Articles for Reflection Paper

7/29/2019 Articles for Reflection Paper

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An Expat's Observation about the Philippines

My decision to move to Manila was not a precipitous one. I used to work in New York as an outside

agent for PAL, and have been coming to the Philippines since August, 1982. I was so impressed with the

country, and with the interesting people I met, some of which have become very close friends to this

day, that I asked for and was granted a year's sabbatical from my teaching job in order to live in thePhilippines. I arrived here on August 21, 1983, several hours after Ninoy Aquino was shot, and remained

here until June of 1984. During that year I visited many parts of the country, from as far north as Laoag

to as far south as Zamboanga, and including Palawan. I became deeply immersed in the history and

culture of the archipelago, and an avid collector of tribal antiquities from both northern Luzon, and

Mindanao.

In subsequent years I visited the Philippines in 1985, 1987, and 1991, before deciding to move here

permanently in 1998. I love this country, but not uncritically, and that is the purpose of this article.

First, however, I will say that I would not consider living anywhere else in Asia, no matter how attractive

certain aspects of other neighboring countries may be. To begin with, and this is most important, with

all its faults, the Philippines is still a democracy, more so than any other nation in Southeast Asia.Despite gross corruption, the legal system generally works, and if ever confronted with having to employ

it, I would feel much more safe trusting the courts here than in any other place in the surrounding area.

The press here is unquestionably the most unfettered and freewheeling in Asia, and I do not believe that

is hyperbole in any way! And if any one thing can be used as a yardstick to measure the extent of the

democratic process in any given country in the world, it is the extent to which the press is free.

But the Philippines is a flawed democracy nevertheless, and the flaws are deeply rooted in the Philippine

psyche. I will elaborate... The basic problem seems to me, after many years of observation, to be a

national inferiority complex, a disturbing lack of pride in being Filipino.

Toward the end of April, I spent eight days in Vietnam, visiting Hanoi Hue, and Ho Chi Minh City. I am

certainly no expert on Vietnam, but what I saw could not be denied: I saw a country ravaged as no other

country has been in this century by thirty years of continuous and incredibly barbaric warfare.

When the Vietnam War ended in April 1975, the country was totally devastated. Yet in the past twenty-

five years the nation has healed and rebuilt itself almost miraculously! The countryside has been

replanted and reforested. Hanoi and HCMC have been beautifully restored. The opera house in Hanoi is

a splendid restoration of the original, modeled after the Opera in Paris, and the gorgeous Second Empire

theater, on the main square of HCMC is as it was when built by the French a century ago. The streets are

tree-lined, clean, and conducive for strolling. Cafes in the French style proliferate on the wide

boulevards of HCMC. I am not praising the government of Vietnam, which still has a long way to travel

on the road to democracy, but I do praise, and praise unstintingly, the pride of the Vietnamese people. It

is due to this pride in being Vietnamese that has enabled its citizenry to undertake the miracle of

restoration that I have described above.

When I returned to Manila I became so depressed that I was actually physically ill for days thereafter.

Why? Well, let's go back to a period when the Philippines resembled the Vietnam of 1975.

It was 1945, the end of World War II, and Manila, as well as many other cities, lay in ruins. (As a matter

of fact, it may not be generally known, but Manila was the second most destroyed city in the entire war;

only Warsaw was more demolished!) But to compare Manila in 1970, twenty-five years after the end of
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the war, with HCMC, twenty-five years after the end of its war, is a sad exercise indeed. Far from

restoring the city to its former glory, by 1970 Manila was well on its way to being the most tawdry city in

Southeast Asia. And since that time the situation has deteriorated alarmingly. We have a city full of

street people, beggars, and squatters. We have a city that floods sections whenever there is a rainstorm,

and that loses electricity with every clap of thunder. We have a city full of potholes, and on these

unrepaired roads we have a traffic situation second to none in the world for sheer unmanageability. We

have rude drivers, taxis that routinely refuse to take passengers because of "many trappic!" The roads

are also cursed with pollution-spewing buses in disreputable states of repair, and that ultimate

anachronism, the jeepney! We have an educational system that allows children to attend schools

without desks or books to accommodate them. Teachers, even college professors, are paid salaries so

disgracefully low that it's a wonder that anyone would want to go into the teaching profession in the

first place. We have a war in Mindanao that nobody seems to have a clue how to settle. The only policy

to deal with the war seems to be to react to what happens daily, with no long range plan whatever. I

could go on and on, but it is an endeavor so filled with futility that it hurts me to go on. It hurts me

because, in spite of everything, I love the Philippines.

