rizal and
Lapu-Lapu’s time, is that our politicians opted for independence
because they could make more money that way. I wouldn’t be
surprised if this were true seeing that political figures always
disguise their ulterior motives as “for the betterment of the
Filipino people.”
Before you accuse me of being
un-nationalistic, think about my point. Isn’t hoping good fortune,
comfort, and security for our poor people being nationalistic? The
United States may be far from perfect, but the plight of our country
is far worse. Don’t get me wrong, I love my country for its beauty
and cheap labor and that’s why I choose to live here. But let’s
start getting our act together and make our independence worth
something. No offense, ex-president Quezon, but let us choose a
country run like heaven by Filipinos.
For your independent reactions
e-mail the author at tim@timtayag.com.
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