Category: This Thing Called ‘Life’

The dictionary defines fate as “forces outside your control that make things happen.”

In this age and time where almost any event -past or present- can be explained by science, the concept of a God or a “Supreme Being” dominating us is simply a myth — just another concoction of the human mind.  But, is it?

Science and religion (or just the belief in a ‘superior being’) are strange bedfellows that govern our lives once we’re brought forth. 

We were not given a choice to be born, but we also don’t want our existence to be predictable and measurable by one of the main branches of science – mathematics (together with logic).

Today, we have created all the tools to predict and manipulate one’s thoughts and way of life.  Money, media, advances in travel, and, of course, technology have made this planet seem smaller and more accessible.  These, together with the explosive increase in the world’s population, had completed the circle for any individual’s quest to stand out and be the envy of others— an obsession for some people.

But in this context, humans forget that life is not an exact science and that everyone’s life is unpredictable.  While genetics has shown that traits, abilities, diseases, and life spans can be passed on or measured, life’s immeasurable variables are just too much for science.  Even the science of weather forecasting can be wrong.

Humans are not robots that can all be shepherded into a controlled environment for the masters to have total control over their slaves.  The human brain is too complex for even science, and its fantastic role in human advancement has barely scratched the surface of how it works — every individual is unique.

Multiply those variables by the global population, and you’ll get a result that is too overwhelming for science or mathematics to measure accurately. And humans keep evolving.

Despite this, a few people try to manipulate others into thinking or perceiving the concept of good and evil in a certain way. Some do it for pure monetary gain, some for raw power, and some do it because it is in their ‘genetic makeup’ (inherent), or so it seems.

Media, money, and technology are prime examples of how these supposedly helpful human-made tools have manipulated people’s perceptions of reality, as well as the distinction between good and evil. More so in advanced countries, where crass materialism had permeated daily life, much like the use of a spoon and fork.

It’s also disheartening that some news media have abandoned the truth, even bits and pieces of it, for the sake of ratings and sensationalism, which equates to more money. They had gone so low in favor of makeup and flesh over grey matter.

A few people had also used the same tools for their glory. Goodness, or what is generally perceived as good in society, doesn’t matter as long as they live the good life, the envy of others, and their goals are achieved.

For these few, morality no longer matters. Everything could be bought and turned into their lapdogs.

What God? I am God. “Look, I am too popular! I could do anything I wanted, and it was all too easy!”

But it’s also too easy for science to remind us that if someone achieves power and truly believes he’s among the gods, he goes mad.  And Fate steps in.

With their belief in many gods and goddesses, the ancient Greeks and Romans constantly reminded us that some form of tragedy awaits mere mortals once they cross that invisible line separating humans from the gods.  The Greeks even have a word for it – hubris. 

Therefore, whether humans evolved by natural design or not, the ability to perceive what’s good or bad seems to be a “built-in mechanism”; it’s “wired” into our nature.  Nobody has to tell the other what’s good or bad.

In the end, despite fame, fortune, and adulation, a person’s communion with oneself reveals that the voice within our hearts grows louder as one nears the end of life. 

As if the Fates keep whispering in our ears that they are always around to keep an eye on us and what we do— that They are the Masters of our destinies.

Who would not want a new car or a new SUV?  I mean, in a poverty-stricken country like the Philippines, it is very sardonic to see that while most people still complain about not having enough money to make both ends meet, the majority still quench their insatiable thirst for imported cars, be it through installment plans or cash.

Go to the nearest highway, and one would see a fleet of Fortuners, Monteros, Imprezas, Accents, and many more Japanese, American, or European cars passing by the ramshackle jeepney — pure mockery at its very best.

For coffee lovers and those who are pretending to be such, who can resist a posh place like Gloria Jean’s or Seattle’s Best for a tall, expensive frap, frape, prafe??  Well, whatever the spelling is and a small and costly blueberry cheesecake.  After all, nobody wants to miss the complicated bar counter, behind which all the blenders and grinders are displayed as if to remind you they really do process your cappuccino. Have you noticed how foreign coffee shops have sprouted all over the archipelago and have slowly but surely taken the place of malls, parks, fast-food chains, and even cockpit arenas?

Well, that is just coffee, let us switch to technology. When it comes to cellular phones or other gadgets, Filipinos would never ever be the last human race to use the latest Apple-manufactured piece of communication device, despite the fact that it really is expensive.

A phone is a necessity these days, but it makes me wonder why an average Pinoy (Filipino) worker, despite the daily earnings of the minimum wage, which just suits his payment for house rental, electricity, water bills, and food, opts to purchase this product of the late Steve Jobs over the cheaper phone. A 45,000-peso phone, or over 3,000 worth of a locally made phone? Come on, it’s no longer a matter of freedom or choice –it’s already wanton frolic.