Maybe it will sound simplistic, but to go back to what I said above, it is my unshakable belief that the

fundamental thing wrong with this country is a lack of pride in being Filipino. A friend once remarked to

me, laconically: All Filipinos want to be something else. The poor ones want to be American, and the rich

ones all want to be Spaniards. Nobody wants to be Filipino." That statement would appear to be a rather

simplistic one, and perhaps it is. However, I know one Filipino who refuses to enter a theater until the

national anthem has stopped being played because he doesn't want to honor his own country, and I

know another one who thinks that history stopped dead in 1898 when the Spaniards departed!

While it is certainly true that these represent extreme examples of national denial, the truth is not a

pretty picture. Filipinos tend to worship, almost slavishly, everything foreign. If it comes from Italy or

France it has to be better than anything made here. If the idea is American or German it has to be

superior to anything that Filipinos can think up for themselves. Foreigners are looked up to and idolized.

Foreigners can go anywhere without question. In my own personal experience I remember attending

recently an affair a t a major museum here. I had forgotten to bring my invitation. But while Filipinos

entering the museum were checked for invitations, I was simply waived through. This sort of thing

happens so often here that it just

accepted routine. All of these things, the illogical respect given to foreigners simply because they are not

Filipinos, the distrust and even disrespect shown to any homegrown merchandise, the neglect of

anything Philippine, the rudeness of taxi drivers, the ill-manners shown by many Filipinos are all

symptomatic of a lack of self-love, of respect for and love of the country in which they were born, and

worst of all, a static mind-set in regard to finding ways to improve the situation. Most Filipinos, when

confronted with evidence of governmental corruption, political chicanery, or gross exploitation on the

part of the business com mutiny, simply shrug their shoulders, mutter "bahala na," and let it go at that.

It is an oversimplification to say this, but it is not without a grain of truth to say that Filipinos feel

downtrodden because they allow themselves to feel downtrodden. No pride.

One of the most egregious examples of this lack of pride, this uncaring attitude to their own past or past

culture, is the wretched state of surviving architectural landmarks in Manila and elsewhere. During the

American period many beautiful and imposing buildings were built, in what we now call the "art deco"


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style (although, incidentally, that was not a contemporary term; it was coined only in the 1960s). These

were beautiful edifices, mostly erected during, or just before, the Commonwealth period. Three, which

are still standing, are the Jai Alai Building, the Metropolitan Theater, and the Rizal Stadium. Fortunately,

due to the truly noble efforts of my friend John Silva, the Jai Alai Building will now be saved. But unless

something is done to the most beautiful and original of these three masterpieces of pre-war Philippine

architecture, the Metropolitan Theater, it will disintegrate. The Rizal Stadium is in equally wretched

shape. When the wreckers' ball destroyed Frank Lloyd Wright's Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, and New York

City's most magnificent building, Pennsylvania Station, both in 1963, Ada Louise Huxtable, then the

architectural critic of The New York Times, wrote: "A disposable culture loses the right to call itself a

civilization at all!" How right she was! (Fortunately, the destruction of Pennsylvania Station proved to be

the sacrificial catalyst that resulted in the creation of New York's Landmark Commission. Would that

such a commission be created for Manila...)

Are there historical reasons for this lack of national pride? We can say that until the arrival of the

Spaniards there was no sense of a unified archipelago constituted as one country. True. We can also say

that the high cultures of other nations in the region seemed, unfortunately, to have bypassed the

Philippines; there are no Angkors, no Ayuttayas, no Borobudurs. True. Centuries of contact with the

"high cultures" of the Khmers and the Chinese had, except for the proliferation of Song dynasty pottery

found throughout the archipelago, no noticeable effect. True. But all that aside, what was here?