Apart from the purchase of imported cars, brewed coffee, and sophisticated phones, there are other things that really violate our sense of nationalism.  A perfect example is Filipinos who spend their life-savings just to set foot in foreign countries for vacation.

Filipino travelers would often blurt out, “There is a promo for a one-week stay at the Venetian in Macau, let’s grab it,” or “I will never ever get to visit Singapore again, so why don’t we grab the Cebu Pacific promo?”

Visiting foreign countries and cities, rather than touring local places like Dingalan, Pagudpud, Puerto Princesa, or even the overly abused Boracay, gives everyone the impression that there is no decent place to visit in the Philippines at all.  It’s no wonder that travel agencies promote scenic areas in other countries, such as the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, and Sao Paulo Beach. They know how to flatter Filipinos because they can see through us.

There really is no accurate rationale as to why we are into anything external or foreign. The closest thing to support the notion of colonial mentality among Filipinos is that we have been conquered by a handful of colonizers. In Teodoro Agoncillo’s book “History of the Filipino People” (1960), the author stated that long before the arrival of the Spaniards in 1521, we had been in constant trade with the Chinese people. The trade, which was then called the “Porcelain Trade,” probably started centuries before the advent of the Sung Dynasty. The Chinese exchanged silk, porcelain, colored glass, beads, and ironware for hemp cloth, tortoise shells, pearls, and yellow wax of the Filipinos. The exchange of goods started as early as 960 AD, before the accidental arrival of the Spaniards in 1521.

And so it happened.

The arrival of the European conquistadores brought a new phase and meaning to the lives and mindset of the Filipinos. We learned to integrate Spanish into our own language, even naming the Philippines after the Spanish crown prince who ultimately became king (King Philip II). Provinces in the Philippines were renamed with Spanish names, such as Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya, Laguna, Isabela, La Union, Antique, Marinduque, Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, and Valle de Compostela. Beyond this naming of places, the greatest influence the Spaniards have left us is the faith in Roman Catholicism. Filipinos at home set up an altar in the Hispanic tradition, adorned with Catholic images, flowers, and candles, as they have internalized the observance of fiestas (religious festivals), devotion, the rosary, baptism, and many more.

Along came the Americans. After the defeat of the Spaniards by the Americans, led by General George Dewey, in the war dubbed the “Battle of Manila” in 1899, the Americans took the liberty of controlling and influencing the Filipinos. In the early years, there were conflicts between the US and the Philippines, but during World War I, they came together, and the Filipinos fought alongside the Americans, and their relationship became much friendlier.

As we solidify our pact with the “land of the free and the home of the brave“, we become more attached to their customs and traditions. Nobody can deny that the greatest contributions Americans have made are democracy and education. To cite all the things that we inherited from Uncle Joe is impossible, for they are innumerable. American influence on Filipino clothing is apparent to this day. We often see people wearing belts, suspenders, tennis shoes, bonnets, high heels, and cosmetics. For food, Filipinos are accustomed to U.S.-based staples like hamburgers, sandwiches, oatmeal, ketchup, apple pie, mayonnaise, hot dogs, steak, ice cream, cornflakes, and many more.

Seventy-one years have passed since the Philippines tasted true freedom and democracy, yet its beloved citizens are still, or should I say, intentionally glued to anything that is international in concept. Our colonial mentality should no longer be attributed to the colonizers because, for a long period of time, they are gone. After the Second World War ended in 1945, the US declared that we were an independent nation and that we would, from that moment, stand on our own, build our own nation, govern our people, and make ourselves proud of what we could make of our country.

Yes, we have been standing on our own. For quite some time, we have been electing our leaders, we have drafted our constitution dedicated to democracy, we have been blessed with job opportunities, and we have seen the ingenuity of many of our fellow countrymen in the fields of business, the arts, academe, and even sports. When accumulated, these things would foster national pride and patriotism. But the “accumulation” never happened in the Philippines.

Nationalism and patriotism are things not difficult to conceive. It is just a matter of self-worth, confidence in the citizens’ competence, and pride. Just take a look at Japan, its people may be ridiculed for being awful English speakers, but nobody can take away the fact that it is a land with citizens deeply attached to their flag, to their country, and to their identity.

By despising imported goods, Japan was able to produce its own products in the fields of automobiles, heavy industries, and gadgets. Everyone is definitely familiar with brands such as Toyota, Mitsubishi, Honda, Nissan, Subaru, Yamaha, Kawasaki, Sony, Sanyo, and the list goes on and on. The same principle of nationalism applies to countries like Germany, Italy, France, and even China.