To begin with, the ancient rice terraces, now threatened with disintegration, incidentally, was an

incredible feat of engineering for so-called "primitive" people. As a matter of fact, when I first saw them

in 1984, I was almost as awe-stricken as I was when I first laid eyes on the astonishing Inca city of Machu

Picchu, high in the Peruvian Andes. The degree of artistry exhibited by the various tribes of the cordillera

of Luzon is testimony to a remarkable culture, second to none in the Southeast Asian region. As for

Mindanao, at the other end of the archipelago, an equally high degree of artistry has been manifest for

centuries in woodcarving, weaving and metalwork.

However, the most shocking aspect of this lack of national pride, even identity, endemic in the average

Filipino, is the appalling ignorance of the history of the archipelago since unified by Spain and named

Filipinas. The remarkable stories concerning the Galleon de Manila, the courageous repulsion of Dutch

and British invaders from the 16th through the 18th centuries, even the origins of the independence

movement of the late 19th century, are hardly known by the average Filipino in any meaningful way.

And thanks to fifty years of American brainwashing, it is few and far between the number of Filipinos

who really know - or even

care- about the duplicity employed by the Americans and Spaniards to sell out and make meaningless

the very independent state that Aguinaldo declared on June 12, 1898. A people without a sense of

history is a people doomed to be unaware of their own identity. It is sad to say, but true, that the vast

majority of Filipinos fall into this lamentable category.

Without a sense of who you are, how can you possibly take any pride in who you are?

These are not oversimplifications. On the contrary, these are the root problems of the Philippine

inferiority complex referred to above. Until the Filipino takes pride in being Filipino these ills of the soul

will never be cured. If what I have written here can help, even in the smallest way, to make the Filipino

aware of just who he is, who he was, and who he can be, I will be one happy expat indeed!


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The Power of the Human Spirit

San Miguel Corporation Forum

Shangrila Hotel, EDSA

October 24, 2003 2:00 pm

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. For a high school teacher to speak before a large group of

business executives for the first time is overwhelming. But it is indeed a great honor and a privilege to

speak to the group of people who is responsible for making San Miguel Corporation the top food and

beverage company in the country, and on its way to becoming one of the top companies in the Asia-

Pacific. I am here to talk about The Power of the Human Spirit. Indeed, the human spirit has no

limits. If you dream big, and you have the determination and the will to pursue your dream, it will

become a reality. I dreamt of making stars; I was given a planet.

A few months ago, I was featured in the local, national and international newspapers. I caused a stir

to be the first Asian teacher to win the Intel Excellence in Teaching Award in an international

competition held in the U.S. Since its inception in 1997, no Asian teacher has received this award. But I

think what created waves was, I am a Filipino, and I defeated 4,000 other teachers from around the

world, including the American finalists in their hometown. Because of this, the Massachusetts

Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory in Boston named a Minor Planet in my honor. There is now

aPlanet Biyorotating around the sun which is located between Mars and Jupiter.

What made me win in this international competition? What made me stand out from among the best

teachers in the world? My road to attaining this international recognition is a very long 23 years of

improving and harnessing my craft as a teacher. I consistently study and learn new skills to improve

my method of teaching. I want my methods to be interesting, relevant, and fun for students. For justlike any product, the measure of teaching success is clientele satisfaction.

I finished a B.S. Biology degree from U.P. in the Visayas hoping to be a medical doctor. For lack of

financial resources however, I took the first job opportunity available- teaching. Never did I regret this

twist of fate. The day I entered the classroom, I knew I would be an excellent teacher.

My first eight years of teaching were spent in a rural school. For lack of teachers in proportion to the

number of students, I taught not only biology, but also other subjects outside my field such as English,

Music, and Physical .Education. The materials, equipment, and facilities for the type of effective

teaching I had in mind were absent. These challenges however did not dampen my enthusiasm for thejob. In fact, I became more creative and innovative.

I believe that teaching and learning should not be confined within the classroom. Even during those

first few years of teaching, I see to it that the science concepts I discuss inside the class would have

social dimensions. Thus, I took an active role in school as moderator of the Rural Health and Science

Education Committee. I designed outreach programs for students and teachers. Through these
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programs, students were trained to teach primary health care to the people in the barangays. They

also taught barrio folks how to make cough syrup from plant extracts and soap from coconut oil.