While more and more countries are gradually realizing the essence and beauty of selfhood, the story is different here in the Philippines. Here, the bandwagon culture is a cliché: We have been deeply in love with anything Western in concept. We always want to exclude ourselves from the bondage of traditionalism, and although it does not manifest verbally, we always deny our being Filipinos, for we love imported goods.

Just how badly have we opposed our being Filipinos? Instead of settling for a more affordable and locally-made brand of leather shoes, a typical Filipino would hand his ever hidden credit card to the ethical staff at the counter in exchange for the expensive and imported Kickers, Hush Puppies, Timberland, or Oleg Cassini. I’m sure the reason isn’t about durability or longevity.

What about the means of transportation, particularly cars? Try going to EDSA, and anyone would notice that many billboards post inviting marketing strategies like “Vios, 20K Downpayment, No Hidden Charges.” Car manufacturers know that the Philippines is and will forever be a third-world country, yet they still thrive in selling cars to us. And the business is so good that everywhere you turn, there will always be car casas (dealerships) regularly visited by an average businessman, a call center agent, a teacher, and even a college student whose dad is a seafarer.

The funny thing is that people purchase cars for the reason beyond practicality – that they work near their residence and they don’t need cars at all, that they know that the streets of Manila are just like a huge parking space during rush hours, that they know that sooner or later they would have their car pulled out by the bank because they could no longer afford to pay for it. Pathetic as it may seem, Filipinos buy imported cars, not for a reasonable cause but to delight their ego.

Gadgets are undeniably a necessity nowadays. In a fast-paced world, people need smartphones for easy access to email, messages, and important and unimportant calls. We are not Amish people whose contentment rests on their shrugging at what is contemporary. But while it is clear to us Filipinos the value of gadgets, particularly cellphones, it remains an enigma why we settle for expensive, imported brands. Is it the speed? I bet locally made phones are just as fast at processing. Is it the phone’s user-friendliness? I’m certain it is also easy to write text messages on My Phone, Torque, and Cherry Mobile. Is it the design? The size? The weight? The color? Or is it the brand?

To realize just how strong our attachment is to Apple, Samsung, Asus, and other foreign brands, just look at students, people in the BPO industry, people in the corporate world, service crew at a fast-food chain, construction workers, and even the jobless and bystanders. They all have this phone with an apple with a bite taken out of it on the back. Parents would give their kikay daughters an imported phone on the latter’s birthday, saying, “You deserve nothing less, anak (my daughter)”.  A service crew would avail of an iPhone 7 even if it meant paying for it over the full 12 months at a staggering 30% interest rate. Truly amazing. What is funnier is that the same features found in these imported phones can also be found in locally made ones… at a reasonable, lower price.

Then we have our fellow kababayans (countrymen) who love to travel, as discussed earlier. They go to France to see that tall, metal structure in Paris. They travel to Hong Kong to ride the roller coaster at Disneyland and take a picture with Mickey and Donald. They travel to Cambodia to see the largest religious monument in the world, to see the lovely bones of the victims of Pol Pot, and to see where the film “The Killing Fields” was filmed.

They travel to London to ride The Eye, to have a selfie with Big Ben in the background, to walk at Trafalgar Square, to watch the concert of Ed Sheeran at Hyde Park, and to feel the bloody English weather. They travel to Kenya to pose with African children, ride a Land Rover, see animals on the Serengeti Plain, and hunt and shoot poor antelopes to get their antlers. The farther they travel, the happier they become. As the number of countries they have visited increases, they become more satisfied and proud.

The author sees no problem with these explorations and escapades, for travel equates to education. When one travels, they gain firsthand experience and accounts of what is really going on around the world. After all, it is their money they are spending. What is bothering is that while these Filipinos crave the elegance of international tourist spots, they fail to notice the grandeur of the Philippines.

What about visiting Camarines Norte for surfing, Baguio for the cold weather and for upland fruits and vegetables, Puerto Princesa for an underground river tour, Ilocos Norte for sand surfing, Quezon province for a series of pilgrimages, and even Intramuros for a look back at how our beloved Jose Rizal (the country’s national hero) spent his last few hours. It is painful to see Filipinos flock to distant lands for leisurely visits and neglect the scenic places in our own realm. It is as atrocious as not wanting mom’s home-made adobo and preferring to eat at a swanky restaurant.

Why Filipinos are suckers for anything that is Western in concept remains a riddle. Youngsters who play basketball in the streets of Manila are often seen wearing Nike. Yes, Nike, the company that employs minors in China. Ask them why such a brand is chosen, and not MSE or Natasha, and you will be bombarded with answers like “It’s light, it’s durable, it’s classy, it unleashes the athleticism in me, blah, blah, blah”.