Students also gave lectures on environmental protection and conservation.

Those eight years of teaching in a rural school has prepared me for greater challenges ahead. Working

with the children of the poor has instilled in me the importance of service, compassion, and respect

for human dignity. I have learned to love teaching, and I see it as an instrument for transforming the

person and the community.

After eight years of teaching however, I felt I had nothing more to give to my students. I resigned from

my teaching job and enrolled as a full time M.S. in Biology student at De La Salle University in Manila.

I was lucky to get a scholarship which included free tuition and a monthly stipend.

To augment my stipend, I taught as part-time lecturer in the Biology department and worked as

research assistant by one of the senior researchers in the university. This I did on top of my full-time

MS load. I was so engrossed with my studies however, that I finished my M.S. degree in one year and

five months only, after which, DLSU took me in as a full time assistant professor.

Teaching college students at De La Salle University was an entirely new experience. With modern and

sophisticated equipment at my disposal, my world opened to the wonders of scientific research.

However, I still value the importance of nature as a big laboratory such that in my ecology classes, I

would bring my students to the seas of Batangas, the rivers of Rizal, and the lahar-affected areas of

Pampanga to conduct field studies. Pursuing my Ph. D. while teaching also enabled me to conduct

researches which were presented in the country and abroad.

Research is very exciting. It means sleepless nights, disappointments, physical and mental exhaustion.

But the joy of discovering something new in nature makes it all worthwhile.

While Manila has provided me with opportunities for professional growth, I still feel that my heart is

in Iloilo. Thus, with an additional degree and one additional son, I brought back my family to Iloilo in

summer of 1995.

In June 1995, Philippine Science High School Western Visayas hired me as a Special Science Teacher.

Only on its third year of existence, the school welcomed my suggestions and expertise. I helped

develop its Science Research curriculum and introduced some innovations for teaching the course.

Barely a year of teaching at Pisay, I realized that my role was not only to teach students but to train

teachers as well. This I do by organizing workshops for teachers in the region.

One day, I received a letter from the students. The letter said, Dear Maam Josette, we know you are

being groomed for directorship of the school, and you would want to be the director someday, given

the chance. The thing is, we dont want you to be the director. We just want you to be a teacher.


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Pisay needs teachers like you. The Philippines needs teachers like you. Their letter touched me

deeply.

When I won the Metrobank Foundation Award in 1997 as one of the outstanding teachers in the

country, the Pisay community gave me a poster. The poster was a white cartolina filled with

signatures of students, teachers, and the non-teaching staff. In the center was a painting of a rose,

and the message which says, You are the song that plays so softly in our hearts; that gives us

inspiration to aim for greater heights and bigger dreams. Congratulations. We are so proud of you.

In 1998, I won another national award as one of The Outstanding Young Filipino formerly known as

the TOYM in the field of Secondary Education. Last year, I won the 2002 Intel Excellence in Teaching

Award in an international competition held at Louisville, Kentucky from May 10-17.

In Kentucky, I presented to the panel of judges and to about 150 teachers from all over the world my

method of teaching Science Research to my students in Iloilo. I told them that the Philippines is a third

world country blessed with abundant natural resources. However, we face problems such as the

rapidly declining environment and the lack of equipment and facilities for scientific endeavors. Faced

with this situation, I introduced innovations and strategies for teaching the course. These innovations

included: a) building a scientific library, b) conducting field studies, c) establishing linkages with

research institutions in the country, d) holding science forums in school, and e) teaching students

laboratory and field techniques which would help them in the conduct of their research work.

The judges and teachers from different parts of the world were amazed that even in the absence of

sophisticated equipment, my students were able to produce quality research outputs beyond their

expectations.

At this point in time, let me show to you what we do in our Science Research class ( a five minute

power point presentation of my class activities).

I went to Kentucky with three high school students from the Manila Science High School,and one

student from theMindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology. These students competed

in the International Science and Engineering Fair which was held back to back with the teaching

competition. The students from Manila Science competed for a team project in Physics, while the

student from Iligan competed for the individual category in the field of Microbiology. These students

were competing with 1,200 other students from around the world.