True enough, the aspect of toughness is unquestionable. The catch is: why do some kiddos and teenagers wear imitation Jordans and Kobes? I’m sure it is not a matter of the shoes’ reliability, because class A’s are made with substandard materials. The painful truth is that we are only after the brand – to be noticed, to be seen as prosperous, to be on the bandwagon, to wear what the wealthy people wear, and worst of all, to be accepted.

For automotive enthusiasts, it is almost taboo to purchase a Cavite-manufactured owner-type jeep. A typical dad could never force his teenage daughter to be taken to school in a filthy owner’s jeep because for the poor girl, it is baduy. A typical white-collar guy would not want to go to Starbucks, parking his stainless steel owner jeep next to Foresters and Ecosports. For sure, it will be photographed by the Conyos and ridiculed as a “fly in a glass of milk”.

Nowadays, what is cool should be the possession of pick up trucks ridden by the tough guys in Texas (even though pick up trucks are built for farm or ranch and not for urban areas like Manila), possession of a muscle car that is a prototype of what Vin Diesel used in his famous movies about racing, possession of Maserati, Ferrari and Lamborghini even if these cars were designed only for wide freeways, something which we do not have. Can you imagine what it is like driving a Lambo in the chaotic and narrow streets of Manila? The Philippine-made owner-type jeep is really the perfect toy to roam our dilapidated streets. Again, when it comes to cars, the concept of colonial mentality overpowers our sanity.

Readers might question the author’s dislike of buying imported stuff. Critics would say, “It is our hard-earned money after all, and we have all the liberty this world has to offer when it comes to purchasing whatever we want to buy”. True enough, we are entitled to our decisions, and nobody has a right to tell us to buy this and not that, to do this and not that.

But the underlying dangers and drawbacks of colonial mentality are as bad as self-destruction. Naïve people who love to sport their Jordans, Ford Everest, Fire Floss from Le Couer de France, and Sperry Top-Sider without directly realizing their effect on our economy and our morality as Filipinos. By buying Jordans, we strip our local shoemakers of the chance to show their creativity, brilliance, and earn a living. By buying iPhones rather than Cherries and Torques, we are, backhandedly, telling our homegrown electronics engineers, technicians, and IT experts that their toil does not merit our applause and support.

We always degrade locally made gadgets, and we often complain that they are difficult to use. But we should also recognize that the very reason local companies could not manufacture better versions is that they lack the support of Filipinos. Should we buy their Cherries, the company would generate enough funds to upgrade their phones and tablets. Moreover, by buying Fortuners and Monteros, we are closing the door to producing our own automotive brand.

If you visit the Sarao Jeep Company factory in Las Pinas, you would see how grubby and sordid the place is. Workers are without sophisticated machinery, without definite buyers, and, worst of all, without hope. But just as dirty and blackened the hands of these patriotic workers are, Filipinos’ hands are also dirty. We can never wash our hands of the dirt of our distrust in the capability and competence of our local car makers. How I wish that in my lifetime, I would be able to drive a vehicle made in the Philippines and manufactured by the Filipinos.

The damage of the colonial mentality does not only extend to the economic aspect. More than currency, colonialism deeply cuts through our sense of national pride, which will leave us bleeding until the death of our morality. By buying goods from other countries, the notion that the Philippines cannot produce anything good will boomerang to us, and it will haunt even our posterity.

Colonial mentality is a vulgar display of our dislike for anything Filipino, which reflects our self-hatred. But worse than patronizing anything international, we are already longing to be what we are not. We Filipinos, for a long period of time, have done idiotic things to escape our beautiful identity. We blonde our hair, we apply skin whitening lotion, we imitate the accent of the stupid newscaster from the BBC news, and we indirectly deny our being Filipinos. This reality crushes me into pieces.

We may not possess the wealth of superior countries, we may not have those Ferrari, Aprilia, and Ducati factories that are regularly featured on the National Geographic Channel. We may not have the tallest building on earth, the fastest train, or the cable ride overlooking the snow-capped mountains like those in the Rockies near Denver, Colorado. We may not have the pointed nose, the so-called superior white skin, or the “bloody” British accent.

But Filipinos are superior in a different sense. We are a beautiful people whose resiliency has defied and thrown oppressors in the past. We are a beautiful people whose soil is fertile, enabling us to grow delicious fruits and vegetables. We are beautiful people who, despite the hardships of life, flaunt a contagious and genuine smile to encourage others. And since we are beautiful, it is not impossible for us to produce beautiful things in the field of science, arts, economics, technology, and the like.

There is no need for a colonial mentality, self-hatred, or distrust of our potential.

We are beautiful.

(Ronald B. Polong is a frustrated writer who removes his dentures before he sleeps and places them in an empty Cheez-Whiz bottle, with water, of course. He currently lives in Nueva Ecija with his wife, three boys (two are twins), a brood of roosters and hens, ducks, and an old dog.)