May 17, 2002 was a glorious moment for the Philippine delegation in the U.S.When it was announced

that the student from Iligan won second place grand award for Microbiology, our delegation was

ecstatic. When it was announced that the students from Manila Science won first place grand award

for Physics, our group was delirious. When the grand award for Excellence Teaching was

announced, and for the first time in the history of the event an Asian teacher won, and a Filipino,

there was a standing ovation from the crowd as the Philippine flag was waved in the air.
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The Philippine delegations road to success in Kentucky was far from smooth. We almost never made

it to the U.S. Our visa interview was scheduled on May 29 when we were supposed to be competing in

the U.S. by May 10. Almost desperate, we went to the Department of Foreign Affairs for help, only to

be told that the Office cannot give us an endorsement letter to the U.S. Embassy because they cannot

guarantee that we are coming back.

It was a painful experience for me and the students. Anyway, we were able to get our visa on the last

minute the most unconventional way, and brought glory to this country.

Let me show to you the scenario during the first day of the teaching competition.

When I entered the judging area, one table in front was occupied by the board of judges. At the right

side of the room, the table was occupied by the finalist from China and her supporters. The table at

the left side was occupied by the finalists from U.S.. and their supporters. The center table for the

Filipino finalist was empty. I sat there alone.

I went to the U.S. bringing a CD for my presentation. I also brought some transparencies and a white

board pen in case my CD wont work. Coming from a third world country, I was prepared for the

worst. It turned out, I was the only finalist without a notebook computer. Luckily, one American

finalist lend me his computer; but before doing so, he gave me a brief lecture on the parts of the

computer and its use.

I was the fourth presenter. When it was my turn to present, a panel member asked if I needed an

interpreter. I said, No thanks. A personnel from Intel volunteered to run my presentation. I said, I

can do it. After my presentation, they said, Wow, youre so cool. You know more than us!

What am I telling you? That despite our countrys limited resources, Filipinos can compete globally

given the proper training, support and exposure. Our winning at the international scene may not

reflect the general condition of science education in the country. But with our concerted efforts, my

dear fellowmen, we can move this country forward and show the world that we are a globally

competitive race.

Last May, I was in Cleveland, Ohio to present my methods of teaching to 150 teachers from 17

countries. I also served as the team facilitator for the Spanish-speaking teachers from Brazil, Costa

Rica and Argentina.. Last August, I gave a demonstration lesson to educators from the third world

countries of Laos and Cambodia.

Filipinos are indeed talented and will excel at the international level in their individual capacity. But as

a country, we lag behind. This is because we lack the spirit of community which is very strong among

progressive nations.


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When I went home to Iloilo after the competition in the U.S., my school gave me a very warm

welcome. During the convocation, students and teachers expressed how proud they are of me. I told

them, I am very proud of you too. It is you who has brought me to where I am now. Our experiences

together has brought world attention to the fact that hey, theres a world-class school out there in

Iloilo; a school with world-class teachers and students. I told the teachers and I quote Mr. De Quiros

that being world-class doesnt mean going internationally and showing our best out there. Being

world-class is passion and commitment to our profession. Being world-class is giving our best to

teaching. Being world-class starts right inside the classroom.

In winning this international award, I do not claim to be the best teacher of the land. There are

thousands of best teachers out there, working silently, giving their hearts to teaching, without

thinking of benefits or rewards. I salute these teachers. In winning this award, I believe I was just

commissioned by somebody up there to deliver the message that indeed, Filipino teachers can be

world-class teachers. In winning this award, I have shown to the world that Filipinos can be world-

class if they choose to be. And more importantly, I have shown to my fellow Filipinos that they can be

world-class if they choose to be. That if we do our best, we can conquer the world.

During the panel interview in the U.S., one judge asked me, You have a Ph.D. in Biology, why do you

teach in high school? I answered, And who will teach these kids? Another judge asked if how much

am I paid for all my pains. They were shocked when I told them that I am getting a net pay of not

more than $300. a month.

When your job becomes your mission, your primary concern is giving your best in everything you do.

Knowing that you have contributed significantly towards the creation of a product which can make a

difference in your company and the larger community is reward in itself.

Believe in what you are doing. Believe that you can make a difference. Believing however doesnt

mean you have to stop from where you are now. Believing is improving your skills and maximizing

your potential. With determination and the will to win, your company can conquer the world.

As members of the San Miguel Family, you are lucky to take part in the production of high quality and

accessible consumer products that can be found in every Filipino home. Your skills do not only

contribute to the development of the countrys economy, but you also bring out the spirit of fun, joy,

and laughter into the lives of the people; thus helping make everyday life a celebration. Your capable

hands can paint a true image of the Filipino as a people- intelligent, hard-working, passionate, fun-

loving, creative, innovative, magaling! You could paint one bright picture of this country and its

people - by your achievements in the workplace, your teamwork, integrity, passion for success, and

your discharge of civic responsibilities. You can show the world that you are the new technocrats,

capable and willing to meet the challenges of the new order of market globalization. You can show

the world that you are the new citizenry, capable of making this country a worthy member of the

league of peace-loving nations.

Be proud!


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Blonde and Blue Eyes

When I was little, I wanted what many Filipino children all over the

country wanted. I wanted to be blond, blue-eyed, and white. I thought-if I just wished hard enough and

was good enough, Id wake up on Christmas morning with snow outside my window and freckles across

my nose!

More than four centuries under western domination does that to you. I

have sixteen cousins. In a couple of years, there will just be five of us left in the Philippines, the rest will

have gone abroad in search of greener pastures. Its not just an anomaly; its a trend; the Filipino

diaspora. Today, about eight million Filipinos are scattered around the world.

There are those who disapprove of Filipinos who choose to leave. I used to. Maybe this is a natural

reaction of someone who was left behind, smiling for family pictures that get emptier with each

succeeding year. Desertion, I called it. My country is a land that has perpetually fought for the freedom

to be itself. Our heroes offered their lives in the struggle against the Spanish, the Japanese, the

Americans. To pack up and deny that identity is tantamount to spitting on that sacrifice.

Or is it? I dont think so, not anymore. True, there is no denying this phenomenon, aided by the fact that

what was once the other side of the world is now a twelve-hour plane ride away. But this is a borderless

world, where no individual can claim to be purely from where he is now. My mother is of Chinese

descent, my father is a quarter Spanish, and I call myself a pure Filipino-a hybrid of sorts resulting from a

combination of cultures.

Each square mile anywhere in the world is made up of people of different ethnicities, with national

identities and individual personalities. Because of this, each square mile is already a microcosm of the

world. In as much as this blessed spot that is England is the world, so is my neighbourhood back home.

Seen this way, the Filipino Diaspora, or any sort of dispersal of

populations, is not as ominous as so many claim. It must be understood. I come from a Third World

country, one that is still trying mightily to get back on its feet after many years of dictatorship. But we

shall make it, given more time. Especially now, when we have thousands of eager young minds who

graduate from college every year. They have skills. They need jobs. We cannot absorb them all.

A borderless world presents a bigger opportunity, yet one that is not so much abandonment but an

extension of identity. Even as we take, we give back. We are the 40,000 skilled nurses who support the

UKs National Health Service. We are the quarter-of-a-million seafarers manning most of the worldscommercial ships. We are your software engineers in Ireland, your construction workers in the Middle

East, your doctors and caregivers in North America, and, your musical artists in Londons West End.

Nationalism isnt bound by time or place. People from other nations migrate to create new nations, yet

still remain essentially who they are. British society is itself an example of a multi-cultural nation, a

melting pot of races, religions, arts and cultures. We are, indeed, in a borderless world!
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Leaving sometimes isnt a matter of choice. Its coming back that is.

The Hobbits of the shire traveled all over Middle-Earth, but they chose to come home, richer in every

sense of the word. We call people like these balikbayans or the returnees-those who followed their

dream, yet choose to return and share their mature talents and good fortune.

In a few years, I may take advantage of whatever opportunities come my way. But I will come home. Aborderless world doesnt preclude the idea of a home. Im a Filipino, and Ill always be one. It isnt about

just geography; it isnt about boundaries. Its about giving back to the country that shaped me.

And thats going to be more important to me than seeing snow outside my windows on a bright

Christmas morning.

Mabuhay. and Thank you.

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